Elena laughed. I opened the door that joined the two suites and she saw Troy.

“Shit,” she murmured. “You weren’t kidding.”

“I just saw Mr. Cortez’s car pull into the lot,” Troy said. “Figured you might like some advance warning. I thought I heard”—he leaned into the room and saw Elena—“voices. Hello.”

He leaned farther into the room for a better look, and it was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere without an introduction.

“Troy, this is Elena; Elena, this is Troy Morgan, Benicio’s bodyguard, temporarily on loan.”

Elena stood and extended her hand. Troy nearly tripped over his feet to take it. As usual, I don’t think Elena noticed the attention, and certainly didn’t reciprocate.

“You’re a, uh, friend of Paige’s?” he said.

“A fellow council member,” I said. “She just stopped in for a visit…with her husband.”

“Hus—” He looked down at Elena’s hand and saw her engagement ring. “Oh.” He stepped back, reluctantly. “The interracial council, huh? So you’re a supernatural. Let me guess—”

“Sorry,” I said. “But if Benicio’s coming up, we’d better get Elena gone.”

Another rap at the door, this time the hall one.

“Come on,” Troy said to Elena. “We’ll duck out through my room.”

“Say good-bye to Savannah for me,” I said. “I’ll call you tonight.”

Elena let Troy usher her into his room. I paused, then opened the hall door and invited Benicio in. His new bodyguard stayed in the corridor. Before I’d even closed that door, the adjoining door reopened and Elena popped her head through. She motioned toward the hall, mouthing “guard.” I discreetly waved her inside. Better for her to go out the main door, and arouse Benicio’s suspicions a bit, than have the guard see her sneak from Troy’s room and raise Benicio’s suspicions a lot. I doubted Troy usually had women spend the night while he was on duty.

“Is Savannah here?” Benicio asked, looking around. He saw Elena.

“She was just leaving,” I said.

Elena brushed past Benicio with a small smile and a nod. I held the door open, then closed it behind her and turned to Benicio.

“Now, where were we?” I said. “Oh, you brought the case files. Thanks.”

I took the files. Benicio glanced at the half-open bedroom door, trying to see through it.

“Is Savannah—”

“Did Lucas get to Chicago okay?” I asked. “He was worried about being late. He cut it pretty close this morning.”

“The plane landed at eleven.”

“Time to spare, then. Good.”

Benicio slipped a look through thebedroom doorway. “I assume Savannah—”

“Is everything in this?” I said, hoisting the file.

Before he could answer, I walked to the window and spread the file on the wide sill, pretending to look through it as I surveyed the parking lot below. I saw Clay and Elena’s blond heads bobbing through the scattering of cars, moving fast, Savannah’s dark head between them.

“Let’s see. Incident reports…” Elena, Clay, and Savannah stopped at a car. A convertible, of course. A moment’s pause, then Clay tossed Elena the keys and they climbed inside. “Scene photos, medical reports…” The car peeled from the lot. “Looks like everything’s here. Now, you were saying…?”

“Savannah,” he said. “I don’t see her here, Paige, and I certainly hope you wouldn’t be foolish enough to let her wander around the hotel unaccompanied.”

“Of course not. She’s staying with friends while I investigate this.”

“Friends?” He paused. “The woman who just left, I presume. Perhaps you don’t realize how serious this is. You cannot turn Paige over to a human—”

“She’s a supernatural. Someone who will take very good care of Savannah.”

Benicio paused, only for a moment, processing everything he knew about my supernatural contacts in less time it would take most people to name the capital of France.

“The werewolf,” he said. “Elena Michaels.”

I’ll admit to a moment of disconcertion. The werewolves valued their privacy, which was why I hadn’t told Troy who Elena was. When Benicio did his homework, he didn’t miss anything.

“Werewolf?” Troy murmured behind us. “She was a werewolf? Shit. Now there’s a story that’ll buy me a few rounds at the club.”

“No,” Benicio said. “You won’t tell anyone.”

Troy straightened. “Yes, sir.”

“As a matter of interracial courtesy, we must respect the werewolves’ privacy. You may, however, take a few drinks on my club tab, to compensate.”

Troy grinned. “Yes, sir.”

“I don’t mean to criticize, Paige,” Benicio said. “And I don’t wish to insult your friends, but I must point out that the Cabal is far better equipped to protect Savannah. You lack experience in such matters, and what may seem like a good idea to you is not necessarily the wisest option.”

“It wasn’t my idea.”

“Then who—?” He stopped, realizing the only possible answer. Then he nodded. “If Lucas thinks this is best, we’ll leave the girl with them…for now. If the situation worsens, though, we may need to reconsider our options.”