Лорел Гамильтон - The Harlequin

«Get out, Dolph, just go.»

«But he gets to stay,» and he pointed at Edward.

«He hasn't insulted me. He's been nothing but professional.»

«I guess I deserve that.» He seemed about to say something else. He held his hand out. Edward hesitated, then gave Dolph back his gun. Dolph just left, closing the door softly behind him.

Edward holstered his gun and we waited a few seconds, then looked at each other. «You are not going to be able to avoid answering him for very long, Anita.»

«I know.»

«It's not just you that's going to be in trouble.»

I nodded. «Richard.»

«He was hinting.»

«If he knew, he'd do more than hint.»

«Lieutenant Storr isn't stupid.»

«I never thought he was.»

«His hatred makes him stupid in some ways, but it also makes him very determined. If that determination gets turned on you and your friends, well…»

«I know, Edward, I know.»

«What are you going to do?»

«There isn't a law on the books that says I can't date the monsters. Legally it would be like telling a federal agent he can't date someone who's not white; it would be a public relations nightmare.»

«But the human servant bit, that's an area they haven't covered in the federal regulations.»

«You've checked?» I asked.

«Before I took the badge, yeah, I read up. Nothing says you can't be Jean-Claude's human servant and a federal marshal.»

«Because the laws haven't caught up to themselves.»

«It doesn't matter, Anita; it still means even if Dolph finds out, you're covered.»

«I'm covered legally, but there are other ways to be gotten rid of, if cops want you gone.»

«Like not calling you in on cases.»

«Dolph's already doing that.»

«Frankly, I think they see you sleeping with the enemy as being just as bad as any metaphysical stuff, or worse.»

I thought about it. «They don't really understand the metaphysics, but they understand fucking.»

«Your lieutenant seems almost as worried that you're sleeping around as who you're sleeping around with.»

«A lot of police are prudes at heart.»

«I think Lieutenant Storr would almost be as disappointed with you if you were just sleeping around with humans.»

«I think he sees himself as sort of a surrogate father figure.»

«How do you see him?»

«My boss, sort of. Once I thought he was my friend.»

«You're sitting up—does it hurt?»

I thought about it, letting myself feel my body, sort of searching it for pain. I took a deep breath, all the way down to my stomach. «It's tight, but not painful. It has that tight feeling that it gets if you don't stretch the scar tissue out. You know?»

«I know.»

«You don't have any scars as bad as mine, do you?»

«Only Donna knows.» He smiled.

«How is Peter, really?»

«Brave.»

«I meant, oh, hell, Edward, is he going to get the injection or not?»

«Still debating.»

«You have to tell Donna.»

«She'd take the injection.»

«Legally, it's her decision.»

«One of the reasons we kept him Peter Black was so he could make the decision. I've been talking to your furry friends. Tiger lycanthropy is one of the harder-to-catch ones. It's also one of the few that runs in families and can be inherited as well as caught.»

«That's actually news to me,» I said.

«Apparently the tigers keep it a close family secret. I've been talking to the only other weretiger in town.»

«Christine,» I said.

He nodded. «Did you know she ran to a town with no tigers to escape being forced to marry into a clan of weretigers?»

«I didn't know—wait, I remember Claudia saying that Soledad had come to St. Louis to probably escape an arranged marriage. Something about the tigers liking to keep it in the family.»

«That was her cover story.»

«How good was her cover?»

«It was good. I've seen her documents; they look real. They were excellent forgeries, and I know what I'm talking about.»

«I'll just bet you do,» I said.

He gave me a look. The real Edward began to peek out, Ted Forrester melting from the eyes outward. It was always his eyes that reverted back to real first. Sort of the way most lycanthropes shifted, interestingly enough.

«Thanks for sending Graham when you did. The shot they had was tiger. It's their standard because it's so rare. They're sending for a different batch, not tiger this time.»

«Will he take the shot?»

«If you were him, what would you do?»

I thought about it. «I'm not the one to ask, Edward. I've been cut up a lot, and I've taken my chances. So far, so good.»

«But the shot didn't exist last time. Would you have taken it?»

«I won't make this decision for you, or for Peter. He's not my kid.»

«The other shapeshifters make weretigers sound like the last thing you'd want to be.»

«How so?»

«Like I said, they try to force you to marry into the clan to keep everyone related. They'd find Peter and they'd offer him girls, try to lure him in. If he wouldn't be lured, they've been known to abduct.»

«Illegal,» I said.

«Most of them homeschool their kids.»

«Very isolationist,» I said.

«Peter doesn't like the sound of being a weretiger. He's not very big on other people telling him what to do.»

«He's sixteen,» I said. «No sixteen-year-old likes to be bossed around.»

«I don't think he's going to grow out of it.»

«He takes orders from you, and from Claudia.»

«He takes them from people he respects, but you have to earn it. I wouldn't let some clan of weretigers take him, Anita.»

«They can't force you, or Peter. Christine has lived in St. Louis for years and never been bothered that I'm aware of.»

«Apparently, there're only four clans of tigers in the United States. They all keep to themselves. Their culture is also divided about pure-bloods, inherited lycanthropy, and attacks. Being given tiger lycanthropy is seen as a reward for a job well done. They think it's a sin to give it to someone you don't value.»

«Sounds sort of vampirelike,» I said. «They feel the same way about human servants and animals to call. But I've seen my share of both that were forced, and didn't go willingly.»

«Were you willing?» he asked, and it was all Edward in those eyes now.

I sighed. «If I say no, are you going to do something stupid?»

«No, you love him. I see it. I don't understand it, but I see it.»

«I don't get you and Donna either.»

«I know.»

«I wasn't willing at first, but somehow it just happened. Where we are now wasn't forced on me.»

«Rumor has it that you're the power behind the throne, the one pulling his strings.»

«Don't believe every rumor you hear.»

«If I believed them all, I'd be too afraid to be alone with you.»

I stared at him, trying to read that face, that unreadable face. «Do I want to know what people are saying about me behind my back?»

«No,» he said.

I nodded. «Fine, get a doctor, see if I can get up and mobile.»

«It's been ten hours, Anita, you can't be healed.»

«Let's find out,» I said.

«If you get out of bed this quick, some of those rumors are going to get confirmed.»

«Are the police talking to you about me?»

«Not everyone knows that we're friends.»

«Okay, what rumors?»

«That you're a shapeshifter.»

«Some of my best friends are shapeshifters,» I said.

«Meaning?»

«Meaning, get a doctor. I'm not going to stay in bed just to keep people from thinking what they already think. Truthfully, I've had actual shapeshifters think I'm one of them just from the way my energy feels.»

«Would it hurt you to stay in bed?»