Лорел Гамильтон - Rafael

It cut him slack, so I went to him. I gazed up into that solemn face and said the only thing I could think to say that might help. “I’m sorry about all the conflicts. I honestly believe that Hector’s mother is gaslighting you so that you will hesitate tonight.”

“Logically I know you are right, but I would like to look at him so strong and promising and think he might be mine.”

“And now you have to kill him,” I said.

“There is a faint chance that neither of us has to die tonight. I did offer, but it is doubtful that they will accept defeat that does not end in death, because that means if he wins, then I’m still king.”

“He’s probably not going to agree to that,” I said.

“No.”

“Then fight to win, because I’ll be there tonight and if you lose, he’ll try to take me.”

“Take you where?”

“Rafael, if the vampire could take over the wererats and kill me, Jean-Claude’s power base would be destroyed.”

“I did not think. You cannot come tonight.” He grabbed my upper arms and his fear for me was real.

“If she is there, then so am I,” Jean-Claude said.

“It’s a way to have his power there without the other vampire understanding that me being a necromancer makes me a much better conduit for vampiric powers than most human servants.”

He stared down at me, face almost pained, then hugged me close to him as he turned to look at Jean-Claude. “I told Anita she should seduce Hector if I die. I did not think that she might be the next target.”

“Even if he wins and slays you, he cannot just go into the crowd and start killing people,” Benito said.

“If he does, then he will not be our king for long,” Claudia added.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“If a challenger kills a king, but we hate him, then we kill him then and there while he’s still wounded,” Claudia explained.

“Wow, you guys really are harsh,” Nathaniel said.

“We have the most complete culture of all the animal groups in St. Louis, and one way we stayed strong and whole when others were torn apart by the power of the werewolves’ and the wereleopards’ old leaders was by being so ruthless that no one wanted to push us past a certain point.”

I hugged him one-armed around his waist. “Then I’m not in as much danger as I thought, which is good, but I’d rather have you alive than help kill Hector after you’re dead.”

“Good to know,” he said, looking down at me with almost a smile.

“Now kiss me like you meant it, and then I’ll see you at the fight later.”

That did make him smile. He leaned over and I went up to meet his kiss. He kissed me with his hands strong and searching on my body, so I returned the favor and his mouth was suddenly so eager at mine that it took my breath away. I forgot where we were and what was happening and it was just him in my arms, just us kissing and exploring each other’s bodies. It was only when he pulled my shirt out of my belt even with the gun holster that I broke the kiss laughing, a little nervous and breathless and happy.

He was breathless and laughing, too. “For such a kiss, I will fight harder.”

“Good, because I’m still hoping to talk you into that three-way.”

That made him laugh even more, and he left with laughter still lightening his features. Benito gave me a nod just before he closed the door behind them both.

The rest of us were quiet for a moment, and then Jean-Claude said, “ Ma petite , that was well done. He left with fighting spirit.”

I turned and looked at him. “I have too many of your memories now. I’ve seen a thousand women and a few men undermine you or someone else with a pissy attitude on the eve before the big duel or battle. Hell, Richard used to do it to me all the time. I won’t do that to somebody else.”

“Where is the Ulfric? Shouldn’t he have been here during some of this?” Claudia asked.

“He’s out of state on a big extended family vacation,” I said. “And the dominants of the werelions are all off on a leadership-building camping trip.”

“I asked them to check out the new company that’s specializing in supernatural executive retreats,” Micah said.

“Nicky and Mephistopheles are going to go apeshit when they find out all this happened and they missed it,” Nathaniel said.

“Magda won’t be too happy either,” I added.

“Why don’t the lions have more of a whole culture like Rafael was saying? They weren’t taken over by Raina and Marcus, or someone like Chimera,” Nathaniel said.

“The old Rex wasn’t strong enough to run them like regular prides run,” Micah said.

I added, “He’d have been killed and taken over years ago if there’d been more werelions in this country.”

“Werelions tend to kill each other on sight if they aren’t part of the same pride,” Micah said.

“Only because they’re afraid that’s exactly what the new group has planned,” Claudia said.

“But the Coalition has given them another way to contact each other and explain that someone got a new job and needs to move to a new city, a new pride territory,” Micah said.

“You’ve made a lot of really good changes, Micah.”

“Thank you, Claudia, I do my best.”

“Now, you and I need to change for tonight and pick out your weapons,” Claudia said, and she was looking at me.

“We also need to help Pierette dress and arm herself,” I said.

“Yes.” And then Claudia suddenly grinned in a way I almost never saw.

“What?” I asked, smiling just from the look on her face.

“If we all live through tonight, it may be the best girls’ night out I’ve ever had.”

I laughed and said, “After tonight, let’s plan a girls’ night out that’s a little less death-defying.”

“Deal,” she said, and offered me a fist bump.

I touched her bigger fist, and we went off to find Pierette and tell her what she’d been voluntold for.

14

THE THREE OF us were dressed almost identically and it wasn’t on purpose, as if we’d looked in the same closet except for size and placement of weapons. I was in black tactical pants, black T-shirt, with black cross-trainers; Claudia in black tactical pants, white T-shirt, and black cross-trainers; and Pierette in black pants, white T-shirt, and white cross-trainers. My custom wrist sheaths with their high silver content were easy. They could go where they’d gone for years. It got trickier after that. I’d been practicing with the swords, but I’d never tried to carry them. I was learning kali, which is a Filipino martial art, stick and blade. I had a bag to carry the blades and sticks in, but no sheaths. I had a waist-sheath Spyderco knife that I’d bought for class. Most people wore a waist knife with the hilt up along the ribs, but I was too short-waisted to wear it that way and had to wear it horizontally, hilt forward for a cross draw. I added a couple of Emerson assisted-opening folding blades into the pockets along the legs of the tactical pants, though I’d go for the waist blade first. I also had two karambits, which were curved knives, though that didn’t do them justice. They were supposed to mimic the shape of a tiger or leopard claw, and they did just what claws do, tear and gut. The smaller one was a necklace sheath, and the bigger one hooked over one of the many pockets in my black tactical pants. If I drew either of the karambits, then things had gotten serious and I was being forced to do major damage.

Claudia was carrying just a knife at her waist, hilt up because she had waist for days, and a sword on her back in a custom shoulder harness. Her long black hair was in a braid nicely out of the way. I was wearing it long for Rafael and yes, I’d put on makeup. I had hair ties in one of my pockets in case I decided that I didn’t want to be blinded by my hair in a fight. I could always take it down before Rafael saw me, or maybe by the time I got to him I wouldn’t give a damn what he thought of me. I automatically grabbed a pair of tourniquets that were both rubber-banded to combat gauze that would help slow bleeding. I’d started carrying them shoved in my tactical pants pockets since I’d started going out with more humans, both fellow marshals and SWAT, for delivering warrants on preternatural citizens. There wouldn’t be any humans there tonight and shapeshifters could heal anything that either would help with, so I almost put them back, but that still, small voice in my head that had kept me safe in so many dark places gave that little push. I didn’t argue with it, I just put the tourniquets and combat gauze in the pockets of the tac pants. I had to remove one of the folding knives, but in the end that little voice said it was a good trade. Besides, five knives were probably enough. I really missed having a gun tonight.