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straightened and pressed her hands together, bowing her head slightly to Jen. She spoke in Athanate and followed it in English. “Honor to you, Jennifer kin-Farrell, and twice welcome.”
    “Kin?” Jen said, looking at me. I glared at Bian. I wanted to run this at my own pace, and here she was, steamrolling through it all.
    Bian looked blithely unconcerned, listening briefly on a phone held by her assistant and then scrawling something on one of his clipboards. She waved him to leave.
    “I was just getting to that,” I said. Bian’s grin was unnerving, but it was nothing to the pressure I felt from Jen’s look of inquiry. She must realize, even though I’d said Athanate are different than vampires…
    “The myth of the vampire is right in one aspect. We need Blood.”
    When she didn’t flinch, it felt like the steel strips that had been wound around my chest had unexpectedly loosened.
    “I mean, I will need Blood. No one is sure exactly when.” I watched as Jen dipped her head, her eyes steady. I let myself hope a little more. “And the types of Athanate I mentioned—the good guys, Panethus? We don’t just need Blood, we need emotion as well.”
    “She means love,” Bian said, topping up our coffee. “Panethus Athanate and their kin are bound by love.”
    I was watching Jen’s eyes. I saw every feature of her face with a hard-edged clarity. Her pupils grew and a tiny sigh escaped her. My heart kicked and I felt the now familiar looseness in my jaw. I clenched my teeth. Fangs had to come later, when she had a chance to get used to the idea, but my Athanate was purring at her reaction. Oh, yes.
    Jen smiled, as if she could sense what I was going through, although that was impossible of course. For the first time in this room, I started to relax and smile back.
    And the door opened again. It was Alex.
    Bian turned to him, repeating the gestures and the Athanate greeting. I tried to stop her but she was already giving the translation. “Honor to you also, Alexander kin-Farrell, and twice welcome.”
    Jen gasped as the implications sank in.
     

Chapter 5
     
    “Oh,” Bian said. “You didn’t get to that part yet. Sorry.”
    I could have strangled her, even if she had the grace to look concerned.
    The temperature in the room plummeted. Jen shifted away on the sofa and sat stiffly, not meeting my eyes. Alex looked sympathetic, but he realized there was nothing he could do that would make it any better at the moment.
    “Uh, right. Sorry for interrupting,” he said. “But a message came in from Larimer.” The alpha of the Denver pack. “He wants Amber and me at a meeting as soon as possible.”
    Bian sat back in her chair. “He might have the right to order you around, Alex, but not Amber. And you’re going to have to come to a decision about your primary allegiance sometime soon.”
    Alex shrugged it off. “This came in through the comms center here. Skylur passed it on as agreed. I’m not asking your permission, I’m just informing you as a courtesy.”
    Bian’s eyes narrowed. “And why the rush, little wolf?”
    “We’ll find out, but I guess it’ll be to do with the promise Amber made.”
    “What promise?” Bian said.
    “I don’t have authority to discuss—”
    “They have a problem with a rogue,” I interrupted Alex. I was sick of the secrecy and distrust between Were and Athanate. In my unique position, as part of both, it felt completely wrong to me. “I agreed to investigate the situation for them in return for the pack’s help with Jen’s situation.” Jen bit her lip and flushed slightly. I could see she didn’t like being the cause of this argument, however indirectly. I touched her hand briefly. “Worth the price,” I said quietly.
    Alex frowned and turned away.
    “Not only that,” I said, “but an FBI special team has taken an interest in the case. They think it’s animal killings, but the anomalies haven’t escaped them. If they dig until they find the Were, do you