As I flew down the corridors with Jason, we heard Kylie's voice screaming, 
"NO!  GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" in desperate fear.  I had to let Jason go or 
have him dislocate my shoulder in his sudden struggle to get to her side.  He 
hit the floor running.

I caught a pang of deep sorrow from Asher, then he shut me out.  He *knew* I 
hated when he did that.  Something must've really upset him.  I landed close 
by, just as Jason plowed through both master vampires in a rush to reach 
Kylie where she lay at the foot of the stairs.  "Get Away from Her!  Get out 
of the WAY!" he yelled at Jean-Claude and Asher, shoving them physically 
aside.

They had been whispering to each other in rapid French about *something*.  
Now I *knew* my master was very upset.  It was rare for him to lose his 
English like that.  It was doubly disturbing to see that Jean-Claude had been 
similarly effected by whatever had happened.

Jason was cradling Kylie to him, rocking her as she sobbed, "No.  Please.  I 
can't.  Please don't make me...please."  I was mystified as to what she meant 
or who she was pleading with.  "Don't make you what, Red?" Jason asked, 
echoing my thoughts.  "I'm here now.  Nothing is going to harm you.  The 
zombie won't get you, baby," he soothed.

Zombie?  It was only then that I noticed the corpse standing there a few feet 
away from Kylie.  It was male, and must've been handsome in life.  It was the 
first real zombie I had ever seen, and I was fascinated by it.  It couldn't 
have been dead for any great length of time.  It was slightly desiccated, but 
it didn't have that "Night of the Living Dead" look of rot about it yet.  The 
shoulder length brown hair seemed to be the only thing about it still with 
the illusion of life.  Something about it was familiar, then it hit me...the 
thing bore a frightening resemblance to Richard.  I gave an involuntary 
shudder at that thought.

Placing my hand on his arm, I pried gently at Asher's shields, trying to 
learn what had happened.  Kylie relaxed and seemed to calm down, then opened 
her eyes.  "We are fine now my wolf," she said serenely, lifting a hand to 
Jason's cheek.  He flinched.  At the same moment I heard Asher's mental voice 
utter a single name in an agonized tone, 'Julianna....'  Then his shields 
slams down tight.  I couldn't sense anything from him.  If I hadn't been 
touching him, I wouldn't have know he was there.

I recognized it for a defense measure.  I placed myself between Asher and the 
being using Kylie's body.  After what I'd seen last night, Jules scared the 
crap out of me, but if Asher felt threatened by her, then I'd do what I could 
to protect him.

Jules looked at Jean-Claude and regally commanded him, "Etelon, I would like 
for you to tell me all about this Philip and what he means to you."  I saw 
his eyes widen momentarily in startlement before his usual mask fell into 
place.  Apparently he'd been a little slow on the uptake as to *who* was 
standing before him.

As he began giving her the information she'd requested, Jules passed her gaze 
over the zombie.  Kylie's body gave a small shudder.  I had a feeling *she* 
wasn't particularly fond of zombies.  Then Jules moved her eyes to Asher and 
myself.  I was acutely aware of my lack of clothing.  She'd called 
Jean-Claude "etelon," stallion.  I was reminded that as Julianna she had been 
lover to both vampires.  As her gaze lingered on me, I wondered if she 
somehow *knew* what had been happening with the three of us just moments 
before.  Was she angry or hurt that I had basically usurped her old position 
with them, if only briefly?

She turned back to Jean-Claude as he finished speaking.  "I see," she told 
him.  "That would make sense.  Kylie was thinking about Anita when she 
slipped and cut her hand."  Jules held up a hand with a newly healing gash on 
the palm.  "Specifically, she was thinking of people who could possibly help 
reach Anita," she finished and moved with inhuman grace to stand in front of 
Philip.  'Will I have a measure of that kind of grace after a few centuries 
with Asher?' I wondered.  Jules passed a hand over the space in front of the 
zombie.  She turned her head and looked at Jason.  Gently, she said, "We will 
need salt to put him back properly, my wolf.  Will you retrieve that for us?" 
He jumped up from the floor and ran back down the hall like an eager puppy.

She returned her attention to the zombie while she waited for Jason's return. 
Reaching up, she twined a lock of its hair in her fingers.  Her gaze was 
slightly unfocused, as if she were seeing something beyond the vision of the 
rest of us.

When Jason returned with a box of salt, Jules asked for a pair of scissors or 
a knife.  The werewolf handed her a pocket knife, and she used it to cut a 
lock of hair from the zombie.  Then she turned to Jean-Claude and plucked a 
ribbon from his hair, where it had tangled loosely after I'd dislodged it 
earlier.  Asher's shields had lowered some as he'd realized that Jules posed 
no immediate threat to him.  I felt a twinge of jealousy when she pulled the 
ribbon loose and knew it wasn't mine but Asher's.  Jean-Claude still held 
Jules' favor to some extent.  Even after all that time spent at court after 
his scarring, my master still didn't handle rejection very well.

Jules cut a length of the ribbon and wrapped it around the hair from the 
zombie.  Then she pulled a locket from under Kylie's shirt.  Looking at 
Jason, she asked, "Might we use this for a moment until we can get Anita one 
of her own?"  His face hardened.  "Please Jason," she added.  "I promise you 
Kylie will have it back."  He nodded his assent, still not looking happy 
about it.  Jules placed the snippet of hair in the locket alongside a curl of 
blonde hair that already occupied it.

She turned to Jean-Claude once again.  "Show me where this gentleman rests, 
Etelon."  He bowed and led the way down a crumbling corridor and through 
catacombs.  The walls were honeycombed with crypts; the rooms, floored in 
dirt, held row upon row of what had to be graves.  As we all followed him, he 
explained, "Nikolaos and her minions were very untidy occupants, leaving 
scraps of their victims ALL OVER this place."  His lip curled in disgust.  I 
had to suppress a giggle.  The statement was just so...cute.  Unbidden, the 
thought came to mind that Nikki and her crew sounded like they'd had the 
eating habits of college students.  I could feel Asher giving me a weird look 
on *that* thought.

I barely managed to keep a straight face as I watched Jean-Claude waving his 
hand around at our surroundings in a foppish manner.  "As I've cleaned each 
room, I've had to give many of them a proper resting place other than my 
walls.  I couldn't very well just put them in the already existing cemeteries 
up top, because, as you see...there's enough here to fill a cemetery all on 
their own.  It would look suspicious.  So I've put them here."  We stopped in 
front of a patch of disturbed earth.  It looked like something had clawed its 
way out.  'That is exactly what happened when this Philip rose to Kylie's 
unintentional call,' Asher told me through the marks.  "This is where our 
Philip belongs," Jean-Claude spoke softly.  "Anita comes here often to 
'remember' him."

I watched, fascinated, as Jules laid the corpse back to rest.  It just seemed 
to sink into the ground as if it had been quicksand.  The earth smoothed 
itself over the grave, erasing any sign it had been disturbed.

"How did you know how to do that?" Jean-Claude asked her.  His face showed 
awe until she looked back at him and he masked it.  "I have been around for a 
long time, Etelon," she said simply.  "The ways of the necromancer are not 
unknown to me."  We all followed her back to Anita's room.

Micah and a few others of the cats jumped up or turned eyes her way as Jules 
entered without so much as a knock.  She brushed the back of her hand across 
Micah's cheek.  His eyes dropped to half-mast, and a loud rumbling purr began 
to emanate from his chest.  For some reason I couldn't explain, that 
irritated me.  'Tomcats are such babies for attention,' I thought to myself.  
'Asher, *stop* that!'  I'd finally realized *why* it irked me.  Asher was 
jealous of the attention that Jules had given to Jean-Claude, Jason, and now 
Micah.  She hadn't so much as spoken to *him*.

Jean-Claude entered the room just as Jules was placing the locket around 
Anita's neck.  I heard something fall to the floor.  I turned towards the 
sound and saw Kimmy standing with a hungry look on her face, staring at our 
host.  I guessed I was gonna have to let her have some time with him today.  
I suspected that Jean-Claude was sort of channeling Anita's ardeur as well as 
having to deal with his own.  If that was the case, then he'd need to feed 
more often, and Kimmy was more than willing.  Even now I was vaguely aware of 
his ardeur sending out tendrils of energy to curl around the lust pouring off 
my friend.

Glancing at Asher, I caught a brief glimpse of a similar emotion directed at 
Jules.  Not merely lust, though, but love and desire.  I placed myself 
between them again, my body language clearly saying "MINE."  'She cast you 
off, Asher,' I growled at him mentally.  'Leave it alone.'  His mental voice 
was wistful, 'I cannot help myself, ma rose d'acier.  Her punishment of my 
actions was just, but I still love her.  I hate that she despises me now, my 
beautiful Julianna.  I would give almost anything just to be back in her good 
graces.'

'Then why don't you just apologize and ask for her forgiveness?' I grumped at 
him.  'Non, chere.  I will *not* appear weak before her,' he replied in an 
adamantly proud tone.  'A little late for *that*,' I thought.  '*Fine*, if 
you won't, then I *will*...you're about to drive me bugshit with all these 
emotions she's provoking in you.'  I made to move towards Jules and found 
myself suddenly being forcibly dragged out into the hallway.

Asher pinned me against the stone of the corridor wall by my wrists.  Anger 
and fear warred on his face now that we were out of sight of the others.  
"Have you gone mad?" he hissed at me.  "What?" I hissed right back.  "What 
are you so afraid of Asher?  That maybe she *will* forgive you?  Was Kylie 
right?  You won't forgive yourself so you refuse to accept it from others?  
Is *that* it?" 

"No, that is not 'it'," he snarled, showing fang.  "Then *what*?" I kept my 
voice low, but I felt like shouting at him, I felt so frustrated.  Asher 
sighed and looked at me sadly.  "I have already shown myself weak once in her 
eyes, ma rose," he tried to explain.  "I will *not* do so again.  To beg her 
forgiveness now would be showing an unacceptance of my punishment and 
unworthiness of her favor."  I snorted, " Seems like she's already given an 
indication of where she stands on your 'worthiness of her favor' when she 
cast you off, Asher."  His eyes grew icy at those words and I winced at the 
pain I'd just inflicted.  

"I will not show weakness," he stated coldly.  "It is not the way vampires do 
things."  That irritated me.  "Are you sure that's not just the testosterone 
talking there, Asher?" I said sarcastically.  "Sounds to me more like male 
pride than some vampiric rule of conduct."  In an instant his entire body was 
pressing mine into the wall.  He had lifted me up by my wrists so that our 
gazes were on a level, my feet dangling a good six inches from the floor.  If 
he hadn't been pressed against me like that, being suspended in such a way 
would have been highly uncomfortable.  As it was, the Firestar was pressed 
hard enough against my pelvis that it was probably going to leave a bruise.

"The Absorber was COUNCIL, Tamara," Asher snarled in my face.  "As you 
yourself have witnessed, she still wields great power.  I do NOT want to 
anger her further."  Then softly he added, "And I don't want *you* to risk 
incurring her wrath, ma rose d'acier.  I could not bear to lose you."  

I looked at his ice blue eyes for a few moments before replying.  "Mon cher, 
I am well aware of the kind of power Jules has.  Quite frankly it scares the 
shit out of me.  But, I can also see that you still love her, and that is 
tearing you up inside."  I smiled at him.  "Asher, asking forgiveness is not 
a sign of weakness or of not accepting your punishment.  It's admitting 
openly that you were wrong, taking whatever punishment is deemed just without 
complaint, but asking that the person you have wronged not hold it against 
you in the future.  Admitting love is not a weakness either.  Instead, I 
think it's one of the scariest, bravest things anyone can do.  Because it 
shows a willingness to risk having your heart ripped out...and that takes 
true courage."  I watched his face as he digested what I had told him.

"You say that you fear the Absorber, yet you would risk facing her on my 
behalf?" he seemed a bit amazed.  "That's exactly what I'm saying, mon bel 
Ange," I replied.  "I can't bear to see you suffer so."  A single tear slid 
down his cheek.  "Ma rose d'acier, I do not deserve you," he whispered.

"I know," I smirked at him.  "But you've got me anyway."  His laugh sent 
shivers down my spine.  "Je t'aime!" he grinned before his mouth found mine.  
He released my wrists, moving his hands down to cup my bottom, his body 
against me holding me in place against the wall while he readjusted.  I 
lowered my arms to encircle his neck while I returned his kiss with interest. 
I slid my legs around his hips, locking my ankles together behind his thighs.

I heard a giggle off to the side and broke away from the kiss to look.  
Blushing a little, I tapped Asher on the shoulder.  He was in the process of 
nibbling his way down my neck and shoulder, making it very hard to 
concentrate.  I felt something silky brush against my bare foot and looked 
down to see Nathaniel curling around Asher's legs like a big house cat, 
purring loudly.  "Asher, we have an audience," I whispered in his ear.

He looked up at the assemblage in the hallway outside Anita's room with 
half-lidded eyes and an extremely smug statement on his face.  Not only had 
Nathaniel joined us, but Jason and Kylie stood watching us, the werewolf with 
his usual smartass grin and Kylie with a carefully neutral statement.  To the 
side of them stood Jean-Claude, who was escorting Kimmy.  She was the one 
who'd giggled, I'd be willing to bet.  I wondered briefly how much of what 
had been said had been overheard.

"Starting without us, mon ami?" Jean-Claude asked.  "Oui," was my master's 
response.  That earned him a particularly vulgar chuckle from our host.  I 
bit my lip and dug my nails into Asher's shoulders trying to keep from 
showing the effect that laugh had on me.  That only made Jean-Claude laugh 
harder.  Kimmy looked like she was about ready to melt into a puddle where 
she stood.  Even Kylie shuddered.

She and Jason excused themselves, saying that they were going to Anita's 
house to pick up a few things.  

The Master of St. Louis extended a hand to us.  "Julianna explained that 
Anita is drawing strength through me and that I must feed more frequently.  
Mademoiselle Kimberly has graciously agreed to help me with that.  Shall we 
retire to my rooms and pick up where we left off?" he smiled at us.  I saw a 
look of panic starting to grow on Kimmy's face as what Jean-Claude had just 
said started to sink through to her lust-fogged brain.  I suppressed the urge 
to giggle.  "I don't think Kimmy is up to group participation, Jean-Claude," 
I smiled.  "Perhaps some other time.  Besides, Asher still needs to feed 
today."  Our host bowed, "Later, then mes amis."  He led Kimmy down the 
corridor as Asher set me back on the floor.

Turning towards our own room, he stroked Nathaniel's hair gently.  "Come, mon 
minot.  I have much to do before nightfall and I must feed," he spoke in a 
tender tone.  Nathaniel responded by purring even louder as he rubbed his 
face against my master's palm.  I was smiling as we headed back to the room.