As I put the Jeep in gear and we headed toward the freeway, Camil e talked Luke into meeting us at the house. Then she cal ed Iris to let her know we'd be there in a few and would she have a good lunch ready. But my mind wasn't on lunch or on the road. It was back in that basement apartment, mul ing over the bombshel Carter had dropped on us. I had a mil ion questions for him, but they'd have to wait.

CHAPTER 8

When we pul ed into the driveway, I noticed right away there was a strange car there. A four-door Volvo . . . it looked familiar, and yet it didn't. As I hustled Camil e up the stairs, helping her as she leaned against the railing, the sound of arguing came blaring from inside.

"What the hel ?" I opened the door to a blast of shouting from the living room. Iris hurried over, and I pushed Camil e toward her. "Get Camil e settled and comfy somewhere, please, and don't let her get out of her chair except to go to the bathroom, please. What the hel 's going on in there? Who's yel ing?"

Iris looked flustered. "I was about to break it up. Nerissa's going at it with . . ." She paused, staring at the wal beside me.

"You don't want to make eye contact. Al right, who is it? Tel me before I go in and find out myself. Forewarned is fore-armed." I wasn't in any mood for shouting fests, arguments, or whining.

"Andy Gambit." Iris blinked.

"Gambit? Gambit? That little weasel is here?" Camil e struggled to push past us toward the living room, but I barred the way.

"I'l take care of this. You--go sit in the rocking chair in the kitchen. Iris, please fix her some tea and strap her down if you have to. Then join me. I'l take care of whatever the heck is going on in there."

Without another word, I strode into the living room. Andy Gambit stood there, and I stared at his back for a moment. Yel ow journalist extraordinaire, purveyor of sleaze, slander, and innuendo, he was an unassuming little prick, making up for his lack of personality with ful -scale assault on anybody belonging to the Supe Community.

My guess is that we'd replaced the blacks, Hispanics, and Asians as his targets. He was also pushing Taggart Jones, a wing nut extremist going head-to-head with Nerissa for the council seat. Jones wanted to revoke al rights that had been extended to the Supe Community and the Fae, and--in his own words--"Drive them freaks right back where they belong. Under a rock."

And if Gambit was arguing with Nerissa, that could only mean . . .

"You fucking freaky cunt," Gambit said as I entered the room, his attention focused on Nerissa. "I knew I'd catch you up. Not only are you one of those damned Weres, you're also a lesbian and into necrophilia. Corpse slut. So, you the D'Artigo freak's blood whore? You might as wel admit it--"

I grabbed him by the shoulder and whirled him around. Sputtering, he fel back a couple of steps. Towering over him, I leaned down to stare him in the eyes.

"How dare you come into our home and assault one of our guests! You looking for trouble? I hope so, because, dude, you found it. You have ten seconds to hit the door before I use you as a battering ram. Get out before I cal the cops and have you arrested for trespassing."

He had more bal s than I gave him credit for. Before I realized what he was doing, he spit in my face. "Bitch. Freaks--al of you are freaks. You drive men wild and then use them to take over our society! I'l show you just who runs this society--men do. Earthborn men! "

Bingo. I glanced at his pants. The man's hard-on was flashing like a tent pole on opening day at the circus. Gambit wanted us, and he was afraid of his desire. I wiped my face and noticed that Nerissa had backed up, her eyes flashing. She wanted to shift, and so did I--into my panther self. And if that happened, we'd both end up ripping out his throat.

I decided to take the lesser of two evils route, and without another word, I dropped him like a used Kleenex. Smacked him dead on center in the nose.

He went down, and I couldn't help myself; I added a nice little kick to the groin.

"Delilah--" Nerissa looked like she was barely keeping it together.

"Go get Iris. And hand me the phone."

She obeyed, and I punched in Chase's number. He must have been at his desk, because he answered on the first ring. "Johnson here."

"Chase, gotta problem lying here in my living room."

"Uh-oh," his voice wavered. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Probably not. I just KO'd Andy Gambit. I want a restraining order forbidding him to come on our property--hold on," I said over his groans. Iris had just entered the room.

"Iris," I said, covering the phone. "Did you invite Andy in? Did Nerissa?"

She shook her head. "Are you insane? I'd no more let that ninny in than I would the Bonecrusher. The door was unlocked, and he entered the house without asking just moments before you got home. I was about to evict him when you and Camil e came through the door."

"Thanks. Would you make sure he doesn't go anywhere? I'm on the phone to the cops." I uncovered the receiver. "Chase, I also want to charge him with breaking and entering--or trespassing. Whatever you cal it when someone enters your home without asking. He barged in, uninvited, and picked a fight with Nerissa."

"I'l have one of the men out there on the double. Meanwhile, you do realize he can quite possibly file charges against you? Did he make any threats at al ? Anything you can use to say you feared for your safety?" The sound of his voice told me that he knew I hadn't been afraid.

But . . . maybe . . . "Yeah, wel , he cal ed me a bitch, a freak, and told me that he'd show me just who ran this society--earthborn men. I consider that a threat." I licked my lips. "He had a hard-on you couldn't miss . . ."

Chase let out a strangled cough. "Wonderful. Such a lovely example of the male gender. Makes me proud to be a man and al that rot. Okay, we'l see if we can pound it through his head that he'l come out worse for wear if he tries to take you to court. Tel me everything again. And don't leave anything out."

As I finished going over the timeline from when we'd entered the house, the doorbel rang, and Nerissa led in Officer Yugi, the Swedish empath. Iris was holding Andy Gambit at bay with her wand. He was stil on the floor, staring suspiciously at the Aqualine crystal. It hummed gently as Iris waved it in his face.

"Chase, I have to go. Yugi's here." I hung up and once again went over what had happened. Nerissa fil ed in the moments preceding, including the fact that Andy Gambit had pinched her butt. She wanted to press charges for assault, and I pressed them for Gambit's breaking and entering. I also told Yugi that I'd felt threatened in my own home by the pervert and that's why I'd punched him. Yugi hauled Gambit off in handcuffs, the reporter silent after demanding a lawyer.

As we closed the door behind them, I leaned against the wal , shaking my head. "That man has serious issues."

" That man is going to be responsible for his own death one of these days." Nerissa let out a little growl. "Somewhere, some Supe just isn't going to cotton to his aspersions and is going to take the dude out. And I won't be standing by his grave crying." She let out a little moan and dropped to the sofa.

"Just wait until the next issue of the Seattle Tattler comes out. I'l be splashed across the front: 'Lesbian Necrophiliac Werepuma--the Freaks'

Representative.' "

She said it with a drawn-out accent, and it sounded so funny, I let out a snort. "Ha! He wishes you'd be repping him, but in some other area. Did you see the erection the dude had going on there? Scary--and while he was angry. Even scarier."

Nerissa shuddered. "Yes, I saw it, and it turned my stomach. Why can't these perverts realize we aren't interested? That they don't turn us on with their drooling and slobbering and horny one-liners that need to be retired? We aren't masturbation bait, as much as they'd like to think so. I don't even want to know what his fantasies are, but ten to one, we're starring in his own private porn movie. Fucking jerk gives me the creeps. You mark my words, Andy Gambit wil end up raping somebody one day. Honestly, I don't want men like him thinking about me--in any way, shape, or form."

"Me either," I said softly. "The thought of someone like that fantasizing about me, or worse--touching me--makes me want to barf up a hairbal ."

"Yeah, it does at that." She shook her golden hair out of the ponytail she'd had it pul ed back in. It was tawnier than mine but gorgeous, like a lion's mane. "What happened to Camil e? Is she okay? She looks kind of grim."

"She got hit by big bad magic. Tel you about it over lunch--I'd like to wait until Luke gets here."

"Fine by me. That wil give me time to catch a shower. Menol y and I have two glorious days to spend together." Her eyes shone. "I hope you don't mind my staying at your house. I know it's ful ."

"We don't mind--we love having you here." I playful y snatched her hand and pointed to the ring. "I saw this last night. I made Menol y give it up. You guys are so sweet."

With a soft smile, Nerissa rubbed the band encircling her finger. "I guess it's okay to tel you since we're wearing these openly now. Last week we said the words for the first time."

I blinked. "Real y?"

She nodded. "Real y. We don't know where this wil lead. We're stil playing with men on the side. At least, guys who have it pul ed together and aren't like a certain wacked-out paparazzi tabloid freak we both know and hate. But our hearts belong to each other. Menol y's an amazing woman, and I've never felt so close to anyone in my life as I feel toward her. She knows me, inside and out." The look on her face backed up every word.

"Listen . . . let me tel her about Gambit. She's going to find out, but if you tel her, she'l go off half-cocked and wipe the dude off the face of the planet for what he said to you. And that would not be a good thing, as much as we'd like to see it happen."

"Sure," she said with a wistful look. "But I can dream, can't I?" With a laugh, she took off for the hal bath. Nerissa had spent enough time here. She knew where the towels were.

As I stood there, watching the back of the Amazon goddess as she headed down the hal , I could only hope that things worked out better for them than they had for Chase and me. A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Iris answered and led Luke in.

"Have you found out anything about Amber?" he asked, scanning the room quickly.

I shook my head. "We have some news, but now more questions. Iris, can you help Camil e get her ass in here?"

I motioned for Luke to join me in the living room. He slid into one of the upholstered armchairs and crossed his legs, tapping on the end table with his fingers. Nervous. Beneath the scruffy exterior, I could see the glimmer of trouble in his eyes. His long ponytail was neatly caught back, and he looked like he was trying to keep his composure.

Camil e slowly made her way to the sofa, looking exhausted. Iris brought her a blanket and then quickly vanished with the promise of tea and cookies.

Luke looked at Camil e for a moment, then sniffed the air. "What the hel happened to you? I smel something . . ." He stopped short and growled.

"Wolf Briar." I said the words as gently as I could, but he jerked his head up, his face a wash of fear.

"No . . . no. Where the hel did you run into Wolf Briar? I didn't know that crap could affect a non-Were. Unless there's something about Camil e that I don't know." He bit his lip and then let out a soft sigh as the words sunk in. "Not . . . Amber?"

"When we went to Amber's room, we found a trap. It exploded al over Camil e. Definitely Wolf Briar. Apparently it messes something fierce with magical energy like Camil e possesses. Damned stuff paralyzed her. We had to cal in the medics."

"And my sister?"

I could tel he was holding his breath, and I shook my head. "We don't know. She's gone. Her clothes are there, her purse and keys. But Amber's gone.

A strange magical signature was left behind in the room. We have no idea what's going on." I paused for a moment. "Do you think Rice would use Wolf Briar to capture her?"

Luke winced. "I'd like to say yes, because that scumbag wil use just about any dirty trick in the book . . . but Wolf Briar . . ." He shook his head. "I can't imagine a werewolf using it on another werewolf. They'd have to be a psychopath, and while Rice is a sadistic bastard . . ." Wiping his hands on his knees, he final y looked up at me. "I don't know, but I'm not inclined to think so."

"Is there a way to find out if Rice is in Arizona right now? If so, he can't be the one who actual y used it, though I suppose he could have hired somebody."

Luke frowned. "I don't have any connections down there anymore. Amber was the only one from the Pack that would talk to me. Except . . ." He frowned, then stood and paced over to the window. "I had one buddy. He's an expatriate from the Pack, too--but he stayed down in the desert. I haven't heard from him in ages, but I can try to contact him. He might be able to find out for us."

As he pul ed out his cel phone and began flipping through the contact list, it occurred to me that Luke was very much like us. He was a Windwalker, a nomad without roots. He'd been cast out. We lived between worlds. More and more it seemed like too many people had nothing to anchor themselves to except the family they could create from their friends.

"Hey, while you're looking for his number, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? We're going to be putting on a huge spread here, and you're more than welcome to join us. Your sister, too, once we find her." I wasn't about to put a damper on the offer by hinting that I thought Amber was dead.