Previously: Newly-turned vampire Elliot Marshall has been challenged by Vladislaus Straud to build a clan consisting of the most powerful families around. Vladislaus has named Bella Goth, Geoffrey Landgraab (who died and left his granddaughter, Jade Zest, as heir), Lily Feng, Max Villareal, and Judith Ward as required members. Elliot must turn three before his rival, Miss H does. Thus far, he has only turned Max and Lily. Miss H has turned Bella, Judith, and is about to turn Jade. She also has Caleb Vatore and his girlfriend, Allie, in her clan, whereas Elliot’s only additional member is an aspiring botanist named Lexi Cramer. But perhaps there is still hope, as Elliot’s friend Kyle volunteers to cure his own vampirism so that he can be turned by Elliot and thus, join the clan.

Elliot prepared the Ultimate Vampire Cure the moment he got home. He was remarkably surprised he was able to concoct it to begin with. Most of the rumors he’d heard stated that the cure was a complete fabrication, a fable meant to keep vampires who regretted turning going on with some sort of hope. The whole mythos was downright depressing. Yet when Elliot plucked a particularly dark and decrepit looking tome from the vampire research catalogue he kept on his bookshelf, there in its last pages lay the recipe. It needed quite a few ingredients, of course, but seeing as how he had a buddy world-famous botanist under his roof, obtaining those was hardly an issue. The cure was prepared, frothing, steaming, and generally looking suspicious to Kyle, within a few hours.

Kyle looked uneasy after drinking Elliot’s plasma, but he stayed in surprisingly good spirits the next few days, taking turns with the one bed still left in the house with Max, who was also nursing the pre-turning nausea. He also left for long hours in the evening, presumably on whatever his promised goal was to procure one last person of influence for Elliot’s clan. Elliot was quite sure it was all in vain, but he didn’t begrudge Kyle for trying, either. As for himself, he just mentally prepared himself for what it would be like to be under the control of his rival–the crazy vampire lady in the winter shades. She didn’t seem so bad. Maybe he could even get to like her. Or so he hold himself anyway, when two days had passed, and he got another invitation to come witness Jade’s transformation. He accepted begrudgingly and this time, he brought the entirety of his clan along.

His rival awaited them in the dim glow of the streetlamps, gloating even more than she had on their first meeting.

Elliot and Miss H both stared at the scene before them in shock. Neither one of them could tell who had transformed first. Neither one of them had any clue if Bartholomew-whoever-he-was actually counted as “person of influence,” not being a person per se, though he clearly had an air of authority. Someone would have to settle this before the two tied clans broke into a complete and total war. Miss H liked the idea if it came to that. Elliot felt like he’d swallowed an extra-low-quality fruitcake.

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