Kitty Rocks the House - By Carrie Vaughn Page 0,18

was he too stupid to cover his trail?

I tracked him west. He was on foot, following sidewalks. Just a guy out for a stroll. He wasn’t traveling in a straight line, though. His path veered north, toward Civic Center Park, then circled the block back toward the art museum. Like the guy was sightseeing or something. I checked my phone—I needed to get to New Moon to meet Ben. Oddly, the stranger’s trail bent toward the same path. He’d headed to the restaurant, too, and recently.

Who was this guy? I called Ben again.

“Hey, Ben? You at New Moon yet, because I think he’s headed in your direction.” My voice was tense.

“Um, yeah,” he said. “The guy’s already here.”

I started jogging. “Who is he? What’s happening?”

“We’re outside. We’re waiting.” He sounded calm. Not relaxed, but not panicked, either. Guy was there, but not threatening.

“Yeah?” I said, wanting to know more, not knowing what to ask.

“Just get over here.”

I made myself slow down, so I could have the last couple of blocks to catch my breath and not be gasping when I faced the stranger. This was going to be some stupid misunderstanding. I was going to have to play self-help guru face-to-face to some adoring fan who didn’t know any better, wasn’t I? I ought to be grateful something like this hadn’t happened before now.

Within sight of New Moon’s brick façade, his scent became crystal clear. My nose gave me a picture before I actually saw him. He was a werewolf, but a civilized one, with clean clothes and washed hair, comfortable with being human. Ben caught my gaze first. He was standing at the outside edge of the sidewalk, arms loosely crossed. His shoulders were stiff, though, his back straight as a rod and his chin up in a show of dominance. After a second he turned away from me to glare again at the man leaning on the wall of the building.

He was the kind of werewolf who you could look at and imagine that he really was a werewolf, a monster, under the human skin. Muscular, with broad shoulders and powerful arms. No doubt he worked out and knew how to fight. Slouching, he was as tall as Ben, and would tower above us both if he straightened. But he was carefully keeping himself small. He was smiling, seeming way too casual for the situation he was in—facing an alpha pair whose territory he’d intruded on. He wasn’t making a challenge—his gaze was downcast. But he didn’t seem at all worried. So maybe everything was okay and he had a good reason for being here.

Wolf didn’t like him. She stirred in my gut, sent shocks down my limbs, and I imagined her claws curling into him. No reason for it. Just something about the way he smiled, looking at Ben like he wasn’t a threat. He thought he knew us, and I was pretty sure he didn’t, not really.

Shaun was waiting inside the glass doorway, looking out, hands clenched at his sides. He glanced at me for a cue, and I shook my head once, telling him to wait.

I approached, hoping the pause in my stride wasn’t too noticeable.

“You must be Kitty Norville,” the stranger said in a steady tenor, forthcoming and friendly, just as I was opening my mouth to speak.

He’d gotten in the first word, throwing me completely off my stride. My radio DJ aversion to dead air saved me from too much of a pause. “Right,” I said, putting a leash on Wolf so we could keep this as human as possible. We were all civilized here. “And who are you?”

“It’s an honor to meet you, finally,” he said, reaching out a hand for shaking. I did so, and he turned to Ben, who had to uncurl his arms before he could shake. “And you must be Ben. Good to meet you.” Ben raised a brow at me.

I blinked the unanswered question back at the stranger.

“Oh! I’m Darren. I wanted to know—do you have room in your pack for me?”

Chapter 6

WHAT ELSE could I do but invite him inside? We sat around our usual table in back and talked. I asked Shaun to bring waters all around. Not beer, not yet.

I wanted to ask Ben what kind of vibe he was getting from the guy, but I couldn’t. Doing so would make me look uncertain. Weak. Besides, Ben was playing strong and silent. He hadn’t taken his gaze off the new guy, and if the