Bloody Bones   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

"Gets shorter all thetime," I said.

He smiled and slid off the bar stool. "Is anybody tired but me?"

Larry and I stared at him. The werewolf didn't look tired—more than I could say for us mere humans.

Jason wasn't going to answer my questions, and they weren't important enough to shoot him over. Stalemate.

"Fine; where are you sleeping?" I asked.

"If you trust me not to eat him, in Larry's room."

"No way," I said.

"You want me here, with you?"

"I told him he could stay in my room on the ride over," Larry said.

"That was before he pulled the werewolf crap," I said.

Larry shrugged. "You've got the Master of the City tucked into your bed. I think I can handle one werewolf."

I didn't think so. But I didn't want to discuss it in front of the werewolf. "No, Larry."

He was instantly angry. "What do I have to do to prove myself to you?"

"Stay alive," I said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not a shooter, Larry."

"I was willing to shoot him." Larry pointed to the smiling werewolf.

"I know."

"Because I'm not trigger-happy, you don't trust me to handle myself?"

I sighed. "Larry, please. If Jason turned furry in the middle of the day and killed you, I couldn't live with myself."

"And if he kills you?" Larry said.

"He won't."

"Why not?" Larry asked.

"Because Jean-Claude would kill him. If he hurt you, I'd kill him, but I don't know if Jean-Claude would avenge you. Jason's more frightened of Jean-Claude than he is of me. Aren't you, Jason?"

Jason had sat down on the end of the couch on my blanket. "Oh, yes."

"I don't know why," Larry said. "You're the one who kills for Jean-Claude. He never seems to kill anyone on his own."

"Larry, who would you be more afraid of, Jean-Claude or me?"

"You wouldn't hurt me," he said.

"If you had to face one of us, which would you prefer?"

Larry looked at me for a long time. The anger drained away, replaced by something tired and old in his eyes. "Him."

"For God's sake, why?" I asked.

"I've seen you kill a lot of people, Anita. A lot more than Jean-Claude. He might try to frighten me to death, but you'd just kill me."

My mouth was open, just a little. "If you really believe that I'm more dangerous than Jean-Claude, then you haven't been paying attention."

"I didn't say you were more dangerous. I said you'd kill me quicker.