Darkly Wed (Darkly Devoted Series, Book 3)

Chapter 8 - A Bond

Chapter 8

AS VIVIENNE continued to remind him about the pressing issue of her engagement, Blake decided it was time to act on the problem of Monsieur Nicolet. It wasn't just her nagging; Blake knew he would eventually have to answer to why he was holding another man's fiancée hostage. The only way to resolve it was by sitting down and having a heart-to-heart talk with the good duke himself.

Blake started by having a couple of his contacts look into Mighell's background and finances. Duke Mighell Nicolet of Jehan, was a relatively distant relation of the King of Nivarrin but had worked his way into the royal court by carrying out seedy acts. He had his fingers in sex trafficking, drug and arms trading, organized crime, and – not to mention – murder and rape. In short, he was exactly like the sort of fellow that Blake had experience working with.

Vivienne had been right that Blake had plenty of secrets he would have preferred to keep from Gabriel Balan. Although it was well known that his father had profited off distributing a drug called Nectar that was made from Dark Waters to the Manna City populace, what most didn't know was that Blake had continued his father's work. Blake had made billions off refining Dark Waters and selling it for both medical uses and on the black market for recreational purposes. His company held factories and warehouses all over the world. Shortly before Blake had left Tercel, he had a batch of potent pills made in his Shanghai factory. Those were not for medical or recreation; rather they were a weaponized form of the product. They could turn the imbiber into a weaker demon with a simple pill.

The Shanghai pills created demons with all of the weaknesses – photophobia, madness, blood-lust with few of the strengths such as physical strength, rapid healing, and beauty. Blake had kept that batch in his own private warehouses along with his array of enchanted weapons.

As an outlaw himself, Blake felt a natural camaraderie with criminals such as Duke Nicolet. Blake had reason to believe Duke Nicolet arranged the distribution of kidnapped women to the rest of the royal family. In return, Nicolet collected a small fee which he often gambled away and squandered on various illicit drugs. Interestingly, the duke had frequented numerous sex clubs in Manna City in the past weeks. That must be due to the fact that Gabriel was breathing down his neck about him having premarital sex with his daughter.

Blake decided to pay Mighell a visit that Friday night. Shortly after sundown, Blake sat down at the bar with a glass of scotch and waited for the duke's arrival. As he watched women in fluorescent underwear and cheap fishnet stockings dance in decorative cages, he had to admit he missed Namura. This was precisely the type of scene, Julian would have excelled at. He knew Vivienne thought he was a sociopath for his propensity to knock off his friends, but in Namura's case, it was absolutely necessary. All the same, he found himself wishing he didn't have to. Sometimes, Blake wondered if it would have been best for him to have died young. There were days when he realized he committed so many crimes he could barely keep track of them all.

Mighell appeared around midnight, with two girls in his arms. He was alone, but Blake knew he had bodyguards nearby. He also knew Mighell was probably armed. That wouldn't be a problem that night. Shortly after sitting down at the bar, Mighell became belligerently drunk. He began cursing at the crowd and immediately scared his prostitutes away. That was his chance, while the duke was muttering angrily to himself and sitting unsteadily on his bar stool.

Blake showed up beside him with two glasses of Japanese whiskey of the Yamazaki variety. Snapping his fingers, Blake signaled over two girls who he had paid off for the night. He placed one glass in front of the greasy Frenchman and offered the disgruntled man one of the busty brunettes with numerous chest tattoos.