Skin Trade(128)

Her voice whispered in my ear. “The Mother of All Darkness is trying to turn you into her instrument by raising your tigers. I don’t know why that is so important to her, but I’ve felt what she’s been doing to you. You must embrace the ardeur because it is a power she does not understand. You must grow strong in the parts of your power that are my bloodline, ma petite, or the Darkness will win you from me and from Jean-Claude.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because She is trying to use your body as her vessel. I want her dead here and now, not escaped into you. She must die here, so you must be strong enough to keep her out. Embrace the ardeur, Anita, and you will have power such as you have never dreamt. I will help you.”

“I don’t want…”

She breathed in my ear. “I hear you thinking. You don’t want to feed on your friend. I don’t understand that; he’s handsome enough. I think he would be skilled.”

The thought made me open my eyes. “No”-my anger flared, and it felt good-“he’s family; you don’t do family.”

“So prudish, but very well, the tigers will do.”

“No,” and I could look her in the sparkling eyes because my anger helped push that soft, insistent power back.

“You really can feed on anger, how interesting. It does not come from my bloodline.”

The first spurt of fear washed through me and drowned the anger. That was something we hadn’t wanted anyone else to know.

“It is dark, and the vampires rise where your body sleeps, ma petite.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“The tiger queen was kept away from you by your friend and her son, but now the vampires rise, and they will be naughty. If they are as naughty as I think they will try to be, I will give you the ability to fight back.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked, and the fear was real. I needed to break the dream before she finished whatever she had planned.

“You cannot slip away unless I allow it, Anita, please. You are powerful, but you have not had even a lifetime to practice your skills. You cannot win against me, and without my help, you cannot hope to win against the Mother of All Vampires.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked again.

“You don’t trust me.”

“No,” I said.

“After I saved you and my Jean-Claude, still you doubt me?”

“I’m afraid of you.”

She was suddenly in front of me, pressing us together, coming for her kiss. “Good, that’s good. I would rather you love me, but if not love, fear will do.”

“Machiavelli,” I said.

“Where do you think he got it from?” she laughed, as she pressed her mouth to mine. Her voice eased through my head, or maybe it echoed in the hallway. “If they do not attack you, then my gift lies dormant. I can be no more fair than that, ma petite.”

It was a kiss, but it was also heat. Vampires are supposed to be a cold thing, but she was not. She burned with all the life she had fed on for centuries, and she pushed that fire inside my mouth, into my body. One minute I was kissing Belle Morte, the next I was awake, gasping, staring up at a ceiling I didn’t know, and had an arm across my shoulders. For a moment the dream and reality met, and then I saw the muscles and that it was male. It wasn’t Belle, but what the fuck?

Edward was standing over me and whoever belonged to the arm. “You started to go into shock, and they said being close to the aura of another wereanimal like yourself would help.”

I turned my head to find Victor blinking at me, as if he, too, had slept. From the feel of things, I wasn’t sure he was wearing any clothes. “And this seemed like a good idea to you, Ed… Ted?”

“It helped, Anita. The moment he touched you, like this, it helped.”

“See, you are one of us, Anita.” It was Bibiana’s voice.

Edward handed me the Browning BDM before he took the blankets off me, which let me know that things were not good. Victor tightened his body around me, where he’d curled into place. The sudden tension let me know that he might not have known his mom was there either. Me in a drugged sleep was one thing, but why had Victor slept through it all?

Edward helped me sit up. “How does it feel?”

I waited for it to hurt. “Not bad.” It felt way too good, actually. “What time is it? How long?”

“It’s been four hours.”

Victor’s arm wrapped around my waist, and I had to admit that it felt solid and real and not bad. But then when I was channeling my beasts, touch was always good.

I could see more of the room now. Bibiana sat on a little couch that was to one side of the room. This was the first time I’d really seen the room. It was a little apartment complete with a round bed that would have looked fine in a red velvet whorehouse. The couch was the same red velvet. There were chairs and cushions and a small kitchenette. The table I was lying on was the dining table, with carved chairs pulled back from it to make room for the doctor and everyone else.