Published at 9th of October 2024 7:44 am

Book 3 Chapter 7: Aside From the Obvious?

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Dantes arrived back at his club as business was hitting its peak for the evening. He cut past the crowd waiting to enter, and the bouncer gave him a respectful nod as he walked inside. He made his way to the bar, where Zilly was slinging drinks quickly, but she stopped what she was doing to go to him. The other patrons didn’t complain, they knew who was meant to be served first.

She looked at him questioningly.

“Some of that crab soup if there’s any left, and that bottle of wine Decker sent, the white, have that brought up to me.”

She started to move, but Dantes gently tapped her arm before she could move too far.

“Your father was my muscle this morning. He said he wouldn’t want me to just give him money, and that he’d prefer to earn it. Do you have any idea what for?”

Her eyebrows went up, then she quickly brought them back down to hide the expression. “That’s odd. My father has strange standards though.”

Dantes smiled. Vampa fought in deathmatches in underground pits. He certainly had a kind of honor, but Dantes doubted he wouldn’t accept money freely given unless there was a very specific reason.

“You know, but you don’t want to tell me.”

“Oh, is there some kind of problem about secrets now? I don’t really think you have any room on that front.”

Dantes sighed. “I deserve that. I won’t push. Thank you for your work today. Oh, and please send Vera and Jayk to me when you get the chance.”

She nodded, and got back to work, though her expression didn’t soften at all. It would take a bit of time to fix that, but what’s done was done.

Dantes moved to the stairs and made his way up to his small secluded section from which he could watch the bar.

Vera arrived shortly after, wearing a long flowing blue dress that Dantes wondered how she kept from tripping over when she walked around the busy club.

“Hello Auntie, had a chance for dinner yet?” he asked.

“Yes, I had it with Sera. She’s been asking more about how we run this place.”

“Trying to sell our secrets, or genuine interest of her own?”

“The latter.”

“Well, if you think she’s got what it takes I’ll invest in her. Don’t know how girls would react to a Madame so young though.”

Vera shrugged, “We’ll put some points on her ears and pretend she's three hundred.”

Dantes chuckled. “Where’s Alessa? I thought she didn’t leave until the end of the week.”

“The sickness she has has caused her feet to hurt, I told her to just go ahead and leave. I’ll find a temporary replacement as soon as I can, but tonight there’s no music.”

Dantes sighed and took a sip of his wine. “Oh well, thanks Auntie.”

She gave him a peck on the cheek and went back to monitor her girls. Dantes ate his dinner until Jayk appeared. He smelled of weed, so had likely been with Jayson in the hidden gambling room.

He sat across from Dantes.

Dantes had a spoonful of soup and savored it. “The littlest finger has been cut off.”

Jayk nodded. “He pushed things, eh?”

Dantes nodded and had another sip of wine. “We always planned for it, but I would’ve preferred to see what the full extent of his connections to Godfrey were before we made a move. Still, can’t have him fucking with our money.”

Jayk nodded. “What’s the plan?”

“For now? Let them be in disarray. If we move too quickly then the finger will be pointed at us right away.” he chuckled at his word play, but Jayk wasn’t amused. “Just keep everyone ready and make sure that their chaos doesn’t leak into our territory. Once the Fingers call a meeting, we’ll make our move. It makes more sense for all the smuggling to be run by us, don’t you think?”

Jayk smiled and nodded before walking back out of the booth.

After he was done with his food, Dantes found himself feeling restless. He checked in with Jacopo, but he was in the middle of a fight with another rat that had stolen some food from him, and seemed to be having such a good time that Dantes didn’t want to interrupt. So instead he found himself watching his club and lazily drinking as he went through his usual mental checks through the eyes of bats, rats, roaches, and pigeons to make sure that all of his operations were running smoothly.

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up for a moment, and brought his attention back to himself. He looked around the club, following the sensation, until he saw a woman sitting at the bar, staring at him.

Her eyes were lavender, set in an olive toned face with sharp features. Her hair fell in thick dark curls down half of her back. She was wearing a dark green dress that she must’ve been poured into, showing just a bit more leg than was fashionable or appropriate, with only a few tasteful pieces of jewelry on her including a silver necklace with a large green stone set in its center that his pickpocket’s instinct immediately clocked even though he hadn’t been able to pull his eyes from her own. She was smiling coyly, with the upturn of her lip nearly meeting a small mole above the corner of her mouth.

Dantes motioned to the guard he kept outside of his booth.

“The woman down there, in the green dress, bring her to me.”

He nodded, and left. Dantes poured a second glass of wine, and leaned back in his seat holding his own glass.

His guard reappeared with the woman in tow, and Dantes gave him a nod, and indicated for him to guard him from just a bit further away.

The woman sized him up a bit, her eyes traveling luxuriously up and down him as she walked toward the table. She took the wine he had placed opposite of himself, and took a sip as she slid onto the seat next to him instead, sliding close enough to him that he could feel the warmth coming off of her.

Dantes smiled. “You're bold. I like that.”

She shrugged a bit, her lavender eyes smiling. “I just know what I want. What’s the point in dancing around it?”

“And what is this bold woman full of self knowledge’s name?”

“Sevryn,” she said as she took a second, deeper sip of her wine. “Oh, that’s excellent.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dantes.”

“I know who you are. I’d be a fool not to know you.”

Dantes shrugged, “True, but I’ve never had a problem with beautiful fools.”

“Maybe not for a night, but I have a feeling you get tired of them shortly after that.”

“And you want to keep my attention longer than that?”

She smiled, saying nothing, but looking into his eyes as she had another sip of her wine.

Dantes had gotten used to this since he’d started his club and taken things over. Women who were attracted to power, who wanted something, even a few ladies from Uptown would make their way to his booth. He refused a number of them, they tended to be young and he preferred women his own age, but he hadn’t been averse to it aside from that one rule. Sevryn seemed a bit different though. She wasn’t nervous, or afraid of him, nor did she seem unaware of what he was. This was definitely the most directly he’d been approached though, so he sensed that she wanted something aside from a night with him. What he didn’t sense was anything amiss with the woman, no flickers that indicated she was a changeling, no tingling fingers from magic, even that part of his brain that had become more like Jacopo as he’d grown in power sensed no menace from her, only attraction.

“So, since you’re so certain, why don’t you tell me what it is that you want?”

“Aside from the obvious?”

“Aside from that, yes.”

“I want to sing.”

Dantes kept his expression neutral, which at this moment meant maintaining a half lidded stare and wolflike grin. He’d only found out about Alessa being out only an hour ago.

“How do you know we need a singer?”

She laughed, gesturing to the empty stage. “It doesn’t take a Mage to figure that out. Even if she had waited to leave until the end of the week though, a woman has her ways. Especially a woman who wants to perform.”

“How well do you sing?”

She leaned closer, whispering in his ear. “You’d be amazed at what sounds I can make.”

Dantes felt an electric jolt work its way up his spine as he felt her breath in his ear, but he didn’t show it outwardly. He was a professional, he didn’t let a seductive woman just waltz up to him and hold him like putty in her hands. He’d been raised in a whorehouse, he knew women better than his peers, knew they could be just as manipulative and menacing as any man. That’s part of what he loved about them.

“Let’s go over the details in the morning, shall we?”

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