Page 130
She guffawed and handed me a sandwich. “You’re okay. Here, brought you some grub.”
I sniffed the sandwich. “So what’s in it? Jism? Ground tiger testicles?”
“Salami. Eat it. It’s good and you look like you need it.”
I didn’t think I’d hold it down, but as soon as the first bite hit my mouth, I knew I would want seconds.
“How is she?” I asked between bites.
“She’s doing good.” The werehyena raised her eyebrows and nodded. “She’s one tough bouda.”
“Buddha?”
“Bouda. Werehyena. Although if you want to get technical, your girl is…” She cut herself off. “If you want to get technical, it’s not my place to tell you. Call us boudas. That’s the proper way to do it.” The bouda sniffed. “Company. I love visitors for dinner.”
A familiar man strode from the trees, moving with a purpose. Six two, with skin the color of coffee grounds, he looked like he wanted to punch somebody. A long black leather coat hid most of him, but what little showed of his chest under a black T-shirt suggested he was all muscle. His swagger suggested he was all mean. In daylight on a busy street, crowds did an excellent impression of the Red Sea before Moses at his approach.
He stopped a few yards from the porch.
“Wow, knock me over with a feather. The chief of intelligence himself at our doorstep.” The bouda grinned and her smile wasn’t friendly.
“Hi, Jim,” I said.
He didn’t look at me. “The man wants to know what’s going on. And he wants her at the Keep. Now.”
“Talking about yourself in the third person now, are we?” The bouda smiled.
Jim leaned back, his chin high. “Curran wants information. Don’t make me walk into this house uninvited.”
The bouda’s eyes flashed crimson. She let loose a strung-out hysterical cackle and leaned forward, showing him her teeth. Her face twisted into a hungry grimace. “Make a move, cat! Break the law. Test the jaws of Kuri’s daughter, if you dare. I’ll smile wide when your bones snap under my teeth.”
She snapped at him and licked her lips. Jim’s face wrinkled in a snarl. Two hyenas circled from behind the house like sharks, clicking and growling.
I got up and nodded to Jim. “Give me a minute. As a personal favor.”
His face gave nothing away. Slowly, deliberately he took two steps back and waited.
Inside the bathroom, Andrea sat on marble, barely visible behind the female and Aunt B. The male bouda ran his fingers through the wet mass of blond hair on her head, searching for something.