was afraid of you, yes,” I said. “Or more to the point, both Jinx and Saffron thought that I needed her protection, and the ban of Lord Delancaster, to come here.”
Calaphase glared down at Transomnia. “You have not helped our reputation.”
“Except our reputation as scary motherfuckers,” Transomnia said.
“Not even that,” Calaphase said, “Apparently, she won Round One.”
He extended an arm towards a set of stairs, and I climbed the stairs up the loading dock. Transomnia, Lord Buckhead, and Calaphase leapt up on to the dock nimbly, as if they’d just climbed a single step. Calaphase looked at me, then Transomnia, shaking his head; then with one hand he pulled the huge freight door open to reveal a carnival of light and sound.
“Come with us, Lady Frost, and the Oakdale Vampire Clan shall apologize to you for our rudeness before the Bear King.”
“And then,” Transomnia said, unsmiling, “we shall see what he will make of you.”
14. THE MARQUIS
Drums beat, strong and primal. Fire blazed from burning barrels. And on the broad floor of what had been a warehouse, a crowd of nearly-human shapes cheered on as a huge wolf the size of a tiger faced off with a stag the size of a Buick.
I started to think that maybe this job wasn’t worth it.
Ragged young boys ran the outer perimeter of the werehouse, human in form but snapping and snarling at each other with the voices of dogs. Wolves padded back and forth around the largest and scruffiest single group of men; both wolves and men stared at me with hungry eyes. There were other groups—tall, proud men I took to be werestags, another group crowded around a werebear, and many others. Or perhaps there was no relation between their human forms and their beasts—I had not seen any of them change yet.
To the snarling was added whistling. I looked up, and saw an upper set of loft structures, perhaps once offices, that had been converted into living space. Boys and young men, expertly tattooed with wolf’s heads and cat’s paws, hung from the railing, whistling down at me. I laughed. Actual wolf whistles and cat calls! My laughter faded as I saw girls mixed in with the boys, angry, indignant—hitting their men and glaring down at me.
Then an orange-haired girl leapt down from the railing, shoved a knot of boys apart and stalked up to me. She wore a cropped top and vest and short pants that showed off elaborate, tattooed tiger stripes—and it was good work, I mean, I was impressed—but the claws erupting from her fingers and the tail curving behind her were quite real.
“You thinks you can just waltz in here and get a taste of our men?” she said, glaring up at me with yellow cat eyes, which made her all the more exotic and beautiful. She held up a long, sharp set of claws. “You thinks you can go through me to do it?”
I leaned in down on her until my face was inches from her exotic, oval face, and her tufted cat ears folded back as her eyes grew wider. I closed mine, and drank in her scent. She was warm and spicy with sweat, with a hint of real perfume that tasted of cinnamon.
“Oooh, you smell yummy,” I cooed, opening my eyes to see hers terrified. “Why would I want them when you’re throwing yourself at me? Give me a taste, little girl.”
Emboldened, I licked her face, and she leapt back with a squeal, hissing at me and swatting like a frightened little cat. It made her all the more cute, like the younger Savannah I remembered, and I watched her back all the way to a clump of the very same boys she’d challenged me over, hissing and swatting at them as they laughed.
Lord Buckhead suddenly strode forward and broke into the ring, pulling the wolf and stag apart like a pair of stuffed toys. The stag snorted and challenged him, but the wolf just whined and tried to get away. Both twisted uselessly at the ends of his straightened arms.
“Enough!” he shouted, his voice ringing out throughout the house. “We are not animals, that we should fight like dogs!”
“But this is a werehouse, Lord Buckhead,” snarled a voice that was half laugh and half roar, as Lord Buckhead slowly lowered the combatants to the floor. “This is not a place for decorum. This is a place to celebrate our beasts!