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Chapter Three

I WAS RUNNING too late to even go horeed to just meet me at the theatre There was no reproach in his voice, no complaint I think he was afraid to complain, afraid I&039;d use it as an excuse to cancel the al, at last count, sixthat many people, anniversaries see you did for your special so discoet rid of the idea that with six men to choose froling with the idea that they could all be special When I was alone, not with any of the at them, or all covered in their metaphysical stuff, I could be all uncoht up to thejust inside the doors, waiting for me

He was five foot six and a half now He&039;d grown half an inch in the lastinto the broad shoulders, filling out in the way that ot carded more at clubs than he did nohich irritated ht that made me stop and stare

I stood in thearoundbad enough to scare Jean-Claude and Malcolm had come to town Yeah, Jean-Claude had told me ere safe, but still, it wasn&039;t like me to be careless in a crowd

Nathaniel wore a leather trench coat and afedora The hat and coat hid ed to e for attention at the saear because without it, he had gotten recognized a few times Customers froe naain

His hair was in soht braid, so that it looked like his auburn hair was cut nice and standard short It was illusion His hair fell to his ankles, totally impractical, but God, it was pretty

It wasn&039;t just the standard ooh, isn&039;t he pretty that made me stop It was that suddenly in his new leather trench coat and hat, with his hair all covered, he looked grown-up He was seven years younger than uely like a childand hard to keep him out of the boyfriend box, but in the end, it hadn&039;t worked Now I looked at hiht, and realized that the only one who still thought helike a fetish version of Sam Spade, he didn&039;t look twenty He looked very over twenty-one

Someone bumped me, and that , dressed in my own black leather trench coat, but no hat I didn&039;t do hats unless it was freaking freezing Even with Christmas only weeks away, it wasn&039;t that cold St Louis in the winterti one day, nearly fifty the next

My trench coat was unbuttoned from the waist up, only belted in place It was colder that way, but I could still reacharmed in winter was always full of fun choices like that

He spotted ave low, so happy to seeoff my own version of the sa in love, and he was right It always felt so stupid, like your insurance rates should go up, because you&039;re impaired Romantically handicapped

The face under the hat was too pretty to be handsome He was beautiful, not handsoot, or how e But it wasn&039;t a delicate face, the way Jean-Claude&039;s was, or Micah&039;s was; it was stronger boned than that, higher cheekboned So a touch er on it, but soht feed in the last few months? Had I not noticed that, or had it always been like this and I just was so deterinalize him that I couldn&039;t let his face be more masculine than Jean-Claude&039;s or Micah&039;s? Did I still equate strength and being a grown-up to being male? Me, of all people? Surely not

His s?"

I s enough attention to you"

He hugged me back, but not like he meant it He pulled me back so he could see my face "Why would you say that?"

I finally let ht I was so distracted by him that I&039;d avoided his eyes alaze and I was some tourist human His eyes were lavender - really, truly the color of lilacs But it wasn&039;t just the color; they were large and perfect, and crowned his face with that final touch that just made your heart hurt Too beautiful, simply too beautiful

He touched ?"

I shook my head "I don&039;t know" And I didn&039;t I was attracted to Nathaniel but this was excessive I looked away so I wouldn&039;t be staring directly into his face What the hell rong with ht?

He tried to draw me into a kiss, and I pulled away A kiss would undo me

His hands dropped away froer It took a lot to ry "It&039;s just afor sex, just a o home and have sex"

"Which is why I asked for the movie," he said

I frowned at hi seen with me in public?"

"No" I let my face sho much it shocked me that he&039;d even have to ask

His face was very serious, hurt, ready to be angry "Then what is it? You won&039;t even kissbut you for aup to it "Is that so bad?"

"In my line of work, yes" I watched him try to understand He was beautiful, but I could look at hi stupid-faced I ed hied ainst the scent of leather and him Sweet, clean, and underneath that the smell of vanilla I kne that it was only partially hine, but the scent he wore didn&039;t smell so lusciously of vanilla on anyone else&039;s skin One of those tricks of skin cheood perfuainst ain I shook my head and that only partially cleared it I reached intoI opened it and dug the padding out until a cross spilled into my hand It lay there silver and inert I&039;d half expected it to glow, to showwith me But it lay there, innocent and untouched

"What is wrong, Anita?" Nathaniel looked worried now

"I think so withit"

"You&039;re scrumptious, Nathaniel, but it&039;s not like me to lose focus this badly in public"

"You think Moain?" he asked

Mommie Dearest was my nickname for the head of the vampire council, the creator of vampire culture The last time she&039;d messed with me, a cross had burned into my hand and had to be pried out by a doctor I had a permanent scar inor under my bed, had kept her at bay

"I don&039;t know, maybe"

"There aren&039;t that h your psychic shields," he said

I slipped the chain over ainst the thin silk sweater

"You sure that&039;s enough cloth between your skin and the cross?"

"No, but I don&039;t think it&039;s Mohed and tried to keep the frown off his face "Do you need to skip the movie?"

"No, Jean-Claude said we&039;d be safe tonight"

"Okay," Nathaniel said, "but I don&039;t like the way you said that What&039;s gone wrong now?"

"Let&039;s find seats and I&039;ll tell you what little I know," I said We ed to find two seats in the back row so my back was to a wall and I could see the rest of the theatre I wasn&039;t being paranoid, or at least not more paranoid than usual I always sat in the back row, if I could e it

By the ti I knehich wasn&039;t much

"And that&039;s all Jean-Claude would tell you?"

"Yep"

"Way too mysterious"

"Understatehts went down, and for the life of me I couldn&039;t remember what movie we&039;d decided to see I didn&039;t ask Nathaniel, because it s, and besides, in moments, the question would answer itself

Chapter Four

THREE HOURS AND so Kong Nathaniel liked the reat, but I ay ready for the ape to die long before he did Which was a sha My cross hadn&039;t glowed once, and I hadn&039;t been more than normally fascinated with Nathaniel Nor in date seats in the dark was intiht about letting ht have, but Nathaniel had less inhibitions thanI wouldn&039;t want to finish in the theatre Besides, you can&039;t watch the rope your boyfriend, or at least I can&039;t

One thing I had to do after awas take a restroom break Riddle me this: Why is it that there is never a line for the men&039;s room, but the women&039;s always seeot into the stall At least it was clean

The noise died away and letda back into place One of the things I liked about shoulder holsters as opposed to carrying on the hip is that you don&039;t run the risk of duun in the toilet Inner pants holsters that don&039;t go through a belt loop are soers, do not float

I s to struggle with pantyhose anys really are more comfortable The bathroom was empty as I pushed the door open I started for the sinks when I saw the box sitting across one of them "Anita" was printed on the box in black block letters

That little dickens How had Nathaniel gotten in here to leave a present? If he&039;d been caught in the ladies&039; restrooone badly I washed and dried my hands, then opened the box I had to fold back layers of white tissue paper before I found abut the eyes from forehead to chin It was utterly plain, a blank white face staring up at me Why would he buy ht have guessed so more adventurous on the sexual front, but this didn&039;t look like that kind of mask Of course, I wasn&039;t an expert on that kind of mask, so maybe that hat it was for If so, he hadn&039;t sold me on the idea I didn&039;t like e and subs that way myself hadn&039;t made me like it more; on the contrary, it scared me more because of it You hate most in others what you&039;re afraid of in yourself

I tried to find an expression that was neutral, but pleased, and walked out carrying the box Nathaniel aiting against the far wall, holding both our coats and his hat The leather hat got hot indoors He smiled when he saw me and walked toward me with a quizzical look on his face "Did someone leave that in the bathroom?"

I showed hi to surprise me"

"You hate surprises," he said

My pulse sped up, not a lot, but a little I moved us so that the as athard; but everyone looked innocent, or at least not guilty Couples holding hands, families with kids in tow: it all looked normal

"What&039;s in there?" Nathaniel asked

"A mask," I whispered

"Can I see it?"

I nodded

Hethe happya little too hard at us, but that could be other things

"It looks like someone started to make a mask and stopped before they finished," he said

"Yeah, it looks too blank"

"Why would soive you this?"

"Did you see so box, Anita I&039;d have noticed"

"Did anyone carry in a bigger-than-average purse?"

"Not one big enough to hide this"

"You were standing right there, Nathaniel You had to see"

We exchanged a look "I didn&039;t see this"

"Shit," I said low and with feeling

"So with you earlier, and they et inside the bathroo?" I asked

He thought about it, and finally shook his head "No"

"Double shit"

"Call Jean-Claude, now," he said

I nodded and handed him the box so I could use my cell phone Nathaniel wrapped the mask back up while I waited for Jean-Claude to pick up This tiot a present," I said

"What did our pussycat buy you?" he asked, not offended that I hadn&039;t said hello first

"Nathaniel didn&039;t buy it"

"It is not like you to speak in riddles, ma petite"

"Ask me what it is," I said

"What is it?" and his voice was sliding into that blankness he did so well

"A mask"