Bear squinted up at the night sky. She was wearing a silver party dress that clung to her form. She looked good. Solid, confident, and proportionately curved, and her makeup had been applied with skill. Her brown hair was bound back in a tight braid. A rather large clutch purse she carried with her probably contained compact instruments of mayhem. She sniffed the air and said, frowning, “I don’t feel anything. You sure?”
“I’m not sure of much lately,” I said. The feeling faded and I shrugged my shoulders to prevent a shiver rolling down my spine. “Okay. Ready?”
“Spent a lot of time in your lab today,” Bear noted. “How’d your meeting with Lara go last night?”
I paused and squinted up at her.
“Freydis told me Lara slipped out,” Bear said. “And when I checked your room, you weren’t there.”
“Goddammit, Bear,” I said, annoyed.
She smiled at me and lifted her eyebrows guilelessly. “I am your bodyguard, not your babysitter. Did I not show the appropriate discretion?”
I gave her a glare that bounced off of her without leaving a mark. Then I sighed. “It…went,” I said. “We talked. We’ll talk some more this evening.”
“Hmm,” she said, regarding me thoughtfully. She gave the skies one more glance. “That should be interesting,” she said, and we walked into the hotel.
—
This event was a different kind of party than Halloween had been, I noticed. For one, it was at a public venue, and while it wasn’t as ritzy as Château Raith, it was maybe an eight on the fancy scale for Chicago. The party itself was less formal and considerably smaller than Halloweenhad been. The guests were mostly members of House Raith, all but one of them female, and I didn’t recognize the rather reedy-looking male member of the Court. He must have been one of Lara’s cousins—she only had one brother. The rest of the Raith in attendance were dark-haired, vibrantly attractive women in various flavors of formal attire. I noted a few other visitors from other supernatural nations. LaChaise wasn’t there. I didn’t see Drakul anywhere. There were a pair of Summer Sidhe in attendance, identifiable by their green-shaded hair. Both of them nodded gravely to me as I came in. I recognized several others from Halloween, and there were a lot of faces I didn’t recognize at all. They weren’t announcing guests as they arrived this time, either.
Freydis appeared, a slim woman a little taller than average, and approached us as we entered. Her hair was shaven on the sides, bound back in a thick coppery red braid on top. She wore a little black dress that showed off her fair skin and her slender, strong physique. She walked up and braced Bear with a crooked grin.
“Brownhead,” she said.
“Freydis,” Bear said easily. “How is life with the White Court?”
Freydis rolled her eyes. “Distracting as hell,” she said, a faint note of complaint in her voice. “How is it over at wizard castle?”
“Mostly quiet. Can’t complain,” Bear replied. “You heard anything from Gard?”
“Her client doesn’t really come to parties. He’s loads of fun.”
Bear snorted.
“Dresden,” Freydis said. She raked her eyes up and down me leisurely. “You’re looking”—she gave me a slow smile—“lean. And hard.”
“Gosh,” I said. “Thanks.”
“Grumpy, though, eh?”
“Been a tough few months,” I said.
Her expression sobered and she nodded. “Done those,” she said. “You’ll get better, bit at a time. Lara’s had a last-minute meeting to take care of. There’s a side room, if you’d care to wait there for her rather than, you know.” She rolled her eyes at the room. “Here.”
Not being in a room full of potentially dangerous interactions? Or,worse, awkward conversations I didn’t want? “That would be fine,” I said.
Freydis showed me to a door that led to a smaller sitting room next to the grand ballroom. There were several comfortable-looking padded leather chairs and couches, though the room was dimly lit. Given that it was a White Court function, it was easy enough to guess why it was here.
Freydis shut the door behind us and said something to Bear in a language I didn’t know.
Bear frowned and replied in the same tongue. They exchanged a few phrases and Bear sighed. “Fine,” she said finally. “Dresden, can you mind yourself for a few minutes? I need to call my boss.”
“I thought I was your boss.”
“You’re my client. Vadderung is my boss.”
“You’re still here under guest-right,” Freydis assured me. “And I’ll be watching the door.”
