Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [278]
Ronnie looked me up and down. “A little overdressed for jogging, aren’t you?”
I frowned. “Sorry, I forgot to call. I just got home.”
“What happened?” Louie asked. He still held Ronnie’s hand, but everything else changed. He was suddenly alert, taller somehow, black eyes searching my face, noticing for the first time the bandage on my hand and other signs of wear. “You smell like blood, and”—his nostrils flared—“something worse.”
I wondered if he could smell Warrick’s rotted flesh on my shoes, but I didn’t ask. I didn’t really want to know. He was one of Rafael’s lieutenants, and I was surprised he didn’t know what had been happening. “Have you guys been out of town?”
They both nodded, and Ronnie’s smile was gone now, too. “We were up at the cabin.” The cabin had been part of her divorce settlement from a two-year marriage that ended very badly. But it was a great cabin.
“Yeah, it’s nice up there.”
“What’s happened?” Louie asked again.
“Let’s go inside. I can’t think of a version short enough not to need coffee.”
They followed me into the house, still touching, but some of the glow had leaked away. I seemed to have that effect on people. Hard to be bright and shiny in the middle of a kill zone.
Gregory was lying on my couch, still drugged into blissful unconsciousness. Louie stopped in his tracks. Of course, maybe it wasn’t just the wereleopard. There was a large Persian rug underneath my white couch and chair. It wasn’t my rug. There were bright pillows on the white furniture that echoed the colors of the rug. The colors were like jewels in the early morning sunlight.
Ronnie said, “Stephen.” She even went forward as if to touch him, but Louie pulled her back.
“It’s not Stephen.”
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“They don’t smell the same.”
Ronnie was just staring. “This is Gregory?”
Louie nodded.
“I knew they were identical twins but…”
“Yeah,” I said. “I have got to get out of this dress, but let me make one thing clear. Gregory is mine now. He’s a good guy. No abusing him.”
Louie turned to me, and his black eyes had bled across the pupil so that his eyes were like black buttons, rat’s eyes. “He tortured his own brother.”
“I was there, Louie. I saw it.”
“Then how can you defend him?”
I shook my head. “It has been a long night, Louie. Let’s just say that without Gabriel to force the wereleopards to be evil, they’ve been choosing different paths. He refused to torture one of the wolves, and that’s why they broke his legs.”
The look on Louie’s face said he didn’t believe it. I shook my head and made shooing motions. “Go in the kitchen, make coffee. Let me slip out of this damn dress and I’ll tell you everything.”
Ronnie pulled him towards the kitchen, but her eyes watched me, full of questions. I mouthed, “Later” to her, and she went into the kitchen. I trusted her to keep Louie busy until I got changed. I didn’t really think that he’d harm Gregory, but the wereleopards had pissed off so many people. Better to be safe than sorry.
Richard was up on a stepladder drilling holes in the ceiling above my bed. So much for my security deposit. My bedroom was the only one on the first floor. I’d given it up so they wouldn’t have to get Gregory up the stairs. Little flakes of ceiling covered his bare torso in a fine white powder. He looked very handy-mannish in just jeans. Cherry and Zane were on the bed, holding pieces of the traction apparatus for him, helping him measure.
The drill stopped, and I asked, “Where’s Vivian?”
“Gwen took her to see Sylvie,” Richard said. His eyes were very neutral as he looked at me, voice careful. We hadn’t said much to each other since our moment in the ring.
“Nice to have a trained therapist in the house,” I said.
Cherry and Zane were both watching me. They reminded me of golden retrievers in the obedience ring, eyes earnest, intent on every word and gesture. I didn’t really like people