We headed deeper into the dark club and I glimpsed the girls at the bar with Bastien. My heart squeezed and concern drifted into my conscience. I swatted it away like the pesky fly it was and continued on, assuming my go-to air of disinterest. I pulled out my phone.
01:00 a.m.
Fuck. We were set to be five minutes late. I didn’t want to think about the consequences of that. We headed into a secluded upstairs room; the din of the club muted by the bookshelves to a dull thud. Shadows cloaked the room as it was illuminated by a single candelabra, the flames dancing elusively and forcing us to peer through the dimness. I hated how it forced us into a disadvantage. We had been seen, assessed while we remained in the dark about who we were meeting.
I thought that everything our families stood for was cheap theatrics. All that voodoo-esque nonsense. This fucking scavenger hunt we were sent on. All for the sake of a legacy that was owed to us. Hazing didn’t faze me but I had to be the motherfucker who was doing the hazing. And I didn’t need tawdry smoke and mirrors, which our fathers insisted on, to receive what was owed to me.
“Hello?” My voice was harsh and discordant in the quiet of the room, punctuated by the thuds of the revelry downstairs.
“You’re late.” A voice sounded out in response. I strained to identify the voice – was it friend or foe? I wanted to know who was responsible so I could exact my own hazing once I had come into what was owed to me. An eye for an eye, I supposed. The voice, like the room, remained elusive. The huskiness betraying that it could be either man or woman. It wasn’t a defining clue for either.
“We got held up,” I responded, my voice clipped.
“Clearly. Is it deserving of punishment?” the voice mused.
I wanted nothing more than to pin this person up against the wall and force the answer out but I knew that would send us back to square one, if not completely damaging any hope we might have of accessing what was rightfully ours. So I bit my tongue and waited. We were at the final hurdle and there was so much at stake. We couldn’t fall now.
“We apologise sincerely for any distress it may have caused you.” Damien’s voice floated through the room. Of course the fucker would be sucking up. He had a knack for subservience, something that always eluded me. People were fucking subservient to me, dammit. Not vice versa.
Nevertheless, it clearly appeased this random person, fed into the hungry desires of whatever messed-up power trip they were on. “The envelope with your next task is here. Complete this and you will have succeeded. Fail and you clearly are not worthy. You are aware of the consequences of the latter.”
I stepped forward, the person coming into view but barely, thanks to the thick cloak that swathed them, obscuring any identifiable features. I wanted to laugh at the over-the-top theatrics. It screamed my father all over but again my tongue was bitten down to prevent myself from fucking this up. I never did that. It was more Bastien and Ludo’s remit, both quick with what they perceived as witty phrases but only served to stir up the wrath of our elders. Made them think that we were nothing more than dumb playboys, unworthy of what was rightfully ours.
Taking the envelope, I nodded curtly and stalked out of the room, the boys in my wake. I wouldn’t grant the random person the satisfaction of seeing my reaction to what was in the envelope. We would deal with it at a later time. For now, however, we would just get drunk with the girls and act like normal twenty-somethings. We would forget the harsh reality. Despite my unwillingness to drag Xanthe into this mess, I wanted to keep her. I wanted the task to allow me to keep her. And that stunned me. I really did need to fuck her out of my system and forget her.
Xanthe
The club was so much fun! I loved the sensation of feeling lost in the music, the heavy techno thrumming over my body, melding with the substances singing through my veins. I hugged my girls closer and we danced together, submitting ourselves to the music. This was why we followed the boys to Paris. The adventure of all adventures. What else would be an appropriate way to forget about my childhood sweetheart?
The devil on my shoulder responded that I was replacing Xander with another dickhead. I told it to fuck off because I was in control of everything. I could control dickheads like Blaise. Especially as he was a lovely, tasty dickhead who knew my body like the back of his hand. The devil just parried back calmly: how well did that work for you with Xander?
I closed my eyes and leaned back, feeling the desire course blazing hot through my body. Would it really hurt me to indulge in it? Surely it was a rite of passage for girls to fall for these unattainable wankers? To have their hearts broken by fuckboys?
I took another sip of my wine and bent down to put it on a nearby table before raising my hands in the air, grinding up closer to Gemma and Bastien. They would make such a cute couple. Gem smacked a kiss on my cheek. “I love you! Sorry I’m always so bad at doing what you and Noelle do, adventures…”
I laughed, hugging her tighter. “It’s fine. Imagine the chaotic energy if we didn’t have someone who was sensible.”
“It would be a nightmare! But seriously, babe, this is fun.”
I leaned back and smiled at her. “Love you.”
I felt a body come up behind and I leaned back instinctively into the familiar spicy scent, the strong body bracketing mine. My hands reach behind his head, arching my body closer into his, granting him all the power. Forgiving him for his past transgression.
“You okay, darling?”
“All good. You manage to do what you came here to do?” I asked, grinding my body up against his, feeling his attraction hard against my body.
He kissed my neck, running his hands up and down my body, drawing out a needy moan. I flushed slightly. How could this boy make me feel this way? I was fuming at him earlier but now I was willing to overlook it in exchange for how good he made me feel. I was aware that most people would say I had a problem but I would just argue back saying that normally every single fucking time the girl overreacts she ends up losing the boy. End of. I was going to make him pay for treating me like I was disposable but I wasn’t stupid enough to do it now. I had plenty more time to make him aware that we belonged to each other. I knew he was trying to push me away with his disinterested coldness but I would ignore that just for this eve. Tonight would be for enjoyment, indulging in what I wanted, even if I had to overlook being treated like shit.
“Forgive me?” he purred into my ear.
I spun round to gaze at his face, his features liquid with the shifting lights and I pressed a kiss to his full mouth, murmuring against his lips. “Depends on how you make it up to me.”
He ran his hands lower, cupping my butt, and whispered back. “There’s so much you don’t understand. I don’t want to drag you into this. I tend to take care of things that are precious to me.”
“I don’t seem to be that precious to you,” I retorted, dancing closer to him.
That shut him up temporarily. I could see by the purse of his lips he wanted to argue further but instead he pulled me closer, grinding to the sensual shift of the music. He gazed down at me and I almost moaned with desire. He chuckled, another reason why I needed to keep him close, to work out how he knew me so intuitively. Blaise pressed a kiss to my lips. This was not chaste like my earlier one. It was more like the signifier of a battle commencing. His lips sought entry and I granted it, weak from his touch that made me his pliable puppet, happy to indulge, laying my arms down at the first.
Through the maddening haze of desire, I could hear Ludo curse. “Fuck’s sake. You two need help.”
I ignored them, aware that they were leaving us. Granting us peace in the frenzied crowd of revellers and, thankful for the relative anonymity, I pushed closer to Blaise. Letting him run his hands over every inch of my body, sucking down hard on my neck, drawing out moans of ecstasy, heedless of people watching. If anything, our audience only seemed to excite him further, made him more demanding, his erection growing impossibly hard against my stomach. It surprised me
when he stopped, breathing hard, and still holding me close. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had gone all the way and fucked me on the dance floor. Indeed, I was actually mourning the loss of his touch, angry at his restraint.
“What the fuck, Blaise?” I demanded, glaring at him.
He just chuckled, “My needy girl, we should definitely not be indulging this.” He leant forward, whispering into my ear. “But I guess what happens in Paris, stays in Paris?”
I smiled, that was definitely not going to happen. I knew for a fact men, even impenetrable gargoyles like Blaise, were weak. All I would have to do is dress provocatively, catch him unawares when his guard was slightly lowered with drink and bam. Score for Xanthe. If that failed, I would play on his possessiveness. I knew that he wouldn’t stand to see me with someone else. It would trigger his caveman side and bam. Score for Xanthe. He could keep up this farce that he wanted to leave this attraction between us in Paris but I knew that he wanted me just as much as I wanted him. This wasn’t some paltry, forty-eight hour folly.
The attraction was as inexplicable as it was undeniable. “So long as you can keep to that of course, babe.”
He scowled down at me, “Let’s go find the others?”
“Lead the way. Think they’re having a cig.”
We headed outside to find the others seated in a booth, laughing and chatting. I felt a clench of jealousy seeing Gem snuggled into Bastien. Why couldn’t I have found someone amenable and normal like him?
Ludo noticed our approach and cheered. “Finished fucking in there?” he took a long drag of his cigarette, gesticulating wildly with it. “Thought we were going to be chucked out the way you two were going at it like pornstars.”
I blushed at his crudeness and sat down, accepting the cigarette from Blaise.
“Surprised you let him back in the way he treated you. I’m sorry Xanthe, this savage has no idea of how to court a beautiful lady like yourself,” Bastien added.
Blaise tensed, scowling at him and I leaned back into him, urging him to control himself. Ludo noticed the movement and sighed. “Looks like our fucked up leader has met his match, Delacourt.”
I ignored them. Who were they to comment on our relationship? Was it even a relationship? Looking around I could see everyone was present, bar Noelle. Where the fuck was she? “Any idea where Noelle is?” I asked, pulling on my cigarette to disguise the worry I felt.
Everyone looked around and I could feel a shift, a tension brewing. The guys clearly cared more for us than they let on, I noted, amused as I could be despite my missing friend. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time.
2.00 a.m.
She couldn’t have gone far. I swore we were together dancing just after the guys had left for their mysterious mission. Thank God it was only 2 a.m. This was too reminiscent of hazy student nights where it was suddenly 4 a.m and you only thought it was 12 a.m and only half an hour had elapsed since Noelle had decided to go on an adventure but actually it was four hours.
I tried calling her but it went straight to voicemail. Fuck. I opened Find My Friends but could only see the refresh circle whirring around, unable to pinpoint her.
“Any idea where she could be?” Gem asked, concern knitting her brow.
“No idea,” I said quickly, the stress rising to the fore. “I’ve tried calling her but no luck and Find My Friends isn’t picking up her location but I don’t know if her phone works abroad. I mean it should because we’re still in Europe.”
“Or it could be that there’s no signal,” Damien added, worry lining his face.
“Because we’re abroad, as I was saying…”
“No, you’re not understanding me,” he interrupted me. I glared at him. He was not helping the situation. He was just stating the fucking obvious. “Remember what we were talking about earlier?”
I skimmed over previous conversations but drew a blank. The whole night was such a blur. “Not a fucking clue. Just spit out whatever you’re going on about,” I snapped, my patience fast waning.
“Catacombs? Were none of you fucking watching her?”
I bristled at Damien’s accusatory tone. “Hey, don’t get mad at us! We’re not her keepers.”
“Some fucking friends you are.”
“Don’t be like this, Damien. We’re all stressed but you don’t need to take it out on us,” Gemma added, fury coating her words which was so unlike our sweet, meek Gem. “As Xanthe and I know full well she often wanders off but so far she has been fine. Okay?”
“And we can go down those tunnels, right? You know where they are?” I added.
Blaise tightened his grip on me and hissed. “No girl of mine is going down there. You don’t know what you might find. Those tunnels are dangerous. This is exactly why you are all in over your fucking heads. No, you can’t go after her because she shouldn’t have fucking gone down there in the first place. It’s not like she’s dipped out to some other bar.”
I spun round to him, incandescent with rage. “Oh, so you’re finally claiming me now? Thought I was nothing but a cheap fuck to you? I’m a big girl, bones don’t scare me if it means I can find my friend.”
“You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about,” he retorted, anger lacing his words.
I glared at him. How dare he be so presumptuous? He knew nothing. I opened my mouth but Damien interrupted. “Keep your fucked up foreplay out of this. The priority right now is Noelle. I will go down and look for her, the rest of you will stay up here and behave. Okay?”
Gemma and I started to protest but Bastien intervened. “Seriously girls, I know my friends can be dickheads sometimes and don’t exactly know how to talk to the fairer sex but trust me on this. All sorts of things happen in those catacombs and it will be much safer for Noelle if Damien goes by himself. Shady fucker knows far too much about those tunnels if I’m being perfectly honest.”
Fuck it. Guess we had to be the good little girls who dealt with the men running our lives. Fucking patriarchy, I huffed as I slumped against the booth.
I pulled one last, long drag on my cigarette and said to Gemma, “Want to get another drink, babe?”
Damien huffed out an exasperated breath. “Fine, but be good. Blaise, I don’t even know what’s going through your head but look after them.”
Blaise just saluted him, his expression unreadable, as Damien headed off. I made a move to leave but he just pulled me back onto his lap. I pouted at him. “We want to go dancing!”
“And I said to Damien that I would look after you both. So just stay here, okay.” He hailed a waitress. “Un bouteille du vin, s’il vous plait.” He looked at us before continuing. “Rosé, si vous l’avez?” He paused, pulling out his card and swiping it against the card reader. “Merci.”
The waitress headed back to the bar and he sat back, looking like the fucking cat with the cream. He knew how wet his assertiveness made me. I hated that it was his upper hand. Fucking traitorous body.
“Do you think Noelle will be okay?” Gem asked me, concern dancing in her gaze.
I broke out of my reverie and smiled at her. “Of course. It’s Noelle. She’ll be fine. Obsessed with bones. So, so, morbid.” I laughed weakly, lighting up another cigarette and leaning back into Blaise. “What did you guys get up to just now?”
“That’s for us to know and you never to find out,” Ludo sassed back. Twat.
I raised my eyebrows and smiled sweetly at him. “Guess Blaise will just have to tell me later.”
“I promise you, he won’t,” Ludo retorted.
“Blaise, what’s going on with you and Xanthe?” Gemma asked, changing the subject. “I don’t know, but you kind of seem like a bit of a dick and our Xanthe has had enough of that.”
“Babe, what did I tell you about poking the dragon?” Bastien warns.
I choked back a laugh, sneaking a peek at Blaise. He did seem like an aggravated dragon, swore I could even see smoke coming from his nostrils. He was a very gorgeous dragon though, I t
hought, stroking his cheek affectionately.
He ignored me, leaning back and regarding Gemma. “And you say that we have mystery. You keep on alluding to this boy that you have broken up with but you insist on keeping me in the dark.”
“Ghosts and all that. Noelle is the only one who’s clearly brave enough to go see them,” I joked weakly.
“Excusez-moi… votre bouteille.” The waitress interrupted us, placing the bottle on the table.
I seized upon that and thanked her before pouring everyone a generous measure. “To debauchery and to not asking any questions!” I cheered, raising my glass high.
The others followed my lead and the tension abated but the questions continued to swirl around us.
“But we will tell you about the catacombs – that much we can tell you.” Ludo smiled evilly at us.
“Maybe it’ll scare you off.” Blaise added.
“Don’t sound too hopeful,” I muttered. “Do tell, Ludo, they sound intriguing.”
“Le grande reseau sud… in English known as the…”
“The large southern area,” Gemma interrupted and I hid a smile. The girl had spent a semester in Paris and her French was impeccable.
“As I was saying, this grand southern area is where they excavated the limestone to build Paris. The ground beneath your feet is riddled with tunnels and only those in the know can access them. They are usually accessed by drains but in some cases there are secret entrances, like in this club.”
“And how the fuck she found it is beyond me.” Blaise scowled.
“Anyway, a large portion of it is used as the ossuary. The catacombs as you probably know it.”
Little Doll: Queens of Chaos 1 Page 7