Incest/Taboo Akeldama

"I think you would like Anne Rice's books; I know Mary does," Regan said, knowing how odd she looked carrying all her loose bags on her shoulder. "Lestat de Lioncourt kind of reminds me of you. The pretty boy and rebel," she uttered, flashing Conner a smile.

"Hmm... yes, I am very pretty," Conner said, playing up his act as he peered at his reflection in the window, to which Regan lightly slapped his chest.

"So the no reflection is a myth?" Regan asked as they waited for the walk light to flash.

"Sort of; we don't like watching ourselves feed like I'm sure you don't like seeing a reflection of yourself while you're eating a meal."

"Huh? Never thought about it like that," Regan mused, tilting her head back and tapping her chin. "Conner, can I ask you something personal without upsetting you?"

"You may."

"Have you ever, you know, turned anyone?" Regan whispered as she rose up onto the tips of her toes.

"I have," Conner nodded.

"Have you ever thought of offering it to someone lately?" Regan asked, not for her; she wanted Mary to turn her. She knew becoming Mary's daughter would be so awesome!

"Not for some time, why do you ask?" Conner inquired, eyeing her in a quizzical light.

"Oh, I'm just curious as to what vampires sired from the Prince would be like," Regan said offhandedly.

"They're different from the ones you know. They look the same but aren't the same," Conner said cryptically.

"How so?" Regan asked curiously.

"They are what vampires call a Crusnik, like their sire is," Conner stated; he didn't care about telling her this. If his plans worked out, he would be a rebel; if not he would be dead. Either way, he didn't see a reason to keep his secrets from her when she already knew about his kind.

"What's a Crusnik? I've never heard of it before."

"It's a vampire that feeds on other vampires," Conner said with a sinful smirk.

"Have you?" Her eyes went wide when Conner nodded that he had done so. "What's it like?"

"About the same, really, just with a little more juice to it than normal human blood," Conner answered as they continued to walk on towards the subway platform.

"So you don't need human blood?"

"I prefer it to vampiric blood, but in a pinch, I'll dust a vamp if I need to feed," Conner said, his upper lip lifted as he smiled, revealing the tip of his fang as they descended into the underground.

"Have you ever been on a subway before?" Regan asked as they neared the turn styles, getting her subway pass out. "Please tell me you have money on you?" she uttered in a frantic tone.

"I do, and I have; Margaret and I rode the first one that was built in Paris in 1900. How much for a ticket these days?" Conner asked, pulling out a twenty-dollar bill. Watching how Regan plucked it from his fingers.

"Don't worry, I'll get your tickets!" Regan said from over her shoulder. "Now here's one for this train ride and for our return, and you're cash."

"I see, most gracious of you, lady Regan," Conner said, inclining his head to her.

"You know, I'm kind of liking being called a lady," Regan said with a flirtatious smile. "Come on, we don't want to miss our train."

Waiting on their train to pull in, Conner smelt the hints of his kind on the air along with the homeless. It wasn't an ideal place to set up one's lair. However, it did keep one from the sun and a food source close at hand. Although, it wasn't the worst place he had laid low in either from the sun or the Zwei Knights. He would have to start thinking that he was already at war and not living in a fantasy world he had awoken into. He would have time for that later; if he survived, that is.

"Hey, where did you go?"

"What?!" Conner stammered, coming back to the land of the living.

"You were like spaced out?! Like you were trying to count all the spots on that wall from all the way over here," Regan said, pointing all the way to the other side of the subway tunnel on the west bound side.

"Please, forgive me; I didn't mean to 'space out' as you put it."

"It's okay, but you sure you're okay? I mean, you did spend a hundred years chained in a coffin; I'd be a little off," flashing him a smile to lighten the mood, "if I spent that much time in one," Regan said, so thankful that Conner offered to come with her. She had a suspicion if she was alone with her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, she wouldn't be seen again. She really did wish he would get help for his problem. When he wasn't on that stuff, he was a rather sweet man, a man she fell in love with, yet those drugs he's been inhaling had killed the man she once knew; now, all that remained was a paranoid, abusive asshole. "Thank you for coming with me; I don't know if I could go there on my own," she said, peering up at him.

"You're quite welcome, lady Regan, you just worry about getting your things, and I'll handle this man," Conner said, resting his hand on her right shoulder.

"Hey, I got a question." She wondered if he would answer her.

"Oh?"

"I heard others talking about werewolves. Are they real, like you are?" Regan asked with curious eyes.

"Yes, yet they keep to themselves like we do," Conner answered factually.

"Have you like met one before?"

"If you're asking, have I sat down and spoke to one of them? No, I have not. The only encounters I had with their kind is when your kind used them to attack us on the full moon," Conner said darkly. Wincing as the brakes of the subway car came on, bringing the train to a stop at the platform.

"You live here?" Conner asked, failing to hide his scowl at the sight of the building. His scowl deepened as he surveilled the trash-strewn hallway and stairwell as he followed after Regan.

"Unfortunately. It's the only thing I can afford with him spending all my money on his drugs. Living in New York isn't cheap," Regan said over her shoulder as she rounded the stairs to ascend to the second. Knowing they had four more flights before they reached the floor, her former apartment was on. Once she had her stuff, she was washing her hands of the place. She had already told the landlord she would no longer pay rent, and he should evict the deadbeat.

"I see," Conner muttered, sneering when he pulled his hand away from the banister along with something else sticking to his fingers, something he would rather not know what it was.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you," Regan uttered, pulling out the Kleenexes she carried with her for this very reason.

"Regan, it's okay," Conner said softly, laying his right hand over hers as she frantically cleaned his hand. Seeing that underlying fear in her eyes as she peered up at him. "I'm used to human filth. While this is somewhat better than what humans were like in the 11th century, but not by much. Please tell me, your kind still isn't tossing your waste out into the streets?!" he asked, remembering all the outfits he had to throw away because some human was careless in where they tossed their chamber pot. Feeling the corners of his lips lifting as Regan fought back her own.

"No, we have bathrooms now, with our own running water," Regan stated in a proud tone as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Well then, fair lady, you must show me this bathroom of yours."

"When we get back, rather not stay any longer than I have to," Regan said, seeing his nod of understanding before continuing their trek.

Peering over her shoulder when Conner placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. Blowing out a breath to calm her nerves, she just hoped he wasn't home. Covering her nose with her hand as she opened the door to keep from inhaling the foul stench that greeted her.

"So the bitch finally decides to bring her ass home. Did you put out, huh? Is that... who the fuck are you?!" Arjun shouted as he noted Conner standing behind Regan.

"I'll be as quick as I can," Regan stated before dashing off to the only bedroom in the place. Totally ignoring the strung-out half-naked woman on the soiled couch.

"Cunt! Where the fuck do you think you're going?!" Arjun growled, starting to go after her only for Conner to appear in his way. "You been fucking my girl, huh?" he hissed, getting up in Conner's face. "I should beat the ever-loving shit..." What Arjun was about to say died in his throat as one minute he was in Conner's face the next he was flying through the air only to crash into the back of the couch.

Smiling wickedly as he inhaled deeply as the man's fear laced the air. Putting his finger to his lips when Arjun opened his mouth. "Is this her money, money you've been stealing from her?" Conner asked, noting the wads of bills scattered about the table.

"Bitch..."

"You will address her by her name, cur, or I will remove your tongue, and I'll enjoy every second of it," Conner said darkly as his pale blue eyes burned in anger. "So not only do you steal from her; you bring dishonor to her by laying with another woman," he uttered in disgust. His kind might not practice monogamy, yet he had a fondness for those who chose to be as such. He thought if you honor her, you honor your word, and a man whose word can't be depended on, that same man cannot be trusted.

"Sorry, Conner, just a little bit more," Regan said; her strawberry blonde hair trailed after her as she ran out of the bedroom, causing her 36B breasts to bounce in her shirt as she did.

"It's fine, Regan, take your time. I and the cur are getting to know each other, aren't we, cur?" Conner asked with disdain in his voice. Turning his head when he heard floor planks tumbling on the floor. Arching an eyebrow when she pulled out a cloth-wrapped item and hugged it tightly to her chest.

"I got a better home for you." Conner found it odd to speak to an item as if it was alive. Then again, ever since he was awakened early, the world around him has been one oddity after another. His eyes following after her as she ran back into the bedroom. Noticing how she was having trouble lugging all four bags crammed to the brink of bursting.

"May I?" Conner asked, offering his help.

"Please, they're heavier than I thought they would be," Regan said; the strain was clear in her voice. Instantly feeling the weight leaving her when Conner took her bags from her. "Thanks," she muttered in a shy tone as she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Get your money, Regan," Conner said, nodding to the dented, scratched, burnt coffee table.

"He's going to need it, he'll be out on his ass soon enough, plus there's no telling if he used any of it to snort whatever up his damn nose. He's no longer my problem, so how about we scoot, huh?"

"To leave this pest riddled pit? Yes, let's scoot as you put it," Conner nodded firmly.

"Arjun, we are done! Don't call me, don't text me, I don't want to see your lying, cheating, abusive ass ever again!" Regan shouted, slamming the apartment door closed as Conner waited by the stairwell. "God, that felt good!" she exclaimed, doing a little dance of joy to finally be rid of Arjun. Getting a little embarrassed when Conner just looked at her oddly.

"Are all humans in this era so... lively?" Conner asked in a teasing tone.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Regan said, feeling her ears burning beneath those blue eyes of his. Hearing his footsteps following after her as she led the way towards the exit.

"Thank you so much for coming with me!" Regan said into his chest as she hugged Conner as they stood in her new bedroom.

"You're welcome," Conner said, lightly patting her back so not to harm her.

"Oh! I want to show you something?!" Regan uttered, disentangling herself from him and scurried over to her bags, namely the one that held her precious items. Noting how Conner was eyeing her as she carefully pulled the linen straps loose from the knot she had them in. Watching how his eyebrows rose when she had uncovered the 16th-century books that a friend of hers gave to her as payment for the blood she had given him in his time of need. "I was hoping, seeing you know so many languages, you might know what this says," Regan said, holding out La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes to him. Watching how his fingers ran over the cover, along the letters, it seemed to her it had sent him into the past.

"Yes, I know what it says; I've read this story many a time in the 16th century," Conner spoke in a soft tone, bringing the book to his nose, inhaling the scent from an age long gone.

"I know I don't have a right to ask this of you since you've done so much for me already. But could you, like, read it to me? I've always wanted to know what it was about, but I can't read Italian," Regan uttered bashfully.

"Lady Regan, I would be honored to," Conner replied in a slight bow. A little taken aback by the kiss Regan planted on the side of his cheek.

"Thank you, I look forward to it," Regan said with a wide smile on her lips as she held her prized book tightly to her chest as she backed away. "Good night, Conner; I hope you feed well. Please, feel free to come by anytime you want; here's my number," she stated, holding out a slip of paper with her phone number written down on it. "Just call before you do, in case I'm working."

"Of course, Lady Regan, a gentleman, should always call before arriving unannounced. Although, I'm not used to telephone numbers having so many digits in them," Conner mused before pocketing the slip of paper as they walked out of Regan's bedroom.

"Really, you had telephones back then?" Mathew asked in a joking light.

"We did," Conner nodded, "we just only had two numbers," smirking at Regan. "You three have a wonderful evening. Dinner is on me, celebrate!" he spoke as he dropped a hundred-dollar bill onto the table as he walked past it.

"I think he likes you," Dole teased as the apartment door closed.

"No," shaking her head, "he's just being nice. Not every man in the world has to do something nice for a woman to get into her pants, you know?" Regan huffed, watching Mathew snatching the bill off the table.

"But you'll let him, won't you," Dole taunted, shooting his friend a knowing smile.

"Not because he's being nice to me, but because he's hot," Regan retorted, sticking her nose into the air, getting a chuckle out of her friends.

"Guys, have you all thought of what this means for us now?" Mathew asked, walking back in from the kitchen with all their take-out menus in hand.

"What do you mean?" Dole asked, shaking his head at the Indian restaurant menu Mathew held up.

"I mean, we're Mary's donors. Who so happens to be a noble now. Plus, I think the Prince if he is the Prince..."

"Dude, our food was comped last night. When has that ever happened to us? You think those vamps would let him in if he was a fake, much less leave... alive. They tolerate us; they do not act the way they did last night with us or normal vampires," Dole said, rocking his hand side to side as to say 'maybe' when Mathew held up a menu for a local sandwich shop. Only to watch as Regan walked up and yanked the menu for the Japanese steak house out of the stack.

"He is the Prince; question it here, in privacy. However, if he ever comes back to the club, do not do what you did last night. It was rude. I'd kind of like to keep going there, ya know?" Regan uttered in a disapproving voice.

"Yeah, okay, you got me there. But come on, Regan, don't you find his story too... out there for this group?" Mathew asked, shyly looking away as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You really don't know anything about them, do you?" Regan uttered in shock that he didn't know the basic punishments a vampire could face.

"Of course, I do," Mathew said in a snide tone.

"Okay, then what's the punishment for a vampire for their second infraction of their laws?" Regan asked in a condescending tone.

"Come on, Regan, they're vampires; they don't..."

"Five years of starvation; chained in a coffin, for five years," Regan said, cutting Mathew off. "Trust me, I know what it looks like when they come out of it."

"How can you know that?" Dole asked, inching towards the edge of his seat.

"If you came with me to the lower ring, like I have invited you numerous times, then you would get to know the people down there. They're good people. When they get released, those still a part of the 'main hive'" throwing up air quotes, "but not in good standing get dropped off and left to fend for themselves. They and the rebels may not be able to pay in cash sometimes, but there are other forms of payment."

"Okay, like what?" Mathew asked, gesturing for her to continue.

"You know that program you two have been working on?" Fighting back her smile when they just gave her that 'seriously' look. "I know someone that might be able to help you get in front of the right people," Regan said, knowing that would do the trick.

"Really?" Matthew and Dole uttered in unison.

"Yep, now what you two do when it does happen is up to you," Regan said, making them realize that's all he would do for them. "You two only gave a pint the other night, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Mathew asked, not liking where this was going. Watching Regan pulling out her phone.

"Hey, Iyana, sorry for calling so early. I know you're just waking up," Regan said when the line connected. "But I was wondering if Bryson would be interested in a trade."

"Oh, what are you offering?" Iyana's sweet voice filled her ear.

"Two feedings for getting my friends some facetime with someone who buys computer programs," Regan said into her phone. Nodding against it when Iyana told her to hold on.

"Okay, you got a deal. Tell them thanks, some of us couldn't find a donor last night. You know what that's like for a fledgling."

"Yeah, I know, we'll be there in say twenty minutes?"

"I'll meet you at the door."

"Come on, grab whatever you have that program on; we got a train to catch," Regan said, hoping they liked her friends. Her keys jingled as she locked up, knowing she wasn't going to let Mary down in keeping the place nice and clean. She knew the only reason Mary was going to keep paying the utilities was she was using it as a safe house should she need one.

"You sure we're in the right place?" Mathew asked, looking around.

"Yep," Regan replied in a chirp as she pushed the buzzer that was camouflaged to look like the mortar around it. Hearing the hidden latch clicking, the door seal broke as the secret entrance of House Boudreaux was revealed to them.

"Hello, Regan, lovely to see you again," Iyana greeted as she stood in a light green t-shirt and original fit Levi's jeans. "Where's your Prince?" she asked in a teasing light.

"Probably back wherever he sleeps," Regan said, getting her welcoming hug in from Iyana. "Guys, this is my friend Iyana, Iyana, this is Mathew and Dole; you've seen them with me at the club before, haven't you?"

"I have, come; he's expecting you," Iyana said, nodding her greeting to Mathew and Dole.

"Hold up, Iyana, let's enjoy this for a moment," Regan spoke, seeing her friends befuddlement on their faces given how the inside of the building was nothing like what the drab, weathered exterior foretold. No. As with all Rebel Houses, they must hide their sanctuaries from the Queen and her Council. While the outside was plain and dull, the interiors of said Houses were said to mimic the layout and designs of English manor houses, French chateaus, or the refinement of the current age. However, in House Boudreaux, the master of the domain preferred the look of an 18th-century French chateau. "Hey, Iyana, what did Conner say to you that got you so lost the other night? Was it because he said the name Giovani?" Regan asked as she followed after Iyana.

"Regan, you need to... you know I don't mean anything by this, but you cannot say that name outside this House. Do you understand?" Iyana stated, peering back at them when she stopped in her tracks.

"Why? What's so dangerous about a name, huh?" Mathew asked, coming to Regan's defense.

"Only that the Queen will send her Hunters after you and then take you to their compound and well... your human, you can take a wild guess what happens then, to learn everything you know about my sire," Iyana said, laying out the facts for them.

"Wait, no, you told me Bryson was your sire?" Regan said, very hurt that her friend would lie to her.

"That's the name we use in public to speak about my sire. You have to understand, the Queen and the Council would do anything to know that the head and ruler of House Boudreaux was in the city," Iyana spoke as she turned and continued on.

"Why?" Dole asked, confused and intrigued.

"Because we are at war, in a sense, and the Queen wants every inch of the earth under her control. Rebel Houses are the only ones standing in her way of getting what she wants. While those like us occasionally get into a battle with the Queen's forces. Like the rogue House that operates the clubs in the city, some are tolerated because they offer something to their people. But eventually, they too will be swallowed up by the Queen," Iyana said, leading them towards Giovani's chambers.

"Shh, they'll be here soon, don't worry." A caring male voice filled the air when Iyana knocked on the door as she pushed it open. "Iyana, is that you? Have our guests arrived?"

"They have," Iyana answered, holding the door open and inviting them in. She's always wondered why he kept up with the anti-war, hippie '60s look. Although, she had to admit he looked good in those violet-tinted glasses when she noted how he was soothing the two fledglings as he knelt before them as they rounded the ping feng Giovani used to divide the room.

"I thank you for coming; I suppose it's you two gentlemen are the ones that need the favor?" Giovani spoke, turning his attention towards them, yet his gaze burned into Regan.

"Yes, so how do we do this?" Mathew asked, looking around the room.

"Do? Ah. The exchange, you hand me whatever you have your program on, I'll look it over while you're taking care of your end, and then we'll see about a meal. We weren't expecting humans, so we don't have foodstuffs in this House..."

"That's quite all right... we were going to go out for dinner anyway," Dole said, butting in keeping Mathew from insulting the man like he had done with Conner.

"I see, and just where were you three going to dine tonight?" Giovani asked with a curious smile which revealed the tips of his fangs to the three of them.

"We had decided on a Japanese steak house not far from our place," Mathew supplied, noting how Giovani walked over to his desk and picked up a notepad from the clutter-strewn desk.

"Please, if you would, write down what you were going to order; there is a very fine one close to here," Giovani said, knowing them leaving on a full stomach would be better than them stumbling out from their hidden entrance and drawing attention to them. Still, though, his gaze wouldn't leave Regan; he could still smell his maker on her. He knew his maker. He knew Conner quite well, given how he was the engineer for a bloodthirsty King with dreams of grandeur of a very small kingdom that even history had forgotten about when Conner had turned him to the Crusnik he was to that day. It was his King's folly in thinking to attack Queen Helen's forces and thought he could walk away. Conner had saved his life by sparing him the fate of his King due to the siege engines he had designed for his then King. "Now gentlemen, please if you would," Giovani said, gesturing to the two fledglings who had been shunned by their sires when one wouldn't recognize him when the female vampire had turned him went to claim their rights for being a new House member the other's sire was killed by the Council. Hence, they cast her into the cold. Nodding to Iyana when she said she was going to go call it in.

"Umm... Iyana, I think your sire is broken?" Regan uttered nervously when Giovani's face filled her personal space when he was sniffing intently along her right shoulder once his and Mathew's and Dole's deal was concluded and they had their dinner.

"Gio, some reason you're giving off that creepy, bury you under the floorboards, rapey, kind of vibe?" Iyana asked, knowing he hated when she used that name.

"I smell him on you," Giovani uttered in a monotone voice. This was why he had rebelled against the Queen, knowing when his sire rose, Hell would follow.

"Iyana?!" Regan uttered a little concerned when Giovani turned her head to the side, exposing the part of her neck where Conner had bitten her.

"Gio, you're getting a little iffy here," Iyana warned as her sire inhaled deeply to savor the faded scent.

"And he's fed as well, interesting. Did you enjoy it? The Prince's bite can be overwhelming," Giovani said, seeing the blush rushing to her cheeks.

"Giovani, I've been meaning to ask, what is your connection to this 'Prince' fellow, anyway. And why are you acting so... fucking weird?!" Iyana asked, glad he had pulled away from Regan's neck.

"Prince Conner Ambrose, of House Ambrose, is my sire," Giovani said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as he backed away.

"You're a Crusnik?!" Regan blurted out, catching everyone there other than Giovani by surprise when the word left her lips. She did not like the look on his face one bit.

"Spoken to the Prince enough to learn that tidbit, hmm? Very interesting," Giovani muttered, dropping his chin into his hand. His index finger stroked it while he pondered on what Conner was planning on telling a human that kind of information.

"Giovani, what did she mean that you're a Crusnik? What does that even mean in the first place?" Iyana asked, incensed that he would leave this valuable knowledge from her for the past seventy years.

"When we aren't in mixed company, I will explain it to you, Iyana," Giovani said in a teacherly voice as Iyana huffed as she crossed her arms.

"So, Ms. Regan, do you happen to be able to contact the Prince?"

"Aren't you two like telepathically linked or something?" Regan asked, not knowing how Conner would take to being called out of the blue or Mary for that matter; it was through her she would be able to find him.

"My, aren't you just chalked up with all our secrets," Giovani mused, wondering if this was why he smelt Conner's scent on her. He was already planning on turning her. "No, that's only in the first hundred years. The bond we share is far older than that. So, will you do me this one favor?"

"I have to call, Mary," Regan said offhandedly, watching how Giovani waved her on.

"And this is how you run an information search on anything you want to know," Mary stated as she showed Conner how to operate Firefox. Noting how intently he was watching the screen of her laptop as he leaned over her shoulder as she sat at the small table in Lord Harland's fore-chamber.

"Can this thing look up what happened at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris?" Conner asked, peering at her knowing he and Margaret would've gone to it during their honeymoon.

"I take it you were planning on going to it?" Mary spoke as her fingers flew over the keyboard. "And there you have all the world's information about it at your fingertips," she said, playing up the grandeur of it.

"I was," Conner muttered low. Glancing over when Mary's cell phone rang, noting how she leaned forward and grabbed it off the table they were using.

"Hey, Regan, how's the new place working out?" Mary asked happily into her phone. Nodding against it when Regan told her how much she loved the place. "Yes, he's right here; why are you asking?" Sitting up straighter when there appeared to be a scuffle on the other end of the line. Watching Conner's eyes studying her as she feared for Regan's safety.

"Put the Prince on the phone unless you don't value this human's life." Came a strange male voice when the noise died down. Noting how Conner's eyes glared at her phone, watching how he brought it up to his ear as he rose.

"Now, what kind of cowardly cur could you be to threaten a woman's life just to talk to me?" Conner asked in a regal tone.

"A cur? My. I haven't heard that term used that way in ages." A smile graced his lips when Conner knew well who the speaker was. His eyes looked around Lord Harland's fore-chamber, wondering if what happened at the Paris house could happen again and to test this new gift of his. Cutting out lights in the far corner of the room.

"So, what would threatening an innocent woman get you, Giovani?" Conner spoke, hearing Mary shifting in her seat. Running his finger down the corner as the shadows deepened. Focusing his thoughts on the years, Giovani was his fledgling, to the scent and taste of Regan's blood. Watching how the shadows crept up his fingertip as he held those thoughts in his mind.

"What the...?!" Mary stammered as she witnessed the odd and highly strange phenomena happening as it appeared to her that the very shadows themselves leapt out and coated Conner in a skin of darkness before Conner's shape was pulled within that shadow.

"Well, I hate it when these things do that," Giovani grumbled when the call was dropped. "I do apologize for that little display. I had to know if it was him," he said, holding out Regan's phone to her. He could barely see it, so he knew no one else in that room caught it as something; what that was, he couldn't say, he knew someone or something had entered the room. His battle reflexes went on high alert when the room was cast into darkness.

"Hey, who's hand is that?!" Regan shouted in a frantic voice as someone pressed her against the unseen person. However, she didn't fear that her life was in danger as she felt the unknown person's finger's on her left shoulder. Her eyes looked around the room before they ran up the body of the person she had been standing next to as the light grew. Recognizing the shirt as her eyes fell on Conner's face in disbelief. "How?!" Was the only word spoken that made it past her befuddlement. Nonetheless, she was only met with that smirk of his she had seen a few times.

"I would punish you for your blatant villainous ways, yet I think your outfit is punishment enough," Conner spoke, running his eyes down Giovani's attire. Seeing the woman from the club doubling over in laughter.

"You know she was in no harm from me, my Prince," Giovani said, bowing his head slightly. His eyes darted along Conner's body, looking for anything that could hint at just how he got into that room without being let in. Something he would know about.

"I don't know, Giovani; I remember two others I thought I once knew," Conner said darkly.

"Sire, you know for certain that I am nothing like those two," Giovani said in a stern voice. Noting how Conner listened to every word he spoke when he told him how he became a rebel and why he raised his own House.

"Still, Giovani, I do have to question your choice of garments," Conner uttered, running his eyes down Giovani's outfit not for the first time either.

"I'll have you know; this was the style in the '60s," Giovani stated, incensed that Conner would question his fashion statement.

"The '60s, you say. I'll have to keep an eye out when I get to it," Conner mused, releasing his grip when he was sure Regan was in no danger. "Although, I wonder where that man is that couldn't get enough velvet," he teased with a coy smile.

"Really, velvet, Gio, wore velvet?" Iyana asked, looking between the two of them.

"For the first forty years or so, then it was all about the Prussian style," Conner answered, watching Iyana biting her lip.

"Sire, let's not bring up my fledgling years, how about you and I speak privately," Giovani spoke, gesturing for everyone else to leave the room. Glancing down when the phone in Conner's right pocket rang. Nodding when Conner held up a finger before answering it.

"Hello? Ah. Yes, sorry about that; where I am, no clue. Yes, Regan's fine, of course; tell them to wait. Shouldn't be more than an hour or two," Conner said when he answered Mary's call before returning it to his pocket. "I didn't take you for being on the front lines," he said as the door closed behind him.

"Well, I wasn't about to allow them to do that without consequences. Yet, to fulfill your wish to keep hidden from the Queen who our true sire is, I wasn't all that high in the pecking order as it were when I left your side when my tutelage was over. So, becoming a rebel and fighting against the Queen from the outside was the only way I could... do something," Giovani stated, ruffling his hair.

"Are the others aware of your plan?" Conner asked, arching an eyebrow. Unsure if Giovani was prepared to actually wage war against his mother. He didn't doubt Giovani's strategic foresight when waging war against humans. However, his mother was a different kind of beast.

"They are, but like I was, they aren't in the way of hearing important decisions. They do hear some tidbits from time to time," Giovani said as he offered Conner a seat while he walked over to his decanter that held his blood spiked wine.

"So... Giovani, what is all this rebel stuff about actually?" Conner asked as he lowered himself onto the sofa that Dole and Mathew had just vacated.

"Come now, Prince Conner, I haven't been at your side for a hundred years and not know what you would do the moment you were released," Giovani said with an evil grin over his shoulder as he poured himself and Conner a glass. "I knew the moment you were free, Hell would follow, and I wasn't wrong. Even I heard about what happened in Paris and in London. I assume the way you got in here is the same way you got to John?" Conner didn't need to answer him; he knew the answer to his question when those pale blue eyes of Conner's smirked at him. "So, I thought to myself," holding out Conner's glass to him, "my Prince is going to need an army to battle the Queen, and who better than I to raise one in your stead."

"Ah. I see; yes, you are the one child of mine that would do such a thing," Conner mused, thanking Giovani for the drink.

"Nico was the one that told me you were back in the city," Giovani said, sitting down next to his old friend.

"Oh? Was this last night?"

"No, over a week ago, yet I had no way of contacting you, so I couldn't pass along a message for us to meet," Giovani stated, taking a sip of his drink. "Why? What happened last night?"

"Saw him at this club Lady Harland took me too. Have to say, kind of takes the fun out of the hunt."

"True, but so much safer for us," Giovani countered.

"Agreed."

"So, sire, what is your fascination with the female human? Are you thinking of turning her?" Giovani asked once the two of them had reminisced old times.

"Maybe, can't say for sure, just yet. Right now, it's dangerous to associate with me; when it passes, I might have another look at the matter," Conner said truthfully.

"And what of the Queen? Are you planning on killing her?" Giovani asked, wondering what Conner's end game was.

"No, as much as I want to rip her heart out. It would do me no good, given that's she's immortal, unlike us," Conner stated, his time at the edge of death played out in his mind. Remembering the horrors that would come to torment him as he lingered in the abyss. Along with a strange man, of course, Conner knew it was no man, what he was, he rightly couldn't say or even guess.

"Then you're just going to let her..."

"Did I say that?" Conner asked, his eyes cutting hard to Giovani. "No, I just said I couldn't kill her as much as I want to. I'll just have to take what she values the most," he sighed, wishing he could see the look on her face when he cut off her head. Alas, that wasn't meant to be as much as Conner craved for that very thing. He'll just have to settle for taking what she loves the most. Her kingdom. Watching how Giovani's eyes widened as Conner told him about what he had experienced at Death's door. He could trust Giovani; it was the only reason he was telling him this. He was sure his mother didn't want this information out in the world. "Find out what you can on her and how to banish her, if she can be banished, that is," Conner said as he rose from his seat and handed Giovani his glass. "Thank you for the drink, now if you'll excuse me, I must escort the lady home per Lady Harland's request."

"Conner!" Quickly getting up from his seat and hastily scribbling down his cell number. "Keep in touch," Giovani said, holding out the slip of paper to Conner.

"You are teaching that woman what I taught you, aren't you?" Conner asked, peering over his shoulder when he stood at the door.

"Of course, sire," Giovani said with a nod.

"Good, at least someone hasn't lost the old ways," Conner mused before slipping out the door.

Seeing a lot of startled and confused looks as he passed Giovani's House members. No one needed to be turned by the head of said House or one of its members. Conner didn't know how it worked in this day in age; in his time, so long as the vampire seeking a place in said House drank the offered blood of whoever was requesting entrance to said House, they would be treated as one of their own. He didn't need to be told where Regan and her friends were. Their scent was like catnip to starving predators, along with the beating of their hearts that he knew every vampire within that building could hear. Finding the three of them conversing with Iyana when he came upon them.

"Hello, Conner; I hope your chat with your friend went well," Regan greeted with a smile. She could never understand why she got along with the undead better than with living people. It just seemed to her vampires are more true to themselves than their human counterparts were; at least that's been her experience.

"It was enlightening," Conner answered, feeling everyone's eyes on him.

"So you really are, Gio's sire?" Iyana inquired, giving Conner a once over.

"Indeed, I am," Conner nodded.

"You and I so have to get together sometime; I so want to pick your brains about what he was like as a fledgling," Iyana said sweetly, lightly touching Conor's arm.

"Maybe, now, lady Regan, shall I escort you home?" Conner asked, peering at her. Seeing how her cheeks got a rosy tint to them.

"You don't have to, Conner; Mathew and Dole can protect me," Regan said in a bashful tone as she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"And I'll follow along with them," Iyana said to put Conner's mind at ease.

"Then I'll leave you in your friends' capable hands," Conner said with a bow. Taking his leave of the three of them, while he would like to see that Regan got safely home as per Mary's request. However, if she thought it best to rely on her friends, he wouldn't impugn her honor. Plus, if he was truthful, he had a vampire to hunt and kill. Noting how Giovani's House members scrambled to their feet when he walked towards them. Conner wondered what kind of threat Giovani was under to have armed guards manning the door.

Cocking an eyebrow when one of them stood in front of the door blocking his exit. Tilting his head at the raised hand the man held within inches of his chest. Growing impatient the longer they stalled him. Yet, the moment the man saw his companion's nod, he moved out of his way. It wasn't hard for Conner to see the befuddlement on their faces as they asked themselves just how he got in. Scowling when the smell of the city air assaulted his nose. Although Conner couldn't complain, it was far better than what he was used to smelling in human-run cities. A sinister smile formed on his face as the shadows engulfed him. Knowing Dustin was soon to die.​