Traffic was backed up, and the chill wind of the previous night had disappeared. The notorious St. Louis heat and humidity seemed to penetrate the vehicle in spite of the air conditioning cranked on high. She sipped at her coffee, coffee that she had had to buy, thank you very much, because she hadn’t had time to make any. It was too bright, and definitely too early, especially the day after the full moon. She scowled, wondering why in the hell she was out here in the first place, when the reason himself spoke up.

“Thanks again, Anita. I really appreciate it. I know it’s early and all, but I remembered that you had said that you had a client . . . “

”Jason.”

“And when it came up that I needed a ride, I really couldn’t think of anyone else. And I guess I could have taken one of the cars, but without permission from Jean-Claude . . . “

“Jason.”

“I really don’t think it would have been a good idea. And it’s my first day back and all and you were the one that . . .”

“Jason!!” She practically screamed it, finally getting his attention.

The young blonde cringed at the power in her voice, shrinking back into his seat, looking for all the world like a scolded puppy. Despite her mood, the brunette had to laugh.

“Geez Jason, you don’t have to put your tail between your legs.”

“It’s just, I know you’re mad, but I thought that you would have been madder if I had been late.”

“Yeah, I would have been.”

She took a gulp of her coffee, trying to stomp down her irritation. After all, it really wasn’t Jason’s fault.

“And I am mad, but not at you.”

“Really?”

The traffic in front of her came to another stand still and afforded Anita the opportunity to look over at the young man.

“Really.”

His grin was infectious and she almost had to laugh.

“What I want to know is why I’m playing chauffeur. In all your nervous rambling there, you never told me that.”

“Sorry, I’m just . . .”

“Nervous,” Anita interrupted, looking for a break in traffic.

“I am not.”

She looked at him, raised her eyebrow skeptically.

“Okay, so I am nervous. But I haven’t been in a situation like this since before . . . well, since it happened. And I never really thought that I would go back.”

“Jason.”

“If it weren’t for you . . .”

“Jason!”

”Sorry.”

“Well, I’m nervous, so shoot me.” He glanced sideways at her, remembered who she was, and clarified. “Figure of speech, don’t really do it, okay?”

She grunted in response. Jason had tempted her to shoot him at times, but him being a pain in the ass wasn’t enough of a reason to do it now. Especially now, especially after . . . she glanced at his arms, at the barely there marks she had put there less than a couple of weeks ago. In light of those marks, of how she had put them there, Anita was of a mind that it would take a heck of a lot to make her shoot Jason now.

“And Dan, well . . .” Jason trailed off, trying to think of how to explain what had happened to his new roommate and assigned driver. “Well, he was worn out from the lupanar, and I couldn’t get him to wake up . . . “

Anita frowned at that. From what she knew of the werewolf, newly arrived in St. Louis, he was responsible. She trusted his dependable nature to get Jason to school, hence why he was Jason’s driver when Jason was perfectly capable of driving himself. Left to his own devices, Jason would probably sleep all day. Or so she had thought. Anita must have been right that day that she freed him from Dolph and his unwarranted questioning. Jason was growing up.

Also, from the little Richard had told her of Dan, the young wolf had been infected for a while, and shouldn’t be this drained after the full moon.

“I thought he’d be stronger than that. It’s the newly infected that sleep like that, no? I mean, Nathaniel even opened an eye when the phone rang this morning.”

“Oh, he is strong,” Jason frowned now, curious himself as to what had happened. “He was acting really weird last night, though. Something had his hackles up. Like something bad. The way he ran, it was like the devil was chasing him.”

Anita thought back to the night before, the apprehension that she had felt, the strange chill on the wind. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Micah or any of the others about it yet, having rushed out to get Jason soon after he had called and woken her up.

And usually she would have been more annoyed than she was at being woken for something like this. She was angry, just not at Jason. She was glad that he hadn’t used Daniel as an excuse not to go.

And she had been working up a good anger at Daniel, one of the newest members of Richard’s pack. But Jason’s comment made her think twice.

“You mean he usually doesn’t run wild at the lupanar? That is what it is for, no?”

Jason shrugged. “I guess. I mean, I haven’t known Dan for more than a couple of weeks. Things have changed fast, you know.”

Anita knew. Jason no longer lived at the Circus, as per Richard’s orders. Jason could still show up and act as pomme de sang for Jean-Claude if he did so voluntarily, but the ulfric wanted none of his wolves living there. It was why Jason lived with Dan.

It was one of a few changes in Jason’s life. That, and Louie being able to pull some strings for the wolf, enabling him to go where she was now driving him. Jason really was growing up.

“I mean, it could be the norm for him, but Dan seems as laid back as a wolf as he is as a guy.” Jason’s comments brought Anita’s mind back to the matter at hand, instead of it lingering on the day that she realized that Jason wanted more out of his life than stripping at Guilty Pleasures, even if he still didn’t know it.

She quickly glanced at Jason as he continued. “He’ll hunt, and stuff, but last night? Last night he was feral, savage, like he was wound up for a fight with something bad.”

Anita remembered the desire she had had to draw her weapon. The feeling that something bad was coming. At the time, she had shaken it off, but maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to do that. She would have to speak to Micah. To Daniel. Maybe even to Richard.

“Jason?” The young man swiveled his blonde head around to look at her. ”Didn’t you feel whatever it was?”

He shrugged again, not sure what to tell her. “The night had a chill. Not cold, really, but the kind of chill that sends shivers down your spine.” He looked out the window, seeing that they had arrived at their destination. A look somewhere between apprehension and fear filled his eyes. “But I’ve been feeling that a lot lately. I wrote it off as Belle Morte. Then, as coming back here.” He gestured with his head out the window at the sprawling campus spread out before them. “Things are a lot different for me since the last time I was in school.”

“Yeah, I understand.” He turned towards her, a look of hope in his eyes. “But you are still going to go to class! Now get.”

She watched as he opened the door of the Jeep and climbed out, swinging his back pack over his shoulder.

“Oh, and Jason?” He swung back around, leaning into the car, one hand on the roof, one on the door. It was a pose that reminded her of what they had done together, and more so, what he did for a living. And why she had demanded that he go to school. He was too smart to spend his life as Jean-Claude’s pet and stripper.

“Don’t think because I drove you, I don’t have someone making sure that you actually go to class. Larry may not be a TA anymore, but he still hangs out with them on occasion.”

Jason groaned at the thought of Anita keeping tabs on him, but she knew deep down that he liked that she cared that much.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go to class.” He flashed her the grin that made him the big tips and started to close the door.

“Oh, and Jason?” she said before he could close it all the way.

“Yeah?”

“If you see Daniel before I do, tell him his Bolverk wants to talk to him.”

“Yes ma’am!” With that, he closed the door and she drove away.

Anita was pretty sure that what she had felt last night wasn’t something to be very worried about. After all, it hadn’t been Mommy Dearest bad. But she was pretty sure that it hadn’t been good. She wanted to talk to the new werewolf and find out what he thought.

Some people might have called Anita paranoid, but better paranoid than dead. And it wasn’t paranoid if it was true. Call it an instinct, but instincts had kept the executioner alive this long.