for their safety."
"I do not hold the leopards above you in esteem," Jean-Claude said.
"If there was a choice between saving the rats and saving the leopards, who would you choose?"
"There will not be a choice like that," Jean-Claude said.
"Perhaps not, but there might be a choice between the hyenas and the rats. Narcissus is not my friend, and now Asher's animal to call is his people."
"Asher is not master here," Jean-Claude said.
"No, but you love him, have loved him for centuries. That is a powerful bond, Jean-Claude. If Asher whispered sweetly enough, would you deny him and his animals? Or would you side with him over my people?"
"Are you planning on challenging the hyenas to a war?" Jean-Claude asked it almost jokingly. But I knew that tone of voice; it was the tone he used when he was worried he was right.
"No, but we are not animals, any of us," Rafael said.
"Our master would not start a war with you, rat king." This from Remus.
Rafael shook his head. "You are one of the reasons that I fear a war, Remus. When your Oba, your leader, was only recruiting martial artists and weight lifters, pretty muscle that had never known a real fight without referees, I did not worry, but you are the real thing, Remus. He has hired several ex-military, ex-police."
"He did that because of what happened when Chimera took over his men," I said. "Narcissus learned the difference between a bouncer and a soldier. He learned it the hard way. He lost a lot of his men to Chimera."
"And you killed Chimera for him," Rafael said, giving me all the attention of those dark eyes.
"I killed him for all of us. He wouldn't have left the rats alone either."
Rafael came to stand in front of us. I fought the urge to grab Micah's hand. Rafael hadn't done anything threatening, just being six feet tall and standing over us. Usually tall didn't intimidate me, but there was something about him today. Something bad.
"We were too powerful for Chimera to attack, and he did not hold rat lycanthropy in his body."
"He tried to take over several groups that he didn't hold the lycanthropy for," I said.
"If I had any liking for men, I'd offer myself to Jean-Claude and be done with it."
I didn't even try to keep the shock off my face. I did grab Micah's hand, as if the world had gotten shaky and I needed something to cling to. Rafael did not say things like this.
"But men do not interest me, so I do the next best thing. I offer myself to you, Anita. Because you protect those in your bed. And something about you brings power to your lovers. I do not understand it, but Nathaniel is the perfect example of one of the least wereanimals becoming something so much more, just because of you, Anita."
Nathaniel moved to touch my shoulder. I jumped, then eased into the touch, and a little away from this strange version of Rafael. He was afraid. I could feel it.
"What has Narcissus done to make you think your rats are in danger?" Jean-Claude said.
Rafael glanced at him. "What have you heard?"
"Nothing. I give you my word of honor that I have heard nothing, but you are cautious and thoughtful. This is not like you, Rafael; only something serious, and dangerous, could make you come to us like this." Jean-Claude sat down on the couch and said, "Sit with us, eat, and tell us what Narcissus has said or done to make you willing to say such things to ma petite."
Rafael closed his eyes, his hands in fists. "Your word of honor that you don't know. Then it can't be true."
"What cannot be true, mon ami? Talk to us. We are allies and friends; posturing and threats do not become us."
Micah pulled me away from Rafael and closer to the food. We weren't backing away from the rat king; we were just going to eat. Sure, but it saved face, and I was hungry. No matter what emergency was happening, I still hadn't even had coffee. One of the side effects of the ardeur and the almost-lycanthropy was that I couldn't not eat. Not without consequences, like sex I'd regret later, or having my body almost tear itself apart because it couldn't decide what animal it most wanted to be.
We actually got everyone settled with food, and Rafael stopped being all strange and scary. He sat on the love seat with Louie, with his