Perilous Partnership (17 page)

“You‟ll stay right here in bed and hold me. You can clean me up later.”

Jean subsided onto the sheets, but while his arms opened for Raymond to move into his embrace, he did not cradle the wizard close the way he usually did, nor did he react to the tender kisses Raymond pressed along the line of his jaw. He had no idea why Raymond was not angry with him, but he could not help but be glad.

“What brought that on?” Raymond murmured huskily. “You‟ve lost control before, but never like that.”

Jean flinched. “It won‟t happen again. I swear. I don‟t know why I couldn‟t control myself tonight, but you don‟t need to worry. I won‟t hurt you again.”

“Who said anything about being hurt?” Raymond asked, pushing up on one elbow so he could peer into Jean‟s face in the low light from the lamp on the bedside table. “Ravished, maybe. Desired beyond my wildest imaginings, certainly, but I‟m not hurt.”

“How can you not be hurt?” Jean protested. “You‟re covered in bite marks, every one of them bleeding. I don‟t act this way. The first thing every vampire learns is how to control the beast within him, the one that would rampage and kill if he didn‟t control it. That beast got loose tonight, and that hasn‟t happened to me since the night I was turned.”

“And yet you didn‟t kill me,” Raymond pointed out reasonably. “You covered me in love bites and you pounded me through the mattress just like I

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asked you to do, but you didn‟t kill me, and you didn‟t hurt me. I‟m not saying I‟d want it that rough every time we make love, but I certainly wasn‟t complaining tonight, and I won‟t complain if it happens again occasionally.

The only reason I‟m not slumped on the bed, all but asleep, is that you tried to leave. Now, will you hold me and let me sleep in your arms?”

Jean had no idea what he was supposed to say to that, so he simply nodded and drew Raymond down so that his head rested in the hollow of Jean‟s shoulder. He stroked the short, dark hair tenderly, trying to atone for his earlier roughness. He had no idea what had short-circuited his control tonight, but he did not intend for it to happen again.

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“SOMEBODY had a good night last night,” Sebastien said with a grin when he saw Raymond and Jean the next evening. “I so rarely see even one bite mark on your neck.”

Raymond flushed and lifted his hands to his neck, hiding the plethora of marks. “It was a rather enjoyable evening,” he admitted, “but I probably ought to get these taken care of before the press conference tonight. It‟s one thing to appear with a single mark—I‟ve been doing that since the alliance began—but nobody seeing me would have any doubt Jean was far more than my partner.”

Sebastien shook his head. “It‟s not about being more than your partner. It‟s that they don‟t understand what it means to be partners the way we use the word. It‟s a deceptively simple word for so complex a relationship.”

“It is,” Jean agreed, voice tight. He could not decide which upset him more: the reminder of how completely he had lost control last night or the fact that Raymond felt the need to hide it. “And it‟s going to get more and more difficult to cover up that fact as l‟Institut makes the partnerships more prevalent.”

“Speaking of that, Alain said he had some interest from a few wizards, but has anyone met with the vampires?” Thierry asked.

“Not yet,” Jean replied. “Orlando volunteered, but I‟m not sure how well that will be received nor how well that truly represents what we‟re offering.”

Sebastien nodded. “The Cour turned out in force for Couthon‟s
judicium
.

There isn‟t a vampire in Paris who isn‟t aware of the brand on Alain‟s neck. If Orlando goes, at least if he goes alone, everyone will equate a partnership with an Aveu de Sang. I‟d offer to help, but I need to be with Thierry at the abbey.”

“I know,” Jean replied. “I thought perhaps Mireille would be glad of a chance to interact with the Cour again. Between helping Caroline cope with her blindness and working for monsieur Lombard, she has very little time for herself these days.”

“That‟s a good idea,” Sebastien agreed. “I‟d bet she‟d be glad to help.

Orlando could go with her. There‟s no reason they couldn‟t both represent l‟Institut. If nothing else, it might not hurt to remind people that the

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partnerships have the potential to become very personal. We‟ve said it a hundred times, but people don‟t always listen.”

“Don‟t we know it,” Jean muttered, thinking of Paul and Guillemin, the wizard and vampire who provoked the current push for l‟Institut. “In the meantime, Raymond and I have a press conference to prepare for. If you see Orlando, would you ask him to talk to Mireille and see if she‟d be willing to go with him? If she says yes, they can start tonight. Hit the goth clubs, maybe go by Sang Froid—which reminds me that I need to talk to Angelique as well— some of the cafés. All the usual places.”

“I‟ll tell him if I see him,” Sebastien promised. “Go do what you have to do.”

“We‟re for Dommartin to see what else we can accomplish today,” Thierry added. “Even if it takes us weeks, we can still work faster than stone masons not using magic. Between us and them, we‟ll have the abbey usable in no time.”

“Thanks,” Raymond said. “Before you go, though, Thierry, could I avail myself of your wand? I can‟t go into the press conference with my neck looking like this, and I didn‟t think about it when I got dressed this morning.”

“Of course,” Thierry said. “If you‟ll excuse us, gentlemen, Raymond and I will just be a minute.”

Jean‟s face tightened, but he did not protest as Raymond and Thierry disappeared into a nearby office.

When the two vampires were alone, Sebastien let out a low wolf whistle.

“You did a number on him last night. I‟m surprised he‟s walking straight.”

“His self-mastery is beyond compare,” Jean said, knowing it was no explanation.

“I know we haven‟t always been the best of friends, but I have to admit I wouldn‟t have expected to see one of your lovers looking that way. Leighton‟s, yes, but yours, not so much,” Sebastien said.

Jean flushed, striking the wall angrily. “Don‟t remind me. I don‟t know what happened. I‟m never like that, but I couldn‟t seem to stop. His blood is like a drug.”

Sebastien nodded. “I understand that feeling. Every time I feed, I curse the magic that prohibits an Aveu de Sang from working twice. What I have with Thierry is like nothing I‟ve ever known, not even my bond with my Avoué, which I would have sworn could not be surpassed. I can only imagine what it‟s like for Alain and Orlando, who have both the Aveu de Sang and the power of a partnership.”

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Jean could imagine all too easily because he had spent far too much time dwelling on something he knew would not come to pass while Raymond had any leadership within l‟ANS. “Another one of those things we‟ll probably never understand,” Jean agreed. “The list seems to get longer, not shorter, each time we talk about it.”

Sebastien laughed. “There‟s a reason I was never good at science and the like. The more you understand, the more you realize how little you know. Et voilà Thierry. We‟ll let you know what we get done today.”

Jean watched as Sebastien joined his partner, his arm going easily around Thierry‟s waist as they walked toward their offices. He envied them their easy rapport. In private, he and Raymond were every bit as at ease with each other as Thierry and Sebastien, but Raymond pulled that damnable reserve around him like a cloak each time they left their apartment.

“It should be an interesting evening,” Raymond said when he reached Jean‟s side. “We‟ve been getting more questions recently about l‟Institut, and now we actually have some answers for people.”

Jean was not sure “interesting” was the word he would have chosen, but he let it go. Raymond had always been a master of understatement.

THE pressroom was packed. The last time Raymond had seen it so full, he was giving his acceptance speech for his new position as president of l‟ANS. That had been news, but the weekly doings of l‟ANS rarely brought more than the reporters from the wizarding newspapers. “What have they heard?” Raymond murmured to Jean.

“I don‟t know,” Jean replied, “but be on your guard. Don‟t let them trick you into revealing more than you‟re ready to say.”

Raymond nodded, straightening his tie and rubbing idly at a spot on his chest where Jean had bitten him particularly deeply last night. It throbbed slightly, reminding him of how thoroughly he had been loved. He almost said something to Jean, but the final moments before a press conference were hardly the ideal time for personal declarations. He had waited this long. He could wait for the right moment.

Jean saw the gesture and flinched, thinking the bite must be bothering Raymond even with Thierry‟s healing spell. The marks on Raymond‟s neck were completely gone, even the bruising around the bites, which meant he had done far more damage on Raymond‟s chest, if the spell had not healed it.

Feeling sick to his stomach, he summoned a wan smile for Raymond as the clock rang out the hour.

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Taking a deep breath, Raymond straightened his jacket and walked onto the dais. “Bonsoir, mesdames et messieurs. Welcome to our weekly press conference. I‟m not sure what‟s brought so many of you out tonight, but I hope I‟ll have something of interest for you all.”

“What are you hiding out en province?” one of the reporters yelled.

“I wasn‟t aware of hiding anything,” Raymond replied coolly. “A little less than a month ago, we announced our intention to purchase the old monastery in Dommartin with the intention of turning it into an institute for magical research and study. I‟m sorry you weren‟t here when that announcement was made, but if you‟ll check the November editions of your colleagues‟ papers, you‟ll find a note of it in several of them.”

“Why not have it in Paris then?” the reporter shouted back, clearly unperturbed by Raymond‟s sharp response.

“Have you looked at real estate prices in Paris?” Raymond scoffed.

“L‟ANS has a budget, yes, but not that big a budget. We couldn‟t locate a property in Paris that fit both our size and budgetary needs. The monastery in le Morvan fit both, and we think it will be a great economic resource to the community as well, since we hope to have a staff in residence there within the next six months.”

“And what exactly will this staff be doing?”

“Addressing questions of magical importance and offering an education program to wizards and vampires who have an interest in the kinds of partnerships that formed during l‟émeutte des Sorciers,” Raymond answered evenly. “What did you think they would be doing?”

“Why do they need a school for that?” the reporter demanded, ignoring Raymond‟s question. “Is that really the best use of l‟ANS funds?”

“I don‟t like your insinuations, monsieur. L‟ANS is a private non-profit organization that receives no public funding,” Raymond said, “so we are only accountable to our donors for how we spend our money. As for the reasons for the school, the partnerships are far more complicated than the simple exchange of blood between a mortal and a vampire. It‟s only fair to the people involved to make sure they understand the commitment they‟re making so they can choose to or not to be involved. You wouldn‟t expect a doctor to start practicing medicine without some experience with the requirements of the field.

The same is true of the partnerships.”

“How difficult can it be? You let a vampire bite you.”

Raymond took a deep breath, reminding himself not to be baited. “I think this line of questioning has gone far enough. My plan tonight was to announce that l‟Institut Marcel Chavinier will begin accepting applications for its first educational seminars next week. The first seminar is currently scheduled to

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begin on January fifth. Any interested wizards or vampires should apply at the offices of l‟ANS by the twentieth of December. We already have four wizards signed up. We will be accepting a maximum of ten wizards and ten vampires for the first session, which will last one week and require participants to live at l‟Institut for the duration of the program.”

“Why is it a residential program?” another reporter called.

“Because it‟s a very time-intensive schedule,” Raymond explained, “and having everyone on site will allow time for discussion among the participants.

Finding a partner is not simply a question of knowledge but of compatibility.

Any vampire can bite any wizard, but only the right combination creates a partnership with long-lasting positive benefits. It would do neither of us any good if monsieur Dumont‟s partner bit me instead of biting him, for example.”

In the wings, Jean bit his lip to hold back the hiss of displeasure the thought of any vampire biting Raymond evoked. He would destroy any who tried. He consciously forced down the beast inside him. He had given into it last night, but he would not let it rule his every action. Concentrating on Raymond helped, so he focused on his wizard and the continuing verbal sparring between him and the press corps.

“What about the vampires?” the reporter from Libération called. “Even I know they have to feed more often than that.”

“Arrangements are being made,” Raymond said vaguely. “You forget that distance is no object for a wizard. It is no more of a problem for those in the company of wizards. We will not starve them while they are with us.”