Book 10 - Narcissus In Chains

[Yoko]

Narcissus in Chains

The Club was over the river on the Illinois side, along with most of the other questionable clubs. Vampire-run businesses got a grandfather clause to operate in St. Louis proper, but the rest of the human-run clubs - and lycanthropes still counted legally as human - had to go into Illinois to avoid pesky zoning problems.

(Narcissus in Chains, page 18, paragraph 4 - Hardcover)

Reference
A dance club
* owned by Narcissus

[Yoko]

Chapter
Summary

1 Anita took Ronnie out to Deirdorfs and Hart for Ronnie's 30th birthday because Louis was out of town at a conference. However, Ronnie began to argue with Anita about Jean-Claude, since she prefers Anita to be with Richard. Anita is angry at her being judgmental, but forgives her. Since her phone is ringing in her house, Anita runs to the door. It's Gregory and Nathaniel is in trouble. Before he can explain, Marco comes on the phone and tells Anita that his master wants her to come to the club, Narcissus in Chains and rescue him.
2 Ronnie tries to get Anita to let her come, but Anita refuses. Anita decides to call Jean-Claude, since she figures he'd know where this club is. Ronnie disagrees and ends up leaving.
3 Anita has to call three places before she finds him at the Danse Macabre. He isn't pleased to hear from her, per se, but he does speak to her and assures that he will call Narcissus if she will address their "relationship" afterwards. She agrees. When Jean-Claude calls back, they have a long discussion about the marks and Anita admits she needs to close them, which surprises Jean-Claude, since she was so against it before. They agree to meet at the club, but Anita informs him she won't call Richard on this.
4 Anita gets to the club and meets up with Jason outside. He brings her in, and she meets up with Jean-Claude, and later, Narcissus, Ajax, and Ulysses. Narcissus has Anita disarmed and then assures her that her cats are present and she need only rescue them. Jean-Claude draws Anita to a table in order to convince her to marry the marks so that they both have more power going into this meeting. Jason and Asher are at the table. Asher urges them to hurry, but when Jean-Claude starts to call the power, Anita starts to back away, and backs into Richard.
5 Richard kisses Anita and later, Jean-Claude explains how they had an arrangement - whoever she called first, they would then call the other man. They begin to call the marks with Jean-Claude kissing Anita. They almost fall to the floor, but Richard brings them gently. Jean-Claude presses himself, fully clothed, against Anita's lower body while Richard kisses his way down her chest to her heart. They cover both holes in her chakra, and together, release a lot of sex and magic into the club, closing the marks. While they were helpless on the ground, they were guarded by Jamil, Shang-Da and Sylvie, as well as 2 new vampires, Meng Die and Faust. As they finally get their strength and prepare to go, Anita (riding on the magic high) says that anything is possible once they rescue the cats. Jean-Claude and Richard almost don't believe her.
6 While in Narcissus' chambers, Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard sit/lounge on the bed. They can sense each other much better and when Narcissus tries to touch Jean-Claude, Richard grabs his wrist and hurts him. For the insult, Asher agrees to "top" Narcissus. At first, Narcissus doesn't agree, until he sees Asher's scars. Anita is then allowed to go for the wereleopards.
7 Anita takes Jamil, Sylvie, Faust and Meng Die with her. They meet up with Marco, Coronus and a few swan manes. Gregory's groin area is shredded, but he can heal when he shifts. Nathaniel is stuck with swords, his flesh already healing over the blades. The swan manes are chained to the wall. Although the snake men attack Anita and crew, they are not successful. Later, Coronus insists he cannot give up the swan manes and when Anita is distracted, he attacks again. Gregory comes to her rescue, but in the melee, she is gutted by his claws.
8 While she is unconscious, Anita dreams. At one point, they had put her in ice water to keep down her fever, but it nearly killed her. Jean-Claude brought her back and asked Richard to keep her warm. Anita faded out again.
9 Anita awakes to different bodies pressing against her nude body to keep her warm. Waking to full consciousness, she meets her current bed warmers: Caleb and Micah. Although mostly healed, her left arm begins to spasm and Micah offers to call her flesh. At that point, Merle comes in and allows Cherry and Nathaniel to come in and verify Micah's abilities. So, Micah begins, but Anita reacts with fierce stomach pains. She is able to reach out and touch Jean-Claude through the marks and sees him in jail, but Micah calls her back again. Jean-Claude remains linked and uses Anita to feed off of Micah's lust so he can be strong again.
10 Anita is in the shower room crying when Cherry comes in and offers comfort, but she is scared. Micah comes in and explains that the doctors think she might be a lycanthrope. Anita doesn't believe him. Nathaniel comes in, assuring Anita the swan manes are OK, but Gregory's claws pierced her deeply. She will know in two weeks with the first full moon. Meanwhile, Gregory has been taken by the wolves because he "killed" their lupa. Anita calls Richard and argues over the phone with him. He lost to a vote. Jacob, who helped turn the vote, comes on the phone and Anita promises whatever happens to Gregory will happen to him unless he comes up with a way to save Gregory.

[Yoko]

11 Micah is impressed by Anita's practicality and though he is in the shower, he begins to stalk her. Anita responds because of Jean-Claude's lust in her, the arduer, and calls out to him, but Jean-Claude cannot help her. So Micah has sex with Anita and she drinks his lust like a vampire.
12 Anita goes to the station with Nathaniel. Everyone is shocked and then relieved to see her alive. She meets Clive first, but then is brought to Dolph by Zerbrowski. While Zerbrowski begins processing, Anita talks with Dolph. She shows him her scars and then Zerbrowski returns. Dolph is very angry, and when Anita asks what woman in his life is with a vampire, he explodes. She and Zerbrowski head off to get Jean-Claude. Nathaniel has been entertaining himself with Detective Jessica Arnet, but goes with Anita. They get Jean-Claude and after a tender moment with Anita and Jean-Claude, they leave.
13 Jean-Claude heads inside first so he can take a shower. Jason accompanies Anita and Nathaniel inside. They talk about Richard and Jason suggests she kill Jacob because she can, not because she is lupa.
14 Jean-Claude insists Jason stay with Anita, since he must go. She reluctantly agrees. Anita spoons Nathaniel and Jason spoons Anita and they fall asleep.
15 Anita wakes to her cell phone ringing. It's Rafael. He will be her ally at the lupanar and show that his treaty with the wolves is through Richard and Anita. Afterwards, the arduer rises and Anita tries to force Nathaniel and Jason to leave. They start to go, but Anita screams, so they return and Nathaniel holds Anita while Jason hunts for something to tie her with. Anita manages to break free and leaves bloody teeth marks on Nathaniel's back. Jason actually watched, but did nothing to intervene because she controlled herself. Jean-Claude then wakes up.
16 Asher walks in and asks if he can taste Nathaniel. Anita allows it and reacts when Asher touches her. Jean-Claude enters and confirms she has his incubus. Jean-Claude needs to feed on Jason and Asher makes to leave. But Anita goes after him and asks him to stay. He carries her back to the bed.
17 The lust is momentarily aborted when Anita must explain what happened with Micah, and Jean-Claude shares a little about his first bout with the arduer. Anita then insists on clothing before they continue.
18 Belle Morte actually connects with Anita and sifts through her psyche while Jason and Nathaniel fall upon her. In synch, Asher and Jean-Claude feed on them and the pleasure washes over them all. Then, Anita links with Jean-Claude and Richard, through Jason, and together they cast Belle Morte out.
19 Afterwards, Anita realizes she bit a chunk of skin from Jason's neck in order to get blood for power, and goes to the bathroom to throw up. Jean-Claude comes in to provide comfort. He tells her how he and Asher had to protect Julianna by leaving the council. He insists Anita stays close to men she knows for the sake of the arduer. Anita realizes she's not seen Damian, and learns that he no longer is bound to Jean-Claude. When accidentally hit by a car, he killed the offending couple. So Jean-Claude locked him in a coffin. Asher and Willie both confirm the story.
20 Anita and Nathaniel arrive at her house and have a little chat in the car before exiting. Cherry and Zane meet with them and discover Nathaniel's bite marks, but Anita doesn't tell them that she did it. Yet. They meet up with Caleb, Elizabeth, Merle, Micah, and new wereleopards Gina and Noah. Anita acknowledges the bite marks as hers and Elizabeth not only disbelieves her, she hits Anita. Anita has had it and shoots Elizabeth with regular bullets. They then go to get their allies, the rats and the swans.

[Yoko]

21 Enroute to the lupanar, Anita, Micah, Rafael and Donovan (leaders) share a limo. If possible, they agree to try to hide Anita and Micah's involvement from Richard. Anita exits the limo on Rafael's arm to show solidarity.
22 The lupanar is in a large clearing. Anita gets 2 rats for bodyguards: Claudia and Igor. Anita reaches for Micah's hand and ends up sharing power with her wereleopards and Micah's. Richard comes upon them and greets them formally.
23 Richard announces that they gather to say goodbye to their lupa and to pick a new one, as well as decide what to do about Gregory. Rafael explains his presence as being Anita's ally, further noting that his treaty is with Richard and not the pack. this brings Jacob into the spotlight, since he wants to be Ulfric. Paris tries to make a play for Richard since she is a lupa candidate. Sylvie puts her in her place. Later, she and Louie remind the packs how Anita saved their lives. When Anita is allowed to speak, she agrees with Jacob that she has not been around, but she doesn't want Gregory punished for her mistakes. Richard explains she can refuse to give up lupa status through one on one combat. Jacob adds she can anoint the throne. Anita tries to plead with Richard and discovers that her beast can touch his, but he backs away, distraught.
24 The task is given to Anita - she must find Gregory on her own without any help from any lycanthrope. While she cannot use the marks, she can use her own talents, i.e. necromancy. So, she tries to call the munin, but only Raina answers. Using Raina, she is able to figure out where Gregory is being kept. She sees an image of Raina in the pit, giving drugs to Todd in order to keep him from changing. Anita is so angry from the image, she punches Richard.
25 She manages to hurt him enough to draw blood. Richard has to stop Jamil and Shang-Da from reacting. Anita learns that Jacob put him there and she makes sure he understands his mistake. Richard won't choose a new lupa and Paris is disappointed. When Anita learns she is still lupa, she kicks Jacob in the face. Later, when he accuses Richard of using Anita like Marcus used Raina, Richard punches his lights out. Then, they go to get Gregory.
26 They reach the oubliette. Anita wants to get Gregory out, but Richard insists he should. Anita disagrees and needs to prove she can do it, to conquer her fear of small, dark places. For Richard to get Gregory, it will cost him nothing, she explains. Richard counters for Anita to kill Jacob, it would cost nothing either. Anita then agrees for both to go, and she allows him to go first. But she kisses him quickly before he goes in.
27 They go inside and discover Gregory hogtied with silver, blindfolded, and gagged, with silver earplugs in his ears. While they free Gregory, Anita and Richard talk. Anita wants him to reclaim his authority with the pack through fear. Those that helped Jacob need to be punished alongside him. Richard only agrees to put Jacob in the hole instead. They then get Gregory out and Anita leaves with the wereleopards, wererats, and swanking.
28 Back at Anita's house, Gregory showers with Cherry, Zane, and Nathaniel since he is too weak to stand on his own. Lillian is at the house and explains to Anita unless Gregory shifts, he will be deaf. Anita has to call his beast, or Lillian has to give him drugs to counteract the ones Jacob gave him. Micah comes in on Anita praying and tells her he has to get Violet, their version of Nathaniel. He takes Noah and Gina with him.
29 They go to Anita's outer deck. Vivian begs Anita to save Gregory in a submissive pose. Anita assures her that she will try. When Caleb gives some minor grief, Merle stops him, but Anita points out she will do so next time. Anita needs to call Raina, but she needs to see Gregory in a sexual way, so Stephen agrees to help her do so.
30 Anita calls Raina and tries to use her, but ends up being horrified at the memories of Raina biting down off Gregory's penis. Anita tears away from the contact and throws up.

[Yoko]

31 Since the munin didn't work, Anita will have to call Gregory's beast. But she doesn't know how, so they call Richard.
32 Anita and Nathaniel have a talk and Nathaniel admits Raina did the same to him, but she did it on film, and bit it off in pieces. Anita is shocked and comforts him. Nathaniel's head is on her lap when Richard walks in.
33 Richard is jealous and angry. He pulls Nathaniel off of Anita and checks out his bite marks. Anita is so angry with his handling, she cuts him deeply on his arm with her knife. She then goes to call Jean-Claude to find out what he told Richard about the arduer.
34 Jean-Claude admits to telling only the truth, but adds that Anita might prefer a less demanding male to feed her arduer. Richard won't feed anyone, which will be a problem for Anita if he stays until the morning. Anita accuses him of being Machiavellian and he doesn't deny it. Something has to be done about their triumvirate.
35 Richard is still angry, so when he calls Stephen's beast, he rips it out. Anita doesn't understand and when Richard drops his shields, she is slammed by his utter anger and despair. But Richard doesn't want Anita's pity. Their beasts collide in a show of dominance, and they fall to the floor, but Richard's anger has dissolved. He helps Anita learn how to call out the beast while Anita touches his bare skin, he does Jamil, Anita then uses what she's learned to shift Gregory and he is healed.
36 Anita is dressed in a green camisole/shorts ensemble, for Richard, of course, but Merle comes to her bedroom to say Richard is in the kitchen crying. He tells Anita that Louisa is in jail. She is a werewolf who had married a normal human man. She had shifted on her wedding night and killed him. Richard had been her sponsor and had taught her control through all emotions except sex because she was a virgin and was waiting for her wedding night. Anita comforts him and they end up on the floor kissing. Anita then insists they finish in her bedroom.
37 They enter and Richard runs his beast through Anita - this is something he can only with with a true lupa or Nimir-ra. They spend the night making love.

38
The next morning Richard seems accepting but when the arduer flares, he panics. He allows it, but shuts down the marks and withdraws his beast. Afterwards, he says goodbye and leaves. Anita cries and Nathaniel finds her. Cherry, Zane, Gregory and Vivian all join her, all nude, but they use their bodies to comfort Anita.
39 Cherry wakes Anita from a nightmare by licking her face. While everyone dressed, Nathaniel orders out for Chinese food. But when Caleb answers the door, he comes back as a hostage of snakemen.
40 A gunfight starts. Igor is killed, Claudia's shoulder is injured and Anita sees Micah, in wereleopard form, attack Marco before he has the chance to shoot her. Sirens are heard in the distance and Micah changes back to human rapidly before they arrive.

[Yoko]

41 Everyone is questioned separately. Dolph questions Anita but it shifts into a confession of his own as he reveals Darrin his oldest son, is going to marry a vampire and his youngest, Paul. cannot have children. So he can't have grandchildren. Anita wants to comfort Dolph, but is unsure how. She cannot tell him the whole truth.
42 The police leave and Nathaniel senses Anita wants to cry, but she's holding it in. So, he grabs her to focus her attention. She is angry he did that. Micah comes in and Nathaniel is upset Anita won't let him in. So she holds him and Micah holds them both so they can cry.
43 Zane interrupts to say that they have guests - representatives from every shapeshifter in St. Louis. Micah and Anita share a tender moment, only to be interrupted by Reece who explains some of the alphas are missing, as well as the werecobra's mate.
44 Anita meets the wereanimals and learns about their missing people. Nilisha, Jane, Boone, and Christine list Henry, Andy, Rebecca, and Joseph as missing. Gilbert is there because he is scared, and Ethan and Olivia are there for their mother. Anita gets permission to call the police.
45 Anita calls Dolph and gives him the information. He's still angry, but tired. He agrees to go back and question everyone.
46 Everyone goes except Donovan, Micah and Gil. Anita proposes the coalition of weres to Donovan and he considers it, but it's Gil who takes her offer and asks for her protection. Anita grants is, so long as Gil doesn't endanger her people. Otherwise, she will kill him.
47 Anita, Micah, Nathaniel, Caleb, Merle, Cherry and Zane head to the Circus of the Damned because Anita need to help Damian and for Jean-Claude to meet Micah. Anita has two new bodyguards, Cristiano and Bobby Lee, and she has to explain to them not to interfere with the grandstanding that will take place.
48 Ernie leads them downstairs into the circus.
49 Jean-Claude comes out, but the arduer is riding him, so he stalks Anita and Micah. Asher comes between them, without touching, in order to prevent a possible disaster. Anita manages to get her arduer under control, but Micah ruins it by jumping her.
50 Micah kisses Anita, and Jean-Claude rips him off her body and attacks him. Everyone else had left at this point. By the time Anita fires a warning shot, Jean-Claude has ripped into Micah's throat and Micah has ripped Jean-Claude's back. He also does a parting shot, tearing Jean-Claude's throat open.

[Yoko]

51 Anita heals Jean-Claude with Richard's help. Jason is his conduit. Asher and Nathaniel also help. Micah tries, but is thrown off. Anita discovers that Belle Morte is the one who weakened Jean-Claude's control over the arduer and in a temper, she casts Belle out. The men apologize and Jean-Claude goes to take a quick bath so that he can feed on Micah.
52 Jean-Claude returns and feeds. Afterwards, Asher reminds them about Damian and cops an attitude because he thinks they will have sex. Anita snaps at him and Asher bumrushes her, but she is just as fast and avoids him. Asher leaves. The others go to get Damian.
53 Micah stays behind to get clothes from Jason. Anita discovers two coffins and confirms that Damian is in one, using her necromancy powers, but learns from Jean-Claude that Gretchen is in the other. She gets Jean-Claude to promise to free her and she will use Asher to free Damian. Jean-Claude explains Asher's behavior as jealousy and Anita asks if Jean-Claude would be with him if she didn't feel uncomfortable about it. Jean-Claude doesn't know.
54 Jean-Claude opens Gretchen's coffin first so Anita can watch and learn for Damian. Jason would be the first to feed her, then Jean-Claude, to renew her blood bonds. But when they see she is a dried husk, Anita punches Jean-Claude in the face.
55 Jean-Claude jumps Anita and forces her to the ground so that she will listen to him. Since she and Richard put so many rules upon him for the triumvirate, Jean-Claude has had to resort to using Gretchen as he did. Using Jason and his blood, Jean-Claude restores Gretchen and carries her out to put her in a warm bath. Anita is left to awaken Damian.
56 Zane is used to feed Damian, but he attacks and hurts Zane, and then Merle. He then grabs Anita and bites into her chest and this causes him to awake enough for Anita to say the ritual words and bind him to her again.
57 They take Damian back to Anita's house and put him in a tub with hot water, but he convulses and throws up blood until Anita goes into the water and holds him. The hot water is too much for her, so with Asher and Nathaniel's help, they rip her clothes off. Nevertheless, she still faints.
58 Anita wakes up outside of the tub, with her hand touching Damian and cool towels over her body. Damian fed off Nathaniel and is feeling better. He is calm and pleased that Anita is his master, but this scares her.
59 Anita goes to bed with Nathaniel curled up next to her. About two hours later, the phone rings. Ulysses tells Anita Narcissus knows the Rex is alive, but will share more only if she comes to the club. Anita, Nathaniel, Bobby Lee, Cris, Caleb and Gil dress and go.
60 They are met at the club by Ulysses who begs them to leave their guns. But his desperation raises suspicions an Anita and crew refuse. Ulysses explains that Ajax, his lover, and the lovers of the other werehyenas are being held hostage and will be harmed. Anita still refuses and suddenly, Cris is shot. A voice on the catwalks orders everyone to avoid hitting Anita, so she uses herself as a shield for the others. A gunfight ensues. Nathaniel shoots Ulysses and they flee. The jeep is attacked and they manage to kill most of the attackers, but when they pull off to the side of the road, one body, Bacchus, is still alive. He heals as they go back to Anita's house.

[Yoko]

61 During the ride, Bacchus explained how Chimera was introduced as Narcissus' new "gentleman fair" but he then went into a room and wasn't seen for 24 hours. When Ulysses investigated, Chimera showed his true colors. Bacchus begs Anita to help and she tentatively agrees.
62 Back at the house, Bacchus outlines floorplans and guard details. Someone comes to the door and it's Zeke with polaroids of Micah and Cherry, both chained and beaten. Anita lets them in.
63 Zeke has a sign that says Micah and Cherry will be worse than dead if he is shot. So Anita listens. Chimera wants Anita in two hours and for her to be his mate or they die. Zeke reveals he had a wolfpack and Caleb and Paris were a part of it. Chimera wanted to control Richard's pack as well. He also wanted Anita's pard and Micah was sent in to betray her, but ended up trying to protect her, despite the fact that Gina and Violet would be tortured. Gina is outside and comes in, showing burn marks on her back. Zeke actually wants Anita to kill Chimera and she reluctantly agrees. Bobby Lee has already called Rafael and they are enroute.
64 Zeke, Gina and an unarmed Anita arrive back at the club. Chimera is hooded, but when he pulls it off, it is Orlando King. Anita discovers he was infected by a wolf once, and so he decided to go on a lycanthrope killing spree, getting infected by multiple weres. At the first full moon, he'd turned into multiple animals. But he has multiple-personality disorder. Chimera is the part of him that used to be hidden, but allowed him to kill and do things "Orlando" cannot do. He grabs Anita's wrist and brings her inside to show her.
65 Anita stumbles into a black room and by touch realizes the missing alphas are hanging from the ceiling. She hides a while by lying on the ground and not making a sound, but Chimera forces her out by hurting someone. He pulls her to her feet and shows her Cherry and Micah. Cherry's wounds have healed but not Micah's. Outside, they hear the battle starting and Chimera shows her his true shapes. He is Coronus, Boone, and a Lionman. Suddenly, the arduer awakens as Jean-Claude arises and Anita uses it to distract Chimera. Now she stalks him. A pain in her chest momentarily distracts her and she feels Richard being attacked by a werehyena and he doesn't fight back. Coming back to her senses, she finds a weapon and attacks/kills Abuta, who is in the room, and then uses the power she learned from Itzpapalotl to kill Chimera. She draws his life out and gives it back to her were people and vampires. Richard is brought in by Shang Da and Jamil and his eyes are as black as Anita's. He refuses to heal himself and leaves. The other weres rejoice in their victory.
66 Wrapup - Anita is made Bolvarek. Joseph survived, but the werecobra king and son were killed. Micah and Nathaniel feed Anita's arduer and Anita is with Jean-Claude once more while Richard is not.