Impulse

have to shoot anyone.”

She smiled. “Me too. I’m a little mixed up, huh?”

“Nope. I’d worry if you were chomping at the bit to spray some lead.” He shook his head.

“Most people want to be left alone. Live in peace.”

“So much for that.” She slid the magazine home and raised both eyebrows. “You want to try first, or should I? Honestly, I’m better with rifles than pistols.”

“A bona fide country girl, huh?” He took a step back. “It’s all yours, sweetheart. I’m kind of shitty with guns, full stop.”

“Anna doesn’t approve of being shitty with guns.” Sera turned and set herself in a careful shooting stance, then squinted at the distant target and fired.

The pistol was silent, but it wasn’t subtle. Magic punched out from her in a jagged circle as the trigger clicked. At the other end of the range, the bullet tore through the outer edge of the target and broke apart before piercing a secondary target in four places.

Julio whistled. The kind of magic wound into the gun and the ammunition wasn’t easy, so he doubted the man had been exaggerating about being down for the count after casting his spells. “No wonder this stuff is so pricey.”

“It’s quiet, even when it pretty much explodes.” Sera adjusted her aim and managed to put a second bullet closer to the center. “The noise always makes me jump, whether I’m wearing ear protection or not. Apparently that’s doubly bad when you’ve got shapeshifter reflexes.”

“It can’t be good for your aim,” he agreed.

“A magical gun.” She fired again, and actually smiled. “I’m only letting you buy this for me because the fate of the world is on the line. And because I’m hoping to get laid.”

He ran his fingers over the delicious line of skin exposed by her shirt riding up. “Badass chicks are hot.”

“Mmm.” Another shot, and the target shredded into pieces when she nailed it through the bulls-eye. “See? Now I’m all inspired.”

“Want to try something else?”

“Sure.”

He retrieved another small box of rounds and peered at the scribbled writing on the side.

“This one either turns people into frogs, or is particularly effective against them. Can’t tell which.”

Sera laughed and bumped her hip against him. “The first time I met Mahalia, I asked her if she could turn people into frogs.”

“Oh yeah? What’d she tell you?”

“That she only did it to people who really pissed her off. Usually she’d just give them warts.”

She plucked the box out of his hand. “One more round, then we need to go in and get this ritual over with. We’re probably both going to leave here bleeding.”

“At least we heal fast.” And it was a damn sight better than bleeding a hell of a lot more later.

Sera loaded the new ammunition and held up the gun. “I bet I can hit closer to the bulls-eye than you can.”

Her victory came to him on a flash, right down to the cute little dance he was sure was last popular in the nineties. “Sucker bet, sunshine. Never wager with a precog.”

“So cheat.” She grinned. “You haven’t even heard the terms yet. If you win, I’ll let you buy me a pretty dress and take me out for a fancy dinner.”

“And if I lose?”

“I get a cheap bar, beer and hot wings, and dirty sex in the bathroom.”

Julio cleared his throat, took the gun from her and winked. “Like I said, sucker bet.”

“Uh-huh.” As she stepped behind him, she trailed her fingers up his arm. “I’m bad news, mister. I hope you can handle me.”

“I’ll try.” He lined up a shot, squeezed the trigger and snorted when the bullet went wide. “I told you I suck at this.”

She laughed and retrieved the gun to line up her shot with adorable concentration that furrowed her brows. Her shot wasn’t perfect, but it winged the target, and her victory dance was just as cute as it had been in his vision.

Chapter Ten

The first time they’d snuck into Panama City Beach, Julio had been traveling as a wolf on a vacation, and she’d been an anonymous friend. Her jean shorts and sports jersey had been enough.

The second time they’d be arriving as representatives of the Southeast council, and Sera put aside her pride somewhere around Tallahassee and asked Julio to take her shopping.

Not that new clothes would make up for the fact that she was a coyote, but it was one less thing they could sneer about. When facing wolves, sometimes all you could do was minimize your disadvantages and smile a lot.

Sydney met them on the edge of town with a smile and an invitation to skip the hotel and stay as guests of the pack. “At least we’ll get to run,” Sera pointed out as Julio guided Jackson’s car up the twisting driveway that led to Sydney’s house. “This is sort of weird, though. I guess I never think of the wolves in New Orleans as a pack because the only thing they all have in common is that they listen to Alec.”

“Regional custom?” Julio shrugged. “I heard of one pack in northern California that actually lives as wolves as much as they can. Guess it takes all kinds.”

“Yeah, I love my coyote, but maybe not that much.”

“No kidding.” He reached across the seat and laid his hand on her knee. “If anyone makes you feel uncomfortable or acts like a jerk—” Sera dropped her hand to cover his. “If we’re going to do this, you can’t protect me from anything but the worst offenses. If you smack down everyone who doesn’t approve, you’ll run out of wolves.”

“I can’t smack them, but I can glare and growl.”

And cause tension and problems when he needed allies. “It’s just words. Trust me to be tougher than that. All I need to know is that you won’t let anyone touch me. And I do know that.”

He sighed. “You don’t have to suffer on my account, okay? I don’t want you to.”

“That’s the point. It’s not suffering.” She squeezed his hand before lifting it so she could kiss his knuckles. “I work in a customer-service industry. I get more creative verbal abuse during a busy shift than most wolves could come up with in a year. As long as I don’t have to be friends with them, I don’t care.”

“All right.” His tension didn’t ease. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and Sydney won’t tolerate that bullshit in his pack anyway.”

No, he probably wouldn’t, which made the evening all the more nerve-wracking. If they couldn’t handle the friendly alpha of a small pack, their relationship would be dead before it had a chance to live. “We’re about to find out.”

Julio rounded the last bend in the driveway, and a modest brick house came into view. “I guess this is it.”

It looked worn and welcoming, a smaller version of Alec’s house in Louisiana. Some of the tension knotting her shoulders eased. She might have to face dubious werewolves, but at least they wouldn’t be the rich, snobby sort.

Not like Julio’s family.

Sydney parked his truck and made a beeline for Sera’s door as Julio pulled to a stop behind him. She squeezed Julio’s hand again and lowered her voice. “Are you going to make it?”

“Don’t worry about me.” He opened his own door and climbed out.

A woman had come outside, and she approached the car as Sydney helped Sera from her seat. “Are these our guests, Syd?”