Bloodlines

Dominique was humming to herself while gliding through the hallways, bouncing to the melody in her head. The sun had long risen and its light shone into the castle, brightening it from reflecting over its stones and precious metal details. The eldritch didn’t seem at all in pain from her waxing. In fact she bustling about purposefully. She was well informed of what Viggo had to bring from the consortium but politics was not a game Dominique du Luq played. Instead, she played a more underestimated game; ostentation. This year’s masquerade was one Dominique had her sights heavily set on!

Genevieve and another lady-servant strolled passed their gracious host, making nothing of her glide. The lady’s maid, like Genevieve, also didn’t wear a uniform. Instead, she too wore civvies. While Genevieve stayed in her hoodie and sneakers, the lady’s maid wore a warm tracksuit. “Good morning, my lady,” they both greeted.

“Good morning!” Dominique clasped her elbow with Genevieve’s then playfully spun her around. In surprise, Genevieve dropped the rattan basket of linens she carried. “Never in my life have I ever been this ecstatic to host like-blooded guests!”

“Could an estranged niece be cause for excitement,” the other lady’s maid asked.

“Urg, her,” the eldritch replied then dropped Genevieve to the floor. “Why must you ruin my good mood, Thérèse?”

Genevieve hummed her faint jolt of pain then scrambled to stuff the bed spreads back into her basket. “Don’t you like her,” she asked surprised. “She doesn’t seem vicious though the hunter status is unnerving.”

“Precisely,” Dominique commented. “Mama and papa always said that family is all you will ever have in this life. Hunters are taught that everyone is expendable,” she went on. “I don’t want to believe that my niece would consider me or Aimée, or Sebastian, or Tomás expendable but I will not hold my breath. Neither must any of you. I can only advise you to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

Thérèse shifted the weight of her basket of feather dusters hand dust pans and other small cleaning suppliers to her other hip. She let out a dismayed sigh. “Let’s pray the worst won’t come,” she voiced.

“Yes. In times of crises, our Lord will always listen,” Genevieve stated firmly.

“Well, now, my good mood is long gone,” Dominique commented with her arms folded. ”C’est la vie. Nothing shopping can’t fix! Or perhaps the hair salon? Thoughts, Thérèse?”

“Why choose?”

“Excellent!” The goldblood clapped her hands elitely. “Back to your chores, ladies.” The two servants curtsied respectfully before returning to their work. Dominique let out a pleasured hum before going on her way down the hallway. After crossing a set of adorned doors she froze to sniff the air in disgust. “I smell a mutt,” she spat. Ankh came out from behind the curtain wagging her tail eagerly. Dominique gagged her disgust. Dressed in a perfectly tailor and very yellow pant suit, Dominique shooed off Ankh saying, “disgusting.”

The grey wolf whimpered then looked down ruefully. Her tail too was crestfallen. The canine hunter snorted then retreated back the way she came while Dominique raised an eyebrow at the curtain. There was nothing setting it apart from the other identical curtains lining the identical windows down the lengthy hallway.

Dominique wasn’t buying it. She folded her arms and began tapping her foot impatiently. A sigh came from the curtain where Ankh was before Sebastian came out, crawling across the strong bars near the top of the window. Dominique looked up at him coldly while he dangled seven whole meters above the ground. He leaped down from his high perch like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

The vain du Luq sister said nothing and merely continued through her grand home. Sebastian exhaled heavily then looked down at the red blood streaming out from his scraped forearm. He didn’t bother to cover the wound and instead cradled his injured arm is his free one, following Ankh.

The grey wolf pranced down the curved staircase with the long lasting human behind her. They were in no hurry to get to Ridley’s room, where the huntress was leaning against the archway that divided the coffee table and its sofa chairs from the bed and bathroom. Tomás kept her company though in silence.

Keeping the inaudible atmosphere alive, Sebastian mutely made his way to Tomás. He merely held out his arm to his psionic master for him to suck on the small wound. Ankh leaped onto the bed with a sigh and laid down, still hurt from Dominique’s opinion.

Tomás sucked on his bottom lip once he stopped the bleeding in Sebastian’s forearm. “Stop injuring yourself,” the French aristocrat ordered softly.

Before Sebastian could reply, Ridley snapped, “how are you alive!” Her brother and his friend turned to her quizzically. “How aren’t you aging?”

Tomás countered, “it’s not something that either of us have untangled yet but it would seem that-”

“I understand that he’ll be alive as long as you are but are you're still a non-ampyra?”

“100%,” Sebastian confirmed. “All that’s... not non-ampyra about me is my lifespan, or so I hope. I can still enjoy a gourmet burger, smothered in cheese.”

“On that note,” Tomás deflected, “you must be starving,” he directed to Ridley. “I’ll have the kitchen bring you something to eat. Any requests?”

Ridley swallowed hard then looked out the window in dread. “I said I’d wait out the storm,” she said. Tomás followed her eyes out to the fraction of the enormous castle gardens, basking in sunlight. “I should go now,” she stated over her gurgling stomach.

“You don’t have to,” Sebastian desisted. “I mean, yes, you can leave to fetch your belongings but other than that...”

Tomás nodded in agreement when his friend didn’t finish. “You are a du Luq; this is your home by birth right. And there’s still so much to show you! There’s the solaria, the chapel, the stables and a quarter million other places to tick off. I imagine a castle is better than whatever establishment you’re dwelling in. And we have the space for you so there’s really no reason for you to-”

“I said I’d wait out the storm,” Ridley repeated with more conviction, silencing the ampyra and his prolonged non-ampyra friend. Ankh lifted her head with her ears flared in anticipation.

Sebastian looked over at Tomás, sensing his hurt. The goldblood switched off and made no movements. His non-ampyra counterpart sized him up sadly before sighing. It was Sebastian to speak on his behalf, “I understand that it must be overwhelming to meet people you believed dead but we’re your family. Family is all we have in this life; it’s all there is worth dying for.”

“If you need some time to digest it all,” Tomás began, failing at swallowing his stabbed heart, “then know that the castle doors are always open for you.”

“Ankh,” the huntress called, ignoring them both. The wolf puffed her cheeks before dismounting the bed. Ridley stuffed her dried clothing into her backpack before slinging her quiver over her shoulder. They left.

The hill the castle was built on was steep and walking down it was almost impossible not to start running. From the foot of the hill the huntress and her canine counterpart could see the buffered section that formed the museum. Across from that, was the Promenade des Anglais street and the curve of the Baie des Anges beaches. The azure ocean looked so gorgeous along the breathtaking Riviera.

It was a view that was easy to get lost in! The Promenade was awash with people. Tourists and locals alike. A soft breeze brushed through the foot traffic with the scent of salt wafting in the air. Ankh hummed gleefully feeling the breeze on her face while Ridley was sour. She was tired and hungry and the bistros along their route back to the inn was antagonizing. It was a much more unbearable walk back to Le Royale du Lionne Inn than it should have been.

Ennui was in his usual perch behind the front desk with his glasses settled low on his nose as he read the newspaper. “Your friend came looking for you,” he stated when Ridley mutely made for the stairs passed him.

“I didn’t know I had friends here.”

Ennui flipped the page in his paper and without looking up he went on, “that English man who brought you back a few nights back. The one with the gold eyes.”

Ridley hummed to herself, remembering she didn’t meet him; she only saw him through Ankh’s eyes. The wolf didn’t get a clear angle on his face because of how he wore his bowler hat. To cover his eyes. “What did he want?”

“He said his name was Earnest.”

Ankh’s eyes went wide while Ridley went stiff at the revelation. Fifi came out with two mugs in her hands and laid one next Ennui. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she commented. “Everything alright?”

The young huntress dismissed the inn worker. “What else?”

“He said you and Renee were looking for him,” Ennui answered then his demeanour shifted. “Listen to me, little Axel. I know what Renee did to Clarke all those years ago and I know what you did to her. Regardless, that woman was wicked to the bone. Whatever you think investigating her goings-on is going to solve. Stop. Chaos followed that woman like it was a fashion statement.”

“Is that it?”

Ennui raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “Oh, definitely a Ridley Axel. The uncle you’re named after was just as dismissive,” he commented with a small chuckle but his worry remained. “Earnest said that he knows about the Consortium of Ancients and the Order. He said that it’s a problem he can’t solve unless.”

“Unless what?”

“That’s it,” Fifi finished. “Very mysterious man.” Ridley hummed her discomfort when her stomach churned painfully inside her. “I’ll have some food sent to your room,” she whispered then returned to the kitchen before the huntress could thank her.

“Thanks, Ennui,” she directed to the innkeeper then started for the stairs.

“Hey,” he called and she looked over her shoulder at him. “I don’t need to warn you not to bring those types of friends into this place. This is France, not Monteiro.”

“I can’t exactly pick up the phone and tell him that, now can I?”

The huntress darted up the stairs to her inn room. She let Ankh in first and found the room to be smaller than she remembered. Immediately passed the front door, the petite bathroom was on the immediate right. There was only a single bed crammed between the window and the sliding door closet. There was hardly space for the dog bed at the foot of the bed.

Ankh pranced onto the bed and sat, watching her psionic master. “What,” Ridley inquired but if Ankh was talking, she couldn’t hear it. The wolf fell to her side and Ridley sat next to her. “Sayeed said you like belly rubs,” she asked more than stated and Ankh perked up at her eagerly. “Just this once,” Ridley stated.

She began massaging the counter side of her canine, who wagged her tail pleasurably and also gave a grin on her snout. Her grey eyes rolled backwards while her coarse tongue fell limp on the bed. “Ooh, yeah! Right there, right there!”

Ridley obeyed and kept her hands on the spot. Ankh’s rear leg started twitching from her pleasure while the hunter started laughing. “Geez, you shed a lot.”

“I’m a wolf! And you’re not exactly shed-proof; have you seen the carpet in your room?” Ridley laughed again and Ankh hummed. “Would it be an overstep to ask you to wash me? Just a wash and blow; I can feel my hair is dirty.”

Fifi knocked at the door then Ridley dusted her hands. “Come in! You don’t have hair. You have fur.”

“Oh, po - TATE - O, po - TUT - O,” the wolf replied but Ridley could sense there was something more to that. Fifi let herself in and locked the door behind her and Ankh sat up straight. “She just locked the door,” the wolf pointed out.

Ridley furrowed her eyebrows then slowly stood up with her hand instinctively nearing her karambit. “Fifi?”

“We don’t have anymore fresh blood,” she stated softly. The scrawny hunter . “We cannot exactly have a donation station without raising suspicion so...” the inn employee began unbuttoning her shirt. “I’ve done it before. Many times.” She had the scars to prove it. “If you’ll allow...”

“How desperate are you to stem,” Ankh teased. Ridley moaned softly then bit her lip. “Tell yourself it’s bouillabaisse,” she laughed.

The huntress shivered to herself then swallowed hard. Ankh buried her face into her paws, suddenly queasy from blood. Fifi pursed her lips while Ridley mounted her face into the employee’s neck. Fifi gasped at the sensation then cupped the halfritch’s waist.

Ankh flared her ears before she slowly peered over her paw. She sniffed the air before relaxing into her voyeur perch on the bed. She could feel the sensation resonating throughout Ridley and feel Fifi’s warm blood running down her throat. The huntress exhaled heavily when she had her fill.

Fifi pressed a hankey to her neck with a curtsey before leaving unceremoniously. “You Monteirians go above and beyond for each other,” Ankh commented. “That was quite a risk she took for you; Ennui too.” Ridley caved onto the bed, next to the grey wolf. The canine shifted to rest her head on her psionic master’s chest. “Hell! Earnest took a risk by coming here.”

“I can’t believe we met the Source,” Ridley stated, sucking the remnants of Fifi’s blood on her bottom lip. She shook her head still in disbelief. “Since the beginning of the human race, ampyra and non-ampyra have been searching for it and ‘it’ turns out to be a him? Do you think he’s immortal?”

“That was random.”

“Renee was looking for him and she wanted immortality.”

“Don’t you think the bigger question is how did Mr Wu find Earnest when - like you said - the searching has been going on since the start of the human race?” Ridley continued staring aimlessly at the air conditioner unit above the bed. “Ancient China predates the Roman Empire. It just makes you think, what is Earnest’s source?”

“Maybe someone from the First Generation of ampyra would know. Unfortunately they’re all dead.”

Ankh sighed then flattened her ears when Ridley started petting her. The grey wolf’s distorted voice went silent but through her silvery eyes, Ridley could see how the gears were turning. “Maybe not,” the wolf replied then straightened up. “Didn’t Renee tell Ryan that her parents were First Generation? Yes, they lived in Mesopotamia!”

“Ankh, they’re dead.”

“Yes but two of their daughters are still alive and not to mention their grandson...” Ridley sighed defeatedly. “They’re your family and they’re making an effort. I get you're not one for trusting people but they haven’t given you a reason not to trust them. If anything, it looks like they need you. Goldbloods versus goldbloods is an even match. They need you to tip the scale. What’s wrong with that?”

“I only know one side of the story.”

“You only knew one side of the story when it was Renee versus Dunon Academy.”

“That was The Hunt against a threat to the peace; I don’t question my orders. This is a group of entitled goldbloods having an inferiority complex and a different group of goldbloods submitting to their complex,” Ridley argued. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a goldblood.”

“Really?”

Ankh caught Ridley’s hand in her strong jaws and bit hard into it. “Ow,” the huntress roared then pulled her bleeding hand free. “What, were you Cujo in another life!”

“Look,” Ankh snarled. She cautiously leaned in to sniff the bleeding hand. Black and gold blood drizzled from the shallow wound before healing completely. “There’s gold in your blood! And if you really want a reason to join this fight, Earnest reached out to you! Not the Order, not Mr Wu. You. There’s something about you he trusts. Get off your ass and-”

“Mr Wu!” Ridley sprang to life then grabbed her bow and quiver leaning against the wall, near the dog bed. “You coming or not?”

The wolf huffed then stretched with a yawn before leaping off the bed. “Aren’t you tired? You’ve been awake for almost seventy-three straight hours!” Ridley ignored her and hurried out of her room. Ankh groaned her fluster but still followed. “Please share your thoughts.”

“I want to know how he knows about Earnest. You were right! What he knows is a lot more than the consortium ever did and I want to know whose side he’s on,” she replied while juggling down the stairs.

Ennui raised an eyebrow at the two as they scurried out the front door. He shook his head lightly. “Definitely Clarke’s girl,” he commented. “Can’t sit still.”

The streets were hustling under the midday sunshine. The people in the street didn’t pay any attention to the young woman bustling with weapons and a wolf in tow. The beach looked welcoming in the January daytime and there were a few people sitting on the sand.

Along Jean Médecin Street, cars were cruising at their leisure while foot traffic was light - almost nonexistent. The McDonald’s was where most of the activity along the street was. The private investigator’s office had more life to it than the first time Ridley and Ankh were there. The receptionist was sipping her coffee at her leisure while typing erratically.

She glanced over to Ridley who held up her gold card then let herself passed the front desk. The woman stood up in protest but a mere growl from a grey wolf diminished the courage the ampyra had against a huntress. Ridley continued nonchalantly while Ankh kept a threatening eye on the receptionist as she backed towards the staircase.

Hearing Ridley on the stairs, the wolf rotated then followed the huntress towards the investigator. Mr Wu swallowed hard when he saw the scowl on Ridley’s face, by his door. He stood up fearfully and backed away from his desk. The halfritch raised her hands peacefully and he relaxed slightly. Still the man showed no sign of completely easing.

Ridley shut the door, with Ankh keeping watch outside. “Please sit down,” Ridley ordered politely and Mr Wu obeyed, still tense. “How did you know how to find Earnest,” she asked then sat down.

“I’m a private investigator; I use-”

“Cut the crap, Wu. If a common P.I. could find the Source, people would have know who it was a long time ago. I want the truth.”

The Chinese man swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath. “I-I’m sorry but that is not information I can disclose to a different blood.” Slowly she rounded his desk, drawing a flying blade from her quiver. “Please, no! I will tell you anything but-”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she clarified then pricked the back of his hand. Gold streamed from the dot-sized wound. “What can you tell me? And not any of your investigator shit.”

Mr Wu covered his hand to stop the bleeding then relaxed a little more. “Not much.” Ridley sank into an empty seat. “The ones like me are bound by an oath. We cannot interfere with the lesser bloods’ work,” he admitted and Ridley - through Ankh’s nose - could tell he was being honest.

“What about likeblooded people?”

“The goldbloods are not my likeblood,” he stated and it left Ridley and Ankh confused. He was being truthful. “I cannot elaborate further.”

“Then tell me about your oath.”

Mr Wu pursed his lips while his shoulders deflated. “Alright. ‘Blood calls to blood. As the protectors of the blood, we cannot intervene with the suffering of the lessers. We watch, and only watch. We speak of silence and we live a mute. We protect the blood god and his sanctuary from the lessers. By his blood, it is done’.”

“If you’re supposed to protect the Source, why did you tell Renee?”

“She threatened me,” he began fearfully and Ridley huffed. “She killed my only friend right in front of me but she did say nobody else would ever know I told her. Please, believe me!”

“Couldn’t you tell someone from your... protection cult...?”

Mr Wu laced his fingers together ruefully. “I would have been executed for breaking my oath.” Ridley took in and let out a deep breath then stood up. “You must not tell anyone, please! If word got out-”

“People would come running to you for answers, especially The Hunt,” Ridley cut in.

“French hunters are not a placid people. Please! What must I do for you not to...?”

“How old are you?”

Mr Wu went pale then looked down. “How do I know you will not speak?” Ridley held up her flying blade and Chinaman sighed defeatedly. “I am ancient. My age is something that cannot be known outside of the people who have also sworn this oath,” he admitted weakly. “That is a risk I refuse to take.”

Ridley stood up and nodded wordlessly at him. She sheathed the flying blade and offered a hand for Mr Wu to shake. “You’ve been honest with me, Wu. Now I have no reason to dishonour your plea,” she admitted. Mr Wu exhaled his relief but was still skeptical about shaking her hand. His own hand was hot and clammy. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

He bowed fearfully with a nod before Ridley left unceremoniously after that. “Thank you, girl! Thank you!”

Ankh looked up at Ridley and the huntress shook her head dismally frustrated. “There’s four sides to this story, Ankh,” she began as they left. “We have to know what we’re dealing with from each of them.”

“‘This isn’t my fight’?”

“It’s not,” Ridley replied. “Things just got more complicated when Wu admitted that goldbloods aren’t his likeblood, after we confirmed that he is a goldblood.”

“Maybe he’s a First Gen.”

“Sure and I’m Jesus Christ,” the hunter countered.

“The Order would gladly relay their plots to one of their own,” Ankh sang. Ridley ignored her until they returned to the inn. Up in their room, Ridley started pacing against her tiredness. “So far your only lead into the consortium is Viggo; Wu is bound by secrecy; Earnest is essentially a ghost; and you refuse to talk to your family.”

The huntress combed through her hair then bit her lip. She sighed then caved onto the bed. “I have no choice; I have to go back to Chateau du Luq. There’s too much at risk.” Ankh curled next to her and Ridley cave her a brief belly rub. “Too much at risk.”