I passed a cup of coffee over to Anna as we sat side by side in the car. We were currently parked in an alley across the Hidden Hearts Room in a simple black sedan issued by the department. It was supposedly used for undercover operations, but I was quite sure it aroused suspicion all the same.
"Anyone caught your eye lurking around?" I asked Anna while taking a quick sip from my cup. It was close to opening time soon, and we were hoping to catch the Madame before it got busy.
"Not anyone obvious unfortunately." She replied with narrowed eyes, her fingers tapping on the car's plastic dashboard rhythmically. "Would make our jobs a lot easier if the villains came with neon signs above them."
"Has that ever been the case?"
"There's a few incidents like that if you looked hard enough in the archives." She then pointed to the clock on the dashboard. "9 PM. It's opening time, Alex."
I placed my now empty cup of coffee in the cup holder and opened the passenger door to get out. "Showtime then." I walked over to the luggage compartment and tossed Anna her sword, and I pulled out my own baton. "Anything else you want or need?"
Deftly catching the sheathed blade with one hand, she attached it to her belt with practiced ease. "Got anymore of those enchanted knives you got from the armory?"
I shook my head. "Those aren't standard issue. Sarah took back the last ones we took out."
"Stingy dwarf..." Anna grumbled while turning around to walk across the street.
I stifled a chuckle and followed quickly after her. "Careful there, Anna. If she hears about what you said, she might ban you from the armory again~"
"At this point, it's less of an armory and more of a personal vault for her toys..."
I chuckled at her response and shrugged my shoulders. Anna wasn't wrong, everyone in our department had their quirks, but some people were just irreplaceable.
As we reached the entrance of the club, I pulled out my badge from my coat's inner pocket. It sparked blue as I showed it to the two looming giants serving as bouncers. Beside me, Anna mirrored my actions, pulling out her own badge which sparked orange.
Our uniforms were made for subtlety, all black with the exception of the red tie. They were missing any sort of official insignia or identifying features on them for our position, so it was our badges or nothing at all. The badges were attuned to their respective owner, the runic array activating only in the presence of a matching set of blood. It was an item that was difficult to fake, the creation process guarded jealously, and hence the simplest symbol of authority for the Bureau.
The two giants simply took a look and slowly nodded their heads. They turned slightly and pushed the double doors inwards on both sides, ushering us inside with little expression.
Anna and I entered the building, the two of us sharing a look with the other as the door closed behind us. "Golems? Those are new... It used to be two humans." I noted to Anna with a concerned frown.
She nodded, and returned my frown with one of her own. Anna's eyes then narrowed slightly, and she tilted her chin upwards.
I followed her line of sight and noted a newly installed set of cameras since the last time we visited. I then returned my eyes forward and began walking towards the main hall with Anna closely behind me.
She reached the next set of doors first and pulled her blade with its sheath off her waist. Using the hilt, she pushed the door slightly inwards and swept the room before signaling for me to follow. I followed her in closely, my hand firmly on Anna's shoulder, and a defensive charm ready to deploy at a moment's notice for the both of us.
Once we entered the main hall and did not find ourselves ambused, we both let out a small sigh of relief. Within the main hall, an awful mix of techno music had begun to play. It was somewhat dark, various lights flashing several shades of pink and purple over the stages.
"Madame?" I called out, trying my best to overpower the music.
For a few beats, there was no response. Then, the music halted abruptly, and the lights went dark. In response, Anna and I quickly pushed our backs against the other and started sweeping the room in a circular fashion.
Just as abruptly as the lights went out though, they came back up. This time, all of them came on at once, illuminating the main hall as if it was a normal room. Then, in the corner of my eye, she finally appeared.
The clicking of black heels echoed through the now silent hall as a rather short but buxom woman walked out from behind a corner. She was dressed in a black cocktail dress that hugged her figure, and hid very little from the imagination. Her blonde hair flowed freely behind her, and she commanded the room with her sharp violet-colored eyes.
"If it isn't my favorite wizard. How do you do, Alexander?" She greeted with a voice as sweet as honey. "And is that dear Anna too? Have you reconsidered my offer to join my ranks?"
Anna and I separated slightly, our hearts slowly calming back down from its dose of adrenaline. "Greetings, Madame. Was that scare really necessary?
The woman laughed and waved her hand casually. "Presentation is what differentiates us from boors, Alexander. I do apologize if that gave you a scare," she paused dramatically and smirked, "but I would've thought the brave member of the Bureau could handle a little surprise."
I held my arm out across Anna's shoulders, holding her back from unsheathing her blade. "Well, that would usually be the case, Madame. But, current events have made us wary..."
The Madame sighed in response and turned away from us. "I suppose so. Come into my office then. I assume you'll wish to speak in private?"
I dropped my arm and shared a glance with my partner. In the end, we both nodded and followed after the club's proprietor.
Shortly thereafter, we found ourselves in a surprisingly mundane office. Sitting across a rather messy desk filled with books, sat the Madame in a large but very comfortable looking office chair. "So, what do the two of you wish to speak about?"
"We found the four men that went missing." Anna replied from the seat beside me. "You called the report in and we found the necklaces with your club's logo on them. Who were they to you?"
The woman across from us released a tired sigh and folded her hands on the table. "They're dead, aren't they?"
We both nodded and waited for her to continue.
The Madame remained silent for a few more moments before pulling out an envelope. She pushed it across the table to us. "Before we continue, please read it."
I took the envelope and opened it, finding a rather elaborately designed invitation inside. Opening up the card, I read out loud, "You are cordially invited to the wedding of... Is this from one of the victims?"
Madame Rosaline nodded grimly. "Yes. He was engaged to one of my girls here. The group of four was him and his wedding party."
I frowned and asked, "When you say one of your girls, do you mean..."
"One of the succubi, yes."
I swore and held my breath. "Does she know?"
"No. I will tell her myself after this." Rosaline replied grimly, a frown deeply etched on her face. "Can you tell me what happened to him?"
Anna replied before I could stop her, "He was turned into a ghoul. I had to put him down."
It was as if the world went completely silent in that moment. Before us, Rosaline's eyes widened then narrowed with such hatred and distaste that it froze me to my seat. In the corner of my eye, I could see reality start to distort slightly as the border between the waking world and dreams shook. Then, she sighed and the world slowly returned to normalcy.
My back relaxed into my seat, and I reached out to touched Anna's hand with my own. I pushed her shaking hand off the hilt of her sword and gave her a pleading look. Anna grimaced in response and stood up, choosing instead to lean against a nearby wall while calming her nerves.
"My partner was hasty, but correct. It was not a pretty sight, and you have our condolences." I said carefully.
"I apologize. I lost myself momentarily." The Madam spoke slowly, still obviously trying her best to rein in her anger. "I appreciate Anna's directness. It is part of her charm after all. But, Cecilia will be devastated... I don't believe she will recover from this."
I grimaced and agreed with her conclusion. Succubi were actually more spiritually-aligned regardless of their reputations. After all, their activities and powers mostly revolved around dreams. They had the power to blend reality with dreams too, but only the most powerful could wield it effectively. They were also surprisingly romantic, possibly binding their souls with a single or multiple romantic partners.
But, if one bonded with a single person deeply enough to even consider marriage. Especially, with a mundane human. I couldn't even begin to imagine the depth of such a bond. It was a tragedy already set it stone at this point.
"It's why we came here today, Madame. We need information to find the perpetrator." I shook myself away from my thoughts before they could spiral further. "Have there been any incidents recently that could've triggered this?"
The Madame paused in thought as she leaned into her chair. She then clapped her hands, and a book flew from one of her shelves onto the table. "Cecilia is a popular figure and had many regulars. Some of whom were not too happy when rumors of here engagement came about. Not all of them are from the mundane side of the veil too. A fight broke out last week and we had to permanently ban some people. I have a list here."
I took a look and began making copies of their information. "We'll run them through our systems." I stood up to leave and thanked the woman for her cooperation.
Before we could walk out the door though, Rosaline said, "Do me a favor though?"
Anna and I both paused on the spot, our hands still hovering over the door knob. "Yes?"
"Find them quickly please."
"Of course-"
"Or I will... and I will not be subtle about it."
We gulped, nodded and swiftly left the room with an extra bit of haste in our steps.