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I was drea of cool flesh and sheets the color of fresh blood The phone shattered the dreaht blue eyes, hands gliding downacross my face in a sweet, scented cloud I woke in my own house,to me I fumbled the phone from the bedside table and mumbled, "Hello"

"Anita, is that you?" It was Daniel Zeeman, Richard&039;s baby brother Daniel enty-four and cute as a bug&039;s ear Baby didn&039;t really cover it Richard had been my fiance once upon a ti with the other man put a real crimp in our social plans Not that I blas Richard and I still shared

I squinted at the glowing dial of the bedside clock 3:10 AM "Daniel, what&039;s wrong?" No one calls at ten after the witching hour with good news

He took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for the next line "Richard&039;s in jail"

I sat up, sheets sliding in a bundle to my lap "What did you say?" I was suddenly wide awake, heart thudding, adrenaline pu

"Richard is in jail," he repeated

I didn&039;t h I wanted to "What for?" I asked

"Attempted rape," he said

"What?" I said

Daniel repeated it It didn&039;t make any more sense the second time I heard it "Richard is like the ultimate Boy Scout," I said "I&039;d believe uess that&039;s a compliment," he said

"You knohat Ilike that"

"I agree," he said

"Is he in Saint Louis?" I asked

"No, he&039;s still in Tennessee He finished up his requireht"

"Tell me what happened"

"I don&039;t exactly know," he said

"What do you mean?" I asked

"They won&039;t let me see hiot in to see him, but they wouldn&039;t let all of us in"

"Has he got a lawyer?" I asked

"He says he doesn&039;t need one He says he didn&039;t do it"

"Prison is full of people who didn&039;t do it, Daniel He needs a lawyer It&039;s his word against the woman&039;s If she&039;s local and he isn&039;t, he&039;s in trouble"

"He&039;s in trouble," Daniel said

"Shit," I said

"There&039;s more bad news," he said

I threw the covers back and stood, clutching the phone "Tellto be a blue moon this month" He said it very quietly, no explanation, but I understood

Richard was an alpha olf He was head of the local pack It was his only serious flaw We&039;d broken up after I&039;d seen hi to Jean-Claude&039;s arms I&039;d run from the olf to the vampire Jean-Claude was Master of the City of Saint Louis He was definitely not the more human of the two I know there isn&039;t a lot to choose from between a bloodsucker and a flesh-eater, but at least after Jean-Claude finished feeding, there weren&039;t chunks between his fangs A small distinction but a real one

A blue moon meant a second full moon this month The moon doesn&039;t actually turn bluecomes from -¨C once in a blue ust, and the second full moon was only five days away Richard&039;s control was very good, but I&039;d never heard of any olf, even an Ulfric, a pack leader, who could fight the change on the night of the full ed into, a lycanthrope was a lycanthrope The full et him out of jail before the full moon," Daniel said

"Yeah," I said Richard was hiding what he was He taught junior high science If they found out he was a olf, he&039;d lose his job It was illegal to discriminate on the basis of a disease, especially one as difficult to catch as lycanthropy, but they&039;d do it No one wanted atheir kiddies Not to mention that the only person in Richard&039;s family who knew his secret was Daniel Mom and Pop Zeeman didn&039;t know

"Give me a number to contact you at," I said

He did "You&039;ll come down then," he said

"Yeah"

He sighed "Thanks Mo We need soal system"

"I&039;ll have a friend call you with the naet there You e bail by the time I arrive"

"If he&039;ll see the lawyer," Daniel said

"Is he being stupid?" I asked

"He thinks that having the truth on his side is enough"

It sounded like so Richard would say There wasto ideals that hadn&039;t even worked when they were in vogue Truth, justice, and the Aal syste someone on your side that was part of the system

I was a vampire executioner I was licensed to hunt and kill vampires once a court order of execution had been issued I was licensed in three states Tennessee was not one of theeneral rule, would treat an executioner better than a civilian We risked our lives and usually had a higher kill count than they did Of course, the kills being vamps, some people didn&039;t count them as real kills Had to be huet here?" Daniel asked

"I&039;ve got sos to clear up here, but I&039;ll see you today before noon"

"I hope you can talk some sense into Richard"

I&039;d met their mother -¨C more than once -¨C so I said, "I&039;m surprised that Charlotte can&039;t talk sense to hiets this &039;truth will set you free&039; bit?" Daniel asked

"Great," I said "I&039;ll be there, Daniel"

"I&039;ve got to go" He hung up suddenly as if afraid of being caught His mom had probably cohter The sons were all six feet or above The daughter was five nine They were all over twenty-one And they were all scared of their mother Not literally scared, but Charlotte Zeeman wore the pants in the fa up the phone, turned on the lamp, and started to pack It occurred to s into a suitcase to wonder why the hell I was doing this I could say that it was because Richard was the other third of a triued between the three of us Master va, and necroether that sometimes we invaded each other&039;s dreams by accident Someti to the rescue because Richard was our third I could admit to myself, if to no one else, that I still loved Richard Not the same way I loved Jean-Claude, but it was just as real He was in trouble, and I would help him if I could Simple Complicated Hurtful

I wondered what Jean-Claude would think of o rescue Richard It didn&039;t really , and that was that But I did spare a thought for how that ht make my vampire lover feel His heart didn&039;t always beat, but it could still break

Love sucks Soood Sometimes it&039;s just another way to bleed

2

I made phone calls My friend Catherine Maison-Gillette was an attorney She&039;d been with me on more than one occasion when I had to make a statement to the police about a dead body that I helped make dead So far, no jail time Hell, no trial How did I accomplish this? I lied

Bob, Catherine&039;s husband, answered on the fifth ring, voice so heavy with sleep it was alrowl let racefully

"Bob, this is Anita I need to speak with Catherine It&039;s business"

"You at a police station?" he asked See, Bob knew me

"No, I don&039;t need a lawyer for me this time"

He didn&039;t ask questions He just said, "Here&039;s Catherine If you think I have no curiosity at all, you&039;re wrong, but Catherine will fillup"

"Thanks, Bob," I said

"Anita, what&039;s wrong?" Catherine&039;s voice sounded normal She was a criminal attorney with a private firm She akened a lot at odd hours She didn&039;t like it, but she recovered well

I told her the bad news She knew Richard Liked him a lot Didn&039;t understand why in hell I&039;d dumped him for Jean-Claude Since I couldn&039;t tell her about Richard being a olf, it was sort of hard to explain Heck, even if I could have mentioned the olf part, it was hard to explain

"Carl Belisarius," she said when I was finished "He&039;s one of the best criminal attorneys in that state I know him personally He&039;s not as careful about his clients as I aures, but he&039;s good"

"Can you contact hiet him started?" I asked

"You need Richard&039;s permission for this, Anita"

"I can&039;t talk Richard into taking on a new attorney until I see him Time&039;s always precious on a crime, Catherine Can Belisarius at least start the wheels in motion?"

"Do you know if Richard has an attorney now?"

"Danielto see his lawyer, so I assume so"

"Give me Daniel&039;s number, and I&039;ll see what I can do," she said

"Thanks, Catherine, really"

She sighed "I know you&039;d go to this much trouble for any of your friends, you&039;re just that loyal But are you sure your motives are just friendly in this?"

"What are you asking me?"

"You still love him, don&039;t you?"

"No coh "No comment You&039;re not the one under suspicion here"

"Says you," I said

"Fine, I&039;ll do what I can on this end Let et there"

"Will do," I said I hung up and calledwas only a sideline I raised the dead for Ani firm in the country We were also the hn He couldHe didn&039;t like thatout of town for an indefinite period of tilad it was the wee hours and he wouldn&039;t be there to yell at oing to have to quit, and I didn&039;t want to I had to raise zombies It wasn&039;t like a muscle that would wither if you didn&039;t use it It was an innate ability for me If I didn&039;t use it, the poould leak out on its own In college there had been a professor who committed suicide No one had found the body for the three days that it usually takes for the soul to leave the area One night, the shaot a room switch next day She had no sense of adventure

I would raise the dead, one way or another I had no choice But I had enough reputation that I could go freelance I&039;d need a business er, but it would work Trouble is, I didn&039;t want to leave So e as I could handle for one year

I, Anita Blake, scourge of the undead -¨C the human with more vampire kills than any other va a vampire It was al The sound made my heart pulse in my throat It was an ordinary sound, but not at 3:45 in theI left my partially packed suitcase on the un roo Cushions that caught the bright colors were placed casually on the couch and chair The furniture was ifts from Jean-Claude His sense of style would always be better than ain It ood reason except it was insistent and it was an odd hour and I was already keyed up from the news about Richard I went to the door withHi-Power 9mm, in hand, safety off, pointed at the floor I was al but un, but no robe I had my priorities in order

I stood there, barefoot on the elegant rug, debating whether to go back for the robe or a pair of jeans Soe T-shirts, I&039;d have just answered the door But I earing a black satin nightie with spaghetti straps It hung almost tobut wasn&039;t exactly answering-the-door attire Screw it

I called, "Who is it?" Bad guys usually didn&039;t ring the doorbell

"It is Jean-Claude, ma petite"

My mouth dropped open I couldn&039;t have beenhere?

I clicked the safety on the gun and opened the door The satin nightie had been a gift from Jean-Claude He&039;d seen me in less We didn&039;t need the robe

I opened the door and there he was It was like I was a ician and had thrown aside the curtain to show ht my breath in my throat

His shirt was a conservative business cut with fastened cuffs and a simple collar It was red with the collar and cuffs a solid almost satiny scarlet The rest of the shirt was some sheer fabric so that his arms, chest, and waist were bare behind a sheen of red cloth His black hair curled below his shoulders, darker, richer soht blue eyes seemed bluer framed by red It was one of my favorite colors for him to wear, and he knew it He&039;d threaded a red cord through the belt loops of his black jeans The cord fell in knots down one side of his hip The black boots ca, slender legs in leather froroin

When I ay from Jean-Claude, away from his body, his voice, I could be e him When I ay from him, I could talk myself out of him -¨C almost But never when I ith him When I ith hiht very hard not to say things like golly

I settled for "You look spectacular, as always What are you doing here on a night that I told you not to come?" What I wanted to do was to throw myself around hiing to hi to do that It lacked a certain dignity Besides, it sort of scared me howIt wasn&039;t vaood, old-fashioned lust But it was still scary, so I had set up some parameters Rules He followed them most of the tirown to both love and dread The ss that two or more could do in darkened rooms, where the sheets smelled of expensive perfume, sweat, and other bodily fluids The s sex Sometimes all he had to do was smile, and heat rushed up my skin like I was thirteen and he wasIt embarrassed me

"You son of a bitch," I said softly

The smile widened "Our dream was interrupted, ma petite"

"I kneasn&039;t an accident that you were in my dreams," I said It came out hostile, and I was pleased Because the hot suainst my face Exotic, with an undercurrent of flowers and spice I al the scent of hiift so I could dream of you You knehat IMay I coh that he could have crossed ament every time he crossed that I wanted him It irritated me and pleased ht as well come in"

He walked past me I noticed the black boots were laced up the back froht so there was no need to guess what he wasn&039;t wearing under the around "Do not sound so grumpy, ma petite You have the ability to bar me from your dreaht that had nothing to do with vampire powers "You welcomed me with more than open arms"

I blushed for the second time in less than five minutes "Richard is in jail in Tennessee," I said

"I know," he said

"You know?" I said "How?"

"The local Master of the City called to tell me He was veryHis way of destroying our triu to destroy us, it would be a e, not attempted rape," I said

"True," Jean-Claude said, then laughed The laughter trailed over my bare skin like a small, private wind "Whoever framed our Richard did not know him well I would believe murder of Richard before rape"

It was al? "Are you going down to Tennessee?"

"The master, Colin, has forbidden ression, if not outright war"

"Why should he care?" I asked

"He fears my power, ma petite He fears our pohich is why he has rata in his territory as well"

I stared at hi, I hope He&039;s forbidden either of us to help Richard?"

Jean-Claude nodded

"And he expects us to believe it&039;s not his doing?" I said

"I believe him,over the phone?" I asked

"Soh I do not think Colin is such a power But that is not why I believe him"

"Why then?"

"The last time you and I traveled to another va to kill us," I said

"Technically," he said, "she had set all of us free save you You she wished toto kill me"

He smiled "Oh, ma petite, you wound me"

"Cut the crap This Colin can&039;t really believe that we are just going to leave Richard to rot"

"He has the right to deny us safe passage," Jean-Claude said

"Because we killed another master in her own territory?" I asked

"He doesn&039;t need grounds for his refusal, ma petite He et anything accomplished?"

"Slowly," Jean-Claude said "But remember, ma petite, we have the time to be patient"

"Well, I don&039;t, and Richard doesn&039;t"

"You could have eternity if you would both accept the fourth mark," he said, voice quiet, neutral

I shook my head "Richard and I both value what little is left of our humanity Besides, eternity my ass, the fourth mark wouldn&039;tas you do You&039;re harder to kill than we are, but not thathis legs under hi that much leather Maybe the boots were softer than they looked Naw

He rested his elbows on the couch ar his chest outward The sheer red cloth covered his chest coination His nipples pressed against the thin fabric The red haze of cloth made the cross-shaped burn scar look almost bloody

He raised himself upith his hands propped on the couch arm like asexual Instead, he said, "I came to tell you of Richard&039;s imprisonht it ht upset you"

"Of course it upsets uy, vampire, whatever the hell he is, is crazy if he thinks he&039;s going to keep us fro Richard"

Jean-Claude s even as we speak to try and allow you to enter Colin&039;s territory"

Asher was his second banana, his vampire lieutenant I frowned "Why me and not you?"