Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 11-15 - Laurell K. Hamilton [987]
Louie was five foot six, slender, but not weak looking. Today his arms were covered, but when they were bare fine muscles played in his forearms. His hair was straight and dark, and cut short, freshly so, because I’d seen him only last week and it had been past his ears; now it wasn’t. His face was softly squared, almost the only hint that his mother had been from Ecuador. That and the black eyes, darker even than my own.
I was surprised to see Louie. Don’t know why; he was Rafael’s second-in-command. How did a mild-mannered college prof get to be second banana in an animal group made up mostly of mercs and ex-criminals? By being smart, and not nearly as soft as he looked.
“Rafael, King of the Rodere of St. Louis, welcome,” Jean-Claude said. The formality of the greeting set the tone.
“Jean-Claude, Master of the City of St. Louis, I am honored that you have invited me into your home.” His gaze went to Richard. “Ulfric of the Thronnos Rokke Clan, friend and ally, thank you for seeing me so early in the day.”
I was close enough to hear the sharp intake of breath, and I thought Richard would say something that went with that almost violent breath, but he let the air out slowly. It shuddered a little on its way out, and he spoke almost normally. “Rafael, King of Rats, friend and ally, there’s plenty of food, help yourself.”
“Thank you,” Rafael said, and some tension I hadn’t realized was there went out of his broad shoulders, as if he’d worried about Richard’s reaction, too.
Louie went to Richard, and they did that guy handshake/hug, where you grip forearms and sort of bump shoulders. I heard him say, “Sorry about this.”
If Richard said anything, I didn’t hear it because Micah was talking to Rafael. “Are the leopards so unimportant that you do not even greet their king or queen?”
Of all the people in the room, I hadn’t expected problems from Micah. From the look on Rafael’s face, him either. “I meant no disrespect, Nimir-Raj.”
“Yes, you did,” Micah said.
“Micah…,” I said.
He shook his head at me. “No, Anita, we can’t let an insult like this go. We can’t.”
Richard said, “You finally find something worth fighting for, Micah?”
He gave Richard a cold look. “What would you do if Rafael had ignored you and greeted every other leader in the room?”
Anger flashed over Richard’s face, then smoothed out. “I wouldn’t like it.”
“Jean-Claude, you need to teach your cats better manners,” Rafael said.
That got my attention, and not in a good way. I moved to stand by Micah. Nathaniel moved up with us, though a little behind us. We were king and queen; you didn’t stand in front of the royalty, even if you were living with them.
“We aren’t pets,” I said.
“You are Jean-Claude’s human servant, and the leopards have no connection to the Master of the City except through you, Anita. They are not linked directly to the vampires of this city.”
I felt movement around us as the bodyguards shifted nervously. Rafael didn’t even look at them. I did. I looked at Claudia, and she actually blushed. “Whose side are you on if the flags go up?” I asked.
“Do you actually believe you could challenge me?” Rafael said, and he sounded amused. I ignored him and kept my gaze on Claudia. Micah had his attention on Rafael, and I knew he’d let me know if I needed to look at the big man.
“Come on, Claudia, Fredo, talk to me. You’re our bodyguards, but he’s your king. If it goes bad, can we depend on you, or not?”
“They are my people,” Rafael said. “They owe their loyalty to me.”
I finally looked at him. It was not a friendly look. “Then they need to leave this room, now. We need hyena and wolves in here, now.”
“They are no match for my people,” Rafael said.
“Maybe not, but at least I can trust who they