Лорел Гамильтон - The Harlequin

Wolves and hyenas spilled into the room, at a run. We now had more of our people in the room than we did wererats. The tightness in my stomach eased a little.

«Rafael,» Richard said, «why are you doing this?»

«Doing what?» he asked. «Treating the leopards as the lesser power they are supposed to be?»

Richard let his face show the surprise he felt. «Are you purposefully trying to bait Anita?»

«I have come to negotiate with the Master of the City and his triumvirate of power. His animal to call and his human servant.»

«I'm also the leopard's queen, and they are my animal to call,» I said. «You can't insult one half of my power base while you try to negotiate with the other.»

«Exactly,» Rafael said.

«What?» I asked.

«You have made your point, Rafael,» Jean-Claude said.

I looked from one to the other. «Not to me, he hasn't.»

«I'm confused, too,» Richard said.

«I have worked for years to build the wererats into a force to be reckoned with, bargained with, a force not to be treated lightly. Though I may dislike Narcissus, he, in his own way, has also built the werehyenas up into a force to be reckoned with.» He motioned at us, the only three leopards in the room. «The leopards were the playthings of the wolves when Raina was their lupa. Gabriel, the leader of the leopards, was her pawn. Then Anita killed both of them. She became lupa to the wolves and tried to protect the leopards. I was happy that the leopards had a true protector, someone who did not just use them. No group deserves the treatment that they suffered at Gabriel's hands.» He walked toward us, slowly, nothing menacing in that movement, but I fought an urge to step back. Somehow I wasn't sure I wanted him that close to me, to us.

Rafael spoke as he moved calmly toward us. «Then Anita became more than just a human with extraordinary powers. By all accounts she may truly be a shapeshifter one of these moons.»

«So what?» I asked. «So what if I finally turn furry for real?»

«Leopard is not Jean-Claude's animal to call, it is yours. Yet you are not a vampire. You are leopard queen, but not a wereleopard. The wolves' lupa, but not a werewolf. Now the lions are yours to call. If Joseph and his pride would only give you someone worthy to choose, you would have another animal to bind to you. The lions are weaker even than the leopards, but if you find a mate among them, they will move up, they will be powerful, and they do not deserve it.»

I was beginning to see what his point was, and I even understood why he'd put himself forward as food. «You do everything according to the rules,» I said, «and then this metaphysical wild card comes out of nowhere and suddenly animal groups that are weak by your standards have more ties to Jean-Claude. The leopards are a small group, but they're intimate with the vampires, so they're powerful. You think the same thing will happen with the lions.»

«Yes,» Rafael said.

«You are serious about being Anita's pomme de sang ?» Richard said, «because it's the only way you can see getting closer to the power structure.»

Rafael nodded and looked at the other man. «I am sorry, my friend, but if I cannot guarantee my people's safety through strength of arms and traditional methods, then I am willing to whore myself for their safety.»

«I do not hold the leopards above you in esteem,» Jean-Claude said.

«If there was a choice between saving the rats and saving the leopards, who would you choose?»

«There will not be a choice like that,» Jean-Claude said.

«Perhaps not, but there might be a choice between the hyenas and the rats. Narcissus is not my friend, and now Asher's animal to call is his people.»

«Asher is not master here,» Jean-Claude said.

«No, but you love him, have loved him for centuries. That is a powerful bond, Jean-Claude. If Asher whispered sweetly enough, would you deny him and his animals? Or would you side with him over my people?»

«Are you planning on challenging the hyenas to a war?» Jean-Claude asked it almost jokingly. But I knew that tone of voice; it was the tone he used when he was worried he was right.

«No, but we are not animals, any of us,» Rafael said.

«Our master would not start a war with you, rat king.» This from Remus.

Rafael shook his head. «You are one of the reasons that I fear a war, Remus. When your Oba, your leader, was only recruiting martial artists and weight lifters, pretty muscle that had never known a real fight without referees, I did not worry, but you are the real thing, Remus. He has hired several ex-military, ex-police.»

«He did that because of what happened when Chimera took over his men,» I said. «Narcissus learned the difference between a bouncer and a soldier. He learned it the hard way. He lost a lot of his men to Chimera.»

«And you killed Chimera for him,» Rafael said, giving me all the attention of those dark eyes.

«I killed him for all of us. He wouldn't have left the rats alone either.»

Rafael came to stand in front of us. I fought the urge to grab Micah's hand. Rafael hadn't done anything threatening, just being six feet tall and standing over us. Usually tall didn't intimidate me, but there was something about him today. Something bad.

«We were too powerful for Chimera to attack, and he did not hold rat lycanthropy in his body.»

«He tried to take over several groups that he didn't hold the lycanthropy for,» I said.

«If I had any liking for men, I'd offer myself to Jean-Claude and be done with it.»

I didn't even try to keep the shock off my face. I did grab Micah's hand, as if the world had gotten shaky and I needed something to cling to. Rafael did not say things like this.

«But men do not interest me, so I do the next best thing. I offer myself to you, Anita. Because you protect those in your bed. And something about you brings power to your lovers. I do not understand it, but Nathaniel is the perfect example of one of the least wereanimals becoming something so much more, just because of you, Anita.»

Nathaniel moved to touch my shoulder. I jumped, then eased into the touch, and a little away from this strange version of Rafael. He was afraid. I could feel it.

«What has Narcissus done to make you think your rats are in danger?» Jean-Claude said.

Rafael glanced at him. «What have you heard?»

«Nothing. I give you my word of honor that I have heard nothing, but you are cautious and thoughtful. This is not like you, Rafael; only something serious, and dangerous, could make you come to us like this.» Jean-Claude sat down on the couch and said, «Sit with us, eat, and tell us what Narcissus has said or done to make you willing to say such things to ma petite .»

Rafael closed his eyes, his hands in fists. «Your word of honor that you don't know. Then it can't be true.»

«What cannot be true, mon ami ? Talk to us. We are allies and friends; posturing and threats do not become us.»

Micah pulled me away from Rafael and closer to the food. We weren't backing away from the rat king; we were just going to eat. Sure, but it saved face, and I was hungry. No matter what emergency was happening, I still hadn't even had coffee. One of the side effects of the ardeur and the almost-lycanthropy was that I couldn't not eat. Not without consequences, like sex I'd regret later, or having my body almost tear itself apart because it couldn't decide what animal it most wanted to be.

We actually got everyone settled with food, and Rafael stopped being all strange and scary. He sat on the love seat with Louie, with his guards at his back. We took the couch. It was big enough that everyone but Nathaniel had a seat. He curled up at my feet and made the scanty leather outfit work for him. The only one in the room who knew how to be more seductive at the drop of a hat was Jean-Claude, and he was all business. Though to him, sometimes seduction was business, but not this morning.