"We should talk to the Vice Count."

The Vampire had ceased his cursing a while ago, so Lucinda Applecott's words sliced through the silence.

The smell was oppressive, the reek of blood and failure. She wanted to leave this room, wanted to leave Highcore Hall entirely. She was not interested in the aftermath, nor was she afraid of any consequences, neither for her nor for her uncle. Such is the privilege of these ancient dynasties that she did not even realise how free of consequence she was. It was the natural state of things.

She wanted to leave because a fire had been kindled within her. Where her uncle had failed, she might not, and she was looking at an ideal partner in crime. One who was desperate to retrieve the Tome of UnDeath, one who would be of use to her whether he held the powers of the Tome himself or not. One who needed her.

He turned to see her standing straight, her cream dress accented with crimson, her eyes straight upon him. She held herself like one who is in charge, and she could tell it left an impression. She had been forced into speechlessness enough for one night.

She anticipated the question on the Vampire's lips. He was still hunched over, his eyes wide and burning, brow furrowed, mouth agape. He looked very much not in charge, and yet Lucinda Applecott took note of the fact that, still, he looked intimidating. Forceful, powerful. A creature of legend, caught at a bad moment. It made her doubt her suspicions, and reinforce her plans.

"He sells things to the wealthy," she said, not realising that she was making an understatement. "Rare and weird things. I wouldn't be surprised if Uncle Augustus got those pages from him. Even if not, he has connections. Stingy about his own sources, but, well.."

She turned to leave the room, ignoring the sloshing caused by her movement, ignoring the feeling of fabric sticking to her ankles.

"..I'm sure he'll be happy to sing at the sight of you."

She walked outside, relieved to feel the dry cobblestone beneath her. He would not follow her immediately. Neither of them were followers. It might make working together a little more difficult, but a common goal makes nothing impossible.

She made her way back to the wine cellar, slowly and deliberately, when the Vampire's voice boomed from behind her, amplified by the narrow, cavernous corridors.

"What do you mean 'We'?"

And so began a beautiful friendship.

[Pff. Is that what we're calling it?]

***

When Lucinda Applecott emerged from her chambers in clean, more suitable dress, she saw the Vampire stood by a tall window, watching the night sky that was just beginning to bloom into morning.

"I think it would be best if you were seen by as few people as possible," she said conversationally. For now, acting like equals would be the most efficient way to move forward.

He didn't turn around.

"I will arrange for a darkened coach. We can travel to Worsenvane first, I can make a social visit there, all above board. Then we head to the Sinistral Club right on time for dusk. The Vice Count will be there."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

It was a good plan. She didn't need to do a social visit, she didn't particularly care to do so, but the visitors to the Sinistral Club were usually, officially, just passing by. Heading straight there was not impossible, she had done it before, but given their circumstances it was best not to draw attention before the right moment. More importantly, she wanted to test the Vampire's commitment to their partnership. She would force him to trust her, by leaving him alone and, technically, at her mercy.

But he was like her, and so he sensed the cautious but determined grasp at power. He turned his head, giving her the mother of all sideways glances. He took his sweet time to say anything, but Lucinda Applecott allowed him the play.

"You are a smart woman, Ms Applecott."

Not the start she was expecting, but she felt, perhaps unduly, flattered by it.

"But let us not forget who is at whose mercy. I could end you now and lose nothing but time." He turned fully and smirked, accentuating his teeth. "Not much of a loss to one like me."

It was posturing, sure, but Lucinda Applecott knew very well, intuitively, that her life could be ended by far less than a Vampire. It was too soon to be equals. The two of them would balance their powers, she by day and him by night. They didn't have to be friends, but they did have to be partners. If that meant she would have to humour his ego a bit, so be it. It was on her own terms.

"I know very well that you could. No point in lingering on possibilities. We've got work to do."

['Humour his ego' my foot.]

"Augustus will hold the fort. Deal with the mess. The morning maid should be in by now. What do you eat?"

***

Lucinda Applecott did not use a darkened coach often. She preferred to be seen, to be envied. And though she was never particularly appreciative of the view herself - it had always just been there - she certainly felt its absence when she was sitting across the silent, brooding Vampire with nothing to distract her, and not sure what to say.

"What compells you," the Vampire said after a while, crossing his legs and leaning back, tilting his head and delicately resting a fingertip at his temple. His voice was dark and smooth, but conversational rather than accusing or demanding. He had regained his composure, and was easing himself into the role he found thrust upon him.

"What compells you to stray so far from the path?"

"The path offers nothing of interest to me," Lucinda Applecott said in as cool a voice as she could. This was the kind of dynamic she had been hoping for, but she was not yet convinced of its stability, nor of its sincerity.

The Vampire scoffed, rather unkindly. "And yet your path is so very wide, isn't it, Ms Applecott? The excess of life at your fingertips from birth. Bored of everything, so soon. So sad."

He smirked as his eyes caught her steady, unyielding gaze. "And so you seek the little thrills left. The reactions of men, poor and less poor, who struggle to figure out how to play you, you, an instrument that could give them everything they'd ever want. But it's you playing them, isn't it? Only a losing hand requires a bluff, but you have never drawn a losing hand. And still you bluff, don't you?"

There was barely an edge to his words. Tinges of bitterness and resentment clung to them like a scent, a natural companion beyond the control of the best performer. He went on, without the smirk.

"And now. Now you see a chance to play with the beyond. The thing beyond your world, even beyond your life. It's fun to you. A little distraction, no? A little game."

He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and glowering at her from under his brows.

"But this is no game, is it. And I am nothing to be played with. You know this, and if you don't, you don't have half the mind you pretend to have. And so, I ask. A courtesy. What compels you?"

Lucinda Applecott withstood the pressure of his eyes. Like a cliff side in a storm she didn't need to prove she could fight back, only that she could withstand.

"You think me shallow and spoiled," she said, allowing a smirk of her own. How she wished, at that point, that she had a name with which to address the Vampire. Still he had not given her one.

"You would be wasted as a distraction. Wiling away the hours has never been a challenge to me. Boredom is for the dull. No, Mr Vampire, there are only two things you can offer me."

Lucinda Applecott noticed with satisfaction that the Vampire raised one brow, just subtly enough that it may have been genuine.

"First, death." She accompanied the word with a dismissive gesture. "For I know very well what danger lurks around you, and around your pursuit. But I don't fear death."

She let the sentiment linger, hoping to find the Vampire at least a little bit impressed, but found only the bemused expression of one humouring a particularly naïve child. She continued, unperturbed.

"You are right, of course. I have much. Life comes naturally to me, easily. I have exhausted many avenues, even in my young years, but I'm not foolish enough to assume I have come even close to have exhausted all of them. People fear death because it is unknown, or inevitable, or because it takes away everything we have. But I refuse to let death hold any power over me as I live."

The Vampire leaned back into his seat again, expression still mildly bemused, but she could tell she had moved him, if only a little.

"I don't fear death. But I don't accept death either. And so we come to the second thing. That which, as you put it, compels me."

She arched a brow, knowingly.

He grinned.

"Ye~es?" he said.

"Immortality."

The Vampire burst out laughing.