Work Text:
Dante couldn’t believe he actually agreed to do this.
If his family ever found out he was doing this, he would be in some serious hot water. Literally. They might actually boil him alive as punishment for this offense.
He didn’t often get himself involved in the politics of his family. As a mortal, he found the topic of politics to be boring and complicated. That opinion didn’t suddenly change when he got turned into a vampire. If anything, politics became even more of a headache, as suddenly he had to learn a whole new host of vocabulary words and vernacular.
It was all just one big headache really, so he just decided not to pay attention most of the time.
He doubted his family cared too much about his apathy. Unlike the other members of his family, he had no real desire to try and climb the ranks. If he did, he had no doubt the “full” Giovanni members would make it as hard as possible for him, and even if he defied the odds and rose in the hierarchy, he would only be invited to more boring political-strategy meetings.
Yeah. No fucking thank you.
He did the duties that were expected of him as a member of the Giovanni. He came to any meeting or dinner he was expected to attend, did any job he was ordered to do, and made sure to show nothing but deep respect to the elders of his sect. Nothing more.
Most of the meetings, he tuned out, the topics flying way over his head. Being a lower-ranking Giovanni member sucked in a lot of ways, but it was in times like those where it worked in his favor. Being viewed disfavorably by his family means they rarely asked for his input anyway, so he could get through most meetings without talking by just keeping his head down and mouth shut.
But even as politically ignorant as Dante was, he knew for a fact his family didn’t like the Camarilla, and that they hadn’t for generations now.
Hell, he wasn’t the biggest fan of the Camarilla himself.
While he admittedly wasn’t well-versed in the goals or aims of the Camarilla, what he did know was that they were the group responsible for getting his family kicked out of the Bellagio.
Dante had quite appreciated the Bellagio. The place was considered one of the best resorts in Vegas for a reason.
Most of his nights he admittedly spent indulging in the more obvious luxuries the resort had to offer, such as the pools and shops.
It hadn’t been an uncommon occurrence for him to pull a few strings and break a rule or two so that his groupies could enjoy the accommodations with him.
While he had mainly been glued to the “fun” parts of the Bellagio, there had been other parts he enjoyed as well.
Like the fountains. Many nights he’d found himself stepping outside, lighting a cigarette, and stopping to watch the synchronized water shows of the fountains, finding them strangely relaxing.
Sometimes, if he was really bored, he found himself wandering the art museum just because it was there, taking in all of the intricate art pieces. He had made it somewhat of a game to make up his own explanation of what the paintings were about, being too lazy to bother reading the written descriptions next to each piece. He was sure all the convoluted storylines he came up with were way more interesting than the actual explanations anyways.
If he craved the taste of food that night, but didn’t feel like cooking himself, there were plenty of great restaurants he could choose from, including a quite amazing Italian restaurant.
The Bellagio even had a botanical garden which he would meander around when he got bored or was trying to avoid his family.
He remembered soaking in the artificial light and heat of the room, pretending he was out in the sunlight again. He didn’t miss the daytime as much as some of his family members did, as even when he was a mortal, he would usually sleep the day away anyway. But he supposed there would always be a small part of him that missed it, and that garden was probably the closest he was going to get to ever feeling it again.
Yes, there had been many things he had enjoyed about the Bellagio. He had thought it would be a great place to spend immortal life in.
So one night, when Antonio had announced to him, Carlotta, and Squalo that the Camarilla was kicking the Giovanni family out of the Bellagio, he’d been shocked.
To him, it all felt sudden. Abrupt. Out of nowhere.
However, when he saw that Carlotta and Squalo both looked disappointed, but not surprised at the news, he guiltily realized that his family had probably alluded to this happening during one of the many family meetings he tuned out.
But even if he had been forewarned, the news probably still would’ve felt surreal to him.
His family had lost the Bellagio? Just like that?
As far as he understood it, the Giovanni had owned the Bellagio since its conception. So the idea that his family had given it up, seemingly without much of a fight… well, it felt wrong.
Apparently, he wasn’t the only member of the Giovanni family who found this a hard pill to swallow. The older members of the family seemed to take the loss especially hard.
Dante remembered catching the sight of some of them crying, as they collectively all moved their personal belongings out of the resort, a fact that still slightly unsettled him to this day. His family had always prided themselves on being tough as nails, so to see his family members in such an emotionally vulnerable state was off-putting and strange.
Many, however, reacted more in the way he expected, which was with anger.
Dante had heard many of his family members swear that the Camarilla would pay for this slight. That the Giovanni would make it clear they weren’t to be messed with. That really, it was only a matter of time and preparation.
Some of the more violent-minded family members, like Squalo, had even gone into graphic detail on what they’d like to do to individual Camarilla members.
Dante had listened to their rants and lamentations, nodding and murmuring in agreement to whatever it is they said. He even encouraged them at some points, if he thought it was what they wanted to hear.
However, despite that, Dante knew the awful truth, which was that his family would probably never get the revenge they so desperately wanted on the Camarilla.
Deep down, he was sure many of his family members knew this to be the truth as well, even if they would never admit it. All their rants would ever amount to being was empty promises.
They couldn’t do anything to the Camarilla, not unless they wanted their entire sect here in Vegas to be wiped out.
Every member of the Giovanni knew what happened to the Sabbat. Even Dante did, as the destruction of the Vegas Sabbat was all anyone in his family could talk and think about for a while.
It wasn’t uncommon to see his family replaying news footage that showed the burning wreckage of a church, which had apparently been the headquarters of the Sabbat, murmuring comments to each other.
Many members of the family had been sent out to scope how bad the damage actually was. Sure, the news reporters had described a rather macabre and grisly scene, which included a decapitated corpse, but perhaps the damage wasn’t as bad as it appeared?
Maybe all of this, ultimately, was a warning. A show of power meant to strike fear in the heart of the Sabbat and other vampire factions of Vegas.
Surely the Camarilla couldn’t just get rid of a whole faction in Vegas just like that, right? Sure, they were powerful, but surely not that powerful, right?
But it was no mere warning. The Las Vegas sect of the Sabbat was destroyed. A majority of its members met Final Death that night, and those who didn’t were either captured by the Camarilla or had fled with their tails between their legs.
No Giovanni member was willing to say it out loud, but they all knew if they caused trouble for the Camarilla, there was a very good chance they’d meet a similar fate as the Sabbat.
Even if the Sabbat hadn’t gone up in literal flames, Dante knew the Camarilla was too powerful of a force to just challenge willy-nilly.
Their power showed in the way they owned a good chunk of Vegas. A lot of that territory, Dante knew, used to belong to the Giovanni, in nights long before Dante was Embraced or even born. Slowly, but surely, they had lost it all to the Camarilla.
Maybe the stories the older Giovanni members told were true and once upon a time, his family had been strong.
Perhaps at one point, many years ago, they’d been powerful enough to own lots of territory in Vegas and strike fear in the hearts of other factions.
However, those nights were clearly long gone. As far as Dante saw it, his Clan was dying. Night by night they slowly grew weaker and weaker.
He heard talks about the new Hecata Clan, and how it was slowly, but surely subsuming them.
Hell, one of his many cousins, a girl by the name of Lucia, had even fled one night to join the Hecata somewhere. The only thing she had left behind was a letter explaining that she would be doing so.
Of course, at the time, everyone in the family showed public disapproval of Lucia’s decision. Some of the more angry family members had even scouted out to try and find Lucia, determined to make an example out of her. They were unsuccessful, but the point still stood.
Publicly speaking, Lucia was just an outlier. A rare traitor in the Giovanni family.
But silently, everyone knew the truth. Even someone as stupid and unobservant as Dante knew it. That truth being the uncomfortable fact that there were probably several family members amongst their ranks who wanted to break away and join the Hecata themselves.
The only thing that was probably stopping a lot of them was a lack of courage to even try. After all, every Giovanni knew if they got caught trying to defect, it wouldn’t be pretty for them.
However, Dante was sure that, eventually, more and more members would pluck up the courage and successfully leave just like Lucia did.
When that happened, their already dwindling Clan would just continue to dwindle even more.
It was sad, but Dante couldn’t help but think his family was headed towards extinction.
Dante had basically accepted that this was the way things were, but he had a feeling it would take the rest of his family a bit longer to get on the same page as him.
His cousin, Isabella, seemed determined to single-handedly save the Clan from the brink by herself, a goal that he thought was strangely naive and starry-eyed for someone as intelligent as her. He was smart enough not to say that out loud to her though. He just nodded along and allowed her to have her hopes.
But still, even though he supposed an event like getting kicked out of the Bellagio was inevitable, it still sucked to be essentially evicted and watch his family be so visibly shaken up by it.
So needless to say, Dante didn’t hold the highest opinion of the Camarilla.
But Dante also wasn’t as reductionist as the rest of his family was when it came to the Camarilla either. He didn’t think every member of the Camarilla was bad. Phoenix proved that just by existing. He had no qualms about dating them.
Unfortunately, his family hadn’t found Phoenix nearly as cool as he did.
He still cringed at the memory. He had known going in that Phoenix was going to be a tough sale to his family, seeing as they were an outsider. But even with that knowledge in mind, he had honestly thought introducing his partner to his family would go better than… that.
He was still surprised there hadn’t been a Final Death that night, or, at least an incident where someone’s mind got tampered with - whether it be his family using a Dominate power or Phoenix doing their own brand of mind-fuckery.
He should probably be thanking his lucky stars that it never got loose that Phoenix worked for the Camarilla. That theoretical Final Death might’ve actually happened then.
Maybe that awful dinner incident was to blame for why he agreed to do this so easily. It wasn’t like he wanted to meet his partner’s boss, no matter how ‘cool’ Phoenix insisted she was.
However, he was sure Phoenix hadn’t exactly been thrilled to meet his family, but they’d done it anyway. They were even nice enough to downplay what a shitty experience it was, as to not make Dante feel bad.
So Dante figured he could swallow his pride and meet this Prince Raveena character for them. It couldn’t be any worse than that dinner, and besides, this was sort of a cool opportunity.
Whatever his opinions were on the Camarilla, Prince Raveena was one of the most famous figures in the Vegas vampire world - maybe the closest thing their community had to a “president.”
The fact he was getting to meet her at all was an honor really, which was why he had tried to dress at least somewhat nice. He had put on a dressier shirt, nice pants, and some neat shoes for the event, and had even ditched putting on too much make-up.
He was going to at least try to make a good impression.
However, as cool as Dante found this opportunity, he also couldn’t help but find it a little nerve-wracking. Why had the Prince decided to talk to him of all people? He was a nobody, even amongst the Giovanni.
Maybe this was all a trap and she planned on killing him or holding him hostage for the crime of being a Giovanni. Phoenix kept reassuring him that neither would happen unless he had acted like a total idiot.
Dante hoped they were right as the two of them walked through the Caesar.
Dante admired the sights of the place as they passed on by. He had never bothered to try and enter one of the fancy big-name casinos ever since he had been kicked out of the Bellagio, so to see one in person was pretty cool.
And for all he knew, this ritzy-ass place might very well be the last thing he ever saw before he met Final Death.
Phoenix chattered to him about various things as they walked along, until, finally, the two of them reached a set of large mahogany doors, which he assumed to be the entrance of Prince Raveena’s office.
Standing in front of the doors were two neutral-faced guards. Or, at least, Dante assumed they were trying to be neutral-faced. Dante could feel their eyes raking over him with suspicion as if they could immediately sense he didn’t belong here.
He was pretty sure the anxious body language he was no doubt exhibiting was not helping matters.
Phoenix, however, was nonplussed. Delivering the guards a welcoming smile, they said, “Good evening, gentlemen! We are here to visit Prince Raveena and Sheriff William.”
“And he is?” one of the guards grunted, nodding at Dante before he lifted the clipboard of papers he was holding up and started scanning it.
Dante felt too awkward to say anything, not sure if he wanted to give his real name to these guys.
Thankfully, Phoenix was there to fill in for him.
“He is my guest, Dante Giovanni,” Phoenix chirped. They nodded at the clipboard and said, “His name should be on there next to mine.”
“Okay, let’s see, Phoenix… Phoenix…” the one guard murmured, continuing to flip through the pages. While he was doing that, Dante swore the other guard’s gaze became a lot more hateful after he had heard the name ‘Giovanni’ leave Phoenix’s lips.
He could see that his family’s name was still known to the Average Joe, and it seemed, not in a positive way.
Dante shifted anxiously. If the guards were acting like this, God only knows how the Prince and Sheriff were going to treat him.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the guard with the clipboard found their names. The two guards took a few steps away from the door and said, “You two may go in whenever you’re ready.”
Phoenix gave Dante a serious look, before quickly saying, “Okay, we’re here! Don’t be nervous. Just follow my lead, act normal, and don’t speak unless spoken to! Oh and don’t let William get to you. I swear, he glares hatefully at almost everyone except Prince Raveena...and Anthony Crinamorte, but don’t let anyone know I told you that~!”
Dante blinked at the sudden influx of information thrown his way, suddenly unsure of who was more nervous here, him or Phoenix.
He quickly tried to organize the information in his head. He hadn’t been planning on speaking unless spoken to, so that was fine. William was the name of the Sheriff, he remembered, but who in the flying fuck was Anthony Crinamorte? Probably some fuddy-duddy Camarilla member. Dante hoped he wasn’t expected to actually know him.
Suddenly, all coherent thought flew out of his head when Phoenix opened the doors.
He swallowed. This was it. There was no going back now.
As the two of them stepped into the large room, Dante’s eyes immediately landed on the two other people in there.
One was an imposingly tall, gothic man who was standing dutifully next to the desk of the other. However, his height wasn’t the only thing that caught Dante’s attention. No… he also noticed the nasty ass glare the man was throwing his way, not even bothering to hide his mistrust and derision.
That would be William, he was guessing.
Part of him felt wary to walk even further into the room at that point, unsure if doing so would give William a viable reason to lunge at him with a weapon of some kind, but he forced his legs to keep moving.
Diverting his attention away from the other man, he instead focused on the woman seated behind the desk. This, he assumed, was Prince Raveena.
The first thing that caught his attention about her was how beautiful she was. She looked prettier than any supermodel Dante had ever seen.
He didn’t know what he had expected the Camarilla Prince to look like. He supposed he had a stereotypical politician woman in his mind. Someone who was older and calculated-looking. A person who would look down upon him immediately.
He certainly didn’t expect someone who could immediately steal his breath away.
She only appeared to be in her mid-thirties at the most, with long, silky chestnut-colored hair that cascaded down her back and shoulders. She had shockingly green eyes that immediately reminded Dante of pretty things, like emeralds or forests.
Her eyes were so stunning in fact, Dante struggled to believe they were natural. Surely those had to be contacts, right? Though why would the Prince of the Camarilla bother to wear such things, especially when she was pretty enough as she was?
She was dressed in a sleek suit, which made her look so professional and business-like that Dante suddenly couldn’t help but feel embarrassingly underdressed in comparison. Wrapped around her neck was a black choker with a green stone of some kind on it, which complimented her eyes…
And there he was thinking about her eyes again…
But what surprised him the most was the air around her.
Based on how his family had talked about them, Dante had imagined that, no matter how they looked, a Camarilla Prince would always have a snobbish, arrogant air to them. But he wasn’t getting that from her.
He certainly felt a powerfulness to her. She had an energy that told him immediately she could crush him like a bug if she needed to, despite how she looked and for some reason, he couldn’t help but immediately feel an inkling of respect towards her.
However, she also seemed inviting in a strange sort of way. While her expression was somewhat cool and calculated, she still had an approachability to her, something her Sheriff certainly couldn’t brag about.
It might’ve just been Dante’s imagination, but he thought she even had a glint of curiosity in her eyes.
He supposed he couldn’t blame her. He doubted she met many Giovanni, much less in her office.
“Hello, Prince Raveena, Sheriff William,” Phoenix greeted as the two of them stopped near the front of the desk, a pleasant smile on his partner’s face, their hand raised in greeting.
William just sniffed, not giving Phoenix so much as a hand wave back.
Luckily, Prince Raveena was much friendlier. Raising her hand in greeting, she nodded and said, “Hello, Phoenix. It’s always a pleasure to see you.”
Then, she turned her gaze to Dante, which caused him to freeze in place instinctively. Nodding at him, she said, “I assume this is the friend you’ve been talking to me about?”
Phoenix brightened up more and nodded. Dramatically, they gestured towards Dante and said, “Prince Raveena, I am proud to introduce you to my friend and boyfriend, Dante Giovanni!”
Dante couldn’t help but feel a little put on the spot by that. Usually, Dante loved Phoenix’s dramatic flair, but he didn’t know if it was exactly appropriate to put on in front of the Camarilla Prince of all people. William certainly didn’t look impressed, though Dante was beginning to doubt anything would impress him.
Luckily though, Prince Raveena didn’t seem to be bothered. Perhaps she was used to and appreciated Phoenix’s character.
Suddenly, Dante realized everyone was looking at him. Shit. They were expecting him to say something.
Before he could think, he bowed and said, “It is an honor to meet you both, Prince Raveena and Sheriff William.”
He had done it naturally. At Giovanni meetings, he bowed to show respect to some of the higher-up members, so he assumed it would be appropriate to do with the Prince and Sheriff of the Camarilla.
But when he raised himself back up and saw the surprised looks he was getting, he immediately felt embarrassed. Why had he done that? While they probably had wanted him to show respect, he hadn’t needed to act subservient to them. He was a Giovanni, for crying out loud! An independent vampire clan! He should show more pride.
Hell, even Phoenix, who was a member of the Camarilla hadn’t gone so far!
Once again, he was so glad none of his family members were here to see him right now. They might’ve actually murdered him at that point.
“My, you’re a polite one, aren’t you, Mr. Giovanni?” Prince Raveena said, light amusement in her tone.
Normally, Dante would’ve felt even more humiliated that she was pointing it out… but his embarrassment seemed to die away when he saw the small smile gracing her face. She was pretty beforehand of course, but that smile, even if it was small, added a lightness to her face that was breathtaking.
Suddenly, Dante felt like he wouldn’t mind doing something completely embarrassing in front of her, if it meant she would smile even wider.
Encouraged by the light-hearted atmosphere, he decided to be more bold. Raising a hand up and shaking his head, he said, “Just call me Dante. Mr. Giovanni is my father’s name… and twelve of my cousins’ names… and my grandpas…and uh, well… a lot of people happen to have the name. We need first names to differentiate us.”
Phoenix giggled at his light joke, and while Prince Raveena didn’t laugh, he thought there was still amusement in her eyes as she said, “Alright then, Dante.”
Hearing her say his name shouldn’t have sparked something in him, but it did.
Again, he suddenly found himself wanting to do something, anything, if it meant she would call him by his name again.
They all made small talk for a little bit. Well, Prince Raveena and Phoenix did most of the talking, only occasionally including Dante when they tossed a question or two his way.
Dante tried to be careful with any answers he gave. He tried his best not to be too revealing, especially in regards to his family and their business. He was already acting traitorous by sneaking off behind their backs to this meeting. He refused to betray them further by just handing the Camarilla Prince information willy-nilly. Even if said Camarilla Prince was comparable to a goddess when it came to beauty, he was not going to be that weak-willed.
He may be a shoddy Giovanni in most regards, but Dante was actually skilled in the art of talking but saying practically nothing at all. To give answers that technically answered the question, but didn’t reveal anything satisfactory, and he was fully willing to demonstrate that prowess with Prince Raveena.
Maybe she’d even be mildly impressed with him for the fact that he wasn’t as much of a fool as he probably looked.
He answered however he thought appropriate for a while, the conversation remaining cordial and pleasant throughout. Eventually though, it fizzled out naturally, and Dante wondered if his time in this office was almost over. It would be a shame to leave this Prince Raveena person - possibly forever - but he would admittedly be glad to be out of the Sheriff’s hateful gaze.
Seriously, Dante didn’t even know it was possible to glare at someone for that long.
Right when Dante thought that the conversation had reached its natural conclusion, Phoenix suddenly seemed to remember something.
Jerking their head up, Phoenix asked, “Oh did you ever find a replacement for that whole Anarch business?”
Prince Raveena sighed and shook her head a little, saying, “Unfortunately, no. Ever since our plant canceled last minute, it’s been hard to find a replacement on such short notice.”
Phoenix murmured sympathetically, adding, “I’d offer to go myself, but unfortunately, I have that one mission, and I feel like they’re savvy enough about who is and isn’t Camarilla to know I am Camarilla through and through.”
Raveena nodded and said, “I understand. Do you think Hemlock would be around to-”
Dante listened to their conversation silently, not wanting to interrupt what sounded like at least semi-important business with nonsense.
From what he could glean of the vague conversation, there were Anarch members who made reservations at a bar in Camarilla territory. Prince Raveena was looking for a plant to spy on these members, but it couldn’t just be any Camarilla member, as apparently these Anarchs were pretty savvy to who was and wasn’t Camarilla.
Unfortunately for them though, it seemed most of the people who fit the qualifications of being “underground” Camarilla were either unavailable or busy with something else.
Prince Raveena finally waved a hand dismissively and said, “I might just have to let this one go. Chances are it was nothing too pressing anyways. I just fear they might be meeting someone in our ranks behind our backs. Why else would they make reservations in Camarilla territory?”
Despite her words, Dante heard the disappointment in Prince Raveena’s tone, and that didn’t sit well with him at all.
So, breaking his silence, Dante took a step forward and said, “Well, if you need someone, I could volunteer.”
Prince Raveena and Phoenix both threw him looks of mild surprise, while William gave him a look of pure mistrust.
Breaking his own silence, William sneered and said, “And why would we trust you with this, Giovanni?”
Dante almost considered taking back his words right there and then, not only to get William’s heat off of him, but because why was he volunteering for this? He was a Giovanni, not a Camarilla member. He shouldn’t be associating with them at all. He, by all technicalities, shouldn’t even be dating Phoenix.
He should quit while he was ahead. Back out now, take back what he said-
But when he saw Prince Raveena’s curious eyes staring at him expectantly, he suddenly found himself regaining the confidence that William had knocked out of him.
Doing his best to stand straight and keep his voice even, Dante met William’s gaze and said, “I understand your hesitation, Sheriff. I am aware the Giovanni family and the Camarilla haven’t exactly been on friendly terms. But I am no ordinary Giovanni and hold no ill will towards the Camarilla in my heart, hence why I am here-”
Okay, so that was a bit of a stretch but-
His thoughts were snapped out by William’s scoff, “Do you actually expect us to buy that nonsense? Who do you take us for?”
Dante took a small step back, wondering if he was pushing this too far. Even Phoenix seemed to be subtly trying to throw him a look that told him to quit.
He was about to back down again. To duck his head and apologize for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.
But once again, he found his gaze finding Raveena’s own. Unlike William, she didn’t look at him with annoyance and disdain. Instead, her gaze seemed expectant, prodding almost.
‘She’s seeing what I am going to do and say,’ he realized with a blink. ‘She’s giving me the opportunity to prove myself.’
Suddenly, all the fear and embarrassment he felt washed away right then and there and was replaced with what he could only describe as determination.
For whatever reason, he wanted to impress this woman, or at the very least, appear somewhat strong in front of her.
Lifting his head, he said, “I will prove it to you if you allow me. Put a tracker on me, a mic, a bug, anything. You can even have one of your members use Dominate on me to wipe my memory clean right after if you so want to. I only want to help out.”
William actually looked taken aback for a second. Dante wondered if most vampires crumbled under the Sheriff’s intimidating gaze. He certainly didn’t blame them if that was the case. The tall vampire gave off a terrifying presence. But he refused to back down to it.
Seeming to recover from the short surprise, William demanded, “You really would be willing to do a mission that has no real benefit to you? Even if we Dominated you to forget it right afterwards?”
“I would prefer not to be mentally Dominated, but should you and your Prince find it necessary, then yes. I would,” Dante answered smoothly, making sure to stare the Sheriff in the eyes.
William narrowed his eyes, “And why would you, a Giovanni, bother to help us out? Last time I checked, your lot only held loyalties to themselves and not the Camarilla.”
Dante nodded in agreement, “I agree that my family has only cared for its own interests for centuries now. However, call me unusual, but I don’t care for things like family tradition and I like to consider myself more open-minded.”
Dante was almost in disbelief at how he sounded right now. He sounded almost professional and calm, just like some of his family members did when they were negotiating a deal with someone. Maybe he had learned a thing or two.
“Wouldn’t your family be opposed to this?” Phoenix suddenly asked, raising a concerned eyebrow. Dante knew they weren’t trying to undermine him, more just questioning his safety.
Dante nodded and said, “Yes. They would be unhappy with me if they found out. Which is why I am going to keep it secret.”
“Why go so far?” William questioned.
Dante shrugged, “I don’t think it’s going too far. It sounds like a relatively easy job that I can accomplish. You need someone to watch or record them without them noticing. No one notices me and as a Giovanni, I certainly don’t seem like I’d be connected to the Camarilla, right? It’s at least worth a shot. And what my family doesn’t know won’t kill them. Consider this just a small favor for inviting me here.”
“And you’re not afraid of invoking the ire of the Anarchs possibly if you’re discovered?”
Dante shook his head, “Our family has no loyalties to the Anarchs either, and besides, I don’t see what they’d think I’d have to gain if I was listening in. The Giovanni and Anarchs might not be friends, but we aren’t exactly enemies either. The most they’ll tell me to do is to go away, right? I don’t plan on getting caught however and getting put in that situation.”
William, Raveena, and Phoenix actually looked at each other. Their looks were almost unreadable to Dante, but he assumed since they weren’t miming his throat being slit or anything, he wasn’t absolutely destroying this.
Finally, Prince Raveena spoke and said, “And why are you helping the Camarilla at all?”
Dante didn’t fully know the answer to that himself, but his mouth talked business for him. “I don’t know fully myself, but I think it's in my best interest to make friends with a powerful group such as the Camarilla. I am hoping my family will come to the same conclusion themselves one day, though, I doubt that.”
Raveena looked at him for a moment, before finally saying, “You know what, Dante. I’ll consider this.”
Dante thought he saw William’s frown deepen slightly, but that might’ve been his imagination.
Dipping his head respectfully, he said, “I am glad to hear that.” Then nodding at her desk, he said, “If you have some paper, I can give you all my contact information.”
They handed him a paper and pen, which he promptly filled the information out on. Raveena took the page and nodded, saying, “We will contact you if we think you will serve our purposes.”
Dante nodded. Then, dipping his head, he said, “It was a pleasure to meet both of you. Thank you for having me.”
Raveena nodded back, saying, “It was a pleasure to meet you too, Dante. You’re very… interesting, for a Giovanni.”
Dante gave her a small smile, saying, “I hope you mean that as a good thing?”
“Yes, I do,” Raveena said with a small smile of her own. Dante felt his stomach flutter traitorously at her words, but he forced himself to stay calm.
“Glad to hear that then,” Dante said. “And I hope to do business with you in the future!”
He and Phoenix proceeded to say their goodbyes to both Prince Raveena and Sheriff William, before finally, they left, walking through the halls of the Caesar once more.
They walked in silence for the first minute, neither one daring to speak before finally Phoenix said, “Man, Dante. I can’t believe you did that. Especially standing up to William. I mean, that guy skins people alive, literally!”
Dante’s eyes widened at this news. Looking at Phoenix, he said, “What the hell, Feenie?! You could’ve told me that before I started talking back!”
“I thought you knew!”
As they argued out the building, Dante found his mind straying back to Prince Raveena and the looks she gave him.
He didn’t know why… but he was pretty sure this was the start of something beautiful.