To insist would only tick him off, so we headed out. My vamp-made boots clumped on the hardwood floor of the sanctuary, and after setting the jar on the table by the door, I fumbled in my bag for my sunglasses. I wrangled them on one-handed and pulled the door open.

“I got that sauce you wanted, Glenn,” I said, then looked up. I was getting tired of finding unexpected people on my stoop. Maybe I ought to spend an afternoon with a drill and put in one of those peepholes. How expensive could they be?

“Hey, David, what’s up?” I said, taking him in. He was out of his usual suit, wearing a soft gray suede tuck-in shirt and pair of jeans instead. His face was absolutely clean-shaven, and a long, dull scratch marked his cheek and neck. Behind him at the curb, his gray sports car idled.

“Rachel.” His quick gaze darted to Jenks. “Jenks,” he added. Standing a step back, the usually collected Were took a steadying breath, reaching to straighten his missing jacket. His hand clenched as if reaching for the handle of his briefcase. My worry intensified.

“What?” I said, expecting the worst.

David looked behind him at his car. “I need your help. Serena, my girlfriend, needs a heavy painkiller.” His eyes were pinched when they met mine. “I would have phoned, but I think the FIB has tapped my line. She Wered, Rachel. My God, she actually Wered.”

“Holy crap,” Jenks said.

Tense, I took my shades off and set the tomato down beside the sauce. “The full moon isn’t until Monday. That’s when the others first Wered.”

His head bobbing, David fidgeted. “I told her about the women in the morgue. I told her I was sorry, and that she probably wouldn’t be able to stop from Wereing on Monday unless she gained some control over it between now and then.” Brown eyes pleading for forgiveness, he added, “So I walked her through it, or I tried. She’s not built for it,” he said, his voice cracking. “Weres came from humans, but we’ve evolved apart from them for too long. It’s not supposed to hurt this bad. She is in too much pain. Do you have a charm? A potion? Anything.”

Lately I’d begun carrying pain amulets in my bag, like some people have breath mints. “I have three with me right now,” I said, reaching behind me to shut the door. “Let’s go.”

David took the steps two at a time. Jenks was a flash of wings, and I brought up the rear, slipping into the passenger’s side as David slammed his door shut. I thought that a curse that turned humans into Weres was stupid if it hurt too much to be of any use, but then again the focus enabled alphas to pack together to eliminate the pain of shifting, so maybe there was some sense to it.