"My father is just like any other rich, corrupt lawyer." Collin Banner said, leaning in close enough for Lillian to feel his breath tickle her cheek as he spoke. His breath smelled of alcohol and the man himself smelled of cologne. He had sprayed way too much however, and Lillian couldn't help but be reminded of one of Talions attempts at forcing himself onto her.
He had smelled the same way.
She ran into a tall male shifter, going in the opposite direction, startling her back to the present. "I'm sorry." She blurted.
The man stared down at her for a second with an intensity about him that made her spine feel as if a stampede of spiders were climbing up it. She was just about to back up, put her head down, and apologize again like she would do whenever she would upset Talion, but her date for the night stepped up.
The man turned his attention away from Lillian and onto Collin, and Lillians' thoughts began to race. How were all 100 pounds of her supposed to stop these two if they were to get into a brawl.
The man was eyeing Collin like he was nothing but a bug, but then his demeanor changed, and the look went from arrogance to recognition, and he backed up before nodding once, and continuing on his way.
"Are you ok?" Collin asked.
"Um. Yeah. The people here have a lot of respect for you."
Collin snorted as he took her hand, and they started their walk through the seas of bodies once more, and the booths finally came into view. "It's not respect it's fear, and it's not me. It's the last name."
"Lillian, the others have positioned themselves nearby just in case things go south or when you're ready to be extracted. They will rush to your side immediately. All you need to say is, "This club is whack." Kaeron said, but she couldn't tell if he were joking or not. "This club is whack?" Seriously? It was so like Kaeron to give her what might possibly be the most idiotic extraction code word ever. How was she supposed to casually slip that into conversation? "Hey, everyone, I know you think I'm suspicious, and you have no reason to trust me, but I'm only acting weird because this club is whack?"
She sighed quietly. She wasn't even able to make the thought sound convincing. She shook her head as the flood of possibilities began taking shape (zero of which ended happily).
Nope. She needed to find another way and fast.
"You can't be serious! With the increase in violent riots over work conditions in those gem mines, it wouldn't only be a smart play to make our firm the face of the fight. It's the only play!" Shouted a man from the booth they were headed for. His features were hidden by one of the two mean looking saytr bodyguards, but that didn't stop Lillian's imagination from running wild.
Lillian swallowed the lump in her throat as they approached. The man she had to kill had bodyguards... bodyguards the size of 3 of her on a all protein diet... How was she supposed to kill anybody with these two giant monsters looming near by. They were huge. They could crush her like a grape if they wanted, and if the glares they were giving her as the two approached were an indication of anything. They had come to the same conclusion.
"Julian, Vesper. How about instead of freaking out my date by staring at her with the curse your parents passed down to the two of you nutsack for brains, how about the two of you meat heads go stand like a bunch of statues somewhere else." Collin spoke in a polite tone of voice, and Lillian had to stop herself from laughing at the contrast.
"Of course, sir. Right away." One sneered, while the other just looked at the two as if they were insects he could squash if he wanted before letting them pass and relocating themselves further away from the group.
"Sorry about those two. You know what they say about Saytrs." Collin sighed.
"You mean about how they're one of the least evolved of all of the ruling races." She word vomited the statement that Talion loved to bring up to the saytrs that tended to his in-house garden anytime the two of them would venture through it. Lillian hated that garden.
"Exactly." Collin agreed, and Lillian felt her respect for the man wane even more.
"Son. You made it. Come and join us." Said the man whose life Lillian would have to end tonight. A man who has done nothing to her.
Collin gave his father a tight smile and then looked back at her. "Just relax and have fun. That's what I plan on doing anyway."
She nodded her understanding, not wanting to risk opening her mouth and possibly ruining the mission by vomiting all over the targets son. She peaked her head out from behind him to take a look at what she was up against and was met with a drunken smile.
"And whom is this?" Leonidas Banner asked, putting more emphasis than needed on the "whom."
Collin cleared his throat. "Father, this is Lillian. I just met her getting harassed by those thugs that pay for your ski trips, and you're fancy cars." Lillian blinked. This got awkward fast, and it wasn't even her fault.
"Lillian, this is my father Leonidas Banner, name partner at Leonidas and Tyrael law firm, probably the largest law firm in all of Solaris, and just like any super conglomerate the Leonidas and Tyrael law firm have so many skeletons locked away that they should quit lawyering and pick up a job in disposal."
Lillian wasn't sure what to do with that information, and so she just giggled nervously through the awkward silence that wrapped itself around the group like some kind of snake.
Leonidas was the first to break the silence. "As I am sure my son here, Mr. Know it all has probably informed you of. I work with some bad people sometimes, but what I am also fairly certain of is that he most likely has forgotten to mention all of the good me and my firm do for regular folk such as yourself on a regular basis. We just believe that the people of the Pumi desert deserve representation as well. We are all inhabitants of this beautiful planet, and just because some of us have made more mistakes than others or live in a harsher part of the world, doesn't mean they should be denied the same right to legal council, that you or I am offered."
Great! Just great. Lillian sighed internally. Why couldn't she be tasked with murdering a psychopath or a rapist? It's just like her luck for her to be saddled with the killing of somebody who actually cares for other people. Even if he's clearly no saint.
Collin scoffed and was just about to rebuttal, when Leonidas cleared his throat in that way, powerful men did when they wanted others to stop speaking without actually saying the words.
"That is enough of that son. Sit."
Collin huffed a breath. "Of course, sir. After you, Lillian."
Lillian put on her best cutesy act. Smiling, giggling, and flipping her hair like she had seen Lex do whenever she flirted with a guy.
Big mistake.
She noticed the attention of the other two men whom she was now sitting across from the minute she sat down.
"Lillian, was it? My name is Ted Longfoot. I am also a partner at Leonidas and Tyrael. Clearly, I am not a named partner, but if you get bored with the little boy over there. I own a ship."
Lillian shivered internally. He was at least 50 years old. Why did she only ever attract old creeps.
"Lillian. I know what you're thinking right now. Trust me. I'm thinking it as well, and if I ever catch these freaks outside the club. I'll string them up by their fucking necks, only after I cut off their dicks and feed them to each other, and record them bleeding out so I can email it to you, but right now I need you to act like they aren't complete scum, and find a way to get the poison into that bastards Leonidas's drink." Ratford said, his fury matching her own.
But why poison Leonidas's drink?
The other man's attention never left her nearly exposed chest, and she suddenly felt a strong urge to claw his eyes out.
Leonidas chuckled. "It seems as if my colleagues have taken a shining to your friend there Collin."
Collin scowled at his father and the two men as he joined Lillian on her side of the booth. "Go find some other underage girl to leer at you freaks."
The three men looked at each other, and Lillian tensed up, expecting things to heat up, but instead... they laughed. Simultaneously, almost as if they had practiced the timing beforehand.
"He's your son, alright!" The man whose name had yet to be stated roared before guzzling what was left of what Lillian assumed was some kind of alcholic concoction. "Do you drink, sweetheart? I could go for a few more bottles myself, how about you guys?"
Lillian was flabbergasted.
Leonidas picked up his own drink and looked at Lillian with those eyes. It was the same look that Talion would give her when he would try to lead her into telling on herself when she did something wrong.
"Of course she does." He answered for her, pulling out a small silver case. There was nothing special about the case itself, but Lillian could tell whatever was in there was trouble by the shift in the man as soon as he opened it.
He smiled and pulled out a small half black pill that had a dragon going down the middle, and she could have sworn she had seen a pill just like it before but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"It's called Virpetro. It's an over the counter medication to help the vamps go out in the sun, and some soldiers use it to give themselves an edge in battle, but it also has another use." He said, waving a beautiful lady Lillian hadn't noticed standing nearby. The lady was wearing just as much clothing as Lillian, but her smile wasn't forced like Lillians.
Leonidas whispered something into the lady's ear, which got a giggle from her in response before he slipped her the pill and she left, heading toward the bar.
He pulled out another pill from the case and an unnervingly large hunting knife and began to crush the pill.
"You see. When crushed to a powder and mixed with alchol, for some scientific reason that I can never remember, the combination of the two makes for one of the best club drugs out there." He stopped crushing the pill and looked up at Lillian with that same look as Talions on his face. "And I want to share that experience with you."
The girl returned with a basket of large bottles just as Leonidas finished crushing up the pill into a fine dust.
What had Lillian been dragged into! She couldn't do drugs! She had only ever had a few sips of alcohol in her life, and she was a major lightweight. So, she most definitely could not do a powerful club drug for the first time ever while attempting to kill a man.
"Umm..." Lillian giggled nervously.
"You do stuff like this all the time, right?" He asked the shrewd look in his eyes, irritating her to no end. "I don't mean to assume. It's just. You're dressed like that, and the ease of which my wet blanket of a son picked you up. You clearly came here looking for something, let me guess. Somebody ran their big mouth about my side business, and you thought using my son to get to me might get you some? Am I right?"
She giggled again but didn't answer. What was she supposed to say? "No?" If she did, how would she explain her presence. But if she answers, "Yes." It may make things awkward between her and Collin, and right now, he was her only ally at this booth, (Ally was a strong word, but she'd take what she could get).
He huffed a laugh. "You club girls." He grabbed one of the comically large bottles and a bottle opener. "Always acting so innocent while knowing in the back of your head..." Pop! ".. exactly what you're doing."
She noticed Collin watching her from the corner of her eye, and his unflinching gaze added onto his silence, unnerved her. He was clearly waiting to see if his father was right, but Lillian didn't see any other choice.
"Hey. Lillian. I need you to drink the concoction, and then I need you to get to the bathrooms immediately. Ok? We've got a drug of our own that will help weaken the effect of the Virpetro, but I need you to go immediately after, no matter what, ok?" Ratford said calmly, and Lillian found herself feeling a little calmer because of it.
Leonidas finished sweeping the powder into a cup and then added the alchol and smiled. "I normally would have only given you a half, but I like you, so I made it extra strong." He picked up a spoon and stirred the drink for a few seconds before sliding it over to her.
His two perverted associations smiled, and she had to look away from the hunger in their eyes.
"Go ahead, dear. Don't be shy." Leonidas insisted.
She eyed the clear liquid.
"Just drink it already." Kaeron growled.
She sent up a quick silent prayer to Zedith before taking one last look at Collin. He shook his head like he was disappointed, and she wanted to laugh. If there was anybody disappointed with her. It would be herself.
"To the past, we can't escape." She said before putting the drink to her mouth, ignoring the putrid alchol smell and taste as she drained the cup.
Everything felt off immediately. Sounds became distorted and far away. The room and the people in it began to warp, and everyone looked... like they were glowing, and Lillian found that... oddly amusing.
She opened her mouth to laugh, but she didn't sound like herself... she sounded like Kaeron.
"Lamb? Lamb Can You Hear Me!?"
"You're not a lamb." She laughed, smacking Collin on the shoulder. "He thinks he's a lamb!" she said, trying to whisper, but she couldn't hear herself over the distorted music and all of the dancing colors, so she tried again, louder this time.
"He Thinks That He's A Lamb!" She yelled.
Leonidas, who looked as if he had been set on fire by a blue flame, smiled and leaned in. "Now we can really have some fun."