Free Anita Blake 22 - Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton

unload the regular luggage. Nicky was following us in the other SUV that Alfie had given to us as ‘our’ car for the time we spent in town. Most of the weapons we’d packed were divided between us and Nicky’s follow car. As a U.S. Marshal of the Preternatural Branch, I was duty-bound to keep most of my arsenal at hand, because as a federal officer I could be called up anywhere I traveled. The ruling had come down after a case when another marshal had been unable to perform his duties to the degree necessary to help out a fellow marshal who put out a call for aid. At least they’d changed the ruling that had forced me to either carry most of the ‘equipment’ with me or have it in a secure lockup at all times. That ruling had come down after an executioner had his bag of dangerous goodies stolen from the trunk of his car and one of the guns was used in a holdup. The ruling had been overturned when a fellow executioner had taken in all his equipment and challenged the judges to carry it. These weren’t laws most of the time, but ‘rulings,’ basically emergency actions taken from some knee-jerk reaction to a tragedy. Since my branch of law enforcement was never called in until people were dead, there was a lot of tragedy to go around. Worse yet, the ‘rulings,’ even most of the laws that I acted under, were made by people who had never used a gun for real, worn a badge, or had to make a life-and-death decision, let alone that decision in the split second of a vampire hunt or while tracking a rogue shapeshifter.
    Juliet asked, ‘Do I need to drive slow so your other guard won’t lose us?’
    ‘You couldn’t lose Nicky if you tried,’ Dev said. ‘You won’t lose him by accident.’
    ‘The roads are tricky after dark.’
    ‘Juliet,’ Micah said, ‘it’s okay; all our people know their jobs.’
    Nathaniel and I had put Micah in the middle without talking about it. It was partly just because I knew that Nathaniel would want to keep touching him after the marriage statement and partly because Micah was like most wereanimals in that physical touch made him feel better, and no matter how brave he was being, he needed the comfort. He held on to both of our hands, and I wondered how much hand holding he was going to do in front of his family. In public the two men usually kept the touching to a minimum, depending on where they were; some places were more user-friendly for male-on-male affection than others. Or did Micah intend to shove Nathaniel down his family’s throat? I wasn’t sure that was the best thing, but I’d support his decision.
    A streetlight gleamed onto Dev’s hair, bringing out the different shades of blond in his shoulder-length hair. It barely touched his shoulders and was as long as he wanted to grow it.
    ‘Don’t take this wrong, Dev, but I’m surprised Nicky didn’t argue with you being the guard that rode with us.’
    ‘I stayed with the luggage and made sure the people helping with it did their jobs.’
    ‘I’m surprised you stayed with the luggage,’ Nathaniel said.
    He turned in his seat to look back at us. ‘Nicky pulled rank,’ he said.
    ‘He doesn’t outrank you,’ I said.
    Dev gave a wide grin. ‘He’s a better fighter than I am. He reminded me of that.’
    I studied his face for a moment, trying to see if he was offended, but there was nothing but the usual good humor in his face.
    ‘Bram says you could be better than Nicky if you’d work harder in training,’ Micah said.
    Dev’s grin gleamed white in the semidarkness. ‘I don’t want to work that hard.’
    ‘You’re so used to being faster and stronger just naturally that it makes you lazy in practice,’ I said, but I smiled when I said it. It was almost impossible to be really upset with Dev.
    ‘I’m faster, stronger, and I practice hard at what I have to do.’
    ‘But only what you have to do,’ I said. ‘Nicky puts in the extra time to get better, and you don’t.’
    ‘No, and I’m not going