Read Online Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton - Free Book Online Page A

inch, a burn hurts worse than any other injury.
    Jean-Claude stood in front of me. The cross glowed a white-hot light, no flames, but then he wasn’t touching it. I looked up to find him shielding his eyes with his arm.
    â€œPut it away, ma petite . No one else will harm you tonight, I promise you that.”
    â€œWhy don’t you just back off and let me decide what I’m going to do?”
    He sighed. “I was childish to let it get so far out of hand, Anita. Forgive me for my foolishness.” It was hard to take the apology seriously while he cowered behind his arm, not daring to look at my glowing cross. But it was an apology. From Jean-Claude, that was a lot.
    I picked the cross up by its chain. I had broken the clasp getting it off. I’d need a new chain before it could go around my neck again. I picked my sweater up in my other hand. There was a melted hole bigger than my fist in it. Right over the chest area. The sweater was ruined.No help there. Where do you hide a glowing cross when you aren’t wearing a shirt?
    The man in the bed handed my leather jacket to me. I met his eyes and saw in them concern, a little fear. His brown eyes were very close to me, and very human. It was comforting, and I wasn’t even sure why.
    The shoulder holster was flopping down around my waist like suspenders. I shrugged back into the straps. They felt strange next to my bare skin.
    The man handed me my gun, butt first. The black shapeshifter stood on the other side of the bed, still naked, glaring at us. I didn’t care how he’d gotten my gun from her. I was just glad to have it back.
    With the Browning in its holster, I felt safer, though I’d never tried wearing a shoulder holster over bare skin. I suspected it was going to chafe. Oh, well, nothing’s perfect.
    The man held out a handful of Kleenex to me. The red sheets had slid down, exposing a long nude line of his body to about mid-thigh. The sheet was perilously close to falling off him all together. “Your arm,” he said.
    I stared down at my right arm. It was still bleeding a little. It hurt so much less than the burn, I had forgotten about it.
    I took the Kleenex and wondered what he was doing here. Had he been having sex with the naked woman, the shapeshifter? I hadn’t seen her in the bed. Had she been hiding under it?
    I cleaned up my arm as best I could; didn’t want to bleed too heavily on the leather jacket. I slipped the jacket on, and put the still-glowing cross in my left pocket. Once it was hidden, the glow would stop. The only reason Yasmeen and I had gotten in trouble was that the sweater had a loose weave and her top had left a lot of bare flesh. Vampire flesh touching a blessed cross was always volatile.
    Jean-Claude stared down at me, now that the cross was safely hidden. “I am sorry, ma petite . I did not mean to frighten you tonight.” He held one hand down towards me. The skin was paler than the white lace that covered it.
    I ignored his outstretched hand and used the bed to help me stand.
    He lowered his hand slowly. His dark blue eyes were very still, looking at me. “It never works as I want it to with you, Anita Blake. Why is that?”
    â€œMaybe you should take the hint, and leave me alone.”
    He smiled, a bare movement of lips. “I’m afraid it is too late for that.”
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?”
    The door swung open, banging against the wall and bouncing back. A man stood in the doorway, eyes wide, sweat running down his face. “Jean-Claude . . . the snake.” He seemed to be having trouble breathing, as if he had run all the way up the stairs.
    â€œWhat about the snake?” Jean-Claude asked.
    The man swallowed, his breathing slowing. “It’s gone crazy.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    The man shook his head. “I don’t know. It attacked Shahar, its trainer. She’s dead.”
    â€œIs it in the