.
as I started for my car, I kissed my hand and blew it to the tiny lens that watched my every move, then mouthed, "See you tonight." My lover was worried about how well a coyote could play with the wolves, too.
Being an Alpha werewolf made him a little overbearing about his concern--and being the CEO of a security contracting firm for various government agencies gave him access to lots of tools to indulge his protective instincts.
I'd been mad about the cameras when he'd first had them installed, but I found them reassuring now.
A coyote adapts; that's how she survives.
PHINEAS BREWSTER LIVED ON THE THIRD FLOOR OF one of the new condo complexes in West Pasco.
It didn't seem like the sort of place where a collector of old books would live--but maybe he got his fill of dust, mold, and mildew at work and didn't need it in his home.
I was halfway between my car and the building when I realized that I hadn't brought the book when I got out of the car.
I hesitated, but decided to leave it where it was, wrapped in a towel on the backseat of the Rabbit.
The towel was to protect the book--in case I hadn't gotten all the grease off my hands--but it worked okay to disguise it from would-be thieves, which seemed unlikely here anyway.
I climbed up two sets of stairs and knocked on the door marked 3B.
After a count of ten, I rang the doorbell.
Nothing.
I rang the doorbell one more time, and the door at 3A opened up.
"He's not there," said a gruff voice.
I turned to see a skinny old man, neatly dressed in old boots, new jeans, a button-down Western shirt, and a bolo tie.
All he was missing was a cowboy hat.
Something--I think it was the boots--smelled faintly of horse.
And fae.
"He isn't?" Officially, all the fae are out to the public and have been for a long time.
But the truth is that the Gray Lords who rule the fae have been very selective about which of them the public gets to know about and which ones might upset the public--or are more useful posing as human.
There are, for instance, a few senators who are fae in hiding.
There is nothing in the Constitution that makes it illegal for a fae to be a senator, and the Gray Lords want to keep it that way.
This fae was working pretty hard at passing for human; he wouldn't appreciate me pointing out that he wasn't.
So I kept my discovery to myself.
There was a twinkle in the faded eyes as he shook his head.
"Nope, he hasn't been home all day." "Do you know where he is?" "Phin?" The old man laughed, displaying teeth so even and white they looked false.
Maybe they were.
"Well, now.
He spends most of his time at his store.