Page 6 (2/2)

"It will return," she said

I was on the other side of the Jeep I was headed for the back of it, but I didn&039;t want to be within touching range of Liv right this second I&039;d broken free, but I didn&039;t want to keep pushing my luck

"The power may return, Liv, but Anita has broken his bond with you She has pushed his power aside"

"No," Liv said "He has chosen to let her go"

Jean-Claude laughed and it chased along my body, and I knew that Liv felt it, too "The Traveler would have kept ma petite, if he could have held her But he could not She is too big a fish even for his net"

"Liar!" Liv said

I left Liv and Jean-Claude to argue between themselves I&039;d broken free of the Traveler&039;s power, but it hadn&039;t been pretty, or easy Though cole, it had broken The sad truth was I hadn&039;t tried to shield , confident that she couldn&039;t roll ant Sometimes there isn&039;t a whole lot of difference between the two

I walked to the rear of the Jeep I crawled in the cargo area Edward, assassin of the undead, had persuaded me to let an acquaintance of his remodel my Jeep The wheel well on one side was now a secret co and extra ammo I&039;d felt silly when he&039;d talked me into it I didn&039;t feel silly now I opened the compartment and found a surprise A mini-Uzi coun

"You can never have too ned it, but it was Edward He&039;d started his career as a normal assassin, but humans becae I had another ift from Edward, too He had the best toys

I took off the coat and slid the Uzi&039;s strap acrossat my back Not perfect but not too noticeable The second Browning Hi-Poas in the compartment, too I put it in my pocket and two extra clips of around, the coat hung funny, but it was so big on me that it wasn&039;t conspicuous

The vaainst the Jeep looking sullen, as if Jean-Claude had had the last word, or won the argu her I wanted to shoot her Not because she&039;d betrayed us, but because she&039;d scared h reason Besides, it had been my own carelessness that let her scare me I tried not to punish other people for o unpunished, Liv," Jean-Claude said "The council would see it as a weakness"

She just looked at him "Hit me if it will make you feel better, Jean-Claude" She pushed away from the Jeep and crossed the distance between the strides She lifted her chin like a bully daring you to take the first swing

He shook his head "No, Liv" He touched her face gently "I had so his hand along her cheek

She sighed, rubbing her face against his palet into Jean-Claude&039;s pants since she hit town She&039;d never hidden her plan to sleep her way to the top She&039;d been veryfrustrated that he wouldn&039;t cooperate

She laid a gentle kiss on his pals could have been so different if it weren&039;t for your pet human"

I walked up behind them and it was like I wasn&039;t there They were in soht

"No, Liv," Jean-Claude said, "it would not have been different It was not Anita that kept you froers convulsed in her flesh He made a sharp movement and tore the front of her throat out

Liv collapsed to the pave in a crimson wash down her front, out of herat her throat

I calimpse of her spine deep in the wound Her eyes ide, pain-filled, frightened

Jean-Claude iping his hand off on a silk handkerchief he&039;d pulled froobbets of flesh to the paveh to die over

We both watched her writhing on the pavement Jean-Claude&039;s face was that e to draw comfort from the moon I didn&039;t have a mirror, and my face would never be his lovely perfection, but it was just as empty I watched Liv flop on the pavement and felt no pity

No cold wind came to save her I think that surprised Liv, because she reached for Jean-Claude Reached for hi with her eyes for hi stillness, as if he illing himself to vanish Maybe it did bother him to watch her die

If she&039;d been human, it would have been pretty fast But she wasn&039;t hu I wasn&039;t sure it was pity, but I couldn&039;t just stand there and watch anyone in such pain, such terror

I pulled the Browning out of the coat pocket and pointed it at her head "I&039; to end this"

"She will heal, ma petite It is a wound that her own vampire body will heal, in ti her?" I asked

"Because he knows she will heal without his aid"

"No wasted energy, huh?"

"Soh the blood, but it did look as if the wound was filling in; there was just so much to fill in

"We offer our throat, or wrist, or the bend of our elbow to each other as a forreater as an acknowledg, but this is the reality, ma petite Liv offered me her throat and I took it"

I stared into her wide, wide eyes "Did she know this was a possibility?"

"If she did not, then she is a fool Such violence is never condoned unless the lesser vareater vampire She questioned my dominance over her This is the price"

Liv turned onto her side, coughing Her breath rattled in her throat in a painful gasp Things were re-forh air to speak, she said, "Dahed blood Yummy

Jean-Claude held his hand out to et the blood out froernails without soap and water I hesitated, then took his hand We&039;d get bloodier before the night was over, it was aluaranteed

We walked towards the Circus The coat billowed behind ainst love cootten longer chains when I started dating Jean-Claude The shorter ones spilled out ofat aard o kill so Edould have been proud

13

The side door of the Circus has no handle The only way in is if someone opens the door Securityinward at his touch Open, waiting, expecting us Oe roo A stark rooht led into thethe Ferris wheel and eating cotton candy A shts and cotton candy in that direction

The light swung back and forth as if someone had just hit it The naked bulb ht dance until it was hard to tell shadow fro attached to its surface I didn&039;t knohat it was, except it glinted dully in the strange light

I shoved the door flat against the wall just to make sure no one was behind it Then I puton the roo," I said

Jean-Claude reached up and touched the bulb He had to stand on tiptoe to do it Whoever had set it swinging was over six feet

"The room is empty, ma petite," Jean-Claude said

"What&039;s on the door?" It was flat and thin, and my mind couldn&039;t make a shape out of it Whatever it was, it was hammered to the door with silver nails

Jean-Claude let out a long sigh "Mon Dieu"

I crossed the roo pointed two-handed at the floor Jean-Claude said the room was empty I trusted that, but I trusted ered to the door The front of her body was covered with blood, but her throat was perfect I wondered if the Traveler had helped her after alked away She coughed, and cleared her throat so violently it sounded painful "I wanted to see your faces when you saw the Master of Beasts&039; compromise," she said "The Traveler refused to let hireet you in person This is the Master of Beasts&039; calling card How do you like it?" She sounded eager in a predatory, unpleasant sort of way What the fuck was on the door?

Even standing next to it, I didn&039;t knohat it was Thin rivulets of blood were seeping down the door from it The sweetwas almost paper thin, but had a consistency ainst the five silver nails

I suddenly had an awful idea So awful, ht it I took three steps back fro and tried to see the silhouette There; there; two ars, shoulders It was a human skin Once I found the shape of it, I couldn&039;t stop seeing it I knew that when I closed ht that it would hauntthat used to be a person

"Where are the hands and feet?" I asked My voice sounded strange, distant, alled with the pure horror of it

"It is merely the back of someone&039;s body, not the entire skin,skin off of fingers and toes when your victi," Jean-Claude said His voice was utterly flat, carefully e? You mean whoever this as alive?"

"You are the police expert,this much if they hadn&039;t been alive," I said

"Yes, ht I did know that But the sight of a human skin nailed to a door had thrown me It was a first, even for me "Sweet Jesus, do the silver nails mean the victim was vampire or lycanthrope?"

"Most likely," Jean-Claude said

"Does that mean they&039;re still alive?"

He looked at ed to be empty and eloquent all at the same time "They were alive when the skin was removed If vampire, or lycanthrope, the mere removal of the skin would not be sufficient to kill theh me from head to feet It wasn&039;t exactly fear It was horror Horror at the casualness of it, the callousness of it "Asher mentioned Padma Is he the Beast Master?"

"The Master of Beasts," Jean-Claude said "You cannot kill him for this indiscretion, ," I said The horror was there like a coating of ice underneath e was fear Fear of anyone that would skin another person alive just toabout a person Told you ho rules they had Told me, in no uncertain terms, that I should kill him as soon as I saw hiht, ht is about survival for all of us Reer"

I stared at the thing on the door "I ae We must save the rest of our people"

"If they&039;re alive"

"They were alive when I came upstairs to wait for you," Liv said

"Who&039;s skin is it?" I asked

She laughed, and it was her usual bray All healed, all better "Guess," she said "If you guess right, I&039;ll tell you, but only if you guess right"

It tookat her I shook aet downstairs"

"Well said, o down"

"No," Liv said "No, you&039;ll guess You&039;ll guess who it is I want to see your face I want to see the pain in your eyes while you think about each of your friends, Anita I want to watch the horror on your face while you picture it happening to each of them"

"What did I ever do to you, Liv?"

"You stood in my way," she said

I shook un at her "Three strikes and you&039;re out, Liv"

She frowned "What are you talking about?"

"Betraying us was one Trying to roll me with your eyes was nuo But you took an oath to protect all of Jean-Claude&039;s people You swore to use that wonderful body, that strength, to protect those weaker than yourself Whoever belongs to that skin was someone you swore to protect Instead, you betrayed them Delivered them over to hell Strike three, Liv"

"You can&039;t kill me, Anita The Traveler will heal ht kneecap She fell to the floor, holding the shattered leg, writhing, screa

I felt myself smile, most unpleasant "I hope it hurts, Liv I hope it hurts like hell"

The teh that I half expected to see my breath Liv&039;s screams stopped, and she stared up at me with her violet eyes If looks could have killed, I&039;d have dropped on the spot

"You cannot harot to her feet with the faintest of limps She walked to the door with its awful burden She stretched the edge of the thing, showing holes in the skin that had nothing to do with the skinning process "I fed on him while they tortured hiers ca her fingers in and out of her uess who it was, and she&039;d tell ame I shot her in the other knee

She collapsed to the floor, shrieking "Don&039;t you understand? You can&039;t hurt me"

"Oh, I think I can, Liv, I think I can" I shot the right knee again She lay on her back, screa, because her own touch hurt

The Traveler&039;s power raised the hair onto heal her If I wasn&039;t going to kill her, I needed to be soh to know that when she could stand she was going to be pissed Not that I blah for her to get to her feet, it&039;d be self-defense Of course, it&039;d be premeditated self-defense

"Coive his blessings so easily a second time, or would this be the third? He will heal her at his own pace now A blessing and a punishifts are wont to be"

He opened the door that led downstairs His hand came aith blood on it He held the hand out in front of him like he didn&039;t knohat to do with it He finally walked through the door, wiping his hand along the wall, s the blood down the stones in a faint crier we delay, theline he started down the steps I gave one last glance to Liv She lay on her side, crying, shrieking She was shrieking that she was going to see me dead I should have shot her in the head until her brains leaked on the floor If I was truly ruthless, I would have But I didn&039;t I left her alive and screa threats Edould have been so disappointed