Knight and Rook
Wednesday, 24 Sep 2014
Art Gallery, Downtown
Natchez MS
2330 hrs, CDT
Irina had barely been made Court Slayer before she slew the vampire who'd bestowed the title upon her. It was less an act of ingratitude and more the achievement of a long-standing goal. Evangeline was dead and Caroline Thibideaux was finally free.
One down, one to go.
Irina chambered another round in her M-32, unwilling to go for a second without the ability to strike hard. Yet the white phosphorous alone hadn't killed Evangeline. It had simply lowered her resistance to the Lux Sancti Irina had dealt her. Irina regretted she hadn't the ability to deliver two Lux strikes simultaneously: It was a surprise maneuver that would only work once. Now that Irina had used it, Eliza would expect it and take measures against it. Of the two, Irina was more wary of Eliza than her departed sister and had little doubt that she would exact punishment for killing the Toreador Prince.
Eliza didn't make Irina wait for it. Evangeline's remains were still smoking warm when Eliza issued her fiat:
"Irina DiSanti, I demand a life for a life. Kill Boone in 5 days or die for killing my sister."
Irina bowed her head. If the vampire took the gesture for acquiescence, it served Irina's purpose well enough. It would buy her time. She needed to talk to Cord, the newly-minted Primogen of the Gangrel, and settle the matter.
***
Court was adjourned but for her and the others, the evening's work was only just beginning. Irina saw Caroline and Mason leave for their townhouse and begged a delay from Renny so she could talk to Cord. Invoking first level Lux to see clearly in the dark, she spied him off to one side in the shadows.
"Cord," she said, loud enough for him to hear and low enough that it wouldn't carry. "I need to talk to you."
The reluctant new head of the Gangrel clan walked over to where the new court slayer (hunter?) was calling to him. Why, he thought, does everything have to go to shit on a regular basis? Why can't people be satisfied with things the way they were? But always tweaking this and reaching for more of that and before Cord knew it, he was the fucking head of the Gangrel of Natchez. The last damned place he wanted to be.
"You just killed one of my brothers and were partly responsible for a second," growled Cord softly. Poor stupid Viking. "Don't be expecting me to be helping you kill a third."
"I'm not." Cord could be damned scary when in a bad mood but Irina didn't flinch. She lowered her voice further and hoped Eliza didn't have them under surveillance. "I don't want to kill Boone. I want to keep Natchez stable. Having the entire Gangrel tribe across the river howling to avenge Boone's death isn't in anyone's best interest. I know you don't want to be Primogen. What if we could arrange it that Boone could be instead?"
When were people gonna learn he wasn't the arranging type? He was the guy you made use of, not the guy that made plans. The Gangrel were fucked with him as their leader. He knew that, they knew that, hell, Eliza knew that. That was why she wanted to get rid of Boone so damn badly.
"You planning on killing her?" It was clear from the disgust in his voice which "her" Cord was referring to. "Because I ain't seeing any other way of making it work. Hard enough finding Boone when he's gone to ground. I ought to go to ground myself. If I hadn't promised her..." And the softening of his tone meant he had changed to the other "her" in Cord's world at the moment.
"Yes." Irina's tone went steely.
Cord didn't have nothing to lose - he had been around too long anyway. But this woman had everything to lose. So choosing to take on Eliza made her either really stupid or really brave. Or, Cord considered, she could be both.
"I ain't good for nothing except for fixing cars and killing people, so might as well put me to work at one of those."
"Both are important skills. Keep them sharp." Irina said evenly, thinking that being Primogen would not appeal to someone like Cord. His innate need for simpler living would goad him to keep Boone alive because despite all his faults, Boone would be better suited to the job. As for the matter at hand ... "I may need you to do both."
May need. Weren't likely to succeed when she couldn't even admit that he'd end up with a trail of bodies behind him before they finished. But that was humans, soft even when they thought they weren't.
Cord shrugged. "Point me where I need to go. Just don't go thinking I'm your lapdog forever. That only ends ugly."
"Lapdog. You?" Irina's eyebrow rose, though her tone remained level. "Never." She had no illusions how he felt about working with humans and other vampires. She knew he hated it. Yet even misanthropic recluses had their uses and when it came to killing, Cord was good to have on her side. She had no illusions as to which side he considered himself on, either. It was his side, always. She just had to make certain that it was worth his time to have his side coincide with hers for the time being. "It'll end up ugly no matter which way we go, Cord. Let's make sure it's ugly for the other guy and not us."
"Yep." Wasn't any point in wasting words.
"Good." Irina needed to bring this to a close. Cord wasn't up for much more conversation and she needed to leave. "I need a fail safe way to reach you. Got one?"
"You got my phone number, but I ain't exactly a phone sort of guy." He thought for a moment, then recited a 9 digit phone number. "If it ain't immediate but it's necessary, call that number. Tell 'em you're one of my clients and that you're interested in seeing Travellin' Jack one more time before you go out of town. I'll know to sniff you out then."
"Thank you." Irina took a measured breath, closed her eyes, and committed that number to memory, then nodded once and looked at Cord again. "Got it. I'm staying at Renny's. If I'm not there, leave word and it will get to me. For the record," she added, her voice soft with regret. "I'm sorry, Cord. I didn't want to kill Beaumont or Viking. They're not the reason I came back."
"Dead is dead and sorry don't bring 'em back. And we ain't going to sniff heaven, so gone ain't a happy ending." Cord stared at Irina with a fierce glare. "Just make sure you don't fuck it up with Eliza. That's the only sorry I need."
Without waiting for a response, Cord turned and stalked away.
If I fuck it up with Eliza, my corpse will just have to serve as the sorry. Irina didn't attempt a response but watched Cord leave, noting the line of him. You couldn't resist taking that final step into Stupid, could you, DiSanti? When she was sure he'd gone, Irina joined the others. Caroline and Mason would be waiting for them at the townhouse.
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