Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 11-15 - Laurell K. Hamilton [876]
She was young, as in not long dead. I whispered against Jean-Claude’s hair, “Is she supposed to be human?”
“Oui.”
She was fresh enough that once upon a time, I might have believed the illusion, but that was long ago, and I knew vampire when I saw it.
The vampires above us began to circle downward, the way vultures will when they decide that the thing on the ground is finally dead.
One of the female vamps landed, lightly, on the stage. She had hair almost as dark as mine, but how much of all those curls were real and how much a wig, I couldn’t tell. She went up on her toe shoes, as the girl did. They mirrored each other from across the stage. The girl held her hands out, beseeching, asking a question, or wanting something. The dark-haired vampire mimicked her, made fun of her. It was amazingly well done. Sometimes the ballet leaves me confused, but there was no confusion here. The human was asking for help, and the vampire wasn’t going to give it.
Another female vamp touched down, brown hair this time, then a blonde. The three vamps linked arms and danced across the stage. The girl went to her knees, begging with graceful arms. She was wearing more base than the rest; it gave her a rosier skin tone, made her look alive.
Three male vampires alit upon the stage. They joined the dancing women, linked hands, boy, girl, boy, girl. The girl in white continued to beseech them. They laughed at her, and broke into couples. They danced around her. The men were able to do amazing leaps, and carry the weight of the women as if it truly were nothing. The leaps were amazing, but after seeing them fly, it just didn’t impress. Once you’ve seen someone fly, what’s a little grand jeté?
They began to circle around her, close and closer. She finally realized her danger, and began to try to run, but the circle had closed. They would grab her and throw her back into the middle. She fell like white and brown water, spilling all that hair like a shining cloak across the white dress. The vampires began to dance close and closer, the circle tightening in graceful, flowing movements, but tightening all the same.
There was movement above us. I had forgotten that there were vampires still hovering in the air. They had risen to the ceiling, using it like a rear stage area, but now they dropped delicately to the stage, and suddenly you realized that the vampires in the circle were nothing. The dancers who hit the stage now rolled power outward like a trembling line of cold. So cold, it almost burned. They stalked across the stage, in a rolling predatory dance that made me afraid for her. Silly. I knew they’d done this act across the country. I even knew that she was already dead, but still my body reacted to the menace in their movements.
The audience below us gasped. They’d seen the whole show, and they didn’t know she was dead.
The circle of couples parted as the other vampires stalked forward. Two men, and three women, stalking across the stage. The girl stared at them with fear plain on her face. She begged with graceful arms, on her knees. When that didn’t help, she got slowly to her feet, and her fear was palpable. Someone was projecting emotions onto the audience. There weren’t many who could roll me that easily.
I looked up to find one last vamp hovering at the ornate ceiling. Adonis, the blond that had damn near gotten me with his gaze. He wasn’t looking at me. His attention was all for the stage. I think he was waiting for his cue. It wasn’t him. Oh, I was slow tonight. It was Merlin again. Merlin who I hadn’t seen in the flesh, but only through memory. I didn’t poke at his power. He wasn’t hurting anyone. I was afraid