"Anesthesia doesn't work well on us. We metabolize it too quickly," Lillian said. She wiped the silver knife on one of the clean towels and said, "One of the claw marks drops below your jeans. Take them off so I can see."
I glanced at Sylvie. She smiled at me. "Don't mind me. I like girls."
"That's what you two were laughing about," I said to Jason.
He nodded, smiling happily.
I shook my head.
"The others will be here soon for the meeting. I don't want my ass hanging out as everyone comes in the door." Richard stood up. "Let's finish up in the bedroom." There were a ring of puncture wounds just below his collarbone. I remembered the man-wolf lifting with its claws last night.
"You could have been killed," I said.
He glanced at me. "But I wasn't. Isn't that what you always say?"
I hated having my own words fed back to me. "You could have killed Sebastian or Jamil and the rest wouldn't have jumped you."
"You've already decided who I should kill." His voice was thick with anger.
"Yeah," I said.
"She's actually making pretty good choices," Sylvie said.
Richard turned his dark, dark eyes to her. "You stay out of this."
"If it was just a lovers' quarrel, Richard, I would," she said. She went to stand in front of him. "But Anita's not saying anything that I haven't said. That most of us haven't begged you to do. For a few months, I was willing to try it your way. I hoped you were right, but it isn't working, Richard. Either you're alpha male or you're not."
"Is that a challenge?" he asked. His voice had grown very quiet. Power flowed through the room like a warm wind.
Sylvie backed up a step. "You know it's not."
"Do I?" he said. The power in the room built, growing like a flash of electricity. The hairs on my arms stood to attention.
Sylvie stopped backing up, hands in fists at her sides. "If I thought I could defeat Marcus, I'd do it. If I could protect us all, I would. But I can't do it, Richard. You're our only chance."
Richard loomed over her. It wasn't just physical size. His power flowed over her, filled the room, until it was almost chokingly close.
"I won't kill just because you think I should, Sylvie. No one is going to force me into it. No one."
He turned his gaze on me, and it took a lot to meet his eyes. There was a force to them, a burning weight. It wasn't a vampire's drowning power, but it was something. My skin shivered with his power, his energy, and I didn't turn away.
I stared at the wounds just below his neck and knew I'd come close to losing him. That was unacceptable.
I walked closer until I could have reached out and touched him. His otherworldly energy whirled over me until it was hard to draw a good breath. "We need to talk, Richard."
"I don't have time for this right now, Anita."
"Make time," I said.
He glared down at me. "Talk to me while Lillian finishes up. I've got people coming over for a meeting in about fifteen minutes."
"What meeting?" I asked.
"To discuss the Marcus situation," Sylvie said. "He scheduled the meeting before last night's adventure."
Richard stared at her, and it wasn't a friendly look. "If I'd wanted her to know about the meeting, I'd have told her."
"What else haven't you told me Richard?"