Chapter Seventeen: More than it's Worth
*~*~Adrian~*~*
Adrian stepped into the elevator and opened a small panel below the other floor buttons. Inside the panel was another set of buttons. These six buttons were for the floors below the first basement. Anyone could access these floors since the panel wasn’t locked but not everyone would be able to actually step out onto the floor.
He pressed the button labeled ‘B4’ before he straightened up and glanced to his right. Marie kept her eyes on the display as it counted down. What would make her react that way? It had caught him completely off guard when she’d reacted that way. The elevator opened up to a lobby similar to the one on the first floor. The difference was that there were a lot more people walking around and talking to one another. He flashed their tickets to the gentlemen waiting beside the elevator and was let through.
They made their way to the front desk where he asked if there was still time to view the items. The woman at the counter told him there were still fifteen minutes left and offered him a catalog. He took it and listened as she gave him directions to where the items were being kept. They headed over but the room barely had any items left on display. This close to the start time, only some of the smaller items were left to look at.
[I don’t see the knife.] It was possible that it had already been moved.
[I don’t see it either.] They walked around some more but didn’t find the knife or another item that could do the same thing. Adrian led them out of the room and towards the VIP rooms. The tickets inside the envelope had been upgraded tickets and not the usual auction tickets. They were stopped on the stairs by two men standing guard at the entrance. Adrian handed over their tickets. One of the men took their tickets and ripped them in half. They were given the other half back as the man gave them directions to their room.
Each of the doors was labeled with a gold number. They stopped in front of the door with the number three painted on it and opened the door. The room was lavishly decorated with the entire far wall made of glass so that their view of the stage was unobstructed. Crimson and gold colors decorated the walls and tables. The large, leather sofa in the middle of the room had flowers embroidered in gold on the arms. A small table sat next to the sofa with a phone on it.
[Magic?] She shook her head as she walked towards the glass wall.
[None in the room.]
[Where?]
[Out there, below us but nothing close.]
[We still have a few minutes before the auction starts. We should go over the catalog and see if there’s a picture of the knife.] Marie nodded and took a seat on the sofa. He sat down next to her but made sure to keep a slight distance between them. She took the catalog from him and began to flip through it. He pretended to look at the catalog with her but his mind was still on her reaction from earlier. Adrian knew that even if he asked her, he wouldn’t get the answers he was looking for but he still couldn’t stop thinking about it. What had she seen? She had been looking at the front entrance when her emotions had turned negative. Shock, anger, despair, and… Fear.
The speakers in the room made a pop sound as the auctioneer adjusted the mic on the stage below. The auctioneer went through the rules for the auction and mentioned there would be a brief intermission later. The man finished saying what he needed to say and gestured to the stage. The first item was wheeled in and placed beside him.
[I found it.] Adrian looked back at the book. She tilted the catalog, so he could see it. The picture showed a knife in a velvet lined box.
[Can you read the script?]
[No, the photo isn’t clear enough for me to read it.] He took the catalog from her and looked through it. Based on the knife’s position in the catalog, they would have to wait until after intermission to see if it showed up. Adrian put the catalog down on the sofa beside him as he returned his attention to the stage. Several more items were shown, as they waited quietly.
The auctioneer waited for the last item to be taken off stage before he announced the start of intermission. They would have half an hour to kill before the auction would resume.
[Did you want something to drink?] Marie shook her head. He stood up to order something for himself when there was a knock at the door. Adrian glanced back at Marie. She looked at him, waiting for instructions. [Stay there.] She nodded.
“Enter.” The door opened to reveal one of the staff wheeled in a covered cart. Two men and a woman entered after him. Adrian hadn’t expected to see Jorge show up. He barely knew the host even though he had been attending his party for decades. The woman next to him was his secretary but the man next to him. He didn’t think he’d seen him at any of the parties before this. He racked his brain trying to place the man. Adrian vaguely recalled seeing the man at some of the events. The unknown man spoke as everyone entered.
“I hope you don’t mind me taking the liberty of bringing refreshments.”
“Why would they?” The host laughed as he patted the other man on the back. “Ah. Forgive me. You know Jennifer but you haven’t met my new event coordinator. This is Gregory.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Gregory gave a short bow before heading to the cart and pulling the cover off. Adrian felt a brief moment of shock before it faded into wariness. Her feelings were smothered quickly but not quickly enough. He glanced at Marie but her attention was on the items sitting on the cart. Sitting next to a bottle of brandy was a bottle of dark red liquid.
[What’s wrong?]
“Here.” Gregory poured brandy into three glasses before handing them out to each of the vampires there. “Now we can move on to the bet.”
“What are the stakes? I would love to participate if I can.” Jorge looked eagerly at Gregory.
“Adrian mentioned his companion during the event yesterday. He was quite proud of how powerful she is.” The host turned his gaze on Marie.
“Is that so? How powerful is this companion of yours?” Adrian smiled politely but his mind raced. What was Gregory talking about? He hadn’t spoken to the man once.
“She is skilled at magic but I don’t know if she could compare to your companion.” The host laughed.
“Very modest.” He turned to Gregory with a savage grin. “Time is running out. What is the bet?”
“It’s quite simple. His companion just needs to drink a single glass of Rose Red. If she can still perform magic then he wins.” Gregory gestured to the dark red bottle Marie had been staring at. “I have information on something he’s been searching for. If he loses, I will get a taste of his companion.” The man pulled out an envelope from his jacket pocket.
“It is simple. Too simple.” The host tapped his finger against his chin as he thought. “We need to up the ante. You still have that, correct?” He looked back at Jennifer. The woman nodded and pulled out a small blue box from her purse. She opened the box to show what was inside to everyone there. A delicate gold chain ended in a large teardrop shaped diamond. “Have her drink three glasses and I will throw this in as well.” The host turned his eyes on Marie, looking her up and down with a hungry glint in his eyes. “My terms are the same.” Adrian could feel his polite smile starting to slip. He needed to get out of this bet without insulting the host.
“Three it is.” Gregory agreed and the host looked pleased.
[I can do it. I know my limits.]
[No. We have no idea what’s even in the envelope. It might not be worth it.] Adrian went over to the table and examined the bottle to buy some more time.
[Gregory brought us here for a reason.]
[You think he brought us here on purpose?]
[He chose our prize and then showed up during the intermission.] This was definitely more than a coincidence but what was the man’s goal?
[We don’t even know how much Rose Red is in there—]
[Fifty-five percent. The bottle has fifty-five percent.]
[And you know this for a fact?] Adrian examined the bottle but didn’t see anything written on the bottle that indicated the percentage of Rose Red. How could Marie tell? Color? It was darker than the pink one but he didn't get a good look at the one she drank with Grace so he couldn’t compare it.
[Yes.]
“I didn’t think you were so cautious. Do you usually take this long to make decisions? I wonder if this is how you handle your business as well.” Jorge gave him a knowing smile. “It’s something to discuss when I go to lunch with Johnathan Briggs and Jesus Rocha tomorrow.” Adrian glanced at the host. The man was purposefully bringing up men he was planning to do business with. Jorge was known as the main driving force behind the hide and seek game. The man was known to participate in the game despite being the host and took great pleasure from drinking from the other companions. “Will you take the bet?”
[Do you want me to?] Was there any way to get them out of this without damaging his business prospects? He kept his expression bland as he straightened up and turned towards the two men.
“Just three glasses?”
“Just three but the pass or fail depends on whether she can still cast magic.”
[Are you sure you can handle it?] What was Gregory planning to do with the host here? Was cutting off their magic the other man’s only goal? If he went through with this, he’d need to keep Marie safe while she couldn’t use magic.
[Yes.]
[Alright.] He hoped he wouldn’t regret this. “Go ahead, Marie.” She stood up and went to stand beside the cart. Gregory pulled out three more glasses and proceeded to fill them. The man placed them in a line in front of her. Marie emptied one glass after another. She held the last glass in her hand and stared at it. Marie took a deep breath before she chugged the glass and slammed it down on the cart.
“Very impressive.” Gregory clapped before he took the glasses and moved them over so the host could see them as well. “Now all we need to see is some magic.” Marie lifted her hand up and opened it to reveal a small ball of fire. This wasn’t her truth spell but a regular ball of fire. Gregory went around the cart and leaned close to study the flame. Marie staggered backward to avoid him and tripped. She caught herself in time and leaned against the sofa to steady herself.
[Put out the fire.] She looked at him, and he could see how unfocused she looked. Marie looked down at the fire and closed her hand around it, snuffing the fire out.
“I think we know who the winner is.” Gregory glanced at the host. Jorge made a shooing motion with his hand. Jennifer gave the box to Gregory and he took it over to Marie. Adrian went towards Marie but he was blocked by the host. Over the other man’s shoulder, he could see Marie step back. Adrian could feel her wariness from here.
“Your companion is quite capable if she can drink that much and still cast magic.” Jorge glanced at Marie. “Her taste must be phenomenal. I hear humans with strong magic taste like a very fine wine.” The host grinned as his eyes went to Jennifer. “My lovely secretary has the ability to use magic but it's sadly lacking. Though I would love to get together and discuss this further.” Gregory had taken the necklace out of the box and held it out towards Marie. She shook her head. Adrian could hear the amusement in the man’s voice as he moved closer. This conversation needed to be cut short. Adrian did not like the malicious glint in Gregory’s eyes.
“Thank you for the compliment. Maybe we can speak more about this soon. It would be unfortunate if we were to miss out on the rest of the auction.” Jorge laughed.
“Indeed. That would be a shame. I have my eye on several items coming up.” The man patted Adrian on the shoulder as he passed. “Coming, Gregory?” The other vampire looked up at the sound of Jorge’s voice. Gregory whispered something to Marie before walking over. The man stopped next to Adrian and handed him the envelope he had been showing off before. Gregory took one last look at Marie before grinning at Adrian.
“See you later.” The door closed behind them, leaving the two of them in a heavy silence. Adrian stared at the door for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. He wasn’t sure what Gregory’s game was. The vampire was clearly interested in Marie. But that wasn’t what worried him. The man knew too much about Marie. Gregory specifically chose that bottle of Rose Red because he knew she could handle it. And the words he spoke to her at the end. ‘Does this remind you of anything?’ She was clearly his target. But why?
Adrian shook his head and walked over to Marie. She hadn’t moved from her spot near the sofa. Marie had her hand wrapped around the necklace and was yanking on it in a rhythmic motion. Her eyes had a faraway look in them as she pulled on it over and over again. She felt empty. It was just like before. Her emotions were suppressed so far down inside her that she might as well be a soulless doll. He grabbed her hand and stopped her from pulling on the necklace.
[Stop. I can take it off.] It didn’t look like his words were getting through to her. She had stopped pulling on it but she still wasn’t there. [Marie.] He held her face gently in his hands as he tilted it up. Adrian looked into her eyes and watched as life came back to them. She slowly focused on his face. Marie blinked a few times before he felt her confusion rise. [Let me take the necklace off.] She stared at him for several minutes before she spoke.
“Ok.” Marie turned and leaned her head forward so he could see the clasp. Her neck had several red marks from her yanking on the necklace. Adrian undid the clasp and took the necklace off. He tried to give it to her but she shook her head and stepped back. Marie swayed as she did so. Adrian quickly reached out to steady her. The necklace was shoved into his pocket before he led her back to the sofa and had her sit down. The speakers in the room made a pop sound as the mic came back on. The auctioneer announced that intermission was over. They would be starting again in a few minutes so he wanted everyone to start taking their seats. Adrian moved the catalog out of the way before he sat down next to her. He twisted his body so he could watch her better.
He wasn’t sure what to expect. Rose Red seemed to affect her like alcohol. It just had the added effect of restricting magic. Marie slouched in the chair as sadness radiated out. He didn’t like the thought of taking advantage of this situation but this was most likely his only chance to learn more. It didn’t seem likely she would tell him more on her own.
[Do you usually forget everything after you drink Rose Red?]
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