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Nicky and Ru were already standing facing outward so they could see anyone coming down either hallway, so there was no way to peekover my shoulder. I wouldn’t have minded for Nicky, but he’d already picked up on my guilt about not thinking about calling Micah.
He answered the phone smiling, and something heavy and tight in my chest eased at seeing his face. He’d already started getting a tan from running outside, which he preferred to the air-conditioned track in the gym at the Circus. The darker his skin got, the more exotic his green-gold leopard eyes looked in the delicate beauty of his face. He was my height, short for a woman, shorter for a man, but I loved it. I’d met him the night theardeurhad first risen in me, and its magic had thrown us together, created love at first sight that had given us both our heart’s desire in that moment.
“Hey, handsome, I wish I was there in person.”
“You call everyone handsome, but I wish you were here, too.”
I frowned. “Do I really call everyone handsome?”
He shook his head. “No, but it is your default.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“You’re upset with me.”
“I was worried and upset that you didn’t call me, but I’m not upset now. I’m just relieved to see you and hear your voice.” He smiled and I knew he meant it.
“I feel better just seeing and hearing you, too.”
He reached back and took the ponytail holder out of his hair, then shook all those dark brown curls around his face. “Come home and we can do more than just look at each other.”
“Why, Mr. Callahan, are you trying to seduce me?”
He grinned, playing his fingers around the tight curls. His mother had sent him some new hair-care products that had turned his loose curls into a lot more tighter, smaller ones. It had turned his hair into a brand-new texture; even the scent of it had changed. I wasn’t sure why, but it affected me like brand-new lingerie. Neither Jean-Claude’s curls nor mine ever looked like that or could, because neither of us had any African genetics. He, like me, was a mix of genetics, thoughI hadn’t realized just how mixed until I’d met his mother just a few years ago. She’d now started giving us hair-care advice over the phone. Jean-Claude was loving it, even though most of it didn’t work for his hair. He was always willing to learn new ways to pamper himself, or the rest of us.
“If I’d known it was such a turn-on for you, I’d have changed my hair more often.”
Nicky said, “Anita, you’re getting distracted.”
“Wow, you’re right.”
“What’s wrong?” Micah asked; the smile and flirting was gone, and he was back to his usual serious self.
“Why did you send Ru and Rodina to me?”
“So you’d have wereleopards with you.”
I had to smile. “Don’t be so literal. Why was it important for me to have wereleopards with me tonight?”
“I got distracted and flirted with you when this is serious. Jean-Claude says that there’s something wrong with the vampire marks.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“We thought with the marks not working like they should, that you having some of every beast you carry would be a good idea.”
“Smart,” I said.
“Also, Nathaniel said that your connection to him and to Damian seems fine, like normal, so there’s a chance that your connection to your leopard is stronger than the rest of your beasts right now.”
“Why would that be?” I asked.
“Leopard was your first beast to call.”
“Wolf was first.”
He shook his head. “No, that was you sharing energy with Jean-Claude and his beast. Leopard was just yours and still is; even when he was choosing a second one, it was gold tiger, lion, hyena, or rat from what you all told me. I’m sorry I missed all the excitement, by the way.”
