Flirt
UK Edition
Author	Laurell K. Hamilton
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter
Genre(s)	Horror, Mystery, Erotic novel
Publisher	Berkley Books (Berkley edition)
Publication date	February 2, 2010 (Berkley edition)
Media type	Print
Pages	192 p. (Berkley edition)
ISBN	978-0425235676
Preceded by	Skin Trade
Followed by	Bullet

Flirt is the eighteenth book in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of horror/mystery/erotica novels by Laurell K. Hamilton.

SynopsisEdit

When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss. But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn't the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington's grave would not be the lovely Mrs. Bennington. Not really. And not for long.

PlotEdit

Flirt begins with Anita meeting Tony Bennington, a potential client that wished for Anita to resurrect his dead wife, Ilsa, who died in an explosion. Adamant that Anita in the only animator in the U.S. that can bring her raise her as a zombie, Bennington tries to convince Anita to take the job, but ultimately she declines. As she is guiding her client out of the office, Jason, Nathaniel and Micah come to pick up Anita for lunch. Bennington introduces himself to the three and talks about his wife and the fact she loved visiting Guilty Pleasures. After Bennington leaves the four take Anita to lunch and Jason and Nathaniel try to cheer her up by flirting with one of the restaurants waiters.

Two weeks later, Anita is in another meeting with a potential client, Natalie Zell, a rich woman that wished for Anita to raise her dead husband so that she can punish him for his infidelity and not having had children with her. Outraged by Natalies Zell's motives, Anita declines to do the job even for two million $ and kicks Natalie out of her office.

At lunch she returns to the restaurant she had visited two weeks previous and again flirts with the waiter, named Ahsan. Just as she is preparing to leave she feels the powers of a shapeshifter. A werelion joins Anita at her table and the two are at a standoff until a second werelion comes. The two, Jacob and Nicky, show her pictures of Micah, Nathaniel and Jason and threatens that unless she raises a zombie for their client they will kill her lovers. The three leave the restaurant and go to a rented SUV where Nicky pats Anita down and takes her weapons. Because Anita's lioness is her only unmated beast she reacts strongly to the two alpha werelions.

Anita is taken to a house, and is surprised to discover that Jacob's client is Tony Bennington. Even before his request was declined, Tony hired Jacob's pride to fallow Anita and her lovers and force her to do the job. Because she has problems controlling her beast, and fearing for Bennington, Jacob send him away. The lioness entices Jacob and Nicky intro fighting each-other to be Anita's mate. Seeing a chance to kill Bennington and eliminate source of the money, Anita runs after Bennington while the two werelions fight. She is stopped by Silas, another one of Jacob's pride. Silas is gravely wounded but Anita is knocked unconscious.

A few hours later Anita wakes up in an old shack in a cemetery. She is guarded by Nicky who is afraid of her, believing that she has rolled his mind. Because she had to heal from the wound Silas inflicted, and cut off from the powers of Jean-Claude and the rest of her people, Anita calls the ardeur and tries to feed of Nicky. She is stopped by Jacob and Ellen, the pride's witch. Anita tries to use Nicky as a doorway to feed on Jacob and Ellen, but Ellen uses her powers to protect herself and Jacob. After she faints a second time, Jacob agrees that Anita feed of a very willing Nicky. During the feeding Anita decides to completely roll Nicky, making him her "slave".

Re-energized, Anita prepares to raise Ilsa. At the grave she sees the wounded Silas, who enraged that Jacob permitted Anita to roll Nicky, tries to shoot her and is himself shot by Jacob. Because the hooker Silas was supposed to bring as a human sacrifice died, Anita proposes using Silas as the White Goat. Because Silas was more then human Anita raises Ilsa and then the entire cemetery, breaking the magic circle that was preventing her to reach to Jean-Claude. As the circle crashed Jacob senses that his men have been caught by Jean-Claude and that he is very close to the cemetery. Jacob asks and receives his money from Bennington and allows Anita to kill him using the zombies she had raised. Anita lets Jacob leave with Ellen. Shortly after Jean-Claude's people arrive, along with Jason, Nathaniel and Micah.

After speaking with the three, Anita decides to take Nicky with her and they all leave for the hotel were Jean-Claude and the rest of the vampires have taken shelter.

CharactersEdit

Main charactersEdit

• Anita Blake
• Jason Schuyler
• Micah Callahan
• Nathaniel Graison

New charactersEdit

• Nicky
• Jacob Leon
• Ellen
• Silas
• Natalie Zell
• Tony Bennington