Sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. And maybe a club sandwich. Extra bacon and mayo.
Abby shrugged. “Thanks. After spending all day with nothing to do other than watch Jerry Springer reruns, I’m going a little stir-crazy. But otherwise, I’m fine.”
The Lupine nodded and pushed the door fully open. “I thought you might be, so Missy and I decided to see if you wanted to go out to the park for a little while and get some fresh air. There’s one just down the street that’s private to the neighborhood.”
A second figure stepped into the doorway and smiled. The woman had pale, fine skin and ash-blond hair pulled back into a braid. She also had one of the sweetest smiles Abby had ever seen and a tummy slightly rounded with pregnancy.
Hey, not bad for a breeder. Wonder what she’d look like without the tummy. Or the shirt. Abby shushed Lou violently.
“Hi,” the woman said, stepping into the room followed by Samantha and extending her hand. “I’m Missy Winters. I’m sorry my husband and I weren’t here last night to welcome you to Vircolac, but it was date night and I was dying to see the new Ryan Reynolds movie. Ever since that man grew a beard it’s been like an addiction, and it’s so hard to talk Graham into letting me drool at someone else for a couple of hours that I hate to cancel. How are you doing?”
Abby blinked at the friendly chatter and automatically shook Missy’s hand, noticing how delicate and human the other woman felt.
“Um, fine. I guess.”
Missy grinned. “Right. I recognize that ‘fine.’ And that expression. But don’t worry, eventually the whole thing starts to sink in, and eventually it’ll even seem normal. Come on. It’s chilly out this afternoon, so we brought you a jacket. The fresh air and exercise will do you good.”
Feeling slightly dazed, Abby shrugged obediently into the denim coat Missy held out for her and followed the other two women downstairs and out the back door of the Vircolac club.
“Graham won’t let me go in or out through the front anymore, not with all the protesters.” Missy wrinkled her nose. “He’s generally pretty protective, but when I’m pregnant he turns into some sort of monstrous maiden aunt. Which I will kill anyone for repeating,” she added, raising her eyebrows at Samantha.
The Lupine just grinned and made a zipping motion over her mouth.
“It’s lucky for everyone concerned that not only do I love kids, but I get a kick out of the other benefits of pregnancy, too.”
Aw, man. I can see it now. This is going to turn into one of those girl chats about the horrors of labor and delivery and the best brand of baby ass wipe. I’m outta here.
Abby felt the fiend’s presence in her mind click off and nearly cheered with relief, but she was feeling a bit too surreal right then. Instead, she just trailed along beside the talkative wife of the Alpha werewolf of the Silverback Clan and tried not to look as nonplussed as she felt.
“My favorite, of course, is the calorie burning,” Missy continued, leading the way across the street and toward the wrought-iron gate at the park entrance. “The only time in my life when not only do I not have to watch what I eat, but I’m practically required to pig out at regular intervals, just to keep the little wolf cub happy. It’s bliss.”
She patted her stomach with obvious affection and led the way in onto the cobbled path of the little neighborhood green space. Guiding them to a bench placed in the shade of a huge old oak tree, Missy sat and patted the wood beside her.
“Sit down,” she urged. “I figured you’d be more comfortable talking about all this and asking questions and generally bitching about the heavy-handed, managerial, and authoritarian tendencies of nonhuman males in a more neutral location. So, have at it. I’m volunteering as your sounding board.”
Abby just stared at her for a second, wondering which part of the rabbit hole she’d fallen into this time.
“Um, I don’t mean to be rude or anything,” she finally managed, “but I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable complaining about them to one of them if we were at the UN headquarters under armed NATO peacekeeping forces.”
Missy laughed. “Oops. I thought you knew.” She glanced up at Samantha, who was, oddly enough, standing a couple of steps away from the bench and watching the park like a Secret Service agent. “You didn’t tell her about me?”
The other woman looked down at them and frowned. “Tell her what, Luna?” She paused. “Oh! You mean that you’re human? I didn’t think about it. You’ve been with us so long now that I tend to forget about that kind of thing.”
“Typical Lupine. If you can’t eat it, mate with it, or play catch with it, try ignoring it.” Missy shook her head.
Abby stared at her. “You’re human?”
“Born and bred. Well, I suppose at the moment, since I’m currently breeding and sharing a bloodstream with a Lupine-human hybrid, you could consider me something kind of in between human and Other. But for the other seven months out of the year, I swear I’m as human as you are.”
“Other seven months?”
Okay, the question was totally inane given the subject matter at hand, but twelve minus seven only equaled five in the kind of math Abby remembered.
“Yup. That’s the third-best thing about having Lupine babies. Full-term is only five months. Not that labor and delivery are any easier, but a girl has to count her blessings where she finds them.”
Abby collapsed back against the bench and blew out a deep breath. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
Missy laughed out loud. “Trust me, honey, I know that feeling. I’ve lived that feeling. When I first found out the man I had a giant, secret crush on wasn’t human, it took a little getting used to, too. And back then, we all thought werewolves and vampires and demons—oh my!—were figments of Hollywood’s imagination.”
“How did you—” Abby broke off and felt her cheeks heat. How was she supposed to feel comfortable about being rude to these people if they were going to keep being nice to her?
“Go ahead and ask,” Missy said, smiling. “I promise not to be offended. I mean it when I said I understand how you’re probably feeling.”
Abby snorted. “Sorry, but unless you met your husband when he kidnapped you, I’m not sure you can really say that.”
She wasn’t sure why Missy found that so funny, but the other woman laughed long and hard before she managed to respond.
“No, actually. I knew Graham for a couple of months before he kidnapped me,” she said, still chuckling. “But kidnap me he did. Dragged me off to his lair and refused to let me go for an entire weekend. And by the time that weekend was over, he’d apparently decided he was never going to let me go. So, if you don’t mind, just go ahead and decide to trust me.”
Abby fought the urge to stare at the top of Missy’s head for the halo that must be there. If this woman had really been through half as much as Abby had and had still been able to forgive and forget and even fall in love with the Other who’d done that to her, Abby had to remember to write to the Vatican and nominate Missy for canonization.
“So what were you going to ask?”
It took Abby a second to rewind her mental tape recorder and remind herself.
“I was going to ask how—” She spent a second searching for a polite way of phrasing it but gave up. “How did you end up getting mixed up with vampires and werewolves and demons? I mean, if you’re human and you met them before the news broke . . .”
“Well before. Like several years. It’s a bit of a long story, but suffice it to say my best friend met a man in a club and fell madly in love with him, and it turned out that he was a vampire. Of course, when we, her friends, found out, we staged a valiant rescue,” Missy smiled, clearly remembering something amusing, “but it turned out she didn’t need to be rescued. She was perfectly happy where she was. Her husband was head of the Council of Others when they met, and Graham, my husband, was a close friend of his. We met through the two of them.”
“And it didn’t bother you that they . . . wer
en’t human?” Abby frowned.
“Sure it did. When I first found out that the guy Reggie had hooked up with liked a high-protein liquid diet, I freaked. All her friends did. But that was because we didn’t know anything about the Others. All we had to go on was the same stories you’ve probably heard. Nosferatu and An American Werewolf in London. But you might have noticed that it’s pretty hard to maintain an irrational hatred and fear of someone once you’ve spent time with them and discovered they’re not so different from anyone else. And in my case, once you’ve been maid of honor to their best man.”
Abby stared across the grass at a gray-haired woman in a fur-trimmed coat walking an apricot Pomeranian on a retractable leash. The setting sun gilded the dog’s fur until it matched the bright gold shining from the woman’s earlobes. “I don’t know. You throw in being held somewhere against your will for reasons you don’t fully understand, and you’d be surprised what you can maintain.”
“Do you really mean that?” Missy shifted and curled one leg up onto the bench so she could face Abby more directly. “Are you sure you hate Rule and all the Others? Or are you just angry and frustrated and confused? Like I was.”
“I don’t know what I am right now.”
“Well, personally, I know what I am.” Patting her knee, Missy smiled and pushed to her feet. “I’m starving. The deli on the corner has killer roast beef sandwiches the size of a Mack truck. I think I can fit one or two in before dinner. Sam, stay here with Abby and give her a few minutes to think. I’m going to run and grab a snack and I’ll be right back.”
Samantha shook her head, looking very unhappy with that idea. “Luna, I’m sorry, but you know I can’t do that. Alpha has said that you’re not to go anywhere alone until the protests die down. Especially now.”
“The Alpha is a paranoid mother hen. I’ll be fine.” Missy rolled her eyes. “You know perfectly well that Abby’s in a lot more danger at the moment than I am. She’s the one who needs a bodyguard. Stay and keep an eye on her.”
“Luna—”
“I’m just going across the street. Look. You can see the deli entrance from here.” She pointed through a break in the greenery at the brick-fronted store. “If it makes you feel better, stand over there and you’ll be able to see me and Abby at the same time. Now I gotta go. I said the b word, and if Junior doesn’t get some red meat in the next five minutes, he’s going to make me a very unhappy mommy.”
Without giving Samantha time to protest, the woman offered a jaunty wave and jogged out the park entrance and across the street. Samantha swore roundly and shot Abby a glance so stern, she wouldn’t have thought the Lupine was capable of it a couple of minutes ago.
“Don’t move,” she ordered. “I’m going to stand right over here so I can watch the deli, but don’t move. And scream if anyone tries to talk to you.”
Since she was still feeling more than a little confused by her conversation with Missy Winters and remembered that Samantha was way too fast for her to outrun even if she tried to make a break for it, Abby had no trouble obeying the order. She sat on the bench and watched the fading sunlight dapple the grass as she wondered yet again what on earth had happened to her life.
She would like to have thought that it was her distraction that kept her from hearing anything behind her in the moments before a large hand clamped over her mouth and a dark figure whispered in her ear.
“Where’s the gas leak?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
It would be nice to think that it was distraction that allowed someone to sneak up close enough to touch her without her ever noticing, but in reality her brother was in the Special Forces, and he was just that good at his job.
She waited a couple of seconds for the rush of panic to pass and for her adrenaline to register that the voice she’d heard had belonged to Noah. Samantha was still watching the deli, and Abby had no intention of screaming. Not that she could have until the hand shifted off her mouth to let her speak.
“Two o’ clock. About ten feet away. Next to the water fountain.”
Noah remained completely silent, and Abby knew better than to look backward to try to see him. He might be right behind her, but between her body, the bench, and the shrubbery surrounding them, she knew he’d be very well concealed.
He never made a sound, but she knew he’d made a comprehensive survey of the situation. The careful, modulated tone of his nearly soundless voice confirmed it.
“Abigail, you’re going to have to tell me that you didn’t send me an SOS in the middle of the night using our secret ‘the end of the world is upon us’ code because you’ve had a fight with one of your girlfriends.”
She had known Noah would recognize her text message and take it for the 911 call it had been. It was a silly code they’d developed as kids, when the greatest torture they could imagine was being dragged to their great-aunt Ruth’s house for Thanksgiving dinner and being trapped in her living room listening to her tell them for the nine billionth time about the year her sister had forgotten to turn the oven on for the turkey. It was like being in an airtight room and discovering a gas leak. One’s sanity and very survival depended on getting out using any means necessary as soon as possible.
Since then, “Thanksgiving” had been their way of politely and secretly saying to each other, “My life is on the line here, and I need your help now.”
It reassured her to know the old signal still worked. Especially given the current circumstances.
“That’s not one of my friends,” she whispered, keeping her eye on the Lupine. “That’s a werewolf, one of a couple who kidnapped me last night and have been holding me in the Vircolac club ever since. You’ve got to help me escape.”
There was a moment of silence behind her.
“Have you tried hailing a cab?”
Now was not the time for sarcasm. “I’m serious, Noah. This is not a joke. They brought me out for fresh air, but in a few minutes they’re going to take me back to the club and keep me there, and isn’t it lucky you found me here where there’s one guard instead of in the building down the block, which I’ve been informed has one of the best security systems this side of the Pentagon!”
She could picture her brother’s shrug. “The Pentagon isn’t that secure.” She sensed rather than heard a stir of movement behind her, but when Noah spoke again, the words were music to her ears. “Okay. I’m gonna get us out of here. You know the drill. Do what I say when I say it, no questions. And believe me when I tell you that I intend to hear all about whatever it is you haven’t told me as soon as we’re secure.” His voice moved back and to her right, and Abby knew he was getting himself into position. “Oh, and you’re buying me some really good beer for this.”
Abby would buy him a brewery for this. She didn’t care if she had to hock her every last possession and spend the next forty years digging ditches to do it. Maybe if she put enough distance and enough of her brother’s weaponry between herself and the demon called Rule, she could get her hormones to settle down and go on a mission to a leper colony in India to atone for the sins she’d already committed and all the ones she’d wanted to commit but thankfully hadn’t had the opportunity for.
She sat forward on the bench and tensed her muscles in preparation for movement. Thank goodness only her clothes were borrowed and not her sneakers. Running would be bad enough. Running in someone else’s shoes would have been painful.
“On my signal, you’re going to get up to stretch your legs. You’re going to smile and wave at the brunette, who’s pretty damned hot for a dog, and you’re going to hear something on the south side of the park that’s going to make you turn.”
Abby had to remind herself not to nod and to keep her expression impassive while Noah gave his orders.
“When you do, a guy carrying two big bags of groceries with all sorts of crap sticking out of the top is going to walk between you and her. I can see him coming as soon as he’s completely blocking you from her sight, you’re going to tur
n and run hell for leather due west into the trees. I’ll be covering your ass. Got it?”
“She’s a werewolf, Noah. I can’t outrun her. Neither can you.”
“We don’t need to outrun her. We just need to put enough distance between us and her that no one will see when I take her down.”
A twist of conscience made Abby hesitate. “I don’t want you to hurt her, No. She’s actually been pretty nice to me. She’s the one who let me text you.”
“You wanna stay where you are?” he hissed. “I promise I’m not going to kill her, but I have to at least knock her out if you want me to get you away. Otherwise, you’re right; she would catch us.”
“Okay, fine.” Abby took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Ready on your signal.”
“Good girl.” She felt the slightest brush of air as her brother rose into a crouch behind her. “On three. One. Two.”
The three was silent, but Abby didn’t need to hear it. Her brain screamed it loudly enough all on its own.
She stood and followed Noah’s directions precisely. Her hands went into her pockets and she rolled her shoulders as if stiff from sitting. Samantha immediately caught Abby’s movement out of the corner of her eye and looked sharply in her direction. Abby raised one hand in a wave and offered a grimacing smile along with another shoulder roll to indicate the reason for her change of position. Samantha nodded with a half smile of her own and turned back to watch the door of the deli just as the grocery-toting bystander crossed between them.
Abby didn’t waste a second. Heart pounding in her chest, she spun on her heels, tucked her head down, and ran directly west as if the hounds of hell were on her heels. If her luck and Noah’s skill panned out, hopefully nothing like that would happen.
Nobody screamed, no shots were fired, no alarms sounded, but apparently the change in air pressure Abby’s abrupt takeoff caused or the sound of her footfalls on the turf was enough to tell Samantha something was wrong. Abby glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the Lupine turn her head, catch sight of her fleeing charge, and bellow an order that she stop.
The Demon You Know Page 10
