“One of many,” Luke quipped at the vague question.
“I meant that one from the country, Lord Laughton,” the man rephrased.
“I am he, but I don’t believe I know who you are,” Luke countered.
The man lifted his chin and smirked. “The name’s Sheriff Steve Brier.” He leaned over the table toward me and his grin took on a more lecherous tint. I nearly lost what food I’d eaten. “And who might you be, pretty lady?” Luke stood up, but the sheriff was as fast as him. Brier pulled a pistol from his belt and pointed it at Luke’s chest. “Don’t go making stupid mistakes, boy. This gun’s got silver bullets in it and I ain’t afraid to dispense justice with ‘em,” the sheriff warned.
“You do not understand. This woman is his mate, and no wolf should make love talk with another man’s mate,” Burnbaum gruffly told him.
The sheriff shrugged, but stood. “Doesn’t seem like I’m wanted or needed around here, so I’ll just be going. Good day to you all.” He tipped his hat and left us. Alistair secured the door behind the man, and Luke whipped his head over to our host.
“Who was that guy?” he asked Burnbaum.
“I am told he was elected sheriff last fall. I do not believe the election was fair,” Burnbaum told us. “Other sheriff much better, but this one is friend of Lance and of man who attacked you.”
“And you were saying what about our attacker entering the police station?” Luke wondered.
Burnbaum frowned. “The trail led to police station, but the sheriff and his men would not let my men inside. They come back and tell me, and sheriff must have followed them.”
Luke’s eyebrows knit together and I jumped when he pounded the table. “Damn it, but he’s been busy!” he exclaimed.
“Busy doing what?” I asked him.
“Gathering power around himself,” Luke explained to me. “He positions his allies in important positions like a chess match, and when he strikes it may be check-mate for us.”
“Da, we have let him do what he wants. Now we will stop him and I am sure with such friends as we have here we can do that,” Burnbaum encouraged.
Luke’s lips pursed together, but he sat back down. “Perhaps, but we’ll need a miracle to keep alive, much less wrestle control from Lance.”
“I must go to my business. I will meet you later, and enjoy your meal,” Burnbaum insisted.
With that assurance we got comfortable and gobbled down the food. Burnbaum left to attend to his guests, and Luke insisted Alistair join us for the meal. “We don’t have much time until the train,” he pointed out. I rolled my eyes when I recalled how he’d wanted to return to bed with the excuse that we had plenty of time to have more fun.
“Is that the only way to get up to this meeting place?” I asked him. I didn’t want a repeat performance of the 1812 Overture’s cannon part.
“Other than walking, and the hike is quite grueling, even for a werewolf,” he replied. I frowned and toyed with my food. Luke noticed. “Something wrong?” he wondered. My eyes dodged over to Alistair, and Luke took the hint. “Alistair, would you mind getting the car to take us to the station?”
“Not at all, sir,” Alistair answered. He rose and left us alone.
Luke leaned over the table toward where I sat opposite him. “What’s wrong?” he asked me.
I tensed and avoided eye contact by staring at my interesting lap. “After last night I’m-well, I’m a werewolf, aren’t I?”
He nodded. “Yes, with all the benefits and drawbacks.”
“And those are what exactly?”
“An increased sense of smell-”
“So I have a powerful sniffer?”
“Exactly, along with other heightened senses and physical abilities such speed, hearing, and strength.”
“And fur,” I added.
Luke smiled. “Yes, a lot more fur, but you won’t need to shave more often.”
“So can I transform any time I want?” I asked him.
“No. That requires practice and focus, and you need a lot of both,” he commented.
I scowled at him. “I had a lot of focus trying to escape you,” I pointed out.
“And now?” he wondered. I opened my mouth to give him a biting declaration of my intent to repeat the Great Escape, but a thought struck me hard in the head. I had no idea who, or even what, I was any more. A few days ago I’d just been an office girl with a lot of party-going friends. Now I was this werewolf guy’s mate in a world I didn’t understand, but now belonged to. Luke saw the dilemma in my eyes and sighed. “Your eyes show your regrets,” he mused.
I grimaced. “And there’s no way to change back?”
“No way.”
I sighed and slumped in my chair. “Oh goody.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “It’s not all bad, but if you won’t take my word for it then remember what Abby told you.”
“I don’t think she was forced into this,” I argued.
“No, she was born with the condition, but without lycanthropy her parents would have died in that wreck,” he pointed out.
I glanced up and blinked. “Lycan-what?”
“Lycanthropy. It’s the folk and medical term for being a werewolf,” he explained to me.
“Sounds like a horrible disease.”
“It’s not so bad. Plenty of fur to keep you warm in the winter,” he teased.
I cracked a smile. “The fleas must be murder.”
He winced and scratched his arm. “Sometimes there is that problem, especially if you keep in the wolf form for too long.”
“Like the whole night?”
“Like a few months,” he replied.
My mouth dropped open. “So werewolves can transform anytime they want for however long they want?”
“Precisely, but delve too deep into the Beast and you lose your humanity.”
“The what?”
“The Beast is the wolf instinct inside of us. It lets us transform, and helps us choose a mate.”
My eyes narrowed and I frowned at him. “I don’t like your Beast.”
He laughed. “I thought you’d say something like that.”
I glanced down at myself. “So are these changes supposed to be immediate or is there a waiting period before I can jump into the deep-end of the werewolf pool? Because right now I don’t exactly feel like She-Hulk.”
“Your body’s already accepted the chances, but the abilities don’t immediately manifest themselves.”
“So no instant butt-kicking?”
“No.”
“Damn. That would have come in handy when that guy attacked us.” Luke and I jumped up when there was a knock on our jammed door. He gestured for me to get behind him and his eyes trained on the entrance.
“Who is it?” he called out.
“Burnbaum, your lordship,” came the jolly voice.
Luke relaxed and smiled. “Come in.”
Burnbaum slipped inside, but kept the broken door open. “Alistair asked for car and I delivered. It is large enough for all of us.”
“All of us?” I repeated.
“Aye. I go and cast my vote for leader,” he replied.
“Who are the rumors saying will win?” Luke wondered.
Burnbaum shrugged. “It is hard to say. People are more worried about tensions than voting.”
“They should be worried about both,” Luke commented as he slipped on his coat.
14
Luke helped me on with my coat, and Alistair came to fetch our bags. Our little group of four walked down the halls and outside to a long, black limo. My eyes widened and my mouth split open in a smile when I realized that was our ride. “I could get used to this,” I spoke up.
Burnbaum and Luke chuckled, and we were all stowed in the luxurious leather seats for the short ride to the station. When we reached the platform the area was even more crowded than the day before. People leaned over the edge of the platform and any slight jostling caused a ripple effect through the dense crowd. We waited in the car, but Luke and Burnbaum weren’t idle. They scanned the crowd for danger, and glanced at the tracks in the direction of our destination looking for the train.
Out of boredom I followed suit and noticed a man behind the station. He wore a wide-brimmed hat and dark gloves, and beneath the cuffs I glimpsed a white bandage. I tapped Luke on the shoulder and pointed at the guy. “Isn’t that the same guy we saw yesterday?” I asked him.
Luke looked to where I pointed, and his eyes narrowed. “Yes, it is.”
Burnbaum glanced at the stranger and frowned. “Do not touch him, Luke. That is a counting man for Lance. He came to the inn when Lance come through.”
“Counting man?” I repeated.
“An accountant,” Luke told me. “The Connor clan has a large enterprise, but I’m surprised he’d use his number lackey to give us that unfriendly warning,” he mused.
“They are desperate?” Burnbaum suggested.
“Maybe it’s because nobody would suspect a bean-counter of being an assassin,” I spoke up. The three men glanced at me, and I shrugged. “I wouldn’t.”
“You may have something there, but he’s got a lot of confidence to be out in the streets without protection,” Luke pointed out. His eyes scanned the crowd, and we all noticed the sheriff walk out of the crowd and over to the accountant. “That would answer my question. He has friends in higher places.”