Victoria could taste Anthony’s caution like a slightly bitter fruit upon her lips, his desire the sharp taste of blood, metallic and sensual on her tongue.  From Alex she could taste the denial as he clung to her, clung to what he considered to be safe and normal.  Both of them amused her a great deal, so much that she didn’t even attempt to stop the smile that curled the corners of her lips upward.  It had been far too long since something had truly amused her and caught her attention.<br/><br/><em>We shall see young one, that will depend on what you might be able to do for me…</em>she purred into Anthony’s mind as she studied the painting, a laugh bubbling just beneath the surface as she noted the same thing that Anthony did.<br/><br/>“It is a striking piece, though perhaps it speaks more strongly to you than it does to I dear Alex.  What do you see when you look at it?  What does it say to you?” she asked, moving from between the two men with subtle grace that most would never have noticed, sliding to the other side of Alex to give Anthony room.<br/><br/>As she passed behind Alex she took a deep breath, smelling the blood just beneath the surface of the man’s skin, a feral look passing through her eyes that only Anthony truly had a chance to catch before the mask of humanity fell back into place.  It was a thin façade, it would have been so easy for the mass of humanity that moved around them to see through it if they but looked.  Unfortunately human nature made them see what they wanted to see, and so they saw a pale woman, her hair rich and vibrant and they never noticed the lack of blush upon her cheeks, or the moments when she did not breathe, her body still and quiet.  They did not see the predator in their midst.<br/><br/><em>He is delicious is he not? Perhaps I will want to watch when you take him… or perhaps I will take him myself if you fail…</em>There was little doubt what she would do to him if Anthony failed, her eyes laughing at the situation he found himself in.  The only plus side to her amusement was that she was unlikely to kill either of them while it lasted…<br/>