• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“I do not think you would be very good at it,” Jean-Claude said.

“I’m not.”

“But no, no crawling tonight. We are not strong enough to retake the Circus, but we go in, as you say, kicking butt.”

“Dominant?” I made it a question.

“Oui.”

“How dominant?”

“Be aggressive, but not foolish. You may wound anyone you are capable of hurting, but do not kill. We do not want to give them an excuse.”

“They think you’ve started a revolution, Jean-Claude,” Asher said from the darkness. “Like all revolutionaries, dead you become a martyr. They don’t want you dead.”

Jean-Claude turned so he could see the other vampire. “Then what do they want, Asher? Tell me.”

“They have to make an example of you. Surely you see that.”

“If I had planned on forging a second council in America, yes, I would see their point. But I know my limitations. I cannot hold a council seat against all comers. It would be a death sentence. I want simply to be left alone.”

Asher sighed. “It is too late for that, Jean-Claude. The council is here, and they will not believe your protestations of innocence.”

“You believe him,” I said.

He was quiet for a few seconds, then said, “Yes, I believe him. The one thing Jean-Claude has always done well is survive. Challenging the council is not a good way to do that.” Asher slid forward against the seats, putting his face very near mine. “Remember, Anita, that all those years ago, he waited to save me. Waited until he knew he wouldn’t be caught. Waited until he could save me at the least risk to himself. Waited until Julianna was dead, because it was too great a risk to take.”

“That is not true,” Jean-Claude said.

Asher ignored him. “Be careful that he does not wait to save you.”

“I don’t wait around for anybody to save me,” I said.

Jean-Claude stared out the window at the passing cars. He was shaking his head gently, back and forth, back and forth. “I tire of you already, Asher.”

“You tire of me because I speak the truth.”

Jean-Claude turned and faced him. “No, I tire of you because you remind me of her, and that once, a very long time ago, I was almost happy.”

The two vampires stared at each other. “But now you have a second chance,” Asher said.

“You could have a second chance, too, Asher. If you would only let the past go.”

“The past is all I have.”

“And that is not my fault,” Jean-Claude said.

Asher slid back into the darkness, huddling against the seat. I thought Jean-Claude had won the argument for now. But just call it a feeling; I didn’t think the fight was over.

11

THE CIRCUS OF the Damned is in a converted warehouse. From the front it looks like a carnival with posters promoting the freak show, and dancing clowns twirling on top of the glowing sign. From the back, it’s just dark.

I pulled the Jeep into the small parking lot reserved for employees. It was small because most of the help lived at the Circus. No need for a car if you never left. Here was hoping we’d be needing our car.

I turned off the engine, and silence swirled into the car. Both vampires had sunk into that utter stillness that made me have to glance at them to make sure they were still there. Mammals can freeze, but a rabbit frozen waiting for the fox to pass is a vibrating thing. It breathes fast and faster. Its heart pounds. Vampires are more like snakes. A snake will put a length of its body out, then freeze. There is no sense of movement stopped. No sense that movement will continue. In that moment of frozen time a snake seems unreal, more like a work of art, something carved rather than something alive. Jean-Claude seemed to have fallen into a well of silence where movement, even breath, was forbidden.

I glanced back at Asher. He sat in the backseat. Utterly still, a perfect golden presence, but not alive.

The silence filled the Jeep like icy water. I wanted to clap my hands, yell, anything to make noise, to startle them into being again. But I knew better. All I’d get would be a blink and a look. A look that wasn’t human and maybe never had been.

The sound of my