16 Blood Noir ab-16

by Laurell K. Hamilton

  Its a compliment, he said, giving that lazy smile.

  I laid my head back down on the pillow, because it still seemed too much effort to move much. Thats why you pinned my wrists.

  Yeah, he said, grinning, I love that you lose control with me like that, but I wasnt really in the mood to bleed too much tonight.

  I rose up again, to see the marks more clearly, bending from the shoulders this time and not just the neck. There werent many marks, but what there were had dried blood in them. I made a face. Sorry.

  He shook his head and cuddled closer to me on the pillow, so that our faces touched when my shoulders relaxed. Never apologize for enjoying being with me, Anita. I love that you enjoy me.

  I kissed his forehead because it was closest. I know a lot of women enjoy you.

  They have, he admitted, but not lately.

  I stroked my hand down his shoulder. She really screwed with your head, didnt she?

  You mean, Perdy? he asked. Hed gone very still beside me.

  Yeah.

  She said she loved me, but she told me what I wanted to do with her was wrong, perverted.

  Did she actually say perverted? I asked, and put another kiss on his forehead.

  No, he said.

  See, youre projecting.

  She said evil.

  That made me go still beside him, with my lips against his face. Evil? I made it a question.

  Yep.

  What the hell could you have asked for that she would have called evil?

  He tensed beside me and looked toward the door. There are people at our door. One of them has been drinking, a lot.

  You can smell it, I said.

  He nodded, still looking at the door. I didnt immediately go for my gun on the bedside table. I mean, they could just be a bunch of partiers going to their own room.

  Then someone pounded on our door, and a womans voice said, Keith, I know youre in there, you bastard! Open this door, you cheating bastard!

  Jason looked at me. Dont look at me, I said, this is so not my kind of problem.

  So you dont know what to do either?

  Not a clue, I said.

  Great, he said, me either.

  She hit the door so hard it shook. Where she was hitting the door said she wasnt that tall, but she was giving it all she had, and drunk she was using more strength than she would have used sober. Shed be bruised in the morning, and probably not remember why.

  Jason went for one of the thick robes that were always in the nicer hotel rooms. He tossed me the second robe.

  Were not going to open the door, are we? I asked, and let my voice sound suitably horrified.

  Shes not going away.

  Shes also drunk enough that one look at us in this room like this is going to convince her shes right.

  I cant help that I look that much like him.

  Keith, you son of a bitch, open this door!

  Mr. Summerland, do you really want the eleven oclock news to show you leaving your fiance outside your door while you have sex with another woman?

  I sat up, suddenly very serious about the robe. Oh my God, there are reporters with her.

  He started looking for Chucks business card. You call Chuck, tell him whats happening. I didnt argue, I just took the card and started punching buttons.

  Jason went to the door but didnt open it. He yelled through it, My name is Jason Schuyler, I am not Keith Summerland.

  You tried that in high school, Keith, pretending to be Jason when you were screwing Nan Brandweiss.

  I had Chuck on the phone. This is Chuck.

  Anita Blake. We have reporters outside our door with Keith Summerlands very drunk fiance, demanding to know why hes cheating on her.

  Oh, shit. He said it with real feeling.

  My sentiments exactly. What do we do?

  I thought you werent going to call, Im not at the hotel. Ill be there as soon as I can. Ill alert some of the other guards. Hell, they should be with her now. Do not open the door.

  Do you want the eleven oclock news to show Keiths fiance banging on the door, but not having it open? Thats what the reporters are threatening. Shes crying and shes drunk.

  Damn it, Ill be there. Just, oh hell, this is going to go to shit.

  Going, Chuck? I think its already gone.

  Jason called through the door, Lisa Bromwell, is that you?

  Keith, this isnt funny, dont humiliate me like this, dont make me beg.

  Jason started to unlock the door.

  Gotta go, Chuck, Jason is unlocking the door.

  Cant you control him better than that?

  About as much as you can control Keith and his fiance, I said.

  Then were screwed, Chuck said. He hung up. I hung up. And I couldnt have agreed more.

  27

  I GOT MY gun from the bedside table and put it in my robe pocket. Not because I thought I needed my gun handy, but because it was my gun and it was my job to control it. A very drunk woman scorned was about to come through the door. I did not want to give her any ideas. A loaded gun unattended could be a real disaster. The robe hung funny on that side, but it was better than the alternative.

  Jason opened the door and a short blond woman spilled through, pounding fists on his chest. She was screaming at him. A reporter, complete with camera and lights, pushed in behind her. Perfect.

  Jason was trying to out-yell her. Its Jason. Lisa, look at me, its Jason!

  Lisas eyes were squeezed tight as she pounded at him and screamed. She had wanted in the room, but she didnt want to see.

  I stood there without a clue as to what I could do that might help. I could have forced the reporter and cameraman out; I was armed. But somehow I thought that might play badly in the press. To the hysterical Lisa I was the other woman, so trying to touch her would be bad. I had no freaking idea what to do. Fuck.

  The camera was getting it all: me standing in the robe, the mussed bed, the string of condoms in their wrapper on the floor where Jason had dropped them. There were even a few pieces of clothing draped on the rooms chair. Again, perfect.

  The reporter shoved a microphone into Jasons face. Keith, is this the new woman? Is the wedding off? Lisa deserves the truth, Keith.

  Jason spoke into the mic. My name is Jason Schuyler. I went to school with Lisa and Keith and Keiths brother Kelsey.

  Maybe they would have listened, maybe not, but struggling with Lisa had finally loosened his robe so that it spilled apart enough for the camera to try to get the whole show. If it was network they wouldnt be able to show it, but how often do you get a chance to get film of a presidential hopefuls son nude? The cameraman wasnt missing his opportunity.

  Lisas hands were on Jasons stomach, and shed stopped screaming. She was blinking down at him, not up at his face. She muttered, Jason? as Jason managed to get his robe a little more closed.

  The fact that seeing him nude had made her believe it was him made me wonder, just how close a friend had Lisa Bromwell been to Jason in high school?

  Voices from the hallway, mostly men, yelling. Peterson was the first one in the doorway, but he had other suits with him, and some of the uniformed guards wed seen earlier. They were what we needed. Someone to be bad guys to the press and rescue us at the same time. I didnt usually wait to be rescued, but this level of press attention had thrown me. How do you handle people this rude that you cant belt in the nose?

  Peterson and his men got the press out. They tried to get Lisa Bromwell out, too, but she was now clinging to Jason and blinking up at him blearily. A second woman from the hallway was trying to help Peterson persuade Lisa to let go of Jason. The new woman was tall in heels that made her at least six feet, with sleek brunette hair that had been styled straight, but was thick enough I was betting it curled when left to its own devices. She was beautiful in that perfect-makeup, I-read- Cosmo sort of way. You know, beautiful enough to make other women jealous and men stare, but she didnt seem quite real. Women like that almost never make me feel insecure. I dont
understand them enough to be jealous.

  Peterson got the reporters outside the room with the help of the uniformed guards. Two of the younger suits stayed on our side of the door and took up positions against it, as if the press might try to break down the door. Surely not, but I was beginning to realize that wed passed into a sort of press Twilight Zone, where the normal rules did not seem to apply.

  The brunette offered me her hand. Im Trish, friend of the brides, and Im sorry that I couldnt stop her in time. She had a good handshake, though her hand was big enough, and her nails long enough, that it felt almost dangerous, as if shed cut me if she shook too hard.

  How did she find our room?

  The reporter knew your room number. He told her theyd seen Keith check in with a brunette. They had pictures of the two of you in the hotel obviously going to a room.

  The bachelorette party must be in full swing for her to be this drunk, I said.

  Trish shook her head. It hasnt really started yet. She was this drunk when we got to the room for the party.

  I looked over at the small blond woman, inches shorter than Jason and me. She swayed against him, clinging to his robe as if without it and his hands on her slender frame shed have hit the floor. It must have shown on my face because Trish said, Apparently she got drunk alone in her room. Her bridesmaids found her this way, clutching a handful of pictures of Keith with you.

  Not Keith, I said.

  Trish nodded. Apparently not, but the resemblance is eerie.

  I couldnt argue with the eerie part. Now that Lisa wasnt screaming or crying hysterically or trying to claw Jasons eyes out, I realized that she and he looked alike. In fact, Lisa Bromwell looked more like Jasons sister than either of his actual sisters.

  You are the first woman Ive gotten to talk to who isnt from this town. Is it just me or do they look alike, too? Trish said.

  Its not just you, I said.

  Have you seen many of the descendants of old Jedediah and the original families from his little town in the hills?

  Not yet, I said.

  They all look like that, like theyre related.

  Jason said that Jedediah Summerland helped populate most of the town in his day.

  When you see the wedding party, youll believe it.

  I gave her a look.

  She nodded, eyes a little wide. Just wait, youll see, its very Twilight Zone.

  We just had a reporter with camera and lights burst into our hotel room, I already feel like Im in the Twilight Zone.

  Id like to say itll get better, Anita, I can call you Anita, right?

  Sure.

  Ive been friends with them since they announced the wedding, and the closer it gets the weirder the press get. One of the reasons that they were so sure of you andJason, right?

  I nodded. of Jason being Keith is that there is a rumor going around that he has a brunette on the side. It may even be true.

  Jason had sat Lisa down in the chair. He rubbed her shoulders as he talked softly to her.

  If its true, then why is she marrying him? I asked.

  Trish gave me a look.

  What?

  Hes rich, hes handsome, hes fun as hell when hes not being a bastard. His father is governor of the state and about to run for president. He may even make it all the way to the Oval Office.

  She stopped talking, as if that explained why a woman would put up with a man who would cheat on her days before her wedding. I finally said, You havent said anything that would get me down the aisle with someone who would cheat on me days before my wedding.

  How about its one of the biggest weddings of the year in this country, and backing out now would be more humiliating than going through with it?

  I shook my head. That doesnt work for me either.

  Trish studied my face, as if she were trying to decide if I was serious or not. You really would just dump his ass, wouldnt you?

  In a hot minute. It was my turn to study her. Wouldnt you?

  She gave a laugh, a nervous laugh. Ive married for worse reasons than money and politics, Anita.

  And divorced, I take it.

  She shrugged. Yeah, but the alimony was the kicker.

  In that moment I knew I might like Trish eventually, but I would never understand her, nor she me. We were both women, but our girl culture was too different. She was a girl-girl, and I was just a woman. She married for money and politics and potential alimony. I couldnt think of anything that would get me down a church aisle, but love would have been higher on the list than anything the woman beside me had listed. Who the hell married already planning how much alimony shed get? That wasnt a marriage, that was a business transaction with rings exchanged.

  How much trouble would we get into if I managed to talk Lisa Bromwell into dumping Keith Summerlands ass days before their wedding? It had possibilities, and not all of them were bad.

  28

  I GOT INTRODUCED to the bride-to-be eventually. Thered been a point in my life when I wouldnt have wanted to meet strangers dressed in nothing but a robe, in a hotel room, with a man who I wasnt married to, who was also in a robe. Strangely, this was so mild in comparison to my life lately that I didnt even flinch.

  She blinked pale blue eyes at me. What makeup shed started the night with had surrendered to tears and the damp rag that Jason had fetched for her. She blinked up at me, stray wisps of yellow hair clinging to her face where theyd been wetted down, other bits of her hair just all around her face. Without the makeup she looked about twelve, though I knew she had to be Jasons age. Twenty-two or twenty-three; she did not look it.

  I said automatically, Nice to meet you, Lisa.

  She blushed a nice pink color and looked down. I am so embarrassed.

  Jason knelt in front of her, making sure his robe covered him. Its okay, Lisa, you didnt know I was back in town, and the reporters lied to you.

  And I was drunk, she said, softly.

  I thought, That, too, but out loud I said, Did the reporters lie, or could they really not tell the difference between you and this Summerland guy?

  Lisa and Jason looked up at me together, and the mirror effect was startling. They really did look alike.

  They do look that much alike, Lisa said.

  Trish came up beside us, towering over all of us in her heels. Wait until you see Keith, youll freak at how much alike they look. I swear its like the Summerlands had triplets instead of twins.

  Jason stood up. Yeah, everyone intermarried a little too much in Promise.

  Promise? I made it a question.

  It was the name that Summerland gave to his little religious community in the hills above Asheville. Promise to God was the full name, actually.

  You mean like those Puritan names, Pass-through-the-valley-of-death Smith?

  He smiled and nodded. Yeah, like that, but it got shortened to Promise.

  The school is still called Promise School, Lisa said, as if she were trying to focus and making some headway.

  You can still get free tuition if you prove your ancestors came in with Jedediah, Jason said.

  I take it your moms side of the family came in with ol Jedediah, I said.

  Mine, and Lisas, and others.

  In my head, I thought, So does that make Keith and Lisa some sort of kissing cousins? But it wasnt any of my business; once you leave first cousins behind, most states dont care. I decided to concentrate on something that interested me more than ancestors and religious zealots who got eaten by vampires.

  Lisa figured out that it was Jason, though, even drunk, I said. Okay, I was trying to be subtle, because what I wanted to ask was, Why did seeing him nude convince you he wasnt Keith? I just couldnt figure out a polite way to ask it.

  Jason grinned at me, eyes not quite sparkling, but it was his grin.

  I gave him a look that Id once thought would squash that grin, but now I did it out of habit; nothing I could do would ever take the spark out of that smile.

  Lisa blushed again, and was very flustered. IK
eith isntI She stood up, abruptly, swayed.

  Jason and I both caught her arm.

  May I use your bathroom, please?

  Ill take her, Trish said. The taller woman eased Lisa out of our arms and toward the open bathroom door. Uncharitably I hoped she wouldnt throw up in our room anywhere, but I was glad for the privacy. Though, looking at the two suited guards at the door, I guess privacy was stretching it.

  We waited until the door closed behind the women, and then I looked at him. I take it you and Lisa dated in high school.

  He nodded. We did. He was going to make me ask. Fine.

  She recognized you once you were nude, Jason. What clued her in? You and the Summerland boys not quite identical when the clothes come off?

  Youre mad I made you work for it, he said, grinning.

  Not mad, just tired of being embarrassed about stupid things. Answer the question.

  I shave.

  I assume so does Keith.

  I wasnt talking about my face.

  Oh. You mean you shaved totally smooth in high school, too?

  No, but I did shave enough so that no body hair showed in the costumes for dance recitals. I didnt start shaving completely until after I started stripping. I got enough grief from the other guys about what I did shave, I cant imagine what they would have said if Id showed up smooth as I am now. He shook his head. I liked parts of high school, but other parts sucked.

  Amen to that, I said.

  There was a knock on the door. One of the suits turned and spoke quietly to the door. He started to take the flip-bar off.

  I called, Stop.

  He glanced at me, hand still on the flip-bar. He had brown eyes and hair to match. His eyes tried for hard and empty, but he was too fresh out of the package to carry it off.

  Our room, so we get to say who comes and who goes.

  Brown Hair looked at his partner, who was also young, with hair cut so short I could see his skin through the hair. He wore small silver-framed glasses over pale eyes. The haircut made me think ex-military. Id have to wait and see if the haircut matched anything else before making the final call.