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That sounded like the truth. “Fine, but what powers were you asking Damian whether I had, or not, and don’t lie; if I order him to tell me everything you said, verbatim, he’ll do it. He’ll have to do it.”

“You might be surprised there, ma petite. With your greater commitment to him as your servant, he may not be as much slave to your will. I do not know that this is true, but I know that the more marks you carried of mine, the less pliable to my will you became.”

That was true. I’d always been sort of creeped out by the fact that Damian had to do everything I told him, just because I said so, but it had moments of usefulness, and now it might be gone. Well, hell.

“Fine, then just tell me yourself.”

“You do not understand, ma petite. That you could gain my abilities is unusual, but this is an ability that I do not possess, have never possessed. What has happened to Damian is something only Belle could have done, and only if he were a new vampire. So is this a new ability all together, one I have never heard of, and if so, then what could that mean for you, ma petite, for us, and all those connected to you? What if you have gained abilities through your necromancy that we cannot begin to guess at?”

I sighed, and was suddenly tired, not scared, just tired. “You know, I am way tired of this metaphysical shit.”

“You also healed wounds with sex, without calling on Raina’s munin, is that so horrible?”

“When I didn’t do it on purpose, maybe. Think about that, Jean-Claude, I didn’t concentrate and do it on purpose. What else might I do accidentally? You don’t even know.”

It was his turn to sigh. “The only other triumverate that included a necromancer as their human servant did not exhibit this level of . . . power.”

“You hesitated, what were you going to say before power?”

“You know me too well, ma petite.”

“Just answer the question.”

“I was going to say, unpredictableness.”

I wasn’t sure that had really been what he’d meant to say, but I let it go. He’d answered the question the only way he was willing to. I knew by now when he’d given me everything he was going to. I’d learned to let it go after that, because anything else was just frustrating, and rarely gained me anything. “Fine, I believe that you don’t know what the hell we’re doing either. Is there anyone that would have a clue about what might be happening to us?”

“I will think upon that, ma petite. There is no one that I know that has ever managed to form two triumverates that intersect as ours seem to. But there may be those who could provide some more general information on triumverates, or necromancy, or . . . in truth, ma petite, I don’t even know where to begin to ask an intelligent question. I cannot go to most master vampires in the world with these questions. They would see it as weakness. I will think upon it and see if there is anyone we can ask.” He sounded perplexed, which I didn’t hear often in his voice.

“Alright, I’ll call Marianne and see if she or her coven have any insights. I might even ask Tammy when she and Larry get back from their honeymoon. She is a witch, and her branch of the church has been dealing with supernatural talents for centuries. Who knows, maybe they have archives?”

“That is a good thought,” he said, “Damian seems most distressed.”

“You could say that.”

“I do not know for certain, but if he were to go to his coffin and you not be near, I think he might sleep as he is meant to during the day.”

“What if he just goes buggers again?”

“Put someone downstairs to watch him. Someone, not you or Nathaniel or Richard, someone that is not part of either triumverate. If your watcher does not see him sleep, then they can yell for you to come and comfort him.”

It wasn’t a bad idea as ideas went, and I had nothing better. Also, I didn’t want to spend the day baby-sitting Damian, or anybody for that matter. “I’ll talk it over with him and see if he wants to try it.”

“If he refuses, then you will, what, hold his hand all day?” There was the tiniest