Trying to find a pistol in Paris turned out to be a much easier business than Charles had anticipated. Leaving the Institute unnoticed turned out to be the larger problem. The first time out on his own, he walked about in an increasingly wider net looking for a place to buy a firearm. He had told Elise he wanted to get a sense of the city on his own and noted that she almost always took charge of communicating with people when they were together, which left him with little chance to practice his French and improve. She had looked at him oddly, shook her head and agreed that he was correct.
The money to buy the pistol had come from his grandmother, who smiled and handed him a small purse of gold every time he visited. The second time she had told him to buy some new shoes. Each succeeding time it was something else, until he finally protested that it was unnecessary. She had given him a very stern look, kissed him on the forehead, and told him that she was sure that he would use the money more wisely than her brother or nephews might.
Jarmaine smiled at him every time he lost the battle and left with the purse. Since Charles was visiting as many as two or three times a week, he quickly had a surplus of funds that he had never known in his life. Sometimes he kept it in a pocket and subtly passed it on to the Institute staff. Sometimes he bought himself useful items you could only find in a big city and other times he simply handed it out to mothers who were walking about with their children. The later, of course, were the most satisfying. He knew he could not solve everyone's problems, but simply passing on the money to the needy gave him a way to disperse the money in a good cause.
The decision to buy a firearm had come to him when reading the Codex. He had come to believe that the Shadowhunters relied too heavily on runes and too quickly eschewed technology. He might not be able to use a pistol on a demon, but he sure thought that vampires would sit up and take notice. Finding one became a higher priority as the reports of vampire attacks increased. There was a certain sense of fear in the population as people continued to disappear.
Several reconnaissance walks had helped him locate a shop that looked like it might fit his needs. It was not for the upper class and as such, he hoped the inventory might be less flashy and more utilitarian. On his fourth trip out, which had coincided with a visit to his grandmother, he took a roundabout route home and visited the gun shop. A boy was sweeping out front and called 'Daddy,' when Charles entered.
Charles had dressed in the least reputable clothes he thought he could get away with for a visit to his grandmother and hoped it did not mark himself as too rich a customer and thereby drive up prices.
"Bonjour, monsieur," said the man with a smile as he entered through a door. Interestingly enough, there were no weapons visible in the very small customers' area. "How may I help you today?" The man was shorter than Charles, had a bushy head of blonde hair that was free of grey and an open face lined with age. He looked to be perhaps forty. His hands were scarred but he had all his fingers; in the firearms business that meant you were careful and careful men would sell good products.
"I'm looking for a revolver," he said.
The man raised an eyebrow when noting his accent; unusually for the inquisitive French, he said nothing.
"What do you prefer?" asked the man. "I have Colts, of course, but also a local maker who produces good weapons."
"Maybe you can show me one of each," suggested Charles.
The man turned to the boy and rattled off instructions too quickly for Charles to follow. The boy disappeared into the back and the man looked at Charles. "An American?" He did not wait for an answer. "And a man who has seen a fight." That was not a question. "A soldier in your American war?" This time he waited for an answer.
"Oui," said Charles nodding. "For the Union. Four years."
The man nodded, and they shared a sympathetic glance. "Strange things move about at night," he said. "A man needs his protection." He looked at Charles who nodded again, interested that he had guessed the reason he wanted the weapon even without knowing the whole truth.
The boy returned with two wooden boxes and the man took them and laid them out on the oil-stained wooden countertop. The Colt looked as familiar as ever. He had worn one on his hip for years and used it in desperation a number of times when he had run low or out of rifle ammunition. He asked politely if he could handle it and after a nod, picked it up and broke it down quickly and efficiently. The separate parts were oiled without being too greasy and did not look overly worn as one would see from a weapon that had been heavily damaged from repeated firing. He reassembled it and checked the trigger action. It felt as solid as his own personal weapon always had. He nodded and complimented the man on its condition.
"You know that weapon well," said the man. "Let me show you the work of our own De Visme. He held up a small revolver with a curved wooden handle that was much slimmer than the Colt. "Six shots, trigger can be fired single, or dual-action. Feel."
The handle felt odd in his hand, but he cocked the hammer smoothly and looked down the sights. "May I dry-fire it?" he asked.
"By all means," said the man.
Charles turned and aimed, noting the action of the trigger and its smooth action before the hammer popped and slapped with a loud snap. He fired again without cocking and noted the feel of the trigger, uncocked and then fired once more. As expected, the trigger was much more sensitive with the hammer cocked. The advantage he saw was that it could easily be drawn and fired quickly without having to cock the hammer first with the thumb or other hand. Subsequent rounds would be able to be fired with the sensitive single-action touch to increase accuracy.
"Would you like to fire?" asked the man.
"Yes, please," he replied and handed the weapon back.
The man took it and invited him around the counter and into the back where there were shelves of various types of rifles, pistols and even a few swords. In the very back was a small open area where he was directed to stand at one end while the boy put up a small paper with a target.
"Four rounds," said the man before handing the weapon back to Charles. "Ears?" he asked.
Charles accepted a small hood with both the man and the boy also donned. He sighted and fired the first round with a smooth pull and noted where the round hit. The second round he fired with the cocked hammer and noted he was closer to the center but a little high and to the left. He released the trigger and then fired first a dual-action shot and then a single in rapid succession, but aimed a bit low and to the left. Both shots hit within an inch of the center of the target.
"Yes, this will do fine," said Charles. "Do you have a holster that I could use to wear it out of sight? I do not wish to alarm anyone or give away any surprise.
They sifted through a rather extensive collection of holsters until he found one that would fit under a coat or vest and allow him to draw right-handed. Once they were out at the counter again, the man named a price for the weapon, holster and twenty-five rounds of ammunition. Before leaving the his grandmother's house on this instance, he had counted the coins and knew that he had approximately 120 francs in mostly silver five-franc pieces. He suspected that the man's initial price of 80 francs was intended for bargaining down to a more reasonable price, but as Charles had plenty of pocket money, he simply thumped the purse down on the counter.
"This should cover it," he said.
The many hefted the purse, pulled out a wooden bowl from behind the counter and dumped the contents. His eyes widened as he noted the number of five-franc pieces and began to say it was too much. So, an honest man, thought Charles. When the protests went on, Charles waved him away.
"Perhaps we shall do business again," said Charles. "This was a good piece." He left the store with the surprised man and the boy speaking rapidly; the part he caught said something about buying mama a new dress and Charles was immediately glad he had not argued the price.
Unfortunately, it was less than a week before he was forced to use it in anger.
They were coming home from the Opera late at night when Charles began to feel uneasy.
"I think we are being followed, dear," he said while smiling and not looking around.
"Indeed," replied Elise, "for several blocks now, I believe."
"Ahh, well, shall we accommodate them or move to brighter streets?" he asked.
"I'm quite intrigued to find out if they are simply thieves or something more sinister," she suggested.
"I'll follow your lead then; do you know the area well?" he asked.
"Reasonably so," she said and abruptly turned down and alley. They did not increase their pace, but did move more quietly. Several turns later they rounded a corner and came to an abrupt stop as four figures barred their way in the low light. The two following figures appeared to cut off their retreat a moment later. One of them stepped forward and spoke in a man's voice.
"Ah, what do we have here? Two itsy-bitsy Nephilim out strolling the night when there is so much danger," said the man before laughing. "Or so they say. I suspect it is all just scared children talking."
Elise still had not pulled the blade from her parasol, so Charles waited on her lead. Taking on six vampires at once would not likely go well for them so perhaps talk was best. Four of them were male and two female but they looked much the same in the low light. When the speaker took another step, Elise brought the parasol down with the point forward.
"Go away, Night Child," she said calmly. "This will not go well for you."
The creature laughed and even Charles shivered slightly at the unnerving sound. He kept the walking stick in his left hand; if things went bad he was going to start with the pistol.
"Do you really think you can stand against six of us?" said the vampire.
"Maybe," said Elise. "Why are you attacking Shadowhunters?"
"Why not?" he replied. "We owe you nothing and you attempt to prevent us from taking what we want. We tire of your limitations. Under the leadership of Alain, we will destroy you and move into a new age."
That was a new name they had not heard before and confirmed an idea that some of the Shadowhunters had put forward—the overall increase in violence was being directed towards a specific purpose. That knowledge would bring the full attention of the Clave on the problem, assuming he or Elise had the opportunity to report it.
"Well, then I suppose further talk is useless; we should move," said Elise.
Charles was reaching for the pistol before he realized it. The word 'move' was their pre-arranged code to attack jointly and he complied by clearing the pistol of the shoulder harness and fired into the chest of the vampire closest to him at his end of the alley. The weapon kicked up and then he aimed again putting the next round into the next vampires head. The third vamp leaped at him and he whipped his cane around to hold it back and discharged the pistol right in its face.
The first vampire was still moving toward him, but not smoothly and Charles pulled his blade—it was an awkward maneuver with the pistol in hand—and slashed a clawed hand that reached for him. A return swing took its head and he checked the other two quickly to ensure they were dead. When he turned back to Elise, she was fending off the wary Nightchildren with blade and pointed parasol.
"Moving to your left," he said quickly and brought the pistol up in his right hand and braced it on the back of his left hand that still held the blade. The vampire on the far left hissed angrily and dove around the corner. Charles tracked the pistol sights to the right and fired off his fourth round. He missed, aimed again, but withheld fire as Elise attacked fiercely with blade and point, first impaling it with the parasol and then taking its arm off at the elbow. It howled and the other vamp attempted to close with Elise.
"Drop!" he shouted and she complied instantly, clearing his line of fire. The round missed its head but punched it in the sternum and it staggered backagainst the alley wall. Movement to his left caused Charles to spin back quickly as the previously fled vampire slashed at his face. Charles dodged sideways and slashed awkwardly. The blow caught the vampire on the hand and severed two fingers. Charles used the moment of shock to bring the pistol up and fired nearly point-blank into its face.
After the loud discharge of the pistol in the alley, the silence that followed was very unlike the normal buzz of the city. Normally curious onlookers would be coming to investigate, but in the present environment, people scurried the other direction.
Elise had dispatched the vampire Charles had shot in the sternum and returned to question the speaker for the group. She was rather ruthlessly digging the point of her parasol into its chest and whispering fiercely. The vampire only laughed mirthlessly and cursed her and all Shadowhunters.
"He is gone," said Elise a few moments later. They checked the other bodies that were beginning to rapidly disintegrate. "That has never happened to me," she said. "I have had conflicts with individual, rogue vampires, but never a group." She turned and caught his eye. In the dim light her eyes were wide and intense. "Since when did you start carrying a firearm?"
"A couple weeks," he said. "For this very reason, actually."
She studied his face for some time before replying quietly. "Unconventional," she said. "I keep forgetting you were not raised among us. Well, it was fortuitous in this case, but it will only raise more questions about you. Let us talk about this on the way back to the Institute."
They walked quickly, but did not speak until they had regained a larger, well-lit avenue that was a longer walk but was fairly busy.
"This is going to bring even more scrutiny from the Clave," she said. "When we tell them what we were told, they are going to dig deeper. How did we survive against six? Does it seem more likely they were telling the truth because they did not believe we would survive the attack?" She walked in silence for a time. "They will almost undoubtedly send an Inquisitor to speak with us. They are not particularly pleasant people."
"Elise, I am not as tuned into the rules as you are; have we done anything we should not have done?" he asked.
"Nothing strictly forbidden with proscribed punishments, but we walk the line in plenty of areas, like visiting your grandmother," she said. "Common sense says there is no harm in it, but the Clave will not see it that way. They think black and white quite often."
"Well, I reported to general officers often enough and had them grill me for details, so this can hardly be any worse," he said.
"Except Inquisitors have the sword that makes you tell the truth," said Elise.
"Why would I do otherwise?" he asked.
Elise chuckled to herself.
"What?" he asked.
"You are not a political animal," she said. "You do not think that way at all, but the Clave is a political organization at its heart and the question of loyalties will come up. You had a Shadowhunter father and the skills, but will you be obedient to the Clave?"
Charles thought about that for a few minutes and wondered what he would do if they demanded he stop seeing his mundane grandmother. He would ignore them, of course. That was a given. And if he had to choose between Elise and his grandmother? Well, that was complicated and Elise was basically telling him he needed to be prepared to answer questions and make decisions.
"What is the worst they might do?" he asked.
She did not answer for some time and continued to scan the side streets and oncoming traffic as Charles was. He thought she did not want to answer the question and decided that was not a good thing. Finally, though, she did answer.
"They can block you taking the oaths as a Shadowhunter and cause a great deal of controversy," she said.
"How is that going to cause controversy?" he asked.
"Because I will protest and surely my father and your uncle will as well," she said. "They are not going to let you go your own way after so recently returning so there will be a fight and that fight will go all the way to Alicante, I think." When he shook his head in confusion, she went on. "Not everyone agrees with the harshness of some Clave rulings. There is a great deal of sympathy for relaxing the laws about complete isolation for those who marry outside the Nephilim community. And your father was very popular. All of that is going to make waves that go far beyond you or I." Neither of them spoke for the rest of the way and they were surprised when John met them on the front steps of the Institute.
"An Inquisitor has come," he said. "He has asked for you both as soon as you returned."
"Thank you, John, we shall be along in a moment," said Elise. When John looked nervous, Elise continued. "To whom will we be speaking, ?"
"Inquisitor Gregory," he responded.
Charles was watching for signs of alarm in Elise's expression but she gave nothing away.
"Do you know where he is?" she asked.
"The library," said John.
"Has he been waiting specifically for us?" she asked.
"As of about thirty minutes ago, yes," said John.
"OK, well five more minutes will not matter then," she said. "I would prefer you not precede us,"
John looked at her for a few moments and nodded. "Do not tarry overlong, please. My father sent me out here."
His ambitious father. Ely probably thought making the Inquisitor wait would reflect poorly on the Paris Institute. John left and Elise turned to Charles looking very serious.
"I do not know anything about Gregory, so I cannot advise you there," she said quickly. "Please do not be too belligerent, Charles. I know you plan to continue contact with your grandmother, but can we just not address that right now? Please? What they only suspect cannot be used to charge or deny you."
Charles knew what she was asking, but he hated attempted deceptions of any kind.
"You know I am a terrible liar," he said. When she opened her mouth to interrupt, he talked over her. "I will try to be non-confrontational, but you already said there will be issues. Me using firearms. My stated desire to find my mundane family. I will not abandon Mémé now that I have found her. If they want to abandon a valuable tool in their fight in order to quibble over rules then I will leave."
She let out a long breath. "Well, then, this should be interesting. Let us go." She led him at a brisk pace through the long corridors of the Institute until they reached the library and went in with a small knock at the door. Nicolette appeared to have been showing a tall, dark-haired man a section of books in her 'required reading' section of the library. They both turned at his knock and Charles examined him more closely.
Inquisitor Gregory was several inches taller than Charles and more sturdily built. His hair was cropped in a no-nonsense fashion close to the head in a way that emphasized his receding hairline and the grey at his temples. He did not smile when introducing himself and his grip was very strong. He examined Charles with a slight squint and the lines at the corners of his eyes made Charles wonder if that was how he regarded the rest of the world as well. Elise interjected herself smoothly before the man had a chance to begin.
"If you will excuse me, Inquisitor, we need to report that we were attacked by a group of vampires a short time ago and the attacked appeared preplanned and coordinated," she said. It was a bombshell if ever there was one: the man blinked several times, but showed no surprise. Nicolette let out a small breath and covered her mouth with her hand in surprise.
"Details, then," said the Inquisitor shortly.
Elise related the sequence of events, the words of their leader and the means of their escape. Gregory listened without comment or change in expression until the explanation was finished. His gaze did shift from Elise to Charles at the mention of the firearm, but then focused again on Elise. When she finished, he digested the information but did not ask questions.
"Thank you Mademoiselle Wright," he said. "This information will be relayed to the Clave as soon as possible. Much of the issue is known to us, but it certainly provides another confirmation of our suspicions. My only remaining task here is to speak with M. Duclot, which I would like to do privately. Nicolette, may we use your study?"
"Of course," she said and nodded to the small office where she did most of the repair work and cataloging.
The Inquisitor led Charles into the small room and instead of sitting behind the desk, Gregory pulled out a chair and it facing the room's other seat. Charles closed the door and sat across from the older man and waited. The inquisitor just studied him and he felt a slight discomfort in his stomach and some nervousness. Charles was not sure if the man was attempting to unsettle him or was just deciding how to proceed. Plenty of long, silent reconnaissance missions had taught Charles to embrace the silence, so he sat and waited.
Eventually, the man spoke, and Charles thought he caught a slightly pleased expression on his face as he did so. "You have nerve, Charles, and by all appearances you are a survivor. Please tell me how you came to be here."
Charles considered the request and decided to trust the man with a reasonably complete history and began by telling him of his childhood, his father's training, his family's deaths, his later years in Missouri and his experience in the war. It was not until he mentioned Sun Hi that Gregory stirred, but then refrained from asking a question. Charles continued with his story in St. Louis, his fruitless search for the Institute in New York and his journey to England ending with his encounter with Elise.
"You appear to be romantically linked to Ms. Wright," said Gregory.
It was not the question he had expected. "We are quite fond of each other."
"And have you found any relatives from your mother's side?"
Charles could not help a snort of amusement. Gregory did not react, so Charles answered him with a simple, "Yes, I have."
The man nodded. "And why was that question amusing?"
"Because Elise told me not to bring it up or make an issue of it and I told her I would not," he said.
"And yet you just admitted you found someone," he said.
"I also told her I was not going to obfuscate if the question was asked," he said. "I make it a point not to lie and as a result I am a very poor deceiver. If the Clave decides to accept me, then they can take me as I am."
This produced a bark of laughter from the man who suddenly seemed to relax his self-imposed control of his features. "Given the political circles where I run, I find your directness quite refreshing Charles Duclot. Do you intend to keep your mother's name?"
The man jumped about from topic to topic and Charles wondered if the Inquisitor did it to keep Charles off balance or that was just the way his mind worked.
"Duclot was the name I grew up with," said Charles.
Again another long, considering look.
"A grandmother, I would guess," said Gregory. "Or perhaps an uncle or cousins."
Charles sat back in surprise again. This man was certainly clever.
"A grandmother," he admitted. "There is an uncle and cousins, but my grandmother does not offer too high an opinion of them so I have not attempted to contact them, other than the uncle. And he seemed far too interested in making money."
"And you intend to continue contact with your grandmother?" Gregory asked.
"I do," said Charles.
Again, that slightly amused look.
"That will not be well received if it becomes widely known," said the Inquisitor.
"She is eighty-one, not fond of her son or nephews and enjoys reminiscing about her daughter," said Charles. "I am not going to leave her alone."
"Ely tells me that he has tried to follow you but you always lose the tails," said Gregory. "He could not confirm success in your search or a location. I recommend that you continue to be circumspect. For her protection and your best interest." Charles nodded without speaking. It was leverage the Clave could use against him but he did not sense that was why the Inquisitor was bringing it up. The man confirmed it with his next statement. "The Clave would be foolish to waste a man of your talents. I have the authority to administer the oaths if I find you to be a capable and honorable man. I am inclined to do so if you wish."
Again Charles was caught off guard. That had not been the conclusion for which he had prepared himself. As much as he wanted to join his newly-discovered fight against such a tangible evil, he was not willing to do so if it meant abandoning Meme to her old age. His parents had always taught him that family came first and he would not dishonor their wishes now. The Inquisitor was telling him he would not have to do so.
"I would like to have Elise and her mother witness it, if that is allowed," said Charles. "I do not know how formal an occasion this is."
"As formal or informal as you wish it," said Inquisitor Gregory as he rose.
"Then those two will be sufficient," said Charles.
Charles gave Elise a quick wink when they emerged and she relaxed slightly.
"Charles wishes you to witness his taking of the oaths and I am prepared to administer them immediately," said the Inquisitor. Nicolette's eyes widened slightly and Elise was openly surprised, but both wore wide smiles as Charles repeated the words and took upon himself the solemn responsibilities of all Shadowhunters. Once finished, the Inquisitor shook his hand in congratulation and then took his departure. "Your news of the attack will be passed on with my other observations. I believe the Clave will need to commit greater resources to this problem very soon."
As the Inquisitor left, Elise threw herself onto him and kissed him quite soundly there in front of her mother. His face must have been red when she pulled back and Nicolette laughed before both ladies fired a dozen questions at him without giving him an opportunity to respond. After a few moments they all went and sat in comfortable chairs in the library while Elise told her mother more about the vampire attack and Charles related the interview with the inquisitor.
"Well, this Gregory sounds quite open-minded for an inquisitor," said Nicollete. "This quick promotion strikes me as political maneuvering. I hope we don't get squished in the middle."
"Well, it opens up other possibilities as well," said Elise with a sly smile and Charles tried to return her smile without turning back to the color of beats. He was not sure he succeeded.
Events in Paris moved quickly and Charles found that his time was not now entirely his own. He trained regularly with all the staff and passed on some of his odd learning and different techniques. He still continued his visits to his grandmother who took such great pleasure and smiled so grandly when he entered her room that he wished he could go every day. However, as the Clave presence in Paris increased, so did conflict with the vampires that were preying on the masses. Though it was apparent there was something more than friendship between Charles and Elise, since nothing was said, they were treated somewhat like parabati and were rarely paired with others when patrolling.
It made Charles nervous that Elise continued to bait the vampires at every opportunity, but he had long realized that any attempt to shield her from harm would have led to a decrease in his appeal to her. And so they fought and occasionally bled together and became still more one in spirit.
Two months after Charles arrival they were called to a large meeting where many Shadowhunters were gathered; there were far more than he recognized and most of them were armed and armored. In the Army, he would have called it a pre-mission brief, and in its way it was every bit as detailed and showed large levels of planning. Unfortunately, Charles and Elise's success at vampire-baiting had been closely observed and was a rather key part of the plan. Charles became increasing uncomfortable to the level of exposure to which they would be subjecting Elise. Only Elise's iron grip on his forearm kept him silent as the brief continued but even she seemed ready to interrupt when it became clear that her mother Nicolette was going to accompany them. This time it was the mother's turn to glare her daughter into silence.
When the meeting broke up, he knew they all three were going to have words, but no one said anything until they were back in the private office in the library and then the floodgates opened.
"Mother, do you really think this is wise?" began Elise. Nicolette stopped her with a raised eyebrow, which may have worked when she was a child, but now only infuriated her daughter. "That will not work anymore, Mother. To put yourself …"
"… in the same position you put yourself," Nicolette finished smoothly. "And might I add, I have done my duty to the Shadowhunter community and produced five children." She seemed quite calm and was not at all put out that she was being lectured by her daughter. According to Elise, this was not like her and Charles suspected Elise did not see how her mother had changed.
"You won't be armored up and we could well be in the middle of the fight, wearing evening gowns," Elise pointed out.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I have custom armor for just such an occasion," said Nicolette.
"But it is still a risk and you are … " Elise trailed off knowing she was about to say something Charles thought she might regret.
It did not matter. Nicolette finished for her anyway. "…old?
"I was going to say too valuable to the Institute to risk on a mission where brawns are going to matter more than brains."
Nicolette laughed and that seemed to offend Elise even more. The mother held up her hand. "That was a terrible lie and you know it, daughter. I am old, but I am not dead and I will not sit in my office while my daughter and future son-in-law go out to fight vampires. I won't. So stop protesting. I have maintained my skills and Charles has sharpened me more in the last month that I have been in years. Plus, he promised to keep an eye on me."
Elise rounded on him as if he were encouraging Nicolette. What could he do? He had said he would keep an eye on her, or at least something like it, during several training sessions. And Nicolette was correct; she was still a formidable fighter with her preferred weapon—a shortened halberd with a two-foot blade and a polished oak shaft. It was heavy enough to bite and light enough she did not tire quickly. That did not answer the question of where she was going to hide it to have it handy when the fight started. When he mentioned this, she only laughed again.
"I think you underestimate the size of the modern fashionable skirts," said Nicolette.
"I suppose, but fighting in a dress will not be like our sparring sessions," he pointed out.
"Well, lucky for me I gave this some thought and had two dresses made that are both fashionable and practical," said Nicolette.
"What is this, mother?" asked Elise.
"I should show you," said her mother with a smile and led them off in the direction of her rooms. Once there, she showed them a cleverly designed dress that would break apart easily and discard the voluminous skirts when an attack came. It was quite obviously Elise liked the idea but still laughed.
"We shall look quite ridiculous, shall we not, mama? Fighting demons half in armor and half wearing the top of a dress that is quite the rage in Paris right now."
"I should imagine so, dear," said Nicolette. They hugged and Charles was happy there would not be any shouting.
"Still, Mother, I am uncomfortable with this," said Elise. "You may not be old," she emphasized the last work, " but neither are you young. I would prefer you stay here."
"And I would prefer you both stay here, get married and start making me grandchildren," said Nicolette sweetly. "I'll stay if you do."
Elise scowled, sniffed and then threw her own dress over her shoulder.
"I'm off to do my hair," she said. "I'll meet you both at the front doors in an hour." And with that, she left.
"Children sometimes forget that their parents' experience can make up for their lack of youth," said Nicolette as her daughter's steps faded. "I have to admit to a certain upset stomach; it has been a long time for me."
Charles would have preferred that she stay at the Institute, but knew she would not do so any more than her daughter would. Well, he thought, I will just have to keep an eye on them both.
They met at the appointed hour and began their leisurely stroll around Paris. Well, it actually started as a carriage ride through the city until dark. Once the sun went down they were supposed to begin to leave behind the well-lit streets until they passed in front of an old meat-processing factory that had long been abandoned and was suspected to be the headquarters of this Alain, the leader of the vampire movement.
The area around the old packing plant was rumored to be haunted and the housing in the area was chiefly the poor who could not afford better. It was said they boarded up their windows and doors at night and did not go out.
After having visited a number of shops, they were supposed to act like they were drunk and thus, give them a reason to be there in an impoverished area when they were clearly not of the poor. Charles had never done anything like it before, but Nicolette turned out to be a more than competent actress and she was slurring her words and staggering quite convincingly as they left the well-lit parts of the city behind.
Right on cue, they were accosted almost directly in front of the alleged headquarters. Nicolette was dangling from Charles' arm and did not even twitch when they halted.
"Wha' now?" she said, but Charles could sense her hands moving along the front of her dress where she would release the large hoop skirt. He assumed Elise was doing the same.
"You appear to have lost you way, unfortunate ones," said the voice. Charles was not sure why, but he had begun to be able to hear the tiny speech differentiation between the living and the undead and he tensed slightly when the vampire spoke.
Fortunately, Charles French was not great anyway, so when he answered haltingly it only sold their act a little better. Now he hoped they would not have a dozen vampires down on their heads.
The vampires only smiled and showed too-long teeth. That was enough for Charles to quietly cock the hammer back on his pistol that was in a voluminous pocket. When the first vampire approached them, he pulled his pistol and fired point blank into its face. Even for a vampire that was always a killing shot, but it was also the signal for the Clave forces to enter the building. Blades flashed shortly thereafter and it was a horrible free-for-all with Charles trying to keep from dying while worrying about Elise and Nicolette.
He need not have bothered. Mother and daughter fought together seamlessly with the familiarity of much practice and sliced and eviscerated the undead with skill and quickness. The howling from indoors proclaimed that part of the attack was going forward and Charles stopped thinking about it and tried to keep his skin whole.
When all the enemies in front of them were down, they proceeded quickly to an assigned exit and mopped up the vampires that attempted to flee that direction. The entire attack lasted less than twenty minutes and word spread that Alain had been taken. Nicolette led them back to the rendez-vous point where a carriage awaited and they returned to the institute. They all had scratches and cuts, but nothing serious and Nicolette patched them up with an expert hand before hugging them both quite fiercely.
"I am getting rather old for that," she admitted. "I will be sore tomorrow."
"You were brilliant mother," came the surprising complement from her daughter. Charles thought Nicolette looked rather pleased at her daughter's praise and she kissed them both on each cheek and then went off in search of a bath.
When she was gone, Elise kissed Charles rather thoroughly and thanked him for coming.
"Well, I certainly learned not to cross mother and daughter," he said. "You are both rather too deadly for my best comfort."
"Not to you, dear," she said and pinched his cheek before following her mother. Charles shook his head at the very fierce women of the Bodine family.
With the vampire situation resolved and a final visit to his grandmother complete, Elise and Charles began preparing to return to England. Charles had left with a rather large bag of coins and a promise to right and sent a picture from the wedding in the post. His grandmother cried and Jarmaine shook his hand vigorously as they parted for a time.
"I think we are set to leave, Mama," said Elise tentatively as they found her in the library.
Nicollete turned. "Ah, bien, that is good, since I am all packed and ready to travel." She smiled sweetly at Elise's stunned expression.
"We are happy that you have decided to come," filled in Charles quickly. "I procured a carriage that will quite comfortably accommodate all of us, on the hope you might decide this."
Now Elise shifted her surprise to Charles.
"What? Your mum likes me, so I figured I would not be caught off guard if she tried to surprise you."
Nicolette took his arm and squeezed it lovingly. "He is very clever, your Charles." As ever, she pronounced the 'ch' in the French way to make his name sound like 'Sharles', but he was quite used to it by then.
"And you promise to behave while you are there?" said Elise. Her face took on a stern expression. "I want no part of your quarrelling with Father."
"Oh, you worry too much, ma petite," said her mother. "We'll do just fine. I think I mean to apologize for certain things I should not have said. Grudge-holding is not very lady-like and I think I am inclined to give up all my old ones." With that, she steered Charles to a wardrobe and opened it to reveal four large suitcases.
"Maybe we don't have enough space," joked Charles.
"You can't possibly think I'll take less with a wedding in the works," said Nicolette.
"Of course not, but I'll just need toss out one of my own trunks," he said.
"Mama, I'm serious," interrupted Elise. "You and Father have not exchanged a civil word in years."
"Arretez-vous deja, I said I was going to apologize," said Nicolette, "and I will. Your father and I will get along just fine, I think." Charles struggled with the trunks until one of the institute servants happened along to lend a hand. After loading the carriage, they proceeded to take their leave of the household much to the pleasure of their hosts; the Fay's would not be sorry to see them leave. Well, at least not the male half of the household.