Perilous Partnership (29 page)

“Did you sleep with him?” Magali asked, though she thought she knew the answer.

“I wouldn‟t call it that,” Adèle replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. “We fucked a couple of times, once after a battle, after the Piège-Pouvoir, a couple of other times, but it was always so twisted. My body reacted to him, but I hated every minute of it.”

“So press charges against him,” Magali said. “Even if you can‟t claim rape, you can certainly charge him with assault.”

Adèle shook her head. “I can‟t do that. Not when at least once, I started it.”

“You also had the good sense to stop it,” Angelique said quietly, “even if that meant leaving Paris to do so.”

Adèle shook her head. “It wasn‟t like that. I came home, just like I‟d always intended. I just neglected to mention to him where home is. I don‟t actually know how he found out, but it doesn‟t matter. He‟s found me again, so I‟m sure I‟ll have more nighttime visits to look forward to.”

The resignation in her voice tore at Angelique. “Why? Even if what happened before was both of you, why not do something about it if he starts stalking you now?”

“Because I don‟t want my private business drawn out in court,” Adèle said.

“I have to work with the people who would be investigating and prosecuting my case, and they don‟t need to know all the sordid details.”

“Are they really that bad?” Magali asked.

“Yes.”

Magali and Angelique waited for an explanation, but none came. Finally Angelique said, “Then what are you going to do?”

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Adèle shrugged. “I don‟t know. I came home because that‟s what I‟d always planned to do, so that didn‟t feel like running away and it certainly wasn‟t starting over. I could apply for a transfer within the department, but I‟d have to sell my house and find a new one, get established in a new town, make a new name for myself there. I don‟t want to do that, but I don‟t know what else to do.”

“You can‟t stick it out in Château-Chinon?” Magali asked. “Even if your wards won‟t work on Leighton, someone else could come add a layer that would. My magic works on him. Raymond‟s or Alain‟s or Thierry‟s would.”

“As long as I didn‟t cave and let him in,” Adèle said. “I heard his voice the other night and my brain screamed
run
while everything in my body melted into his arms. I got away from him because my brain is still capable of overruling my body, but for how long? How long before I‟ll hear that seductive drawl and think it won‟t hurt just once? Only once will never be enough. He‟s like a drug, and I‟m a recovering addict. As long as I can stay away from him, I can live with the temptation, but I‟m not sure I can fight myself and him.”

“They are seductive bastards when they want to be,” Magali agreed, flushing as she remembered Luc coming to her room the night before and ravishing her most pleasantly as he fed.

Adèle laughed, glancing at Angelique, who wore an amused expression.

“Sorry, don‟t take that the wrong way.”

Angelique shook her head. “Don‟t worry. I won‟t. Especially since I‟m perfectly willing to admit I seduced my partner and continue to do so on a regular basis.”

“If he‟d ever bothered to seduce me instead of just demanding, I might not mind so much,” Adèle admitted. “It isn‟t the rough sex that bothered me. It was his fucked-up condescending attitude, like I was somehow dirty because I enjoy sex in all its forms and because I‟m woman enough to admit it.”

“Vampires are a very traditional bunch,” Angelique reminded them. “That doesn‟t excuse Jude‟s behavior—I don‟t condone the way he treated you in or out of bed—but it is something of an explanation. He has in his head a certain way mortals should act, a certain way women should act, and now a certain way his partner should act. They‟re wrong, but they‟re there. And because they‟re there, he reacts badly to anything that contradicts those ideas. You can argue with him all you want. He won‟t change his mind. It isn‟t in his nature.”

“I‟ve watched other vampires compromise,” Adèle said.

“Every vampire is different, of course,” Angelique agreed. “Some are not as set in their ways. Some have different ideas of mortals to begin with. Some come from different times or backgrounds that make them think differently.

Jude is the unfortunate product of a specific time, place, and set of experiences.

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What can we do to help? Is there some spell we can use that will help you resist him? Something we can do to him that will keep him away?”

Adèle smiled sadly. “Drop a wall on his head so I don‟t have to deal with him anymore. Other than that, I‟ll just have to do my best to resist him and live with the consequences if I can‟t. I thought about going to Paris to demand Raymond fix this, but there‟s nothing he can do about it either. I just have to hope something comes out of the research at l‟Institut that will make it possible to break such a dysfunctional bond.”

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THE morning of January fifth dawned cold and clear, making Raymond hope for an equally auspicious beginning to the first seminar at l‟Institut. The seven wizards were scheduled to arrive that afternoon around three, with other wizards picking up the vampires after sunset to transport them to l‟Institut. He glanced around the cloister, making sure everything was ready. Some of the areas were carefully cordoned off because repairs had not yet begun or were not yet finished. Thierry and Sebastien stood in the middle of one of those sections, discussing the next steps with the foreman of the remodeling crew that had done so much of the renovations after the repairs were complete on a magical level. Raymond suspected the foreman would have hired Thierry and Sebastien as part of his permanent crew if he could have lured them away. Thierry‟s and Sebastien‟s assistance, and the assistance of the other wizards with an affinity to earth, had cut the time needed for basic repairs down by at least seventy-five percent, maybe more. They never would have had l‟Institut ready to open this quickly without the wizards‟ help.

The finished areas were as carefully manicured as a blustery January day would allow, the grass trimmed and the weeds cleared so the areas that would be flowerbeds later lay fallow beneath a layer of mulch. The villagers had come through, much to Raymond‟s surprise after the first meeting with the town council, providing assistance in a wide variety of non-magical areas. The kitchen was fully stocked and staffed, ready to serve family-style. The grounds had been cleaned by a group of five men who had been trying to start a landscaping company. Raymond intended to hire them to take care of the gardens when the weather warmed and they could begin fresh planting. A woman and her three daughters had offered to take care of all the cleaning and washing for the linens in the guest rooms. It made him realize how eager people were for living wage jobs in their own towns, rather than having to drive several towns away for work. He was not sure Angelique would be able to staff her branch of Sang Froid locally, but he suspected she would be able to get all the extra help she needed with no problem.

“What are you doing here so early?” Thierry asked Raymond, crossing one of the construction zone barriers and joining Raymond on the grass. “Arrival time isn‟t scheduled for at least seven hours from now.”

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“I know,” Raymond said, “but I needed to make sure everything was ready.

I know the building is, but I wanted to check the guest rooms and see how preparations were going for dinner and make sure the materials were all copied and—”

“Stop,” Thierry interrupted with a laugh. “I get it. Go do what you need to do. Just watch the barriers. Some of them are still only physical. Now that I‟ve got Bertrand and his crew started, that‟s the first thing on my list for today so that no one will decide to get curious and ignore the warning signs.”

“And we all know how curious wizards can be,” Raymond agreed, thinking of the scrapes he had landed in during his youth because of his curiosity.

Looking around the cloister, he hoped this would not be another of those “scrapes.”

“We do indeed,” Thierry laughed. “Let me get that taken care of and then I‟ll see if there‟s anything I can do to help you. Nothing else on my to-do list has to be done before the wizards arrive this afternoon or the vampires this evening.”

“Thank you,” Raymond said, heading toward the Hostellerie where the wizards would sleep. Despite feeling like he was giving the vampires second-class accommodations, he had given in to Jean‟s and Sebastien‟s insistence that the vampires would be more comfortable in the monks‟ cells where no light came in during the day than they would be in the grander, airier rooms of the Hostellerie. He did not immediately see madame Naizot, but the eldest daughter, Aimée, was sweeping the foyer.

“Bonjour, monsieur Payet,” she chirped when he walked in. “We have everything almost ready. Maman is making sure the flowers are fresh in all the rooms, and she has Chantal and Geneviève making sure all the linens are in place and all the hallways swept. I‟m in charge of this level.”

Raymond took a moment to wipe his feet so he would not traipse dirt or leaves across the immaculate floor. “Everything looks wonderful,” he said. “I hope you and your family will join us for dinner tonight so I can introduce the full staff to our guests. I want to thank you all appropriately.”

“I‟m sure that‟s not necessary, monsieur Payet,” Aimée demurred, “but I‟ll mention it to Maman and let her decide.”

Raymond had already learned the inutility of arguing with any of the Naizot sisters. Their mother was the final authority where their jobs were concerned. If Raymond wanted something done or not done, he went to madame Naizot or to no one. “I‟ll speak with her then.”

He found Chantal first, coming out of one of the rooms with an armful of towels. “How can you need to take those out of the room?” he asked. “No one has stayed there yet.”

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“There‟s a stain on one of them, and we don‟t have another set that matches these,” Chantal explained. “I‟ll see if I can get the stain out, but for now, I‟ve replaced it with a different set. Maman said everything needed to be perfect.”

“Where is your mother?” Raymond asked.

“Upstairs,” Chantal replied with a tilt of her head.

Raymond frowned. He had thought all the upstairs rooms were empty. The members of l‟ANS who would be presenting the seminars had been assigned rooms in the abbot‟s house.

Climbing the stairs, he entered the first guest room to find it fully furnished and decorated. “Madame Naizot?” he asked in surprise, seeing her filling a vase with flowers. “What happened in here?”

“Those rooms in the abbot‟s house aren‟t fit to sleep in even for a night,”

madame Naizot insisted. “A couple of your wizards helped me find what we needed to set things to rights up here. I‟ve set up a room down the hall for you, monsieur Payet. All you have to do is move into it. Let me show it to you so you can tell me if anything is amiss. I want it to be perfect for you.”

“I already have a room in the abbot‟s house,” Raymond said.

Madame Naizot tsked. “When the abbot‟s quarters are ready, you can move back over there, but until then, you‟ll stay here in a style befitting the president of l‟ANS.”

Raymond shook his head in amusement. “If that will make things easier for you and your daughters, that will be fine with me. Show me the room so I can move my things over here.”

She led him down the hall to the room at the end under the eaves. It ran the full width of the building, making it easily the largest room in the Hostellerie, second only in the entire abbey to the as-yet unfinished abbot‟s quarters. She had decorated it simply, but he noticed the heavy drapes on the windows and the curtains on the four-poster bed. “My partner will appreciate the thought you put into providing for our comfort,” Raymond said, fingering the quilt on the bed. “This is a lovely room.”

“Monsieur Sebastien told me to make sure the rooms for the vampires had certain things,” madame Naizot replied. “I don‟t have all the rooms as ready as I‟d like, but yours is, and the ones in the main building where he said most of the vampires would be staying are ready as well. We‟ll get them all right and tight before too long, I promise.”

“You have worked miracles already, madame,” Raymond assured her.

“Will you let me thank you and your daughters tonight by joining us for dinner?

It won‟t be anything fancy, just a family-style meal in the réfectoire, but we would be pleased to have your company after all your hard work.”

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Madame Naizot ran a hand over her slightly disheveled hair. “If we can get everything done in time to make ourselves presentable, we‟ll join you.”

Raymond smiled. “See that you make time.”

JEAN joined Raymond an hour before the wizards were scheduled to arrive.

“Have you driven everyone crazy yet?”

“I‟m not driving anyone crazy,” Raymond said. “I‟m making sure everything is ready.”

Behind Raymond‟s back, Thierry and Sebastien shook their heads adamantly. Jean smothered a smile. “Come inside with me for a few minutes.”

“Jean, I have things I need to take care of before everyone arrives.”

“I thought you wanted me to help you greet everyone,” Jean said.

“I do,” Raymond replied. “What does that have to do with going inside?”