FUR FOR ALL, Book 5 in FIXED by Christine Warren Read Free Book Online Page A

beatific smile spread across her pretty face. “Isn’t that just perfect?” 42

    Fixed 5: Fur For All

    Chapter Five

    “Perfect,” Rafe growled as he stalked beside Graham through the semi-hidden hallway that connected Vircolac to the library in Graham’s neighboring house. “Thirteen bloody members on that bloody council, and I still get stuck with the job of making contact with the witches.”
    “You are the head of the council,” Graham pointed out, sounding amused.
    “And you are not helping.”
    Rafe’s temper had not improved during the brief, informal meeting with the rest of the council members. He had his suspicions about why the witches would want to contact the Others for the first time in nearly four hundred years, and none of the possibilities he had in mind made him very happy. The only good thing he could see coming out of the situation was having met Tess. And since she seemed not to consider him to be her favorite person at the moment, even that couldn’t soften the entire blow of being caught up in this political mess. He growled.
    “Look, if we’re right and the witches are considering breaking out of the Accord, it’s important for us to talk to them before they do anything rash.”
    “I know.” Rafe wasn’t pleased about it, but he did know.
    The Accord of Silence had been reached centuries ago, long before the split between the witches and the Others, even before humans had begun writing down tales about men who changed into beasts or cast spells to wither flocks and tell the fortunes of kings. Since the first time when humans began to realize there was something different about some of the creatures walking among them, witches and Others alike had relied on the power of the Accord to keep their existence separate and hidden from humans. It was a formal agreement that 43

    Christine Warren
    none of the races or powerful sects on earth would reveal their existence to humankind. To do so would be folly, but in order to preserve their secrecy, the cooperation of all supernatural creatures and magic users had been vital. The idea that all of it might end because the witches were tired of hiding made him grind his teeth in frustration. How could they be so irresponsible as to risk the lives of so many non-humans just because they wanted the right to wear pointy black hats in public?
    “Don’t sound so grumpy or you’ll scare the human,” Graham said, grinning.
    “She’s not human. She’s a witch.”
    “Last I heard, witches are human. So unless they’ve been doing some experimentation that we Others haven’t heard of…”
    “Bite me.”
    Graham laughed. “Nah. You’re old and tough. I’d much rather kick you out and go nibble on my wife.” He paused, lifted his head, sniffed. “Who I see has been nibbling on something herself while we were busy. Roast beef, I think. With extra-hot horseradish. They’re in the kitchen.” Rafe already knew that. He could smell Tess’s sweetly pungent fragrance drifting to him from down the hallway. He tried to resist the urge to inhale deeply, but failed, and then he had to growl at Graham when he caught the Lupine eying him with an amused expression.
    “What?” he snarled.
    “Oh, nothing.” Graham’s grin belied his nonchalant tone. “It’s just nice to see the man who said he’d never be happy with one woman at a time be so focused on one woman.”
    “What the hell are you talking about? Don’t confuse me with one of your bloody pack mates. You Lupines are the idiots who think mating with one person for all eternity is a good idea. We Felines know better. We know that variety is the spice of life.”
    44

    Fixed 5: Fur For All
    “But you didn’t always.”
    Rafe gave his friend a warning growl. “Don’t bring up that idiotic old wives’
    tale. There’s no evidence to prove a word of it. No one in the last dozen generations has been able to remember a time when the Felines mated for life.
    We’re cats, not bloody