Thicker than Water (Fangs and Feuds #1)

A quorum

A QUORUM

Celine

There’s a reason that vampires love nightclubs. The delicious smell of quickly circulating blood; the dim light that only our eyes can navigate; the warm bodies pressed up close. The music is loud, in sync with the steady-rhythmic beating of dozens of living hearts. It thunders wonderfully in my ears, wakening my vampiric senses.

I’d love to stay, but-

“Celine!”

A sharp voice interrupts my reverie. It’s my sister, pushing through the throng of sweaty bodies that have started to fill up the club again. Luckily, my display didn’t put them off their evening entirely.

“Yes, Renata?” I sigh, bracing myself for a tirade.

“ What are you doing down here?” she says, hands on her hips. Her dark brown hair is cut in a sharp, stylish bob which grazes her chin. She has warm, olive skin and thin lips set in a frown. “Our board meeting started twenty minutes ago, and you’re playing around down here at the club?”

“I was dealing with a situation …”

But she doesn’t care. She takes me firmly by the elbow and I allow her to pull me toward the elevators, huffing and muttering as we go. The people around us stare and I glare back at them. They cower in fear and part to let us through. I would never allow anyone but my sister to treat me in such a way. I have a reputation to uphold.

Renata takes us to the elevators, pushing the button angrily. She smooths the folds of her pristine white pantsuit as we wait. My sister deals with the legal side of our family business. I deal with the not-so-legal side. Let’s just say…I could never get away with wearing that much white.

“I’m trying to run a business to keep our family’s power secured,” she lectures. “And none of you can even respect my time! It’s outrageous!”

“I was taking care of the club,” I respond with a scowl as we get into the elevator. Even though there’s a lot more space, nobody else enters the elevator with us. “Some riffraff. One of the Lazarus vamps, lurking around. He almost drained one of the customers. I staked him.”

She purses her lips. “You staked a vampire? Who?”

But we’re interrupted by the ding of the elevator. The doors open on the ground floor.

“Oh, hi!” says a chipper voice. A tall, slim vampire joins us in the elevator, carrying a large crate. She wears ridiculously high heels and a trendy asymmetrical dress that looks like it belongs on an influencer’s instagram feed. Her pale skin is flawless and her platinum blond hair falls well below her waist, in waves that probably took hours to perfect.

“And you!” Renata rounds on our younger sister next. “Do any of you know how to tell time? The meeting started twenty-five minutes ago!”

“I know, I know ,” she sighs, holding the enormous crate with one hand as she uses the other to push back her waist-length hair. “But I was getting this !”

I raise my eyebrow at the crate. “And what ridiculous scheme are you on today, Lexi?”

“ This is going to bring us a ton of business!” she responds cheerfully. “It’s a crate of my new bloodwine! It’s going to be huge in the vampire community, just you wait.”

“That’s disgusting,” I snort.

“Lexi, I don’t have time to sell your stupid new products!” Renata groans, as the elevator doors open to the second floor. “I’m trying to run our multi-billion-dollar family business, which none of you appreciate!”

The three of us exit onto the office floor. It’s the complete opposite of the club. Sleek, white, pristine, and modern. Everything is ruthlessly efficient. Renata redesigned the floor plan five times while we were constructing it, but still managed to finish it on time and under budget. We walk through the office hallway to the boardroom, employees ducking out of our way as we come through.

“Neither of you understand my entrepreneurial spirit!” Lexi huffs, carrying the crate of wine as though it’s a feather pillow. Even though Lexi is the youngest, she’s physically the strongest out of the three of us.

“You were created when our company was already built,” Renata replies sharply. “You have no idea what building a business is like, or how hard I work to keep us afloat…”

“How hard you work?” I shake my head, swinging open the door to the boardroom. “You get to deal with the legal side of the business. That’s all easy, aboveboard. I’m the one who has to manage the mafia families, the politicians… I clean up the messes so that we don’t get thrown in prison!”

Renata and Lexi both open their mouths to respond, but another voice interrupts first.

“Celine, Renata, Alexandra, behave. ”

Tudor Thornblade sits at the head of the long boardroom table, his hands folded in front of him, a smirk on his face as he regards us.

Lexi puts down her crate, annoyed but complacent.

“Well at least someone was on time,” mutters Renata, as the three of us take our seats around the boardroom table.

This is where we have our family business meetings. Renata schedules them, far too frequently in my opinion. Tudor, our Creator, is the president. Renata is the CEO of the legal side of our operation, and Lexi is the vice-president of marketing. I, of course, run the illicit side of the business. Together, we form a quorum.

There are two others in the boardroom tonight: our executive assistant, who takes minutes dutifully on her laptop; and another vampire, wearing a red traveling cape and a smug expression on her pale face.

“What’s she doing here?” I ask, nodding toward the vampire in the red cape. “This is a private board meeting. Family only.”

Tudor narrows his violet eyes in my direction. “Celine, be nice. Oana is my special guest. And she has crucial knowledge that we should all be privy to.” He turns to the executive assistant. “Strike this from the minutes.”

We all quiet down, looking curiously at the vampire. I know her, she’s part of the northern vampire alliance. But she must have very interesting information if Tudor has brought her into one of our board meetings.

She wastes no time, flashing a sly smile as she reports her news. “I know where the Arundel wolf shifters are being held. And I know how they can be broken out.”

“Why would we want to break the wolf shifters out of the Cave?” I ask. “We have no loyalty to them.”

Renata nods. “The witches would be furious…”

“The Hecate coven needs to be taken down a peg,” says Tudor sharply. He sits up in his leather boardroom chair, looking elegant in his well-tailored, dark blue suit.

Uh oh. I know this tone. Renata and I share a glance.

Our Creator continues. “I’ve never enjoyed partnering with Lavinia Nox and the Hecate coven. Those kitchen witches believe that they own the entire northern region. They think they’re so much better than all of us…so high and mighty, with their witch council and their pretentious ideals. But do you think they would support us if we needed them? Absolutely not. They turned against the Arundel wolves the second they realized the panthers would have stronger numbers for their alliance.”

“So what does that have to do with us?” I say.

“I asked Oana to do some intelligence,” he continues. “I think that the Arundel shifter pack would be our allies…if we decide to break away from the Hecate coven and the Triple Council.”

“Break away from the Triple Council?” Renata gasps.

“Yes,” Tudor looks to each of us, a sparkle in his eyes. “It’s time to make a big move. The Hecate witches are complacent. They’ve grown too comfortable in their power. And they’re distracted with the opening of that new magic academy, the one that Amrita is starting. They won’t be expecting this.”

I shake my head. “Father…”

“Oana will stay at the hotel, in one of our guest suites. Her protection is imperative. The witches will be keeping an eye out for her. I believe they already have spies stationed here.”

I almost roll my eyes. Tudor is being completely paranoid. This happens to older vampires sometimes. Immortality starts to get boring after several hundred years, so they create drama and intrigue. Luckily, I have my mafia to run, and that keeps me engaged. Tudor has been stepping back from the day-to-day end of the operations, but I’m concerned that he’s becoming out-of-touch.

“The Hecate witches might be suspicious,” Oana says. “They almost caught me when I was at the Cave. I have a young progeny, who’s safely hidden with one of our vampire allies. She’ll be attending the new academy when it opens in the fall. Tudor and I want to have several vampires on the inside if our plan is going to work.”

“How old is your progeny?” asks Renata.

“Only a few years, just a newborn.”

“It’s excellent timing,” says Tudor, bringing his fingertips together as he schemes. “The perfect age for her to enroll. Lexi, I was thinking about sending you-”

“I’m not going away to boarding school ,” Lexi pouts. “I’m not a baby! I’m a hundred years old!”

“Fine,” Tudor snaps. “Perhaps it’s time I create another progeny. I’ll be teaching at the academy, but it would be beneficial to have another vampire as a student on the inside.”

Renata rubs her temples. “The last thing I need is another little sister…”

I agree with her, but I hold my tongue. Tudor is going to do whatever he wants to do, just like he always has. But I don’t like the way this is going. Since the end of the Wicked Wars, things have been easier for us. The peace between the witch covens has allowed us to focus on our business. I already have enough on my plate with the other vampire gangs, I don’t need to worry about some stupid witch politics.

Unfortunately, it’s not up to me.

Tudor leans back in his chair, an unsettling expression across his prim features.