"Because I'm out in the waiting room on a pay phone." There was a sound on the other end like he'd had to take the receiver away from his mouth. He muttered, "I'll be off in just a minute." He came back on. "I need you to come down, Anita."
"Why?"
"Please."
"You're a werewolf, Stephen. What are you doing babysitting one of the kitty-cats?"
"I'm one of the names in his wallet in case of emergencies. Nathaniel works at Guilty Pleasures."
"He's a stripper?" I made it a question because he could have been a waiter, but it wasn't likely. Jean-Claude owned Guilty Pleasures, and he would never have wasted a shapeshifter off-stage. They were too damned exotic.
"Yes."
"The two of you need a ride?" It was my day for it, I guess.
"Yes, and no."
There was something in his voice that I didn't like. An unease, a tension. It wasn't like Stephen to be cagey. He didn't play games. He just talked. "How did Nathaniel get hurt?" Maybe if I asked better questions, I'd get better answers.
"A customer got too rough."
"At the club?"
"No. Anita, please, there's no time. Come down and make sure he doesn't go home with Zane."
"Who the hell is Zane?"
"Another of Gabriel's people. He's been pimping them out since Gabriel died. But he's not protecting them like Gabriel did. He isn't alpha."
"Pimping them out? What are you talking about?"
Stephen's voice rose high and far too cheerful. "Hello, Zane. Have you seen Nathaniel yet?"
I couldn't really hear the answer, just the buzz of all the people in the waiting room. "I don't think they want him to go just yet. He's hurt," Stephen said.
Zane must have stepped very close to the phone, very close to Stephen. A low, growling voice came through the wire. "He'll go home when I say he goes home."
Stephen's voice held an edge of panic. "I don't think the doctors will like that."
"I don't give a shit. Who are you talking to?"
For his voice to be that clear he had to have Stephen pinned against the wall. Threatening him, without saying anything specific.
The growling voice was suddenly very clear. He'd taken the phone from Stephen. "Who is this?"
"Anna Blake, and you must be Zane."
He laughed, and it sounded too low, as if his throat were sore. "The wolves' human lupa. Oh, I'm so scared."
Lupa was the word the werewolves used for their leader's mate. I was the first human so honored. I wasn't even dating their Ulfric anymore. We'd broken up after I saw him eat somebody. Hey, a girl's got to have some standards.
"Gabriel wasn't scared of me either. Look where it got him," I said.
Zane was quiet for a handful of heartbeats. He breathed over the phone like a dog panted, heavy, but not like he was doing it on purpose, more like he couldn't help it. "Nathaniel is mine. Keep off of him."
"Stephen isn't one of yours," I said.
"Does he belong to you?" I could hear cloth moving. A sense of movement on the other end of the phone that I didn't like. "He is sooo pretty. Have you tasted these soft lips? Has this long yellow hair swept over your pillow?"