I had half a mind to actually speak to her about all of this, to get some idea of what kind of things we should do to make everyone comfortable, but when I looked over at her she was in deeper thought than I had ever seen her in, staring silently out the window at the slowly frosting roads and the grey of the afternoon sky. It was a beautiful sight to be sure, in its own way, the kind of melancholic beauty that was always accompanied by a hot cup of coffee and half a pack of cigarettes, the kind that you remembered when you lay yourself down to rest, but could never ever talk about for fear of its utter mundanity. I wanted to know what she was thinking, if she really thought the same way that I did when she looked out at an empty street, or what kinds of colors rushed into her mind when I asked what color she thought sadness would look like. There were so many things that I still hadn’t learned about this woman who was taking such a chance and leaping headlong into one hell of a risk with me, but to ask now would be to ask her to break her concentration.
And one thing that I knew for certain about Alexis is that you do not break her concentration. No way, no how, that woman's mind was hers and hers alone, she would give you an idea of what was darting through her brain only if she wished to. Otherwise… well, hope that you don’t mind guessing and being wrong.
“This city…” She said slowly, grabbing my attention instantly, “It’s so big, so dark… you can hardly see anything through all the mist.”
“Mist?” I asked, “What mist?”
“Not a physical one, and not a magical one either, just the kind of mist that it feels you walk through when everything is so terrible and sad that part of you would rather be dead. The kind where every movement you make is so sluggish and so heavy that you can’t remember the last time it was that you didn’t feel like someone’s old leather bag, constantly carried around to one place or another with little regard for whether you wanted to be there or not, feeling like you were going to fall apart at any moment.” She looked over at me, arching her brow and looking at me as if I was supposed to be nodding and agreeing. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Uh… absolutely not,” I answered, deciding that honestly really was the best policy. What was I supposed to say something like that, I’m not a fucking fortune cookie. “Could you say all of that just a little bit slower for me?”
“Surely you can feel it whenever you’re not doing anything else, when you have a free moment and stare out of the window of your office?” She placed her hand against the window, sighing deeply at what she felt, “There is good in this city, our alliance is proof enough of that, but there is so much evil out there as well, I can hardly stand to breath sometimes without vomiting. You know exactly what it is that I’m talking about, I saw your face sometimes after you’d been working on a case, even if we weren’t in the speaking mood with each other. I saw how the loss of my witches affected you, which is to say much less than I would have expected someone when coming across such a horrific sight.”
“I was horrified!” I protested, before she held her hand up in answer.
“You were horrified, that’s true… but you weren’t surprised either. The sight was bad, it broke your heart, but… that doesn’t change the fact that according to everything else that you’d seen a few women being butchered by the men that they loved was all according to business. What kind of city just allows that to happen to people? What kind of city butchers the innocent on such regular basis that those who are supposed to protect the little people aren’t even surprised at such acts of horror?” She shrugged, exhaling roughly through her nose and grunting to herself, “Or maybe I’m just too cynical, the seasons changing does that to me. I never do get used to all the cold and frost.”
“I think…” What did I think about all of this? I’d spent so long not thinking about how I felt just because it was a survival mechanism for getting through some of the things that I saw, but now that I actually remembered the last few years… she’s right, I wasn’t really surprised at the things that I saw. I’d seen men and women butchered in truly horrible ways, I’d seen bodies in such bad states that sometimes when I saw something out of the corner of my eye or smelt something just slightly off I got a flash of them going through my mind. Every single time I had to go to a new crime scene to see another innocent victim it hurt, and it was terrible, but nothing about it struck me as too out of the ordinary, right up until I found evidence that magic had been involved in the killing. What do you think, when that is normal for you?
“I’m not saying that our fight is hopeless, and I’m not saying that this city isn’t worth fighting for,” Alexis said, “Just the opposite, as much as one can, I love this city. It’s been a home to me, a home to my brother, and inside of it I’ve managed to build something that can become a home to men and women who were just like me when I first came here. But it’s very fragile, this city, we need to protect it as best we can.”
That was a sentiment I could definitely agree with, and now that I thought about it probably a good explanation for why I hadn’t just left after things had gone so wrong. This city might be grungy, terrible in places, outright deadly for some, but in the end it’s still my home, it’s where I’ve built my life and made my friends. It’s where I found love, as amazing and impossible as it may have seemed only a few years ago. I didn’t want anything to jeopardize this place, this cesspool that I had called my own, I wanted to bring it into the future, I want to make it into somewhere where human and paranormal alike can make a life for themselves, without fear of violence or persecution.
Given what I know about human history, that’s likely far too tall of an order to ever accomplish, but I don’t see anything wrong with trying anyway. After all what’s the worst that happens? We improve the city a little bit anyway? How terrible.
“You’re doing that thing again.” Alexis rested her head against the window, chuckling lightly to herself, “There you go off into deep thought again. Sometimes I really wish that you would just say everything out loud.”
“But I like to keep you guessing,” I laughed, “Sometimes a little mystery in life is good.”
Chapter 3
The club looked to be just the same as it always was whenever I came here, though a closer glance revealed that some of the furnishings were gradually being updated, the tables and chairs different than they had been from last time, shifting from what had been a more classical look to something more modern, sleeker. I hadn’t seen any of the girls just yet, but I have no doubt that their outfits would be updated just the same.
“Going through some changes?” I asked, holding the door open as Alexis walked in beside me, “I liked the old look, but this is still nice.”
“Always have to adapt to the market,” She said, shrugging her coat off and tossing it behind the bar, “People have been wanting something more ‘professional’ looking for a few months now, they like the classics but some of them have a secretary fetish or something, I don’t know. This new look makes everything look more like a high scale business setting, so far reception has been very good.”
“I’ll bet…” I wandered through the hallway, following her every step as we walked around the back towards her office. That much hadn’t changed at least, she had no real need to update the furnishings in there given that no one would logically see them unless they were a business partner, up here everything could just remain in stasis for all she cared. A quick glance into the dressing room as we’d walked by revealed a lot of blacks and whites, the color palette for their new dancing attire going for a much more minimalist feel, though with the talent that each of those supremely talented young women possessed in their bodies I had no doubt that they would make it work incredibly well.
“Forgive the mess,” Alexis said as she kicked an empty bottle towards the garbage can next to the door, “Late night teaching sessions, you know how some of them can be.”
“No judgement from me, you should see the state that my apartment has been left in after some of the ni
ghts that I’ve had… at this point walking across my carpet should get you drunk.”
She smiled, groaning in relief as she finally crashed down into her seat, raising her eyebrow at me in question and gesturing to another bottle on her desk.
“Sure,” I replied, taking my seat in front of her and waiting for the glass to be passed my way, “Anything special that we’re toasting to?”
“I think that we should toast to a good business agreement, even if this isn’t going to be of the monetary sort. It’s always exciting trying new things don’t you think?”
“I can’t disagree there,” I said, taking my glass and clinking it against hers, “To the future.”
“To the future.” Alexis tilted her head back, swallowing her drink in one bitter gulp, brushing a finger along her lips to make sure she didn’t spill a single drop. Seeing her easy composure, the way that she was seemingly so comfortable appearing at ease, it was no wonder that she had so many people so dedicated to her. “So, should we get started?”
“Get started?” I asked, “With what?”
“I think that it would be best if the person that my workers are getting this information for was here when I told them their new responsibilities, don’t you?” Pressing a button on her desk, she leaned forward and spoke, “Can you send everyone up? Give free drinks to anyone who was waiting for a dance, this should only take a few minutes.”
“Your brother?”
“He’ll take care of any disruptions downstairs, he knows I hate disrupting business.” Incredibly, there was a knock at the door at the moment, a quick call to come in revealing a number of dancers already standing and waiting for instructions.
“Wow,” I said, “That’s kind of creepy.”
“You wanted us Alex?” The lead dancer asked, a petite little thing, her dark skin contrasted greatly by the brilliant green of her eyes, like two emeralds that seemed to shimmer and move in the light. Knowing what I did about some of the workers here, I have no doubt that that’s what they were actually doing.
“Holly, come in, please.” Alexis crossed her hands in front of her, waiting for everyone to take their positions and ready themselves for whatever it was that she needed them to do. She felt like a drill sergeant, or some kind of captain, her influence over them was truly incredible. “I know that wounds are still raw over what happened a few months ago, the hunters that kidnapped me could have easily killed me and burned this place to the ground, I’m just glad that all of you were ignored for the time being in favor of me.”
“We should have done more to help,” Holly said, her fellow dancers all nodding in agreement, “You’ve done so much to protect us, we should have done the same.”
“You would have likely done nothing but die, and that is something that I would have been far angrier at you for. Survival has always been the most important thing for any of us to aim for, we take care of ourselves and we look out for others when we can, but we cannot do the latter if we don’t do the former first. But now, I have to ask all of you for a very serious favor.”
Turning to look at me, she nodded her head before taking a quick breath to steady her thoughts, looking at each of her workers with every ounce of care and compassion that someone would have looking at members of their own family. In that, I suppose it was pretty accurate.
“You know that tensions in the city are thick with the announcement that there is a group of shifters being welcomed in, I’ve already spoken to all of you about this previously to see if anyone had problems with this. None of you did, even offering to help, and the time has come for you to do exactly that.”
“What do you need us to do?”
“We’ve gotten a much larger clientele since tensions lifted, vampires, werewolves, hunters, they all come here to unwind after a long day and all of you have at least one regular client who belongs to at least one of these groups. Though outwardly they may appear accepting of everyone else, we mustn’t forget that only a year ago we were all regularly at each other’s throats.” Alexis rubbed at her wrist, a lingering pain from when they had all been kidnapped and held as bait for me. Though she was strong, that wasn’t something so easily forgotten. “The welcoming of this group of shifters might dredge up old rivalries and hatred, and if that does happen we need to be prepared to intercept any of them as soon as we can.”
“And... how do we do that?” Holly asked, “Are you expecting us to kill them in the club?”
“No, no nothing like that.” Though the look in her eyes told me that she wasn’t exactly unprepared to do so. “Around you, men and women all suddenly find themselves with loose lips, so at ease that they’ll tell you just about anything to keep you interested. Some of these things may be mundane, what kind of car they own, who their friends are, but if you listen closely you may find some of them are hinting at something deeper, something much more dangerous.”
“You’re talking about listening in and telling you their secrets?”
“Yes, but not the little things like any trouble that they’re going through, or whatever fights they had with their friends. I’ll leave it up to all of you to decide what it is that you want to tell me, I don’t want to make you feel like you’re compromising your relationships with your clients in service of this.”
They nodded in understanding, Holly leading the charge with the questions once more. “This would just be like telling you about a problem client? Like when you would get the bouncer to throw them out or work them over in the alley?”
“Exactly like that, except we would take them first to question them about what exactly it is that they’re planning, and if it involves anyone else. Then we will likely work them over in the alley.”
They laughed, the tension in the room slowly lifting and their shoulders slacking in relaxation. It was a big ask that we were making, confidentiality was key to their entire business, it was what they depended on to build relationships with their clients and it was what allowed them to still live lives outside of this building, given how repressive the culture outside still was. Telling them that we expected them to breach this confidentiality was no small thing, it breached just about every code that they had, but they were willing to do so if it meant protecting the alliance. That was dedication, and they were all incredible for following through.
“Who do we speak to?” Holly asked, “Do we tell all of this to you, or do we tell it to her?”
There wasn’t any offence in her tone when she gestured at me, just genuine question. I could understand that, I was an outsider coming in and making demands of them, however well intentioned. It would do me well to answer whatever questions they had.
“If you want to tell them to me directly then I’ll leave my number with you, I’ll be available at all hours, whenever you need me. But if you would prefer to speak to someone more familiar, I wouldn’t have any issue with you relaying your concerns through Alexis, so long as she doesn’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Alexis said, “Whatever makes my people more comfortable is something that I’m willing to do, we’re all on the same team.”
“That’s right,” I answered, looking back at Holly and smiling, “Do you have any more questions? I would love to answer any that you have either here or privately.”
The rest of them shook their heads, but I could tell looking into Holly’s eyes that she had more that she wanted to know. The fact that she wanted to speak privately was obvious, otherwise she would have spoken up in front of the other dancers, so with a wave of her hand and an understanding smile Alexis dismissed the group.
“Alright girls, you can all get back to work, sorry about taking you away from your clients. Holly, would you be able to stay back for a moment longer?”
She nodded, waiting until the others had left before walking over and taking her seat next to me. I figured it was best if we got started with the questions, whatever it was that she wanted to ask us was definitely important to her, she could use a helping hand.
“What wa
s it that you wanted to ask us Holly?” Alexis asked, “Was it both of us that you wanted to speak to or just Amy?”
“Both of you but… I’m not quite sure how to word all of this.”
“Take your time,” I said, “We can take as long as you need to, don’t worry.”
Playing with her fingers, I could see her making little arcane shapes in the air, tiny glowing lines flashing for a second before vanishing just as fast. A strange nervous tick, but hardly the strangest that I’d ever seen, I just hoped that it wasn’t me that was making her nervous.
“I want to know… when we tell you about someone who might be involved in something else, something related to hurting other members of the alliance or whatever it might be, what are you going to do to them?” She looked between us, curiosity more than nervousness written on her face. “Obviously if they’re doing something very dangerous then they can’t be allowed to go through with it but… how far are you going to go with it?”
“It… would be on a case by case basis,” Alexis said carefully, looking at me out of the corner of her eye to see if I agreed, “Some would be let go if they weren’t involved in anything seriously, maybe they just heard something and decided it would be something they would use to impress you. But others… if they’re in deep enough, if they’re dedicated to hurting members and allies of the alliance, then we’re going to have to hand them over to Joseph. You remember Joseph?”
“Yes, the head vampire with the very nice fangs.” She smiled, maybe a little too much for when you were describing someone’s fangs, but everyone has their own little thing I suppose. “He’ll handle all of the consequences, it won’t be on us?”
The Vampire’s Revelations: Book 12 of the Fatal Allure Series Page 4
