The Vampire's Harvest

184

"Ailisa, are you sure you should go to the lounge? It's so early in the ball and if you're hiding out here you're missing out on the best time to seek a vampire's favor. In fact, it kind of sounds like the duke is just putting you in his back pocket while he scopes out the rest of the crowd." You feel awful for saying it, but at least you feel there's possibly some truth in that assessment.

As you reach out to pat her shoulder and provide some comfort, you watch your friend shift between denial, disappointment, and utter rage.

"I should stake that vamp," she growls, a bit too loudly. "The nerve making me a back up."

"We don't know that," you add quickly to soothe your friend's nerves, worried you may have over shot with your attempt to drive her away. "But, I think it would be best to go back to the ball and find yourself a vamp that wants you enough to give you a mask right away."

"I do deserve better," she says, smoothing her hands over her dress so not a ripple marred her toned physique. "I should make him jealous."

"Yes, you should hurry back. Good luck!" You walk her back towards the hall, but when you try to send her on her way, she stops after a few steps and turns to face you with a confused raise to her brow.

"Aren't you coming?" she asks, looking between you and the crowd.

"Well, I can't go in there like this and I need to wait for..."

"Come along, don't be embarrassed about the clothes," she says with a sigh. "Most of these vamps only care about the blood flowing beneath them. You could be wearing a burlap sack and they'd still fawn over you."

"Those probably aren't the vamps I'd want to claim me," you point out, but Ailisa takes your hand nonetheless and pulls you forward.

"Come on, enough of this. I'm not going back in there alone, not after everyone saw me with the duke. I need your help drawing vamps over to me." She links her arm in yours and with begrudging acceptance you step into the hall. As the bright light of the many chandeliers wash over you, Ailisa better appraises your outfit and pauses your progress.

"Here," she says, removing a scarf she had tucked in her purse. "I was keeping this to ward off the cold, but you need it more than me. We have to spiff you up a bit if we'll get any lookers." She wraps it around your neck and though you feel foolish, she still looks over you with a proud smile.

"Now," she continues, looking out over the crowd, "what do we do next?"

That's the real question isn't it. You have no hope of finding the herd at this point and now you're squarely in the middle of the party. That's when you realize, you're actually exactly where you need to be.

The wolves were only using the herd to sneak in. What was to happen after that may not have even involved the herd, it just involved getting the vampires out on to the street. You may not have the flare of transforming into a werewolf to catch attention, but you do have some parlor tricks thanks to Ferris and his magic lessons. Perhaps all you need is something flashy to draw their notice and send them out into the street.

"I think I know a way to get some vampires to look over here," you whisper to Ailisa.

"Oh?" she asks, her smile turning her cheeks as red as her dress. "What do you plan to do?"

"A magic trick."

Her face drops slightly at your assertion, but she doesn't stop you as you pull out your bag and look for something to channel the spell through. There isn't much in there, just the silver pin you bought with Ailisa, the water skin from your house, and the ice pick you grabbed in the cellar. Hopefully something will work, the question is, what should you choose?

- Silver Pin: ch 187

- Water Skin: ch 188

- Ice Pick: ch 189