Micah - Laurell K. Hamilton [0]
Micah
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Laurell K. Hamilton
This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.
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ISBN: 1-101-14675-3
A JOVE BOOK®
Jove Books first published by The Jove Publishing Group, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
JOVEand the “J” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.
Electronic edition: February, 2006
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novels by
LAURELL K. HAMILTON
GUILTY PLEASURES
THE LAUGHING CORPSE
CIRCUS OF THE DAMNED
THE LUNATIC CAFE
BLOODY BONES
THE KILLING DANCE
BURNT OFFERINGS
BLUE MOON
OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY
NARCISSUS IN CHAINS
CERULEAN SINS
INCUBUS DREAMS
MICAH
My idea of love is
not everyone’s ideal.
Some have broken
under the strain
of it. This one’s for
Jon, who sees love
not as a burden,
but as a gift.
Acknowledgments
To all the people that help keep my life running smoothly: Darla Cook, Sherry Ganey, Lauretta Allen, Mary Schuermann, and Richard Nichols (no relation to the character).
To my writing group: Tom Drennan, Debbie Millitello, Rett MacPherson, Marella Sands, Sharon Shinn and Mark Summer. Nill illigitamus carborundum.
Contents
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER
1
It was half past dawn when the phone rang. It shattered the first dream of the night into a thousand pieces so that I couldn’t even remember what the dream had been about. I woke gasping and confused, asleep just long enough to feel worse but not rested.
Nathaniel groaned beside me, mumbling, “What time is it?”
Micah’s voice came from the other side of the bed, his voice low and growling, thick with sleep. “Early.”
I tried to sit up, sandwiched between the two of them where I always slept, but I was trapped. Trapped in the sheets, one arm tangled in Nathaniel’s hair. He usually braided it for bed, but last night we’d all gotten in late, even by our standards, and we’d just fallen into bed as soon as we could manage it.
“I’m trapped,” I said, trying to extract my hand from his hair without hurting him or tangling worse. His hair was thick and fell to his ankles; there was lots of it to tangle.
“Let the machine pick up,” Micah said. He’d raised up on his elbows enough to see the clock. “We’ve had less than an hour of sleep.” His hair was a mass of tousled curls around his face and shoulders. His face was dim in the darkness of the blackout curtains.
I finally got my hand free of Nathaniel’s warm, vanilla-scented hair. I lay on my side, propped on my elbow, waiting for the machine to kick in and let us know whether it was the police for me or the Furry Coalition hotline for Micah. Nathaniel, as a stripper, didn’t get emergency calls much. Just as well; I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what a stripper emergency call would be. The only ideas I could come up with were either silly or nefarious. Ten rings, and the machine finally kicked on. Micah spoke over the sound of his own voice on the machine’s message. “Who set the machine on the second phone line to ten rings?”
“Me,” Nathaniel said. “It seemed like a better idea when I did it.”
We’d put in the second phone line because Micah was the main help for a hotline that