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

“Do you know what effects it has on normal psychics?” I asked.

“There was no impact on normal human psychics.”

“It just impacts vampires?” I asked.

“We had one voodoo practitioner that had issues with it, but since he can raise the dead like you do, we discounted it.”

I stared at him. Dolph asked for me like he’d read my mind. “Why discount that?”

“I’m not at liberty to share that information.”

“Jesus, McKinnon, is this a charm aimed at people who deal with death magic?”

“We were looking for something that would work against all undead,” he said, as if that was as much as he was allowed to share.

“I used to think you were smart, McKinnon,” I said.

“She’s a necromancer, Pete.”

“I realize that now, I mean I knew that before, but I don’t think of Blake like that. She’s one of us, not one of...” He just stopped talking as Dolph and I stared at him. Whatever he saw in our faces made him look at the floor again like he’d been called on the carpet.

“Not one of them? Was that what you were going to say?” I asked, voice quiet because I couldn’t decide if I was angry or just massively disappointed.

“I’m sorry, Blake, I came here to help, not hurt.”

“I’m going to call my people now, but when I’m done I want to see this charm.”

“I don’t think you touching it is a good idea after what just happened,” McKinnon said.

“I agree, that’s why I said see it, not touch it.” I started to make the call, then debated on if I wanted to do it in front of McKinnon or Dolph, but especially McKinnon. If he was telling the truth and I thought he was, he’d have tapes or whatever with the conversation on it later, but that would just be voices. If he watched me make the call he’d have body language, facial expressions, and just personal observation to put with the words.

“Let’s give the room back to the rest of the crime scene crew. I’ll call from down the hallway.”

They agreed that giving the room back to everyone was a good idea, so Dolph opened the door and everyone who had been cooling their heels in the hallway came back inside and I went out. Though as I exited, I said, “I want to finish our talk before you leave here, McKinnon.”

“I’ll be here when you’re ready,” he said.

I wanted to sayYou better be, but out loud I just said, “Good.” McKinnon had helped us with his warning; he was on our side sort of, I didn’t need to threaten him. I just really wanted to because I was pissed at him about the charm. I had some ideas about what the magic in it was, but it was more important to let everyone know the security risk than to play tough guy with McKinnon. Besides, my ego was secure, so I didn’t have to play.

6

I DEBATED ON WHOMto call but finally called Claudia. She was head of the overall security for us, but she was hands-on in charge of security at the Circus of the Damned where Jean-Claude lived and daytime-slept most of the time. It was the most secure location we had, but it was also the biggest target, because too many people knew it was Jean-Claude’s daytime lair. You can’t keep a secret hideout hidden if anyone but you knows about it, and a lot more than just Jean-Claude and I knew about the rooms under the Circus.

I found a relatively empty piece of hotel hallway and hit her number in my favorites. Claudia was fast becoming the best female friend I had who wasn’t also a girlfriend.

“Anita, how’s the best man fitting going?” Her voice was half laughing, because there was a betting pool among the guards who knew Edward. Money on him hating it and refusing to wear it, hating and wearing it for me, loving the clothes (not the safe bet), and hating them and wearing them anyway and looking good in them. That last was where I’d put my money.

“I’m just glad we didn’t choose orange and black like some people thought, as if marrying a vampire has to be Halloween themed,” I said.Orangewas the code word for communications, and me saying it in a sentence that meant nothing, really, meant that I believedthe communications might be compromised. It wasn’t just my code word; if anyone else had called me and usedorangein a sentence it would have meant the same thing. If it had been someone talking about groceries or ordering orange chicken from a Chinese restaurant they would have used the wordorangetwice to let me know it wasn’t accidental.

Claudia’s voice was a lot less happy when she said, “Someone even suggested purple and orange, remember?”Purplewas code for physical safety, her way of asking if it was just communications or was our safety compromised, too.

“I remember, but so not happening. If you know Jean-Claude you know it has to be black and white. I thought it would look like a damn zebra crossing, but it’s actually looking awesome.”Zebrawas code forSafety is fucked, too.

“Awesome is good, glad you talked Jean-Claude out of you both in gold at the altar,” she said.Goldwas code for her asking if someone was in immediate danger.

A couple of uniformed officers trailed past me with a glance; there was more than one reason to use codes. More and more people, mostly police, were clustering around the murder room. I eased farther down the hallway away from it all as I answered Claudia. “No way on the gold, we’d have looked like shiny Christmas ornaments under the lights.”Christmaswas code forI’m okay currently,ornot under duress and I don’t need rescuing. I even managed a chuckle about the thought of us all shiny for the wedding.

“Thanks for not making me be in the wedding; I’d have towered over everyone else like a giraffe.” The last word was the important part; she was asking if the danger was immediate somewhere else, as in did I know where the attack was coming or was it happening like now? How high was the threat level? Was it giraffe high?

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