I thought about that for a minute. "But why the early rising? Why the increased hunger? Why would the council want that to be happening?"
"They do not want it, ma petite. It is merely a side effect of their proximity."
"Explain," I said.
"Their very presence will give unprotected vampires extra power: early rising, perhaps other gifts. The more voracious appetite and lack of control of the younger ones could mean that the council has decided not to feed while in my territory. I know the Traveler can take energy through lesser vampires without possessing them."
"So he takes part of the blood they drink?"
"Oui, ma petite."
"Are the others feeding?" I asked.
"If all of the Church's members are experiencing this difficulty, I would think not. I think the Traveler has found a way to drain energy for all of them, though I cannot imagine Yvette going for even a night without causing pain to someone."
"She has Warrick to pick on." The moment I said it, I realized I hadn't had a chance to tell Jean-Claude about Warrick's little daytime excursion, or his warning. Jean-Claude had woken from his sleep while I was at the hospital surrounded by wereanimals. Since then I'd been moving from one emergency to another.
"Warrick came to visit me while you were out for the day," I said.
"What do you mean, ma petite?"
I told him. All of it.
He was silent. Only his soft breathing let me know he was still there. Finally, he spoke. "I knew that Yvette gained power through her master, but I did not realize he was dampening Warrick's abilities." He laughed suddenly. "Perhaps that is why I did not realize I was a master vampire while I was with the council that first time. Perhaps my master, too, was preventing my powers from blossoming."
"Does Warrick's warning change our plans?" I asked.
"We are committed to a formal entertainment, ma petite. If we refuse to pay the price for your wereleopards, then we will give Padma and Yvette the very excuse they need to challenge us. Breaking faith once your word is given is an almost unforgivable sin among us."
"I've endangered us," I said.
"Oui, but being who you are, you could not do less. Warrick a master vampire, who would have thought it? He has been Yvette's plaything for so very long."
"How long?" I asked.
Jean-Claude was quiet for a heartbeat or two, then, "He was a knight of the Crusades, ma petite."
"Which crusade? There were several," I said.
"So nice to talk to someone who knows their history, ma petite. But you have been near him. What age is he?"
I thought about it. "Nine hundred, give or take."
"Which would mean?"
"I don't like being quizzed, Jean-Claude. The First Crusade in the late 1000s."
"Exactement."
"So Yvette was old even then," I said.
"Do you not know her age?"
"She's a thousand years old. But it's a soft one thousand. I've met vamps her age that scared the hell out of me. She doesn't."
"Yes, Yvette is terrifying but not because of her age, or her power. She can live until the end of the world and she will never be a master among us."
"And that gripes her ass," I said.