yer much me type. Bit of a weak thing, lettin’ a wee lass like that haul ye ‘round.”
Clarisse’s look turned sly, and she sidled over to give Ashi’s collar a little tug. It hadn’t taken her long to put the pieces of the puzzle together. “Alec had one o’ them magi come by yesterday. He cannae fight her because he’s got this.”
“Och, aye?”
“Aye.”
Angus stroked his beard speculatively, causing it to gnarl up around his fingers and bristle even more.
“Angus, don’t be gross.”
He just smiled at Jessica.
“Sick. Really sick.”
The smile widened.
“Okay, ew. No. I don’t even want to know.”
“What? What?” Analie demanded, glancing between Jessica and the two shadows. Ashi was struggling, but it wasn’t doing him much good. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside that she could hold him down.
“Let me go!” Ashi yelped, staring worriedly at Angus. What’d they mean, “Don’t be gross”? What was sick? Oh, God, what was going on? “Damn it all, Analie! I outrank you!”
“No,” Analie replied cheerfully.
“Angus is being gross,” Jessica said. “That’s all.”
“It’s an inside joke, lass,” Clarisse said. “He made a crack a couple months ago about his hair being that red from all the—”
“Haud yer wheesht! ‘Ave ye no sense?” Angus cut her off.
“What? I have!”
“She’s just a wee bit of a lass. Watch yer tongue, woman.”
Clarisse threw her hands up. “No fun at all!”
“That reminds me. Thad’s in for $50 on two and a half,” Jessica said.
That was enough to throw Clarisse out of her huff. “$50 now? I’ll have to check the odds on that.”
“What’s the bet?”
“How long the other new gent holds out before letting Mouse have a taste.”
Angus perked with interest. “Och, aye?”
“Meet the lad first.”
“Ooh! I want to put five dollars on four weeks!” Analie said excitedly.
Ashi had stopped struggling by now and was staying silent and sullen. Being bested by a fifteen-year-old low-rank and trapped in a room with a bookie, the most cheerful person in the world, and a bloodsucking Scot, was disheartening and mind-breaking.
“Four weeks? Low odds,” Clarisse said, clucking her tongue.
“I don’t know. She probably knows the guy better than we do. Can I change my bet?”
“I’ll put $50 on three weeks, six days,” Angus said.
“Oh, I want to start a pool on when someone puts down a claim!” Jessica said, gesturing at Ashi.
Clarisse made a face. “Ye can run that one, darling.”
Ashi glared at Angus, then at Jessica. Analie shifted her stance slightly.
“I really don’t want to touch Ashi for any longer than I have to, so could you please do whatever it is you were going to do?” she asked Jessica, looking pleadingly at her. “I kind of hate him.”
“Thanks,” Ashi grumbled.
“Like you expected otherwise?” Analie snapped.
“Oh, whoops. Sure.” Jessica started poring through her kit, pulling out a stethoscope. She pulled up Ashi’s shirt to put the cold bit of metal against his chest, making a face as she did so. “Stop squirming. Is he always such a baby about this stuff?”
“Feisty bit. I bet Lisa might want him. Or Ken,” Angus mused.
Clarisse wrinkled her nose. “Ken would ‘ave his feelings hurt if it wasn’t all in play.”
Jessica made a gagging sound, rolling her eyes. “Can’t say I’m surprised, and it might just be the stress of the moment, but your heartbeat is faster than it should be. You might need a little transfusion. I want you to drink more fluids, and then I’ll check again in half an hour. If it hasn’t come down, I’ll check your blood pressure next and see how much you need. What’s your type?”
“Bet his type isn’t Lisa,” Clarisse said.
“Och, ye cannae say tha’ ‘til ‘e’s met the bonnie lass.”
“Ye only think she’s bonnie ‘cause she’ll sleep with ye.”
“Do not!”
“Do so!”
“I have no idea what my blood type is,” Ashi snapped.
“I think our hearts beat faster than normal,” Analie put in. “I mean, everything kind of goes fast for us. We metabolize stuff fast, we heal fast, we regener—uh....”
Ashi had gone stock still. He swallowed, but didn’t say anything.
At Jessica’s raised eyebrow, Analie mumbled, “We regenerate tissue and stuff fast. Which is the same as healing—so—yeah. Dunno how much of that holds true for him right now with the collar.”
She didn’t see the vampires here as boogeymen anymore, but letting them all know that Weres regenerated blood faster than usual didn’t seem like a good idea. Sure, she wasn’t going to get chomped, but all the same…
Jessica pursed her lips. In the background, Angus and Clarisse were still arguing rather loudly over