Julian eyed Laxus as he dressed. "A dark suit," he commanded when Laxus hovered over a slate grey one.

Things were going to get bloody tonight, then. "Sure." He took out a black one.

Julian nodded his approval. "Who was working the east wing last night, Eli?"

Eli straightened. "Trent and Brady."

"Go get them, and bring in Raff, this seems like the kind of stupid shit he'd pull, doesn't it?"

"Will do." Eli disappeared. Laxus longed to go after him and shake information from him. Why lie? Why act like nothing was wrong? He needed to know and wasn't at all patient.

Be cool.

Laxus yanked on a dark dress shirt. His hands shook slightly on the buttons. He focused on something else. "Do you have any idea why someone might have taken Romy?"

Julian snorted like a bull. "Someone doesn't like living very much?"

Laxus gave him a bland look.

"The same reason they tried to shoot Mira, I'd imagine," Julian said finally. "To try to hurt me. Romy was a good mage, her Magicfire was nice, it didn't leave a sour taste in the mouth, you know? It sold for a good coin. That's good revenue that's lost now."

Laxus dared to tell him, "You're a mess." Not just him, his whole house. It was so disorderly, how had it taken Griswold so long to bring it down? But not only was Griswold shy about it, Julian was paranoid and trigger-happy. All it took was one misstep and they'd be taking the long nap. They had to move slowly.

"I don't need business advice, kid, I need a thug that's willing to get a little messy. Are you in or are you out, because if you're out, that's fine, I can find someone else to take your place," Julian barked.

"Not someone you can trust," Laxus replied brazenly.

Julian laughed without humor. "You're not the safe bet."

"Then why am I here?"

Julian stared at him. Laxus stared back challengingly. Finally, Julian caved. "Very well, confidant. Let me tell you something then. Not only did Romy go missing last night, I was drugged."

Laxus' guts sank. His poker face was sound, though, he thought. "By who?"

"Natalie and Mira."

Laxus did up the last button on his shirt. He gave no indication that he was worried about it; maybe Julian would be calmer, too. "What makes you say that?"

"Because I'm not fucking stupid, Laxus," Julian snapped. "I know when my girls are lying, especially Natalie. Funny that Romy would go missing at the same time."

"You think Natalie drugged you so she could take Romy?" Laxus asked.

"Mira. I think Mira's gotten into Natalie's head. I think she convinced Natalie to drug me and I think she took Romy."

Cool. Cool. Cool. "Why would she do that?" Inside he was screaming. Fucking Mira. Fucking Natalie.

"That's the question, isn't it? I think the prudent thing would be to get rid of Mira, flush Natalie out if that is her game."

.Cool. "Is that what you want?" Laxus congratulated himself on his even voice, on his steady hands when they pulled out a pair of dark pants. In his head, though, his dream was resurfacing: Mira falling back into Scarlet Lake, limp and motionless as she sank to the bottom amongst all the other bodies that littered the lakebed. There was a neat hole in her head, one that he put there. Blood slowly leaked out and intermingled with the violently red water.

His lungs constricted, but his face remained carefully blank.

Julian mused. "Killing another lover might make her act out even more."

"It might."

He decided, "Keep an eye on her. On both of them."

"Will do." Laxus tucked the hem of his shirt into his waistband too roughly. I won't kill her. Of course he wouldn't. Not ever, not because it was easy to do bad things in this place, not because his head was in a dark place.

Julian idly picked at his cuff and straightened his suit jacket. "Enough of that. I'm making a fresh batch of Magicfire, it's the last of Romy's fire magic. You want to buy some?"

Laxus remembered that first night with Natalie, the fire that dropped from his hands and scorched the floor, waking up in the bathtub, cold and naked, the hollowness that rode around with him for days after. And still. That want. That overpowering, debilitating want.

Laxus breathed through his mouth; that helped his aching lungs so very little that he might as well have not breathed at all. You don't have to take it. Just make him think that you want it. The deeper he was in with Julian, the better. He would be at his side always, drinking his liquor, smoking his Silver, swallowing his Magicfire, listening to everything, seeing everything. Eventually, Julian would slip. "Yeah, sure."

Julian smiled, pleased. "I'll have some brought up when it's done. I assume you can pay?"

"I can pay." Laxus wrapped a black tie around his neck and felt like he was wearing a noose.

"Good." Julian took it from him and started looping the fabric and Laxus thought, I may be wearing the noose but Julian York is tying it. And he didn't always mind the feel of it around his neck.

When they came into the lounge, Nina stood with a tall, thick man. He had black hair, a long scar down his face, and a dense band of bruising around his neck.

Julian's jaw jumped with irritation. "Jake. You're alive."

Jake looked at the ground. "Yeah, boss." His voice was weak after the assault to his throat.

Julian halted in front of him. "Thirty seconds."

"What?"

"That's how long you have to convince me that you're still worth keeping around. I'd start talking."

Jake paled. "I—I don't remember what happened, exactly. I was minding my own, watching the hallway like you asked, when I was attacked. It felt like someone's hands were around my throat but no one was there. I couldn't breathe, then I was on the ground."

"A mage," Julian said dryly.

"Yeah."

"Your anti-magic lacrima wasn't working?"

His face rouged. "There was a domestic in Gomorrah yesterday. I split it up but got thrown around a bit by the guy. It broke and I hadn't had a chance to get a new one."

"Because you'd gone to watch Westley dance."

"I promised him."

Julian sucked on his tooth as he took it all in. His rage rose with every passing second. "So because you're too fucking busy chasing dick, someone came into my hotel and took one of my favourite girls. Right from under my nose."

"Yes, Sir." Jake's chest was rising and falling rapidly.

"Do you know how much you've cost me?"

"No, Sir."

"Too much."

"I'm sorry."

That crushing power was back in the air again. Julian looked downright manic. "I don't think that's going to be enough today."

Jake let out a strangled gasp. Laxus' skin itched. It burned to breathe.

"Please—" Jake pleaded. He lifted his hands to his head, though it looked like it cost him greatly to move. His eyes filled with red.

Nina took a hasty step back. "Mister York—" she started. Jake's scream cut her off. Blood leaked out of his eyes, ears and nose. He choked and it spurted from his lips, too.

"Hey—" Laxus reached for Julian but he was a beat too late. Jake released an animalistic scream, heavy with pain and fear, and then his head erupted from the inside out. Bits of blood and brain sprayed and landed on Nina's pale dress. She squealed like a pig. When she looked at Julian, she had blood smattered across her face and in her hair. She was too shocked to cry, but her body shook.

Jake's headless corpse fell to the floor and leaked against the dark wood.

"What a fucking mess," Julian growled dispassionately. "Nina, go find someone to clean this shit up, and get changed. You have to be on the floor in fifteen."

"M-Mister York," she took in a stuttering breath.

"Get. Out." he snarled. "Find someone to clean this up, before I get sick of looking at you, too."

She smoothed a hand over her dress, smearing the blood into the fabric. "Yes, Sir." She disappeared.

Jake's corpse twitched. His fingers still tried to squeeze into fists while his knees jerked every few seconds. And all that red mess on his shoulders… Laxus' vision swam.

"Don't you dare puke, asshole," Julian said. "I don't want to have to clean that up, too."

Laxus swallowed back bile. He tried to breathe deeply, but he only took in the scent of copper. That certainly didn't help.

Julian pushed him roughly. "Get out, we'll go to my office if you can't take it."

Laxus rushed all too willingly from the room. Never before did he think he was squeamish, but things changed when you watched someone explode and leak. His stomach tried to revolt again. Stop thinking about it.

The door swung outwards before he even had a chance to press it open. Mira stood there with Natalie. She wore a tight white dress, her long silver hair was in a high ponytail, the ends curling and spiraling over her shoulder. Laxus put his body between her and the mess that had been Jake and all but bullied her out of the room. Julian came out on his heels and closed the door firmly. The angry murderer was gone; the charmer was back.

"You're looking nice, Natalie, Mira."

"Thank you, Julian." Natalie kissed his cheek gently. "Excuse me, I need to get my bag from the lounge, I left it in there last night."

"Leave it for now," Julian replied. "You can get it later."

"But—"

Julian's eyes flashed. "What's in there that's so important?"

Natalie flushed and stammered. "I wanted my Magicfire."

"Here." Julian went rooting through his pockets and pulled out a pile of pills. "Go nuts." He practically threw them at her. Natalie flinched, a wounded expression on her face.

Mira struggled to catch Laxus' eye. There was power in her stare, the kind that made men confess. Laxus avoided looking at her at all costs.

Eli came around the corner. Three men marched at his back, one of average height and stocky, another tall and lanky, and Raff, looking wan and uncertain. His face was black where Laxus had punched him.

"Into my office, Eli," Julian said. "Natalie, go get Mira set up on the stage, alright?" He dropped a kiss to her cheek and one to Mira's lips. Mira kissed him back. After Julian pulled away she no longer tried to catch Laxus' eye. That was okay, Laxus didn't want to look at her; every time he did, he saw a dead girl instead.

Julian's office was just as large as his lounge, and just as informal. There were two large couches; a huge coffee table; two hookahs, one sky blue, one the deepest black; a shelf stacked full of books; a safe; and three paintings on the black walls, one fire-like, one water-like, and the other resembling a sort of abstract forest. All three were framed in real silver and took up more than a third of the wall. There was a lot of money sitting just in the frames. And the safe? What was locked up in there? Money, drugs, everything Laxus needed to tear Julian apart?

"Sit," Eli told the three men.

"Why am I here?" Raff looked at Laxus nervously.

"Because you piss me off," Julian said flippantly.

"I didn't do anything," Raff protested.

"You're breathing, for starters," Julian replied. When Raff opened his mouth to protest again, Julian said, "Just shut the hell up for a minute, Raff. We'll get to you."

Raff wasn't Romy's kidnapper. Or murderer. He was too twitchy, frightened and uncomfortable. He was rude, he was a womanizer, but he was also a coward. He didn't have the guts to cross Julian. He might have hired someone to do it, though. That was always a possibility.

Julian leaned against the length of his desk and addressed Trent and Brady. "Where were you last night?"

"In the east corridor, like you told us, boss," the stocky one spoke.

"Then, Brady, giving an account of anyone that walked by shouldn't be too much trouble," Julian mused.

Brady pulled at his tie uncomfortably. "Well, yeah, I guess. What's going on?"

Julian held up his hand. "Just keep on track. Did you see anyone last night? Guests wandering around, unfamiliar faces?" There was a hard edge in Julian's voice again. He was a hyena cornering his prey and he was enjoying it.

Brady stalled; Trent answered. "No one."

Julian looked back and forth between them. "No one at all?"

"No."

"I suppose if you're going to lie, at least you have the balls to do it to my face. But should that count for something?" He seemed like he honestly didn't know.

"We're not lying, we didn't see anyone," Trent affirmed.

Julian pulled out of his thoughts. "You misunderstand. I don't think you're lying about not seeing anyone. I think you're lying about being there at all."

Brady sweated more profusely. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you stink. And you twitch. Laxus?"

There was only one thing Julian ever wanted from him when he used that tone. Laxus' knuckles still hurt from his round with Raff. He squeezed his fingers tight, trying to psych himself up for more pain.

Brady looked at Raff's lumpy face and shook his head. "Okay. Okay. Yes, we weren't there. But you have to understand—"

Julian ignored Brady's confession and waved Laxus forward. "We don't have all night."

It didn't feel right beating a confessing man but he did, and something miraculous and terrifying happened. After the first hit, it was easy to draw back and hit again.

Laxus' knuckles burned. Brady's head snapped back violently. Blood seeped from a split in his cheek.

Trent stood. "Julian! He was talking—"

Julian lifted his hand and Eli hit him. And kept hitting him until his hands were red with blood. Raff sat stiffly on the couch, watching the exchange. Laxus kept him in his periphery and turned his brain off as well as he could. When it would wander someplace dark, when he was close to seeing himself in true form, he'd think, I am the justice in this world. No one was going to punish Julian York until he came along, and punish him he would. He just had to do these bad things first. Just a few more things. Just a few more times. And didn't Brady deserve this? Laxus didn't know any of his crimes but if he was affiliated with Julian, they were probably plentiful.

Across the room, something broke in Trent's face. He wailed and Julian finally said, "Wait."

Laxus struggled to release Brady. His hand was seized. Brady dropped to the floor a wheezing and wet mess. Julian appeared; he grabbed him roughly and threw him back onto the couch. Blood smeared all over the leather.

Julian said, "Let's try this again. Where were you last night?"

Brady stumbled over his swollen lips. "Trent and I were getting high in the Bronze Room."

Julian looked composed but Laxus could feel the same magic that had popped Jake's head off just oozing out of him. "Why weren't you at your posts?"

"Someone left us a note with a lot of money in it and—and some drugs. It told us to get lost for an hour, otherwise we'd end up dead," Brady said.

More notes.

"Who gave it to you?"

"I don't know!" Brady said.

Julian turned to Eli. Eli smashed the broken side of Trent's face against the wall. He was screaming again. Over the sound, Julian asked, "Who gave it to you?"

Trent gasped, "It was dropped into our lockers downstairs. We saw it yesterday evening, just before our shift started. I'm sorry, Julian, I'm sorry. I never woulda but they threatened to kill us and you know Mary's expecting and—"

"Here's your problem, boys. You need to spend less time worrying about the what if's and really start thinking about the what will's. I will find out if you've betrayed me. I will find out if you lied. I will put you in Scarlet Lake for it."

Brady started breathing heavier; Trent tried to push Eli away and make a break for it. Eli grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall again and kept him there. Julian approached and grabbed his cheeks in almost a brotherly manner.

"I'll take care of Mary and the baby. Take them out, Eli, Laxus. Leave Raff with me."

Brady started to quiver and Trent's knees gave way. "Julian!" Trent tried. "Give me another chance. I can do better—"

"You knew the deal when you started. Take them out." His voice was like a thunder crack.

Do it or you'll die, said a voice in Laxus' head. Eli was staring at him intently. Mira will die. And maybe Natalie will, too. Do it.

Laxus' head was spinning furiously. I'm not a killer, I'm not a killer, I'm not a killer. Except maybe he was. He grabbed Brady up by the scruff of the neck while Eli hefted Trent to his feet. Julian looked on with approval. Laxus felt sick.

No one even looked at them as they passed through Gomorrah. This place is fucked, Laxus thought. It was like no one saw them escorting two bleeding men from the building, but maybe it wasn't that odd of an occurrence in the casino. Maybe they just looked like bouncers evicting trouble patrons.

"Julian'll really take care of Mary?" Trent asked in the Gold Room.

"He'll keep his word," Eli responded. "He always does."

Trent relaxed. The room stopped contorting and they could get through Gomorrah. Laxus rushed until he could push open the outside doors and was hit with cold, fresh air. Then everything seemed real again. He could see the maze that would take them to the pier. He could see the glow of Scarlet Lake through the trees.

"We can't kill them." The words just popped out without his permission.

"You know what Julian will do if we don't," Eli responded.

Laxus bit his tongue hard. Everything felt like it was spiraling so badly out of control. "This is fucked."

"This is life in Innisfil." Eli ducked into the maze. Laxus felt like a tin man following him. Every joint was rusted and compressed. His thoughts were sludge. Sienna lurked in the blackest corners, daring him to take another life. Daring him to hope that he could save someone.

They burst out of the bushes and it was Laxus, not Brady, who couldn't draw breath.

Eli walked confidently to the end of the pier and put Trent's feet to the very edge of the dock. They were facing each other when Eli pulled the trigger. Laxus didn't know how he did it, watched the bullet go through and burst out the other side, watched the light go out in his eyes. Watched him fall and fall into the red waters and make it a little redder still.

Eli returned and looked at him expectantly. Move. Laxus took three steps forward. He even got his gun out. He even pulled back the hammer. But when it came to walking out onto the dock, his feet would not budge.

Eli gave him a full minute before stepping forward and taking a whimpering Brady by the collar. "Go back in."

The sharp report of a gun exploding chased Laxus inside. He tried going to his room first but decided when he was staring at Gomorrah's kitchen that it'd be too quiet. He needed noise.

Feeling surreal, he made his way into the casino. Sitting still wasn't an option, his thoughts had a lot of power then. He went to the poker table where he made a quick grand. The banker scowled at him when he bet it all in the next round and doubled his winnings. The money meant nothing.

He ordered five drinks and pounded them all back in a few short minutes. Eli came back in. His dark shirt was stained a little darker. There was a bit of splatter on his neck that he didn't seem to notice. He saw Laxus, nodded once, then disappeared into Gomorrah's staff door. Laxus folded, losing six hundred, and followed.

"It had to be done," Eli reiterated when Laxus caught up. "He would have punished Natalie and Mira if we refused."

"He knows about you?"

"He suspects, I imagine."

The freezer door opened and Terri came out. "Mister Dreyar, Mister Tase, are you going back to Noir?"

"Yeah," Eli answered.

Laxus interjected, "I need to come back up in a few hours."

Terri smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem."

Eli was stoic about Laxus' errands, not asking about the note, not asking about his intentions. Just a blank, grey-eyed slate. Nothing was free, though, Laxus wasn't naive enough to think that. He owed Eli two debts now, one for keeping his secrets from Julian and one for killing Brady so he didn't have to. Eli was the kind of man that always collected.

Despite Noir's recent turbulent history, it was bumping when Terri opened the door and they could step out. People in riches were shoulder-to-shoulder not only in the casino but in the theatre room. There was a woman on stage with long, black and curling hair. The announcer introduced her as Melanie and Laxus realized all of Julian's girls were heart-stopping in one way or another. This girl? She could sing. Her voice was too husky for anything but a place exactly like Noir but she fit here like a glove. The emeralds on her peach-coloured dress drew him into twinkling and surreal places as he moved through the crowd towards the entrance to the backstage with nothing on his mind but remembering who he was.

Mira was alone, leaning against a refreshment table and tapping her foot, Noir's ghost in white. White and white and white. Her dress, her hair, her skin. All except for her mouth, that was such a dark red, it was almost black.

"What are you doing back here?" she asked first when the door closed and she could identify him. Laxus drifted to the sound of her voice, he the balloon, untethered, and her the stratosphere. Where was the ground? Where was the relief? It slipped through his fingers and left him struggling for breath.

He kissed her.

Mira grabbed his arms. "What's wrong?"

"I'm losing my mind." He'd tried to kill someone in cold blood. And couldn't. And now he was in Eli's debt. Nothing about this situation spelled success.

"What happened?"

He opened his mouth; closed it. "I don't think we should talk here. I just… I wanted to see you. And to tell you to be careful."

"I'm always careful," Mira said immediately.

If she were always careful, Julian wouldn't be entertaining the idea of dropping her into Scarlet Lake. "Be extra cautious, okay? It's your first night back on stage, Romy's missing—"

Mira's face fell with disappointment. "She hasn't been found yet?"

Laxus shook his head. "She's dead, Mira, she has to be." He felt it.

Mira sighed. "What is going on here?"

"Nothing good. Just treat everyone like they're Logan's necromancer. Expect the unexpected. Keep your eye on the crowd."

"Where are you going to be?"

Laxus checked the clock on the wall. It was twelve-thirty. He had two and a half hours. "Watching for a bit, but then I got to take care of something."

"What?" Mira pushed.

He looked around the empty room. "We can't talk about that, not here."

"So it's dangerous."

"Everything is dangerous."

"Okay, Dad."

"Don't joke."

She sobered. "Be careful."

Laxus made a decision. "I'm taking a chance, Mira. If I don't come back by five, I want you to get your stuff together and get out of Noir, okay?"

Mira's fingers tightened on his arms. "What?"

"Don't ask any questions, don't try looking for me. Get out of Innisfil, find Elfman and Lisanna, and stay with them."

"Shut up, Laxus," Mira scolded. "Don't say stuff like that, especially if you're not going to tell me what the hell is going on."

"After." There would be an after, of course there would. This was just a precaution. Just in case things didn't go as planned. She'd be on the run from Julian, but as soon as she met up with her brother and sister, things would be okay.

"Tell me now." Mira's voice trembled.

"I can't. But that doesn't matter because everything is going to be fine. I just needed you to hear that, just in case."

"If everything was fine, you wouldn't have even bothered saying that," she replied hotly. "Don't lie to me. You're scaring me."

It was good that she was scared, she should be. It was important to remember that Noir wasn't a place they could get lost. They needed to be diligent and careful.

Mira kept peppering him with questions. "Does this have to do with those men you and Julian met? What happened, Laxus? Why didn't he want us going into the lounge?"

"This isn't the place."

Mira's eyes got dark and Laxus felt her magic crawling on her skin; he imagined a thousand spiders, their legs sharp and pricking his arms and his neck. His stomach flopped; this wasn't her having a tantrum with her usual magic, this was something darker. Much, much darker. Mira had a new Soul she hadn't been upfront about and he knew immediately that he was not a fan.

"Whatever you're doing, stop it."

Mira still looked intensely furious for a moment, on the verge of doing something that would drive a wedge between them, Laxus was sure. The curtain flicked open, though, and the announcer came through, and Mira's magic went away.

"Am I up soon?"

"Two more songs."

She smoothed her white dress, the picture of innocence. "Thank you."

The man went away. Laxus did the same. His could still feel the ropes of her magic clinging to him.