Steven was waiting at the entrance to the estate. Since he had nothing to do until his apprentice was finally ready, he had decided to treat himself. With quiet satisfaction he smoked a cigarette, his second of the day. It was unusual for him to depart from his single cigarette a day doctrine. However, sometimes it was good to divert from regular patterns. It wasn’t as if he would start smoking more. The thought of a substance holding power over him was absurd and infuriating at the same time.

But he couldn’t deny that he felt quite relaxed when his niece showed up. She was wearing the red mage robes he had seen her gravitate towards. The deep scarlet of the fabric matched her hair and he found that she looked rather dashing. Good. Beauty distracted and his niece needed to distract other practitioners, since her poker face was one of the worst ones he had ever seen.

Much like his sister Serena was an open book. Easily read and thus easily manipulated. For tonight he had stayed with his tried and tested black robes. A bit traditional perhaps, but where they were going that might be a good thing. Although, you never quite knew with fae. “Now remember,” he said admonishingly, “don’t eat or drink anything.” Serena nodded, looking very excited. “And watch what you say, our hosts tonight will certainly be doing so.”

“Yes, yes, let’s go.” Serena said excitedly. Steven pushed the gate open and walked westwards. The two of them were walking for a good hour when suddenly Steven stopped.

“Finally.” Serena exclaimed, followed by a string of complaints.

Steven ignored her as he retrieved a key from his robes. It was an old heavy key that used to unlock an ugly cabinet which he had destroyed in target practice twenty years earlier.

“Observe.” He said, cutting through his niece’s complaining. He put the key in the ground and twisted it as if he was unlocking something, which incidentally he was. The ground beneath the key shimmered, then disappeared, revealing what seemed to be a line of pure, golden energy.

“This is a ley line. Our ancestors built the Cairn estate near one to be able to travel large distances instantly. Grab my hand.” He reached out to his niece, who after a moment’s hesitation grabbed his hand. He moved to touch the golden energy and suddenly they were off. It was like taking a deep breath. Steven released the breath he had been holding and found, to his satisfaction that their surroundings had changed.

They were standing beside a garbage container, the sounds of a city heavy around them. “Where are we?” Serena asked as Steven locked the ley line again. He looked up and smiled.

“Paris.” He said.

“Paris? You’re joking?”

He shrugged. “The party were attending tonight is here, in Paris, so no. Follow me.” They started walking through the city, which was a sea of lights and noise. It was a lot dirtier than Serena had expected. From their current position they couldn’t see the Eiffel tower or any other classic Parisian land marks. Instead they were heading for a busy area, where people were clearly in a party mood.

Their clothes made them stand out, but as they went deeper into the district people were dressed stranger and stranger. Bars and clubs lined the street, but it wasn’t in front of one of those that Steven stopped. No, he chose a basement door which looked filthier than any place Serena had seen tonight.

He knocked on the door. For a moment Serena thought that he had the wrong address, but after a few seconds the door was opened by a stunning woman. Her features were sharp, almost unnaturally so, but her eyes were what drew Serena’s attention. They were a shad of deep purple that was mesmerizing. The woman looked at them, or rather, she looked at Steven.

“Mage Strepitus, it has been a long time, ten years?” She asked, with a thick French accent.

"Ça fait dix ans oui, beaucoup trop longtemps. Alertez votre maitresse, s'il vous plaît." Steven responded in fluid French as he gave the woman three kisses.

“She will be most pleased. Who is your companion?” She asked with a smile.

“Marie, meet my niece, Serena. She is the next heir to the Cairn estate as well as my apprentice.” He said the word apprentice in a very neutral tone, but it still elicited a response. Marie had an excellent poker face, so her eyebrows barely twitched, but for Steven that was enough. Real surprise, the word hadn’t gotten out then. If news of his apprentice had spread in regular mage society Marie would have been informed.

“Spicy.” She commented. “Come on in, the weather is dreadful.” Serena who found the weather just fine hurried inside. Instantly, loud noise engulfed her. It wasn’t at all what she was expecting. On a large dancefloor young people danced and drank and seemed to be doing drugs quite freely. On a balcony overlooking the dance floor older mages sat together and seemed to be having normal conversations. There were almost too many places to look.

Standing around a table to her left were three men with dog heads drinking whisky and smoking cigars. As she and her uncle passed one sniffed the air and growled. She saw a hand, which looked suspiciously like a paw, reach inside a jacket to what might have been a holster. “Weredogs, smarter than werewolves, with more control, but they are part dog all the time.” Steven commented.

As they traversed the room he pointed at different groups of people, commenting on who they were and whether they were important. “Those middle eastern gentlemen over there,” he pointed at a balcony where a group of old men in kaftans were discussing something that seemed serious, “they’re embalmers. Necromancers, the respectable kind.” He nodded at a group of women, who were scantily clad in black leather. “Witches. Stay away from them if you know what is good for you.”

One of the women blew Serena a kiss and she returned the favour. She noticed a group of young men in expensive suits standing apart from everybody else, drinking heavily, doing coke and making a lot of noise. What drew her attention to them was how everybody seemed to take special care to avoid them. “Who are they?” She asked.

Steven’s face contorted in disgust. “Soul drinkers.” He said, the distaste clear in his voice. “They consume souls to get a temporary power boost. Never acknowledge them, they’re parasites.” Serena watched as one of them retrieved a small glass vial from his suit. In the vial was a beautiful little light. She saw him uncork the vial and put it to his lips. She felt the urge to vomit as he swallowed and shivered in pleasure. “Terrible isn’t it? It is a fate worse than death.” Steven said.

He headed for a set of stairs in the back of the club, which Serena presumed led to the balcony overhead. At the foot of the stairs he turned towards her. “Enjoy yourself, make useful connections, don’t get killed.” He grinned, amusement clear on his face and stepped unto the stairs. Not knowing what to do she tried to follow him, but when she tried to step on the stairs, she found she couldn’t. It was as if she was being blocked by a kind of invisible wall.

“I am afraid it is members only. As I said, go and enjoy yourself.” Steven said, his amusement resounding through his voice. Then, he turned around and walked away, leaving Serena to her own devices.