~~Jack~~
If there was one way he was going to die, it'd be between two dangerous women.
Antoinette's tiger eyes returned, with all the ferocity and rage of when Lucas had crashed her ball. Like a crushing storm, being so near her shook him to his core as the rage poured off of her, buried him in rolling thunder that vibrated his bones and pulled his gut up into his throat. She wasn't looking at him anymore, thank god; her eyes would have bore holes through his body and couch otherwise.
The love of his life got up from the couch, stood up, and stared at the intruder.
"You have nerve, Avery."
"Hey, I'm just here to talk to my middleman. Didn't think he'd be here boning his girl, let alone boning the Prince." Avery stepped in nice and close, and looked up at the woman over a foot taller than her, with something between a grin and smirk on her face. "Kind of young for you don't you think?"
"Kindred do not see years as you do, wolf. He is an adult, as am I."
Jack sat up, but stayed sitting, and quiet. Getting up would imply he wanted to get involved in the conversation, and he wasn't that stupid. Not yet at least.
"Right, sure." With a snort, Avery walked around Antoinette, exposed her back to her, and started to explore Jack's apartment. Every step dripped of confidence, but where Kindred would make subtle jabs at each other, a lot of passive aggressiveness, Avery's jabs were blatant, aggressive, direct, and honest. Sort of. "Had a couple tips that you two were an item. Had to see it to believe it."
"Is that why you have come to my love's home?" Antoinette turned to face Avery, but the werewolf didn't seem to mind having the elder watching her exposed back. "To insult me, pry into m—"
"Nope. Dead serious, came to talk to my middleman. Who's doing a piss poor job right now." Her fingers found his other couch, window, counter tops, his fridge, cupboards, and continued to glide until she found his hallway before disappearing into the bathroom. "God damn you Invictus love to waste money. This is a nice place."
Oh god if Avery joined the group of people who kept randomly visiting his apartment, he'd have to move.
Jack looked at Antoinette. Safe to talk? A tiny glance from her suggested otherwise, but with a few more seconds, she let out a long, annoyed sigh, and sat down on the other couch while doing up her blouse's buttons. Ball in Jack's court then.
"You uh, wanted to talk to me, Avery?"
"Yeap." The small, brutish woman poked her head out from the bathroom, smirked, and walked back down the hall to join them in the living room. "No wonder this building only gets one apartment per floor." Once in the living room, she looked down from the enormous window nearly the size of his wall, and then around the curve into the other hallway. A short-lived hall that opened to his very, very large bedroom. "A Ventrue and a Daeva, bet you two brainwash dozens of humans to be your sex slaves."
He frowned and said nothing. Neither did Antoinette. The wolf's prodding wasn't worthy of a response, and it was blatant instigating.
"So," she said at last, "a few hours ago, half my pack were scouting the area near Devil's Corner, and ran into some Kindred guy named Damien. Don't know him. He was with some girl named Fiona."
Oh shit. He looked to Antoinette, and she looked at him. Hard to read her expression, solid and flat as it was except for a slightly raised eyebrow. Her silence was like a green light for him to handle the situation, and he was really hoping for a red light.
"... I know them," he said.
"Do you?" Avery came back to join them in the living room again, and she leaned against the wall as she wiped her bottom lip with her thumb. "Want to fill me in?"
He steeled himself, folded his arms across his chest, and looked at her. Antoinette was right behind him, if shit went badly. But then, she wasn't on his side either, not really. She'd keep him from getting killed, but she'd also take advantage of any information she heard for her own gains. Walk carefully Jack.
"Damien is a Kindred of the Lancea et Sanctum."
"Is he now? Thought they were done with Lucas gone."
Jack nodded. "Damien is trying to revive the covenant."
Antoinette scoffed, more than loud enough for Avery to understand her annoyance with Damien.
"Right," the werewolf said, "black sheep then. And Fiona?"
"... a young Begotten." Not like he could lie and say she was Kindred; the Uratha would find out he was lying. He couldn't lie and say she was human either, they'd figure that out too.
"Begotten? You mean a monster? Been fucking decades since I've run into one of them. The fuck kind of hole city you running here, Ann?"
The Prince stared daggers into the wolf, but said nothing.
Jack put up a hand. "What's Damien and Fiona got to do with the Uratha? You said your pack were near Devil's Corner, not directly under it, so it doesn't sound like Damien was violating your rule."
She snorted and walked over to his window. Not a care in the world, she put her hand against the glass. Smudges, ugh. He kept his mouth shut as he ground his teeth.
"Azlu are sneaky fucking things. Weird tricks up their slee—in their webs. David thinks one of those fucking spiders has set up a home here in Dolareido; that's why we're here. So, cats out of the bag, we're here for a host, Azlu."
Jack looked over his shoulder at Antoinette, but the Prince looked as confused as he did. "Um... Azlu? Host?"
"Yeah I'm telling you more than I should. But, after poking around and getting a feel for the city, I have to say I'm pretty happy with how things are here. You"—she spun around and pointed at Antoinette—"are still a fucking hazard and are going to bring hell down on this city if you keep fucking with the Gauntlet. But, things seem fine at the moment; only reason I'm telling you any of this. We think you might have an Azlu infestation."
Antoinette's gaze was ice, but again when Jack checked to see what she'd say, she tossed him a quick glance and green light.
"What do Damien and Fiona have to do with any of this?" he said. Spiders, she said spiders. Shit.
"Azlu are a problem. One of them has grown, and they're skulking around in your fucking maze of tunnels."
"My tunnels are much of the reason Dolareido is the haven it has become for Kindred." Antoinette switched and refolded her legs as she leaned back and hooked her arms on the couch's back. But, once she opened her mouth, ready to snarl, she sighed instead, closed her lips, and looked back to Jack.
Trapped between the two most powerful women in the city, in the world for all he was able to figure. God damn.
"Yeah, I know. Good for you Ann, you put together a nice city for vamps. You also put together a nice city for nasty shit to hide. I'm not your fucking janitor. I—"
Jack got in her face. Again. Just like with Jacob, except now it was Antoinette, another Kindred elder, another person Avery seemed perfectly content to piss off. No wonder she wanted a middleman, if she treated everyone this way. Classic case of knowing she was trouble and not being able to help herself, maybe?
"Damien and Fiona," he said, "what do they have to do with this?"
Avery snorted as she met him, eye to eye. Don't cower, don't show any fear. Like dealing with any animal, don't act afraid and don't run. Maybe he should have lay down and pretend to be dead? He was tempted.
"The girl is dead. Just a corpse walking around, possessed by an Azlu."
"... she didn't seem dead," he said, "didn't feel dead."
Avery reached out and poked him in the shoulder. It was enough to make him take a step back, and the touch of her finger on his body sent a jolt of panic through his limbs. He suppressed it; he was a Ventrue after all. Didn't change that the touch of her fingers on his body made him want to bolt, shot vitae through his fingers and toes, ready for a fight. Made the beast in his gut growl and back up. Better than curling up in a ball on the ground at least.
Antoinette almost moved to intervene. Almost.
"Azlu are sneaky. I gotta repeat myself over, and over? None of you understand the threat this poses. The woman stopped my pack with a spiderweb. A fucking spiderweb. Think that's a coincidence?"
"So they escaped."
"Fucking vanished." She snapped her fingers, hand outstretched and held beside his ear so the resounding snap was enough to hurt his hearing. Mean. "Running in the direction of Devil's Corner at that. She's hiding in there, fucking with the Wall. She'll begin eating and absorbing people now, if she hasn't already."
Jack stood his ground. "She's not Azlu, she's Begotten. Damien said so and I believe him."
"What, you think it's just coincidence that the Azlu show up, and there happens to be a Begotten with a form like a spider, with abilities like a spider?"
"Or there are no Azlu," he said.
Avery snorted and got in closer. "You don't see what we see kid, don't see what's on the other side of the Gauntlet. You—nah, fuck it. I said my piece. You see that Fiona girl, avoid her."
And with that, the werewolf left. No glance back, no check for confirmation, no further instructions, just a door slam to mark her exit. Did she want him to tell her if he saw Fiona, or Damien? Woman's communication skills were horrible.
But then, he doubted she was the leader of her pack for that. Probably the leader cause she knew how to make smart choices on the hunt, and because she was strong enough.
"I am sorry for her ill manners, my love." Antoinette stood back up and came to him, hugged him, and rubbed his hair in that perfect way again. "But, I must act. If what she says is true, I will need to investigate. Shall we continue this another time?"
Damn. Cock blocked, as Beatrice would say.
"Yeah sure. I'll see you later then?"
"Indeed." She took his chin, aimed it up to her, and smiled with her red eyes as she leaned down to kiss him.
"Love you," he said.
