It was a coliseum, designed in the style of an antiquated dungeon. There was a pit in the heart of the stage, surrounded by raised cement barriers. Only this separated Jake and the crowd from the spectacle before them. Guests were handed out wine glasses, carried about by maids with a tray in each hand, and butlers who offered food. It was all part of the package of entry. There was no guarantee of safety, and that was exactly what the crowd hungered for. Men as well as women, vampires, and just lucky rich human nobles who had rejected the chance for immortality did not don masks. Jake suspected said humans were just a little too fond of death, or had been raised in a cult mindset. Religion was a huge barrier for any that wished to cross to the side of the undead, and it modeled the politics of the very world they lived in. All the influential were present, too many to count. Even so, he didn’t want to think of their expressions ravenously taking in the soon-to-be bloodbath event.