“Maybe just a glass of ice water,” she said, and before Davey could stand, Vance waved one hand at her, gesturing that he would get it. “Thank you.”
As I slid into the booth, I noticed, through the front windows, that though our two regulars had left the bar, they were still waiting in the parking lot, in their cars.
Not that I could really blame them. I was literally the only female werecat they’d ever seen. They’d no doubt heard of Faythe Sanders but had probably never in their lives hoped to meet her.
There was another car in the lot. A black SUV. Through the tinted windows, I could see the outlines of three heads and three sets of very broad shoulders.
“Your men?” I asked, nodding at the vehicle. “Your husband? Marc? Would he like to come in?”
She smiled. “Marc stayed in Jackson at the party, with my two older sons.”
The party. For Kaci’s birthday.
“How is Kaci?”
Faythe shrugged. “You probably hear from her more than I do, these days.”
“No, not really. Just that she’s doing well in school. From Titus.”
Faythe frowned. “You never see her? Ole Miss is only an hour and a half from here.”
“If traffic is kind, yeah. But that’s Jace’s zone, and I have my hands full here. I don’t get down there much, and Jace and Justus don’t let Kaci out of their sight, basically…ever.”
Faythe’s frown deepened. “When she finishes school, I’d like that to change.” She exhaled heavily. “I’d like alotto change, actually. You and I need to become less of a prototype and more of a…type. A ubiquity.”
“Women…in power?” I guessed.No complaint here.
The corner of her mouth quirked up again. “Women with claws. Who use them.”
“And Kaci doesn’t?” I’d only met her a few times, but I’d gotten the impression that she wasn’t exactly…tame.
“Oh, she does. When she graduates, Titus will hire her. She’ll get some experience under her belt, just like I did. But we’re gonna need more like her. More likeyou.”
“Okay, I have to be honest,” I said as I leaned back against the booth. “I’m not sure what we’re talking about. Or—”
“What the hell I’m doing here?” Faythe’s head tilted slightly to the right. “Without a word of warning?”
“Well…yes.”
Her smile widened, and for the first moment since she’d walked into the bar, Faythe felt…approachable. “The truth is that I’ve been meaning to come see you for quite a while. But things haven’t exactly gone as planned for me over the past couple of years.” She aimed an open-handed gesture at the toddler. “See exhibit A.”
I couldn’t resist a grin. “Wilder was a surprise?”
“Yes. A welcome one, but a very, very unexpected one. Who came very close to his brother.” She shrugged. “Which kept me close to home much longer than expected.”
“I can imagine.” Though I could reallyonlyimagine. I did intend to have kids someday. But “someday” felt about a decade away.
“So anyway, I thought that while I was in the territory, I should make time to come up here and launch a hopefully ongoing discussion of our mutual interests.”
“I’m glad you have, but I wish you’d told me! I would have come to you, to save you the trip.” Not that this was a good time for me to leave the zone, exactly.
“Well, the truth is that I wanted you to myself for a little while.Mostlyto myself,” she amended, tossing a smile at Davey. Vance and Vic evidently didn’t count. “And I wanted to see the famous Fat Cat! I wish we had a place like this in Texas. Not that we really have a shifter population dense enough to keep it afloat.”
“Okay…” My nerves were back. What on earth could Faythe Sanders want to discuss with me? Without Titus or her husband and co-Alpha present?
“Titus has filled me in on the situation you guys are dealing with up here. I believe you have a suspect in custody?”
“Yes, but he’s not looking entirely culpable, at the moment. We’ve identified what we believe to be the true culprit, though, and we hope to have him in custody very, very soon. Later today, in fact.” I mentally crossed my fingers as I injected as much confidence into my tone and bearing as I could.
