The Princess and the Bootlegger

Celine ran all the way to the Rose and Raven, so fast the world became a colorful blur around her. Her eyes stung with tears and she stumbled through the door, nearly crumpling to the floor. Tillie was there prepping the bar for the nighttime crowd. She gasped and ran to Celine’s side.

“Celine! Where have you been? What happened to you?”

“Emile is dead,” Celine choked out. “We were trying to find out who killed Brutus, and Emile had found something out. He was coming to tell us, and someone murdered him.”

“I’m so sorry. Celine, honey, you have to breathe, okay?” Tillie helped her sit down on a stool, her brown eyes pinched with worry. She hugged Celine while she dissolved into tears again.

“Tillie, I don’t know what to do,” she sniffled. “Emile is gone and I told Kade to run and I don’t think I’m strong enough to protect him and I’m so scared-“

“Breathe,” Tillie instructed. Her brow scrunched. “Wait, did you say Kade? As in, human Kade? The one you threw the drink at?”

“Would everyone please stop bringing that up?” Celine started crying harder.

“Okay, okay, easy. So you’ve been with Kade this whole time?”

“I need to talk to Christophe,” Celine said, trying to get herself under control. She took several big gulping breaths and wiped at her eyes.

“I think he might be in his office. Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, I have to deal with this myself. Thanks, Tillie.”

“Any time.”

Celine hurried to Christophe’s office, finding it empty. She supposed she’d have to wait for him. She slumped into his chair, feeling alone and defeated. Kade had been with her through all of this and she didn’t like not having him here. But she would never forgive herself if he died because of her. She propped her elbows on the desk and ran her fingers through her now mussed up hair. She had been staring down at the grain of the desktop for nearly five minutes before a thought occurred to her. It wasn’t full dark yet. Why would Tillie have seen Christophe go to his office? Celine lifted her head, her mind beginning to push through the fog of grief and fear.

“If he came in here earlier, then he was out during the day,” she said slowly. Her eyes scanned the heavy desk, finding nothing out of order. Then she began to rifle through the drawers. At first she found nothing but boring files pertaining to the running of the club. Still, something didn’t feel right. Celine continued to dig around, feeling along each drawer. In the bottom left, she encountered a drawer not quite like the others. She pried at the bottom and found that it came out. And in the false bottom, she found a stack of different papers.

One of them was proof of ownership of a warehouse building near the border between the human neighborhood and the rest of the city. There were other papers, they appeared to be logging some kind of information and detailing amounts of something but she couldn’t comprehend what they were about. Then she saw a duplicate receipt of the one she’d stolen from Mr. Greentree, and her heart seemed to stop for several moments. Things began clicking into place.

“With the gloves on, he wouldn’t have to touch the silver directly,” she whispered. She remembered what Kade had said, about Christophe putting her on a throne and seeming obsessed with her.

Christophe had hired Fobble to kidnap her. He had ordered the silver. And he had killed Brutus, and Emile.

Celine replaced the false bottom of the drawer, and stood. “Jinxie, I need you to go to the address of that warehouse. Find out what you can about what’s going on there.”

“And where are you going?” Jinxie asked nervously.

“I have to go talk to the wolves.”

“They’ll kill you as soon as look at you,” he protested.

“If I can keep my head attached long enough to tell them I know who really killed Brutus, then we can finally end all of this.” Celine took a deep breath. “I can do this. It’s fine. It’s just walking up to an angry werewolf with more muscles than brains and asking him to listen like a reasonable, rational person. It’ll be fine. It’ll be…oh my god, I’m going to die tonight.”

She took another breath, swallowing the panic. She squared her shoulders. “No. I had to send Kade away because he’s in danger, and Emile is dead. If I die, I’m at least ending this first.”

She strode from the office, slipping out the back so Tillie wouldn’t see and ask where she was going. Jinxie wished her luck and said he’d come find her once he’d checked out the warehouse. Celine made her way to the Wolf Den, her determination overriding her natural instincts toward self-preservation. She fixed her hair as she walked, deciding that she should at least look confident when she showed up. Thankfully the she-wolf at the bar didn’t seem to realize who she was, though she looked a bit suspicious as she went to find Wes MacIntosh.

Celine stayed as much in the shadows as she could, though of course she drew some looks since the wolves could smell that she wasn’t one of them. Wes emerged from somewhere in the back and approached her. A dark chuckle rumbled from his chest when he saw her and recognition dawned.

“Well, if it isn’t the lovely Miss Bellerose. My boys have been having a surprisingly difficult time tracking you down and now you stroll into my bar.”

“I have information you would want,” Celine said. She was proud that her voice didn’t shake, since her insides were trembling. Other wolves were circling closer, falling in behind Wes. But she wasn’t going to cower.

“And what kind of information might that be, little dhampir?”

“I know who actually killed Brutus.”

That caused the wolves to shift, and Wes looked almost surprised.

“Is that so?”

“Listen, Alpha MacIntosh, I don’t mean to be rude but didn’t it ever occur to you that a human having the strength to kill your son is…well, impossible? Brutus had no defensive wounds. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

“No one but a human would use silver to kill one of us,” Wes said.

“No one but a human or someone who wanted you to think it was a human.”

“And who do you expect me to believe did it?”

“Christophe Moreau killed your son.”

That time she did manage to surprise him.

“Don’t you work for him?” Wes demanded. “Why would you turn on him, assuming I even believe you?”

“There was a man, he was like a father to me. Christophe killed him, too. I want justice as much as you do. And I’d prefer to keep myself and Kade from being killed for something we didn’t even do.”

“You want to save the human?” one of the wolves snickered. “That’s a shame.” Wes whacked him on the back of the head. Celine’s eyes narrowed.

“What proof do you have of any of this?” Wes asked. “You could be lying to save your own skin.”

“What’s a shame?” Celine retorted, instead of answering.

“Answer my question.”

“Answer mine.”

“You’re treading on very thin ice, little dhampir.”

“So are you, dog breath, and you weigh more than I do.”

The threat popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. Too confident, Celine. Should’ve dialed that back. Wes made a sound like a growl and Celine braced for his attack. He sprang forward and slammed her against the wall, dangling her by her wrist.

“You have some nerve,” he snapped.

“Look, I have had a very bad day. I’m here to help you, if you’d stop being stubborn and listen to me. And you might be stronger than me but do you know what dhampirs have that werewolves don’t?”

“What’s that?”

“Incentive to fight dirty when cornered.” Celine snatched the silver pin from her hair and poked him in the face with it. Wes growled and flinched away, dropping her before he could rip her arm off. Celine leaped out of his reach, toward the bar. The wolves were faster than her, but Celine had a small advantage of agility since she was roughly three times smaller than any of them. She felt like a fox being circled by a swarm of polar bears.

“I didn’t come here looking for a fight,” she said.

“Then you’re as dumb as your little human.” One of the wolves swiped at her legs, trying to knock her from the bar. She leaped up, now perched quite precariously on a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“Do you have Kade?” she demanded. “Where is he?”

“Probably dead by now.” Wes was circling below her.

“If he is, I’ll have you all stuffed.”

“Big threats from such a pretty little thing.”

Someone entered the bar, pausing in the doorway to gape at the scene before them. A small black form streaked in while the door was open and flew at Celine.

“Celine!” Jinxie squeaked breathlessly. “You were right! Christophe is up to something, he has wolves and vampires chained up in the warehouse. And then he went back to the club so I followed him and Tillie told him you came back but when he couldn’t find you he started freaking out again, and he got one of the wolves on his payroll to track you and he’s on his way but I couldn’t get inside-“

The door to the bar banged open so hard it broke from the hinges and Christophe stepped inside, flanked by three other vampires and a werewolf.

“Celine, darling, what are you doing up there?” Christophe called. Celine leaped down, and Christophe reached out a hand to her, clearly expecting her to be glad to see him. She punched him in the face, which prompted one of the vampire lackeys with him to shove her back.

“What did I say?” Christophe snapped. “No one touches the girl.”

“What the hell is this, Christophe?” Wes demanded, eyes blazing. “You can’t just barge into my place like this.”

“I just came for Celine. I know you want to kill her, but that’s simply not going to work for me.”

“Did you kill my son?” Wes demanded.

“Now, Wes, why on earth would I do that?” Christophe asked mildly. Celine’s eyes flicked to Christophe’s hands.

“Brutus was killed with silver wire,” she said.

“Indeed,” Christophe agreed. “I can’t even touch the stuff.”

“Unless you’re wearing gloves. Like the ones you have on right now.”

Christophe flashed her a look caught between surprise and rage.

“Where’s Kade?” Celine asked, turning to Wes again.

“He’s in the back.” Wes had his gaze trained on Christophe. “Did you kill my son?” he asked again.

Celine ran past the wolves and into the back room, as the sound of a fight broke out. At least the wolves seemed to have finally listened to her. She glanced around and then yanked open the huge freezer door to find a bloody Kade crumpled on the floor.

“Kade!” She knelt next to him, scanning his injuries and realizing his leg was broken. He was shivering from the cold, which was probably making him hurt more. It looked like a few things were broken.

“Celine,” he said. “Am I dead? If you’re here I must’ve made it to heaven, except that everything hurts. I wouldn’t think heaven would be so cold either.”

“Kade, I have to move you out of the freezer but it’s not going to feel good and I’m so sorry.” She grabbed him as gently as she could, scooting him out of the freezer before he caught hypothermia. “What were you thinking?” she demanded. “I told you to leave town, not add yourself to the menu.”

“Thought you were mad at me,” Kade mumbled, wincing as he tried to sit up. Celine gently held him down.

“Don’t move,” she said.

“You were so sad, ‘cause you tried to save me and I’m stupid and useless.”

“Kade… I told you to leave so you’d stay alive. Everyone I care about dies, and I was scared that I couldn’t keep you safe. I can’t lose you, too. So you better not die and break my heart.”

Celine looked up in alarm at the sound of quiet footsteps, and then Christophe appeared in the doorway. There was some dried blood on his face from already-healed gashes. The fight was still going on out front but he must have managed to slip away. His lip curled at the sight of her kneeling over Kade.

“All this, to save a miserable human.” He moved faster than Celine thought him capable, yanking her to her feet. He kept her arm in a vice grip.

“You would really betray me for this…waste? He’s worthless even for a human.”

“Ouch,” Kade mumbled from the floor. “Here I thought we were friends.”

“Always with the jokes,” Christophe growled. He kicked Kade’s broken leg, making him cry out in pain.

“Leave him alone,” Celine snarled, trying to jerk free of his grasp.

“Get a hold of yourself, Celine. I can get you a new meat sack to play with if you want a pet so bad-“

“I love him.”

That actually gave Christophe pause, and Kade drew in a sharp breath from where he was sprawled on the floor, though for all she knew he was just racked with pain and didn’t even know what was happening. Christophe sighed.

“Oh, Celine. When you first came into my club looking for a job, I sensed this…softness in you. This gentle quality that I admit I found fascinating. It truly is part of your charm, so I was willing to let it go. But now I see that was a mistake. I should have beat it out of you back then, but better late than never.”

Celine shrieked as Christophe twisted, snapping the bone in her forearm. It would heal, but broken bones took longer than a cut or a bruise. It needed time to knit back together.

“Hey!” Kade was struggling to get up again. “Get off of her!”

“That’s cute.” Christophe tried to kick him again but despite the pain in her arm, Celine dug in her heels and managed to yank Christophe away from him.

“I told you to leave him alone.” She used her good arm to punch him again. He threw her back and she struck the freezer door. She immediately launched herself at Christophe again, kicking him in the chest. He staggered back, his eyes darkening as he bared his fangs at her.

“I’m not going to kill you, Celine. But there are a lot of things you can heal from.”

Kade kicked out his good leg, and because Christophe wasn’t expecting it he actually tripped. Christophe rounded on him with a snarl that sounded downright feral.

“I’m going to enjoy killing you.”

“Stop!” Celine cried. “I’ll go with you if you don’t hurt him!”

Christophe paused, considering. Celine approached him slowly, trying to look docile.

“I’ll go with you, and I’ll never disappear again. I’ll do whatever you want. Just please don’t kill him.”

When she got close enough, he seized her broken arm again and she winced.

“Celine, don’t,” Kade said. Christophe ignored him, dragging Celine away. The fight seemed done in the front, though the wolves seemed run a little more ragged than Celine would have expected; a few were definitely dead. Christophe himself seemed even stronger than he should be. She thought back to the logs she’d found in Christophe’s desk, and remembered what Kade had said about him wanting those mushrooms that gave you a boost of strength and energy.

“You were making some kind of drug,” she realized. “You did something with the mushrooms, that’s what the numbers were on the paper. They were adjustments of doses.”

“Very clever,” Christophe drawled.

“You killed my son over drugs?” Wes growled. He was still healing from some of the wounds he’d received. Celine didn’t know what a fight between him and Christophe would look like right now, but she decided to give Wes a moment of advantage. She had dropped her silver hair pin when she’d leaped onto the bar.

“It was nothing personal, Wes,” Christophe was saying. His attention wasn’t on Celine, but Wes noticed her good hand swipe the glittering pin off the counter. She met his gaze, and realization settled over his expression.

“Christophe,” Celine said calmly. He turned to look at her and Celine jabbed the pin directly into his eye, as deep as she could get it. He released her, flailing back with a sharp cry of pain.

“That’s for Emile and Kade,” she said. He was still scrabbling to remove the pin from his eye when Wes lunged. He grabbed Christophe’s head in both hands. He twisted, loud cracks splitting the air as Christophe’s neck snapped. Wes twisted his head completely around, then tore it off. Celine watched the body fall, then she raced back to Kade. He was still trying to get up, pale and breathing hard as he sagged against the wall and leaned on his good leg.

“Kade, stop it.” Celine rushed to help hold him up. “You brave wonderful idiot, you’re going to hurt yourself more.”

“You came back,” he said faintly.

“I was never going to leave. It was a trick.”

“Oh. Good, that’s good. He’s an asshole.”

“Was an asshole. I stabbed him in the eye and Wes ripped his head off.”

“Holy shit.”

“We need to get you out of here, before you do something else to make me panic.”

“Celine, I’m really sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Now stop talking, save your strength.”

Celine was surprised when Wes called in some fairy medics to tend to Kade.

“I owe you one,” Wes explained. “For helping with Christophe.”

“You owe me two,” Celine replied. “You almost killed Kade and then left him in a freezer like a slab of meat.”

Wes actually looked almost amused. “Yeah, fine. I guess I can owe you one more.”

Celine watched the fairies slide Kade onto a floating stretcher and then followed them outside.

“Where should we take him?” a green-skinned sprite asked.

“My place,” Celine said. She stood by the stretcher while they prepared to give Kade something to help with the pain. He looked about three seconds from passing out anyway. She cradled her broken arm against her side, and with her good hand she gently ran her fingers through Kade’s hair. He tried to say something but whatever the sprites gave him kicked in, and he was asleep in seconds. They set the broken bones, aside from the four cracked ribs. Celine directed them to her apartment, where they laid him on her bed. She gently cleaned blood off his face. She called Tillie and asked her to go to the Golden Laurels and get hers and Kade’s things, which they had left behind.

“The room is under the name Sugar Del Rey,” she muttered, rolling her eyes as Tillie hooted with laughter. She grimaced as her arm worked to knit itself back together; it felt like being jabbed over and over with tiny knives. She climbed into the bed beside Kade, leaning on the pillows. Jinxie nestled on the pillow beside her. She held her arm and watched Kade as he slept, a little weak with relief that he was alive.

“Brave wonderful idiot,” she repeated.