Kenneth stood up and turned his back on Emily, facing the window wall of his office looking out over the city as he spoke softly, almost to himself, "I need to know who this man is, I need for him to come out of hiding, so I can kill him. Something tells me he is responsible for… who was the guy that was found dead at one of our facilities, Nova?"

Nova responded smoothly, "His name was Seth, and he was murdered. Tied up and left for the sunrise to take him."

Emily had heard about Seth. By all accounts the guy was a womanizing asshole who probably deserved it. But still, being tied up and left for the sunrise? That was a little extreme.

"Yes, Seth, that's right," Kenneth mused. "I have a feeling this was part of some kind of coordinated effort, and my gut is telling me this man who got away from me is somehow involved," Kenneth turned away from the window and looked at Emily, "Find this man and either give me a location of where he and his friends are, or kill him and bring me his head."

Emily was shocked that Kenneth would even ask something like this of her. Then again, she was a vampire, and she was a part of this House. All things considered, it was sooner or later that she would have to do something like this, either for Kenneth, someone else, or for herself. I guess I'm going to see if I deserve a place here and, in the world, or if I deserve to die. A few years ago, she wouldn't have cared and would have gladly chosen the later. Now though, feeling the fine fabric of her clothes against her cool skin, the soft smell of her perfume, and her elevated stature from her heels, she found that she wasn't ready to die just yet, and that maybe even an undead life was worth fighting for.

"When do I begin?"

Kenneth smiled, "Now."

Emily glanced at Nova and a question skittered across her mind that Nova may have had something to do with this. She pushed that question aside. Ultimately, it didn't matter who had suggested it. The order had been given by her Head of House and she would now be expected to carry it out.

"Where should I start looking for this tall, black-haired, blue-eyed guy?" Emily tried, but she couldn't keep the sarcasm completely out of her voice.

Kenneth looked at her evenly, choosing to ignore the sarcasm, "I want you to start with your friend Amir. He sounds like a guy that may know more than even Brian does. Go to him and start your investigation there."

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Emily wasn't stupid, but this was all completely different and new for her, "And if he doesn't help, you want me to use our deal for blood as leverage? If we lose that, you lose any connection to the black-market blood trade."

Kenneth nodded, "Yes, that is a possibility." Kenneth turned around in his desk chair and looked out over the city, "Emily, do you know chess?"

Emily nodded, "That's that stupid game with the little horses and weird little pieces on the checker board, right?"

Kenneth's brows furrowed as he looked out over the city. He couldn't tell if Emily was fucking with him, or if she was serious. If she was serious, that was something else that he would need to educate her on.

"Yes, the game with the weird little pieces on the checker board," Kenneth felt ridiculous even repeating those words. "It is a game of strategy and long-term planning. To beat your opponent, you have to think several moves ahead. When two masters' play the game, they both know the victor after a few moves. Of course, we all have our egos and even the loser with see the game out to the end, hoping for a mistake or some random change of luck. Do you follow?"

Emily nodded but had no idea where this was going. She had learned over the past few months to just let Kenneth go. He loved to make speeches, and it was far batter to just let him prattle on than to actually try to understand what he meant or where he may be going with it.

"I'm telling you this because for you to be successful in your task I need for you to think ahead. You have to see what the person you're dealing with wants or needs, see how taking something away, or how giving them something, may affect how they respond to you. That's what it means by 'playing the long game'." Kenneth swung his chair around and gazed at the now auburn-haired woman standing in front of him.

"The short term, those interactions with individuals on the spot and in the moment, for those you need to know poker. You do know poker?"

Emily almost scoffed, of course she knew poker, Texas Hold'em and five card draw were her favorite variations. It was because of poker that she first met Stewart. She hated him and felt nothing now that he was dead, but the game had been responsible for her new life. If she had been bad at poker, she would be close to fifty years old now. I guess poker really does change people's fortunes.

"Yes, I know poker very well," Emily responded.

Kenneth nodded, "then you know about bluffing and reading your opponent. I don't have to tell you this, you performed well with Amir when I was with you. Take those skills and see what you can dig up. I don't have to tell you that losing that connection to the blood trade would make me very unhappy."

Emily nodded, "Yeah, I get it."

Kenneth stood up quickly and he felt a flush of rage at the nonchalant response from his underling, "Why do I get the feeling that you aren't taking this very seriously, Emily? Or do I need to take away your farm and make sure you spend the rest of your undead life in a sewer cleaning shit."

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