My lips parted in realization, and I sniffed again. This time, I caught another, underlying scent. The scent of something wild, loyal, and fiercely protective.
Wolf,the back of my mind said.
Clement’s eyes glowed with pride, and he puffed out his chest a little.
See?the little boy in him announced.All grown up. I can shift and everything.
There weren’t many supernaturals around these parts, so we tended to congregate — or avoid each other at all costs. Clement’s great-aunt had been friends with my grandmother, so I’d been privy to his family secret for a long time. As kids, we’d played together in the woods, and while I always wanted to be a knight, he’d eagerly looked forward to shifting someday.
And now, he could.
I flashed a warm smile to say,Go, you.
His grin widened, revealing a row of perfect teeth.
“I haven’t seen Clement’s mother this happy in years,” Madame Martin said. “Her little boy, back in his childhood home again…”
I nearly burst out laughing. Did he fit in his old bed, or did his legs hang over the end?
“Just until I find my own place,” he rushed to say.
I grinned at that glimpse of the bashful little boy he’d once been.
“Wilhelmina is back in town too.” Madame Fontaine waggled her eyebrows. “Really back, for good.”
“Really?”
His eyes sparkled, and a flurry of hopes — and misgivings — raced through my mind. I had my hands full with the château, and the last thing I wanted was a town gossiping about my love life. But, hell. They would gossip, regardless. I might as well have a love life, right?
On the other hand, I’d never seen Clement as anything more than a friend. As sweet — and hot — as he was, he had a hugely possessive, protective streak. Even as a kid, I’d had to fight for a little breathing space. A guy like him was fine as a friend and perfect law-enforcement material. But as a partner for life…
I’d toyed with that fantasy often and discarded it every time.
On theotherother hand, I was thirty-five, and no man was perfect. And wasn’t he great in every other way?
Including in bed,a naughty corner of my mind speculated.
The clock on the town hall struck, and I checked my watch. Yikes. Where had the time gone? My new clients were on their way, and I had to get moving.
“Oh! I have to go.” I reached for the door. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
The three older folks traded sly winks as Clement nodded eagerly. “I guess you will.”
My heart raced — and that was before I set off at a run. Was destiny offering me an unmissable opportunity or a complication I couldn’t afford?
Chapter Two
MINA
Rain started to fall as I ran home, quickly turning into a downpour. My footsteps sent up splatters of cold water that oozed into my shoes, and when a van passed, it hurled a curtain of water at me.
“Dammit,” I muttered — only to be drenched a second time by the sports car that rushed up behind the van, then overtook it.
“Assholes,” I muttered, watching them race onward.
Red brake lights flashed a moment later, and both vehicles took a hard left.
I stared, because the only thing down that road was Château Nocturne.
