“A few obvious solutions present themselves—in vitro fertilization and surrogacy could allow the offspring of two lycanthropes to be carried to term. However, on review, such procedures may not be advisable. A lycanthrope’s preternatural healing ability makes many surgical procedures—such as the retrieval of ova—problematic. But another issue may be biological—an as-yet-undiscovered reason why lycanthropes cannot sexually reproduce, and the trauma of shape-shifting on lycanthropic reproductive capabilities is, in effect, a fail-safe to ensure that such reproduction is impossible. More experimental data is required to confirm some of these speculations.”

I needed a few minutes to parse what the lecturer was saying. Oh, I understood it well enough, my brain processed it, but the lump in my gut rose to my throat and I had to squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, fighting tears of disappointment. I had been looking for a revelation, a solution, a bit of magic. For hope. That I didn’t find it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. But that hope had been stronger than I thought. I had let myself hope more than I’d intended.

The lecture was done, the projector shut off, and everyone had filed out of the room. There didn’t seem to be another presentation after because the room stayed empty, and I remained sitting in the middle of the back row, my blank notepad resting on my lap, staring and thinking.

It was just a thing. A branch on the road, one of the ones you didn’t get to pick, like getting infected with lycanthropy or losing your best friend. You just dealt with it. We could adopt. Once our lives settled down a little, we could adopt.

I lurched out of the seat and stomped off to find Ben and someplace to get a drink.

* * *

BEN MUST not have been out of his latest session. I called him—we’d all gotten quad band, internationally capable phones—but he must have had the thing switched off, because it rolled to voice mail.

“Hi. I’m ready for a drink and food that bleeds. I’ll meet you in the hotel lobby.” I switched the phone off and tried to calm down. I wanted to run.

Through the wide glass doors at the front of the lobby, I could see the protesters were back, rowdy as ever. Police barricades and supervision kept them away from the doors and mostly off the street. I’d made a habit of ducking out the side doors in and out of the hotel; I wanted to avoid the gauntlet if I could help it. On the street, one of the red double-decker buses made its way slowly past the crowd, changing lanes in preparation for turning. It had one of the Mercedes Cook ads on its side. My gut sank, and not just because Mercedes was on my shit list and after last night the very sight of her made me ill. The ad had been vandalized, spray painted over in sloppy, drippy black: STAKE THE DEMONS, with the vampire’s face crossed out by an angry scribble. I could hate Mercedes on principle, but this was a bigger issue. Maybe I had another topic for my keynote speech.

I caught his scent just before he pounced and turned to face him.

Luis had been stalking, his arms raised for grabbing, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was within reach, but I crossed my arms and glared. “Hello, Luis.”

“Aw, I was moving from downwind so you wouldn’t smell me.”

“Luis, we’re inside, there is no downwind!”

He grinned like he knew that fact very well and didn’t care. “You look like you’re just waiting for someone to sweep you away to dinner and dancing.”

Hmm, dinner and dancing, escaping the cares of the world with a big bottle of wine … “I am. Ben’s meeting me here and we’re going for lunch and drinks.” Any minute now …

“Ah. Right. He seems very nice.”

“He is.”

“I have to admit, Kitty, I just never pictured you as the marrying type.”

“Why not?” I said, pouting. “Just because I happened to jump into bed with you within hours of meeting you?”

His smile went vague and he gave a heartfelt sigh. “That was a very good night, wasn’t it?”

And why on earth had I brought it up? My skin shouldn’t have been tingling like that at the memory. “Yeah, it was. It was also years ago and I met the right guy in the meantime.”

“Yes, and so much has happened we clearly have a lot of catching up to do. I read your book—it was really good. Really thoughtful. I very much enjoyed it.”

My expression melted into a smile. “Oh, you did? It was? Thank you! I’m thinking it’s time to do another.”

“That’s great. Seriously, I’d love to take you to dinner and we can talk about what we’ve been up to. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Okay. I think we can manage that. Maybe your sister can come along?” Sister, chaperone …

He reached out and caught my hand, cradling it gently in his as he brought it to his lips and gave the knuckles a light kiss. Truly a lost art, the kissing of hands.

Of course that was when Ben walked up.

I pulled my hand away, and Luis hung onto it for just that extra moment before I could take a step back. I didn’t know why I was blushing, I didn’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Ben had his hands in his trouser pockets as he strolled up to me, but kept a hard gaze on Luis.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Just fine,” I said. “Ready to head out?” I hooked my arm around his and steered him toward the lobby’s side exit.

“I very much look forward to dinner tomorrow night,” Luis said, waving after us.

Ben and I had gone ten or so strides when I looked at him and said, “What?”

“I didn’t say anything,” he said.

“You were thinking it.”

“You want to have dinner with an old friend. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Except…”

“The guy gives me the creeps, that’s all.”

“Because he’s a were-jaguar?”

He glanced at me. “He’s a little slimy, don’t you think? That whole hand-kissing thing?”

“Maybe you ought to try it sometime.”

“Me? The guy who can’t remember to bring home flowers on our anniversary?” He actually sounded a little sad.

I hugged his arm. “You cook. That’s better.”

We made it outside and down the street, took our life in our hands by crossing the street, which was helpfully marked with arrows pointing the direction we needed to look to keep from being plowed into by oncoming cabs in bizarro traffic land. I’d get used to looking right first just when it was time to go home.