Eliza shot him a look, almost pleading. AJ nodded, resigning to the fact he would have to play this game.

“The Keeper is too gracious,” he said, bowing his head. Rising from his chair he bowed again and walked away from the table.

“Good boy. You train them well, Eliza,” Lyle oozed.

Poor girl. I’d not subject anyone to that creep.

He had wandered over to what indeed turned out to be a bar, and sat down.

“What is sir's pleasure,” the bartender asked.

“Black coffee please,” AJ replied. He nodded and walked away to an expensive looking barista coffee maker. AJ swiveled on his stool almost kicking another patron of the haven.

“Oh, sorry,” he said.

“No need, no harm done,” replied the Vampire. “You new here? I've not seen your face or smelled you for that matter.”

“Yeah, I came in with Eliza,” AJ replied.

“Ah, Eliza here is she?” he looked around, spotting her at the table, “No wonder everyone is quiet.”

“Do they not like her?” AJ asked.

“Nah they love her, they don't like him but the less said about that the better.”

“Yeah I get that. I’m AJ.”

“Nice to meet you, AJ. I'm Dave.”

AJ stifled a laugh but not very well. “Sorry, I just wasn't… most of the vampires I've met have been quite… you know….” Dave nodded.

“I'm 98 years old AJ, I've had worse than people laughing at my name,” he grinned, “a lot of my kind change their names when they get turned. New un-life new name.”

“But not you?”

Dave shook his head.

“Anyway, how do you know Eliza?”

“Vessel,” AJ replied, keeping up the facade.

“Nice. Not a bad place to be really, you’ll get looked after at least,” he took a sip of whatever was in his glass, “didn’t think she would be back here though, not after the fight they had last time.”

“Fight?” AJ asked.

“Yep. Lovers quarrel, he cheated, she found out, he thinks he didn’t do anything wrong, she thinks he did. And he clearly did, he’s just a… well you know.”

A hot, bitter feeling crept up AJ's neck and settled in his jaw. He did his best to nod and act like he wasn’t bothered by any of it.

“Vampires have the same rules on monogamy as humans then?”

“Well, we were once human, so the same concepts exist. Age turns you weird though. Looking the same way at one-hundred-and-eighty as he did when he was twenty-five must be a mind-fuck.”

AJ let out a laugh as the bartender brought his coffee over.

“Who’s the Praetor?” AJ asked, suddenly remembering Lyle’s words.

“I guess he’s like the Sheriff. The authority. Leeds is ‘ruled’ by a Chancellor, like most major cities in the UK. They, in turn, have a Governor and a Praetor below them. The Governor governs and the Praetor enforces. You fuck up, you answer to the Praetor.” His words made AJ go cold.

So Eliza sits under the enforcer… and screwed up by letting me drink her blood, so now the Praetor is gonna kill her and me. Cool. Time to change the subject.

“So what are you in the political machine, Dave the Vampire?”

“Exactly that. Dave the Vampire. Don’t want titles, don’t need drama.” He raised his glass in a toast. AJ obliged, clinking his coffee cup against it, before taking a sip.

Damn, that’s good coffee.

“What made Eliza come back?” Dave’s words interrupted the caffeinated pleasure prematurely.

Can’t tell him the truth, can’t really lie either.

“I’m not wholly sure, as you can imagine I don’t have a lot of say in what she does.” The words felt a bit sour in AJ’s mouth, but Eliza was his primary concern here.

Dave nodded. “Yeah that sounds about right. A word of advice: keep a weapon on you.”

“That’s a bit unexpected,” AJ responded.

“Yes. Heed it.” He finished the rest of his drink. “Heads up, your master calls.” He gestured with his empty cup towards Eliza, who was looking at AJ.

“Thanks for the advice, and the chat.” AJ slid off the bar stool and walked back towards Eliza who sat by herself.

“Where’s Lyle?”

“Sit first.” AJ took his previous seat. “Call him Keeper, even when he’s not around.” She talked in hushed tones. “He had a call to attend to. Theatrics, I imagine. Also, tone down the violence.”

“I haven’t been…”

“In your head. They might not hear you but your body language betrays you.”

“Sorry,” AJ mumbled, “I’ll keep it straight.”

“Good. I’m sorry too, I should’ve explained this a bit earlier but you were… in a lot worse shape then you are now. Maybe my blood is causing you to heal faster.”

AJ hadn’t even noticed that a lot of the pain he was feeling when they walked in had all but disappeared. He moved his arms around and flexed his hands.

“Wow… that’s a perk!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, I can throw you into harm's way a bit more now,” she giggled. “By the way, don’t think I’ve forgotten about that weapon in your pocket.”

“Eliza, please, we’re with company,” mocked AJ. She hit him playfully on the shoulder.

“No, idiot, the purple beam of whatever the hell it was, but we’ll talk about that later, this isn’t the place.”

AJ scanned the room. There were roughly ten patrons in the Haven, not including them or the staff. He admired the chandelier for a moment before turning back to Eliza.

“Are all the Haven’s like this?”

She shook her head. “No, the Keepers all like to add their own personal touches. This one is Lyle’s vision.”

“What did he want to discuss with you?” AJ asked, tentatively. Registering the emotion behind his words, she put her hand in his.

“Politics. He thinks he can gain favour with the higher ups through me.”

“The Praetor?” AJ noticed her body tense slightly at the word.

“Yes. My boss. He also wants me back as his lover.” It was AJ’s turn to tense up. “But that’s not going to happen, no matter how many favours I owe.”

“So what’s the play here?” AJ asked.

“To wait. We can’t venture out yet with Radha hunting us, so we’ll have to rest here until tomorrow evening.”

“When she will still be hunting us…”

“Possibly. She’s going to lose the trail now with us being masked here…” Eliza trailed off. AJ felt like she was being wishful more than anything else.

“If she can find us here…” - he thought before saying, “who even is she?”

“She’s part of the Maw. They’re a rival sect to the Vesperate. Whereas we are more your ‘law and order’ types, they are more your religious fanatics. Zealots.”

“But you all abide by this ruleset she was more-than-happy to quote?”

Eliza giggled. “Mostly. There are some differences, but I think it was decided long ago we have to keep our masks on.”

“Her arms turned to blades.”

“Yeah. Bitch nearly got me as well. She probably would have had it not been for the…”

“Well, aren’t you two looking cosy?” Lyle's voice stopped the conversation stone dead.

“Keeper.” AJ stood up to the feigned protests of Lyle.

“Sit, Vessel, sit. There’s no need.” AJ returned to his seat, catching a glimpse of a smile from Eliza. “So you were saying, you were running?”

“Yes, K… Lyle. The Maw Inquisitor was chasing us, shouting something about me breaking the First Law.”

“Revealing your nature to the mortal herd, yes, well it’s clear you’ve done that.” He eyed AJ, barely turning his head. “But that law is so interpretable. We all have our mortal companions, she probably does too. They should just change the wording.”

Man alive, he loves to hear himself talk.

“It does seem rather strange that the Inquisitor would risk a cross-sect enforcement for a mere vessel. Are you sure there was nothing more? An insult? An indiscretion? A drop of blood going the wrong way?” The words escaped Lyle’s mouth like a venomous mist. Eliza’s face betrayed nothing. “But I digress,” Lyle continued, “I’m sure the Praetor can sort out the misunderstanding.”

“Indeed he most probably can, however he is… indisposed tonight,” Eliza replied, “hence the need for sanctuary.”

Lyle's gaze snapped to AJ with predatory precision.

“Tell me Vessel,” his voice dropping to a silken purr that seemed to bypass AJ's ears and slide directly into his brain, “what is the true reason you are here tonight?”

Something slithered into AJ's mind, coiling around his thoughts. Eliza's lips parted, her eyes widening as she recognized what Lyle was doing. Around them, conversations died mid-sentence as heads swiveled toward their table. Across the room, Dave set down his glass with deliberate care, his earlier casual demeanor hardening into something watchful as he gave a slight, disapproving shake of his head. The Haven's invisible boundary of acceptable behavior had just been crossed.

One of the chandeliers trembled, glass chiming once before settling. No one looked up.

“Bad form, Lyle,” Eliza spat.

AJ’s head was swimming.

Man, a few more words, and I feel like I would’ve spilled everything. Probably starting with how I truly feel about him.

The Keeper's neck snapped around, his gaze raking across the room of silent onlookers. His chair screeched against the floor as he shot to his feet, fangs descended behind his twitching upper lip.

“Back to your business!” he bellowed, the words still echoing as he vanished through a side door.

“Come on,” said Eliza, getting off her chair, “I need a drink.”