As a result of her growing powers Anita manages to overpower the extremely old and very strong vampire force named the Harlequin that was sent after her in "The Harlequin", but only after having to feed off of the leaders of the various lycanthrope groups in St Louis in order to heal the others in her group and supply them with power. It is during this time that the leader of the were-lion group, Joseph, refuses to have sex with Anita since he is married; this leads to his exile and potential death. At the end of "The Harlequin" it is discovered that the Harlequin were not operating on official Council orders and were planning to take over Jean-Claude's territory.