Only Human

The Nokolai prince had been mixing and mingling with normal humans quite regularly at events fromSan DiegotoHollywoodtoWashington,D.C., for the last few years. He knew perfectly well how to behave— when he wanted to. "And here I thought you were hitting on me."
    'That, too, of course. Will you go out with me tonight?"
    Her lips twitched before she could stop them. Maybe his existence wasn't illegal anymore, but that smile ought to be. The way it spread over his face was a crime—so slow and intimate, as if smiling were a sensual indulgence to be savored, not rushed....
    The elevator finally arrived. Three people got off. She stepped in quickly.
    He followed. "What impersonal questions did you want to ask?"
    "I know lupi have a toxic reaction to silver, because the X-Squads used to use rounds made from a silver alloy." A very expensive alloy. She had a round in her clip right now, having requisitioned it and two more after the first killing. "What about garlic or crosses?"
    "No and no. Old wives' tales." He pushed the button for the basement level, which held the parking garage. The elevator doors shut.
    "I thought it might be. I'm afraid a lot of what I know is the sort of garbage spread by movies like Witch Hunt”
    "At least you know it's garbage."
    He was tense. She wasn't sure why she was convinced of that—he stood easily, spoke smoothly, and that remarkable face was still, unrevealing. "I've also heard that lupi are claustrophobic."
    "It's hardly a phobia. We simply prefer open places."
    Not small, enclosed spaces. Like an elevator. Abruptly she pushed the button for the next floor down, and the elevator slowed.
    "Why did you do that?" he snapped.
    "There's no reason for you to be uncomfortable. We can take the stairs."
    The elevator halted smoothly and the doors opened. Two people were waiting to get on. The woman was a civilian, fortyish and plump—a clerk or secretary, from the look of her.
    Lily knew the man slightly, a Vice officer named Burns. She nodded at him.
    He didn't notice. He was staring at Turner. If he'd been a dog, his hackles would have been raised. The woman was staring, too. But the expression on her face was entirely different.
    The tableau lasted only a second before she and Turner got off, the other two got on, and the elevator doors closed. She glanced at him as they started down the hall, wondering if he'd noticed the woman's reaction. She had to look up, of course. He was too blasted tall.
    He was looking straight at her, those rainy-sky eyes amused and knowing.
    "You tend to evoke a reaction from people, don't you?"
    "Usually. Why don't we start my expert consultation with listening? You can tell me what you think you know about lupi and I'll correct any misinformation."
    "Good enough." The door to the stairwell was metal with the usual red Exit sign over it. She reached for it.
    Somehow he was there before her, opening the door and holding it for her. He hadn't seemed to rush, yet he'd moved very quickly. Lily stopped, studying him. He looked elegant and not at all civilized in spite of his trendy black clothing. "Legend says lupi are fast. Really fast."
    He just smiled.
    Something shivered down her spine. She got her feet moving and didn't speak again until they both were on the stairs, headed down. "I know the legal history best. Until 1930, the only federal law related to lupi was the one making it a crime not to report someone, ah, afflicted with lycanthropy. State laws varied widely. Most of them treated lupi as humans who had a dangerous disease. Some called for them to be killed outright. Then Dr. Abraham Geddes proved that lycanthropy could not be transmitted, as had previously been believed."
    "The Change isn't catching," he agreed mildly.
    "Right. It's an inherited condition. Folklore and experts alike agree that the trait is sex-linked. There are no female lupi."
    "True."
    "I guess the experts can't be wrong about everything. Anyway, soon after that came Carr v. the State ofTexas. The
    Supreme Court's ruling effectively made lupi legally human, but with a congenital disease, one that, well..."
    "Makes us mad. Incurably insane. We were locked up, if discovered. Usually in chains."
    "Yes. Well, that was some time ago. There continued to be a good deal of debate about whether lupi were human. Some of those of the Blood are obviously nonhuman, of course."
    "Gremlins, brownies, the odd pooka or banshee."
    "Pookas? I thought they were—never mind." She shook her head.