*~*~ADRIAN~*~*

He made it down the terrace and through the entrance of the maze before the cut-off. Staff was starting to move barricades into place as he arrived. Adrian took a left before taking another left turn. The maze wasn’t as complicated as it initially looked. He had the way memorized from all the other times he’d attended the party. It wasn’t long before he had come to the halfway point.

At the center of the maze, was a large, circular clearing with a fountain in the very middle of the area. A bird sculpture with wings outstretched sat at the top. Tables were placed around the area for seating along with several benches. Vampires wandered the area, forming groups here and there.

Waiters walked back and forth with hors d'oeuvres and glasses of champagne. Part of the draw for the Garden Party were the men and women that were talking to any vampire they came across. They were food for those attending the Garden Party. Anyone here that wasn’t a vampire was part of the menu. A woman looked his way but he shook his head. He walked over to an empty table that was situated to one side and sat down. He wanted time to collect his thoughts.

Adrian spotted Jackson talking to some vampires off to one side. The man would look for him once he was done. Then he could warn his friend about everything going on. Adrian signaled one of the waiters and was given a glass of champagne. He took a sip and looked around the area. There were several vampires here he’d need to speak to. There were several he hadn’t been able to get a meeting with. If he could pass on his business card and mention a few things, he might be able to arrange a meeting. A waiter stopped beside him and placed something on the table before placing another glass of champagne on top. Adrian finished the champagne he was drinking and put it down before moving the new glass. He flipped the envelope over. On the front was a hastily scratched ‘D’.

Dante received his message sooner than he’d thought. Adrian opened the envelope and took a quick look before he placed the envelope inside his jacket. The man had left him a message stating that he would get him the information as soon as possible.

Jackson headed over and slid into the seat closest to him. The man took a sip of whiskey before placing his glass down.

“Where did you get that?” The other man grinned.

“I have connections.”

“I’m going to tell Amelia about your ‘connections’.”

“Ha ha. You’re no fun.” The grin faded from his face as he took another sip of his whiskey. The man discreetly surveyed the area before he put the glass back down. Jackson reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. The man slipped the ring on before leaning forward. “Something I picked up to prevent eavesdropping.” Jackson quickly explained the ring after noticing Adrian’s gaze. A faint glow surrounded the ring so Adrian knew that some kind of magic was being used. “There’s been a body.”

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“There’s been two.”

“What?”

“Before coming here, we discovered a body on the sixth floor.”

“Damn. Do you know who it was?”

“Jonathan Garcia’s companion.” Jackson shook his head. Adrian recognized him but he wasn’t sure if Marie knew. Her actions led him to believe she didn’t know.

“And the other one?”

“Vincent Moore’s companion.” The vampire that had collapsed in front of them. Adrian didn't know for sure if the man’s companion was dead but he’d heard the vampire whisper 'she's gone' before he had tried to attack Marie. Since Marie had said it was the same magic, it was likely that the man’s companion had suffered the same fate.

“What is going on around here? First, the disappearances, and now people are turning up dead.”

“You should warn Amelia.” The woman liked to wander around on her own, which made her a target.

“I already did. She wanted to visit Marie since she knew that she would be alone.” Adrian gave a lopsided smile. They were both intelligent women but Marie didn’t care to be social while Amelia loved it. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be there to see their conversation or not.

“Do you think this is the same person?” He shook his head.

“No, the information doesn’t match up. With the disappearances, no trace of them has ever been found. They didn’t seem to have anything in common either. It was like they were selected at random. With these murders, there’s been plenty of evidence left behind.” Hopefully, Dante could find him information on the victims. Maybe these victims had something in common. Or they left some kind of evidence behind. The killer wasn’t being very careful when it came to hiding the bodies. Adrian frowned as he took a sip of champagne. This wasn’t what he’d been investigating but he couldn’t turn a blind eye to people dying in front of him.

“You’ve looked into this quite a bit.” Jackson looked down at his glass. His finger tipped the glass to one side before he looked back at him. “Is this related to you know who?” Adrian wished he had something stronger to drink as he took another sip of his champagne.

“I still think she left on her own.”

“But you aren’t sure if she made it off the property, are you?”

“No, I’m not but it doesn’t mean she disappeared.” Jackson nodded and finally let the subject drop.

“Well, I’m going to go work the floor. There are several people here that might be interested in what I have to sell.” Jackson nodded at him before getting up and walking away. The man liked to buy and sell whatever caught his eye. It was how he funded his trips around the world. Adrian didn’t know how he could travel so much without getting tired of it but it made his friend happy.

He looked into his glass. Adrian knew he should talk to some of the people here and set up meetings. Or at the very least, give them his business card. He was planning on growing his business and some of the people here could help with that. Adrian put the champagne down and stared into the amber liquid.

No matter how much time passed, he still wasn’t able to talk about Cecilia without it affecting him. He gave himself a mental shake as he stood up.

There were things he could do for his clan that would improve their lives. This was no time to dwell on the past. It had no bearing on the future.