The man stopped very deliberately in front of their table. He stood there as if they were there to see him. The guy reminded William of characters from movies, the washed up or very little-known actor who thinks so highly of himself that he his is the center of everyone else’s world. He swept his open jacket to his sides like a gunslinger as he squatted down to get a better look under the table. His smile broadened, but oddly he bowed his head deeply. William could only look to his friends and silently ask what the hell was going on. Neither Charles nor Katherine had any answers and could only shake their heads and shrug.
“Alexiares, I presume. It is a great honor to finally meet you.”
William felt the vibration through the carpet increase violently but the wolves or wolf responsible for it was doing so silently. The man finally raised himself up to face William. There was something dangerous about this guy. Somehow William knew that this was a vampire, he knew it as soon as that rotten stench of death and decay hit his nostrils. He suddenly felt very weak and exposed in this sitting position. He moved to stand up, but was halted by the man’s raised hands.
“No, no, William, please, stay seated.” The man spoke with no accent at all, or more accurately a northern California accent, one that William knew very well. The man looked around and grabbed a nearby empty chair. Charles and Katherine were both asking the same silent question. Now it was his turn to shake his head and shrug. How was he supposed to know how this guy knew his name?
The man quickly turned around and leaned casually into the chair that he had pulled up for himself. He sat there staring at them, and they stared right back. William wasn’t going to back down from this guy, and he was glad to know that his friends had the same idea. The man had a casual grace about him. He was unhurried and seemed to be quite at home even when he was facing five Shape shifters.
The waitress that the man had talked to upon approaching them at their table walked up to the table then and placed drinks quickly in front of all of them. She handed the last drink to the man personally and this earned her a folded bill or two from his jacket pocket. The girl beamed at him, “Thank you so much, Mr. Pacifico. Thank you.” The girl hurried off.
William glanced down at the drink in front of him but didn’t touch it, his friends didn’t either. He kept staring at the self-confident, Mr. Pacifico.
The man sat for a moment or two before finally gesturing at the drinks in front of them. “Surely we can act like civilized people.” He took a long drink from his glass. He looked at them over the rim of his glass. “The least you can do is offer me the courtesy of having one sip with me, it won’t kill you.”
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William glanced over at his friends as the wolves under the table were just as alert and tense as they were when this Mr. Pacifico walked into the room. William looked at him evenly, “How do you know who we are?”
The question froze Mr. Pacifico solid. He watched them over his glass as he slowly set it on the table. A small smile played about his lips as he licked them. “Oh, William I know so much more about you than just your name.” He was smiling openly now as he looked at the three of them in front of him. “I’m not quite sure who your friends are.” A slight look of puzzlement crossed over his features, then he shrugged and brushed whatever thought he was entertaining away. “Now, William.” He shifted back to look at him. “I’ve known about you for years it seems.” Mr. Pacifico leaned back in his chair holding his drink casually out to his side.
William’s eyes darkened as what happened to him on the night he left his forest and everyday coming to the City under the Mountain and why it happened suddenly came into sharp focus in his mind. “Why?” he almost growled.
Mr. Pacifico looked a little shocked at the bluntness of the question. “Because we are mortal enemies,” he half laughed, half coughed out of his mouth. William placed two fists on the table and Katherine’s hand immediately came up to rest on his shoulders. “You probably should take her advice, William.” He said as he drained his glass and set it back on the table.
Suddenly there was a pair of naked boobs hanging in William’s face. “Do any of you see anything you like?” A blond haired stripper asked in a thick Virginian accent. William was a little shocked by the sudden appearance of the naked flesh in front of him.
“No, thank you, my dear.” Mr. Pacifico intoned. William could just pick out a slight and subtle undulation in his voice something that wasn’t there before. He looked up at the girl standing over him who was staring straight at the man in white as he spoke. She was completely enthralled by this man. William knew it had something to do with his voice but the girl’s reaction was just like what happened when Ansuya affected people. Could vampires have similar abilities to Shape shifters? It was something that he would have to ask Ansuya.
Mr. Pacifico said, “You need to go to the other side of the room and leave us to our private conversation.” The girl nodded slowly and obediently. “Go.” The girl quickly turned and left them, her boobs bouncing against her chest as she hurried to cross the room.
Mr. Pacifico turned his attention back to William, “William, we wanted you dead. We still aren’t quite sure how you escaped the little trap we set for you,” he smiled then, “but we are working on that to prevent similar failures in the future.”
William didn’t see the humor in what he was saying. “How did you know about my forest or even what I am?”
Charles interrupted, “Will, he’s guessing. He knows nothing about us. He is trying to goad you into giving him whatever information he can get. Calm down.” William looked at his friend who met his gaze and nodded his head slowly. William unclenched his fists on the table and visibly retook control of himself. Charles looked at Mr. Pacifico, “You have us at a disadvantage, sir. You seem to know who William is, but we know very little about you.”