I felt pain across my palm and looked down to see long black nails extending from both hands. My field of vision was shifting to black-and-white. Hex it all, I was phasing. The blood and s.e.x had called the were, and it was nosing outside its cave whether I liked it or not.

The first male tried to get to his feet and I snarled, the dominate holding this time. He moved, cautiously and with his head ducked so as not to challenge me, but still moving. Sneaky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I decided to put him down before he got the chance to be a smart b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

The obvious flaw in that plan showed up the second I moved into his range. Something stinging hot cracked me across the face, exploding white lights of pain onto my vision. One of the floggers from the display, sharp-edged and tipped with steel points.

I hissed as blood went into my eyes and I was half-blind. The second male hit me in the lower back and I went down, every part of me shrieking. No. No, this couldn't be it. One-I didn't know which one-hit me in the face and I felt blood start from a cut lip. I swiped back with my claws and heard a yell as I met flesh. I wouldn't stop, wouldn't...

They held me down, hands on my clothes, and I still fought, if you could call the feeble twitching a fight. I just wanted to pa.s.s out, to not know what they were doing to me, but I fought to keep my eyes open through the blood.

Then one set of hands was lifted off, and I heard a crash as a flying body hit the side of the cage. The second male let go of me and scrambled away, shouting, "Hey, man, what the Hex are you doing?" before an ugly fist-induced thud cut off his cries.

I got to my knees, using my forearm to wipe the blood off my face. I really, really wanted to curl in a ball and be sick, but the mystery of who had saved me took precedence. I struggled up to stand, hands on knees, and saw a tall male form slamming the second were's head rhythmically into the mesh, his face becoming pulpier and less recognizable with each hit.

"Hey," I rasped, inaudible above the crowd, just as happy to root for the stranger as they were the males. "Hey!" I shouted again. The man stopped his beating and turned to face me.

"What? Don't tell me you're gonna complain about me saving your lady-cop a.s.s, darlin'."

I swayed, catching myself on the cage. He was gone. I was dead, and this was a cruel hallucination on my journey to h.e.l.l. "Dmitri?"

"One and only," he said, holding up the other were and hitting him in the gut. The male fell to the cage floor and got sick. "f.u.c.kin' flea-bitten piece of s.h.i.t," Dmitri said, stepping back in disgust.

The other male looked at the two of us, eyes flicking between Dmitri and me as he calculated his odds of remaining alive. I snarled at him. "Take a hike, and pray I don't decide to come find you."

He ran. Smart guy, considering the night I'd had so far. Dmitri shook his head, something that may have been a grin flirting with his mouth. "Still the same tough b.i.t.c.h. Can't say I didn't miss that."

My first reaction on seeing Dmitri Sandovsky had been utter shock. My second was righteous fury. I hit him, closed fist. A girly-girl slap would not do justice in the present situation. He stumbled, putting a hand to his jaw.

"Hex it, Luna! What the h.e.l.l's the matter with you?"

"You!" I hissed furiously. "You're what's the matter! How long have you been back in the city and not told me?"

The club music cut off with a screech and normal fluorescent lights came up. The door to the outside filled with Nocturne City police officers in riot gear. Someone with a bullhorn announced that this was a raid.

Relieved as I was that Shelby had chosen now as the time to actually do something right, it wasn't enough to stop me from noticing Dmitri trying to sneak out of the cage. I grabbed his arm. "You think we're finished here, buster?"

His mouth quirked as he turned back to me. "Do you really want to have this conversation in the middle of a s.e.x club, Luna?"

Had a point there-I'd seen enough of Bete Noire to last me several consecutive lifetimes. I got my shoes back on and led him by the arm down the steps and into the hall by the bathrooms as police herded patrons up against the club's four walls. Samael smiled blandly as a uniformed officer put real handcuffs on him.

Dmitri jerked his arm away once I stopped walking. "Manhandling is decidedly not the way I wanted to be welcomed back."

"Really!" I snapped, eyes and mouth wide with pretend shock. "Because I was wondering if you wanted my welcome at all. How long have you been back in Nocturne? And don't lie!" I added as an afterthought.

"Don't worry, I'm not looking to get punched again," Dmitri grumbled. "I just got back last night."

"And of course, the first logical spot you'd go to is a fetish bar," I agreed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Hex me, Luna, will you shut your mouth and let me explain?" Dmitri snarled. His deep emerald eyes flared to gold and I was unpleasantly reminded that Dmitri didn't need a moon to phase-his pack magick let him do it whenever he d.a.m.n well pleased.

"You'd better explain, and don't tell me to shut up."

"It's a fifteen-hour flight from St. Petersburg. I was jet-lagged, and the apartments above the club are a Redback safe house. So So sorry I didn't immediately inform you of my social calendar." sorry I didn't immediately inform you of my social calendar."

His Eastern European accent was stronger, I noticed, more rolling r's and soft sounds than I'd remembered. He'd lost the gravelly edge during his stay in the Ukraine, but the accent wasn't all all bad ... bad ...

"Were you ever going to call me?" I asked, kicking the dirty linoleum with the toe of my very clean boot.

Dmitri touched my face briefly with his fingertips. "Of course I was. Once I had a minute to myself, and it was safe." He shook his head. "What were you doing doing here, woman? This place is rough even for you." here, woman? This place is rough even for you."

"Working," I said. "And getting the c.r.a.p beaten out of me, although that wasn't in the plan."

He chuckled. "I only saw the tail end, but I think those stains are gonna feel you come morning. And then they'll have to explain to their pack leader how they managed to get so beat up, and he'll probably just kill them."

My face was already healed over, but it still stung, and the bruises I'd incurred weren't going away anytime soon. Whenever I breathed, stabbing pain in my side was the reward. Dmitri's forehead crinkled. "You okay?"

"Fine," I said quickly. "Listen, is there someplace we can talk?" Someplace where I could ask him the five million questions that had acc.u.mulated since he left me. And maybe hit him again, if his answers weren't satisfactory.

"Come outside," Dmitri said, opening the fire door and leading me into the alley behind the club.

Dmitri let the door click shut behind us and fished in his denim jacket for a clove. He'd given up his leathers with the Redback pack insignia, and wore a plaid shirt over a black tee as a nod to the cold. And it was more than cold, it was freezing and p.r.i.c.kling my skin painfully.

"Hex it!" I exclaimed. Dmitri paused mid-puff.

"What?"

"Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds stole my jacket while I was unconscious!" I shivered and crossed my bare arms over my torso. That jacket had been my favorite too-something I'd taken from an ex-boyfriend, Ted or Jed or something. We'd had a fight and I had stormed out into the rain and never gone back. The jacket had fit me better anyway.

Dmitri draped his denim over my shoulders as my teeth started to chatter. "Much as I enjoy the view ..." He nodded at my now-pert bustier.

"You're such a male."

He grinned around the cigarette. "There's no help for it."

"Why didn't you ever call me?" I asked softly. "Or even write to me? I've been going insane dreaming up stuff that could have happened to you." Didn't mean for the last part to slip out, but Dmitri had the effect of making me babble to counteract his overwhelmingly silent presence.

"I told you in that e-mail I couldn't," Dmitri said, flicking the clove into a puddle. "Luna, things have gotten complicated."

"Then explain them to me," I snapped. "Try to make up a good excuse for why you ran off and never spoke to me again."

"I'm talking to you now, aren't I?" he said, infuriatingly calm.

"You know that's not what I mean," I muttered. "I thought I could trust you."

Dmitri closed the s.p.a.ce between us and raised my chin with one finger to meet his eyes. "You can trust me," he whispered. "You will always be able to trust me. But I... I can't do this. Please try to understand."

His proximity was too much. Everything around me washed away and I stood on tiptoes to press our lips together. A sense of rightness filled me, something that I'd been missing since Dmitri left sliding back into place.

"Luna, I said I can't." As quickly as the kiss started, Dmitri took me by the shoulders and firmly pushed me away.

Embarra.s.sment and anger fought a quick battle over which would be first and anger won out. Hot humiliation washed over me and I swung at him again. He caught my fist, pinning it to my side.

"What the Hex do you mean?" I hissed. "Why did you even come back?"

"Dmitri." The voice was female, heavily accented, and accompanied by a cloud of perfume that suffocated my senses. It could not disguise the heavy musk of were.

Dmitri looked over my shoulder, eyes narrowing. "I told you to wait upstairs, Irina."

"I heard shouts," Irina said, stepping under a streetlight. She was just a little shorter than where I stood at five-ten, broad-shouldered with Viking cheekbones and a thin straight nose. Her brown hair, streaked with gold, shone under the lamp.

"It's under control," said Dmitri. "Go back inside."

Irina planted a hand on one nonexistent hip and glared at me. "Who the h.e.l.l is this?"

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" I countered, giving my own glare to Dmitri. "Who the h.e.l.l is she?"

"I asked first," she snarled, stalking over and physically yanking Dmitri's hand away from mine. "Why do you let this trash touch you, darling?" she demanded of him.

Darling? I looked at their linked arms, at the proprietary way she touched him, and all of the blood in my body made fast tracks for my feet. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d," I managed. I looked at their linked arms, at the proprietary way she touched him, and all of the blood in my body made fast tracks for my feet. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d," I managed.

"Luna, don't," said Dmitri. "I told you it was complicated. Irina is-"

"I don't give a f.u.c.k what Irina is!" I growled. "You son of a b.i.t.c.h, you told me you were coming back for me!"

Irina tugged on Dmitri's hand. "Make the Insoli stop shouting. She causes my head to ache."

"b.i.t.c.h, my foot will cause your a.s.s to ache in another second," I told her.

"Enough!" Dmitri roared. "Luna, it's not your place to talk like that. I'm sorry, but Irina is a member of the pack. I couldn't tell you, but I'm sorry." He ran his free hand through his dark red hair. "G.o.ds, I'm sorry."

"You should be," I said. "How could you? How could could you?" you?"

I heard twin footsteps at the mouth of the alley and two figures who smelled of were approached us. Their scent was usual but different from Irina and Dmitri- aged, like they'd been locked away for a long time.

The man spoke to Dmitri in what I a.s.sumed was Ukrainian, and he snapped something back. There was a macho display of fang-showing between them, which Irina seemed to enjoy. Witch.

The woman, who looked like someone's nice old granny, complete with a severe white bun, looked me over. "You are not what we expected," she said.

"Who are are you people?" I asked helplessly. you people?" I asked helplessly.

"I am Yelena Krievko," she inclined her head. "And my partner is Sergei Peskevitch."

"Okay," I said, "no offense, Grandma, but this is sort of a personal thing between Dmitri and me, so would you mind hobbling back to the bingo hall until we're through?"

She slapped me across the face, so hard my ears rang. I fell against the wall of the club, totally blind-sided. I couldn't believe anyone so pet.i.te and old old could be that strong. could be that strong.

"Yelena! G.o.ds!" Dmitri shouted, coming to help me up. I batted him off with a growl. I didn't want the same hands that had been holding Irina for the past three months touching me.

"She would do well to learn a little respect for her betters," Yelena hissed, and her face partially phased, all fangs and wide yellow eyes. She reminded me of Baba Yaga from the old fairy tale.

"Would everyone stop stop with that Insoli c.r.a.p!" I snapped. "Dmitri, tell me what is happening. Tell me right now or someone is going to get hurt." with that Insoli c.r.a.p!" I snapped. "Dmitri, tell me what is happening. Tell me right now or someone is going to get hurt."

"Sergei and Yelena are two of the pack elders of the Redbacks," Dmitri said. "They brought me back to the city."

All the fury ran out of me. So he hadn't come back on his own, to see me. Irina caught my eye and smirked, stroking Dmitri's arm. I gave her a token snarl, but inwardly I just felt broken. Why would would he come back, if this was what he had waiting for him with his pack? he come back, if this was what he had waiting for him with his pack?

"You are in serious trouble, young woman," said Sergei. He was small and brown, like a walnut topped by a thatch of black hair. "Dmitri, show her."

Dmitri rolled back the shirtsleeve on his right arm, and even before he exposed the crescent-shaped black scar, I knew why he'd really come back.

The daemon bite had healed, smoothed over with scar tissue that looked like lava gla.s.s. The rippled edges of the crescent, where a daemon-called werewolf had sunk his teeth into Dmitri, were as clear and precise as ever, more like a tattoo than a memory.

"It hasn't gone away," said Dmitri. "The pack elders don't know why."

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "Does it hurt?"

"Not most of the time," said Dmitri uncomfortably. "But it... affects me-adversely." He looked at Sergei and Yelena and bit off whatever he'd been going to say. Hex the were packs and their secret-society bulls.h.i.t.

"As long as Dmitri is infected, he is a danger to everyone," said Yelena. "We do not know what he is capable of. He has been stripped of his pack leader status and will return to our primary den in Kiev until a solution can be found."

"Then why come back at all?" I asked wearily, focusing on Dmitri.

"He agreed to lead us to you," said Sergei. "So that punishment could be metered."

My head snapped up. "What punishment?"

Sergei and Yelena exchanged glances, unspoken knowledge pa.s.sing between them. I stared at Dmitri. "What punishment?"

He wouldn't look at me.

"You are an Insoli and you seduced a high-ranked pack member," said Irina with a toss of her head. "You are no better than a wh.o.r.e. What do you think will happen?"

I may have been an Insoli, but that didn't mean I had to take abuse from whoever decided to give it, especially not a furry mail-order bride drooling on the man I had considered a mate. I went for Irina and she yelped, stepping behind Dmitri. My swing glanced off his chest. "Move!" I panted. "If she has something to say she can say it to my face!"

"I already did," Irina sneered from her hiding place. "Wh.o.r.e."

I lunged again and Dmitri caught me, giving me a shake that snapped my teeth together. "Cut it out, Luna!"

"Spirited," Yelena muttered to Sergei. He grunted.

"I'm sorry this happened," said Dmitri. "But this is a pack matter, and I'm bound by pack law. The elders have decided."

Oh, I couldn't wait wait to hear what the old fogies had decided about me. Almost as exciting as finding out you needed to get a cavity drilled. to hear what the old fogies had decided about me. Almost as exciting as finding out you needed to get a cavity drilled.

"You are not welcome in our pack house," said Yelena. "A new mate-a proper mate-has been chosen for Dmitri, and if you attempt to contact him again, you will be dealt with. It is only through his mercy that you are not hunted tonight. Go, and have no further dealings with the Redbacks on pain of your life."

Involuntarily, my entire body started to shake. "You can't do this to me. This isn't the Dark Ages."

"It is our law," said Sergei. "Leave now or be killed." He took Yelena's arm. "Come, darling. You'll catch a chill."