[center][b]Complications[/b][/center]
Narcissa wasn't accustomed to being dismissed so abruptly, but Nyxvira could be unpredictable at times. A few days ago, the ljosalfr wouldn't have believed her boss cared enough about losing Marius and a few graysuits to start a war with the Nyctari. Surprise, surprise. Nyxie's fickle behavior was one of the reasons why, despite spending the last three years as her favorite enforcer, the light elf hadn't killed her. It was difficult to keep tabs on someone that visited dozens of nightclubs, at least seven restaurants, and the occasional drug den over the course of a single night. Nyxvira's nightly excursions aside, the bloated queenpin had given the she-elf an assignment, an assignment that could potentially end the gang war before any innocent people were killed. Thinking about ways to destroy the faerie would have to wait while Vigilance mulled over how to complete one of the most important missions of her career.

The light elf also wanted to know what Nyxvira had seen on her phone that upset her so much. She'd heard Rebecca Rapava's familiar voice on the other line, but she didn't know what the Syndicate's best "cleaner" had shown the queenpin. Even Narcissa's keen senses couldn't catch everything.

At any rate, Vigilance knew she'd need to utilize a few unique resources to procure the [i]Blood Atlas of Akhmat Khan[/i]. She'd been well aware of the tome's existence even before Nyxvira mentioned it. Unfortunately, the light elf lacked the mystical talent needed to activate the spells lying dormant within its pages. The bloated faerie, or another loyal spellcaster, would be the one using the book, but Narcissa wanted to be sure she knew as much about the artifact as possible. Narcissa's late uncle had often told her it was vital for those who lacked a strong link to the arcane to learn everything they could about magic and mystical objects. How else could they hope to understand and defeat their gifted kinsfolk? It made sense, and Narcissa enjoyed learning about artifacts with interesting histories and abilities. And the [i]Blood Atlas[/i] had both in spades. 

As Narcissa stalked down the hallway, she tried to recall everything she knew about the ancient tome. It had been created by Akhmat shortly after his clan was defeated by Genghis Khan in the year 1206, an event that heralded the birth of the Mongol Empire. Driven by rage, since he correctly assumed his vampiric allies were responsible for Genghis' victory, Akhmat wrote a surprisingly revealing book about vampirism and bound it in the skin of his favorite thrall. He then proceeded to hunt down and kill his former comrades, chaining their spirits to the book with a complex web of spellwork. Thus, the [i]Blood Atlas of Akhmat Khan[/i] was born. 

The first two thousand pages of the tome contained a detailed examination of vampirism's inherent strengths and weaknesses. The ancient art of hemomancy, more commonly referred to as blood magic, and it's potential to amplify the physical and mental capabilities of thralls was also discussed. The real power of the [i]Blood Atlas[/i], however, lay in the spell written on the last three pages. If the book was closed and a vampire's name was spoken, the spirits of Akhmat's victims would emerge from the tome and tell the reader whatever they wanted to know about that particular bloodsucker. After a sizable blood offering, of course. And if the reader lacked the will to control the spirits they would more than likely become possessed. Still, the benefits far outweighed the dangers. The reader could pinpoint a specific vampire's location in real-time by communing with the imprisoned spirits. They even provided a detailed sketch for the user to refer to. The [i]Blood Atlas of Akhmat Khan[/i] had passed from artifact collectors to vampire hunters to criminals over the years, but now it had found its way to the law offices of Barrow and White. Most people just called them 'The Firm' for some reason.

Narcissa adjusted the collar of her black bomber jacket and stalked towards the elevator at the end of the corridor. Recently, the Firm had gone strangely quiet, and the light elf wondered if they'd abandoned the city due to the coming conflict. Even if there weren't any guards present, getting through the law firm's automated security system would be difficult, which was why Narcissa had no intention of setting foot in their offices. Not unless she absolutely had to. She had a better idea. Yuri Sokolov. The Russian, whose bad temper and worse body odor tended to send people running, was a gifted computer engineer living in Miracle Square. Spellcasters in the district went to Yuri whenever they wanted to hack into the email inboxes or bank accounts of their rivals.

Nevertheless, the surly hacker owed Narcissa a favor after she'd helped him acquire the deed to his beloved bookstore, Yuri's Books and Baubles. It hadn't been a tough job. She just helped him kill his older brother, Ivan Sokolov. With Yuri's assistance, the ljosalfr could gain access to Barrow and White's internal database, which would list where their most precious treasures were kept. The [i]Blood Atlas'[/i] location would be somewhere in that database. If the book was still in Barrow and White's vault then Narcissa would have to find a way to retrieve it. But she didn't plan to cross that bridge until she had to.

The light elf gently pressed the 'up' button beside the elevator when a voice called out from behind her, saying, "Freeze! This is the SS-" Whatever else the speaker had to say was lost, however, as the elevator doors opened and Narcissa stepped inside. The doors closed again, but not before the elf caught a flash of afternoon sunlight hitting what looked like a helmet. A familiar-looking blue helmet. An SSPD helmet?

Shrugging her shoulders and leaning against the back wall of the elevator, Narcissa closed her eyes. Despite being the most luxurious and modern hotel in Southwind Park, the elevators at the Hotel Imperius were notoriously slow. Nyxie, not to mention her five graysuit babysitters, lived on the floor directly below Vigilance, but it would still take about fifteen to get back to the Inferno Suite via elevator.

As she took a moment to gather her thoughts, a memory flitted through Narcissa's head. [i]Body heat and heavy breathing. The smell of flowery Parisian perfume and the sound of someone moaning. A woman's moan. A pink beret tossed casually on the elevator floor. An image of Narcissa wearing Colette's glasses and saying, a note of concern in her voice, "By the elders, woman, what if someone catches us?!" The Frenchwoman giggling as she said, "Who gives a fuck, ma fleur? You're goddamn Vigilance! Now put your finger back where you-"[/i]

The light elf's eyes snapped open and she shook her head. Now was not the time for reminiscing. Especially if said reminiscing concerned Colette Dumont. The doors dinged open and Narcissa darted into the hallway. She produced her key card from one of her pockets and slid it through the reader next to her door. Turning the door handle, she said, "We have a new...assignment."

Baruch was crouched behind the kitchenette counter, his twin pistols pointing at Narcissa's head, while Shar had traded his knife for his uzis. Allister was still standing by the bay window and his shotgun was aimed at her torso. Jack's two hand-cannons were trained on her midsection while Puck had his assault rifle leveled at her face. When the graysuits realized who'd walked in, however, they relaxed and allowed their gun barrels to droop. The light elf took a breath. Today was just full of surprises. "I've missed something I take it?" she asked, and Allister grunted before pointing to the television. Someone had turned the sound back on and there was a breaking news bulletin flashing across the screen. 

"Shocking development this evening at the Hotel Imperius in Southwind Park," a dark elf news anchor with a dazzling smile was saying. "The SSPD has launched a full investigation into the goings on at the hotel, which is owned by renowned philanthropist and millionaire, Osmond Sidonis. According to our sources, the SSPD has found evidence that Mr. Sidonis has been coerced into making the Hotel Imperius a stronghold of sorts for the Bloodbloom Syndicate's criminal activities. There are rumors circulating that not only are the police after Mr. Sidonis, but they also plan to arrest the Syndicate's queenpin, Nyxvira Bloodbloom." The station cut to live footage of countless SWAT teams and SSPD officers swarming up the stairwells leading to the hotel's upper floors. Puck turned off the television and moaned, his doughy features pale with fear.

"Those imbeciles are coming for the queenpin! We are...we are totally fucked, aren't we?" the green-haired faerie asked, though he flinched and looked away when Narcissa glared at him.

"No, we aren't totally fucked, you fool," she snapped, "we just need to...we need to think about this." The light elf's thoughts were whirling and she actually felt excited. This must be what Nyxie had seen on her phone! Mystery solved. The odd part of all this was only morons and tourists didn't know the Syndicate controlled the Hotel Imperius. So what had prompted this sudden investigation? Had somebody talked? Was this the surprise attack from the Nyctari that Nyxie had been expecting? What else did the SSPD know?

Glancing at the five graysuits staring at her, the ljosalfr smiled confidently. All these questions and no answers. Or rather, no answers yet. "Listen, we need to get to Yuri's Books and Baubles in Miracle Square for our next assignment. The problem is we can't just waltz out of here. We'd draw too much attention." Looking from Shar to Puck and finally to Baruch, the she-elf snapped her fingers and said, "Here's what we're going to do. I want all of you to take off your suit jackets. We don't want anyone connecting us to Nyxvira or the Syndicate. You'll just wear your pants and undershirts for now. But we'll still need the suits to show Yuri we're on official Syndicate business...aha!" 

Narcissa pushed past a confused-looking Jack Crowley and retrieved the dilapidated bag of holding from her bedroom. Setting it on the kitchen counter and opening it, she said, "Put your jackets and weapons in here. I'll do the same with my equipment. Jack and Allister, since you're human and relatively normal-looking, you'll be coming with me. Puck, I want you to sneak downstairs to the room you and these idiots share. Make sure there aren't any cops around before you go down there. Clear that room out. The last thing we want is for some lucky SSPD rookie to catch a glimpse of something incriminating. Baruch and Shar, you can make up for your little spat by cleaning my floors. I don't want to see a single drop of orc blood or armor polish anywhere. You three can meet us at Yuri's as soon as you've finished cleaning. I'd recommend going through the kitchens and taking one of the side exits. The police shouldn't come in here asking questions, but ask for a warrant if they do. They probably won't have one. Understood?"

The five graysuits nodded rapidly and began undressing.

The living room exploded into a frenzied whirl of activity as the Syndicate members began shoving their clothes and weapons into the bag of holding. Unfortunately, the bag didn't negate the weight of anything placed inside it. Somebody as massive as Baruch or Jack couldn't hide inside and have Narcissa just carry them out of the hotel. Bags of holding also had a nasty habit of killing living things stored inside them. The she-elf was putting Duty and the last few pieces of her armor into the bag when she realized she'd left her guns on her electric fireplace's mantle. Pursing her lips, she shoved the two weapons into her jacket pockets. No need to be totally defenseless. She handed the heavy bag to Jack, who looked decidedly uncomfortable in his bright pink undershirt, and said, "Are we ready?"

The five killers voiced their assent and the ljosalfr said, "Let's go then. We should all meet at Yuri's shop around seven o' clock. Be smart and try to stay out of sight." She led Allister and Jack out of the room. There were two stairwells leading down from the Inferno Suite to the rest of the hotel. Hoping the majority the officers had already reached Nyxie's suite, Narcissa chose the left stairwell. She opened the door just in time to see a door leading to the floor below close behind the final SSPD officer. Perfect. Her little group clattered down the white steps, Jack sweating as he carried the bag of holding and Allister looking like a string bean in his green button-down, and jogged into the hotel's kitchen. It was completely abandoned. Evidently, none of the cooks wanted to wait around for the cops to interrogate them. Gesturing for her companions to pick up the pace, Narcissa opened the white door leading outside and the trio inhaled the cool night air. It stank of fear and gasoline fumes. The smells of a typical Santa Somabra evening.

"Allister, we're taking your car. We'll leave the SUV for the others. Oh and Jack, text Shar and remind him not to kill anyone unless he has to. It'll be a miracle if he gets out of here without someone recognizing him," Narcissa said, her eyes scanning the parking lot for potential threats. Jack whipped out his phone and Allister grunted, pulling out his keys and pointing to a car on the opposite side of the lot. The three Syndicate members walked calmly towards the small blue Volkswagen Beetle, each of them trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Fortunately, most of the SSPD's vehicles were parked around the hotel's main entrance. The chances of escaping were slim, but maybe Vigilance and her team would get lucky. Maybe.