Danse Macabre   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

«He has to be our message to the other visitors, Jean-Claude, or we won't survive this little gathering. These are your friends, and they nearly rolled us.» I looked at him, and I felt the part of me that allowed me to kill, to do what was necessary. This was, in its odd way, a business decision. A political decision, a survival decision. I knew we could roll Auggie; he was more powerful than Jean-Claude, but I could feel it. Feel that we could feed on him in such a way that it wouldn't matter. Not kill him, but take him, make him ours in a way that I couldn't even explain in words.

Jean-Claude spoke as if he'd read my mind, which he probably had. «I feel it also, ma petite , but…»

«No buts,» I said, «we can take him, I can feel it.»

«Perhaps Belle Morte is too much in your mind still.»

It was Asher's voice, strangled with effort. It drew our eyes to him. His hands trembled in the air as if he were holding some great weight. «Hurry, Jean-Claude, hurry. We cannot hold the circle much longer.»

«He began this fight,» Requiem said, «let us finish it.» His hands weren't shaking, but there was a thread of strain in his voice.

Jean-Claude looked down at Auggie. «Understand this, Augustine, we have never fed like this. I do not entirely know what will happen. Are you content with such a gamble, for it is you who will suffer if it goes badly?»

I slid my mouth over him, playing my tongue along the foreskin. He shivered, and simply said, «Yes.»

« Ma petite , stop that, or he will not be able to think.»

I went back on my knees, and stopped touching him. I put my hands in my lap and behaved. I guess it was cheating.

«Augustine, do you agree to this?»

He nodded, hands reaching for Jean-Claude. «Yes, yes, God, yes, the two of you both, yes, yes!» His grip on Jean-Claude's arm looked almost painful.

Jean-Claude stroked his hair, soothing him. «Then we will do as you ask.» He looked at me, and it was as if a door opened in my mind. Some inner guard that he must have used almost constantly to keep the marks from being in full force was gone. It staggered me for a moment, made me reach out to Auggie's thigh to steady myself. The moment I touched him, the ardeur roared back, but this time I could feel Jean-Claude at the other end of his body. I could feel the two different ardeurs like different flavors of fire, and Auggie was our only wood. We'd burn him up, and he wanted us to do it.

I heard Jean-Claude in my mind, whispering, «I am letting go of my control, ma petite , are you ready?»

I nodded.