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Chapter Nine

DAWN HAD COME and all the vaot a few ain I&039;d called thile Lisandro&039;s experts searched everything They had found bugs, but not where they were listening to us, like listening posts Hours of work later and ere clean We actually got lucky The bugs weren&039;t the sy Which meant they needed to be close to the clubs to hear Probably soood, but not the latest and greatest Which probably meant the Harlequin didn&039;t kno to hack phone lines and co devices we found were pretty high tech for a bunch of ancient vay theyto use Most vamps relied on vampire powers I wasn&039;t sure the Harlequin did In fact, I was betting they didn&039;t Ancient vampires and armed with modern shit; it just wasn&039;t fair

I wanted to even those odds, so I was in Jean-Claude&039;s bathroo one last time to reach Edward

I dialed the nuiven up when I heard the phone click over The voice that answered the phone was thick with sleep For a second I thought it was Edward, so I said, "Edward?"

The voice cleared a little and said, "Anita, that you?" The voice was male, but definitely not Edward Shit

Edas engaged to a ith two kids Lately when I wanted to be sure I&039;d get him the first time, I called Donna&039;s house, not his They weren&039;t officially living together, but he spent more tiot the time difference"

I heard some movement, as if he&039;d rolled over and taken the phone under the covers with hiht What&039;s up?" His voice had spent the last year breaking and finally settled into a deeper bass that still startled me someti he hadn&039;t heard the Edward earlier

"It&039;s okay, Anita," and he gave a laugh that still held a lazy edge of sleep "I knoho Edward is, but you&039;re lucky I answered the phone Mom or Becca would have asked questions"

This was the first I knew that any of Edward&039;s new family knew his secret identity I wasn&039;t sure how I felt about Peter knowing, or about any of thealish parts, but they didn&039;t really knoho Edas, or at least that&039;s what I had believed until now

I checkedwith a robe I did quickready for karate class?"

"They&039;re painting the dojo" he said

I would also have asked why he had a phone in his room, but he wasn&039;tfor your own phone, wasn&039;t it?

"I placed first in the karate tournaratulations," I said

"It&039;s not like real fighting, not like you and Edward do, but it&039;s still cool"

"I&039;ve never won first place in agood"

"But you have a black belt in judo, right?"

"Yeah"

"And you&039;re training in other ht?"

"Yeah, but"

"A tournament is just kid stuff, I know, but Edward says I have to wait until I&039;n up forreal"

I did not like the sound of that at all "Eighteen, right"

"Yeah" - he sighed so heavily - "two years" He uess at sixteen it is

I wanted to tell hi to do with fighting, guns, or violence I wanted to tell him that he couldn&039;t follow in his almost-stepfather&039;s footsteps, but I couldn&039;t It wasn&039;t my place to say it, and Peter wouldn&039;t have listened anyway I was in the same business as his "dad," so I was cool, too "Is Ted there?"

"Anita," and he sounded chiding, "I know his real naht, I should never have said Edhen calling this number It should be Ted until I&039;"

He laughed again I didn&039;t think I was that funny "Ted&039;s here" I heard that slide of cloth again "Though at eight on a day we don&039;t have school, Mom and Ted are probably still in bed" He must have rolled over to look at a clock

"I didn&039;t mean to call this early," I said, "I&039;ll call back later" His voice sobered "What&039;s wrong, Anita? You sound all stressed" Great, I couldn&039;t even control e boy Truth was, I&039;d finally realized that I wasn&039;t just asking Edward to co him to leave his family to cos that could test his skills He lived to be better, faster, meaner, quicker, more deadly than the monsters he hunted Then he&039;d s to live for I wasn&039;t sure he&039;d ever walk down the aisle with her, but he was the only father the kids had, and the only husband Donna had Her first husband had been killed by a olf An eight-year-old Peter had picked up his father&039;s dropped gun and finished off the wounded shapeshifter He&039;d saved his fa on the floor In some ways Edward fit in just fine Edward picked Becca up froot hiot him killed and Peter and Becca lost another parent because I was too chickenshit to handle my own mess?

"Anita, Anita, are you there?"

"Yeah, yeah, Peter, I&039;e, like, scared almost"

Peter was too damned perceptive for comfort sometimes "I just" Oh, hell, what could I say that would fix this? "Let Edward sleep in, don&039;t wake the, I can hear it in your voice You called because you&039;re in trouble That&039;s it, isn&039;t it?" he asked

"I&039;m not in trouble," I said In my head, I added, yet

Silence on his end of the phone for a heartbeat "You&039;re lying to me" He sounded accusatory

"Well, that&039;s a hell of a thing to say," I said, with as , not really, I was just fudging the truth Okay, fudging like double chocolate with three kinds of nuts, but it still wasn&039;t completely a lie

"Your word, your word of honor," he said in a very serious voice "Tell et Edward&039;s help with some nasty monster proble a pain in the ass here," I said

"I&039;m sixteen I&039;m supposed to be a pain in the ass, or that&039;s what Mo to me, and I&039;ll believe you Giveyou&039;ve said, and I&039;ll hang up, and you can go back to not being in trouble"

"Daive your word and then lie, will you?" His voice held question, and almost wonderment, as if he didn&039;t quite believe it

"No, not as a general rule, no"

"Edward said you wouldn&039;t, but I wasn&039;t sure I believed him But you really won&039;t, will you?"

"No," I said "Happy now?"

"Yes," he said, though his voice didn&039;t sound exactly happy "TellWhy do you need Edward&039;s help?"

"I need to talk to Edward, but I won&039;t tell you why, or what it&039;s about"

"I&039;m not a baby, Anita"

"I know that"

"No, you don&039;t," he said

I sighed "I don&039;t think you&039;re a baby, but you are a kid, Peter You&039;re grown-up for sixteen, but I&039;d like to keep some of the darker shit away frohteen If Edants to share with you later, that&039;s his lookout"

"You ht as well tell me, Anita If I ask, he&039;ll tell , but was afraid he was right "If Edants you to know, he&039;ll tell you, Peter But I a to tell you, and that&039;s final"

"Is it that bad?" he asked, and I heard the first thread of worry

Shit, again I just couldn&039;t win conversations with Peter I&039;d only had a handful of them lately, but he always seemed to talk me into a box "Get Edward on the phone, Peter, now"

"I can handle ht, Anita I can help"

Shit, shit, and double shit I was not going to win this conversation "I&039; up now, Peter"

"No, Anita, I&039;m sorry, I&039;rown-up to an almost childlike panic The panic had worked better before his voice deepened "Don&039;t hang up, please, I&039;ll get Ted" The phone hit wood so hard, I had to put the phone away fro, "Sorry, dropped the phone I&039;o knock on their door If it&039;s bad enough for you to call Edward, then you need to talk to hiet hiry with row up He wanted to fight for real, whatever the hell thathim? Did I really want to know? No Would I ask? Yes, unfortunately, yes God, I did not need another proble to lie to Edward, say I&039;d just called up to chat about the latest issue of Mercenaries Quarterly, but if I wasn&039;t up to lying to Peter, Edas absolutely out of ht class

Chapter Ten

I SAT ON the edge of the bathtub, waiting for Edward to come to the phone I&039;d insisted on privacy for the phone call, though I&039;d told Jean-Claude and Micah who I was trying to call Jean-Claude had said only, "Help would not be unwelcome" The comment said, clearly, that he orried The ot

I heard noise over the phone, movement The phone was picked up, and I heard Edward&039;s voice say, "Hang up the other extension, Peter" A second later he spoke directly into the phone "Anita, Peter said you needed help, my kind of help" His voice was that empty-middle-of-nowhere accent It was his norood ol&039; boy, he had a drawl

"I didn&039;t say I needed help," I said

"Then why did you call?"

"Can&039;t I just call to chat?"

He laughed, and the laugh was strangely fah earlier, or h was an echo of Edward&039;s They weren&039;t genetically related, I knew that, so ith the laugh? Imitation, maybe

"You would never call me just to chat, Anita That&039;s not e do for each other" He laughed again, and murmured, "Called to chat," as if the idea were too ridiculous for words

"I do not need you to be condescending, thanks anyway" I was angry and had no right to be I&039;d called hi I hadn&039;t called - for so ?" he asked, not taking offense He knew ry outburst bother him

I openedto decide where to start"

"Start with the dangerous part" There, that was Edward, not start at the beginning, but start with the dangerous part

"I did call for backup, but I have other backup already It&039;s not you, but it&039;s not a bunch of a honest The wererats were almost completely ex-military, ex-police, or ex-criminals Some of the werehyenas were the same flavor of professional I had help I shouldn&039;t have called Edward

"You sound like you&039;re trying to talk yourself out of asking me for help," he said, and his voice was curious, not worried, just curious

"I am"

"Why?"

"Because Peter answered the phone"

There was a sharp intake of breath "Hang up the phone, Peter," Edward said

"If Anita&039;s in trouble, I want to know about it"

"Hang up the phone," he said, "and don&039;t ain"

"But"

"Now"

I heard the phone click

"Well," I said

"Wait," he said

I sat onere waiting for Finally Edward said, "He&039;s off"

"Does he listen in on phone conversations a lot?"

"No"

"How do you know he doesn&039;t?"

"I know" He stopped himself, and said, "I don&039;t think he does I think you&039;re a special case for Peter He&039;s in Donna&039;s old room I told him he could keep the phone if he behaved I&039;ll talk to him"

"If he&039;s in Donna&039;s old roo? Not that it&039;s any of my business," I added

"We put a master suite on the house"

"Have you moved in, then?"

"Pretty much"

"You sell your house?" I asked

"No"

"I guess Bat like that" But his voice, which had started a little friendly, was not friendly now It was eht be talking about doers, but he was still the coldest killer I&039;d ever met, and that person was still in there I wasn&039;t sure whether I couldn&039;t bear the thought of hi Becca at ballet class, or would have paid to see hi for their leotard-clad darlings

"If I lied well enough I&039;d justup"

"Why?" he asked, in that e the phone aet you killed, then they lose another father I don&039;t want to have to explain that to Peter, or Donna, or Becca"

"But especially Peter," he said

"Yeah," I said

"Since you can&039;t lie to me, just tell me, Anita" His voice was a little softer now, a little feeling to it Edward liked one, and I&039;d miss him, but there was still a little question on whether one day we&039;d find ourselves on the opposite sides of a problem, and have to finally see which of us was the betterthat day would never coht now; dead or alive, we&039;d both lose

"Do you knohat the Harlequin are?" I asked

"French clowns?" he said, and let himself sound puzzled

"Do you know them in any other context?"

"Twenty questions isn&039;t like you, Anita; just talk"

"I just wanted to see if I was the only vampire hunter extraordinaire as totally in the dark about this It makes me feel a little better that you don&039;t know about theht; they really are a big, dark secret"

"Talk," he said

I talked I told him what little I knew about the Harlequin and his band It really wasn&039;t thatthat I said, "Edward, I can hear you breathing, but"

"I&039; what?" I asked

"That you always let me play with the best toys" And his voice wasn&039;t eer

"And what if these toys finally er and badder than you and me?"

"Then we die"

"Just like that," I said "You wouldn&039;t have regrets?"

"You mean Donna and the kids?"

"Yes," I said, and I stood, starting to pace the bathroo them"

"Then don&039;t coet killed, I&039;d always believe that I could have saved you No, Anita, I&039;ll co backup"

"Not anyone too crazy, okay?"

He laughed, that chuckle of true delight that I&039;d heard maybe six times in the entire seven years I&039;d known him "I can&039;t promise that, Anita"

"Fine, but Edward, I&039;et you killed on the who I a what I aot the kids to think about"

"Why not?" I asked, and I was thinking of a conversation Richard and I had had e thought I was pregnant He&039;d expected that if I were pregnant I&039;d stop being a federal reed

"Because it wouldn&039;t bethat Peter does about h They knohat I had to do to save the kids when Riker took them"

Riker had been a very bad s, and Donna&039;s aotten in their way It actually hadn&039;t been Edward or ot the kids on Riker&039;s radar Nice to knoeren&039;t completely to blame for what happened Riker had wanted me to do a certain spell for hih to do, but he wouldn&039;t believe et ht-year-old, Becca had gotten a badly broken hand Peter had been sexually uard We&039;d had to watch on videotape We&039;d killed Riker and all his people We rescued the kids, and Edward had un Edward decided in that moment that if we lost, he preferred Peter to be killed resisting, rather than taken again I hadn&039;t argued, not after what they&039;d done to hiun into the body of the wo into her body until I wrestled the gun away from him I still saw his eyes when he told me, "I wanted her to hurt"

I knew that Peter had lost soht his father died and he had to pick up a gun to protect his faht it was killing a monster, and that didn&039;t really count Hell, once I&039;d thought the sa the woer piece of his soul I couldn&039;t even i a piece the sexual abuse stole away Had it been better for hie so quickly? Or had it cost him more?

I&039;d told hiht: "You killed her, Peter That&039;s as good as revenge gets Once you kill thee was always the easy part; the hard part was living with it afterward Living hat you&039;d done Living hat they&039;d done to you, or those you loved

"Anita, are you there? Anita, answer me"

"Sorry, Edward, I didn&039;t hear a da you said"

"You&039;re a thousand ood place to be in the ht"

"It hasn&039;t coht yet," I said

"You knohat I e transport That&039;ll take a day or so I&039;ll be there as soon as I can, but you need to watch your back until I get there"

"I&039;ll do et here"

"This isn&039;t funny, Anita You seeht about it for aI was happy for the first ti with I, like Edward, had a family to protect, and mine wouldn&039;t be tucked safely in New Mexico while we cleaned this up "I just realized that I&039;ve goton the firing line I don&039;t like that a lot"

"Who are you worried about?" he asked

"Nathaniel, Micah, Jean-Claude, all of the your new lovers"

It took me a minute to realize "You&039;ve never otten that"

"Jean-Claude can handle himself, Anita, as well as anyone in this situation It sounds like the shapeshifters have you covered for now Micah is head of the local wereleopards He didn&039;t get the job on his winning personality He&039;s a survivor and a fighter, or he&039;d be dead already"

"Is this supposed to be a pep talk?" I asked

He gave a sound that was alh "Yeah"

"Well, you suck at it"

He laughed then "Which of your lovers is cannon fodder, Anita? Who are you really the most worried about?"