Bloody Heretic (27 page)

    “
Don
’
t you dare walk out of here! Get your ass over here right now!”
He stopped immediately. She turned back to Gabriel, wiping her face as best she could. When Dom ca
me to rest beside her she moved back and ordered them both to sit down at the bar.

    “
I don
’
t think you have anything I
’
ll drink, dear,”
Gabriel joked lightly. She moved behind the counter, pulling a bottle of A positive from the locked combination safe.

    “
Don
’
t be so sure,”
she said, pouring them both a glass.

    “
Thank you,”
Dom said quietly. He wouldn
’
t meet her eyes.

    “
None for you?”
Gabriel asked. She pulled a bottle of Jose Cuervo and poured a generous amount into her own glass. She held up
her tumbler before downing the contents
into her awaiting stomach. They watched her warily as she poured another. She took t
w
o gulps to swallow the second shot, before slamming her glass down.

    “
Speak and I want all of it,”
she waved her hand at them b
oth. “
All
of it.”
They looked at each other. Gabriel waved to allow Dom to fill in the blanks.

    “
The story of the ship caught in the storm was true. I did take a piece of shrapnel to the gut,”
he started.

   “
But you don
’
t have a scar!”
She pointed out
, wildly excited to have figured out that part of the story having been bullshit long ago. He smiled at her.

    “
Very good, I don
’
t. The reason I don
’
t is because Gabrie
l turned me that night. Another fact
I didn
’
t divulge either was that I had known what
Gabriel was for some time. Legends of his kind were rampant on the island, my mother swore that a Vampire had taken her sister before I was born.”

    “
Wasn
’
t me.”
Gabriel held up his hands.

    “
I know it wasn
’
t you. It probably wasn
’
t even a Vampire. M
y mother was quite dramatic. Anyway, the reason he was aboard my ship was because he knew he could trust me. I kept his secret and he paid me triple to sail to France. The storm was an unfortunate occurrence. I was turned immediately, and my men took exac
t
ly three days to figure out what was happening to them.”
He stopped to look at Gabriel before going on. “
We killed the crew the next day when they tried to pull us out into the sun. I killed three of my own men, ones with families, ones I had known my who
l
e life, who trusted me.”
Jeanne reached out to hold his hand. He smiled sadly at her.

    “
Go on. Did you really get picked up by a passing ship?
”

    “
Nope, we roped together some sea turtles,”
Gabriel leaned in to whisper.

    “
Oh, shut it! You got tha
t from Pirates of the Caribbean. Go on Dom.”

    “
As I was saying, yes, we did eventually get picked up and taken ashore. I couldn
’
t go home obviously so we worked our way towards France together. It was slow going of course. We had time to talk, plenty of
time to talk.”
He rolled his eyes toward Gabriel and she gave a smile to say she definitely understood.
Gabriel gave them both the eye. “
He told me a lot about you actually. That
’
s how I knew who you were in Boulder. How I knew you were...”

    “
A Hybrid,
”
she answered for him when he hesitated. He nodded shyly. She was suddenly glad for the bar between them. She desperately wanted to jump him again. Which would be awkward to say the least with her husband sitting next to them.

    “
Yes, well, I must say I
liked his stories of your exploits the best. He also told me about Michel and what you both had been doing for the last hundred or so years to stop him. I decided I wanted to help.
Somebody
decided I was too young.”

    “
You were
twenty-six! You certainly
were too young. I stand by that.”
Gabriel shook his glass for a refill. Jeanne slid the glass his way, leaning in to
listen to Dom tell the story. He grabbed the bottle with a huff.

    “
I
’
m embarrassed to say I followed him around long enough to get on
his nerves. The
first
time he wiped me,”
he glared at Gabriel, “
he left me thinking I had just drunkenly passed out and woke
n
up a Vampire.”

    “
Sloppy,”
Jeanne commented.

    “
Very sloppy indeed,”
Dom laughed with her. Gabe didn
’
t think it was funny.

    “
Tell her how you found me again,”
he dared. Dom huffed, but rooted in his pocket, pulling something out.

    “
I told you I
’
d tell her everything
,”
he told Gabriel. “
I woke up the next night in a brothel, nothing with me but the clothes on my back. Wh
ich is lucky because Gabriel didn
’
t know that I had stolen this and was keeping it in my pocket.”
He held out a familiar golden locket. She took it from him. The clasp opened to reveal two ancient portraits, though it had been many, many
years since she ha
d seen them
she remembered the day they had sat for them. The miniatures of Jeanne and Gabriel had been with him always and she had assumed that where ever he was, the portraits were lost with him. She looked up at Dom with tears fresh again in her eyes.

    “
Thank you. Thank you for saving it.”
She sniffed. Gabe threw up his hands.

    “
Can he do no wrong? Tell her what you did with the damn thing!”

    “
I am!”
He looked back to her.

    “
What did you do?”

    “
I knew something was wrong. I didn
’
t know
what exactly but I knew that my memory of what had happened to me was missing parts, so I went with the only clue I had.”
He waved to the locket. “
I went around for two months asking about the two in the portrait.”

    “
Oh, Dom, you didn
’
t,”
she said. He
grinned.

    “
I was twenty-six after all. I only took about two months before I was picked up. They wanted to know how I had gotten my hands on it and how I knew Gabriel and Jeanne. I escaped, barely, but then I had your names. It didn
’
t take me long after
that to track him down again.”

    “
I
’
m going to save us all some time by skipping the middle and just saying that it took me four times,
four times
, to wipe this kid and send him on his way before he stayed gone,”
Gabriel claimed.

    “
Yes, now tell her
what you said to make me stay away,”
Dom commanded. Gabriel huffed, taking great pains to show how little this all meant to him. He had gotten bitter in his old age.

    “
I told him to go fuck and feed until he couldn
’
t fuck and feed anymore.”

    “
Oh my
G
od,”
Jeanne whispered, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as a wave of nausea came over her. “
How could you do that? Didn
’
t you know what he would become?”

    “
I was pissed off!
I honestly didn
’
t think
it would work! The bastard had
come back five tim
es before
, it stood to reason he would find a way out of the last command.”

    “
But I didn
’
t,”
Dom said.

    “
But you didn
’
t,”
he agreed sheepishly.
 

    “
How did you make it out of it?”
She asked, enthralled.

    “
King Niles. He found me,
practically
naked and bloody in a hostel, surrounded by dying Cuban women and still he pulled me out and cleaned me up.”
He watched as Jeanne wiped another tear away. “
He over rode Gabriel
’
s last command and he gave me a job. I did my best to forget about my past and
just move on.”

    “
Until we forced you into Crimson. I
’
m so sorry Dom!”
She reached out to grab his hand. He smiled at her again. Her heart skipped a beat.

    “
It would have happened eventually. I had been fighting it for three years, ever since Niles
’
death. His command to stay clean died with him and I had the man whore of all man whores for a boss. It was a constant struggle not to pick up his left over
’
s and run with them.”
A terrible idea came over Jeanne
. Was she just... He gave her a look that sa
id
‘
Come on
’
.
She smiled in relief. The ease of communication was just one of those things she liked about him.

    “
Another thing I don
’
t understand. How did you lie so easily to Michel about Gabriel
’
s death?”
She asked.

    “
Easy. I just picked from the many different versions that Gabe had forced into my head.”
He glanced at the man. “
Luckily Niles was able to help me access all of the false memories, so I could piece together what actually happened. He thought it would be b
e
st for me mentally and also for backup in case what happened in Russia
last month ever arose.”

    “
That
’
s wonderful, Dom. I
’
m so happy that you had someone to help you.”

    “
I always th
ought Niles was a rank tw...”
Gabriel
shut up at their twin looks of
promised evil. “
I make no secret of my disdain for the English.”

    “
I liked Niles myself. Despite his obvious English handicap, he was a sensible man. And no one deserves to be killed by elephants.”

    “
Shh! We don
’
t talk about that!”
Dom chastised. The
trampling death of Niles and his two other Sons was quite taboo. She zipped it shut.

    “
So...,”
Gabriel gave Dom a not so subtle head
motion, signaling his want to be alone. “
Didn
’
t you say you wanted to see if Jackson Square was as lovely as you remem
bered?”

    “
Oh, yes, I did say that, didn
’
t I? I
’
ll just be on my way then. I
’
m glad we got to clear up some things. I
’
ll be in town for a few days if...,”
Gabriel kicked his chair and Dom shut up. Jeanne let it go on simply because she did want to talk a
lone with Gabriel. But it wasn
’
t going to be the reunion that he was hoping for.

    “
I
’
ll be right here,”
she said in parting as he stood to leave. He nodded to her and disappeared.

    “
Now then, where were we? Last we met you were kissing me and telli
ng me to travel well and to be safe.”
He smiled.