Circus of the Damned - Laurell K. Hamilton [40]
He wouldn’t let a little thing like friendship ruin his perfect record.
“You saved my life, and I saved yours,” he said. “It doesn’t buy you anything now. You understand that?”
I nodded. “I understand.”
“Good.” He stood up. I stood up. We looked at each other. He shook his head. “I’ll find you tonight, and I’ll ask again.”
“I won’t be bullied, Edward.” I was finally getting a little mad. He had come in here asking for information; now he was threatening me. I let the anger show. No acting needed.
“You’re tough, Anita, but not that tough.” His eyes were neutral, but wary, like those of a wolf I’d seen once in California. I’d just walked around a tree and there it had been, standing. I froze. I had never really understood what neutral meant until then. The wolf didn’t give a damn if it hurt me or not. My choice. Threaten it, and the shit hit the fan. Give it room to run, and it would run. But the wolf didn’t care; it was prepared either way. I was the one with my pulse in my throat, so startled that I’d stopped breathing. I held my breath and wondered what the wolf would decide. It finally loped off through the trees.
I’d relearned how to breathe and gone back down to the campsite. I had been scared, but I could still close my eyes and see the wolf’s pale grey eyes. The wonder of staring at a large predator without any cage bars between us. It had been wonderful.
I stared up at Edward now and knew that this, too, was wonderful in its way. Whether I had known the information or not, I wouldn’t have told him. No one bullied me. No one. That was one of my rules.
“I don’t want to have to kill you, Edward.”
He smiled then. “You kill me?” He was laughing at me.
“You bet,” I said.
The laughter seeped out of his eyes, his lips, his face, until he stared at me with his neutral, predator eyes.
I swallowed and remembered to take slow, even breaths. He would kill me. Maybe. Maybe not.
“Is the Master worth one of us dying?” I asked.
“It’s a matter of principle,” he said.
I nodded. “Me, too.”
“We know where we stand, then.” he said.
“Yeah.”
He walked towards the door. I followed and unlocked the door for him. He paused in the doorway. “You’ve got until full dark tonight.”
“The answer will be the same.”
“I know,” he said. He walked out without even glancing back. I watched him until he disappeared down the stairs. Then I shut the door and locked it. I stood leaning my back against the door and tried to think of a way out.
If I told Jean-Claude, he might be able to kill Edward, but I didn’t give humans to the monsters. Not for any reason. I could tell Edward about Jean-Claude. He might even be able to kill the Master. I could even help him.
I tried picturing Jean-Claude’s perfect body riddled with bullets, covered in blood. His face blown away by a shotgun. I shook my head. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know why exactly, but I couldn’t hand Jean-Claude over to Edward.
I couldn’t betray either of them. Which left me ass-deep in alligators. So what else was new?
11
I STOOD ON THE shore under a black fringe of trees. The black lake lapped and rolled away into the dark. The moon hung huge and silver in the sky. The moonlight made glittering patterns on the water. Jean-Claude rose from the water. Water was streaming in silver lines from his hair and shirt. His short black hair was in tight curls from being wet. The white shirt clung to his body, making his nipples clear and hard against the cloth. He held out his hand to me.
I was wearing a long, dark dress. It was heavy and hung around me like a weight. Something inside the skirt made it stick out to either side like a tiny malformed hoop. A heavy cloak was pushed back over my shoulders. It was autumn, and the moon was harvest-full.
Jean-Claude said, “Come to me.”
I stepped off the shore and sank into the water. It filled the skirt, soaking into the cloak. I tore the cloak off, letting it sink out of sight. The water was warm as bath