It's after dawn when Anita wakes up. Being metaphysically bound to a vampire -- well, two now, actually -- she's gained an innate sense of always knowing ( Read more... )

As Anita drives through the city, heading towards the Church of Eternal Life, she hears her cell phone ring. Careful to keep her eyes on the road, she picks it up, frowning as she pulls up to a red light. She sees Zerbowski's name on the screen of the phone and quickly answers.

"What have you got, Zerbrowski?" she asks, impatient and eager.

Anita sits on Jean-Claude's bed, frowning at her cell phone. She knows she's going to get chewed out by Zerbrowski if she calls, but she needs him. Taking a breath and letting it out slowly, she dials Zerbrowski's cell number and listens to it ring a couple times. When he answers, she doesn't bother with niceties ( Read more... )

Anita pulls up into the driveway of Ronnie's house, armed and ready for a fight. Not that she fully expects a fight, but she's prepared anyway. Ronnie had called and said she had a lead on the missing swanmane, and so Anita had come as quickly as possible. She gets out of the Jeep and sprints up to Ronnie's door, knocking impatiently.

Anita wakes gradually, cuddling closer to the very warm body beside her. She knows the curve of Nathaniel's body perfectly, the feel of him against her. It takes a few moments, but she opens her eyes and realizes why she woke up. Lavender eyes, intense and thoughtful, stare at her. Anita holds Nathaniel's gaze steadily, and then slowly closes the ( Read more... )

Anita's exhausted ( Read more... )

Anita drives along the road, Nathaniel quiet beside her. She'd picked him up at the house after work, rushing home after a long day of meeting clients. As she turned down another street, heading towards the Circus, her stomach growled.

Hanging up from her conversation with Donovan, Anita then dials Ronnie's number. When Ronnie picks up on the third ring, Anita turns to face the door of her office.

"Ronnie? Hey, it's Anita," she says. "I have a problem, and I'm hoping you can help. You have an opening in your schedule today?"

As Anita wakes up, she makes several realizations.

She is on the floor.

She is on the floor of her kitchen.

She is on the floor of her kitchen, naked.

Slowly, she looks around and sees Nathaniel on the floor at her side, his cheek resting on her thigh. Memory comes back to her, of the hungers, of the ardeur, of the fucking and feeding and ( Read more... )

Anita is hugging herself when Micah heads towards the front door. There is some conversation for a moment, and Anita knows one voice is Micah's, but the other she recognizes as Damian's. She should have felt him coming close, should have sensed him outside the house, but she hadn't. It spoke to her own exhaustion, to her own distraction, and her ( Read more... )