The Harlequin

chapter six

I OPENED THAT metaphysical connection I had to Jean-Claude. Opened it and thought, Where are you? I felt him, or saw him, or some other word that they hadn't invented yet for seeing and feeling what someone else was doing in another room. He was on stage, using that voice of his to announce an act.

I drew back enough to be solidly on Nathaniel's arm. Sometimes when I tried mind-to-mind stuff, I had trouble walking. «Jean-Claude is on stage, so we'll go in the front.»

«Whatever you say,» he said.

Once, in our relationship, he'd meant that. He'd been my little submissive wereleopard. I'd worked long and hard to make him more, to force him to be more demanding. Try to do a good deed and it bites you on the ass.

The bouncer at the door was tall, blond, and way too cheerful for the job. Clay was one of Richard's werewolves, and when he wasn't bodyguarding someone, he worked security here. Clay's gift was avoiding fights. He was really good at calming things down. A much more useful ability for a bouncer than brute strength. Last week Clay had been helping guard my body. No pun intended. There'd been a metaphysical accident, and it had looked for a while like I'd be turning into a wereanimal for real, so I'd had different lycanthropes with me so that whatever I changed into, I was covered. But I had gotten some control over it all, and it looked like I still wasn't going to turn furry. Clay had been one of my watch-wolves. He was happy to be off the duty. I scared Clay. He was afraid the ardeur would make him my sexual slave. Okay, he didn't say that exactly. Maybe it was just me projecting my terrors on him. Maybe.

His smile slipped a little when he saw me, his face going all serious. He gave me a hard look as he said, «How's it going, Anita?» He wasn't just being polite; as afraid as he was of some of my metaphysical abilities, he'd been convinced it wasn't a good idea to take all my guards off duty. He thought it was too soon.

«I'm fine, Clay.»

He peered at me, leaning that six-foot frame down to my five foot three. He studied me as the crowd behind us grew to four. His gaze went to Nathaniel. «Has she really been fine?»

«She's been fine.»

Clay stood up straight and motioned us through. He looked positively suspicious as he did it, though.

«Honest,» Nathaniel whispered as we went by, «not a twinge of anything furry.»

Clay nodded and turned to the next group. He was the gatekeeper tonight. We entered the permanent dimness of the club. The noise was soft, murmurous, like the sea. The music picked up, and the crowd noise both was drowned out and got louder. The murmur of it was drowned out with the rise of the music, but the screams and yells of encouragement were louder.

The woman behind the coat area came out, smiling. «Crosses aren't allowed in the club.»

I'd forgotten I was wearing one outside my clothes; usually I just tucked it out of sight and got to avoid the holy-item check girl.

I spilled the cross inside my sweater. «Sorry, forgot.»

«I'm sorry, but just hiding it isn't enough. I'll give you a claim check just like for a coat.»

Great, she was new and didn't know me. «Call Jean-Claude over, or Buzz; I get a pass on this one.»

Nathaniel took off his hat and gave her a grin. Even in the dim light I could see her blush. «Brandon,» she breathed, «I didn't recognize you.»

«I'm in disguise,» he said, and gave her that look that was part mischief, part flirting.

«Is she with you?»

I was holding on to his arm—of course we were together. But I stood there and was quiet. Nathaniel would handle it. Me yelling at her wouldn't help things. Honest.

Nathaniel leaned over and whispered, «Joan thinks you're a fan that just grabbed me at the door.»

Oh. I gave her a real smile. «Sorry, I'm his girlfriend.»

Nathaniel nodded to confirm it, as if women claimed to be his girlfriend all the time. It made me look at his smiling, peaceful face and wonder how many overzealous fans he had. How weird did it get?

Joan leaned in to us to whisper over the rising music. «Sorry, but Jean-Claude's orders are that just because you're dating a dancer, the holy item still doesn't get inside.»

On one hand, it was good that she was good at her job. On the other hand, it was beginning to irritate me.

Two of the black-shirted security people came over to us. I think the hat and coat fooled them, too. They didn't act like they recognized either one of us. Lisandro was tall, dark, handsome, with shoulder-length hair tied back in a ponytail. He was a wererat, which meant somewhere on him was a gun. A quick glance didn't show it under the black T-shirt and jeans, so it was probably at the small of his back. The wererats were mostly ex-military, ex-police, or had never been on the «right» side of the law. They always went armed.

The other security guy was taller and way more muscled. The weight lifting meant he was probably a werehyena. Their leader had a thing for weight lifters.

«Anita,» Lisandro said, «what's the holdup?»

«She wants my cross.»

He looked at Joan. «She's Jean-Claude's human servant. She gets a pass.»

The woman actually blushed and apologized. «I'm sorry. I didn't know, and you being with Brandon. I…»

I held up a hand. «It's okay, really, just let us get out of the doorway.» There was a crowd behind us that went out the door. Clay was peeking inside, wondering what was happening.

Lisandro helped us ease through the room away from the door, but not quite to the tables, closer to the drink area. I would have said bar area, but they weren't allowed to serve liquor. Yet another of the interesting zoning laws about strip clubs on this side of the river.

The weight lifter stayed near the door to help sort the crowd with Joan.

I could finally see who was dancing to the music. Byron was near the end of his act because he was down to a very small G-string. It left the pale, muscled body very bare. His short brown hair curled haphazardly, as if some of his customers had mussed it. A woman was stuffing money down the front of the G-string. I felt him use a small slap of power to capture her just enough to keep her hand out of his pants. It skirted the edge of legal, but the vamps had found that a tiny bit of control could keep them from getting hurt on stage. I'd seen bloody nail marks, and even a few bite marks, on Nathaniel and Jason. It was a lot more dangerous to strip for women than for men, apparently. All the dancers agreed that men behaved themselves better.

Byron writhed around the eager circle of women who surrounded the front of the stage. He laughed and joked. They ran hands over his body and rained money down on his skin. I'd had sex with him once, to feed the ardeur. We'd both enjoyed it, but Byron and I both agreed that it wasn't our cup of tea. That each other wasn't our cup of tea. Besides, the weight lifting helped him pass for eighteen, but he'd died at fifteen. Yeah, he was several hundred years old, but his body wasn't. His body was still that of an athletic teenager. I was still disturbed by the fact that I'd had sex with him. Also, Byron preferred men to women. He'd do bisexual, if it came his way, but he was one of the few men who spent more time ogling my boyfriends than me. I found that disturbing, too.

Jean-Claude was standing near the back of the stage, lost in shadow, letting Byron have his limelight. Jean-Claude turned to look at me, his pale face lost in the darkness of his hair and clothes. He breathed through my mind, «Await me in my office, ma petite.»

Lisandro leaned over and whisper-shouted over the music, «Jean-Claude said to take you through to the office.»

«Just now?» I asked, puzzled, because to my knowledge no one but me should have heard it.

Lisandro gave me a puzzled look back, and shook his head. «No, after you called. He said to take you back to the office when you got here.»

I nodded and let him lead us to the door. Nathaniel had kept his hat and coat on. He didn't want to be recognized, for several reasons. It was rude to distract the audience from Byron's show, and «Brandon» wasn't working tonight. Lisandro unlocked the door and ushered us through.

The door closed behind us, and it was blessedly quiet. The rear area wasn't soundproof, but it was sound-muffled. I hadn't realized how loud the music was until it stopped. Or maybe that was just how bad my nerves were tonight.

Lisandro led us down the hallway to the door on the left-hand side. Jean-Claude's office was its usual elegant black-and-white self. There was even an Oriental screen in one corner that hid an emergency coffin. Sort of a vampire's version of a rollaway. Only the couch against the wall and the carpet were new. Asher and I had ruined the old stuff with sex that got so out of hand, I'd ended up in the hospital.

Lisandro closed the door and leaned against it, on this side. «You staying?» I asked.

He nodded. «Jean-Claude's orders. He wants you to have bodyguards again.»

«When did he order that?»

«Just a few minutes ago.»

«Shit.»

«Did your beast try to rise again?» he asked.

I shook my head.

Nathaniel had set the box on Jean-Claude's black lacquer desk. He took off the hat and coat and laid them on one of the two chairs in front of the desk. «I've got to get a lighter-weight hat if I'm going to keep using it for a disguise. The leather is just too warm.» He wiped a thin bead of sweat off his forehead.

«If your beast didn't try to rise again, then why are you back to needing bodyguards?» Lisandro asked.

I opened my mouth, closed it. «I don't know how much Jean-Claude will want you to know. I'm not even sure how much anyone is allowed to know.»

«About what?»

I shrugged. «I'll tell you if I can.»

«If you're going to get me killed, can I at least know why?»

«I've never gotten you hurt before.»

«No, but we've lost two of our rats guarding you, Anita. Let's just say that if my wife ends up a widow, I'd like to know why.»

I glanced at his hand. «You don't wear a ring.»

«Not at work, no.»

«Why not?»

«You don't want people knowing you have people that you care about, Anita. It can give them ideas.» His gaze flicked to Nathaniel, just for a moment, then back to me. But Nathaniel had seen it.

«Lisandro thinks I'm a victim. That you need stronger men in your life.»

I went to sit beside Nathaniel on the new white couch. He put his arm across my shoulders, and I settled in against him. Yeah, we'd been fighting, but that wasn't Lisandro's business, and it certainly wasn't his business who I dated.

«You can date who you want, that's not my beef.»

«What is your beef?» I asked, and let my words take on that slight hostile edge that was almost always just below the surface for me.

«You're a vampire now, right?»

My, my, news travels fast. «Not exactly,» I said, out loud.

«I know you're not like a bloodsucker. You're still alive and everything, but you gained Jean-Claude's ability to feed off sex.»

«Yeah,» I said, still hostile.

«Human servants gain some of their master's abilities, that's normal. You should have gained the ability to help Jean-Claude feed his hungers, but your feeding on lust isn't an extra for his energy, it's a necessity for you. I heard what happened the night you tried to stop feeding it. You almost killed Damian, and Nathaniel, and yourself. Remus thinks you would have died if you hadn't fed the ardeur. If you hadn't fucked someone, he really thinks you might have died.»

«Isn't it nice that he shared with everybody,» I said.

«You can be all defensive about it if you want, but it's weird as hell. Rafael can't find anyone who's ever heard of a human servant gaining a hunger or thirst like this.»

«And how weird my life has become is your business, why?»

«Because you're asking me and my people to risk our lives to keep you safe, that's why.»

I gave him unfriendly face because I couldn't argue with his logic. I had gotten two of the wererats killed in the last couple of years. Killed guarding me. I guess he had a right to be pissy.

«It's your job,» Nathaniel said. «If you don't like it, ask your king to change your job description.»

«Rafael would take me off duty if I asked, you're right on that.»

«Then ask,» Nathaniel said.

Lisandro shook his head. «That's not my point.»

«If you have a point, make it,» I said, and let him hear the impatience in my voice.

«Fine, you're some sort of living vampire. A master vampire, because you gained a vampire servant in Damian, and an animal to call in Nathaniel.»

«You're not telling me anything I don't already know, Lisandro.»

«Jean-Claude chose you as his human servant. He chose one of the most powerful necromancers to come along in centuries. It was a good move to pick you. His animal to call is the head of the local werewolf pack. Richard may have his problems, but he's powerful. Again, a good choice. You both help Jean-Claude's power base. You both help him be stronger.» He motioned at Nathaniel. «I like Nathaniel. He's a good kid, but he's not powerful. He gained more from you than you gained from him. The same with Damian. He's a vampire over a thousand years old, and he's never going to be a master anything.»

«Have you reached your point?» I asked.

«Almost.»

«You know, this is the most I've ever heard you talk at one time,» I said.

«We all agreed that whoever had a chance to ask should talk to you.»

«Who's we?»

«Me and some of the other guards.»

«Fine, what's your point?»

«Did you have a choice about Nathaniel and Damian?» he asked.

«Do you mean, could I have chosen another wereleopard, another vampire?»

«Yes.»

«No.»

«Why no?» Lisandro asked.

"One, none of us had any idea that this could happen. Like you said, human servants don't gain powers like this. Two, I don't have the control over my metaphysics that Jean-Claude has. Most vamps who gain a human servant or animal to call don't do that until they've got a few decades, or centuries, under their belt. I got thrown into the deep end of the pool without a life preserver. I grabbed who the power threw at me.» I patted Nathaniel's leg. «I'm happy with the choices, but I didn't know I was choosing when it happened.»

Nathaniel hugged me one-armed. «We were all surprised.»

«But you have more control of it now,» Lisandro said, «and you know what's happening.»

«I've got more control, yes, but as to what's happening… pick a topic.»

«Somehow you've got three or four different kinds of lycanthropy inside you. But you haven't shifted into any of them.»

«Yeah, so?»

«But you're starting to be attracted to the different animals, the way you were to the wolves and the leopards. I'm just saying that if you pick a new animal, can't it be someone powerful, instead of weak? Why can't you choose someone who will help you power up, instead of hurting you?»

Nathaniel shifted beside me.

«Nathaniel doesn't hurt me,» I said, but part of me was thinking about our fight earlier. There was room to get hurt, but not the kind of hurt that Lisandro meant.

«He doesn't help you either, not the way Richard helps Jean-Claude.»

I could have argued that part. Richard was so conflicted about what he was, and what he wanted out of life, that he crippled the triumvirate among the three of us, but if Lisandro didn't realize how reluctant a partner Richard was, then I wasn't going to share it.

«What do you want from me, Lisandro?»

«Just, if we're going to put our bodies between you and a bullet, can we have some input into the next animal you pick?»

«No,» I said.

«Just no?» he said.

«Yeah, just no. This is so not in your job description, Lisandro, not you, or Remus, or anyone. If you don't want to risk yourself, then don't. I don't want anyone guarding me who feels like it's a bad idea.»

«I'm not saying this right.»

«Then stop saying it,» I said.

«Stop explaining and just say what you want Anita to do,» Nathaniel said.

Lisandro frowned, then said, «I think Joseph was wrong when he forced you to send the werelion Haven back to Chicago. Joseph keeps trying to feed you his weak-assed pride of lions, and they aren't any better than Nathaniel. No offense, even Joseph's brother, Justin, isn't that much stronger.»

It had taken me a moment to remember who Haven was, because I still thought of him as Cookie Monster. He'd had hair dyed that color of blue, and had sported several Sesame Street tattoos. Haven was also an enforcer for the Master Vampire of Chicago. Haven had helped me handle the lion part of my metaphysical problem, but he'd also picked fights with three of the local werelions, including Joseph, their Rex, their leader. Haven and Richard had had a fight. Richard had kicked his ass, proving that Richard could be damned useful when he wanted to be. But also proving that Haven was way too much trouble to keep around.

«You guys all explained to me how lion society works. If someone that tough, and that powerful, had moved into town, they would have felt compelled to take over the local werelions. The first thing most takeovers do is slaughter most of the pride.»

«I think you could control him.»

«You saw him, Lisandro, please. He's a thug, a professional thug, with a prison record.»

Lisandro nodded. «I've got a record, too, juvie, but some bad stuff on it. My wife straightened me out. I think you could do the same for him.»

«What, a good woman is all a bad boy needs to straighten his life out?»

«If the woman has something that the man wants bad enough, yeah.»

«What does that mean?» I asked.

«It means I saw the way he looked at you. I smelled what effect the two of you had on each other. The only reason you didn't have sex was that your head overruled the rest of you.»

«You know, Lisandro, I liked you better when you didn't talk this much.»

«I've seen Haven's record. He doesn't have anything on his sheet that I ain't got on mine.»

That made me give him the long blink. Because I hadn't known that about him. «That would make you a very dangerous man,» I said, my voice low and even.

«You've killed more people than I have.»

«This conversation is over, Lisandro.»

«If not Haven, then can Rafael put out feelers for some better lion candidates? Joseph is so scared that some big bad lion will come and eat his weak-assed pride that he won't ever bring anyone to town who will do the job for you.»

I started to say no, but Nathaniel squeezed my arm. «Rafael is a good leader.»

«He can't interview for new lions. He can bring in new rats, but it's not his place to bring in new lions,» I said.

«Lisandro is right on one thing, Anita. Joseph is scared. Everyone he's thrown at you in the last few weeks has been wimpy—not just weak in power, but innocent. Your life doesn't have room for innocents.»

I stared into those lavender eyes and didn't like what I saw. I was seven years older, but he'd seen as much violence as I had, or more. He'd seen what our fellow human beings could do, up close and personal. I'd solved crimes of violence, but mostly I hadn't been the victim. He'd been on the streets alone before he hit ten. Nathaniel was weak in some ways that Lisandro counted, but he was stronger than me in ways that most people wouldn't understand. He'd survived things that would have destroyed most people.

He let me see in his face what he usually hid, that I was the innocent. That no matter how many people I killed in the line of duty, I'd never really know what he knew.

«Do you think I was wrong to make Haven go back to Chicago?»

«No, he scared me, but you need a werelion, and they need to know the score.»

«What does that mean?» I asked.

«Two of the lions he sent you were virgins,» Nathaniel said. «You're a succubus, Anita. You don't give virgins over to something like that.»

«You have to have had bad sex to appreciate really good sex,» Lisandro said.

Nathaniel nodded. «That, too, but what I meant was that we haven't met a lion yet who we didn't all think was weak.» He looked at the tall guard by the door. «Some of them were tough in a normal-world sort of way, but we all live in a world where guns, and sex, and violence of all kinds can happen and do. We need someone who doesn't make us all feel like we're corrupting children.»

We both looked at Nathaniel.

«What?» he said.

«Is that how you really felt about all of them, even Justin?» I asked.

«Yes,» he said. «Justin's idea of violence is the kind that has referees, and limits. The fact that he's Joseph's enforcer is scary for them.»

«Joseph's better in a fight,» Lisandro said.

«But neither of them is as good as Richard, or Rafael.»

«Or your Micah?» Lisandro asked.

«I think Micah would do anything it took to keep his people safe.»

«I heard that about him,» Lisandro said.

Since we were talking about one of my other live-in sweeties, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Micah and I were both very practical people. Sometimes practical and ruthless were just different words for the same thing.

«You're both saying that you don't think Joseph would do whatever it took.»

«The only thing that's kept his pride safe is the fact that there just aren't a lot of werelions in this country. Cat-based lycanthropy is usually harder to catch than other kinds,» Lisandro said.

«Reptile-based is harder to catch,» Nathaniel said.

Lisandro nodded. «True, but there aren't a lot of lions in this country. The closest is Chicago.»

«They won't be trying a takeover. Jean-Claude and I made sure of that,» I said.

«But don't you see, Anita, you and Jean-Claude made sure of it, not Joseph. That makes his threat weak,» Lisandro said.

«Nobody from Chicago will mess with them now,» I said.

«Yeah, but if Chicago noticed they're this weak, then so will someone else.»

«I didn't know we had any big prides other than these two.»

«One on the West Coast, one on the East,» Lisandro said.

«Is that where Joseph got his last candidate?» I asked.

«East Coast pride, yeah. But you turned him down, just like all the others.»

«I can't give your leader permission to shop for lions, Lisandro. It's against the rules to interfere that much over cross-species lines.»

«Not for you,» Lisandro said. «Remember, Joseph asked you not to keep Haven. The moment he asked you to protect him and his pride, he asked you to interfere. You're the leopards' Nimir-Ra, and the wolves' lupa; you were nothing to the lions. Once he asked for your help, he gave you permission to mess with his lions.»

«I don't think Joseph saw it that way,» I said.

Lisandro shrugged. «Doesn't matter how he saw it, it's still the truth.»

I don't know what I would have said to that, because there was a knock on the door. Lisandro went all bodyguardy on us. His hand went behind his back, and I knew for sure the gun was there. «Who is it?»

«Requiem. Jean-Claude requested my presence.»

Lisandro glanced at me. I realized he was asking my permission. I liked him better for that. I didn't really want to see Requiem tonight. I was still embarrassed that I'd added him to my list of food. But he'd been in England, so he'd seen the Harlequin in person, and recently. He'd be helpful. Or that's what I told myself as I nodded for Lisandro to let him in.