Chapter Text
Van Cleef escaped. Don't ask me how, none of us are sure how he managed it. Even the vaunted Harlequin were stumped. Based on scent tracking after the fact, they were pretty sure he'd had a female accomplice cover his exit when it became clear he might lose the fight. The psychic was good and probably the one who'd helped Olaf invade my dreams. I'd visit St. Louis to examine the crumbling remains of the Church of Eternal Life in a few days when the painkillers ran out. Oxycodone had an unfortunate habit of knocking me out, and I didn't want to misread the scene and miss another killer.
Olaf hadn't died straight away. Tough motherfucker he was, it had taken several rounds to put him on the ground and keep him there. I might have ended up standing over his body, dry-firing into his burning corpse until Jeanette pulled me to the cooler air and safety of the street outside. When the firefighters arrived to put out the blaze, they only found one set of bones in the wreckage. The medical examiner would have to match dental records to identify him.
Malcolm on the other hand...well, he'd apparently crumbled to dust shortly after he concluded his prayer. He didn't scream when he burned. Maybe it didn't hurt. Or maybe he just accepted it as the price of doing business. He'd cast his crown to the floor, offering it and everything he was to God. Angel had survived his death, thank God, but she was going to be in the hospital for a week, at least. The injuries were healing more slowly than they should. I hadn't seen much of Dev since the incident, and for now, that was for the best. I wasn't sure what to make of the new man in my bed. His easygoing attitude puzzled me. I wasn't used to sleeping with agreeable people. Maybe I'd finally matured and turned over a new leaf.
Nah, I didn't believe that one either.
"You seem pensive, ma petite," Jeanette said, stirring the lake water with her toes. Sunlight glittered off the greenish shallows, small fish darting up to nibble her bare feet. "A penny for your thoughts?"
She'd nuzzled into the sand, glorying in the warmth of it against her back. It was our first trip out as a couple since we'd gotten married. The cabin we were staying in technically belonged to Susan and her polycule, but since they were traveling in hopes of finding a male lake monster for Collete to form a bond with, the house would be empty for a while. We'd agreed to keep up with the bills and cleaning while they were gone in exchange for a free honeymoon locale. Six weeks didn't feel like nearly enough, but it was all we could afford with the Day Father at large. It was just a matter of time before he found another tiger he liked, and the attacks would start up again. We needed to stop him before it happened.
"There's a lot to think about," I said, sipping from my glass. The sun tea steeping on the porch railing wasn't her favorite, but she enjoyed the warm feeling of nostalgia it gave me. Grandma Blake used to make sun tea all the time.
"Like?"
"Like the fact that you're legally dead. I know you plan to use Meng Die as your stalking horse, but still. I don't like having to hide you when company comes over."
I was crouched on the stairs that led from the lake shore up to the cabin. Due to a bad experience in Stillwater, I still didn't like going swimming in opaque water. Swimming pools were about my speed. Maybe I'd drag her to a private pool later. She'd packed a bikini and everything. She looked like she was only wearing twin pieces of string when she rolled onto her stomach to look up at me. She struck an unconscious pose, framing her cleavage between her elbows to make the assets bigger than they were. It would probably take years for her to stop instinctually reaching for the training she'd learned in Belle's court. She was her own master now, but once you've lived in survival mode long enough, you got used to it. We both had a lot of things to unlearn.
That, and the stitches made swimming less than sanitary at the moment. Something about Olaf made me heal human-slow. It had taken over two hundred stitches to seal the marks he'd put on my body. The worst damage had been to my arms and shoulders, which would also make things difficult.
"I appreciate that, but it's best this way. If I'm classified alive by the law, I have many more rules to follow."
I sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You're planning to join the terrible twosome in Ireland next month. You don't need scrutiny while you're learning, but it still bugs me. I hate pretending you're gone. I want to be able to wear my ring out in public."
I'd been expecting some horrendous, overblown piece with a cluster of diamonds front and center. It was just a simple tungsten ring with gold inlay. It would be difficult for most normal day-to-day activities to warp or break it. Without the inlay, I could probably have pulled it off as a fashion statement, but it looked too fancy otherwise. Maybe if I wore it on a different finger...
"I doubt the Dragon and Moroven would appreciate being called such," she said, though there was a touch of amusement in her voice now.
She'd tilted her head just so, tempting me with the long, bare line of her neck. She still had a hickey from this morning's romp. I'd had to try hard to mark her even that much. She'd come back more durable. On the one hand, it was nice to worry about her less. On the other, it made marking her with my teeth a lot harder. I'd have to really work at it next time.
"I'll call them what I want. What are they going to do? Fight us? Bad idea. You don't go around fucking with the Harlequin."
Her lips quirked. "You assume they are not Harlequin themselves, ma petite. I presume one, if not both, have a mask of their own. It puts us on equal footing. My arrogance almost got me killed once. I won't repeat the experience needlessly."
True. I'd have to give Jade a call before she left for Ireland. The last I'd heard, she was recovering in a hospital somewhere in Eurasia. It didn't really narrow down the location of Van Cleef's home base or the Menagerie. Maybe I'd have Bernardo clue me in when he and Jade got back to the States. If they got back to the states. Jeanette was toying with the idea of taking Jade with her to Ireland since she'd know the Harlequin's customs better than any of her other animals to call. We'd see how badly Jade was hurt and proceed from there.
"Just promise me you'll come out of the coffin eventually. And don't do it just for shock value either. I so do not want to be in the middle of that media shitstorm."
Her smile only broadened when I let out a defeated sigh. She rose up on her hands and knees, crawling toward me with a sensual wiggle of her hips.
"Are you calling me a drama queen, ma petite?"
I rolled my eyes. "Jeanette, the night you gave me the first mark you wore a schoolgirl outfit and a naughty sailor costume within two hours of each other. When it comes to romance, you don't have a subtle bone in your body."
She laughed, continuing her slow glide forward. She ended up straddling my lap so that I had to brace the small of her back with my hands to keep her steady. For once, she was completely warm to the touch, despite not feeding after waking. When I glanced up, I found her staring fondly down at me.
"We have that in common, don't we, ma petite?"
"You're damn right we do."