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"Talk to me, Anita."
"I've gotta go, Dolph."
"You know something; tell me."
I hung up. I also turned off my beeper. I dialed Circus of the Damned. A pleasant-voiced woman answered, "Circus of the Damned, where all your nightmares come true."
"I need to speak to Jean-Claude. It's an emergency."
"He's busy right now. May I take a message?"
I swallowed hard, tried not to yell. "This is Anita Blake, Jean-Claude's human servant. Tell him to get his ass to the phone now."
"I..."
"People are going to die if I don't talk to him."
"Okay, okay." She put me on hold with a butchered version of "High Flying" by Tom Petty.
Larry came out with his Coke. "What's up?"
I shook my head. I fought the urge to jump up and down, but that wouldn't get Jean-Claude to the phone any sooner. I stood very still, hugging one arm across my stomach. What had I done? Please don't let it be too late.
"Ma petite?"
"Thank God."
"What has happened?"
"Just listen. There's a master vampire on his way to the Circus. I gave him your name and your resting place. His name is Mr. Oliver and he's older than anything. He's older than Alejandro. In fact, I think he's Alejandro's master. It's all been a plan to get me to betray the city to him, and I fell for it."
He was quiet so long that I asked, "Did you hear me?"
"You really meant to kill me."
"I told you I would."
"But now you warn me. Why?"
"Oliver wants control of the city so he can send all the vampires out to slaughter humans. He wants it back to the old days when vampires were hunted. He said legalized vampirism was spreading too fast. I agree, but I didn't know what he meant to do."
"So to save your precious humans you will betray Oliver now."
"It isn't like that. Dammit, Jean-Claude, concentrate on the important thing here. They're on their way. They may be there already. You've got to protect yourself."
"To keep the humans safe."
"To keep your vampires safe, too. Do you really want them under Oliver's control?"
"No. I will take steps, ma petite. We will at least give him a fight." He hung up.
Larry was staring at me with wide eyes. "What the hell is happening, Anita?"
"Not now, Larry." I fished Edward's card out of my bag. I didn't have another quarter. "Do you have a quarter?"
"Sure." He handed it to me without any more questions. Good man.
I dialed the number. "Please, be there. Please, be there."
He answered on the seventh ring.
"Edward, it's Anita."
"What's happened?"
"How would you like to take on two master vampires older than Nikolaos?"
I heard him swallow. "I always have so much fun when you're around. Where should we meet?"
"The Circus of the Damned. You got an extra shotgun?"
"Not with me."
"Shit. Meet me out front ASAP. The shit's going to really hit the fan tonight, Edward."
"Sounds like a great way to spend Halloween."
"See you there."
"Bye, and thanks for inviting me." He meant it. Edward had started out as a normal assassin, but humans had been too easy, so he went for vamps and shapeshifters. He hadn't met anything he couldn't kill, and what was life without a little challenge?
I looked at Larry. "I need to borrow your car."
"You're not going anywhere without me. I've heard just your side of the conversations, and I'm not getting left out."
I started to argue, but there wasn't time. "Okay, let's do it."
He grinned. He was pleased. He didn't know what was going to happen tonight, what we were up against. I did. And I wasn't happy at all.
