The situation with Nina simply keeps getting more complicated.  While having the Las Vegas police look for her no longer seems like a useful option, finding her seems to me to be even more important than it was.  I am a little startled that the LVPD didn't track her as leaving town by bus or plane.  Did she have a car of her own?  I don't know.  The LVPD should, and I'll have to ask Rachel to get whatever information they gathered on her.  If they haven't done it (and I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't), I'd like them to run her prints.  I don't expect that we'll get a match, butÖ  I'd feel really damn stupid if I didn't try.

My reasoning with regard to my wish to locate Nina rests largely on my belief that her terror won't last and that she won't rationalize the experience into nothing.  If Tomas's theory about a flash of precognition or clairvoyance is correct, she's likely to realize that she somehow tasted real power.  That both Nick and Tomas coveted her library leads me to believe that she's a serious student of the occult rather than a dabbler.  That means that she'll start looking again and this time with more idea of what she's after.  The risk that she might share her information looms a little too large for my comfort.

And that means we have to find her.  Find her and get her silence one way or another.  Her skills probably could be useful to me; in spite of Arthur's dabbling, the occult is not something our team has any real grasp of.  Somehow, though, I don't think that will end up working.  The Tremere might want her for her knowledge of theoretical necromancy.  Perhaps.  If we find her soon enough, someone skilled with Dominate might  convince her that everything was due to me slipping her illegal drugs.  If all else fails, howeverÖ  If I find her and cannot silence her otherwise, I will kill her.

If it comes to that, I'll at least make a point of finding a good home for the cat.

I've never killed casually, and one of the luxuries brought to me by the Embrace was the option to value the lives of others.  I had no friends on the street; I could see marks, rivals, obstacles and threats.  Any hunter that isn't part of a pack must guard against scavengers and even other hunters.

I probably wouldn't have lasted longer than another year or two.  It was a wet winter, and I had a cough.  A couple of cops had learned my face, and one or two geniuses in the stews had started to wonder why "Gene" never seemed to hit puberty.  I'd dealt with all of that before, of course, but luck runs out, and even skill can't carry you through everything.  I was tired.

Eleanor looked like a mark to me.  At the very least, she seemed worth a bath (my first in years) and a meal.  I figured I could outrun her if she wasn't what she seemed.  I was probably wrong about that last, but I never got the chance to find out.  She asked me, flat out, if I would accept the Embrace.  She painted a damned enticing picture.  Reality hasn't lived up to her sales pitch, but it's a damn sight better than winter in the Manchester slums.

I wish that I could give Nina options (assuming I can even find her), butÖ  I am and have always been a different type of predator than Eleanor was.

I hope that Tomas doesn't get into trouble for telling me the things he did or for my making sure that the Tremere would get that information from him.  I don't think his clan would want any of that shared, certainly not the deaths or the escalating impact of these power drains.  Admittedly, I gave him information in return if he has the wit to use it properly.  My comments about Setites were partly a product of my fear that Nina'd been an infiltrator and partly a product of my urge to shake Tomas until the disconnected facts in his head rattled together in some semblance of order.

I'd like to put some of that down to stress over the party, but I'd be lying if I claimed that.  It was quite clear to me by then that, barring bombs, a massive attack by Setites, or sabotage by someone I was relying on for help, the party was likely to be a success.  My impression is that the people I spoke to had been longing for a chance to show off their expertise.  I'd have to label that another mistake of the local system, a fairly minor one, but stillÖ  Mortal audiences matter, but we can't show our best to them.  Thus, the chance to have our skills and talents appreciated by our peers becomes something we all long for on some level.

I do regret David and Eamon's absence.  There's something comforting about the allies of one's youth.  I do understand.  David's reluctant to take unnecessary risks, and Eamon must go where his duty takes him.  Still, the three of us haven't been together in years, and I'm finding nostalgia a powerful force.  I even occasionally miss the damn dogs.  I kept saying I wouldn't have them at the party, but I also kept fantasizing about what they'd do if they came.  Sometimes, I have a sick sense of humor.

The party began well.  Standing and greeting people for nearly two hours was wearing but necessary.  I did my best to fix names in my mind as I met strangers, but I fear I'll have lost many of them before I get any use out of them.  Melinda Alvarez and her retinue made as much of a splash as I'd expected.  I had to stifle a laugh at the thought of how that reaction would increase if people realized that the scary looking people doing security were also hers.  Of course, I did rather view springing the LaSombra on the assembled notables as something of an evil joke.

Dante Giovanni's presence (and Presence) came as something of a surprise to me since I'd gotten no response to the invitations I'd issued for him at Rachel's suggestion.  Rafaella's ability to get him to Las Vegas and to my party impresses me.  If she ever learns subtlety, she's likely to become a serious player in her clan's politics and policies.  At the moment, however, I'm not certain if that lack is more likely to save her life or get her killed quickly.  Her introduction of Dante did give me a sense that she knows where she stands at the moment, at least with regard to the world she can see.

Tressa's entrance came off beautifully.  We had enough of a crowd to give her a proper reception when she came in, and her own beauty, poise and ability as a performer carried the audience.  I think she managed to talk to everyone at least briefly during the course of the evening.  I hope that the gathering served whatever purposes she intended.

Introducing Melinda Alvarez and Dante Giovanni required a certain amount of courage (my sense of humor helped me here again).  They were bound to become aware of each other during the course of the party, and I rather expected the reaction to be nastier the longer it was delayed.  Also, facing them off early gave other people a chance to see that there were two candidates before they got too committed to one or the other.
Fortunately, for me, Stephen wandered over just in time to pull me out from between those-who-would-be-prince.  I only felt the faintest twinge of conscience when I told him who we'd just been talking to.  Blindsiding someone who's been relatively friendly and helpful isn't courteous, butÖ  I'm sure he'd have done it to me in an instant.  I have to consider it my own little coup, the thing that makes the party mine as opposed to his with a veneer applied by me.

Though I must admit that he did extremely well by me.  He was polite to my out of town guests (or as polite as he gets) and didn't send a single one of them into screams or tears.  Mimi and Genevieve provided me with expert assistance and advice on the music and décor; I could not have managed nearly so well without them, and they too seem to have helped whole-heartedly.  Since I'd met neither before I began planning, I can only put that down to Stephen's influence (and the desire to show off that I mentioned earlier, but saying that isn't particularly polite, however true it may be).

I hope that Mary and Tomas garnered some benefit from being associated with the shindig.  Without them, I'd never have managed the practical aspects in time.  They seemed a little surprised that I invited them and even more so when I gave them a couple of invitations to use for "friends."  I'm not going to assume that good service should pass without comment.  Let them find some gain in working with me.  If what Tomas said to me is correct, there's room for them both to move up at least a little if they show competence.

I've been trying (without much success) to avoid thinking too much about the possible causes of the Giovanni's recent "problems."  I can't search the entire world to find the cause and probably couldn't stop the disaster even if I found it.  The mystic has never been my strong point, so I can't even theorize about the more esoteric causes of the disruption.  The repercussions for the Giovanni are another matter.  The clan's ability to sustain itself depends on numbers, kindred, ghoul and mortal kin.  Each part has to be able to support the others and provide some protection against the threats the others face.  From the sound of it, the kindred portion of the family has suffered a staggering blow.  Those people can be replaced, but their power and experience is gone.  A neonate is a neonate, regardless of generation.

I suspect that their best course of action would be to embrace some of their oldest ghouls.  Those people might have the experience to play the subtle games without stumbling too badly.  Of course, how many of them died with their masters?  That's not a count that most kindred would think to ask about, but it's important here.

And yes, I know it sounds as though I'm assuming that someone was taking planned, coordinated action against Clan Giovanni.  I have no evidence to that effect except the timing.  That so many died so fast seems to me to indicate that someone knew it was coming and either knew the exact time to strike or the exact signs to identify that time.  I could be wrong; this could result from many separate vendettas that all finally had the opportunity to succeed.  But I'm not getting paid to assume coincidence (Oh, that's right.  I'm not getting paid).

If I were trying to hurt Clan Giovanni, my next step would be to attack the mortal component.  A plague in Venice, a few school shootings.  It wouldn't be easy, but it's more than possible.  The surviving kindred of power would have to choose between themselves and their families, between their own power and their clan's future.  With a lot of the leadership already gone, I wouldn't expect a coordinated response.

This is not speculation I plan to share generally.  Time will tell.

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