Page 10 (1/2)

20

I&039;d fallen asleep with led against his lap, h? I was suddenly awake, pushing to a sitting position before I could really see Jason sat leaning against a stone wall It was his lap I&039;d woken up in He gave me a very watered-down version of his usual come-hither smile, but it left his eyes cold and tired He wasn&039;t up to leering at

Jean-Claude and Pad in French They stood on either side of a wooden table A man was bound face-down to the table with silver bands at wrist, ankles, and neck Bands that were bolted to the table itself He was nude, butThe entire back of his body was one raw bloody mess I&039;d found the owner of the skin on the door Rafael&039;s darkly handsome face was slack, unconscious I hoped he stayed that way for a long ti, was head of the second-largest and strongest band of shapeshifters in the city He was no one&039;s toy What the hell was he doing here like this? "What is Rafael doing here?" I asked Jason

He answered, voice tired, dragging, "The Master of Beasts wants the wererats Rafael wasn&039;t strong enough not to co any of the other rats He delivered hiainst the wall, eyes closed "They couldn&039;t break him They couldn&039;t break Sylvie either"

"Sylvie?" I stared around the roo She was across the rooht on her wrists, unconscious Most of her was hidden from view by the table that Rafael was chained to She didn&039;t look hurt

"Why is she here?"

"The Master of Beasts called the wolves, too Richard wasn&039;t here to answer, so Sylvie came She protected the rest of us, just like Rafael did for his people"

"What are Jean-Claude and the Beastie-Boy arguing about?"

"The Traveler granted us our freedoain The Master of Beasts says the Rat King is not our people, nor our friend"

"He&039;shis eyes "I knew you&039;d say that"

I got to ainst the wall I was a little unsteady, but not bad I walked towards the arguing vampires The French was hot and furious

Jean-Claude turned to lish was heavily accented It often was after he&039;d been speaking a lot of French

Padma held up a hand "No, do not influence her"

Jean-Claude gave a sweeping bow "As you like"

I wanted to touch Rafael I could see his back rising and falling, but I wouldn&039;t really believe he was okay until I touched him My hands sort of hovered over him, but there was al I finally touched his hair, then drew back I didn&039;t want to wake hiht now

"Who is this one to you?" Pad He&039;s h the open dungeon door The moment she appeared, I kneas the Traveler He leaned that very feed to look masculine "You cannot be friends with every monster in the city"

I stared up at him "Want to bet?"

He shook his head, Hannah&039;s blond hair bouncing back and forth just like in the shairlish "Oh, no, Anita Blake, I will not bargain with you again this night" He started down the steps He&039;d taken off the high heels, and glided down the stairs in stocking feet "But there will be other nights"

"I asked for safe passage and you gave it," I said "You can&039;t hurt us anyht only, Anita"

"I do not re placed on your promise," Jean-Claude said

The Traveler waved the objection away "It was understood"

"Not by me," I said

He stopped on the other side of the table, by Padrey eyes and frowned "Anyone else would have known that I ht alone"

"As you yourself have said, Traveler, she is not anyone," Jean-Claude said

"He is one council ain for all," Padht, but the rest he cannot do He cannot free you all without a vote of all represented here"

"Then his pro," I said

"If I had dreamt that you meant safety for our entire stay," the Traveler said, "I would have asked for more than merely the truth of the Earthmover&039;s death"

"We made a deal I kept my end of it," I said

He tried to cross his arms over his chest, but had to settle for his stoned to look tough "You have given ht be wise to not be so problematic"

"Threaten all you want," I said, "but for tonight you can&039;t touch us"

"Do not let it go to your head" His voice had crawled down a few octaves, dragging out of Hannah&039;s throat

Ito stroke his hair and not daring to Tears pressed like a hand against the back of oes with us, or your word is worth shit, Traveler"

"I will not give him up," Padma said

"You will do as you are told," the Traveler said

I turned away froht of Rafael&039;s butchered body I also didn&039;t want the bad guys to see ave me a better view of Sylvie What I saw stopped me in my tracks

Her pants were down around her ankles, shoes still on I took a step towards her, then another, and was alot to her I slid to hs Her hands were balled into fists, eyes squeezed tight She hispering so, very softly, over and over I touched her arh for me to hear the one word, "No, no, no" Over and over and over like aabout putting a bullet in Sylvie earlier today Noas crying for her Soh sociopath I turned out to be I had my problems with Sylvie, but this She didn&039;t even like men under the best of circumstances ItOr maybe it was just that I remembered her as so proud, so confident and full of herself To see her like this was almost more than I could bear

"Sylvie, Sylvie, it&039;s Anita" I wanted to pull her clothes back in place, but was afraid to touch her again until I was sure she kneas me "Sylvie, can you hear me?"

Jason came to stand with us "Let me try"

"She won&039;t want a man to touch her"

"I won&039;t touch her" He knelt on the other side of her "I smell like pack You don&039;t" He very carefully slid his ar not to touch her "Smell the pack, Sylvie Know the co no, but that was it She wouldn&039;t even open her eyes

I stood up and faced the room "Who did this?"

"She could have stopped it at any tiiven one free"

I screamed, "WHO DID THIS!"

"I did," Padma said

I stared down at the floor, and when I ca to cut you in half"

"Ma petite, you will hit Rafael and perhaps et in a crowd, but he&039;d survive the Browning I shook my head "He dies For this, he dies"

The Traveler stepped beside Padma "Would you slay this body?" He spread his hands wide and stepped in front of Padma "Would you kill your Willie&039;s lady love?"

Tears hot enough to scald trailed down my cheeks "Damn you, damn you all"

"Padma did not personally rape your friend," the Traveler said "Any unskilled man can rape, but it takes a true artist to skin a live shapeshifter"

"Who then?" My voice was just a little calun, and we all knew it I dropped the Uzi, letting it slide back under the coat I wrapped ht about it

Jean-Claude started walking towards me He knew me too well "Ma petite, we all walk out of here in safety at least this night You have given us this Do not destroy us all for vengeance now"

Fernando walked through the door, and I knew He ht not be the only one, but he&039;d been one of them He smirked at me "The Traveler wouldn&039;t let me have Hannah"

I started to tre that started in my arms and spread across my shoulders and down my body I&039;d never wanted to kill anyone as badly as I wanted to kill hilided down the steps in his bare feet, hands roving across his chest, playing in the line of hair that started on his belly Rubbing his hands along the silk of his pants

"Maybe I&039;ll have you chained to a wall," he said

I felt a smile stretch across my face I spoke very clearly, very carefully, because if I didn&039;t, I was going to screa to shoot hi there "Who helped you?"

Pad him into the circle of his arms I saw real fear on the ant or too stupid to understand

"I did it h to choke e on your own Who helped you?"

The Traveler touched Fernando&039;s shoulder "Others, unnamed others If the woman can tell you, let her If not, you do not need to know You will not be hunting theht," I said The tre That cold, icy center of iven up a piece of myself, spread outward I was calm, deadly calm I could have shot them all and not blinked "But you said it yourself, Traveler: there will be other nights"

Jason was talking in a low voice and Sylvie was answering I glanced at her She wasn&039;t crying Her face was pale and strangely stiff, as if everything was held inside, tight and hard Jason undid the locks on the chains and she slid down the wall He tried to help her pull up her pants, but she pushed him away

I knelt beside her "Let me help, please"

Sylvie tried to pull the pants up herself, but her hands weren&039;t working right She kept fu and finally collapsed to the floor in tears

I started to dress her, and she letso badly, she couldn&039;t do much Her pants were pink linen I couldn&039;t find the underwear It was gone I knew she&039;d been wearing soo without She was a lady, and ladies didn&039;t do that

When everything was covered, she finally met my eyes The look in her brown eyes made me want to look away, but I didn&039;t If she could have that much pain in her face, the least I could do was look at it No flinching I&039;d even stopped crying

"I didn&039;t give them the pack," she said

"I know," I said I wanted to touch her, reassure her, and was afraid to

She collapsed forward, sobbing; not crying, but sobbing like she&039;d cry out bits and pieces of herself on the floor I put ainsther slowly I leaned over next to her ear and breathed a sound into it, "He&039;s dead They&039;re all dead"

She quieted slowly, then looked up at me "You swear it?"

"I swear it"

She huddled against me and said softly, "I won&039;t kill Richard"

"Good, because I&039;d hate to kill you now"

She laughed, and it turned it into , but softer now, quieter, not quite so desperate

I looked up at the others Theat "

Padma nodded "Very well"

Fernando turned to him "Father, you can&039;t let her do this The wolves, yes, but not the Rat King"

"Hush, Fernando"

"He cannot be allowed to live, if he does not subh to be doer than you&039;ll ever be, and you hate him for it"

Fernando took a step towards me Padma and the Traveler both held him back, a hand on each shoulder

Jean-Claude stepped between us "Let us be on our way, "

The Traveler stepped away from Fernando slowly I wasn&039;t sure who he trusted least,the chains that held Rafael in place The wererat was still unconscious, oblivious to his fate

I got to my feet, and Sylvie came with me She pushed away froht her, and Jason caught her other arhed

Sylvie stuhter cut ainst her cheek, cradled her face against mine with my free hand, lips by her ear "He&039;s dead, remember that"

She leaned into htened and let Jason help her walk towards the stairs

Jean-Claude lifted Rafael in his ar the , but his eyes stayed shut

I stared at the Traveler "You&039;ll need to find another horse to ride," I said "Hannah comes with us"

"Of course," he said

"Now, Traveler," I said

Arrogance spread across his face It was a look I&039;d never seen on Hannah&039;s face before "Do not let one act of ical bravado make you foolish, Anita"

I smiled and kneasn&039;t pleasant It was bitter and arrogant and angry "My patience is all gone tonight, Traveler Get out of her now, or" I shoved the Browning into Fernando&039;s groin They were all huddled that close

Fernando&039;s eyes widened, but he wasn&039;t nearly as afraid as he should have been I pressed the barrel in a little harder; runt but leaned intoto try and kiss hed while his lips hovered over hter, not the gun, that made him draw back

Hannah collapsed to her knees The Traveler had gone Soht of Willie and he ca at uys One proble?" Fernando asked

"Because you are too fucking stupid to survive" I drew back froun still pointed at him "Is he your only son?" I asked

"My only child," Padma said

"My condolences," I said No, I didn&039;t shoot hiry eyes, I knew there&039;d be other opportunities Soh desperation Some people fall into it out of stupidity If Fernando wanted to fall, I was more than happy to catch hi table We were not in the hospital The lycanthropes had athat they owned I&039;d had my oounds tended there once Now Rafael lay on his stomach hooked up to an IV loaded with liquids and painkillers Painkillers didn&039;t alell on lycanthropes but hey, they had to try soained consciousness in the Jeep He hadn&039;t screas that clawed froh

Dr Lillian was a small woman with salt-and-pepper hair cut in a no-nonsense style She was also a wererat She turned to me "I&039;ve made him as comfortable as I can"

"Will he heal?"

She nodded "Yes The real danger with this type of injury once you survive the shock and blood loss is infection We can&039;t get infections"

"Let&039;s hear it for the terminally furry," I said

She smiled and pattedwith stress, but don&039;t try it on Rafael tonight He wants to speak with you"