Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

wouldn’t be right for me to call him behind Samuel’s back. I hesitated, then remembered that Samuel had called Zee to check up on me.
    I picked up the phone and made the long-distance call to Montana.
    â€œYes?”
    Unless he wanted it to, Bran’s voice didn’t sound like it belonged to the most powerful werewolf in North America. It sounded like it belonged to a nice young man. Bran was deceptive that way, all nice and polite. The act fooled a lot of wolves into stupidity. Me, I knew what the act hid.
    â€œIt’s me,” I said. “About Samuel.”
    He waited.
    I started to say something and then guilt stopped my tongue. I knew darned well that what Samuel told me had been in confidence.
    â€œMercedes.” This time Bran didn’t sound like a nice young man.
    â€œHe had a little trouble last night,” I said finally. “Do you know what happened to him in Texas?”
    â€œHe won’t talk about Texas.”
    I drummed my fingers against my kitchen counter and then stopped when it reminded me of the vampire’s mistress.
    â€œYou need to ask him about Texas,” I said. Bran didn’t ask people about the past as a rule. It had something to do with being very old, but more to do with being wolf. Wolves are very centered in the here and now.
    â€œIs he all right?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œAre there any bodies?” he said dryly.
    â€œNo. Nothing like that. I shouldn’t have called.”
    â€œSamuel is my son,” Bran said softly. “You did right to call. Mercy, living in a town with a sorcerer isn’t going to make him the safest roommate if something is upsetting him. You might consider moving in with Adam until they find the demon-rider.”
    â€œDemon-rider?” I asked, though I was thinking about what he’d said.
    â€œSorcerer, as opposed to demon-ridden, as the possessed are. Though there’s not much to choose between them, except that the demon-ridden are easier to spot. They’re in the middle of the carnage instead of on the sidelines.”
    â€œYou mean sorcerers attract violence?” I asked. I should have called Bran for information about the sorcerer earlier.
    â€œDoes sugar water attract hornets? Violence, blood and evil of all kinds. Do you think I had Adam send his wolves out to help the vampires with this hunt because I like vampires?” Actually, I had thought Warren and Ben volunteered. “If there’s a sorcerer about, all the wolves will have to hold tight to their control. So don’t go around pushing buttons, honey. Especially with the younger wolves. You’ll get hurt—or killed.”
    He’d been warning me about “pushing buttons” for as long as I could remember. I don’t know why. I’m not stupid. I’m always careful when I torment werewolves…then I remembered Samuel’s eyes last night.
    â€œI won’t,” I promised, meaning it.
    But then he said, “Good girl,” and hung up.
    As if he’d never doubted I’d do as he told me. Bran seldom had to worry about people not following his orders—except for me. I guess he’d forgotten about that.
    It was a good thing there weren’t any werewolves around to annoy. I’d like to think I was grown-up enough not to pick a fight just because Bran told me not to, but, still…I wouldn’t have poked at Samuel, not in his current state, but it was probably a good thing Ben wasn’t around.
    Â 
    Although it was not yet eight in the morning, there was a car waiting for me in the parking lot, a sky blue Miata convertible. Even after our talk last night, Adam had sent Honey out to babysit me again.
    Sometimes you wonder what gets into parents when they name their children. I knew a girl named Helga who grew up to be five feet tall and weighed 95 pounds. Sometimes, though, sometimes, parents get it right.
    Honey had waves of shimmering golden brown hair that fell over her shoulders to her hips. Her face was all soft curves and pouty lips, the kind of face you’d expect to see in a professional cheerleading outfit, though I’ve never seen Honey wear anything that wasn’t classy.
    â€œI’ve been waiting here for an hour and a half,” she said, sounding miffed as she got out of her car. Today she was wearing creamy linen shorts that would show every smudge of dirt—if she irritated me too much today, I could