“I guess the percentage of heart disease here is pretty damn low,” she muttered.
“There are advantages, Alex.”
“To being an evil killing machine?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Does anyone you’ve met seem evil? Are there bloody body parts strewn all over? Do you see any intestines strung from the rooftops and severed heads on pikes in the town square?”
“That doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”
“It won’t. We’re different.”
“So you say.”
“So you’l
l see.”
As they continued to stroll across town Alex noted that most of the inhabitants made do with a hat, boots, and a flannel shirt against the elements. Alex wasn’t wearing much more than that, either, and she didn’t really mind.
“How cold is it?” she asked, wrapping Ella’s scarf around her ears and neck.
“Not bad today. About five below.”
“And that’s ‘not bad’?”
“It can get to minus fifty some nights.”
She flicked a finger at him. “You wear a coat then?”
“Fur coat.”
Figures.
“Why aren’t I turning blue?” she wondered aloud.
“Another advantage. Increased metabolism, increased body heat. You don’t want to leave your extremities out for too long in this cold, but you aren’t going to need a coat unless the temperature drops another forty degrees.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“There’s someone I want you to meet,” he said.
“I thought I met everyone when we were—” She waved at the town square. “You know.”
His lips quirked. “Naked?”
She wasn’t going to discuss naked with him. Not now. Not ever.
When she didn’t take the bait, he shrugged and his smile faded. “Not everyone runs as a wolf every night.”
“Why not if it’s so fantabulous?” she muttered.
The sudden rev of a motor was followed by the overwhelming scent of exhaust. Julian paused and turned, calmly watching the snowmobile race up the street directly at them.
Alex fought the bizarre urge to step in front of him. Even if the machine hit Barlow head-on, he’d be fine. Since she’d prefer him dead, where on earth had the desire to protect him come from?
You’d think she’d put her head through Ella’s wall instead of her fist the way she was acting.
She needn’t have worried. Whoever was at the controls of the snowmobile stopped a safe distance away, then whipped off the helmet.