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"Good," Camille said smoothly. "We can use her." She gave me a look that told me she'd picked up on what I was thinking. "I guess that's it," she said dismally, counting on her fingers.
"What next?" I stretched, feeling antsy. When I was nervous, I needed to move my body. "We can't leave until Menolly wakes up and the rest of the men are here. And what about the shop?"
"Iris, do you mind taking it today?" Camille pushed away from the table.
"Not a problem. Let me go change and get Maggie ready to go." Iris bustled out of the room.
"What are you planning to do until dusk?" I asked.
She let out a long sigh. "I might as well drive out to Smoky's and ask him to help us."
"Just don't get distracted," I said, grinning at her. She paled, and I realized that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't so cavalier about her upcoming duties as dragon-lover after all. "Zach, do you mind waiting in the living room? I'd like to talk to Camille alone for a moment."
"Do you mind if I catch a few winks on your sofa?" he asked. "I'm exhausted."
I shook my head. "Go right ahead," I said as he carried his tea out of the room. "There's an afghan hanging over the back of the recliner that you can use."
When he'd trudged out of the room, I turned back to Camille. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? With Smoky, I mean?"
She snorted. "You think I could get out of it, even if I wanted to? He's gorgeous, and there are sparks when we meet, but…"
"But he's a dragon," I said softly.
"That's about the size of it," she said. "I just hope that's not the size of something else. I mean, all I can mink about is: How big is he going to be, and will it hurt?" She stared out the window into the backyard. "You think we should put up bird feeders? I think the birds are hungry."
I joined her, and we watched the rapidly growing blanket of white that was shrouding the yard. "Uh, bird feeders might encourage me in the wrong direction, Camille. Think about it."
With a sudden smile that lit up the room, she let out a low laugh. "Ah, Kitten, that's what I love about you; you're always able to make me smile. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm sure Smoky will be careful. Meanwhile, how are you doing?"
"I don't know. I still don't know how I feel about Zach, other than he pushes my buttons. But I'm not sure…"
"What about Chase?"
"We talked. We fought. We agreed that we weren't going to be exclusive for now. But I don't know what he'll do if I end up sleeping with Zach." I played with the fronds of the spider plant sitting on the windowsill. "Never mind all that. We have to focus on this mess with the demons and Kyoka before things get any worse. How long is Trillian supposed to be gone? I'd really like to have him with us when we head out to Snoqualmie."
Camille was about to answer when a sudden flicker caught my eye. I glanced up and saw a brown spider above us on the top of the window, almost hidden behind one of the sweet-grass braids Camille had hung to the side of the sink. I nudged her elbow and gestured toward the arachnid.
Was it a hobo spider? A spy? Or was it just a brown house spider? Just then, Iris came back in the room.
"Maggie's in my room. You should see her playing with—" she started, but stopped when I held my finger to my lips. I pointed at the spider.
She pulled up her stool and climbed up so that her head was actually a few inches higher than mine. As she leaned forward, the spider suddenly scuttled toward the left-hand cupboard, and startled, Iris lost her balance and went tumbling backward off the stool. I leapt to catch her, but too late. With a loud thud, she hit the floor.
"Iris, Iris, are you okay?" Camille knelt by her side while I kept track of the spider.
Iris pushed her way to a sitting position and held out her hand, yelling, "Piilevä otus, tulee esiin!" There was a blinding flash and then a blur, as the force of her spell knocked the spider off the wall and onto the floor. Within seconds, the air around it was shimmering.
I recognized that shimmer! The spider was shifting form.
"Great Mother, the thing's a Were!" I'd thought it might be just another one of their sentinels, like the ones in Camille's car trunk. I hadn't expected it to be one of the actual Hunters Moon Clan members. Whirling, I grabbed the nearest weapon I could find, which happened to be one of the kitchen cleavers.
Camille thrust her arms in the air, and I could sense the flow of energy as she called down the Moon Mother's power. I leapt forward just as the spider disappeared, leaving a man in its wake. He scrambled to his feet, too quickly for my taste. He must have heightened reactions for him to move that quick after shifting—especially a forced shift.
He was tall and thin, even a little bony. Dressed in jeans, a black tunic, and a pair of leather tie-up moccasin boots that were popular among the recreationists' groups, he crouched in a fighting stance as I moved in, wishing I had my regular long knife with me. The cleaver was awkward and definitely not balanced for combat.
"Give it up," I said. "You're only going to get hurt. Surrender now, and we'll let you live." It was a lie, of course. I knew perfectly well that we didn't dare let him go. Camille had finally gotten it through my head that we were in an all-out war, and he was on the enemy's side.
"Right," he said, his voice low and gravelly. "I don't think so, blondie." With a movement so quick I could barely follow it, he yanked something out of his boot. Iris was on her feet by now, and she closed in behind me. I heard her muttering some sort of charm but kept my eyes on our opponent.
