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Jean-Claude&039;s voice floated over the phone, my phone, my house He&039;d never been there before "What has happened, ent"
I told him about the wereleopards
He was quiet for so long I had to say so "Talk toof endangering us all for the sake of two people, one of whom you have never met before, and the other who you once described as a waste of skin?"
"I can&039;t leave them there if they expected me to help them"
"Ma petite, ethat does you credit But we cannot save the the council will come for us, and we may not even be able to save ourselves"
"Are they here to kill us?"
"Padma would kill us if he could He is the weakest of the council and I think he fears us"
"The Traveler&039;s the one we have to convince" I said
"No, ma petite, the council are seven in number, always an odd number so that a vote ainst one another, this is true It has been true for centuries But Yvette is here to vote in the place of her lord, Morte d&039;Amour She hates Padma but she may hate me more For that ainst us, and we are lost"
"What about everybody else? Do they represent anybody?"
"Asher speaks for Belle Morte Beautiful Death It is her line that I auts," I said "We are sunk"
"I believe the choice of four was very deliberate They wish me to take a council seat, so I am the fifth vote"
"If the Traveler votes with you, and Yvette hates Padma more than she hates you"
"Ma petite, if I act as a voting member of the council, then they will expect me to return to France and take my place on the council"
"France?" I said
He laughed, and it slithered over the phone like a swarhtensthe seat If the triumvirate were fully forhtening enough to force would-be challengers to choose another"
"Are you saying without the fourth mark, the triu and deep, that I said, "Jean-Claude?"
"I am here, ma petite The fourth mark will not make our triumvirate functional unless Richard heals himself"
"You ether, yes, that is a proble of his beast is so intense, it weakens him Weaken any link in a chain and it may snap"
"Did you know about what&039;s been happening in the pack?"
"Richard has forbidden any of the wolves to tellwithout his permission I believe you are under the same restriction It is, and I quote, none of my damn business"
"I&039;m surprised you didn&039;t force Jason to tell you anyway"
"Have you seen Richard within the last month?"
"No"
"I have He is on the edge, ma petite I did not need Jason to tell me It is plain for all to see His tor the pack Weakness attracts thee him eventually"
"I&039;ve had two lukoi tell ht That he&039;ll just let someone kill him Do you believe that?"
"Suicide by siain, then finally said, "I had not thought of such a thing If I had, ma petite, I would have told you of my concerns I do not wish Richard harht"
"He is our third, ma petite It is in my own interest to make him healthy and happy I need him"
"Like you need hed low and deep, and even over the phone I could feel it tickling along my body "Oui, ma petite Richard must not die But to cure his despair he must embrace his beast I cannot help him do that I have tried and he will not hear me He takes what li your drea fro he will admit"
"What&039;s that supposed to mean?" I asked
"It is your tender mercies that he needs, ma petite, not mine"
"Tender mercies?" I made it a question
"If you could accept his beast, co to him"
"I can&039;t, Jean-Claude I wish I could, but I can&039;t I saw him eat Marcus I" I&039;d only seen Richard shapeshift once He&039;d been injured froht with Marcus He half-collapsed with me underneath him I&039;d been trapped under him while fur flowed, muscles forushed fro wave Maybe if I&039;d just been watching, it would have been different But trapped under his on top of me that bodies were never meant to do it had been too much If Richard had handled it differently, if I had seen hie in a nice calm way from a distance, then built up to the whole ride, et it I could still closedown a red, bloody piece of Marcus
I leanedever so slightly It reminded me of Jason in the hallway I et I wanted to be able to accept Richard But I couldn&039;t
"Ma petite, are you all right?"
"Fine, I&039;etting smarter, at least about me "I do not wish to cause you distress"
"I&039;ve done what I can for Richard on my end" I told Jean-Claude what I&039;d told the olves
"You surprisemore to do with the lukoi"
"I don&039;t want Richard to die because I broke his heart"
"You would feel responsible if he died now, is that it?"
"Yeah"
He took a deep breath and let it sigh over the phone It made me shiver, for no particular reason "How badly do you wish to help the wereleopards?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"An i to risk for them? What would you endure for the specific in ive up Vivian in exchange for you Gregory&039;s freedoave the yourself in," I said
"Padma would not want me, ma petite He is neither a lover of men nor of other vampires in particular He prefers his companions warm and female"
"Why Jason then?"
"A olf for a wereleopard ht be an acceptable trade to hie for another, and I a myself to that monster"
"You see, ma petite, you will not endure that You will not risk Jason to save Gregory I ask again, ill you risk for them?"
"I&039;ll riskout alive No sex, absolutely not No trading one hostage for another Nobody else gets skinned alive or raped How&039;s that for parameters?"
"Padree I will do the best I can within the li, no actual intercourse, no hostages, does that really tie your hands that much?"
"When we have survived all this, one home, I will tell you stories of my ti would give you night to survive"
"I am hopeful, yes"
"But not certain," I said
"Nothing is certain, ma petite, not even death"
He had asp froht, ma petite?"
"My beeper went off," I said I checked the number It was Dolph "It&039;s the police I need to return the call"
"I will begin negotiations with the council, ma petite If they ask too much, I will let your leopards remain where they are"
"Pads to ht have killed her before, but it would have been by accident If we don&039;t get her out of there, he&039;ll do it on purpose"
"Onewith him and you are so sure of this?"
"You think I&039;?" I asked