Night's Pleasure (Children of The Night 4)

“What do you say?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re bothered by what you saw tonight.”

“Can you blame me?”

“No, I guess not.”

“How long have you been a Werewolf?”

“I told you before, I’m not a Werewolf.” He couldn’t tell her the truth, not all of it, so he told her a part of the truth. “I’m a shape-shifter.”

“But…” She dropped down on the sofa again, thinking that a shape-shifter seemed a lot less scary than a Werewolf. “How did it happen? I mean, is it hereditary?”

“You could say that.”

“So, your parents are shape-shifters, too?”

Skirting the truth yet again, he nodded.

Savanah shook her head. “Amazing,” she muttered, and then frowned. “Can you change into other animals?”

“Yes.” Rane smiled inwardly, remembering how he and Rafe had often passed the quiet hours of the night by changing into lions and tigers and wolves. They seemed to have an affinity for predatory creatures, though he supposed, given their nature, that wasn’t surprising.

“Cats? Dogs? Elephants?”

He could see the wheels turning, knew she was thinking about what a great story it would make. He could see the headlines now: MAGICIAN’S SECRETS REVEALED.STORY ON PAGE TWO. “Remember your promise,” he said. “Everything that happened here tonight is off the record. You can’t write it up.”

“Who would believe me?” she muttered, and then frowned. Years ago, Werewolves and Vampires and shape-shifters had made the news. She had read about the war between the Supernatural creatures in the morgue files. No one really knew what had started the war, or why it had abruptly ended, but once it was over, the Supernatural creatures seemed to have disappeared. And now Rane was here. If the Supernatural creatures were surfacing again, it could be the story of a lifetime. But a promise was a promise.

Rane scooped her handbag from off the mantel and handed it to her. “Come on,” he said, “I’ll take you back to the club so you can get your car.”

With a nod, Savanah followed him outside to where a sleek silver Porsche waited in the driveway. He opened the passenger door for her and she slid into the seat. The leather, as soft as melted butter, seemed to enfold her.

“I knew it,” she said. “Zero to sixty in nothing flat.”

Chapter Four

Savanah’s father was in the living room, reading the newspaper, when she got home.

“Dad, what are you doing up so late?”

Folding the paper in half, he tucked it between his thigh and the side of his wheelchair. “Waiting for you, of course.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Shrugging out of her coat and kicking off her shoes, she padded across the floor and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “I’m a big girl now.”

“Maybe so, but…” He shrugged.

“I know, you don’t have to say it. I’ll always be your little girl.” Plopping down in the chair across from his, she curled her legs beneath her. “What did you do this evening?”

“Oh, the usual. How about you?”

“I had sort of a date.”

Her father arched one inquisitive brow. “Sort of a date? Is that something new?”

“Actually, it wasn’t a date at all. I went to the theater to see Santoro the Magnificent again. After the show, I waited for him in the alley, hoping to get that interview.”

Her father nodded his approval. “Any luck?”

“Not really, although we did go out for drinks.”

“I see.”

Savanah drummed her fingertips on the arm of the chair. She had promised she wouldn’t write anything about Rane’s shape-shifting ability, not that she could blame him for wanting to keep it a secret. If people knew he was a shape-shifter, it would not only ruin his image as an amazing magician, but it would garner a lot of unwelcome attention from other reporters and curiosity seekers that he would probably rather not have. On the other hand, if he wanted to stay out of the limelight, he had certainly chosen the wrong profession.

Still, a promise was a promise and she wouldn’t divulge what she had learned, but she hadn’t promised not to tell her father. She was splitting hairs, and she knew it, but she had to tell someone.

“So, you didn’t get an interview,” her father remarked. “What did you get?”

“More than I bargained for.”

“I’m listening.”

“This is just between you and me,” she said. “And totally off the record.”

He nodded. “All right.”

“He’s a shape-shifter.”

William Gentry leaned forward in his chair. “Did he tell you that?”

“He showed me.”

Leaning back, her father swore softly. “So,” he drawled thoughtfully, “that’s how he does it.”

“Well, it explains how he turns into a wolf. I still don’t know how he just disappears into thin air,” Savanah said, and then frowned. “Unless becoming invisible is part of shape-shifting.”

Her father frowned thoughtfully. “Could be,” he murmured. “Could be. There might be a moment between one form and the other when he’s invisible long enough for him to vanish.”

“Maybe. He said he’d like to see me again.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Savanah. In fact, I think it’s a terrible idea.”

“Why?”

“In the first place, we don’t know anything about him, and in the second place, he’s a shape-shifter, which means he’s not entirely human.” Her father shook his head. “I don’t like the idea of the two of you spending time together.”

Savanah shrugged. “He seems nice enough.”

“Yeah, well, they said Bundy was a nice guy, too.”

“Rane’s a magician, Dad, not a serial killer.” Savanah frowned inwardly. Not an hour ago, she had been scared half out of her mind, and now she was defending the very man who had frightened her out of ten years of her life.

“Rane? Is that his real name?”

She nodded. “Maybe he’ll give me that interview when we get to know each other better.”

“Maybe, but I still don’t like it.”

“You know, Dad, he’s not any more closemouthed than you are,” Savanah muttered. “You still haven’t told me about the story you’re working on.”