The Shifters by Alexandra Sokoloff

him “—is likely the latest of them.”
    At the word “murders,” the weres shifted on their feet, muttering.
    â€œWhy should we believe him?” the female demanded.
    â€œCall the vampire. DeFarge,” Ryder said, hating to have to evoke Jagger’s name for help, but it wasslighly better than being torn apart by wolves. “He’s investigating.”
    The older were looked him over without smiling. “All right, shifter,” he said finally. “We shall see.”

Chapter 11
    I t was dusk.
    Caitlin was disoriented to realize that she’d slept the whole day. Just like a vampire, she thought, a bit unnerved at the thought.
    On the other hand, it meant she could cook up a hell of a sleeping draught.
    And she hadn’t dreamed, thank God; that had provided at least some respite from her intrusively sexual thoughts of the shapeshifter.
    Don’t go down that road, she warned herself, and stalked to the closet.
    She stared into her wardrobe and pushed clothes aside until she found what she was looking for: alace-up dress of shell-pink that incorporated a corsetlike bodice of intricate hooks and eyes and ribbons. Both innocent and fetishistically sexy, it was something she knew Danny would like and Case would be hard-put to resist. She didn’t feel one second of guilt.
    When she was showered, perfumed and laced into the dress—no small task without someone else to do the lacing—she sat down at her reading table in the alcove of the living room and unwrapped the silk from the set of cards she kept at home just for herself.
    She sat unmoving in her wicker chair with its high curved back and carved swan design, and let her breathing slow and her thoughts focus, then slip away to blankness.
    Then she opened her eyes, shuffled and cut the cards, and dealt one.
    The Lovers.
    She stared down at it in dismay, then swept it up, shuffled, and dealt again.
    The Lovers.
    She suppressed a wave of fury at Ryder Mallory, then gathered the deck to shuffle again, and this time she held the cards in both hands, concentrating on a single question: “Where will I find Case and Danny?”
    She drew a card and turned it over…and this time she smiled.
    The Moon.
    Meaning, obviously, the Full Moon Saloon.
    Â 
    Caitlin walked into the packed bar with its patently obvious theme. There were moons everywhere: the lighting fixtures, the neon bar signs, shining discs on the window shades, glowing cutouts in the candleholders on the table. For a moment it struck her uneasily that the Moon card was also a clear sign of deception, deceit and danger….
    But of course she knew that about the situation anyway, didn’t she? No news there.
    She dismissed the thought and scanned the crowd. She saw Case almost instantly; the long bar was located in a raised area of the room, with wide stairs leading up to the higher level, and Case was parked on a bar stool toward the left side.
    Caitlin started across the crowded floor and was gratified to turn several male heads as she made her way, not so much needing the attention for herself but because it made Case instantly notice her.
    He leaned in toward the musician type hunched on the bar stool beside him and said something—the guy grabbed his drink and stood, moved away.
    As Case looked down at her, she felt her face flush, remembering the night before.
    Except that wasn’t him, remember? She forced thethought of Ryder and his shapeshifting trick away, climbed the stairs and slid onto the stool beside Case.
    â€œMy lucky night,” he said, with that twisted grin.
    The bartender immediately stepped up, and she told him, “Jack and Coke.”
    Case quirked an eyebrow, and she lifted her hands. “Not playing tonight?” she asked, just to have something to say.
    â€œI’m always playing, cher .”
    â€œTrue,” she said, and felt a wave of impatience. Why does this always have to be so hard? Why