Once Bitten

She dropped her gaze when she saw me pointing to her, and her hand moved to cover a raw scrape decorating her chin.

"Tell him,” I said, marching up to her. “Tell him about the clanless."

Her eyes remained affixed to her rain boots. “I saw a shifter. I don't know what a clanless is."

She didn't ask questions, or magic her scroll to appear. Had she hit her head when her barrier exploded?

I paced between Bobby and Gil. “I saw the scars. He was a clanless. I don't know why he didn't leave a trail unless..."

He had a gift. I hadn't seen a necklace, but he was wearing winter gear. It could have been covered. If he had a talent which allowed him to manipulate his scent, it could explain why his scent had come from the wrong direction. Why it was missing now. The ground suddenly felt more solid under my tennis shoes. A gift like that could explain a lot.

I stopped. “Picture a clanless wandering stray in the human world who can manipulate his scent. Now put him in a city that has a rogue who's eluding a dozen well-trained hunters. Is anything clicking for anyone else?” I looked between my companions.

Gil gnawed at her bottom lip, but finally looked up. “That doesn't prove—"

"It's a hell of a lot better explanation than you thinking I created the rogue.” I was yelling. I didn't care. “If the clanless tagged some human, or if the clanless is an insane murderer himself, there would be bodies aplenty. Bodies that aren't my fault."

Nathanial moved to my side and laid a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off.

Gil tugged on her sleeves. “Your fault or not, you made your deal with the judge already. You agreed to bring him the rogue. If that means we find this clanless, fine. But you still have to capture the rogue. A good theory won't stay the judge's hand if you don't complete your end of the bargain."

And it always came back to that. I sighed, sagging. The clanless might have turned rogue, or tagged the rogue, but it wasn't his scent I'd caught at Lorna's or Phyllis's house. There was a city-shifter somewhere in Haven, and he was definitely rogue. “We should check that last apartment."

"Nathanial and I already did.” Bobby winced as he spoke, which meant he didn't have good news. “Clean."

Nathanial nodded. “I suggest we meet with your bookstore friend before she gives up on our arrival."

I wanted to argue, to track down the clanless. But I couldn't hunt the clanless and the rogue city-shifter, not with only a night and a half left before the judge executed me, Nathanial and Bobby. Begrudgingly, I trudged behind Nathanial as he led us to the subway.

* * * *

We were nearly an hour late, and there was no telling if Candice and her friend were still inside, so I was more than a little irritated at the delay caused by the large bouncer barring my way.

He held out a meaty hand. “ID, please."

"I don't have it on me,” I said between gritted teeth.

The bouncer crossed his arms over his chest, his looming bulk blocking the bar entrance. He hadn't asked anyone else for an ID, letting them by with a slight nod, but the oversized gorilla had stepped right into my path.

Nathanial turned, frowning at the bouncer's back. “She is of age."

The bouncer grunted. “She looks nineteen to me, and she's not coming in unless she has some ID to prove otherwise."

"Uh, Gil...” I said.

She tugged at her sleeves without looking up. She hadn't said two words since we'd left the alley.

"A little help here?” I stage-whispered.

The bouncer turned to look at her.

She bit her lip, then lifted her hand like she would hand him something. The bouncer held his palm out, and she placed two fingers against his skin. A soft zing of magic touched the air.

"She's over twenty one. Let us pass, please."

Her whispered words were so quiet, I was afraid he hadn't heard. But, he nodded and sat down in his stool. I hurried up the steps before he could change his mind.

The inside of the bar was smaller than I'd anticipated and far more packed. A fog of smoke hung in the air so thick the dim lamps were surrounded by small halos of reflected light. Gil waved a hand in front of her face like the action would somehow create a patch of clean air. Bobby squinted and coughed. Nathanial didn't seem to mind the conditions, but then again, he'd said vampire's lungs were vestigial, so maybe the smoke didn't bother him. Except for the smell, it didn't bother me.

People clustered around the polished oak bar, leaving only standing room available. Three bartenders scurried back and forth, filling pint glasses and tumblers and then passing them to eager hands. I tried to peer through the crowd for a familiar face, but snippets of conversation distracted me. It took concentration to zone out the individual conversations and reduce the sound of the crowd to a dull roar. A glance at Bobby confirmed he was having equal difficulty. Probably more than me, because his senses didn't wane with every passing hour as mine did.

"Do you see the girl we're supposed to be meeting?” Gil asked, still trying to fan away the smoke.

Nathanial shook his head and led us along the outskirts of the crowd. I angled my shoulders to brush the wall to avoid running into the people we passed. Once beyond the crowd, the bar opened into a larger room dotted with several black, lacquered tables. The smoke hung a little less heavily in the larger area, and the wall buffered a lot of the noise from the patrons in the front half of the bar.

Candice stood up on the rungs of her chair and waved as we entered. She'd changed since work and now wore a short, pleated skirt and a low-cut sweater. Because of the clingy knit of the sweater, I was forced to notice she was rather amply endowed for someone of her slight build.

Jealous much, me? Nah, but it didn't seem fair. And speaking of fair, how had she gotten in? She couldn't have been more than sixteen.

"I was starting to worry,” she said, fishing for the cherry at the bottom of her drink. “Have trouble finding the place?"

"It took longer than expected,” Nathanial said, flashing her a smile of perfectly straight and flat—no fangs on him at the moment—teeth.

"Oh, sorry ‘bout that. This is my friend Jace. He's a DJ.” She nodded to the man on her right.

Jace was a skinny guy with disheveled blond hair and a straggly goatee. He'd been drumming his thumbs on the table, but he stopped long enough to extend his hand toward me. “You must be Kita. Candi says you have a wicked dye job. You gonna let down your hair so I can see?"

I shook my head, ignoring his hand, and Nathanial hurriedly introduced himself.

Jace tried to get Nathanial into a strange handshake that included a lot of slapping and snapped fingers. After a moment, he pulled his hand back and laughed. “It's okay man, you're just not smooth. So you guys wanted to talk to me about spinning?"

"Jace ... let them get their drinks first,” Candice chided.

"I don't think we'll be staying that long,” Gil said.

Candice's attention turned to Gil for the first time, and her smile faded a notch. “You brought an extra friend."

"Candice, meet Gil,” I said. I could do polite.

Sort of.

Okay, maybe not.

The table was a seat short and Bobby and Gil had already each claimed one. That left only one other chair, and Nathanial stood closest to it. Great. I glanced around, looking for one I could steal from another table. Nathanial pulled out the chair and gestured for me to sit. Then he walked a couple tables over and returned with another chair, before scooting in next to Candice.

She turned toward him, and her cleavage puffed up a little more.

"How old are you?” I asked, no longer able to keep the question silent

Candice blushed, her eyes darting from Bobby to Nathanial. “I'll be eighteen next month."

"The bouncer..."

She shot a hand into her clutch purse and pulled out a small, plastic ID card. “Best fifty bucks I ever spent.” She tucked it back in its place. “So you guys should stay for at least one drink. I did drag Jace out here just for you."

I was about to protest, but Nathanial held up a hand.

"As the lady wishes, one drink,” he said amiably.

Candice managed to spread her smile even wider and giggled. Okay, if she did that again, I was slapping both her and Nathanial.

"So, are there any parties in the area tonight?” I asked, trying to sound pleasant.

Everyone turned to look at me. Apparently, I'd failed.

Nathanial cleared his throat. “Kita, come with me to get the drinks.” It wasn't a request. As soon as we were away from the table he pulled me close to the wall. “You are daughter to the Torin, surely you have played politics before?"

"Hello. Stray, remember? I ran away from that game. Sucked at it before that."

"Of course.” He smiled, clearly amused, which so wasn't my intention. He leaned closer, his voice dropping conspiratorially low, as if he were sharing a secret. “I am a bit rusty, but here is the rule I remember. If you need to use someone for information, make them feel like they will receive something in return, or they will not help you in the future. So, be nice when we get back.” He tugged my hat off gently, his fingers trailing over my cheek with the movement. “And take off your coat."

I could feel heat rushing to fill the path his fingers had taken. Snatching my hat from him, I focused on shoving it in my pocket. “Why should I lose the coat?"

"Look around. Everyone else has, so it must be warm in here. You have to pay attention to the humans around you. Take your cues from them. Now, wait here while I get the drinks.” He pushed away from the wall and wove his way between the people at the bar.

I watched him disappear into the mass, and then looked around the room. It didn't feel any warmer or cooler than outside, but coats and jackets had been thrown over the backs of chairs. I shrugged out of my coat reluctantly. It would take some getting used to for me to look to others to see what the temperature was. With a sigh, I moved to follow Nathanial to the front of the bar.