"You said you would never feed the ardeur on me again, unless I broke free and could choose. You said it would be like rape, unless I could choose."

"I wasn't sure you'd remember everything I said."

"I remember," he said.

"I think it's too dangerous to feed the ardeur on you."

"You swore that you would feed from me, if I broke free. I have broken free."

"I broke you free."

"Are you certain of that? Are you certain that my will did not help you some little bit?"

I started to say no, then hesitated. "I don't... know."

"Then I choose for you to feed."

I was shaking my head.

"Feed, Anita, feed upon my flesh, drink deep of my will until it doth spill upon your body like blood."

"You're not thinking clearly." I started to get off the bed.

He grabbed my arm, in one of those too-quick-to-see movements. He winced, showed that it had cost him. "I have not made the choice you would make, if our places were reversed. I have not said what you wished me to say, but I have chosen."

"Let go of me, Requiem."

He looked at me, and smiled. "I do not wish to, and I am free not to obey. I fought to come back because you said only if I did, only then would you feed from me. Would you deny me now that I have fought the battle and won?"

"What if one feeding undoes it? What if the ardeur consumes you again?"

"If I am never again to be consumed by love, then what better than to be consumed by the ardeur}"

"You sound like a junkie who's had another taste after a long dry spell."

"My heart has died twice. Once when my mortal life ceased and the sec­ond when Ligeia was taken from me. I have felt nothing for so very long, Anita. You make me feel again." He sat up, drew me in toward him.

I put a hand on his chest, missing the knife wound by fractions. "The ardeur makes you feel again."

He touched my face with his wounded hand. "No, there is something about you that has awakened my heart."

I had a panicked feeling he was about to profess undying love. Maybe Jean-Claude did, too, because he moved forward and laid a hand on my arm.

Requiem kept his wounded hand against my cheek, but let go of my arm. He reached out to Jean-Claude, laid his hand against the other man's waist. I knew he couldn't feel much through the thick robe, but it was still the most intimate gesture I'd ever seen him make toward Jean-Claude.

"Always before your ardeur tasted of hers, Jean-Claude."

He wasn't talking about me. He meant Belle Morte, because her without appellation always meant Belle for them. "Last night, Jean-Claude, you did not taste of her. You tasted of no one's power but your own. I knew you were a sourdre de sang, but until last night you were still a planet circling the sun of Belle Morte's power. Last night you became the sun and she the moon."

"Belle was the moon," I said.

He looked at me, smiling. "No, Anita, you were the moon. 'The moon's an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.' "

"You're quoting something," I said.

"Shakespeare, ma petite. He's quoting Timon of Athens."

"Haven't read that one," I said. My pulse was in my throat, and it was making blood trickle from the wounds he'd made in my neck. "I don't need to feed the ardeur right now, Requiem, and with everything going all weird, I think I'll wait until I have to feed."

"That is sense, Requiem," London said.

Requiem gazed at the other vampire. "Would you wait?"

"With permission," London said, "I would like to leave the room."

"Go," Jean-Claude said.

London didn't run for the door, but he didn't stroll either. Hell, if I could have run from it, I would have. But you can't run from yourself.

"Any who wish to go, go," Jean-Claude said.

"The test will not work if we are not here," Elinore said.

"The test is over. We are too dangerous, and we know it."

Elinore didn't argue, she just walked out. Wicked took his brother by the arm, and led him out. Truth seemed to be weeping.

"What do you want us to do?" Remus asked.

"Guard us, if you can."

"We can guard you," he said, sounding slightly offended that Jean-Claude doubted it.

"Can you guard us from ourselves?" Jean-Claude asked.

"I don't understand," Remus said.

Cisco had the gauze and tape. He stood by the bed, as if unsure what to do with the bandages. I touched my neck and came away with a little blood, but it had been a clean bite. It wouldn't bleed all that much, not if it had been done right, and knowing Requiem it had been.

"Do you need antiseptic?" Cisco asked.

Remus came to the bed, impatient. "You treat Anita like another shapeshifter."

"Oh," Cisco said. He started to set the first-aid supplies on the bed, then

hesitated as if he didn't want to put them between Requiem and me. He was still wearing a gun, but the confident guard had vanished, replaced by an awkward eighteen-year-old.

"Give her some gauze so she can hold it against the wound," Remus said. "The bandage is mostly to keep the cleanup to a minimum, not really for die wound."

Cisco nodded like he understood, but he held the gauze out to me witli his eyes nowhere near my face. In fact, he was sort of studiously trying not to look at me. I finally realized part of his problem. More of my chest was showing than when I'd started. Requiem's feeding had moved the front of die robe around, so tliat a lot of breast was showing. Not all, not more than a really low neckline would show, but it was distracting him. He was botli trying not to stare at my chest, and staring at it, as he warred widi himself.

I pressed die gauze to die bite, and closed my robe up with the other hand. I'd need two hands to retie, so all I could do was hold die robe closed. That let Cisco know I'd noticed what he'd been doing. He suddenly met my eyes, and he was embarrassed. It showed in die almost panic in his own eyes, and die dark blush tliat crawled up his neck. The panic turned to anger, and he looked away, as if I'd seen too far into his soul.

Remus took die first-aid stuff from him. "Go to die coffin room and tell Nazaredi to send someone to take your place on diis detail."

Cisco protested, "Why?"

"You're staring at her chest. She's not a piece of ass, kid. When you're on die job, you're on die fucking job. You can notice she's pretty, but you don't stare, you don't get distracted."

"I'm sorry, Remus, it won't happen again."

"No, it won't," Remus said. "Go to die coffin room."

"Please, Remus..."

"I gave you an order, Cisco, follow it."

Cisco lowered his head, not a bow, but dejection. The gesture itself, at somediing so small, said how young he was. But he didn't argue again. He went for die door.

When it closed behind him, Remus turned to me. "Are you still bleeding?"

I let go of die gauze; it stayed in place, pasted diere by blood. "Hard to rell," I said.

He started to touch die gauze, tiien stopped, letting his hand drop to his iide. I actually looked down to make sure my chest was completely covered. Codling was showing. So why did Remus seem as reluctant as Cisco to ouch me?

"Can you take die gauze away?" he asked.

I didn't argue, just pulled it off. It didn't hurt to move it, so I wasn't bleed­ing that badly. Good.

"Turn your head to the side so I can see." He added, "Please."

I did what he asked, which put me watching Jean-Claude. He looked way too solemn for comfort. "What's wrong now?" I asked.

"Are you so ashamed of us that you would hide our mark of favor under bandages and tape?"

I frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

Remus touched more gauze to my neck. "Can you hold it in place while I get tape?"

I put my hand up to the gauze, automatically.