Page 35 of Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 29)

“I doubt that.”

“He thinks I’m sleeping with the enemy, and that Jean-Claude basically used vampire wiles to seduce me and that I’m not in love with him, I’m just mind-fucked or possessed, or I’ve gone completely over to the other side because he found out I’m a necromancer and that makes me as evil as a vampire.”

“He did not say that to you,” McKinnon said.

“No, he called me fucking coffin bait, fucking fur-banger, whore of Babylon, and an evil slut who betrayed my humanity to be in league with the devil.”

“Did he call you all that in front of witnesses?” Dolph asked.

“Not unless you count the vampire that he was trying to kill, and that was so long ago that the vampire was just glad to live through it all. No way was he going to testify against a vampire hunter, and back then no one would have believed him anyway.”

“How long ago was that?” McKinnon asked.

“God, eight, nine years ago now. I haven’t been invited back to Washington, DC, since then, at least not to hunt vampires.”

“You went to DC to speak in front of two committees. One on zombie rights and one on vampire rights,” Dolph said.

“Yeah, the first one went pretty well, but by the time I was invited to speak about vampires the antivampire lobby had blackened my name so that they decided not to have me speak after all.”

“You never mentioned it to me,” Dolph said.

“You were still anti-supernatural-everything back then, Dolph.”

“I’m sorry that you couldn’t come to me back then.”

“You’ve had me and all my sweeties over to your house. We’re good,” I said, and then I looked at McKinnon. “You and I are not good.”

“What can I do to make this right between us?” he asked.

“Start with taking the charm to your car, and we’ll go from there,” I said.

He just turned on his heel and went for his car. When he was out of earshot, Dolph said, “That charm isn’t just aimed at vampires, Anita.”

“It’s aimed at anyone who works with death magic.”

“I don’t think that McKinnon knew that before he brought it with him,” Dolph said.

“You know him better than I do, but if that’s true then his bosses sure as hell knew.”

“You think they sent him to test vampires out in the field, or you?”

“Both.”

“They used him to get to you,” Dolph said.

“I believe they know exactly where he is and used him like a Trojan horse.”

“Do you think that the Oversight Committee on Supernatural Affairs is trying to find a way past your defenses?”

“I think they’re either covering their bases in case I go roguesomeday, or they’re actively working on ways to take Jean-Claude and me down.”

“In case he goes rogue, or do you think that the committee that’s supposed to be working to protect the supernatural citizens of this country is planning to do just the opposite?”

“I don’t know, but you prepare for what your enemy can do, not what they will do.”

“McKinnon is headed back,” Dolph said.

I put a smile back on my face and watched McKinnon walk this way. Was he my enemy or my friend? The fact that I had to ask myself that question was answer enough. I would be friendly with McKinnon, but we weren’t friends anymore.

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