A Wolf at the Door

“Yup, just got to my room. You should see this place, Mir, it’s a freakin’ palace. We totally have to come here on vacation sometime.”

She chuckled a little. “Because your last vacation went so well.”

“Point.” I sighed, putting one arm behind my head to get comfy for a bit. “So how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” She answered too quickly, which meant she knew it was a loaded question. “Did you tell Esteban that I’m pregnant?”

“Um…no?” Technically, I hadn’t. I told him she might be pregnant. “Why, what’s he said?”

“He hasn’t said anything, but I’m apparently not allowed to reach for things on high shelves or pick up anything that weighs more than five ounces without him right there, doing it for me.” I could hear the annoyance in her voice. Nothing pisses my wife off faster than being told she can’t do something.

“He means well, hon. Cut the kid some slack.”

“So you did tell him.”

Oops. “Was it supposed to be a secret?”

She sighed, and I could picture her raking her fingers through her long curly hair. Her green eyes would be dark, a small crease between her brows. “I just don’t want a lot of people to know, if it’s a false alarm. Or if…if it doesn’t last.”

Yeah. Three miscarriages in, we knew very well that sometimes things just didn’t last. “Just…take it easy, okay? Let the Boy Wonder do some of the heavy lifting around the house for a change. It’s good for him, builds character. And do not cast any spells. Not even little ones. You need something done, let Esteban do it. Or Cam.” That last part was bitter to say. I wasn’t sold on Cameron, not yet, but if it was a choice between using his skills or losing a baby…well, I knew which I’d pick.

“I know.” She fell silent, then. Sometimes, those silences say more than the words. I could hear the uncertainty in it, the desire to be hopeful, and yet dread at the same time. The fear of the what-ifs and the joy of the maybe- coulds. Everything I was feeling, too.

“Whatever happens, baby, I love you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know that.” There was a small smile in her voice. “I love you too.”

“Listen, I gotta go put some wards up around the diva’s door. You call me as soon as you know something, ’kay? No matter what time it is.”

“I will, Jess. And I’m sure if I don’t, Esteban will send up smoke signals or something.”

I lay there for a few minutes more after we hung up, just rolling things over in my head. Another baby…Christ, I didn’t even know which outcome to hope for. I wondered if that made me a bad person.

Tape and stapler in hand, I went to go ward Miss Gretchen Keene’s door next. I was almost done, crawling on my hands and knees across the carpet, when the door opened and Tai looked down at me with a raised brow. “Do I want to know what you’re doing?”

“I’m willing to say no.” One last staple held the blessed thread in place, and I nudged Tai back so I could pass through the door several times. As expected, a subtle shock passed over my skin, marking the location of the protective barrier. “What do you feel, Tai? When you wave your hand through here?” I admit, the entire concept of Maori magic made me curious.

Eyeing me like I was bonkers, Tai waved his hand through the door negligently, then hesitated and did it again, slower. “It’s some kind of…electrostatic barrier? What’s it for, jamming listening devices?”

“Not quite.” He could feel it! First, this meant it was really working. Second, it meant that he could pass through it without harm. That worked in his favor.

I hadn’t forgotten Axel’s warning that an enemy could already be here, and the presence of such strong magic was…very convenient. It was possible that Tai didn’t know what he held. It was also possible that he was just hoping I hadn’t noticed. “Hold this a second.” I passed Tai my key chain, pressing Cameron’s danger-sensing doodad into the big man’s palm. I wasn’t sure what color it was supposed to turn if things were bad, but the little disk remained a flat black slate. We stood for long moments while nothing happened, and I finally took it back.

“What was that about?”

“Oh, nothing. Just something I had to see.” If Tai was demon-sworn for the other side, surely I’d have known by now. For one thing, he didn’t have the eyes of someone who had sold their soul. It’s always in the eyes. Gretchen even had the eyes, under her perfectly practiced smile, proof that part of her was missing.

The bodyguard frowned in puzzlement. “What are you, like the James Bond of demons or something?”

“Nah. I hate martinis.” Glancing around the suite, I saw a distinct lack of Dante-the-groupie or Miss Keene. Bobby was sprawled on the leather sofa, idly surfing the channels. “Things chill out in here?”

“Oh, yeah. Dante bailed, and Gretchen is in her room setting up some stuff for some party thing she’s dragging us to later.” Tai closed the door behind me as I stepped inside. “You’ll have to dress, if you’re going.”

Dress? I looked down at my snarky T-shirt and worn-but-comfy jeans. I wasn’t exactly naked at the moment. I’d leave those kinds of displays to the starlet. “What’s wrong with what I have on?”

The big man chuckled. “She’d never be seen with you in that. If you have some black jeans and a plain black T-shirt, it should be good.”

Well, I did, and I could easily go change, but the obstinate part of me balked at having my wardrobe dictated. “Nothing like pinning a big sign on your back saying ‘Hey, I’m a bodyguard!’”

“The appearance of force often does more good than the application of force.” Tai shrugged his broad shoulders and had a seat on the other couch while I blinked in surprise. I liked him already. Man, I hoped he didn’t turn out to be the bad guy.

The next hour was rather pleasant. I put Bobby through the disk test too, with the same unimpressive results, then sat and watched some TV with the bodyguards and got to know them a bit. They seemed like decent guys,