temptation out of reach, okay?"
"We are going to slaughter these two women together, correct?" he asked.
I licked my suddenly dry lips again, then nodded. "I think so."
"Then I will not be tempted elsewhere."
Normally, I'd have just used silver shot and blown holes through the vampires until I saw daylight. Or maybe a good old-fashioned staking. But they were Harlequin. I would have to treat them as if they were master vamps, heavy hitters. Which meant shoot them with silver shot, then decapitate them, take the heart out, and burn them both. You burn the body in a separate fire. Then you scatter the ashes in running water, different bodies of running water if you want to be truly paranoid. Was I paranoid, or just cautious? These two vampires had almost killed Jean-Claude, Richard, and me from a distance, using powers I'd never seen before. Paranoid it wasn't.
It was a messy, dirty job to decapitate and take a heart. There were vampire executioners who quit after having to do it a few times, just didn't have the stomach for it. Did I have the stomach for it? Yes. Would I let Olaf help me? Who the hell else would volunteer? Edward would do it if I asked, but truthfully, Olaf was better at taking the body apart. I guess practice makes perfect, and Olaf had had a lot of practice.
Claudia asked again, "What do you mean he's like an alcoholic?"
"You tell her, Edward. I'm going to go check my paperwork."
"Not without guards, you aren't," he said.
"Fine," I said. "Send guards with me."
"Where is the paperwork?" he asked.
"In my briefcase in Jean-Claude's place."
"You can't go to the Circus of the Damned without me, Anita."
"Or me," Olaf said.
"If I said 'or me,' would you get mad?" Peter said.
I frowned at him. "Yes."
He grinned at me. He was entirely too pleased to be here with his guns and knives strapped to his body. He was even wearing a black T-shirt, but at least his jeans were blue, though his leather jacket was black. The boots were brown and looked like Edward's, real cowboy boots, not boots you'd wear to go dancing like Olaf's. Though the fact that I thought Olaf's boots were club boots was probably a fact best kept to myself.
"I have to vote with them," Claudia said.
"No one asked your opinion, woman," Olaf said.
"Let's get this clear, right now," I said. "Claudia is one of our officers. You don't like it, I know that, but I trust her with my life."
"She nearly got you killed."
"Didn't I end up in the hospital a couple of times in New Mexico, when you were supposed to be watching my back?"
Anger flared across his face, thinning out his lips, making his eyes look even more cavernous.
"Don't bitch at Claudia, if you can't do better." The moment I said it, I knew I shouldn't have.
"I can do better than a woman."
"Shit," I said.
"Anita," Claudia said.
"Yeah," I said.
"Let me prove it."
I sighed. "As amusing as the thought of you and Olaf going at it is, please don't. I know where the two bad vamps are, and I have current warrants of execution."
"How do you know where they are?" Edward asked.
"I saw hotel stationery fall from a table in the vision. If they didn't wake up and move their asses, we got 'em." I looked at Olaf. "If you don't slow me down by picking fights with my guards, then we get to kill two vampires today. They're powerful enough that we'll have to take their heads and hearts."
"Like we did in New Mexico," he said, and there was an eager purr to that deep voice.
I nodded, swallowing past a feeling that might have been nausea. "Yes."
"To hunt with you again, Anita, I will let this one believe what she likes."
I understood what a huge concession that was for Olaf. Claudia said, "I don't believe it, big man, I know it."
"Claudia," I said, "please, oh, hell, just don't be around him, okay? He can't seem to help how he feels about women. Just don't crowd him and we'll get this done, okay?"
She didn't like it, but she nodded.
"Great. Edward, you fill in the guards on why Olaf isn't to be alone with the women. I want to see Richard alive, not just in a vision. When you're done telling everyone what a big, bad man he is, come find me, and you can drive me to the Circus of the Damned for the warrants."
"I don't want you going out