Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville 5)

“No, he’s not.”

I didn’t like this. We were cornered against the bar, and she was staring him down like she wanted to take a piece out of him. Ben was tense, but I was ready to crawl out of my skin. Wolf wanted to get out of here. Brenda smelled dangerous.

“He should have finished her off when he had the chance.”

Before either of us could respo

nd—not that explaining the situation would have helped—Evan made a nod toward the bar and said to Brenda, “Let me buy you a drink.”

“I can buy my own damn drink. Club soda with lime!” she called to the bartender, who was in the middle of drawing a couple of beers. He glanced over in a panic.

It occurred to me that perhaps she was over-compensating.

“You know, it’s late,” I said, pointing a thumb toward the door. “I think I’m going to head out. It was nice meeting you all.”

“Late?” Brenda smirked. “That’s rich coming from one of you lot.”

“I’m atypical.” My smile was stiff. “Good night.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Ben said, mostly sounding casual, and fell into step with me.

“I imagine she does need someone watching her back around here,” Brenda said. Ben tossed her a fake salute.

I couldn’t get out of there fast enough, but I still had too much pride to run. Out of sight of the bar, walking down the hall to the elevators, Ben took my hand and squeezed.

“You okay?” he said.

“Yeah. I might have preferred someplace a little quieter. With fewer people.”

“Sorry. I just wanted to see who all was around. You can usually find everyone in the bar sooner or later.”

“And Brenda. What was that?”

He chuckled. “Just goes to show you don’t have to be a werewolf to be an alpha female.”

“Boy, you said it. I’m not even a human being to her, am I?” I said.

“Nope. That’s how all those guys justify hunting people like you. Er, like us.”

“And you used to be one of them.”

“Not really. Well. Maybe. I mostly just tagged along.”

Which was how he ended up as a werewolf in the first place. Just tagged along to watch Cormac’s back, and the monster flanked him. He was lucky to be alive. Or not, depending on your point of view.

Maybe he was thinking the same thing, because he had this sad look on his face, a distant gaze. Like he knew he wasn’t part of that world anymore. Maybe he even missed it.

“I still want to know about you and Brenda,” I said.

“Jealous?”

“Trick question, honey.”

“All I want to know is how she can sprint in four-inch heels without breaking her stride, but I wear track shoes, trip on a pebble, and tear a ligament that puts me in a knee brace for eight weeks.”

“That’s our mysterious universe for you. And what were you hunting at the time?”

“Cormac.”