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Authors: Laurell K. Hamilton
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possible, and second there was nothing wrong with what we were doing. It was just a little far for modern American affection outside a club or party atmosphere. “We are searching for the perfect wedding bands; surely that is early enough, Irene.”
“But you have been dating for six years, isn’t it, my lord?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Something like that,” I said. It had been more off-again, on-again than most of the vampire community seemed to think, and definitely more than the human media did. I’d been a legal vampire executioner when Jean-Claude and I first met, and he’d been a vampire, so romance hadn’t been the first thought on either of our minds. I’d believed that all vampires were just walking corpses, and that killing them had been ridding the world of monsters. Then I’d met a few vampires who seemed nicer than the people I was dealing with, and I began to wonder just who the monsters were. Dominga Salvador had been one of the human beings who helped convince me that evil could have a heartbeat. Now, we had someone who was doing the most evil thing the Señora had imagined. She was dead, I knew that, I’d killed her, but if the animator talking offscreen had been female I might have wondered if someone had raised her from the grave and gotten some secrets. Of course, since I’d technically murdered her, self-defense or not, her zombie should have tried to come after me first. Murder victims crawl from the grave with only one thing on their minds—vengeance. They will tear through anyone in their way in an attempt to hunt down and kill their murderer. It was the reason you couldn’t just raise the victim of a homicide and ask them who killed them. It had been tried and the death count was always higher than just the one murder they’d been trying to solve.
Jean-Claude stroked his hand down my arm. “You are suddenly very somber,
ma petite
.”
“Sorry, work was . . . hard today.”
I felt his energy stroke at the side of my thoughts, almost the way his hand had touched my arm. I tightened my shielding down just a little more, and he didn’t press. The images from the zombie videos were not what I wanted to share with him as we talked about wedding rings. I was pretty sure it would be a mood killer.
“I do not understand why you do a job that steals the light from your face, Anita,” Irene said.
I looked at her, and there must have been something in the look, because she gave a small bow. “I meant no offense.”
“As long as you weren’t going to join the vampires who think I should give up my job once I marry Jean-Claude, no offense taken.”
Irene rose from her bow laughing. “I would never say that; I have had the same job for a very long time and I still find new things to learn. Why, the new technologies and metals are a constant amazement to me.”
I smiled at her. “Sorry that I jumped to conclusions.”
“Anyone who has asked you to give up your job is probably a vampire who hasn’t led a very productive afterlife. I find that the vampires who have no business or occupation grow bored, and bored immortals find ways to amuse themselves that are most unpleasant.” She shivered a little, and her face lost some of its eager glow.
Jean-Claude hugged me where his one arm lay around my waist. “Do you think that boredom is the cause of evil among vampires?”
“Forever is a very long time to do nothing, my lord.”
He smiled and nodded. “Yes, yes it is.”
“If I may be so bold, my lord.”
“You may,” he said, though I wasn’t sure what she was asking, exactly.
“Many think that one of the reasons you are so reasonable and just is that you have been running businesses for hundreds of years. The fact that you perform at some of your clubs is another example of how you occupy yourself in a positive manner.”
“Some of the older vampires see it as unseemly that their king is a performer.”
“I have heard the gossip, but those who say it are
“But you have been dating for six years, isn’t it, my lord?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Something like that,” I said. It had been more off-again, on-again than most of the vampire community seemed to think, and definitely more than the human media did. I’d been a legal vampire executioner when Jean-Claude and I first met, and he’d been a vampire, so romance hadn’t been the first thought on either of our minds. I’d believed that all vampires were just walking corpses, and that killing them had been ridding the world of monsters. Then I’d met a few vampires who seemed nicer than the people I was dealing with, and I began to wonder just who the monsters were. Dominga Salvador had been one of the human beings who helped convince me that evil could have a heartbeat. Now, we had someone who was doing the most evil thing the Señora had imagined. She was dead, I knew that, I’d killed her, but if the animator talking offscreen had been female I might have wondered if someone had raised her from the grave and gotten some secrets. Of course, since I’d technically murdered her, self-defense or not, her zombie should have tried to come after me first. Murder victims crawl from the grave with only one thing on their minds—vengeance. They will tear through anyone in their way in an attempt to hunt down and kill their murderer. It was the reason you couldn’t just raise the victim of a homicide and ask them who killed them. It had been tried and the death count was always higher than just the one murder they’d been trying to solve.
Jean-Claude stroked his hand down my arm. “You are suddenly very somber,
ma petite
.”
“Sorry, work was . . . hard today.”
I felt his energy stroke at the side of my thoughts, almost the way his hand had touched my arm. I tightened my shielding down just a little more, and he didn’t press. The images from the zombie videos were not what I wanted to share with him as we talked about wedding rings. I was pretty sure it would be a mood killer.
“I do not understand why you do a job that steals the light from your face, Anita,” Irene said.
I looked at her, and there must have been something in the look, because she gave a small bow. “I meant no offense.”
“As long as you weren’t going to join the vampires who think I should give up my job once I marry Jean-Claude, no offense taken.”
Irene rose from her bow laughing. “I would never say that; I have had the same job for a very long time and I still find new things to learn. Why, the new technologies and metals are a constant amazement to me.”
I smiled at her. “Sorry that I jumped to conclusions.”
“Anyone who has asked you to give up your job is probably a vampire who hasn’t led a very productive afterlife. I find that the vampires who have no business or occupation grow bored, and bored immortals find ways to amuse themselves that are most unpleasant.” She shivered a little, and her face lost some of its eager glow.
Jean-Claude hugged me where his one arm lay around my waist. “Do you think that boredom is the cause of evil among vampires?”
“Forever is a very long time to do nothing, my lord.”
He smiled and nodded. “Yes, yes it is.”
“If I may be so bold, my lord.”
“You may,” he said, though I wasn’t sure what she was asking, exactly.
“Many think that one of the reasons you are so reasonable and just is that you have been running businesses for hundreds of years. The fact that you perform at some of your clubs is another example of how you occupy yourself in a positive manner.”
“Some of the older vampires see it as unseemly that their king is a performer.”
“I have heard the gossip, but those who say it are
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