She reached Washington Park at sunrise and made her way silently past the early morning joggers and dog walkers, warning off the canines with a subvocal growl that only they could hear. When she reached the deserted park facilities building, she shifted back to skin form. Then she keyed in a code on the side panel of a nondescript gray metal box about the size of an air-conditioning unit behind the building. The boxes were everywhere in the city, affixed to utility sheds, public works garages, electrical transformers, and water processing plants—just one more mechanical unit that faded into the background for the myriad workers who passed dozens of similar ones every day. She sorted through the small cache of clothes inside and removed a navy blue T-shirt and jeans. Since she wasn’t rushed as she had been the previous evening, she took the time to pull out a pair of plain black loafers. After dressing, she punched in some codes on the electronic menu inside the door.
The information would be logged in at Mir Industries, and one of her employees would replace the items within twenty-four hours for the next Were who found themselves in need of clothing.
She started walking through the park toward the capitol complex with the intention of going to the office. After a few minutes, she veered toward New Scotland Avenue instead. Her body felt pleasantly loose and limber after her thirty-mile journey and she wasn’t looking forward to being caged in an office and tethered to a desk. And she was hungry.
She was also penniless and without her phone. Niki would be very unhappy. Her options were limited, and since she didn’t want to wait for her guards, one of whom would be following in the Rover, she decided to try her luck at catching Sophia at the hospital. She didn’t think the young medic would mind taking her to breakfast.
Most Weres could disappear in plain sight, having a predator’s natural ability to move without stirring the air, and she was far better than most. No one paid any attention to her when she followed a group of nurses through the double doors separating the waiting area from the rest of the emergency room. She scented another Were at the far end of the hall, but it wasn’t Sophia. A young male. He stepped out from a cubicle, holding an X-ray plate under his arm. He stared in her direction, his expression questioning and uncertain. When she shook her head, he ducked his and hurriedly disappeared back behind the curtain.
Sylvan registered another scent, one she recognized, and not one that should have caused her pulse to race. Human. Female. Her thinking brain told her to turn around and leave, but her instinct urged her to follow the scent. She found Drake McKennan sitting at a small table in an otherwise empty room. Sylvan stepped inside and closed the door.
“Good morning,” Sylvan said.
Drake leaned back in her chair and smiled ruefully. “I don’t know about good, but it’s been one hell of a morning so far.”
“What did the Vampire want?” Sylvan demanded, unaccountably angry that Drake had been in close contact with a very powerful Vampire with very powerful desires. “Besides you?”
“Okay,” Drake said, placing both hands flat on the table. “I’ve about had it with cryptic allusions and half-facts. And individuals who seem to know more about my business than I do. So it’s someone else’s turn to answer questions. What are you doing here?” Sylvan folded her arms and leaned back against the door, unable to suppress a smile. She didn’t derive any pleasure from instilling fear in others, but she was used to it. Apparently, Drake was immune. Or as she had previously suspected, naïvely brave. “I was looking for Sophia.”
“Oh,” Drake said, feeling foolishly disappointed and hoping her reaction wasn’t apparent. Obviously the Were Alpha would want to talk to the Were medic, especially when it was clear from Detective Gates’s questions that something serious was going on in the Were Pack. Just because she had been thinking about Sylvan most of the night didn’t mean that the Were had given her a second thought. Maybe there was more to Sylvan’s relationship with Sophia than Sophia had let on. After all, it was six o’clock in the morning—an odd time for the Alpha to show up. “She’s not here.”
“I know.” Sylvan’s jaw tightened and her face seemed to grow bolder, stronger, more intense. “Your turn. What did the Vampire want with you?”
“How do you know she was here?”
Sylvan growled. “I know.”
“How?”
“I can smell her all over this room.” Sylvan pushed off the wall and leaned over the table. “Will I smell her all over you?”
“And if you did?” Drake’s throat was suddenly dry. Sylvan was so close Drake could see the gold flecks in her slate blue eyes. She could smell her, too. Wild cinnamon and burnt pine. She probably should have been intimidated, but she wasn’t. And she knew instinctively that backing down was the wrong thing to do with this Were. “What would that tell you?”
“Then I would know friend from foe.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Exasperated, Drake stood up. She must have blinked because she didn’t see Sylvan move, but in the next instant, the Alpha was standing next to her. They were nearly the same height.
For the second time in less than an hour, Drake felt herself drawn in by a gaze, but this time, she welcomed the stirring in her blood. “Those terms have been going around a lot tonight. Friend. Foe. I don’t even know the sides.”
“Who was it? Maybe I can help you with that.”
“Detective Jody Gates. And she was very interested in Misha.”
“Was she.” Sylvan sighed and backed away a step, needing the distance to temper her aggression. She had no reason to feel territorial about this human. Another indication that she was riding too close to the edge. She would have to do something about that, and soon.
“She asked me something else too,” Drake said. “If I’d seen any humans with Were fever.”
“Have you?”
“Not that I know of.” Drake rubbed the back of her neck in frustration. “And that’s a problem. I don’t know anything. Sophia won’t give me any information, because she says that’s up to you.” She looked into Sylvan’s eyes and immediately felt the pull—the wash of heat, the tightening in her depths, the stirring of excitement. She steadied herself, refusing to look away. Refusing to give in. “So I guess I need you to give me some answers. Because I don’t care if it’s a Were or a human, I intend to take care of the next one who comes in like Misha.”
“You don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for,” Sylvan said gruffly.
“Then why don’t you explain it to me.”
Sylvan almost smiled, wondering if this human had any idea that she had just challenged her with her steady stare, her tone of voice, her posture. If she’d been a wolf, Sylvan would have had her by the throat by now. As it was, she had to fight her wolf not to snarl and snap.
Foolish brave human.
“I need breakfast.” Sylvan effortlessly vaulted the table, pulled open the door, and looked over her shoulder. “Join me.”
Chapter Eight
Sylvan stepped into the hall where Niki and Andrew flanked the door, having positioned themselves to see anyone approaching from either direction. She’d scented their arrival a few minutes earlier.
They must have run very hard to be only a few minutes behind her. For her the long distance had been a vigorous workout—for them it would have been exhausting. They would both need to eat soon.