Jean-Claude laid his fingers on either side of her face, cradling her jawline. He smiled at her.
Her red lips curved into a smile. She pressed against him, letting her full weight rest against his body.
Jean-Claude kept his light touch on her face as if she wasn't leaning full out against him.
Her smile began to fade, slipping from her face like the sun sinking below the earth. She slid slowly down to stand flat-footed in front of him. Her face was blank and empty in the cradle of his hands.
Bruce the vampire jerked her back by one arm. Ivy stumbled and would have fallen if he hadn't caught her. She looked around bewildered, as if she expected to be elsewhere.
Jean-Claude wasn't smiling now. "It has been a long time since I was anyone's meat that wanted me. A very long time."
Ivy stood half-collapsed in Bruce's arms. Her face was harsh with fear. She pushed away from Bruce to stand straight and alone. She tugged at the red dress as if to settle it into place. The fear was mostly gone from her face; just a certain tightness remained around the eyes.
"How did you do that?"
"Centuries of practice, little one."
Anger made her eyes dark. "You aren't supposed to be able to capture another vampire with your gaze."
"You aren't?" he asked, his voice lilting with amazement.
"Don't you laugh at me."
I had some sympathy for her frustration. Jean-Claude can be such a pain in the ass when he wants to be.
"You were told to lead us somewhere, children; do so."
Ivy stood in front of him, hands balled into fists. Her anger spilled into her eyes, and the brown irises bled onto the whites of her eyes until she looked blind. Her power breathed through the room, creeping along the skin, raising the tiny hairs on my body as if a finger had been run just above them.
My hand started for the Browning. Old habits.
"No, Anita, that is not necessary," Jean-Claude said. "This little one cannot hurt me. She shows her fangs, but unless she wishes to die on this lovely carpet she had best remember who and what I am."
"I am the Master of the City!" His voice thundered through the house, echoing in the room until the air was so thick with echoes that it was like breathing his words.
When the sound died, I was shaking. Ivy had pulled herself together. She still looked angry, but her eyes had bled back to normal.
Bruce had laid a hand on her shoulder, as if he wasn't sure she would listen to reason. She shook off his hand and motioned gracefully towards the open door.
"We are to take you downstairs. Others await you there."
Jean-Claude gave a low theatrical bow, never taking his eyes from her. "After you, my sweet. A lady should always walk before a gentleman, never behind."
She smiled, suddenly pleased with herself again. "Then your human lady can walk beside me."
"I don't think so," I said.
She turned innocent brown eyes to me. "Are you not a lady, then?" She stalked towards me with an exaggerated sway of her hips. "Did you bring us someone who is not a lady, Jean-Claude?"
I heard him sigh. "Anita is a lady. Walk beside her, ma petite, but carefully."
"What does it matter what these assholes think of me?"
"If you are not a lady, then you are a whore. You do not want to know what would happen to a human whore within these walls." He seemed tired as he said it, as if he'd been there, done that, and hadn't had a good time.
Ivy smiled at me, giving me a big dose of brown eyes. I met her gaze and smiled.
She frowned. "You are human. You can't meet my gaze, not like that."
"Surprise, surprise," I said.
"Shall we go?" Jean-Claude said.
Ivy frowned again, but she stepped into that open door, and down a step or two, one hand on her dress to keep the hem from tripping her feet. She turned and looked back at me. "Are you coming?"
I asked Jean-Claude, "How careful do I need to be?"
Larry and Jason came to stand beside me.
"Defend yourself if they offer violence first. But do not shed the first blood, or strike the first blow. Defend, but do not attack, ma petite. We are playing games tonight, unless you make it more; the stakes are not that high."
I scowled at him. "I don't like this."
He smiled. "I know, but bear with us, ma petite. Remember the human you wish to save, and control that wonderful temper of yours."
"Well, human?" Ivy said. She was waiting for me on the steps. She looked like an impatient child, petulant.
"I'm coming," I said. I did not run to catch up with the waiting vampire. I walked at a normal pace, though the weight of her gaze made my skin itch. I stopped at the head of the stairs and peered downward. Cool, damp air pushed against my face. The smell was thick, enclosed, and mildewed. You knew there would be no windows, and somewhere water was eating the walls. A basement. I hated basements.