Emerald_iceus: More ass kicking awaits! Kind of, no actual action, but there will be some soon! And Asher
Thanks for the feedback!silversparkles111: Yes, they are one powerful team. And no Asher yet, but we are getting closer, just two more chapters I believe. Thanks for the review!
Ashita: You rock as always! For the feedback and the betaing! And Oh God yes I can't agree more about the frustration with Richard and his inability to get over himself and do his job. Liz definitely will not have that problem, lol. And Yay for Liz channeling Michael! I hoped that would come through.
We will also get to see more Liz/Anita bonding in the chapters to come and at some point there will be a Liz/Richard confrontation....definitely looking forward to that 
Lizzie: I hate Padma too! He irritated me in the books and I just couldn't resist having Liz piss him off
Thank you so much for the feedback and I hope you enjoy this chapter!Yasmania: Thanks for the review! I'm sorry RL is being so difficult for you
And I won't punish I promise! I just hope my stories make it a little better. And I totally agree, there is nothing better than a kick ass Liz A/N: Wow guys! Thanks for all the reviews! I think that might be my largest # for one chapter!
Oh, and for disclaimer purposes, some parts of the following chapter are from the book Burnt Offerings and are owned by Laurell K Hamilton, not me.
Chapter Eleven - Unexpected Connections
Padma growled, a furious sound that was half-animal, and half-other, and raised the hairs on the back of her neck although she didn’t let it show. “Who feeds you power leopard, you should not be able to resist me.”
Liz risked a glance at Anita, who was clearly trying to fight off the vampire’s power herself, and then Jean-Claude, who had subtly masked surprise in his deep blue eyes. She had been right in her first assumption; apparently her brand of shifting, and her own ‘other’ heritage, had more perks than she first realized.
Gathering herself, she straightened and pulled on her own powers, powers gained not from the leopard within, but from the part of her that had not been human long before she came to this world. Power that they would not know what to do with.
Now she burned from the inside out with a familiar crackle and she flung the energy into the Indian’s teeth with her next words. “This is all my power Master of the Beasts, and you have no hold over me or mine.”
He stumbled back against the wall, snarling in pain, and she leapt forward with the speed she’d used when dodging alien blasts in a losing war, to pull Vivian away from him and herd them both across the room. She disengaged the catch on the diamond necklace without a thought and threw it across the room just as Padma regained his feet.
“Keep your blood price, vampire.” She spat as she stood protectively in front of Vivian, waiting warily for a counter attack.
Padma effortlessly snagged the necklace out of the air, his eyes burning with cold hatred as he stared in her direction, but otherwise remained still, a new caution in his stance.
Sudden soft clapping startled all of them and they turned to see the blond vampire Hannah, standing with new grace and assurance.
“You have acquired more allies than we knew Jean-Claude; I wonder what other surprises you will pull out of your sleeve.”
Liz couldn’t speak for anyone else but she was growing heartily sick of surprises, and as she wrapped a protective arm around the still trembling Vivian, she wondered what else the rest of the night would have in store for her.
~
The two Master Vampires eventually left them and new horrors awaited as they made their way through the circus, including a vampire who rotted and reformed herself in front of them, causing bile to rise even in Liz’s throat. She no longer doubted that this world contained worse things than her last; instead she prayed to whatever God would listen that this was one war she wouldn’t lose.
Then Anita was unconscious, and Jean-Claude was carrying her with a small entourage following behind the three of them; Vivian, who had not stopped clinging to Liz, Jason, the blond shifter who was still shaking from his encounter with the rotting vampire, Damian, another vampire with an unbelievable shade of blood-red hair whom Anita had brought back to life, and a vampire apparently named Willie who used to be the Traveler, which threw her for a loop almost more than the rotting vampire had.
She was beginning to think that this little trip through time and space was not the retirement she had been hoping for, but the Granolith’s idea of a sick joke. If she found herself wishing for Khivar’s tender mercies anytime soon, then she would take her leopards and run, loyalty be damned.
They reached their destination, a large stone room decorated oh-so-charmingly as a torture chamber, and Liz stiffened as a familiar scent reached her, the same scent that had teased her mind when they first saw the skin on the front door.
Her eyes locked on a dark haired man bound face-down to a table with silver cuffs at his wrists, ankles, and neck, cuffs bolted into the table. He was nude and the entire back of his body was one raw, bloody mess. That wasn’t what caught her attention though; it was his handsome face, slack and unconscious, but still achingly familiar.
“Rafe?” She gasped softly, memories, new and old, rushing up from her subconscious with the speed of a freight train. The blood had been familiar, familiar because it was like hers, it was Parker blood.
Jean-Claude shot her an odd look as he handed Anita to Jason, who slid down a convenient wall, Anita resting in his lap. Then Jean-Claude approached Padma, who had resumed glaring fiercely at Liz, and they descended into rapid fire French that Liz wasn’t fluent enough to follow.
Gesturing for Vivian to stay by Jason and Anita, Liz approached the table, hesitating for a moment before running her fingers gently through Rafael’s thick black hair. “Oh Rafe, what did they do to you.” She whispered, lost in memories of a beloved older cousin who took her to the park for endless hours every time he visited, who would spin her through the air as often as she wanted without complaint, and who never treated her like a child or a nuisance.
A cousin who stopped visiting one summer and who family members had refused to speak of, a cousin she had missed desperately at her parents’ funeral but had been too afraid to contact. Now she knew why he had been to all intents and purposes excommunicated from their family, and most likely why he had not tried to contact her when her parents died. If he was already a shifter by then, he must have assumed she would hate him.
Most of those memories weren’t real, no matter how intense they felt, but even the Liz Parker from a world with aliens, not vampires, had loved her cousin Rafael, and both Liz Parker’s hurt for the man who had suffered so much pain.
The anger that had begun a slow burn in her stomach when she first swerved into the parking lot floors above where she stood now, burst into full flame and she welcomed the soothing pain of electricity as familiar green currents crackled across her skin.
One touch of her hand was all it took to open each metal cuff, and the sizzle of her powers against the silver band made every eye in the room snap towards her slender form. Once Rafael was free and unbound, though still unconscious, she lifted her gaze to meet the Traveler’s as he stepped into the room, once again wearing the pretty blond from earlier.
“You promised Anita safe passage for all that she could claim as friends. You can let us go now, or you can let us go after I find out how much electricity it takes to kill a vampire.”
The Traveler remained silent, pale grey eyes regarding her coldly, although he could not conceal a twinge of interest from crossing the feminine features of the body he had confiscated.
“He is one council member. He cannot bargain for all.” Padma stated angrily, eyes blazing at Liz, his anger palpable, adding to the energy in the room that already pressed against her skin with physical weight. “And you do not have the power you claim.” He added scathingly. He seemed unafraid but Liz could sense his doubt and she smiled slowly, eyes never leaving the Traveler, knowing who wielded the true power in the room.
Anita had staggered to her feet, unnoticed, while Liz made her display of power and she stepped forward, gaze darting between all of them before she too focused on the Traveler. “I asked for safe passage and you gave it,” she said firmly. “You can’t hurt us anymore.”
Maintaining the physical proof of her powers was something Liz found very draining, but given the atmosphere in the room she didn’t want to take the risk of showing weakness, so she remained silent as Anita got them to agree to let them all go, at least for the night.
She also remained silent when Anita promised the woman, Sylvie, that every man who had raped her would die, only sending the Executioner an approving and supportive glance that managed to promise without words that she would help her achieve that goal if needed.
Jean-Claude lifted Rafael in his arms as gently as he could, balancing the man over his shoulders. Rafael groaned, hands spasming, but his eyes stayed shut so Liz stepped back, Vivian huddling back into her side as they made their way out of the stone room.
Elisabeth was still there, somewhere, but Liz couldn’t bring herself to care. The leopard had willing consigned not just herself, but also others in need of protection, to the Vampires for purely selfish gain and Liz would be perfectly content if the woman got herself killed, or at least seriously hurt, as a consequence.
If the opportunity came to save her, and it would cost no one else’s life or pain, then Liz would take it. But until then, the rest of the leopards, Rafael, and Anita were her priorities and at least for the rest of the night they were safe.
Which, given her track record, meant that all hell was due to break loose.
