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looked at her. Really looked at her.
She was tall, slender, with long, straight hair. It was a rich, reddish auburn that gleamed under the lights.
Her face was a soft triangle, chin maybe a little too pointed, but overall she was lovely. Her eyes were a
strange amber-brown that matched her hair perfectly.
Her smile widened, just a lift of lips. I knew what I was looking at. Lycanthrope. One that could pass for
human. Like Richard.
I looked out over the room, and realized why it felt so tight. It wasn't just the crowd. A majority of the
happy, smiling people were shapeshifters. Their energy burned in the air like the weight of a
thunderstorm. I had thought the crowd was boisterous, too loud, but it was the shapeshifters. Their
energy boiled and filled the room, masquerading as the energy of any crowd. As I stood there at the
door, a face lifted here and there. Human eyes looked at me, but the glance wasn't human.
The glance was considering, testing. How tough was I? How good would I taste? It reminded me of the
way Richard had been watching the crowd at the Fox. I felt like a chicken at a coyote convention. I was
suddenly glad of the second gun.
"Welcome to the Lunatic Cafe, Ms. Blake," the woman said. "I'm Raina Wallis, proprietor. If you'll
follow me. Your party is waiting for you." She said it all with a smile and a warm glow in her eyes.
Irving's grip on my arm was nearly painful.
I leaned into him, and whispered, "That's my right arm."
He blinked at me. His eyes flicked to the Browning, and he let go, muttering, "Sorry."
Raina leaned closer. Irving flinched. "I won't bite, Irving, not yet." She gave a low laugh that was rich and
bubbling. The kind of laugh that was meant for bedrooms and private jokes. The laugh gave her eyes and
body a different look. She suddenly seemed more voluptuous, more sensual than just a second ago.
Nicely weird.
"Mustn't keep Marcus waiting." She turned and began threading her way through the tables.
I glanced at Irving. "Something you want to tell me?"
"Raina's our alpha female. If the punishment's going to be really bad, she does it. She's a lot more
creative than Marcus."
Raina was motioning to us by the archway near the bar. Her lovely face was frowning, looking a little
less lovely, and a lot more bitchy.
I patted his shoulder. "I won't let her hurt you."
"You can't stop it."
"We'll see," I said.
He nodded, but not as if he believed me. He started between the tables. I followed. A woman touched
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his hand as he walked past. Gave him a smile. She was about my size, and dainty, with straight black hair
cut short that framed her face like black lace. Irving squeezed her fingers and kept walking. Her large,
dark eyes met mine. The eyes told me nothing. They had smiled at Irving; for me they were neutral. Like
the eyes of a wolf I'd seen once in California. I'd walked around a tree and there it had stood. I had
never really understood what neutral meant until that moment. Those pale eyes stared at me, waiting. If I
threatened it, it would attack. If I left it alone, it would run. My choice. The wolf hadn't given a damn
which way it turned out.
I kept walking, but the space between my shoulder blades was itching. I knew if I turned around that
nearly every eye would be on me, on us. The weight of their gaze was physical.
I had an urge to whirl and say boo, but fought it off. I had a feeling they were all staring at me with
neutral inhuman eyes, and I didn't want to see it.
Raina led us to a closed door at the back of the dining room. She pushed it open and motioned us
through with a theatrical wave of her arm. Irving just walked through. I walked through but kept my eyes
on her. I was nearly close enough for her to have hugged me. Close enough that with her reflexes she
could probably take me.
Lycanthropes are just faster than a normal human. It isn't mind tricks like with vampires. They are just
flat out better. I wasn't sure how much better in human form, though. Staring up into Raina's smiling face,
I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.
We stood in a narrow hallway. There was a door at either end, one showing the cold night through its
glass window, the other closed, a question mark.
Raina closed the door behind us, leaning on it. She seemed to collapse against it, head hanging down,
hair spilling forward.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
She took a deep, shuddering breath and looked up at me.
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