Лорел Гамильтон - The Harlequin

Her voice came in a rush of rain and wind. «I know who your master is, wolf. You have betrayed me, and I will not forget it.»

When I could no longer smell jasmine or feel rain against my skin like some invisible presence, I asked Jake, «How do I keep her from popping in to see me?»

«There's a charm for that.»

I gave him a look.

«People used to think she was a demon, but whatever they thought she was, one human witch made a charm a very long time ago, and it works.»

«Is it a holy symbol?» I asked.

He smiled. «No, it's magic, not faith.»

«Isn't all magic faith?» I asked.

«No, sometimes it's just magic.»

The concept was too hard for me. «You got one of those charms on you?»

«Always, but I'll get one for you. We should be safe for the rest of tonight.»

«I hope those aren't famous last words,» I said.

«What do we do with them, Anita?» Truth asked.

I looked at Jake. «He broke your laws more than mine.»

«Kill him under your laws, we won't argue. We suspected one of us was being paid as an assassin, but we didn't know who. Then Pantalone volunteered to come check out Malcolm's church. It was just a visit, and a report back to the council. He usually only takes killing jobs, so we were suspicious. If Columbine had won Jean-Claude's lands, it would have been Pantalone who ruled here. We are allowed to leave the service of the Mother now, because she sleeps. Once she wakes, all that are in her service will be trapped there.»

«So you came to spy,» I said.

«And to help keep you alive.»

«Thanks for that.» I glanced back toward Remus's body. «I wish everybody were still alive.»

«I'm sorry about that, truly. He was a good man.»

I turned back to Wicked and Truth. «Did you guys wade into the dark and cut off his hand without being able to see anything?»

«Yes,» Wicked said.

«Of course,» Truth said.

«Then take his head.»

Pantalone, with a missing arm, stabbed, shot, moved in a black blur. Truth was his own dark blur, his sword so fast it looked like lightning. He took him through the heart again, except spitting him this time the way Pantalone had spitted Remus. Wicked's blade glittered outward and the head went spinning. It wasn't just impressive. It was lovely in a macabre sort of way.

«Someone put the head in a sack. We'll burn it later, separate from the body.»

«We should take the heart, too,» Olaf said.

I nodded. «You're right. We'll do that after we take care of the other two.»

«You killed our master,» Columbine said.

«I would ask, does that frighten you, but I can taste your fear in your words. It tastes good. I'm going to ask you some questions. If you answer me truthfully, then you die quick, fairly painless. You fuck with me, lie to me, try not to answer the questions and I'll make your death something to write home about. I'll give you to Olaf. He's the big guy.»

Olaf glanced back at me, gun still trained on them. «Do you mean it?»

«Right this minute, yes. She's a petite dark-haired woman, she even fits your victim profile. If she doesn't answer my questions, never say I didn't give you a good present.»

«No,» Columbine said, «please.»

«You tried to kill me and the people I love. Your master killed my friend. Please isn't going to have much effect on me right now, not from you.»

«Please,» Richard said, «don't do this.»

I shook my head. «Go home, Richard.»

«Isn't there any other man in your bed who agrees with me, that there are some things you don't do, for any reason?»

Jean-Claude stood and went to Richard. He began to try to soothe him. It reminded me of when you gamed and you had to send the Paladin around the hill so you could loot the dead.

Nathaniel and Micah came to my sides. «You want to get closer to her?» Micah asked.

I nodded. «You don't think I'm a bastard for offering her to Olaf?»

«They've nearly killed you three times, Anita. You're my Nimir-Ra; I'll carve out her heart and serve it to you on a platter.» The threat seemed more real with him in his kitty-cat form.

«I'm your submissive, I don't argue,» Nathaniel said.

«Submissive when it suits you, lately.»

He smiled at me. «I won't carve her up, but I might watch Olaf do it. She almost killed you, and Jean-Claude, and Richard.»

I nodded. «And Peter.»

«And Cisco,» Nathaniel said.

I nodded, and started to turn back to look at Remus. Micah kept me moving forward. «Let's go ask your questions.»

We went to ask my questions. Olaf was whispering to her as we came up, what he'd do to her, what he wanted to do to her. «Please, don't answer the questions. Vampires die so much slower than humans.»

Guess what, she answered every question first time out. She and Nivia had killed the humans and tried to frame the church members. It had been to get leverage to try to force Malcolm to simply give the Church to them. Then I'd gone and spoiled it by killing Nivia. I didn't tell her that I wasn't even certain why Nivia had died, or what I'd done to cause it. Maybe Jean-Claude could help me figure it out later. Columbine was going to be the beard, the stalking horse, for Pantalone. Once he ruled here, even the Mother of All Darkness couldn't force him to abandon his territory. All of them, Pantalone, Nivia, Soledad, and Giovanni had all taken assassination jobs. The only question she hesitated on, even for a second, was, «Which council members did you work for?»

«They'll kill me.»

«You don't have to be afraid of them anymore, Columbine.»

«You'll protect me?»

«In a way. You don't have to be afraid of the council killing you later, because we're going to kill you tonight, remember? All we're negotiating on is whether you die easy, or hard. Your choice.»

She shook her head.

«Olaf.»

«Yes.»

«We have to cut her heart out anyway. Want to do it first?»

He stared at me as if wondering if I was kidding. I remembered Remus's body in my arms. I knew now that I'd felt his body jerk as Pantalone had forced his arm through his chest, through his heart, dug his way through, and killed him. I could still hear his last whispered «I'm sorry.» Not «help me,» or «God, it hurts,» but «I'm sorry.»

«Do it,» I said.

They held her down, and they held Giovanni down, and Olaf ripped her costume open, bared her breasts to the room, and began very slowly to carve out her heart. He didn't get very far before she gave up the names. Master of Beasts and the Lover of Death.

Olaf didn't stop when she gave up the names. He'd gone to his happy place. It was like trying to argue with an autistic child; he just didn't hear us.

Columbine screamed, «I answered your questions. In the name of the dark, kill me.»

I told Wicked to behead her. He did, one clean blow that scarred the wood underneath her. I could never get a head to come off in one blow. Olaf looked up as the blood poured out of the neck in a crimson fountain. «I wasn't finished.»

«She gave the information up a while ago. I promised her a quick death if she told me what I needed to know.»

He gave me a look that wasn't friendly at all.

«You can still cut out her heart,» I said.

«It's not the same,» he said, and the look on his face was nothing I understood, or wanted to understand.

I started to apologize for not letting him cut out her heart while she was still alive, then I caught myself. Fuck, the shock was beginning to leave and I was wondering what the hell I'd been thinking. Legally, everything we were doing was A-okay. I had a warrant of execution, it covered a multitude of sins.

He did finish cutting out her heart. I had Wicked behead Giovanni. I was really going to see if he and his brother could teach me the beheading-a-person-with-one-blow technique. I could never manage, not even with a sword. Maybe it was a leverage thing?