"Vampires once looked down on everything in the dark world. Within the Continental Hotel system, which claimed to uphold the underground order, we held several seats at the High Table.
"Some of our influence even reached the financial conglomerates that formed the foundation of the United States. We did not merely have good relations with them; we wielded unparalleled influence. Now, all that power had vanished like an illusion reflected in a mirror."
In a corner that resembled a nineteenth-century banquet hall, a pale young man with vividly red lips held a wineglass by its stem. He swirled the blood within and sighed as he watched the people before him.
The person beside him wore a look of disgust as he glanced at his eternal friend. "Shut your filthy mouth. Why do you think you were exiled from Hungary? You came to the United States and still acted like this."
The Vampire who loved long-winded speeches raised his glass slightly with the air of one passing judgment on the world. Through the crimson blood, he looked upon the absurd scene before him.
"Look around. Don't you find it interesting? The American Vampire factions were scattered like loose sand, constantly attacking one another. And then there were people like us, refugees from Europe, gathering once more under the name of the Vampire Council.
"It was not for any noble cause, nor because some king had called upon us to rule all things. It was simply because we faced the crisis of extinction. At least in New York, we could no longer survive.
"You should know that even during the Middle Ages, when the Holy See's authority and power were at their height, we never faced such a crisis. Back then, all the ignorant people feared us and the Werewolves, hunters lurking