Burnt Offerings - Laurell K. Hamilton [25]
“Of course, I remember him,” Jean-Claude said. “Time spent with Balthasar was always memorable.”
The man turned back to Jean-Claude then. “But not memorable enough to keep you with us.” He, too, sounded French, but there was an undercurrent of some other language. It was like mixing blue and red and getting purple.
“I am master of my own territory. It is what everyone dreams of, is it not?”
“Some dream of a seat on the council,” Yvette said. Her voice was still mildly amused, but there was an undercurrent now, like swimming in dark water when you know there are sharks.
“I do not aspire to such lofty heights,” Jean-Claude said.
“Really?” Yvette said.
“Truly,” Jean-Claude said.
She smiled, but her eyes stayed distant and empty. “We shall see.”
“There is nothing to see, Yvette. I am content where I am.”
“If that is so, you have nothing to fear from us.”
“We have nothing to fear regardless,” I said. I smiled when I said it.
Both of them looked at me as if I was a dog that had done an interesting trick. I was really beginning not to like either of them.
“Yvette and Balthasar are envoys of the council, ma petite.”
“Bully for them,” I said.
“She doesn’t seem very impressed with us,” Yvette said. She turned full-face to me. Her eyes were greyish-green, with tiny flecks of amber dancing round the pupils. I felt her try to suck me under with those eyes, and it didn’t work. Her power raised goose bumps on my skin, but she couldn’t capture me with her eyes. She was powerful, but she wasn’t a master vampire. I could feel her age like an ache in my skull. A thousand years, at least. The last vamp I’d met who was that old had cleaned my clock. But Nikolaos had been Master of the City, and Yvette would never be that. If a vamp hadn’t attained master status in a thousand years, she, or he, was never going to. A vamp gained power and abilities with age, but there was a limit. Yvette had reached hers. I stared into her eyes, let her power tickle across my skin, and wasn’t impressed.
She frowned. “Impressive.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Balthasar stepped around her and went to one knee in front of me. He put one hand on the back of my chair and leaned into me. If Yvette wasn’t a master, then he wasn’t her human servant. Only a master vampire could make a human servant. Which meant he belonged to someone else. Someone I hadn’t met yet. Why did I get the feeling I’d be meeting that someone soon?
“My master is a council member,” Balthasar said. “You have no idea what kind of power he wields.”
“Ask me if I care.”
Anger flared across his face, darkening his eyes, making his grip on my chair tight. He laid his hand on my leg just above my knee and started to squeeze. I’d played with the monsters long enough to know what supernatural strength feels like. His fingers dug into my flesh, and I knew he could keep squeezing until muscle popped and he bared my bones to the air.
I grabbed his silk tie and pulled him close, and shoved the barrel of the Firestar into his chest. I watched the surprise chase across his face from inches away.
“Bet I can blow a hole in your chest before you can crush my leg.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Why not?” I asked.
A touch of fear flowed through his eyes. “I am the human servant of a council member.”
“Not impressed,” I said. “Try door number two.”
He frowned at me. “I don’t understand.”
“Give her a better reason not to kill you,” Jean-Claude said.
“If you shoot me here in front of witnesses, you will go to jail.”
I sighed. “There is that.” I jerked him close enough that our faces almost touched. “Take your hand off my knee, slowly, and I won’t pull this trigger. Keep hurting me, and I’ll take my chances with the police.”
He stared at me. “You would do it, you really would do it.”
“I don’t bluff, Balthasar. Remember that for future reference, and maybe I won’t have to kill you.”
His hand eased, then moved slowly away from me. I let him move back, his tie sliding through my hand like