After what seemed like forever I heard the noises of people entering the house. “Hello?” called Nathaniel.
“I’m coming.” Feeling grungy, I’d thrown on an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants. I had no one to impress. The gang made themselves as comfortable as they could get in my living room. Cherry and Zane huddled on the loveseat, silently comforting each other. We really needed more women around. I felt overwhelmed by so much testosterone.
Richard spoke first. “So what do we do about what’s wrong with the vampires?” he wanted to know. “We are bound to Jean-Claude.” Like he had to remind me. “How do we know you’re alright?”
I just looked at him. “How do we know you’re alright?” I shot back. He glared at me. If he wanted a staring contest, fine. My eyes were too cold for him; he looked away first. “Okay. Anyone else have any ideas?”
“Didn’t you say something about Belle Morte?” Jason asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. I saw her in Edward’s mind.”
“Is she powerful enough to take over Edward, Jean-Claude, and Asher?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I said. “But the question is, how did she get Edward in the first place? She’s not in St. Louis, or else somebody would’ve sensed something.” I paused, thinking. “What if her lieutenant, Musette or whatever the hell her name is, came to visit early? Could she do this?”
Apparently, my guess was as good as anyone else’s. The leopards didn’t hang out at the Circus much; neither did Richard. Jason was pretty much just food, and you don’t involve your snacks in vampire politics. If the Council representatives had shown up early, we were in trouble. We wouldn’t be prepared for another few months. It would be just like the Council to do this. With Jean-Claude not himself, I couldn’t really ask if we were allowed to retaliate.
“I’ve cast Belle out of my head before,” I began. “But it took a lot of power to do it.” Jason and Nathaniel nodded. Jean-Claude and Asher had fed on the two when my ardeur caught all of us in its grasp. I’d bit a chunk out of Jason’s neck to get the blood I needed. Not a fun experience. “And Jason acted as our third. We haven’t got a vampire this time to make it work.”
“What about Damian?” asked Nathaniel. “I didn’t see him at the Circus, so maybe Belle or whoever hasn’t gotten to him yet.”
“He’s old, but he’s not that powerful,” I said. “We could try, but I’m not sure what would happen. How do we get him without the other two vampires catching on to our plan?”
Richard frowned at me. “What plan?”
“I’m
working on that.”
Two hours and a lot of coffee later, we had a tentative plan of action. Richard, Jason, Micah, and I would return to the Circus. If Damian was still untouched by Belle’s influence, we’d try to use him as our third. If he had been taken over, Richard and I would try to see if the marks were still open between us and Jean-Claude. Our backup plan consisted of the tranquilizer gun, locking the vamps in cross-covered coffins, and praying we didn’t get killed in the process. Then there was still Edward to worry about. I hoped he hadn’t found any weapons, or else we were really screwed.
During the group discussion, motive hadn’t been brought up. As the boys and I drove on the highway in the direction of the Circus, I wondered what the hell was going on. Why would Belle invade Edward? Was she trying to kill me? The harder I thought, the more certain things made sense. Belle’s animal to call was the cat, so she could have had Edward attacked on purpose. It would explain why he was caught off guard. But having him think he was madly in love with me? Since the ardeur ultimately came from Belle Morte, she could trigger mine. Which is probably what she did to make me jump Edward. Why go through all the trouble of a seduction if she wanted me dead?
“Are you okay?” I jumped at Micah’s words. His strange yellow-green eyes peered at me from the passenger seat. It was good Jason was driving; I’d have gotten us into an accident by now. I looked at my Nimir-Raj and sighed.
“I’m trying to figure out why things have happened the way they did. It doesn’t make sense.”
He looked thoughtful. “Perhaps this vampire Belle Morte is trying to cause trouble for the sake of causing trouble. She hasn’t dropped her bomb yet, so there is time to solve the puzzle she has made.”
“She wouldn’t do this just out of fun. She’s a member of the Council,” I explained. “They have ulterior motives for everything. The only thing I can think is that making me sleep with Edward would’ve really pissed off Jean-Claude, but then what?”
“Didn’t someone mention pregnancy?”
I rubbed my hands over my eyes. I was getting frustrated. “What good would me getting pregnant be? Especially if Edward’s the father. He’s human. The baby would be normal.”
“But is he human?”
“It doesn’t matter. Lycanthropy isn’t passed from parent to child unless it’s an inherited type.” I frowned at him. “You should know that, Micah.”
“How do we know what really happened to him? I hate to worry you, Anita, but what if something bad has happened to him?”
“Define bad,” I said. “Edward might be a were. Okay. He’s not a vampire or anything like that. As far as I know he’s one-hundred percent normal.”
“As normal as Edward can get,” quipped Jason. We all glared at him. He put his hands up in a surrender gesture and went back to driving.
Richard put in his two cents. “The downside of you being pregnant is that you’d be extremely vulnerable. If the Council wanted to take out the Triumvirate you’d be easy prey.” He stared at me. “They probably know you well enough to realize that you’d keep the baby, even if you didn’t really want it.” His face held disgust, contempt. “Or are they wrong? All your other morals seem to have gone downhill.”
“Fuck you, Richard.”
“Exactly.”
“Like you’re perfect,” I retorted, feeling childish. It was always Richard who picked the morality fights, not me, I swear. “Let’s stick to the issues at hand. We don’t know exactly why Belle would want control of Edward. Unless she did it so she could get to Jean-Claude and Asher. But why just them and not every goddamn person at the Circus?”
“They’re powerful vampires,” Micah said. “Think of what they could do if possessed by evil.”
I didn’t want to think of that. I preferred to stick to my delusions. By the time we pulled into the parking lot of the Circus, I was very jumpy. Both wrist sheaths were on, along with the big blade that went down my spine. The Browning was in the shoulder holster; the Firestar at the small of my back. Nathaniel carried my Derringer, since I’d taught him the basics of shooting. Everyone else would just have to wing it.
The employee entrance door opened with my key. Silence enveloped us as we stepped inside. Edward was my main concern. Zane had the tranquilizer gun ready. I went first, gun out. Richard had our backs, being physically the biggest and strongest. A growl trickled from Micah’s furred throat. He’d shifted before we entered. We were prepared for anything.
“Anita.” I whirled, finger hugging the trigger of the gun. Damian stood in a doorway, red hair flowing around his shoulders like a cloak. My heart was in my throat.
“Shit, Damian. Make noise when you move next time.”
He bowed. “Yes, my Mistress.”
“And don’t call me that.”
“Yes…Anita.” He said my name just like he’d said Mistress. Oh, well. He looked at me with those cat-green eyes. “Are you here about Jean-Claude and Asher?”
How did he know? “Yeah, actually. Where are they?”
“In the coffin room. They have been acting rather strangely. I assume you knew this.”
I nodded and remembered to ask about Edward. “Where’s Edward? He hasn’t tried to kill anyone yet, has he?” Damian shook his head. Good. I’d really hate to have to kill Edward without knowing the truth about what the hell was going on. “Okay everyone, here’s the plan. Zane, Jason, Cherry and Nathaniel: try to find Edward and drug him again. Chain him to a wall or something. Richard and Micah, you guys come with me. We’re gonna raise some power.”