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“Myst and her people . . . how many do you think there are? How many small towns are feeling their encroachment, uncertain of what to do? How many people have they killed in their feeding?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to know. In some ways, I wish we were the only place they were attacking—then we could run away. But we can’t ever really run away, can we?”
“If I did, the vampires would come after me. Or Myst.” I glanced up as Anadey brought our drinks. “We have to destroy her, you know—”
A crash from the counter interrupted me. We all turned just in time to see one of the Lupa Clan members throw his plate toward the kitchen. He had a bottle of beer in hand and it looked like there were two empties on the counter.
“Fucking slut! Can’t you cook something worth eating?” His words were slurred, but that didn’t stop him from jumping up and heading around the counter toward the door to where Peyton was cooking. She’d stopped and was holding a cleaver in hand.
Anadey rushed after him. “Tim Wylde—you stop right there before I summon Ranger.”
He ignored her. Lucky, one of the older assistants who had seen more than his share of days but still looked rugged enough to rumble, blocked the door into the kitchen.
“You just get your ass back over to the other side of the counter, Lupa.” Lucky was one of the yummanii and he didn’t care whether a person was Were, magic-born, or vampire as long as he didn’t have to scrap with them. But let them cross the line and the older man was leathery tough.
“Get out of my way, human. You’re no match for me.” Tim smashed his bottle on the counter, holding up the broken edge.
Lucky eyed him with a speculative look. “I would advise against it, boy.”
“Don’t you boy me, human. You’re weak and sniveling, almost as bad as the magic-born.” Tim lunged for him with the bottle.
Dodging the attack, Lucky pulled out a short rod from beneath the counter. It sparkled. Silver. Lycanthropes hated silver as much as vampires. He swung it, connecting with Tim’s drunken face, and the Were screamed and went down on the floor, shifting even as he did so. The resulting wolf was huge, and as he came up, a murderous look filled his eyes.
I jumped forward and closed my eyes. Ulean, bring the wind—please.
Ulean slammed open the door with a strong gust of wind, and the snow drifted in as the currents of air sliced between the man and the wolf, knocking both off their feet. As man and wolf struggled for footing, I glanced over at Tim’s buddies, both of whom were starting to turn. If we didn’t stop this now, Anadey’s Diner would be the home of a bloodbath.
Just then, a burly man strode through the open door. He was Were—you could smell it coming off him, strong with glittering eyes, topaz ringed with black. The men at the counter immediately turned to him, and Tim rolled over on his back, showing his belly.
“Tim, Alder, Snell . . . get the hell back to the compound. Now.” For a moment, the man looked like he was about ready to take out everyone, and then he pulled up short and took out his wallet. His eyes never leaving Anadey’s, he fished out five twenties and tossed them on the counter. “For any damage my boys did, ma’am. I told them not to come here, but they insist you make the best burgers in town. I’ll suggest takeout from now on.” The words seemed to stick in his throat and his hands were shaking, but he finally turned away and swept out the door behind the three Lupas.
Anadey stared at the money on the counter, then finally flipped through the bills and slid them into the cash register. Lucky was already on his feet, looking ready to kill. He glanced around the diner to see if there were any other potential troublemakers, then put away the silver rod.
I stared at the departing figures making their way through the storm. “Who the hell was that?”
“Ben Sagata. The alpha of the Lupa Clan.” Rhiannon shook her head. “He rules them with an iron paw, I gather. Rumors are he’s vicious and cruel, but he tries to keep his people on the right side of the law. Most of the time.”
“Whatever the case, I would not want to meet him in a dark alley.” But then again, I’d already had a run-in with two of the Lupas my first night home, and one of them had been taken out by the Shadow Hunters. “I wonder how he knew . . .”
“You mean that there was trouble? Probably the clan connection. Most Were clans have a connecting thread that runs through them.”
I glanced over at Peyton, who had joined us. She tossed her apron to Lucky, who took her place behind the grill. “Do you?”
“Do I what?” With a long sigh, she wiped her forehead, leaving a small streak of grease. I picked up a napkin and gently reached up to brush it off.
“Do you have a connection with the werepumas of your father’s tribe?”
She shrugged. “Da ran off years ago. Left us alone. He never took Mother home to meet his family—I don’t know if they even knew he married her. The werepumas are strong with magic, but unlike the werewolves they don’t tend to approve of interracial marriage, and since my mother is one of the magic-born, there’s a chance they don’t even know I exist. I’ve never gone to them to find out. I think I’m afraid they’ll reject me.”
“Do you want to meet them, ever?” I was curious. I wanted to meet my father, perhaps because my relationship with my mother had been so rocky and my father had given me the gift of flight. Especially now, since I had learned that Myst had been my mother in my life before. I wanted some feeling of roots, and the only ones to provide that had been Heather and Rhiannon. And now, Myst had Heather. Whom would she strip away from me next?
“I don’t know . . . as I said, I’m afraid they may reject me. But someday . . . if I marry and have children and any of them turn up with strong Were blood, I suppose I should, for their sake.” She looked uncomfortable, so I backed off.
“We should head home.” I motioned to Rhiannon.
“But you didn’t get your lunches,” Peyton said.
“Can you wrap them up for us?” The thought of a cozy lunch out had been pretty much disrupted by the Lupa wolves, and the world felt harsh and too bright with the snow. I wanted to go home, light a fire in the fireplace, and try to find some time for peace and solitude. I needed to meditate, to clear my mind and search for some semblance of inner peace.
