Chapter 12

"What's wrong?" Aunt Annie asked the next day, coming to sit by me as I worked on polishing up a suit of armor.

"Nothing, just a long night," I told her, my voice and posture subdued. I'd stayed panther until I had to come into work this morning, pasting on a thin mask of indifference and calm to hide behind.

"All right," she sighed and stood up. "I'll be here when you're ready to talk."

I waited until she was almost gone before I spoke. "How do you deal with it? Being lonely?" I didn't look at her, just kept polishing, though I wasn't really focused on it at all. I've always had a hard time asking for advice on personal matters, the general behavior in the pack being you figure it out on your own.

"I have a few friends," she told me, coming back. "They help me when I need male company and I help them."

"Does it help?" I asked, applying a little more elbow grease to the stubborn metal, my reflection slowing becoming clearer.

"A little. Sometimes I wish I could find someone and start a family, before it's too late." She shook her head ruefully and snorted. "But that's not going to happen. I'm married to my work and I love what I do. I saw what happened to Gene and her husband and I'm not sure I could handle it."

"She kicked him to the curb when he kept insisting she wait on him hand and foot like his mistress," I said. "She refused to be less than what she is and that's how it should be."

"That's right, of course," Aunt Annie replied, taking a drink of her coffee. "Why do you ask?" She cocked her head, her eyes quizzical but not judgmental.

"It was just something I was thinking about last night," I told her quietly, not looking up.

"Did something happen between you and Talon?" she asked, hitting on the problem perfectly and I flinched.

"Nothing more than usual," I told her. Which was nothing. But the two kisses we'd shared had meant something, to me at least. What was bothering me was whether or not they'd meant anything to him and what it would do to me if they meant nothing at all.

"If I thought it would do any good, I'd clock him one," Aunt Gene muttered as she walked in and I stared at her like she was crazy, shocked out of my forlorn mood by her outburst. "Anyone can see you're crazy about him and have been for quite some time. And what does he do? Nothing. That boy needs some sense knocked into him."

I suddenly had a visual of chibi Aunts with giant mallets chasing a chibi Talon around, trying to bonk him on the head and snickered.

Laughing felt good and I let a smile slide onto my face. "Thank you," I told them, "I needed that. The stress of the past few days had finally caught up and-" I just shrugged.

"Tell us about the Vampire," Aunt Gene said. "You two obviously have a history."

"Yeah," I said, shutting down a little, "we'd dated while I was down in Florida," I told them. "He was a real piece of work."

"That's the ass that sent you back to us like that?" Aunt Annie asked, outrage flashing in her normally jovial eyes and I nodded.

"It's long done with; I don't care about that anymore. Now, he's just another asshole around town." Talon was right, talking about it did make it easier to dismiss as crap. I ignored the twinge thinking of him caused and moved on. "I do have some information for you to pass along." I filled them in on the events of the past few days, excluding only the personal bits and Talon's connection with the leader. "It was suggested to me that I pass along a warning to other communities that had some connection with Supernaturals, me or the pack." My tone was rather abrupt and clipped; I was still seething a little bit.

"They told you to sit it out, didn't they?" Aunt Annie asked wonderingly. "How stupid are they? You'd think they'd know better by now than to give you orders or tell you to play if safe. Men," she scoffed, shaking her head in disgust.

"So what are you going to do?" Aunt Gene asked smoothly, knowing me well.

"I'll wait it out, for the moment. Marcus said he'd call me if they found out anything; he, at least, isn't one to waste resources needlessly."

"We'll make some calls and pass the word," Aunt Annie assured me as they stood. "In the mean time, I'd suggest you go do something fun."

"Like what?" I asked, picking up the next piece of dull metal, still not paying attention to it.

"Go visit the clubs," Aunt Gene suggested mischievously, a gleam in her eye. "You deserve a night out that isn't bogged down with personal feelings or emotion pitfalls."

"For the first time in years, that sounds appealing," I told them, a small smile accompanying the thought, my mind already planning for the coming night as a tiny thread of anticipation settled in.

Murdoc was too small a town to have more than regular bars and a single human club, so I drove out of town; the larger the city, the better the clubs.

My destination this night was a place called The Pit. A mixed club, it catered to all-Demons, Weres, Shifters and Vamps; it had been one of my regular haunts before I quit the scene.

The doormen still remembered me, ushering me in with cat calls and welcomes. I stopped on the threshold and took a deep breath, the scents of sex, alcohol and cigarette smoke battling with the smells of the beings crowding the room. This was the one place where one's profession, social standing and wealth meant nothing. The only thing that mattered was your appeal.

"Long time, no see, Beautiful," the bartender said excitedly, passing a drink to a waiting customer.

"Too long, Drake, too long." Drake Lorrent was the owner who liked to keep his hand in. He was a Shifter like me, though his shape was a Komodo dragon.

"I must say, you look particularly delicious tonight." He passed me a drink and I took a sip; amaretto and Coke, my favorite.

"Great memory," I commented. I had to admit, I did look good. I had on a black bodice-style top and low slung, tight leather pants with two-inch platform boots for a little more height. My hair was half up, held out of my face with a couple of dragonfly pins, nothing else but my watch and stud earrings for jewelry.

"I never forget a beautiful woman," he said with a wink before turning to another customer.

I sat at the bar, sipping my drink and watching the crowd. Only petting was allowed on the main floor, the sex rooms being upstairs, and this rule was enforced. Arousal was thick, caressing my skin like a silken scarf as I watched the room, not sure what I wanted to do.

I accepted the first invitation to dance, moving onto the busy dance floor. It felt great, I felt so alive that I began to question my own absence. The song changed and so did my partner but I didn't care, moving my body to the beat was all that mattered.

Sweat ran and still I danced, hands moving on me provocatively, though I turned down all the invitations to party upstairs. I didn't want sex from these men; I just wanted to enjoy myself. When I finally did take a break, I moved back to the bar for another drink, feeling invigorated.

"Not bad, though not as good as you used to be," a man whispered in my ear.

"What do you want, Andras?" I asked him, trying to repress the shiver he'd caused. My voice was merely curious; I was enjoying myself and was damned determined not to let anything ruin it.

"How about a dance?" he asked, all charm dressed in tight jeans and a filmy shirt that suited his build and coloring perfectly.