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Chapter 28

Jason walked past ht for the bathroo a shower" It was pushy, but he did smell like a decayed corpse We&039;d driven back with all the s rolled down Most of the time if you stink, you can&039;t smell someone else I had some of the rotted stuff on me, but I could still so away

"Wait," Larry said

Jason turned, but not like he was happy

"Use"It&039;s an hour until dawn If ant everybody tucked in before that, it ht we&039;d all sleep in this rooht," I said

"Why?" he asked

Jean-Claude stood by the love seat looking lovely and unhelpful Jason just looked impatient

"Safety in nuht, but I can take the olf next door and let him shower Or don&039;t you trust ain

"I trust you, Larry You did good tonight"

I expected a set it He looked very serious "I killed that va to have to kill everything in the room"

"So did I" He sank into one of the chairs "I&039;ve never killed anyone before"

"It was a va a person"

"Yeah, right And how lanced at Jean-Claude sive us some privacy here?" I asked

"I will hear what you are saying no matter where I stand in this room," Jean-Claude said

"Illusion is all; just back off," I said

Jean-Claude bowed his head slightly and took Jason to one side of the roo, but at least he wouldn&039;t be standing over us

"You don&039;t really believe he&039;s dead, do you?" Larry asked

"You sahat happened to those two va else is illusion"

"You think he ever looks like that?"

I looked at Jean-Claude&039;s back for a minute "I&039;m afraid I do"

"How can you date hi that?"

I shook my head "I don&039;t know"

"Corpse or not, you tried to keep him alive" He reacted to the look on my face "Alive, undead, whatever you want to call it, you tried to preserve it You were scared he was really dead"

I just looked at hi, or undead being Hell, Anita, Bruce was so newly dead he seemed human"

"Probably why one bullet to the chest finished him"

"How a him, you mean?"

"Yeah"

"They are monsters, Larry Some of them are prettier than others, but they are monsters Never doubt that"

"You can honestly tell me that you think Jean-Claude is a monster" It was more statement than question

I almost looked at the monster in question, but I didn&039;t I&039;d looked at hiht "Yeah, I do"

"Now, ask her if she thinks she&039;s a monster" Jean-Claude leaned on the back of the love seat, his arms crossed over his chest

Larry looked a little startled, but he said, "Anita?"

I shrugged "Sometimes"

Jean-Claude smiled "See, Lawrence? Anita thinks we&039;re all monsters"

"Larry&039;s not," I said

"Give him time"

That was a little too close to the truth "I asked for privacy, or did you forget?"

"I forget nothing, rows short My wolf is not the only one that needs a bath Only our young friend is still fresh"

I looked at Larry There wasn&039;t a drop of blood on him He was the only one who hadn&039;t wrestled with vaet anybody to bleed on ht"

"Don&039;t joke, Larry," I said "With Serephina I think you&039;ll get another chance"

"Sadly, true, o without a coffin?" I asked

He s I aive ht"

"If I have not thanked you for saving ies"

I looked at him He looked pleasant, amused, but it was a mask His expression when he didn&039;t want you to knohat he was thinking, but didn&039;t want you to know that he didn&039;t want you to know "Don&039;t mention it"

"I will remember that you saved me, ma petite You could have been free of h "You&039;re welcoet this crud off me," Jason said He sounded just a touch frantic I was betting he&039;d be trying to scrub off more than just dirt But memories don&039;t wash that easily More&039;s the pity

"Go on, both of you Jason can scrub up in Larry&039;s roorinned at ood tonight"

I finally got the smile I&039;d expected "Come on, Jason, hot water and fresh towels await" Larry held the door for Jason and gave ain with Jean-Claude Would this night never end? "You never answered my question about the coffin," I said

"I will be alright for another night or two"

"How did Serephina go froht?"

He shook his head "I truly do not know, ma petite She surprisedas she did not haruests for the day"

"Are you surprised she let us go?" I asked

"Yes," he said

Jean-Claude pushed away from the love seat "Take your shower,o next, wash the blood out of your hair"

He put a hand up to the back of his hair He grimaced at the feel of it "Distasteful, but I want a bath, o first"

I looked at hi moment

"If you do not hurry, I will not have time for a bath before dawn I would hate to sleep on your clean sheets covered in blood"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly "Fine; just be sure you stay out of the bathrooe in on you"

"Yeah, right" Though, strangely enough, I believed hi time A frontal assault just wasn&039;t his style I went to take my shower

Chapter 29

Ronnie had dragged me into Victoria&039;s Secret I had pointed out that no one would see ym locker rooic escaped undy, the color of wine-dark peonies It glowed againston ive you a little color The bite s to sink in fro marks on my wrist were deeper They were two neat little holes, almost dainty It didn&039;t hurt as much as it should have Maybe vampires did have painkillers in their saliva, or s

I still couldn&039;t believe that I&039;d let his into me Shit

I pulled the robe closer around h to be cozy on a winter evening, and had wide silky cuffs, and uely Victorian, a little masculine I looked delicate in it, like a Victorian doll that hadn&039;t gotten completely dressed yet I put on an oversized black t-shirt under the robe It ruined so but a robe and underwear out to greet the boys

I retrieved the Browning fro my shower I carried it with me to the bedrooun, but I didn&039;t feel like slipping on a holster I put the Browning away and settled for slipping the Firestar into the robe pocket Made the cloth hang funny, but if soh the door I was ready for it

Jean-Claude was standing at the hen I opened the bedrooainst the &039;s edge staring out into the darkness He turned when the door opened, though I knew he&039;d heard me before that

"Ma petite, you look lovely"

"It&039;s the only robe I own," I said

"Of course," he said His face had that aain; this tiht blue eyes were very intense; they didn&039;t match the nonchalant expression Maybe I didn&039;t want to knohat he was thinking

"Where are Larry and Jason?"

"They have coone," he said

"Gone?"

"Jason had a sudden craving, and Larry drove him in the Jeep"

I just looked at hi as roo, ma petite The room service menu is soht; he needed protein" Jean-Claude sht you&039;d prefer take-out"

"Very funny You shouldn&039;t have sent theht,as they stay in town, safe from Xavier"

"How can you be so sure?" I crossed ainst theand looked at ht I think you worry unnecessarily about hiht of heroics doesn&039;t keep you safe," I said

"It will be dawn soon, ht of day All the va shelter They will have no tito read past his pleasant face "I wish I was as sure as you seem to be"

He smiled then, and pushed away from the wall He slid out of his jacket and let it fall to the rose-colored carpet

"What are you doing?"

"Undressing"

I jerked a thuan unbuttoning his shirt

"In the other rooht now," I said

He pulled the white shirt out of his pants, working the last few buttons as he walked towards me The flesh of his chest and stomach hadon blood, part of it h the shirt marred the pale perfection of his body

I expected hi, but he walked past me The back of the shirt was brownish with dried blood He peeled it off his skin with a sound like tearing He dropped the shirt on the carpet and walked into the bedroo after hiht that&039;s what they were Hard to tell through all the blood He left the bedroo in the bathtub

I sat down in one of the straight-back chairs I wasn&039;t sure what else I was supposed to do Water ran for a long ti water He was in the tub He hadn&039;t closed the bathroom door first Great

"Ma petite," he called

I sat there for ato move

"Ma petite, I know you are there I can hear you breathing"