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hospital where Toni was recuperating from the wounds she suffered during that last job. More collateral damage from the disaster that had been my life over the last few weeks. On the way, I had the driver stop by a grocery store so I could pick up some flowers and a couple of motorcycle magazines. I figured if I threw enough gifts at her, Toni might be distracted enough to not ask any awkward questions.
    Toni was watching a morning TV show when I knocked on the doorframe of her hospital room. She had the small suite to herself. It was nicer than my apartment back home in Austin, though that wasn’t saying much.
    Toni was a pretty Asian-American girl, and also the alpha female of one of the two werewolf packs in the Bay Area.
    “Aw, you got up this early to see little old me?” She stretched her long, lean body and smiled at me as she said it.
    “How could I keep away?” I handed her the flowers and set down the magazines on the bedside table.
    “A better question is: why would you want to?” She took the flowers and sniffed them. “So what’s up?”
    “Not much. My brother’s decided to stick around for a while, so we helped him get set up in an apartment.”
    “We?” Her tone developed a dangerous edge.
    Oops. “Um, yeah…me and him.”
    “Uh huh.” She wasn’t buying it, but she let it drop for the time being. “So by saying that he’s sticking around, are you implying that you’re leaving? Is this your idea of a goodbye?”
    The subtle growl in her voice let me know this conversation wasn’t going well. It was time for some damage control. I decided to divert the topic of conversation to us.
    “I’m not leaving yet. Hey, the new place isn’t half bad. You should come and check it out once you’re feeling better.”
    “Doc says I should be out of here tomorrow or the next day.” She saw my surprised look and explained, “I’m a fast healer.”
    “I’ll say.” I had seen her fly off her motorcycle at fifty miles an hour, sail through the window of an SUV, and then duke it out in the back seat with a couple of heavily armed thugs. She should be dead.
    “It sounds like a party is in order to celebrate your speedy recovery. Maybe you and your friends can come over. The apartment complex has a pool with a couple of grills. We can all hang out, and I can cook something up.”
    “I think I’d rather do my celebrating on a more intimate level. Just you and me. But I’ll tell you what,” she said. “If you’re that anxious to cook, you can fix me breakfast when we’re done.”
    It was impossible to argue with her, so I didn’t even try. Heck, looking at her, I didn’t even want to. “Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
    “Not if you know what’s good for you.” She smiled, then grabbed a magazine and casually began to flip through it before asking, “So what are your plans, Chance? Long-term?”
    The question was as loaded as they come. We hadn’t known each other long, but I got the feeling Toni handled attachment slightly differently from most people. I said, in as neutral a voice as I could, “I thought I would go back to school and finish up my degree. I’m registered for the fall semester, and it starts next week.” You know, after I single-handedly kill a very old vampire and all of his flunkies.
    She stopped flipping. “So you are leaving.”
    “I’ll be back. Definitely for Christmas break, and I’m sure I won’t be able to resist a visit or two before then.”
    “You better. That is, assuming your car can make the trip.” My car, a decade-or-two-old Miata, served as a source of constant amusement to, well, everyone.
    “Hey, now that you mention it, since all the trouble has died down... I was wondering if I could grab my car out of your garage. I have to run a couple of errands today, pick up the last few things for the apartment. I could use it.”
    “Use it to what? My bike has more storage,” said Toni.
    “I guess you’re right. I could always borrow