Honey raised an eyebrow, and said coolly, Bodyguard for my Alphas mate. And, although I havent eaten lunch yet, I prefer cooked chicken to raw human fleshmuch as your words might tempt me.
Gary took in a deep breath and shook his head in apparent wonder. I thought there werent any female werewolves.
She showed him her teeth in what someone else might have mistaken for a smile. Ignorance is not unexpected.
Instead of being insulted, Gary looked delighted. He opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes focused just over Honeys shoulder.
I knew what he saw.
I growled. A low sound that didnt carry, but it caught Garys attention.
She is mine, I told him. You say one thing that hurts her, and I will see to it that you never get out of here. I didnt have that kind of power, but I meant it anyway. And he knew darn good and well what the one thing was that I was talking about.
The mask of affability dropped off his face, and he met my eyes with a blank face. I let him see just how serious I was. If he told Honey that her dead mates ghost was following her around, Id make sure he regretted it for the rest of his life.
The ghost that tagged along behind Honey wherever she went wasnt really Peter, anyway, not now. Ghosts were only the remnant of the person left behind, bits and pieces of people that sometimes thought they were still alive.
Something a vampire named Frost had done to Peter had kept Honeys mate here for longer than usual, kept him soultied to earth when his body was dead. When Id managed to release Peter and the others the vampire had harmed, Peter had lingered for a day and night before moving on to where souls go when the body is dead. But hed left behind a lingering, sadeyed ghost.
It broke my heart a little when I saw his shade, and Id be damned before Honey felt the same way.
The other walkers Id met hadnt been able to see ghosts the way I could. It made sense that Gary Laughingdog, who was a coyote walker like me, would be able to see them as well. If Id thought about it, I would have brought someone else here. Closed down the shop and taken Tad if Id had to.
He cant hurt me, Honey told me. There was something odd in her voice, but I was too focused on the coyote on the other side of the table to decipher what it was.
Wont hurt you, said Gary Laughingdog, his voice softer than it had been; his eyes, which hadnt left mine, were unfocused and a little dreamy. Softer than Id seen them up to this moment. Not on purpose. But theres a change coming for you. I got a feel for change, and youll have a big one somewhere near you soon. He half closed his eyes, and I felt a surge of magic that left my nose tingling and my eyes wateringit didnt feel like fae magic, or witch or anything else Id sensed before. Garys voice lowered an octave. Got some choices to make, sweet Honey. Choices.
I hadnt told him Honeys name. No one knew Id brought her with me. Her coloring was honeytoned, though. Maybe it had just been an unexpectedly accurate guess. Honey wasnt exactly an unusual endearment.
I sneezed, and Garys eyes focused on me. He gave me a small smile, his eyes warm.
So, little sister, he said to me. What can I do for you?
Why the change in attitude? I asked suspiciously.
Word came only that coyote walker needs to talk to me, he said with a shrug. Usually my brother and sister walkers are con artists, thieves, and gamblers. He tilted his head toward Honey. Not too concerned with saving anyones hide except their own.
Honey wiggled in her seat in an unHoneylike fidget.
What? I said.
Mercy cares, Honey said in that same funny voice shed used before.
She tapped a finger on the table. She always cares. This time it sounded more normal.
I saw it, Laughingdog said. And thats why I am suddenly a lot more interested in being helpful than I was ten minutes ago. What do you need, child?
Child? I curled my lip, because letting a wolf get away with patronizing me would have been dangerous. A coyote was likely to be more annoying than dangerous, but in either case, it was better to stop it before it became a habit. Not that I expected to spend a lot of time with Gary Laughingdog; however, better safe than sorry was my phrase of the day.
He raised a hand in surrender. Im a lot older than I look, older by a damn sight than you and your bodyguard, too. Something I can tell because of this thricedammed useless foresight gift He left me with when I was about your age. He nodded at Honey. Said Hed come by and take it back, but He hasnt.
Beside me, Honey went still. Peter had been pretty old for a werewolf, at least two centuries. I didnt know how old Honey wasand for the moment I didnt care.
Werewolves dont age physically. Id always assumed that, like my human mother, Id have a normal life span, and Adam could live to be as old as well, as Bran Cornick, the Marrok, who ruled the North American werewolves and sometimes talked casually about things that happened in the Middle Ages. Through Hank and his brother, I had met a few other walkers, and they seemed to come in all varieties of young and old. I had known couples, growing up, where the werewolf looked to be in his twenties, and his wife was dying of old age. I didnt want to do that to my mate. I worried about Adam because he didnt talk about it at all, and Adam was all about discussing problems he thought had solutions.