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“Nice to be allowed,” Nicky said with a slice of sarcasm, but he searched Kaazim and managed to find a knife, though I wasn’t surewhere the hell Kaazim had been hiding it. Once we were sure he was weapons free and as safe as it was possible for him to be, then Echo followed him into the room, closing the door behind them. Fortune stayed at the door to keep any nursing staff from interrupting us.
Kaazim clasped his hands on top of his head without being asked, and said, “If Queenie has truly used her magic to damage the vampire marks between you and Jean-Claude, then you must kill her before she does more harm.”
“That will probably kill you, too,” I said.
“If she has done this evil thing, then it is a cost I am willing to pay. You do not know her as I do, Anita. She craves power and will survive at all costs. She grew so powerful once that the Queen of All Darkness stripped her of her territory, much of her magic, and offered her the choice of becoming a member of the Harlequin or to be executed. Queenie chose to live, and her choice forced me to become Harlequin with her.”
“Wait,” I said, “how did Mommy Darkest take Queenie’s power?”
“I am not certain, but I know that for any vampires that possessed magic of their own, once they became Harlequin their magic was lessened. Physical and what you refer to as psychic gifts were strengthened, but magic she seemed to…consume.”
“Did she gain their magic?” I asked.
“Not always, and she certainly did not use any of Queenie’s magic once she had taken it.”
Echo said, “When we became Harlequin we lost our territory, but I did not lose power; as promised I gained power by becoming Harlequin. Most of us were much diminished after her death.”
“Until you became lovers with our new queen,” Kaazim said.
“Yes, but Magda and her master, and others, have proven that it is only necessary for the beast half of the couple to be a lover of our new king or queen in order for the vampire half to regain their old strength.”
She hadn’t even said our names, justthe new king and queen, as ifshe wanted to distance herself from us even with her choice of words. It surprised me how much it hurt.
“You gained power from the old queen, as did many, but she could only empower through death, violence, horror, and fear. Anita and Jean-Claude build us up through life, love, happiness, and lust. They are the antithesis of the nightmare that ruled us for so long.”
“I am aware of the differences, jackal,” Echo said, and sounded angry.
“Then how can you separate yourself from those sweetest of differences?” he asked.
I stared at him, because never by word or deed had he ever hinted that he wanted to be a part of those sweet differences. Kaazim and Jake both hit the dad or uncle space for me. It wasn’t that Kaazim wasn’t handsome, because I guess he was, it was just that I’d never thought to consider him like that before.
It must have shown on my face, because he said, “Do not worry, my queen, I am not putting myself forward as a new romantic possibility, for I did not lose power when the old queen died. I thought Queenie’s magic returning was the reason, and it likely was, but I did not understand that instead of rejoicing at our new freedom as I did, my master was plotting against the very power that freed us of our nightmare slavery.”
“If you had said that you had not lost power, then we might have guessed Queenie was growing in power,” Echo said.
“I thought she would use the returned power to help Jean-Claude, not to hurt him.”
“How can we trust you at our side again, Kaazim?” Echo asked.
“You will never be certain of me again, not if my master is truly a traitor.”
“What do you propose we do about that?” Truth asked from the bed. His sword lay bare on the bed beside him, but his one usable hand was out of sight holding the gun he’d gotten out of his bag of weapons. He’d decided that if he was fighting Kaazim one-handedand in pain the gun was better. Wicked had his gun bare and showing in his hand. The rest of us decided we’d talk first.
“If you kill me, then it will likely kill my master, as well. It is the safest way to execute her, though if she has recovered more of her magic than she allowed me to know, I would contact whoever is guarding her and be ready to shoot her in case my death only disorients her, because once she feels my death she will know that you are trying to kill her.”
“How can you sound calm about offering yourself up like this?” Ethan asked.
“Queenie stole me away from my family so long ago that I cannot even find their graves. They are all covered in buildings in a strange city I do not know. I lived to help find a vampire that could slay our queen of nightmares and rule us more kindly than she. I have helped bring that about, and now I have no purpose, no goal. A man without that is nothing, so I offer my life because it means very little to me. Perhaps if the Gods are kind I will see my wife and son again, though I fear I have been trapped too long in this body. They have had many lifetimes while I served my master. They will be full of experiences I did not have with them in the many lives they have had since they were taken from me, and I stolen from them.”
I wanted to ask what faith he’d believed that still thought reincarnation was a given, but it seemed too personal a question in that moment. It was idle curiosity and he’d just shared more of his past than I’d ever known. He’d offered to die to keep us safe. I couldn’t cheapen it with questions that might cause him more pain.
“I don’t want to kill you unless we have no choice,” I said.
“If we can trust him, it would be a shame to lose him,” Ru said.
“Especially over the treachery of the vampire that stole his family and his life from him,” Truth said.
“If we have to kill Queenie, we’ll kill her and hope that you survive her death, but I won’t start with your death and hope she dies. You deserve a chance to live without either evil queen possessing you.”
