Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [1122]
He gazed down at the screaming thing on the floor with those black star-filled eyes and said, “How could you do it?”
“I did what I had to do,” I said.
He was shaking his head. “I didn’t want to live this badly.”
“I did,” Micah said.
The two men looked at each other; yellow-green eyes to black. Something seemed to pass between them, then Richard looked back at me. “Is he dying?”
“Not exactly.”
He closed his eyes, and I got a glimpse inside him before he threw up his shields. It wasn’t the horror that made him blanch, it was the fact that the power rush had felt better than almost anything else he’d ever experienced. Then the shields tightened, but his eyes stayed a swimming blackness.
“Get me out of here,” he said.
“Change shape, Richard, heal yourself,” I said.
He just shook his head. “No.”
“Damn it, Richard.”
He just said, “No,” then Jamil and Shang-Da helped him towards the door. I watched him go but didn’t try and call him back. I did my best to ignore him as I knelt by the skeletal thing that I’d made out of Orlando King. I knew how to give him back his energy, and that too would have been a rush in it’s own way, but Orlando wanted to die, and Chimera was too dangerous to be kept alive. I did what Orlando wanted, and I passed judgment on Chimera. I called my magic one more time and spilled it into that struggling, screaming thing, and I released the soul. It fluttered past me like an invisible bird, and the body gave that long harsh breath that is often the very last sound. Orlando King died unrecognizable, unless you had dental records.
Micah helped me to my feet. He was back in human form. Before I’d seen Chimera, I would have said that Micah’s change was smoother than anyone’s I’d ever seen. He pulled me into the circle of his arms, and I pressed my face against the bare skin of his neck, caught the scent of his skin, and the ardeur welled up inside me, as if it had been waiting. Goosebumps ran up his bare arms, and he gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t know if I’m up to it. I’ve had a hard day.”
I wrapped my arms around his back, pressed my face against his chest, to hear the beating of his heart strong and steady. And for no reason that I could figure out, I started to cry, and the ardeur flowed away on a wash of tears, and hands. Hands not just Micah’s, but hands of wolves, hyenas, and the leopards that had disobeyed me and come for the fight. And finally Zeke and the halfmen who had joined him. They all touched me, marked me with their scent, their tears, their laughter. We laughed and cried, howled and roared, made every noise you could make. Richard missed a hell of a victory party.
Epilogue
RICHARD DID MAKE me his Bolverk. But I was no longer his girlfriend. I’m not even sure I’m upset about that. He’s free to find another lupa, though I’m not sure the pack will agree with him; they seem to like me just fine. As Bolverk of the Thronnos Rokke Clan, my first order of business was to execute Jacob. Paris is still alive at Richard’s insistence. I think it’s a mistake, but he is Ulfric. Oh, well.
I did not turn furry with the full moon. Apparently, Jean-Claude was right about the leopards being my animal to call, just as Damian is my vampire servant. I’m gaining powers like a master vampire. Go figure.
The snake men and Marco died during the fighting. The remainder of Chimera’s people have joined their appropriate animal groups. We have a shapeshifter coalition to promote better understanding among the groups. I’m chairman, though I tried not to be. Micah and his pard stayed in town.
Micah and I are still dating, if you can call sharing a bed and my house dating. But I haven’t left Jean-Claude. I’m dating them both. I am Jean-Claude’s human servant, and I can’t hide from that anymore. Jean-Claude wasn’t horrified by what I did to Orlando King, either. He was pleased. Pleased we won, pleased we all survived. He and Micah seem to be