Anne Bishop - Written in Red

He howled that squeaky-door sound that couldn’t be mistaken for any other Wolf. Meg laughed and took a step back. “Climb, Sam. Climb! We are adventure buddies scaling the mighty snow!” She pulled, and Sam climbed until he got out of the drift. He shook himself off and looked at Meg, tail wagging, tongue hanging out in a grin.

“Time for dinner?” she asked the pup.

His answer was to set off at a brisk pace, pulling her along behind him.

When Meg and Sam were inside Simon’s apartment, Vlad watched Blair reappear at the entrance, looking wary. That harness and leash would infuriate all the Wolves in the Courtyard. Without Simon’s presence, Blair, as the Courtyard’s main enforcer, would either defend Meg or let the other Wolves have her for this offense. Which would bring the Wolves into conflict with the Sanguinati, because Grandfather Erebus was entertained by the Liaison and her courtesies, and he had made it clear that Meg was under his protection until he said otherwise.

Blair looked at them, nodded, and walked away.

“What do you think?” Vlad asked.

“See what you can find in the books or the computer about adventurers and ropes. See if you can find out why Meg did this.”

“I can look. Or I can just ask her.”

“Or you can just ask her.” A thoughtful pause. “She does not think like other humans, and she does not think like us. She is something new, something little known and not understood. But she found a way to quiet Sam’s fear, and that should not be forgotten.”

No, that shouldn’t be forgotten, which was something he would point out to Blair.

Henry blew out a breath. “Come. There is pizza and a movie. What was chosen for the entertainment?”

Vlad smiled, revealing the Sanguinati fangs. “Night of the Wolf.”

Her coat dangling from one arm, Meg rushed back into Simon’s living room and shrieked, “Sam! What are you doing? Stop that! Stop!”

The pup continued chewing at the cage and pushing his little paws against the wires so hard that it looked like his toes had elongated into furry fingers that were trying to reach the latch.

She banged the cage with the flat of her hand, startling him enough to take a step back.

“Stop that!” she scolded. “You’re going to break a tooth or cut your paws. What’s wrong with you?”

He talked at her. She threw her hands up in exasperation.

“You have food. You have water. You already ate the cookies, and we had a quick walk. I have to go to work now. If I’m late again, Elliot Wolfgard will bite me, and I bet he bites hard. ”

Sam lifted his muzzle and wailed.

Meg stared at him and wondered what happened to the sweet puppy she had brushed yesterday evening, the puppy who had snuggled on the couch with her while she watched a television program. He’d been fine about going into the cage when she said it was time for bed. He hadn’t made a fuss about her going back to her own apartment. And he’d been fine when she came over this morning—until she tried to leave.

“You can’t go to work with me,” Meg said. “You’d be bored, and I can’t be playing with you. You stay home all the time when Simon goes to work.”

Sam howled.

“I can come back during my lunch break for a walk.”

Sam howled.

If she left, would he stop howling? If she left, would he still be howling when she got back? How much longer before Vlad or Henry or Tess started pounding on the door to find out what was wrong? Or was this something Sam did every morning and the residents were used to it?

Maybe they were, but she wasn’t.

“All right!” she yelled. She opened the cage door. “Out! Out out out. Wait for me by the door.”

Sam rushed out of the cage and busied himself trying to tug harness and leash off the coat peg by the front door.

Meg grabbed his food and water bowls and hurried to the kitchen. Finding a clean, empty coffee can with a lid in one of the bottom cupboards, she filled it with kibble and threw a few cookies on top, poured the water down the sink and dried the bowl, then grabbed one of the big carry sacks hanging from a peg and filled it with Sam’s things. A moment’s thought about snow and puppies had her running upstairs to snag a bath towel from the linen closet.

“I’m late, I’m late, I’m late,” she muttered as she ran down the stairs. She stuffed Sam into the harness, ignoring his complaints because she didn’t smooth all of his fur in the right direction. “I’ll fix it after we get to the office.”

Pup, purse, her carry sack, Sam’s carry sack. The towel over one arm, the leash looped around her wrist. Juggling everything, she opened the door, fumbling for the keys in her pocket. Just as she pulled them out, Sam jerked on the leash, yanking her off balance.

She dropped the keys—and an olive-skinned hand caught them before they hit the ground.

“Need a hand?” Vlad said, smiling at her.

“Or a mallet.”

He looked baffled—and very amused. “I don’t understand.”

She shook her head.

He locked Simon’s front door and handed her the keys.

“Thank you,” she said, dumping the keys in her purse and digging for the BOW’s key. “I’m having a difficult morning. Sam! Stop tugging at me!”

“Is it that time of the month?” Vlad asked.

Some feeling blew through her. It might have been embarrassment, but she suspected it was closer to rage. “What?”

He studied her. “Is that not an appropriate question to ask?”

“No!”

“Odd. In many novels I’ve read, human males often ask that question when a female is acting . . .” Puzzlement as he continued to study her face. “Although, now that I consider it, they usually don’t make that observation to the female herself.”

“I have to go to work now,” Meg said, enunciating each word.

“Ah.” He looked at Sam, then at the carry sacks and the towel. “Where is Sam going?”

“He’s coming with me.”

Something in Vlad’s eyes. Surprise? Panic? She would be okay with panic. It would mean she wasn’t the only one who felt out of control today.

Although a vampire feeling out of control might not be healthy for the people around him.

“I’ll help you with those,” Vlad said.

She didn’t argue, especially since she hadn’t found the BOW’s key yet. Vlad flung the towel over his shoulder and held the handles of the carry sacks in one hand as if the sacks weighed nothing, then led the way to the garages, leaving her to deal with Sam. She shortened the leash to keep the pup from running around her in circles. The way things were going, she would end up face-first in the snow. Again.

The way things were going, if she didn’t put her foot down, she would end up puppy-sitting a little tyrant.

She was still trying to find her key—and wondering if she’d left it on her kitchen table—when Vlad dipped a hand in his pocket, pulled out a key, and opened the back of her BOW.

“What?” she stammered. “How?”

“Any BOW key works for all the BOWs in this Courtyard,” Vlad said. “Makes it easier, since very few of them are designated for a particular individual.”

While she stared at him, he picked up Sam, wiped the pup’s feet, then placed pup and towel where Sam could look out between the front seats. He tucked the sacks in the back. “Are you riding in the back?” He wagged a finger at the leash still looped over her wrist.