Part 18 (1/2)
”I insist.” Her smile warmed and warmed me. ”You intrigue me. You bluff your way in here, then admit your deception. You are different from most.”
”Exotic?”
”Challenging, Mr. . . .”
”Kies, Wolfgang Kies.”
”Accept, Mr. Kies. Anyone here can tell you that, as a hunter, I am relentless.”
”So I am in your sights?”
She eyed me very frankly and the Old One started a low growl in the back of my head. ”You are too imaginative to be a literalist, Mr. Kies. I find pursuit more thrilling than a kill, and my taste in men does not run to corpses.”
I caught the invitation in her voice, and the warning that whatever happened would be on her terms, and her terms alone. ”Seven, here?”
She took up my left hand and gave it a squeeze. ”Twenty-four hours, then.”
I nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek. As I walked away from the club, Albion became a ghost.
Learning who killed him had become immaterial as a reason for my willingness to meet Selene Reece the next night. She knew it, I knew it.
Wolf season was open.
IV.
Wolf season almost closed again because Lynn's great-aunt Sadie tried to get me into a captive breeding program. ”Oh, Wolfgang, you are such a gentleman. You two make a lovely couple. You'll have wonderful children-they'll be smart and handsome.”
Luckily Lynn fended off her aunt's comments, which left me time to deal with the Old One. For some reason he had joined forces with Sadie and spent most of the evening divided between complaining that my prime rib was too well done and praising Lynn.This is the b.i.t.c.h for you, Longtooth. Her eyes are bright, her ruddy coat
is long, and she is cunning. Your pups will be strong and have sharp teeth.
I was sure Lynn, who had once mentioned a desire to breast feed children, would love that last bit.
Fortunately, Sadie later started talking about the twenty-two cats who lived with her, which cooled the Old One's opinion of his ally. Even so, through the rest of the evening, he yipped encouragingly any time Lynn did anything he felt should make me proud.
The dreams I had enjoyed earlier in the day did not turn out to be literally prophetic, but they functioned perfectly in an allegorical sense. Lynn and I, after we dropped off her great-aunt, spent some time wandering through the market, laughing about what her aunt had said. As Lynn doesn't know about the Old One yet, I didn't tell her his comments, but I let my laughter batter him into grumbling retreat. That was good because we later retreated to my apartment and engaged in activities that would have had him yipping encouragement to Lynn on a nearly incessant basis.
Lynn woke me up early-the hour on the clock wasn't even close to double digits-then showered and headed off to work. She normally didn't spend the full evening with me because she shared a corporate suite with her folks. With Aunt Sadie using her room, the In-golds chose to believe Lynn's story that she would stay the night with a friend.
She asked if she'd see me later, but I told her Raven was coming back into town and I had something to do. Because we'd met in the course of Raven, Stealth, and I saving her from kidnappers, she has a vague idea of what I do. Given that I was planning to meet Selene later, I decided that not clarifying my plans was a good thing.
I crashed for another couple of hours, then got up close to noon. I decided that I needed a new suit for the night's adventure, so I dressed quickly and headed out. The Old One's grumbling started to give me a headache, but I managed to ignore him and it. Hopping into the Fenris, I headed downtown and started a walking tour of the haberdasheries.
After a few false starts I settled on a French-cut black suit with double-breasted blazer. The tailor who measured me for alterations asked if I would be ”heavy” or ”thick” while wearing it, but I shook my head.
Wearing a gun or a kevlar vest was not in order for dinner at one of the city's most elegant clubs. I picked out a tie and s.h.i.+rt to go with the suit, then had lunch and a beer at Kell's while the tailor worked on the alterations.
As night began to creep close, it brought with it a sense of impending doom. Normally I would have put it down to Stealth being in the vicinity, but I suspected that Lynn and Selene were at the root of it. As I thought things over, I could see myself speeding in the Fenris toward a cliff with a nasty drop-off. A cloud of dust obscured what was behind me, and I had the distinct feeling that it hid an equally devastating drop.
I knew I loved Lynn and I hoped she felt the same way about me. I had never fallen so hard for a woman, nor had I ever lasted as long with one. Most women decided I was trouble and gave me walking papers before things became serious. Getting rejected like thatdid hurt, but we usually managed to part on friendly terms, which helped take a lot of the sting out of it. Besides, plenty of other women were willing to offer me solace, so I learned to live within the myth that someday I'd find the woman meant for me.
Now that day had dawned and I found it more terrifying than most of the gun battles I'd lived through. In those instances the worst that could happen was that I could die. In this situation, I could end upliving.
I'd have responsibilities and obligations. While Lynn was more than worth all that, a huge chunk of me saw my window on freedom snapping shut.
Enter Selene. She and Lynn were of the same species and gender, but the similarities ended there.
Selene was very attractive and aggressive. Being pursued by someone so powerful and desirable was one h.e.l.l of an ego- steroid. I was staring at a future imprisoned with one woman while Selene Reece stood there handing me a ”Get Out of Jail Free” card.
The Pacific Northwest Hunting Club was downtown and not that far from the Fuchi corporate tower where Lynn lived, so I parked the Fenris in an alley about four blocks from the club. I set the anti-theft system at three chirps, figuring that the alley would keep down the number of injured bystanders.
Pocketing the remote control, I set off for the club.
The heavy-set gentleman who'd ushered me to the bar the night before was again at his station. He smiled when he saw me and beckoned me to follow him. ”This way, Mr. Kies. Ms. Reece has already been seated.”
Selene slipped out of the corner booth as I arrived. She wore a cerulean blue chemise with hair-thin straps under a darker blue crepe du chine jacket and matching pants. She offered me her hand and I kissed it, bowing slightly as I did so. She laughed and we both sat down.
The maitre'd offered me a menu, but I shook my head. ”I trust your judgment, Selene.”
She smiled and ordered a magnum of champagne and raw oysters for an appetizer. ”For the main course we will have the venison steaks with mushrooms and wild rice.”
”Very good, madam.”
As he withdrew, she looked at me carefully. ”I trust you like venison.”
I nodded. ”Get it yourself?”
”No. The last deer I shot was a year ago and I gave some of the meat to another member. He is repaying the favor.” Her smile grew. ”I didn't get the oysters myself either, but I trust you will enjoy them nonetheless.”
”I am sure I will.”
Our champagne arrived and she sat back to sip from her gla.s.s. ”You are even more fascinating than I thought, Wolfgang. Until I did some research I had no idea you were a.s.sociated with Richard Raven.
From what I learned, you've hunted enough to be a member here.”
I shrugged. ”I bag vermin, mostly. Doc keeps me around for amus.e.m.e.nt value. And my friends call me Wolf.”
”You are too modest, Wolf.” Her voice lingered over my name, and the prospect of her becoming an intimate friend made me smile. ”From what I understand, a number of the local street gangs consider you quite dangerous.”
”I gather, Selene, that various species of big game think of you in the same way.”
”Touche. We are a pair, it seems, evenly matched.”
I raised my gla.s.s in a salute. ”To being a perfect match.”
”Indeed.”
The rest of the evening went from there to become quite hot. We both drank more champagne than we should have, but we stopped at silly on our way to being drunk. We engaged in a war of innuendo and double-entendre that promised much for the night until the maitre'd came over and informed her that the Director was in his office.