Read Online Anita Blake 14 - Danse macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Laurell K. Hamilton
Tags: Fantasy
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me to look at him. "Jean-Claude said you were a breath of fresh air, Anita, but such an honest breeze, I'm not sure we're up to it."
"I like it," Samuel said.
"Only because you are hopeless at deceit," Auggie said.
Samuel gave him a look. "None of us who have risen to Master of the City is without deceit, old friend."
The humor in Auggie's face softened, and faded. I realized that of almost all the other master vamps I'd ever seen, his face was the most mobile, the most expressive. Now it went suddenly blank the way all the old ones could do. "Fair enough, old friend, but you do prefer honesty."
Samuel nodded. "Aye, that I do."
"You like honesty?" I said. "Then you are going to love me."
There were abrupt laughs from at least two different corners of the room. In one of the corners was Fredo, slumping artfully, his black T-shirt a little bulky in places from all the knives he hid on his body. There were other knives out in plain sight, two huge ones on either hip like an old-time gunslinger. His dark face was set in laughing lines, his black eyes glittering out from the fall of his dark hair.
The other laugh had come from almost the opposite corner. Claudia was nearly six foot six, the tallest woman I'd ever met, and a serious weight lifter. She made the too-thin Fredo look frail. Her black hair was tied back in its usual tight ponytail. She wore no makeup, and her face was still startling in its beauty. Claudia cared less about looking like a girl than I did. But even with the weight lifting, her body was all woman. Without the extreme height and the muscles, she would have been one of those women who couldn't go anywhere without getting hit on, or at least leered at. She still got the leers, but most men were afraid of her, and they should have been. She would probably be the only other woman carrying a gun tonight. At the moment her face was soft with the laughter that was still bubbling in her throat. She had a nice laugh, deep and throaty. I wasn't sure I'd ever heard her laugh before.
"What's so funny?" I asked them both.
"Sorry, Anita," she said, voice still full of laughter.
Fredo nodded. "Yeah, sorry, but you, 'honest'? Jesus, 'honest' doesn't cover it."
Micah had to clear his throat sharply, and even Nathaniel's face was sort of glowing with the effort not to smile at me.
I fought not to get angry, and finally managed it. Bully for me. "I can lie if I have to." And even to me it sounded pouty.
"But it's not your nature," Fredo said, which was a little too perceptive for someone who was supposed to be just muscle.
"He's right," Claudia said, and she'd finally managed to control her laughter. "I apologize for the outburst."
"She is like you, Samuel," Thea said, "an honest heart."
"That would be a good thing," he said. And the way he said it made me finally look at some of the other people in his party.
My
thought about inlaws was a little too accurate with Samuel and Thea: they were offering up their three sons as possible
pommes de sang
for me. Which I found a little creepy, but all the vamps had patiently explained to me that most of the really old vamps come from a time when arranged marriages between powers was the norm, not the exception.
The twins were easy to spot, because they were identical. I knew their names: Thomas and Cristos. They had their mother's white-blond color, but the short careless curls of their father. They were both taller than their father, somewhere around five-ten like Mom. But their bodies were slender, not enough muscle development. I searched their curious faces and found them young. Very young. They had to be legal, or Jean-Claude wouldn't have agreed, but they didn't look legal. Maybe merpeople aged slower than humans.
The other son I wasn't certain of, because there were two dark-haired men standing behind the love seat. One of them met my eyes bold as brass. The other man wouldn't meet my gaze; he actually blushed, embarrassed. I was betting that was the son. Maybe
"I like it," Samuel said.
"Only because you are hopeless at deceit," Auggie said.
Samuel gave him a look. "None of us who have risen to Master of the City is without deceit, old friend."
The humor in Auggie's face softened, and faded. I realized that of almost all the other master vamps I'd ever seen, his face was the most mobile, the most expressive. Now it went suddenly blank the way all the old ones could do. "Fair enough, old friend, but you do prefer honesty."
Samuel nodded. "Aye, that I do."
"You like honesty?" I said. "Then you are going to love me."
There were abrupt laughs from at least two different corners of the room. In one of the corners was Fredo, slumping artfully, his black T-shirt a little bulky in places from all the knives he hid on his body. There were other knives out in plain sight, two huge ones on either hip like an old-time gunslinger. His dark face was set in laughing lines, his black eyes glittering out from the fall of his dark hair.
The other laugh had come from almost the opposite corner. Claudia was nearly six foot six, the tallest woman I'd ever met, and a serious weight lifter. She made the too-thin Fredo look frail. Her black hair was tied back in its usual tight ponytail. She wore no makeup, and her face was still startling in its beauty. Claudia cared less about looking like a girl than I did. But even with the weight lifting, her body was all woman. Without the extreme height and the muscles, she would have been one of those women who couldn't go anywhere without getting hit on, or at least leered at. She still got the leers, but most men were afraid of her, and they should have been. She would probably be the only other woman carrying a gun tonight. At the moment her face was soft with the laughter that was still bubbling in her throat. She had a nice laugh, deep and throaty. I wasn't sure I'd ever heard her laugh before.
"What's so funny?" I asked them both.
"Sorry, Anita," she said, voice still full of laughter.
Fredo nodded. "Yeah, sorry, but you, 'honest'? Jesus, 'honest' doesn't cover it."
Micah had to clear his throat sharply, and even Nathaniel's face was sort of glowing with the effort not to smile at me.
I fought not to get angry, and finally managed it. Bully for me. "I can lie if I have to." And even to me it sounded pouty.
"But it's not your nature," Fredo said, which was a little too perceptive for someone who was supposed to be just muscle.
"He's right," Claudia said, and she'd finally managed to control her laughter. "I apologize for the outburst."
"She is like you, Samuel," Thea said, "an honest heart."
"That would be a good thing," he said. And the way he said it made me finally look at some of the other people in his party.
My
thought about inlaws was a little too accurate with Samuel and Thea: they were offering up their three sons as possible
pommes de sang
for me. Which I found a little creepy, but all the vamps had patiently explained to me that most of the really old vamps come from a time when arranged marriages between powers was the norm, not the exception.
The twins were easy to spot, because they were identical. I knew their names: Thomas and Cristos. They had their mother's white-blond color, but the short careless curls of their father. They were both taller than their father, somewhere around five-ten like Mom. But their bodies were slender, not enough muscle development. I searched their curious faces and found them young. Very young. They had to be legal, or Jean-Claude wouldn't have agreed, but they didn't look legal. Maybe merpeople aged slower than humans.
The other son I wasn't certain of, because there were two dark-haired men standing behind the love seat. One of them met my eyes bold as brass. The other man wouldn't meet my gaze; he actually blushed, embarrassed. I was betting that was the son. Maybe
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