"Is it my imagination or are you just moving better, with less pain?" I asked.
"It's been another twenty-four hours. I'm starting to heal."
"Excuse me?" I said.
"You've been out for over a day. It's late Sunday afternoon."
"Shit," I said. Had Jean-Claude met with the council without me? Had the "dinner," whatever it was, already happened? "Shit," I said again.
Still frowning, he said, "I've got a message from the Traveler for you. Tell me why you suddenly look so scared and I'll give it to you."
"Just give it to me, Larry, please."
Still frowning, he said, "The dinner is postponed until you feel well enough to attend."
I settled back against the pillows and couldn't keep the relief off my face, my body.
"What the hell is going on, Anita?"
Maybe it was the concussion. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't like to lie to Larry face to face. Whatever it was, I told him truth. I told him all of it. I told him about Richard and the marks. He knew about that, but not what I'd discovered recently. I left out a few things, but not much. When I was done, he sat back in the chair looking stunned.
"Well, say something."
He shook his head. "Sweet Mary Mother of God, I don't know where to start. Jean-Claude had a press conference last night with the Traveler at his side. They talked about vampire and human unity in the face of this awful event."
"Whose body did the Traveler use?" I asked.
Larry shivered. "That is one of the creepiest vamp powers I have ever seen. He used some vamp from Malcolm's Church. Malcolm was at the press conference. too. The Traveler used his powers to help rescue the other vamps, including Malcolm."
"Who acted as intepreter while the sun was up?" I asked.
"Balthasar, his human servant."
"Balthasar as a public servant, that is creepy," I said.
Larry frowned. "He told me he had a thing for men with red hair. Was he kidding?"
I laughed, and it made my head hurt. I was suddenly very aware of a growing headache, as if it had been there all the time, just masked by drugs. Modern chemistry, there is no substitute.
"Probably not, but don't worry. You're not on the menu."
"Who is?" Larry asked.
"I don't know yet. Has Dolph found out who's behind the bombings and stuff?"
"Yes." He said that one word like it was enough.
"Tell me or I will get out of this bed and hurt you."
"It was Humans First. The police raided their headquarters earlier today, got most of the leaders."
"That is wonderful." I frowned, which hurt, then closed my eyes and said, "How did Humans First know where all the monsters were? They hit private homes, secret daytime lairs. They shouldn't have known where everyone was."
I heard the door open a moment before Dolph's voice said, "The vampires had a traitor in their midst."
"Hey, Dolph."
"Hey, yourself. Good to see you awake."
"Good to be awake," I said. "What traitor?"
"Remember Vicki Pierce—and her little scene at Burnt Offerings?"
"I remember."
"She had a boyfriend that was with Humans First. She gave him up when we questioned her a second time."
"Why'd you bring her in?"
"Seems she got paid for her little acting assignment. We threatened to charge her with assault and attempted murder. She folded like a cheap card table."
"What does little Miss Blue Eyes have to do with a vampire traitor?"
"She's been dating Harry, the bartender and part owner of Burnt Offerings."
I was confused. "Then why stage the scene at his business? Why give himself grief?"
"Her human boyfriend wanted to pay her to do it. She didn't want him to know she was seeing Harry. Harry went along with it because he thought it would look funny if his place was the only vamp-owned business not hit by the fanatics."
"So Harry knew what she was using the information for?" I said. I was finding it hard to believe that any vamp would do it, let alone one as old as Harry.
"He knew. He took his cut of the money," Dolph said.
"Why?"
"When we find him, we'll ask."
"Let me guess. He's vanished."
Dolph nodded. "Don't tell your boyfriend, Anita."
"The vampires may be your only hope of catching Harry now."
"But will they turn him over to us or kill him?"
I looked away, not meeting his eyes. "They're going to be pretty pissed."
"I can't blame them for that, but I want him alive, Anita. I need him alive."
"Why?"
"We didn't get every member of Humans First. I don't want them out there with some new nasty surprise waiting."
"You have Vicki. Won't she tell you?"
"She asked for a lawyer, finally, and now she's suddenly developed amnesia."
"Damn."
"We need him to tell us if there's one last big nasty coming our way."
"But you can't find him," I said.
"That's right."
"You don't want me to tell Jean-Claude."
"Give us twenty-four hours to locate Harry. If we fail, then you can put out a vampire all-points. Before they kill him, try to get information from him."
"You say that like I'll be there when he dies," I said.
Dolph just looked at me.
I met his eyes this time. "I don't kill for Jean-Claude, Dolph, no matter what the street says."
"I wish I believed that, Anita. You don't know how much I wished I believed that."
I lay back against the pillows. "Believe what you like, Dolph. You will anyway."
He walked out then without another word, as if what he wanted to say was too painful, too final. Dolph kept pushing against us, against me. I was beginning to worry that he was going to keep pushing until he pushed us apart. We'd be working together but we wouldn't be friends. The headache was getting worse, and it wasn't just the drugs wearing off.
48
1 was given a clean bill of health. The doctors were amazed at my recuperative powers. If only they knew. Pete McKinnon called late in the day. He'd found that there were fires similar to those set by our firebug in New Orleans and San Francisco. It took a moment for me to remember why those particular cities were important. When I remembered, I asked, "How about Boston?"
"No, no fires in Boston. Why?"
I don't think he believed me when I said, "nothing," but unlike Dolph, he let it go. I wasn't ready to point the finger at the Vampire Council. Just because the mysterious fires happened in cities they'd been visiting didn't mean it had to be them. There'd been no fires in Boston. Just because there were now mysterious fires in St. Louis, and the council was here, didn't prove anything. Yeah, and the Easter Bunny brings me goodies every year.
I told Jean-Claude about my suspicions. "But why would the council wish to burn empty buildings, ma petite? If one of them could call fire to their hands, they would not waste it on empty real estate. Not unless the real estate being burned gained them something."
"You mean a financial motive?" I said.
He shrugged. "Perhaps, though a personal motive would suit them better."
"I can't find out much more information without giving the council up to the authorities as suspects," I said.
He seemed to think about that for a second or two. "Perhaps you could wait upon committing absolute suicide for us until after we have survived this evening."
"Sure," I said.
True darkness found me in a short form-fitting black velvet dress with a V-neck and no sleeves. The waist of the dress was open lace. My skin showed pale and enticing through it. Black thigh-high hose that actually came up a bit higher than mid-thigh, like all the way up until the black lace stretch top brushed against the black satin panties with their lace edgings. The hose were a size too large. Jean-Claude had purchased them, and done it deliberately. I'd tried thigh-highs before and had to agree that the longer length was more flattering for my shorter legs. It sort of framed the right area. If we'd been planning extracurricular activities, I'd have loved to see his face when I was standing in nothing but the stockings. As it was, it was just frustrating, and a little scary.