“No, she’s in the clear. I felt that when she touched me. She’s honestly worried about you.”
“Yes, I can smell her anxiety. You can tell the same from a touch?”
“And a lot more. More than I want, most of the time. Truth through contact is one of my talents.” Not that she needed it with Roderick. It didn’t take a witch to figure him out. She grinned up at him. “Things will go a lot more smoothly if you don’t try to touch me any more.”
He huffed a snort at that. Poor wolfie, she thought with no sympathy. She hefted her shoulder bag. “Might as well get this show on the road. I need to see your room.”
“This way.”
He led her a half dozen steps up the hall to a bedroom similar to hers in furnishings and number of windows. This one, however, rocked her the second she stepped inside. It throbbed with masculinity and a sense of determined authority. Pure alpha, Roderick had already set his stamp on his temporary den. She shut her eyes and sucked in a deep breath against the assault of his personality. Stand firm, woman. You can take it.
She opened her eyes and found the big bed right in front of her. Roderick’s aura wafted enticingly from the rumpled covers. Thank Hecate he stood behind her and couldn’t see her face.
But he could smell her reactions. She knew that by his low chuckle. “What did you have in mind?” he asked, infuriatingly bland.
“Wards,” she decided. She moved to the dresser, safely away from the bed, and rummaged through her shoulder bag. She came up with three vials of powder in varying shades of yellow. “These should do.”
“For what?”
“To keep anyone but you and me out of your room. Give me some of your hair.”
He just looked at her. She plucked at her own thick mass until she had six red strands pooled in her palm. “For recognition,” she said. “Like a key code.”
“Ah.” He brushed at his shirt front and came up with a handful of stiff, black hairs. He dribbled these into her hand. “Shedding,” he explained. “Nerves.”
Almost at once Darinda’s own hairs coiled protectively around Roderick’s. Darinda frowned. That didn’t normally happen. But then, she’d sworn to guard his life. Maybe her personal magic had bought into the sanctity of a witch’s oath.
“Okay,” she said, “that’ll do. How strong do you want the protection?”
“What are my options?”
“Well, we can go for the standard alarm.” She held up the vial of palest yellow. “Anyone breaks into the room, you’ll hear it in your head, and the intruder will get a mild bioelectrical shock. This,” she indicated the middle vial, “sets a net on the room. An intruder will be caught and held until one of us lets him go” She’d set the darkest vial to the side, and didn’t touch it now. “This one’s a nerve blast. It acts like a lightning strike. Total unconsciousness, with burns. Lets your enemies know you’re not fooling around. If you want this one, we’ll need to add blood.”
He lifted his lip at the third vial. “The net. I want whoever’s behind this alive for questioning. And I don’t want Aunt Letty put in danger, even accidentally.”
“Good choice.” She put the unneeded vials away and dug out a plastic baggie. She emptied the chosen vial’s contents into this, then brushed in the hairs. They dissolved almost immediately. Darinda shook the baggie for a good, thorough blend. “Once I lay this down,” she warned, “no one can get in without one of us present. We might have to tell your aunt. Can we trust her not to tell her children?”
“No,” Roderick said at once. “I’ll ask her not to come in here. She’s a bit overbearing, but she respects privacy. If it’s one of my cousins who’s after me, let them fend for themselves.”
“All right.” Darinda began sprinkling her concoction on the windowsills. It sank into the hardwood almost at once, leaving a faint trace of dandelions. The last of it she spread in a line at the threshold, while Roderick watched from the hall. “That’s it. Now we let it set. You’ll have to make your own bed from here on out.”
She started downstairs. Roderick didn’t move. “You haven’t warded your room.”
“I’m not the target. I’ll be safe. I have other spells. C’mon, it sounds like your aunt has the tea ready.”
Aunt Letty had set out a mini-buffet on the table in front of the sofa. Darinda eyed it with a sudden sinking feeling in her gut. The tea and shortbread posed no threats. However, the cookie tray sat beside a bowl of raw meat cubes, which sat beside a plate of crackers spread with some sort of beef paste. That wasn’t tea-smell spiraling up from the cup Aunt Letty poured for Roderick, either. Why hadn’t she anticipated this?
“Please sit down, dear,” Aunt Letty invited. She offered Darinda a cup. “Sugar?”
“Just a spoonful.” Thank Hecate the tea was tea. Like most witches, Darinda was vegetarian, though not a full-on vegan. She could eat eggs and even fish in a pinch. But if she had to work with carnivores for any length of time, things could get awkward. She settled herself on the sofa with a resigned little sigh. First chance she got, she’d have to lay in some emergency supplies.
Roderick, under no such dietary restrictions, plopped down beside her and dug up a handful of meat cubes, which he popped happily into his mouth. He growled his appreciation. “Venison. Fresh caught?”
Aunt Letty also growled. “Not in this city, not these days. There’s a stand in the Italian Market that sells game. I think it comes from a farm.” She primly took a seat on Darinda’s other side and nibbled on the beef-and-crackers. “Now, dear, tell me who it is who’s trying to kill poor Roddy.”
Darinda reached for a cookie. “If we knew that already, you wouldn’t need me. They knew his name, so we can rule out random. You mentioned your mother and sister.”
“Doubtful,” Roderick said. “They’ve kicked me out of England. You’d think that would be sufficient. I say it’s the Duquesnes.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Aunt Letty said reluctantly. “Coraline’s a comely girl. Of course she’d attract male attention. Your jealous boyfriend theory makes sense. Very clever, Roddy.”
Darinda, with half a mouthful of cookie, turned on him. “Your theory?” Roderick chewed a meat cube, unperturbed. “Okay. Maybe you should tell me about the Duquesnes.”
“They’re old allies of ours,” Aunt Letty said. “We were a single pack once, but that was generations ago. They’ve only been here in the New World since, oh let me see, the late 1800s. Newcomers, really. The Chase family almost lost track of them, but now they seem eager to re-establish ties. I can’t imagine they’d propose a mating and then try to kill the groom. Then again, they’re French, which means they’re capable of anything.”
“Who proposed the mating?” Darinda said. “Coraline?”
“Oh, no. Her father did. Ellis, the Duquesne alpha. He made the initial overtures to Detty.”
“So this was his idea.”
“It’s an alpha’s duty to see his daughters make good matches. I know the rules are more relaxed here in America, but Ellis has always been firm on tradition.”
“Only room for one alpha bitch in the pack,” Roderick spoke up. “Duquesne’s mate probably got too anxious having a younger she around. You should have seen the match the Queen Mum tried to arrange for Tamra. And what Tamra did to the poor bastard. His family’s still not speaking to us.”
“Later, Roddy. Anyway, you’ll get to meet Ellis and the others tonight, so you can judge for yourself. If one of them is behind this, you’ll sniff it out. You have spells for that, don’t you, dear?”
Darinda went on the alert. “Tonight? What’s tonight?”
“My dinner engagement with my future mate and my charming soon-to-be in-laws.” He bit down hard on a chunk of meat. “You’ll accompany me, of course.”
“As what? Your date? No way in hell.” She turned to Aunt Letty. “Tell him why such a move would be so monumentally stupid.”
“But of course you’re coming along, dear. Isn’t that why Roddy hired you?”
“Oh, for Hecate’s sake. Listen. I’m not that up on werewolf culture, but even I know a wolf doesn’t walk into a full pack gathering with a strange human in tow. Especially if he’s a male and the human’s a female, and he’s set to marry the alpha’s daughter. Do you want to get us all slaughtered?”
“I thought you had spells,” Roderick said.
“Common sense works better. I don’t walk into death traps.”
“Well, I have to. That’s why I hired a bodyguard.” He sat up. His new posture caused him to loom over her. Not coincidentally, she’d bet her broom. “Anyway, you’re a witch. That’s not quite a human.”
“Thanks so much for the compliment. I’m still a non-were female. There’s no way you can explain my presence that won’t look like an insult.” She thinned her eyes at him. “Or was that the idea?”
He lifted his lip, revealing a fang. “You’re coming with me,” he said. “You’ll read them, or sense them, or whatever it is you do, and tell me which one has it in for me. I’ll take matters from there.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Oh? You’ll deal with it yourself? Thorough of you.”
“You know damn well what I meant.”
“Darinda.” Aunt Letty patted her hand. “It’s all right. I’ll be there too, as Detty’s proxy. They’ll accept you. They’ll have to, with Roddy and me to vouch for you. We won’t let anything happen to you, and you do the same for Roddy.”
Darinda stared at her. “I can’t believe you’d go along with this.”
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s a splendid idea. Throw them off their stride.” Her eyes gleamed with the thrill of the hunt. “I never fully trusted them. French, you know.”
“But—” Darinda slumped in defeat. Hecate’s tits. There was just no way around wolf stubbornness. She refused to look at Roderick. If she saw that smug, triumphant grin she knew he was wearing, she’d end up slapping him. “Fine. I’ll go. Now explain to me how you’re going to explain me to them. Make it good, because I don’t want us to die.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something, dear. Roddy says you’re very clever.”
Darinda turned a laser-beam glare on him. “Does he?”
“Almost as clever as me,” Roderick acknowledged. His arrogant smirk held enough wattage to light up South Street. She wanted to scream. “Because I’m the one who’s just come up with a way to pull this off.”
Chapter 6
“I still say this is a bad idea.” Darinda’s hands clutched the wheel. The Chrysler was Aunt Letty’s car, but Darinda had been tapped as driver. She recognized it as a subordinate position, assigned to the lower ranks. That didn’t bother her. Deliberately antagonizing another wolf pack did. “Let’s do it this way. You two go in, I’ll wait in the car. I can scan auras from there. It won’t be as accurate as personal contact, but I’ll do my best.”
“You’re coming in with us,” Roderick said in a tone of finality. “You’re to guarantee my safety, and I personally will guarantee yours. I doubt if they’ll even acknowledge you. Let them sniff you, don’t say much, and we’ll get through the evening all right.”
“They won’t dare raise a fuss,” Aunt Letty put in. “Not if they want this marriage to go through.” She pressed a tissue to her nose. “Goodness, what’s that odor? Lilacs? Is that you, dear?”
“Too strong?” Darinda said. Secretly, she hoped so. She’d added a touch of perfume right before they left, just tart enough to muddle her scent. She was tired of every wolf within noseshot being able to read her like the Sunday paper. “Sorry. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
“I doubt it,” Roderick said. “They’ll expect as much from you. I rather like it. It makes you smell less like an ape.”
Darinda bit off a sigh. Could nothing discourage him? The turnoff for the Duquesnes’s home loomed ahead. She aimed for it, briefly imagining Roderick and his superior smirk framed in the headlights.
The Duquesnes had their home in Fairmount Park West, on the opposite side of the Schuylkill River from Meadowlands. The house at the end of the winding drive belonged to a more modern vintage, possibly 1900s. Nor was it as large as Aunt Letty’s, though the grounds, what she could glimpse in the headlights, appeared just as meticulously kept. Where Meadowlands murmured of old wealth and prestige, Lupin Hill muttered middle class, and cast envious eyes across the Schuylkill.
Darinda parked in the spacious drive, between a black Buick and a red Corvette convertible she assumed belonged to Coraline. Before she could slide out from behind the wheel, Roderick laid his hand on her shoulder. “They may ignore you, but they’ll be watching. Being ape automatically makes you low-rank. Hesitate, show any fear, and you’ll have the whole pack on you.”
“That might be a good thing. Less attention on you.”
“They won’t challenge me. Do what I say, when I say, and they’ll accept you as part of my pack. They still won’t like you, but you won’t get bitten.”
“Or I could wait in the car.”
Roderick ignored her and climbed out of the car. He opened the door for Aunt Letty, then for Darinda, then strode to the front door and left them to follow.
These are wolves, Darinda reminded herself while she escorted Letty to the door. What’s rude to us is natural behavior to them. Don’t let it bug you. You’re here on a job. Stay calm.
Calm she could do. Submissive, in the face of the rank-obsessed wolves…that might prove a bit tricky.
The young wolf who opened the door was clearly taken aback by Darinda’s presence. His nose worked as fast as a rabbit’s. He didn’t growl—she gave him points for that—but she figured if she could see the back of his neck the hairs would be stiff as spikes. His stare finally left her to circle between Roderick and Aunt Letty. Low in rank, he struggled for direction.
Aunt Letty stepped up. This was a social milieu, and a delicate one. Her forte. “Is there a problem, young man?” she asked pleasantly.
“Uh.” His gaze jumped back to Darinda.
“Let me rephrase that,” Aunt Letty said. “Is there any good reason why you’re holding invited guests on your doorstep?” She surged into the foyer without waiting for permission. This alpha act threw the poor young low-rank into further confusion. “Roderick Chase and Letitia Meadows to see the Duquesnes,” she announced them. “Do be a dear and let them know we’re here.”
Roderick entered without even a glance at the Duquesne wolf. He had his hand on Darinda’s arm and drew her along in his wake. This time the wolf did growl. “You can’t—” he started. Roderick glowered. “I mean, she can’t. She can’t come in. She’s human.”
“Miss Lowell is with me,” Roderick said. Mine. My pack. My property. Darinda heard it in his tone and did a bit of bristling herself. She stomped it down with difficulty. “I trust that’s not a problem?”
It was, and a big one, to judge by the young wolf’s fidgeting. Decisions of this magnitude went beyond his rank. “I have to clear this,” he said. “Wait here. Please,” he added in afterthought at Aunt Letty’s dangerous sniff. He darted from the room.
“Well,” Roderick said, and shut the door. “That went well.”
“The hell it did. I told you this was a bad idea.”
“You’re in, aren’t you? That’s half the battle there. Now you just have to ascertain which one of them wants me dead.”
“That part’s a snap. All of them, after this. And Letty and me along with you.”
“Nonsense, dear,” Aunt Letty said. “No one starts a blood feud at a dinner party. Not even the French. It’s bad form.”
“No one’s touching either of you,” Roderick growled. His voice had that proprietary note in it again, like he’d claimed her or something. Like he thought he had the right. He rubbed his nose. “Darinda, watch the nerves. Your scent’s spiking.”
“Gee, sorry. Getting hauled into a pack of hostile werewolves makes me twitchy. We’d better hope it’s one of them so we can wrap this up quick.”
“Of course it must be,” Aunt Letty said. “Who else is there?”
Darinda was spared answering that by the return of the young low-rank. He had a second, older wolf beside him. The other wolf sniffed them all, her in particular, although he didn’t look at her directly. He addressed himself to Aunt Letty, with a smile of genuine pleasure. “Letty Meadows. Our packs don’t see enough of each other these days. I understand there’s an irregularity?”
“My doing.” Roderick glided forward. “Miss Lowell here is my personal physician. She goes where I go.”
“Physician?” The wolf sniffed her again, more thoroughly this time. His yellow eyes widened. “You’re a witch. Lowell…the witch from South Street?”
“Darinda,” she said, with a big friendly smile. “Sorry about the disturbance. We should have called ahead and checked with you first.” Which she had suggested, except Roderick had wanted the Duquesnes off-balance. The minute the evening ended, she promised herself, he was getting a kick in the shins.
“Well, everything’s all right, then. Big Alex has given you clearance. That’s good enough for me. I’m Albert Duquesne, Ellis’s beta. You must be Roderick Chase. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting Coraline.” They shook hands. Darinda watched with interest. It was less a greeting than at test of strength to find out who ranked where. When it came to male behavior, species didn’t seem to matter. Albert Duquesne let go first, apparently satisfied. He flicked another glance Darinda’s way. “Physician, huh? Do you have a medical condition we should know about?”
“A temporary one. It came on rather suddenly and unexpectedly. I thought it prudent to engage a professional.”
“Nothing life-threatening, I hope.”
Roderick smiled thinly. “I hope so too.”
A London Werewolf in America Page 6