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Through the Halls of Roses and Darkness (Vinaein x Story)

Juniper was not making it easy for them to pass off as being willing and excited participants in the debauchery of the club. Her work rarely ever gave her cause to play pretend at being something other than she wasn’t, so the whole ordeal was making her twitchy. Though that could have also been the fact that she was letting her imagination go buck wild as to what exactly she was sitting on and what all had been on it, especially with the way her little black number was riding up her thighs so that the backs of her legs touched the front of her seat.

It made her shiver. Maybe the casual wandering eye would think it was a pleasurable shiver and not the kind that crept down her spine.

Now that they were sitting, however, Juniper seemed to snap out of the culture shock daze that she had been knocked into when he had walked and she had stumbled into the club and shifted around just enough so that she could jerk her chin up in his direction, her eyes more like sharpened daggers than dumb-dumb Barbie.

“You are not in charge of this investigation,” she retorted at him. Only his attention had already moved away from her and to the pair that had slunk into the room that seemed to pulse all around her.

Her eyes followed where Leon’s roamed, halting on the pair of women. Or, more importantly, on the wings that sprouted from the blonde’s shoulders. From there, her attention darted around to the bodies pressed together in the room, though the people - humans and other alike - seemed too … engrossed in one another to pay the spectacle any mind.

Her attention snapped back to the two women, catching their conversation even though it hadn’t appeared like she was listening.

“How long ago was Nora seen here? Can you tell us what the man looked like?” Then she glanced guiltily up at Leon before twisting her lips into the fakest smile that had ever graced a face as she turned her head again to face the two women. The titter she provided after sounded more like a cancerous cough than anything cute. “Nora and I liked to share things, we’re besties, she got me into things like this, so I was curious…”

There you have it, folks. Her best impression of dumb blonde -- and it didn’t sound too contrived. Not to mention the grin on her face was turning scary, in a demented way, as she struggled with bimbo. She even resisted scowling as the woman ...touched her.

“What’s in room six?” She asked in her best high pitched voice, as if she were honestly excited to be there.

Which she was not.
 
Debauchery was the thing that came to mind when Leon sat in his seat. Debauchery, revelry, licentiousness...there was a reason he wasn't very big on regular attendance at Pandora's little slice of Lust. Leon liked a good time as much as anyone, but he had standards on the subject. He didn't much like just throwing himself into one huge puppy pile and abandoning all sense of reason...Leon liked things intimate. Up close. One on one...but he could see Juniper was uncomfortable here, to say the very, very least. He was regretting that much. Enormously, the poor woman here.

And now a succubus was right in front of them. He kept his own eyes ahead, trusting Juniper's acting and her professionalism. But there was something in her eyes that he could tell would be something of a problem....he had to seize the narrative now. "She's just a little new at this!" He laughed at Pandora. He knew Juniper was in charge of the investigation, but she didn't have the necessary street smarts. That much was immediately obvious in this whole sordid affair.

Leon ignored the writhing tangle of bodies, the heated moans. The heat from the couplings was a living thing all about him, he thought. There was a potent energy in the passion that emanated up and rose to surround them. Leon simply kept his bright grin...until Juniper slipped and asked her questions. Well, investigators...

He laughed at Pandora. "She's REALLY into the scene, Dora!" He leaned up and purred into her cheek. "You know I love to see you, though...come on, one blood doll- "

"One who hasn't even been bled?" Pandora asked with a touch of amusement. "Girl...what got you into- "

"Awww, Dora, you know me! New girl every week!"

"Usually with more marks," Pandora purred. "you know I don't like unnecessary scrutiny, Leon, darling. Evne if you ARE a LaCroix....as for Room Six.." She purred. "It's a place where....deals can take place. Why would one of Leo's empty little snacks have it into her head for that...?" She lifted her eyebrow again, Leon knowing Juniper was struggling with the act.

"She's just excited, honest!"

"Ooh....I'll show you the room, and what Nora was up to, on one condition..." Pandora smirked and looked between them. "I want to verify this story. If she's not been bled, I want to see that happen."

Leon felt ill to his stomach, looking at Pandora briefly, with a scowl...before he grinned. "Well. I'm sure she'd love to." He said airily, imploring Juniper with his eyes...
 
Juniper was not having a good time. Her eyes were strained with stress as her attention danced from one woman to the other, though by now she was mentally challenging herself to restrain her facial expression. Smiling wasn’t seeming to help matters, either, so she stopped doing her smile-grimace and settled on popping her lips like the clueless bimbo she was supposed to be.

She even tried leaning into the vampire, her pale arms a contrast against the black slip of a dress she was wearing as she twined her arms through one of his and nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, grinning shyly.

She hoped it came out like a grin. She tried hiding her face mostly against his shoulder as she peeked up at the two succubi that scrutinized them, her cheeks staining red.

“It’s not his fault,” she finally managed out, pushing her face even further against his shoulder as she sucked in a nervous breath and popped her face back out from his shoulder, dragging her lower lip between her teeth as she did so. “I wanted to come here. Leon wanted to keep me to himself…” she trailed off, flashing a hint of mischief among the shyness. “And I heal very fast, but I... this is very overwhelming…” she offered again, and this time it wasn’t even close to a lie. “He told me it would be, said we could just continue having our fun, you know, privately..”

She tucked her legs up onto the booth, pushing back the thought of bodily fluids underneath her as she curled like a kitten into his side and tightened her grip on his arm. This time when her eyes locked on his as she tilted her chin up, they were beseeching him.

Then she tilted her head to the side, letting the wispy white fall to the side as her throat was bared. It also wasn’t a lie when she averted her gaze and tensed, her face even more fused with blood as her pulse sped with nerves, “I’m not used to people watching,” she whispered fervently, eyes rolling back up to stare at the succubus, a naughty sort of smile actually playing on her lips now. “And he usually likes to bite me… elsewhere. But maybe not here. Maybe just in the special room. He can taste now, though.”

Again, her eyes rolled back up to Leon, expectant as she offered her throat up to him in offering. There was also a warning there, unspoken, for him to not go overboard.
 
In another time, Leon would have been having a wonderful time. What wasn't to love? People writhing about in ecstasy, a succubus friend of his being her seductive and playful self before them. Oh, how people were writhing indeed. He could hear low gasps, groans of passion, hear the sliding strike of body to body while Juniper adopted a rather firmly vacuous persona complete with the empty smile. Granted, Leon had not known the investigator any more than a short time, but he knew her well enough that her discontent came off her in waves.

Still, his interest was in finding out what had happened to Nora. As he adopted the persona of a playboy with too much ease, the vampire uncrossed a leg. He wanted to be in Room 6. He wanted to learn what had happened and deliver justice. He thought of his father, with his clever, patrician glare and the Lord LaCroix's promise: to always deliver retribution when warranted. Right now it was warranted.

So one succubus was making that a bit more difficult. Pandora was cagey, not one to let opportunities slip by her. She was never a person to ignore what was in front of her and she evidently centered in well on poor Juniper. A repressed inspector was like a siren song for the succubus' instinctual drive.

He tried to think of something to say when Juniper leaned into him, smiling in such a manner that he would not have taken her for. Then she did the talking. And the answering while blushing. God, she must have hated this, like he hadn't been the source of enough problems for her. He felt...guilt, at the humiliations, the removal from her comfort zone, the fact he was Leon LaCroix forcing himself into her investigation.

But if he hadn't, she would've been in well over her head. He knew her well enough to say that, didn't he? God, imagine her trying this on her own without him. "Yeah!" He said with an unconvincing smile. "What the...lady said- " he paused as her chin raised, her head telted. Pandora licked her lips with a trace of hunger while Leon leaned in.

"Mmm, anything for you," Leon said before he whispered a quick and silent apology. His fangs slipped through the soft flesh of her neck., like needles through paper, no pain for Juniper involved as he focused on it. In an instant Juniper would realize why so many were addicted to a vampire's bite. As he took several sips, there would be little but ecstasy flowing through her. He put his arm about her, holding her gently as he took in slight mouthfuls, putting on a show to act like he was drinking deeply of her. He released her after a moment, withdrawing his fangs and-

Goddamn. how good could she taste? How delicious was her blood? More potent than any human woman he'd ever sampled, more than a succubus, or another vampire. He grinned, acting like this was a commonplace occurrence as Pandora purred. "My, my, my, what a show!" She clapped her hands.

"A deal's a deal, Dora..." Leon reminded her, making sure Juniper was alright. "Room 6?"

"Yes, darling, right this way," Pandora rose up. "Nora was over a few times...she had some things to say about the focal points of energy with that book of hers, no head for fun at all." Her wings folded as she led them down into the VIP area, down a long corridor of neon lights. "Room 6, of course...."

Inside was a simple room with a bed donned in crimson sheets, exactly as Leon remembered it. His mouth curved downward...the scent of blood was light there, but unmistakable. "Dora, can we have some time...?"

"All you want, dears!" The succubus chirped, before leaving them alone, making Leon sigh in relief.

"...First off. Sorry about that..." he grinned guiltily. "...but...okay, I'm pretty sure we can search this place now..."
 
She expected it to hurt. And it did, she knew. She felt the slip of his fangs as they pierced flesh, making her flinch in the corners of her eyes as she held herself still enough as she felt them elongate, slide in deep. And it was an effort not to pull herself back from it. It was even more of an effort not to drag herself away when the real sensation she knew was coming slid through her pulse. It took no time for that to kick in, even though her imagination likely dragged it out. What it should have felt like.

She didn’t have to fake the sharp gasp of shock, of pleasure, that escaped her lips. The plush tiers remained parted, her breath inhaling sharply again as sensation radiated from the spot where his fangs met skin, where his lips rested against the darting pulse of her neck.

Juniper remained as still as she could through it, fighting the urge to writhe closer, to press herself into his side. Especially since his own body language suggested that he was anything but enjoying the moment that was forced on them.

It was why she felt relief when he withdrew, her shoulders slumping as she fought to cool the heat that bloomed across her skin, turning it more rosy than its usual paleness. Focused her attention on her lap than the bemused stares from the succubi in the room, blocked out the other noises that surrounded them. And, of course, avoided even looking at the vampire as she wobbled to her feet in those damn heels and mumbled something incoherent under her breath.

“Let us go then,” she managed to bite out, voice crisp, though something frustrated flashed in her blue eyes as she moved, stiff from being unaccustomed to walking in her attire for the evening, past Leon to follow the succubus first until they were both shuttered into the room.

“This looks like a place someone would go to fuck, not use a powerful book,” she snapped, peering around the room, and choosing to ignore his apology as she instead turned her attention to the bed, lip curling into a sneer. Immediately, she wandered over to the wall, her fingers rising to start running across it as if she were trying to feel for one of those hidden panels.

Or at least the signature remnant of something magical. Just like the puncture wounds in the side of her neck.

...That were already fading from view.
 
The taste of Juniper's blood had hit him harder than he expected. Leon had held her, close to him in case she tried to pull away. His fangs had sunk deep within that lovely, pale neck of hers. His lips around the wounds as he had drunk of the sweet, beautiful richness of carmine red in her. The way she gasped, the gentle exhalation made him even more intense in the feeding and for a moment he had longed to remain fastened to her neck...

But it was with equal parts reluctance and relief he separated from her, his eyes bearing the faintest glimmer of concern. A first feeding could be intense, even addicting. He had to make certain she was alright, he decided as Juniper shivered. On her neck were a pair of lovely little marks, his tongue involuntarily snaking to catch little red droplets, the lingering sweetness remaining there as he breathed in and out. His devil-may-care grin remained fixed upon his face as he gazed up. Succubi had looked at them closely, mixtures of amusement and envy...and Juniper's hard voice gave no illusion about her feelings on the subject before they arrived.

"Inspector Claire, that is the first time I think I've heard you use such language," he observed wryly, not intending for any sarcasm. It just happened, coming natural to him while he examined the room. "But you're right....Nora wasn't the type for that, though. If she was in this room, there might be a reason." He pulled the book out. "...You think it might have anything to do with geometry?" He asked after a moment. "Less what was in the room and more...where it was?" He finished as he frowned, gazing on about the room. "There's not much here, that's for sure..." He barely noticed the shift on the wounds at her pale neck, flipping through the book.

"Wait," he looked up as Juniper's finger touched something...there was a book shelf on the side of the room, Leon's eyes catching a tome that had been placed there...a book had been left slightly crooked there and he marched over to remove it. Inside was a scrap of paper, with several numbers written upon it.

"It might be a cipher...?" He showed it to Juniper, before noting. "Wait, your neck...there aren't any marks? Not that..." He trailed off. "Forget that, it- "

....the lights snapped shut suddenly, leaving them in darkness. Another light snapped up immediately, by the bookshelf, the wall sliding open to reveal doorway, little by little. Leon darted to the door and turned the handle. It clicked...and he yanked his hand back with a hiss, a burn on the palm. ...Magic. Perfect, he thought...there was a presence here. Something oppressive.

Something he did not like at all.
 
Juniper ignored the thrum in her blood and the erratic display her heart was trying to put on inside her chest. Pointedly. The truth was that she had never been … bitten before, hadn’t known what to expect even though she did, technically, know exactly what to expect from it. Even when they sequestered themselves in the room, her thoughts kept drawing back to how hard it had been to keep her lips locked and stoppered from full on moaning when he had sunk his teeth into the side of her neck.

Especially as his reaction to it seemed lukewarm, at best. Juniper hated to make a fool out of herself, after all, and squirming up on the vampire had seemed like a poor decision to make. So she had stopped herself from doing so even while heat flooded through the rest of her. Being so pale, the blush stood out on her face -- something she hid by turning her attention to the walls of the shitty little room they were led to.

Ignoring him completely just as she ignored … other things, she turned her attention to the wall. Specifically the bookshelf that she traced with her fingertips to, easing her own inane gifts of deciphering to pluck at any spellcraft that might be woven into the room. She was on the cusp of something, her brows furrowed thoughtfully, when he made his announcement.

“Don’t--” But she was cut off by the darkness that encased them, followed by a flare of her own gifts. Growling something under her breath, she whirled in the dark, spooling light into the palm of her hand so that it sat there as a neat little globe that cast shadows on her face.

..Right as the light behind the bookshelf snapped on. She looked like she wanted to say something, badly, but seemed to think better of it and instead took herself and her little ball of light and shouldered into him, her petite frame moving to push him to the side as the crack opened up like something straight out of Scooby Doo.

“Don’t touch anything,” she finally was able to finish her thought, the words coming out in a warning snarl. Pushing her hand out, her light inching closer to the door that revealed itself. The globe seemed to shrink away from it, as if frightened. Scowling at it, she pushed it closer, sensing to make of whatever cryptic bullshit had been cobbled together.

“It’s locked, but not in the way that you can just open a door and waltz into Dexter’s Lab. This is warded and not by something good,” she sat, haltingly, thrusting her chin up at him, her lips pushed into a line. “Your friends here at the club are going to have a lot of explaining to do. I don’t think this meets any kind of legal protocol to have some sort of illegal room that reeks of bad magic.”

She turned away from the door, stepping away with a shiver, and gestured at him. “We’re done here. We’re not trying to go in there without appropriate knowledge of what could be behind that door.”
 
Leon was trying not to show it, he really was. There was a healthy flush to his skin from the feeding from when his fangs had sunk into Juniper's neck. But more to the point, Juniper Clare possessed probably the most delicious blood he had ever tasted. Stopping had not come easily to the vampire nobleman. He wasn't about to tell Juniper how good she tasted though; she was likely to take offense to that and he'd already provided enough trouble to her this night. Granted, he was wondering if she might let him have another sip or two later...

He practically gave himself a backhand. Focus, Leon, he told himself with a scolding sense of irritation. They were here to investigate and get to the bottom of a murder, not for him to ponder over his repressed ally of convenience's delicious taste. But the way her heart ha beat, pumping all that delicious blood to his mouth. The way she had squirmed, writhed against him, the flush in her cheeks, the way her body had reacted...his tongue flicked against a fang quickly, as if trying to recreate the taste at where her blood had so recently resided.

He actually almost flushed, turning his head about across to the room as the room darkened. Now, Leon could see in the darkness just fine (gifts of vampiric heritage), but Juniper illuminated the place with a flash of fire. Leon grinned nervously as Juniper did her best werewolf impression. "Not a bad spell, Inspector," he said, seeing the dancing shadows upon her milky skin, including at the slight marks at her neck. His eyes were drawn more to the passageway in the wall. "...I'm not touching anything," he protested with a nervous little grin as she shoved him to the side.

"First of all...you growl like a Redcap. Second of all, what's 'Dexter's lab?' He lifted an eyebrow. "Is that something you investigated before, some follower in Doctor Fronkensteen or whatever's footsteps?" He peered into the passageway, clicking his tongue. "...This doesn't seem like Dora at all...let alone..." he stopped, afraid to say the name of his deceased friend. "How illegal we talking from what you can sense, Inspector Clare?" He felt his fangs positively tingle now, his eyes narrowing.

"Something is definitely off...but we can't be 'done here,' Inspector Clare. For one thing, even if we get the door open, there's a safe bet whatever else is behind those doors, like my so-called 'friends' are going to intercept us first before we get out and to my car. Secondly, we don't have answers, just illegal magic isn't going to cut it. Much as I dislike it...we've got to go down to get back. As for what's beyond there, you're the one versed in magic- what do you sense?" He peered over, his eyes piercing the gloom.

"There's...something," he could at least sense on his end. "I can't tell if there's anything alive, but..." he pointed there. "Someone I knew died for this, Juniper. I'm not going without figuring it out..." And with that, he was with some reticence, stepping through the doorway, feeling a steep staircase that went down, lower than any floor within the building.

At the bottom of the staircase, the floors were lined with soft velvet and a door beckoned ahead. Carved in above were the dual symbols of the Fae courts, Summer and Winter, in their eternal opposition.

And above and below them were symbols the vampire pointedly did not recognize....with no living being in sight, nor sense.
 
Juniper reached out and grabbed the idiotic vampire by the back of the shirt when he stepped through the doorway and onto the first step. Even if he was only trying to get a good look below, her hissed breath was a sure sign of her irritation. Shaking him with all the strength that her arm could dole out - which turned out not to be much - she instead took out her frustrations by thumping him soundly on the shoulder.

“Are you an idiot?” She hissed at him, blue eyes wide as they turned up to his face, then back down the staircase. Curiosity got the best of her despite her adamant stance on not going down. Reason might have kept her feet glued to the precipice, but her eyes wandered as much as they could down and down.

“For all you know, this staircase could be warded against those not allowed down there. Do you want to end up barbequed? Or staked? Or disintegrated by some other dark spell? No -- you don’t. So don’t be a dolt. We need to find your friends--” Something about the way she said friends was not nice at all. “--and get an explanation as to why such black magic is pointing down these stairs. This reeks of some sort of summoning, and not some sort of Casper the friendly ghost bullshit. Whoever decided to make their secret room of doom is just as idiotic as you,” she snarked.

Then she was whirling away, looking for all the world like she was going to shed the skin that had been barely clinging in the first place and taking this matter into her own hands. Only the heels on her feet sent her stumbling first.

She lost her little globe of light as she flailed, her sharp shriek bouncing across the walls around them as she searched for anything to keep her upright before she went spiraling face first to the floor.
 
Leon liked to pretend he had everything well in hand, that little bothered or phased him. Consequently, it often led to him thinking he was right (even if he was usually right in the end). He'd been in control of this from the start, had he not? He'd planned and executed their infiltration...even if it was not going as planned. The vampire was striding forth with purpose before he felt...

It was not Juniper's natural strength, but his own dead shock that pulled him backwards, her arms tugging to nearly topple him over. He caught his balance and kept from landing in an undignified heap at her feet while Juniper shook him, or at least made the attempt to. There was a profound irritation that verged on fury in her eyes that found an outlet when her hand came down on his shoulder.

Nobody laid hands on him. Nobody insulted him like that. Nobody, in all his life...until this inspector. As she rasped the words out, her blue eyes flaring, Leon could only stare in numb silence and absolute shock at the outburst from Juniper. Shock that kept him rooted to the spot while Juniper maneuvered to take a look, before she continued abrading him.

....No, what truly galled him is that she was right. He was being an overly arrogant fool. Somehow, what she said penetrated the inflation of his skull, Lucian making no effort to defend himself from her rather intelligible accusations. Okay, maybe it turned a little harsh by the end, but-

"Did you just say...'bullshit?'" He blinked at her actually using a swear, the words so tinny that she likely barely even heard them...but she was abundantly correct. He could have gotten them both killed. But even with that in his mind, he was still hung up on one fact: nobody spoke to him like that ever before, nobody. He was in a sudden turmoil, barely able to even register how to respond to it. It was both shocking and strangely compelling all at once.

When Juniper was turning, he was prepared for her triumphant declaration of what came next. But she was evidently unused to the heels. The resulting shriek pierced his ears and she was plummeting downward. His body seemed to move entirely on instinct and he lunged forward with preternatural speed to catch her first. "Inspector Juniper!"

He had moved entirely on his own; he wasn't sure why. He wasn't even sure if he liked her, with her haughty demeanor and harsh tongue. But the honesty, the complete lack of care for what others might think, were compelling in their way.

By the light of the symbols on the wall, he looked to her with an expression of genuine concern. "...Are you alright?"
 
He saved her from her plight in a jarring way. Her arms shot forward, flailing at nothing but air for a moment, then her fingers locked like five fingered vices around his biceps, cinching into the fabric of his search as her legs twisted akimbo to keep her from sliding the rest of the way down to the floor. The result pushed her up against his chest, her heart fluttering up somewhere in her throat, and her eyes flashed up to his face in a mix of alarm, embarrassment, then finally resentment. Her upper lip curled and with a wince, she straightened herself up and on wobbly legs, stepped backwards. When her hands released him, she threw them up, tossing the wisps of hair from her face. Only to have them float back over her drawn together brows.

“These fucking heels!” She hissed. Or barked? The sound in her throat was frustrated and shrill. Wobbling over to the edge of the bed in the room, she propped her bottom on the mattress, then leaned down to yank the strappy things from her feet. With an equal amount of temperament, she scooped them up in one hand and stood again.

Flat on her bare feet, she narrowed crisp blue eyes on the vampire, then jerked the point of her chin to the secret doorway. “This is black magic, so your friends that own this cesspool will need to be reported. This is highly illegal. And you, Mr. LaCroix, should not be associated with it at all. That includes going down those stairs. I know that you care for this deceased woman, but I would strongly advise going against your obnoxiously curious nature.”

She paused, looking both pissy and self-righteous with her flushed cheeks that stood out against pale skin and her eyes blazing with something inhuman. While she might want him to take her seriously, she looked more like a mess in the little black dress that didn’t quite fit her right and her bare feet squared on the floor. Then she tried to blow her hair from her face again.

“I need a drink,” she declared, eyeing him, then with the heels dangling from her fingers, she turned and headed for the door to leave the place that crawled with the workings of something foul, eager to leave its presence. “Buy me one,” she tossed back, stubbornly. But really - it was so he would follow her out.
 
One thing that Leon LaCroix could say about Juniper...she did not fall with any measure of grace or charm. Instead, she was like a flailing, well-dressed scarecrow, waving her arms about indignantly, almost yowling like a cat when he caught her. He ensured she did not have an unfortunate collision with the floor, holding her protectively against his body while he gazed down at her, an expression of concern all over his face as he thought of something to say.

It was not often he found himself at a loss of words. Between Juniper's rough dressing down of him and now this, however, Leon was stunned into absolute silence, looking at her with the hair clinging to her face. His gaze was briefly drawn to the marks on her necks the memory of her taste springing unbidden back to him as his grin turned playful, even guilty. The common defense mechanism of one who tried to pretend to be a scoundrel...

She was almost an annoyed angel, elegant and refined even so, yet getting more and more steamed. She opened her mouth to say something, doubtlessly elegant-

"These fucking heels!" She didn't hiss it, it was more a snap. The verbal equivalent to the harsh closure of an angry trap. He let her free herself, then discard the heels, watching in a quiet fascination as she got herself more oriented and made it absolutely clear that this was a result of illegal black magic. Then announced she needed a drink.

"First off," he began quietly, lifting a hand, "they're more acquintances than friends, and..." Okay, she was right about all this and investigating was probably a remarkably poor idea. Leon held his 'curious nature' as she put in in check, though he could not help but study the symbol, recognizing it...he tried to think where he had seen it before, in all his studies and readings before he looked to Juniper. "Secondly, my only concern is getting out of her now...just that we need to act like we've never seen anything...unless I miss my guess, that's a sign of the Unseelie Court," he brought up. "Just with...alterations."

Quite a few alterations indeed, Leon thought. In fact, it was almost like...the symbol had been perverted, twisted...something had happened here. But Juniper was right and they were stronger together at the moment.

"Thirdly...What do you like to drink?" He gestured back out, trying to slip back into his usual poise. And probably failing miserably.
 
The marks on her neck were faded and pink now, only a whisper of what they had been coerced to do in the confines of this place. Given another hour or two, they would be gone completely - good riddance.

And soon, Juniper would be gone from here now that the Inspector had enough information to bring to the table. Though there was still that tickle in the back of her mind that told her that telling the … right people about this room, those symbols, would not bring the attention that she wanted to the workings. She felt that those responsible for keeping order were closely tied to the secrets that were weaving themselves around this case.

Not her problem.

She was tainted blood, after all; despised or ignored. She preferred it that way. Not that the vampire playboy needed to know anything other than that he had no business digging into the affairs of this kind of witchcraft, let alone the fair folk.

Juniper snorted out a laugh before she could control herself, then bit down on a full lower lip, looking surprised at herself for the noise. The look of girlish surprise that took over her expression was just as swiftly suppressed back into her peevish scowl as she opened the door and gestured.

“I don’t care. Something that you wouldn’t get,” she commanded, shooing him with a narrowed eye look at him. “I’ll meet you at the bar.”

Then, shifting on her bare feet on what was no doubt a dingy carpet, she stared at him, waiting to see if he would leave her alone to go get her a drink.
 
Leon resisted the urge to brush her hair back. His smile was a guilty one all of a sudden, his eyes resting on hers. Leon was too arrogant, in his own humble opinion, to admit when he was wrong, but Juniper had absolutely pushed it onto him. He couldn't really argue either, which...he wasn't going to lie. He kinda liked it? In a weird, rough schoolmarm sort of way with how annoyed she got...

In any case, he recorded the symbol in his mind...knowing he had to leave off. And play 'cool' for now, with the strangeness of the room. And how his friend had died. After all Juniper's questions, he wondered quite how to proceed from there, lips pursing as he gave it some thought...Juniper was an investigator. Evidently, she was a damn good one...but practical and didn't suffer nonsese...

He remembered the delectable taste of her blood, his eyes gleaming slightly at the memory...staring at those marks again. Well, that would just be rude. Don't overstay your welcome, he told himself as he cleared his throat...surprised at her laugh. But...pleasantly so. They'd need to play it cool and while he was good at that, he wasn't sure how good Juniper might be.

But...the laughter was musical, sweet even. He saw her catch herself, thinking of...something he wouldn't get. "...Bar it is."

He turned to walk to the bar, seeing the bartender and leaning in to whisper for more. The bartender shrugged and Leon was shortly arriving back...holding in one hand a drink of black amber, good whiskey...and in the other hand? Something bright, red and colorful. "So, something I wouldn't get? Strawberry daquiri, with more cream than alcohol. Just straight whisky for me," he said cheerfully as he offered the drink to her.

It had even come with a colorful little umbrella. "What else've you noticed...?" He whispered.
 
Where she had warned him against exploration, Juniper made no such promises herself. So she stared at him with a tight lipped expectancy until he had disappeared from the room and hoped there was a crowd as she turned back to the hidden doorway they had uncovered. Dropping the shoes that she had just picked up, she padded over to the symbols, pale brows furrowing as she stared at them.

Puzzled them out, even.

Then with a guilty look over her shoulder, she reached out and traced one with her fingertips. Much like she had summoned her little ball of light, she now traced this mark until her own rosy glow permeated the pervertedness in the runes. Smut, muddy and dark, followed the lines of her fingers as she drew back and made like she was tossing it aside.

Normally, that worked, when she cleansed things. Normally she could undo, cleanse, polish and make new. This time, when she tried to dispose of the taint that had attached itself to these markings, it clung.

It bit into her, making her gasp. Panic rushed up to her throat, clamping down, as she drifted further down into her gifts to try and burn it away instead. But the vileness of what marked the room below seemed to rear its head back and hiss, then sink in deeper, winding itself into a choke hold.

That’s what it felt like, anyway. To the outside eye, the petite form of the Inspector was shaking in the ill fitted dress, body spasming as she struggled against the power. Then, with a sharp gasp and a curse, it finally dissipated.

Shaking, Juniper turned away from the doorway and stumbled towards the bed, vertigo slamming into her as a trail of blood slid down from her nostrils, coating her lips. She had just keeled over the side of the bed when she heard his voice again. Shaking her head, she managed to slide her hip onto the edge of the mattress and lift a hand, swiping the crimson trail, staring at the blood dumbly as her vision darkened.

Just like a damsel, Juniper blacked out and slumped down, headed towards the floor again.
 
The vampire had departed to the bartender, retrieving the drinks. The bartender was giving him a look that seemed just a touch too knowing for the vampire's taste. He was simply taking his drinks, thinking of Juniper, realizing he had left her back...and thought of the symbols as well. Despite his rather laid back style, Leon could be observant when he so chose. Something about all this simply didn't sit right with him. And asking Pandora did not seem to be the proper way forward...

In fact, he was of the opinion he didn't really think he could trust most people. Pandora was a friend, but that only went so far. The vampire brushing his tongue close to his fangs, pondering his options as he pursed his lips, Puzzlement flooded through his mind whil eh attempted to parse through everything...how strange that he recalled Juniper's shoe now, the discarded heels...

And there seemed something unusual about the club. Some pulse of arcane energies all through the air. Connected to the symbol? How long had it been there? Did Pandora even know? He thought of Juniper and gave a light "hm." She was an investigator, evidently a good one, too...so why did he feel so worried about her?

Was it the annoyed snap at him she had given before? He bit his lip, carrying the drinks back as he greeted revelers with laughter along the way. He looked for all the world like a party boy as he found the room again. If this was a trap, it was a damn poor one, letting them come and go as they-

He spoke the words as he arrived, casual only to freeze in horrified shock. She was down, falling. Her gaze tilting forward as she fell. The drinks left his hands, forgotten to shatter on the floor as Leon charged forth to catch her. "Inspector! Inspector! Juniper!" He said with a shocked look of worry.

He looked about, the whiskey pooling on the floor to flow to his feet. Something was wrong, he thought.

God, what could it be? He wasn't THAT smart...but he began to lead her out, holding her as he did, hearing hoots of laughter and jeers, like she was merely intoxicated. He intended to get her the HELL out of that club, to his car, looking to her all the while.

"Stay with me, inspector," he whispered. "I'm not leaving you."
 
If Leon had taken the time to investigate again, he would find that the wards that had been guarding the hidden doorway had been dismantled, though what remained hidden still had yet to be seen. And if anything had been protected or kept locked away by such wards, well … shame on the Inspector.

Whose head lolled forward as he caught her falling - again. The motion caused her vision to blur with a black wave of vertigo. With the room spinning and black spots popping in front of her face, Juniper felt her stomach clench, threatening to heave its contents. She stopped herself as she sucked in a breath, moaning as the entire weight of her frame leaned in heavily against his frame. Only his grip on her kept her from sliding back down to the floor.

Another black wave struck her line of sight when he started to move. This time, she closed her eyes, wanting to sink down to it, but her feet were dragging on the ground and her form jostled by his grip. She managed to stumble a few steps before giving up and instead let her head fall on his shoulder, forehead first, while the rest of her went limp.
 
Leon would usually have been more thorough, more investigative...but the sight of Juniper in danger, swaying in such a manner, brought out a sudden burst of instinct like he had not seen before. Perhaps it was simply his belief that he could not abide losing someone else in his presence now. His father had once told him that being a hero was not always worth the effort. But sometimes, it was important to do what one could do. So right now, Leon LaCroix, of the famed Lacroix family was attempting to do exactly what he could.

But it did not escape him that there was a shift in the energies of the room.

He caught Juniper, holding her with a stricken look upon his face. "I've got you," his voice was urgent and desperate, gentle as he held her there. "Just lean on me...and stay with me..." He lifted her slightly, not wanting to drag her. It was only proper Juniper be handled with more dignity than that. He was heedless to the jeers, finding his way out of the club, Juniper in his arms, when they emerged out into the night.

Looking to her, he began to check her vitals, feeling something wrong...he brought a hand to her neck to feel for the pulse, and tapped into the magic in his own blood. His eyes pulsed with magenta light in the irises, as he whispered a spell of his own...

Telling Juniper's own blood to tell him what was wrong.
 
Obliviousness suited the Inspector, especially once her body started to drag halfway across the dance floor and the vampire had to hoist her up in his arms like she was a dead body. Unconscious, she couldn’t be embarrassed, bothered, harassed, or judgemental at anything that they passed, though she would certainly be sure that it was more of a hindrance for him to haul her across the room by her underarms than support her weight against his chest.

It wasn’t as if she weighed much. Juniper was a petite thing, five feet and just a few inches - and they had left the heels behind, good riddance - and had a slender build on top of that.

So, her head lolled until her cheek flattened against his chest, and her nose still ran a sluggish crimson a little too close to her parted lips for comfort. So by the time that they had emerged out into the night air again, she had at least bled all over his shirt as well as her own face.

Hope he doesn’t mind.

She didn’t look like she had any intention of waking, either, until the bloodsucker proved that he had more up his sleeve than living a debauched immortal life. His magic pricked her, like someone thumping a sleeping person’s forehead, forcing her to stir.

Like a grumpy child, the pale wings of her brows knotted and she turned more into his torso, smearing more blood into his shirt as she wiggled closer and away from the chilly night air. Mumbled something under her breath that was probably rude and about his person.

Then she jerked, flinging herself away from him so fast he might assume she actually realized that she was trying to cuddle with him and couldn’t have any of that, so instead she twisted about in his arms, and, like the polite person she was, leaned forward and puked.

Not vomit. Nothing came out of her mouth that she was in the process of digesting. No, she ejected a mouthful of black smut, like an ink spill that splattered against the concrete … and dissipated like some sort of filthy smoke. Eyes watering, she hitched herself so that she gripped his arm, and tilted her head up to look at him, her expression more scared and vulnerable than it had ever previously been.

It didn’t last long.

Juniper turned again, stomach heaving, and another mouthful of the same black smut went barreling to the ground and poofing away into a cloud of dark awful.

“I want to go home,” she finally uttered, body slumping backwards, forcing him to either maintain his grip on her or drop her to the ground.

Whatever had been inside her had the same magical trace as the runes and symbols inside that room, meaning whatever Juniper had done while he was out of the room involved fucking with the very thing she had told him not to.
 
He had started off pulling her like a drunkard. But along the way that had changed. Rather, the vampire had shifted to carry her in his arms, ounder her shoulders and legs, in a princess like carry, determined to get her into the night. He held her there, this petite inquisitor, so lost in the throes of dark magic now. He didn't care about any blood staining his clothing. No, that was utterly irrelevant now...the blood that soaked his clothing meant nothing to him, only her safety was material for him at this point. For reasons he could barely even explain...

He could get other shirts. Spilling her delicious blood was really a waste. He would've said that if he was trying to be cavalier. But he couldn't even try for that now. No, he was far, far too worried. Too concerned. For real. It was a rather new feeling for him...

But at least when she vomited, she did it away from him. That much he might have minded- except it was like a black ooze, an inky darkness that went from her mouth. He watched, all but stricken a he saw her heave something up...and he felt it.

The same darkness from that room, as he carried her to his car. When she sagged back, he gripped her, all the tighter to hold her, almost like a knight of old. "I'll get you home. Tell me where it is."

Or he'd be forced, he thought as he got to the car, to get them somewhere else. Maybe even his own house...he doubted she'd like that. But he needed time to analyze that and heal her magically.

This was more than Unseelie, he thought. This was from beyond the old gates, maybe. Someone had meddled with something dark. but what had his friend known? What did Pandora know?

"Juniper...I'm using a spell to repress the effects," he began as he got back to his car.

'But I need you to hold on. Can you do that...?"
 
Home. She heard the word even though her head felt as if it had been smacked with a bag of bricks, but at least she didn’t feel so nauseated anymore. He was going to take her home. She was practically cuddling with him as he lugged her back to that beast on wheels he was calling a car, but at least she was all out of complaints.

Instead, a quizzical frown had etched itself into her mouth as she turned the pair of cornflower blues on his face, seeing him - perhaps - for the first time since they had left the club.

“I need to get back to my car,” she responded instead of providing him with her actual address. As if she were in any condition to be able to drive herself. Then, with her nose scrunching up on her face, “And I want to get out of his horrible fucking dress and into something normal.”

She wiggled then, sliding from his arms to prove to both of them that she could manage on her own. Only she practically toppled into the passenger seat once she had managed to free herself from his grasp, the black wave returning to her vision with enough force that she groaned and leaned all the way forward until her forehead rested against his dash.

No seat belt. How shameful.

“That room… is very bad,” she mumbled, eyes closed. “And I’ll have to report it.”
 
Leon was panicking inside. Trying to keep a cool, clear head, but panicking nonetheless. How could he not? Juniper might have been dying right by him. And the fact she was clinging to him, holding him tight, made him all the more worried. She should be lambasting him, lashing at him with her sharp tongue. Not curled into him as he struggled to get her free and clear from her. His fangs worked at his lip as he got her to the car.

Not much an ambulance, but it'd do the job. Hopefully the spell he wove would help. The vampire had a determined expression to his face when he peered at her. "Hold on, inspector..." He didn't beg, not really, but one might have mistaken what he said for a soft plea. "I've got you..." he whispered. "You are in no shape to drive. I'll make a call. The club is mine, your car will be FINE..." He didn't respond about the clothing, except to say "you're gonna be fine."

Her ungraceful slump at the passenger side brought a sigh from him while he looked over. "Safety," he said, reaching to get her seat belt on. "If you have to throw up, roll down a window- oh screw it, I pay people for this," he muttered. "You'll report the damn place. We'll get you back and you'll report it..."

He helped her lay back in her seat, making sure she was comfortable as he started the car to pull free, wondering what the HELL Pandora was up to. His lips were pursed, his eyes narrowed while he tried to think of something he could say.

"...Did...did you recognize it? Any of it? Know anyone who might?" He was pulling in to a safe house, one he'd texted while driving, a simple looking apartment building. "...We'll be able to lay low here...while you recover," he said.

"...I won't leave you."
 
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Juniper wasn’t going to be sick again. Not even when the car jerked into the motion, peeling off in the only way cars like Leon’s knew how to do: fast, and taking no shit. She rather regretted being leaned back in the seat, because she was hit with a splash of vertigo when she tried to sit up again, hand wedging down between the seat and door to grope for the mechanism that would upright it again.

Only to give up, scowling, as she twisted around on the seat and squeezed her eyes shut instead. Her voice had a disgruntled edge to it when she spoke. “It was my–” She stopped herself, cornflower blue gaze popping open, staring at him from the angle. Her lips pursed, considering. “It was Unseelie, perverted by dark arts. I unlocked the ward, but it triggered a defense mechanism. That little secret room of your friend’s is a place where they want anyone to go except those that are permitted to go down. After seeing that club, I can only imagine what kind of bullshit happens down below. For all I know, it’s some sort of illegal sex orgy.”

She sounded prim, but also irritated. There was even a hint of disgust on her face once she managed to wrangle herself back up into a sitting position when she felt the car slow, head turning to peer out into the night as they approached the apartment building.

“I assumed that you would have a fancier place,” she commented, but not in disappointment. Just factual, with a hint of curiosity.

She turned and stared at him, looking paler than she had before, and a little rueful. Somewhere between the club and the drive here, the pale halo of hair had come fully undone from the bun she had kept it in, so the entire mess of it was tossed down to her shoulders in waves. “And stop saying that. I won’t leave you, like you’re some sort of keeper,” she snapped, already moving to open her door. Hand shaking. “I’ll be fine.” Probably.
 
The vampire was trying to make the ride as smooth and gentle as possible. A car like this was made for showing the hell off. You raced along in it, put the pedal to the metal as the saying went. You went fast, on makeshift races to impression people and passengers. But now, he tried to ease down the road for the sake of Juniper and her stomach. "Try not to force anything right now," he said cautiously, giving a sidelong look at her while the Cobra went down the road.

Juniper seemed to be struggling just to rise up, he observed. It likely wasn't fatal. Probably not even permanently debilitating. But it was more than a bit frightening to experience, he had no doubt. It was even frightening of him to see. but WHY? He could not really answer the question, how could he? Why would he be so attached to a single, paltry human he had never met before this night...

The mention of his friend brought a flinch to his lips, his eyes almost closing. "...Dora's...into some things. But dark Unseelie magic? I wouldn't have thought anything like it." He was suspecting they were lucky they had left in one piece. "There's probably an orgy, honestly. I might or might not have seen a few. But nothing illegal." He was trying to hide behind the old veneer. It did not hold up.

He didn't bother to retort about fancy places. He liked simplicity sometimes, he thought. Just-

Juniper wasn't ripping into him. She seemed rather...interested in him then. So he smiled, a weak little expression and shrugged. "Sometimes...you have to enjoy simplicity...big, fancy houses are big and fancy. But they get too big sometimes. Lonely," he added softly as he continued the drive down the night. "What of you, Inspector?" He tried to brush past the rest. "I imagine you with a quiet and cozy apartment. Probably with tea and lots of books."

The safe house was one story, a normal building one would not think twice for if they were to glimpse it, with a plain door. The car had stopped, the garage opening to allow the vehicle inside before sealing them from view.

"You need me to help you inside?" He finished. "...There's a bed. There's books. There's tea."

She said she'd be fine. He had a feeling if she said it, it might well be the case.
 
Juniper at least waited until the car had pulled into the garage and Leon had pulled it into park before she managed to get her door open. Lucid was a word that she would not quite fully describe herself in the moment, but she was at least far more aware that the state she had been in when they had left the club. However, when she lifted herself up and out of the car, only to stoop to scoop up the clothes that she had first arrived at Leon’s club in, a tremor went through her hands, making them shake hard enough that she gritted her teeth in concentration hard enough that they rattled in her mouth. Nostrils flaring, she eased herself back upright into a standing position, bundle of garments in her arms, turning to look around the garage that she now stood in as she waited for Leon to join her.

This was his place, after all - though she suspected not his normal dwelling. She almost wished she had been put together enough to have him bring her back to her own place, though she suspected that was even smaller than what this was.

Looking over her shoulder and squinting at the vampire, Juniper scowled. “Just hurry up. You’re moving as slow as a grandmother now. I almost prefer the fast from earlier. I just got a little shock from that nasty spell; I’m not an invalid.”

She turned away, showing him the back of her head. The pale waves of her hair seemed to glow in the dark to dim lighting of where she stood in her bare feet and that black dress she wanted to rip off in favor of something more comfortable. Or at least back into her own clothes. And at least not in the back of an alley.

“I highly doubt you have any right to be bitching about being lonely if you participate in orgies,” she snipped, at last. “I highly doubt that you are lacking in company, Mr. LaCroix. Some of us live sensibly.” She stopped there, voice clipped. No doubt that was as much as he would get from the Inspector - at least while they loitered inside the garage.
 
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