"Larry, you are going to have to get over this squeamishness or you're going to get killed."
"I'll keep doing what I think is right, Anita. Nothing you can say will change my mind."
"Dammit, Larry. I don't want to have to bury you."
"What would you have done? Shot her?"
"I wouldn't have turned my back on her, Larry. I could have probably disarmed her or kept her busy until the other attendant arrived. I wouldn't have had to shoot her."
"I let things get out of control," he said.
"Your priorities were screwed. You should have neutralized the threat before you checked on the victim. Alive, you could help the vamp. Dead, you're just another victim."
"Well, at least I've got a scar you don't have."
I shook my head. "You'll have to try harder if you want a scar I don't have."
"You let a human shove one of your own stakes into your back?"
"Two humans with multiple bites, what I used to call human servants, before I knew what the term really meant. I had one pinned and was stabbing him. The woman came at my back."
"So yours wasn't a mistake," he said.
I shrugged. "I could have shot them when I first saw them, but I didn't kill humans as easily back then. I learned my lesson. Just because it doesn't have fangs doesn't mean it can't kill you."
"You used to be squeamish about shooting human servants?" Larry asked.
I turned onto 270. "No one's perfect. Why did the woman have a hard-on to kill the vampire?"
He grinned. "You're going to love this one. She's a member of Humans First. The vampire was a doctor in the hospital. He'd tucked himself into a linen closet. It was where he always slept the day away if he'd had to stay too late in the hospital to drive home. She just popped him on a gurney and wheeled him down to the morgue."
"I'm surprised she didn't just push him out into the sunlight. The last sunlight of the day works as well as noonday."
"The linen closet he used was on the basement floor just in case someone opened the door at the wrong time of day. No windows. She was afraid someone would see her before she could get him up in the elevator and outside."
"She really thought you would just stake him?"
"I guess so. I don't know, Anita. She was crazy, really crazy. She spit at the vampire and us. Said we'd all rot in hell. That we had to cleanse the world of the monsters. The monsters were going to enslave us all." Larry shivered, then frowned. "I thought Humans Against Vampires was bad enough, but this splinter group, Humans First, is genuinely scary."
"HAV tries to work within the law," I said. "Humans First doesn't even pretend to care. They claimed they staked that vampire mayor in Michigan."
"Claimed? You don't believe them?"
"I think someone near and dear to his household did it."
"Why?"
"The cops sent me a description and some photos of the security precautions he'd taken. Humans First may be radical, but they don't seem very well organized yet. You'd have had to plan and be very lucky to get to that vampire during the day. He was like a lot of the old ones, very serious about his daytime safety. I think whoever did it is happy to let the right-wing radicals take the blame."
"You tell the police what you think?"
"Sure. That's why they asked."
"I'm surprised they didn't have you come down and see it in person."
I shrugged. "I can't go personally to every preternatural crime. Besides, I'm technically a civilian. Cops are sort of leery about involving civilians in their cases, but more importantly, the media would be all over it. The Executioner Solves Vampire Murder."
Larry grinned. "That's a mild headline for you."
"Unfortunately," I said. "Also, I think the killer is a human. I think it's just someone he was close to. It's like any well-planned murder except for the victim being a vampire."
"Only you would make a locked-room vampire murder sound ordinary," Larry said.
I had to smile. "I guess so." My beeper went off, and I jumped. I pulled the damn thing off my skirt and held it where I could see the number. I frowned at it.
"What's wrong? Is it the police?"
"No. I don't recognize the number."
"You don't give out your beeper number to strangers."
"I'm aware of that."
"Hey, don't get grumpy at me."
I sighed. "Sorry." Larry was slowly wearing me down on my aggression threshold. He was, by sheer repetition, teaching me to be nicer. Anybody else and I would have fed them their head in a basket. But Larry managed to push my buttons just right. He could caution me to be nicer and I didn't slug him. The basis of many a successful relationship.
We were only minutes from Larry's apartment. I'd tuck him into bed and answer the call. If it wasn't the police or a zombie-raising, I was going to be pissed. I hated being beeped when it wasn't important. That's what beepers are for, right? If it wasn't important stuff, I was going to rain all over somebody's parade. With Larry asleep, I could be as nasty as I wanted to be. It was almost a relief.
3
When Larry was safely tucked in bed with his Demorol, so deeply asleep that nothing short of an earthquake would have woken him, I made my phone call. I still didn't have the faintest idea who it was, which bothered me. It wasn't just inconvenient, it was unnerving. Who was giving out my private numbers and why?
The phone didn't even finish a ring before it was picked up. The voice on the other end was male, soft, and panicked. "Hello, hello."
All my irritation vanished in a wash of something very close to fear. "Stephen, what's wrong?"
I heard him swallow on his end of the phone. "Thank God."
"What's happened?" I made my voice very clear, very calm, because I wanted to yell at him, to force him to tell me what the hell was going on.
"Can you come down to St. Louis University Hospital?"
That got my attention. "How bad are you hurt?"
"It's not me."
My heart slid up into my throat, and my voice came out squeezed and tight. "Jean-Claude." The moment I said it, I knew it was silly. It was just after noon. If Jean-Claude had needed a doctor, they would have had to come to him. Vampires did not travel well in broad daylight. Why was I so worried about a vampire? I happened to be dating him. My family, devout Catholics, are simply thrilled. Since I'm still a little embarrassed about it, it's hard to defend myself.
"It's not Jean-Claude. It's Nathaniel."
"Who?"
Stephen's breath went out in a long-suffering sigh. "He was one of Gabriel's people."
Which was another way of saying he was a wereleopard. Gabriel had been the leopards' leader, their alpha, until I killed him. Why had I killed him? Most of the wounds he'd given me had healed. It was one of the benefits of the vampire marks. I didn't scar quite so easily anymore. But there was a curl of scars high up on my buttocks and lower back, faint, almost dainty, but I would always have a little reminder of Gabriel. A reminder that his fantasy had been to rape me, to make me cry out his name, then kill me. Though knowing Gabriel, he probably hadn't been so picky on when I died, after, or during -- either would have worked for him. As long as I was still warm. Most lycanthropes aren't into carrion.
I sounded casual about it, even in my own head. But my fingers traced along my back as if I could feel the scars through my skirt. Had to be casual about it. Had to be. Or you start screaming, and you don't stop.
"The hospital doesn't know Nathaniel's a shapeshifter, do they?" I said.
He lowered his voice. "They know. He's healing too fast for them not to know."
"So why whisper?"
"Because I'm out in the waiting room on a pay phone." There was a sound on the other end like he'd had to take the receiver away from his mouth. He muttered, "I'll be off in just a minute." He came back on. "I need you to come down, Anita."
"Why?"
"Please."
"You're a werewolf, Stephen. What are you doing babysitting one of the kitty-
cats?"
"I'm one of the names in his wallet in case of emergencies. Nathaniel works at Guilty Pleasures."
"He's a stripper?" I made it a question because he could have been a waiter, but it wasn't likely. Jean-Claude owned Guilty Pleasures, and he would never have wasted a shapeshifter off-stage. They were too damned exotic.
"Yes."
"The two of you need a ride?" It was my day for it, I guess.
"Yes, and no."
There was something in his voice that I didn't like. An unease, a tension. It wasn't like Stephen to be cagey. He didn't play games. He just talked. "How did Nathaniel get hurt?" Maybe if I asked better questions, I'd get better answers.
"A customer got too rough."
"At the club?"
"No. Anita, please, there's no time. Come down and make sure he doesn't go home with Zane."
"Who the hell is Zane?"
"Another of Gabriel's people. He's been pimping them out since Gabriel died. But he's not protecting them like Gabriel did. He isn't alpha."
"Pimping them out? What are you talking about?"
Stephen's voice rose high and far too cheerful. "Hello, Zane. Have you seen Nathaniel yet?"
I couldn't really hear the answer, just the buzz of all the people in the waiting room. "I don't think they want him to go just yet. He's hurt," Stephen said.
Zane must have stepped very close to the phone, very close to Stephen. A low, growling voice came through the wire. "He'll go home when I say he goes home."
Stephen's voice held an edge of panic. "I don't think the doctors will like that."
"I don't give a shit. Who are you talking to?"
For his voice to be that clear he had to have Stephen pinned against the wall. Threatening him, without saying anything specific.
The growling voice was suddenly very clear. He'd taken the phone from Stephen. "Who is this?"
"Anna Blake, and you must be Zane."
He laughed, and it sounded too low, as if his throat were sore. "The wolves' human lupa. Oh, I'm so scared."
Lupa was the word the werewolves used for their leader's mate. I was the first human so honored. I wasn't even dating their Ulfric anymore. We'd broken up after I saw him eat somebody. Hey, a girl's got to have some standards.
"Gabriel wasn't scared of me either. Look where it got him," I said.
Zane was quiet for a handful of heartbeats. He breathed over the phone like a dog panted, heavy, but not like he was doing it on purpose, more like he couldn't help it. "Nathaniel is mine. Keep off of him."
"Stephen isn't one of yours," I said.
"Does he belong to you?" I could hear cloth moving. A sense of movement on the other end of the phone that I didn't like. "He is sooo pretty. Have you tasted these soft lips? Has this long yellow hair swept over your pillow?"
I knew without seeing it that he was touching Stephen, caressing him to match the words. "Don't touch him, Zane."
"Too late."
I gripped the phone tight and forced my voice calm, even. "Stephen's under my protection, Zane. Do you understand me?"
"What would you do to keep your pet wolf safe, Anita?"
"You don't want to push that button, Zane. You really don't."
He lowered his voice to an almost painful whisper. "Would you kill me to keep him safe?"
I usually have to meet someone at least once before threatening to kill them, but I was about to make an exception. "Yeah."
He laughed, low and nervous. "I see why Gabriel liked you. So tough, so sure of yourself. Sooo dangerous."
"You sound like a bad imitation of Gabriel."
He made a sound that was somewhere between a hiss and a bah. "Stephen shouldn't have interfered."
"Nathaniel's his friend."
"I am all the friend he needs."
"I don't think so."
"I am taking Nathaniel with me, Anita. If Stephen tries to stop me, I'll hurt him."
"You hurt Stephen, I hurt you."
"So be it." He hung up.
Shit. I ran for my Jeep. I was thirty minutes away, twenty if I pushed it a lot. Twenty minutes. Stephen wasn't dominant. He was a victim. But he was also loyal. If he thought Nathaniel shouldn't go with Zane, he'd try and keep him. He wouldn't fight for him, but he might throw his body in front of the car. I had no doubts at all that Zane would drive right over him. Best case scenario. Worst case scenario was Zane would take both Stephen and Nathaniel. If Zane acted as much like Gabriel as he talked, I'd rather have taken my chances with the car.
4
My second emergency room in less than two hours. It was a red-letter day even for me. Good news was that none of the injuries were mine. Bad news was that that might change. Alpha or not, Zane was a shapeshifter. They were able to bench-press medium-size elephants. I was not going to arm-wrestle him. Not only would I lose, but he'd probably pull the arm out of my socket and eat it. Most lycanthropes liked to try and pass for human. I wasn't sure Zane sweated little details like that.
Yet I didn't want to kill Zane if I didn't have to. It wasn't mercy. It was the thought that he might force me to do it in public. I didn't want to go to jail. The fact that the punishment worried me more than the crime said something about my moral state. Some days I thought I was becoming a sociopath. Some days I thought I was already there.
I carried silver-plated bullets in my gun at all times. Silver worked on humans, as well as on most supernatural beings. Why keep switching to normal ammo that only did humans and a very few creatures? But a few months ago I'd met a fairie that had damn near killed me. Silver didn't work on fairies, but normal lead did. So I'd taken to keeping a spare clip of regular bullets in the glove compartment. I peeled off the first two rounds of my silver clip and replaced them with lead. Which meant I had two bullets to discourage Zane with, before I killed him. Because, make no mistake, if he kept coming after I'd pumped him full of two Glazer Safety Rounds, which hurt a hell of a lot even if you could heal the damage, the first silver bullet was not going to be aimed to wound.
It wasn't until I was going through the doors I realized that I didn't know Nathaniel's last name. Stephen's name wasn't going to help me. Damn.
The waiting room was packed. Women with crying babies, children racing through the chairs belonging to no one, a man with a bloody rag around his hand, people with no visible injury staring dully into space. Stephen was nowhere in sight.
Screams, the sound of breaking glass; metal clanked to the floor. A nurse ran out of the far hallway. "Get more security, now!" A nurse behind the admittance desk punched buttons on the phone.
Call it a hunch but I was betting I knew where Stephen and Zane were. I flashed my ID at the nurse. "I'm with the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. Can I help?"
The nurse clutched my arm. "You're a cop?"
"I'm with the police, yes." Prevarication at its best. As a civilian attached to a police squad you learn how to do that.
"Thank God." She started to pull me towards the noise.
I pulled my arm free and took out my gun. Safety off, pointed at the ceiling, ready to go. With normal ammo I wouldn't have pointed at the ceiling, not with a hospital full of patients above me, but Glazer Safety Rounds aren't called safety rounds for nothing.
The back area was like every emergency area I'd ever been in. Curtains hung from metal tracks so you could make lots and lots of little individual examining rooms. A handful of curtains were closed, but patients were sitting up, staring through the curtains, watching the show. A wall divided the room down the middle to the corridor, so there wasn't much to see.
A man wearing green surgical scrubs went flying through the air from around that wall. He smacked into the opposite wall, slid down it heavily, and lay very still.
The nurse with me ran towards him, and I let her go. What lay beyond, what was tossing doctors around like toys, wasn't a job for a healer. It was a job for me. Two more figures in surgical scrubs lay on the floor, one male, one female. The woman was awake,
eyes wide. Her wrist was at a 45 degree angle, broken. She saw my ID clipped to my jacket. "He's a shifter. Be careful."
"I know what he is," I said. I lowered the gun just a touch.
Her eyes flinched, and it wasn't pain. "Don't shoot up my trauma center."
"Try not to," I said and moved past her.
Zane stepped out into the corridor. I'd never seen Zane before, but who else could it be? He was carrying someone in his arms. I thought at first, a woman, because the hair was long and shining brown, but the exposed back and shoulders were too muscular, too male. It had to be Nathaniel. He fit easily into the taller man's arms.
Zane was about six foot, stretched tall and thin. He wore only a black leather vest on his thin, pale upper body. His hair was cotton-white, cut short on the sides with the top long in moussed spikes.
He opened his mouth and snarled at me. He had fangs, upper and lower, like a great cat. Sweet Jesus.
I pointed the gun at him and let out the air in my body until I was still and quiet. I was aiming for a line of shoulder above Nathaniel's still form. At this distance I'd hit it.
"I'll only ask once, Zane. Put him down."
"He's mine, mine!" He took striding steps down the hallway, and I fired.
The bullet spun him halfway around, and staggered him to his knees. The shoulder I'd hit stopped working, and Nathaniel slid out of his arms. Zane got to his feet with the smaller man tucked under his good arm like a doll. The flesh of his shoulder was already reknitting, rebuilding itself like a fast-forward picture of a flower blooming.
Zane could have tried to rush past me, to use his speed, but he didn't. He just came walking towards me as if he didn't believe I'd do it. He should have believed.
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