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Silver Chains	By : outlawblue Category: Anita Blake > General Views: 3137 -:- 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
- 1-Silver Chains
- 2-A plan is born
- 3-Strategies
- 4-Chapter 4
- 5-a new threat
- 6-chpter 6
- 7-Chapter 7
- 8-chp8
- 9-Chapter 9
- 10-chp 10
- 11-11
- 12-chapter 12
- 13-13
- 14-chp 14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-final chapter
- 13
- 14
- 15
Jean-Claude and Asher entered Richard’s house by the kitchen door and followed Jamil through the neat comfortable looking rooms to Richard’s bedroom. For both vampires this was a first, but one look at the man lying almost lifelessly on the bed with some of his wolves and Shang-Da by him, told them they could not have delayed this visit any longer. They could smell Richard’s raw skin which would not heal quickly even if he did shape shift again and the foul smell of putrid flesh from the knife wound. Richard was quite simply dying of his wounds, internal and external.

“Why have you not called the doctor?” Jean-Claude asked when Shang-Da rose from his chair and offered it to the vampire.

“He did not want it,” the werewolf answered. “I can not force him to get help if he does not want it.”

“But I can,” Jean-Claude said and took the chair, his hand seeking Richard’s hand on the bed. The werewolf was burning up with fever. And the touch told Jean-Claude even more; Richard had given up. He did not want to live. The wolves curled around him, one of them truly in wolf form, rose from the bed and moved away as Jean-Claude moved to sit beside their Ulfric. Looking up at Shang-Da, Jean-Claude said, “Go call Dr. Lillian. Tell her this is an emergency. Richard is dying.”

Richard moved, his listless eyes blinded by tears that would not stop. He knew Jean-Claude was there and tried to pull away from him, but the vampire would not permit it, not now. “I have not come here to hurt you,” Jean-Claude said and sent gentle thoughts into the werewolf’s troubled mind. Ever so carefully he drew the werewolf’s upper body into his lap, his hand running over the copper golden hair that was starting to sweep past his shoulders. He felt the werewolf whimper softly in pain.

Asher also wanted to comfort the werewolf and sat at the foot of the bed so he could brush his legs. Richard’s muscles tense with fear, and at any other time the vampire would have been insulted, but the werewolf had suffered a lot at the hands of Niley and Kiskil-lilla. He had to be shown that he could trust someone not of his pack to touch him without hurting him. Richard was watching him, waiting for the pain to come, for the rape to begin. “I will not hurt you,” Asher promised and kept stroking his leg, slowly and gently, not moving above his knee. Werewolves like most lycanthropes craved the touch of their pack. It was reassuring to them, comforting, but Richard’s wolves could not touch him enough to take the deep pain away, the pain of his broken heart and soul.

Jean-Claude stroked Richard’s head, his fingers sliding through the thick cool hair. Funny how Richard’s hair was cool while his body burned violently. Keeping his thoughts gentle and calming, he felt some of the tension leave Richard’s body, but every time Asher moved the least little bit, Richard tensed again. He had their memories, and with his own horrors so fresh in his mind, he was having trouble differentiating one from the other.

“Asher, mon ami,” Jean-Claude said carefully so as not to upset his friend, “go get Anita. Tell her this may be her last chance to say good-bye to our Richard.” Jean-Claude was going to do everything in his power to make sure Richard did not die, but Asher didn’t need to tell that to Anita.

Asher frowned as he stood up. “Do you really want me to tell her that?” he asked suspiciously. “Perhaps I should just return to the Circus.”

Jean-Claude raised his hand to stop him. “Mon ami, the wolf is dying. You and I have already died. When he goes it will be permanent. Perhaps then we can discuss our Richard’s homophobia.”

Asher frowned even harder and inclined his head instead. “I do not want the wolf to die. I just think it is wrong making me leave. He will associate me with what happened to him.”

“Non,” Jean-Claude replied patiently, “but Richard must be of a sane mind to understand you are no threat to him. Does this look sane?” And he moved his hand from Richard’s hair. Richard’s eyes were closed, his face twisted in misery; he was moving as if every breath was nothing but a hot knife slicing through him. “Go get Anita. If you do not want to give her my exact words, that is your choice, but I fear I speak the truth. He is willing himself to let go, and I do not believe anything I can say or do will prevent it. He hurts too much.”

“It hurts me he flinches so,” Asher said sadly. “Richard, I would never hurt you,” he repeated and wondered what it would take for the werewolf to believe him.

“Go,” Jean-Claude said as gently as he could and went back to stroking Richard’s hair. For so long they had been rivals for Anita’s affection, and for awhile there Jean-Claude had actually believed Richard would be the winner, but that was not what had happened after all. Anita had abandoned them both to be the leopard queen, Nimir-Ra to Micah’s Nimir-Raj. Of course, that was because of the ardeur, but for he and Richard it was the beginning of the end. Their rivalry was over.

He smoothed the thick hair away from Richard’s face and sighed deeply. Richard’s eyes were closed and his breathing was evening out. Merciful sleep, courtesy of a little vampire magic, was settling over him.

Anita had an appointment at 9:30 and was surprised when Cherry knocked on her bedroom door and told her Asher was downstairs. Giving Micah and Nathaniel a puzzled look, she finished adjusting her shoulder holster and then went to see what the vampire wanted.

“Asher,” she greeted. “What’s wrong?”

“Jean-Claude sent me to get you,” the vampire replied, a cold look in his eye as he glanced from Micah to Nathaniel.

“Is he all right?” she asked and wondered why he hadn’t just opened the marks between them instead of sending Asher to get her.

“Richard is dying,” Asher stated with even less compassion than Jean-Claude had used. “He is trying to keep the werewolf calm while he dies.”

Anita blinked in surprise. Surely Asher was over reacting! When she hadn’t felt Richard that day, she had just assumed he was sleeping or shielding himself to keep her from feeling his pain. Silver metal burns were uncomfortable for all lycanthropes, but Richard was strong; he would heal.

“This is not possible,” she growled at Asher. Opening her mind to Jean-Claude, she called to him.

“Oui, ma petite?” he answered distantly as if speaking down a long dark tunnel.

“What’s wrong with Richard?” she asked aloud so her pard, now gathered in the kitchen with her, could hear her part of the conversation.

“Did Asher not tell you?” Jean-Claude replied. “Mon loup is not well. If you wish to say good-bye to him, I suggest you come now.”

“Richard is not dying,” Anita stated firmly. “Richard just needs to talk to his therapist. I knew he’d be upset, but there’s nothing I can do…..” Jean-Claude disappeared from her thoughts. “Jean-Claude?” she asked impatiently. “Jean-Claude, don’t do this!” Asher was shaking his head as he turned to leave. “Asher,” she said and stopped him. “What is going on? Tell me the truth.”

Asher turned back, a hard smile on his face. “Jean-Claude sent me to get you,” he answered softly a touch of evil in his voice, “because Richard thought I might hurt him. His body is an open sore and where Niley stabbed him it is not good. We have called for the doctor, but the last I saw him, Jean-Claude was sitting on Richard’s bed holding his head in his lap.” Moving closer, a hard glint in his eyes, Asher added, “I love you Anita, but right now I do not like you very much. Have a nice evening.” He opened the door and left.

Anita looked at Micah and frowned. Richard was not dying. Richard could not die. “I need to go over there,” she decided. “Nathaniel, cancel my appointments.”

“Do you want me to come along?” the wereleopard asked anxiously.

“No, stay here,” she said as Micah retrieved the keys and tossed them to her.

Asher returned to Jean-Claude as Dr. Lillian, Rafael, rodere of the Dark Crown Clan, and Richard’s friend Louis Fane, pulled up in the driveway in her car. Well, at least the rats cared about the Ulfric, he thought sardonically. They all entered the house together.

Dr. Lillian didn’t have to be told where Richard’s bedroom was; she simply followed her nose. “Silver poisoning,” she said and frowned at Richard’s two enforcers. “When were you going to call me? After he died?” she growled.

“Our Ulfric did not want help,” Shang-Da replied, his words coming out low and dark.

“Growl at me and I’ll make you leave,” Lillian warned him as Jean-Claude made room for her and helped turn Richard so she could check his eyes. Naturally it was hard for her to not notice the silver burns on his body or the festering at his shoulder. Weres did not get infections like normal humans, and their healing was phenomenal, but this was something she had never seen before. A silver weapon had made the injury, but the infection, where did that come from?

“What did this?” she asked and as she slipped on a pair of surgical gloves. Using her fingers to probe the wound, she waited for someone to answer.

“We never recovered the weapon,” Jamil answered and then turned away, trying to keep his gag reflex under control as something thick and yellow oozed from the wound. Even Jean-Claude had to cover his mouth and nose as the stench of rotting flesh assailed his nostrils.

“What is that?” he asked anxiously and quickly dug a perfumed handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose with it.

“It smells of death,” Asher said, his eyes widening in dismay. “Niley’s dagger came from Hell itself.” Meeting Jean-Claude’s anguished gaze, he added, “We can not save him, mon ami. We just can’t.”
- 13
- 14
- 15
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Silver Chains