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He cried out under the knives. “That hurt!”

“I’m sorry,” Cisco muttered. “I’m really sorry.”

Juanito said, “Got it.” He raised bloody fingers from Jake’s hair. Something glittered in his hands that wasn’t the knife. “That’s the last of it, all I can find.”

“Hope I can return the favor sometime,” Jake said.

“If I apologized like Cisco, would you be less pissed?”

“Yes,” Jake said.

“Fine, I apologize.”

“I accept it.”

Cisco moved back from him and laid something that looked like solid blood on the towel. “That’s it for your back, too.”

“Thanks,” Jake said. He tried to get to his feet, but fell against the armoire so hard it shuddered. Hands reached to help him, covering his arms in bloody prints of his own blood.

He pushed them away. “I’m all right.” Then he fell to his knees.

“Help him,” Claudia said.

Cisco and Juanito reached for him again. Jake waved them away.

I walked the few feet to them. I knelt in front of Jake, so that I could meet his eyes without him straining. He rolled brown eyes up to me. His normally handsome face seemed strained and tired. He was a little too masculine handsome for my tastes. I liked men a little softer looking, but I could still appreciate the view. Except now the view was hurting too badly to be admired.

“I’d be in the hospital or worse now, Jake. Thank you.”

“Like I said, it’s my job,” but his voice was strained.

“Let them help you, please.”

He looked at me for a long moment. “What do you think the wolf smell meant?”

“I think it was the vamp’s animal to call. Some vamps smell like their animal.”

“Most vampires smell like vampires to me,” he said.

“I’ve met a couple that smelled like their animals to call.” I didn’t add out loud that those had been Auggie, Master of Chicago, and Marmee Noir. Auggie was about two thousand years old, and Mommie Dearest was older than dirt. Which put this vampire in very powerful company.

“You’re thinking something, what is it?” he asked.

I might not have answered him, except he’d gotten himself hurt protecting me. It made me feel guilty. “That the only two vamps I’ve ever known who smelled that much like their animals were Auggie, Master of Chicago, and the Mother of All Darkness.”

“I’ve heard of Augustine, but the Mother of All Darkness, I’m not sure who that is.”

“She’s the Mother of All Vampires,” I said.

His eyes widened, then flinched. “Powerful shit.”

“Yeah,” I said, “powerful shit. Let them take you to the doc, okay?”

He gave a small nod. “Okay.”

Cisco and Juanito picked him up under the arms. They did it like he wasn’t tall and muscled, and weighed at least two hundred pounds. Super-strength did come in handy. He got his feet sort of under him as the guards parted and let them through. By the time they had the door, Jake was almost walking upright. Almost.

20

THIS TIME I chose a black shirt, because my last clean bra was hanging up to dry in the bathroom. I was never entirely comfortable without a bra. I wasn’t sure whether the fact that the black baby-doll shirt was tight enough that it helped support my breasts was a good thing or not. I think I would have preferred the shirt to be looser. Tight felt better, but it looked like I’d done it on purpose, rather than just running out of clothes. Also, braless the shoulder holster fit, but if I had to draw the gun I’d brush the edge of my breast. It was a small irritation, but it could make you hesitate for a second. Sometimes a second was enough to get you killed. I stood in the bathroom, grumpy and uncomfortable. It was like my skin was too small. Itchy with embarrassment and swallowed anger. I searched myself, with the same “eyes” that let you see images in your head, for that spot where the Harlequin had marked me. It was gone, but I could still see the spot like a bruise. A metaphysical bruise, as if their touch had hurt me in a way that would last.

I dried my hair a little more with a towel and actually scrunched some hair-care product in the curls. I was half embarrassed that I used stuff on my hair, but Jean-Claude had convinced