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Beta'd by VL. A million thanks, my love!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Anitaverse. If I did, the next book would be very, very short.
Sitting behind his desk, the man watched through darkest eyes as his guest was shown in.
“Mr. Forrester.”
Edward searched the room with his other senses while he allowed his eyes to memorize the face of his client. He was surprised for the first time in more years than he could remember when he realized that this man was no stranger.
His client was none other than Rafael, the Rat King. The strong stamp of a Mexican heritage combined with the polished businessman persona gave the man an air of true nobility.
“Rafael, we meet again,” Edward quipped, amusing himself with dime store novel dialogue. “What can I do for you?”
“I admire a man that comes straight to the point. Unfortunately, the job I have for you is…somewhat distressing for me, and quite possibly for you as well. It concerns a mutual friend.”
“Anita. Is there some trouble in St. Louis? Has the council come back to town?” Edward asked, pulse racing a bit in excitement at the thought of going against the Vampire Council.
“No, Mr. Forrester. It is much more, and yet much less than that. When is the last time you saw Ms. Blake in our lovely city?”
“She came to help me last year, and the last time I was here was….I believe it has been close to two years now. Why? What does that have to do with the task you have for me?”
Sadness crept into Rafael’s eyes as he said, “Go see her. Watch her from a distance and then come back to me. We will complete our transaction at that time.”
Edward knew when to ask questions and when to leave it the hell alone. He was more likely to get his questions answered fully if he did as his client asked.
~*~
Two days later, Edward felt as if his entire foundation had crumbled underneath him. In a daze of shock and confusion he returned to Rafael’s office, wanting answers. Needing answers.
Time seemed to pass in a blur until suddenly he found himself seated across from Rafael, a cup of ice cold water dangling from his nerveless fingers. Shaking his head to clear it–it wouldn’t do for a world-renowned assassin to lose his composure–Edward collected his thoughts and asked the one question he hoped Rafael had the answer to.
“Why?”
Rafael steepled his fingers against his mouth, organizing his thoughts for this explanation. “It began when she came back from New Mexico. She had inherited too many powers for a human to contain. She was Nimir-Ra without being a wereleopard, Lupa without being a werewolf, and succubus without being a vampire. Have you ever heard the term ‘arduer’?” At Edwards nod, he continued, “The arduer is actually the easiest of her new powers to control, but apparently she decided to allow it to overwhelm her. Instead of feeding it in other ways, such as taking care of herself by eating and sleeping regularly, she decided to feed it in the least effective way possible. By having sex.
“I have kept my rats from her bed, but it is only a matter of time before she catches one of them unaware. She is incapable of control at this point. The arduer has eaten everything about her that I once respected and knew. She is now simply a bitch in heat, and as any rabid animal, she must be put down. That is why I called you.”
Edward swallowed the bile that formed at this story. Knowing there was no other option, he nodded his head, accepting the contract.
“I have my secretary standing by, ready to wire the money into your account. You will need to give her the account numbers so that the transaction can be completed as soon as possible once the kill is confirmed.”
Edward shook his head. “No. I am not doing this for money. I am doing this for my friend. She would have done the same for me. I am delivering her from the fate I know she would never have chosen. I told her once that she was the only person I trusted with my death, and I know she felt the same. It is the least I can do. It will be taken care of.”
Rafael stood and offered Edward his hand. “Mr. Forrester, you are a man of rare character. I hope to never need your services again, but should you need mine, I stand ready with my people to come to your aid.”
“Thank you, Rafael. You are a true leader for your rodere. I am grateful to you for calling me in this matter.”
“The gratitude is mine. Go with God, Mr. Forrester. Until we meet as enemies, let us remain friends.”
Edward nodded and left the office. Plans needed to be made. After today, chaos would reign in the preternatural community of St. Louis.
~*~
Edward waited until an hour after dawn to set his plan in motion. It was a simple plan, as only the most effective are. He called Anita from his cell phone, hoping to catch her between bouts of sex.
After the fifth ring, a breathless voice gasped, “Yes?”
“Anita,” he said, knowing she would recognize his voice.
“Edward!” she squealed. Then, dropping her voice to a seductive register, “What are you doing in town?”
A frisson of disgust ran down his spine, but he kept his voice even as he said, “I need to meet with you and Jean Claude. As soon as possible. There has been another contract offered on your life.”
“What?? Someone wants to kill me? How is that possible? Oh, never mind. I bet it’s Ronnie. She’s so jealous of me and my…” Anita trailed off, obviously deciding he didn’t need to know everything about her life.
Edward clenched his teeth, but did not reply, his silence encouraging her to hurry to a conclusion.
“Well, I suppose you could come over here now and we can talk about it. I’m at the Circus, in the living quarters. Call me when you get here and I’ll have someone buzz you in.”
“Then have them buzz. I’m here.” With that, he snapped his phone shut and waited for the door to open.
After few minutes, the door opened to show a thoroughly fucked looking Nathaniel, the weak leopard Edward had seen once before. The auburn-haired young man smiled satedly and raked an appraising eye over Edward’s form. “You’ve come to see Anita?” he asked softly, allowing his lavender eyes to fill with lusty promise.
Edward allowed the promise of death to fill his eyes at the presumption of the little twit in front of him. “Yes,” he bit out and brushed past the other man, nose twitching at the disgustingly sweet aroma wafting off him.
“Where is she?” he asked harshly, and followed Nathaniel into the underbelly of the Circus, placing time delay explosives every fifth stair. He would have to be quick, because he was only leaving himself fifteen minutes to find Anita and take her out. Everyone else would fall when she did, or so he’d been assured.
He couldn’t believe how stupid Nathaniel was. He hadn’t checked him for weapons and apparently wasn’t using his ‘super hearing’ to detect anything out of the ordinary.
As they finally leveled off at the bottom of the stairs, Nathaniel led him to the third room on the right and opened the door, ushering him into a…bedroom? He shuddered as the implication of why she would want to meet him in a bedroom reared its ugly head.
Anita slinked through a doorway at the back of the room. Looking past her he saw what looked to be a bathroom. “Edward,” she purred, allowing her eyes to caress every inch of him.
He curled his lip at the thing his friend had become. “Anita.”
“Come to save me again?” she asked with a tinkly little laugh.
“But of course,” he allowed, deciding not to tell her he was saving her from herself. “Where is Jean Claude, is he sleeping still?”
“Yes, he is. Sad really, because there’s something I want to talk to you about but I like to have his permission first.”
“Let me guess. You want me to help you feed the arduer?”
Anita blinked, surprised. Then her face flooded with pleasure as she decided that if he knew it would save her the time it took to explain and they could just get straight to the sex. “Of course. I know we’ve never before been attracted to each other, but now… Well, now I know things I didn’t know before. I was hoping you would take me, Edward. Be rough with me.”
“Fuck you while you’re tight?”
A blazing smile lit her face. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. Come to me, Edward. Lose yourself in my arms and when Jean Claude wakes up, we’ll talk about all this nasty mess with assassins.”
The sound of the door opening had them both turning. Jean Claude stood there, framed magnificently in the doorway. “Ma petite. I felt your need and it woke me from my slumber. Monsieur Forrester, how delightful that you could join us.”
“He has come because I wished him to, Jean Claude. Isn’t it lovely that my wishing powers are still working?”
Edward felt his eyebrow hit his hairline at this inane remark from the formerly snarky necromancer. The situation was worse than he’d realized. He put a seductive sway in his hips as he approached the Master of the City. As an assassin, he’d often had to play a role, and he never hesitated.
“Anita wanted to ask you if she could use me to feed the arduer. Or,” he held back a grimace as he looked at Anita and trailed a hand over Jean Claude’s hair, “did you want both of us?”
As he distracted them both with promises of sex, Edward allowed his hand to trail down Jean Claude’s back, hesitating where he knew the heart was. A flick of his wrist brought an exploding dart to his hand. It was an invention of his own. All he had to do was slap it into the skin above the heart and the dart propelled itself into the vampire where it would immediately explode into flames, saving him the trouble of burning the body.
It was now or never. He clapped the walking corpse on the back, pushing him onto the bed. Anita, thinking he was simply being sexually rough with Jean Claude, didn’t notice anything amiss until a searing pain shot through her. The question of the marks dragging them all to the grave was answered as she felt the link open between her and Richard, his pain nearly overwhelming her own.
As flames rose behind Anita from the screaming corpse on the bed, she began to tear at her hair and face, raking her nails over all the skin she could reach. “Why, Edward? Why have you done this?!”
Looking into Anita’s blood-shot, sex-crazed eyes, Edward hardened his resolve and laid the barrel of his gun against her forehead, squeezing the trigger. “Anita, even you should know that Death stalks us all.”
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