Felix's POV

I should have stayed and smoothed over ruffled feathers with the Amoras', but I wanted, no needed, to leave. But I don't want to think on this anymore. I'd rather drown my mind in something dark and intoxicating. Especially after seeing that, and my father pissing me off royally. Blood ties are shaky, but they will hold, they always hold. Nature for over a hundred years has determined our fate, I doubt it will buckle under from one lousy death.

The Prime can do his job alone, I'm not a slave, yet.

"What in the world happened to her?" Avari asks. "Do you think?" He glances at me. There's a worry there, but he covers it up. "She looked like kindling. I've never seen anything like it."

"Ave, can you shut up and just drive? I'm not in the mood..." I tail off. My brother goes quiet and then I feel guilty.

I want to be anywhere but here. But where to go? How do I escape this?

Avari falls into a rare, almost still, silence, but it doesn't last long. His fingers reach out and fiddles with the radio. My brother, if left to his own devices, gravitates towards distraction. If he can get his hands on it. It's usually a new toy, the latest gadget or something with numbers and dials. A long standing vice, which over the years has helped fill the gaps in our family's strained relationship.

I let his choice of music muffle the thoughts in my head. Until the sharp lemon tang of my father precedes his intrusion.

"Why doesn't he just use a com like everyone else?" I mutter.

Avari looks up and glances at me expectantly, his attention flicking between me and the road.

I close my eyes. Reciting the message. "The body is Lucia Amora's. She disappeared two days ago."

"Does he know who did this? Does the Board?"

"Not yet," I say, holding my hand up to stop him talking at me, until I can interpret the rest. "They're keeping it under wraps. No Board. Visicarii business only."

I don't mention there was another one last week, a family heir. Same M.O. I'm not sure why dad didn't tell me this before or why he wants me to keep it to myself. I tap the dash. Thinking.

This whole 'blood drained corpse' thing is odd, even to me. The blood hierarchy is there to keep us all in balance. The rankings control the flow of power - drawing energy from lower tier families to upper tier families, feeding us all. Only the Prime can track and control what we do with that power.

Lately, the source of our power has been failing, growing weaker. Keeping tabs on all our kind is taxing, to say the least, but with less than half of our former flow, impossible. I flex my fingers, trying to discard the feel of the way her flesh puckered under them. The corpse isn't the most terrible thing. Without blood, the gift should be stronger in the rest of us. That would be one less thing to worry about.

I end that thought before I start to explore it. Contrary to belief, we're not natural killers. We don't murder our own. There has to be another way.

"Could it be the reason for, you know... the fade?" Avari has started to call the unfamiliar power shortage the fade. His theories span every possible reason under the sun, much to my despair.

"I doubt it, but who knows. Shall we add it to your list? Along with radiation. The increase of natural disasters. The wildcards dying out. Elect interbreeding. Living behind a plasma wall?" I tick off.

"Don't joke. The wall is high in electrically charged particles, contained only by unstable magnetic fields. I'm surprised we've not been vaporised already."

I shake my head at him, the start of a smile in the corners of my lips.

"That you know that is why you haven't got a girlfriend."

"Not one that you know about."

I roll my eyes. "You can't keep anything a secret. Your mind is so loud I can't sleep at night. I mean, you even had interesting thoughts about the Corps Sergeant the other day." I smirk.

"That's perverted Felix." He laughs. "I couldn't help it, the way she was leaning over..." He doesn't finish. His face is red, laughing.

"I'm perverted? I wasn't the one having such appalling thoughts about one of our professors." I jest at him.

And like that, my anger has evaporated. I grin at my brother, who protests his innocence again as I chuckle.

I suddenly notice a hum, the hum, of the wall. Campus is due east, but we are heading south. I gaze out the window. In the dark I can see the bright towers of the Gate, stark and imposing against the horizon.

"We're going Outside." I state the obvious. "I thought we were going back to campus."

Avari pulls up and waves at the security guards. The one awake, bored, runs a scan of us and the vehicle.

"The bars in here are a joke, campus is dead on a weekend, plus Theo and Loren are already there."

"Already where?"

Avari grins. "Where else? Oblivion."

The guard raises the first barrier and we drive over a long, grey and rusted suspension bridge. There isn't any traffic, so we cross quickly, arriving at the second barrier within a few minutes. The Gate ignores our passage, built by humans, it tends not to acknowledge us lowly vampires. We pass in-between the plasma wall, the electric buzz subsiding as we break-through.

The smell of river water is like a damp blanket, clouding my heightened senses. Beyond the bridge, there are no lights, but I can see as clear as day. Nothing stirs. A familiar thread of excitement washes over me.

I try to reach out with my sense. Blood training takes time to build up, to form a habit or hone a reflex. It's like stretching and contracting a muscle. I'm supposed to do it often. Now seems like a good time as any.

The energy comes easy now, despite my earlier failures. I let it expand to the limit of my range. The blood is thick like taffy and it responds with three of my kind, somewhere east. I recall the taste of each one. I swear under my breath.

"You didn't mention Sati."

"Ah, she asked me not to tell you." Avari replies, sheepishly.

"As if I wouldn't find out," I mutter. "She tastes like roses." The last part more to myself than my brother.

Avari chuckles and shakes his head. "You should tell her that, you know she likes you."

"She hates me, and it's not a compliment. I can't stand anything too floral." I make a face.

"I quite like it," he says in a low voice.

With the blood gift still open I can sense his emotions. I sense waves of admiration and affection, drowning him down in a love sick whirlpool of his own making. They echo my own feelings for someone long gone. I pause before responding, unsure if I should bring it up.

"Do you have a soft spot for Sati?" I ask.

Avari blushes, if faintly, but from my seat, I can see the blood capillaries under his skin going crazy. He doesn't have to answer.

I approve, but I doubt he will act on his feelings. And neither will Sati. They are both so similar, putting everyone's need above their own. I lean back in the seat, glancing over at Avari as I do.

"You should snap her up little brother before someone else does." I taunt. He rolls his eyes at my challenge then smiles, shaking his head.

"If you mess with her, Sati will eat you alive, Felix."

I look up at the stars, which for some reason are only visible here, on the Outside. "I think-" I hear myself say "-I'd quite enjoy that."

***

Author's Note- 

Thumbnail credit to the gorgeous Greg Nawrat 

Little insight into Felix this time! Sorry the chapter is short, i had to cut one chapter into two again. 

So do you think of Felix? He's honestly my fave in this story (after Isa) Maybe you can tell... :D 

Do you like Felix or do prefer Ai? Sapiens or the vipers?

Also.

Thank you so much for getting this far, for subscribing, liking, and commenting. I jump up and down every time I get a new sub or a like. It just makes my day! :)

Lis x