Solenn was stunned. She had sunk into the corner of the library, hiding since the shooting, and she was unwilling to move. She was confident no one was looking for her but at some point she would need to do something, go somewhere, go outside. However, she did not want to do so. She stared at her phone, clutched in her hand, wanting some assurance that Adelaide was all right but too terrified that was not the case.
As soon as the shot rang out, Elle froze, not sure if she had heard correctly. That sound didn’t belong at an event like this anyway. But then there was the scream as the little librarian crumpled to the ground while all of the Heads of Houses gathered around her. Instantly, their security teams made another circle protecting the inner group. And that made it real. It made it real to everyone in the crowd.
Instantly, people were screaming and running for the exit of the library, looking to escape before anyone else could get hurt. Elle felt someone elbow her in the stomach on their way out, as if they were planning to physically crawl over anyone who got in their way. Some people were looking around desperately, as if they could catch sight of the shooter and know best where to stand to avoid getting hurt. But there was no one there.
In front of her, a teenage girl stumbled and fell on the floor. Elle caught sight of a frantic man trying to race forward and not paying any attention, about to step on her. Racing forward, Elle shoulder checked him out of the way, before stooping to pull the girl to her feet and over to the side where it was a little safe.
“Are you okay?” she asked urgently.
The girl nodded, on the edge of tears and looked around frantically. “I can’t find my parents! I was standing with them, but then everyone freaked out and now I can’t find where they are and - “
“It’s going to be okay. You’re safe right now. I’m sure they’re outside and looking for you, so we’ll get there in a moment.” Before they could move, the ambulance team rushed in and raced up to where the protected circle was standing, and they rapidly got to work, calling out instructions too fast for Elle to hear.
She kept her arm around the girl to ensure that they could stay out of the way of the medical team. Looking up at the group, Elle felt her heart clench. Anna’s face was white, but there was blood on her hands.
Her mind was whirling with questions, but she couldn’t focus on any of them now. Couldn’t even begin to process. So instead, she focused on the girl in front of her. This was a problem she could solve.
“Ok, the medics are out and the room is a little clearer. Come on, we’ll head on out together.”
As they walked, Elle kept a sharp eye out to see if anyone else would try to bump them or separate them. But nothing happened as they made their way outside. Almost immediately, there was another scream and Elle tensed, ready to shift in front of the girl to catch her or whatever was necessary. But instead, a pair of women through themselves at the girl and showered her with kisses.
“Are you all right? Don’t you dare get separated from us like that again! Come on, we’re going home. Now.”
Elle smiled a little. At least one thing could have gone right. But as soon as that happened, she turned and raced back inside the library. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t sure how she could help. Wendy, one of her friends, had been up there. Duke Cyrus, ex-lover and current boyfriend of another best friend, had been up there. And not to mention, her own Duchess, so young and shiny after Anjou had lost their last one. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t do much. She was going to be with them to help.
To be entirely fair, he wasn’t the type for libraries. When on the job, his focus was intense. If he had been paying greater attention, he would have noted the tasteful decorations and prettily garbed attendees. He had a single task to accomplish while in Vannes but couldn’t resist toying with that little bastard a bit. The little note. It amused him. Useless. If the prick had done his job, he wouldn’t have to be here tonight, wasting his time in this absolute tit of a country. He knew how to blend. Not pretty enough to catch anyone’s eye but not so homely as to stand out either. Neutral. He moved to the archway on the upper level, cordoned off for the event. Only preserved volumes here. He didn’t care about the books, just making certain not to inflict any damage such that his presence here would be marked in any way. Consideration out of pure convenience. He had stashed his equipment just … ah yes, there it was. Sliding on the gloves, he withdrew the firearm from the bag and slowly screwed in the silencer. Flipping up the scope, he let his eye drag through the room.
There he was. The little pissant. What the fuck was his name again? Something suitably fucking pretentious. Aramis or some shit like that. Could take him out right now. Just standing there. Pretty boy looked tense, like he could use a good ride. Too bad he didn’t have time to fuck the useless help. Now he just needed the right ‘heads’ to line up. The Duchess of Nantes or the Duke of Maine. Preferably both if he could get them in quick succession. Minimal external casualties. A dull restriction but he could live with it. Now he just had to wait ….
[More below the cut]
Adelaide was relieved. They had finally made it to the day of the event and so far, nothing had majorly gone wrong. Everyone seemed to be having a good time as they got ready for the awards and the raffle, and there was a wonderful celebratory atmosphere. There would be randomly selected winners from those who had completed the reading challenges across all different age groups. Most exciting would be the winners of the raffle for tickets to this year’s lecture series which also acted as a major fundraiser for the library. Families from all over the city mingled with members of the major Houses, talking about everything from books to the recent sports events. It was one of the few events she knew of that were truly open to everyone.
As the time for the announcement drew near, she made her way to the front of the room, just behind the podium, in order to coordinate the people who would be announcing each of the chosen winners. As she did so, she circled around the room to make sure she caught the eye of Duchess Katarin, Duchess Anna, Duke Cyrus, and Duke Theodore so they were warned and able to start exiting the conversations they were involved in. Then she waited quietly for them to arrive so the final and most stressful part of her night would be over.
Katarin was actually grateful that Adelaide had caught her eye. It allowed her to exit the rather dull conversation she was holding. Excusing herself, she slipped her hand into Wendy’s and made her way to the front of the room. This event was always one of the least stressful and she was happy to support the library and Adelaide. It was the very least she could do to help announce the winners of the evening. Having Wendy by her side was absolutely a bonus, she wouldn’t settle for having the submissive hang back in the audience.
Anna had of course been to the annual event before, but this was her first time attending as a duchess. She felt like she was taking on a lot of ‘firsts’ these days. A book lover herself, she felt a pang of loss as she roamed the library and took part in different conversations. She didn’t regret what had happened, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t miss her former job of book editing. She had just walked away from a small group when she saw Adelaide begin to make her rounds, so it was perfect timing for her to head towards the front of the room. She offered Wendy and Duchess Katarin a smile before turning to face the crowd and look for familiar faces.
The library was one of Cyrus’ favourite places. He came here often enough and both personally and through the House of Maine, he regularly contributed to the various programs offered by the library. This particular event was delightful and it felt good to step outside the usual restrictions of the house events. As he saw Adelaide waiting, he turned to the woman beside him. Cyrus brushed a hand over Annick’s back and leaned in to murmur in her ear, “I must go be important for a moment. Don’t run away, my wild woman.” He winked and flashed a grin before setting down his glass. He walked up to the podium and leaned in to brush a kiss over Adelaide’s cheek. “You look beautiful, Adelaide. The event is wonderful. You must be so proud.”
As Cyrus leaned in to kiss her cheek, she found herself automatically grinning in response. “Really? That’s wonderful to hear. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” She allowed another knot of anxiety to fade at the genuine compliment which made it a little easier to focus on this next bit. Considering she needed to face all of the major heads of Houses at the same time, being down to approximately a half dozen sources of anxiety instead of all of them was a relief. “Thank you all for agreeing to help today. This means a lot, and it is helping to acknowledge all the hard work of both the librarians and the city’s readers. There is a basket with the names of each of the potential winners, so all you will need to do is draw a name from your respective basket and announce the winner and the category. If you need anything, I’ll be right here.”
God but these people were boring. Pretty and insipid. He really needed something interesting after this. A mob boss perhaps? Some kind of gangster, capable of posing an actual challenge. With these thoughts trickling in the back of his mind, he continued to survey the crowd, watching as some female got up on the little raised area. Good good. Perhaps something was about to happen. He shifted slightly forward as the sea of nobles began to part and allow the Heads of their Houses to step up and join the tiny female. Huh, he wouldn’t have pegged her for someone important. Strange. He lined up the sight. Perfection. As the Duke leaned forward to greet the tiny female, standing close to the Duchess of Nantes, a fine and fuckable bird if he ever saw one. Oh this was fucking ideal. One shot and he could have them both dealt with, leaving only that newbie child version of a Duchess. She’d be nice and pliable for his employers. Shouldn’t be a problem. He clicked his tongue, a bad habit he was trying to break. Shifting forward again, he lined up the shot and squeezed the trigger.
Right after she finished speaking, Adelaide took a step forward in between the Heads of Houses in order to pick up the list of events so that each of them would know what order they were going in and which awards they were reading out. But in the moment she did, she felt something punch through her right shoulder. She barely registered the pain before she screamed and started to crumple to the ground. Flickering on the edge of consciousness, she could feel fire and wet and shooting pains ricochet out from that point. The rest of the room had almost entirely faded away as she struggled to stay present.
It took a beat before Kat realized what was happening. She instinctively pushed Wendy behind her and shouted for her security. The room would soon dissolve chaos for certain but at the moment all she could think of was the girl crumpling at her feet. “Adelaide!” she shouted, dropping to her knees beside the girl, though she wouldn’t be much protection. She peered up from her position. “A doctor, ambulance, something. Now!”
For a moment Anna froze in shock, not fully understanding what had happened. When it sunk in that Adelaide had been shot, that someone had shot at them, she screamed for help and dropped to the ground as well. She wasn’t exactly medical personnel but she was fairly certain that pressure should be applied to a wound bleeding like that, so she put both hands on Adelaide’s shoulder and did her best to apply pressure without hurting her more. “Someone needs to find who did this. Are we safe here?” She wasn’t speaking to anyone in particular, but she couldn’t imagine waiting there like sitting ducks either. They needed to get Adelaide help.
It was a bizarre sensation, the shock that stopped him cold as he watched the submissive drop to the ground. It took him a moment to process what taken place. “Adelaide!” He exclaimed a little senselessly, since the young woman could clearly not respond. His fingers felt numb as he tried to pull his phone from his pocket and dial for emergency services. What the hell had happened? His eyes shot around the room, seeking out Annick, confirming to himself that no one else seemed to be injured. Looking over at Anna and Kat, he felt absurd as Anna pointed out the obvious. The phone still pressed to his ear, his gaze travelled upward, although if he were honest, he had no sense of where the shooter would have been standing. The entire moment felt utterly surreal. “Security will deal with it. I can’t imagine anyone would be foolish to hang around after this … she wasn’t … she couldn’t have been the target.” It was a surprisingly sensible statement given how uncertain he felt at this moment. He let the phone at his ear clatter to the ground. “Help is on the way. We just need to keep her stable until they get here.” he shared quietly.
Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck … the fucking little twit had stepped forward at the exact wrong moment. He had a glorious shot lined up but no, the bitch had to get in the way. This thought ricocheted through his mind as he moved swiftly through the swelling crowd, fleeing the event. When he felt pressed, he tripped some old bat wearing diamonds and knocked her into the rest of the crowd. They could help her or trample her, he could care less. He was merely looking for an opening. He stepped to the side and right into the little pissant. “Enjoying your night.” He managed to growl. He felt no guilt, merely the irritation of having to now owe his bosses for fucking up this stupid job that he hadn’t fucking wanted in the first place. All because this little piece of shit couldn’t do his work right. The deflection was comfortable.
The second that Aramis heard the gunshot, Armand’s words instantly played into his head. You won’t like how I choose to handle things. He’d been paranoid for the last couple of days now, expecting another set of goons to come after him. But this…? This was entirely different. Someone else had been hurt and it was all his fault.
Aramis felt his blood boiling; it was one thing to hurt him or even kill him - he’d gotten himself into this mess. The very least he felt he could do was get a form of justice for Adelaide. Familiar with the look of Armand’s goons, he scanned the crowd and managed to find the shooter. “Stay here,” he commanded Kit, leaving the sub’s side to push through the crowd.
It wasn’t hard to find his target. As soon as the other man quipped at him, Aramis shoved him back. “You fucking animal,” he growled. “I swear to God, I am going to kill you.” He stalked toward the shooter, intent on doing just that.
Kit had been on edge all night with the note Armand had sent Aramis on his mind. When he heard the gunshot, his anxiety peaked, and he naturally held onto Aramis, desperate to make sure he was okay, that this Armand guy hadn't hurt him again.
But it wasn't Aramis who'd been hurt. Instead, Aramis was giving him a command as he ran off to face an armed shooter. No, no, no, no, no, Kit thought over and over in his head, following Aramis as best he could through the chaos. He lost Aramis for a second, and panic rose in him again, before he caught sight of his boyfriend and pushed his way through. "Aramis, don't!" he called out with a voice that broke midway.
Oh this was fucking gorgeous. He was looking forward to smashing the pretty little pissant’s face as Aramis surged toward him. The crowd made it difficult to move through with ease but still his hand itched to get a few hard blows in. Then he heard a man call out for the pissant. Glancing over, his shit-eating grin widened. “Yours?” He taunted, laughing as he did so, knowing damn well the little fuck toy was the perfect ammunition. “Careful. He’ll end up joining the tiny girl in the morgue.” A fresh flood of people separated him from his target, stepping back to avoid getting trampled by fleeing nobles and their companions. “Soon pretty boy … don’t you worry… we’ll see each other again real soon.” He called out.
Adelaide was only vaguely aware of what was happening around her as the pain in her shoulder seemed to spread to take over her whole focus. She could hear the people close to her shouting and people farther away screaming. Mixed in with all of that were the growing sound of sirens. Coming back into focus for a moment, Adelaide reached over and grabbed Kat’s hand, not caring if it was too familiar or anything. “Don’t - don’t let my parents find out on the news. Ok? They’ll...they’ll handle it badly.” It took more of an effort to say that than she had expected. But moments later, a medical team was rushing in, pushing the nobility out of the way so they could get her onto a backboard to get her out to the ambulance. Mercifully, that was when she finally fainted.
