"Alaric," I said.
Richard spared me a frown, then turned back to his mother. "No, I never slept with Betty."
He was saying he'd never had intercourse with her. Charlotte would take it to mean that no sex at all had happened, just like I had. I remembered what Jamil had said about alternatives, but I kept quiet. I didn't want to upset Charlotte, and I didn't want to know.
"Well, at least that shows better sense," Charlotte said. She walked up to him and smoothed the front of his T-shirt, then bowed her head, and I realized she was crying.
I couldn't have been more surprised if she'd bitten him, maybe less.
Richard's entire face crumpled into helpless lines. He looked at me as if for help, and I backed up. I shook my head. I was no better around crying women than he was, maybe less.
He hugged her to him. I heard her murmur, "I was so worried about you in that awful jail."
I backed up out of earshot, and Daniel joined me. He didn't seem eager to join them, either. Of course, Charlotte didn't have to cry to unman Daniel.
"Thanks, Anita," he said.
I looked up at him. He was wearing a red tank top that was almost a twin of one Richard had. For all I knew, it was the same one. He looked tanned and handsome and very grown-up. "You're assertive around everyone but your parents. Why is that?"
He shrugged. "Isn't everyone like that?"
I shook my head. "No."
Jason moved up beside us. He echoed me: "No." Then he laughed. "Of course, my mother would never have gotten into a fight in a bar, no matter what I did. She's much too ... decorous."
"Decorous," I said.
"My last roommate had a word-a-day calendar," Jason said.
"You've been reading again," I said.
He hung his head, looking abashed, then gave me rolled eyes and a grin. It was such a mix of shame and utter cuteness that I laughed. "I can't donate blood and have sex twenty-four hours a day. There's no television at the Circus of the Damned."
"If there was?" I asked.
"I'd still read, but don't tell anyone."
I put an arm around his shoulders. "Your secret is safe with me."
Daniel put his arm around Jason from the other side and said, "Won't breathe a word of it."
We walked towards the four-by-four, arm in arm. "If Anita was in the middle, this would be perfect," Jason said.
Daniel just stopped in his tracks, staring at Jason. I pulled away from both of them. "You just don't know when to stop, do you, Jason?"
He shook his head. "No."
Richard walked over to us. He sent Daniel to their mother, and Daniel didn't argue with the order. He sent Jason on to the car, and Jason didn't argue. I stood looking up at his suddenly serious face, wondered what my orders were going to be, and bet I would argue with them.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I'll have to go with Daniel and my mother to calm her."
"I hear a butcoming," I said.
He smiled. "Butthere's a ceremony to meet my lupa tonight. It's customary before two packs share a full moon that they be formally introduced."
"How formally?" I asked. "I didn't pack for formal."