"How big is Jacob?"
"My size, not as muscled."
"Sylvie is good, but she's five six, and slender, and a woman. And as much as I hate to say it, that makes a difference. Pound for pound you guys have the upper body strength on us. If the skill is equal, a larger person will beat a smaller one."
"Don't underestimate Sylvie," he said.
"Don't overestimate her, either. She's my friend, too, and I don't want her dead just because you're not willing to take care of business."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means until he defeats Sylvie and becomes Freki, your second in command, you can kill him outside of a challenge. You can have him executed."
"And if Marcus had thought that about me, I'd be dead now."
"And Marcus would be alive, Richard. You're not helping your case."
"We aren't animals, Anita, we're people. And I can't just kill him because I think he's after my job."
"You don't just stand down as Ulfric, Richard, you fight to the death for it. I know theoretically if you both agree, it doesn't have to be death. But I've been asking around, and no werewolf I've talked to can remember a fight for Ulfric that wasn't to the death. He's not after your job, Richard, he's after your life."
"I can't control what Jacob does, only what I do."
I was beginning to remember why Richard and I didn't make a go of it as a couple. Oh, there had been a lot of reasons. I'd seen him eat Marcus, and that had made me run away. Then we got back together, and the marks were overwhelming. But there were other reasons. Reasons that made me feel tired and older than Richard, even though he was actually two years older than me. "You're being stupid, Richard."
"It's not really any of your business, Anita. You're not my lupa anymore."
"If you die, the marks may drag Jean-Claude and me down to die with you, so that sort of makes it my business."
"And you don't risk your life every time you go hunting vampires or preternatural creatures with the police? You almost died in New Mexico less than a month ago. You risked all of us."
"I was trying to save people's lives, Richard. You're trying to remake a political system. Ideology is great in a classroom or a debate, but it's flesh and blood that counts, Richard. It's life and death we're talking about here, not some outdated ideal you have in your head about what a better world you can make for the pack."
"If ideals mean nothing, Anita, then we are just animals."
"Richard, if Gregory dies for this, then I will kill Jacob, and anyone else who gets in my way. I'll destroy your lupanar and salt the ground, so help me. You explain to Jacob, and anyone else that needs convincing, that if they fuck with me, they will die."
"You can't fight the entire pack, Anita. Not and win."
"If you think the only thing I care about is winning, then you don't know me at all. I will save Gregory because I said I would."
"If you fail the tests, you can't save him."
"What sort of tests are we talking about?"
"Ones that only a shapeshifter could pass."
"Richard, Richard ..." I wanted to scream and rant at him, but I was suddenly more tired than angry, more discouraged than enraged. "Mark me on this, Richard, if I fail to save Gregory, then I will remake heaven into hell to avenge him. You explain that to Jacob, make sure he understands."
"Tell him yourself." There was silence and the sound of movement. Then a man's voice came on, a voice that I'd never heard before. The voice was pleasant, young, but not too young.
"Hello, I'm Jacob, I've heard a lot about you." His voice made it plain that he hadn't liked what he'd heard.
"Look, Jacob, we don't know each other, but I cannot allow you to kill Gregory for something he didn't do."
"The only way you can stop us is by winning him back."
"Richard explained that I'd have to pass a test to get Gregory back. He also said if I failed that you'd execute Gregory."
"It's pack law."
"Jacob, you don't want to make me your enemy."
"You are Nimir-Ra of a small leopard pard. We are the Thronnos Rokke Clan. We are the lukoi, and you are nothing to us."
"Yeah, I'm coming tomorrow night as Nimir-Ra of the Blooddrinker's Pard. But I'm Anita Blake. Ask the vampires and other shapeshifters around town about me. See what they say. You don't want to fuck with me, Jacob, you really don't."
"I've already asked around. I know your reputation."
"Then why are you pushing this?"
"That's my business," he said.
"Fine, you want to do this, we can do this. If you cause Gregory's death through voting or werewolf politics, I will bury you."
"If you can," he said. "You're a brand-new shapeshifter. You won't even change form until the full moon, and that's weeks away. You are no match for me."
"You say that like I'm going to offer to fight you one-on-one. I'm not. If Gregory dies, you die. Simple as that."
"If you shoot me, it won't reinstate you into the pack. If you could possibly win one-on-one against me, then maybe they'd vote you back to lupa. But if you just shoot me, you'll never be lupa again."
"I'm going to say this nice and slow, Jacob, so we understand each other. I don't give a shit about being lupa. I care about my friends, and the people I've promised to protect. Gregory is one of those people. If he dies, you die."
"I'm not going to kill him, Anita. I just made sure there was a vote about it."
"Do you like John Wayne movies, Jacob?"
He was quiet for a heartbeat. "I guess, I mean, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Your fault, my fault, nobody's fault, if Gregory dies, you die."
"Am I supposed to get the movie reference?" he asked. He sounded angry now.
"I guess not, but the point is this. I will blame you personally if anything happens to Gregory, for any reason. If he comes to harm, so will you. If he bleeds, so do you. If he dies ..."
"I get the idea. But I don't have a deciding vote on this issue. I'm just one vote."
"Then you better think of something, Jacob. Because I give you my word that I mean everything I say."
"I heard that about you." He was quiet, and we stood on either end of the phone in silence, until he said, "What about Richard?"
"What about him?"
"If something happens to him what will you do?"
"If I tell you that I'll kill you if you kill him, that undercuts his authority as Ulfric. But I'll say this much, if you defeat him, then it better be a fair fight in a challenge circle. If you cheat in any way, no matter how small, I'll kill you." I wanted so badly to just give Richard blanket protection, but I couldn't. It would weaken his position, and his position was weak enough already.
"But if it's fair, you'll stay out of it?"
I leaned against the wall and tried to think. "I'll be honest, Jacob, I love Richard. I don't always understand him, or even agree with him, but I love him. I'm ready to kill you over someone who has never been my lover or even a good friend. So, yeah, you kill Richard, and I'm really, really going to want to kill you."
"But you won't," he said.
I didn't like how persistent he was about the issue. It made me nervous. "I'll make you a deal, you don't challenge Richard for Ulfric until after the next full moon, then whatever happens, as long as it's fair, I'll stay out of it."
"What if it's sooner?" he asked.
"Then I am going to rain all over your parade."
"You're undercutting Richard's authority," he said.
"No, Jacob, no I'm not. I wouldn't be killing you because I was lupa or any werewolf stuff. I'd be killing you because I am just that vindictive. Give me a few weeks until after the full moon, and you're in the clear on this one, if you've got the cajones to finish the job."