In the evening, Elias took the men in his family out for drinks. His chosen venue was a bar at the rooftop of an entertainment tower in the city. This bar was not the kind of place that one stumbled into by accident. It was a gentleman's club with shields and velvet curtains heavy enough to muffle the city's roar. It had chandeliers dripping with crystals that looked like frozen rain and sleek leather armchairs so deep they swallowed men whole.
The air smelled faintly of aged wines, polished wood, and the faint musk of beast lords who sat inside its walls, plotting, laughing, sulking and occasionally crying into their glasses when the burdens they carried exceeded their ability to endure.
