Chapter 28

Twenty-Eight

Q uinn froze as Francois's fury danced on his face. Behind him stood his second with a pistol at the ready.

Quinn's fingernails bit into her palms as a spike of fear raged through her body.

Francois's gaze flicked over her for a moment, but it settled on Giselle, devouring her whole, his eyes lingering far too long on her chest. Instead of cowering under his scrutiny, Giselle slightly tilted her head and raised one taunting brow.

"Are you here to make me scream?" He winked, his glasses highlighting his angular face.

Quinn was pretty sure it was a carnal reference, but she wasn't entirely certain. She needed Giselle to interpret these types of things, but it didn't seem like the time to ask.

"I did say we could schedule another time for it." Giselle's voice lilted and fell into a purr.

Quinn swallowed, embarrassed, and Hadleigh cleared her throat.

"Right, you are, Haddie." Francois shifted his gaze to Quinn. "I told you to stay out of Fant?mes business, and here you are, breaking into my vault."

"We aren't very good listeners," Giselle answered.

"Clearly." His lips rose slightly in amusement. "How did you get inside unseen, and where did you get the key?"

An enchantment filled his voice, and a siren song interrupted Quinn's thoughts, humming in the air, and pulsating through her bones. Her mouth moved without her permission and formed the words, "Prince Emrys used his illusions to get us inside unseen, and Jane gave me the key."

The rhythm of Quinn's heart sped up into a stampede of terror. The man had compulsion magic like a vampire, but she was fairly certain he wasn't one.

This was very bad.

There was no way to fight against this type of magic. The girls were sitting ducks. That's why vampires were so dangerous in the first place.

Quinn glanced at the mirror, begging Emrys to return. She didn't know if his compulsion would be stronger than Francois's, but she hoped it would be.

Either way, Emrys was a vampire and would be able to help. Quinn needed to stall just long enough so the girls would have a fighting chance.

"Where is Emrys now?" Francois asked again with his siren tones.

Quinn opened her mouth to respond, but Giselle cut in. "Why, do you like princelings?"

Francois's lips flattened into a straight line. "I don't remember asking your opinion. You will not speak another word until I request it." An enchantment twirled off his tongue and captured hold of the beautiful brunette.

Giselle opened her mouth and formed words, but nothing came out. She leveled a poisonous glare at the man. Quinn knew Giselle too well, so well, she knew the fire in her eyes was a promise. When she wasn't trapped by his magic, she would devour him for that.

"Where is Emrys?" he asked again.

The spell claimed Quinn's voice. "In the mirror. "

He chuckled softly and shared a silent exchange with Hadleigh. "Oh, I bet he's hating that."

"Terror has never been fond of him." Hadleigh leaned against the wall, a ray of light dancing on her pale cheeks. On her exposed forearm was a large tattoo of a black cat. Quinn's eyes lingered on it because it was unusual to have a non-mirror tattoo. They were considered bad luck, and often, people mistook them for mirror tattoos. Some people were mistakenly killed because of them.

"He could have asked us instead of breaking in," Francois said to his second.

Hadleigh folded her arms. "It would seem the prince does not fully trust us."

A jolt of energy shot through Quinn. They were talking as if they were chummy with Emrys, as if they had a deeper relationship and connection to him. Almost as if they were friends .

"It's in his best interest not to fully trust us." Francois smiled. "Where is the key, Quinnevere?"

"Giselle has it." Quinn's chest rose in a tension-filled breath.

Francois turned to the beautiful brunette. "You may speak," he said, releasing her from his spell. "Where is the key?"

"It's . . ." Her eyes trailed to her breasts.

"Oh, bleeding mirrors," he cursed. "Retrieve it, please."

Under the siren compulsion, she complied. She slowly, tauntingly, pulled the key from her corset, almost as if she were seducing him—her small way of fighting his power. His eyes followed her every movement.

She held out the key to him as he said, "Don't speak."

Anger flashed in her brown eyes.

As Francois slipped the key into his pocket, Giselle bounded forward and punched him square in the jaw. She landed two more blows, and he fell to his knees.

Giselle mouthed something at him, mostly like a string of silent curses. She was unable to speak due to his spell. She moved to kick him in the balls as two things happened simultaneously.

A shadow cat emerged from the tattoo on Hadleigh's arm, moving to attack Giselle, and Francois moaned, "Stop." He held up his hands in surrender. It was unclear if it was a siren spell, but Giselle complied. "You may speak."

Just as the cat was about to pounce, Hadleigh called it back.

"You are a bastard, lowly piece of shit, and I'll kill you if you spell me like that ever again," Giselle spat before sharing even more colorful and creative curse words with him. She slapped him across the cheek, this time with an open palm.

"As you wish, my vixen queen." A large smile painted his brown cheeks. Francois held up another staying hand to Hadleigh. "You really must tell me how you managed to unbind yourself."

"I have many talents," Giselle said, stroking the back of her knuckles.

He remained on his knees as if begging his queen. Blood trickled down his lips and tangled in his teeth, and yet he smiled brightly. "Where did you learn to land a punch like that?"

"I practiced on a boy in my youth."

Quinn narrowed her eyes at Giselle, who only glared down at Francois—venom coating her body. Typically, because they were so close, Quinn could predict exactly what her best friend meant, how she felt, and what she would do or say next, but this one caught Quinn slightly off-kilter. Was the boy from Giselle's youth Francois?

Because he was the fox?

It must have been.

The Fox was a friend from Giselle's past—a past filled with violence and gangs. It was clear that he didn't recognize her, but it was also utterly unclear why Giselle refused to acknowledge her acquaintance.

Francois brushed off his pants but didn't bother to remove the blood lacing his face. Instead, he climbed to his feet and towered over Giselle, stepping up close. The energy between them surged. "I think I would like to meet this man. "

"I wouldn't bother." Her eyes stroked over him before she said, "He is a great disappointment."

Quinn tried to stifle a laugh but was unsuccessful. All eyes flashed to her. "I'm sorry, please don't mind me."

With a step back, as if Giselle just noticed how close they stood, she said, "Let us go, and I'll help you with the plans from the mirror."

"I don't have any idea what you mean by that."

"Yes, you do." She crossed her arms and licked her lips. His eyes tracked her progress. "You plan to break into the Pelican and rescue the Bullet, and now that Jane is dead, you're missing a key member of your team."

He raised an eyebrow, the blood from his split lip still streaking down his chin. "Are we?"

"I saw your plans, Fox ." The nickname was spoken like liquid electricity. "I know you're planning a jailbreak, and based on your plans, you're going to fail."

Francois scoffed. "I highly doubt it."

"The Rock is inescapable. It is surrounded by wicked currents, sharks, and mirror protections. You cannot prance in the way your plans suggest." Giselle licked her lips again. "If you'd like to actually get the Bullet out, you'll need my help. Not only am I a trained acrobat, but I'm also an inventor; I can break into the system."

Francois cocked his head and examined her. "Why would you want to help?"

"You mean besides as a way to get you to let us go?"

"I don't trust you. Why would I want to work with someone I don't trust?"

Before Giselle could respond, Emrys fell out of the mirror with tangled limbs and a murderous look on his face.

In a flash, he was up and brushing off his suit. Emrys straightened his cravat before saying, "The second Blood Mirror is at the Royalle Ballet."