Free Nine Lives of an Urban Panther by Amanda Arista Page A

chosen one in Dallas. Guess I really am part of the few and the proud. “Now that’s a story.”
    Nash smiled. “And if she is the one the elementals chose as their Akasha, it’s going to be an interesting meeting, from what I remember of her.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œDon’t take this the wrong way, but we have proof that you don’t play well with others. Need I mention Sully and the warthogs?”
    I faked a gauf at his suggestion that I wasn’t the perfect negotiator. But the encounter with a rogue pack of warthogs had landed Nash with a pretty wicked scar and cursed Shadow to his furrier form.
    â€œInez isn’t exactly the warmest personality.”
    â€œIronic. Don’t you think?”
    I didn’t even get the briefest of smiles from Nash.
    â€œI’m being serious. If she thinks you’re a threat, you’re toast. Nothing figurative about it.”
    I sighed. I knew this was serious. I also knew I needed sleep and coffee was no longer doing the job of keeping me awake. Exhaustion ached along my shoulders and in my hand as I grasped my—what was this—fourth coffee for the day.
    â€œGot any books in this place on how to make friends and influence evil?”
    Nash shook his head. “No. I can only point out what you already know. The elementals are like their elements like we are like our animals. You think you’re catty, she’s the embodiment of fire.”
    â€œSo keep calm and carry water. Got it.”
    Nash’s chin dropped down to his chest again. I’m sure this was not what he envisioned this moment being like. He probably saw himself as Yoda, and I was turning this into a session with Jar Jar.
    â€œWhat’s the sitch on the vampires?” I leaned back in the chair and waited for the info dump.
    â€œNothing you’ve ever written.”
    â€œSeriously?” My entire world view just turned on edge. Half the stuff I was known for at Cloak & Dagger was on vampire covens.
    Nash chuckled. “No. There’s actually a lot of truth in what you wrote. Your brain really was wired for this stuff.”
    I let out a sigh of relief. “You had me going there for a second.”
    Proud of himself, he went on. “Vampires are actually closest to fairies. They can control others’ perceptions of them. It’s what makes them so perfect-looking and always so suave. And the inviting-them-in thing is about half true. ”
    â€œWhich half?”
    â€œThey can come in, but not for long. It sucks their power if they are not invited.”
    â€œWhat about the stake thing? Please tell me the stake thing is true.”
    Nash looked at me like I was an idiot. “What doesn’t die when you ram a stake through its heart?”
    I pouted. “I guess you’re right.”
    â€œBut if you really want to kill them, you cut off their heads with an iron sword, which, ironically enough, is their preferred weapon of choice. Iron really works on all fairies. ”
    â€œAnd the blood thing?”
    â€œTotally true. It’s how they get their power, by taking it from the blood of others. It’s not really a hunger thing, more of an energy thing. They need the energy to keep up appearances, their super strength. The longer they live, the more power they get.”
    I grimaced. I was so glad that I was just a panther. “Who do you think their Clade leader is?”
    â€œTheir Clade Seat or Source. The translation is a little off.” Nash reached for another book and opened it to a page with a sticky note. He pointed to a picture of a small terra-cotta bowl with what I knew to be the ancient Wanderer language scrawled across it “The Clades are like family blood lines. So their leader is not only the one who probably turned them into vampires, but also the head of the family. For Dallas, it is probably Emilio. He is the oldest. It usually works like that.”
    â€œHow many