Bloody Heretic (7 page)

    “
So almost four hundred. That
’
s still young.”

    “
Young-ish,”
Ethan added.

    “
Young-ish,”
Adam agreed, “
Too
young to look so melancholy.
”

    “
I
’
m not melancholy. I
’
m tired. I feel more obsolete with each passing decade, and it
’
s
not just technology. It
’
s with people. I don
’
t understand this,”
he motioned to the mass of sweating bodies.

    “
God, man,”
Ethan w
hispered, “
You can
’
t be talking about Breaking already.”
He looked horrified at Dom.

    “
Is
Breaking finally fee
ling like an old man? Hating
every new thing around you and wishing for the good old days?”
He asked, looking at Adam.

    “
I don
’
t know why y
ou
’
re asking me,”
he said. Dom rolled his eyes at the deflection.

    “
Hold that thought,”
Ethan said, getting up. They watched as he marched away, getting swallowed up by the crowd. Adam looked at Dom, and he shrugged. Dom scanned the crowd looking for E
than over the heads of the dancers. A full minute passed before he came back, brushing blood off the knuckle of his right hand.

    “
Sorry about that,”
he apologized.

    “
You didn
’
t kill the bloke, did you?”
Adam asked.

    “
Of course not. He
’
s not
goin
g to be happy about what I did to his nose, but otherwise everything is fine.”
He looked back out at the crowd smiling.

    “
Is Victoria with her?”
Adam asked, going to stand up. Ethan grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

    “
Yes, you
’
ll be happy to
know I saved her the trouble of clocking the grabby bastard.”

    “
Where
’
s Jeanne?”
Dom asked.

    “
Not with th
em. I assume she
’
s finding her own brand of fun
already,”
Ethan said. Dom realized he had barely registered the girls in the cages above them.
His preoccupation with spotting Jeanne had distracted him from the mission. Once again Jeanne was doing his job and doing
it
better. He glanced up again at the metal contraptions
that he
ld the dancing girls above the dance floor. No wonder they were having
a hard time identifying the girls. They were so caked in makeup and glitter he doubted their own mothers would recognize them.

    “
What were we talking about? Oh, yeah. Dom is going shit house,”
Ethan smiled evilly

    “
I am not. Aren
’
t you guys tired o
f working all the time? This case especially,”
Dom said.

    “
If you are finally reali
zing that you work too hard, the
n there is a God.

    “
Amen,”
Ethan agreed. Dom took a deep breath, and released it slowly.

    “
I know I work too much,”
he said. He gla
nced around casually, noting the armed guard hovering twenty feet away. Switching to Archaic French he tried to explain his frustrations.
“
But aren
’
t you both tired of there never being one clear and present enemy? It
’
s always some shadowy organization or
crack pot radical we have to clean up after. For once I
’
d like there to be someone standing in front of me, one enemy, with one goal. No fucking henchmen, no fucking loose ends. It
’
s never ending. Once we finish up here it
’
s going to be heading to Asia to
do it all over again. I
’
m sick of it.”
He stopped ranting when he realized the guys were staring, aghast.

    “
You knew what you were in for when we got on the plane for Ireland Dom,”
Adam said.

    “
I know and I
’
m not saying that I
’
m not going to finish t
his job. I
’
m just saying,”
he ran
a han
d over his head in frustration.
“
I don
’
t know what I
’
m saying.
”

    “
You want a Goldfinger to your Bond? Is that it?”
Ethan asked. Dom smiled.

    “
Something like that,”
he answered. Before
h
e could voice his next th
ought
there was a Vampire st
anding at their table. The man didn
’
t bother shielding from them.
When Ethan stood to shake
the man
’
s hand he knew this was probably one of Boris
’
s lackeys.

    “
Valentin! Come sit! Have you met our friend Dominic?
”
Ethan asked
the newcomer.

    “
I haven
’
t had the pleasure.”
The Russian man held out his meaty hand and Dom shook it without hesitation. His beady eyes held Dom
’
s with the
strength
of a man content he could crush one with the strength of his will alone. Dom just smil
ed.

    “
Dom, this is Valentin Tarasov
, the manager of
Crimson
. Valentin, this is Dominic Harcourt. He
’
s a friend from back home. Just got in today, we thought we
’
d show him the hottest spot in Eastern Russia.”
Ethan explained.
They usually used their real
names on missions, if only because most Vampires knew who they were and it was easier to be upfront about their identities.

    “
And how are you finding our Haven, Mr. Harcourt?”
The bastard asked.

    “
Dom. P
lease, call me Dom. It
’
s excellent. I can
’
t
wait till things really start to heat up,”
he said, referring to after the humans left. Haven being a term for a Vampire safe house, it was us
ed liberally here. Dom did his best to not show
that he was truly disgusted by this abhorrent excuse for a Vampire
.

    “
Are the ladies not with you tonight?”
He asked casually. Dom knew full well that Valentin was aware of the women, as he must have seen them come in together.

    “
They
’
r
e on the dance floor, as usual,”
Ethan said and smiled. Valentin nodded before
looking back at Dom.

   
“
I would give you a tour, Mr. Harcourt,”
he said, ignoring Dom
’
s insistence of using his name, “
but I
’
m a busy man tonight.
I will come back later to see how you like the action. Stay for the show, Ivana is worth sticking around fo
r,”
he told them as he stood. Dom looked to the stage at the far left of the room. He assumed there would be a performance of sorts. They said their goodbyes for now to Valentin, waiting for him to be out of earshot before speaking again.

    “
They have ha
lf of a Jaguar
and
Ivana re-creates the Tawny Kitaen Whitesnake video,”
Adam whispered to him.

    “
Huh, that should be entertaining. Did they just get Whitesnake this week?”
They laughed at Dom
’
s joke.

    “
She went on the first night we were here. It s
eems they rotate performances every few nights. I say we collect the girls after the Ivana is finished and leave Dom and Jeanne to their own devices.”
Adam looked to the two men in confirmation.

    “
I wouldn
’
t miss Ivana
’
s Tawny for anything,”
Ethan said
, grinning.
Dom smiled at the obvious joke, but as he turned Jeanne caught his eye from across the room. It was quite a feat considering how many people littered the dance floor and bar. She smiled back at him as if he had been sharing the joke with her as
well. He laughed suddenly, not really knowing why. She looked up at the ceiling trying to tell him something. He shrugged to her
,
unsure of what she was trying to say. A dramatic breath blown out let him know she was frustrated with him.
When she leapt up
onto the cage suspended from the ceiling and cracked the door open he stood up to catch a better view of what she was up to. Jeanne had startled the poor girl inside the metal contraption but a quick look had the girl under control.
Again he marveled at h
er mental talents. It was notoriously hard to bespell Were
’
s.
He hoped for her sake no one else was watching this. He left
the booth to walk casually through
the crowd, looking as if he were merely watching the people dancing. The lights and fog kept Jeann
e
’
s menstruations fairly hidden but when she tossed the girl out of the thing and he had to run to catch her, it was all he could do not to scold her.

    “
Nice catch,”
she yelled
when she landed,
wiping her hand
s
down her dress
,
straightening the slick f
abric around her tiny frame. He ignored it.

    “
How did you know I would catch her?”
He yelled back, pissed off.

    “
Why wouldn
’
t you ha
ve?”
She cocked her head in confussion
. He sighed, and decided not to even worry about it.

    “
Why did
you
throw her
out?”
He shifted the girl in his arms as she twisted, coming out of her
stupor
.

    “
Well, honestly because she
’
s
clearly
dehydrated and I wouldn
’
t want Victoria to make an attempt on my life for letting one of her girls die in this place. This one is Blan
che, the girl from Missouri
.”
She held out her hand for the girl and Dom let her slide out of his arms. Jeanne caught her under her arm; steadying her with an arm around her waist as she swayed next to Je
anne on her ridiculous hee
ls. They walked away and h
e followed her with his eyes as she led the girl to the bar for a glass of water. It seemed his job was done for the moment. He walked back to the table.

    “
Nice catch,”
Ethan said, mirroring Jeanne
’
s remark.

    “
Thanks. I wish she would have given me
some warning.
It
’
s a bad idea to show so much interest in one of the girls so soon.”
He had never seen Jeanne do something without reason, but Lord knew what tossing the girl into his arms had been. Perhaps she truly was worried about the girl dehydrating.
As he looked up at the other girls he noticed that they too looked a little out of it.
Be it drugs or simple apathy
, they were in a bad way. The ones circling the room waiting tables or sitting with clients seemed more themselves. He wondered if maybe the
ones above the crowd were being punished in some way.