Read Lover Beware 04 - Only Human for Free Online

a formal challenge."
    That left her with nothing whatsoever to say.
    His mouth crooked up on one side, but there was no smile in his eyes. "Think about it. The Lupois rules for life. If anyone disagrees with his decisions, they have two alternatives.
    They can try to change his mind. Or they can kill him."
    Slowly the ramifications sank in. "When you say you support his authority, does that mean you're a sort of bodyguard?
    Or are you more like his muscle?"
    "Both, perhaps, in the sense that the army is the 'muscle'

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    of the president. We are not a passive people, but we have great respect for honor and custom. Any member of the clan may challenge the Lupois."
    "What does this challenge consist of?"
    "Battle. In wolf form."
    A sick certainty grew in the pit of her stomach. "A trial by combat, you mean. Your father is over sixty. He couldn't defend himself against a young opponent. You do that for him.
    You answer any formal challenges to his authority."
    He didn't answer, just looked at her gravely the way an adult might watch a child struggling to understand some complicated matter.
    She did not like being patronized. She didn't much care for the implications, either. "How is the winner determined in one of these battles?"
    "It varies, depending on the nature of the challenge and the will of the Lupois. In a serious challenge to the Lupois's authority, the winner is the one still alive at the end. Don't look so shocked, Detective. It's only illegal to kill one of us when we're on two feet, after all."

    C hapt e r 5
    THE SUN HAD set, but the sky still flew crimson and purple flags in the west. A boy who should have been inside at this hour whizzed by on his skateboard. Lily's breath heaved in her chest as she neared the outdoor stairs to her apartment.
    Sweat trickled down her temples and stung her eyes. Worf s claws clicked dully on the concrete beside her. His big head drooped, but he was panting happily.
    Lily's dog was undoubtedly a good deal more satisfied with their run than she was.
    It had been four days since the last killing. She knew little more now than she had when she had looked down at the ripped throat of the first victim, a young man whose only crime seemed to be that he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    There was nothing to link the two victims other than the manner of their deaths. She'd found no hard evidence, and only two possible witnesses. An old man and a teenage girl both spoke of seeing a tall, well-dressed man—an Anglo—
    near the park where Fuentes was killed. The timing fit, and the man's clothes, bearing, and race had made him stand out in an area mostly Hispanic. Neither witness had gotten a clear Only Human
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    look at his face, but they thought he was smooth-shaven, neither especially old nor very young.
    When they reached the iron stairs Worf stopped, whimpered, and looked up at her with pathetic eyes. "Forget it," she told him. "I'm not lugging seventy pounds of lazy up those stairs."
    His tail waved twice hopefully. Her lips twitched. Worf was a peculiar-looking fellow. His body looked like a barrel set on stubby legs, his ears drooped along with his jowls, and his kinky fur was the color of mud. Lily's vet thought the dog might be a mixture of Labrador, basset, and poodle. She'd found him huddled in the alley, looking pathetic and half-starved, about six months ago. He was scared of cats and he hated stairs.
    "Forget it," she said again, and started up the stairs. Worf heaved a huge canine sigh and followed. They were near the top when she heard the phone ringing inside her apartment.
    It might be Rule.
    She cursed herself even as she scrambled up the last steps, nearly tripping over Worf, who decided they were racing and tried to get to the door first. She wasn't supposed to want the man to call again, dammit. But whoever was calling, it wasn't police business—Dispatch would use her beeper.
    And so far Rule had called every day, discussing the case and