BLOOD HEIR

Chapter 4 – Musette

When Shane finally regained consciousness she found herself in the backseat of the car. Her companions were all gathered just outside the car. Nathaniel was kneeling in front of her holding a cold washcloth. She wondered where he would have gotten it. Then the memory of the bodies in the room came washing over her again and she felt a wave of nausea but managed to suppress it successfully. Anita was leaning against the car. She looked a little paler than Shane remembered. She felt a little relieved that she wasnt the only who had felt so affected by the sight of that carnage. It was the only word she could think of that adequately described what she had seen. Shane shivered involuntarily. Anita turned back to face her.

Are you alright? she asked. A hint of anger was still present in her voice. She couldnt understand what had possessed the young woman to come strolling into a crime scene.

Yeah, dude, Im fine, Shane stammered. I dont know what happened. It was almost as if someone was pushing me to go into that room. This made Anita raise her eyebrows.

Belle Morte, she said as if it were obvious. Shane looked at her confused. She was doing that a lot tonight she thought. It was as if she was Dorothy and had somehow landed in the land of Oz. She wished she had Toto with her. She really wished Alice were here. She would know what to do.

I think perhaps its time we had a chat, Anita said and slid into the passenger seat. Nathaniel and Damian both got into the car and Nathaniel started the car and carefully backed out of the street.

Uhm where are we going? Shane asked apprehensively. She wondered what they would do if she just refused to go. If she just said that she was going home. But then again there was that little part inside of her that was dying of curiosity. She involuntary cringed at the use of the word dying. Then she resigned herself to her fate and leaned back falling into a restless sleep.

*****

Shane awoke with a start and saw they had pulled up to a two-story house. She looked out the windows, but all she saw was trees and bushes and most of all no other houses. She started panicking slightly. She got out of the car and saw a man standing in front of the door. She instantly knew he was a vampire. She didnt quite know how she knew, but she just knew. His hair was literally golden flowing across the right side of his face covering his right eye. His other eye was a clear blue like she had never seen before. Perhaps that was because human beings didnt have eyes like that. He was wearing blue jeans with a long-sleeved blue shirt.

Anita walked up to him and they followed. She lightly touched his arm and spoke softly.

Asher, whats wrong? She saw the worried look on his face. And if she didnt know better, she could have sworn he looked slightly afraid.

Musette is back, he whispered. Shane saw the color drain from Anitas face. She had a feeling this was not good.

Lets go inside, Anita said as she put her key in the door. Shane followed the band of not so merry men and one woman to the kitchen where they gathered around the kitchen table as Nathaniel got busy in the kitchen making coffee and what not. Shane took in the little scene and couldnt help smiling. It wasnt often shed seen a man get busy in the kitchen while the woman got to take care of business.

What is Musette doing here? Anita asked.

Whos Musette? Shane said before she could stop herself. Suddenly all eyes were on her. She shrank back into her chair desperately wanting to be invisible. She was definitely not feeling herself today. But no one could really blame her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette.

We should tell her. After all, she is the reason Musette is here, Asher said making both Anita and Shane look at him surprised. One problem at a time, Anita thought to herself.

Musette is one of Belle Mortes lieutenants. Belle Morte is the fountainhead of Jean Claudes and Ashers bloodline. Shes their sourdre de sang.

And its a bad thing that shes here? Shane asked. Anita nodded.

Shes very powerful and very dangerous. Musette is Belle Mortes bourreau. Shes the bogeyman of the vampires. Whenever Belle Morte needs dirty work to be done, Musette does it for her.

Cant you just tell her to bugger off? Asher laughed sarcastically.

If only it were that easy. Musette carries Belles seal. It means that she speaks for her. If we antagonize her, it means we antagonize Belle Morte.

And that would be bad?

Oui, that would be very bad. Belle Morte is like our queen. To harm or insult her in any way she would take this very gravely and act accordingly. We would not be able to protect ourselves from her. Asher could also have tried explaining how vampires do not disobey their sourdre de sang, but he did not believe Shane would understand vampire politics. It was hard enough explaining such things to Anita, let alone someone who had little to no knowledge of their world.

Belle Morte holds the ardeur. Its what we felt before, Anita continued. Most vampires just feed off blood. But some have secondary powers. They can feed off of other things such as emotions. Some vampires can feed off of fear. Belle can feed off of lust. She can also invoke it in others. Jean Claude is one of the few vampires who has inherited that power. And I have inherited it from him as his human servant.

But then why do I Shane started to ask, but Anita cut her off.

I dont know. Im not even supposed to have it. I have no idea how you have come to possess it.

So if its like blood lust, does that mean you have to feed it? Shane asked. Anita nodded.

Yes. You dont need to feed it with ***** necessarily. But there has to be sexual contact. And you cannot feed off of the same person or you will kill them.

You mean you can actually ***** someone to death? Shane asked shocked. Nathaniel grinned at Shanes turn of phrase as he placed hot mugs of coffee on the table for them.

So how do you feed it? Anita glanced at the three men in the room. Damn, Shane thought to herself, this woman knows how to get busy.

I have lovers, Anita just stated. There was a time when she had been a fairly good Catholic girl. When she had believed in monogamy. But circumstances had changed the way she looked at things. At first out of necessity, but later on her morals had changed. She wasnt yet sure it had all been for the better. But at least she was as comfortable with it as she was going to get.

I live here with my boyfriend Micah. Anita hesitated when she used the word boyfriend. How could she explain to a total stranger that she had more than one boyfriend without coming across as a total *****.

And Nathaniel is my pomme de sang. I also feed off of him. And then theres Jean Claude Anita let her voice trail off. She decided not to disclose the other men in her life. Things were complicated enough as it was.

No women? Shane asked her eyes boring into Anitas. Asher saw Anita shiver a little. He knew although Anita vehemently denied being attracted to women, she had no moral objections to it. She was by now fairly comfortable with the special bond he shared with Jean Claude, even if it had taken a long time and many hazardous events. He didnt realize that it wasnt aversion that had made Anita shiver, but desire. Anita stared back at Shane and felt something pull inside of her. Her rational part tried to chalk it up to the ardeur, but she knew that wasnt entirely true. The ardeur had never had her react to women in a sexual way before.

Anita shook her head. No, she said a little loud before adding a little more softly, not yet. This made Asher raise his eyebrows slightly and when he looked more closely he recognized Anitas body language. He wondered what Jean Claude would say to this little development.

Can you make it go away?

The ardeur? No. Jean Claude can help me control it for a little while if need be. And Damian can also help. But sooner or later it needs to be fed.

But before it went away? How?

I dont know, Anita said. This had been bothering her all night. Normally when she controlled the ardeur sooner or later it would come crashing back. But so far it had kept its distance.

I do, Asher said. He and Jean Claude had been discussing the situation. And some of Musettes cryptic answers had helped to fill in the gaps in their theory.

You invoked the ardeur and therefore you also managed to make it go away. Shane scratched the back of her head mussing her hair up even more.

So let me get this straight. Im not dead but still somehow have a power that normally only vampires have. The kind of power with which you can ***** someone to death. And because of this some supervampire is here? Shane summarized. Asher nodded.

Musette is here to meet you.

Why? Does she want to dissect me or something?

I doubt that, Asher replied. Great, Shane thought, so theres a chance she does want to dissect me. I think Belle Morte is simply curious how a human has come across such a power, he continued.

I think it might be a little bit more than that, Anita said remembering the incident at the crime scene.

Belle Morte paid us a visit earlier.

Both of you? Anita nodded.

I believe somehow Shane pushed her out. I dont think Belle was too pleased with that. That sounded like the understatement of the century to Asher. Belle did not like her power messed with. And it sounded like Shane had interfered with it.

So now what? Damian asked having remained very quiet until now.

We arrange a meeting with Musette, Anita said resolutely.

Dont worry, we wont let anything happen to you, she said turning her gaze on Shane.

In the meantime I think its best if you stay here. Well

No, Shane said getting up.

Ive had enough of this. I dont know exactly what is going on, but Im going home. Just tell the supervamp Im not interested. Shane started towards the door.

You must Asher started but Anita silenced him with a hand on his arm.

No, let her go. She nodded to Nathaniel. Drive her wherever she wants to go. Nathaniel got up and followed Shane out the door.

Belle Morte will not be pleased, Asher said.

We have no choice. We cant force her, Anita said knowing that they were probably in for a lot of trouble. Crossing a vampire like Belle Morte usually meant a lot of people dying. But she couldnt in good conscience get a human involved in their politics. Somehow theyd manage like they always had in the past.

Besides, I dont want to drag her into our ***** if we dont have to, Anita said not willing to bow down on this one. She had to draw the line somewhere. Asher shook his head at this. Sometimes Anitas naivet surprised him. Even though she had dealt with the likes of Belle Morte she still underestimated her.

Musette is not going to let this go. I do not believe you or the girl will have a choice in the matter.