Incubus Dreams   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

Malcolm’s rich voice filled the parish hall with its tables and punch bowl. Everything was all set out for cookies and punch, though the punch looked a little red for my tastes, a little thick. “Power, Officer, power and sex, that is what Jean-Claude offers.”

“Be careful about the stones you throw, Malcolm, sometimes they get thrown back.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, just a friendly warning that only the pure of motive should cast stones.”

“Ask your friend there. Ask him, was it sex with one of us that lured him. I have watched mortals come to this life for centuries for the sake of sex.”

“First,” I said, “he’s not my friend. Second, it doesn’t matter why, only that he did it.” I’d touched Cooper while I searched him for weapons, and I’d gotten no flashes of information. No images. I hadn’t acquired Malcolm’s ability to see through touch, I’d only borrowed it.

I wanted to borrow it again.

I guess I should at least pretend to try to do it the normal way.

I turned to Cooper. “Where is your master? Where is he now?”

“Feeding, most likely.”

“Where is the daytime lair?”

He shook his head, with something like a smile on his face. “I won’t tell you anything, Anita Blake. I would no more betray my master than you would yours.”

“But see, my master doesn’t ask me to butcher helpless unarmed women, like yours does.”

He shook his head again. “I will not betray him.”

Now, technically the vampire had no more rights. I could have put a bullet in his brain now, legally. The warrant read that I could use the force I deemed necessary. No one talked about it much, but I knew, and the rest of us legal hunters knew, that some of us used that part of the warrant to justify torture. I didn’t like torture, not on either side of the chains. Besides, Cooper had had a reputation for being tough. We didn’t have the time for him to be tough. We needed to know where his master lived.

I walked over to Malcolm. He didn’t look happy to see me that close to him. “What do you want, Ms. Blake? You have your villain, take him and go.”

I lowered my voice so only we and the soon-to-be-dead Cooper would hear. “Try to read my mind by touch again.”

“I did not…”

“If you deny it, I’ll make sure that all those people that you’ve done negotiations with over the years know exactly how you outsmarted them. A shake of the hand, and you had them.”

“I did not bespell anyone.