Burnt Offerings

by Laurell K. Hamilton

Chapter 20~21

  20

  I'd fallen asleep with my head in my father's lap. He stroked my hair. I snuggled against his lap, my cheek resting on his bare thigh. Bare thigh? I was suddenly awake, pushing to a sitting position before I could really see. Jason sat leaning against a stone wall. It was his lap I'd woken up in. He gave me a very watered-down version of his usual come-hither smile, but it left his eyes cold and tired. He wasn't up to leering at me tonight. Things are rough when Jason stops teasing.

  Jean-Claude and Padma were arguing in French. They stood on either side of a wooden table. A man was bound face-down to the table with silver bands at wrist, ankles, and neck. Bands that were bolted to the table itself. He was nude, but more than his clothes were missing. The entire back of his body was one raw bloody mess. I'd found the owner of the skin on the door. Rafael's darkly handsome face was slack, unconscious. I hoped he stayed that way for a long time.

  Rafael, the Rat King, was head of the second-largest and strongest band of shapeshifters in the city. He was no one's toy. What the hell was he doing here like this? "What is Rafael doing here?" I asked Jason.

  He answered, voice tired, dragging, "The Master of Beasts wants the wererats. Rafael wasn't strong enough not to come when called, but he was strong enough to not bring any of the other rats. He delivered himself over like a sacrifice. " Jason leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closed. "They couldn't break him. They couldn't break Sylvie either. "

  "Sylvie?" I stared around the room. It was twenty by twenty, not that big. She was across the room chained to the wall. She sagged in the chains, full weight on her wrists, unconscious. Most of her was hidden from view by the table that Rafael was chained to. She didn't look hurt.

  "Why is she here?"

  "The Master of Beasts called the wolves, too. Richard wasn't here to answer, so Sylvie came. She protected the rest of us, just like Rafael did for his people. "

  "What are Jean-Claude and the Beastie-Boy arguing about?"

  "The Traveler granted us our freedom, but they don't want to include Rafael in the bargain. The Master of Beasts says the Rat King is not our people, nor our friend. "

  "He's my friend," I said.

  He smiled without opening his eyes. "I knew you'd say that. "

  I got to my feet, pushing against the wall. I was a little unsteady, but not bad. I walked towards the arguing vampires. The French was hot and furious.

  Jean-Claude turned to me. "Ma petite,you are awake. " His English was heavily accented. It often was after he'd been speaking a lot of French.

  Padma held up a hand. "No, do not influence her. "

  Jean-Claude gave a sweeping bow. "As you like. "

  I wanted to touch Rafael. I could see his back rising and falling, but I wouldn't really believe he was okay until I touched him. My hands sort of hovered over him, but there was almost no place left to touch that wasn't raw and hurting. I finally touched his hair, then drew back. I didn't want to wake him. Unconscious was better than anything else right now.

  "Who is this one to you?" Padma asked.

  "He's Rafael, the Rat King. He's my friend. "

  Hannah walked in through the open dungeon door. The moment she appeared, I knew it was the Traveler. He leaned that very feminine body against the side of the door and managed to look masculine. "You cannot be friends with every monster in the city. "

  I stared up at him. "Want to bet?"

  He shook his head, Hannah's blond hair bouncing back and forth just like in the shampoo commercial. He laughed, and it was girlish. "Oh, no, Anita Blake, I will not bargain with you again this night. " He started down the steps. He'd taken off the high heels, and glided down the stairs in stocking feet. "But there will be other nights. "

  "I asked for safe passage and you gave it," I said. "You can't hurt us anymore. "

  "I gave safe passage for tonight only, Anita. "

  "I do not remember a time limit being placed on your promise," Jean-Claude said.

  The Traveler waved the objection away. "It was understood. "

  "Not by me," I said.

  He stopped on the other side of the table, by Padma. He stared at me with Hannah's grey eyes and frowned. "Anyone else would have known that I meant tonight alone. "

  "As you yourself have said, Traveler, she is not anyone," Jean-Claude said.

  "He is one council member. He cannot bargain for all," Padma said. "He can force us to let you go tonight, but the rest he cannot do. He cannot free you all without a vote of all represented here. "

  "Then his promise means nothing," I said.

  "If I had dreamt that you meant safety for our entire stay," the Traveler said, "I would have asked for more than merely the truth of the Earthmover's death. "

  "We made a deal. I kept my end of it," I said.

  He tried to cross his arms over his chest, but had to settle for his stomach, arms cradling the breasts. Women are just not designed to look tough. "You have given me yet another problem, Anita. It might be wise to not be so problematic. "

  "Threaten all you want," I said, "but for tonight you can't touch us. "

  "Do not let it go to your head. " His voice had crawled down a few octaves, dragging out of Hannah's throat.

  I moved around to stand at Rafael's head, wanting to stroke his hair and not daring to. Tears pressed like a hand against the back of my eyes. "Unchain him. He goes with us, or your word is worth shit, Traveler. "

  "I will not give him up," Padma said.

  "You will do as you are told," the Traveler said.

  I turned away from the sight of Rafael's butchered body. I also didn't want the bad guys to see me cry. Turning away from Rafael gave me a better view of Sylvie. What I saw stopped me in my tracks.

  Her pants were down around her ankles, shoes still on. I took a step towards her, then another, and was almost running by the time I got to her. I slid to my knees beside her. Blood stained her thighs. Her hands were balled into fists, eyes squeezed tight. She was whispering something, very softly, over and over. I touched her arm and she flinched. Her voice rose just enough for me to hear the one word, "No, no, no. " Over and over and over like a mantra.

  I was crying. I'd been talking about putting a bullet in Sylvie earlier today. Now I was crying for her. Some big tough sociopath I turned out to be. I had my problems with Sylvie, but this. . . She didn't even like men under the best of circumstances. It made what they'd done worse somehow, more insulting. Or maybe it was just that I remembered her as so proud, so confident and full of herself. To see her like this was almost more than I could bear.

  "Sylvie, Sylvie, it's Anita. " I wanted to pull her clothes back in place, but was afraid to touch her again until I was sure she knew it was me. "Sylvie, can you hear me?"

  Jason came to stand with us. "Let me try. "

  "She won't want a man to touch her. "

  "I won't touch her. " He knelt on the other side of her. "I smell like pack. You don't. " He very carefully slid his arm in front of her face, trying not to touch her. "Smell the pack, Sylvie. Know the comfort of our touch. "

  She stopped saying no, but that was it. She wouldn't even open her eyes.

  I stood up and faced the room. "Who did this?"

  "She could have stopped it at any time," Padma said, "given me the pack and it would all have been over. She could have gone free. "

  I screamed, "WHO DID THIS!"

  "I did," Padma said.

  I stared down at the floor, and when I came back up, the Uzi was pointed at him. "I'm going to cut you in half. "

  "Ma petite, you will hit Rafael and perhaps me. "

  A machine gun was not made for one target in a crowd, but he'd survive the Browning. I shook my head. "He dies. For this, he dies. "

  The Traveler stepped beside Padma. "Would you slay this body?" He spread his hands wide and stepped in front of Padma. "Would you kill your Willie's lady love?"

  Tears h
ot enough to scald trailed down my cheeks. "Damn you, damn you all. "

  "Padma did not personally rape your friend," the Traveler said. "Any unskilled man can rape, but it takes a true artist to skin a live shapeshifter. "

  "Who then?" My voice was just a little calmer. I wasn't going to use the machine gun, and we all knew it. I dropped the Uzi, letting it slide back under the coat. I wrapped my hand around the Browning and thought about it.

  Jean-Claude started walking towards me. He knew me too well. "Ma petite, we all walk out of here in safety at least this night. You have given us this. Do not destroy us all for vengeance now. "

  Fernando walked through the door, and I knew. He might not be the only one, but he'd been one of them. He smirked at me. "The Traveler wouldn't let me have Hannah. "

  I started to tremble, a fine quivering that started in my arms and spread across my shoulders and down my body. I'd never wanted to kill anyone as badly as I wanted to kill him right that second. He glided down the steps in his bare feet, hands roving across his chest, playing in the line of hair that started on his belly. Rubbing his hands along the silk of his pants.

  "Maybe I'll have you chained to a wall," he said.

  I felt a smile stretch across my face. I spoke very clearly, very carefully, because if I didn't, I was going to scream, and if I lost control of my voice, I was going to shoot him. I knew that just as surely as I was standing there. "Who helped you?"

  Padma stopped his son, drawing him into the circle of his arms. I saw real fear on the master vampire's face. His son was still too arrogant or too stupid to understand.

  "I did it myself. "

  A laugh that was bitter enough to choke me came out. "You couldn't do this much damage on your own. Who helped you?"

  The Traveler touched Fernando's shoulder. "Others, unnamed others. If the woman can tell you, let her. If not, you do not need to know. You will not be hunting them, Executioner. "

  "Not tonight," I said. The trembling was quieting. That cold, icy center of my soul, the place where I'd given up a piece of myself, spread outward. I was calm, deadly calm. I could have shot them all and not blinked. "But you said it yourself, Traveler: there will be other nights. "

  Jason was talking in a low voice and Sylvie was answering. I glanced at her. She wasn't crying. Her face was pale and strangely stiff, as if everything was held inside, tight and hard. Jason undid the locks on the chains and she slid down the wall. He tried to help her pull up her pants, but she pushed him away.

  I knelt beside her. "Let me help, please. "

  Sylvie tried to pull the pants up herself, but her hands weren't working right. She kept fumbling and finally collapsed to the floor in tears.

  I started to dress her, and she let me. She helped where she could, but her hands were shaking so badly, she couldn't do much. Her pants were pink linen. I couldn't find the underwear. It was gone. I knew she'd been wearing some, because Sylvie wouldn't go without. She was a lady, and ladies didn't do that.

  When everything was covered, she finally met my eyes. The look in her brown eyes made me want to look away, but I didn't. If she could have that much pain in her face, the least I could do was look at it. No flinching. I'd even stopped crying.

  "I didn't give them the pack," she said.

  "I know," I said. I wanted to touch her, reassure her, and was afraid to.

  She collapsed forward, sobbing; not crying, but sobbing like she'd cry out bits and pieces of herself on the floor. I put my arms around her, tentatively. She sagged against me, holding me. I held her half in my arms, half in my lap, rocking her slowly. I leaned over next to her ear and breathed a sound into it, "He's dead. They're all dead. "

  She quieted slowly, then looked up at me. "You swear it?"

  "I swear it. "

  She huddled against me and said softly, "I won't kill Richard. "

  "Good, because I'd hate to kill you now. "

  She laughed, and it turned it into more crying, but softer now, quieter, not quite so desperate.

  I looked up at the others. The men, dead and alive, were staring at me. "Rafael comes with us, no more debating. "

  Padma nodded. "Very well. "

  Fernando turned to him. "Father, you can't let her do this. The wolves, yes, but not the Rat King. "

  "Hush, Fernando. "

  "He cannot be allowed to live, if he does not submit. "

  "You weren't rat enough to be dominant to him, were you, Fernando?" I said. "He's stronger than you'll ever be, and you hate him for it. "

  Fernando took a step towards me. Padma and the Traveler both held him back, a hand on each shoulder.

  Jean-Claude stepped between us. "Let us be on our way, ma petite. The night grows long. "

  The Traveler stepped away from Fernando slowly. I wasn't sure who he trusted least, me or the rat-boy. He started unfastening the chains that held Rafael in place. The wererat was still unconscious, oblivious to his fate.

  I got to my feet, and Sylvie came with me. She pushed away from me, tried to walk and nearly fell. I caught her, and Jason caught her other arm.

  Fernando laughed.

  Sylvie stumbled. She looked like she'd been slapped. The laughter cut more than any words. I laid my lips against her cheek, cradled her face against mine with my free hand, lips by her ear. "He's dead, remember that. "

  She leaned into me for a moment, then nodded. She straightened and let Jason help her walk towards the stairs.

  Jean-Claude lifted Rafael in his arms as gently as he could, balancing the man over his shoulders. Rafael groaned, hands spasming, but his eyes stayed shut.

  I stared at the Traveler. "You'll need to find another horse to ride," I said. "Hannah comes with us. "

  "Of course," he said.

  "Now, Traveler," I said.

  Arrogance spread across his face. It was a look I'd never seen on Hannah's face before. "Do not let one act of magical bravado make you foolish, Anita. "

  I smiled and knew it wasn't pleasant. It was bitter and arrogant and angry. "My patience is all gone tonight, Traveler. Get out of her now, or. . . " I shoved the Browning into Fernando's groin. They were all huddled that close.

  Fernando's eyes widened, but he wasn't nearly as afraid as he should have been. I pressed the barrel in a little harder; makes most men back up. He gave a small grunt but leaned into me, face bending towards me. He was going to try and kiss me.

  I laughed. I laughed while his lips hovered over my mouth and the gun pressed into his body. It was the laughter, not the gun, that made him draw back.

  Hannah collapsed to her knees. The Traveler had gone. Someone needed to help her to the stairs. I thought of Willie and he came. He helped her to her feet without looking at me. I kept my eyes on the bad guys. One problem at a time.

  "Why are you laughing?" Fernando asked.

  "Because you are too fucking stupid to survive. " I drew back from them, the gun still pointed at him. "Is he your only son?" I asked.

  "My only child," Padma said.

  "My condolences," I said. No, I didn't shoot him. But staring into Fernando's angry eyes, I knew there'd be other opportunities. Some people seek death through desperation. Some people fall into it out of stupidity. If Fernando wanted to fall, I was more than happy to catch him.

  21

  Rafael lay on an examining table. We were not in the hospital. The lycanthropes had a makeshift emergency room in the basement of a building that they owned. I'd had my own wounds tended there once. Now Rafael lay on his stomach hooked up to an IV loaded with liquids and painkillers. Painkillers didn't always work well on lycanthropes but hey, they had to try something. He'd regained consciousness in the Jeep. He hadn't screamed, but the small squeezed whimperings that clawed from his throat every time I hit a bump were more than enough.

  Dr. Lillian was a small woman with salt-and-pepper hair cut in a no-nonsense style. She was also a wererat. She turned to me. "I'v
e made him as comfortable as I can. "

  "Will he heal?"

  She nodded. "Yes. The real danger with this type of injury once you survive the shock and blood loss is infection. We can't get infections. "

  "Let's hear it for the terminally furry," I said.

  She smiled and patted my shoulder. "I know humor is your way of dealing with stress, but don't try it on Rafael tonight. He wants to speak with you. "

  "Is he. . . ?"

  "Well enough, no, but he is my king and he won't let me put him under until he's spoken with you. I'll go look in on our other patient while you hear whatever he thinks is so important. "

  I touched her arm before she could move past me. "How is Sylvie?"

  Lillian wouldn't look at me, then finally she did. "Physically, she'll heal, but I'm not a therapist. I'm not equipped to deal with the aftereffects of an attack like this. I want her to stay here for the night, but she's insisting that she go with you. "

  My eyes widened. "Why?"

  Lillian shrugged. "I think she feels safe with you. I think she doesn't feel safe here. " The older woman was suddenly looking very intently at my face. "Is there a reason she shouldn't feel safe here?"

  I thought about that. "Have the wereleopards ever been treated here?"

  "Yes," she said.

  "Damn. "

  "Why should that matter? This is a neutral place. We have all agreed to that. "

  I shook my head. "For tonight you're safe, but anything that Elizabeth knew, the Master of Beasts knows. By tomorrow this may not be a safe haven. "

  "Do you know that for sure?" she asked.

  "No, but I don't know for sure that you will be safe either. "

  She nodded. "Very well. Take Sylvie with you, then, but Rafael must stay here at least for one night. I will make plans to move him by tomorrow. " She looked around at all the medical equipment. "We can't take it all, but we'll do what we can. Now go talk to our king. " She left the room.

  I was suddenly alone in the hush of the basement. I looked at Rafael. They'd arranged a sort of tent of a sheet over his body, covered but not touching. The naked skin was covered in salve but no bandages. Anything they could put on it would hurt worse than nothing. They were treating it sort of like a burn. I didn't know everything they'd done to treat him because I'd been off getting my hand stitched up part of the time.

  I walked around the table so that Rafael wouldn't have to move his head to look at me. Moving was bad. His eyes were closed, but his breathing was fast and ragged. He wasn't asleep.

  "Lillian said you wanted to talk to me. "

  He blinked and looked at me. His eyes rolled at an awkward angle. He tried to move his head, and a sound came from low in his chest. I'd never heard a sound quite like it. I didn't want to hear it again.

  "Don't move, please. " I found a little stool with wheels on it and brought it over. With me sitting, we were nearly the same height. "You should let her pump you full of drugs. You need to sleep if you can. "

  "First," he said, "I must know how you freed me. " He took a deeper breath, and the pain passed over his face in a flinching wave.

  I looked away, then back. No flinching. "I bargained for you. "

  "What. . . " His hands spasmed, and he closed his full lips into a tight-pressed line. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, more careful, as if even a normal speaking voice hurt. "What did you give up for me?"

  "Nothing. "

  "He would not. . . have given me up so easily. " Rafael stared at me, his dark eyes willing me to tell him the truth. He thought I was lying, that was why he couldn't rest. He thought I'd done something noble and awful to save him.

  I sighed and told him a very abbreviated version of the night. It was the easiest way to explain. "See, it didn't cost any extra to throw you in. "

  He almost smiled. "The wererats will remember what you did tonight, Anita. I will remember. "

  "Maybe we don't go shopping together or even out to the shooting range, but you are my friend, Rafael. I know that if I called you for help, you'd come. "

  "Yes," he said. "Yes, I would. "

  I smiled at him. "I'll go get Lillian now, okay?"

  He closed his eyes and some piece of tension flowed out of him. It was almost as if now he could finally give himself over to the pain. "Yes, yes. "

  I sent Lillian into him and went to find Sylvie. She was in a small room where Lillian had hoped she could get some sleep. Sylvie had been joined by her lady friend, significant other, lover, whatever. Jason had called her. I hadn't known she existed. Gwen's voice came very clearly down the hallway. "You have to tell her, Sylvie, you have to. "

  I couldn't hear Sylvie's answer, but then the high heels weren't quiet. They knew I was coming. I stepped in through the open door to find Gwen looking at me, and Sylvie decidedly not. The white pillow framed her very short, very curly brown hair. She was three inches taller than me but managed to look fragile in the small bed.

  Gwen sat in a straight-backed chair beside the bed, holding Sylvie's hand in both of her own. Gwen had long softly waving blond hair and big brown eyes in a delicate face. Everything about her was dainty, feminine, like a pale, finely made doll. But the intensity in her face, the intelligence in her eyes, was a vibrating thing. Gwen was a psychologist. She would have been a compelling person even without the trickle of lycanthropic energy that trailed around her like perfume.

  "What do you need to tell me?" I said.

  "How do you know I was referring to you?" Gwen said.

  "Call it a hunch. "

  She patted Sylvie's hand. "Tell her. "

  Sylvie turned her head but still wouldn't meet my eyes. I leaned against the wall and waited. The machine gun pressed into the small of my back, forcing me to lean mostly shoulders against the cinderblock wall. Why hadn't I taken some of the weapons off? Lay a gun down somewhere, and that's when you'll need it most. I trusted the Traveler to keep his word, but not enough to bet my life on it.

  Silence spilled into the small room until the whirr of the air conditioner was as loud as the blood in your own ears. Sylvie finally looked at me. "The Master of Beasts ordered Stephen's brother to rape me. " She looked down, then up again, anger spilling into her eyes. "Gregory refused. "

  I didn't bother to hide the surprise on my face. "I thought Gregory was one of the stars of Raina's porno films. "

  "He was," Sylvie said softly.

  What I wanted to ask was, when did he get to be squeamish? but that seemed crude. "Did he suddenly grow a conscience?" I asked.

  "I don't know. " She was staring at the sheet, holding onto Gwen's hands like there was worse to come. "He refused to help torture me. The Master of Beasts said he'd punish him. Gregory still refused. He said that Zane had told him that Anita was their new alpha. That all bargains made through Elizabeth weren't binding. That he needed to deal with you for them. "

  Sylvie withdrew her hand from Gwen's and stared up at me. Her brown eyes were furious, but it wasn't me she was angry with. "You can't be their leader and our lupa. You can't be both. He was lying. "

  I sighed. "Afraid not. "

  "But, how. . . "

  "Look, it's late, and we're all tired. Let's just do the short version. I killed Gabriel, technically that makes me the wereleopards' leader. Zane acknowledged me after I put a couple of non-silver bullets in him. "

  "Why didn't you kill him?" Sylvie asked.

  "It's sort of my fault. I didn't understand what leaving them without a leader would mean. Someone should have told me that they were meat for anybody with out a leader. "

  "I wanted them to suffer," Sylvie said.

  "I was told you wanted them all dead, that if you had your way, the pack would have hunted them down and killed them all. "

  "Yes," she said, "yes. I want them all dead. "

  "I know they helped punish you and other pack members. "

  She shook her head, hands in fron
t of her eyes. It took me a second to realize she was crying. "You don't understand. There's a film of me out there. A film of the leopards raping me. " She brought her hands down and stared at me with tear-filled eyes. The rage and pain in her face was raw. "I was outspoken against Raina and Marcus. It was my punishment. Raina wanted to make an example of me for the others. It worked, too. Everyone was scared after that. "

  I opened my mouth; closed it, then said, "I didn't realize. "

  "Now do you see why I want them dead?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "Gregory had raped me once. Why wouldn't he do it again? Why did he refuse to hurt me tonight?"

  "If he really believes that I'm his leader, then he knows what I'd do to him. "

  "Did you mean it in the room? Did you mean it about us killing them all?"

  "Oh, yeah," I said, "I meant it. "

  "Then Gregory was right. "

  I frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

  "He said you were their leoparde lionne,their rampant leopard. "

  "I don't know the term," I said.

  Gwen answered. "Leoparde lionneis a term from French heraldry. It's a leopard, or even a lion, rampant in action on a crest. It symbolizes brave and generous warriors having done some brave deed. In this case it means a protector, even an avenger. Gabriel was a lion passant,a sleeping lion. He led but did not protect. In effect, Gregory did not merely refuse to harm Sylvie, he also told the Master of Beasts that if he was harmed, you would save him. "

  "How can I be their leopardewhat-you-call-it if I'm not a leopard?"

  "Leoparde lionne," Sylvie said. "How can you be lupa and neither be wolf nor our Ulfric's lover?"

  She had me there.

  Fresh tears streamed down Sylvie's face. "Padma tried to get Vivian, his personal pet while he's here, to do things to me. Said I liked women, and maybe that would loosen my tongue. She refused, and she gave the same reason that Gregory did. "

  I remembered Vivian staring at me, her frightened eyes pleading for me to help her. "Shit, you mean she really expected me to rescue her tonight. "

  Sylvie just nodded. Gwen said, "Yes. "

  "Shit. "

  "I honestly didn't think of it until after we were in the Jeep. I swear I didn't think of it sooner," Sylvie said. "But I didn't say anything, because I wanted them to suffer. I can't stop hating them just like that. Do you understand?"

  I did. "Sylvie, you and I have one thing in common. We are both vindictive as hell. So, yeah, I understand, but we can't leave them there like that, not if they were expecting to be saved. "

  She wiped at the tears. "You can't go up against them tonight. We can't do anymore tonight. "

  "I'm not planning to fight anymore tonight, Sylvie. "

  "But you're planning something. " She sounded worried.

  I smiled. "Yeah. "

  Gwen stood. "Don't be foolish, Anita. "

  I shook my head. "Foolish. I'm way past foolish. " I stopped in the doorway and turned back. "By the way, Sylvie, don't challenge Richard, ever. "

  Her eyes widened. "How did you know?"

  I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'll kill you if you kill him. "

  "It would be a fair fight. "

  "I don't care. "

  "You haven't seen him, Anita. He's on the edge. You can forbid me from challenging him, but there are others, and they won't be nearly as good for the pack as I am. "

  "Then make it carte blanche," I said. "If anyone kills Richard, I'll execute them. No challenge, no fair fight, I'll just take them out. "

  "You can't do that," Sylvie said.

  "Oh, I think I can. I'm lupa, remember. "

  "If you forbid fights of succession," Gwen said, "you're undermining Richard. You're saying in effect that you don't believe he can really lead the pack. "

  "I've been told by two pack members today that Richard is out of control, damn near suicidal. That he's pulled his self-hatred, his loathing of his beast, and my rejection, down around his ears. I won't let him die because I chose someone else. In a few months when he's healthier, then I'll step down. I'll let him take care of himself, but not right now. "

  "I'll pass the word," Gwen said.

  "You do that. "

  "You're going to try and bring out the leopards tonight, aren't you?" Sylvie said.

  I kept seeing the bruises on Vivian's body. The pleading in her eyes. "They expected me to save them, and I didn't. "

  "You didn't know," Gwen said.

  "I know now," I said.

  "You can't save everyone," Sylvie said.

  "Everyone needs a hobby. " I started to walk out again, but Gwen called me back.

  I turned in the doorway.

  "Tell her the rest," Gwen said softly.

  Sylvie wouldn't look at me. She spoke staring down at the sheet. "When Vivian refused to hurt me, they called in Liv. " She looked up, tears glittering in her eyes. "She used things on me. Did things to me. " Sylvie covered her face with her hands and rolled onto her side, crying.

  Gwen met my eyes. The look on her face was frightening in its hatred. "You need to know who to kill. "

  I nodded. "She won't leave St. Louis alive. "

  "And the other one? The council member's son?" Gwen asked.

  "Him either," I said.

  "Promise it," she said.

  "I already have," I said. I walked out then, searching for a phone. I wanted to talk to Jean-Claude before I did anything. Jean-Claude had taken everyone else to my house. They were boarding up the basement windows so that the vamps could be tucked safely away before dawn. The Traveler had refused to let them take their coffins. Besides, have you ever tried to rent a truck on a weekend after midnight?

  What was I going to do about the wereleopards? Damned if I knew.