He sighed, looking decidedly unhappy. "The girl can't be more than fifteen."
"And it's against the law to take blood from a minor," I said.
"Jean-Claude informed her of this, which is how I come to be standing out here in the cold."
"It's not cold," Damian said.
Jason shivered. "That is a matter of opinion." He huddled the still unzipped jacket around his bare body. "Jean-Claude doesn't want you to be surprised, Anita, but two of the vamps with her are children."
I could feel my face tightening with anger.
"It's not that bad, they aren't new. At a guess I'd say several hundred years old, minimum. Even in the United States they'd be grandfathered in under the current law."
I tried to ease some of the tension I was holding. I'd let go of everyone's hand, because I had this urge to have my hands free for weapons. There was nothing to fight, not yet, but the urge was still there.
Damian touched my arm, tentative, afraid the anger would spill over onto him, I think. My usual theory was anybody to be angry at was better than nobody to be angry at. I was trying to be better than that, more fair, but damn, it was hard.
When I didn't jerk away, or yell at him, Damian touched my hand, and his fingers light across my skin made me feel calmer. "Do you think Musette brought an underage pommejust to see what we'd do?"
"Musette likes the young," Asher said, voice still very quiet, not a whisper but close, as if he were afraid of being overheard. And maybe he was.
I looked up at Asher. Damian's fingers were still moving, lightly, over the back of my hand. "She's not a pedophile, please tell me she's not."
He shook his head. "No, not for sex, Anita, but blood, yes, she likes them young."
Yuck. "She cannot take blood from anyone under eighteen while she's in this country. Doing that can get you an order of execution with your name on it, and I'm the Executioner."
"I believe that Musette was carefully chosen by Belle Morte. Belle has other lieutenants that have less objectionable habits. I believe that Musette is an ordeal in the traditional sense of the word. She has been sent by Belle to test us, especially you, I think, you and perhaps Richard."
"Why do we get special treatment?" I asked.
"Because Belle does not know either of you of old. She likes to test her blades before blooding them, Anita."
"I am not her blade, I'm not her anything."
Asher had a patient look on his face. "She is le sourdre de sang,the fountainhead of our bloodline. Belle is like an empress, and all the master vampires that descend from her line are kings that owe her fealty. To owe fealty means to owe so many troops to the cause."
"What cause?"
He let out an exasperated breath. "Whatever cause the empress wishes."
I shook my head. "You're not really making sense to me here." Damian's hand was still playing lightly over mine. I think if he hadn't been touching me, I'd have been more upset.
"Belle considers all who descend from her line, hers, thus through Jean-Claude you and Richard belong to her."
I shook my head and started to speak. Asher held up his hand. "Please, let me finish. It does not matter, Anita, whether you agree that you and Richard belong to Belle. It matters only that she believes you belong to her. She sees you as more weapons in her arsenal. Can you understand that?"
"I understand what you're saying, I don't agree that I belong to anyone, but I can see where Belle Morte might think so."
He nodded, looked a little relieved, as if he hadn't been sure what he'd do if I'd continued to argue. "Bon, bon,then you must agree that Belle will want to test the metal of her two newest weapons."
"Test how?" I asked.
"For one thing, by bringing an underage pomme de sangto America and flaunting it in front of the Executioner herself. If Musette has offered to share pomme de sangs,then she may also offer to share human servants. It is considered a great honor to do so."
"Share?" I asked, instantly suspicious. Damian's fingers had sped up, but I didn't tell him to stop, because anger was tightening my shoulders, my arms.
"Share blood, probably, because most vampires take blood from their human servants. Do not worry about sex, ma cherie,Musette is not a lover of women."