“You planning to party this afternoon, are you?” he said after a while

I glanced up at him, and he indicated the carryall. “Five days to the full moon,” I said, by way of explanation

He leaned back in his chair, expression bemused. “How come you wolves never get preggers? I mean, you fuck yourself silly for seven days, and nothing ever comes out of it. And you don’t take contraceptives, from what I’ve heard.”

“How can you call a whole lot of satisfaction nothing?” I replied with a grin

He waved the comment away. “Really. I’ve always been curious about it.”

“And you’ve never thought to ask a wolf? Or taken a wander through their thoughts to find out?”

“Never really cared enough to do either.”

“So why ask now?”

“I hate silence.”

“Yeah. Right.” He hated silences as much as I hated the moon dance. Still, I couldn’t see the harm in answering his question—and it wasn’t like I hadn’t been asked it before. “Werewolves don’t take contraceptives, but we are electronically chipped to prevent conception. Don’t ask me how it works, it just does. The chips are inserted under our skins at puberty and until they’re taken out, we can’t get pregnant.”

It had been a pretty pointless exercise with me, because apparently I had some weird hormonal imbalances that meant my eggs never made the journey down to my womb. The good thing about it was the fact I didn’t menstruate. The bad thing, the fact I couldn’t become pregnant without medical assistance. Even then, the doctors weren’t sure if I would ever get pregnant or carry to term. Actually, most of them figured I was the werewolf equivalent of a mule—all the right bits but none of the functionality. But rules were rules, and there was no getting around them even if you couldn’t conceive naturally

“What happens if you do want to become pregnant?”

“You pay the government medicos five hundred bucks to take the chip out, and you can become pregnant within twenty-four hours.”

“And the government forces this?”

“Yep.”

He snorted softly. “Amazing. They have one rule for humans and another for everyone else.”

“I’m figuring they don’t want the world overrun with wolves.”

“It’s overrun with humans, and they cause more damn damage than the rest of us ever could.”

“That’s not a nice way to talk about your food source.”

He shrugged and left it at that. Odd, to say the least. Midday eventually rolled around, and I climbed the stairs to the kitchen on sublevel two to check out the meals—which were mainly blood, and not the synth variety—for the guardians. Once it was all onboard, I escorted the trolley to the elevator then down to the fourth level

The doors swished open and darkness greeted me. I swore under my breath. The bastards were playing games again. And while darkness didn’t worry me, the fact that there were over twenty vampires in that room, all of whom could become shadows in the night, made me wary. I couldn’t watch them all, even with my vampire vision, and the security cams didn’t work too well in darkness

“If you fuckers don’t turn on the lights, you can go hungry.”

The lights came back on and Gautier’s feral form strolled toward me. “Afraid of the dark, are we?”

I snorted and pressed the button on the trolley. With an electronic groan, it rolled forward and made its way toward the dining room. “Why don’t you go have a shower, Gautier? You smell like shit.”

He smiled, revealing bloodstained teeth. He’d fed before coming in, and I wondered who on. Was it an official source, or had he started hunting up his own meals?

“It’s only blood, and the aroma is one I find intoxicating.”

“Believe me, I know blood when I smell it, and what I’m smelling ain’t blood.”

I followed the trolley toward the dining room. Gautier followed me, a forbidding presence I could feel but not hear

“Rhoan hasn’t come back yet,” he stated. “You heard from him?”

The small hairs on the back of my neck rose. He was so close I could feel the wind of his foul breath past my ear. But I didn’t acknowledge him and didn’t alter my pace, because that was what he was waiting for

“He’s on an assignment.”

“The moon heat stirs for you wolves, doesn’t it?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Well, how are you going to cope without your lover?”

I snorted. “I’ll find another. Werewolves generally aren’t monogamous, you know.” Not until they’d found their soul mate and sworn their love to the moon, anyway

“Ever considered trying a vampire as a lover?”

His hand came down on my shoulder, his fingers pressing deep into my barely healed wound. Pain flashed white-hot through my body and I couldn’t stop my knees buckling. Swallowing back bile, I kept going down until my knees hit the floor, then, before he could react, shot a hand to his crotch and grabbed a fistful of balls

He made a gargling sound, and froze. Dead or not, vampires were still men and still very attached to their dangly bits

“Touch me again, and you’ll be finding these”—I squeezed his balls a little harder—“up in the vicinity of your throat.”

His brown eyes were almost molten with fury and pain. I squeezed again and could swear I saw sweat break out across his brow. Impossible, surely, given Gautier’s fierce reputation. Maybe it was just a trick of the lights

“Do you understand me?”

His nod was barely perceptible. From behind us came the sound of clapping

“Well done, Riley.” Kelly’s smooth and sultry voice came from close behind, and a little of my tension eased. If she was there, then my back was safe. “How about you give those sacks an extra squeeze for me? The great Gautier in pain is such a rare but welcome sight.”

Gautier’s gaze went past me. “Watch your step tonight, bitch. You might just hit trouble.”

“Oh, I’m so scared.” Kelly’s voice was dry

I couldn’t help smiling, but resisted the temptation to do as she asked and released him instead. I wasn’t a fool—and if I inflicted too much damage, I’d catch hell not only from the Directorate, but Gautier himself. He wasn’t above lying in wait for someone, and for all my bravado, I had no real desire to go head to head with the creep

I rose and turned my back on him—which, in itself, was an insult of the highest form to a vampire like Gautier. His fury scorched my skin, but I didn’t flinch and didn’t turn around. Just kept on walking

Kelly leaned against the doorway into the eating area, a wide smile softening her sharp features. “In a bit of a mood, are we?”

I grinned and tossed her a meal. “I’m just a little tired of being threatened.”

“So I gathered. I’ll have to pinch that move off you. It certainly immobilizes male quarry.”

My gaze went to Gautier. Dark didn’t even begin to explain his expression. Maybe I was crazy, but it cheered me up no end

“You got any plans for Tuesday or Wednesday night?” I stopped the trolley and opened the sides so the other guardians had access

Kelly shook her head, her black hair gleaming almost blue in the harsh lighting. “Nothing. Why?”

“The full moon is beginning to rise, so if you still want to catch a little werewolf action…” I trailed off and grinned

“Oh, yes please.” Anticipation flicked in her gray eyes. “The male of your species sure can show a girl a good time.”

Ain’t that the truth. “I’ll ring Tuesday and we’ll arrange a meet time.”

She nodded and leaned forward a little. “I haven’t heard any whispers here about Rhoan’s mission, by the way. Jack’s sending me out tonight, though, so if I find anything, I’ll give you a call.”

“Thanks. But be careful out there.”

She smiled and touched my arm lightly. “The great Gautier doesn’t worry me.”

Well, he worried me. And I didn’t like the way he was watching us. “I was thinking more about the disappearances than Gautier. I don’t want you to join the ranks of the vanished.”