Darinda reached toward her with a friendly smile, but the girl shied back, her lip rising. Darinda withdrew. So much for that. Try again later, with more subtlety.
The food arrived, plates heaped high with steaming cuts of meat. “Grazing, are we?” Eugene said, with a sneer for Darinda’s salad. “I thought only cows—” Roderick snarled, and Eugene snapped his jaw shut. Suddenly Eugene found his meal fascinating, as did all the Meadows clan save alpha Charlie. Charlie winked at her, wished her an amiable bon apatite, and dug in.
The thought hit her then, like a thunderbolt. For all their smiles and jokes and laughs, the Meadows family accepted her, let her sit at the table and eat with them only because Roderick said so. Even Charlie. She was his pack. His property. Her magic and her thoughts were incidental. If he removed his protection, she’d be dead within seconds.
As a witch Darinda was accustomed to looking out for herself. To go so abruptly from self-reliant to utterly powerless, totally dependent on a wolf’s good graces, didn’t sit well with her at all.
Her scent must have shifted, because the whole pack stared at her. Emma edged her chair away. Roderick, however, inched closer until their legs touched. Marking his turf. “Is anything wrong with the food?” he said.
“The food’s fine,” she said, her thigh rigid against his. She’d drawn the pack’s attention, never a good thing with predators. Distract them. She added heartily, “Let’s eat.”
That worked. The Meadowses dug in and forgot her again. Not Roderick. He watched her more than his plate. I’m okay, she beamed at him. Nothing yet. Let them fill up, relax a little. Put them off their guard.
He nodded fractionally. Good plan.
Plans are only good if they work, Darinda thought. She let the meal proceed to dessert before she set hers in motion. She opted to start with Charlie, the most human-tolerant. “If you don’t mind my asking, why’d you become a cop? Is that a, well, a normal career choice for weres?”
“Hey, you know us. We love to hunt.” Charlie smiled, showing off strong white teeth. “Chasing deer in the park didn’t cut it for me. Chasing criminals does, as long as you’ve got a badge to back it up.”
“Do you fellow officers know?”
“My captain knows, and some of the others.” He shrugged. “They know there are parts of the city where a human’s not welcome and I can move freely. The department’s smart enough to want to stay on Big Alex’s good side. I had a couple brushes with some jerks on the force when I started, but what rookie hasn’t?”
Darinda nodded. “Don’t ask, don’t tell?”
He laughed at that. “Pretty much.”
“So what about you?” Eugene leaned forward. “Why’d you become a witch? Looking for a thrill, or what?”
“You don’t ‘become’ a witch,” she explained patiently. “You’re born one. Like weres.”
“Yeah? I always thought—”
“No, you’ve never thought,” Roderick cut in. “That’s your problem.”
Eugene bristled, and the auras at the table darkened to red. Eugene glared at Roderick. Roderick glared back. Eugene flinched and glanced away. The rest of the pack relaxed again. “Guess it could be worse,” he muttered. “You could be a vampire. Nothing’s worse than being a bat. Other than a monkey, that is.”
Darinda leaned toward him, as he had with her. “Not even a coyote?” she said.
“Coyotes?” Eugene snorted. “Stinky little prairie dogs. I’d rather date a human. At least the monkeys know what hygiene is. Hey, Rod, I heard one of ‘em jumped you. What was that about?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Roderick said easily. “I gave him some scars to show off to his friends. I doubt they’ll be so bold again.”
“They better not be. Bad enough they’re spreading all over the park. I hope Mom’s okay where she is.”
“You could make sure of that,” Charlie said pointedly. “Try stopping by more often than once a month.”
Eugene jabbed his fork at the remains of his steak. He didn’t look Charlie in the eye. Eugene, Darinda concluded, was not very bright.
And speaking of bright…the conversation turned elsewhere, but Darinda hadn’t missed how Emma’s aura had flared up in a panic during the previous debate. It continued to shiver nervously, although her face betrayed nothing. The tense fingers gripping her fork, however, told a different story.
So, dating a human was bad, but dating a coyote was worse. Not to mention all those harsh, conflicting smells she’d ladled on. An attempt to hide another, musky scent?
Abruptly Emma set down her fork. “May I be excused?” she asked Charlie.
He nodded, and she rose and headed for the restrooms. A second later, so did Lucy. So did Darinda. This might be her chance. An inadvertent bump as they exited stalls could tell her volumes. She wanted Emma especially. Something had set the teen on edge. Running with the wrong breed, perhaps.
“I didn’t know monkeys pissed in packs too,” she heard Eugene comment behind her. Then a yelp. Someone had cuffed him, either Roderick or Charlie. Well, the jerk had it coming. She followed the she-wolves into the restroom.
Emma ducked into a stall before Darinda could catch her. Okay, go for Lucy then. She pretended to stumble. Lucy was too quick. She swerved away from contact and slammed the stall door in Darinda’s face without even bothering to growl. So much for that plan.
Lucy finished first. Darinda heard her at the sink, then the clack of her heels on the tiles as she took up position near Emma’s stall. “Are you going to be in there all night?”
“If I have to,” Emma shot back. The nerves in her voice sounded clearly in Darinda’s ears. No telling what her sister heard. “Go back to the table. I’ll be out when I’m done.” Lucy huffed, mumbled something harsh-sounding in were, and stomped out of the restroom.
Emma didn’t emerge until Darinda had finished washing her hands. The girl crept shyly up to the sink beside her. She watched Darinda in the mirror but averted her eyes from live contact. When Darinda turned toward her, the wolf-girl sidled away.
“Is everything okay?” Darinda said. “Don’t be nervous. I don’t bite.”
Emma hesitated, as if struggling with something, or screwing up her courage. Finally she blurted, “You’re a witch. That’s almost like being human, right?”
“Somewhat,” Darinda said dryly. “Don’t let it get around.”
“But you’re human, sort’a,” Emma persisted, “and you’re okay with weres. Mom and Charlie and cousin Rod like you. So it does work. It can work.”
Darinda nodded warily, wondering where the girl was going with this. Then it hit her. The overwhelming odors, her anxiety when interspecies interaction came up…
She touched Emma’s forearm and had her suspicions confirmed. “You’re dating a human,” she said.
Emma made a whimpery noise and nodded. Suddenly Darinda found her arms full of wailing teenage she-wolf. She waited for the tide to ebb before saying, “Want to tell me about him?”
“His name’s Mario. I met him at school. His dad’s a butcher down at the Italian Market. Mario helps out.” She smiled suddenly, and the sun broke through the clouds. “He smells heavenly.”
“Does he know you’re a were?”
“Yeah. He thinks it’s neat, having a girlfriend who can shift. But his family doesn’t know and neither does mine, and I’m scared to say anything.” She wiped at her eyes. “Eugene’s all ‘humans are monkeys and stupid’ and if he knew about Mario he’d rip my tail off.” She sniffled. “Eugene’s a douche.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
“So, can you, like, put a spell on him? So he won’t hate humans any more?”
“Magic doesn’t work that way. I wish it did. The world would be a nicer place. What about your sister? Isn’t she on your side? Or Charlie. He gets along all right with humans. I’ll bet he’d back you up. Doesn’t Eugene do what Charlie tells him?”
“Yeah, but, they’re, you know, guys. All chests out an
d tails in the air. They tell us shes what to do all the time. Is that how it is with humans? Do the males always boss you around?”
“They try,” Darinda said, thinking of Roderick. In that regard, humans and weres weren’t so far apart. “Fortunately they can be trained. If I were you, I’d fess up to your sister and win her support. I get the feeling if the two of you ganged up on Eugene, he’d back off in a hurry. In the meantime, if you can get down to South Street I can give you some herbal soaps and shampoos specially designed for weres. They’ll hide his scent on you without driving everyone nuts.”
“Really? You are so cool.” Emma threw her arms around Darinda’s neck just as Lucy poked her head in the door to see what the holdup was. “Emma! What did I tell you about biting Rod’s guest?”
“I wasn’t biting her.” Emma loosened her chokehold but didn’t let go. She faced Lucy with her head up and her eyes level. “Lucy, I have to tell you something. It’s about that boy I’m seeing.”
“You mean the human?”
Emma gawked. Lucy smiled. “I wondered when you’d finally come clean. I was getting tired of covering for you.”
“So you’re okay with it?”
“No. But I’ve been revising my views of humans lately, with Charlie on the force and Rod’s recent problems and all.” The look she sent Darinda held a flag of truce. “At least this one brings you meat. Just tone it down with the deodorant, okay? You’re really getting hard on the nose.”
* * * *
The women returned from the powder room to a table minus a male. “Charlie had to leave,” Roderick said. “Police business. Eugene’s offered to drive us home.”
“If you do something for me.” Eugene produced a deck of cards. “Rod says you can tell our futures with these.”
Darinda thinned her lips. Would this twit’s challenges never end? “More like suggest possibilities. The future can’t be predicted because it isn’t set.”
“No? Rod says you told his future. How’s it turning out?”
“Spot in one aspect.” Roderick’s cool yellow gaze swept over her in a manner that left her both nervous and tingly. “I’m still waiting for the other to kick in.”
“Tell mine,” Emma pleaded. “I want to know about, y’know, school and stuff.”
Reluctantly, Darinda took the pack Eugene thrust at her. She returned to her seat beside Roderick, freed the cards, and shuffled. “I don’t control this, so don’t be upset if the reading is negative. And keep in mind, everything is open to interpretation.”
Emma selected her card, the seven of hearts. With a prayer to the Goddess for only good news, Darinda began the deal. Her tension eased as all hearts and diamonds appeared, connecting the seven to the Ace of Hearts. “Well! Someone’s got love and good luck in her future.”
The teen beamed and bounced on her chair. Had she had her wolf tail, it would have wagged like mad. “As long as it isn’t some stinking coyote,” Eugene said.
Emma made a face. “C’mon. You know I’d never date a coyote.” Lucy sniggered into her napkin.
Lucy declined a reading. “Had mine,” Roderick said. Darinda smiled evilly and fanned the deck at Eugene. As usual, he backed off when confronted directly. “No thanks. I don’t believe in that stuff.”
Emma’s little fangs flashed. “C’mon, Eugene. What are you scared of?”
“I’m not scared. I just think it’s bunk, is all. Can you do a general one for the family? Kind of an overall thing?”
“It works better for an individual, but…” She decided to be generous and let him save face. “Okay. Everybody pick a card and make a pile in the center.”
One by one they drew their cards. Emma got the seven of hearts again. Roderick, she saw with no surprise, selected the King of Spades. Lucy picked the ten of diamonds, Eugene the ten of clubs. “You too,” Roderick insisted before she could shuffle the deck. “You’re part of this.”
She could have killed him. Well, maybe just slapped him on the snoot. He’d left her no graceful way out, not with all those wolf eyes on her. Cursing silently, Darinda drew a card. Queen of Hearts. She made a neat little pile on the table, careful to arrange the cards so the king and queen remained separated. “This will be pretty generic,” she warned, “so don’t expect much.” She dealt the first card.
Ace of Spades.
It got worse. The entire circle came up black, clubs for trouble, spades for change. “Well, that can’t be good,” Eugene remarked. “What’s with all the spades?”
“Negative change. Rough times ahead.” Darinda kept her voice carefully flat. “I don’t want to alarm anybody, but you should all stay on guard for the next couple of days. Charlie too.” She hurriedly scooped up the cards and returned them to the pack. “It could just be a run of bad luck, but no point in taking chances.”
“I’ll tell him,” Lucy said. She slid her arm around Emma’s waist. “Thanks for nothing, Eugene.”
“Me? What did I do?”
The check arrived. Without Charlie to argue, Roderick picked up the tab. He got up and went to the register, motioning Darinda to follow. She stood silently by while he settled the bill. “Sorry,” she murmured at last. “I didn’t mean to upset everybody. That’s just how the cards came up.”
“I know. Now tell me what they really said.”
She knew better than to lie to him. “Death. Or a near miss. Soon.”
“Which one of us?”
“I don’t know. That’s the problem with a group read. It could be all of us, one of us, or none of us, just someone connected to us.”
“Like Charlie, or Aunt Letty.”
“Yes.” She heaved a heavy breath. “Well, it can’t be Emma. Her reading gave her a future. She’s clean, by the way, and so’s Lucy.” She’d rested her hand on Lucy’s back for a second as they’d left the restroom. “Neither are involved with coyotes or the attempts on your life.”
“Good work there. How’d you all get so chummy so fast?”
“Girl stuff. Transcends species. Which leaves us with—”
Eugene stormed up, bristling. “Well, I hope you’re happy,” he snarled at Darinda. “You got the girls upset. Lucy and Emma are walking home. Said they need to ‘talk.’ I should just leave you two here.”
Roderick surged forward, but Darinda beat him to it. She seized Eugene’s wrist and yanked him toward her so that they stood nose to nose and eye to eye. “You should keep your yap shut, dog boy. I’ve had it up to here with your bull. Now tell me all about your dealings with coyotes.”
“What? Coyotes? Dealings? Are you scatty?” He yanked free of her and jumped away. His blistering glare fixed on her chin. All bark and no bite, that was Eugene. “So I dated one once, so what? I won’t make that mistake again. I was scratching for weeks.”
“Alfie,” Roderick pressed. “A coyote named Alfie. Know him?”
“Who? I just told you, I don’t know any coyotes, other than that she that gave me fleas. I don’t want to know any, either. If your buddy Alfie needs an accountant, he can go find someone else.”
Roderick and Darinda exchanged a quick look. She nodded. “Just curious,” Roderick said. “Go get the car.”
“Ought to leave you here,” Eugene groused. “You and your crazy ape.” But he obeyed.
“Clean?” Roderick said when he had gone.
“As a whistle. Your cousins are off the hook.”
“That’s relief. Nice move with Eugene, by the way.” He grinned. “We’ll make a wolf of you yet.”
Eugene pulled up in front of the restaurant, and drove them back to Meadowlands in petulant silence. Roderick said every little. With both the Meadows and Duquense clans now eliminated, that left only the Chases in England. Either one of his sisters, his brother, or his mother had apparently ordered his death.
At one point he growled over some disquieting thought and shifted position on the seat. His hand came to rest on her arm. He moved it almost immediately. “Excuse me. I forgot about the touch problem.”
She didn’t pull away. “Don’t worry about it.”
Eugene pulled up by the side of the house, next to Darinda’s car. A single light burned in the kitchen. Both weres figuratively pricked their ears the moment they got out of the car. Darinda watched them sniff the air then dart for the back of the house. “Stay there!” Roderick ordered her over his shoulder.
The hell she would. They’d left Aunt Letty alone with coyotes on the loose. The threat implied by her prophecy rolled over her like an avalanche. Snatching up her shoulder bag, she bolted after the wolves.
Her nose came nowhere near a wolf’s, but her heightened sensitivity easily picked up the tension in the kitchen. But no blood. No death. Not here. Not Letty. Yet something had left the older she-wolf shivering and upset at her kitchen table, with both the males pressed close to her, bristling and growling.
Charlie. That call from the police—
All three looked up sharply at her entrance. Roderick’s eyes flashed. She hadn’t obeyed him. Tough. Ignoring him, Darinda said, “What’s going on?”
Letty huddled closer to Eugene. “Oh, it’s so horrible. Charles called not ten minutes ago. Albert Duquesne has been shot.”
Chapter 10
Roderick insisted on going. He was bound to the Duquesne pack, which made them family. Regardless of how he felt about them, they were now his responsibility. He also insisted Darinda accompany him. While Eugene comforted his distraught mother, Darinda checked through her massive shoulder bag and its meager collection of generic spells and hoped something in it could help.
“You realize,” she said carefully on the drive to Lupin Hill, “we could be interfering in a police investigation.”
“Hang the police. This is family. Charlie will expect me to come. Why else do you think he called?”
Almost as soon as they entered the house Darinda realized he was right. Charlie was the only officer present, and he welcomed Roderick with a quick, grim nod. “Thank Lycaon you’re here. The family’s frantic.”
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