FUR FOR ALL, Book 5 in FIXED (4 page)

She tugged at her hands and refused to budge. “You’re going to take me to Vircolac?”

“So now you know about the club as well?”

“I was waiting for you outside of it a few minutes ago, wasn’t I?”

“It’s not supposed to be common knowledge.”

“It isn’t. That’s why I’m surprised you’d think of taking me there. I thought humans were barred from ever setting foot inside.” He smiled as he remembered Missy Winters’ opinion of that particular decree. “The rules have been…relaxed a bit recently.”

“I don’t care. I’m not taking any more chances tonight. If you want to keep talking to me, you can keep talking to me in the alley. I’m perfectly comfortable here.”

He turned back to her and raised an eyebrow. “But I’m not,” he purred.

“And unless you intend to make me more comfortable—which, I feel I should warn you, would involve taking off all your clothes and laying down under me for three or four hours—I suggest you come with me to the club.” She leapt for the alley entrance with such speed, she almost ended up dragging him along behind her.

In the darkness, Rafe laughed and wondered how long it would take him to change her mind about the appeal of that particular manner of getting comfortable.

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Christine Warren

Chapter Three

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Tess Menzies. I found her laying in wait for me outside the club.”

“Outside
my
club? And security didn’t see her?”

“They must not have.” Rafe shrugged, handed Tess a mug of steaming coffee, and turned away from her as if she didn’t exist. She glared at his back.

“Maybe they want to be a little more careful in the future.”

“Maybe they want to look for new jobs.”

The man who growled that threat was none other than Graham Winters himself, the werewolf owner of Vircolac and supposedly one of Rafe De Santos’

closest friends. Tess watched the byplay between the two men over the rim of her coffee cup.

“In their defense,” Rafe conceded, “it’s not like she’s just some random human. She’s a witch, and apparently she’s been spying on me for awhile without me noticing, so she’s not exactly easy to spot.”

“A witch? What the hell does a witch want with one of us?”

“Damned if I know. She said she had some sort of message to deliver to me.

From the Witches’ Council.”

“They have a council?”

“That’s what she says.”

Graham growled something Tess didn’t catch, and Rafe laughed. Scowling, Tess set aside her coffee cup and crossed her arms over her chest. “You know,
she
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also has ears, a mouth and a fully functional brain. You might want to try talking to me, instead of talking about me as if I weren’t even in the room.” Rafe turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t seem very willing to talk to me when we were outside a few minutes ago.”

“You had me pinned to the wall like Torquemada with PMS. I was supposed to want to tell you my life story?”

Graham laughed, then quickly covered it with a cough when Tess and Rafe both turned to stare at him. “Sorry. Say, what do you think about checking out this note and seeing what all the fuss is about? I mean, it
is
almost four in the morning, so I’m guessing that whatever it is this Witches’ Council wanted to talk to you about, Rafe, it’s got to be fairly important, right?” Rafe growled something that sounded remarkably similar to what Graham had growled about his security people a few minutes ago and stalked back to Tess’s chair. He held out his hand. “Give me the message.” She didn’t know how it happened, but all of a sudden she found herself looking from his hand to his face and back again while a devil prodded her tongue to make it do evil things. “Say please.” Graham practically choked to death, but Rafe just closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and said, “Please,” through tightly clenched teeth.

Tess pursed her lips, reached into the pocket of her black denim jacket and pulled out a slightly crinkled white envelope. She handed it to him with a haughty sniff.

“Thank you,” he bit out.

“You’re welcome.”

Tess watched as he ripped the envelope open and pulled out a single sheet of white paper with her grandfather’s seal at the top and the familiar, regimented handwriting marching across the page. She wasn’t close enough to read the text, 29

Christine Warren

and when Rafe turned away, beginning to pace as he read, she couldn’t see the letter at all. But that didn’t matter. She already knew what it said.

Not because she’d read the actual text of the letter; she hadn’t been lying—

about
that
, at least—but because she had eavesdropped on her grandfather when he and a fellow council member had composed it. Still, she kept quiet while Rafe read.

“They want to meet with the Council,” he finally said, raising his head and handing the letter to Graham. “With me, they say. I’m not sure if my name is simply there because I am current head of the Council or because they have some need to talk to me in particular. Damn Dmitri anyway.” Graham grinned and shook his head. “Now, now. It’s not Misha’s fault he has better things to do now than occupy that council seat.”

“I can still blame him. It makes me feel good to blame him.” Tess watched their conversation with a small frown. She didn’t quite know what they were talking about, and she hated feeling left in the dark. “Who are Dmitri and Misha?”

“They’re the same person. A friend of ours.” Rafe dismissed the question casually and turned to face her, crossing his arms over his chest. “But I think it’s still my turn to ask the questions, Tess. Tell me why this council wants to talk to me.”

She shrugged, growing wary again. “I don’t know. They didn’t explain anything to me. They just asked me to deliver the message.”

“Yes, and that’s what has me so confused. Why you? If Graham or I were going to deliver a message to someone we didn’t know and didn’t trust, but whom we believed might pose a threat to our basic safety, I doubt either of us would choose someone like you to deliver it.” 30

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She scowled. “Why not? Because I’m not some sort of trained spy who would have been able to follow you all the way to the pearly gates without being spotted?”

Rafe shook his head, his lips quirking. “No, because you’re small, soft, female and way too appealing and vulnerable to have been sent to wait outside in the streets of Manhattan alone at three in the morning.” She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t even midnight when I started, and for gods’

sakes, I’m a witch. It’s not like I’m the world’s easiest prey for muggers.”

“I didn’t seem to have any trouble with you.”

“You weren’t trying to mug me.”

“I should sincerely hope not.”

The last comment came from the door of the large study where the three of them had been talking, announcing the arrival of a petite blonde woman with big brown eyes and a pretty, gentle face. She wore a long, man’s flannel robe with the sleeves rolled up to expose her hands and the hem dragging the floor. Tess thought she saw bunny-shaped slippers peeking out from underneath the plaid fabric.

The woman stepped into the room and looked from Tess to Rafe to Graham and back to Tess. “I’m Missy Winters,” she said, smiling kindly. “I didn’t know we had visitors or I might have stopped to get dressed before seeing what had become of my mysteriously disappearing husband.” Graham crossed the room, a scowl on his face and a blanket he’d grabbed off the back of the comfortable leather sofa in his hands. “You should have gotten dressed anyway.” He flicked the blanket open and wrapped it around his wife.

“Rafe, close your eyes.”

Tess watched while Missy laughed at her husband and pushed him away, settling next to Tess on the matching leather loveseat and offering her the blanket.

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“Ignore my husband,” Missy said. “He’s a man
and
a Lupine
and
the pack Alpha, which means he’s slightly insane. I, on the other hand, am female and human and therefore very happy to meet you and find out what brings you here at this time of night.”

Bemused, Tess found herself smiling back at the werewolf’s friendly wife.

“Actually, I’m here because of Rafe. I had a message to deliver to him, but instead of taking it and letting me go, he decided to kidnap me and ask me ridiculous questions that I already told him I can’t answer.” Missy smirked. “Now that sounds like something either one of them would probably think was a really good idea. That’s why they’re the men and we’re the voices of reason. So you’ve already delivered your message?” Tess nodded, her smile broadening.

“And he’s received it, read it and comprehended it as well as his tiny male mind will allow?”

She nodded again.

“Well, then, I’d say your work here is done. Would you like me to call you a cab? Or you’re welcome to spend the night. We’ve got loads of room, and I’d love to get to know you better tomorrow when we’re both more awake.” Tess grinned. “A cab would be great. I’ve got to go to the other end of the city, so I’d really appreciate the lift.” Rafe growled and crossed the room in four long strides until he stood directly in front of the couch and glared down at her. “I’m not done with you yet.

You’ll leave when I say you can leave.”

Missy rolled her eyes and stood. “Can the King of the Jungle routine, Rafe.

It’s late and there’s no reason to keep the poor girl awake all night while you try and decipher the mysterious code of plain English I’m assuming her message was written in. Let her go. If you have more questions, you can always ask her tomorrow.”

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He shook his head. “No. This isn’t your business, Missy. This is a matter for the Council to discuss.”

Missy shook her head right back. “The last time I checked, Mr. Lay-Down-Some-Asinine-Law, the Council had thirteen members, not two. So if it’s a council matter, you obviously can’t make any decisions about it until you speak to the entire council. And since that meeting supposedly ended at two, you’re clearly not going to be doing that tonight. I’m sure the rest of the council is already home in bed by now.”

Graham laughed, but quickly schooled his face into more sober lines when his wife turned to glare at him. “Sorry, honey, but you’re forgetting that almost half the council is vampire. It’s barely teatime for them. I’m sure the lot of them are still at the club drinking my brandy and telling lies about the length of their fangs.”

“You know what, honey? Next time, don’t help.” Tess laughed, feeling much better than she had before Missy had walked into the room, and stood. “No, I think Missy’s right, Graham. It is late, and I do want to get home. I’ve done my job and delivered my message, and I have a real job I need to get to in the morning. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just thank you for the coffee and be on my way.”

Rafe growled. “I don’t think so, Tess. Sit back down and be quiet until I tell you that you can leave.”

She felt her eyebrow shoot up like a rocket. “What was that? I’m sorry, but I have this strange sort of deafness. I can never hear it when people are horribly rude to me. Would you mind repeating what you just said?”

“You heard me.”

She stepped forward until her toes practically touched his and tilted her head back to glare up at him. “No. No, I really think I didn’t.” 33

Christine Warren

She heard the snarl welling in his chest, but it was too late to back off now.

She braced herself for his explosion, but it never happened. Instead, Graham stepped between them and placed his hand on Rafe’s chest to hold him back.

“Come on,” the Lupine said as he nodded to his wife, who gently urged Tess back into her seat. “This isn’t going to get anything done. Tess, you stay here for five more minutes while Rafe and I go see if we can round up the council members. If we can, we’ll talk this over real fast and give you an answer to bring back to the Witches’ Council, and if not, you’ll get to go home and we’ll contact you tomorrow with our answer.”

Tess pursed her lips. “I liked Missy’s idea better.”

“So did I,” Missy said, “but as compromises go, this one could be worse.

Besides, now that I’m awake, I want a midnight snack. You can keep me company while I bug the staff at the club and wait for them to send something over for me. I really would like to get to know you better.” Tess looked at Missy’s kind and friendly face, then at Rafe’s harsh, set one.

She sighed. “Fine. But if you aren’t back in fifteen minutes, I’m out of here, like it or not.”

“Deal.” Graham was already dragging Rafe toward the door. “In the meantime, make sure my wife doesn’t eat anything with chocolate in it. She’s breastfeeding, and it gives the baby hives.” 34

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Chapter Four

“So,” Missy said as she settled onto a bar stool at the island in the massive kitchen. A huge roast beef sandwich and an enormous glass of milk was placed in front of her. “You said you have to be at work in the morning. What do you do?”

“I own a shop on West Ninth Street.” Tess eyed the sandwich in amazement as Missy raised it to her mouth for the first bite. She couldn’t believe this petite little woman intended to eat something so enormous as the sandwich a uniformed waiter from Vircolac had delivered a few minutes ago. Although Missy Winters wasn’t model-thin, she was by no means a heavy woman. By rights, any woman who called this meal a midnight snack ought to weight approximately seven billion pounds. “It’s an herb and teashop. The East Village Apothecary.”

Missy chewed, swallowed and blotted her lips daintily with a napkin. “How fabulous.” She drained a third of the milk in one thirsty gulp. “How long have you been in business?”

Tess watched her bite off another slab of cow. “About seven years. But the shop’s been around since the seventies. I bought out the previous owners.”

“How old were you when you did that? Nine?” Tess laughed and made a face. “Twenty-two. Don’t let the Li’l Orphan Annie hair fool you. I’m older than I look.”