Usual: They're not mine, and I'm not making any money. Anita & Co belong to Laurell K Hamilton, Generation X belongs to Marvel.
*emphasis on word*
mi corazon = my heart
This chapter/interlude is PG-13 for Implied Sexual Content. Let's assume Anita & Co. are their cannon ages as of Obsidian Butterfly. As for the Marvel contingent: Angelo is twenty-two, Jubilee is twenty. Sound good?
Otherside
"What?" This can't be happening. He's joking. If he's not joking, then I'm very very worried. "Jean-Claude, run that past me one more time?"
"A party." He leans back, gesturing with his hands. "Here, at the Circus, with you and your two intriguing friends as guests of honor. A private dinner for the adults. I'll have a space in the Circus prepared for dancing, music, something for the younger shapeshifters and the fledglings. Too many of my events are geared toward my peers, sometimes I forget about the 'under one-hundred' crowd."
"You want to put me, my cousin, and a vampire-phobic pyrokinetic, in a building full of bogeymen?" I shake my head. "Jean-Claude, I don't understand. I know that their power fascinates you, but are you willing to risk life, limb, and property by putting them in a room full of vampires?"
"I risk 'life, limb, and property' every time you come over, ma chere." He kisses my arm, and I swat at him.
"Not now. I'm being serious. Why?"
"I'm being serious as well, chere." He purrs and twists his fingers in my hair. I will not jump Jean-Claude. I am here on business. I will control my hormones, no getting kissy. I will resist. I will resist ripping his clothes off. I will.....aw hell. "Stop that!" I slide away from him. "We don't have time for your games right now."
"Ma chere, you hurt me. I never play *games* with you."
"Jean-Claude....."
"I am lonely." Dear God, he's pouting. "Ever since the children came, you hover like a lioness over them. You do not visit except in our dreams. I am not the only one who misses you, ma chere. Jason and Asher have been unbearable in their sulking."
*****
"So they aren't going to bite her?" Angelo is talking to me, but watching Jubilee twirl in-front of the mirror. "She's not going to have any provocation to kill things?"
"Nah." I stretch out, watching the girl through narrowed eyes. "Dressed like that, she's going to get attention, but a firm and polite 'No' will be enough to send them away." I shrug. "Hell, she looks like a teenage delinquent version of the Anita we all know and lust after. If Jubilee doesn't want the attention, she shouldn't wander around in leather, velvet, and sparkles. It looks like she let Jason and Jean-Claude pick out her clothes."
"But I thought you liked me in leather!" Jubilee has her hands on her hips, pouting at the two of us. "I *like* leather. It's flexible and lets me move. Besides, you told me to 'dress for a rave.' Right now, I'm down-right conservative!"
Angelo snorted. "Trying to get Jubicita to leave the sparkles behind is impossible. They help cover-up the fact she *does* start sparkling when she gets distracted or excited. Everyone's too busy looking at her neck, chest, or face to notice the little glittering lights."
"Fine. Just don't blame me when she's got half the vampire population, and most of the shapeshifters, vying for attention. She's like an Evil Lolita/Dominatrix wet-dream for all of us monsters."
They both blink, looking stunned for a moment. Then Jubilee grins ferally.
"Hmmm.....Zane, you always know the sweetest things to say." She shoots a seductive grin at Angelo, and a panicked look begins to enter his eyes.
"Jubicita.....no. You can't bring anything home with you. No killing things at the hotel. No bloodshed. You promised Anita and Jean-Claude that you wouldn't be a bad girl."
"Who said anything about bringing something home?" She glides toward him, the evil intent in her eyes shining clear. "What if what I want happens to live there?"
"Um.....mi corazon....now is not a good time...." Angelo is rapidly turning bright red and cowering in his chair as Jubilee advances on him. "We have a party to get ready for, we don't want to be late..." This is fun. I make myself comfortable in my chair to enjoy the show as Jubilee slowly leans over Angelo.
"Zane?"
"Hmm?"
Jubilee doesn't even turn to look at me, she just waves a hand at me. "Out."
"You're no fun." Fist-sized globes of plasma shimmer into existence around my head. "Ah, the direct approach. Violence. I understand violence. You two have twenty minuets before we have to leave. I won't knock."
*****
I hope to God that I'm hallucinating. I have a nagging suspicion that Jean-Claude might have given me a mental "nudge" to agree to the party, but apparently Angelo and Jubilee agreed enthusiastically. Now I see why.
The two of them just walked in the door with Zane, and it takes me a few moments to remember that they're both adults and know the rules about playing with monsters. It helps to calm me down a little, but I still want to stalk over there and throw a coat over Jubilee. At least Angelo is....covered. She's wearing translucent glitter that catches the lights and throws rainbow lights around her, and not much else. Thank God that Angelo managed to avoid the leather look, instead he's draped head-to-toe in a black silk shirt and black slacks, Jubilee is also favoring the all-black look, in the few places where she doesn't have sparkling skin showing. A low-cut and tighter-than-hell velvet tank top and non-existent leather miniskirt paired with combat boots make her blend in perfectly with the rest of the monster crowd. Zane looks abnormally pleased with himself. I'm willing to bet money that he helped them go shopping, they really didn't bring much with them from LA.
"Magnificent." Jean-Claude is beaming. "They look right at home, don't they ma chere?"
"They are not your monsters, Jean-Claude. My cousin and his girlfriend are human, don't forget that. They don't belong here, and as soon as Angelo gets his animating abilities under control, I'm sending them away. They're kids, Jean-Claude. I don't want them getting pulled into this...place. They deserve better than being surrounded by demons and bogeymen and things that go bump-in-the-night for the rest of their lives."
"Human? Don't delude yourself Anita, they harbor no such illusions. Mr. Espinoza and Miss Lee are not human, nor will they ever be, and both of them have accepted that. The question, ma chere, is whether or not you can understand it." He brushes his hand against the back of my neck, and for a second his perfect mask drops so that I can see his resignation as well as feel it through our binding marks. "They have no place in the bright, sunny world you reserve for humans, and you would deny them the chance to dance on the otherside. What options do you leave them with? They are not children, ma chere. Give them the chance to live."
"There's more choices than that. It's not just the humans or the monsters, Jean-Claude. For people like Ange and Jubes, there has to be a third option, somewhere for the Gifted."
"Does there?" I hadn't heard Asher come up beside me, and I manage not to jump at his sudden voice. "You're part of a triumvirate, Anita. You are bound to Jean-Claude and Richard as their third. You are a woman, a necromancer, a Christian, a lupa, and many other things we don't understand yet. You have marvelous powers, does that make you human? Gifted? A monster? Why can't the three be the same?" His eyes are distant, and his hand overs over the ruined portion of his face. "Are you telling me that there are no human monsters?"
"Asher..." I sigh. "I'm saying that I don't want anyone seducing them into staying. I want them out of St Louis and away from the trouble we seem to attract. They don't *belong* here with the dead and permanently furry. They're even more likely to make a social faux-pas at something like this than I am. They aren't part of this, and I don't want them to be."
"They seem to be doing fine. Relax, ma chere. They have not insulted anyone, and no one is giving them trouble. All is well. Angelo is making small talk with Cherry, and Jubilee is dancing with Nathaniel. Everything is fine. What are you worried about?"