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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
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Chapter 16

Damien and I left Jean-Claude’s office and went to Bernardo’s room.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” I asked Damien, worried that I might have drained too much from him.

“I am well, Anita. I felt strange, but I am unharmed.” Damien smiled and held my hand in his. I felt our connection flare. It was stronger than before. We entered Bernardo’s room and found everyone gathered on the bed and floor watching the television.

“Hey Anita. Damien,” everyone chorused.

“Come watch ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ with us”, Bernardo said, his eyes never leaving the screen.

“The original?” I asked as I hopped up on the bed joining the group pile. At least everyone had his or her clothes on.

“Remake,” Nathaniel said, passing me some popcorn.

Damien crawled behind me and I laid back on him. We sat around watching the movie, yelling at the characters on the screen, trying to warn them of impending dangers. I think we threw more food at the television than we consumed.

For the moment, I felt content and happy. Don’t get me wrong. I knew that it wouldn’t last. Bad guys hiding in the shadows and all that. I just wanted to enjoy the moment, where everyone was safe and happy.

After the movie, I got up and said my goodnights to everyone before they started the next movie. I made my way to Jean-Claude’s room to take a much needed relaxing bath.

I lit the candles that Jean-Claude had placed all around the tub, while the water filled it. I undressed and climbed into the fragrant steamy water, feeling the last few hours slide away. Leaning back against the tub, I started to feel better. The last 24 hours had been very trying. I needed a vacation, away from the ones that want me dead, vampire politics, shifter politics, and crime scenes. My thoughts began shifting and fantasies of uninterrupted sleep and curling up with my vampire lovers began taking the lead. The tension I was feeling in my body eased away. I sighed. Getting up from the bath, I dressed in my favorite nightshirt and headed into the bedroom. I stopped dead at the sight before me.

Jean-Claude and Asher lay posed seductively on the bed amidst blood red silk. They both lay on their backs with the silken sheet barely caressing their hips. Their heated gazes sent my body’s temperature to boil. My breath quickened and became shallow. I felt a flush wash over my body as it instantly began to respond to the sight of my lovers.

My eyes roamed over Jean-Claude with his silky raven hair fanned out around him, framing his beautiful face. Jean-Claude’s midnight blue eyes held his love, his soft mouth the promise of endless pleasure. I looked at my golden Asher and saw the same look mirrored there. Yep! I don’t think I would survive the night.

“Ma Petite,” Jean-Claude said loudly with laughter in his voice.

Damn! I must have not been paying attention again. I have a habit of doing that around them, especially when the promise of sex weighs heavy in the air. My eyes snapped back to Jean-Claude’s amused face. “We just want to hold you this night. We know you have had a tiring day and you are in need of some comfort. We have all of eternity for other things. Tonight, we offer comfort. Come lay with us and let us hold you between us.”

I smiled at the both of them, feeling unexpectedly relieved. They knew me better than I thought. They knew I have been pushed past my comfort zone today. “Thank you,” I told them, climbing between my lovers, letting them wrap themselves around me. 'Here I felt safe and loved' was the last thought I had before sleep claimed me.

*****

I was having the most wonderful dream. Jean-Claude was kissing me gently on the lips.

“Ma petite,” Jean-Claude said, while shaking me gently. I opened my eyes to see Jean-Claude leaning over me. I stretched and smiled up at my raven lover. Jean-Claude returned my smile.

“What time is it?” I asked him.

“It is after 11. I apologize for waking you, but the Traveler wishes to speak to you.”

My senses became alert and I bolted upright on the bed, nearly colliding with Jean-Claude in the process.

“Oh God! What’s wrong now?”

“Do not panic, ma petite. He just wants to ask a favor of you.”

“Favor? What kind of favor?” I asked, senses still on high alert.

Jean-Claude just smiled and handed me the cordless phone.

“Traveler?” I asked into the phone.

“Greetings to you, as well, Anita.” I heard the smile in the Traveler’s voice. ”I have a favor to ask of you.”

Frowning, I asked, “What is it?”

“I would like for you to raise someone for me,” he said, getting to the point.

“I can’t travel right now. I have too much going on at the moment,” I explained, thinking of Elizabeth, Alexander, Caitlin, and Aita.

“I can bring him to you,” he stated.

I looked questionly at Jean-Claude, knowing he was listening to the conversation.

“He is invoking the friendship you have offered him. I do not think he truly wants anything more than what he asks,” Jean-Claude whispered through my mind.

“How old is the corpse?” I asked turning back to the phone.

“A little over 600 years old,” Traveler replied.

“I won’t promise anything, but I will try. Why do you want this corpse raised?”

“Ah, he was actually someone very special to me once. I never knew who killed him. I would like to find this out. I had yet to find an animator powerful enough to raise him. After meeting you, I had hoped that you would be able and willing to do this,” he explained.

“Like I said, I will try to raise him without a sacrifice, but I can’t guarantee anything. When did you want to do this?”

“I can be in St. Louis by this evening. After that, we can work around your schedule.”

“This evening? You were that sure I would say yes.”

“I just wanted to be prepared. I was optimistic you would say yes,” he said chuckling.

“I will let you work out all the details out with Jean-Claude.” I handed the phone to Jean-Claude as I got off the bed to dress.

*****

After dressing and arming myself, I turned to see Jason coming in the door with a tray of coffee for me. Jason smiled and started to saunter my direction. “Do I get a kiss for bringing you your coffee?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

“You can kiss a bullet, if you insist on a kiss,” I said to him, reaching for the coffee on the tray that he set down.

Jason placed both his hands over his heart and went down on his knees. “You break my heart. That is the thanks I get for bringing your coffee?”

I ignored him while I took my first sip of coffee. Jason walked out the door laughing. Jean-Claude hung up with Traveler and sat next to me.

“Traveler is bringing just a few shifters with him and will be here around ten this evening.”

“Was he surprised at you being awake at this time of day?”

“Non. He informed me that Belle is furious that the mark she placed on you was cancelled out when you took the fourth mark from me. He finds humor in the whole situation. You have done well in gaining the Traveler as an ally. It will help in dealing with whatever Belle does to retaliate.”

I carefully turned and leaned back into Jean-Claude resting my head on his chest. “See. I can make friends, sometimes,” I said sarcastically.

I felt Jean-Claude’s chest vibrate with laughter. He kissed the top of my head, “Oui, one friend for every 5 enemies you make.”

“I would hit you for that if I wasn’t afraid of spilling my coffee,” I told him, rolling my eyes.

“Why do you think I said it now?” he asked. I could hear the laughter in his voice.

Smiling, I finished my coffee, enjoying the moment of peace that we were having. The phone rang interrupting my quiet time. Damn! It never fails, this better be important.

I got up and grabbed the phone. I knew it was for me. Jean-Claude was normally asleep at this hour.

“Hello?”

“Anita? We found Elizabeth. You better get here. She’s dead.” The voice on the other end belonging to Micah. “I already called the police. They should be here soon,” Micah continued. “She was murdered. It’s bad Anita. You need to see this.”

“Where?” I asked with a sinking feeling. I got the address from Micah and told him I would be there as soon as I could. I hung up the phone and looked at Jean-Claude.

“It looks like our enemies have made themselves known, ma petite. Be careful and call if you have need of anything. Why don’t you see if Bernardo or Edward will go with you? It may be wise not to go anywhere alone right now.”

I sighed and wrapped my arms around Jean-Claude. “You’re right.” I mumbled into his chest. I leaned my head back for a kiss and Jean-Claude gently placed one on my lips. I walked out looking for Bernardo and Edward.

I stopped by Bernardo’s room and found him and the rest of the pard sitting around the room talking. They looked up as I entered.

“Elizabeth was found dead.” I told them cutting to the chase. “I want you guys to stay around the Circus until I get back.”

There were murmurs and nods around the room. I looked at Bernardo, “Are you up to going with me?” I asked him.

Bernardo had an ‘all business’ look that he gave me. He nodded and gathered up his gun, holster, and jacket. Knowing Bernardo, he probably had a few knives hidden on his body and in his hair. “Let’s get Edward.”

“He told me to tell you he will be back later. He had some contacts to meet,” Bernardo said, while holstering his gun.

We made our way out of the circus and to my jeep. On our way out to where Elizabeth’s body was, I began wondering if Edward killed her. It sounded like something he would do.

“I don’t think it was Edward,” Bernardo said, interrupting my thoughts. I glanced over at him, my hand tightened its grip on the steering wheel.

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I replied.

“Edward would want to get the bigger fish. Elizabeth is nothing compared to the other two. I would be the most likely suspect. Too bad I will never get the chance to even the score,” Bernardo said with a far off look in his eyes.

“Yeah, you’re right. I guess I wanted a piece of her as well,” I told him.

We pulled up at the address Micah gave me. The police were already there and had the area taped off. I reached for my marshall’s badge to show so I could get into the crime scene.

“Anita, I smell blood. Lots of it,” Bernardo said, frowning, while sniffing the air."

“Shit! Maybe you should sit in the car. I forgot that your control might not be good right now. Blood excites lycanthropes, especially this close to the full moon,” I explained. “Just keep an eye out for trouble. I will be back as soon as I can.”

Bernardo nodded to me as I got out of the car. Shutting the door, I headed towards the crime scene. I showed my badge to the officer guarding the scene. He nodded and let me through.

The blood was strong in the air. The metallic smell made my stomach turn over. I caught sight of Zerbrowski dialing on his cell phone.

“Can I see the body?” I asked him. Zerbrowski jumped and almost dropped his phone. He spun around and looked down at me in surprise.

“I was just calling you. You took a few years off my life sneaking up on me like that, Blake,” he said smiling at me.

“I was called telling me Elizabeth was here, dead,” I told him.

“You know the victim?”

“Yeah, she was a wereleopard. That guy over there,” pointing at Micah, who was being questioned by some officers, “was her Nimir-Raj, a leader of the leopard pard. There has been some trouble with an out of town leopard that came here, and he was looking for Elizabeth,” I explained to him, telling him a very abbreviated version.

“So why call you?”

“After he found her, he knew she was murdered by another shifter and that I would be called anyways,” I said, shrugging my shoulders, trying to act nonchalant about it.

“Didn’t I see him at your house several months ago when those shifters shot up your house?” Zebrowski asked, while leading me to the body.

“Yeah. I am friends with some of the shifters. They help me with information sometimes.” I told him, not wanting to continue this conversation. I didn’t want to explain my relationships with the shifter and vampire communities to Zebrowski. I just didn’t have that kind of time.

Zebrowski just nodded and pointed toward the group of crime lab guys that were working. “She’s over there. I’ll go and take care of your friend. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Thanks,” I told him, turning to the crime scene.

“We’ll be done in a little bit, Ms. Blake,” one of the guys said, looking in my direction.

I slowly walked up and looked down at what was left of Elizabeth. Amazingly, her face didn’t have a mark on it. It was as if they wanted to be sure I could recognize her. Her face was the only thing that was intact. The rest of her body was a mess. She was nailed down with huge silver spikes. Her arms were raised above her head with a spike going through both her hands. Her arms were flayed open with bone deep cuts. You could see bone in most of the cuts. Her chest was ripped wide open, ribs broken and spread, exposing the cavity where the heart was suppose to be. Her heart was lying beside her amongst various other internal organs. Deep claw marks decorated her lower abdomen, thighs, and all the way down to her staked feet.

I closed my eyes to block the images I was seeing, but it didn’t do any good. I still saw Elizabeth’s butchered body.

I backed away and turned toward Zerbrowski, who was coming my way with Micah in tow.

“It was another shifter. Wereleopard would be my guess,” I told him.

Zebrowski glanced over at the body and then back at me. “Nobody deserves something like that,” he said, shaking his head.

“I know,” I replied quietly. Even after everything Elizabeth put me through, I would have at least given her a quick death. “I’ll let you know what I turn up. Can Micah go now?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a number I can reach him, in case I have some more questions.”

“Come on Micah, the jeep’s over here,” I said reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. Our power played across each other’s skin.

We headed towards the jeep. “Do you need a ride?” I asked him, while searching the assortment of vehicles, not spotting his.

“Yeah, I told Merle and Noah to leave. I didn’t want too many of us involved. I knew you were on your way, and I could get a ride with you.”

“Climb in the back. We need to get the rest of the pard under the circus,” I told him.

As we drove toward my house, I updated Micah on the upcoming visit from a member of the Council and the reason. I got out when I pulled up at my house, wanting to get some items from my gun vault. Yep! More guns will help me feel better. Bernardo followed me and helped me pack some ammo, guns, and knives.

“You have quite a collection,” Bernardo said to me, smiling as he admired my weapons.

“I have Edward to thank for most of it,” I told him, meeting his grin with one of my own.

“Anita!” Micah exclaimed, coming into roomroom with a large envelope in his hand. “This was sitting on the kitchen table.”

I took the envelope from him and removed the contents. There were numerous photographs and a sealed envelope. I set the sealed envelope down and shifted through the photos. They started with pictures of the house, various pard members, the circus, and my jeep in the parking lot, and lastly, there were pictures of the various stages of Elizabeth’s torture and murder.

I passed the photos to Micah and Bernardo, picked up the envelope, and opened it. There was a letter written in elegant script:

To my future human servant, Anita Blake:

You cannot hide from me. I will come for you and make you mine. I know you do not belong to Jean-Claude all the way. He does not deserve you. I will accept your thanks for taking care of your betrayer.

Alexander

The nerve of this vampire! Thank him? I will thank him all right, with a few well-placed silver bullets! I stuffed the letter back into the envelope, gathered all the photos, and shoved everything back into the larger envelope. I gathered my bag of weapons and carried everything back to my jeep. Bernardo and Micah silently followed me. I jumped into the driver’s side and rolled down the window when Micah walked up to it.

“I will have everyone at the circus by this evening. Don’t worry, we will be fine,” Micah reassured me.

“I hope so.” I gave him a half smile and headed back toward The Circus of the Damned. That’s how I was feeling right about now….damned. Hopefully the Traveler didn't put anything more on my dance card, because it was full.

*****

We pulled up at the circus and headed down to Jean-Claude’s rooms. Jean-Claude walked over to me, pulled me into his arms, and laid his cheek on top of my head. I dropped the bag and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“I felt your fear and anger through the marks. What else has happened?”

I gave Jean-Claude one last squeeze, stepped back, and handed him the large envelope. Jean-Claude sat on the sofa and looked at the contents.

“Do you think it was Caitlin that did this to Elizabeth?” he asked. “We know it wasn’t an unknown vampire. There were none in our territory last night.” He said looking at the photos.

“That was my first thought,” I told him.

Jean-Claude’s eyes began skimming the letter. Fury exploded on his face while he read. He quickly stood up and began to pace.

“He dares to think that he deserves you more than I?” he said angrily. “I, who loves you, stood by you, and have gone through hell to win you! He will have a big surprise coming to him if he thinks we will let him just take whatever or whomever he wants!” Jean-Claude said turning back towards us.

His eyes were solid blue fire. Looks like I might need to call Damien to calm *him* down. I know I couldn’t do it. I was just as pissed as he was. Oh boy. I normally count on Jean-Claude to keep his cool, while I lose my temper. This looks like a prelude of things to come. Days like these make me glad I love guns.

TBC
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All That I Am