Two figures appeared from a tunnel opposite and headed toward the ship. The assassin and the priestess—an incongruous coupling. Jonathon Decker was huge, broad as well as tall. Next to him, Alexia appeared tiny in her bright pink jumpsuit.
He studied her as they came to a halt at the bottom of the ramp. There was something different; he just couldn’t pinpoint what. Last time he’d seen her she’d been dying. Now, she looked vibrantly alive, her huge gray eyes sparkling, her skin glowing. A low growl sounded to the side of her; the assassin wasn’t happy that he was looking at the girl. Or maybe he just wasn’t happy that Callum was on board.
“Everything okay?” Tannis asked.
“Yeah. We’ll tell you over dinner. We’re starving.”
They hurried past into the ship, and Callum turned to watch them go. There was something not quite right about the two of them, something not quite human, but he couldn’t work out what.
“Werewolves,” Tannis said.
“What?”
“I don’t need any of your fancy mind-reading tricks to guess what you were thinking. You were wondering what was odd about them. With Jon on his own, you could overlook it, but the two of them together…”
“Werewolves? Do werewolves even exist?”
“Oh yeah, and other things, apparently. Rico’s promised to tell us about them one day.”
“The priestess—was she always—”
“A werewolf? No. But your people nearly killed her, and it was the only way to help her live.”
“I never even knew they were real,” he murmured.
“Me neither, until we broke Jon out. Rico recognized what he was straight away.”
“He would. I presume they came with us from Earth. But how?”
“Ask Rico. Come on, let’s go get some food as well.”
He realized she was leaving. He wanted to reach out and take her arm, but something in her demeanor stopped him. She was giving off don’t-touch vibes in waves. But still he didn’t want her to go.
“Wait.”
She turned back, her face expressionless. “What?”
“I think we need to talk about what happened yesterday.”
“Nothing happened. Or at least nothing important.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. “Look, let’s just get the job out of the way. I meant it when I said I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
“How about if I fire you?”
She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Then we dump you here and we’re off.”
He took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s go get that food.”
The others were all in the galley when they got there. Even the elusive Trog, the ship’s engineer, was sitting beside Janey, silently eating. He raised his shaggy, blond head briefly when they entered, then returned his attention to his food.
Jon and Alex were already seated with food in front of them.
“So?” Tannis asked.
“Nothing,” Jon said. “The place is clear.” He went back to wolfing down the food. He glanced up after a few seconds. “What? We’re hungry. Takes a lot of energy—shifting.”
“So does boinking,” Tannis said sourly.
They ignored the comment and cleared their dishes. Tannis stood leaning against the counter, foot tapping. Only when his bowl was scraped clean, did Jon look up again. “I told you, nothing to worry about. The place is cleared out. Found a few dead people but nothing alive.”
“Good,” Tannis said.
She sank into a chair. For the first time since Callum had met her, she appeared tired. He went to the food dispenser, got a bowl of stew, and placed it on the table in front of her.
She looked up, surprise flashing across her features, and then she picked up a spoon and started to eat. After collecting his own food, Callum took the chair opposite, where he could watch her. He realized he liked to watch her. He liked the clean lines of her face—not really beautiful—but exotic. The yellow eyes with their thick fringe of dark, spiky lashes, the lustrous, black hair, usually standing on end, from where she’d run her fingers through it. This close, he could see the faint luminosity of her skin, with its fine sheen of scales. He knew her skin was soft. He’d run his fingers over it yesterday. And felt that long, lean sinuous body pressed against his. He shifted in his chair as his body reacted to the memory, and she glanced up to find him watching her. For a minute, she returned his gaze then she broke the contact and continued eating.
The conversation had started around him, and he allowed himself to relax. A casual camaraderie existed between these people that he hadn’t experienced in many years. Again, he realized how empty his life was, how cold and sterile his existence had been for centuries. While he ate, he allowed the atmosphere to loosen the tenseness in his muscles. Tension that had become part of him. Finally, he put down his spoon and looked around.
Rico caught his eye, one eyebrow raised in query. And Callum remembered what Tannis had said at the docking bay.
“Where do werewolves come from?” he asked. “For that matter, where do vampires come from?”