Daughter of the Earth- Stary Writing Academy III

Chapter 3: It Doesn't Smell Like It

Dimitri

"Dimitri. Come here."

Dimitri made his way over to the short vampire lounging on the couch as she overlooked the dance floor at the Red Room. They were in the executive office, which has soundproof walls with a one-way mirror. Her silver lavender hair cascaded down her back, and the spaghetti strap black velvet mini dress she was wearing clung to every curve on her body. Asmodeus looked bored as she watched the people below writhing to the beat. When Dimitri was right in front of her, she stood up and grabbed onto his belt.

"Will you entertain me for the night? Or will I have to go hunting?"

Dimitri arched a brow at her and then turned his head.

"I am here to protect your body. Not stimulate it."

Asmodeus pouted and playfully pushed him away.

"You're no fun, Mitri!"

He shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the door.

"I'm going to make my rounds. Sitting in this box staring out a window is driving me insane. You know how to reach me if you need me."

Exiting the office, Dimitri made his way downstairs. He could smell that the club was full of supernaturals tonight. There were even a few werecats milling about. He subconsciously licked his teeth as he surveyed the club. There were all types of people around, and a few of the women even caught his eye. He took in shallow breaths because he hated the scent of stale blood that permeated the area. However, this time when he inhaled, a delicious scent hit his nostrils. It reminded him of wintertime as a child. His mother would scrape her earnings from the week together and buy a chocolate bar, the Alenka brand. She would split it between him, his little sister Ekaterina, and herself. Those were the happiest times of his poor, complicated life.

But why was that smell here, of all places? It was so out of place among the blood, the metal, the lust. Despite himself, he began to look around, trying to find the source of the smell. Not too long after, he realized it was coming from a tiny, blonde human. Just as he was thinking of investigating further, she made eye contact. Her face flushed from shock to intrigue before landing on what seemed to be anger. Rolling her eyes, she looked away and turned to place an arm on the black man next to her.

For some reason, seeing her touch him so intimately immediately made his blood boil. To stop himself from rushing over there to rip the poor fool apart, he made a beeline for the bar and ordered a very bloody mary. Hold the tomato juice.

Imagine his surprise when the beautiful scent got stronger, and when he turned his head to the left, the intriguing human was across the bar, looking at him with intense curiosity.

***

Becks

The moment they entered the club, Beck's senses were on high alert. For some reason, her wolf, Trixie, kept getting restless.

Trixie, what is going on?

I don't know. I can smell something. It smells like our mate. But why would he be here, Becks? This is dangerous.

I don't know Trix. If possible, we will find out.

As soon as she finished talking to Trixie, she got this feeling of being watched. Scanning her surroundings, she made eye contact with this big hulking man staring at her with some intense emotion in his eyes. She couldn't understand why, but the more he stared, the more confused she was. One thing for sure, when the man's eyes flashed red, she knew he was a vampire. Immediately she sneered at him. She knew he must think she was a human he could seduce and feed off of later. On the other hand, he might be able to give them some information. Maybe he was the informant Castor mentioned.

Turning away from the confusing vampire, she grabbed Castor's arm so she could tell him what she noticed. As he bent down, she murmured in his ear.

"Did Callahan tell you what the informant looked like?"

Castor looked around subtly, trying to see what triggered her. Shaking his head, he murmured back.

"No clue. All I know is that they are supposed to approach us. Also, why didn't you mind link me?"

Becks rolled her eyes.

"Because, genius. It would blow our cover if the human's eyes suddenly turned white, no?"

Castor embarrassedly scratched the back of his head and nodded. Huffing, Becks turned her attention back to the crowd and bit her lip. She decided against telling Castor about the vamp, just in case the guy was a creep and not who they were looking for.

Tapping Castor on the shoulder, she told him she would scout things out from the bar.

"Be careful, sis. You may be strong, but there may be stronger out here tonight."

Nodding, she made her way to the bar. Sitting across from the vamp from earlier, she began scoping him out. All of a sudden, she could catch the faint whiff of her favorite smell: Sugar Pine. For some reason, it seemed to be emanating from the vamp! Before she could act on that, the vamp made his way closer to her.

"Ya know, pretty lady," he said close to her ear. His husky voice sent a shiver down her spine.

"You probably shouldn't be bringing chocolate to a bar."

Becks scrunched her face up and looked at the vamp confusedly.

"Was that a s*x joke?"

The vamp looked away, embarrassment showing on his face.

"Nevermind. What are you doing at a place like this?"

She looked him up and down.

"Oh, you know, trying to get the latest scoop on the hip happenings in the underworld."

The vamp frowned.

"What would a hum--I mean, young lady like yourself need to trouble herself with the 'happenings of the underworld'?"

Becks looked back at him.

'Surely an informant on the lookout for them would pick up the hints, right?'

Changing the subject, she put on her best flirty face.

"So what cologne did you put on? It's faint, but it smells wonderful."

The vamp discreetly tried to scent his breath.

"I don't have anything on. Maybe it's my breath. I ate earlier, and it was a bit fragrant."

Becks could feel Trixie's anger growing. She began growling in the back of Beck's mind.

Kill him. He ate our mate. Rip his throat from his neck!

Becks clenched her fist so tightly that her sharpening claws began to prick her palm. She could smell her blood, and she saw that the vamp could too. Immediately his eyes turned red, and he looked at her quizzically. Before he could speak, she had whirled away and stormed off.

***

Dimitri

'What the actual f**k just happened?' Dimitri thought to himself. The whole exchange had weirded him out. He made his way back up to the executive office. Entering the office, he walked in on Asmodeus feasting on an unfortunate human. The man's eyes darted around before landing on him, outstretching his hand, asking for help. Dimitri rolled his eyes and started to leave back out.

"What is it, Mitri?"

"I had a question for you, but I can see you're busy."

"No, I'm not. This guy is a local. He's in for a helluva hangover in the morning."

Pressing a button on the wall, she called for security to escort the poor man home. Wiping a few specks of blood from her chin, she returned to the chaise, looking at Dimitri expectantly. After he did not speak for a few seconds, she motioned for him to proceed.

Putting his hands on his hips and letting out a deep sigh, he looked at Asmodeus helplessly.

"Has a human's blood smelled sweet to you before?"

Asmodeus gave him a sardonic grin.

"I'm a vampire, Mitri. Of course, it does."

Dimitri waved his hands, dismissing her words.

"No, not 'yum you smell like you taste good,' kind of sweet. More like 'I want to cherish and protect this,' kind of sweet."

Asmodeus gave an incredulous laugh.

"Maybe when I have kept a human for s*x. That's all they are, Mitri, a source of s*x and ultimately food."

Dimitri rolled his eyes and threw up his hands.

"This doesn't make sense."

Asmodeus shrugged her shoulders and looked out at the club below.

"Maybe your predator-prey drive has warped itself into twisted feelings of love. You've been celibate long enough. Point her out, dear."

Dimitri walked up beside her and whispered in her ear.

"Just because I've rebuffed your advances doesn't mean I'm celibate. It just means I'm picky. She's there."

As Dimitri looked in the direction of his confusing human, he heard the sound of glass breaking. Turning back to look at her, he noticed that Asmodeus had crushed her glass as she glared at him.

"You're falling all over yourself for that? Some freckle-faced human that doesn't even look old enough to be here?!"

Dimitri turned to face her, his silver fangs glinting ominously in the dim light.

"You will watch your tone, Asmodeus."

Just as she was about to lose her temper, something caught her eye, and she rushed to the window. Looking down in the direction of a blond man with a black girl, she murmured,

"It can't be...Is that--"

Before she could finish her sentence, the air felt oppressively heavy. It seemed to be coming from the entrance. Asmodeus and Dimitri both turned their heads, just in time to see that snake, Leviathan, make an appearance. He immediately looked up in the direction of Asmodeus before winking.

"s**t!" She exclaimed. She whirled her head in the last seen direction of the blond man, but he had long since disappeared.

"This isn't good." She called Keith and Florence into the room and instructed them to keep Leviathan busy near the entrance. After they left, she motioned for Dimitri to follow her.

'This can't be good,' Dimitri thought to himself.

***

Serafina

As Serafina and Klarich made their way through the club, she couldn't help but feel something was off. On the way there, Klarich had advised her of another person meeting them at the club. For some reason, when Klarich described him, she didn't think he would be this 6-foot tall slab of stone with menacing green eyes. Every time he looked at her, she could almost feel his disapproval. She wanted to tell Klarich, but she didn't want to make the situation any more awkward. Things took a turn for the worst when Klarich led them to the far side of the club and instructed Sera to take a seat. Her job was to be the lookout and make sure that no one took extra notice of them than should be. Serafina pressed her lips into a thin line and stared off sulkily toward the bar. She felt that Klarich had purposefully left her behind, not trusting that she was back on her meds. She could see him and the guy talking not too far from her, and if she strained herself, she could hear what he was saying.

"Why did you bring the girl, Klarich?"

"Because, Dex, this involves her parents. Do you think I could have left her at home?"

Dex sighed frustratedly.

"She better still be taking those suppressant pills. Otherwise, we're screwed."

Klarich patted Dex on the shoulder reassuringly.

"She is. I am making it a habit to check behind her."

Serafina zoned out of the conversation, her mind a mess.

'Suppressant pills? That didn't sound like the 'antidote' pills Klarich had explained she would be taking. Suppressing what, exactly?'

Serafina made a decision then and there that she would stop taking her meds, damn the consequences. Just as she was silently making plans on how to hide the pills, she got a whiff of something unique. The faint fragrance of sandalwood and jasmine touched her nose, drawing her attention away from Klarich and Dex to the other side of the club. Ever so cautiously, she snuck her way to the other side, making sure there were multiple bodies between her and Klarich's line of sight. Near the middle of the club, the scent grew more robust, but Klarich was closing in on her too. She hurried back to where Klarich had left her, smelling the smell but driven wild by the fact she couldn't find its source.

***

Castor

Castor was frustrated. They had been at the Red Room for about 2 hours now, and there was still no sign of the informant. To be sure, Gabe had suggested making another sweep of the club instead of staying on the far side. Maybe they would be able to bump into the informant that way.

Although he disagreed, he had to admit they had no other options. He had Becks and Matthew stay behind just in case the informant found them first as he and Gabe made their way across. As they were walking, A mouth-watering smell assaulted Castor's nose. It smelled like a mix between lavender and vanilla. Suddenly Castor heard Enzo howl in the back of his mind.

Mate! Castor, our mate is here! Find her!

Enzo, calm down! Why would our mate be here?

I do not know! Maybe she's the informant?! It matters not. Find her fool!

Pushing Enzo to the back of his mind, he began to scent the air more earnestly. It was coming from the middle of the club! Castor surged forward, his eyes flashing in anticipation. He noticed an older blond man and an unfamiliar werewolf making their way towards him as he walked. As they approached, for some strange reason, the scent got stronger?!

Enzo, is there something you need to share with me?

Not in the slightest. That male has been near our mate, but he is unequivocally not our mate.

Castor breathed a small sigh of relief. Alphas with male mates usually had it rough, because both their wolves would be dominant and the need to both dominate and protect would be at war with each other, to say the least. However, there was still a problem. This man smelled like his future Luna. He needed to make sure he was a guardian and not a potential problem.

Approaching the pair, he gave a short nod to the werewolf and received a sneer in return.

"Alpha Henderson, I presume," he growled.

Castor nodded.

"So I can safely assume your Alpha Callahan's pup. So this man must be.."

The man outstretched his hand.

"Let's just call me a helping hand."

Castor shook it, fully aware that he was trying to apply pressure. Chuckling softly he said,

"Is there anyone else with you?"

The werewolf sent a sidelong glance in the man's direction. The man shook his head and smiled.

"Nope, just us."

Castor dropped his smile and let his wolf push forth just a bit.

"It doesn't smell like it."

The man pulled at his hand, and Castor released it. By this time, Gabe had noticed Castor and the others and made his way over, standing slightly behind the werewolf.

"Alpha, is there a problem?"

Callahan's werewolf whipped his head around and growled. Gabe crossed his arms across his chest and just glared. Eventually, the werewolf dropped his eyes.

"No problem Gabe. We're just getting acquainted," Castor murmured.

The man cleared his throat and nudged the wolf with his elbow.

"Sorry for that...Alpha, was it? Dex here just takes his security job seriously. I am Klarich. I'm a vampire hunter. I've got a lot of information for you, but this isn't the place to hear it. It's too loud and there are too many ears. For now, I will just point out the people you are looking for."

As Klarich began to survey the club, Castor felt a strange sense of dread. Looking around discretely, he noticed a small Asian woman with lavender silver hair glaring from the steps at the back of the club. Before he could say anything about it Klarich muttered,

"Yep. That's her. That's Asmodeus. Don't worry though. She's not glaring at us. But..."

Here he looked behind them and cursed.

"The vamp she is staring at is Leviathan. I've done my part. I've identified them for you. Now, we need to leave."

Klarich didn't wait for their response, as he and Dex immediately left the area. Castor took the chance to look over his shoulder and saw one of the most evil-looking vampires he had ever seen. Worse still, the vamp, who was initially staring at Asmodeus, shifted his gaze to Castor.