The sound of a door closing made Laxus sit up straight, all at once fully and abruptly awake. He searched the room for intruders and found none. His heart was still beating hard; there was a headache forming behind his left eye.
Laxus rubbed his face; when he put his hands back down on the mattress, he remembered the gun he'd fallen asleep with. It was still there at his side, muzzle pointing towards the door. A lot of good that would have done him when he'd passed out. He didn't remember when exactly Mira's rhythmic breaths had pulled him into a state relaxed enough for unconsciousness. He was mad about it, though. That was careless. Griswold would say, Sloppy.
He searched the bed beside him; it was empty. "Mira?" There was no reply but he thought he heard shuffling at the other end of the hotel room. He was struggling to get vertical when the bathroom door opened and Mira came out.
She'd brushed her hair and her teeth if the smell of mint was anything to go off of, and she'd fixed the bandage on her arm. Now it was gauze and not a handkerchief. She was still in last night's dress.
"Morning."
"How are you feeling?" Laxus asked. Her skin had lost the gross green-pale hue it'd had last night. Now she looked perky and fresh.
"Much better."
"You shouldn't have let him take your magic."
"And you shouldn't have tried to interrupt."
"He wanted to kick me out," Laxus reminded her.
"I would have been okay."
"You don't know that."
She wasn't mad. She smiled and sat on the bed beside him, close enough that she pressed against his legs, and leaned over him. "It was sweet of you. Thanks for staying." She wasn't ever shy about anything she wanted. He supposed he could have expected as much from her. She tasted like mint mouthwash. Laxus was very aware of his not so fresh state.
"Someone might come, it's got to be getting late," Laxus spoke between their mouths.
"I just want a minute of your time," she told him.
"Yeah—"
She put her hand on his chest and then moved it lower and Laxus forgot exactly what he was trying to say. She used her other hand to make him touch her side. An unintentional thrill soared through him when he moved higher, to the healthy swell of her breast, and she didn't scold him. No, she angled just slightly so he could swipe his thumb over the centre. She moaned and shimmied closer; he pinched and she bit his lip and put her legs on either side of his hips. Her skirt rode up. She was warm between her legs. His hips raised to meet hers almost involuntarily.
She deepened the kiss and rubbed her body against his and Laxus thoughtlessly tried to take it further, grabbing her legs and getting underneath the hem of her skirt. Mira wriggled away. She put a kiss on his chin, his neck, his chest, and then his hip and she was gone, standing and fixing herself.
"That's it?" Laxus asked; he felt like a kid again, denied. Mira always used to tease and then leave him.
Her brow quirked. "I thought you had to get up?"
"I do."
"Then that's all."
He flopped back onto the bed and sighed, hands in his hair, eyes closed. Mira moved; her lips pressed against his and her hand slid down his middle and lingered cruelly by his belt. If he lifted his hips…
The weight of her mouth disappeared and Laxus really was alone, she was across the room getting clothing from her closet, and then she was back in the washroom. Everything was uncomfortable, his blood pumping too fast, his dick too hard. He tried to lay there until he didn't think about it anymore. Impossible.
Laxus got up and was halfway across the room, thinking crazy thoughts, when a knock came on the door. His heart jumped into his throat fast enough that his erection, at least, went away. He couldn't do much about his guilty expression. He fixed his hair and his rumpled clothing and answered the door.
It wasn't Julian or any of his muscled goons but Natalie that stood there. Her long brown hair was loose around her shoulders today, the ends curling by her elbows. "Laxus." She smiled at him. It looked slightly strained. "Where's Mira?"
"She's in the washroom," he replied.
"I'll come in and wait for her, then." Natalie shimmied past him and closed the door. She locked it at her back. When she turned back around, she pegged him with a sharp stare, any casual pretense gone. "Julian is so furious with you over the way you talked to him last night."
He swallowed. "I know."
"I tried to do some damage control, but I don't know how much that helped."
"It's okay, Natalie. You should stay out of it."
She smiled. "Trust me, sweetie, I don't plan on getting involved—though when I heard how he acted I made sure to tell him he was in the wrong. For all the good it did. Sometimes he can be pretty single-minded."
"Sometimes," Laxus agreed, from what little he knew of Julian.
Natalie lost her intense expression and curled a lock of hair around her finger. "That was sweet of you to try to protect her though, and I'm a sucker for love."
Laxus almost choked. "Love?" She grinned widely. "Mira and I—"
She didn't let him finish. "I'll keep your secret, for now."
Laxus' palms sweated. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Natalie drew in too close, close enough that her body was against his. "Really?" Her gaze was cutting. Laxus felt exposed. "Because I saw you behind the stage. I think you've been fucking her. Or you want to be."
Laxus tried to push her away. "That's not—"
"I can smell a liar."
Laxus deflated. What good was lying, anyway? It always came around to bite you. "It was a kiss."
Natalie smiled, seemingly satisfied. Laxus felt her hand close on him through his pants. She got closer; he could almost feel her lips on his when she said, "I think it's kind of hot. The sneaking, stealing kisses, it makes everything more fun, doesn't it? Just to warn you though, Julian will be mad. He's even jealous of how well Mira and I already know each other."
Laxus was semi-erect despite himself. "How well you know each other? What's that supposed to mean?"
She wrapped her arm around his neck and played with his dick more. Semi-erect was quickly changing. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Laxus squeezed her hips. He didn't remember grabbing for her, but there he was. "Be nice?"
"Not a chance."
The bathroom door opened and Mira came out. She halted in her tracks when she saw Natalie and Laxus tangled up together.
Laxus froze where he was. Natalie said, "Hey there, Mira."
Mira got her mouth moving around a very pertinent question. "What are you doing here, Natalie?"
"You and I are going to keep each other company for a bit while Laxus gets to work." She squeezed Laxus between the legs one more time. "Why don't you kiss the girl and say goodbye?"
"What?" Laxus asked.
"You heard me."
"It's not like that between Laxus and I," Mira said when she recovered.
Natalie rolled her eyes. "You two, if you're going to lie, at least do a little better than that. Go on, clock's ticking." When still they hesitated, Natalie sighed. "I knew your secret days ago. If I wanted to tell Julian, I would have already. That doesn't mean that I won't, though, so be nice and humor me. Kiss her."
"You're all kinds of fucked up, aren't you?" Laxus asked finally.
Natalie's smile was full of razor blades. "Don't go throwing stones. You like it."
Maybe he did. Without seeing much of a choice, he crossed the room and kissed Mira deeply. She was as stiff as a stick under his hands. She was angry, maybe about Natalie, maybe about this. He didn't care. They'd play her game until he had some leverage on Natalie and she couldn't blackmail them.
He pulled away.
"You were kind of cold, Mira."
"You just forced him to kiss me."
Natalie raised an arched brow. "Are you telling me if you didn't want to be kissed, you wouldn't have said no? And that Laxus wouldn't have listened, despite whatever I might have to say to Julian?" Mira flushed and Natalie preened, pleased. She took out her favourite pipe and started packing it. "That's what I thought. You got a nice kiss, and I got to watch, no one was hurt, and everyone had fun. So stop fussing." Mira pursed her lips. Natalie totally dismissed her displeased expression. "You don't sing tonight, Julian closed Noir for a couple of days while he figures this stuff out, so come have some fun with me."
"I don't want to smoke Silver," Mira said.
"Everyone loves it. Just try some," Natalie pushed.
"Natalie, back off," Laxus interjected. "She doesn't want to, so don't try to make her."
Natalie laughed hysterically. She sobered abruptly a beat later. There was something off about her today; she was stressed and hid it beneath the games. "I'll be good. Go on now, Laxus, Julian's in his lounge. Best not keep him waiting."
"What are you going to do up here?" He thought Mira could handle herself but that didn't mean he wanted to leave her there.
Natalie simpered. "Why don't you come up after and find out?"
Laxus looked between the two girls. Mira wore a wary and interested expression, there was nothing she liked more than a challenge, and Natalie was giving her the perfect opportunity to dig up some dirt. He hated her crazy ideas but It wasn't like he could pull her aside, though, and tell her to behave.
Laxus sighed. "I'll be back soon."
The door closed so solidly behind Laxus, Mira almost jumped. Natalie, on the other hand, was numb-calm. She lit her pipe; Mira guessed it wasn't her first of the day. "You really should have some, Laxus isn't going to be back for a long, long time. If he comes back at all."
"What do you mean?" Mira demanded.
Natalie puffed on the blue smoke. Her eyes turned immediately glazed. "I love this stuff."
"Natalie, what do you mean?"
Natalie fixed her with dull eyes. "Just that, if he doesn't kill him, Julian probably won't let him sleep in your room again. He was pretty mad last night…" She spider-walked her fingers up Mira's arm and stopped at her shoulder. "The only reason he let him stay here is that your magic is so potent; he didn't want to scare you away. I wonder how long until he tries to use Laxus, too? He prefers his mages to be women when he's making his own stock, but he's not picky about the stuff he sells. Any Magicfire he made with Laxus' magic would fetch a good price, I'm sure of it."
Mira huffed. The smoke was filling the air and irritating her nose, clouding her thoughts. Taking the edge off the panic she should feel when she thought of Julian killing Laxus. Focus. Because this was dangerous stuff and Natalie, though she said it offhandedly, was not kidding. Not in the slightest.
So think. Think. Think. She needed a way to get Laxus out of Noir and to get all of this over quickly. She turned her head; she felt like a scarecrow, stuffed with airy straw, forced to smile even when she didn't feel like it. Her body was humming. No. That was her chest. She was trying to speak. She swallowed and tried again and words fell out of her mouth. "Are you okay?"
"Why would you ask that?"
"You just seem…"
She shrugged and spilled without further prodding. "Julian's been questioning Sienna. I'm not worried." She was. She absolutely was.
"Questioning her about what?"
"Mmm. She wasn't where she was supposed to be."
"And where was that?"
"By the Server's entrance."
"Where the delivery was." Natalie just stared at her. Mira had to make her talk more. She needed more information. "What was in the delivery that Julian didn't want her to see?"
Natalie's eyes flashed. "Are you prying?"
"No. I'm just curious."
"Curiosity kills canaries. That's why they use them in the mines. They fly and they fly, and then they die." She looked very serious then. "They do, Mira. They die."
"I'm not a bird."
"Julian thinks you sing like one." Natalie's expression changed and she smiled softly. "Will you sing for me, Mira?"
"If you tell me what the delivery was."
Natalie considered her. "I think that secret is worth a little more than a song."
"Then what do you want?"
She waved Mira in close. When she was cheek-to-cheek, Natalie whispered, "A kiss. And a better one than you gave Laxus."
Mira's skin prickled. "Can't you just tell me the secret?"
Natalie shook her head.
What was a kiss for a secret like this, anyway? "Okay."
Natalie took another toke, sucking it all the way into her lungs. She caught Mira's face between her palms and tried to blow the smoke in her mouth. Mira pulled back sharply and Natalie complained, "Mira."
"I told you I didn't want any. I'm already…" She trailed off. Natalie smiled widely.
"Fine. Come sit with me." Natalie weaved her fingers through Mira's.
The room danced as they moved. "What is this stuff?" Mira wondered.
"The leaves of a flower."
"A flower?"
"It grows on the banks of Silver River. And that," her fingers were back on Mira's arm, meandering like a riverbed, "Flows into Scarlet Lake. Julian harvests it and distills it. It's pretty. And poisonous to mages. Which is why, when it's distilled properly, it makes you high."
"Why would he make something so volatile?"
Natalie had the look of a girl about to spill a big secret; she seemed distressed by it but unable to help herself saying, "There was a woman. Madam Genève. She used Silver Dragon, that's the flower, and made something called Illusion. It was wonderful, Mira. You took it and you closed your eyes and it'd burn you up inside but when you opened them again, you were alive. Really, really alive. And so was your heart's deepest desire."
"What do you mean?"
Natalie smiled. "It was a hallucinogen. It made you so hot. And then when you were in the thick of it, your partner was anyone you wanted. It was so real. She was making so much money."
There was a natural progression to a conversation but with Natalie's silver smoke all throughout the room, Mira couldn't focus. She dug her nails into her arm. More words came from her mouth. "So what happened to the drug?"
"She was supposed to be sharing with Julian but she didn't, so Julian got rid of her. He never did figure out how to make it, though. The closest he's gotten to something sort of stable is Silver, to make you feel so good, and Magicfire, to let you hallucinate but he can't marry the two."
Something solid hit the back of Mira's knees. The bed, she realized. And then she was sitting. Natalie sat facing her. Her eyes were glossy, her lips looked unnaturally red. "I suppose it's sort of unfair, isn't it? You said you didn't want to get high but here you are anyway."
Mira licked her suddenly dry lips.
Natalie stroked her cheek. "You're so beautiful, Mira. I love Sienna, but I could love you, too."
"What—what kind of mage are you, Natalie?" She didn't know why she asked.
Natalie gave her a quizzical look then laughed. "Sand. Are you afraid I'll hurt you?"
Sand. Not necromancy, though the thought was so far away it was difficult to focus on.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. I wouldn't hurt you as long as you didn't hurt the ones I love." Natalie took another large pull off the pipe then set it down on the bedside table. "Won't you kiss me, Mira?"
Mira's lips felt numb. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?"
How much further will it go? She must have said the thought aloud because Natalie replied with, "I won't make you do anything you don't want to do and I'll tell you that secret I still owe you."
"Oh." She'd forgotten. She blinked and Natalie's mouth was on hers. She blinked again and she was lying back in the mountain of over-stuffed pillows.
"Is this where he made love to you?" Natalie bit her ear. That one nip made Mira's body explode with pleasure, heightened by the drugs.
"He… he hasn't."
Natalie licked Mira's neck, long and slow, all the way up to her ear again so she could whisper, "He will, though." Back down she went. Mira panted when Natalie got to her breasts and dragged her teeth over her nipple through her clothing.
"Natalie," she meant for the name to come out strong and sure but it was a weak gasp.
"Yes?"
Stop. Keep going. Mira's head felt dead but her skin was alive.
Natalie touched between her legs. Mira arched. She also grabbed Natalie's hand. Natalie asked, "You don't want me to?"
Mira tried to find her words.
"Just kiss me then." Natalie rolled off and lay flat on her back.
Mira stared at the ceiling for a moment, pulse throbbing, head fuzzy, body singing. She could see the draw to this drug, but it was so strong. Too strong.
"Mira?" Natalie's voice was like a siren, and she the sailor. She rolled towards her. Somehow, Natalie's breasts were out, large and just a little paler than her toffee-coloured skin. Her arm was up over her head and her ringette locks were a dark splash on the white pillowcases. Mira was ensnared by the contrasts, so it was an easy thing, when Natalie looped her arm around her neck, for Mira to lean forward and kiss her. Natalie pulled at Mira's shirt too until it was down around her ribs.
Mira couldn't pull back but murmured, "I thought you only wanted a kiss?"
"This is how I like to be kissed," Natalie told her and met her mouth again. Mira was spinning, spinning, spinning; it was hard to focus when Natalie explained, "It was mages. Women coming through."
Then Mira's brain kicked into gear.
Women.
Mages.
That's what the shipment was. But what did it mean? She tried to pull away. Natalie wouldn't let her. "That secret is worth a better kiss than that."
She was right. It was a pretty good secret. Mira met her mouth again.
Laxus felt rumpled in his day old suit, but there wasn't much for it, he couldn't make it back to Gomorrah before his meeting, Natalie had made it sound pretty urgent.
The air was thick with tension when Laxus entered the lounge. Julian was in his favourite armchair, a whisky on his right, fingers immediately tapping in annoyance over the leather. "Fix your collar, this isn't the fucking slums." Laxus reached up and realized it wasn't turned all the way down. He grumbled an apology and did as he was told. Julian didn't look happier. "How was our Mira this morning? Better?"
"I didn't get much of a chance to talk to her before Natalie showed up," Laxus lied smoothly. "She just woke up."
Julian nodded. "Come here, Laxus."
His palms itched with nerves. A glance around the room told him there were a lot of people in the shadows today, more than usual, all of them sporting cold metal at their hips. Julian was getting paranoid. Laxus' coat felt heavy where the gun he still carried weighted down the fabric.
He stepped forward.
Julian stood from his chair and closed the distance that Laxus wouldn't. There wasn't much room between them now, a foot, maybe. "Natalie tells me maybe I was a bit brash last night. What do you think?"
"Is this the kind of thing where you want an honest answer, or do you want me to play good lackey?"
Julian's smile was all but a snarl. "I want the fucking truth."
Laxus rubbed his hands against his thighs, back to that nervous twitch again. He didn't have it in him to lie, though. "I think maybe Mira was a bit put off when you wanted to take her magic."
Julian was silent for a tense, tense moment. Then, "She seemed a bit stressed to you?"
"She'd just been shot."
"Have you ever been shot, Laxus?" Julian wondered.
Laxus wanted to rub his palms again. "Not with anything but a magic bullet." Alzack had gotten him in the ass once, though he claimed that it was an accident. Laxus knew better. Alzack didn't miss. Julian looked at him, considering, and Laxus asked, "Are you going to shoot me for pointing out the obvious?"
Julian ignored Laxus' question and pulled a gun from the holster that hung from his shoulder. It was silver-grey and sleek. "You know why I like to use guns? Real guns, and not magic ones?"
Laxus eyed the weapon cautiously; he had enough magic thrumming through him to take out Julian and half his lounge. And all of his secrets would die with him. Play it cool. "Why?"
"Because people fuck with magic. They can make it stronger or weaker, they can deflect it." Julian turned the gun over in his hand. "This though…" He pressed it against Laxus' cheek. Laxus stiffened, the smell of gun oil and metal in his nose. Electricity sparked through him and into Julian's gun, and thusly, into Julian's hand. Laxus didn't know how it was possible but he didn't even flinch. "Are you going to try to kill me, Mister Dreyar?"
"What would you do, if someone had a gun in your face?"
"I'd lay them flat."
"You have your answer, then."
It was like a fog cleared in Julian's mind; his mouth relaxed and the tension fled his shoulders. He laughed. "Lucky for both of us I don't plan on shooting you." He took the gun away. "I have someone prettier in mind. Bring her out, Eli."
Laxus heard a door open and turned to watch Eli enter from the back with Sienna in tow. She was in the same glittering silver skirt she had been wearing last night. Her copper red hair was frazzled around her shoulders and her cheeks were tear-streaked, the dark makeup running from her eyes. She wasn't bound, but Eli kept a firm hand on her shoulder as he steered her through the room.
"Julian, please," Sienna begged in a hoarse voice as soon as she saw him. "Please don't do this. I told you, I wasn't doing anything. I don't know anything."
"That's obvious. If you did, I would keep you around, Sienna," Julian retorted.
She burst into fresh tears. "I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Really?" he snapped, "Because as I recall you weren't invited to the Server's entrance last night. You were either trying to steal for me or you've been trying to sink me. Which was it?"
"Neither!" she insisted. "I was trying to find Rebecka to get some Magicfire, I swear!"
"Don't know a Rebecka, sorry," Julian said dismissively.
"She's a server! Please! Just listen," Sienna begged. "Ask anyone—I was there for the drugs, I swear it!" She turned panicked eyes on Laxus. "Laxus was there! He knows—he was sitting at the table with me!"
Laxus didn't get a chance to reply.
"And so was Natalie!" Julian raged. His face was red, the tendons sticking out in his neck. "She told me you just walked away without even asking if she had any Magicfire. So you know what I think? I think Logan was a distraction so you could go in there, take what you wanted and get out without anyone being any wiser, but you got caught. Now, you won't talk, Eli can't seem to make you, so you know what I say? You've outlived your usefulness here." Julian turned to Laxus. "You still have that gun I gave you?"
Laxus tried not to look too stricken. "I'm not killing her."
Julian's expression darkened. "Are you in on it too?"
"What?" Sweat prickled his brow. "No—"
"Then take the fucking gun, bring her to Scarlet Lake and drop her. Unless you want to end up side-by-side with matching holes."
Laxus licked bone-dry lips. "I told you I wasn't a killer for hire."
"Roles change. If you want to stay here, then you'll do what I say." Julian was steadfast.
Eli pushed back his suit and unclipped a gun from his hip. It was huge. He was too close to miss and the caliber was too large to not do serious damage. Magic rolled through Laxus' body.
"You can kill her or Eli will. My way, you live, your way, you may take out a few of us, but one way or another you'll be taking a dirt nap, and any friends you've made here will too—including that little songbird that likes you so much. I can't have my house poisoned," Julian said coldly.
Laxus thought of Mira and fingered the gun in his pocket. He felt sick. "Let's move," he told Sienna.
"Laxus!" Her cheeks were doused in tears. "Please."
He grabbed her arm and started hauling her out of Noir. Eli took the lead and led them to the Gold Room, and then, once the world stopped contorting, through the kitchen and out a part of Gomorrah Laxus hadn't visited before. The door they exited said Server's Entrance, and it spat them into a dark world illuminated only by the red glow of Scarlet Lake. There were cedar hedges all around, a maze with gravel pathways leading to innumerable locations.
The outdoors and Scarlet Lake seemed to rock Sienna out of whatever stage of denial she'd been in. She appealed to Eli; he was the only one of them that could make anything happen. "Please, Eli. Please don't kill me. Please. I can disappear. Julian won't know. I—"
"Stop." Eli could turn on the cold. Laxus' hands tried to shake. He gripped Sienna tighter and walked faster.
"You said I'd always be safe! You said Natalie loved me so Julian would never hurt me. You said. You said he wasn't like Madam Genève. You promised."
Every muscle in Eli's body was taut. "And he hasn't been like her. This is what happens when people fuck up, Sienna. You know that. I told you to be careful, you got careless. I can't help you, Natalie can't, either."
Her breath escaped in a weak whoosh and her knees wobbled. Laxus was the only reason she remained upright.
"Take her to the end of the dock," Eli ordered. "And no magic. I want to hear that gunshot."
Are you really going to do this? Laxus wondered. He didn't know. No. Yes. Maybe.
Sienna seemed to know the answer. She tried to fall to the ground when her legs collapsed. Laxus pulled on her arm but she couldn't pick herself back up. He did it for her. She was light as a bird.
"Please—"
"Stop," Laxus said sharply and placed her back on the ground. Sienna stopped; she'd be back at it in a second, Laxus was sure.
Scarlet Lake stretched out in front of them, its surface looked like a pomegranate, all rippled and blood red. A long wooden dock reached out into the water, damp with the waves that lapped up and kissed its piney surface.
Eli leaned against one of the dock posts and crossed his arms. "Hurry it up."
Sienna's breathing changed. It came in short, shallow gasps as she was forced to the brink of hyperventilation. Laxus joined her, but it didn't stop his feet from rapping over the wood.
"Eli! Please! You know I would never betray Julian. He and Natalie saved me. They took me in, they—"
"Shut up."
Sienna turned back to Laxus. "You don't have to do this. This isn't even your town. You can just let me go and disappear and Julian wouldn't know where to find you."
Laxus put on a hard face, knowing that if he broke, Eli would see and Mira would be hurt. "It's not worth it."
Down she went again. Laxus dragged her up and bullied her all the way down the dock to the end so that her toes kissed the edge of the choppy water. It was loud out there, loud enough that unless Eli was a dragon slayer, which Laxus was fairly certain that he was not, he would not be able to hear.
He pulled Sienna close so that her back was tight into his chest and wrestled the gun from his pocket. He laid the muzzle flat against her head, above her ear, its grip pressing into her neck, and pressed his mouth to her other ear. In barely a whisper, he asked, "What do you know about Julian York?"
It was obvious that was not what she'd been expecting. It took her a full and precious second to stammer, "What?"
"His secrets, Sienna, what do you know?" He didn't have much time.
She shook her head violently. "Nothing. Natalie and I—we—we just had fun, that's it. She liked it that I was Genève's, I think. But because of that, she'd never tell me anything. She loves Julian too much."
He pulled the hammer back on the gun. "You're sure?"
"Yes," she laughed nervously. "Was this just all a trick? He was just trying to see what I knew?"
"No," Laxus replied numbly. "It's not a trick." She started trembling again. Laxus held her tight. "I hope for your sake you don't ever come back here." He kept the gun just where it was and pulled the trigger. When Sienna fell it was face first into the red waters.
She sank, just as he hoped.
