Several new vampires were roaming around the complex this evening, and Silvia headed down the halls with trepidation. It'd been a few days of the vampires deliberating amongst themselves, and she'd spent her time with the girls for the most part.

Since she wasn't allowed to leave as they discussed a possible incursion, she wasn't watched as much as she was caged. Lorenzo had slipped her out to talk at his estate before they'd made that decision, but since she'd been returned, it had been incarceration for her. It wasn't like she was in a cell, but she couldn't leave the human areas.

Today though, they wanted to speak to her, and she'd been asked to join them in the meeting room in an hour. When she'd joined a few days ago, it'd mostly been Lorenzo and his house occupying the complex, but now the other heads of Angelus were showing up, and she knew that most were not soft like Lorenzo.

After she'd left Lorenzo's castle, they weren't exactly on good speaking terms. More than once, he'd come to implore her to accept him as her master, but she'd turned him away each time. He hadn't tried yesterday, and she imagined he'd given up on her. It made her more of prey than before, now that the vampires knew she was still searching and that Lorenzo had backed off. Some respected him, though clearly not all.

Eyes crawled over her as the vampires passed and noticed her, and it was impossible to hide her nervousness. Maybe if she kept her eyes down and hurried, she could make it to the kitchen to get breakfast–or whatever you called breakfast at six pm–before she had to meet with the vampires.

A hand slammed on the wall directly in front of her, and she audibly squeaked and curled in on herself, pulling her hands into her chest defensively. By the time she connected with red eyes, her heart was pounding and tears had lined her eyes.

"Don't be so frightened," the words were followed by a careless chuckle, but in Neil's voice, they calmed her. The touch of his hand on her face eased the single line of tears down her cheek, and he brushed them away with the back of his hand.

"Forgive me. I am not used to so many vampires in one place." With a bow, she tried to apologize, but Neil yanked her chin up to look into her eyes and ran his thumb over her lower lip, drawing a blush into her cheeks.

"Come, mage. We arrived early and got bored of waiting." Neil dropped his hand and ushered for her to join his side. "We'd like to get to the bottom of your... intentions."

"I assure you I am committed to Angelus, Master Neil. Th-thank you, for guiding me." She bowed again, and Neil narrowed his eyes.

"I am not guiding you; I'm fetching you. I wouldn't want you to wander anywhere I don't trust you yet."

"I go only where the human attendants you gave me say, Master Neil," Silvia tried again, but Neil still regarded her suspiciously. The man was laying his act on thick, but she had to be convincing to the others around that she was committed. Vampires could hear anyone within several rooms and hallways from them.

"Ones loyal to Lorenzo. They will be too soft. Come, and do it in silence. I don't relish pointless chatter." The way his teeth snapped on chatter shut her up, and she bowed her head as she followed him into the meeting chambers.

As soon as they were in the room, Lorenzo stood and slammed his hands on the table hard enough to make noise, but not so firmly as to crack it. It startled Silvia, but she remained still by Neil's side as he sat down at the other end of the table and asked her to take a seat next to him.

As she sat, she brushed her gaze briefly past Lorenzo. The agony in his eyes was undeniable as they connected with hers, but they flicked to Neil with hatred.

"I see you're making yourself at home," Lorenzo hissed as the other vampires sat down.

"This used to be my home. I find it quite nostalgic here. I miss having a place where I'm not under the scrutinizing eyes of human sympathizers. Oh wait." Neil's tone turned to acid as he said the last, and they exchanged a heated stare, but Lorenzo sat down. "Onto more important things." Neil turned to Silvia, and she swallowed her tongue. "I don't trust you, Silvia Copse. How do you intend to remedy that?"

All eyes in the room turned to her, and her shoulders tensed. She'd be damned if Neil didn't out her. Maybe that's what he wanted, her to not be in Angelus. She didn't feel like that was it, so she would stick to her guns here. All she had to do was clear suspicion and fawn on a vampire, one who would be trusted enough to slip into the inner folds.

"I am sincere in my desire to support the vampires, Master Neil. What is it I can do to convince you?" Silvia tried, leaving it open for him to decide her fate. She trusted Neil with it, even if Lorenzo didn't.

"I will never trust a mage." Neil hissed, but a smirk climbed his lips. "But I can enjoy one. If you want to work for our purposes, I can use you, but I will only do so with you close. I won't have you off your leash to wander back to your kind. Do you understand?"

Silvia got it. Neil wanted her to accept him as her master, which she'd fully expected and hoped for. It was still frightening though, not knowing what he planned here or how far he would take this act to please the other family heads. It was better at his hands than another's.

"I understand, Master Neil." Silvia bowed her head, and he chuckled.

"Not entirely, I don't think. Come," Neil beckoned, and she looked at him confused as he opened his legs and patted the space between them.

Silvia turned an embarrassed shade of red, swallowing nervously as she stood next to him. She hesitated too long, because he grabbed her arm and yanked her down into his lap, making her squeak. A few of the men laughed, but Lorenzo was silent.

"Women don't come to us wanting Masters because they want a nice, tame, lover." Neil trailed his face down hers, and she shivered as he reached up and touched her cheek, running his thumb down her chin and over her lip like he had in the hallway. As he leaned in, she took in a deep breath of his scent–she'd always loved Neil's subtle cologne that smelled of fresh rain.

"Neil, I hope you can concentrate like that," Trent Lance said with more amusement than chastisement. She knew the bastard–a smaller house head that used wood magic. Unlike Mages, who had genetically inherited magics, vampires varied greatly within a single house. It disgusted her that their magic was from similar roots.

"Don't compare me to my father," Neil replied. "I don't get so distracted by my obsessions that I let power slip through my fingers. I'm more than capable of prioritizing what's important while still taking a little bit of pleasure along the way." Neil's hand slid between her thighs, and she gasped as he ran his fingers out to her knee.

"Your father's passing was abrupt but unsurprising," Lorenzo put in. "Some humans become drunk on power when they're changed. If you let it go to your head, you'll sink into your own pit, Neil Arc."

Neil chuckled, but it was hard to focus much on anything as he pressed one thumb to the artery in her neck and stroked it. It was a languid motion, and when he elevated and released the pressure, it sped up her heart rate. As he did so, his hand slid back up between her thighs resting just so that it was hinting at what he wanted, but he held himself back.

"Lorenzo, how are you still here? You have zero pride in your own race," Neil said, his voice a pleasant thrum on her ears.

"Pride? I have pride in my kind, just not deranged mongrels who get off on forcing women to cater to them because they couldn't get one to willingly."

"Forcing?" Neil squeezed her throat, and she choked on her breath. "Silvia Copse came to us willingly. I didn't use my allure to make her come to my side. Some humans like to be owned, to be cared for." Neil purred in her ear and squeezed her thigh so hard that she whined from the new forming bruise. "If she pays the price for her desires, I will protect her. What does it matter to you?"

"Protection," Lorenzo hissed. "Silvia wants a world of integration, like I do, not to be a toy to your urges."

"A world of integration means that vampires will be known, will be feared and lusted after all the same. We will be just as much in power there as we are here. We will just have more humans to serve our purposes." Neil's words were sound, despite the way he was now running his hand over the front of her throat, lightly rubbing both sides and tightening over it ever so slightly on and off.

"That is why we are meeting," Trent added. "Our efforts to increase our ranks have been too few. We need to branch out into other mage houses and absorb them into us. Our current Mage general is unsure of how much trust he can place in his vampire allies, so we need to prove to him that we are sincere, and he will come into the fold."

"That is why Silvia Copse will be useful," Neil said, leaning on his free hand. "We'll use her as our liaison for the time being. You have too many corrupt Mages. It's best to put a friendly face on your recruiting. This one is a fine example. If she is as sincerely interested in a world of integration, it will give her drive, and other mages will resonate with it. We need more than mages who follow in desire for our power or to become one of our kind."

"Our mage ally agrees. I'm glad that we are on the same page, Neil." Trent smiled appraisingly at him. "We'd thought you'd switched sides after your father's fall."

"Please. My father needed to be dealt with, and he expected an uprising least of all from within. If I'd known of Darc Aurion's identity, I would have gone about it a bit differently. The man is too soft toward his previous kind, and he makes it hard to... pick the fruit in my garden." Neil slid his hand up to her stomach and pulled her against his groin, and her breath stuttered. "With Vincent gone, Angelus can advance toward an age of prosperity. His play for power targeted his own kind, which was foolish, and I've smoothed that over as much as possible. We don't need to step on our kind to climb to the top. Once we own this world, we won't be short of humans."

"Well said," Trent said, glancing to Lorenzo where he sat with his chin on his folded hands in frustration.

"Your plan isn't radical, which is helpful," Lorenzo said begrudgingly. "We need the increase of numbers, and you are right that Silvia will easily sway them. Unlike you, I spent time conversing with her about her motives and devotion to the cause. Mages don't often join, so I was suspicious at first, but she was very sincere in wanting a place where she could be with both her family and vampires without the exclusion of one. Nowhere did she say she wanted to be the outlet for your sick desires." Lorenzo growled at the end.

"Well, you can't ask for something without giving in return," Neil countered. "We have many humans around this complex, and most want to be on a vampire's arm. I was told by your recruiter that she was quite receptive when asked what she wanted here." Neil spread her legs with his hand, and heat rushed to her face. "Do you want a master, Silvia Copse?" He breathed into her ear as he squeezed her neck in his other hand.

"Yes, Master Neil," she stuttered and averted her eyes from Lorenzo's clenched hands on the table.

"Style said you conveyed that someone soft and kind wouldn't be enough, that you wanted someone who likes to play." Neil teased her ear with his fangs, and as he rubbed gently between her legs, her thighs tightened around his hand and he chuckled. "Is this too much?" Neil asked, pressing into her with his hand in her thighs, and she trembled under his touch. "Is it?" he hissed into her ear.

"No, Master Neil," Silvia said, and he flexed his hand on her neck, narrowing her breath again.

"Good." Lowering his mouth to her neck, he pressed his lips to her skin, but only to taste it before he sat back up. "See, Silvia Copse is fine. In return for being mine, she will get the world she desires. After all, once we are known, she will need to be protected to avoid being prey."

"Not by you." Lorenzo hissed. "Give her to me. You're too cruel and will break her."

"Physically, maybe damage a bit. I do get a little rough." Neil bit his lip as he lifted her chin to his, and she became absorbed in his crimson eyes.

They were so warped and devoted to his ruse that it was heart crushing. Was this why he thought he was going to become his father? Because it was so easy for him to emulate it after being immersed in it all these years?

"Emotionally, she will be fine for our purposes," Neil said, releasing her gaze to look at Lorenzo. "I'm not stupid. I will take care to keep her... happy. I expect you to respect vampire law, Lorenzo. I will own her by the days end, regardless of how attached you've become. If you wanted her, you should have taken her."

"I'm not disgusting like you, but I do regret not taking at least a bit of her blood to protect her." Lorenzo sounded torn between his kindness and his inability to force her to him to keep her safe. It was a dilemma, and she felt bad for him, but she couldn't reassure him for the sake of the mission.

"Vampire law is old and fair, Lorenzo. In the new world we're creating, it will be even more prevalent, so claim what you desire quickly. I don't hesitate to seize any opportunity. You should do the same. I will not part with Silvia Copse. I am actually quite curious what a mage is like in bed. I don't get a lot of them rolling around in the Arc Territory."

"You're making an enemy," Lorenzo threatened.

"Lorenzo, go take out you urges on one of your own. Your house is large and you have an abundance of slaves. You can't think straight because you wanted Silvia for yourself but were too timid. You'll return to your senses once you've sated your desire for a woman." Neil turned to Trent. "I assume our mage ally has his own ideas about where to recruit, and I will discuss them further with Silvia later tonight. For now, let's go our separate ways, and we'll reconvene tomorrow evening with our findings and plans. Lorenzo needs some time, because he's getting flustered over a single human and is distracted from the cause."

"Come, pet," Neil called to her, and she stood with him, flushed and jittery from how he'd been all over her.

"I won't forgive you, Neil Arc," Lorenzo repeated, and he turned back to him.

"Then, so be it." Neil led her out of the room, and she followed him down several of the hallways until they reached the executive wing. The vampires liked to have spacious rooms, so each end had a grouping of lavish rooms. Houses that lied each other tended to room nearer one another, but lower vampires were everywhere and roaming all the time. The girls had been chatty about things, even if she couldn't explore.

As soon as the door was shut, Neil shoved her up against it, but he placed his head on her chest and looked at the floor as he held the sides of her arms. He gripped her uncomfortably, and she took the opportunity to bring her arms around and hold him to her. Neil gasped, and she shoved his face into her chest so he didn't give himself away.

After a moment, he calmed, but she knew they could say nothing here to give away their charade. No matter how far, there were ears in these halls, sensitive vampire ones, so they would have to continue the act until Angelus' fall.

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Word Count: 2807