Brian didn’t move, but when he spoke his voice was calm and even, betraying none of the anger he felt only a few moments ago, “I don’t know, but I’ll check on it. The one had a transmission problem but we had the parts ordered and on hand last week. I’ll find out.”

  Kenneth nodded. He scrolled through his computer system, “There’s a deviation in blood production from one of our farms. They should be producing…wait a second. Hmm, that’s interesting.”

  “What is it?” Brian asked as his interest piqued.

  “This particular farm, down on the south side, has been fluctuating, nothing out of the ordinary, especially since it was one of the ones we had to rebuild after being destroyed by the dogs last year. But the output numbers are just a little off, never producing at peak, like the others. In fact, it has never piqued above one hundred percent of expectations.”

  “Never?!” Brian asked, “that’s incredible, or just a weird coincidence. The south side isn’t exactly the best candidates for our farms, and never any of our top producers.”

  “You should come around and look at these numbers,” Kenneth offered.

  Their earlier friction almost completely forgotten, Brian walked over and scanned the spreadsheet of numbers. He wasn’t the best with computers, but he knew numbers. “Oh wow, how did I miss this?” he asked the room.

  Brian saw the subtleties in the book keeping. The numbers had been tampered with; it was the only way to account for the smooth incline and decline of production from month to month. The only way production raised, and slid down, and never reached one hundred percent of expectations could only have been possible by tampering. Deliberate tampering orchestrated by someone who was trying to put money into their pocket at the expense of the House.

  “I’ll take care of this,” Brian said as he started to leave.

  “No,” Kenneth stated coolly. “No, this is something that I should see to myself. In the meantime, I have an idea. Something that the whole House should bear witness too.”

  Brian nodded and smiled. “What did you have in mind? Dinner and dancing, demonic blood orgy, movie night?”

  “A banquet should be sufficient; do you think you can arrange the food?”

  Brian nodded, “Oh yeah no problem, when?”

  “Tomorrow night.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Whoa,” Brian hesitated, “Ok, sure, yeah, no problemo. I got this.”

  Kenneth dismissed his lieutenant with a hand wave. As Brian was leaving Kenneth looked up, “Oh, and Brian?” Brian turned to face him. “This should be an elegant affair, strictly formal, and the food should be high quality. I want to make a statement.” Brian nodded and left the high-rise office.

  Kenneth studied the numbers on his computer screen. There wasn’t much of a black-market value on farm blood. It might be interesting to find out just what this guy was up to. But then again, he didn’t care. He already had Trevor Swaan as a student and whatever this amateur thought he was doing, was nothing compared to what Trevor had already done. Maybe he would question the idiot personally, maybe not. He decided to let the vibe of the evening dictate his actions. He was careful and pretty smart but sometimes circumstances just demanded a certain amount of spontaneity.

  The next night Kenneth walked into his banquet hall on the fifth floor of his downtown office building.

  Kenneth wore one of his Italian style suits. The pants were a light sand color, the pant legs coming down into a perfect shimmering break, just meeting his chestnut-colored double monk shoes. His double-breasted jacket was a slightly darker stone color whose tailored soft shoulders form fitted perfectly over his torso. His light blue shirt underneath accented the light warm colors of the suit itself and the grey tie brought the whole ensemble together. As he entered the hall he took in the atmosphere.

  Brian had outdone himself in the short time he had been given to plan and prepare. The general feel of the room and the colors that most dominated the scene were warm Tuscan gold and sand, which seemed to make the whole room seem to bathe in afternoon sunlight. The walls were of a beige color, but purple lighting splashed against them giving the walls a deep purple color that faded as it climbed higher towards the ceiling. The tables and chairs were covered with elegant textured gold linens. The place settings were of white plates with bold red detailing along the edges. The wine glasses were fine textured crystal that sent rainbows of color onto each table. The center pieces were primarily golden ‘mother lode’ flowers with a light sprinkling of three to four white roses per center piece and various other warm colored flowers to complete the center pieces. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling gave off a warm, soft yellow light, which only added to the late afternoon feel of the room.

  The members of his House had taken the invitation seriously indeed. Each male wore a suit that was of a similar, if slightly less, quality than the suit that Kenneth wore. The colors ranged from black to white and just about everything in between, reflecting each member’s personal taste and backgrounds. The old guard of House Dukart wore suits similar to Kenneth; subdued earth tones with splashes of color to accent their attire. The younger Americans among them wore more dark or loud colors as befitted them. Each female wore dresses that humans wished looked as good on them as it did when worn by an immortal. The heels and fabric ranged in color and style but the quality was something that any celebrity wished would be shown at one of their award shows or parties.

  A hush fell over the room as Kenneth strode to the head table. There were few in the House who didn’t know that Natalia was no longer with the House. There were only a few who even dared to suspect that maybe it was Kenneth who had something to do with it. Most accepted that she had died a hero, killed by a werewolf in the battle that had made House Dukart what it was today.