“The Regulators’ presence in the club got out, and it spooked a few of the girls. They disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” I parroted. “Suspiciously?”
“Aren’t all disappearances suspicious?” Wyatt asked.
“No. If you pack all your stuff and leave town, that’s not as suspicious as vanishing in the night and leaving your cat behind.”
“Guess how long cats can live without food?”
“Longer than you.”
Viktor cleared his throat. “We think they were involved.”
Blue shook her head. “Why run? They could have cooperated and helped take down the ring. People only give a shit about themselves.”
Viktor nodded. “Tak-tochno.”
Gem smiled. “In English.”
“Never mind,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Admitting the truth would implicate themselves. The higher authority does not show leniency, especially if they were paid and participated of their own free will. A crime is a crime.”
“They were fighting each other?” Christian dipped his chin.
“I do not know. This would be the first I’ve heard of Mage fights. All the women appeared strong and capable, so the person hiring them is looking for fighters who can hold the attention of a crowd. You cannot just scoop people off the streets and expect that to be good enough for wealthy customers. They want something special. Where do you think one finds such a woman?”
Wyatt bit his fingernail. “Not the library.”
“A bondage club,” Viktor replied.
Was he for real? “What would a dominatrix know about fighting?”
Christian chuckled darkly. “Sweetheart, this isn’t the same world as the one you grew up in. I think Viktor is referring to an adult entertainment club. It’s not just BDSM. The women there have to deal with some real wankers who don’t know how to control themselves. They’re tough women, to be sure.”
I tilted my head up at him. “And you know thishow?”
His gaze drifted off. “A friend of a friend.”
“You don’t have any friends.”
Now I was curious what in the world had attracted Christian to a club like that. Did he participate? Did he watch? Did he take his dates there? Maybe he paid one of the workers to flog him with her leather panties. Suddenly I was feeling like a woefully inadequate lover. He had a century’s worth of practice on me.
“Christian is right,” Viktor said, snapping me out of my fantasies. “Women who work in these clubs are required to know how to protect themselves. Owners prefer hiring Mage for that reason.”
“Why not hire Vampires?”
Christian strode toward the wall next to Niko and leaned against it. “A female Vampire in a fantasy club? That’ll be the day.”
Blue stood up and brushed off the seat of her pants. “I bet Mage women like the empowerment of being in charge. A lot of the older ones came into immortality as sex slaves or worse.”
Claude frowned. “What’s worse?”
Without hesitation, I answered. “Having your Creator juice all your light or bind with you against your will.”
That put a stake in the discussion.
I swung my attention back to Viktor. “What’s our job exactly?”
Viktor sat up straight and planted his palms on the bench. “The owner is cooperating and dealing strictly with my contact. He does not want his club shut down; it would set a precedent for similar clubs, and he feels they are a fundamental right. Those were his words, not mine, but I have to agree. Immortals get bored easily and need an outlay.”
