“You said he’d do the same for me. And you were right. In fact, recently, Joe and Gwyneth were making whoopee over his head, and something made him think the noise was me trying to get someone’s attention. He actually got off his butt and came upstairs to see if there was anything he could do.”
“Even though he can’t communicate with you?”
“What’s he saying?” Roz asked.
“He said he realized Konrad would do the same for him. Come to think of it, Konrad’s the one guy in the buildingeveryonecounts on for help if they need it.”
Roz smiled. “That’s my guy…or werewolf or…whatever.” Her expression turned serious again. “Are you sure I’m not going to be in danger if he shifts when he’s with me?”
“What did he tell you?”
“He said he’d never attack me, that a werewolf will protect the pack, especially his mate and pups, over all others.” She shook her head. “I still can’t get used to the idea of calling childrenpups!”
Morgaine raised her eyebrows. “Are you saying you might give birth to a litter of wolves?”
Roz let out a howl of laughter. “No. He was human until about age ten, when he was bitten, and unless the children are turned, they’ll stay human.”
“Whew! That must be a relief.”
“Yeah, somehow we’ll make this work…if I can keep him out of jail.”
“Then we need to talk to Reginald and get him to admit to planting false evidence. I’m still not sure how we’re going to get Chad to the museum.”
“Okay, let’s figure out a way.”
“Chad said we might be able to shield him from the wind. What if we make sort of a ‘bat wing’ thing,” Morgaine suggested. “If we wrap our arms around each other’s waists and hold our coats open on either side, we should be able to create a fairly wide shield. If I can close my eyes and let you lead, it might help me, too.”
“It figures you’d think of bat wings,” Chad said. “Let’s try it.”
The two women put their arms around each other’s waists and shimmied sideways across the bridge.
Roz glanced over at Morgaine. Her eyes were squeezed shut.
“I feel pretty foolish doing this, don’t you?”
Roz laughed. “Not really. There’s an art school on the other side of this bridge. You wouldn’t believe some of the strange things I’ve seen happen here.”
“Like what?”
Roz grinned. “Streaking, bed races, rainbow parades that had nothing to do with gay rights…”
The two women chuckled and continued to shuffle across the bridge side by side. “Are you still with us, Chad?” Morgaine asked.
“I’m here. Oh, shit. Here comes a truck, stay as close together as you possibly—”
Morgaine stopped.
Roz took a step without her. “What’s wrong?”
Morgaine paused. “Chad?” When he didn’t answer, she called out louder. “Chad?”
Roz stared at her wide-eyed. “Oh, no. Is he—?”
Morgaine let out one final cry, “Chad? Where are you, God damn it? If you’re playing some kind of game—”
Silence.
“Shit. We lost him.” Morgaine wailed and tossed her free hand in the air. “Now what?”
