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Just then a crack of thunder rumbled overhead, and the clouds broke, drenching us with huge, fat raindrops. Nerissa squealed and covered her head as Katrina slipped away from the door and ushered us in.
"Good grief, where are my manners? Get yourselves in here. Come on." She hustled us into the living room near the fireplace. I gasped as I saw the huge bay window that faced Puget Sound. Enough of the obscuring greenery had been cut away for us to be staring out over the huge body of water that Seattle nestled itself against, and the sight was breathtaking, picture-perfect.
"How lovely," I whispered, sinking down onto the window seat that jutted out from the house, providing a panoramic view. With glass and rocks and plenty of ravine between me and the water, I could appreciate the sight. "You have a wonderful home," I added, glancing around.
Polished, rich hardwood floors underscored cream-colored wal s, and the built-in shelves and trim matched the color and grain of the floor. The furnishings were dark and heavy, leather and wood, and matched perfectly with the brick of the fireplace. The decor was that of a hunting lodge but upscale and comforting.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked around. Yuletide, I thought. It smel ed like Midwinter. Sure enough, a jar of blue spruce-scented potpourri rested on an end table next to an oversized chair. Cinnamon sticks poked out of the mix, and cloves, and what I suspected was a dried vanil a bean.
"Thank you," Katrina said, sitting down in a wooden rocking chair that had been covered with a patchwork quilted throw. I had a feeling she'd made it herself.
Nerissa motioned to Luke. "This is Luke--he's the Were who's . . ." She paused, glancing at him, her face flaming.
"What Nerissa is trying to say without offending me is that I'm the Were who's pariah to my Pack. I was excommunicated and turned out on threat of death many years ago." He pul ed back his hair, and I gasped as a notched ear came into view. "I bear the mark of the unworthy."
If Katrina was surprised, she didn't show it. Instead, she offered him her hand. "Luke, it's nice to meet you. Welcome to my home."
It was as if some unspoken acceptance ritual had passed between the two, and by the look of relief that washed over his face, I knew I was right.
"And this is Delilah," Nerissa said. "One of Menol y's sisters." When her voice touched on Menol y's name, there was a hint of pride in it, and I repressed a grin. Nerissa had it bad for my little sister, al right.
Katrina shot me a long look. "You're right, she's definitely pretty--but she's not as flamboyant as you mentioned."
"That would be Camil e, her other sister," Nerissa said, turning bright red. She glanced over at me, flustered. "Trust me, I don't talk about you guys to everybody," she offered. "Just to my friends. Oh wait--that didn't sound right . . ."
I cleared my throat. "Don't sweat it. As long as you aren't pul ing a Jerry Springer on us, it's al good." Turning to Katrina, I said, "So, yes, I'm a two-faced werecat who's half-Fae, half-human. I'm also a Death Maiden. It's no wonder you sense other energy clinging to me."
We settled back, the only sounds the rain pounding down on the roof and slashing against the windows. After a few moments, Nerissa let out a long sigh.
"We have some tricky questions for you, but trust me, we wouldn't ask them if they weren't important."
"Whatever it is, it sounds serious," Katrina said.
"Yeah," I answered. "Lives depend on finding out the information we're seeking. We don't know if you can tel us anything, but we have to try al avenues."
"Al right, I'l help you if I can. Please, ask what you need to." She sat up straight, shoulders back, hands primly on her knees, eyes front forward on me.
"Have you ever heard of anything cal ed Wolf Briar?"
Katrina immediately reacted. She blinked, then recoiled, and a look of distaste crossed her face. "Yes . . . yes, I have. It's a hideous drug."
I let out a long breath. "Have you heard of anyone in the area making it? We found a hotel room booby-trapped with it, and it knocked my sister--
Camil e, who's a witch--on her ass. Lucky for me, I wasn't in aim of the blast. We found one trap that had already been triggered, and we think it was used to kidnap a female, pregnant werewolf. Luke's sister Amber, actual y."
"Oh, my Goddess." Katrina made a smal sound. Luke echoed it, and I wondered what it signified but didn't have time to ask before Katrina looked up again, furious. "I can't believe someone would do that to a pregnant female. Is she an Alpha Bitch?"
Luke shook his head. "No, she's not. I can't help but wonder if my brother-in-law did it. She left him, came up here from Arizona, and at first I thought that he fol owed her to take her back. But Wolf Briar . . . I don't know if even Rice would be capable of using such a fucking rotten trick."
"What Pack are they with? Is it the same one you were excommunicated from?" Katrina didn't seem shy in the least.
Luke arched his eyebrows. "Have you ever heard of the Zone Red Wolves?"
Apparently Katrina had. "Great Mother, preserve you. You escaped alive from them? And you say your sister is married to one of the males?" He nodded, and she bit her lip. "I'm sorry, then. The Zone Reds . . . they hate our Pack, and we've been attacked by a few of their males over the years. We're just lucky they live in Arizona, and we live up here."
"Why would they hate you?" There was so much about Earthside Were politics that I was stil learning. The Rainer Puma Pride--from which both Zachary and Nerissa hearkened--didn't like me al that much because of my half-Fae heritage. They claimed I wasn't true Were, and in a sense, they were right, but their righteous indignation rankled more than anything.
Luke clasped his hands between his knees. "The Olympic Wolf Pack is matrilineal in nature--one of the few werewolf Packs to be so. They're run by a council of women, not men, and that goes against a long tradition among the lycanthrope clans, especial y a heavily patriarchal clan like the Zone Reds.
