Perilous Partnership (28 page)

Jude glared at them, but he left quietly if sullenly.

“Jean—”

“I know,” Jean interrupted. “I have to do something about him. I just don‟t know what.”

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“WE‟RE on schedule then?” Raymond asked Thierry at the end of the blond wizard‟s report on the repairs at l‟Institut.

“Unless we have another collapse, we should have everything ready that we‟ll need for the first round of seminars by the second week of December,”

Thierry agreed. “That will give you three weeks to furnish the rooms—you should talk to Magali about that, by the way. She had a few choice things to say about the quality of the items in their rooms—and do any other preparations for the first group. I have some things in storage from the house in Versailles that I could donate if it will help.”

“Alain, how many wizards do we have signed up?”

“Seven,” Alain replied. “Three from l‟Hôtel-Dieu and four from the police force. I think monsieur Sarraute will recruit more for us if the first seminar goes well. He said he‟d been wanting to include some vampires on the force for help in dealing with situations that might involve vampires, but he hadn‟t known how to get around the issue of sunlight. He was intrigued by the idea of using paired vampires and wizards.”

“And I have an equivalent number of vampires interested,” Orlando said.

“Actually, I have quite a few more than that, but I know you want to keep the groups fairly balanced.”

Raymond nodded. “I don‟t expect there to be partnerships in every single group, especially not small ones like this, but I don‟t want to create the appearance of not giving everyone equal choice. Once people have completed the seminars, they‟re welcome to come back and look for partners among subsequent groups if they so desire.”

A knock interrupted them. “Come in,” Raymond called.

David‟s red head appeared in the doorway. “Good news!”

“What‟s that?” Raymond asked.

“Angelique went into Dommartin today after finding an old country estate she thinks will be perfect for Sang Froid‟s new branch,” David reported. “She found the town council in session at the local café and charmed them into giving her the permits she‟ll need to open the business.”

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“Wonderful news!” Raymond agreed. “Not that I‟m surprised. I‟m pretty sure she could charm anyone into anything.”

David laughed. “Yes, probably. She is most persuasive.”

None of them said it, but they all remembered the argument between David and Angelique that had nearly ended their partnership. It had taken considerable groveling on David‟s part to convince Angelique to reconsider her decision to leave the alliance, but even after that, her business had continued to pose a problem for David until she had convinced him to look at it through a vampire‟s eyes.

“So where is she now?”

“She decided to stay in Dommartin for awhile,” David replied. “Magali said something about looking in antique shops for better furniture and taking Adèle with her. Angelique offered to go along as well, and since her taste is exquisite, I expect they‟ll have l‟Institut furnished by tonight.”

Raymond groaned. “I don‟t want to get that bill.”

“She‟s also an expert haggler,” David reminded Raymond. “She may fill the building, but she‟ll do it for half the price it would cost if anyone else bought the same things.”

“Then I‟ll just have to hope she‟s in top form,” Raymond said. “Is there anything else we need to discuss for l‟Institut?”

“Who‟s going to run it?” Thierry asked seriously.

“Are you offering?” Raymond joked.

“Don‟t do that to me,” Thierry replied, completely seriously. “I‟ll spend as many hours as you want doing repairs. I‟ll give as many lectures on any topics you want, but don‟t ask me to be in charge of the place. I wouldn‟t have the slightest idea how to deal with the administrative side of it.”

“So who would you suggest?” Raymond asked. “We can post a job opening and do a search, but we‟re talking about starting in five weeks. That‟s barely enough time to read resumes.”

Alain and Thierry looked at each other and back at Raymond. “You,” Alain said. “There isn‟t anyone in France more qualified, and if we start looking internationally for a researcher of your caliber, we‟ll be dealing with someone who doesn‟t have any experience with vampires or partnerships, not to mention the possible language barrier.”

“So what about l‟ANS?” Raymond asked. “I can‟t do both.”

Alain glanced at Thierry one more time. Thierry nodded and replied, “Neither of us can run it permanently, me because I don‟t have the patience and Alain because the brand on his neck puts him out of contention, but we could keep things going while we did a candidate search. Your replacement wouldn‟t

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have to have a partner as long as he or she shared the vision of l‟ANS

representing all the magical races. We can stay on here, along with Fabienne and others, to make sure everything continues smoothly and with the same focus on equality and integration that you‟ve pursued this year.”

Raymond took a deep breath, trying to steady his suddenly pounding pulse.

He had not let himself think about it, had told himself he had a duty to l‟ANS.

To have his two most trusted advisors telling him now that the whole community would be best served by him following his heart was almost too much to bear. “I don‟t want to make a rash decision. Let‟s get the first group through and see where things stand. I want to make sure I‟m leaving at a good time, if I do decide to go.”

“Whatever you decide, you have our support,” Thierry said. “We couldn‟t have asked for better leadership this year, and I know that will continue if you decide to stay. If you decide to take the position at l‟Institut, we expect regular visits and updates. You don‟t get to disappear just because we won‟t be working together directly anymore.”

“That‟s right,” Orlando chimed in. “You‟re stuck with us now.”

Raymond smiled. “I can live with that. Is there anything else we need to discuss before we adjourn?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Then we‟ll meet back in a week and see how things look then,” Raymond declared.

Alain, Orlando, Thierry, Sebastien, and David filed out, leaving Jean and Raymond alone in the conference room. Jean closed the door and turned to Raymond. “They‟re offering you your dreams on a silver platter.”

“I know they are,” Raymond replied, “but they‟re doing it because they know it‟s what I want. That doesn‟t mean it‟s the best thing for l‟ANS, and I promised Marcel I would do my best for it when he asked me to take his place.

I can‟t break that promise simply because something „better‟ has come up. That isn‟t fair to anyone, nor does it speak very highly of me.”

“I know,” Jean said, “but promise me you‟ll consider it from every angle before you decide to reject their very generous offer.”

“I promise.”

“YOU think he attacked her?” Angelique asked Magali as they drove toward Château-Chinon and Adèle‟s house.

“I don‟t know what else to think,” Magali admitted. “She was there working on the wards when I sensed an alert. There are two kinds of alerts in

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wards like the one Adèle built at l‟Institut. One is like a doorbell ringing, just a way to let the wizards inside know that someone is outside trying to get in. The other is more of a warning. That‟s the one I felt, so I went outside to investigate. It could have been a test on her part, but I learned not to take chances during the war. I got to where I‟d last seen her and she was gone, but Jude was there. I called out and he ran, so I stopped him. He wouldn‟t say whether he‟d seen her, but he had no problem calling her all kinds of names and making it clear he wanted to see her.”

“We‟ll see what she‟ll tell us,” Angelique said. “I‟ve had centuries of experience in encouraging girl talk, even with reluctant girls.”

“She needs to press charges against him if he did anything more than shout insults at her,” Magali said. “We can bluff and threaten all we want. If she doesn‟t do something to stop him, he‟s going to keep hounding her.”

“And one of these days, she‟ll give in,” Angelique sighed.

“Do you think so?”

Angelique nodded. “Between the partnership bond and her own attraction to bad boys, her resolve won‟t last forever. You‟re fortunate. You and Luc settled fairly quickly and comfortably into your partnership. David and I weren‟t so fortunate. Until the last week or so of the war, I expected to walk away from him when the war ended because we couldn‟t seem to agree on anything that mattered to me, but I couldn‟t do it. We worked out our differences, but I don‟t know how much longer I could have resisted even if we hadn‟t. I
needed
to be with him. Adèle is feeling that same pull, even if she‟s trying to deny it.”

“Maybe it‟s gotten easier to manage while they‟ve been apart?”

“Maybe it has, but then she saw him. Even if he didn‟t touch her—which I highly doubt—something happened to make her flee, or else she would have waited for you to come and help her,” Angelique said. “I watched her fight. She isn‟t one to run unless there‟s no other choice.”

The conversation paused as they reached Château-Chinon and had to follow Adèle‟s directions to her house. Adèle came out as soon as they pulled up. “Do you want me to drive?” she asked Magali. “It might be easier than me trying to give you directions the whole time.”

“That‟s fine,” Magali said, getting out of the car so Adèle could have the driver‟s seat. “I‟m not at all familiar with this area.”

Adèle slid behind the wheel and started out of town along the winding country roads. “There are little shops scattered all through these hills. You just have to know where to find them and then see what they have.”

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“We need fourteen guest rooms plus a few rooms for presenters who might decide to stay overnight before or after their portion of the seminars,”

Angelique said. “David called to let me know how many participants they have in the first seminar. The rooms don‟t have to be fancy, but they should at least have a bed, a table and chair, and an armoire.”

“I can‟t promise we‟ll find fancy, but we‟ll see plenty of functional pieces,”

Adèle assured them. “The first place is just around the corner up here.”

Magali bided her time, letting the atmosphere grow comfortable as the three of them looked through the first shop, discussing prices, comparing styles and matching pieces. When they finally settled on several items they thought would work, Angelique offered to discuss the price with the owner.

Magali and Adèle agreed and sat back to watch the vampire completely bulldoze the man behind the counter. By the time she was done, they had purchased all four pieces they wanted, plus one they had deemed too expensive, for less than the listed prices on the original four pieces.

“When do you want to take delivery of them?” the owner asked after Magali paid.

“We don‟t need delivery,” she said. “We‟ll take them with us right now.”

The man looked outside at the small car they were driving and back at the two armoires, two bed frames, and large table and shook his head. “How?”

Magali smiled and cast a displacement spell on the furniture. “Magic.”

They left the shop with the man gaping behind them. As soon as they were outside, Magali gave into her laughter. “Did you see the look on his face? I thought he was going to pop a vein right then.”

“He did look pretty shocked,” Angelique agreed.

“We don‟t get a lot of wizards out here in the country,” Adèle explained.

“They all go to Paris or Lyon to learn how to use their magic, and very few of them come back. This may be the first time that poor man has ever seen anyone actually do magic.”

“Do I need to stop?” Magali asked. “I don‟t want to cause problems.”

Adèle shook her head. “He‟ll get over it, and waiting for—and maybe paying for—delivery is ridiculous when we can take care of it with a wave of our wands.”

They climbed back in the car, and Adèle continued toward the next shop.

“I‟m sorry we didn‟t get to have dinner earlier this week,” Magali said, watching closely for a reaction from Adèle. “I came looking for you, but you weren‟t there anymore.”

Adèle flushed. “I got called away.”

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“Nothing serious, I hope,” Magali said. “I was surprised by who I did find, though. Your partner was skulking around in the bushes.”

“I don‟t have a partner,” Adèle snapped. “He forfeited that title when he wouldn‟t take no for an answer a year ago.”

“I didn‟t realize it had gotten that bad,” Angelique said sympathetically.

“What happened?”

“He thinks that because my blood can protect him from sunlight, I should be at his beck and call seven days a week,” Adèle complained. “He‟s disapproved of me from the moment we met at la gare de Lyon, before we knew that a wizard‟s magic didn‟t work on her partner and the only way we could find each other was for the vampires to bite the wizards until they found the right one. By the time he approached me, my wrist was covered in bites, so somehow I was suddenly a slut in his eyes, and nothing I said or did ever changed that attitude.”