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“Anita! Something wrong?”
Harry stepped over to them, his hands at his waist. The police uniform he wore was a little worn, a little dirty but at the same time new. Harry hadn’t been in St. Louis for long but Dolph liked him.
Anita had gotten the sense that it was because Harry didn’t talk a lot. Dolph liked those kinds of people.
“Harry…” Anita trailed off, swearing internally and seeing Asher’s mouth twist up into an amused grin. “Nothing to worry about. You can go back to work now.”
Harry met her gaze, those bright green eyes vivid and eerie. Harry had never told her or Dolph about the scar on his forehead and Anita had never asked. Harry had once said that he was in his mid thirties and was looking for a new job before signing on to the RPIT. Had come from England a few years ago.
Rather weird job choice for someone in their mid-thirties but Anita wasn’t going to judge. Harry was good at his job, for a human with no connection to the supernatural. He had good hunches. But now.
Asher was a Master Vampire and if he decided to kill Harry… The man wouldn’t see the vampire coming.
“Are you sure? I can--”
“Go,” Anita interrupted, shooing him away physically, gesturing back to the road where his car was presumably waiting.
“I can wait back here,” Harry said, looking between Anita, Jean-Claude and Asher. “Vampire problems?”
“So he knows I’m a vampire,” Asher remarked, sneering at the man, his eyes catching on the scar on Harry’s forehead. The way it bisected his eye. Asher blinked at the sight, seemingly entranced with it. His pale blue eyes caught and held on Harry and Harry stared back easily, tilting his head.
Anita swore, ready to intervene if Asher tried to roll Harry but. Nothing happened for a minute, for two. Asher frowned, his nostrils flaring, his hair very clearly hiding that scar that went up half his face.
Harry snorted before dropping his arms to his sides, reaching up to run his fingers through his messy black hair.
“He’s off limits,” Anita urged, glaring at Asher.
“Ma petite,” Jean-Claude murmured, his voice still low, lost. He was staring at Asher like he was seeing a ghost.
“I know he’s a Master Vampire,” Anita muttered. “You cannot kill Harry. He’s a police officer and.”
She turned to look at her car and out to the city beyond them.
Jean-Claude had said they were safe until they reached the council, but that didn’t mean Asher couldn’t pull a weapon then and blow us away. It had been beyond careless to put up her gun without patting Asher down first.
“Anita?” Harry questioned, drawing her attention, walking around to stand next to her. Anita wrinkled her nose, not liking this development. Harry was a liability, a sheep walking into a lion’s den, vulnerable and innocent.
“Is Asher riding with us to the meeting?”
Asher’s knowing smile widened. “I must, to give you directions.”
“Then lean against the jeep.”
Asher frowned at her in an amused, condescending sort of way. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t care if you’re the second coming of the Antichrist, you can’t sit behind me in my own car until I know you’re not carrying a weapon.”
“Ma petite, he is a vampire. If he is sitting behind you in a car, he is close enough to kill you without a gun.”
Anita shook her head. “You’re right. I know you’re right, but the point isn’t logic, Jean-Claude. The point is that I simply can’t let him in the car behind me without knowing what’s under the coat. I just can’t.”
It was true. Paranoid, but still true. Jean-Claude knew her better than to argue. “Very well, ma petite. Asher, would you be so kind as to face towards the Jeep.”
Asher smiled brilliantly at all of them, flashing fang. “You want to pat me down? I could rip you into pieces with my bare hands, and you’re worried I have a gun?”
He chuckled, a low, skin-prickling sound. “That is so very cute.”
“Just do it, please.”
He turned to face the Jeep, still laughing softly.
Harry glanced at her before turning to look at Asher, a thoughtful look on his face. He spared a glance at Jean-Claude before shrugging and holding a finger to his lips, winking at her. And walked right up to Asher.
Anita jerked, reaching for her gun.
Harry stepped right up to Asher, staring at the vampire’s hair, entranced with the metallic gold color of it. He wanted to run his fingers through that hair, see if it felt as soft as it looked.
Harry laid a hand on Asher’s shoulder blades, nudging his feet apart with his. Asher twitched underneath him, his head swiveling around to immediately face him.
“Hands on the hood, feet apart.”
Asher hissed, flashing fang at him.
Harry rolled his eyes, reaching up to cup Asher’s chin and turned his face back. “I heard about you, you know.”
“How dare you!”
Even as Asher said it, he appeared to shiver, his mouth opening and tongue slipping out.
“How are you immune to my gaze?”
Harry nosed into the back of Asher’s neck, stroking his other hand up Asher’s back to check for weapons. Asher’s shiver intensified, his breathing hitching. He had probably fed recently, his skin tinged with color, with heat and fresh blood.
“You’re just a brat.”
“Harry, you need to move,” Anita called over, irritation in her voice but also there was some steel in there too. “Asher’s dangerous.”
“Hmmm.”
Asher snarled at him again. “You need to know your place, human.”
Harry laughed and dropped all but one of his shields, all but one of the ties on his power.
The twin thuds echoed in his ears. Asher’s body slumped against his and Harry’s breath caught, catching and holding Asher tightly.
“Not just a human,” Harry whispered in amusement, feeling Asher shudder in his arms. Asher had gone still, turning around to look at him, his eyes wide, his breathing uneven.
He turned to look over to where Jean-Claude and Anita both had tumbled down onto the cement, on their knees, their breathing stuttering. Or at least what passed for breathing in Jean-Claude.
“If you need help with the council, I’m the ace up your sleeve,” Harry remarked, digging his fingers into Asher’s hip briefly, squeezing once before letting go. Asher stumbled a little bit before he righted himself, staring at Harry like he had never seen someone with his power before. There was a suspicious color in his unburned cheek, something very much like a blush. It was there and gone in an instant.
Anita’s eyes had gone wide, not with arousal but under the sheer power that Harry radiated.
“But you…smell human,” Jean-Claude said, his voice shaky. “Mon dieu. I couldn’t…”
“You can get up now. I’m not here to kick up a fuss,” Harry offered, smiling a little bit and meeting Asher’s eyes. “I’ll reel it back in. It’s fun being underestimated sometimes.”
Harry inhaled slowly, coiling his magic in like rope. The two vampires both sighed deeply and Jean-Claude stood up, helping Anita up too.
“Did you feel him coming?” Jean-Claude questioned, his eyes on Anita, looking her up and down.
Anita shook her head slowly, white-knuckling the gun in her grip. “What are you?”
“Human.”
Asher’s lips twitched, gone still, quiet, considering.
“You can’t be human,” Anita insisted. “I’m a necromancer and that…”
“Believe me or not,” Harry said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt whatever this was.”
Asher continued to stare at him, tilting his head, and Harry met his eyes again.
“Interrupt away,” Jean-Claude remarked steadily. “We really should be going if we are going to meet the council. Whoever you are, will you be a witness?”
Harry dipped his head in a nod. “Yes, of course. If a regime change is needed… I can do that too. Not for the city but…for the council.”
“Holy shit,” Anita swore, finally tucking her gun away.