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Chapter 29
DOMINO CALMED DOWN enough to stand beside Rick and Ava in the big elevator It was one o only to one floor The penthouse, I was assu
"Sorry," Rick said, and sounded like he o into the private chambers with this many weapons on them"
"We can&039;t leave the weapons in the car," I said "New rules Once a warrant is in play, we have to be able to do our jobs at full capacity at any minute, and we are not allowed to leave our weapons in a place where civilians could get hold of them"
"You lie," Dorowled inside resses didn&039;t likedown to any of the males I took a step closer to him, which put Ava between us Rick put a hand back on the other man&039;s arm, just sort of automatically "Do the truth, then you aren&039;t dorowled at , like close thunder "I will not answer your call, little queen"
"I haven&039;t called you anywhere"
"You did," he said, "you called us all"
Rick put an ar smoothly into a more solid hold "You did, Ms Blake A few hed, and the anger began to fade, until the tigers inside me swatted at me froetting used to the sensation of invisible claws cutting me up, but it was almost ie I kneas metaphysical pain It hurt, but it did not bleed h medical tests to make certain of that, at one point It was just pain I could ignore it, sort of When the tigers got this bitchy, I had to pay soot worse
The elevator, which I&039;d expected to be quick but wasn&039;t, opened Two uards were there, replaceers stepped out; they were all looking at me
"I didn&039;t mean to put out the welcoize for it either" The tigers were creeping closer inside me I said what I hoped they wanted to hear "If I was queen enough to call you, then it&039;s not up to you if you answer that call"
Ava and Rick sandwiched Domino between them, as he tried to move forward "You bitch"
There was another swat insideto play basketball with my spine Fuck, it hurt
Crispin touched er eased back He wasn&039;t as doer, and Ionly in bright light, cae canines
"Please, tell er you&039;ve got"
"The black clan is nearly extinct," Ava said
I drew one of Crispin&039;s hands across my face until I could sainst the heat of hier rose closer to the surface and pushed the black one down There were other colors of tiger inside me I had a damn rainbow, ih I had learned that every tiger inside me had once existed as a real animal It had just been a few thousand years for soends now
"Maybe if we get out of the elevator and get a little more room," Edward said
"You do not order us about, hue; you don&039;t," I said, still being too up close and personal with Crispin&039;s ar someone&039;s hand, but some days you do the best you can
"The ht, let&039;s step outside" Rick&039;s voice sounded just a little strained, which hter than it looked That wasn&039;t good
"What will your friend do once we&039;re somewhere without security cameras?" I asked around the sweet smell of Crispin&039;s ar-Bibi tells him to do," Ava said
"And that would be what?" I asked
"What?" Ava asked
"What does she want him to do? Obviously he&039;s not happy about it, whatever it is"
"You," Crispin said
Ava said, "Crispin!"
I said, "What?"
"You," he repeated from behind me, "our queen wants them both to do you"
"Crispin," Ava said, and her face wasn&039;t friendly anyry
Bernardo leaned in and said, "I&039;d really rather have ht than the elevator"
I stepped out of the elevator, and everyone followed I knehy Crispin and the other marshals waited for me, ers were treating me like what Do it on purpose, I&039;d have bet on that It was all unconscious, which made it both useful and a little scary
The hallhite and creaant than the casino or the elevator I waited until everyone was standing in the cool, wide hallway
"Look, Domino, this is news to me I&039;ll make you a deal You tone it down and I&039;ll promise you won&039;t be on the er, maybe, but not sex
He frowned at me
Crispin tried to help "She means she won&039;t do you if you don&039;t want to do her"
"You can&039;t speak for anyone," Ava said
The unifor at us, with their hands on the butts of their guns They saw the badges, but they saw the guns, too, and they&039;d picked up that we ers It would be interesting to see where their loyalties would divide
Edward leaned in "Either we leave or we go with theood idea But the bodies in the ue would still be dead The head they&039;dto coer on the body in the ers, this was the place to come
"Anita," Edward said, softly
"With theo with them"
"What about their weapons?" Doun room, if we could lock up soive up our weapons," Olaf said
"Your warrant excludes us, and you don&039;t have other police with you You do not go before our queen with automatic weapons on you," Rick said, and it was matter-of-fact
"Would you let someone see your Master of the City arht about it, then shook et some privacy, and we&039;ll discuss the weapons," Edward said He&039;d glanced up at the hallway, near the ceiling His gaze had found the security caas, the cameras?
"Sure"
I put Crispin&039;s hand more firmly in my left hand He squeezed back I said to Domino, "I&039;m not into rape; if you don&039;t want me, fine I&039;m not crazy about you either"
He alrip on hiy of his beast pushed off him I braced for it to hit me like a kidney punch thrown from inches away, but it was completely different No violence, no electric rush It was like being bathed in a pool of warm, expensive perfu have a scent that hits your brain but not your nose? It was as if the "perfuress and the black paced closer to the surface, opening their rowl, so they could taste the scent on the tops of their ood
I backed up and slid my arm around Crispin His ar, then just keptall the way down side to side Touching Crispin helped clear rowled at one quiet in Rick&039;s grip Those orange-fire eyes were looking at me differently now "You sry now, more puzzled
I needed to leave It was a bad idea to get closer to any of the tigers But all that seemed at risk was my virtue; somehow that didn&039;t seeot a clue here that saved lives, would it be worth it? Hell, yes Did I want to add another ot to do what alike that In that ry that oing to fuck ain Probably literally
Chapter 30
THE ANTECHAMBER HAD white tile and white walls; it was all so pale it was al that saved it was that the white had ns in silver and gold It was like standing inside a delicate Christant for co just by breathing too hard The chairs were all those delicate, spindly-backed ones that only very small people fit into, if at all, and even if you fit, they won&039;t be co door from the hallway, and there was another set of double doors in the far wall Behind theone, was Bibiana and her inner circle Ava went to talk to Bibiana, but I think Domino went because they didn&039;t trust hiuns Rick was ada before his queen ar for us all to finish the debate He seemed peaceful with all of it, as if it didn&039;t matter to him e decided If the delicate chair was uncomfortable, it didn&039;t show He seemed more at ease than he had in the casino
"The warrant excludes the weretigers, so you can keep us out of the inner room But you can&039;t force us to disaret in," Rick said "But frankly, I thought at least one of you wouldn&039;t be aruys was supposed to be food We don&039;t arm our food"
"I&039;ve been personally threatened by a serial killer here in your town; I thought it was s food that could take care of itself"
He h, but you still don&039;t get inside with all the shit you&039;re carrying"
There were two uards by the double doors The tho had met us at the elevator were still outside in the hallway Four ar If I had a choice of guards, I&039;d have picked weretigers to guard weretigers I thought it was an interesting decision to use regular huuards like you&039;d see at any casino There were more of them than normal, but still, it was pretty ordinary for the Master Vampire of the City
"Then we&039;re at an impasse," I said "You won&039;t let us in without the weapons, and on&039;t give them up"
"Then you leave," Rick said, "sorry"
Edward said, "What if two of us strip off most of our weapons, while the other two keep the weapons and stand at this door?"