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I met Cassandra's eyes again, swallowed another laugh, and shook my head. I took a few deep breaths. When I was pretty sure I could speak without laughing, I said, "Girl humor, you wouldn't understand."
"Very diplomatic," Cassandra said. "I'm impressed."
"If you knew how hard diplomacy comes to ma petite, you would be even more impressed," Jean-Claude said. He had gotten the joke, as if there'd been any doubt.
Damian was frowning at us, still puzzled. It was just as well.
Jean-Claude looked from Cassandra to me and back again. "Do you two know each other?"
We shook our heads in unison.
"Cassandra, Anita. My newest wolf, meet the light of my life. Cassandra is one of your guards for the night."
"You're very good. I wouldn't have picked up on it."
Her smile widened. "Richard said you didn't know he was a werewolf at first, either."
Instantly, a little spark of jealousy flared. Of course, if she were a werewolf and with Jean-Claude, then she was one of Richard's followers. "You weren't at the meeting."
"Jean-Claude needed me here. He couldn't do without both Jason and me."
I looked at Jean-Claude. I knew what Jason did for him. He bled Jason when he woke, and sucking blood was damn close to sex for a vampire. "Really," I said.
"Don't worry, ma petite. Cassandra won't share blood with me, either. She and Richard have many similarities. I believe that Richard chose her for me because she bears a certain resemblance to you, not just physically, but a certain je ne sais quoi."
"Je ne sais quoiis French for nothing," I said.
"It means an indefinable something that is difficult to put into words, ma petite. A quality that transcends vocabulary."
"He does talk pretty, doesn't he?" Cassandra said.
"He has his moments," I said. "You can't be draining Jason every morning. Even a werewolf needs a little recoup time."
"Stephen is a willing donor."
"Why wasn't Stephen with you last night?" I asked.
"Is that an accusation?" Jean-Claude asked.
"Just answer the question."
"He had requested an evening off to spend time with his brother. Who am I to stand in the way of familial obligations?" He stared at me while he answered like he wasn't completely happy with the conversation. Tough. Neither was I.
Stephen's own brother had betrayed him, acted as bait for the trap. Damn. "Where is Stephen?"
"He's in the back room," Cassandra said. "He helped me get into this thing. I couldn't reach all the straps." She dropped the coat off her shoulders and turned so I could see her back. The straps formed a tight web, most of them in places you couldn't have fastened without help. She slipped the coat back on and turned, looking at me. "You're taking this alpha female thing seriously, aren't you?"
I shrugged. "I'm serious about Stephen's safety."
Cassandra nodded, face solemn, thoughtful. "I like that. Sometimes alpha female is just a token position. Just a word for the pack leader's lover. Most of them aren't as active as Raina." She made a face when she said the name, like she'd tasted something bitter.
Jean-Claude interrupted. "I will leave you two girls to your conversation. I have things to attend to before the club opens." He kissed the back of my hand and was gone, leaving us standing in the middle of the club, alone. Damian had gone at his heels as if he'd been asked.
For a moment, I was nervous. Cassandra and I were very much in the open. "Let's go over there." I motioned to the steps that led to the next level. We sat down on them, me having to smooth my skirts down. Even that didn't help. I had to keep my feet and knees together or I would have flashed the room. Sigh.
"Let me guess," I said. "Raina wanted you for her movies."
"She wants everyone that is remotely attractive for her movies. Though sometimes sharing her bed for a tryout can get you out of it. She offered me to Gabriel for my tryout. That damn leopard is not even a pack member."
"If he were, she'd make him pack leader," I said.
Cassandra shook her head. "Gabriel couldn't defeat Marcus, let alone Richard. He's the leader of the wereleopards only because there's no one stronger. He's an alpha, but he's flawed. It makes him weak."
"Sexual perversion doesn't always mean you'll lose a fight," I said.
"It's not that," Cassandra said. "He's into dangerous sex. Lycanthropes can take a lot of damage." She shivered. "The things he wanted to do to me." She looked at me, and the fear showed in her eyes. "He says you nearly gutted him once while he had you pinned to the ground."
I looked away. "Yeah."
Cassandra touched my arm, and there was no sense of power. She was every bit as good as Richard at hiding what she was. She made Sylvie look like an amateur. The touch made me turn back to her. "He's hot for you, Anita. I didn't tell Richard because, well, I'm new in the pack. Got into town about two weeks ago. I was afraid that if I told him what Gabriel had said about you, he might do something stupid. But meeting you, maybe telling you is enough. You can decide whether Richard needs to know."
She looked so serious. It scared me. "What did Gabriel say?"
Cassandra took a deep breath. "He has a fantasy about you. He wants to arm you with knives and let you try to kill him, on film, while he rapes you."
I stared at her. I wanted to say, you're kidding, but I knew she wasn't. Gabriel was just that twisted. "How does the movie end in his version?"
"With you dead," she said.
"While he rapes me?" I said.
She nodded.
I hugged myself, running my hands down my arms, tensing my back, feeling the weapons I was carrying. I was armed. I was safe, but shit.
She touched my shoulder. "You all right?"
"Well, isn't this touching," a man's voice on the stairs behind us. Cassandra was on her feet, facing it in an instant. I slid my hand into the open purse and drew the Seecamp out. The gun caught a bit on the cloth lining and cost me a couple of seconds, but it was out and ready. I felt better. I'd twisted on the steps, coming up on one knee, not bothering to stand. Sometimes, standing made you a better target.
Sabin stood about five steps above us. Frightfully close for neither of us to have sensed him. He was dressed as I'd seen him in the office; hooded cloak covering him from head to toe. I could see under the cloak now. There were no feet. He was floating above the step. "I wish you could see the look on your face, Ms. Blake."
I swallowed my pulse back into my mouth and said, "I didn't know you'd be here tonight, Sabin."
Cassandra took a step towards him, a soft growl oozing from her throat. "I don't know you," she said.
"Calm yourself, wolf. I am Jean-Claude's guest, aren't I, Ms. Blake?"
"Yeah," I said. "He's a guest." I stopped pointing the gun at him, but I didn't put it up. He was awfully damn good to have snuck up on me and a werewolf.
"You know him?" Cassandra asked. She was still standing above me, blocking the vampire's path. She was taking this bodyguard thing very seriously.
"I've met him."
"He safe?"
"No," I said, "but he's not here to hurt me."
"Who is he here to hurt?" Cassandra asked. She still hadn't given any ground.
Sabin eased down the steps, cloak billowing around him in an odd motion, like the sleeve of an amputee. "I have come to watch the night's entertainment, nothing more."
Cassandra backed up to stand a step ahead of me. I stood but still kept the gun out. I was jumpier than normal. I was also remembering how Sabin had bled me from a distance with his laughter. Keeping a gun handy seemed like a good idea.
"Where's Dominic?"
"He's here somewhere." His hood was a cup of darkness, smooth and empty, but I knew he was watching me. I felt his gaze like a weight.
He stayed on the step just above Cassandra, two steps above me. "Who is your lovely companion?"
"Sabin, this is Cassandra; Cassandra, Sabin."
A black-gloved hand slid out of the cloak. He reached towards Cassandra as if he'd caress her face.
She jerked back. "Don't touch me."
His hand froze in midmotion. A stillness washed over him. I'd seen other vampires fill with that utter quietness, but I'd thought it was made up of visual clues. There was no visual from Sabin, but that same emptiness flowed outward. The illusion was almost better this way as if it was just an empty cloak somehow hovering on the stairs.
