Asil stood at ease and listened, unrepentantly, to the conversation taking place twenty feet away.
“I told you not to go,” Meg all but wailed. “I told you it was dangerous.”
“It’s fine,” Kelly said, sounding puzzled. “He’s been pretty cool about it, even if he’s not gay. He didn’t like being set up by Trace—but said the best way out was to not give Trace what he wanted. We came here, we’ll party, and then he’ll go on his way.”
He sounded a little wistful when he spoke that last sentence.
“Look,” she said in a whisper so intense Asil was pretty sure he’d have heard her even if he weren’t a werewolf. “My uncleTag called me tonight. I’ve been trying and trying to get you to pick up your phone.”
Tag.
“I knew I’d seen that hair before,” said Asil to himself, not at all perturbed.
“Your uncle the werewolf,” Kelly said. “You’re going to tell me that he—that my date—is a werewolf.”
Ah, Asil had wondered if that exchange at the front door had been enough of a hint for the clever young man to connect some dots. From Kelly’s lack of surprise, Asil had been right.
“Yes,” she said intensely.
“Well,” said Kelly. “That’s a thing, isn’t it.”
“He’s dangerous, Kelly.”
Kelly gave half a laugh. “He certainly could be—and I thought that before I knew he was a werewolf. When I walked into the restaurant and saw him sitting as though he was a Saracen warlord, I thought I was dead meat. But he listened to my explanation and fed me.” Then he gave a choked laugh. “He told Andy, who is manning the door right now, that he was a werewolf. I wonder what Andy would have done if he knew Asil was serious.”
“Kelly, pay attention.”
“I am,” he said patiently. “I don’t think Asil being a werewolf changes anything. We are going to dance until the ball is over, and then we’ll both return to our lives.”
“You don’t understand,” she said flatly. “I was pretty upset when I heard what Trace did to you. When Uncle Tag called me a few days ago, I told him about it. He called me tonight to tell me that he knew the guy they set you up with. Because someone decided that this guy needed to get out more—and to tease him, they signed him up on a whole bunch of dating sites. Awerewolf. They signed a werewolf up on a vampire dating site because they thought it was funny. You were apparently the only candidate within a five-hundred-mile radius. They did all the initial emailing and then presented it to him as a fait accompli.”
“Ithoughthe was too good-looking to be using a dating site,” Kelly muttered.
“You aren’t getting it,” she said. “Look, you’ve met my uncle, right? You think on this. My uncle considers Asil very dangerous. My uncle isafraidof Asil.”
Meg’s Uncle Tag was a Gaelic berserker who stood well over six feet and was built exactly as anyone would imagine a berserker would be built. Asil’s physique was that of a swordsman—not that these modern children knew what one of those looked like. Like a dancer, maybe. A gymnast.
Asil saw in Kelly’s face the emotions of one who imagined what kind of fighter Asil must be to make someone like Tag fear him.Yes, Asil thought with satisfaction,I am beautiful and deadly.
“Right now, you are in danger,” Meg said.
Asil started to work his way over to them. Pleased as he was that Kelly, at last, appreciated Asil properly, Asil still needed Kelly not to run “screaming into the night” and to stick around for another half hour—at least.
“Really,reallyat risk of death,” Meg continued in a furious whisper. “No one screws with him, because Asil is crazy. Uncle Tag told me to tell you to be very polite and to keep your eyes lowered—and whatever you do, excuse yourself as quickly as possible.”
Kelly laughed, glanced up, and saw Asil. The boy stoppedlaughing but continued to look amused. Asil contemplated being offended.
Kelly saw the expression on Asil’s face and his amused smile deepened. He put his free arm around Meg and turned her so she could see Asil.
“You have to admit it’s funny,” Kelly said to both of them. “A werewolf was set up on a date with a girl pretending to be a vampire—who was actually a guy pretending to be a vampire. Andbothof us were set up—by different people.”
“Coincidence, indeed.” Asil was happier when both of them started at his silkily voiced observation and Kelly’s wide grin disappeared. He directed his question to Meg. “Are you sure that your Uncle Tag didn’t have anything to do with this? Interesting that he knows us both, don’t you think?”
“It wasn’t Uncle Tag,” she squeaked. She looked at Asil, then jerked her gaze to the floor. “Not him. I told him a friend of mine had been set up on a vampire dating site without his knowledge. He’d heard that someone had set you up, too. He told me he was suspicious because—how many people in Montana would sign up on a vampire dating site?” She took a deep breath, then raised her eyes. “Kelly doesn’t deserve to get hurt over something that’s not his fault.” Her eyes left his again before she finished, but her chin was still up.
“I’m fine,” said Kelly. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
“Yes,” agreed Asil. “I never blame the messenger. The perpetrators on my side of the fence were misguided, but not malicious. I accept that Tag was not one of them—he is more inclined to use an axe than a keyboard. When I find out who they are, I will serve them with justice. Probably no bodies will be strewn about. Especially since I am enjoying myself.”
