The guard pulls closed the door behind Tallulah with a hiss, and the click of the security locking mechanism kicks in. He rapidly moves to retake the lead, and before long, they have moved beyond the hallway into an open area of a parlor, which isn''t tiny, but it also isn''t the massive expanse that the ballroom is. Inside the parlor are the three vampires, all with drinks in their hands, and a few others in the room that weren''t in the ballroom, though several of them seem to be guards or servants in varying states of undress.


    "Hello, Miss Tallulah." The warm voice of Kofi drifts to her ears, and even though she just watched him murder a man not ten minutes prior, she finds herself with a growing smile on her painted lips.


    "Hello, Mister Freeman. Your full moon night''s festivities are… interesting."


    "Yes, they can be." He drinks from the dark ruby liquid in his glass before facing the southern gentleman and the unbelievably beautiful woman, who looks almost carved and sculpted from alabaster with hair the color of a reafan''s.


    "Allow me to introduce Miss Tallulah formally." The two settle their eyes on Tallulah, and it is almost like she can feel its weight.


    "Miss Tallulah, this is Percival de Burgh, my Maker."


    The man sets down his glass and walks across the floor smoothly to stand beside Tallulah. She is surprised that he''s a relatively short man, about the same height as she is in her heels. For some reason, his presence in the other room made it seem as though he''d be much taller. He offers his hand in her direction, and when Tallulah places it in his like she''s seen done in movies, he leans forward and touches his lips to a knuckle primly. His hand, like Kofi''s, is pure ice in temperature. Once the greeting has taken place, he releases Tallulah''s hand. His facial hair is so meticulously groomed that even this close to "Percival," she can''t see one hair on his mustache or goatee out of place.


    "A pleasure, truly, Miss Tallulah. I must admit, you look quite lovely. I am pleased that you agreed to our offer." His southern speaking flows like water; she could see how one could be lulled into a false sense of passivity.


    There it is, she realizes; Kofi made an agreement with her, but she didn''t know she was making an agreement with them at the same time. Now it makes so much more sense to her why Kofi and others were using "we"–the royal we, as some people call it–or plurals when talking about the leadership of the vampire group. Some part of her boils internally at what she feels is a trick or misrepresentation. Instead of letting it show, she forces herself to smile a fraction at the man.


    "I''m glad that it pleases you."


    The woman drifts closer, seemingly with no effort at all.


    "Miss Tallulah, this is Selena Conghal, my older sibling."


    Instead of reaching forward with a hand, the woman comes within an inch of Tallulah, close enough to smell the perfume that "Selena" has chosen for the evening. She places a simple kiss on Tallulah''s left and right cheeks. It isn''t a simple peck that you see would-be socialites attempting on television, but a practiced gesture that is long enough for the coldness of Selena''s skin and lips to radiate away from where Tallulah was touched and also short enough to be perfectly polite.


    "It is so good to meet you finally, darling. Kofi has shared his excitement about you with us."


    The woman doesn''t step back, so Tallulah awkwardly smiles in response.


    "I''m glad that he has spoken so highly of me."


    The woman''s dark eyes gaze over Tallulah''s face, stopping momentarily at the crow''s feet on her facial features–even as covered as they are by makeup. She raises her glass a few inches in her hand and takes a sip.


    "Oh, but our manners. Would you like something to drink? Or eat? Or… partake in? We want you to be nothing but comfortable while you stay under our protection." Tallulah manages to breathe out a half-laugh. It isn''t loud, as Selena is still unreasonably close, and Tallulah is trying not to appear uncomfortable at the proximity.


    "Thank you. If I''m honest, I''d rather sit down. It''s been a long time since I''ve worn heels; our gatherings aren''t normally so glossy."


    For some reason, that seems to strike the woman as absolutely hilarious. Her facial expression shifts from placid and pleasantly indifferent to one hundred percent amused instantly.


    "Aren''t you a dear. Yes, of course, let''s all sit down. Sometimes, we forget that the living can wind up in discomfort that we no longer deal with."


    Tallulah momentarily glances at Kofi–who looks pleased at Selena''s amusement–before moving to follow the woman vampire towards a set of lush lounges. As Selena sits down, she snaps her fingers once, and a servant hurriedly comes over and kneels next to her.


    "Fetch our guest Miss Tallulah whatever she wishes, drink or food, or other ingestibles if she prefers it."


    As Tallulah moves to sit down, she tries to put a few feet between Selena and herself, but Kofi settles down where Tallulah was intending to sit, forcing Tallulah to sit right in the middle of the pair. The southern gentleman vampire, Percival, seems more interested in conversing with a different vampire on the other side of the room and has departed to do that. The servant looks up at Tallulah questioningly and she hesitates, unsure what to say to the domestic.


    "Oh, come now, don''t be shy, Miss Tallulah. Whatever you''d like. Would you rather he massage your feet?"


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    Tallulah opens her mouth to answer but doesn''t manage it before Selena continues. She snaps her fingers, and the servant immediately slides a few feet across the floor and takes off Tallulah''s beautiful heels.


    "Er–uh–thank you." Awkwardly, Tallulah thanks both the servant and Selena simultaneously, even though she can''t hide her discomfort at someone just being ordered to start rubbing and massaging her feet in front of everyone else. Kofi laughs a little under his breath.


    "I think you''re embarrassing Miss Tallulah, Selena. She''s not used to this sort of thing; apparently, in the ''Wilds,'' they mainly keep to simple things."


    Selena tilts her head slightly to the side, like a curious cat.


    "She doesn''t look embarrassed, Kofi. I think your Tallulah has seen a few things in her time, haven''t you?"


    With the change of position, losing her heels, gaining a foot massager, and being between two vampires both trying to talk and get her to respond almost simultaneously, Tallulah finds herself a little overwhelmed, to say the least. Selena points a hand at one of the other standing-at-the-ready domestics, then gestures at a small bar with liquors on it, specifically an unmarked, corked blue bottle. The woman immediately moves to pouring a drink from that unmarked bottle.


    "Not too many things can make me blush if I''m honest with you both."


    If Selena could get even more amused, it would be surprising. Her painted lips twist in what might be a genuinely entertained smile, finally made complete from the faintest showing of her fangs'' tips.


    "Oh, now you''ve done it," Kofi smirks, then looks down and shakes his head ever so slightly while speaking his amused-sounding line.


    "Oh, scandalous. Miss Tallulah, I am thoroughly interested in your people. I don''t want to bore you all night with questions, but I absolutely must know: would you say that you''re more or less of the night than our kind?"


    "Both." Tallulah murmurs in response without really thinking before speaking.


    The servant massaging Tallulah''s feet moves from one side to the other when he''s nudged by Selena''s foot. As the space is being made, the woman servant who was directed to pour a drink makes her way over with glass in hand. Selena takes it from the woman–and the domestic immediately moves away–before leaning over slightly and holding it out to Tallulah.


    "Both? Oh, don''t make me pry."


    Tallulah takes the offered drink without hesitation and raises it to her lips for a little sip. After the sip, she startles a bit at the taste and lowers her eyes to the glass she''s holding in front of her lips. Amusedly, Selena leans towards Tallulah as if she were about to share a confidential secret. She murmurs just above a whisper.


    "We have people who can specially procure things in supernatural marketplaces. After you accepted our offer the other night, we ensured you would have something familiar to celebrate with. Hopefully, your Wilds'' wine is as good as the price the vendor charged us for it."


    Selena''s lips are brushing the silvery gray wisps of hair around Tallulah''s ear by the end of the whisper. Selena''s close and cool breath while she speaks doesn''t distract Tallulah, because her insides are already singing from the infused magical wine mixture she''s only had once before in her entire life. She closes her deep and vivid green eyes slowly for a few moments too long, sinking backward into the plush sofa with a little shiver. As she sinks back into comfort, taking another drink of the intoxicating elixir in her glass, she mutedly accepts that this almost feels like drowning in indulgence.


    "Mmm. They must have charged you a lot. It''s ah, delicious."


    With half-lidded eyes, she can see the fanged smiles of both Kofi and Selena. Yet, for some reason, she doesn''t feel threatened. Instead, she feels protected, welcomed even, and for once seen. Kofi raises his cold hand–much like he did the night she still had the bruise across her face–and uses his thumb to slowly trace Tallulah''s collarbone up to the side of her neck and along her jawline closest to him. Selena, still so close that her cold breath can move wisps of hair on Tallulah''s braids and tickle the soft skin of her ear, seems more than keen to converse while Tallulah willingly intoxicates herself.


    "Lucky for us, we''re very capable of maintaining a level of quality that others can only dream of. Now tell me, Tallulah–" Tallulah, still sipping the inebriating liquid, doesn''t register the lack of ''Miss'' prefacing her name. "–What did you mean when you said your kind can be both more of the night and less than us?"


    Tallulah inhales slowly, almost too long, then exhales comfortably through her lips. Far in the back of her mind, some part is screaming alarmingly at her about what she''s doing. It warns about the vampires surrounding her, their beauty, their ability to disarm her, the fact that they might genuinely be using their supernatural crafts on her even now, and even her wanting to stay with them. The voice in her mind, growing increasingly muted by the second that passes, is strangled into temporary silence by Tallulah raising the glass again to her lips and, this time, drinking the rest of its heaven down. As the sensation of the Wilds'' most pure and distilled rivers of energy passes through her veins, spreading outwards from her chest, that voice of warning and self-protection is silent. Tallulah smiles at Selena.


    "I''ll make sure to tell you about my kind, their kind," she says with a nod towards the window outside, "and the others…" Tallulah blinks a couple of times, struggling to form a complete sentence even though in her mind it''s there; it just refuses to translate through spoken word. "This drink. Is very strong."


    "Uh oh. I would have said we''d hang on every word, dear. But it seems your words are failing you." Painted lips slightly part next to Tallulah''s earlobe, and she can hear the faintest sound of Selena very clearly scenting the side of her throat.


    "Hmm, this wine you''ve gotten… it''s… I''ve–"


    Some of her mind understands that she can''t even focus her words into sentences without extreme effort, let alone answer Selena''s question about being of the night. The magical liquor Tallulah has imbibed pleasantly warms her veins, making her moon-guided energy sing and want to be used. Kofi leans in toward the delicate skin of Tallulah''s shoulder and neck. His hand drops away from her jawline, and his lips, parted by fanged teeth, take its place.


    "May I, Tallulah?"


    It takes a moment to register what exactly he''s asking. Days in the past, some part of her would have hesitated or even said to get away, but tonight, she does not feel that way at all. Instead, she feels a warm, radiating sense of desire and feeling somewhere in her chest that tells her these two won''t be harming her.


    "Yes, Kofi."


    "Lovely."


    "Do I have your trust, Tallulah?" Selena''s cool breath brushes against her earlobe again.


    "I… alright." She murmurs, unsure if she trusts either of them, but some dull thrumming inside of her seems to want her very much to. It''s a hard-to-resist feeling, especially now that the Wilds'' wine is singing through her.