Jenks landed on the windowsill and leaned casually against the frame. He looked like Brad Pitt gone sexy farmer, and I smiled. Two weeks ago he would have stood with his hands on his hips. This was better, and might explain Matalina’s blissful state lately.

“I’ll have the boys bring it up,” Jenks said, tossing his hair out of his eyes. “We’ve got a sling for it. Won’t take but a tick, David.”

He zipped back out the window, and while David looked at his watch and moved from foot to foot, I pushed the window all the way up, struggling with the rain-swollen frame. The screen popped out, and the air suddenly seemed a lot fresher.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with the Were sentry at the end of the block, does it?” David asked wryly.

Whoops. I turned, my eyes going immediately to Ivy, sitting before her computer. I hadn’t told her Brett was shadowing me, knowing she’d throw a hissy. Like I couldn’t handle one Were who was scared of me? Sure enough, she was frowning. “You saw him, huh?” I said, putting my back to her and moving the sauce to Kisten.

David shifted his weight and glanced at Kisten as he nonchalantly spread it thinly on the dough. “I saw him,” David said. “Smelled him, and nearly dropped my cell phone down the sewer calling you to ask if you wanted me to, ah, ask him to go away until he … mmmm.”

I waited in the new silence broken by shrill pixy whistles coming from the garden. David’s face was red when he swung his head back up and rubbed a hand across his stubble.

“What?” I said warily.

David looked discomfited. “He, ah …” A quick glance at Ivy, and he blurted, “He gave me a bunny kiss from across the street.”

Ivy’s lips parted. Eyes wide, her gaze touched on Kisten, then me. “Excuse me?”

“You know.” He made a peace sign and bent his fingers twice in quick succession. “Kiss, kiss? Isn’t that a vampire … thing?”

Kisten laughed, the warm sound making me feel good. “Rachel,” he said, sifting the cheese over the red sauce. “What did you do to make him leave his pack and follow you all the way down here? By the looks of it, I’d say he’s trying to insinuate himself into your pack.”

“Brett didn’t leave. I think they kicked him out,” I said, then hesitated. “You knew he was there, too?” I asked, and he shrugged, eating a piece of bacon. I ate one too, considering for the first time that perhaps Brett was looking for a new pack. I had saved his life. Sort of.

Jenks came in the open window, making circles around Rex until the cat chittered in distress. Laughing, Jenks led her into the hall as five of his kids wafted over the sill, toting what looked like a pair of black lace panties cradling the statue.

“Those are mine!” Ivy shrieked, standing up and darting to the sink. “Jenks!”