“Good guess,” I said.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever met one who was quite so…physical. Interesting.”
I glanced over my shoulder for Clay, and saw him waiting at the end of the alley. As I twisted, Zoe moved. When I swung around, I felt a sharp tug on my hair. I grabbed for her hand, only to find my broken hair band in it. My hair slid over my shoulders, and I gave a small snarl as I tried to flip it back out of the way.
“Sorry, but I just had to do that,” Zoe said. “Silver blond. Gorgeous. It’s natural, isn’t it? Somehow, I doubt that a woman who ties her hair with an elastic band has any use for hair coloring.”
Unbelievable. Pinned to the ground by an unknown assailant…and she wants to share beauty tips. I guess for a vampire, the phrase “mortal danger” just doesn’t pack the same punch.
“I need to talk to you about something you stole a long time ago.”
“Business already?”
“It’s that or toss you around a bit more.”
She paused, as if considering this.
“Business,” I said.
A soft sigh. “Oh, all right. Something I stole a long time ago, hmmm? I’ve stolen a lot of things, and most of them a long time ago.”
“I think this object would fall under the heading of unique and memorable. Jack the Ripper’s From Hell letter.”
Her expression didn’t change.
“Stolen from the London Metropolitan Police eighty years ago?” I said. “Sold to a local sorcerer’s family?”
“You’re local too, aren’t you? I can tell by the accent.” She laughed. “Or the lack of accent. So why haven’t I ever met you before? You certainly haven’t been in Miller’s. I’d remember.”
“How about the letter? Do you remember that?”
“Vaguely.” She wriggled under me and put a hand under her head, getting comfortable. “I’d rather talk about you.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Clay nodded, and slipped around the corner, guarding the escape route without Zoe knowing he was there yet. He stayed far enough back that she wouldn’t sense him.
I moved off her. She stayed on the ground a moment, then sighed, and almost reluctantly sat up.
“Now, what did you say your name was?” she said.
“I didn’t.”
“I know, I was just giving you the opportunity to correct the oversight.” She smiled, teeth glistening in the dim light. “But if you don’t want to, I suppose that will give us something to talk about next time.”
She sprang to her feet and raced down the alley-the other way, toward an eight-foot fence, moving so fast that she was over that fence before I was on my feet.
Clay raced past me. He reached the fence and jumped, catching the edge, then swung himself up. As he went over, he looked back and saw that I was just nearing the base. He perched on top, waiting.
“No, go on!” I said. “Chasing and jumping, I can’t do. Not like this.”
“Then we’ll track her.”
I shook my head even as I grabbed his hands. “Her scent’s too faint.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He locked his fingers around my wrists and hauled me up. “I’m not leaving you alone, remember?”
He helped me over the fence. We ran to the end of the alley.
“There,” Clay said.
We spotted Zoe across the road as she darted into a side street. Clay took my arm and we hurried across. After a few more streets and alleys, we reached a stretch of open land leading to the foot of a wooded hill.
Clay chuckled. “This look familiar, darling?”
I grinned. “High Park.”
I used to run here when I’d been going to the University of Toronto. A long hike from the campus, but I’d been willing to make the trek-or pay the subway fare-for the chance to jog away from the city streets. When Clay and I had been dating, this had been “our place” more than any other.
I watched Zoe’s white T-shirt disappear into the woods. There was one sure way I could catch her, in a form where my stomach didn’t affect my balance.
I lifted my muzzle and took a deep breath, my legs trembling with excitement. High Park. Even in my later days in Toronto, I’d never run here as a wolf. Too many memories, all of them inextricably woven with the one thing I’d been trying to forget. But now we were here, just like in those early days, before the bite, before everything fell apart. Clay here, with me, and all the pieces mended, the new better than the old.
I let out a shuddering sigh and closed my eyes. I could feel the weight in my belly, heavy and warm, alive. Alive. In this form, there was no question about that-no fears. Everything was simple-my mate, my pup, both safe, all as it should be, the night and the forest laid out before us, ours to enjoy, explore, possess-
A questioning whine by my ear. Clay looked at me, his head tilted, “Still here?” in his eyes.
Oh, right. Before I could enjoy the forest, there was the small matter of a fleeing vampire to contend with.
It had been nine days since my last run, and I paid the price when I tried picking up Zoe’s trail. Every other scent, every sound, every sight, even the feel of muddy ground squelching under my pads, was infinitely more enticing than a vampire’s scent. The faint smell of wood-smoke said: go check it out. The patter of rabbit feet: dinner, come and get me. A glimmer of light in the trees: go see what that is. Come here, they whispered, forget the vampire…
Then I found her trail, and the other voices went silent, drowned under the single overwhelming cry of “prey.” An intelligent, humanoid target, not the silly little bunnies I could have anytime. And not only was I allowed to chase her-I had to.
I ran full speed down the path with Clay at my heels. There was no need to take cover. There wouldn’t be any other predators here, and if we came upon a person, they’d only catch a flash of fur before we dove into the undergrowth.
Faint though Zoe’s scent was, my wolf brain focused on it with a single-mindedness I could never have managed in human form. She was headed for the ravine. Behind me, Clay gave a low growl. I looked up. We’d hit the top of the cliff and there, below, was Zoe’s white shirt bobbing along the path. She’d slowed to a brisk walk, certain she’d left the waddling pregnant chick back in the alley.
I stopped at the top of the path, claws digging into the dirt, feeling the ground below me, soft but dry. Good. Sliding down the incline muzzle-first wasn’t quite the entrance I had in mind.
I glanced at Clay. His mouth hung open, tongue lolling, blue eyes dancing with “go for it.” Hindquarters twitching, I tested my grip for takeoff. A flick of my tail and I barreled down the cliff, picking up speed with every stride.
I was less than ten feet behind Zoe when she finally heard me. She turned. And I got my reward, in that split-second look of “Oh, my God” surprise and, yes, terror. Catch them off guard, and apparently you can even spook a vampire. Nice.
Zoe did what anyone seeing a 140-pound wolf barreling straight at them would do-tried to run. But before she could move, I sprang and caught her in the shoulder. She went down, managing to roll as she fell.
I could have snagged her arm. Could have…but chose not to because it had all been too easy. Normally, I don’t chase humans. Somewhere along the way, my adrenaline-stoked brain could slide from play mode into hunt, and I couldn’t take that chance. But Zoe Takano couldn’t be killed, not accidentally and certainly not easily.
My bite couldn’t even turn her into a werewolf-Clay and I had discovered that while helping Aaron catch a rogue. So I could toy with her, safely. Even Jeremy would see the value in it, giving her a taste of my strength as a bargaining tool for negotiations.
I let Zoe dive out of the way. Then snarling and snapping, I grabbed for her arm, only grazing her bare skin with my fangs, but making a good show of it. A little reminder that she wasn’t completely immune to injury-a good snap of powerful jaws around her wrist or forearm and that was it. Vampires could heal, but if they lost something, it didn’t grow back.