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1 was given a clean bill of health The doctors were amazed at my recuperative powers If only they knew Pete McKinnon called late in the day He&039;d found that there were fires si in New Orleans and San Francisco It took a moment for me to remember why those particular cities were important When I remembered, I asked, "How about Boston?"

"No, no fires in Boston Why?"

I don&039;t think he believed o I wasn&039;t ready to point the finger at the Vampire Council Just because thedidn&039;t mean it had to be them There&039;d been no fires in Boston Just because there were now mysterious fires in St Louis, and the council was here, didn&039;t prove anything Yeah, and the Easter Bunny brings oodies every year

I told Jean-Claude about my suspicions "But ould the council wish to burn es, ma petite? If one of them could call fire to their hands, they would not waste it on eained the"

"You ed "Perhaps, though a personal motive would suit them better"

"I can&039;t find outthe council up to the authorities as suspects," I said

He seemed to think about that for a second or two "Perhaps you could wait upon co absolute suicide for us until after we have survived this evening"

"Sure," I said

True darkness foundblack velvet dress with a V-neck and no sleeves The waist of the dress was open lace My skin showed pale and enticing through it Black thigh-high hose that actually cah, like all the way up until the black lace stretch top brushed against the black satin panties with their lace edgings The hose were a size too large Jean-Claude had purchased thehs before and had to agree that the longer length was ht area If we&039;d been planning extracurricular activities, I&039;d have loved to see his face when I was standing in nothing but the stockings As it was, it was just frustrating, and a little scary

I&039;d vetoed the high velvet heels he&039;d picked out Instead I used my own black pumps Not as spiffy Maybe not even h that I could run in the wereleopards if the need arose

"You are perfection, et it," I said "You&039;re lucky to have gottenjust in case the rest of the party sees my underwear is just creepy"

"You talked to the Traveler of price and responsibility Well, tonight we pay the price for your wereleopards Are you regretting it now?"

Gregory was still trussed up in uest roo in ret it"

"Then let us gather the rest of our party and be on our way" But he didn&039;ton his sto on his folded hands If it had been anyone else, I&039;d have said they were sprawled on the couch, but Jean-Claude did not sprawl He posed, he lounged, but he did not sprawl He lay full length, his long body stretched out, only the tips of his black boots over the edge of the couch

He earing an outfit I&039;d seen before, but repetition didn&039;thi?" I asked

"I ere staying ho at a ti"

Just the suggestion ht "Me, too," I said, and knelt on the floor in front of him I folded the short skirt under so it wouldn&039;t wrinkle or ride up He didn&039;t teach me that, my Grandma Blake did, over a lifetime of Sunday church services where what I looked like seemed more important than the sermon

I laidaround ainst his face

"Do your undies look as nice as mine?" I asked

"Brushed silk," he said softly

I had a sensory h the thick silk, the al texture that the brushed fabric had over the hardness of his body I had to close e was so vivid it made me clench my hands

I felt him move a second before he kissedhts betray you,his lips down ainst hiainstNeither of us used our hands, only our ether

"Can I cut in?" The faer that it made me draw back from Jean-Claude

Richard stood at the end of the couch staring down at us I hadn&039;t heard hi he had Soht that even in the throes of passion Jean-Claude would ever let anyone sneak up on hi Poor self-esteem, who me?

I sat back on my heels and looked up at Richard He was dressed in a black tux, co hair slicked back into a ponytail so tight it gave the illusion of short hair You always knew Richard was handsoot rid of the hair that you realized how perfect his face was The high-sculpted cheekbones, the full mouth, the dimple He stared down at ant He knew the effect he had on me, and wanted to turn the knife a little more

Jean-Claude sat up on the couch, his ainst his pale skin it looked like the surprised scarlet of blood He ran his tongue around the outside of his er across his upper lip, slowly, until it caer in his mouth and sucked the lipstick off of it, very slowly, very deliberately His eyes were on rateful for it, and angry about it He knew Richard was trying to hurthi the proverbial salt in the wound

The look on Richard&039;s face was so raw I had to look away "That&039;s enough, Jean-Claude," I said, "that&039;s enough"

Jean-Claude looked amused "As you like, ain Iin my face that was too raw to look at, too He turned abruptly and left the room

"Go freshen your tasty lipstick, then we ret, the way it someti it gently to htened of theood publicity? Surely if they were planning to kill us, they wouldn&039;t have appeared on caers over the cloth, feeling his thigh underneath "The Traveler shook hands with the mayor of St Louis, for heaven&039;s sake"

He touchedmy cheek in his hand "The council has never before tried to be, what you would call, mainstream It is their first foray into a very new arena But they have been the stuff of nightmares for thousands of years, ma petite One day of hu else"

"But"

He touched fingers to ree to, but you do not know them as I do You have not seen them at their worst"

Myin the chains, voice s Vivian "I&039;ve seen thes since they hit town," I said "You set up the rules, Jean-Claude They can&039;t maim us, or rape us, or kill us What&039;s left?"

He kissedme his hand I took it, let hi his aht was his nors He looked like that a lot when he was scared and didn&039;t want people to know

"You&039;re scaring me," I said softly

He smiled "No, ma petite, they will do that forshot, he went off to round up the others I went for my purse and the tasty lipstick The council had laid down soht Which hy I was dressed like I was; one glance was enough to knoasn&039;t carrying anything Jean-Claude thought this would keep the an excuse to patdeal was, all he would say was, "You don&039;t want to give them a reason to touch you, ma petite Trust me on this"

I did trust hi ht

49

What had once been Jean-Claude&039;s living room and Nikolaos&039;s throne room before that, had been turned into a banquet roo What you could see of the table was heavy clawed feet with lions&039; old ehts covered the table If they had meant for us to actually eat off it, I&039;d have been worried we&039;d trash it, but there was no food There were no chairs There were no plates There hite linen napkins with gold rings, crystal wineglasses, and one of those industrial-size war surface There was a lea pan His na cut across his face, trapping part of his long ponytail His hair was shaved to nothing on either side of his face The council hadn&039;t done it as torture He&039;d done it to hiers-on, a hu his apprenticeship acting as a sort of maid and errand boy Now, apparently, he was the appetizer

Richard, Jean-Claude, and I stood with Jaly, Rafael, at our backs The Rat King had insisted on accoued too hard We were allowed one person apiece plus Jason Yvette had requested hiained a olf, but his blue eyes ide and his breathing a little too quick Yvette was Jason&039;s idea of hell, and hell had sent out an invitation

Ernie stared at us all, kicking his feet and struggling, trying to talk through the gag I think he was trying to say, "Get me down," but I couldn&039;t swear to it

"What is the e rooave his words back in harsh, sibilant echoes

Padma stepped out of the far hallway He was dressed in a suit that glittered as gold as the tablecloth He was even wearing a golden turban with peacock feathers and a sapphire bigger than my thu for a maharaja

"You have offered us no hospitality at all, Jean-Claude Malcolm and his people have offered us refresh" He motioned upward at Ernie "This one walked in without our permission He said he was yours"

Jean-Claude walked until he stood by the table and could look up into Ernie&039;s face "You came home two days early from your family visit The next time, if there is a next time, call first"

Ernie stared at hi He kicked his legs enough that he started to swing

"Struggling will just make your shoulders hurt more," Jean-Claude said "Be at peace" As he said it, Ernie slowly grew li him to, if not sleep, peace The tension drained fro At least he wasn&039;t scared anymore

Gideon and Thomas came up to stand on either side of Padma Thomas was in full uniform, boots polished like a blacktassel on top that was probably horsehair The coat was red, the buttons brass, white gloves, even a sword

Gideon was pretty close to naked A white thong was all he wore on his body It barely covered hie eolden hair fanned over it A chain led from the collar to Thomas&039;s hands

Padave the chain to hilance They&039;d seen the show before

The only thing that keptreiven ht Ito piss someone off Who me?

Jean-Claude walked around the table Richard and I fell two steps back,Padma and his pets The sy was, Richard and I were pretending I didn&039;t think the others were

"I suppose you mean to slit his throat into the warmer, then serve his blood to all?" Jean-Claude said

Padracious nod of his head

Jean-Claude laughed that wonderfully touchable laugh of his "If you reallyhilances behind his back I turned and looked at Ernie&039;s peacefully hanging figure How had Jean-Claude known you&039;d have to hang him by his ankles? Ask a silly question

"Are you saying we are bluffing?" Padrandstanding"

Padma smiled, and it alaave a s his eyes from the other vampire "I am honored that you think well of h "A honeyed tongue, Master of the City" The huone, poof His face was suddenly harsh, eer "But the point reh ly down Gideon&039;s bare shoulder The weretiger never reacted It was as if Padma were not there Or maybe as if he, Gideon, were not there

"But there are others who are not so blessed as I They hunger, Jean-Claude They stand in your territory as your guests and know hunger"

"The Traveler was feeding the you as well"

"I do not need his cast-off energy," Pad the others until that one"--he pointed at me with his free hand--"told hi, alht, screw it "Asked him to stop," I said "No one tells the Traveler what to do" There, that was so diplohter entered the roo, ood tan Balthasar ca over the other man&039;s body possessively A new toy to explore I&039;d been told that Malcol the Traveler a church member I wondered if Malcol with the body

I would have said they were both wearing togas, but that wasn&039;t quite it The Traveler wore a rich purple cloth pinned at one shoulder with a ruby-and-gold brooch His left shoulder was bare, showing the sathered at the waist with toven red cords It fell nearly to his ankles, giving glimpses of sandals tied around his ankles

Balthasar wore red with an amethyst-and-silver brooch at one shoulder His bare shoulder showed just enough chest to prove he was arment was bound at the waist with purple cords

"You guys look like the Bobbsey Twins," I said

Jean-Claude cleared his throat

I stopped talking, but if everyone had such nifty clothes, I wasn&039;t sure I could stopremarks I mean, it was just too easy

The Traveler threw his head back and laughed It was a joyous laugh with an edge underneath like the hissing of snakes He turned brown eyes to me, but down in the depths it was hi out of

Balthasar was actually shorter than the new body by an inch or two He stood close enough for the Traveler to take him under his arainst his body, protected

"I saved your huh for you?"

"Jean-Claude?" I made his na sigh "It was pointless to make you pro" He stepped back so that ere all even with each other Maybe he hadn&039;t liked the symbolism either

"I&039;m thrilled that you saved my friends today," I said "I&039;ot a lot of good press out of it without any risk to yourself I thought you agreed that you guys needed to modernize a little, coree, Anita, I do agree" The Traveler rubbed his cheek against Balthasar&039;s face, staring at lad he wasn&039;t heterosexual

"Then what is this medieval shit?" I jabbed a thumb backwards at Ernie

His eyes flicked to the o, but the others voted and it is true that Jean-Claude has been a lax host"

Jean-Claude touched my arm "If you had come at my invitation or even requested permission to enter rant you hunting rights Though you will find one of the other benefits to legality is an a victims People will even pay you to quench your thirst on their bodies"