points, her energy pouring into me. My breath was hard and swift and I flashed the blade in the too-bright lights so she would see it was silver-plated - poisonous to her kind if I cut her. I wished the blade was bigger but I felt better with weapons drawn.
Bruiser was on his feet, his hands out in a mimic of vamp grace as we evaluated the female vamp. She didn't look at the blade, but watched us, eyes darting back and forth, her feet balanced and her body posture claiming she was familiar with fighting and willing to demonstrate. And she was blocking the door.
She was also hungry, her skin pallid, but her eyes weren't vamp-black and bloody; instead, they were controlled and collected. From the remembered strength of her grip, she was an old one, powerful, and despite her small frame, I might have a hard time beating her with just the two weapons and no protective gear.
Yet she'd said she wouldn't hurt us. And she wasn't dressed for wet work. Her dress had the dragon-lady-seamstress's signature lines, looking long, lean, and elegant, even on her tiny form, midnight blue shot with silver thread, which had to be a vamp joke.
And she wore spike heels in blue-black ostrich leather, little feathers on the buckles.
She looked totally out of place standing in the pantry. "I won't hurt you. At least not right now. Truce."
I lowered my hands a fraction to show I'd listen. Bruiser dropped his and said, "Innara of Clan Bouvier. How may I serve you?"
"I have a message from my master."
Bruiser blinked. With that careful blandness I was coming to appreciate, he said, "You could have called." I laughed through my nose.
"I could not. My master has determined that many of the Mithrans' cellular communications are being monitored." Innara's tiny hands opened in the universal gesture of peace, fingers splayed. "Servant of the Blood Master of New Orleans and the one they call the Rogue Hunter, hear me."
I could tell I was added on only because I happened to be near, but what the heck, I'd stay to listen. Especially as a thick door stood between me and freedom.
Her voice took on a cant that said she was repeating a memorized statement. "The alliance of Mithrans is in grave danger, as is the safety of this city. Mearkanis and Rousseau have formed a new coalition, leaving the weaker clans Arceneau and Desmarais unprotected. They have allied with St. Martin, who has broken faith with Pellissier."
Bruiser cursed and went pale. I tried to figure out what it all meant. And then Innara told me. "There are now three leagues of Mithrans rather than the former two, and the new association leaves Pellissier's alliance with Bouvier and Laurent no longer in a position of strength. Pellissier's enemies plot war. Rafael has come clandestinely to Clan Bouvier to propose we join him in revolt against Pellissier. My master has agreed to formal talks, to consider this, as a ruse to gain his trust. It is said that Rafael has contacted one of the Sons of Darkness for his blessing, though this is only rumor."
Bruiser went nearly vamp-still in shock. I wondered what the sons were and why they made the blood slowly drain from his face. The Sons of Darkness . . . They had been part of something I had read recently.
Innara stepped close and took Bruiser's hands in hers. "The new union believes in the old ways. The Naturaleza has been reintroduced to the newly fledged and many yearn for a way of life the old ones among us have renounced. Rafael of Mearkanis feeds this desire with fiery rhetoric and hopes the change in balance of power will allow him to challenge for master of the city. Be assured. To protect against the new alliance, my master will again blood-oath Clan Bouvier to Leo."
I felt Bruiser's relief like a blow to my side. He'd been braced for something else.
"Pellissier is honored."
"Naturaleza?" I asked, picking out that nugget for clarification.
Bruiser ignored my question. "There have been indications that Rafael was seeking power."
"Traditionally," Innara said to me, "the strength of Pellissier held us in balance and allowed us to blend harmoniously with humans. Now that is changing." She pressed Bruiser's hands. "Leo must act."
Leo was whacked-out with grief and might not be able to act. But I didn't say it.
Bruiser said, "The recent alignment between Pellissier and Arceneau is advantageous to restoring that peace."