~~Jack~~
If there was one way he was going to die, it'd be between two dangerous women.
Antoinette's tiger eyes returned, with all the ferocity and rage of when Lucas had crashed her ball. Like a crushing storm, being so near her shook him to his core as the rage poured off of her, buried him in rolling thunder that vibrated his bones and pulled his gut up into his throat. She wasn't looking at him anymore, thank god; her eyes would have bore holes through his body and couch otherwise.
The love of his life got up from the couch, stood up, and stared at the intruder.
"You have nerve, Avery."
"Hey, I'm just here to talk to my middleman. Didn't think he'd be here boning his girl, let alone boning the Prince." Avery stepped in nice and close, and looked up at the woman over a foot taller than her, with something between a grin and smirk on her face. "Kind of young for you don't you think?"
"Kindred do not see years as you do, wolf. He is an adult, as am I."
Jack sat up, but stayed sitting, and quiet. Getting up would imply he wanted to get involved in the conversation, and he wasn't that stupid. Not yet at least.
"Right, sure." With a snort, Avery walked around Antoinette, exposed her back to her, and started to explore Jack's apartment. Every step dripped of confidence, but where Kindred would make subtle jabs at each other, a lot of passive aggressiveness, Avery's jabs were blatant, aggressive, direct, and honest. Sort of. "Had a couple tips that you two were an item. Had to see it to believe it."
"Is that why you have come to my love's home?" Antoinette turned to face Avery, but the werewolf didn't seem to mind having the elder watching her exposed back. "To insult me, pry into m—"
"Nope. Dead serious, came to talk to my middleman. Who's doing a piss poor job right now." Her fingers found his other couch, window, counter tops, his fridge, cupboards, and continued to glide until she found his hallway before disappearing into the bathroom. "God damn you Invictus love to waste money. This is a nice place."
Oh god if Avery joined the group of people who kept randomly visiting his apartment, he'd have to move.
Jack looked at Antoinette. Safe to talk? A tiny glance from her suggested otherwise, but with a few more seconds, she let out a long, annoyed sigh, and sat down on the other couch while doing up her blouse's buttons. Ball in Jack's court then.
"You uh, wanted to talk to me, Avery?"
"Yeap." The small, brutish woman poked her head out from the bathroom, smirked, and walked back down the hall to join them in the living room. "No wonder this building only gets one apartment per floor." Once in the living room, she looked down from the enormous window nearly the size of his wall, and then around the curve into the other hallway. A short-lived hall that opened to his very, very large bedroom. "A Ventrue and a Daeva, bet you two brainwash dozens of humans to be your sex slaves."
He frowned and said nothing. Neither did Antoinette. The wolf's prodding wasn't worthy of a response, and it was blatant instigating.
"So," she said at last, "a few hours ago, half my pack were scouting the area near Devil's Corner, and ran into some Kindred guy named Damien. Don't know him. He was with some girl named Fiona."
Oh shit. He looked to Antoinette, and she looked at him. Hard to read her expression, solid and flat as it was except for a slightly raised eyebrow. Her silence was like a green light for him to handle the situation, and he was really hoping for a red light.
"... I know them," he said.
"Do you?" Avery came back to join them in the living room again, and she leaned against the wall as she wiped her bottom lip with her thumb. "Want to fill me in?"
He steeled himself, folded his arms across his chest, and looked at her. Antoinette was right behind him, if shit went badly. But then, she wasn't on his side either, not really. She'd keep him from getting killed, but she'd also take advantage of any information she heard for her own gains. Walk carefully Jack.
"Damien is a Kindred of the Lancea et Sanctum."
"Is he now? Thought they were done with Lucas gone."
Jack nodded. "Damien is trying to revive the covenant."
Antoinette scoffed, more than loud enough for Avery to understand her annoyance with Damien.
"Right," the werewolf said, "black sheep then. And Fiona?"
"... a young Begotten." Not like he could lie and say she was Kindred; the Uratha would find out he was lying. He couldn't lie and say she was human either, they'd figure that out too.
"Begotten? You mean a monster? Been fucking decades since I've run into one of them. The fuck kind of hole city you running here, Ann?"
The Prince stared daggers into the wolf, but said nothing.
Jack put up a hand. "What's Damien and Fiona got to do with the Uratha? You said your pack were near Devil's Corner, not directly under it, so it doesn't sound like Damien was violating your rule."
She snorted and walked over to his window. Not a care in the world, she put her hand against the glass. Smudges, ugh. He kept his mouth shut as he ground his teeth.
"Azlu are sneaky fucking things. Weird tricks up their slee—in their webs. David thinks one of those fucking spiders has set up a home here in Dolareido; that's why we're here. So, cats out of the bag, we're here for a host, Azlu."
Jack looked over his shoulder at Antoinette, but the Prince looked as confused as he did. "Um... Azlu? Host?"
"Yeah I'm telling you more than I should. But, after poking around and getting a feel for the city, I have to say I'm pretty happy with how things are here. You"—she spun around and pointed at Antoinette—"are still a fucking hazard and are going to bring hell down on this city if you keep fucking with the Gauntlet. But, things seem fine at the moment; only reason I'm telling you any of this. We think you might have an Azlu infestation."
Antoinette's gaze was ice, but again when Jack checked to see what she'd say, she tossed him a quick glance and green light.
"What do Damien and Fiona have to do with any of this?" he said. Spiders, she said spiders. Shit.
"Azlu are a problem. One of them has grown, and they're skulking around in your fucking maze of tunnels."
"My tunnels are much of the reason Dolareido is the haven it has become for Kindred." Antoinette switched and refolded her legs as she leaned back and hooked her arms on the couch's back. But, once she opened her mouth, ready to snarl, she sighed instead, closed her lips, and looked back to Jack.
Trapped between the two most powerful women in the city, in the world for all he was able to figure. God damn.
"Yeah, I know. Good for you Ann, you put together a nice city for vamps. You also put together a nice city for nasty shit to hide. I'm not your fucking janitor. I—"
