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All That I Am	By : kitten7315 Category: Anita Blake > Het Views: 5396 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Anita Blake series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
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Chapter 12

I watched Jean-Claude and Asher’s faces while they talked about this vampire, Alexander. Those two normally regressed into French when they were upset or trying to keep something from me. This time I was willing to bet that it was the former. I ran my fingers through my hair slightly tugging at it in frustration. All of this anger was starting to push me past my breaking point. I needed to shoot something! That would make me feel better- for a moment. Too bad there wasn’t anyone in the room I could justify shooting!

What did I ever do to this vampire? Why does he want me dead? One after another questions rapidly fired through my brain. Well, if this Alexander wants a fight, then dammit, I, Anita Blake, Executioner, Necromancer, Master of the City’s Human Servant, Nimir-Ra of the Blood Drinkers Pard, Lupa & Bolverick of the Thronos Rokke Pack will give him one!

My gaze went around the room and stopped at Edward. He was sitting in a chair with its back to the wall, at the far side of the room. Outwardly he was deceptively calm and nonchalant. I knew better. He was watching everyone in the room very closely as if deciding how many he could kill before they got too close. His gaze met mine; he stared at me intently as if he could force me to give up “playing” with my monsters.

I smirked and rolled my eyes at him. Edward smiled ever so slightly, it was barely noticeable, and shook his head. “You also have an assassin coming for you,” Edward stated.

Shit! There must have been a “Let’s Kill Anita Blake” convention gathering everyone I had pissed off and all the survivors of the ones I killed together to plan my demise! Did Edward take the contract? I knew he always wanted to see who was better but….

With faster than the normal preternatural speed, I was beside Edward with my Browning drawn and pressed to his temple, before anyone could even think about blinking. I think I might have actually surprised Death, himself!

“I have never seen anyone, vampire or shifter, move that fast. What the hell happened to you, Anita?” Edward asked turning slightly towards me. I realized then that Edward barely had time to put his hand near his Barretta, it was still hovering cautiously near the butt of his gun.

I glanced around because the silence that engulfed the room was deafening. Jean-Claude and Asher were looking at me with surprise. It looked as though they just stopped mid-sentence, because their mouths were gapping slightly open. The whole room was just staring at me in amazement.

“What?” I yelled, annoyed at being stared at like a circus freak. Granted, I know we are at ‘The Circus of the Damned’, but I was not the star attraction!

Damien was the first to speak, “We,” he gestured in the direction of the group “did not ‘see’ you move, not even a blur. One second you were in one place and in the next second you were in another.”

“Shit! I thought I would gain a little more speed, but not that much!” I told them. I might have an advantage against the vampires and shifters, for once. Now if I can just figure out how I did it. I looked at Jean-Claude with a questioning glance.

“We will explore this further when we have more time, ma petite,” Jean-Claude said with a heavily accented voice. A very smug look, like a proud parent watching their child live up to their potential, was on his face. “If Monsieur de la Mort would kindly explain this new development to us…,” he said glancing in Edward’s direction.

“You can put your gun away, Anita, I didn’t take the contract. You know why I am here,” Edward said. His blue eyes had an arctic chill in them. They had never left my face. I guess he felt that I was the biggest threat right now. I lowered my gun and slowly backed away from him. I felt Damien come up behind me, slowly sending me tendrils of his power to make me aware it was him. He drew me back onto the sofa I was sitting on and cradled me in his arms trying to calm me. I guess he was afraid I would shoot Edward because he was the bearer of bad news. With his touch I felt my anger begin to melt away. Now maybe I could think a little more clearly.

Edward elaborated, “I had been gathering information about Bernardo’s attack, when it lead me to find out about this contract. It was issued 5 days ago and then, the next day, it was changed from ‘eliminate’ to ‘capture’. All I knew at the time was that a woman named Caitlin put out the hit. After a little more digging I found that out that this Caitlin was working with that vampire, Alexander, and he was the one that changed the contract for you to be captured. He doesn’t seem to care what state you are in just as long as it isn’t life threatening. I couldn’t find out anything about this vampire, but it looks like it is a fairly large group mixed with various lycanthropes and vampires. Around 30 total, if my sources are correct.” Leave it to Edward to not give it to me sugar coated.

“That is why I am here,” Rafael said. “I pretty much found out the same thing, but the reason why I wanted Richard here was because I found out that this vampire can call several animals, like the Master of Beasts can. The shifters that are traveling with this Alexander are wolves, rats, bears, and leopards. I already notified the werebears so they can be on alert.” Rafael took a deep breath. I think he was remembering what happened when he met Padma from the Council. Even I had to shudder at the thought.

“We will get through this. All of us!” I told him passionately. I will not let anyone hurt my friends. Rafael the Rat King and the other wererats were among those I called friends. Hell, I have had wererat bodyguards. Some have even died fighting by my side.

Rafael smiled at me, “I know Anita. You are a loyal and true friend. That is why I will be by your side in this, not just because it might effect the wererats.” An understanding passed between us. Rafael has always been a good friend and always offered what help he could. You didn’t get any better than that!

“Who is this Alexander, Jean-Claude? He sounds like he is from the Master of Beast’s line,” I asked. Everyone’s focus turned to Jean-Claude, looking for insight on this unknown factor.

“Oui, he is from that line. There is not much known about him. It is rumored that he is Etruscan. Alexander is not his original name. He seems to not want anyone knowing who he was. Those who know cannot say for they are dead. His exact age is also unknown, but if he is Etruscan then he is over 2500 years old.”

“Shit! What the hell did I do to him? He wasn’t Fernando’s lover or something was he?” I asked Jean-Claude. My anger and fear levels began increasing again despite Damien’s effort to soothe them. Damn!

“Non. When the Council decreed that all necromancers be slain on sight, he did not agree with them on this. It was rumored that he tried to take a necromancer as a human servant, but ended up killing her instead. He never got along with any of the council and always ignored them and they him. I have not heard about him in a long time. He has always kept to himself.”

Asher picked up the story. “I have had some contact with him. Alexander spent some time at court doing some sort of research in the Archives. You would hear the most horrible screams come from his rooms every night. There were over 50 deaths of a variety of shifters in the course of the year he was there. Their bodies would be horribly mutilated. You could barely recognize it as a human body when he was through with it. To this day you can smell death in those rooms.” Asher said with a disgusted look on his face.

“No one knows why the council ignores him and lets him get away with what he does. He was challenged to a duel, while he was at court. He fought a very powerful master vampire, one said to be powerful enough to take a council seat. The duel lasted 10 minutes. Alexander walked away with not a hair out of place. The other vampire looked as though someone had turned him inside out. The other vampire was split open from neck to groin, the skin, muscle, and ribs pulled away from the torso cavity. His organs looked like they were just separated from him and carelessly tossed away. His heart was the only organ crushed.”

Just from Asher’s description of the duel, I felt nauseated. I looked around the room and found similar looks upon almost everyone’s face. The look of disgust and fear. I looked at Edward. He just had a questioning look.

“How does he do it?” Edward asked, looking at Jean-Claude and Asher.

“I think it maybe one of his hidden powers. One that he does not show often. That vampire must have done something to make him extremely angry.” Asher said.

Edward shook his head. “It’s a good thing I brought a lot of my latest toys with me,” he said. His eyes were bright with anticipation on using his ‘toys’.

“Do not underestimate Alexander, Monsieur de la Mort. Many have and they did not live to tell about it,” Jean-Claude cautioned.

“I am always careful.” Edward simply stated. “I am still checking around to see who might have taken the contract, so I can track them.” Edward turned towards me, “It will be like the last time, we will have to kill the one that is paying for the contract or they will keep coming. If I at least find out who it is, we should be able to keep tabs on them and eliminate them when the timing is right.”

“Anita, I am thinking Alexander wants you captured because you are a necromancer. That is the only likely explanation on why it was changed from you being killed to just captured,” stated Bernardo.

I looked over at Bernardo. If it weren’t for him I would not even have this advanced warning. I hope he finds a home here. We could do with the help. I know he will come in handy in a fight. I have first hand experience on how well he can handle himself.

“I have a sinking feeling you might be right,” I told him. Directing my next question to the three vampires, “Have any of you spent any time with him?” I knew for a fact that while they were in court it was common for their masters to give them over to someone for torture, as punishment, sometimes even just for fun.

I watched the look of horror float across their faces at that statement. All three shook their heads no.

“I think Valentina might have spent time with him, or she might know something more. She has spent more time in court than I,” Asher said thoughtfully.

I glanced over at Gregory at the mention of Valentina’s name and watched as he shuddered. Valentina is one eerie vampire. A several centuries old vampire stuck in a body of a child for the rest of her undead life. I shivered at the thought of asking Valentina anything. I have managed to avoid her and Bartolome since they have stayed here in St. Louis to pay their debt to Gregory and Stephen.

“Now that we know who and how many we are up against, we can all be on guard for anything suspious. We all need to check in with each other with any new information so we can all be on the same page,” I said addressing the group. “With most of the pieces of this puzzle on the board we now know what we should be looking for. This Alexander and Caitlin will regret ever coming into our territory and threatening us.”

With that said, the group began to break up and filter out of the room. “I need the pard to stay for a moment. We have some business to discuss.” I said. Time to introduce the newest member to my Nimir-Raj. This should be fun!

“I’m going to my jeep and grab my bag to show you the new toys I brought with me. Let me know when you finish up with them,” Edward told me while heading out of the room.

“Damien will go with you,” I told him. I knew Jean-Claude didn’t want Death roaming his halls unescorted. Damien looked at me and dipped his head in acknowledgement and followed Edward out.

“Call if you should need me, ma petite,” Jean-Claude told me before he and Asher exited the room.

Micah sat down next to me. “Can you forgive me for keeping this from you?” he asked. He seemed hesitant, pensive right now.

“I understand why you did it, Micah. I just thought, even if you didn’t tell all of us, you could have at least told me. You should have known after what happened with Chimera that I would help you guys.” I told him, still slightly annoyed that he kept something like this from me.

“I guess I was afraid you would want us to go if I told you about Caitlin. You had enough to deal with without adding this to it. I was wrong. I promise that it won’t happen again.”

“It better not!” I muttered at him. I sighed. Back to the business at hand.

“Micah, this is Bernardo,” I told Micah. I gave him the short version of what happened in Santa Fe and how Bernardo most likely will be a wereleopard. “I want him to join the pard. Nathaniel, Zane, Gregory, Vivian, and Cherry have already began bonding with him. They would like to have him join us, as well.” The group smiled and murmured their agreement with what I said.

“I should have a say in this Anita, I am your Nimir-Raj.” Micah said to me with a slight growl.

“I know that, but up until a little while ago, we weren’t too sure whether or not we completely trusted you and your pard.” I told him looking him in the eyes. I didn’t have to growl to get my point across. My eyes did it for me.

“I am still hoping for the day when it becomes 'our pard' and not ‘your pard’ and ‘my pard’,” Micah said with a sad smile on his face.

“It’s just going to take time,” I told him. Truthfully, I couldn’t wait for that day to come myself. But it will happen a lot sooner now that everything (well hopefully everything) was out in the open between us.

Micah nodded in agreement. “I will talk to the rest of the pard and tell them what’s going on, then we will all get together and figure out what to do about Elizabeth.”

“I’m going to kill her,” I simply stated.

Micah winced at how I said it. He has known me long enough to know that I just say what I have to say, people’s feeling be damned.

Micah turned his attention to Bernardo. Through most of the conversation he just sat back and observed. He became instantly alert when Micah’s gaze focused on him.

“What’s going on now?” he asked me. “I feel strange all of a sudden. I feel as though something is trying to push into me.”

Oh goody! It’s who’s more dominate time. I quickly explained to Bernardo what was happening and he nodded as if he understood what was about to happen.

“Just relax, I am going to awaken your beast,” Micah told him.

The pard parted moving furniture against the wall to give the two males room to maneuver around each other.

I felt Micah’s beast rise up and move rapidly toward Bernardo. I watched as Bernardo struggled for control. For someone human, it is sometimes hard for them when they feel something metaphysical for the first time. Bernardo adjusted quickly and let his beast rise up and meet Micah’s. Bernardo’s beast seemed to be reluctant, but it answered his Nimir-Raj’s call. I have to hand it to Bernardo, he learns fast. I watched as Bernardo’s trembling form fought to gain control back. A deep growl escaped Bernardo’s lips. Micah answered his growl with one of his own. Bernardo fell to his knees, his hair fell down curtaining his face. His breathing was labored with exertion.

Micah’s beast eased back into his body.“He has a strong beast. He will make a good alpha,” Micah said smiling down at Bernardo.

“That was amazing,” Bernardo said with wonder. He looked up at us, his eyes had gone a beautiful leopard silver.

Bernardo was struggling to regain control of his now awakened beast. I knew it was too close to the full moon and too new for him to be able to control it, so I immediately sent my beast to his to help soothe it. This was not the time and place for him to shift for the first time. Bernardo’s eyes bled back to normal and he shakily got up and sat down in a chair taking deep breaths.

Bernardo noticed the other leopards for the first time. Micah did not force Bernardo to shift, but his power had caused some of the other leopards to shift. He looked at Nathaniel with surprise. “Will I look like him after I shift for the first time?” he asked, turning to me.

“Something similar, we will know in a few days,” I told him. I watched Nathaniel crawl low on his belly to Bernardo. Bernardo reached down and placed his hand on Nathaniel’s head giving him a pat. Nathaniel purred loudly, before moving to Micah's side.

Micah got up and opened the door, the pard filed out of the room. Micah turned back to us. “I will go tell the rest what’s going on. Do you want us to come back here tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah, tomorrow is good. Enough shit has happened today. Have everyone on the look out for Elizabeth. If they find her, bring her here. I am pretty sure Jean-Claude has some place I can hold her until we can all get together. Can you tell Edward to come in when you leave?” Micah nodded, before following the leopards out of the room.

Edward bringing toys has always put me in a good mood. I know they are going to be deadly. Life is good.
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All That I Am