AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nodded. "Yeah, something like that. And then some quasi-crazy peroxide mix. You don't happen to have a cure, do you?"
"Maybe," he said. "At least for the scent. I'l have to go back to my apartment to get it. Learned to make it years ago when I was stil running with the Pack. We found out firsthand that tomato juice did a number on light-colored fur. But first, I need your services, if you're wil ing."
"My services?" I started to bristle, suddenly al too aware of my semi-naked state.
"You're a PI, aren't you?" He was doing his best to keep his eyes on my face, though I saw them drop a couple times, then swiftly scan back up to look me in the eye. Kind of cute, actual y. He was blushing. And, mingling with the skunk, the tomato juice, and the chemical scent of the peroxide, I could smel his musk, though not so thick as to indicate arousal. But he liked women, that was for sure.
"Oh. Um . . . yeah." I edged into the living room and nodded for him to fol ow me. "Have a seat. What do you need?"
Luke edged onto the sofa while I curled up in the rocking chair, making sure nothing was showing that shouldn't. Before I could sit down, Iris slipped in and spread a grungy sheet beneath me. Great. I was beginning to feel like Typhoid Mary.
"My sister's missing."
"I didn't know you had a sister," I said.
He nodded. "Amber was moving up here. She said that she'd had a vision, that she needed to live in Seattle for some reason. A few weeks back, she left the Pack, which is a big no-no unless you're excommunicated like I was."
"Did she say why?" I was beginning to wonder about lycanthropes--the Were system wasn't the same in al species, and I'd heard rumors that among the wolves, rules were very patriarchal. Not conducive to free-thinking females.
"Yeah . . . I'l tel you why in a moment. Anyway, she cal ed when she hit town this afternoon. She was going to check in, then rest a bit and meet me at the bar around eight. But she never showed. I cal ed the cops, but they won't put out missing person reports on Supes for forty-eight hours, which is bul shit. My sister came al the way from Arizona, and I'm worried. I checked with the hotel. They said she checked in at two P.M., but they haven't heard from her since."
"Any chance she got caught up visiting someone else?" Interested now, I pul ed a notebook off the end table next to me and began to jot down notes.
Luke shook his head. "Nope. She doesn't know anybody else here, but she was adamant about being summoned to this area. That's the word she used--summoned. I'm especial y worried because she's pregnant. A werewolf who is seven months pregnant just doesn't disappear. She should be nesting, creating the lair for the pups . . . or children, so to speak." His voice belied his calm exterior, and I could hear the panic wel ing just below the surface.
"What's her last name, and do you have a picture of her?"
He handed over a faded picture from his wal et. As I took it from his hands, I noticed the cal uses that had long embedded themselves into his fingers and palms. This man had seen hard work, harder than he was doing at the bar, and his skin was covered with faded scars.
I took the picture and gazed at the young woman staring back at me. She looked about twenty-five--misleading, of course, given the long-lived nature of the Supe Community. She had Luke's eyes. Feral and yet . . . a yearning hidden behind the wariness. Long, wheat-colored hair drifted down her shoulders, honey-kissed and vibrant. She was beautiful, luminous, and dangerous.
"Her name is Amber. Amber Johansen. We haven't seen each other in years."
He left something unspoken. Something that told me Luke had a suspicion about what had happened.
"What do you think is going on?" I caught his attention, turning on my glamour, wil ing him to open up.
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, locking his gaze on mine without flinching. "I think that rat's ass she cal s a husband came after her. She told me over the phone that she was being fol owed down there, and my guess is he's trying to convince her to come back to the Pack. His ego--the ego of the Pack--neither takes it wel when their women leave. Rice is an abusive motherfucker, and I'm afraid he'l track her down and kil her."
And then, slowly, he crumbled. "Amber's the only family I've got."
"We'l find her," I said, sliding my hand over his. "We'l do everything we can to find her." But inside, I was praying we weren't too late.
CHAPTER 2
At that moment, the front door opened, and Menol y wandered in, her arm around Nerissa, who was obviously three sheets to the wind. They were both laughing, and my sister's fangs were down, but one look at Nerissa reassured me that Menol y hadn't slipped. Menol y gently deposited her in one of the armchairs and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then turned around.
"What the hel are you doing here? Is everything okay at the bar?" She stared at Luke in that uncanny, unblinking way she had. I could hardly wait until she actual y took a long look at me. I could just imagine what was going to come out of her mouth, and none of it would be complimentary.
Luke shrugged. "Chrysandra's covering for me. I needed to talk to your sister . . . and you, if you want to listen."
He mouthed off at her now and then, and she smacked him down from time to time, but they got along a lot better than most werewolves and vampires.
Luke was a damned good bartender, and my sister was a damned good boss.
"What's up?" Menol y folded her feet under her, sitting in the corner of the sofa. She stopped, sniffed the air, and looked at me. "Is that you? What the hel are you doing . . ." She stared, then let out a strangled laugh. "Oh my fucking gods, what happened to your hair?"
I grimaced. "About that . . . yeah. Me. Skunk. Tomato juice. Peroxide and baking soda. I've turned into a flaming orange calico, sans the black splotches, as you can see. Iris is researching whether hair dye wil make it worse."
