He chuckled. “No, of course not. But I can protect San Francisco. It’s what I’ve promised, it’s what I’m able to do. Roman won’t find a foothold here. Maybe I can help you find this pearl of yours, since when the boys found you none of you looked like you were doing too well.”
Anastasia was stubborn. Her dignity was like armor. I had to wonder if she just didn’t like other vampires all that much. At least, the ones she didn’t create herself.
“Ask him about Grace,” I said to her. “It can’t hurt.”
Sighing, she nodded. “There’s a young woman, a magician named Grace Chen. She was helping us before we ran into some of Roman’s soldiers. We don’t know where she is now, and I need her to find the Dragon’s Pearl.”
“You want me to find her?” Boss said.
“If you can.”
“I’d be happy to help you, Anastasia,” he said, opening his arms. “Give us a couple of hours.”
“It’s only a few more hours until dawn,” Anastasia said.
“It’s the best I can do. Feel free to wait here. Make yourselves at home.” He stood, and his companions stood with him, flanking him. Boss waved at Henry. “You stay, keep an eye on things.” Henry nodded, straightened, and stood solid as a tree, his hands crossed before him in a clear bodyguard posture. The posse departed, leaving the room quiet.
Were we trapped? Prisoners? Could we leave? Was there a shower somewhere? A bathroom maybe? Anastasia wasn’t offering commentary. She seemed to be focused inward, stewing. Cormac was in “wait-and-watch” mode. Since they weren’t saying anything, I wanted to talk to Ben, who couldn’t talk. I rubbed his fur, and he leaned into my good leg.
Henry it was, then. “Are you here to guard us or to play host?”
“A little of both. Boss doesn’t trust you not to poke around where you shouldn’t.”
“He could have just asked.”
Henry only smiled.
“So. Do you have any Janis Joplin bootlegs?”
He chuckled quietly. “The rarest bootleg’ll never be as good as the real thing, live and in person. She was one of a kind.”
“Well, yeah. But … do you?”
Still chuckling, he waved me off, refusing to answer, which was as good as yes in my mind. Arrogant vampires …
That left us sitting around the living-room-slash-audience hall, waiting. Anastasia settled into an armchair. Crossing her arms, she stared at Henry, who crossed his arms and avoided looking at her. I chose a padded chair and stretched my leg out. In all the excitement, I hadn’t noticed that the pain had almost faded. Now, my whole leg and side just ached horribly.
Cormac paced over and loomed. “You okay?”
“You keep asking that.”
“I don’t like this,” he said. “We need to get out of town while we can.”
“I know, but I want to make sure Grace’s okay. And I’ll stick around if it means getting to take out Roman.”
“With everything you’ve told me about the bastard I’m inclined to agree.”
“If you see an opening, take it.”
“Absolutely.”
Ben left my side and padded to the corner, where he turned in a couple of circles, lay down, and curled into a tight ball, paws tucked in, tail resting over his nose. He finally felt safe enough to sleep. Or at least, to try to sleep. He still didn’t look particularly comfortable.
I leveraged myself out of the chair and went to join him, settling on the floor and resting my hand on his back. He snuggled closer to me.
Cormac said, “I’ll keep an eye out.”
Then Ben seemed to relax.
I dozed, leaning against the wall, my arms draped over Ben, fingers laced in his fur. When he moved against me, I awoke and drew away as the fur under my touch thinned and shrank. I watched Ben come back to me.
Cormac said he’d keep watch, but he turned away when Ben started to shift back, when the fur faded and vanished, his skin stretched and bones melted into new shapes. It happened slowly, bit by bit. The Change back to human was like a sunrise—the sky paled, paled some more. Then—suddenly, you’d swear—it was daytime. Ben, naked and chilled, lay curled up, head and shoulders tucked into my lap, arms and legs pulled protectively close.
I stayed still, quiet, letting him sleep. Absently, I touched his ruffled hair, smoothing it behind his ear.
When he was human again, Henry came over with a blanket. He kept his distance, holding it out as an offering, taking care not to startle Ben by getting too close, for which I was grateful. I took the blanket from him and spread it over Ben.
The others left us alone, and we waited.
After a time, Ben tensed—I felt his muscles tighten against my leg. His nose flared, and he flinched awake, sitting up. I waited for him to gain his bearings, to get the scent of the place, to settle. It only took a second.
He looked at me. “I thought I’d lost you.”
I fell against him and we kissed. His arms closed tight around me and I pressed myself to him while our lips worked, hungry for each other’s taste. I wanted to rub myself all over his skin, taking in his warmth, his scent.
“Werewolves are all about instinct, emotion. They’re so full of passion. Makes them fascinating, don’t you think?” Boss had returned, regarding us from the doorway. He seemed to be speaking to Anastasia, conspiratorial, as if this was a long-running vampire joke.
Most vampires annoyed me because I didn’t know their ages. But to not even tell me his name? It was typical. Rick hadn’t been born with that name, Roman was an acquired name, and I really doubted that Anastasia was her original name, either. They’d reinvented themselves, like shedding old skins, when they became vampires. They could choose their identities, because who from their old lives was around to remember? To call out the inventions?
I tried to imagine Anastasia as a young woman, a child, eager instead of calculating and obsessed. And I couldn’t.
Joe was with Boss, and between them
