"I promised no such thing."
"I mentioned it, and you didn't say no. That's the same as promising. Do you know how embarrassing it is changing in a locker room, having the girls see me wearing cotton grannies?"
"All the more reason to keep you wearing them. If it embarrasses you to have
girls
see them, it'd be even more embarrassing to have guys see them. Like a modern-day chastity belt."
"I hate you." She fell back, spread-eagled onto the bed, then lifted her head. "You know, if you won't get them for me, I might sneak behind your back and buy my own. That'd be bad."
"You gonna start doing laundry, too?"
"As if!"
"Then I'm not worried."
Someone knocked at the door. Savannah vaulted from the bed and was out of the room before I could stuff my handful of lingerie into a drawer. I heard Savannah's shout of greeting and knew who it was.
"Paige is in the bedroom putting away her underwear," Savannah said. "It'll take a while."
I grabbed another handful.
"Shit," said a voice behind me. "She's not kidding. What'd you do, rob a lingerie store?"
There stood the world's only female werewolf, a title that sounds more like it should describe a circus freak show than the blond woman in the doorway. Tall and lean, Elena Michaels had a werewolf's typically athletic build, and the kind of wholesome good looks that cause men to say things like, "Wow, if she dolled herself up, she could be a knockout." Those who dared say such things, though, were more likely to find themselves knocked out.
Today Elena wore a T-shirt, cutoff jean shorts, and sneakers, with her long silver-blond hair tied back in an elastic band and maybe, just maybe, lip gloss . . . and looked a helluva lot better than I did after hours of grooming. Not that I'm envious or anything. Oh, did I mention she was thirty-two and looked mid-twenties? Or that she can eat a sixteen-ounce porterhouse steak and not gain an ounce? Werewolves get all the goodies: extended youth, extreme metabolism, sharpened senses, and superstrength. And, yeah, I'm envious.
Still, if I can't have a werewolf's gifts, I'll take a werewolf as a friend. Being part wolf makes them extremely loyal and protective . . . which made Elena the only person to whom I'd entrust Savannah.
Elena surveyed the mess of lingerie scattered across the bed. "I'm not even sure where half that stuff goes."
Savannah zoomed past Elena, jumped on the bed, grabbed a bra, and held it up to her chest.
"This one's mine," Savannah said, grinning. "Can't you tell?"
Elena laughed. "Maybe in a few years."
Savannah snorted. "At the rate I'm going, it'll take a few years plus a few pairs of socks. I'm the only girl in the ninth grade who still wears a training bra."
"I was still wearing one in tenth grade, so I've got you beat." Elena bent down to pick up a negligee I'd dropped. "Expecting to spend a lot of time alone with Lucas, I see."
"I wish," I said. "He's already headed back to Chicago. Savannah packed my clothes, and I do hope there
are
clothes in this bag somewhere."
"At the bottom," Savannah said.
I shoved the last of the lingerie into a drawer, then stuffed the half-packed suitcase into the closet and turned to Elena. I resisted the urge to hug her. Elena wasn't the hugs-and-kisses type. Even fleeting physical contact, like handshakes, made her vaguely uncomfortable, though nowhere near as uncomfortable as they made someone else . . . which made me realize someone was missing from this reunion.
"Where's Clay?" I said. "Waiting in the car? Hoping he can avoid saying hello to me?"
"Hello, Paige," came a Southern drawl from the living room.
"Hello, Clayton."
I popped my head around the bedroom door. Elena's partner, Clayton Danvers, was standing by the window, his back to me, likely not an unconscious gesture. Like Elena, Clay was blond-haired, blue-eyed, and well built. While Elena was attractive, Clay was traffic-stopping gorgeous . . . and had all the charm of a pit viper.
The first time we met, Clay had tossed me a bag containing a severed human head, and things went downhill from there. I don't understand him, he doesn't understand me, and the only thing we have in common is Elena, which causes more problems than it solves.
He finally deigned to face me. "You said Lucas isn't here?"
"He had to zip back to Chicago for his court case."
Clay nodded, clearly disappointed. One could argue that he simply hoped for someone else to talk with, to avoid having to make conversation with me, but the truth was that Clay seemed to genuinely like Lucas, which shocked the hell out of me. Not that Lucas wasn't likable. Just that Clay, well, he didn't much like anybody. His usual reaction to anyone outside his Pack ranged from near-tolerance to outright loathing. I'd landed on the farthest possible end of that scale, though I was slowly inching away from the brink.
"Ready to go?" Clay said, looking behind me at Elena.
"I just got here," she said.
"We have a long drive—"
"And all the time in the world to drive it." Elena walked from the bedroom and looked at me. "We rented a car so we can drive back to New York, take our time, see the sights, make a vacation out of it. If anyone is after Savannah, Jeremy thought it might be wise if we keep on the move for a few days, rather than rush home."
"Good idea. Thank him for me."
She grinned. "Having us out of his hair for a few days is all the thanks he needs."
"Can we stop in Orlando?" Savannah asked.
"You want to go to Disney World?" Elena said.
Savannah rolled her eyes. "Not likely."
I mouthed something to Elena. She grinned.
"Ah, Universal Studios. Sorry. I thought Disney World sounded kind of cool myself, but we could go to Universal, if that's okay with Paige."
"Have fun," I said. "I transferred some money into Savannah's account, so make sure she pays her own way."
From Elena's brief nod, I knew Savannah's money wouldn't be spent on anything but junk food and souvenirs, as it had when I'd given her money for her week with them this summer. I knew better than to argue. Their Alpha, Jeremy Danvers, was very well off, and the three of them shared everything, including bank accounts. If I insisted on paving, I'd insult Jeremy. If he had his way, Savannah wouldn't even be using her own money for candy bars and T-shirts.
"Got your bag packed?" Clay asked Savannah.
"Never unpacked it."
"Good. Grab it and we'll go."
"You two have a nice trip," Elena said, plunking onto the sofa. "I'm visiting Paige."
Clay made a noise in his throat.
"Stop growling," Elena said. "I'm here, and I want to spend some time with Paige before I leave. Unless you'd prefer I
stayed
here. You know, that might not be such a bad idea. I could stick around, help her out—"
"No."
"Is that an order?"
"Savannah?" I cut in. "There's a Starbucks a few blocks over. Why don't you show Clay where it is, grab us some coffees?" I looked at Clay. "When you get back, you should probably take off. Benicio's stopping by soon, and he made some noises about taking Savannah into protective custody, so I'd rather she wasn't here when he arrives."
Clay nodded, then walked to the door and held it open for Savannah. When it closed behind them, Elena looked at me.
"Taking mediation lessons from Lucas, I see. Sorry about that. I know you have better things to do than listen to us bicker." She shook her head. "We've worked out a lot of things, but he still has trouble with the idea that I need to keep a corner of my life for myself, a corner that doesn't include him."
I sat in the chair across from her. "He doesn't like me. I understand that."
"No, it's not you." She caught my skeptical look. "Seriously. He just doesn't like me having friends. God, that sounds bad, doesn't it? Sometimes I hear myself saying things like that, and they make perfect sense to me, but then I think of how they must sound to others—" She stopped. "So tell me about this case."
"Ouch. You have to work on your 'steering clear of personal issues' segues."
She laughed. "That obvious, eh?"
"As for Clay not wanting you to have friends, I know he's like that, and I know why, so you don't need to worry about it. I'm not going to mail you brochures for women's shelters. I'll admit, at one time, I was a little concerned. Not that I thought he was abusive or anything, but he's, uh, extremely committed—"
"Obsessive."
"I wasn't going to say it."
She laughed and shifted to recline on the sofa, feet on the coffee table. "Don't worry, I say it all the time. Usually to him. Sometimes shouted. Occasionally accompanied by a flying object. We're working on it, though. He's learning to give me some space, and I'm learning that he's never going to be happy about it. Oh, I told him about that idea we had, for the ski trip this winter? He flipped. Then I said it'd be the four of us, not just you and me, and he simmered down, actually said that sounded okay. That's the trick, I think. Suggest something he'll hate, then offer a less painful alternative."
"If that doesn't work, next time you argue about me, remind him you could befriend Cassandra instead."
Elena whooped a laugh. "Oh, that'd put the fear into him . . . though he probably wouldn't believe it. Speaking of believing, would you believe she's still calling me?"
"Are you serious?"
"She somehow got my cell phone number."
"I didn't—"
"I know you didn't, that's why I didn't ask. Problem is, now I have to talk to her, at least long enough to say I don't want to talk to her. When she called the house line, Jeremy would say I wasn't home, and Clay—well, Clay never let her get past hello." Elena swung her legs down and twisted around to sit at the opposite end of the sofa, facing me. "I hate to admit this, but I'm spooked. I mean, she can't want us to be buddies, not after what she did, so what does she
really
want?"
"Honestly? She probably doesn't have an ulterior motive. I think she really wants to get to know you better, and she doesn't see any conflict between that and trying to steal your lover or convince the council to leave you for dead." I shrugged. "She's a vampire. They're different. What can I say?"
"Two words. Serious psychotherapy."
I grinned. "We'll go halfsies and get her a gift certificate for Christmas."
Elena was about to reply when the door opened. Savannah walked in, carrying my key card in one hand and a steaming coffee cup in the other. I was sure that whatever was in that cup, it wasn't hot chocolate, and probably wasn't even decaf, but I said nothing. I doubted Clay realized she was too young for coffee. I only hoped Elena would step in when the wine and whiskey came out.
Savannah held the door open for Clay, who walked through carrying a cardboard cup holder with three cups.
"That was fast," Elena said. "Too fast. What'd you do? Run all the way there? Or drive?"
"It was only half a block."
"Uh-huh."
"He's right," Savannah said. "It was closer than Paige thought, but we're just dropping off your drinks, then we're going to check out the marina while you guys talk."
Elena glanced at Clay, tensed, as if waiting for him to refute this. When his mouth opened, her fingers tightened on the sofa cushion.
"First, we're taking your suitcase down to the car," he said to Savannah. He turned to Elena and handed her a coffee cup. "When you're done here, just come and get us."
She smiled up at him. "Thanks. I won't be long."
He nodded and passed me a cup.
"Tea," he said, then glanced at Savannah. "Right?"
"Chai," she said.
I took the cup with thanks, then laid it down and helped Savannah get ready.
A Fortuitous Collision of Circumstances
Savannah was, as she'd said, already packed. But I wasn't letting her go without an armful of instructions, most of which were some variation on "be good" or "be careful."
Handing Savannah over to anyone, even to people I knew would protect her with their lives, wasn't easy for me. Elena made it easier, though, by arranging a twice-daily check-in time of eleven in the morning and eleven at night. If either of us would be busy at the designated time, we'd forewarn the other, so no one would be left worrying about a call not made or not answered. Yes, it bordered on obsessive-compulsive, but neither Elena nor Clay made me feel I was overreacting, and I truly appreciated that.