Page 69 of Rafael (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 28)

“I asked her to,” Claudia said.

That wasn’t strictly true, but it wasn’t strictly untrue either. The older I get, the more I realize that lies and truths aren’t black and white, but so dependent on how you look at them, or how you hear them.

“And why did you ask her to use that spell on someone as harmless as Rosa?” Neva said.

“Because Anita and I are both tired of her having to prove herself every few minutes; she needed something frightening enough to stop the challenges.”

Neva looked at the wererats around us who had seen what I’d done. “Then you have accomplished your goal, just as the wererats who saw Anita tear Antonio’s arm off will not lightly attack her in the future.”

It took me a second to realize that she meant Tony. “I’m really tired of having to prove myself tonight.”

Neva looked at me and I sort of wished I’d kept my mouth shut. “Did Rafael not explain what would happen?”

“I was told no silver in the warehouse outside the fighting pit.”

“It is not typical to pull a silver blade outside of a duel,” she said.

“And he didn’t mention anything about fighting other women to just sit down beside him.”

“Rafael has never been a good judge of women, not even as a child.”

I knew that Rafael was over fifty, so how old did that make Neva to have known him as a little boy? I wanted to ask, but vampires consider it rude if you ask them, so I figured all long-lived supernaturals would feel the same.

“He could simply come to you and escort you safely to your seat,” she said, and she looked past me at Rafael. It was the look your parents give you as a child when you’re out of reach, but they want you to be more polite and better behaved than you are being.

Rafael got up and started walking down the steps toward us. I could finally see all of him in his fightgear. He looked taller, leaner, and even more fiercely in shape than I knew he was wearing just the black compression shorts. They came down almost to his knees and there were no slits for movement in them like Hector had had, but they were more form-fitting. He looked sexy and fierce and I didn’t care. I wanted to go home to the men waiting for me. I’d killed a man for no good damn reason.

Claudia moved aside so that Rafael could stand above me and Pierette, who had moved down a step to be between me and the trio of witches, or brujas, or whatever they wanted to call themselves.

“You killed tonight to defend your life, that is a very good reason,” he said.

“You read my mind,” I said.

“Yes.”

“You were very subtle about it; I didn’t know you were inside my head.”

“I do not want to cause you pain as I did earlier with Nathaniel.”

“Thanks.” I realized he’d probably heard me think I wanted to go home and be with the men I was in love with, because if I was going to kill people, it should be for people that I actually loved. I blinked at him anddidn’t try to apologize; it was the truth, and if I couldn’t keep Rafael from “hearing” my thoughts, then truth was all that was left between us tonight.

“May I take your hand?” he asked, no editorializing about how I didn’t love him. Smart man.

“Sure, thanks for asking first.”

“Underneath the shock you are angry with me. I do not want to presume anything with you right now.”

The anger fountained up and then back down behind the numbness of the shock. “You can feel what I’m feeling and most of what I’m thinking.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t feel anything from you, except caution. I didn’t even think that was an emotion, but for you, it is.”

He took my hand carefully in his and raised it up so that he could lay a kiss across my knuckles. “I am so sorry that your introduction to our world has been one of pain and death.”

“Yeah, we will be talking about the wholeno they won’t try to kill you tonightthing.”

“I heard that Tony used a silver blade on you.”

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