Chapter 21 Ivy #2
Lacuna was administered, and the two Vampires began to feed.
As Ivy drank from the female’s wrist, she replayed Finare’s words in her mind.
He had a point—while the last year had been turbulent, it hadn’t all been bad.
Finare had become her friend, ally and brother. She wouldn’t have made it without him.
She continued to reflect on how the choice to venture into Noctis with Leseldh led her to this point. Her thoughts turned to Killian, as they often had since the night at the theatre. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was one more person she’d been destined to meet as a result of that choice.
Lunarian’s main dance floor was a throbbing and writhing beast that Ivy allowed herself to be devoured by throughout the evening. She needed to lose herself in the relentless beat of the music, and a few drinks had already helped to release some of the mounting tension from the past few nights.
Voresta was more on edge tonight compared to previous visits to the club—the encounter with Killian at The Succ had rattled him.
While he hadn’t completely reverted to his overbearing nature, he was less inclined to let Ivy do anything alone tonight.
He watched her from their table and only let her venture as far as the bar or dance floor without him at her side.
Finare was a comforting presence by comparison.
They danced together, ordered their drinks at the bar together, and he acted as a buffer for Voresta’s protectiveness.
The only exception was when Voresta wanted to feed.
He wasn’t comfortable with a closed door separating him from Ivy, even if only for a few minutes.
Ivy trudged up the stairs behind Voresta and followed him into one of the private rooms. He was silent as he waited for his Human to arrive.
He rarely joined her when she fed with Leseldh or Finare, and it was strange to see him submitting to a feed in this environment.
She assumed he was more accustomed to feeding from unwilling individuals, like he did on that horrifying night in the parlour.
Voresta’s subject was an older female, and she was dwarfed by his bulk.
He was less gentle than she’d seen Finare, Leseldh or even Killian be with a Human.
She offered her delicate wrist to him, and he gripped it firmly, causing her to hiss in response.
He ignored her sound of discomfort and pulled her wrist to his lips before sinking his teeth into her flesh.
He fed efficiently, and his grey eyes darkened to almost black as her blood filled him.
The female’s face started to go pale, and Ivy could see that she was reaching her limit swiftly.
Voresta pulled away just as the female began to wilt—indicating he’d drained her to the borderline.
She jerked her hand away and clasped her punctured wrist with her other hand, staunching the flow of blood with a kerchief she’d pulled from her pocket.
Voresta leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes, allowing the blood to flow through his system and rejuvenate him. Ivy let out a shuddering breath after the female exited the room.
As Ivy waited for Voresta, she was overcome by a feeling she’d felt before—anticipation. She wasn’t sure what sparked the feeling, but something was pulling her out of the room, and it filled her with desperation. She rose from her seat and made her way to the door, peering out onto the mezzanine.
She scanned the area, trying to figure out what had drawn her attention so strongly, but nothing piqued her interest at first. Until she saw a pair of red eyes staring at her from one of the darkened archways of the mezzanine.
A thrill ran through her body, and she shrunk back into the room, painfully ignoring the urge.
She looked back to Voresta, who was now rising from the couch, his eyes back to their usual shade of grey. He swept past her and exited the room, handing his payment to the Human as he passed. He didn’t notice Killian in his hiding spot as he headed downstairs.
Ivy forced her feet to follow after Voresta in silence. When she got back down to the table where Finare was nursing another drink, she could feel eyes on her. It sent tingles zinging up her spine.
Finare dragged her back to the dance floor after finishing his drink, but she found it difficult to match his enthusiasm. Was this what happened every time she visited the clubs? Was he always watching? It made sense, considering he seemed to know her every move.
She looked to the alcove in the mezzanine where she’d spotted him, but it was merely a darkened space. She realised just how effective the Hunter truly was—he wore the shadows like a cloak. Was he even still up there?
She glanced over at Voresta, who was scanning the surroundings once more, but his back was to the mezzanine. If Killian was hiding up there, Voresta would have no idea. In fact, Ivy only knew he was there because he allowed her to see him. Tonight, he wanted her to know he was there.
Ivy tried to move her body in time with the music, but she was distracted. The pull she felt within the private room pervaded her. When she tried to shine a spotlight on that feeling to try and understand it, she couldn’t help but think of her conversation with Finare earlier in the evening.
Her life had radically changed in the last year, but it was an improvement upon the life she’d lived in Naum. She always felt like she was destined for more, and although her life had improved significantly, her dissatisfaction lingered, and it ran deeper than just bad sex with Leseldh.
The conversation also reminded her of Hannah’s words on the night where this all began: Life is a series of choices that you make. If you’re not happy with where your life is going, maybe you need to start making different choices.
Confirming her Resonance with Leseldh felt like a choice that was being forced upon her, and that scared her. She couldn’t explain it, but the last few interactions she had with Killian seemed to ignite something within her that was missing from her interactions with Leseldh.
It wasn’t long before Finare noticed that her interest in dancing had waned.
“Hey, you okay?” His hand gripped hers, and he stilled as he looked at her with concern. Ivy took a deep breath before responding.
“Remember our chat earlier about choices?”
“Yeah,” Finare nodded, and continued the movement in time to the music.
“Well, I think it’s time to make another choice. It might be a bad one, but maybe, it might lead to something really good.”
Finare’s face wrinkled in confusion as he stared at her.
She knew what she was planning would directly interfere with Voresta’s orders. But she needed to reconcile the discordance that was swelling within her.
Not wanting to divulge the details, she stated, “I need you to distract Voresta for me.”