Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #29)(75)

Wicked said.

I stared at my soonish-to-be husband. “Jesus, Jean-Claude, are they . . . seriously, recently?”

He looked down, blinking those thick black lashes coyly, which meant Yes, and recently. “Kane is dangerous, Jean-Claude; you cannot be alone with him.”

“I have no interest in being alone with Kane; Asher is always there.”

“You know that Asher can’t control him.”

“Do you think I could not protect myself from Kane?”

“You could, but you’re terrified of accidentally killing Asher by hurting Kane, just like I am.”

Nathaniel gripped his shoulder. “Please, promise us that you won’t be alone with just the two of them again.”

Jean-Claude wouldn’t look at either of us.

“Damn it, Jean-Claude,” I said.

“And that is why we had a meeting about such things,” Wicked said.

“That was about Kane and Asher; I did not agree with such treatment for the Ulfric,” Jake said.

“You were outvoted,” Wicked said.

“Putting me on the list with Asher for emotional damage is absolutely fair, but not Kane. He is unstable and dangerous.”

“You have your moments, Ulfric,” Wicked said.

“I don’t think I deserve to be put in the same category as Kane, but I guess I have to prove that to everyone.”

“We need to be able to trust you, Ulfric,” Truth said.

“But until we can, all of the security will intrude more,” Wicked finished.

“Fine, but what does that have to do with you refusing to move your arm so that I can put my arm around Anita’s shoulders?”

“It means you have to prove yourself to get access to her.”

“You didn’t stop him from having sex with us tonight,” I said.

“There were no other options, now there are,” Wicked said.

“Are you volunteering?” Richard asked, and there was a tone in his voice that was almost threatening. He’d never seen Wicked practice with the other guards; I had. I did not want our recently returned Ulfric to get his ass kicked this soon.

“Stop it, both of you. I get to say who I sleep with, or feed on, and arguing about it like I’m a prize that goes to the victor is not winning points with me.”

“That’s not how I meant it,” Richard said.

“It is not me winning you, Anita, it is making it clear that the Ulfric does not have a clear path to you or Jean-Claude without a trusted bodyguard in the room, until he proves he is trustworthy.”

“I did not agree to this,” Jean-Claude said.

“It is my duty to protect you, my king.”

“Our duty,” Truth said from the front.

“Yes, our duty,” Wicked added, “and if that means protecting you from yourself then so be it.”

The tiredness washed over me so that all I wanted to do was sleep. I was usually pretty good at going without rest, so it had to be the amount of energy I’d fed Jean-Claude tonight.

“Enough. I need food. Like just regular food until I can feed the ardeur again.”

“Did you guys put the snacks into all the security vehicles like I suggested?” Nathaniel asked.

Truth just handed something back to Jake, who handed it to me. It was a protein bar. “There’s a cooler in the back, Richard should be able to reach it.”

He could and did, getting a Powerade for both of us, then asking if anyone else wanted one.

Nathaniel took one. Richard also took a protein bar. “I’m not as drained as you are, but I still should probably shift to wolf tonight and eat more protein than just the bar.”

I fought to keep my face and body neutral, because the last time I’d been around Richard he had hated changing into his wolf. I’d seen him refuse to shift when he was so injured that it was life threatening. To mention it so casually was shocking, a huge step forward, but still such a big change . . . I wasn’t sure how to react, so I stared at the seat back in front of me and concentrated on the protein bar.

“I’m sorry that just me talking about changing form to help regain energy is such a shock to you.”

“I didn’t say a word.”

“Your pulse rate did.”

“I’m glad you’re making peace with your wolf, Richard, truly, but let’s hear what Jake has to say about the vampire that attacked us tonight.”

“If he had not chosen to name himself after one of the followers of Ares I might not have guessed, but his arrogance in his heritage made him choose something familiar,” Jake said.

“Deimos, the dread before battle, was a clue?” I asked.

“Yes, for he was the son of Ares, not merely part of his followers.”

“Ares, as in the Greek god of war?” I asked.

“The very same,” Jake said.

“The Greek gods are just myths, they aren’t real,” Richard said.

“They were very real once, Ulfric.”

“Why once?” I asked.

“Why did the Christian God stop making bushes burn and sending angels down in all their terror to destroy entire cities?”

“That was Old Testament,” Richard said.

“Then think something like that for the Greek and Roman gods,” Jake said.