Free On the Prowl by Christine Warren Page B

though, I’m tough to impress.”
    “Actually, it was something you said over the phone.” Saskia skimmed the back of her spoon over the foam on her cappuccino as she stalled. “You mentioned that you thought I might be free to talk to you this morning because Nicolas was still dealing with the Council.”
    Corinne nodded. “And?”
    Looking up, Saskia could read nothing but genuine curiosity in the reporter’s expression. She looked as if she had nothing more invested in this conversation than her own personal interest. It was enough to give Saskia that last push of courage.
    Taking a deep breath, Saskia took the plunge.
    “I asked you to meet me so I could ask you what that meant. Nicolas walked out last night just before two thirty in the morning. He didn’t tell me where he was going or what he had to do, and I haven’t heard so much as a word from him since. So can you tell me what you know about what my fiancé was doing last night? And this morning? Please.”
    The words tumbled out in a jumbled rush, but Corinne didn’t appear to have any trouble following them. No, she didn’t look at all confused. Just offended.
    Mortally.
    “What the fuck?!”
    Saskia winced. Not at the harsh language, but at the volume of her new friend’s exclamation. It brought the head of every single person in the small café snapping around to see the source of the commotion. Saskia tried to smile at the blatant stares, but there was nothing she could do to prevent the hot color climbing into her cheeks.
    “I’m sorry,” Corinne said, this time at a more normal volume. She blew out a deep breath. “I just … Wow. It never occurred to me that that was why you sounded so tense on the phone earlier. I figured you were worried about what the Council was going to decide, not that you didn’t even know Preda had gone to talk to them. That’s just—” She shook her head. “And here I thought my man could be thoughtless at times. Holy shit.”
    Saskia shrugged and played with her coffee cup. “I’m sure he just had a lot on his mind after he got the phone call. After all, he’s not used to having a mate. It was only our first night together.”
    Corinne’s eyes narrowed, but she made no further comment. Instead, she folded her arms on the table in front of her and leaned forward intently. “Okay, I think we’d better start from the beginning. Tell me exactly what happened last night. Everything. From the top.”
    “Well, you were at the party, so you know that our engagement officially began last night.”
    “Sort of. I know last night was a big shindig, but did he propose to you before then? I mean, that’s the way things usually work. A couple gets engaged, then they start planning the party, right?”
    “Not for the Tiguri.”
    “Explain.”
    Saskia sighed. She hated trying to make outsiders understand about Tiguri mating traditions. Outsiders all seemed to think those traditions belonged back in the Middle Ages, but to Saskia they were just the way things were done.
    “You know that the marriage between Nicolas and me was arranged, correct?”
    Corinne nodded. “Yeah, I had heard. It’s kind of a topic of conversation at the moment. In certain circles.”
    “For the Tiguri, marriages are always arranged,” Saskia said firmly. “For one thing, tradition is very important to us. We pass customs on through families as a way of keeping our culture vibrant and undiluted by other customs. For another, there are very few of us left.”
    “There are? I mean, I know you’re the first Tiguri I’ve ever met, but I thought that was just because you guys didn’t live in the U.S. Don’t you usually stay in Europe and Asia?”
    “Those of us who are left, yes, they tend to live in their ancestral territories, which do happen to be in Eastern Europe and Asia. But even there, our population isn’t what you would call thriving. Only a few families are left, and the ones with any power have dwindled so that I can count