guys telling me?â
He hit his turn signal and waited for a pickup truck to go past, then turned left between yet more trees. âItâll take longer to get to the cabins.â
âJamil, what is going on?â
Cherry tried her best to sink into the seat, but when youâre model tall and in the middle, itâs hard to play invisible. That one body movement told me she knew, too. That they both knew something I didnât.
I looked at her. âCherry, tell me whatâs going on.â
She sighed and sat up a little straighter. âIf anything happens to you, Jean-Claudeâs going to kill us.â
I frowned at her. âI donât understand.â
âJean-Claude couldnât come here himself,â Jamil said. âIt would be seen as an act of war. But heâs worried about you. He told us all that if we let you get killed, and he survives your death, heâll kill us, all of us.â He watched the road as he talked, turning onto a gravel road that was so narrow that trees brushed the sides of the van.
âDefine all,â I said.
âAll of us,â Jamil said. âWeâre your bodyguards.â
âI thought you were Richardâs bodyguard?â I said.
âAnd youâre his lupa, his mate.â
âIf youâre a real bodyguard, you canât guard two people. You can only guard one at a time.â
âWhy?â Cherry asked.
I looked at Jamil. He didnât answer, so I did.
âBecause you canât take a bullet for more than one person, and thatâs what a bodyguard does.â
Jamil nodded. âYeah, thatâs what a bodyguard does.â
âYou really think anyoneâs going to be shooting at Anita?â
âThe bulletâs a metaphor,â Jamil said. âBut it doesnât matter. Bullet, knife, claws, whatever it is, I take it.â He pulled into a wide gravel turnaround and a huge clearing. There were small, white, boxy cabins scattered around the clearing like a Motel 6 that had been cut into pieces. There was a neon sign, pale in the sunlight, that said Blue Moon Cabins.
âAnita is our Nimir-ra. Sheâs supposed to protect us, not the other way around.â
I agreed with her. Iâd picked Zane and Cherry not for their bodyguarding ability but because they didnât mind sharing blood with the vampires. Even among the wereleopards, most of them didnât like donating. They seemed to think being a blood cocktail for the vamps was worse than sex for money. I wasnât sure I agreed with them, but I wasnât about to force them to do it if they didnât want to. I didnât donate blood, and I was sleeping with one of the undead.
âNo,â I said. âI didnât agree to this. I can take care of myself, thank you very much.â I opened the door, and Jamil reached across and grabbed my arm. His hand looked very dark against the paleness of my arm. I turned very slowly and looked at him. It was not a friendly look. âLet go of me.â
âAnita, please, you are one of the toughest humans Iâve ever met. You are the most dangerous human female Iâve ever seen.â His hand squeezed just enough for me to feel the immense strength in it. He could probably deadlift an elephant if it didnât wiggle too much. He could certainly crush my arm.
âBut you are human, and the things youâre up against arenât.â
I stared at him. Cherry sat very still between us, half-pinned by Jamilâs body. âLet go of me, Jamil.â
His hand tightened. It was going to be a hell of a bruise. âJust this once, Anita, stay in the background, or youâre going to get us all killed.â
Jamilâs body was extended across the seat, across Cherry. I was on the edge of the seat, butt half in the air. Neither he nor I were balanced very well. His grip was on the middle of my forearm, not a good place to hold on.
âWhat you
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