Bloody Heretic (19 page)

    “
Son of a Bitch!
”
Orleans raged, yanking on the straps holding his arms down.

    “
Don
’
t bother. They
’
re not going to break. We
’
ve tried,”
Vic explained. Orleans looked down at them, taking in the situati
on.

    “
Well now I
know where Aemelio got his from,”
Gloria
murmured.
“
What are these made of? Woven titanium?”
She yanked experimentally.

    “
More likely Michel is limiting our power,”
Jeanne answered.
“
And the locking mechanism is Michel
’
s
own design. It would take us days to figure it out.”
She frowned at the news but stopped yanking.

    “
How the hell did you guys get caught?”
Dom asked.

    “
Good question. Last I remember we were down at the river, still looking for the exit, and t
hen wham
. H
ere we are. I haven
’
t been wiped in centu
ries. It
’
s fucking embarrassing,”
Gloria ranted.
Jeanne chose not to mention the few times in the past she had wiped Gloria herself. “
So, what are we dealing with here?”

    “
Le Soleil Noir,”
she answere
d. Gloria
’
s mouth fell open.

    “
Fuck,”
she said after a moment.

    “
Yep,”
she agreed.

    “
No wonder you guys were wiped. If it was going to be anyone, it
’
d be him.”
Guilt slammed into Jeanne again at Gloria
’
s assumption. She slid Dom a glance. He was
looking perplexed. No doubt he
’
d soon come to the conclusion that if Michel had wiped them last night he never would have let them go. She only hoped Michel killed her before Dom learned the truth.

    “
Would someone please enlighten the newbie over here,
”
Alex asked. “
I mean, don
’
t get me wrong, I
’
m scared shitless of the guy. Capturing all of us is pretty impressive.
But you guys obviously know something I don
’
t.”

    “
Michel L
e Soleil Noir, or The Black Sun
as he
’
s called
,
is one of th
e oldest Vampires
alive
. He reme
mbers when Rome invaded Gaul
,”
Jeanne explained. “
That
’
s why he can wipe even Adam.”

    “
He was responsible for your capture at
Compiè
gne
, was he not?”
Adam asked
,
deliberately fanning her own failure
in her face
.

    “
He was,”
she answere
d with a calm she didn
’
t feel. “
He left me to rot
after I served him willingly for years. He was insane six hundred years ago, I don
’
t know what he is now. You guys should be okay though, he
’
s just going to try and use you to get me to confess to something
I have no knowledge of. Once he realizes that I don
’
t know what he wants to know, you should be safe.”
She tried to give them hope. It didn
’
t work. They could see that t
hey were just useless pawns. Everyone
turned when the door opened again and Claude and
Elliot walked in. They seemed to be under their own influence, but it wasn
’
t surprising considering they were the youngest and weakest of the group.

    “
Hey, guys. Turns out I won
’
t be saving the day after all. Sorry,”
Elliot said as they strapped him in
.

    “
Come on! How did they get you guys?”
Orleans asked.

    “
After Gloria didn
’
t respond to radio ca
lls we went looking for you
. They caught us outside the building. Sorry,”
Claude said, head hanging down.

    “
It
’
s not your fault Claude. Honestly, yo
u never stood a chance.”
Jeanne sat on the cot that was positioned in the corner. Dom still hadn
’
t gotten up from the floor.

    “
How come you guys get a cell and we
’
re strapped the wall
?”
Elliot asked.

    “
If it makes you feel any better I was pushed
in from the ceiling and I fell on my ass,”
Jeanne said.

    Elliot chuckled. “
Yeah, I feel a little bit better,”
the little shit said.

    “
So, Jeanne, how do we get out of thi
s?”
Dom asked her softly. They were
the first words he
’
d
willingly
spoken to h
er since they were caught. He looked at her from the floor and she couldn
’
t gather the energy to lie to him.

    “
I don
’
t know.”

    “
Never let it be said that you aren
’
t honest.”
He stood then and paced the length of the cage. He didn
’
t have far to go bef
ore having to turn around and his erratic movements reminded her of the night before, when she had found him pacing the length of the Velvet Room. The memory of his fear before the incident and the memory of his confidence after clashed and she forgot for
a moment where they were and why. All she could think was she had to calm him before he did something irreparable. Or made her do something just as damaging, not to mention inappropriate.
She reached up, snagging his arm and pulled him down onto the cot. H
e looked furious but she put a finger to his lips.

    “
If you have any ideas, please feel free to share them. If not, your pacing is driving me nuts and I
’
d like you to stop.”
She removed her finger, which tingled at the contact, but let him decide what h
e would do before she urged him again to settle down.

    “
He wants
something you can
’
t give him. We are nothing but living chess pieces as far as he
’
s concerned. Even if he didn
’
t want Gabriel, there was no way we were getting out of here alive.”

    “
Al
l we have to do is come up with a plan. I
’
ve escaped worse situations than this.”

    “
Yeah? Like what?”
He demanded. She opened her mouth, but honestly she hadn
’
t been this wholly trapped since her incarceration in Arras, where they had kept her for the m
ost part before her trial. Only Michel
’
s interference had insured her continued entrapment. If it weren
’
t for him she would have escaped long before her execution. Though she also would be long dead by now as well, so who was she to
judge?
Dom had long sin
ce given up on her being able to answer and turned away. He didn
’
t move from his spot on the cot, for which she was grateful.
She tried to put a hand to his shoulder but he shrugged her off. She wished she could dig a hole in the marble floor and escape. H
e wouldn
’
t even let her touch him now. Why hadn
’
t she seen this coming? Her paranoia over Michel had kept her alive thus far. But it was only a matter of time before two immortals crossed paths again. There was no photographic evidence of Boris Aleksandro
v
, not even from the security tapes Claude had looked through, so she couldn
’
t have known. There was no sense in beating herself up over it and honestly she wasn
’
t the type to sit wallowing in guilt. If she screwed up, she faced it and then solved the issu
e
, whatever it was. That was what she had to do here. If only she knew where to start. Michel wanted Gabriel. Well, she really didn
’
t know where he was. As far as she was concerned he had died long ago. She had mourned and then moved on as best she could.
I
f she couldn
’
t give Michel what he wanted she would have to come up with something he did want. No one spoke as she contemplated a strategy that could get them out alive.

    “
One hundred bottles of beer on the wall, one hundred bottles of...,”
Elliot stop
ped singing when Jeanne cut him a look. Her eyes alone let him know she would find a way to kill him through the bars of the cage. 

    “
Got any ideas yet?”
Gloria asked her.

    “
Nothing that will work. Michel is grade A mentally unstable. He Broke a lo
ng time ago, he just forgot to meet the sun like a normal Vampire. And now he wants something I can
’
t give him.”

    “
So, this is it? We come to save a few girls from slavery and we get captured by some random psycho who has a grudge against Jeanne?”
Orlea
ns asked.

    “
Seems that way,”
she sneered at him. Oh, how she would love to take him down a peg or two. They all looked up as the main door opened and Michel strode
happily
into the room,
and
for all intents and purposes he looked like he was greeting g
uests for a dinner party.

    “
Now that I have you all together, I
’
d just like to say I am truly flattered that you would gather some of the best of the best to take me out. It
’
s an honor, really.”

    “
What the Hell are you talking about, Michel?”
Jeanne
drawled.

    “
All this,”
he waved a hand to encompass them all. “
It
’
s too much. Actually, it
’
s not enough. But you get the idea.”

    “
No, I can
’
t say that I do. We didn
’
t even know you were here. Why would you think we came here to kill you?”
Jeanne was
baffled. More so than usual by Michel
’
s ramblings.
None of the others seemed to know what he was talking about either.

    “
I assumed when I heard news that the King and Pack Master of Orleans were sweeping through Europe, taking back my hard earned prize
s
,
that you were working your way to me.”
He gave Jeanne a puzzled look. She stared aghast right back. Slowly everyone came to the same conclusion.

    “
You? You
’
re behind the kidnappings?”
She flew at the bars of the cage, tearing at the metal futil
el
y.
Michel smiled at her, seeing that she had caught on. Her blood boiled in her veins an
d
she longed to get at him.

    “
Yes! Exactly! I had no idea you were so ignorant of the facts. I might have played the innocent for a spell.”
He laughed at her look of pu
re hatred. “
I can
’
t help but marvel at the fire power you brought to catch a phantom. You didn
’
t know who you were after and yet you risked bringing me Adam Hevenside, Ethan Hollowman, Master Orleans, your own Child Grace O
’
Malley. The others are inconseq
u
ential but some fine specimens indeed.”
Jeanne and Adam both snarled at Michel when he ran the back of his
hand
down Elliot
’
s face. Michel laughed at that. Elliot looked truly afraid for the first time since she had met the boy. The gravity of the situatio
n was no longer just death. Michel would do
despicable
things to them all.