Holy like a colander

[Segreti]

Antonio smiled at the doctors as they hastily carted him to the emergency room. Oh, he was in pain. A lot of it. The man was covered in bullet holes. His voice came out weak, before they put a mask over his face, "On a scale of one to ten, how dead am I?" he was pretty sure the shock was stopping him from actually feeling all the pain he was most certainly in. His mind drifted off.

The surgery began. Some of the bullets went through, several stayed in his body. They had to remove one near his heart, one that cut into part of the spine, and also had to patch up a spot around his neck that also barely missed the spine. It was a miracle the man wasn't already dead.

TWO DAYS LATER

Nichole entered the room. Segreti's eyes looked over at her, honestly, they were barely open. His breaths were slow, but they were there. He looked a bit pale. But he was clearly quite alive. She walked over to him and looked at him with concern. She had been one of his employees in Harper Rock for awhile and helped with a great deal of the inter-workings of Segreti's business. Antonio smiled weakly.

"The nurse said you're recovering well. Very well, actually, for someone who had so many holes you might as well have been a colander." she said smiling. She knew he'd make light of the situation later. That, or use it to his advantage. That's just how he was.

He looked at her patiently, thinking before he spoke so he had less to work through. His throat was in a considerable amount of pain still. But he was healing, faster than normal for a human. They knew, however, that he was indeed a sorcerer. That was public knowledge. And so they attributed that to his abilities as they were quite certain he wasn't a vampire.

"It took three of them." He said with a weak smile. Sure, maybe one of them alone could have beaten him. But they didn't. That amused him. He breathed calmly for another few moments before peaking, "Bring my computer next time. I want to keep up with things." he told her.

She let out a sigh, "Shouldn't you be resting."

He looked her in the eyes, "I refuse to let the businesses fall apart just because of a few bullet wounds." she was definitely not going to convince him of this. She nodded and he laid his head back. Shutting his eyes and simply breathing in softly.

"Keep your eye out Nichole. There are crazies in this place. If they got me, they can get you too. Tell everyone to be careful." He told her quietly.

He would remember this.

[Segreti]

The businessman dropped the sack of ingredients on the ground beside the table in his home. He tapped his fingers as he sat down in thought. He couldn't very well go after them right now. It took moments for him to be swarmed by them. Crazy people. However, that didn't mean he couldn't prepare himself should the chance arrive. There were rituals that posed more of a threat than the ones he'd used last time. He could empty them of their blood perhaps. If he got enough ingredients, maybe he'd never even have to leave the altar.

He rubbed his hands through his hair, but if he didn't have one he could put in his home. He'd have to use public altars. Already, there were other ideas in motion. His tome could help him escape. Set up traps. And just when they tried to get inside, have the thrall bring in the other, and he would be gone again. Force them to waste energy just to catch up to him. Waste time. This time, call for any help he could get. Put a bounty on their heads as soon as possible.

Then there was the issue of actually hurting them. He knew he wasn't strong enough without his powers, and they could apparently stop those from being used for a period of time. So if he could evade them long enough, those powers might not matter enough. Focus on rituals in the meantime. Buy traps and better weapons.

There's got to be a way to hurt them, to make them afraid to try again. His eye twitched as a thought came to his mind and he groaned, knowing using it would potentially destroy what he had tried to create. Not that he'd gotten far.

Reveal them. Yeah, it was easy. Thy were clearly off their rockers, more unstable than most criminals he'd had to deal with. Driven easily by emotion to violence. Yes, he could almost certainly try and get paladins and hunters on their pale crooked tails. But he was trying to help vampires, and if he started hunting them. Then he could put himself as an enemy of others. That wasn't a matter of safety, he could absolutely leave Harper Rock and hire bodyguards. Do his business elsewhere.

But then what good was anything he'd tried before. What was the good of trying to create relations with vampires in the first place.

Why couldn't they have just been human. It might have actually been easier if they were. Maybe then he could take much more clear action. If he did that now he risked too much. No, he'd just have to wait. Watch. See if there was ever a chance to make sure they got on the receiving end. He was a patient man. Someday, sooner or later. He might see the chance.