Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [539]
Jason lay on the bed propped in the nest of pillows. He tried to roll onto his side, then stopped in midmotion with a small sound of pain. He moved stiffly, like things hurt, which was what had gotten him a place on the bed instead of the chair.
I was pacing the room. I had a little circuit mapped out. Foot of the bed, windows, far wall, near wall with the door.
“You know that you’ve walked past the foot of the bed twenty times, and that’s just since I started counting,” Jason said.
“Shut up,” I said. I’d put all my guns back on, not because I thought I needed them, but because they were familiar. The tightness of the shoulder holster, the digging of the Firestar in its inner-pants holster made me feel more like myself. I was the only one of the three of us who carried guns. It was one thing I knew that I hadn’t gotten from either of them. It was mine. Guns, this particular brand of violence, was all mine. I needed something that was all mine right now.
Jason moved over on his side, slowly, an inch at a time. It took him until I’d made the circuit and was back at the foot of the bed before he made it to his side with a look of relief. He and Jamil had been moved to this house so that all the injured could be in one place. Roxanne was just down the hall with Ben sitting guard. Apparently, I’d been channeling enough of Richard’s power that they thought she might have a concussion. I wasn’t sure if Ben was supposed to be guarding her from me or the other way around. Dr. Patrick was down in the kitchen, stirring the stew that Marianne had left us. Zane and Cherry were here, but all the other shifters had gone to the lupanar. They were going to finish the ceremony that had been interrupted last night. Bully for them.
Asher was somewhere in the house. I didn’t know where and didn’t want to know. Too much was happening too damned fast. I needed some time to regroup. And I wasn’t going to get it.
There was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“It’s Damian.”
“Go away.”
“There’s a vampire down here with one of Sheriff Wilkes’s deputies. They say they have to talk to you or Richard. They aren’t treating this like police business.”
That got my attention. I stopped pacing and went to the door. Damian stood there, still wearing the vest that Barnaby had ripped all the buttons off of. When Colin’s human servant died, Barnaby had given up the fight and flown away. Damian’s suit was black in bright light and made his skin look unbelievably white.
“What did they say exactly?” I asked.
“Just that they had a message for the two of you from Frank Niley.”
“Fuck,” I said, softly.
“They’re sitting in the kitchen with Dr. Patrick and Asher.”
“Tell Roxanne and Jamil that the bad guys are here. I’ll go down and talk to them.”
“The man has a gun,” Damian said.
“So do I,” I said. I walked down the hall, and Damian fell in step behind me.
Jason called from the door. “Wait for me.”
“Follow at your own pace, Jason. I’m not waiting for you to trip down the stairs.”
“Don’t let her get killed, Damian,” he said.
I called back over my shoulder, “He’ll do what I tell him to do.” An hour or so of thinking about everything I had learned had not improved my mood.
I clattered down the stairs. Damian followed like a soundless shadow at my back. Why hadn’t Wilkes and his men stormed the place? I’d really expected them to just start shooting if they found out we hadn’t left town. What message could they have from Niley? And where did the vampire come in? Dolph hadn’t mentioned anything about Niley traveling with a vamp. Dolph hated vamps enough that he would have mentioned it. So many questions, and for once, I was going to get them answered almost as soon as I thought of them. How refreshing.
The kitchen looked normal. They’d scrubbed the blood