sister, representing Brazil.”
That put me on firmer territory. “That’s great. I hope I get to meet her. Is she around?”
“I think she’s outside heckling the opposition. She’s as much an activist as ever.” He glanced at the front doors to the protests outside, then noticed my frown and lined brow. “You think this is going to turn serious?”
I shook away the concerned expression. “I don’t know. I hope not. If it does, it’s been coming for a long time.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” he said. “These days, you can’t have an international anything without someone protesting it. It’ll blow over.” His smile was probably meant to be blasé and comforting.
“Yeah,” I said, unconvinced.
“As happy as I am to have run into you, I’m on my way to a meeting with some of the other delegates.” He touched my arm and looked deep into my eyes, totally ignoring Ben.
“I’m sure I’ll see you around,” I said, waving a little.
“I very much look forward to that,” he said, running his gaze up and down my body before turning to saunter to the hallway and meeting rooms.
Oh, dear …
“Okay,” Ben said. He was still glaring, at me this time. “You want to explain that?”
Um, yeah … “You remember the Senate hearings in D.C.? You remember a couple of mornings when I showed up looking sleep-deprived and pleased with myself?” This had happened before Ben and I were married, before we’d hooked up. Before he’d been infected with lycanthropy, even. I had nothing to be guilty about.
“Yeah, I think I do,” he said.
I pointed the direction Luis had gone. “That was him.”
“Oh. I see. He smelled weird—what is he?”
“Jaguar.”
“Really? You’ve seen him? His jaguar, I mean.”
“Yup.”
“Sexy jaguar?”
“If you like that sort of thing,” I said.
“I think I want to kill him,” Ben said.
I furrowed my brow at him. “That’s your wolf talking.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“You can’t kill Luis. Your wolf can’t kill Luis.”
“Oh, I think we could. But we won’t. At least not right now.” His smile was a tad feral.
“Ben—”
“I’m just saying,” he said.
This was going to be a long week.
Chapter 5
W E ARRIVED in time for opening remarks by the director of the British Alternative Biologies Laboratory, the British version of the NIH’s Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology and co-sponsor of the conference. The main auditorium had room to seat over a thousand and was currently half filled. A few of the people scattered around were lycanthropes—I could almost spot them without smelling them, seated in the back and along the edges, near the doors and away from other groups of people. Close to escape routes, away from crowds. Ben and I did the same, sitting in back. Oddly enough, Wolf had reconciled to the situation. The smell of strange werewolves in someone else’s territory should have set me on edge, but there was so much strangeness here, so much sensory overload, getting worked up about it seemed pointless. We’d keep our eyes open, sure, but we weren’t going to panic. I settled into my seat a little more firmly and started to enjoy myself.
The sleekly modern room had reasonably comfortable padded folding seats that sloped downward to the stage, holding a podium where spotlights focused. A large screen toward the back of the stage meant we would probably be subjected to PowerPoint presentations. At the end of the week, I’d be giving my speech from this stage. I still didn’t know what I was going to talk about. I had some ideas. Maybe I could get the audience to ask me questions for an hour …
While waiting for opening remarks to start, we studied the schedule of events for the week. Within moments, my eyes blurred. I wanted to see it all, every single panel and lecture. I was pretty sure I’d done a show on every single panel and lecture topic at some point. This was going to give me enough material for the
That put me on firmer territory. “That’s great. I hope I get to meet her. Is she around?”
“I think she’s outside heckling the opposition. She’s as much an activist as ever.” He glanced at the front doors to the protests outside, then noticed my frown and lined brow. “You think this is going to turn serious?”
I shook away the concerned expression. “I don’t know. I hope not. If it does, it’s been coming for a long time.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” he said. “These days, you can’t have an international anything without someone protesting it. It’ll blow over.” His smile was probably meant to be blasé and comforting.
“Yeah,” I said, unconvinced.
“As happy as I am to have run into you, I’m on my way to a meeting with some of the other delegates.” He touched my arm and looked deep into my eyes, totally ignoring Ben.
“I’m sure I’ll see you around,” I said, waving a little.
“I very much look forward to that,” he said, running his gaze up and down my body before turning to saunter to the hallway and meeting rooms.
Oh, dear …
“Okay,” Ben said. He was still glaring, at me this time. “You want to explain that?”
Um, yeah … “You remember the Senate hearings in D.C.? You remember a couple of mornings when I showed up looking sleep-deprived and pleased with myself?” This had happened before Ben and I were married, before we’d hooked up. Before he’d been infected with lycanthropy, even. I had nothing to be guilty about.
“Yeah, I think I do,” he said.
I pointed the direction Luis had gone. “That was him.”
“Oh. I see. He smelled weird—what is he?”
“Jaguar.”
“Really? You’ve seen him? His jaguar, I mean.”
“Yup.”
“Sexy jaguar?”
“If you like that sort of thing,” I said.
“I think I want to kill him,” Ben said.
I furrowed my brow at him. “That’s your wolf talking.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“You can’t kill Luis. Your wolf can’t kill Luis.”
“Oh, I think we could. But we won’t. At least not right now.” His smile was a tad feral.
“Ben—”
“I’m just saying,” he said.
This was going to be a long week.
Chapter 5
W E ARRIVED in time for opening remarks by the director of the British Alternative Biologies Laboratory, the British version of the NIH’s Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology and co-sponsor of the conference. The main auditorium had room to seat over a thousand and was currently half filled. A few of the people scattered around were lycanthropes—I could almost spot them without smelling them, seated in the back and along the edges, near the doors and away from other groups of people. Close to escape routes, away from crowds. Ben and I did the same, sitting in back. Oddly enough, Wolf had reconciled to the situation. The smell of strange werewolves in someone else’s territory should have set me on edge, but there was so much strangeness here, so much sensory overload, getting worked up about it seemed pointless. We’d keep our eyes open, sure, but we weren’t going to panic. I settled into my seat a little more firmly and started to enjoy myself.
The sleekly modern room had reasonably comfortable padded folding seats that sloped downward to the stage, holding a podium where spotlights focused. A large screen toward the back of the stage meant we would probably be subjected to PowerPoint presentations. At the end of the week, I’d be giving my speech from this stage. I still didn’t know what I was going to talk about. I had some ideas. Maybe I could get the audience to ask me questions for an hour …
While waiting for opening remarks to start, we studied the schedule of events for the week. Within moments, my eyes blurred. I wanted to see it all, every single panel and lecture. I was pretty sure I’d done a show on every single panel and lecture topic at some point. This was going to give me enough material for the
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