I frowned and watched her move towards her desk to note something down and then leave the room. I returned my attention to the lollipop guy, who was probably Fabienne’s assistant. “A fever? What happened?”
“Well, from what I heard you and the chief got into a nice fight with the vampires. You escaped, but at some point during the fight you were bitten and then collapsed at his feet. He caught you in time, don’t worry. And then the chief brought you here.”
I grimaced at the image of me passing out and falling into Kylian’s arms. Like a frigging damsel. I would never live it down. “Chief? I thought he doesn’t care for titles.”
His eyes sparkled as he grinned from ear to ear. “Oh, he doesn’t. It annoys the hell out of him.”
I raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help myself but to return the grin. I really liked his way of thinking. “I’ll remember that.”
“I’m Ben by the way. Nice to meet you.”
“Hi, I’m Maiwenn. Can you get me out of here?”
He rose, grabbed a blood pressure gauge from a metal shelf beside him and put it on my arm. “Until your fever doesn’t break I wouldn’t recommend it. You seem to have quite the reaction to the bite.”
“You’re a doc, too?” I didn’t manage to hide the surprise, or the shock.
Ben looked sheepish. “Guilty.”
Calmly he took my blood pressure and pulse and temperature, checked the burning bite mark, which startling enough I found at my ankle. Ben obviously read my face quite well, “Yeah, took us a moment to figure out what had happened and to spot the bite.”
I couldn’t believe it, I’d been so careful. But obviously one clever and sneaky bat bastard had found a way around the whirl of my sword and had gone for my leg. Grrr. And it was enough to screw with my magic.
“What do you know about vampire bites?” Ben asked.
“That you need three of them and a blood exchange to become a leech.”
He took out another lollipop and unfolded it. “That’s right. But did you know that there’s a difference between the bite of the vamp in human form and a bat?”
I didn’t actually. He continued, “Vampire bites are comparable to snake bites, and for a reason unknown bats pump in more venom than the humanoid vampire.”
Why didn’t anybody tell me that before? “And what does this have to do with me?”
“Given the size of the marks, you were bitten by the flying kind. And your body doesn’t like it one bit. Were you bitten before?”
I sighed, remembering the lab I visited every night in my dreams. “Yes.”
“Is it possible the bites are from the same vamp?”
“Honestly, I don’t know for sure. But I don’t think so.” When he pulled up his eyebrows I told him about what happened three months ago and about the bite marks I had found on my skin when I’d woken up in the lab. “From normal teeth, well, vamp teeth. You know what I mean.”
He stepped closer again, his eyes hard and a warning finger wagging in front of me. “I don’t want you to turn into one of those leeches and your body obviously agrees with me. So do what this handsome doctor says and don’t you ever get bitten again. Clear?”
“Crystal. Believe me becoming a vamp isn’t something I put on my bucket list.” It was time to change the subject and to gather some information of my own. “How come you’re here, in France I mean? Why did you leave your home?”
He shrugged. “Kylian wants two docs and I had nothing else to do at the time. It seemed to be a good idea.”
Right. Of course. And Santa is the Easter Bunny in disguise.
“But what about your family or Kylian’s for that matter? Won’t they be sad if you both rush off to France so suddenly? Surely he could have left the place to a French shapeshifter.”
“You know Kylian. He follows the rules and he killed the old pack leader. Do you think he would step down from that responsibility so he could just go on twiddling his thumbs?”
Being the Council’s feared and legendary assassin mounted up to Kylian sitting on his hands? I doubted it, but let it go - for now. “Anyway, we know the reason for the fever is my body fighting the vamp magic which isn’t unusual, so why exactly can’t I leave?”
“Because they didn’t get my permission to let you go.”
I was too weak to jump, and I really hoped he didn’t notice. Kylian strolled in, his hair a little wavy and damp from a recent shower.
“Oh, well, if that’s all. They might need your go-ahead, but I don’t.” I started to sit up, while Ben couldn’t hide a grin and discreetly slipped out of the room.
Kylian sighed and ran a hand through his hair before letting it drop back to his side. “Do you have a quota to fulfill, or what? Some kind of ‘how many fights can I get myself in’? Why can’t you just wait five minutes? We had a tough fight yesterday and can be lucky we made it out of the Den alive, I had a rough day and your body’s still overloaded with magic.”
He grabbed a chair and sat down, stretching his legs. I studied his face. He tried to hide it but his eyes were tired.
“Someone challenged you again.” And I realized that I was probably the only person around whom he could really relax since we were alone and I wasn’t pack and couldn’t challenge him on the spot.
“Two wolves, a cat and a bear from a pack in the south. When this stops I will make those of my pack who put up a good fight head of their own house. You know, house wolf, cat, bear and bird and so on. This pack’s too big, and in case something happens to me there’ll be a little less chaos than when Michel went rogue. If you’ve got, say five heads of houses, they can fight it out amongst themselves since they already are the strongest of their clan and everything will be a lot quicker. Plus, regular meetings, where the health of the pack as a whole and other matters will be discussed, will also serve as a control to see whether the absolute alpha is still strong enough to lead.”
“You want to put me out of business.” I said it with a smile, since I didn’t mean it. Those extra heads of his so called houses and the following additional control would enforce discipline and order amongst the shapeshifters, which would eventually entail a decline of loose rogues, and that was totally fine with me. “It’s a good idea.”
“I also wanted to ask whether you and Pauline might be able to come up with a spell or charm to divert the humans, so we’ll have a certain safe territory around us.”
I nodded. “Sure, I think we’ll be able to manage that.”
He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Good. Back to yesterday. Do you remember our conversation, from before you passed out?”
I frowned, focusing my concentration on his question and away from the muscles rippling under his shirt. Recalling the battle into my mind, I saw the fight, how we got out and hid in the shadows, trying to grasp the thoughts that had been running through my head at the time. “I was wondering why she would pick a load of magical creatures off the streets when the chances for survival were so low and the disappearances so obvious and literally leading us directly to her. If she were behind this, she would be much more discreet. But then again, she didn’t deny it either.”
There was more. My brain screamed at me that I was missing something, but I couldn’t figure it out. My memories and thoughts from when we came out of the Den were as slippery as fish.
“I agree, and it seems we’re back to square one.”
“Well, except we did incite a war along the way.”
“Yay!”
He stood and the door to the room opened to let Fabienne in. She had a bunch of clothes in her hand. “Those are for you. Your own were so soaked in blood and caked with bone dust, it was better to throw them away. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” Fabienne put them on the bed. “Thanks.”
Kylian moved towards the door, where he turned around to look at me. “Can you do me one favor and let Ben accompany you home?” I opened my mouth, but he held up his hand, shaking his head. “I asked nice
ly. Don’t force me to put it another way.” His lips curved into a sexy smirk. “Small hint, there are at least a hundred shapeshifters outside and twice as much across town.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Fine.”
When he left and Fabienne remained at her desk I quickly got dressed in black pants, a shirt and oversized black sweatshirt. My weapons and sword were all beside my bed and I strapped them on. As soon as I was ready Ben came in to fetch me.
Ben drove me back to my apartment. I hated Parisian traffic, he had a blast. He shifted gears like a maniac, honked after Parisian, unwritten laws and all the while managed to eat a bag of honey roasted nuts. I turned a little in my seat to study him. First lollipops and now honeyed nuts.
“You’re a bear.”
He nodded and grinned proudly. “American black bear.” A little more sheepish and utterly adorable he added, “Though my fur’s actually cinnamon-colored.”
I laughed. “Figures.”
It suited him, as a human he had this cute and cuddly teddy-bear-with-twinkling-eyes thing going for him - you just had to like him.
We arrived in front of the building, he parked and we got out. I entered the security code, opened the entrance door and we climbed up the stairs. I had just opened the door when Pauline, Viviane and even Anouk seemed to appear right in front of me, bursting with question, among the most important was whether I was alright.
I smiled and reassured them, “I’m fine girls, relax. Just a vampire bite that I didn’t notice. This is Ben by the way, and if you step back a bit he might even be able to come in.”
That’s what they did and we all strolled into the living room area to sit down. “Ben, this is my friend Pauline, my mentor Viviane and Inspecteur Anouk Vigeur.”
“Hi, ladies.”
“Ben is a doctor. Kylian was kind enough to force him to accompany me,” I explained.
He grinned. “Hey, I wasn’t forced. I couldn’t resist an opportunity to get to know the rest of the gang. I heard a lot about you.”
Viviane smiled. “How nice of you. I know she can be a rather difficult patient. What did she do this time? Kylian didn’t have enough time to tell us what happened.”
“Well, I don’t know exactly what happened in the vampire Den, but according to Kylian she just passed out when they were safe. He brought her to us, and Fabienne and I eventually figured out that she had been bitten and that her body was reacting quite fiercely to it.”
Viviane looked at me, one delicate and teasing eyebrow raised. “I take it the meeting didn’t go as planned?”
“How about I’ll make us some dinner?” Pauline said, coming to my rescue. “And then Maiwenn can tell us what happened.” Or not.
“You should stay. She’s an amazing cook,” I advised Ben and Anouk.
A grin on her lips Pauline got busy in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and marinating strips of meat. In the meantime I got out the plates. “Despite what you guys might think, Kylian did screw up, too. Though I must say the first five minutes or so we really did a good job of this whole diplomacy thing.” Viviane took care of the glasses and choosing the wine to go with whatever it was Pauline was conjuring out of nothing.
When the table was set, I joined Anouk and Ben and sat down. I continued, “We told her about the missing and made it look like we wanted her advice and opinion on what might be going on. It went good. We were outnumbered and surrounded by her horde but nevertheless we were professional and peaceful.” I went on explaining them what exactly had happened in the Den, how our civilized conversation with the Queen of the Undead had turned to a savage fight.
During dinner I asked for a time out, honoring the food with my whole attention. Pauline always impressed me, she could take one look into our fridge and throw something together in a heartbeat and it would be delicious every time. That was one major ability in my book. This time it were juicy chicken breasts with carrots and cabbage sliced into thin strips that resembled ribbon noodles, quickly sautéed with an interesting self-made sweet-and-sour sauce and a tang of lemon grass and ginger. The dinner was incredible, a feast for the taste buds and my starving body. Before she’d moved in, I never had so much food in my fridge. There was stuff in it now I had never seen in my life.
When we were done Viviane inquired, “The man, her advisor, what did he look like?”
“About six foot tall, sleek, dark suit, elegant, dark hair and cold, creepy, gray eyes.”
Viv shook her head. “Nearly four decades ago I would have described him completely different. His eyes were like smoke, sexy and mysterious.” She sighed. “It’s Raymond.”
“Raymond? As in your Raymond?” Pauline cut in.
“The very one. Well, at least Lilith followed my advice to keep him close.”
Maybe, but nevertheless there was a sadness in her eyes, that she couldn’t hide, touched with melancholy and the eternal question, ‘what if things had gone differently’.
Ben looked from Viv to Pauline and back again, frowning. “What about him, this guy Raymond?”
Pauline cued him in on the story Viviane had told us when we all were enjoying a relaxed evening on our rooftop terrace, a story about the vampire Viv felt in love with but who only wanted a mysterious artifact.
“And you think he’s Lilith’s advisor now?” Ben asked Viv.
“I believe so.”
Done talking shop for the moment the girls quickly found another subject, namely squeezing Ben for information about him, his family and his reasons to follow Kylian into another country. The attempt wasn’t exactly crowned with success. This bear sure had a damn thick fur to cover his secrets under.
Soon Ben wished us all good-bye and started back towards the furry village, while I, completely sated and refueled with energy, prepared to head out on patrol again.
“You think that’s a good idea?” Anouk asked, standing beside me.
“Habit. As long as we can walk and hold a sword, we go out there,” Viviane explained.
“Okay, I get that. I can’t stand to be confined to bed either. But you’re not alone anymore. Could you at least stick close to home, or at least to the east of the city? My guys and I are out there tonight too.”
I looked at her, my eyes smiling and my heart warm with gratitude. I hadn’t been alone before, not exactly anyway, but now I had friends, voluntary wingmen who cared. I had found them in the most unlikely places, in fountains before the senate and the police. We lived in interesting times indeed, full of change. “Thanks.”
EIGHT
Darkness had settled a while ago, and the night was filled with stars and a waning crescent moon. The temperatures had dropped, my breath fogged in front of my mouth and the air smelled of coming snow again. I loved it. The round globes of the high streetlamps plunged the city in a soft and soothing golden hue. I glanced up and looked at the windows, the bright and sometimes colorful spots that offered glimpses of life. Down below, on the street, the shadows seemed darker and solitary.
I walked towards the east, to the Père Lachaise cemetery which was the largest one in the city and therefore one of my best hunting grounds. The guests varied not only regarding profession and degree of fame, but also nationality. Amid these graves you could find German artists, Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, Oscar Wilde or even Jim Morrison; which were only a few among so many. The graves varied from elaborate and sometimes even beautiful crypts to simple headstones, and a network of cobbled paths wound through them that were guarded by tall chestnut trees.
I had just strolled past Chopin, when the skin between my shoulder blades tingled and the tiny hairs on my skin stood on end. Someone was watching me. I turned to search the shadows surrounding me.
A dark figure to the right, a man judging by the tall silhouette and gait, detached itself from the dark and came towards me. I recognized the eyes. Cold, gray, creepy. “Raymond.”
He smiled coolly as he walked out of the protecting cover of shadows, and it made my skin crawl. How could Viviane ha
ve fallen for this guy? Well, I guess the saying was true then, the heart has reasons that reason cannot know.
“Ah, I see my reputation proceeds me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
Obviously he was a fan of suits, this time it was a dark-blue and velvet one, and as he stood there with one hand in the pocket of his pants he radiated pure arrogance.
“You don’t have to keep up this bad-ass façade. Your words might sound bitter but I know your taste is sweet.” He licked his lips and let me catch a glimpse of fangs.
So he was the one who’d gotten a bite of me. I pulled my Trident daggers. They were silver coated, and either silver or wood in the heart did the trick. “Tell me why I shouldn’t shove these in your dusty little heart? You admit to attacking me, the Patroness of Paris, and aren’t even allowed to tap humans. In short, you’re screwed.”
Raymond chuckled and began circling me. We both watched each other like hawks. “What if I told you that I plan to bring Lilith down? She isn’t worthy of leading us anymore. All those unnecessary theatrics.”
I snorted. “Oh that’s rich, coming from you. Velvet suit, coming out of the shadows in the middle of a friggin’ cemetery. Add a cape and you’re good to go, Dracula.”
He shook his head at me, as if I were a very disappointing child. “This is what I’m talking about. Once we were feared, now we’ve become the laughing stock of this city. I will change that.”
“Hate to break it to you, but it’s not just this city. Try this world. Though I admit Robert Patterson caused quite a stir, so you might exclude a couple of women in the range of fourteen to thirty. You should thank him.”
He hissed. As one dozens of dark figures stepped out from behind graves and formed a perfect circle, surrounding us. What was that again about unnecessary theatrics? I quickly glanced around, sizing them up. Demons and vampires, most were males. Then my eyes settled on one familiar face, and my stomach and heart plummeted.
Romaric. His eyes were older and harder and didn’t belong to the lovestruck demon who had sat in my office only a few months ago and had been anxious to find his love, a vampire girl named Josianne. The problem was, he was Lilith’s Chosen, a male she picked for herself and who wasn’t allowed to be touched by any other. His presence was a fist to the gut. It meant that Lilith had found out about them and most likely killed Josi. No!, my heart screamed, remembering the sweet, brave girl.
The Hunt is On (The Patroness) Page 9