Bloody Heretic (22 page)

    “
The night you showed me...you know.”
He gave her a look. She nodded. “
I woke up on
the floor. You had left but I wasn
’
t alone.”
He stopped speaking but Michel forced the rest out. “
Clair was there.”

    “
Clair!”
Gloria gasped.
Vic too took a startled breath. Clair must have been Orleans late wife.

    “
Yes. She hadn
’
t appeared to me in s
eventy years
but she came that night.”

    “
What did she want?”
Gloria whispered.

    “
She said that she was tired of seeing me miserable. She said that if I didn
’
t give you a chance after what you shared with me she was going to
‘
Norman Bates
’
me every mo
rning in the shower.”
He chuckled. Gloria didn
’
t.

    “
So, that
’
s why you...,”
she didn
’
t finish. A sob caught in her throat.

    “
No.”
He said with great conviction. “
After she got done berating me
,
I told her I had been halfway to forgiving you already,
before you even...did what you did.”

    “
What did she do?”
Vic asked. Michel turned.

    “
I
’
m guessing she showed him her wolf form.”
He looked back at Orleans signaling for him to continue.

    “
Her what?!”
Vic screamed. Michel waved her quiet.

    “
Y
es, so like I was saying, I would have come after you no matter if Clair had come or not. But knowing she didn
’
t care, that she likes you and gives her blessing. Well, that gave me so much relief.”

    “
And you didn
’
t tell me because?”

    “
Doesn
’
t matter,
”
Michel
interrupted
. “
Your confessions are boring me. It
’
s obvious he loves you.”

    “
Yes, I suppose it is.”
She glared but it wasn
’
t
in anger. More like what she would do in the privacy of their own room if no one was watching.

    “
And you, him?”
He a
sked Gloria. She looked at Jeanne before answering.

    “
Yes, very much.”
Gloria seemed to wish she had
n
’
t owned up to that in front of
her. Maybe they really were in some sort of relationship, as Claude had thought. He wished Michel would force that out
of her. Shocked by his thoughts he snapped out of it and paid attention to what was happening.

    “
Good, good.”
He rubbed his hands together, which didn
’
t seem good at all. “
Who
’
s next? Oh, the pup.”
He turned toward Elliot. Vic growled at him as he appr
oached. He ignored her.

    “
I
’
m a Hybrid, turned by Gloria when I got shot saving Vic and Mas
ter from a traitor last January. I
’
m not very good at hunting yet, but I am good at stalking. It
’
s been a hobby of mine for awhile now. I
’
m not good at talking t
o girls so I follow them around firs
t to see what they
’
re into
and then I break the ice later with whatever info I find out.”
He didn
’
t take one breath during the whole speech.

    “
Elliot!”
Vic yelled. “
You are not to be stalking girls, do you hear me?”

    “
Yes,
Mom
,”
he repeated, just as he always did when Vic reprimanded him. The moment was so normal that everyone felt lighter for just a second.

    “
Lord, I hadn
’
t even pushed him for the information,”
Michel commented. “
So, Hybrid, yes?”

    “
Yes,”
Elliot mocked. The kid had guts, that was for sure. Or he w
as just smart enough to try to
get Michel to kill him fast.

    “
You say you were turned only a few months ago. You are extremely controlled for one so young.”

    “
Gloria says I
’
m strong and that
I was built for it.”
He looked to Gloria for confirmation. She smiled back at him, pride in her eyes.

    “
Oh, you were built for something alright,”
Michel purred. Vic strained against the straps holding her down when Michel walked towards Elliot. Dom k
new what he had to do.

    “
Aren
’
t you forgetting someone,”
he called out. Jeanne whirled to stare at him,
her eyes begging him to shut up. But it was too late; Michel was turning to look at him.

    “
Thanks man. I
’
ve taken one for the team once already
this year,”
Elliot told him. Dom couldn
’
t help but laugh at the kid. Michel quirked a smile too, but for different reasons.

    “
You were saying?”
He motioned for Dom to continue.
Shit.
Now that all eyes were on him, his convicti
on was somewhat lessened
.
He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers. Jeanne begged him
again
to shut up. He looked away from her. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that what he was about to say would most likely make her wish she had never met him, let alone begged him to save hi
mself.

    “
You have us here, trapped, playing with us for no other reason but that you
’
re bored.”

    “
Yes? And?”
He asked.

    “
What if I told you
that without a doubt you were never going to get revenge on Gabriel?”
Jeanne didn
’
t so much gape at him as
stare horrified.

    Michel didn
’
t believe him either. “
And how would you know something like that?”
He gestured for an explanation.

    “
Because I was there when he died.”

Chapter Ten

    “
What?”
Jeanne and Michel said simultaneously.

    “
I was there,”
he told them. “
I watched him die.”
He was focused on Michel but he could see Jeanne staring at him. Michel stared to speak but she cut him off.

    “
How is that possible? And why didn
’
t you tell me?”

    “
Why would I have? I had no reason to
share the information before now.”

    “
Would you be so kind as to explain why you believe this to be true, Dominic?”
Michel
’
s power bore into Dom
’
s skull, filling his ever fibe
r with the need to speak of those
terrible
memories
. He shook with the need to
fight it but he let the compulsion fill him as he slid down the bars of the cage. His legs would no longer hold his weight.

    “
It was 1650. I was twenty-six yea
rs old and my father had
promoted me to
Captain of my own ship. I set sail from Martinique wi
th a crew of thirty-two men and one French passenger who had paid handsomely to be taken home. We made it two weeks before we ran into a storm. It was the worst I had seen in all my experience as a privateer and I was out of my league. We did our best but
by the time the worst had passed
I had lost most of my men, all three masts and I had taken a fairly
large piece
of wood
to the gut. The passenger did his best for the survivors, including myself, but we were without hope. With no rigging we wer
e free floa
ting in the Atlantic;
it was only a matter of time. Despite having a foot long sliver of wood in my stomach I managed to live long enough to realize that our passenger wasn
’
t just a man who was sensitive to the sun, as he had told the crew. The men became
weaker and eventually I caug
ht him in the act of feeding. We talked amongst ourselves and decided that if we were going to survive at all, the Vampire had to go. The crew roped him as he slept, dragged him above deck and watched as he burned in the light o
f day.”
By now Jeanne had tears leaking unchecked down her cheeks. She looked at him in disbelief, broken trust, hatred. All of these things, and still he couldn
’
t help his cold retelling of the story.

    “
And how did you come to find out his identity? H
ow can you be sure it was him?”
Michel asked.

    “
He told me his name when he asked to come aboard. After his death, we crossed paths with another ship. There were only five of us by then that had survived, but what we had seen we couldn
’
t forget. We ban
ded together in a pact to hunt and kill any Vampire we could get our hands on. As you can see,”
he held his hands out, “
my destiny wasn
’
t what I expected it to be. But after I was turned I learned
of
Gabriel
’
s legend and his ties to Jeanne. I k
new who we had killed that day.”

    “
Is this true, Jeanne?”
Michel asked. She turned to him.

    “
I knew nothing of this.”
Her whispered answer tore into his resolve and he almost cracked.

    “
Is it possible?”
He asked with
his hands fisted at his side
s.

    “
The last I saw of Gabriel he was leaving our home in
Morocco to search for Catherine. I stayed behind in case she came to us ther
e. It was 1648 when he left. It i
s possible, what Dominic says.”

Michels hands
remained
fisted at his sides. “
And eve
rything was going so well
.”
He sent a look Dom
’
s way and a sliver of gut wrenching pain twisted in his brain. He gasped, trying to get enough oxygen
into his lungs
to stay conscious.
Surprisingly, considering all he had confessed, Jeanne dropped to catch h
is head before it hit the cold cement. All he could think as he looked up into her tear streaked face was how thankful he was that he hadn
’
t been made to confess of his blood addiction. But another thought intruded as Jeanne cradled his head in her lap. M
i
chel would surely see the way she ran her hand soothingly over his temple and cheek. As soon as the thought was born, he knew it was too late.

    “
Curious, Jeanne. What do you feel for this man?”
Michel asked from above them. She looked into Dom
’
s eyes, s
earching.

    “
Something profound. I
’
m not sure yet, but it
’
s something I haven
’
t felt in a long time.”
He was sure without having to look that everyone was watching with confusion. They were as curious as he was as to when she had decided to grace him wi
th her affections. He did his best to smile at her despite the pain still wracking him. She lightly swiped her thumb over his lip.

    “
Alright, I
’
ve decided. Alex, you shall fight the whelp. Ethan, you will fight Gloria. Orleans with Adam and Victoria wi
th Claude.”
As soon as his speech was finished the straps holding them against the wall fell away and they were suddenly standing facing each other. Dom and Jeanne both closed their eyes, knowing that Michel
’
s planning was impeccable. Each was paired with
a partner as equal in power as they could get but also not emotionally attached as they might be to another, therefore not as likely to resist his control. God help them if he was willing. He prayed
for strength as well, knowing Michel
would pin Jeanne aga
inst him. She would kill him as quickly as she could but he hoped she wasn
’
t hurt by him in the melee.
Before Michel could signal the start of the fight Jeanne gave a violent shake, a wave of tension leaving her body. He looked up at her to see that she wa
s already staring into his eyes. The look could have been one of apology but he didn
’
t get the chance to ask.