Capitolo Sesto (2° parte) - Inglese

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SECONDA PARTE

"He doesn't help you either, not the way Richard helps Jean-Claude."
I could have argued that part. Richard was so conflicted about what he was, and what he wanted out of life, that he crippled the triumvirate between the three of us, but if Lisandro didn't realize how reluctant a partner Richard was, then I wasn't going to share it.
"What do you want from me, Lisandro?"
"Just, if we're going to put our bodies between you and a bullet, can we have some input into the next animal you pick?"
"No," I said.
"Just, no," he said.
"Yeah, just no. This is so not in your job description, Lisandro, not you, or Remus, or anyone. If you don't want to risk yourself, then don't. I don't want anyone guarding me that feels like it's a bad idea."
"I'm not saying this right."
"Then stop saying it," I said.
"Stop explaining and just say what you want Anita to do," Nathaniel said.
Lisandro frowned, then said, "I think Joseph was wrong when he forced you to send the werelion, Haven, back to Chicago. Joseph keeps trying to feed you his weak assed prided lions, and they aren't any better than Nathaniel. Even his brother, Justin, isn't that much stronger."
It had taken me a moment to remember who Haven was, because I still thought of him as Cookie Monster. He'd had hair dyed that color of blue, and had sported several Sesame Street tattoos. Haven was also an enforcer for the Master Vampire of Chicago. Haven had helped me handle the lion part of my metaphysical problem, but he'd also picked fights with three of the local werelions including Joseph their Rex, their leader. Haven and Richard had had a fight. Richard had kicked his ass, proving that Richard could be damned useful when he wanted to play. But, also, proving that Haven was way too much trouble to keep around.
"You guys all explained to me how lion society works. If someone that tough, and that powerful, had moved into town, they would have felt compelled to take over the local werelions. The first thing most takeovers do is slaughter most of the pride."
"I think you could control him."
"You saw him, Lisandro, please. He's a thug, a professional thug, with a prison record."
Lisandro nodded. "I've got a record, too, juvie, but some bad stuff on it. My wife straightened me out. I think you could do the same for him."
"What, a good woman is all a bad boy needs to straighten his life out?"
"If the woman has something that the man wants bad enough, yeah."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It means I saw the way he looked at you. I smelled what effect the two of you had on each other. The only reason you didn't have sex was that your head over-ruled the rest of you."
"You know, Lisandro, I liked you better when you didn't talk this much."
"I've seen Haven's record. He doesn't have anything on his sheet that I ain't got on mine."
That made me give him the long blink. Because I hadn't known that about him. "That would make you a very dangerous man," I said, voice low, and even.
"You've killed more people than I have."
"This conversation is over, Lisandro."
"If not Haven, then can Raphael put out feelers for some better lion candidates? Joseph is so scared that some big, bad lion will come and eat his weak assed pride, that he won't ever bring anyone to town that will do the job for you."
I started to say, no, but Nathaniel squeezed my arm. "Raphael is a good leader."
"He can't interview for new lions. He can bring in new rats, but it's not his place to bring in new lions," I said.
"Lisandro is right on one thing, Anita. Joseph is scared. Everyone he's thrown at you in the last few weeks have all been wimpy, not just weak power, but innocent. Your life doesn't have room for innocents."
I stared into those lavender eyes, and didn't like what I saw. I was seven years older, but he'd seen as much violence, or more, than I had. He'd seen what our fellow human beings could do, up close and personal. I'd solved crimes of violence, but mostly I hadn't been the victim. He'd been on the streets alone before he hit ten.
Nathaniel was weak in some ways that Lisandro counted, but he was stronger than me in ways that most people wouldn't understand. He'd survived things that would have destroyed most people.
He let me see in his face, what he usual hid, that I was the innocent. That no matter how many people I killed in the line of duty, I'd never really know what he knew.
"Do you think I was wrong to make Haven go back to Chicago?"
"No, he scared me, but you need a werelion, and they need to know the score."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Two of the lions he sent you were virgins," Nathaniel said, "You're a succubus, Anita. You don't give virgins over to something like that."
"You have to have had bad sex to appreciate really good sex," Lisandro said.
Nathaniel nodded. "That, too, but what I meant was that we haven't met a lion yet that didn't make us all think they were weak." He looked at the tall guard by the door. "Some of them were tough in a normal world sort of way, but we all live in a world where guns and sex, and violence of all kinds can happen and does. We need someone who doesn't make us all feel like we're corrupting children."
We both looked at Nathaniel.
"What?" he said.
"Is that how you really felt about all of them, even Justin?"
"Yes," he said, "Justin's idea of violence is the kind that has referees, and limits. The fact that he's Joseph's enforcer is scary for them."
"Joseph's better in a fight," Lisandro said.
"But neither of them is as good as Richard, or Raphael."
"Or your Micah?" Lisandro asked.
"I think Micah would do anything it took to keep his people safe."
"I heard that about him," Lisandro said.
Since we were talking about one of my other live-in sweeties, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Micah and I were both very practical people. Sometimes practical and ruthless were just different words for the same thing.
"You're both saying that you don't think Joseph would do whatever it took."
"The only thing that's kept his pride safe is the fact that there just aren't a lot of werelions in this country. Cat based lycanthropy is usually harder to catch than other kinds."
"Reptile based is harder to catch," Nathaniel said.
Lisandro nodded. "True, but there aren't a lot of lions in this country. The closest is Chicago."
"They won't be trying a takeover, Jean-Claude and I made sure of that."
"But don't you see, Anita, you and Jean-Claude made sure of it, not Joseph. That makes his threat weak."
"Nobody from Chicago will mess with them now," I said. "Yeah, but if Chicago noticed they're this weak then so will someone else."
"I didn't know we had any big prides other than these two."
"One on the west coast, one on the east."
"Is that where Joseph got his last candidate?"
"East coast pride, yeah. But you turned him down, just like all the others."
"I can't give your leader permission to shop for lions. It's against the rules to interfere that much over cross species lines."
"Not for you," Lisandro said, "the moment that Joseph asked you not to keep Haven. The moment he asked you to protect him and his pride, he asked you to interfere. You're the leopards Nimir-ra, and the wolves lupa; you're nothing to the lions. Once he asked for your help, he gave you permission to mess with his lions."
"I don't think Joseph saw it that way," I said.
Lisandro shrugged. "Doesn't matter how he saw it, still the truth."
I don't know what I would have said to that, because there was a knock on the door. Lisandro went all bodyguardy on us. His hand went behind his back, and I knew for sure the gun was there. "Who is it?"
"Requiem, Jean-Claude requested my presence."
Lisandro glanced at me. I realized he was asking my permission. I liked him better for that. I didn't really want to see Requiem tonight. I was still embarrassed that I'd added him to my list of food. But he'd been in London, so he'd seen the Harlequin in person, and recently. He'd be helpful. Or that's what I told myself as I nodded for Lisandro to let him in.

End Of Chapter Six