Angel's Pawn Part 3

"Why the h.e.l.l does everyone ask me that?" Janvier said without heat before bestowing a dazzling smile on the enforcer. "Won't you introduce me?"

Laughing, the leader of the Fox kiss turned to the female vampire by his side. "Perida, this is Janvier. Don't trust a word that comes out of his mouth."

Ashwini decided it was time to make her move.

"A pleasure, darlin'." Lifting the woman's delicate hand to his mouth, Janvier went to kiss it.

Ashwini put her own hand on his shoulder, squeezed. "I wouldn't."

"Cher." Janvier released a surprised Perida with a languid shrug. "So possessive you are." Playful words, an intimate joke.

Ashwini looked up in time to catch Callan's eye. One glance and she knew he'd taken in her clothing, her stance, the scars on her fingers, just above her pulse. So it didn't surprise her when he said, "Hunter."

"Vampire." She leaned into Janvier, let him put his arm around her waist. The touch seared her, made her hunger for more. "We ready to go?"

Janvier played his part to perfection, sending her a charming smile. "Callan is an old friend, cherie." A quick squeeze, a cajoling smile. "Surely we can dally a little while? A drink, Callan?"

The Fox leader nodded. "Figures you'd hook up with a woman who might one day hunt you down like a rabid dog."

"Already tried," Ashwini said, deciding Callan would likely have that information within the hour in any case. "Three times."

Callan raised an eyebrow as Perida attempted to hide her surprise. "And will there be a fourth?"

"Depends on how badly he p.i.s.ses me off." Sticking out her hand, she offered it to Perida. "Ashwini."

The other woman shook it, her hold firm, her eyes narrowed. "We don't a.s.sociate with hunters."

"And I don't sleep with vampires."

That made Callan grin, and it was so open, so honest, Ashwini could almost believe he was the good ol' farm boy he seemed. "Let's sit," he said, ordering wine from the bar.

Ashwini offered Perida a fry as they sat down, knowing vampires could taste and digest a small amount of solid food. "It's good."

The vampire took it. "Mmm. Almost makes me wish I was mortal."

"Almost," Callan said, his eyes lingering on Ashwini's scars.

It was, she thought, a very deliberate reminder that he could survive almost anything she did to him, while she'd die a very final death. But that warning was clearly only on the periphery of Callan's mind-it was Janvier he was interested in.

"You still friends with Antoine?" he asked after taking a sip of his wine, the question as casual as casual could be.

"Oui, I'm friends with everyone." Janvier pressed a kiss to Ashwini's cheek. "But this one, she doesn't like ... what is her name?"

"Simone." Ashwini ate several fries in a row instead of illuminating.

Perida picked up the bait. "Why?"

"Have you seen her?" Ashwini snorted. "Thinks the sun shines out of her a.s.s."

Perida's suspicious expression turned into one of pure dislike. "She's a b.i.t.c.h, especially for being so pathetically weak. She makes like she's got power. Bulls.h.i.t."

Ashwini raised an eyebrow. "I thought she was on her third century. Can't be that much of a lightweight."

"Age is relative." Perida shook her head. "Only thing keeping that smug smile on her face is the fact she's got Antoine on a leash."

"Antoine likes hard women," Janvier said, an amused cast to his voice. "Remember that one he was with when we were at court together, Cal?"

"That countess with six dead husbands." Callan shook his head. "You'd think with age would come wisdom."

"Instead, mon ami's got himself in trouble from what I hear."

Callan put down his winegla.s.s. "Oh?"

"Games, Cal?" Janvier raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "You know of Antoine's difficulties-word is, you've got yourself a kiss."

"You know a lot for someone who's pa.s.sing through." Cool words, guarded eyes.

Janvier shrugged. "Keeps me alive. I'm staying clear of Antoine this visit-I don't want Nazarach's attention."

The leader of the Fox kiss picked up his gla.s.s again. "Where are you staying?"

Ashwini answered for both of them. "We're not. He promised me we'd be out of here tonight."

Janvier leaned in close, murmuring just loud enough that the others would hear. "Come, sugar, one night? I will make it up to you."

Ashwini scowled, let him murmur more promises before nodding with obvious reluctance. "One night."

"So," Janvier said, turning back to Callan, "can you put us up, old friend?"

"We were never friends," Callan replied. "But ... we could be."

Ashwini found herself relegated to the guest bedroom in Callan's fortress of a mansion on the outskirts of Atlanta, while the Fox leader took Janvier aside for a "cigar." Knowing she was under surveillance, Ashwini locked herself in the bathroom, checked that it wasn't wired, then tried to figure out if she could make her way through the old-fashioned air vent. It would be a tight fit, she thought, but she could do it.

"No time like the present." Stripping down to a tank top and boxer shorts, she turned on the shower, and used the cover of noise to unscrew the plate and get herself into the shaft. There was barely enough wiggle room that she could move. Good thing she didn't have hips to speak of.

Keeping a mental map in her head, she began to crawl through dust and piles of small, round, hard things that she preferred not to think about. Thank G.o.d she'd had all her inoculations. The first room she came to was empty; the second full of the murmurs of men and women grabbing something to eat. The third she almost bypa.s.sed because it was so quiet, but something made her stop, take a second look.

The woman in front of the vanity was utterly and absolutely lovely. Hair that was stunningly close to true gold, eyes of electric blue, full lips and skin so smooth and flawless, it was almost translucent against the white satin of her thigh-length robe. And she'd only been a vampire a year.

What would Monique Beaumont look like after a century of vampirism?

Ashwini's lips pursed in a silent whistle. Given that it took decades for most vampires to reach Monique's level of physical perfection, the woman might just put the angels to shame. But right now, as she brushed her hair, it was a very human smile that flirted with those lush red lips. Nothing about her screamed "captive."

That fit with what Nazarach had said about Callan treating her well until Antoine was out of the equation. As if the thought had conjured him up, the door opened to reveal the vampire in question, his blunt masculinity at odds with the sky blue and cream decor of what was clearly a woman's boudoir.

"Callie," Monique said, her tone husky with reproach. "It's getting tedious to be confined to this room."

Locking the door behind himself, Callan leaned back against it, arms crossed, as Monique shifted around on her stool-to display the sleek length of one slender thigh. The gesture was s.e.xual, but it was the look in the woman's eyes that interested Ashwini. Predatory ... but also, aroused?

Feeling like a voyeur, she continued to watch as Monique ran her hand down her thigh. "Has my father agreed to your ransom?"

Callan's eyes locked on Monique's fingers as she touched herself with slow, hypnotic strokes. "I haven't asked for a ransom."

Monique pouted, all s.e.x and a sweet, dark hunger. "Are you planning to kill me, Callie?"

Chapter V.

"You're not that good, Monique, so stop with the seduction act." Hard words, but his voice had dropped, his face tight with strain.

Getting up off the stool, the beautiful vampire crossed the thick cream-colored carpet. "Liar. I'm very good. I had Jean for a mentor." Putting her hands flat on Callan's wide chest, she rose on tiptoe. "And you're quite luscious."

Callan held her back with a hand fisted in golden hair that screamed Monique's immortality. "Try leading me around by the c.o.c.k, Monique, and you'll find your hand hacked off."

Monique's lips seem to grow even fuller at the threat, her nipples beading against the satin. "Take me." She rubbed herself sensually against him. "It'll be the best choice you ever make."

"I'm fully capable of having s.e.x with you," Callan whispered against her throat, "then burning you to true death."

"I'd be more useful to you alive." Trembling visibly, Monique ran her hands up to cup Callan's face. "I hate Simone. She takes Grandfather's attention away from me."

"Are you saying you'll betray Antoine to get at Simone?"

"I'm saying we could work out a mutual agreement." Her nails were perfect ovals against Callan's skin. "You get rid of Simone for me, become my consort and my grandfather's right-hand man. The old transitioning to the new."

Callan's jaw hardened. "Sorry, sweetheart, I'm not playing second fiddle to anyone-least of all a vicious brat who'd sell out her own family."

Ashwini saw the flash of surprise in Monique's eyes the instant before Callan kissed her. Hearing the other woman moan in the back of her throat, Ashwini decided she'd seen more than enough to form a conclusion, though what that conclusion might be, she had no idea. Two wrong turns later, she found herself back in her bathroom. Jumping out of the vent, she replaced the cover, then got into the shower and scrubbed herself until her skin stung.

When she walked out into the bedroom, dressed in jeans and a tee, she wasn't surprised to see Perida waiting for her. "We got worried when you didn't answer the door," the vampire said.

Ashwini held out a hand, palm up. "Ear plugs. Hate getting water in my ears." Rubbing at her hair with a towel, she looked at the woman questioningly. "Where's Janvier?"

"Walking in the gardens."

Ashwini threw the towel over a chair. "I think I might join him." She felt Perida's eyes on her all the way to the roses where she'd spied Janvier. "You won't believe what I saw," she said, wondering if Monique and Callan were even now locked in that embrace powered by equal amounts of l.u.s.t, ambition, and loathing.

"Try me."

She did, had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen. "Think Callan still intends to go through with his plan of wiping out Antoine then getting rid of Monique?" she asked.

"If he wants to seize power in Atlanta," Janvier said with the icy pragmatism of an almost-immortal, "he'll have to eliminate Jean, Frederic, and the others, too."

Ashwini thought of the ruthlessness she'd seen in Callan's expression as he spoke to the Beaumont vampire. "He's capable of it. But, no matter what he says, he's also susceptible to Monique."

"There's a chance Monique won't want to be rescued," Janvier pointed out, "not if she thinks she can get Callan round to her way of thinking."

"Doesn't matter. Nazarach wants her." And not even the most ambitious young vampire would dare gainsay their sire. Angels had torture down to a fine art-and those screams locked in the walls of his home told her Nazarach was better at it than most. "You'd think," she murmured, "that Monique would've had better sense than to ask to be Made after seeing the life Antoine and Jean lead."

"There are advantages to being a vampire." Janvier stopped to pick up and bring the trailing edge of a climbing rose to her nose.

The scent was decadent, luxurious. "Maybe," she said, taking another perfume-laced breath, "but once Nazarach has Monique back, he'll use her as he might use a chess piece. And she has to let him. For a hundred years, she'll have no freedom, no self-will. She'll be less than a pet."

Dropping the rose, Janvier thrust his hands into his pockets. "You've never asked how I was Made." His voice was missing its usual music, something brittle and hard in every syllable.

"You fell in love with a vampire."

He froze. "Been researching me?" His anger was hidden but as apparent as the sickle-shaped moon in the soft summer sky.

"Didn't have to." She shrugged. "Man like you, your personality, doesn't easily accept submission. But if you decided to give yourself to someone, you'd do anything for that person-even if the choice half killed you."

"I'm so obvious?"

"No." She met his eyes, stripped away a single fragile layer of her own shields. "You're like me."

"Ah." That beautiful hair of his glittered under the moonlight as he began to walk again. "Have you ever trusted that deeply, cherie?"

Yes, and she bore the scars still. The marks on her back she could almost forget ... but the ones on her soul? Those, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forgive. "We're not talking about me. What happened to your lover?"

"Shamiya became tired of me after a few years. I was left to the most tender mercies of Neha."

"The Queen of Poisons?"

A slow nod. "Being in her court was ... part nightmare, part ecstasy. I've never experienced such pain as I did at Neha's hands, but she also showed me pleasure I didn't know could exist."

Ashwini thought of the archangel, with her skin of dusky brown, her sloe-eyed gaze, her exotic s.e.xuality. "Is that why you're drawn to me?" She was no beauty, but her skin was the same Eastern shade, her eyes as dark. "Because she imprinted on you somehow?"

Janvier laughed and it was a truly delighted sound, one she'd heard from him only once or twice-usually when he bested her on a hunt. "Neha," he said, "is as cold as the snakes she keeps as pets. You, my fierce hunter, are wildfire. Two more different women could not exist."

The cold feeling in her stomach dissipated under the heat of his laughter. "So, what did you learn before Callan went to play tonsil hockey with Ms. Beaumont?"

"He asked me to stay on, join the Fox kiss." His body brushed hers as they walked.

She wanted to get even closer, touch, be touched. Feel human. "I thought he'd know you aren't the joining type."

"I will fight for what's important," he said, his voice missing its usual amus.e.m.e.nt. "But this-petty politics-non."

"Is that what you told Callan?"

"Of course. Anything else would've made him suspicious." He nodded left and, seeing the lily pond in the distance, she acquiesced. "But now he accepts that I will not take sides."

"Too bad he forgot the biggest player."