Though Jane wants to send Laz back to where he came from, he points out that they might have trouble sending him there. He says he will make doorways for both Jane and Joanne to return to their worlds. The two women leave briefly to discuss the situation, and determine that New Orleans is likely safer with Laz there keeping Katrina under control. Since Jane is weak from multiple shifts, Joanne lends her some of her energy so she can make it through the portal. Joanne gets a glimpse of Jane’s soul home. Before having Laz send them back, Joanne gives Jane one of her earrings, hoping that it will serve as a connection if they ever need or want to see each other. Jane reciprocates by giving Joanne one of her hair sticks. The two women part, going back to their respective worlds.
“Blood, Fangs, and Going Furry”: Rick LaFleur had suffered terribly during that first night of the full moon, unable to shift into his cat. Kemnebi had refused to help him, but Gee DiMercy told him that Jane may be able to help. This did not make any sense to Rick, but he was willing to try, so he rides his motorcycle to Jane’s street, determined to see her. When he arrives, Jane is outside, and she walks over to him. With his voice barely human and difficult to understand, Rick tells Jane about this problem, and that they let him go because he hit Leo. The next thing Rick knows, Jane tells him she’s sorry and then punches him.
When Rick wakes up, he’s being sprayed with water, in a cage, with a tranquilizer dart in his rear end. Jane is there, and tells him that she got permission to keep him in the warehouse until the three nights of the full moon are past. After giving him food and clothes to get dressed, Jane tells Rick that five witches are coming to help him through his shift. Given his experience with witches, Rick is not thrilled to hear this, and he asks Jane to stay while the women are there.
Leo comes into the room, and Rick apologizes for having hit him. Leo tells Rick that since he has provided Rick with his blood a few times to save his life, he is able to feel Rick’s pain. Leo says that neither his blood nor Gee’s help can save Rick from the were-taint, which is why he called the witches, and he assures Rick that he can be drugged throughout the process. George Dumas, Leo’s primo, is operating the tranquilizer gun and will give Rick a dose whenever he asks. The witches arrive, and the painful night of hell begins.
At dawn, Rick awakens to Kemnebi taunting him, when seemingly out of nowhere Jane knocks the man to the floor, putting a knife to his throat. George tries to break up the fight, but Jane demands that Kemnebi recognize her as alpha. Though he tries to say it is only for now, Jane forces him to acknowledge her as alpha forever, and then points out that the whole exchange has been recorded, giving his statement legal status among weres. Jane tells Kemnebi that he will take care of Rick, teaching him how to shift and how to be a were. She claims Rick as under her protection. Rick gets another dose of pain medication.
This time when Rick wakes up he is in a tent in the mountains, which he knows is thanks to Jane. Rick vows that he will learn what he needs, and that he will then go after Jane, as they have a lot to discuss.
“Dance Master” (in the Jane Yellowrock Companion Guide): George knows when Jane arrives to join him for breakfast, hearing her Harley and then her boots. As Jane walks across the room toward his table, George watches her, and can feel his master, Leo, doing so as well. Leo says that Jane is his, but George replies that Jane does not belong to anyone, giving Leo something to think about. Though he desires Jane, George is well aware that Rick LaFleur stands between them, in spite of the man’s unfortunate plight with the were-taint. However, even without that barrier between Jane and Rick, George doubts that, given Rick’s history with women, the relationship would have lasted.
Jane takes her seat and begins to eat, asking what his boss wants. George tells Jane that Leo permits Jane to get away with behavior he doesn’t accept in anyone else, to which she responds that Leo does not own her. Bruiser says he hopes Leo never drinks from her, and that she retains her freedom of spirit.
The job Leo wants Jane for is to find the rogue yet not insane vampire who is attacking, but not killing, various customers at the Royal Mojo Blues Company. George and Jane go over to the club, and once inside, Jane looks around, going to a back entrance, the fire escape. Unlocking the door and disabling the alarm, and Jane examines the ground, sniffing. Jane tells George that the culprit is an old female vamp, with a human helping her by letting her in the door at night when the club is open. Outside, Jane determines that the vampire has her lair there, with her human also. George says that Leo will decide what to do with the vamp. Jane goes to wash off and comes in the back door.
George has an Allman Brothers album playing, and Jane asks him to join her on the dance floor. When the record ends, George kisses Jane, but they are interrupted by her phone ringing. George determines that one day Jane will be his, and he won’t be sharing her with anyone.
Raven Cursed, Book Four
Lots of Things That Go Boom and Kill Bad Guys: Jane Yellowrock arrives in Asheville on a borrowed bike while Bitsa gets repaired—happy to be there (as is Beast). Jane is annoyed with herself for taking the job from Leo Pellissier, vampire Master of the City of New Orleans. He sent her to North Carolina on a job that involves vamp politics, which Jane never enjoys. A local vampire clan master, Lincoln Shaddock, has applied to Leo—again—to be Master of the City of Asheville. Though every previous petition over the last sixty years has resulted in Leo’s refusal, this time he is sending a representative to meet with Lincoln, as one of his scions has come out of devoveo in just two years, rather than the typical ten. Jane’s job: to provide security for the meeting. However, she suspects that Leo may have another motive for sending her back to where she came from.
A day and a half later, Jane and her team, including Derek Lee and two of his men, are in place, ready for the landing of the helicopter transporting the vamp representative from the airport to the hotel. Jane’s first surprise: Grégoire of Clan Arceneau disembarks, rather than Katie, the vamp she was expecting. Jane suspects that Leo sent the gorgeous Grégoire partially to tempt her, but nonetheless is pleased to see twins Brandon and Brian, Grégoire’s primo blood-servants. At midnight, the event gets under way. All goes well until close to dawn, when a television news report shows the scene of an attack. Almost immediately Jane receives a call from Leo, who tells her to go and take care of the problem.
Vamp-Fang and Werewolf-Bite Scars: Examining the riverbank next to the campsite where the attack occurred, Jane scents a fishy smell, and she and Beast agree—grindylow. Fearing that the presence of the grindy may be partially her fault, Jane continues to study the area, and the photos of the injured couple, and tells the cop, Emmett, her witch friend, Molly, and the two river guides, Mike and Dave, that werewolves are responsible for the attack. She explains to them that the grindy enforces the were-law against biting humans, which explains its presence at the site. Scenting paw prints brings Jane an unwelcome conclusion: the two werewolves are the only ones left of the pack she destroyed in New Orleans—they were in jail at the time of the battle. Jane knows the werewolves are here as a personal challenge to her, especially so close to Stirling Mountain. Jane says she will look into getting a Mercy Blade to heal the young couple attacked. Jane makes a deal with guides Dave and Mike to have people send in the locations of all the places they have seen the distinctive grindy claw marks, as Jane feels she may be able to figure out the area the werewolves are staying. As Jane and Molly are leaving, they discuss breakfast plans, but Jane notes to herself that she does not get an invitation to Molly’s home, which she knows is due to Big Evan worrying about Molly’s safety when she’s with Jane.