He reached across and patted my arm. Again I felt my skin burn where he touched me. ‘You’re an innocent, D’Artagnan.’
I tried not to take offence. ‘Getting back to the point,’ I said, ‘Gregory is a delta.’
‘Yes. I’m assuming you didn’t notice the blue tag on his shirt.’
‘Actually, I did. But I didn’t know what it was for.’
‘Blue is for delta,’
‘I get that now. So he’s what? In the middle of the pack?’
Lukas pursed his lips. ‘Essentially. You still have to be reasonably powerful to reach that point. Gregory was speaking the truth. He would never be strong enough to use another’s name against them. I’m sure I’ve already told you that only a handful of supes can use given names to achieve dominance. In theory, the only people who can use a werewolf’s name to such effect are those who rank far above them.’
‘And in practice?’ I inquired.
‘In practice, a non-ranking trainee, with no power and no practical knowledge of anything supernatural, used Gregory’s name to calm him down and ensure he answered her questions.’ Lukas paused. ‘It will be interesting to discover what rank Becca held, given that you also broke up their fight presumably without using her name to enhance your authority. You have more power within you than I’d realised.’
I wrinkled my nose. ‘I might technically be a trainee, but I’m a mere smidge away from becoming a qualified police detective. There’s authority and power in that.’
He snorted. ‘That means nothing in the supernatural world. Brown certainly couldn’t have done what you did.’ He gazed into my eyes. ‘So the question remains: what on earth are you, D’Artagnan?’
His scrutiny was making me uneasy – and so was his question. ‘Lucky,’ I shrugged, making light of the situation. ‘Just lucky.’
‘You don’t believe that any more than I do. Who are your parents? What do they do?’
Discomfort tightened the muscles in my shoulders. ‘They don’t do anything. They’re dead.’
Lukas drew in a breath. ‘I’m sorry.’
I looked away. ‘They died a long time ago.’ I shook myself. Whatever I was, I couldn’t see how it had any bearing on our investigation. I was convinced what had happened was nothing more than an unnatural by-product. I knew I was too afraid to delve deeper into myself – but I also knew that right now we had more important things to do. ‘Lady Sullivan,’ I said firmly. ‘We need to talk to her.’
Lukas continued to watch me intently.
‘Lukas!’ I snapped. ‘Lady Sullivan! We need to find out what the hell happened to Becca and why Lady Sullivan didn’t tell us about it.’
He stepped away from me. ‘Yes.’ He pointed down the road. ‘Her residence is this way.’
I began striding in that direction. Lukas followed. I didn’t need to turn around to know that his eyes were burning into my back the entire way.
Chapter Twenty-One
The werewolf who opened the door to Lady Sullivan’s imposing gothic house was considerably smarter than Gregory. He was wearing a well-tailored suit; unfortunately, the impact of his expensive attire was impaired by the way his face turned blotchy and tufts of fur sprang forth from his forehead when he saw Lukas.
My eyes drifted down to the tag on his arm. Yellow. Whatever that meant.
‘Protocol dictates that I handle this,’ Lukas murmured, before stepping up and giving the jittery wolf a dazzling, fanged smile. ‘Inform Lady Sullivan that Lord Horvath is here to see her.’
More fur appeared; in fact, whiskers were now springing from the wolf’s cheeks. He didn’t utter a word, he simply bowed and turned away to pass along the message.
There was the sound of ripping fabric and I saw a long tail appear from the seat of his expensive trousers. It was very hard not to stare.
‘We’re getting closer and closer to the full moon,’ Lukas said. ‘It’s not easy for the younger, less dominant wolves to control themselves.’
‘His tag was yellow.’
‘Zeta. He’s a ranking wolf,’ Lukas explained. ‘But only just.’
Another man appeared, older with hints of grey at his temples. ‘Lord Horvath. How lovely to see you at our door on this fine day.’ He glanced at me. ‘And the latest in a long line of Supernatural Squad detectives. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell me your name?’
