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of a vampire, a werewolf, and a zombie, it was a trio of figureheads with no real power. But that didn’t mean no one wanted the job. It came with certain perks, including connections in city and state governments. At least five werewolves were trying to unseat Simone—werewolves love to challenge each other—and Kane had agreed to manage her campaign. That’s why they were appearing on
Paranormal Perspectives
.
    Olympia Misko, the show’s human host, asked a question. Both Kane and Simone started to answer at the same time, then laughed. Simone motioned to Kane to go ahead. Olympia tilted her head and nodded at whatever he was saying.
    “She wants him,” Juliet said.
    “Who, Olympia? What are you talking about?” Olympia Misko’s highest-rated show last year had been when she married her long-time girlfriend, a vampire, on the air.
    “Not her. Simone. She just deferred to him. And watch how she looks at him.” Juliet leaned forward, squinting at the screen. “There—did you see that? How her nostrils flared and her upper lip twitched, like she wants to take a bite out of him? Classic werewolf mating behavior.” She sat back. “Councilor Landry is ready to start her own pack. And she’s looking at your boyfriend as her potential mate.”
    “You’re crazy. All werewolves do that stuff. It doesn’t mean anything.” But now that I was paying attention to Simone, I didn’t like what I saw. Simone was slim and attractive, with sleek chestnut hair. Usually she wore it up in a twist, but tonight it tumbled down her back in glossy waves. A close-up showed eyes a startling shade of emerald green. She sat too close to Kane, leaning in closer whenever he spoke. Every minute or two, she touched him—on his arm, his shoulder, even his leg. For the most part,Kane ignored her. When Simone let her hand linger on his thigh, though, he picked up the hand and deposited it on the arm of her chair, all the while keeping his focus on the host.
    “She wants him,” Juliet repeated. “Watch out for that one.”
    Simone bent toward Kane, her nostrils flaring again as she picked a piece of lint from his lapel. Jealousy simmered in my gut. I wanted to reach through the screen and slap her hand away. “Well, who cares what she wants?” I said. “Kane’s a lone wolf. He has no desire to change that. He’s too busy with his work.” Even to my own ears, it sounded like denial.
    “He wasn’t too busy with work to manage her campaign.” Her fangs glinted as she grinned wickedly. “I wonder who’ll be managing whom.”
    The simmering rose to a slow boil. “I really don’t think that—”
    The phone rang. Juliet grabbed it. “Yes? Hello, Clyde.” Clyde was the zombie who worked as our building’s doorman. She listened for a moment.
“Finally,”
she said and hung up. “Dinner’s on the way.”
    Paranormal Perspectives
had gone to a commercial, but the image of Simone brushing Kane’s lapel was burned into my brain. Who did that werewolf think she was, pawing him like that? He’d probably told her to back off. But why hadn’t he mentioned it to me? He’d told me about the interview—but not a word about Simone’s behavior. And as far as I knew he was still advising her campaign.
    Maybe we needed to have a talk about whether that was a good idea.
    The doorbell rang, and I stood. “I’ll get it.” I wasn’t going to sit around and watch Juliet eat. It was already bad enough that the two Goons who acted as chaperones didn’t leave the room while she fed. Anyway, I was feeling hungry myself—rather ferociously so, all of a sudden—and the idea of a vampire sucking on some norm’s neck threatened to quash my appetite. While Juliet was busy, I’d rummage around in the kitchen for a more palatable snack.
    I opened the door to see two Goons—a zombie and his human partner—flanking a short, scrawny, nervous-looking guy. Juliet’s dinner pushed up his wire-rimmed glasses and squinted at me. “Are you the