Perilous Partnership (24 page)

“Then we should go down toward the cathedral,” Jean said, indicating the way with a wave of his hand. “It will take about five minutes to get there.”

They descended the rue docteur Maret toward St. Bénigne, passing the musée archéologique as they walked. They were about halfway down the hill

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when the church bells tolled the hour. “Perfect timing,” Jean said as they reached the square in front of the cathedral. “Shall we go in?”

They entered the church by the transept gate, finding the door unlocked and one row of lights on. The gate to the crypt stood open to their left. “I‟ll go first,” Jean said, “since I know they‟re expecting me.”

Raymond stifled his protest that it also put Jean at risk for any kind of foul play. Even if his lover suspected that kind of intention, he would not let Raymond go first on the grounds that Raymond‟s mortal body was more susceptible to injury or death than Jean‟s was. Then there was le Jeu des Cours and the fact that Raymond entering first would diminish Jean‟s status. He slipped in front of Luc, though, having no intention of leaving Jean unprotected in the crypt for more than the few seconds it would take Raymond to enter after him. He had left his wand at home, not wanting to appear threatening, but that would not matter if Jean were in danger. He hoped it would not come to that.

“So good of you to grace us with your presence,” Céline said the moment Jean stepped into the crypt. “We thought perhaps….” She trailed off when she saw the other three people enter the room behind him.

“We had a little trouble finding it,” Jean lied. “We‟re not as familiar with the city as you are. I‟m sure you know Luc Cabalet, from Amiens. He agreed to come with me tonight since our discussion will surely impact him as well.”

“And how do events in le Morvan have anything to do with Picardy?” the other vampire—Renaud, Raymond assumed—demanded.

“I have no interest in what happens in le Morvan,” Luc replied coldly. “My only interest is what happens at l‟Institut Marcel Chavinier. You interrupted before I could introduce my guest. Magali Ducassé, my partner, this is Céline Girardot, chef de la Cour of Dijon and Guy Renaud of Autun, our hosts for the evening.”

“Your… partner?” Céline repeated.

With a snap of her fingers, Magali snuffed every candle in the room. “His partner,” her voice rang out in the darkness. A second snap reignited them.

“Will that be a problem?”

“Of course it‟s a problem,” Renaud roared. “She doesn‟t belong here. None of you do!”

“Why not?” Jean asked. “They have as much interest in l‟Institut as I do, and that is why we‟re here, is it not? Dommartin is neutral territory. I haven‟t claimed it. I have no interest in claiming it for my Cour.”

“You‟re building there,” Céline pointed out, though she kept her voice level. “What are we supposed to think?”

“I‟m not building anything,” Jean said.

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“He‟s not,” Raymond agreed, playing his hand as boldly as Magali had done. Fabienne had advised him given her understanding of the situation, but secure in Jean‟s love and his place in the vampire‟s life, Raymond had already decided to follow his instincts tonight. “I am. If you have an issue with l‟Institut being located in Dommartin, those concerns need to come to me.”

“I said you have no part in this,” Renaud repeated, advancing on Raymond.

He took two steps and could go no farther. “What is this?” he demanded, beating his hands against an invisible barrier.

“A ward,” Raymond replied. “It won‟t harm you. It will simply keep you over there and us over here, since you seem inclined to be threatening. Now, I will repeat myself. If you have an issue with l‟Institut, bring it to me.”

“Mortals have no business in the affairs of vampires,” Renaud spat.

“Then I guess we‟re done here,” Jean said, turning toward the exit.

“Raymond will release the ward when we‟re safely outside the church.”

“If you walk out of here right now, I‟ll denounce you both to the Congrès des chefs,” Renaud threatened.

“On what grounds?” Luc demanded. “We came to a meeting you requested in good faith, prepared to discuss whatever concerns you have, and all we‟ve heard is insults. We aren‟t the ones breaking the deal here. You are.”

“Can we be rational about this?” Céline interrupted. “There has to be a compromise we can all live with.”

“I have yet to hear a problem that requires compromise,” Jean retorted, turning back as well. “Renaud thinks mortals shouldn‟t be involved in vampire business. This is not news, but it‟s not something he can dictate or the four of us can decide. You‟re both worried about my involvement with a research center being created by l‟ANS in neutral territory that happens to be near your Cours. It‟s neutral territory, and it isn‟t vampire business. L‟ANS is building it and will run it when it‟s finished.”

“And do what there?” Renaud demanded.

“Research and education,” Raymond replied succinctly. “The results of both will be available to anyone in the magical community, wizards and vampires alike, as well as anyone else who might benefit from what we discover.”

“What kind of research?” Céline asked suspiciously.

“Research into the bond that can form between vampires and wizards,”

Jean replied, “among other things.”

“And that is vampire business,” Renaud crowed.

“How is who one vampire feeds from the business of anyone other than the vampire and his chosen prey?” Luc inquired. “If Magali had an issue with who

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I feed from, I could see discussing it, but I don‟t see how it‟s any business of yours if I feed from her or anyone else.”

“You didn‟t say feeding, you said bond,” Renaud countered, “and that is the business of the Cour.”

“If the vampire and wizard choose to make a formal commitment, then yes, it‟s the business of the Cour,” Jean agreed, “but you know as well as I do that many vampires have a preferred source of sustenance without ever declaring that preference publicly. This is no different, except that it benefits both parties.”

“How?” Céline demanded.

Jean met Raymond‟s eyes and smirked back at Céline. “I could show you, but I think it might shock you.”

Raymond shook his head, remembering his first meeting with Jean in Orlando‟s apartment in Paris. Orlando had ushered everyone out of the room after he and Jean had realized they were partners, giving them privacy for Jean to feed. Jean had explained later that feeding for a vampire was as intimate as having sex and that vampires preferred not to do so with an audience. That stricture had loosened considerably over the course of the war as they had discovered the benefits to be gained from a vampire feeding from his partner while the wizard performed magic, but Céline and Renaud had not been part of that and would still follow the older mores. He almost hoped they did insist on a declaration. It would amuse him to see the shock on their faces when Jean‟s fangs sank into his neck.

“Then why don‟t you try telling us instead?” Céline said acerbically.

“To put it simply,” Luc said before Jean could reply, “Magali‟s blood lets me walk safely in sunlight, and my bite increases her magic a hundredfold or more. It‟s what helped us win the war against Serrier.”

“That doesn‟t mean wizards need to be in private meetings between vampires or involved in Cour business,” Renaud insisted. “You weaken us all by relying on them.”

“No,” Jean said. “I strengthen us all by stretching out the hand of friendship to a community that has as much to gain through our cooperation as we do. If you have nothing else to add besides insults to our partners and friends, we will see you—or not—the next time the Congrès des chefs meets.”

“You‟ll regret walking out like this,” Renaud shouted, but neither Jean nor Luc turned back, so Raymond kept going as well.

“Release the spell,” Jean said when they reached the top of the stairs down to the crypt.

Raymond dropped the ward, bracing for an attack from below.

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“They won‟t come up until they know we‟re gone,” Luc said.

“Then perhaps we should attend to our devotions,” Magali said with a smirk.

Jean returned her grin and crossed himself, kneeling down in front of the altar in the side chapel and bowing his head piously. Though the comment had been meant in jest, he took a moment to say a prayer of thanksgiving for whatever divine intervention had led him to this moment in time and the man behind him, waiting patiently as he prayed.

When lingering longer would have made a mockery of his true piety, he crossed himself again and rose to his feet, his hand slipping into Raymond‟s as they left the church and the other two undoubtedly fuming vampires.

“Let‟s stop at the café for a nightcap,” Magali proposed when they reached place Darcy again. “I want a rundown of what happened, because I know much of the subtlety of your game went over my head.”

“That‟s fine with me,” Raymond said. “Tomorrow‟s Sunday, and I only work then if there‟s an emergency.”

They entered the café, taking a table as far from the other customers as possible. Raymond ordered coffees all around, even knowing the vampires would not drink theirs. If nothing else, he and Magali could each have an extra cup.

“So was tonight a victory, a defeat, or somewhere in the middle?” Magali asked after the waiter brought their coffee.

“With le Jeu des Cours, it‟s always somewhere in the middle,” Luc replied, “because even a victory carries consequences with the people who would want to see you brought down because of it.”

“So where in the middle did it fall?” Raymond asked, already used to asking the same question in several different ways where le Jeu des Cours was concerned. The answer was never straightforward.

“In our favor,” Jean said. “We maintained control of ourselves and the conversation throughout the evening. We gave nothing away that we didn‟t intend to, and we pointed out the weakness of their position at the same time.

They can try to make trouble for us—”

“And undoubtedly will,” Luc interjected.

Jean nodded. “But ultimately they can‟t stop l‟Institut because it‟s not in an area they control, nor is it in a domain they can influence. We don‟t want to alienate them completely because it would be nice to have relatively local vampires available in case we need support or advice, but the worst they can do to us at this point is refuse to allow anyone in their Cours to communicate with us.”

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“They could bring the issue up for wider debate when the Congrès des chefs meets, but that isn‟t scheduled for another eighteen months,” Luc added.

“By then it will be too late to do anything. L‟Institut will have gained enough momentum that the disapproval of a few vampires won‟t matter at all.”

“If they find enough supporters, could they shut us down by cutting off potential students for the school?” Raymond asked.

Jean shrugged. “Maybe, but ultimately any vampire is free to leave any Cour at any time. If vampires who live in unsympathetic Cours want to participate, it‟s a question of petitioning to join a new Cour. I don‟t accept everyone who asks to join, but if someone wanted to join because they wanted to participate in a seminar at l‟Institut and their chef de la Cour would not allow it, I would grant them membership immediately.”

“And some vampires choose to live outside any Cour,” Luc added. “Didn‟t you have one like that in Paris?”

“Sebastien Noyer,” Jean replied. “You met him the other day at l‟Institut.

Finding a partner has brought him into the Cour, but that was not the case until a year ago.”

“Is there any way the Congrès des chefs could hinder our work?” Raymond asked.

“Or our partnerships, for that matter,” Magali added. “I don‟t know that I‟ll be very involved with l‟Institut, but I‟d rather not suddenly be ordered to leave my partner.”

Raymond‟s heart clenched at the thought, though he tried to hide any outward reaction. He had no sense of the level of personal relationship between Luc and Magali beyond the request for two rooms when they stayed at l‟Institut to help with the repairs, but he knew, for himself and for the pairs he considered friends, such an order would lead to another uprising, one he would fully support.

Luc and Jean stared at each other for several moments before Jean replied, “It is possible that they could declare association with a wizard to be a crime under vampire law, which would make any vampire who chose to continue with a partnership
extorris
under our law. I can‟t imagine they could gather enough support for that, particularly since eighteen months from now, we could have ten times the number of partnerships in the Cours, and they would have to make the penalty extinction in order to actually dissuade anyone who already has a partner.”

“Can they still do that with the new laws in place?” Magali asked. “The death penalty isn‟t legal in France.”

“They can try,” Jean said with a shrug. “They won‟t succeed. There have been attempts to change the laws before, and in all the time I‟ve been a

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vampire, they‟ve never succeeded. They won‟t succeed now, not with the number of partnerships already in place, two influential chefs de la Cour with partners, and, once l‟Institut is open, more partnerships all the time, or at least vampires who understand what it means to have a partner.”