Perilous Partnership (15 page)

She smiled. “Maybe not, but we deserve you.”

Inside Raymond‟s office, Jean did not try to hide his smile. Raymond would eventually learn to believe in himself. He left Raymond to his signatures and went to check on his own inbox. It would probably not be as full as Raymond‟s, but he had responsibilities of his own.

AT precisely two o‟clock, Jean returned to Raymond‟s office to find Marcel, Thierry, and Sebastien already inside. “Good afternoon, gentlemen,” he said as he walked inside. “Are we ready to go?”

“We‟re just waiting for Vincent and Eric,” Raymond said, “but if you want to go ahead with Thierry, Marcel and Sebastien, I can wait for them. Thierry has been there before. He can take Jean and guide Marcel with Sebastien.”

“Are you sure you don‟t mind?” Thierry asked.

“No, go ahead,” Raymond insisted. “The sooner you get there, the sooner we can get to work.”

Perilous Partnership

77

“This is quite the compound you have here,” Marcel observed when he and Jean arrived in Dommartin a few minutes later.

“It still needs a lot of work,” Jean demurred, “but it will be a fitting tribute to a true visionary.”

“Oh, my boy, you keep telling yourself that. I was a desperate man in an untenable position. Nothing more.”

Jean knew better than that, but he also knew better than to contradict Marcel. “Let me show you around. I know most of what Raymond intends.”

“I‟d love a tour.”

Jean escorted Marcel across the cloister and into the main building. “This will be the primary focus of l‟Institut, both the research and the school. We‟ll start the repairs with this area. Thierry can tell you better what needs to be done, or you can probably tell yourself. We‟ll use the old cells either for lodging or offices, and the other areas will be classroom and research space.”

“Has Raymond thought about naming a director yet?” Marcel asked.

“He‟s torn,” Jean confided. “He wants to do it himself, but he knows he‟s needed in Paris as well, and he doesn‟t see how he can do both.”

“He probably can‟t,” Marcel said. “I know how much work it is to run l‟ANS. I did it for years. And he‟s started several new initiatives on top of maintaining the existing ones.”

“He was checking on a new outreach program this morning,” Jean recounted. “And all upset because he hadn‟t had time for it this past week. I don‟t know how to help him.”

“Make sure he surrounds himself with competent people and don‟t let him spend more than a reasonable amount of time working,” Marcel advised. “We aren‟t fighting a war anymore. If something doesn‟t get done today, it will get done tomorrow. Other than maintaining the magical equilibrium, nothing he is doing is time sensitive.”

“I think he would disagree with you on that.”

“I know he would, but I‟m just an old man. You‟re his partner. His lover.

You have ways of taking care of him, of making sure he rests, that aren‟t open to me. Don‟t be afraid to use them.”

Jean laughed. “I‟ll remember that. And there are the others. I imagine Raymond is eager to get started.”

They walked back to where the other wizards stood, just inside the main doorway to the abbey. “So where shall we start?” Marcel asked, his voice jovial.

78

Ariel Tachna

“Here at the entrance,” Raymond said. “I think we should secure this area, then work deeper into the building. Once we have a few areas safe, we can start bringing people in to remodel and prepare the space for its future uses.”

“So how do you propose to do this?” Vincent asked. “I haven‟t done any work on an elemental level in a long time, and I‟m not sure I‟ve ever done the kind of repair work we‟ll need to do here.”

“Thierry and Sebastien will work together,” Raymond replied. “Thierry is familiar with what needs to be done. Sebastien will augment his abilities. I hoped Eric would be able to supplement you, and Jean and I could help Marcel.”

“As much as I appreciate you wanting to let me work with Vincent,” Eric interrupted, “that probably isn‟t the smartest use of our resources. Yes, I can boost Vincent‟s strength, but I‟m not a vampire and we don‟t have your kind of partnership. I know you and your partner could add far more to Vincent‟s abilities, and Marcel is so powerful on his own that he can do more alone. Let me work with him, and you work with Vincent.”

Raymond looked at the big, bald wizard. “I don‟t have a problem with that if Vincent doesn‟t.”

“Thank you. Not everyone wants to work with someone who bears Serrier‟s mark.”

Raymond swore he could feel Serrier‟s spell cutting down his back again at Vincent‟s words. “I can hardly criticize you for that when I bear the same scar.”

“You just came to your senses long before I did.”

Raymond shrugged. “You came to your senses too, and you saved at least two lives in the process. I can‟t force others to accept you, but you don‟t need to question where you stand with me.”

“Someone will have to remind me how to do this.”

“Give me your hand,” Marcel said. “I‟ll help you once, and then once you remember, you can go from there. Don‟t feel like you have to do as much as Thierry or as me. Any repair you do is one closer to being done.”

Vincent held out his hand. Marcel placed it on the wall next to one of Thierry‟s markers and began a soft incantation, guiding Vincent‟s magic through the process of repairing a fissure in the stone.

“Now you try it.”

Vincent repeated the spell Marcel had used on the next weak spot, struggling a little to recreate the magical melding. He started to despair when he felt a surge of unfamiliar strength. Suddenly the solution seemed simple, and he completed the repair in three heartbeats.

“Was that you?” Vincent asked, turning to Raymond.

Perilous Partnership

79

Raymond nodded. “You looked like you were struggling. I can‟t do what you do with the stone, but I can add strength. There‟s no reason for you to wear yourself out before we‟ve even gotten started.”

Vincent looked dubious. “I‟m not sure you‟re as incapable as you claim because your magic gave me more than just strength.”

Raymond shrugged. “I‟ve studied a lot of things in my life. There‟s a difference between book knowledge and practical ability. I have the book knowledge. You have the talent. The combination should be quite effective, particularly when we throw Jean into the mix.”

“Then I guess we should get started.”

“This will be easiest if I‟m touching you somewhere,” Raymond said.

“Your shoulders or your arm. Whatever will be most comfortable for you.”

“Probably my shoulders,” Vincent replied. “I‟ll need my hands free to work with the walls.”

Raymond moved into position behind Vincent, his hands resting lightly on the other wizard‟s shoulders. A moment later, he felt Jean move behind him, his hands settling heavily on Raymond‟s hips. He smothered a smile, sure he knew exactly what was going through Jean‟s mind at the possessive gesture and the sudden, sharp pinch of fangs in his neck.

Jean tasted Raymond‟s amusement in his blood, but it did nothing to stifle his urge to stake his claim deeper and more visibly on Raymond‟s skin. The wizard was
his
, damn it! He pressed closer against Raymond, letting his groin brush the wizard‟s buttocks, just in case he needed that reminder. Raymond chuckled, making Jean roll his eyes. It was going to be a long day.

80

Ariel Tachna

WHEN they had all reached the limits of their magical abilities, Raymond thanked everyone, fully expecting the others to return to Paris. They all lingered, however, so he took their presence as permission and put them to work cleaning the old-fashioned way. Eric made a comment about thinking he had seen the last of a mop and bucket when he stopped working as a waiter.

They all laughed, and Raymond breathed a sigh of relief that the tension seemed to have dissipated after a morning working together. Leaving Vincent, Thierry, and Eric to clean, Raymond took the two vampires with him in search of the best rooms to convert for the vampires who would live at l‟Institut for the duration of the educational program.

“The smaller the windows, the better,” Sebastien said as they walked into the first of the monks‟ cells. “We can install volets and curtains and the rest, but ultimately, unless they find a partner—and even for some time after that until they start trusting the partnership—the vampires will be most comfortable in a room with as little exterior light as possible. They can walk outside at night if they want fresh air.”

“If we make absolutely sure the route from their room to a classroom is free of sunlight, will they attend classes during the day?” Raymond asked as he made a note on the floorplan of the abbey.

“They might,” Jean said, “but they‟ll be far more comfortable and therefore far more attentive if the classes are at night. It‟s your call, of course. Most of the vampires you could call on as instructors would be willing to teach at night as well as during the day, and I would think the partnered wizards would feel the same, if only because they surely remember how hard it was for their partners at first.”

“Are you planning on using primarily pairs as instructors?” Sebastien asked.

“I think we have to,” Raymond said. “We can discuss agendas for specific sessions all we want. Ultimately the people best able to discuss the ins and outs of a partnership are people who have lived it.”

“That certainly makes sense,” Sebastien agreed. “I haven‟t discussed it with Thierry, but I‟d be glad to take on a session or two if that will help you out.”

Perilous Partnership

81

Raymond smiled. “Thank you. I hope to eventually have a full-time staff of people who can do both the teaching and the research, but like everything else, that will take time to put in place, if only because a limited number of partnerships formed during the war and many of those people had jobs to go back to when the war ended.”

“So what else needs to be done that the physical strength of two vampires can take care of while everyone recovers their magical strength?” Sebastien asked, deliberately changing the subject.

“Too much,” Raymond said with a sigh, “but the first thing has to be clearing out the debris left from years of disuse. We can‟t bring in new furniture or fixtures until we get rid of the old.”

“Then I guess we‟d better get started lifting, Jean,” Sebastien said. “Surely between the two of us, we can clear a few of these inner rooms so there will be space for a dozen or so vampires when Raymond‟s ready to start classes.”

“If I can get a dozen total people for the first class, I‟ll be happy,”

Raymond admitted. “I want to start small, to make sure we have everything in place before we expand.”

“Thierry said something about Alain doing some recruiting. Did he have any luck?”

“I haven‟t heard yet,” Raymond replied. “He had already left for the day when we came back into the office last night, and he hadn‟t checked in this morning when we came out here to start the repairs. I‟ll try to catch him this evening.”

“That‟s what phones are for, you know,” Sebastien said as he gestured for Jean to grab one end of a huge, dilapidated armoire, the door swinging drunkenly on its one remaining hinge as the vampires picked it up. Raymond could not stop the jolt of surprise at how easily the two vampires moved the huge piece of furniture. He had seen evidence of their strength on too many occasions to count, but he had yet to grow accustomed to it.

“I… I don‟t think I have his number,” Raymond admitted.

Sebastien rolled his eyes as he rattled it off. “You really have to stop thinking like you‟re still an outcast. You‟re the president of l‟ANS, in case you‟ve forgotten.”

Raymond had not forgotten, but it was far harder to take charge with Thierry and Alain than it was with those outside the organization who had no history with him. “I‟ll add it to my phonebook when we get back to the office.”

“YOUR apartment used to be easier to get into.”

82

Ariel Tachna

The phantom voice and the threat the words represented sent tension racing through Raymond‟s body. His wand jumped to his hand almost without his being aware he had reached for it.

“Relax,” Jean murmured at his side. “Céline is an old friend.”

Not entirely reassured, Raymond lowered his wand nonetheless, knowing that even without it, he was hardly helpless. He would give Jean‟s “old friend”

the benefit of the doubt for now. As long as she kept her distance.

“It‟s been a long time, Céline,” Jean said, embracing the woman and giving her the traditional kiss on each cheek. “What brings you to Paris, and particularly to my house, now?”

“Cour business, if there‟s somewhere we can talk in private,” Céline replied, casting a dismissive glance in Raymond‟s direction.

“If it‟s Cour business, then we should go inside,” Jean agreed. “Raymond and I will be happy to discuss anything that needs discussing with you.”

“A mortal?” Céline scoffed. “This is Cour business, Jean. He doesn‟t need to be involved.”

“Not merely a mortal. A wizard. The president of l‟ANS. And my partner,”

Jean enumerated. “If it involves me, it involves him. Now, shall we go inside?”

Céline followed the two men inside, her surprise clear on her face when Raymond instructed the wards to allow her admittance. It was a petty gesture on his part and he knew it—a wave of his hand would have admitted her—but he wanted her to realize exactly how fully he fit into Jean‟s life.