"I hate to waste that many bullets."
She gave that low chuckle again. It made my skin feel tight. "Janos is very talented."
He walked past us. I could see bullet holes in his shirt. At least I'd ruined his wardrobe.
Ivy looked dandy. Had she run when the shooting started? Had she left Bruce to die?
Janos went down on one knee among the cushions. Ivy knelt with him. They stayed there, head bent, waiting for her to notice them.
Kissa moved to stand beside Magnus, bleeding, her arm held close to her side. But she glanced from the two kneeling vampires to Serephina, and back again. She looked... worried.
Something was up. Something unpleasant.
She left them kneeling, and said, "What business brings you to me, Jean-Claude?"
"I believe you have something that belongs to me," he said.
"Janos," she said.
Janos rose to his feet and went back out the door. He was out of sight only a moment, then came back carrying a large cloth sack like something Santa Claus would have carried. He untied the cord that held it shut and emptied the contents on the floor at Jean-Claude's feet. Splinters of wood, none of them big enough to make a decent stake, fell into a medium-sized pile. The wood was dark and polished where it wasn't white with new cuts.
"With my compliments," Janos said. He shook the last bits of wood out of the sack and knelt back on the steps.
Jean-Claude stared down at the splintered wood. "This is childish, Serephina. Something I would have expected from you centuries ago. Now..." He motioned at the ghosts, at everything. "How have you managed to subdue Janos? You feared him once."
"State your business, Jean-Claude, before I grow impatient and challenge you myself."
He smiled and gave a graceful bow, arms out to his sides like an actor. When he raised up, the smile was gone. His face was like a beautiful mask. "Xavier is in your territory," he said.
"Did you truly think I would feel the presence of your pet necromancer, and not sense Xavier? I know he is here. If he challenges me, I will deal with him. Speak the rest of your business, or was that it? Did you come all this way to warn me? How touching."
"I realize you are more powerful than Xavier now," Jean-Claude said, "but he is slaughtering humans. Not just the attack on the missing boy's home, but many deaths. He has gone back to cutting up his pets. He draws attention to us all."
"Then let the council kill him."
"You are master in this territory, Serephina; it is your task to police it."
"Do not presume to tell me my duties. I was centuries old when you died. You were nothing but a catamite for any vampire that wanted you. Our beautiful Jean-Claude." She made beautiful sound like a bad thing.
"I know what I was, Serephina. Now I am Master of the City and follow the council's laws. We are not to allow humans to be slaughtered in our territories. It is bad for business."
"Let Xavier kill hundreds. There are always more," she said.
"Nice attitude," I said.
She turned her attention to me, and I wished I hadn't said anything. Her power pulsed against me, like a great beating heart.
"How dare you disapprove of me," Serephina said. I heard the rustle of her silk dress as she stood. No one else moved, and I heard her dress slither across the cushions, sliding along the floor, as she came closer. I did not want her to touch me.
I stared up the line of her body, and saw her gloved hand strike outward. I gasped. Blood dripped down my hand.
"Shit!" It was a deeper cut than Janos had managed, and it hurt more. I met her eyes, anger making me brave, or stupid. Her eyes were pure white, like captive moons shining from her face. Those eyes called to me. I wanted to fling myself into her pale arms, to feel the touch of those soft lips, the sharp sweet caress of her teeth. I wanted to feel her body cradling mine. I wanted her to hold me like my mother once had. She would take care of me forever, and never leave, never die, never desert me.
That stopped me. I stood very still. I was standing at the edge of the pillows. The hem of her dress spilled at my feet. I could have reached out a hand and touched her.
Fear pounded my heart in my head. I could taste my pulse on my tongue.
She spread her arms wide. "Come to me, child, and I will always be with you. I will hold you forever."