Lover Beware

was taut with it. An old anger, she thought, but one that hadn’t lost any of its power over time. Over the castration? Yes, she decided. His people had been killed, imprisoned, chained, drugged, tattooed, but it was the castration that made him vibrate with suppressed rage.
    Had he been…
    No, that was stupid. According to the file on her desk, Rule Turner had two sons, by two different mothers. Neither of whom he’d bothered to marry.
    Even if he hadn’t been a lycanthrope, he would so not be her type. She nodded to the left. “My car is this way.”
    “Mine isn’t. I prefer to drive myself.”
    “Life is full of these little disappointments.” She started walking without waiting to see if he followed.
    After a bare second’s pause, he did. “Are you used to having your way, Detective, or simply testing my willingness to cooperate?”
    “I’m used to driving myself. California hasn’t allowed the kind of vigilantism you described for over three decades, you know.” And never castration.
    “Which is one reason my clan chose to settle here.”
    Lily knew about the Nokolai enclave in the mountains outside the city, of course. She’d gone there shortly after the first murder—and been turned away at the gate, politely but firmly. It was outside the city limits, so she lacked the authority to insist she be allowed inside. The lupi were a secretive people. Not without reason, given the persecutions of the past. But those persecutions hadn’t been entirely without reason, either.
    Before the change in the laws, the enclave had masqueraded as a religious commune. Most people knew differently now, but they didn’t realize that the land that made up the enclave was owned by the Nokolai chief personally. So was the other property Lily had found—a ranch in northern California, some choice L.A. real estate, and several condos here in San Diego.
    The Nokolai chief was a rich man. His son seemed to do pretty well for himself, too.
    She stopped at a plain white sedan that looked like a dozen others lined up beneath the low ceiling. He stood on the other side of the car, waiting for her to unlock it. Their eyes met. Her spine tingled. “There’s a bill due to come before the House this fall,” she said. “The Species Citizenship Bill. According to what I’ve read, you’re strongly in favor of it.”
    “Interested in politics, are you?”
    “The Supreme Court ruling already gives you citizenship. The Species Citizenship Bill won’t change that, but it will declare lupi and others of the Blood nonhuman.”
    “But entitled to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship whether we’re on two feet or four.” He studied her face a moment, then nodded as if he’d confirmed something. “You don’t approve of a law that would treat a beast as a person.”
    “I don’t understand why you’d want to be declared nonhuman!”
    He lifted those tilted eyebrows. “I am a lupus of Clan Nokolai. What else matters?”
    Arrogant bastard. Lily swung her door open and slid inside. She could well believe he was royal. She could also, all too easily, believe he was a predator.
    She let him in and started the engine. He slid in beside her and, after a second’s hesitation, reached for the seat belt.
    It occurred to her that a car was another small, enclosed space. She punched the buttons to let down the windows. “Hope you don’t mind,” she said casually. “I like fresh air.”
    “Not at all. I’m sure the air will grow fresher soon.”
    At the moment it smelled of oil, exhaust fumes, and hot concrete. Heat rose in her cheeks, but she didn’t think he’d notice. She was, quite literally, thick-skinned. Neither bruises nor blushes showed much. “Do you really think you’ll be able to sniff out the identity of the attacker?”
    “I don’t know. My senses aren’t as acute in this form. It’s worth trying.”
    “A less acute sense of smell would be a blessing at the morgue.” With sudden alarm, she added, “Unless you plan to, ah—”
    “I won’t Change. Aside from the discomfort, and the danger of doing so in these surroundings, it is not allowed. Not within the city.”
    “The Change is uncomfortable?”
    “It can be. We are tied to nature. Changing while surrounded by buildings, concrete, and steel instead of earth and sky, is…possible. But it exacts a price.”
    She thought about that as she pulled out into traffic. Had whoever Changed in order to kill done it in a park, or some other