Danse Macabre   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

«When he faces us again, ma petite , he will have his people at his back. I do not think he will risk himself alone with us again.»

I squeezed Jean-Claude's hand. It made him look at me. «I don't think he's afraid of being pussy-whipped,» I said.

Jean-Claude actually managed to look humble. «Perhaps not.»



41

«WHAT DO YOU mean, I was about to bind Requiem to me forever?» We were having our super-secret meeting in the hallway. It was empty, and I didn't want to walk all the way back to Jean-Claude's room.

«I have tried to teach you different ways to feed, ma petite , and you have learned well.»

I could have argued that, but I let it go. «Just explain what you said, Jean-Claude. You don't have to protect my ego, just say it.»

«You have fed on Requiem, but always before you were holding back, or I was so deeply enmeshed with you when you did it, that I was in some way controlling what happened.»

I nodded. «And?»

«It is possible to know the innermost desire of a person. The ardeur can give you a glimpse into his soul.»

«I know that, it happens a lot.»

He shook his head. «But that is exactly the point, ma petite , it should not happen a lot.»

«But it does; that's how the ardeur works when I feed completely.»

He shook his head again. « Non, ma petite , it is not necessary to know someone's heart's desire to feed completely.»

«It makes a better feeding, more energy, if you know their deepest wish and give it to them.»

He nodded. « Oui , but what is the rule for all the gifts of my bloodline?»

I frowned at him. «I don't… oh, that they're two-edged swords. All of Belle's powers cut both ways.»

«Oui.»

I was still staring at him. «If you have a point to make, please make it, because if that was a hint, I don't get it.»

«When you first met Micah, what did you need in your life?»

«Stop trying to make me reason this through, Jean-Claude, just tell me.»

«You will not like it,» he said.

«I'm getting that impression, but remember I'm a jerk-the-Band-Aid-off kind of girl. Just tell me.»

«You needed help with the wereleopards, and with all the other shapeshifters that you were beginning to try to help. It was your willingness to help many kinds of shapeshifters that laid the groundwork for our so-lovely coalition. You yourself said that so much that was wrong with the lycanthrope community could be fixed if they would only talk to each other.