"I ate from Raven, remember... and had a guard along the way," Carlos said quickly, trying to keep the ruse going. "Then, I went after the Neteru like I was told to - after that, I really haven't had feeding on my mind."
Nuit hesitated, then came near him and wiped at the sheen of perspiration still on Carlos's brow. "Understandable," he murmured and put his finger in his mouth. Carlos snarled and Nuit backed away with a smile.
"She's even in your bloodstream. I can taste her in your sweat." Nuit sucked in a low hiss with a gulp of air, closed his eyes for a moment, and shuddered. He ran his finger over his lips and his head tilted as he inhaled deeply. "But she had a white bath - a damned prayer chastity belt! How did you get past it to even sense what she'd be like?"
Carlos could feel his jaw beginning to unhinge at the sight of another male demonstrating such open desire for his woman. He ran his tongue over his incisors, sending them back into his skull. Not yet. The night would come soon when the game would be over. In that instant he made up his mind that there were only two pending offers to consider - the Vampire Council's or the other side. Nuit was a dead man walking.
"Because she trusts me. That's the only thing that will render her prayer guard ineffective. She has to willingly breach it and we have to draw her beyond it, remember? If I bring her to you struggling, you still won't be able to get past it - so let me work her."
Carlos leveled his gaze at Nuit. "You just sampled the product, and it opened up your nose, didn't it? I told you I had the goods. Don't f**k with me. Not tonight."
"I'll make you a second female, quickly. No man in my territory should have to suffer like this - unless he crosses me." Nuit gazed at Carlos and held him in an intense stare. "What was she like?"
So, Nuit had taken a hit... liked the product and was damned near strung out from just a taste. Everything he'd learned in the streets collated in Carlos's mind, and he leveraged his advantage, messing with Nuit without mercy. Let the bastard twist.
"I can't even discuss it," Carlos said, the truth of his statement not lost on Nuit. That was the best part of it all, he could tell the truth, and the credibility would come through in his tone. Carlos watched his enemy nearly writhe with impatience, and a deep sense of personal satisfaction took residence within him. To the victor go the spoils.
"I'll bring her to you, Nuit. Then we can deal with my options. For now, she looks like she's very close to doing the concert - maybe even signing with your label," Carlos lied, just to add more lure to the game. "I've been in her ear and in her mind, because she trusts me. We go way back; I can sway her... she doesn't even know I've turned - so don't blow my cover. That's how I got past her guardians and her radar."
"Are you serious?" Nuit leaned against the wall as though he now needed it to hold himself upright.
"She never even saw my fangs," Carlos said with pride. "It was smooth."
Both vampires looked at each other. Nuit was almost trembling.
"That's why I said to stop flushing my hunt," Carlos went on, relaxing as he felt his guile take root within Nuit. "That guy, Dan, he's a wannabe... but Damali cares for him. The kid got her to consider it, first, when one of the Minion threw the bait out for him to hook up with Blood. I was working on the huntress from a business perspective. Everything was cool, until Raven went after Dan, and her thirds attacked the compound. You have got to pull your people back, or make sure none of the other seconds are moving on your kill. I thought you had this territory locked down, man? There are breaches everywhere, and it's bullshit. We don't have a lotta time."
Nuit pushed himself off the wall and nodded. "No one has ever gotten us this close to her physically, or to shifting her will - from there, breaking her spirit is only a matter of time. And none of the others have ever been this loyal."
Carlos nodded and walked closer to Nuit. "You want to feel this agony?" He leaned in toward Nuit to let him smell where Damali's head had rested against his neck, then quickly backed away. "That's pain, hombre. My jaw almost unhinged - but I remembered the family."
"Shit..."
Nuit tried to come near him again, but Carlos held up his hand. You always had to give them just a taste to make them hunger for more.
"Si. So you understand the sacrifice - however, I don't have a lair, the sun is about to toast both of us, I got motherfuckers creating havoc, and I really am not in the mood to sleep in the sewer my first night out - and not after being this loyal. I need my rest, and I deserve - "
"A f**king throne and a harem, Carlos. The females I'll send to your lair as part of the package are insatiable. Yes. I completely agree. I'll make some territorial adjustments, and you can have one of the other dons' lairs."
"Give me the Dominican's joint. He and I go way back, and he did a few of my boys a while ago when I was making space for my own in the streets. Some shit never dies - territory is territory. As above, so below."
Nuit nodded. "Take his villa in Beverly Hills. He has a sumptuous vault in his basement. I'll do him myself, will explain to the others that it was just business. After a taste, I need one more body for the night, as it is."
Carlos chuckled. "I hear you. Then imagine how I feel."
Nuit laughed. "He might even have a third generation female already in there who might still be awake - might help take the Neteru edge off? You want her?"
"Naw, I'm cool, man," Carlos murmured. "Give whatever female you find to one of the other dons. I just ain't in the frame of mind. In fact, I might just hit a blood bank and take a few pints to bed. If I go hunting this late, I might forget what time it is and wind up on the Neteru's trail again. Could f**k around and sun bake myself by accident. I'm telling you, man, this slayer is all that."
"It is intense, isn't it... but so much so that you don't trust yourself to hunt?" Nuit rubbed his face and shook his head. "Absolutely amazing."
"She's equivalent to a master level, Nuit," Carlos said quietly, lacing the truth in his game to make it even more credible, but perhaps offering more than he wanted to, the pull of Damali still a toxin within his system. But at the same time, he had to drive a convincing point that would assure her temporary safety.
Carlos let out a long breath that made Nuit carefully watch him. He closed his eyes and projected images of Damali to Nuit in slow motion.
"She can hunt better than Raven ever could - you should see her in action, man... the adrenaline, the stamina, the very perspiration on her after the hunt reeks with the Neteru hormone... one whiff and you're intoxicated... she can see in the dark, almost like us." Although baiting his prey, the memory made Carlos inhale and have to pause. The game was rough, but he had to play it.
Carlos sighed. "I'm not talking myths and legends. I've seen her... held her. The woman is a telepath, a tactical sensory - her skin literally comes alive under your hands, she has the nose..." He pressed on. "Can project thought, and has a will of iron... can you imagine what she'll be like when she turns?"