Bloody Heretic (5 page)

    "If you can speak so clearly
why do you bother with the French accent?" Alex asked.

    "Because I have never
forgotten
where I came from," Jeanne answered, retu
rning to the accent of her Homeland. Gloria glared, taking offence.

   "Okay. Well, good for you." Alex nodded, but she was clearly still baffled. "So, what are you wearing tonight?" Jeanne looked down at
herself
. When she looked back up Alex and Vic were
gaping at her.

    "You can't wear that!" Vic exclaimed. Jeanne smirked at the girl
’
s twin expressions of horror. Apparently sturdy plaid pants and a stripped black and yellow top were not considered appropriate club attire. She whi
rled around for the bat
hroom, changed into her newly acquired dress and was
back out before either girl had closed their mouths.

    "How about this?" She asked, turning for them to see. They shut their mouths
immediately
.

    "Perfect." Vic laughed. Alex nodded quickly. She l
ooked down at herself. Her black dress was cut to
drape
over her breasts perfectly, sliding across her skin like silk while looking like black snake skin. She might only be five feet tall but her legs were
proportionate
for her frame and the dress was cut
to showcase them to perfection. Even in the dingy light of the hotel room you could
tell the dress was just translucent
enough to tease.

    "What shoes are you wearing?" Vic asked. Jeanne slid carefully under the bed for her
separate
suitcase that housed
her collection of footwear. She chose the black leather
stilettos
and held them up. Vic stared, enthralled.

    "Bitch," she said, after a moment.

    "Do you approve now?" Jeanne asked.

    "You pass," Gloria
murmured
.

    "Thank you,
cherie
," Jeanne s
aid. Gloria smiled at her, as a rattlesnake might a rat.

    "Need any help with hair or make-up?" Alex asked. Jeanne quickly fluffed her
pink
hair in the bathroom mirror, applied the needed amount of black
eye shadow
and mascara, and grabbed her bag to r
oot through the choices of lipstick.

    "Which color?
Baton Rouge
or
Blue Blood
?" She asked, holding them up.

    "Blue Blood,
definitely
," Gloria said, just a hint of rebellion in her eyes. Jeanne glared at the subtle dig.

    "I'll go with Baton Rouge
I think," she answered.

    "Go with Blue Blood," she said, smirking.

    "Baton Rouge," Jeanne whispered.

    "Blue Blood," Gloria fought back.

    "Baton Rouge!" Jea
nne lost her cool. She might have stomped her foot but that was neither here nor there.

    "Holy Hell," Vic exclaimed, stepping forward to snatch the tubes out of her hand, "you'd think after several
centuries
under your
belts, you'd have grown up at lea
st a little
." She put the lipstick cases behind her back, switched them around, and then held them out, wanting Jeanne to pick. She could smell the subtle difference in her left hand and tapped it.

    "There, Baton Rouge. D
o you feel better?" Vic asked
a
fter
opening her hand and reading the label.

   "Yes.
Merci
." She looked up at Gloria. Neither stuck their tongues out, but the urge was there. She turned back toward the mirror, expertly applying the deep red color over her lips. She rarely painted her f
ace but when she did there were no fashion
faux pas
. She knew she looked good.

    "Ready?" Alex asked.

    "As I will ever be," she answered. They grabbed their coats, Jeanne chose to take her black trench coat, and they exited the room. The men were al
ready gathered together as well in Dominic and Claude's room, as it wa
s the unofficial meeting place.
Adam kissed Vic on the head as was his custom, though they couldn't have been
separated
for more than an hour. Ethan sat Alex on his lap and played with h
er fingers. Jeanne took all of this in stride. What she was interested in was Master Orleans reaction to Gloria. Again he didn't disappoint. His green gaze found her
immediately
, locking on and not letting go. She felt in her gut the
visceral
reaction of a
Mate for his Mate. Her instincts had proven correct, she was certain of it long ago, but how much longer could she keep them on a leash? Her thoughts turned from Gloria and Tim to Dominic as she swept her gaze around the room. He was staring at her again.
This time though when she stared back he didn't look away. It was a first. Maybe he had some guts after all. He was stone faced as ever but she had his tell marked already. He locked his knees when he was feeling strong emotion. His thighs tensed up, fee
t
planted, his weight firmly placed. He was a sea faring man, she could tell
from this stance
. His gaze swept her up and down, but he wouldn't see what she hid under her coat until they entered the club.
If she felt the slightest twinge of
excitement at thi
s thought, she buried it quickly. She wished she hadn
’
t over heard him earlier in the afternoon. She was having an adverse reaction to it. As he perused her, she did the same of him.
His button down silk shirt was classy but appropriate. His dress pants, s
hoes and tie might be a bit much but he screamed money and they would love him for it.

    "So, with everyone here I'd like to start off by saying thank you to Dominic and Jeanne. It's a load off of our shoulders, and I'm convinced not only will we be able
to prolong our stay but I'm sure a new pair
of
eyes will help the investigation," Adam started off the evening by saying. She nodded to him when he looked her way. Dominic said nothing.

    "We've
already gone over the layout with Jeanne, babe. How about you guys?" Vic said.

    "Yeah, we have the blueprints of the original building and I've
overlaid
it with the new
inner structure
Ethan and Adam gave me," Claude explained, holding
up the
new bluep
rints. Jeanne quickly memorized the layout and filed the information away for later.

    "Still no clues as to the daytime location?" She asked, seeing nothing that would indicate a
subterranean hideout
, or secret lair within the walls.

    "Not yet, no.
The blueprint has been the same for the last fifty years. When Aleksandrov
purchased
the buildi
ng in '93 the documents became sealed information
. I had to literally
break int
o the city archives to get the physical documents
and they're thirty years old," C
laude answered. 

    “
Not a problem. I
’
m sure we will find something. If we have to start in the sewers and work our way up, so be it,”
she said. Alex looked somewhat put out by this suggestion but Jeanne wasn
’
t joking, nor would she hesitate if searching
via the underground sewer system was what had to be done.
They were keeping the girls somewhere.

    “
Alright, let
’
s just play it by ear,”
Vic said. “
I explained to Jeanne already, I think we should go in at the same time together, stick around for a few
hours but split before the night heats up too much. What do you guys think?”

    “
Sounds reasonable to me,”
Ethan said.

    “
I
’
m down.
I
’
ll just have to run back to the room before we leave,”
Alex agreed.

    “
You look fine as you are,”
Ethan told her.
Alex looked up at the girls, and they shared a “
Men are idiots”
look.

    “
I have a question,”
Timothy spoke up. “
I understand why Dominic will be needed to drink from the girls but why is Jeanne expected to? It seems unnecessary to force her to do so.”

   “
Who said I would have to be forced?”
She asked. Claude, who had been tilting his chair back, fell backwards suddenly, smacking his head on the desk. They looked over at him, stunned. He pushed himself up
,
not looking at anyone but Dominic. The two men
shared a loaded look and she instantly became suspicious.

    “
I
’
m fine. Go on. What were you saying Jeanne?”
Claude said after he sat back down.

    “
I was saying, I will do whatever is necessary to blend in. I
’
m not going to endanger the mission. Thank
you for the concern though, Orleans.”
He inclined his head
,
satisfied in his chivalry.
Lord, save me from White Knights.
She watched Claude look from her to Gloria; he had a strange look on his face. The way an infant looked when it defecated.

    “
So wh
at am I doing tonight?”
Elliot asked.

    “
You
’
ll stay here with Claude until Adam and I come back from the club. Afterwards, we can go out and practice hunting again.”
Elliot opened his mouth to protest but Vic cut him off, holding up a finger. “
No buts.
”

    “
This sucks. I
’
m not a baby.”
He pouted.

    “
Then stop acting like one,”
she replied.

    “
How about I show you some basics on the computer, El? The stuff you were asking about last night,”
Claude offered.
Elliot lit up like a Christmas tree.

   
“
Sweet!”
He exclaimed. Jeanne was pretty sure they were talking about Claude
’
s many hacking techniques. Nobody said anything about it, knowing that as long as Elliot was distracted he couldn
’
t get into trouble.

    “
So, are we about ready to get this show
on the road?”
Vic asked.

    “
Give me a minute to get changed and I
’
ll be right back,”
Alex said as she stood up. As she walked towards the door, Jeanne decided to follow her. She slipped
silently out the door
and proceeded down the hallway after her.

    “
Alex,”
she said, causing the younger girl to jump.

    “
Jesus Jeanne! Don
’
t do that! I
’
m not as technologically advance
d
as the rest of you
assholes;
you can
’
t just expect me to hear you.”
She held her hand to her chest.

    “
I didn
’
t expect you to he
ar me,”
she told her. Alex opened her mouth, baffled by her statement but couldn
’
t find the words she was looking for.

    “
Okay. What did you need?”
She kept walking.

    “
I just had a quick question, but I need to know you
’
re not going to repeat what I
want to ask you.”

    “
Sure. Unless it
’
s something having to do with you killing us all in our sleep. Cause I wouldn
’
t really be surprised if it was.”

    “
No, I don
’
t want to kill you in your sleep. I was just wondering,”
she closed the door behind Alex
as they entered her room, “
have you ever seen Dominic with a woman?”

    “
What? Like sexually?”
Alex asked, baffled.