Kate Daniels 02 - Magic Burns

you’re saying this, after all the bitc—yelling you did when I called you for the Spring Meet. I distinctly remember ‘never see that arrogant asshole again’ and ‘over my dead body.’”
    â€œSpring Meet was optional.” After working with the Pack to dispatch the Red Point Stalker, I was granted the Friend of the Pack status, which apparently came with such benefits as being invited to ceremonies. Hell, if I transgressed in their territory, the shapeshifters might hesitate a couple of seconds before they shredded me into Kate sushi.
    â€œMyong?” Derek’s voice gained a slightly disapproving edge.
    â€œDerek, yes or no?”
    â€œYes, of course,” he said smoothly. “I’ll let you know the time and place.”
    We made parting noises and I hung up.
    â€œWho was that?” Julie asked.
    â€œMy teenage werewolf sidekick. We’re going to see him tomorrow.”
    â€œYou know people in the Pack?”
    â€œYep. There is a spare toothbrush in the vanity…”
    â€œWhat’s the vanity?”
    â€œVanity is taking too much pride in your appearance. It’s also the cabinet in the bathroom which has a sink and a drawer. Where the toothbrush is.”
    Her face grew long. “Do I have to?”
    â€œYou bet.”

CHAPTER 9
    I PACKED JULIE INTO MY BED, GAVE HER MY BLANKET , and unrolled an old army sleeping bag on the floor. The magic had reclaimed the city. I had dimmed the feylanterns already, and the only light in the apartment came from the outside, a silvery glow from the light of the new moon mixing with the weak radiance of the bars affected by the magic of the defensive spell.
    Somewhere far away, a wolf howled. I could always tell a wolf from a stray dog—the lupine howl sent shivers down my spine. I thought of Curran. The scary thing was, I was kind of curious about seeing him tomorrow.
    What was wrong with me? It had to be hormones. A purely biological problem. I had an overload of hormones that clouded my normally rational thinking, causing me to have fanciful notions about gray-eyed homicidal maniacs…
    â€œI can sleep on the floor,” Julie offered in a sleep-tangled voice.
    I shrugged. “Thanks, but I’m used to it. When I was a kid, my dad made me sleep on the floor. He was afraid I’d have back problems like my mom.” I unzipped the bag and laid it as flat as I could. The wards and bars made my apartment into a little fortress, but you never knew. Somebody could teleport in and fill me full of bolts while I untangled my legs from the sleeping bag.
    â€œIs she nice?”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œYour mom?”
    I stopped, an afghan in my hands. Like a little knife, twisted into my chest. “I don’t know. She died when I was very young. My dad loved her so she must’ve been nice.”
    â€œSo both your mom and your dad are gone? You have no family left?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œKind of like me,” she said in a small voice.
    Poor kid. I came over and sat on the corner of the bed. “I know my mom’s dead, because my dad saw her die, and I know my dad’s dead because I was there when we buried him on a hill behind my house. I visit his grave all the time. But we don’t really know anything about your mom. I didn’t see her body anywhere. Did you see her body?”
    She shook her head and stuck her face into the pillow.
    â€œWell, there you go. No body, no proof she died. Maybe she somehow got teleported to a strange part of the city by that Bran idiot and now she’s walking home. Maybe she’s there right now. We’ll just have to keep looking.”
    Julie made a sad kittenlike noise.
    What do I do now?
    I scooped her up, blanket, pillow, and all, and scooted her close to me. She sniffled. “The People probably turned her into a vampire.”
    I petted her hair. “No, Julie. The People don’t just grab women off the street and make them into vampires. That’s illegal. If they started doing that, the cops and military would exterminate them in a blink. They have to account for each vampire and they only want specific people for it. Don’t worry, your mom isn’t a vampire.”
    â€œWhat if she is?”
    Then I’ll walk into the Casino and there will be hell to pay. “She isn’t. If you want, I’ll call the People tomorrow and check on it.”
    â€œWhat if they lie to