was an accident of power. You remembered me gentler, and less powerful. You underestimated me, and you have mistaken ma petite."

Auggie opened his eyes, and stared at the other vampire. "I don't understand what you mean by that."

"Ask our Nathaniel how he won her heart."

"I see his body; I know how he won her heart."

"You see nothing, know nothing," Jean-Claude said. "Mon minet, tell him how you won her heart."

"You call him 'my pussycat' and I'm wrong about him?" Auggie said.

Nathaniel leaned a little harder against the hand I had on his naked back. "I didn't hustle Anita," Nathaniel said.

"But you tried." Auggie made it a statement.

Nathaniel nodded. "I wanted her to want me. I didn't know any other way to do that."

"It worked," Auggie said.

Nathaniel glanced back at me, gave me a smile, then turned back to Auggie. "No, it didn't."

He motioned at us all. "Of course it worked."

"Only when I stopped trying to hustle her, and just tried to learn how to love her."

"Learn how to love her, you make it sound like a class, or a degree. You simply love people."

Nathaniel laughed. Jean-Claude made a noise like he was trying not to laugh. I looked at Micah. "Aren't you going to laugh, too?"

Micah shook his head. "I know better." Though there was the edge of a smile on his lips.

I scowled at them all. "Fine, laugh it up."

"I don't get the joke either," Auggie said.

"You will," Micah said, and it sounded like a threat.

"Is it really that hard to date me?"

This time Claudia and some of the other bodyguards laughed. I was just amusing the hell out of everyone.