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“I’m scheduled to start rehearsals next month for a revival of Anything Goes. I suppose you could say I’ll be working for the production company.”
Arturo rolled his eyes and turned away.
Mercedes said, “If you tell me straight out, well and truly, that all is calm here, that the rumors that your Family is unstable are unfounded, I’ll smile sweetly and believe you. I can see that the wolves have some problems, but don’t they always? Tell me, Arturo, that you are the Master here and that you have no rivals.”
Arturo glanced at Rick. I would have wilted under that glance. For his part, Rick didn’t flinch. He met it square and didn’t say a word.
“I am the Master here, and I have no rivals,” Arturo said—to Rick. Not to Mercedes. She observed the subtlety with a lilt to her perfectly plucked brow.
Oh, this was going to get ugly.
I raised my hand. “Since you obviously don’t think too much of us, can we leave? Please?”
“Kitty,” Mercedes said. “You and your mate carry yourselves like alphas. Two alpha pairs can’t live within the same territory. It can’t be done, you know it.”
I looked away to hide my smile. “See, I think it can. I’ve seen some interesting things since I left. I’ve seen two dozen lycanthropes packed into a room, with none of them fighting. If they all agree to it, they can get along. Carl, I promise you, I don’t want this territory. I’ll stay out of your way if you just leave Ben and me alone. I’ve always been straight with you.”
He grimaced. “Just you being here is a threat to my authority.”
No, your incompetence is a threat to your authority. I didn’t say it. What I did say wasn’t much better. “Can you just for a minute try to act like a rational human being?”
On cue, he growled.
Rick gave me a look over his shoulder. “You’re provoking him.”
I couldn’t help it. “Sorry.”
Mercedes sighed dramatically. Could she sigh any other way? “I can see we won’t have any kind of civilized conversation with all of you here. Kitty, you’re right, you and yours should probably leave. Thank you for coming, especially since the circumstances were a bit . . . staged. You—” She pointed at the trio by the door. “You will let them leave.”
Who was she to command us all like that? I suddenly didn’t want to go, just to be contrary.
“Rick, will you escort Kitty and Ben out? Thank you.”
In a strange choreography, Arturo steered Carl and Meg away from the door, while Rick cleared a path for me and Ben. Herding werewolves. It was almost laughable.
I paused for a look back. Mercedes sat like a queen on her sofa, a totally different woman from the one I’d met two days ago. I didn’t know who she was. Carl, standing off to the side, still looked like he wanted to jump out of his skin to get me. The gratifying sight of Meg hiding behind him didn’t even make me feel better.
“Thanks for the drinks,” I said with pure sarcasm. Then I got the hell out. Rick followed us into the hall and closed the door. With that sound, a weight lifted. I slumped back against the wall and sighed. Ben watched patiently—far too calmly in my opinion. I resisted an urge to fall into his arms and start blubbering.
“I hate him,” I muttered, wiping away a few stray, stressed tears. “I hate him so much.”
“Let’s go,” Rick said. “The more distance between you the better.”
I grilled him as we rode the elevator to the lobby. “So. When I asked if there was another Master moving in and you said ‘not exactly,’ were you talking about her?” He grimaced, which was all the answer I needed. “What did you tell her? Did you have any idea what she was going to do in there?”
“Um . . . not exactly,” he said softly. His face was taut, strained. He was worried, and that made me worried. “I went to her for information. Maybe even to find out which of us she’d support. Our conversation never got that far.”
“Who is she really?”
“The Master vampires have always known she’s a vampire. She’s moved as an envoy between the cities for decades. As a performer, she travels freely, and by tradition vampires like her have immunity, even outside the protection of the Families. In a sense, she’s a member of all the Families. And none of them. The system helps keep the peace. But it’s also started wars. If I were smart I’d walk away. Leave town and find someplace else, like I’ve always done before.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Because sooner or later, I’m going to have to make a stand. I like it here. I like the people.” He looked squarely at me. “Seems as good a place and time as any.”
We’d reached the lobby by that time, and stopped near the front doors, shifting out of the doorman’s hearing.
“What does ‘sooner or later’ really mean to a vampire?”
