sympathize with Nilda. When we get back I will help you do anything necessary to keep her from being abused by her master, but right now she is not my priority,’ Micah said.
I studied the faces of my two men. ‘Am I wanting to help her more than you do because I’m a girl?’
‘No,’ Nathaniel said, ‘because you haven’t had as much therapy as I have. It’s all about boundaries, Anita, personal boundaries. You’ve only known Nilda for a few months. You don’t love her. You aren’t even friends. She tries to cut down all the other shapeshifters, and the humans are just beneath notice, except for you, because she can’t ignore you, but she doesn’t like you. Don’t mistake her cry for mercy for anything but self-serving. It’s all about her and her pain. We’re all like that, but we have lovers who love us and we love back in that almost-married way; we have our support in place, and she doesn’t.’
‘I don’t think she had a chance,’ I said.
‘We didn’t abuse her, Anita,’ Micah said.
‘I know that.’
‘If we don’t take care of ourselves first,’ Nathaniel said, ‘we can’t take care of anyone else.’
It was logical. He was right, so why did it feel so bad?
‘Anita,’ Micah said, and he put his hands on my arms and made me face him directly. ‘Even this delay could be the difference between me seeing my father one more time and him dying before I get there. I don’t owe Nilda that.’
I nodded; put that way, he was right. ‘I’ll call Jean-Claude and Fredo from the plane so we don’t delay anymore.’
‘Call Jake, too,’ Nathaniel said, naming one of the other wereanimals who were Harlequin.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘Jake will explain to the other Harlequin that you’ll be unhappy if Nilda or any of the other animals to call are harmed, until you get a chance to discuss it with everybody.’
‘The Harlequin respect Jean-Claude more than me,’ I said.
‘Some do, but I trust Jake to explain one important difference between you and Jean-Claude.’
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Jean-Claude wants the clout of having the Mother of All Darkness’s assassins and bodyguards work for him, so he’ll hesitate to kill them; you won’t.’
‘I’m human, Nathaniel; I can’t afford to fight any of the Harlequin. All I can do is kill them.’
‘Exactly,’ he said.
I frowned. ‘I don’t want to kill them.’
‘But you will,’ he said.
‘Let’s get the other guards on board and get in the air. No more delays,’ Micah said, and that was that – though Ethan stayed behind to help the driver keep Nilda in the car. The driver was human and we didn’t trust her not to go berserk and tear him up. Strong emotions can bring on the change; grief works almost as well as anger. Which made me worry about Micah as the plane left the ground. I’m usually most afraid on takeoff and landing, but as I held my love’s hand, I was too worried about him to worry much about me. Easiest takeoff I’d ever had.
7
It was dark when we landed in Colorado, so all I can say is Denver looks like every other city from the air, all lights like electric stars scattered across the ground. We got off the plane to two black SUVs that came with matching vampires and a white SUV that had a very human woman leaning against it. She was built small and delicate like Micah, with curly red hair trailing around her shoulders. I couldn’t see the color of her eyes from where I was standing, but I knew the shape of them, because I’d spent too much time looking into Micah’s eyes and face. There was a lot of similar bone structure, though the red hair and freckles were a surprise. I’d pictured his family as darker like him. She smiled, pushing away from the truck, in her blue jeans, blue polo shirt, and cowboy boots, which looked too beat-up and used to be a fashion statement.
Micah went to her with a huge smile on his face. He said, ‘Juliet.’
She said, ‘Mike.’
They hugged like they meant it,
I studied the faces of my two men. ‘Am I wanting to help her more than you do because I’m a girl?’
‘No,’ Nathaniel said, ‘because you haven’t had as much therapy as I have. It’s all about boundaries, Anita, personal boundaries. You’ve only known Nilda for a few months. You don’t love her. You aren’t even friends. She tries to cut down all the other shapeshifters, and the humans are just beneath notice, except for you, because she can’t ignore you, but she doesn’t like you. Don’t mistake her cry for mercy for anything but self-serving. It’s all about her and her pain. We’re all like that, but we have lovers who love us and we love back in that almost-married way; we have our support in place, and she doesn’t.’
‘I don’t think she had a chance,’ I said.
‘We didn’t abuse her, Anita,’ Micah said.
‘I know that.’
‘If we don’t take care of ourselves first,’ Nathaniel said, ‘we can’t take care of anyone else.’
It was logical. He was right, so why did it feel so bad?
‘Anita,’ Micah said, and he put his hands on my arms and made me face him directly. ‘Even this delay could be the difference between me seeing my father one more time and him dying before I get there. I don’t owe Nilda that.’
I nodded; put that way, he was right. ‘I’ll call Jean-Claude and Fredo from the plane so we don’t delay anymore.’
‘Call Jake, too,’ Nathaniel said, naming one of the other wereanimals who were Harlequin.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘Jake will explain to the other Harlequin that you’ll be unhappy if Nilda or any of the other animals to call are harmed, until you get a chance to discuss it with everybody.’
‘The Harlequin respect Jean-Claude more than me,’ I said.
‘Some do, but I trust Jake to explain one important difference between you and Jean-Claude.’
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Jean-Claude wants the clout of having the Mother of All Darkness’s assassins and bodyguards work for him, so he’ll hesitate to kill them; you won’t.’
‘I’m human, Nathaniel; I can’t afford to fight any of the Harlequin. All I can do is kill them.’
‘Exactly,’ he said.
I frowned. ‘I don’t want to kill them.’
‘But you will,’ he said.
‘Let’s get the other guards on board and get in the air. No more delays,’ Micah said, and that was that – though Ethan stayed behind to help the driver keep Nilda in the car. The driver was human and we didn’t trust her not to go berserk and tear him up. Strong emotions can bring on the change; grief works almost as well as anger. Which made me worry about Micah as the plane left the ground. I’m usually most afraid on takeoff and landing, but as I held my love’s hand, I was too worried about him to worry much about me. Easiest takeoff I’d ever had.
7
It was dark when we landed in Colorado, so all I can say is Denver looks like every other city from the air, all lights like electric stars scattered across the ground. We got off the plane to two black SUVs that came with matching vampires and a white SUV that had a very human woman leaning against it. She was built small and delicate like Micah, with curly red hair trailing around her shoulders. I couldn’t see the color of her eyes from where I was standing, but I knew the shape of them, because I’d spent too much time looking into Micah’s eyes and face. There was a lot of similar bone structure, though the red hair and freckles were a surprise. I’d pictured his family as darker like him. She smiled, pushing away from the truck, in her blue jeans, blue polo shirt, and cowboy boots, which looked too beat-up and used to be a fashion statement.
Micah went to her with a huge smile on his face. He said, ‘Juliet.’
She said, ‘Mike.’
They hugged like they meant it,
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