Page 36 of Fangs and Fudge

Cross dipped his mouth to my ear. “Your pulse kicked up when you saw the cases.”

I didn’t doubt it, but I did doubt if it was entirely due to the selections in front of me. Cross’ fingers had intertwined with mine, and he was slowly rubbing his thumb over my skin in a way that made it hard to concentrate on what to pick.

Cross chuckled as he watched me. “Your indecision is adorable. Choose whatever you like.”

“That would be one of everything, which wouldn’t be smart. I have to work tonight and can’t afford a sugar coma.”

Under the guise of pointing, I freed my hand from his hold and placed a reasonable order, selecting seven options to share with Vena. Cross helped me carry everything to the table.

Vena barely managed to wait until Cross was seated before leaning forward in her chair.

“If you’re not affected by the sun, does that mean you never rest?”

“I can choose to rest whenever I’d like, but it isn’t necessary.”

“So then, what do you do with your free time?”

“Is there a reason you’re asking?”

“Yes. I’m still thinking about where you can live where the hours you keep won’t call attention to you.” When he didn’t say anything, she sighed a little. “And I’m wondering if you’ll be able to help look for Anchor.”

“I use my free time to observe and learn.”

“And shop?” she asked, looking at his new outfit.

He glanced at me. “The same clothier we frequented has opened an account for me. I will need your assistance settling it.”

“No problem,” I said after swallowing my first bite of a beignet.

The pastry hadn’t been bad. Like everything else in the cases, it was larger than average, but it lacked that softness beignets usually had. A nice subtle level of sweetness, though. I glanced at the case, wondering how well they sold as I took one more bite to verify my silent critique.

“Are you unique, or are there more like you?” Vena asked, drawing his attention from me licking my fingers. “I’m wondering if we need daytime guards, too.”

“No, you don’t need daytime guards. I would prefer you didn’t have any at night, either, but I agree with the necessity. At least until we can determine what happened to your easily distracted friend.”

“Easily distracted?” I asked, pushing the beignet to Vena.

“The wolf who I saw run from your house the morning prior–Anchor, I believe–reeked of wolf lust and wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings.”

I nudged Cross with my foot under the table and glanced meaningfully at Vena, who’d looked down at the pastry I’d pushed toward her. He nodded in understanding when I shook my head.

“Yeah, that was Anchor. The one I asked you to look for. Did you find anything?” I asked.

“I returned to Blur and tracked the injured wolf’s scent to a nearby hotel. The area was crawling with wolves, by the way.”

“Oh, yeah. Shepard called in some backup. They’re from California.”

“It’s a state to the west,” Vena said.

Cross shot her a look. “I know.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t want to assume. It wasn’t yet a state when you decided to take a nap.”

“You went to the hotel?” I asked, trying to bring the conversation back on track.

“Yes. I persuaded one of the workers to let me into the room, which was still locked for police investigation. One of the scents was very familiar. The scent was on the cat that was at your house the morning prior.”

“That proves it,” Vena said. “If the cat was at our house the morning Anchor disappeared and at the club where Gunther disappeared, then the vampires took Anchor. But where? And why both Anchor and Gunther?”

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