Page 27 of Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 29)

“Strip them of what powers, exactly?” I asked.

McKinnon blinked at me like the question was hard. “Mind powers.”

“More specific,” I said.

“How specific?”

“No single spell or charm or whatever the fuck it is could cover every vampire power possible.”

“We know it won’t help with super strength or hearing or anything physical,” he said.

“I’m not even counting the physical stuff, so let me ask you one more time. What kind of powers is that damn thing you’re wearing supposed to strip away from a vampire?”

“Mind powers, like bespelling us with their eyes.”

“I damn near fell into Jean-Claude’s eyes just now like a newbie, so that didn’t work.”

“Sorry about that, and I did not mean to throw a monkey wrench in the wedding plans.”

“Thanks for telling the truth,” I said.

“If you’d canceled the wedding and lost the chance to make up with your dad, I’d never be able to look myself in the mirror again, Blake.”

“Good to know,” I said.

“What other vampire powers is the spell supposed to stop?” Dolph asked.

“The witches said...”

“Don’t throw the witches under the bus, McKinnon; you’re the one who tricked me into contacting Jean-Claude via mind like he and I were your guinea pigs when you just admitted you don’t understand the magic in the damn charm. This is on you.”

“Okay, okay, you’re right.”

Dolph said, “So what else is the charm supposed to do?”

“Vampire gaze protection, strip a vampire of its special power abilities.”

“What does that last part mean?” Dolph asked.

“Some vampires can cause panic in a crowd, or lust, or some secondary emotion, or even plant thoughts in a person’s head,” McKinnon said.

“Like a vampire telling a cop to shoot another cop and protect the vampire,” Dolph said.

“Yes.”

“We’ve all seen that happen,” Dolph said.

I nodded. We had.

“So why did it make Jean-Claude’s hold on Anita stronger?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why did it make me less able to fight off vampire powers?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but I’d say this is a spectacular failure of a field test,” McKinnon said.

“Ya think?” I said, glaring at him.

---