“You have never mentioned this,” Jean-Claude said.
“I did not think that Anita would be able to do it. She is not a true vampire… She…”
“I am master here, Asher; you should have told me and let me decide what
“I see that now,” Asher said, and he looked up, letting the shine of his eyes gleam blue, made bluer by the robe he was wearing. “I’m sorry…” He reached out to us, a beseeching gesture, and something he’d done leaning against the bed had loosened the sash so that it fell open, giving a glimpse of his body, pale and perfect. The robe fell open only to show the unscarred side, the same way his hair often fell. I knew the hair was deliberate; was the robe? Could he “accidentally” make the robe fall open just so that he gave the perfect glimpse of his body to remind us, no, me, what I was about to give up? Jean-Claude had just finished having sex with him; it wasn’t him that Asher needed to re-seduce.
I turned so I could see Jean-Claude’s face, which made him have to lean back a little. “Tell me you didn’t give in?”
“What do you mean, give in,
“I mean tell him he doesn’t have to go. He has to go, right? No matter how good the sex is, he has to leave town for at least a month; right?”
“I have not said otherwise.”
I didn’t like the way he worded that. Jade rubbed her face against my waist like the big cat she was in her other form. She was trying to soothe me.
“Sin could have died tonight. His control over hyenas is better than ours, it’s one animal that neither of us has any control over, and Asher used that to make Ares attack another guard. Asher meant for it to be Nicky with his broken arm, et cetera… and if Asher hadn’t hurt me to begin with, I wouldn’t have almost drained Nicky dry. We can’t let this slide, Jean-Claude, we can’t.”
“It is too close to dawn for him to leave tonight, but tomorrow night he will go, as ordered.”
“I deserve to be exiled for a month,” Asher said, and he had moved down the edge of the bed, so that he was standing opposite us; the robe was so open it was just a beautiful embroidered frame to his body. His hand slid down the edge of the robe so that it was just natural to follow where his hand moved, and his hand moved ever so slowly so that it was like a tour of his chest, the flat plains of his stomach, the edge of his hips, and then the groin, where he lay soft, and waiting. Until he took blood again, that would be all he had to offer, but I actually liked that about vampires. Most men, I started going down on them and they got big too soon, so that I couldn’t enjoy the texture and feel that they started with…
Jade uncurled herself and began to climb off the other side of the bed. “Where are you going?” I asked.
“I cannot,” she said.
“Cannot what?” I asked.
“You like his cruelty. I do not. Please do not order me to stay.”
“No one will force you to do anything you don’t want to do. I and Jean-Claude have both promised you that.”
“I believe you, but… May I go?”
I sighed. “Yes, but we’re not having sex with Asher.”
“You are within your rights to have sex with him if you wish.” She was already backing toward the door. One hand was holding her other arm tight enough that her fingers were mottled. It meant she was afraid. She was afraid of men, of sex with men, of vampires, and most especially afraid of male vampires. I was lying in the arms of one vampire with another nearly naked by the bed, and they were both decidedly male; as far as Jade was concerned I was about to do something terrifying.
“We’re not having sex,” I said.
“But he will try and seduce you, and that is…” She backed into Domino, and gave a soft yelp. She startled away from him as he reached to steady her. He dropped his hand to his side. Domino knew better than to push things when she got spooked. It was one of the reasons she could be in bed with him and me when we made love. She’d also allowed Nathaniel that amount of trust. Both of them treated it with all the gentleness they had.
“Walk her back to her room,” I said.
“No, he’s supposed to guard you from… Asher,” she said.
“It’s okay,” Domino said, “I’ll get you back to your room, and come right back here.”
Jade didn’t want him to touch her either, but when she was this shaken she needed someone by her side that she trusted at least a little to keep the panic from growing. She trusted Domino more than any other man. Claudia had no patience with her, and Kelly didn’t need to be around Asher tonight, and just like that we were out of female guards to watch over her.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Domino said. “Don’t get hurt. I really don’t want to fight Nicky for real.”
“We’ll be good,” I said.
He grinned as he closed the door behind them, and said, just as the door closed, “I know you’re good, Anita; just don’t hurt each other.”
“Domino,” I said, but he closed the door to the sound of his soft laughter.
39
THE ROOM WAS very quiet after they left. I don’t know what I would have said into that silence, because my phone rang. Did I dive for it a little too eagerly? Maybe, but it was with my pile of weapons beside the bed. That meant that I had to crawl over the acres of black bedspread to grab it. Asher bent down and handed it to me, so that I had to take it from him as I hit the screen and said, “Blake here, talk to me.”
“Marshal Blake?” It was the new Marshal, Arlen Brice.
“Yeah, Marshal Blake here, sorry, Brice. What’s up?”
“They found bomb-making materials in one of the closets at the house we raided with SWAT.”
I was quiet for a second, trying to process it. “Why would they have that? What the hell do vampires need with bombs?”
Asher and Jean-Claude went very still on either side of me. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew the stillness was more of a startle reaction than any expression they could have given me. I should not have said the word
“One of the vampires that died at the warehouse was a retired demolitions expert,” Brice said.
“Military?” I asked.
“No, civilian, construction, but that just means he knows how to bring down a whole building.”
“Not comforting,” I said.
“Zerbrowski said that the vamps at the warehouse were talking trash about you and Jean-Claude, so I figured you’d want to know about the bomb stuff.”
“Just stuff, not actual devices?”
“No, but the bomb techs are treating this real serious. They seem convinced that some bombs were actually made, which means they may be out there in the city somewhere.”
“These guys wanted to be seen as sympathetic in the media. Blowing shit up doesn’t gain sympathy from anyone.”
“True, but it doesn’t stop people from doing it,” Brice said.
I wanted to argue, but couldn’t, so I let that part go. “Any hint on size of device? What we might want the security details to be looking at?”
“This isn’t my area. I can read the preliminary report, but not sure I’m the one you want interpreting it. Talk to”-and he was quiet, as I listened to him riffling papers and clicking keys-“Alvarez, Mark Alvarez, is the lead guy.”
“Let me get a pen, and then give me his number.”
Jean-Claude got the small notebook and pen that stayed on the bedside table now. There was one by every bed in every room that was “mine.”
“You can call Alvarez, but not until you’ve been informed officially. I mean, I want to help, but don’t get us both
