Tessa nodded. “Is she a vampire, too?”
“No. She’s a shape-shifter.” At her blank expression, he said, “You’ve heard of werewolves, right?”
“So, they’re real too? Good heavens, please tell me I’m not harboring a werewolf under my roof!”
“No. She’s a were-panther.” Andrei gave her hand another squeeze. “She’s not like a werewolf. She won’t go crazy when the moon is full.”
“But she can turn into a panther? Like, a real panther?”
“When she wants to. I don’t think she’s done it in a long time. If ever.”
“Jilly will never believe this,” Tessa muttered. “Not in a million years.”
“I’ve got to go. Walk me out?”
Alone in the elevator, Andrei stopped the car between floors. Tessa’s heart thudded against her ribs when he pulled her into his arms. She forgot about Katerina, about were-panthers, about everything but the man whose gaze burned into hers. Though his kiss was gentle, she felt his power wash over her, the tightly leashed strength of the arms that held her tight. Tighter. His tongue stroked hers, inflaming her senses.
She moaned in protest when he lifted his head.
One last kiss, and he was gone.
Head reeling, lips still tingling from his kisses, Tessa returned to her office to find Jilly waiting for her.
“Where have you been? I was about to leave you a note.” Jilly frowned. “Are you coming down with something? You look a little flushed.”
“I was with Andrei.”
“Oh, well, that explains it. Listen, I can’t meet for lunch today. I forgot, I’ve got a dental appointment.”
“Okay, call you later. I’ve got a lot to tell you.”
“Uh-oh. Is it good news or bad?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Tessa replied as her phone rang. “Gotta go.”
* * *
Tessa drove home slowly. Was Bailey still there? Should she mention the shape-shifter thing?
After parking in her space, Tessa sat in the car, reluctant—and a little apprehensive—about facing her houseguest. Vampires. Were-panthers. What next?
She glanced around, making sure she was alone before she got out of the car and ran up the stairs.
Inside, she locked the door, then dropped her handbag on the sofa, and kicked off her heels.
She found Bailey in the kitchen stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce.
“Hi.” Tessa gestured at the pot. “Smells good.”
“Thanks. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. How was your day?”
“Quiet.” Bailey filled a pan with water, set it on the stove, and turned on the burner.
“Well, that’s good, I guess.” Needing something to do, Tessa began to set the table.
“Andrei stopped by while you were at work,” Bailey said.
“Yes, he told me.”
“Oh. What else did he say?”
Trying to decide how to answer, Tessa laid the silverware.
“He told you, didn’t he?” Bailey said.
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No. No, of course not. It’s just . . .” Tessa pulled one of the chairs from the table and sat down. “It just came as a . . . a surprise, that’s all.”
“You’re scared of me now.”
“No, I’m not.”
“I can smell your fear.”
Tessa blew out a sigh. Andrei could read her mind. Bailey could sense her emotions . . . good grief, could the girl read her thoughts too?
“I’m not really afraid of you, exactly,” Tessa said, choosing her words carefully. “It’s just that, until a few weeks ago, I never knew vampires were real, and now . . . well, it takes some getting used to, that’s all.”
“It took some getting used to for me, too.”
“What do you mean?”
Bailey turned the fire down low on the sauce, then sat across from Tessa. “I didn’t know about the supernatural part of me until I turned sixteen. It freaked me out.” She shook her head. “One night I was just like everybody else and the next I had this amazing, scary power.”
“Have you met any other . . . ah, people like you?”
“No. Maybe there aren’t any.”
“Well, there must have been at least one or two others, or you wouldn’t be here,” Tessa said, grinning. “And there are probably a few more. Maybe Andrei could help you find them, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s something to think about,” Bailey remarked. Pushing away from the table, she went to the stove to add a package of spaghetti to the boiling water.
She was quiet during dinner.
Tessa glanced at her from time to time, wondering again what being a shape-shifter entailed. Were there rituals? Rules? Did were-panthers hunt prey, like vampires? That was a scary thought and she shied away from the question, thinking she didn’t want to know the answer. But even as she sought to ignore it, she remembered Andrei telling her there were werewolves, too. Were were-panthers ferocious killers like the werewolves portrayed in books and movies? How closely related were werewolves and were-panthers?