At first glance you looked at Kate and thought “fighter,” maybe merc. Five inches taller than me, she was all muscle—well, and some boobs—but mostly muscle. She moved like a predator and when she got pissed off, she exhaled aggression, like hot breath on a winter evening. Still, men looked, until they saw her eyes. Kate’s eyes were crazy. It was that hidden-deep crazy that told you that you had no idea what the hell she would do next but whatever it was, the bad guys wouldn’t like it.

Kate looked at me for a long second. “Hey.”

I saluted her with my bottle. “Hey.”

Kate went into the kitchen, pulled a ceramic dish from under the sink, sat the vamp’s head into it, put it in the fridge, and washed her hands. She came back, slipped the sheath off her back with her sword still in it, hung it on my client chair, and plopped into it.

“What are you drinking?”

“Georgia Peach Iced Tea. Want some?” I offered it to her with my claws.

“Sure.” She took a sip, and coughed with a grimace. “What the hell is in this?”

Heh-heh. Lightweight. “Vodka, gin, rum, sweet and sour, and peach schnapps. Lots of peach schnapps.”

“Do you actually get a buzz from this?”

“Sort of.” Lyc-V made it very difficult to get drunk. “It lasts for about thirty seconds or so and then I need another gulp.”

Kate leaned back against her chair. “Where is the bane of my existence?”

“In the shower, freshening up.”

“Oh God, who did Ascanio screw now?”

“No, no, he’s covered in blood.”

“Oh good.” She sighed and stopped. “The kid is covered in blood and we’re relieved. There is something wrong with us.”

“Tell me about it.” I took another swig. “Not going to mention my beastkin appearance?”

“I like it,” she said. “The torn pants and gore-stained T-shirt is a nice touch.”

I wiggled my toes. “I was thinking of painting my claws a nice shade of pink.”

Kate glanced at my feet. “That would take a lot of nail polish. What about some golden hoops in your ears instead?”

I grinned. “It’s a definite possibility.”

“What happened?” Kate asked.

“I saw Raphael this morning. I’d called him last night, because Jim put me on some shapeshifter murders and I needed to interview him. I wanted a chance to apologize.”

Kate took my bottle and drank from it. “How did it go?”

“He replaced me.”

The bottle stopped in Kate’s hand, three inches above the table. “He what?”

“He found another girl. She is seven feet tall, with breasts the size of honeydew melons, legs that start at her neck, bleached blond hair down to her ass, and her waist is this big around.” I touched my index and thumb claws. “They are engaged to be engaged.”

“He brought her here?”