Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Collection 6-10 Read Free Page B

Catherine had thrown since her wedding. Flashing a gun might put a damper on things.
    I’d had to take off the silver cross that I always wore and put it in my pocket because there was a vampire standing in front of me and the cross had started glowing when he entered the room. If I’d known there were going to be vamps at the party, I’d have worn a collar high enough to hide the cross. They only glow when they’re out in the open, generally speaking.
    Robert, the vampire in question, was tall, muscular, and handsome in a model-perfect sort of way. He had been a stripper at Guilty Pleasures. Now he managed the club. From worker to management: the American dream. His hair was blond, curly, and cut quite short. He was wearing a brown silk shirt that fit him perfectly and matched the dress that his date was wearing.
    Monica Vespucci’s health club tan had faded around the edges, but her makeup was still perfect, her short auburn hair styled into place. She was pregnant enough for me to have noticed and happy enough about it to be irritating.
    She smiled brilliantly at me. “Anita, it has been too long.”
    What I wanted to say was, “Not long enough.” The last timeI’d seen her, she had betrayed me to the local master vampire. But Catherine thought she was her friend, and it was hard to disillusion her without telling the whole story. The whole story included some unsanctioned killing, some of it done by me. Catherine’s a lawyer and a stickler for law and order. I didn’t want to put her in a position where she had to compromise her morals to save my ass. So Monica was her friend, which meant I had been polite all through dinner, from appetizer all the way to dessert. I’d been polite mainly because Monica had been at the other end of the table. Now, unfortunately, we were mingling in the living room and I couldn’t seem to shake her.
    “It doesn’t seem that long,” I said.
    “It’s been almost a year.” She smiled up at Robert. They were holding hands. “We got married.” She touched her glass to the top of her belly. “We got knocked up.” She giggled.
    I stared at them both. “You can’t get knocked up by a hundred-year-old corpse.” Okay, I’d been polite long enough.
    Monica grinned at me. “You can if the body temperature is raised for long enough and you have sex often enough. My obstetrician thinks the hot tub did us in.”
    This was more than I wanted to know. “Have you had the amnio yet?”
    The smile faded from her face, leaving her eyes haunted. I was sorry I’d asked. “We’ve got another week to wait.”
    “I’m sorry, Monica, Robert. I hope the test comes back clean.” I did not mention Vlad syndrome, but the words hung on the air. It was rare but not as rare as it used to be. Three years of legalized vampirism and Vlad syndrome was the highest rising birth defect in the country. It could result in some really horrible disabilities, not to mention death for the baby. With that much at stake, you’d think people would be more cautious.
    Robert cradled her against him, and all the light had faded from her face. She looked pale. I felt like a heel.
    “The latest news was that a vampire over a hundred was sterile,” I said. “They should update their information, I guess.” I meant for it to be comforting, like they hadn’t been careless.
    Monica looked at me, and there was no gentleness in her eyes when she said, “Worried?”
    I stared at her all pale and pregnant and wanted to slap heranyway. I was not sleeping with Jean-Claude. But I was not going to stand there and justify myself to Monica Vespucci—or anyone else, for that matter.
    Richard Zeeman entered the room. I didn’t actually see him enter. I felt it. I turned and watched him walk towards us. He was six foot one, nearly a foot taller than me. Another inch and we couldn’t have kissed without a chair. But it would have been worth the effort. He wove between the other guests, saying a word here and there. His