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I growled under my breath. I was ready to get out of here. Ben licked my hand, comforting me. As long as we stuck together, things couldn’t be so bad.
Boss turned to Anastasia. “So you’re here because Roman is here. Is my Family, is our place controlling San Francisco, in danger?”
“No,” Anastasia. “I’d have come straight to you if that were the case, I swear it.”
“Then…” He gestured, indicating that she should continue.
“There’s an artifact in Chinatown. The Dragon’s Pearl. Roman is looking for it. I need to find it first. He can’t be allowed to have it; it’s too powerful. This is bigger than you, or your Family, or San Francisco.”
“You should have come to me anyway, Anastasia. The city’s changed since you were here. I can help you.”
“You can’t defeat Roman,” she said.
He chuckled. “No, of course not. But I can protect San Francisco. It’s what I’ve promised, it’s what I’m able to do. Roman won’t find a foothold here. Maybe I can help you find this pearl of yours, since when the boys found you none of you looked like you were doing too well.”
Anastasia was stubborn. Her dignity was like armor. I had to wonder if she just didn’t like other vampires all that much. At least, the ones she didn’t create herself.
“Ask him about Grace,” I said to her. “It can’t hurt.”
Sighing, she nodded. “There’s a young woman, a magician named Grace Chen. She was helping us before we ran into some of Roman’s soldiers. We don’t know where she is now, and I need her to find the Dragon’s Pearl.”
“You want me to find her?” Boss said.
“If you can.”
“I’d be happy to help you, Anastasia,” he said, opening his arms. “Give us a couple of hours.”
“It’s only a few more hours until dawn,” Anastasia said.
“It’s the best I can do. Feel free to wait here. Make yourselves at home.” He stood, and his companions stood with him, flanking him. Boss waved at Henry. “You stay, keep an eye on things.” Henry nodded, straightened, and stood solid as a tree, his hands crossed before him in a clear bodyguard posture. The posse departed, leaving the room quiet.
Were we trapped? Prisoners? Could we leave? Was there a shower somewhere? A bathroom maybe? Anastasia wasn’t offering commentary. She seemed to be focused inward, stewing. Cormac was in “wait-and-watch” mode. Since they weren’t saying anything, I wanted to talk to Ben, who couldn’t talk. I rubbed his fur, and he leaned into my good leg.
Henry it was, then. “Are you here to guard us or to play host?”
“A little of both. Boss doesn’t trust you not to poke around where you shouldn’t.”
“He could have just asked.”
Henry only smiled.
“So. Do you have any Janis Joplin bootlegs?”
He chuckled quietly. “The rarest bo
otleg’ll never be as good as the real thing, live and in person. She was one of a kind.”
“Well, yeah. But … do you?”
Still chuckling, he waved me off, refusing to answer, which was as good as yes in my mind. Arrogant vampires …
That left us sitting around the living-room-slash-audience hall, waiting. Anastasia settled into an armchair. Crossing her arms, she stared at Henry, who crossed his arms and avoided looking at her. I chose a padded chair and stretched my leg out. In all the excitement, I hadn’t noticed that the pain had almost faded. Now, my whole leg and side just ached horribly.
Cormac paced over and loomed. “You okay?”
“You keep asking that.”
“I don’t like this,” he said. “We need to get out of town while we can.”
