“I’ll go look for Asher and Jean-Claude,” Richard said suddenly. We all looked at him. He walked out in a huff.
“What’s with him?” Zane asked.
“I think he’s jealous,” I said. “But he should be grateful. This might mean that he and I can break free of Jean-Claude.” I thought about that. “Though Micah and Damian and I could be in the same boat then. Damn it.”
“Damn what?” Everyone in the room turned around with a start. Edward stood in the doorway. He was wearing black pants that didn’t look like his. Jason hovered behind him. “Someone needs to fill me in on things,” continued Edward. “Because I have no idea what the hell is going on.”
Where to begin? For starters, I stepped closer to him and reached out with my magic. No sign of the big bad vampire. It was all Edward. Now to check the other vamps. “Give me a minute to check on Jean-Claude and Asher, and then I’ll tell you everything.” He nodded, and I ran off. Damian followed me. I hoped I found the boys before Richard did. If they weren’t back to normal, he’d be in trouble. The red-haired vamp and I entered the main sitting area and found what we were looking for.
“Ma petite,” said Jean-Claude. He held out his arms to me. I glanced at Damian, and he nodded. I walked into the waiting embrace and knew it was him, just him. He laid his cheek atop my hair. “I knew you would save us. Perhaps now the Council will leave us be, after your display of wits and power.”
I pulled back enough to look up at him. “Were you aware of what was going on when Belle was in your head?”
“Oui, I was. So were Asher and Edward. But we were helpless to communicate to you.”
“Why did you come after me when you drank from Edward?”
“Belle took over control of my mind when I got too near him. It took her a few moments to orient herself.”
I started to ask more questions, but it was Asher who stopped me. “Ma cherie, perhaps we should check on Edward. Maybe now he can tell us what had really happened to him these past days.”
“Good idea.” Still holding Jean-Claude’s hand, I started toward the bedroom. The other two followed. Back in the other room, Zane and Cherry appeared to be catching Edward up on how he came to be at the Circus. Jason and Nathaniel lounged on the bed with the still-glowing Micah. There was no sign of Richard. Edward stared at me when I walked in with the vampires in tow. I let go of Jean-Claude’s hand and moved within a few feet of the bed.
“Edward.”
“Anita. Would you mind talking in private, just you and I?”
“If it’s okay with everyone else.”
No one protested, so Edward and I went into another room to talk. As soon as he shut the door, he started firing questions at me. “Why are we all here? What’s been going on for the past week? Who’s Belle Morte?”
I held up a hand. “Whoa, slow down. I’ll answer what I can. We’re here because of the Council. They tried to start shit with us. Actually, they did start shit, and I had to clean it up.” Edward frowned at me. I sighed and continued. “Belle Morte is one of the vamps on the Council. She’s the head of Jean-Claude and Asher’s line. Scary bitch too. She can enter the minds of her children, and she’d gotten into my head before.”
“Because of your ties to Jean-Claude,” Edward said. I nodded.
“I was able to cast her out using power, magic. That’s what just happened here. It seems Belle had invaded not only Asher and Jean-Claude, but you as well.”
“But I don’t have any ties to a vampire.”
“I know. This is what I’m in the dark about. Do you remember going on a hunt within the past two weeks?”
“I…I remember getting a call about a rogue shifter. It was your basic hit. The hiring party checked out. I got on a plane to…wherever…and, I don’t remember.” His shoulders slumped. “Something bad happened, didn’t it? That’s why I don’t remember anything. What happened to me, Anita?”
Where to start? “As far as we can tell,” I began gently, “you were attacked by a wereleopard. That’s what you told us at least. But you were sort of not in control of yourself, so we’re not sure. Something clawed you up good though.”
His face was grim. “I do recall getting attacked, being in a hospital bed. But it’s just snatches of images. Things that don’t make sense.” Edward began pacing the length of the bedroom. “How did this vampire get into my head? I’ve never even heard of her until now. There is no way she could have been behind the hit, is there?” He looked at me, eyes wild. “I checked it out like I do every time I get a call. There was nothing suspicious. Everything was fine.”
“Did you get your target?” I asked quietly. Something told me that I had to go about this with extreme caution.
“Yes. I think I did.” The pacing stopped as he paused to think harder. “I killed my target and then…something hit me from behind. Not human. It was strong. Knocked me out. It bit me.” He touched his shoulder. “It bit me,” he repeated softly.
“Yeah. You’ve got stitches in some of the claw marks. It’s pretty bad.”
“How bad?”
I sighed. “Worse than I’ve ever seen anyone survive.”
“When did I get attacked? How many days ago?”
“Week and a half, close to two. That’s what you said, at least.”
“I see.” Edward was silent for a moment. “Let’s go back to my being mind-raped by the vamp. How are Belle Morte and my attack related?”
“Belle can control the great cats, including wereleopards. She could have had someone waiting to jump you when you killed the other lycanthrope. It’s possible she did arrange the whole hit just to get you.”
“But why?”
“That’s another thing we can’t figure out. Why possess you? The only thing you did was try and kill me.”
That raised his eyebrows. “I tried to kill you?”
“Sort of. But then you got hit with a tranquilizer.”
He frowned at me again. “Who hit me with it?”
“Zane did, but that’s not important right now. Why would Belle want you? Say she did want you to kill me. Why would she have to have you do it? She could’ve just as easily used any of the pard or Jean-Claude’s vampires.”
“I am good at what I do,” he chuckled. I glared at him.
“Not funny. You almost did kill me, Edward.”
“What stopped me? And don’t say the tranquilizer, Anita. The look in your eyes is hiding something.”
Oh, boy. Might as well come right out and say it. “What do you know about the ardeur?”
“Other than it sounds French, nothing.”
“Short version. As a vampire, Jean-Claude has a lust for lust. He feeds off of it like he does blood. It can be an overwhelming need if it’s not controlled. I inherited it from him when he and Richard and I married the marks a few months ago. None of us knew it would happen.”
“So you need to feed off of lust or else, what?” Edward asked.
“There is no or what. If I don’t choose when and how it’s fed, it chooses for me.”
Realization crossed his face. “And it chose me, didn’t it?”
“I’d say it was all the ardeur’s fault, but I’m not sure. You were saying things, Edward. Crazy things.”
“Like what?”
“That you loved me, wanted to be with me, couldn’t live without me. Stuff like that.” I held my breath, fearing his reaction.
“Oh. What exactly does feeding off of lust involve, Anita?”
I squirmed. “In a usual case or in yours?”
“Mine, Anita, mine. What happened?”
“We had sex.”
Silence. The really uncomfortable kind. It lasted a good couple of minutes. I didn’t want to say anything, but I didn’t want him to say anything either. All I really wanted was to erase the past two weeks and start over, changing a few key things. I kept busy watching my feet swing over the carpet.
“I was a willing participant?” he asked carefully.
“What do you mean?”
“Between some strange vampire in my mind and this ardeur shit, how do you know I willingly had sex with you?”
“What are you suggesting, that I raped you? I don’t think so. You were plenty eager and willing to get your hands on me, Edward. Belle may be powerful, but I doubt she could make you do something you really didn’t want to do. There would have been some sign of protest, struggle.”
“How do you know? It wasn’t your mind she was in.”
“You’re right. I don’t know. But I’ve seen vampire mind tricks at work.”
“Then why don’t you know what the hell is going on?”
I was getting pissed off. “Because I don’t! You’re the one who jumped me, not the other way around. Belle must’ve had something to work with to get you to do all that.”
“You’re lying!” Edward backed up until he hit the door. His eyes were wide, his breathing too rapid. “It was all just a bad dream in the hospital. None of it happened. We didn’t have sex. I’m not contaminated. This is a dream. I’m sick.”
Slowly, I slid off the bed and stood facing him. “No, it’s not a dream, Edward. But you’re going to be alright. You’ve been through a lot these past few days. It’s only normal to be shocked.”
“I’m not listening to this.” From seemingly out of nowhere, Edward drew a gun and held up. Not again.
“Edward,” I began.
He held the barrel to his temple. Sweat glistened on his forehead, in his hair. He was practically panting. “Anita, I’m not alright. You know it and I know it. No one could’ve gotten as clawed up as I have and survived…human.” There was a click as he cocked the gun. “I can’t do it.”
The déjà vu was so strong, yet I had a feeling this situation wouldn’t turn out like last time. “Edward, put down the gun. We’ve already been through this once.”
“What do you mean?” His face was puzzled. It gave me the few seconds I needed to draw my gun. I pointed it right at his head. He looked hurt. “Anita.”
“Put it down or I will shoot you.”
Unlike before, Edward didn’t want a mercy killing. He would never let me kill him. Belle didn’t know that but I did.
“And if I don’t?”
“Then
you’ll still never know…”