CHAPTER 10
I knew that something was wrong by the look on the face of the werewolf who opened the door to the Pack’s safe house. The Pack owned several properties in the city, and after we were done clapping and cheering at the sight of Ghastek’s complete and utter failure, Curran and I had made a beeline for the nearest one to wash the undead nastiness off. The magic had fallen and with technology once again reasserting its grip on the world, Curran was eager to trade the cart for a Pack Jeep.
When the male werewolf opened the door, his eyes had that particular look to them that meant some catastrophe had happened.
“What is it?” Curran growled.
The werewolf licked his lips.
“Out with it,” Curran said.
“Andrea Nash has been seen in the city, interviewing business owners.”
“She is frequently in the city,” I said. “And interviewing is her job. She’s investigating some murders for the Pack.” Which I would look into as soon as we got Roderick out of that damned necklace.
The werewolf took a small step back. “She’s doing it in her beastkin shape.”
“Come again?”
“She’s walking around in her beastkin shape. And some clothes.”
All unaffiliated shapeshifters within the Pack’s borders were required to present themselves to the Pack within three days. Until now, the Pack had been able to deny all knowledge that Andrea was a shapeshifter, mostly because Curran made a very public point of ignoring it and nobody cared to bring it up.
Well, he couldn’t ignore it any longer. Andrea had pretty much made sure of that.
It made no sense. Andrea almost never used her beastkin shape. In fact, she pretended to be human most of the time. Going out in her fur and claws for her would be equivalent to me taking off my clothes and parading through the city naked.
Something had happened. Something really bad.
I looked at Curran. “I guess we’d better go back to the office.”
I walked through the office doors carrying a vampire’s head smeared in green sunblock. I had picked it up after the draugr had punted it out of the ward zone. It was beginning to smell and needed to be buried in ice ASAP.
Andrea sat at her desk. She was wearing her beastkin shape, a perfect meld of human and hyena. It was a shape that could get her killed. Andrea’s father was a hyenawere, an animal who turned into a human. That made her beastkin, and many older shapeshifters would want to murder her on sight.
“Want” being the operative word. Andrea could take care of herself. On top of that, I would help her, and Curran had made it plain that this was a prejudice he would not tolerate. He was waiting outside now in a parking lot a block away. I had asked him to give us a few minutes.
Andrea’s feet were on the table. Her T-shirt was torn, her pants were in tatters, and a mess of blood and tissue stained both. She wiggled her clawed toes at me.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Andrea raised her hand. There was a bottle in it. She was drinking.
I went into the kitchen, got a ceramic dish from under the sink, and deposited my vampire head inside the fridge. Then I came back, shrugged out of my sword sheath, and sat in the chair.
“What are you drinking?”
“Georgia Peach Iced Tea. Want some?” Andrea shook the bottle at me.
“Sure.” I sipped it. FIRE. “What the hell is in this?”
“Vodka, gin, rum, sweet and sour, and peach schnapps. Lots of peach schnapps.”
I’d never seen her drink before. “Do you actually get a buzz from this?”
“Sort of. It lasts for about thirty seconds or so and then I need another gulp.”
I tried to think. Derek was back at the Keep, but I was pretty sure Ascanio should have reported to the office this morning. “Where is the bane of my existence?”
“In the shower, freshening up.”
Damn it all to hell. “Oh God, who did Ascanio screw now?”
“No, no, he’s covered in blood.”
“Oh good.” Wait a minute. “The kid is covered in blood and we’re relieved. There is something wrong with us.”
“Tell me about it.” Andrea eyed me. “Not going to mention my beastkin appearance?”
“I like it. The torn pants and gore-stained T-shirt is a nice touch.”
She pointed her foot at me. “I was thinking of painting my claws a nice shade of pink.”
Those claws were three inches long. “That would take a lot of nail polish. What about some golden hoops in your ears instead?”
Andrea grinned, baring a row of sharp fangs. “It’s a definite possibility.”
“I saw Raphael this morning. I’d called him last night, because Jim put me on some shapeshifter murders and I needed to interview him. I wanted a chance to apologize.”
I took her bottle and drank from it. I needed some alcohol for the next part. It tasted vile. I swallowed it down anyway. “How did it go?”
“He replaced me.”
“He what?”
“He found another girl. She is seven feet tall, with breasts the size of honeydew melons, legs that start at her neck, bleached blond hair down to her ass, and her waist is this big around.” She touched her claws together. “They are engaged to be engaged.”
Of all the stupid, idiotic things…“He brought her
“She sat in that chair right there.” She pointed at a chair. “I’m thinking of burning it.”
Andrea loved Raphael the way birds loved the sky, and until a minute ago I would’ve sworn that he would have run into fire for her. “Did you punch him?”
“Nope.” Andrea shook her head. “After he told me that his new sweetheart’s best quality is that she isn’t me, it didn’t seem like it would make any difference.”
“Is she a shapeshifter?”
“A human. Not a fighter. Not that bright either.” The false cheer evaporated from her voice. “I know what you’ll say—it’s my own fault.”
I wish I knew the right words to say. “Well, you did check out of his life. You checked out of my life for a while.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Andrea looked away.
Raphael was spoiled. He was handsome, and treasured by both his mother and Clan Bouda in general, but he was never known for being mean or cruel. He was also the male alpha of Clan Bouda. He had to have known exactly what sort of risks he faced by bringing another woman and shoving her at Andrea. He had to have done it to provoke a reaction. The next time we met I’d pound his face into ground beef.
Still…I couldn’t believe that there was no method to his madness. He’d chased Andrea for months and he’d won her, then lost her. Perhaps this was some sort of stupid attempt to make her chase him.
“Are you going to fight for him?”
Andrea stared at me like I was crazy. “What?”
“Are you going to fight for him, or are you going to roll over on your back and take it?”
“Look who’s talking. How long did it take you and Curran to have a conversation after that whole dinner mess? Was it three weeks or more like a month?”
I arched my eyebrow at her. “That’s different. That was a misunderstanding.”
“Aha.”
