“I have my hand down your pants and you’re thinking about elastic?”

“No! Just let me take them off.”

“I don’t think so.” Pilar slid her hand lower and bit Loup’s earlobe. “For the next month, you’re going to be running around wearing this in front of thousands of delirious Kate fans and one infatuated drummer,” she whispered. “I kind of like the idea of knowing I’ve had you just like this.”

Loup squirmed. “Pilar…”

“Hmm?” Her fingers teased.

“Never mind.”

Hours later, they were enduring the mind-numbing tedium of waiting around backstage while the sound and lighting technicians made last-minute adjustments and the band got themselves into the zone. Charlie listened to music, his eyes closed. Randall was scribbling in a notebook. Donny looked longingly at Loup, who was leaning against a wall, arms folded.

“You’re doing that just to torture me, aren’t you?” he said.

“Doing what?”

He nodded at her taut belly. “You’re flexing.”

“I’m breathing.”

He sighed. “Doesn’t it drive you crazy?” he asked Pilar, who was reading a magazine.

“Obviously, I have more self-control than you,” she said calmly.

Loup laughed.

Donny gave her a suspicious look. “What do you have against guys, anyway?”

“I don’t have anything against guys,” she said honestly. “I just happen to think girls are sexier.”

“Sexier.” He mulled over the word. “So you don’t not think men are sexy. But you don’t date them?”

“I don’t date anyone. I’m with Pilar.”

“Yeah, but hypothetically. Say you weren’t. Would you go out with me?” He pressed her when she didn’t answer. “Ah, c’mon! Just say yes or no. Have you ever even been with a bloke? Because if you haven’t, you might really like it. You might, you know. You don’t know until you try it. And you shouldn’t go through life without—”

“Yes, I have!” Loup said in exasperation. “He said it was kind of like having his dick stuck in a vise grip, okay?”

Pilar winced. “Mackie said that?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t as mean as it sounds. He was just being honest.”

“You know, I know that’s supposed to turn me off, but it doesn’t.” Donny sighed. “Maybe he was just a lousy lay.”

“He wasn’t,” Pilar said, returning to her magazine.

“You slept with the same bloke?”

“Small town, remember?”

“Right.” A funny look crossed Donny’s face. “Ah, fuck me! You’re like that…” He gestured at Loup. “The way you are, you’re like that everywhere?” She didn’t answer. “I bet you do, like, crazy, sexy tricks with your tongue, huh? Do you? Do you?” He turned to Pilar. “Does she?”

“Yes,” she said without looking up from her magazine.

“Ah, God!” He groaned and put his head in his hands. “Why’d you tell me that?”

“I thought it might shut you up.” Pilar glanced at Loup, who flicked her tongue at her lightning quick. Pilar smiled.

“I hate this,” Donny murmured.

“I’m sorry,” Loup said, feeling contrite. “Look, do you want to release us from our contract? I’m sure Magnus would negotiate a settlement.”

“Nah.” He lifted his head. “That’d be a load of bollocks, wouldn’t it? Anyway, Rand would have a fit. Now that you’re here, he’s decided you’re his muses or something. And the fans are excited.” He was quiet a moment. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about the first time I saw you, eh? Walking across the stage with that kid over your shoulder like she didn’t weigh a thing.”

“She barely did,” Loup said.

Donny smiled. “Yeah, well… it wasn’t just that. It was the way you moved, the way you stood. Everything.”

“You do have it bad,” Pilar said with sympathy, closing her magazine.

“You know what it’s like?”

“Yeah.” She smiled ruefully at him. “Believe me, I know exactly what it’s like.”

He eyed her. “Any chance of a three-way?”

“No!” they said in unison.

Donny heaved another sigh. “Worth a try.”

THIRTY

Their second official gig went better than the first. Afterward, the band autographed photos, T-shirts, and various body parts for a handful of lucky fans with backstage passes.

“Hey, now.” Loup peeled a determined fan off of Randall, unwinding her clinging arms. “Let the nice singer go.”

She squealed. “Ooh! Mystery Girl! Can I take a picture with you?”

“Nope. I’m working.”

Cameras flashed anyway.

Randall tossed his bangs. “Welcome to show business.”

“Yeah, great.”

There was an after-party at a nearby club. The band demanded döner kebab on the way. Pilar consulted her Dataphone and directed the limo driver to a hole in the wall with the best late-night Middle Eastern takeaway in the city.

“Fuck me!” Charlie chewed blissfully. “How’d you know about this place?”

“Research. There was an article in one of my magazines that listed döner kebab as one of your top-ten favorite things. I’d never even heard of it before.”

“Research, huh? I like it.”

Pilar smiled. “Guess I kind of like it, too.”

More cameras flashed at the after-party. The band and their entourage were hustled into a VIP room.

“Hey!” one of the paparazzi shouted as they passed. “Mystery Girl! Over here!”

Loup blinked at the flash. “Ow.”

“Told you,” Pilar murmured in her ear. “One way or another, you’re gonna end up a star, baby.”

“Yeah, but this is just bizarre.”

“I’m beginning to realize that the world’s a pretty bizarre place,” Pilar said philosophically. “At least your pants didn’t fall down.”

“No thanks to you.”

She hooked one finger inside Loup’s low-slung waistband. “It just looks so fucking tempting.”

Loup caught her wrist. “Pilar Ecchevarria, I swear to God, if there’s a photo in the tabloids tomorrow of me with your hand in my pants, Sabine’s head will explode and we will so get fired.”

Pilar laughed.

“I’m serious!”

“I know, I know! It’s okay, no one’s watching. And they don’t allow cameras back here.” She sobered. “I like hearing you say my name. I kind of miss it, you know? Every time someone calls me Ms. Mendez, it feels wrong.”

“Me too.” Loup squeezed her hand, steering it clear of her pants. “But we’ll get them back someday. We’ll help fix things and make it right. Make the world a little less weird. We just have to figure out… Okay, quit looking at me like that.”

“I can’t help it! When you get all heroic, I just want to grab you and kiss you until you can’t breathe.”

“Yeah, and I’m two seconds from letting you.” She nudged Pilar’s hip. “Go take your smolder over there and scare away that girl Charlie’s hitting on. She looks awfully young to be in here.”

“Okay, fine.”

The night ended with a very crowded limo ride back to the hotel, giggling girls—all at least eighteen years old—sitting on the band members’ laps.

“So what are you?” one of them asked Loup curiously. “I mean really?”

Randall nuzzled her neck. “She’s a werewolf.”

She squealed. “Really?”

He nodded. “Growl for them, Loup.”

“I thought I was the future face of humanity,” she reminded him. “Fearless, wild, and free.”

“Fearless, noble, and free,” he corrected her. “But that was before I heard you growl. C’mon, please?”

“She’s not a trained animal,” Pilar commented.

Charlie giggled. “Dance, monkey, dance!”

“Shut up!” Donny punched him in the shoulder. “You’re a bloody asshole when you’re pissed.”

“Please?” Randall repeated. “I really do want to hear you do it again. Please?”

Loup rolled her eyes and growled softly. It was a low warning sound without as much menace, but it was still inhuman enough to silence the limo.

“Ohmigod!” the girl said, wide-eyed. “I can’t wait to post about this tomorrow!”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Donny said quickly. “Loup’s… um, Lupe’s situation is kinda complicated.”

“No, it’s okay.” Loup gave him a thoughtful look. “Pilar and I talked about it before we took this job. People should know. I mean, part of the problem is that the U.S. government is denying that people like me even exist. No one else seems to want to tackle it head-on. Sabine says I can’t be… what was the word? Extradited? So why not let Kate’s fans spread the word? They’re already doing it anyway. It’s bound to come out.”

“So Loup’s going to become the poster child for werewolves,” Pilar added.

“Pilar!”

She laughed. “Loup’s not a werewolf,” she assured the apprehensive-looking fans. “That’s just a joke, okay? But she is the product of genetic engineering. Sort of.”

“She’s a geemo? For real?”

“For real,” Loup agreed. “Except that I wasn’t made in a lab. My father was. My mother was normal. I’m a genetic mutation.”

One of the fans shivered. “That’s trippy.”

“Yeah.” Randall tossed his bangs. “Real trippy. It’s giving me some ideas for the new album. About what it means to be human and all. And the fear thing. You can’t feel fear, right?” he asked Loup.