Damian didn't check his gold Rolex, but glanced at the sinking sun. "The shop's closed. We'll have to start tomorrow morning, when they open. That's when we'll find the first clue."

Chapter 5.

A s Jamie went upstairs and headed for the bedroom, Damian followed. Archimedes darted past him, bolting inside the apartment.

Her stomach grumbled. Fishing through the fridge, she found her usual grazing fare. Nothing looked appealing, not the leftover tofu or the brick of Swiss cheese.

A craving surfaced for fresh meat. Not even horrified, she entertained the idea of something raw and tasty. "I'm starved," she muttered, slamming the door. "Maybe some fresh crayfish. So fresh they're still crawling."

Blood drained from Damian's face. "How about a tender, juicy steak?"

He picked up the phone, spoke a volley of rapid French.

Minutes later, Raphael came over. He dropped a plastic grocery bag on the kitchen table.

She peeked inside and her mouth watered. "Oh, wow. Raw cube steak!"

Raphael gave Damian a look she couldn't understand.

Jamie ripped away the cellophane. Forget knife and fork. Standing at the table, she grabbed the beef and began tearing off bite-size chunks. One after another, she gobbled them down like candy. Barely pausing to chew, her hunger screaming its demand.

She caught the look they exchanged and glanced down. Blood pooled on the table. Her stomach gave a sickening twist. Jamie clapped a hand to her mouth.

Damian gently pulled it away. "Don't. You're only experiencing a natural human reaction. Your body needs the food."

"I'm a vegetarian." Jamie wrapped her arms around herself. "Oh G.o.d, I just ate a cow. What the h.e.l.l did you do to me, Draicon?"

"I saved you."

"His blood is inside you now. Powerful magick changing your body chemistry and fighting the spell. You should be grateful," Raphael chided.

"Blood? What blood..."

Damian's frown at Raphael warned her. The potion. "You put your blood in that potion?" She fought down the urge to retch.

"Blood from a purebred Alpha male Draicon contains powerful magick," Damian said quietly. "It was the only way of slowing the spell."

She was becoming a d.a.m.n werewolf. Thanks to Damian, her body had already started changing.

He tipped her chin up with a fingertip. "Relax, and go with it, Jamie. It won't hurt you."

"I don't care if it hurts me. I can't bear to hurt an animal. And now I'm eating them?" She stared at him. "Will I turn into a wolf and hunt?"

"Non. But you will feel better."

Think of the immediate. Jamie swallowed hard, forcing down the nausea.

"Okay, okay. I can deal. If it helps keep this thing from growing inside me. I'll do what I have to."

He gave a real smile that lit up his eyes like Christmas bulbs. "You are a zirondelle."

Her eyebrows lifted at his gentle, teasing tone. "Tell me you didn't insult me."

"It's Cajun French for dragonfly. Dragonflies are honored among my people because they can move swiftly through life, see everything from different angles and adapt as needed. A zirondelle reflects sunlight off the bayou waters, is pa.s.sionate, emotional and rides the winds of change as fiercely as she loves life."

No one had ever laid such praise at her feet. The comparison arrowed straight to her heart. How many times had she darted through life, forced to react and change? She longed to be such a creature, with the ability to soar far above pain and sorrow. A lovely iridescent being, who reflected only the light, and shimmered like the sun. In her heart, she knew it was an illusive dream.

"I'm not a zirondelle." Jamie stumbled over the unfamiliar word, picking at her faded T-shirt. "They're beautiful creatures of the light, and fearless. That's not me."

Damian kissed her cheek gently. Maybe he meant it as rea.s.surance, but the soft warmth of his mouth on her cool cheek stirred another hunger.

His lips felt like a down quilt, promising snuggling comfort to chase away her body's chill. Suddenly she craved the heat, the closeness of his body pressed against hers. But she had seen his aggression, the testosterone rolling off him in waves.

He slid a hand up her nape, his touch a.s.sured and yet so gentle.

"Donnez-moi un pet.i.t kiss, chere," he murmured. "Come on, little one. One small kiss."

Jamie lifted her face. One tiny kiss couldn't hurt. Nothing more, nothing further. Her lips parted in invitation as she slid her arms about his waist.

Something shuttered in his green eyes.

His mouth descended on hers swiftly. Damian cradled her head as he kissed her. Desire flared like gasoline poured on a smoldering fire. She kissed him back, her feelings askew, l.u.s.t making her limbs tremble.

Her mouth opened wide as she flicked her tongue over his lips.

With a low growl, he pulled her to him and crushed her mouth beneath his.

Her mind went to war with her body. Her mind shouting it was a mistake to kiss a Draicon, this Draicon. Her mind screaming to stop this fusing of mouths, the delicious heat he sent into her cold, cold insides.

Her body telling her mind to shut up and just let go.

She let go.

Jamie clutched his wide shoulders. He thrust his tongue inside, stroking the inside of her mouth in an erotic caress. Taking, penetrating her mouth as if staking his claim. She quivered with antic.i.p.ation, her eyes closed as she imagined him removing her clothing, laying her down and spreading her thighs apart with his strong hands. Then his big, powerful body mounting her as he thrust his c.o.c.k deep inside, spreading more of that delicious warmth into her, so she'd never be cold again.

Oh G.o.d, she needed this so badly she shook with the craving, like an addict needing a fix. Needed to seal herself to him, climb inside his wonderful warmth...

"Excusez-moi, but if you two need one, the bedroom's back there."

Raphael jerked a thumb toward the hallway. Jamie wrenched herself free. Oh, she was warm now. An embarra.s.sed flush crept up her neck. To cover her confusion, she glared at Damian.

"Are you finished, wolf?"

"Not quite," he murmured. "But I'll save you for...dessert."

His intent look was a warning. He licked his lips, as if tasting her all over again. The s.p.a.ce between her legs throbbed in answer.

She had to stop this. Keep him at a distance; he wasn't safe, couldn't ever be. A Draicon was dangerous.

She'd seen the powerful male aggression. From what she knew of Draicon, they didn't usually destroy their own, but what if...they did? What if one killed Renee?

Renee must have been terrified. G.o.d, what a way to die.

Lifting her gaze, she worked up courage. "I don't think I can take much more of this. And how do I know you wouldn't do to me what happened to Renee? You're werewolves. You tear apart animals."

Raphael muttered a low curse. Damian's expression shuttered. "Jamie, we're Draicon. We hunt to eat when we must, but never take the life of innocents. We're not your enemy. I know you've had quite a shock. But you need to pull together all your strength and courage and move forward to survive."

The old Jamie stirred. Her warrior Night Elf wouldn't grow soft. Neither would she.

"You have no idea how many times I've had to move forward."

Oops. Didn't mean to let that slip. He gave her a thoughtful look. Archimedes meowed as he investigated the kitchen. Poor kitty. She imagined the horrifying violence the cat had witnessed. We have something in common now, Archimedes.

Jamie scooped the cat up and, against her better judgment, buried her face in his soft fur. Once, a cat had been her only friend. And then...She swallowed the bile rising in her throat.

But Archimedes struggled and hissed until she let him go. He raced away and sat in a corner, watching her.

Damian frowned at the cat.

"He's had a rough day," she said, excusing the feline's behavior.

The Draicon leader studied the cat. "He looks very well fed."

"He's a good mouser. After Katrina hit, we went looking for stranded animals. When Mark and I found him he was surviving on mice and..." Her voice trailed off. She glanced up to see Damian studying her. As if he wanted to pry inside her mind.

"Your brother. He was not as you think." Damian's jaw tightened.

"My brother was everything," she shot out, knowing how defensive she sounded. Jamie wanted to scream at Damian, the wolf who'd brought him down. "He was a very important wildlife biologist and millions watched his television show. Wild & Wonderful was a ratings. .h.i.t."

"It was a good show," Raphael agreed, smiling a little. As if he were human. He wasn't. He was a d.a.m.n wolf, a beast like Damian.

"The only show Paw Paw ever enjoyed," Raphael continued. "He doesn't have a television, so he told us to record it and he'd watch every Sunday night when he came over for dinner. His favorite was where Mark wrestled with an alligator in Florida."

Reluctant memories surfaced. "He'd just gotten the word the show was syndicated. Mark was amazingly brave. He could encounter any type of wild animal and have a calming effect on it. Even insects. Once he backed up against a nest of hornets. They just swarmed over him like babies, not hurting him. It was fascinating."

"Wasps." Damian's upper lip rose.

Raphael grinned. "T'frere, your allergies. Remember when you accidentally stuck your hand in a nest? Your face blew up like someone kicked it."

"If you're so powerful, how can you be allergic?"

Her question brought dead silence. Jamie's gaze whipped from the suddenly tense Raphael to a grim Damian.

"Draicon young are like human children. Until we reach p.u.b.erty, we're powerless. Alpha purebreds like myself have very vulnerable immune systems until we're five. Someone set loose hornets in my room when I was two." Damian's expression turned hard.

Holy...Jamie wrapped her arms about herself. "It must have hurt like h.e.l.l."

His mouth was a tight slash. "Enough for me to remember even now. Maman, my mother, heard me scream. She saved me, but the residual effects were the allergy. Enough stings and I won't die, but it sure as h.e.l.l weakens me."

"Oh, Damian." Unexpected pity twisted her heart. "Why did this person do it? If they wanted you..."

She halted, troubled by the grisly image.

"He wanted me to suffer before I died. There were enough wasps to kill."

Jamie shuddered. "Who did it? Did they catch him?"

The guarded look dropped over his face. "My father...delivered swift justice. It was the relative of a good friend, one we protected. Someone who watched over me when my parents were gone."

"Someone you liked?"

The answer came in his compressed lips and flat eyes. She felt a reluctant ache for a child whose trust was violated. Damian, too, had known betrayal and pain. Then again, he had parents to watch over and protect him, unlike her. Or did he? His past remained murky. He watched her now with hooded eyes. Keeping secrets.

She had secrets, as well. Jamie found herself shutting down.

"Enough of me. Tell me about Mark and your life together," he insisted.

Silent, she stared at the faded blue wallpaper. Sharing information about Mark felt sacrilegious, telling the enemy who relished slaying her brother.

Raphael shifted against the wall. Damian spoke.

"Something about your brother bothers me. After that last episode, the one after Hurricane Katrina, the show ended. I heard rumors about Mark killing an animal and some viewers getting very upset."

Jamie bristled, her hands fisting. "My brother never, ever killed anything."

Damian's cool, a.s.sessing look penetrated the fib. She bit her lip.

"Okay. Just once and it wasn't his fault. I think that's why he stopped the show, it upset him so much. He was touring the bayou, showing the effects of Katrina's damage. I went with him to help rescue strays. He heard a dog howling inside an abandoned cabin and went inside. Zane, his producer, insisted he bring the rifle just in case. A sick or wounded animal can be dangerous."

Her voice wobbled. "We heard these awful sounds, like a dog snarling, and Mark was yelling. Then a gunshot. When he came out, he snapped at everyone. It took a while for him to calm down. He seemed different. Said the dog was rabid and he had to kill it."

Damian and Raphael exchanged glances. Jamie hated it, those knowing looks, like those who'd accused Mark afterward of recklessness and other, much darker acts. "He never would have if he hadn't have been certain. Mark loved animals. And those people blathering about him killing...They didn't know him.... Not like I did..."

She hated this, her voice cracking like shattered china.

"I'm sure you're right," Damian murmured. "He sounds like a man who wouldn't ever hurt anything."

Enough said. If Damian suspected she knew he'd killed her brother, how would he react? The Draicon was unpredictable and she was far too weak and vulnerable now.

Troubled, she bent over to stroke Archimedes' back.