16 Blood Noir ab-16

by Laurell K. Hamilton

  Hell, no.

  You grabbed her first, Rowe. Maybe she overreacted, but you did touch her.

  No way, I am not dropping my gun.

  Just open your hand, and slide away from it, Shadwell said.

  Theyve mind-fucked you, Rowe said.

  She could shoot you before you even brought your weapon up.

  Im her bodyguard, for Gods sake, I wouldnt hurt her.

  Then drop the gun, I said, softly.

  He gave me a look that was part hate and part confusion. How the hell did we get here? he said.

  You touched me.

  A lot of guys touched you last night, according to the last shift.

  And there, there it was, the sad fact that once a woman lets more than one man touch her, some men think less of her. More than that, they think they should get a shot, too. A woman who will sleep with more than one man will do anything, right? Wrong, but hed touched me out of anger, and frustration, and a confusion that had less to do with his job and more to do with him not understanding me.

  It seemed a stupid reason to get shot, but Id seen stupider. You didnt touch me to keep me safe, Rowe. You touched me because there was a naked stripper in my room, and I was naked, and he helped me put on yet another mans coat to come out into the hallway, to meet even more men. You touched me in anger, and I reacted to that anger. Dont ever touch me in anger again, or well finish this talk I dropped his arm and fell on him at the same time, pinning his upper arms under my hands, with the gun still in one. He probably could have wriggled away, but his eyes were wide and startled. I had his gun arm pinned. I leaned over his face, and spoke low and soft; with each word I moved my face lower, until with the last few syllables I was just above his mouth. And-you-will-not-like-the-end-of-the-conversation.

  Richards voice behind me said, Anita, dont.

  I moved back enough to see Rowes eyes. He was afraid, I could taste that on the air above his skin, but underneath that, he wanted me to kiss him. He wanted me to finish what Id started. Hed have let me do it, at least a kiss. That made me stop. That Rowe, with a gun still in one hand, would have let me press him to the floor and kiss the hell out of him, and not have fought back.

  Something had gone horribly wrong with the ardeur. I backed off from Rowe and stood up, carefully. Hed let his gun fall from his hand. He stared up at me more like a child caught in the dark. He whispered, Please.

  I shook my head, and said the only thing I could think of. Im sorry. I went for the door to our room. The werewolves followed me, and this time neither Shadwell nor Rowe tried to stop them.

  44

  O NCE THE DOOR shut behind us, I wanted to run to Richard and be held. I wanted to demand to know what was wrong with Jean-Claude. But we had a stranger in the room. A stranger whom I really couldnt afford to kick out, not until I knew what the weretiger inside me was going to do. That much I remembered from last night.

  I looked at Richard. He was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses. His hair was piled up under the hat so he looked like he had short hair. He was wearing a bulky jacket. He had come, but he was still hiding. His day job was as a junior high science teacher. Parents dont like the monsters around their children. Too many fairy tales about the big bad wolf, maybe. So he hid to keep the job he loved, but it was like Clark Kent trying not to be Superman. In real life its harder to pull off.

  This is Crispin, I said. Hes one of the Las Vegas tigers.

  What are you doing in town, Crispin? Richard said, and his voice wasnt quite as friendly as it had been in the hallway.

  I was flown in for a bachelorette party upstairs. Then I felt the little queen call, and I had to answer.

  Richard lowered his glasses enough so I could see the dark, perfect brown of his eyes. The look in them was not friendly either. Hes already calling you pet names.

  Ulfric, Jamil said, business, please.

  Richard sighed, deep enough that it made his broad shoulders rise and fall. He took off the jacket, revealing a plain white T-shirt. It set off his summer tan nicely.

  Youre right, Jamil. Business first. He looked at the weretiger. We need to talk in private and there is no place in this room far enough away that you wont hear us.

  Im not sure its safe for him to leave, Richard. The weretiger went very, very strange last night. I dont know what would have happened if Crispin hadnt been nearby.

  Whos this? Shang-Da asked. He was looking down at the now-naked man on the floor at the foot of the bed. Apparently, my stranger had shifted back. He was still unconscious, but he wasnt furry anymore.

  Hes another weretiger.

  Why did you need two? Richard asked.

  Crispin is a white tiger, but this one is red and black. I remember enough to know that it was like the tiger inside me needed a variety. One tiger didnt fix what was wrong.

  We couldnt talk in front of Crispin because he belonged to Max of Las Vegas. We couldnt afford for another Master of the City to find out that something was wrong with our power structure. But I was afraid to have Crispin leave, too.

  I finally said, Okay, we cant talk in front of Crispin freely, but tell me this, is Jean-Claude all right? I had to know at least that.

  Hes fine, Richard said, honest, hes fine.

  I must have looked like I didnt believe him, because he repeated it. A tightness in my stomach loosened, and I felt tears press at the back of my eyes. God, why was I about to cry?

  There was a sound from the bed. We all turned to it. Jason moved just his head enough to see us all. God, what happened? His voice sounded choked, and thick with either old screams or long disuse. It occurred to me to ask what time it was.

  Theres a better question, Richard said, softly.

  Whats that supposed to mean? I asked.

  What day is it? His voice was gentle.

  I stared at him. No, no way.

  Its not the next morning, Anita. Its the day after.

  Jesus, Crispin said, my boss is going to be pissed.

  Jean-Claude has been in contact with Max in Vegas.

  I started to go to the bed and sit down, but there was a naked stranger by the bed. Shit, Richard, what happened? What the hell happened?

  What weve told Max is that you seem to carry a variety of beasts inside you. That youre a panwere. But being Jean-Claudes human servant prevents the beasts from manifesting completely.

  I almost said out loud, Is that really the truth? but I let it go. Richard had very carefully said, This is what were telling Max, the Master of the City of Las Vegas. The ultimate master of the weretiger Id borrowed for two days.

  A panwere, Crispin said, thats like not possible. I mean its legend, but

  Ive seen it for real, I said, softly. He was one of the most frighteninghe was evil, and I dont use the E-word lightly.

  Jasons voice, still thick with sleep, or whatever, said, Little queen isnt a pet name, Ulfric. Its what the tigers call dominant females that could be powerful enough to break off and form their own group, if the main queen allows it.

  I nodded. I remember part of that conversation before everything went dark.

  We need to talk, Anita, and we cant talk freely in front of him. Richard pointed at Crispin.

  I dont know if I have a room to go to, Crispin said. He frowned. Why didnt Lucian come and find me?

  Lucian is the vampire who came to strip with him at the party, I explained.

  Truthfully, I half-expected to find him here with you, Richard said.

  I gave him the look the comment deserved. Thanks, Richard, you always know just what to say.

  He sighed. Yeah, to piss you off.

  I nodded. Dont knock it, Richard, you have a real gift for it.

  Wouldnt it be good to know who this one belongs to? Jamil said. He was standing over the last unconscious man.

  Check his wallet, Crispin said, its got to be on the floor somewhere.

  It was a good idea. It made me think better of him. I dont know about Richard. It would take a lot more than one g
ood suggestion for him to like a strange man who had had sex with me for two days in a hotel room. Then I had a thought, a really bad thought.

  I went for the bathroom and my travel kit. The one that had things in it like toothbrushes, razors, birth-control pills. I knew what Id find. Knew it. But I had to look, had to make sure.

  I put the gun on the back of the toilet while I got out the little round of pills. There was an extra pill. Well, fuck.

  Richard was in the doorway. Whats wrong?

  I just held up the pills. Guess.

  He looked stricken, like someone had hit him in the gut. Mother of God.

  I nodded. I had sex with three men for two days and Ive missed a pill.

  You didnt use condoms? he asked.

  My body chose that minute to remind me that what goes in, comes out. I shook my head. We were all metaphysically mind-fucked, so no, we didnt take precautions. I need some privacy.

  Anita

  I need to clean up, Richard, okay? I fought not to cry, or scream at him. I wasnt mad at him. I was too confused to be angry with anyone.

  This isnt your fault, he said.

  The ardeur went crazy, why? I asked.

  He stepped in, and whispered, It had help going wrong.

  I stared up at him. What are you talking about?

  We need privacy to talk.

  Shut the door, Ill turn on the shower. I need some answers, Richard. Hell, I need a morning-after pill.

  Doesnt that tread a little too close to abortion? he said.

  Could you watch me be pregnant with some strangers baby? Could you help me raise a strangers baby?

  He opened his mouth, shut it. I dontno.

  No, I said. I shook my head. Micah and Nathaniel were willing to help me when we thought I was pregnant from someone we knew, one of my lovers, our friends. But this is a stranger. God, Richard, God!

  He came to me then, wrapped his arms around me. I stayed stiff in his arms for a moment, and then I collapsed into his body. I clung to him. I let his strength and his nearness hold me. I let him hold me while I wept and screamed and wailed. I lost it completely, and Richard held me while I did it.

  45

  I CRIED UNTIL my knees went weak, and then Richards arms tightened around me and held me. He held me standing, pressed against his body, when my own body would have fallen to the floor. When the crying began to quiet and he could feel that I was standing again, he loosened his hold on me enough to bend back and see my face.

  Well get through this, he said.

  I looked up at him. His hair was trailing down from the edge of the hat. Shoulder-length waves of brown with that hint of gold in the lights trailed around his face and the long firm line of his neck. I wanted to see all that hair loose around those perfect cheekbones. I went on tiptoe, found it hurt a little, but did it anyway. I lifted the hat off, and watched a little more hair spill down, but not all.

  He turned his head so I could see the really bad bun that someone had done for him. I started to reach for it, to free his hair, but he gripped my wrists and set me back flat-footed in front of him. Leave it.

  Why? I asked.

  He gave me a gentle smile. Because once you start playing with my hair you tend to get distracted. We cant afford that right now.

  I nodded, agreeing with him. Im too sore to get too distracted for a while. I wondered why I felt so awful, but two days of it, that explains it.

  He kissed my knuckles on both hands, then let go of them. Your face looks so lost.

  I nodded again. I feel lost. I looked up at him. What happened to me, Richard? Why cant I sense Jean-Claude?

  He seemed to think about it, then said, Turn on the water. The sound will help drown things out from the tiger.

  I went to the shower without another word. I needed to get clean anyway. I could smell the men on my skin, whiffs of it as I moved. It wasnt a bad smell, really, but it was the smell of strangers. I had woken up with the perfume of someones skin against mine before, but never a scent I did not know. I knelt, slowly, careful of all that hurt, and turned on the water.

  Richard started talking, Do you remember Marmee Noir?

  I tried to look over my shoulder, but found that the big claw marks on my back hurt too much to do that, so I turned more of me to look up at him. The Mother of All Darkness is kind of hard to forget.

  He looked relieved. Good, Jean-Claude wasnt sure how much of your memory shed wiped.

  I stared at him. What are you talking about, Richard? Marmee Noir didnt wipe my memory. I remember every time Ive seen her, even in dream.

  I did not like the look he gave me; it was too soft, too gentle, tootoo you-poor-baby. No, you dont.

  Stop hinting and just tell me, Richard.

  She rolled you two days ago. Shes the reason the ardeur went crazy.

  I tried to think back. What was the last thing I remembered clearly? But it was like the harder I thought at it, the more my mind kept sliding away, as if the surface of the thoughts were slippery and I couldnt hold on. I shook my head. Im a necromancer; vampires cant just mind-fuck me. Especially not from thousands of miles away. Shes in freaking Europe. She couldnt have rolled me this completely from there.

  He shrugged those wide shoulders. Then why cant you remember what happened? What caused the ardeur to rise out of control worse than its ever been before?

  I dont know, but I swallowed hard enough that it sort of hurt. The water was too hot now, steam rising from it. I added more cold and tried to think about what hed said.

  The tiger inside me went crazy first. It did things that none of my other beasts have ever done.

  Like what? he asked.

  I told him the quickest version I could think of. When I was done, he looked way too grim for comfort. What is it, Richard? Why that look? What the hell is wrong with me?

  Were not a hundred percent certain, but you put out a call to all the weretigers in this country. Maximillian, the master of Vegas, called Jean-Claude with all sorts of threats. Said youd stolen or were trying to steal away one of his weretigers. He didnt mind you sleeping with him, but you werent allowed to call him as a mate.

  What does this call mean? Crispin talked about it, too. Like it should be in capital letters or something.

  Christine was the only weretiger we had to talk to, but shes not a natural-born. She survived an attack, so shes not an expert, but the call is a way for the dominant tigresses to get lovers, and eventually a mate. Only the very dominant can do it, and if Maxs fit was accurate, your call blanketed the country, or damn near. Max thought it was just his clan because you had his tiger, but when his wife contacted the other clans, just to seethey were all hit by this call.

  What does that mean, hit? I asked. The water was the right temperature now. I badly wanted to get clean, but I wanted the information, too.

  Apparently, the unattached males all felt your call. Only the strongest dominant queens were able to keep their males from getting on the nearest plane, train, or bus to answer that call.

  I stared at him. What?

  He spread his hands and knelt beside me. It wasnt you, Anita. Youre good, but youre not this good.

  Youre saying that Marmee Noir used me to call the tigers here.

  Yes.

  Why? What does she gain from it?

  First, Jean-Claude wants neither you nor Jason to tell anyone that it was Marmee Noir that did this. Hes afraid that if the other vampires know she can use you like this, they may kill you to keep her from gaining more power.

  I understood the reasoning. If it hadnt been me that would have to die, I couldnt even argue with it. Understood, but what does she gain from the tigers coming to me?

  Jean-Claude isnt certain, but Elinore thinks that the Mother is gathering her forces. The vampire council has finally found something that can unite them. Theyre terrified of what will happen if she wakes from her sleep completely. They are very close to voting to make sure she never wakes.

  I whispered, You mean the counci
l is going to kill Marmee Noir?

  The last intelligence Jean-Claude got is that there is a vote before the council.

  Shit, Richard, shit, I mean, the I almost said the Harlequin out loud. I stopped myself because to say their name aloud was to risk death. Theyd hunt you down and kill you just for saying their name. The only exception to that rule was if they contacted you first. Then, since they were the spies, assassins, jury, and executioner of the vampire world, well, you were in deep shit.

  Wed had a visit just in December. Though theyd been sent to police Malcolm and his vampire church. Theyd broken their own rules to give us a very solid scare. Wed lost good men in the fight. Hell, wed nearly lost Jean-Claude, Richard, and me. It had been a very, very near thing.

  Once the Harlequin had been Marmee Noirs right hand, but the ones wed talked to seemed as frightened of her as the rest of the vampires. Theyd given me something to keep her away. What was it?

  I looked at Richard, searched his face. They gave me something to keep her from manifesting around me. I know they gave me something, but I cant remember what it was. The first cold trickle of fear wormed its way through my veins. Most of the time with memory magic, the more you talked about it, the more you remembered. Not always, but for me, yes. Now this bit of knowledge was gone. Shed wiped it away. Wiped it away without ever being near me.

  It was a charm. He made a circle with his thumb and finger. About this big.

  Did it have a many-headed animal on it?

  Yes, and he smiled. See, you do remember.

  I shook my head. No, I dont, but I saw the mark on Crispins arm where it branded him. He said I jerked off my own cross and threw it away. He also said I did the same to my charm. I didnt remember the charm. I didnt remember it when I saw the shape of it burned into his arm. I still dont, Richard. I just remember the shape in his arm, thats it.

  He looked way too serious again. You need to get in the shower, but theres more news you cant share with the weretigers.

  Just tell me.

  Marmee Noir damaged your connection to Jean-Claude.