“You want to do this in broad daylight?”
“Do you trust me or not?”
If he really wanted to shoot me, he’d had half a dozen chances. And I still couldn’t answer that question. I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Do I really have to be there?”
“You’re the one who knows what you want to find.”
Ben said to me once that Cormac wasn’t a crusader. He wasn’t a werewolf hunter because he hated werewolves, or had a religious beef against them like Duke. Rather, he liked to see how close he could walk to the edge without falling off. He didn’t have any loyalty to the government, the people who hired him, or anyone else.
Cormac was only planning this to see if he could. For him, it was a challenge.
“All right. Four o’clock this afternoon.” I sighed, hoping to still my pounding heart.
“Bring gloves,” he said, then stood and walked away.
This was a bad, bad idea. I knew it in my gut. You didn’t just go breaking into government buildings in the best of times, and this wasn’t the best of times. But if I didn’t show, Cormac might break into Flemming’s office without me. If he learned anything juicy, he’d keep the information from me out of spite.
I had to go.
I drove my car from the alley around the corner and found Luis waiting outside Alette’s town house. He casually leaned on the wrought-iron fence that divided the property from the sidewalk. By all appearances he looked like he was out enjoying the unseasonable sunshine, pausing during a stroll. I pulled up to the curb in front of him, parked, and got out.
He beamed at me. He had a generous smile and sparkling eyes. My stomach fluttered.
“You’re a hard person to track down,” he said brightly. “I hoped to find you outside the Senate building, but you were already gone.”
I winced in apology. I hated the idea of him running all over town after me—then again, it was awfully flattering. “I gave you my cell number, right? You should have called.”
He shrugged. “Chasing you is more fun.”
Spoken like a true predator. He stepped toward me, looking like he was getting ready to pin me against the car. Part of me wanted to dodge, to keep the chase going for a little longer. But I let him put his hands on my hips and lean forward for a kiss. I held his arms and pulled him close.
I glanced over his shoulder at the windows of Alette’s townhome, hoping no one was watching.
Coming up for air, I said, “You shouldn’t be here.”
He followed my gaze back to the building. “I’m not afraid of them. Is it too early for me to take you to dinner?”
“I’d love that. But—” I wanted to pull my hair out. I couldn’t believe I was going to turn down Luis to go play Mission: Impossible with Cormac. “But I can’t. I set up a meeting and I can’t miss it.” “Something for your show?”
“Yeah, something like that.” It wasn’t an outright lie. Most everything ended up on the show eventually. But Luis looked at me sidelong, like he knew I wasn’t being entirely truth
ful. He could probably smell it on me, or sense the twitchy nervousness through my body.
He said, “The full moon is coming soon, in just a few days. Do you know where you’ll be?”
I knew the full moon was coming soon. I couldn’t forget. “No. I usually scout out a place to run, but I haven’t had time.”
“Come with me. There’s a park about an hour outside town, a few of us drive there. It’s safe.”
Full moon night with friends. It had been a long time since I had anyone watching my back.
“I’d really like that. Thanks.”
He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. “Then it’s a date.”
When one lycanthrope said to another, “run with me,” it was usually a euphemism. I certainly hoped so.
“I should let you get to your meeting.”