The Harlequin ab-15

by Laurell K. Hamilton

  "Now," said Jean-Claude, "Rafael, my friend, talk to us. What has Narcissus said or done to alarm you so?"

  "He said that he would offer himself to Anita as a pomme de sang, and with that, and his tie to your love, Asher, he would be the second most powerful animal group in St. Louis, after the wolves."

  "He said this to you?" Jean-Claude asked.

  "Not to me personally, no."

  "Then how did you hear of it?"

  "One of my rats likes the way that Narcissus makes love. Narcissus is beside himself now that Asher's animal to call is hyena. He had offered himself to Asher as Asher's animal to call, and been turned down."

  News to me, I thought.

  "Asher was flattered," Jean-Claude said, "but we both felt it would make the other groups nervous if Narcissus was so honored."

  I fought not to look at Jean-Claude, because shouldn't someone have mentioned it to me? I sipped coffee and tried to keep my face blank, not always my best thing. I drank the coffee too fast to enjoy it, but it kept me from giving anything away, or I hoped it did.

  "But Asher goes to Narcissus's club, and he enjoys the entertainment," Rafael said.

  Narcissus's club was a bondage and submission club, and entertainment could cover a lot of ground. I hadn't known that Asher was going over there. I know that it feels good to be around your animal. I liked being around the leopards, and the wolves, and even the lions. But… it was like a lot was happening and I'd been out of the loop. I didn't like that.

  "Asher enjoys what the club has to offer, but he has turned down Narcissus's more personal offers, again because he thought other animal groups might take it badly if he were to show such favor to Narcissus," Jean-Claude said.

  "Narcissus seems to think that it's only a matter of time before Asher gives in to his charms."

  "He does not know Asher as well as he believes," Jean-Claude said.

  "Asher enjoys the bondage," Rafael said.

  Jean-Claude shrugged, that wonderful Gallic movement that meant everything and nothing. Which meant Rafael might be right. Again, news to me. What else was my vampire "master" keeping from me?

  "If Narcissus can seduce your Asher, he will do so. He will try to seduce you," Rafael said.

  "Narcissus has tried to seduce me in the past. He failed," Jean-Claude said.

  "He says the old Master of the City, Nikolaos, gave you to him several times. He has bragged of your body and what he did to it." Rafael studied Jean-Claude's face as he said it, as he'd studied mine. It looked like he was even making eye contact, not always wise with a vampire.

  Jean-Claude gave him a lovely, blank face. "He has not bragged to you."

  "You are certain of that?" Rafael said.

  "Very. He had a tendency to talk during… during. He might have talked of me while he was doing similar things to someone else. In fact, I would be surprised if he had not. He enjoyed comparing and contrasting his lovers, and his victims."

  "So you were his lover?"

  "No, I was his victim. Nikolaos gave me to him with no safe word, no way to stop him from doing what he wished with me, except my own poor art of persuasion."

  Rafael laughed, an abrupt and unhappy sound. "'Poor art,' false modesty from what I hear. Narcissus would give a great deal to have you back as his… victim."

  "So he has said."

  "He seems confident that Asher is the key to your bed. And if not Asher, then Anita. He believes sincerely that he will find a way to your libido again through them."

  Finally something I could address without revealing that I wasn't entirely sure what was happening with Asher and the hyenas. "You don't have to worry about me and Narcissus. He's really not my cup of tea."

  Rafael nodded, his face still serious. We couldn't seem to get a smile out of him this morning. "Am I your cup of tea, Anita?"

  I felt Richard stiffen beside me. I glanced around him to Jean-Claude. "Can I talk plainly without upsetting the political apple cart here?"

  "Talk, and we shall see."

  Not a rousing endorsement, but I'd take what I could get. "You're handsome, and if it was a date, we could talk, but you want to skip to sex, and I'm just not that casual about it."

  He gave me a look. It was a very judgmental look. I gave him an unhappy look back.

  "Yeah, I have a lot of lovers, but they aren't casual lovers, Rafael."

  He let out a breath, sipped some coffee, then said, "Perhaps not, but there is something about being your lover that seems to up the power level of every man that you… give yourself to."

  "Not true," I said.

  "Name a single lover you have had who has not gained power from it."

  "I can name three: London, Requiem, and Byron," I said.

  "The first two were master vampires before you slept with them. It's hard to judge how much power they arrived in St. Louis with, and how much they may have gained. Byron you slept with only once. Once doesn't seem to be enough." He sat his coffee down on his plate. "Fine, your regular lovers gain power."

  "I think you overestimate me."

  Rafael handed his plate to Louie, who stood and put it on the coffee table, as if he'd been told to do it. Rafael looked at me. He looked at me as if he would see through me to the other side. It was a look to study, weigh, and measure a person. I tried not to squirm under that gaze, but it was hard work.

  "What?" I asked.

  He looked at Jean-Claude. "She doesn't know, does she?"

  "I am not certain that I know what you mean," Jean-Claude said.

  "Jean-Claude, every lover Anita has gains power. Asher was a master vampire in name only, almost, but since he's been in her bed he's gained enough power to have his own territory if he didn't love you both too much to leave. Nathaniel was everyone's victim; now he is becoming someone to be reckoned with. You, personally, have gained more power than you ever dreamed."

  "And you believe that it is ma petite who has given me power, not that I have shared my power with her?"

  "She has her own triumvirate of power, Jean-Claude. Her own vampire servant in Damian."

  "I am not the power behind the throne, Rafael. Trust me, Jean-Claude is plenty powerful enough for both of us."

  "He is, but he gained most of that power after you became his lover."

  "I gained powers after he made me his servant," I said, "not the other way around."

  "I've been talking to some of the wererats in Europe," Rafael said. "They speak of your Belle Morte, the creator of your bloodline. They say that she could give power to her lovers, if she chose."

  "Belle Morte does not choose to share power with anyone," Jean-Claude said.

  "No, but she can; through sex, she can make her lovers more powerful. Legend has it that once she made kings and emperors through her touch. She changed the face of Europe through her bed."

  "She ruled from her bedroom, that is true, but not in the way you think. She chose only the powerful, only those who could give her something she wanted. And I did not gain power in her bed. I was her pawn for centuries. As was Asher."

  "Masters of the City often kill their own vampire children if they become too powerful, true?" Rafael said.

  "Some do."

  "But isn't it strange that so many of the vampires who were nearly powerless around Belle Morte have gained power the longer they are away from her?"

  "What are you saying, Rafael?"

  "I have heard rumors that some masters can retard the powers of their followers."

  "Some can, but I do not believe Belle is one of them."

  "Why not?"

  He gave that shrug again.

  Frankly, the rats were a little too well informed for comfort. I'd seen a master vampire gain new powers once in America and far enough away from his old master. But I wasn't sure it was on purpose; I'd actually begun to wonder if some powerful masters gave off a sort of hormone that retarded the power of those around them. No way to test it, but I'd seen some of what Rafael was saying.

  "There a
re rats in every city," Sampson said, and like last time it was as if we'd all forgotten him.

  Rafael nodded. "There are."

  I had this image of hundreds of rats scampering in the walls, hearing things, and what they heard, the rat king heard. Did it work that way? For real? I wanted to ask, but in this mood, I wasn't sure how he'd take the question.

  "I am the son of two powers, but you did not concern yourself that you had insulted me," Sampson said.

  "I don't know what you are to Jean-Claude and Anita."

  "So you would ignore me, and see if it got a reaction?"

  Rafael nodded.

  "I am the next lover in line for Anita."

  "Why have you waited so long?"

  "It is the lady's privilege to keep a man waiting."

  They were supposed to be talking about me, but it was like I was missing the conversation, or not truly understanding it all.

  "Would you allow me to jump ahead of you in line?"

  Sampson shook his head. "No."

  He looked at Jean-Claude. "Is this your final word, that the sea king's son is more important than I am, than my rats are, to you?"

  "That is not what is being said here, Rafael," Jean-Claude said.

  "I believe that any animal that comes to your bed, or Anita's bed, is more important to you, Jean-Claude. Deny it if you like, but the proof is in the pudding, eh?"

  "The proof is in the eating of it," Jean-Claude said, "for all puddings look sweet."

  "Do I or any of my people look sweet to you?" he asked.

  I felt Claudia's reaction from across the room. A flare of power, like a metaphysical slap to remind us how really powerful she was. That one splash of heated energy said loud and clear that it didn't matter how tasty anyone thought she was, she wasn't playing.

  Rafael let out a careful breath and rotated his neck, as if that slap of energy had been more energetic the closer you'd been to it. "I would not force any of my rats into someone's bed. But if some would choose it, would you take them as blood or flesh donors?"

  "Define flesh," I said.

  "Sex," he said.

  Richard shifted beside me on the couch. "The rats don't give blood to anyone. It was one of your first rules as king. Nikolaos tortured you because you forbade your rats to feed her vampires."

  "She was unstable, and farther away from her was safer for my people. Closer to Jean-Claude seems safer."

  "You'd really let your rats be blood whores?" Richard sounded almost shocked.

  "I would."

  "You think that if some of your rats come into our bedrooms, your people will be that much safer?" Micah asked.

  "If our positions were reversed, what would you do?"

  "Not this," Richard said.

  "I am asking the Nimir-Raj," Rafael said.

  Richard shifted uncomfortably on one side of me while Micah seemed to settle back more comfortably. "I've already done what you're suggesting."

  Rafael nodded. "You offered yourself to Anita and Jean-Claude and now your pard, though one of the smallest groups in the area, is one of the most secure groups in all of St. Louis. How many of your leopards donate blood to the vampires?"

  "Most of them."

  Rafael spread his hands, as if to say, See?

  I wanted to argue with them, but I tried to be honest. Was his reasoning sound? Through us, Micah was in charge of the furry coalition hotline, which meant he was beginning to be the go-to guy for most of the lycanthropy community. He was the liaison between us and the larger community. His television time was even going up. He gave good sound bite.

  The leopards had fewer members than almost any other group, yet no one messed with them. Because I, or Jean-Claude, or our people, kept killing anyone who fucked with them.

  I looked at the rat king. "Damn," I said, softly.

  "Yes," he said.

  I glanced down the couch at Richard and Jean-Claude. "He's not wrong, is he?"

  "I cannot argue with some of his reasoning," Jean-Claude said.

  "No," Richard said, "he's not right."

  "I didn't say he was right, Richard, just that he's not wrong," I said.

  "That makes no sense. If Rafael isn't wrong, then he has to be right." Richard turned his body so he was facing me, and blocked my view of Jean-Claude—those broad shoulders of his getting in the way.

  "He's right that our lovers are safer. He's wrong if he thinks we'd leave the rats out to dry if someone threatened them."

  "You are tied to us only by money and contracts," Rafael said. "I would feel better if you were tied with more intimate things."

  "You have our word that we will honor our treaty with you," Jean-Claude said.

  "But you have a treaty with the hyenas, as well, and I do not believe that Asher will keep refusing the bounty that Narcissus is shoving at him."

  "Do not make the mistake of thinking Asher is weak. He is not," Jean-Claude said.

  "You are in love with him; you do not see him clearly."

  "I could say to you that you are not in love with him, and you do not see him clearly because of it."

  "Order him not to be intimate with the hyenas and I will be content with it."

  "I would rather not give such an order," Jean-Claude said.

  "You have no right to ask that of Jean-Claude, or Asher," Micah said.

  "What would you do if you were me, Nimir-Raj?"

  "I would have offered myself less confrontationally. If refused, I'd have offered others of my people until some became food and hopefully one, or more, would catch someone's eye for sex."

  "Am I going about this wrong?"

  "Yes."

  "It is an area of politics I am unprepared for," Rafael said. "Teach me, Micah. Help me."

  Micah sighed. He scooted to the edge of the couch and looked past Richard to Jean-Claude. "What do you want me to do?"

  "Help him, if you can."

  Micah leaned back and looked at me. He just looked at me, and the look was enough between us. I shrugged and said, "Help him, I guess."

  Micah settled back against the couch and put an arm across my shoulders, which made Richard move a little farther away. I don't think Micah meant to make Richard move. I think he wanted to touch me, and after last night there'd been the possibility that Richard wouldn't mind an accidental touch. But apparently Rafael's issues had raised some of Richard's own. Hell, it had raised some of mine. I just wasn't sure which ones yet.

  "Blood donors would be welcome," Micah said, "and some of your rats have already offered to feed the ardeur for Anita."

  "But she has touched none of them," Rafael said.

  "You haven't sent her anyone she likes enough, yet."

  "Help me pick them."

  "Guys," I said, "guys, I am still sitting right here, okay? Don't talk about me like I'm not here."

  "Then you pick," he said.

  I slumped and let my hair hide my face. Shit. "That isn't what I meant."

  "She likes pretty men," Richard said, "and that's not what you hire for."

  I looked up at him, sitting right beside me, talking about what kind of man I liked. "I thought you'd be having a fit about this," I said.

  He frowned, but said, "I don't like it, but Rafael is right, about us keeping our lovers closer and safer."

  "If you care for someone enough to have sex with them, then you're supposed to take care of them," I said.

  "Exactly," Richard said. "It's how you feel about it."

  "And what's wrong with the way I feel about it?"

  "Nothing," he said, "but it means Rafael is right. You do take care of your lovers. You just do."

  "Don't you?" I asked.

  He looked surprised for a second, then gave a smile that left his eyes tired and more cynical than I'd ever seen him. "No, sometimes it's just about fucking."

  I gave him wide eyes.

  "I'd love it to always be hearts and flowers, but the one woman I love more than any other doesn't want me, so what am I supposed to do while
you sleep with six or seven other guys? Wait my turn? Watch?"

  We had company, or I might have pointed out to him that he had watched before, and he had waited his turn, and he'd even helped Jean-Claude make love to me. But we had company, and I didn't want to fight with him.

  "So you don't take care of everyone that comes to your bed?"

  "I take care of my wolves, but if they aren't pack, sometimes the sex proves that it won't work."

  "So you break up with them after the sex?"

  "Sometimes."

  I gave him a look.

  "You know who I keep comparing them to, Anita."

  It wasn't my fault that I didn't want to marry Richard. I was allowed to want the men I wanted, and love who I wanted. "So it's my fault that you're sleeping around, and that you've turned into one of those men who break up with a woman after one night of sex?"

  He gave me a long look out of those chocolate-brown eyes. "If the shoe fits…" he said, with an unpleasant smile.

  I guess we were going to fight after all. "It isn't me you keep comparing everybody to, Richard, it's Raina."

  He actually blushed under the permanent tan of his skin. It was maybe the second time I'd ever seen him blush. "Don't, Anita."

  Micah had gone very still beside me, as if he were wondering if he should take his arm out from between us.

  "You back off of me, and I'll back off of you," I said.

  "Richard," it was Louie, "we had this talk, remember?"

  Richard stood up, and his power washed around the room like a wind from the mouth of hell. It actually hurt where it touched. "I remember the talk." He stared down at me, and there was such hatred on his face. "I tried last night, Anita, I really tried."

  My throat was tight, and my eyes burned. I was already regretting what I'd said, would have done anything to take it back. "I know you did, Richard." My voice sounded small.

  "But it's never enough, is it?"

  I took a deep breath and stood up. We faced each other. I wanted to run away, but I stood there and watched the hate and pain on his face, the way his big hands kept flexing into fists. His anger breathed through the room like some sort of invisible burning beast.