Skin Trade

“You’re thinking too hard, Anita,” Wicked said. “Why aren’t you happy that Requiem is here?”

I didn’t owe Wicked the explanation about Requiem and me, so I said, “I told Jean-Claude not to send anyone who couldn’t handle themselves in a fight. I’ve never seen Requiem fight.”

“He does okay, but honestly, Jean-Claude didn’t want to send us into another vamp’s territory without someone who could be more diplomatic than the rest of us. Requiem’s here just in case we need to negotiate with Max and his people.”

“Like I said, Wicked, it makes sense.”

“Now, ask me how Requiem likes his cover for this assignment.”

“Cover, he’s here to represent Jean-Claude’s interests, right?”

“He is, but that’s only if things go wrong with Max. He saw it as an insult to send this many people for him, but Jean-Claude explained we were worried about your safety with the serial killer.”

“Makes sense,” I said, not like I was happy.

“Max wanted to put his guards around you, Anita.”

“No,” I said.

“This is the compromise.”

“What is?” I asked, and couldn’t keep the impatience out of my voice.

“Requiem is being loaned out as a dancer to Max’s revue.”

“He hates stripping.”

“Yeah, and I hate torturing people, but I’m really, really good at it.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I ignored it. “Couldn’t we just tell Max that everyone’s food for me?”

“We can explain bodyguards for you. We can explain a pomme de sang for you, that’s London. But we can’t tell Max that you need this much food, Anita. It would be too close to admitting you don’t have control of the ardeur. Requiem is going to look over Max’s club for a possible guest role, and if it works out for him, then Jean-Claude has agreed to the possibility of loaning other dancers occasionally.”

“Max has been wanting that for a while,” I said.

“Which is how we explained Requiem.”

“Why are you telling me all this and not Requiem?”

“He’s soothing hurt feelings among our little group.”

“How pissy is everyone being?” I asked.

“You told Jean-Claude to pick people who could handle themselves in a fight, Anita. That means you’ve got a lot of big dogs in one room, fighting for the same bone. Requiem and I can handle it, but I thought you should know before you walk into it.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Now, where are you?”

“On the way to the outskirts of town. We’re going to interview a witness.”

“Have you fed?”

“Solid food just a few minutes ago.”

“But no wet food?” Wet food was slang among the vamps for blood, and lately I’d noticed some of them referring to my feeding on sex, or emotion, the same way. I couldn’t argue with it, I guess, though part of me wanted to.

“No,” I said.

“You’re approaching fourteen hours between feeds, Anita. You got anyone with you, in case?”

I licked my lips. “I’ve got absolute-emergency volunteers, but no, not really.”

“How far out are you, and what road?” he asked.

I asked Edward, who told me. I repeated it to Wicked. “This time of night, it will be quicker if one of us flies to you.”

“Which of you can fly that well? And if it’s Requiem, he can’t come by himself. He may be okay in a fight, but okay isn’t enough. I don’t want any of our people alone until we get this bastard.”

“You really think Vittorio will make a grab for your people?”

“Humor me. Who can fly well enough to come to me?”

“I can; Truth can. I’ll ask the others.” He put the phone on mute while I waited. Knowing Wicked, he’d simply ask London and Requiem which of them flew the best. I had no idea.

“We can’t have Jean-Claude’s men meet us at a witness’s house, Anita. That’ll just confirm what the PD thinks,” Edward said.

“I know that, Edward. I’m hoping he’ll catch up to us afterward.”

“Are you pla

“No, but it’s been fourteen hours, and I had to heal a lot of damage. That takes energy. He’ll meet us, but it’s just a precaution.”

“I said I would feed you,” Olaf said.

“Thanks, Olaf, I mean that, but…” I thought about what to say next. “I don’t think we want our first time together to be in the back of a truck.”

He seemed to think about it for a minute or two, then said, “More time and room would be welcome.”

I had not agreed to have sex with Olaf, but I had managed not to crush his good intentions of sex that didn’t involve killing his partner. Edward had asked me to try, and I was trying.

The phone came back to life in my hand. “I’ll meet you.”

“Wicked, I just finished saying, nobody travels alone.”

“If they can take me on my own, then they’re going to kill us all, so if I don’t make it, you get out of town, and take our people with you.”

“Are you setting yourself up as bait?”

“No; are you sure you’re worried about my safety, or about the fact that you might have to have sex with me?”

“That’s not fair, Wicked. You know why I’m trying to cut down.”

“I know, I’m not on the meal plan. Turns out neither of the other two vamps are really that good at flying. And you scare my brother.”

“I don’t scare him; he just doesn’t want to be food.”

“You’re right, he doesn’t, but I’m right, too. You scare him, and Truth isn’t scared by much.”

“And you’re not afraid I’ll possess you, or something?”

“I’ll take my chances. Besides, you said it yourself, you’re in control right now. I’m just in case.” He sounded bitter.

“Wicked.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t need attitude from you, too.”

“You can order me around, and I have to take it, but you can’t dictate how I feel.”

He had a point, but… What I wanted to say was that I didn’t understand why all the men wanted to be on the feeding list. I had a mirror; I knew what I was seeing, and though I was pretty, and maybe even beautiful given the right outfit, it wasn’t the same level of gorgeous of the men that were chasing me. But every time I tired to say it out loud, they accused me of being humble, or lying. I didn’t think it was humility, just honesty.

“I will not apologize for trying to keep my list of feeds from growing, Wicked. Jean-Claude made noises that he didn’t want to share me with any new men, and now he sends me nothing but, almost. What’s with that?”

“He’d rather see you and all his people back home in St. Louis, alive, then save his ego.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that he agreed with your assessment of Vittorio. If he sent anyone who could be used as a hostage and couldn’t handle themselves in a fight, it might be too tempting. Especially considering that his choice of victims is mostly strippers, and most of your closest lovers are also strippers.”

That made my stomach clench tight.

“I feel your fear, Anita. He thought you’d reasoned that out.”

“I had, just not that bluntly.”

“I’m surprised; usually you’re the more blunt of the two of you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, “but I don’t feel like I’m about to lose control right now.”

“Then I will ride back with you and the nice executioners. But when you get back to a hotel, you are going to have to feed on someone.” His careful vampire voice held self-mockery, and I knew that wasn’t how he felt. It was his tone when he was hiding what he felt. “But if you feed on vampire tonight, then in the morning you are going to have to pick one of the wereanimals, because vampire only works after dark when we’re above ground.”

“I know that.”

“I’m just saying, be thinking about your menu choices, because I do not want you losing control of the ardeur because you’ve gone squeamish.”

“I am not squeamish.”

“If you weren’t, then you’d have already slept with Haven.”

I let that go because he was probably more right than I wanted to admit. “How many other people with you are ones I’ve never slept with?”