DEREK KNOCKED ON THE DOOR. I KNEW IT WAS him, because he always knocked twice.
I closed the book I was reading out loud. “Yes?”
Derek stepped in. The boy wonder looked me over with a worried look on his face. “How are you feeling?”
“Same.”
It had been three days since Curran collapsed. He showed no signs of waking up. I had him moved to the couch, because the bed was too high, and I’d made a bed for myself on the floor next to him. I hadn’t left his side longer than the few minutes I needed to go to the bathroom. The boy wonder had the devil of a time getting me to eat.
“Julie called me,” he said. “She says the school won’t let her contact you.”
“It was a precaution against Erra. I didn’t want her to find out Julie was alive. Is she angry with me?”
“She’s hurt,” he said. “I’ll talk to her.”
I could tell there was more. “Give, Derek. What else?”
“The Pack Council is going to convene in four hours. They are going to debate what to do if Curran doesn’t come around.”
“And?”
“There is some talk of expelling you from Curran’s quarters, since you’re not officially an alpha.”
My laughter rang through the room, sounding cold and brittle.
Derek took a step back. His face softened, his voice gaining an almost pleading quality. “Kate? Bring the creepy down a notch. Please.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. The magic had hit for a few hours yesterday and Doolittle spent most of the wave putting me back together, since he could do nothing for Curran. I wouldn’t be able to fight Erra again right this second, but I had enough left in me for one good show.
“Any calls from Andrea?”
“No.”
The shapeshifters had reported that Andrea had survived the fire at the Mole Hole, but she’d made no attempts to contact me. My best friend had abandoned me and I missed her. But then I probably wasn’t good company right this second. Maybe it was for the best.
“Still no word on Naeemah?” I asked.
He shook his head. “But there are two people from Clan Bouda here. They say you have some sort of arrangement with Aunt B.”
I pushed myself off the chair and handed him the book. “Page 238. Read to him while I talk to them. Please.”
Derek licked his lips. “I’m not sure he can hear us.”
“When I was out after the rakshasas nearly killed me, I heard voices. I heard Curran, Julie, you, Andrea. I didn’t know what was being said, but I recognized the voices. That’s how I knew I was safe. I want you to read to him, so he knows he’s not dead and he isn’t alone.”
Derek sat in my chair and opened the book.
I went through the door into the meeting room.
A man and a woman rose at my approach. The man was of average height and built like a young lightweight boxer: ridiculously toned but without any bulk. Those guys were wicked fast. You’d think you could take one out, and then you’d be waking up on the nice cold floor. His face was sharp-featured and his hair blazed bright red. It was a wonder he didn’t set the room on fire.
The woman was black, six inches taller, twenty pounds heavier—all of it muscle—and she was trying very hard not to scowl. She failed miserably.
They bowed their heads. Both looked to be in their mid-twenties.
“Aunt B sends her regards,” the man said. “I’m Barabas. This is Jezebel.”
I arched my eyebrow at him. “Ambitious names.”
“Bouda mothers have high hopes for their children,” Barabas explained. “Our alpha tells us we’re yours. If you find us suitable, we’ll serve you from this point on. If not, she will send replacements.”
I sat into the chair. “What made you a candidate for shit duty, Barabas?”
He blinked.
“I don’t see Aunt B passing an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. So what did you do to make her want to eject you from everyday bouda dealings?”
“My mother is a bouda,” he said. “My father is from Clan Nimble. I drew Nimble from the genetic lottery.”
When two shapeshifters from different clans mated, which happened more frequently with boudas, since there were only thirty or so of them, the children had an equal chance for either parent’s brand of Lyc-V. “What do you turn into?”
“Mongoose. There are dominance issues in the clan,” he said.
“He won’t play by the rules,” Jezebel said.
Barabas sighed. “I’m gay. They view me as competition and treat me as they would treat a bouda female, which means a strict pecking order. I don’t fit in well and I have no wish to slaughter a load of my cousins so I can be a proper bouda female.”
I looked at Jezebel. “And you?”
Jezebel thrust her chin at me. “I challenged my sister for her place in the clan.”
“How did it go?”
“I lost.”
I sat up straighter. Duels for dominance between the shapeshifters were to the death. Always. “Why are you still breathing?”
“She stabbed me in the heart with her claws. I went into cardiac arrest and was clinically dead for eight minutes. When I came to, my sister couldn’t bring herself to kill me the second time. It reflects badly on her and on me. I’m a walking dead, and as long as I’m around, I’m the proof that she was weak.”
Great. You really had to admire Aunt B. If either of them left the clan on their own, it could have been taken as a sign of cowardice on their part. As it was, their honor was intact.
“Are you any good at Pack politics?”
“He’s very good,” Jezebel said. “I’m better with force, but I know the rules. I know what people can and can’t do. I’m not stupid and I can be useful to you.”
I sighed. “You’re both hired. I have a Council meeting in four hours. They’re going to try to remove me. Find out what I should expect.”
I got up and went back to Curran. I was two thirds of the way through The Princess Bride and he would want to know what happened next.
When I walked in, Derek rose from the chair. “About Julie . . .”
“Yes?”
He straightened, his new face looking too tight on his bones. “I lied. She didn’t call me.”
I fought an urge to slump over. Now he was lying to me. “Is she okay?”
“I’m okay,” a thin voice said from the middle of the room.
I turned. Julie sat on the floor with her feet under her. She wore a black sweater and her face seemed very pale against the dark wool, almost transparent. Huge dark eyes looked at me.
She got up. “I ran away.”
I crossed the floor and hugged her. Derek backed out of the room.
“I went home,” Julie said softly. “I was worried. There is no home left. All of our stuff is gone. What happened?”
“It’s a long story.” At least I kept her safe.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, kiddo.” I squeezed her to me and kissed her blond hair. “You’re alive. Everything else we can fix.”