Bloody Heretic (20 page)

    “
I didn
’
t take you for a Last Speech Villain Michel. Just cut to the chase, would you? You win, we lose. What else is there?”
She taunted him, a failed attempt to turn him from
Elliot. He smiled at her but continued to caress the poor boy, knowing it was killing Jeanne. Vic looked ready to throw up.

    “
I enjoy enlightening your ignorance. I
’
m sure the beauty and scope of my plans have escaped you.”
He turned to look at her aga
in. “
You
killed Dante and his cohorts I hear.  Did you think that was it? That a treacherous Wolf was the mastermind behind the reveal in America?”
He gave a slow smile at this revelation. They all felt the true dawning horror of his insanity.

    “
You
’
ve
finally snapped, old man,”
she whispered. “
You can
’
t be serious about revealing us to the humans. There would be a war to rival the Hundred Years.”

    “
But not for us. Why do you think I chose to fill Dante
’
s head with such nonsense? I could have reveale
d our kind at anytime. I chose to have the pathetic Beta think it was his idea and he did all the hard work for me. As soon as the humans discover the Were
’
s existence, they
’
ll exterminate them for me.”
He looked so proud of himself. Master Orleans leaned
as far as he could
,
given the restraints.

    “
Your plan didn
’
t work, fool. We covered it up. You
’
ll never get the humans to believe in us. We
’
ve worked too hard to hide it from them,”
Orleans growled. Michel glanced over his shoulder briefly.

    “
It wi
ll be nothing to show them again. And again if necessary. Whatever it takes to wipe your kind from the face of the planet.”
He walked past the cage on his way toward the door. “
I
’
ll start right here.”
He looked her in the eye.

    “
You could have had me a
t anytime. Why now?”

    “
Gabriel ensured your protection with the Council, of course. I might be sociopathic but I
’
m hardly suicidal.”

    “
And you think killing me
now won
’
t incur their wrath? I
’
m further up the ladder now than I was in the beginning.
Quite far,”
she bluffed. Yes, she was on the Council, and held some weight but she was hardly an Elder.

    “
Honestly, you delivered yourself so beautifully, how could I resist you?”
He looked her up and down. She didn
’
t fear for herself in that sense for
a second. She knew where his interests lay. She was more worried about Elliot.

    “
They will come for you regardless.”
She could see Alex asking Ethan silently what the Council was. He waved her off and continued to watch with open curiosity. The Wolf w
as out of the bag at this point.

    “
They might, they might not. It
’
s not as if I
’
m going to advertise your whereabouts to them though, is it? I could keep you down here for what? A month? A year
before they noticed? E
ven if they do discover what I have p
lanned for you it would take months to track you down. No, my dear girl, you
’
re mine now. By the time I
’
m through with you, they
’
ll be up to their hairy armpits in murderous Homo Sapiens.”
He laughed at his own joke.

    “
Then get it over with!
I
’
m tired
of talking.”
She dared him to come for her. She wouldn
’
t make it easy.

    “
Now, now. Don
’
t be so impatient. I
’
m really enjoying this aspect of the torture.”

    “
Torture? Yes,
it truly is torture
listening to you pander on and on. I have to agree with y
ou there. But I
’
ve already burned for you Michel. There
’
s really nothing else you can do that will compare to that.”
Michel opened his mouth to reply but before he could Claude interrupted. 

    “
Oh my God! You
’
re Joan of Arc!”
He blurted out. She looked
at him. Everyone who didn
’
t already know l
ooked at her as if seeing her for
the first time.

    “
Really Claude? Now? You had to come to the realization now?”
She looked at Dom. He was actually holding back a smile. She felt a spasm in her chest again.

  
“
Excuse me? Can we get back on track?”
Michel asked.
“
You know? I
’
ve got it.
I
’
m going to make you watch your friends kill each other.”
He clapped like it was a done deal and turned towards the
wall. She looked at Dominic. He stared back at her. They we
re both helpless.

Chapter Nine

    Dom stood paralyzed as Michel paced in front of his only friends. Jeanne looked to him but he was just as helpless to do anything as she was. More so in fact.
All they could do is watch as Michel decided exactly how he wanted this to play out.

    “
I think I
’
ll force them to confess first. I find that psychological damage smoothes the transition. Valentin tells me that you have paired up nicely for me as well.
That
’
s excellent. It
’
s almost as if you were asking for this to happen. Adam,”
he addressed the oldest. “
You most of all should know how unwise it is to bring a loved one into such dangerous situations. You
’
ve seen many loved ones die, I imagine.”

    “
Of
course,”
he answered, still under his own violation. That would end soon enough. It wasn
’
t surprising he had targeted Adam first. The others wouldn
’
t fight as hard when they saw how quickly the oldest and strongest of them crumbled under Michel
’
s power.

   “
Tell her,”
he ordered cryptically, nodding to Vic. A trail of sweat ran down Adams neck as he fought Michel
’
s will.

    “
Whatever he wants you to say, Adam, just say it. Nothing you tell me will make me want to hurt you.”
She obviously didn
’
t understa
nd the purpose of this exorcise. Once the sliver of doubt entered her mind, once she was under Michel
’
s will, it wouldn
’
t matter what she thought.

    “
Tell her the truth, Adam. That you use her like gauze wrapping. That she keeps the monsters at bay and
that
’
s why you stay with her. It wouldn
’
t matter if she were White, Black, Asian or a pot bellied pig. Tell her how many came before her, how many helped stave off the insanity of immortality.”

    “
No.”
Adam fought so hard.

    “
Tell her!”
He commanded. A
dam seized up, his hair dripping with sweat. Vic reached out her hand toward him in panic.

    “
Sixty...,”
he panted. “
Well over sixty thousand. Easily.”
He sagged in defeat. Vic dropped her hand like she had been burned.  They all held their breath, waiti
ng on Vic to react. It wasn
’
t going to be easy to get past such a revelation. Michel looked positively gleeful.
A single tear traced down Adam
’
s cheek Dom could see, but he didn
’
t judge him for it. Vic stared at Adam with a look that could mean anything. S
he took a breath and looked up at Michel.

    “
It doesn
’
t matter to me. I still love him, and I always will. Sixty thousand women molded him into the perfect lover and I can
’
t fault him for that.”

    Adam looked up at her in astonishment. “
I love y...,”
he tried to tell her but the look of rage that came over his face let everyone know that Michel hadn
’
t let him finish that thought.
Meanwhile, Orleans was struggling against his bonds
. Seeing his daughter in pain was driving him mad but if he let Michel kn
ow they were father and daughter it would be over for them. Too late, Dom thought as Michel zeroed in on him.

    “
Do stop trying to shift, dear man. You
’
re only going to hurt yourself. And it
’
s giving me a migraine to look at you.”

    “
Eat me, leech!”
Th
e look he gave Michel would have cowered a lesser man. But Michel just walked across the room and grasped him by the chin.

    “
What business is it of yours if I torture Hevenside? Are you having certain forbidden tendencies toward the man?”
He asked slyl
y. It wouldn
’
t have surprised Dom one bit if Orleans had broken the straps holding him down in that moment and snapped Michel
’
s neck. But he wasn
’
t strong enough for that, despite his obvious intent. Everyone stayed silent, doing their best not to alert M
i
chel that anything was amiss.

    “
Unlock these straps and I
’
ll show you what sort of tendencies I feel like exploring.”

    “
Would that I could,”
he fanned his face in feigned excitement. Orleans struggled anew at his taunting. “
What is it that upsets y
ou so? Is it the girl?”
He looked between them both trying to figure it out. Though Vic looked nothing like her father, Mi
chel would figure it
out soon enough
.

    “
Don
’
t you ever get tired Michel?”
Jeanne asked him in French. “
I know I do.”
He didn
’
t eve
n acknowledge her question. He walked back over to Vic and forced her to look at him.

    “
What secrets do you hold
,
little one? What will it take to break you?”

    “
Like Orleans said, untie these straps and find out,”
she sneered at him.

    “
In time.
Don
’
t rush toward your death; it will come before you know it. Give me something. What do you fear? What do you keep hidden from the world?”
She caved quickly.

    “
I fear dying like my mother. I fear never knowing what my children will look like because of that fear.”
The words poured out of her and she wept as though her heart were being torn from her chest. Dom felt it as cleanly as if it were his own pain. This w
a
s the worst torture he could possibly endure. Once they were truly broken and weak Michel would control them like puppets. Orleans couldn
’
t hold back any longer. He roared at Michel, tears trailing down his face as well. Michel seemed to take this as conf
i
rmation.

    “
My dear, what is this man to you?”
He asked her.

    “
He
’
s my father.”
She hiccupped.
Michel clapped his hands together in glee.

    “
My God, you are completely daft. All of you.”
He laughed manically. “
Honestly, Orleans. I had heard your
long lost daughter had returned
,
but to bring her on such a dangerous mission.”
He tsked.