Tales Of The Sazi 05 - Moon's Fury by C.t. Adams . Cathy Clamp

without prejudicing their views beforehand. But that's beside the point here. Go on, Will.”
    Will was nodding as Lucas spoke. "Yep. Anyway, me and Lucas have lived for centuries. People can't grasp what it means to live decades or centuries longer. Mostly, our appearance is the issue. Dick Clark aside, being eighty and looking thirty sort of freaks people out. Take that a step further, and looking like thirty when you're a hundred and eighty will earn you pitchforks and torches on your doorstep. We Sazi seem to stick at about thirty for a really long time, then stick at forty for a really long time, and so on. Now, I just keep looking like me, so I'm one of the lucky ones. It really saves on the illusion magic to just gray my hair and move a little slower, before stepping into the life of a younger descendent—because, well…all us injuns look alike, ya know—" The wink was what got her and she finally laughed along with the others. But when he continued, she was forced to look closer at Lucas.
    "Now, the parabio here, he takes another route. His illusion magic is exceptional. He can even change his freaking scent. So he becomes an entirely new person.”
    So did that mean the person she was looking at, smelling, sensing across the table wasn't really Lucas Santiago? Or did it mean that Lucas Santiago wasn't real at all? She had no doubt she suddenly reeked of sweet, thick curiosity. Who was the Wolven chief? What did he look like in his "real life"?
    Adam cocked his head. "But how would that work? You can't just magically appear as a new person in today's world. There are birth certificates and passports, fingerprints and retinal scans, plus lots of other things that can identify us from birth. How in the world could you just up and become a new person ?”
    Lucas gave an enigmatic smile and raised his brows. "I've had lots of time to practice creating identities. There are loopholes in any system, and Wolven keeps up with all the new tricks. Real people with real lives die every day— in accidents and natural disasters, war and murder. Sometimes, miraculous recoveries aren't as miraculous as you think, and the person the police recovers isn't that person at all. But that's enough of that for now. I think it's time to get started. We'll start with introductions since it's fairly apparent not everybody knows everyone else—at least as well as they'd thought." The phrasing was significant and both Will and Adam shifted uncomfortably in their chairs.
    "Rather than have you each introduce yourselves, I'll tell you what I want you to know about one another. Then you can take it from there later.”
    He swept his gaze around the table. "Ladies first, I suppose. This is Carlotta Salinas, acting sheriff of Tedford County, and the alpha female of the Texas pack. The Salinas family is Tejano, meaning they homesteaded in Texas while it was still a Mexican holding. Her family sided with the Republic of Texas and fought against Santa Ana, and she and her pack still hunt on land that is part of an original Spanish land grant. Her strong points are speed and minor healing talents, and her negatives are a quick temper and a tendency to see only the trees, but not the forest.”
    Cara bit her tongue when he said that. A week ago, she probably would have objected—and strenuously, but Ten Bears had said the exact same thing last night.
    Have I really been so rigid and shortsighted?
    Santiago continued. "She's a Mexican red wolf in animal form. Regular red wolves are endangered and presumed extinct in Texas, so they keep to private hunting grounds and don't mingle much with other packs." He seemed to be addressing the comments about her and her family's history to Adam, but she wasn't certain why.
    "Both of you seem to know Will Kerchee, but before he was Will Kerchee, he was Sam Cloudsfall Kerchee, and before that, was…well, let's just say one of those closest to Chief Ten Bears of the Comanche. He became a Wolven agent when I met