Rachel couldn't keep her eyes off the stranger in the corner. She tried to ignore him, but something about him drew her attention time and again. In the room with more than two hundred supernormals, Rachel needed to talk to as many of them as she could about Ricky. More than three weeks had passed since he had disappeared, and she was des-perate to find him.

“Hello,” Rachel smiled at Mario. “How are Gina and little Elizabeth?”

“They're good.” He smiled back. “Gina is exhaust-ed. I'm only making a quick appearance before go-ing back to take care of Elizabeth so Gina can rest.”

“I'm glad to hear they're doing well. I have a quick favor to ask you.” She pulled a photo from the small pocket she'd worked into her dress.

“What is it?”

“Have you seen Ricky?” Rachel showed him the photo. He looked at it a moment, then glanced up at her.

“Your brother, correct?”

“Yes. I haven’t heard from him, or been able to get a hold of him for more than three weeks. I'm terrified something has happened.”

“I've not seen him. I'm not out all that much, but I'll keep an ear open and let you know if I hear any-thing about him.” Mario handed the photo back. “I hope you find him soon. It's hard when someone you care about is missing.”

“Thank you. I don't plan to give up until I find something.” Rachel tucked the picture back into her pocket. “Tell Gina I'll stop by to see them in a few days when she's not so tired.”

“I will, she'll like that. Good luck on your search.”

Rachel smiled at Mario. “Thanks. Have a good evening.”

She left him to see whoever he needed to before he could call it a night and go back to his wife and new baby while she moved onto the next person. Rachel couldn’t help stealing a glance at the tall, blond man across the room, she just couldn’t seem to ignore him as she went about her business. If he hadn’t been wearing a black domino mask she might have been able to tell who he was, but since this was a Mardi Gras party, everyone, including her, wore masks. If she moved close enough, she might have been able to identify him by scent, but only if she knew him. Rachel couldn't catch him watching her, but she felt his gaze on her skin. Push-ing the man out of her mind, she continued talking to people, showing Ricky's photo and asking if they'd seen or heard from him recently. An hour later, her chest ached. No one remembered seeing Ricky since the last time she had. Or at least, not that they would admit.

“Can I see the photo?” A deep, rich voice sound-ed behind her, startling her. Rachel jumped slightly and turned to find the tall man she'd felt watching her all night. The man she'd been unable to ignore as completely as she had wanted to. Looking up at him, her heart beat a little faster, and she was speechless for several seconds.

“Yes, of course,” she said when she regained her voice, handing the photo to the stranger. “It's my brother.” She explained why she was looking for him for what felt like the millionth time that night. The man looked at the picture for several seconds, as if trying to commit the image to memory.

“I'm sorry.” He handed the photo back. “I haven't seen him.”

“Thanks for taking the time to look.” Rachel's shoulders slumped, and she fought back tears. Ricky was the only blood family she had left, and she was afraid he was dead. She'd heard rumors about su-pernormals disappearing all over town. No bodies were ever found. It seemed like they were just gone. She turned to find someone else to show his picture to.

“Hey.” The stranger's hand on her shoulder stopped her, and she glanced back at him. “I'm looking for someone too; maybe we could team up and search together?”

Her stomach fluttered. “Who are you looking for?”

“One of my pack.” He offered her a photo. It was a pretty girl with long dark hair. She looked about twenty-five, but then, so did Rachel, and she was nearly a hundred. She looked familiar, and Rachel took a second look.

“Her name wouldn't happen to be Emily, would it?” Rachel glanced up at him and found a surprised scowl.

“How did you know?” he narrowed his eyes and watched her carefully.

“I think this is the girl Ricky’s been dating. I only met her once though, and only for a couple minutes, so I'm not certain.” She offered the photo back. “He told me she's a shifter, but not one of us. That, and her name, are all I know about her.”

“Well, I'm not sure what you are off hand, I've never found someone who smells quite like you, so I can't place your other form.” He still watched her with narrowed eyes.

“I'm a dragon.” She gave him a halfhearted smile. “A Chinese dragon to be exact.”

“Ah, that explains it.” He tucked the photo into his jacket pocket and extended one hand. “I'm Chris. Christopher Walters. I've met a couple of dragons in my time but only locals, what are they called again? It’s a hard to pronounce word that I can’t remember.”

“Quetzalcoatl.”

“Yes, that's it.” Chris tugged at the hem of his jacket. “I've met a couple Quetzalcoatl, but I've never known a Chinese dragon.” He glanced away. “I'm not good at this social stuff yet, as I'm a bit new to my position.” He shrugged. “But I was expected to be here tonight. Besides, I needed to come see if Emily was here. She mentioned a while back that the guy she was dating had some pull in the dragon Fraction.”

“How long has Emily been missing?” Rachel tilted her head to one side, watching the man in front of her as she tried to discern how much of what he was telling her was the truth and how much was story intended to make her feel for him.

“Several weeks, at least as long as your brother, but I'm having a hard time nailing down exactly when she was last seen and with whom.” Chris shook his head. “Her mother came to me last week, but she didn't have a lot of details and for some rea-son, people in the pack aren't being very forthcoming.”

“You keep saying pack; I assume you're a wolf shifter?” Rachel glanced around the room making sure nothing needed her attention. After all, this was a gathering her clan had thrown, and while she wasn't the one in charge of it, she felt like she should keep an eye on things just in case it was more than Erin could handle.

“No, not exactly.” Chris looked away, as if he did-n't want to meet her gaze.

“Not exactly?” Rachel lifted one brow.

Chris sighed, then looked her in the eyes. He looked like he was about to confess to something horrible, maybe even murdering Ricky. “I'm a werewolf.”

Rachel frowned. Why was being a werewolf such a confession? “Is there a reason that would be a problem?”

“There's a bit of contention between the were-wolves and the wolf shifters.” A wry smile curved his lips. “We don't generally get along, and I'm never sure if someone new, especially a shifter, is going to side with the wolves.”

“And which is Emily?”

“She's a werewolf, of course. If she were a wolf shifter, her disappearance would be their problem.”

“So, do you look for all the missing werewolves?”

“I'm still settling into my position, but I think normally I would send someone out to look for them. The reason I'm looking for her is who she is. She's the daughter of my father's lover.”

“That's a strange way to put it.” Rachel frowned, wondering why he would phrase it like that.

“Things are odd in my Fraction. That's all I can say.”

“Emily isn't your father's daughter?”

“No, she was about five when my father met Tiffany.”

“But he helped raise her, I assume?” The whole thing was odd to Rachel whose parents had been mated, only being with each other her entire life. Do werewolves not have mates?

“He did. She was raised much like a little sister to me, though younger and very annoying.” A slight scowl marred his forehead, and Rachel understood what he meant. When she had been younger, be-fore her parents had passed away, she'd thought Ricky was annoying. Hell, she still did sometimes.

“I understand the irritating younger sibling thing.” Rachel waved the photo still in her hand. “So, you're searching for her to help your dad?”

“No,” Chris shook his head. “I'm looking for her because Dad can't. He's dead. He was killed in a fight last year.”

“I'm so sorry.” Rachel felt bad immediately. She remembered how hard it had been to lose her parents and hated having to remind anyone, especially Chris for some reason, of pain that strong. She laid one hand on his in sympathy. “I know it's hard losing your parents.” Her eyes went wide as a bolt of heat shot through her. Her gaze shot up to his face, wondering if he'd felt it too. His brows lifted as he looked down at her in surprise.

“Well, that was different.” Chris glanced around the room then back to her. “I'd like to get to know you a little better, if only because of that.” He glanced down at where her hand still rested on his. “But I need to mingle, ask a few more people if they've seen Emily.”

“It sounds like we may be able to help each other, at least in our respective searches.” She tried to ignore the tingling sensation that still ran through her body, remembering belatedly to pull her hand away. “How about we meet for coffee? Is tomorrow okay for you?”

“Coffee sounds good. What time do you have in mind?”

“I usually come up for coffee about seven, if that’s not too early for you. Or we can do some-thing later if that’s easier?”

“How about breakfast instead of coffee? Seven is great. I assume you want something upstairs?”

“It's easiest for me, then I don't have far to go to get to work. But I can talk to Teya and come in later if you'd rather go somewhere else, she would understand.”

“No, here is fine. How's the buffet?”

“It's one of my favorites in-house. A good selection so you can have whatever you're in the mood for.”

“Sounds good. I'll see you there at seven tomorrow morning.”

“I'll see you then.”

Chris moved on to another group of guests, which happened to be a couple of vampires. Rachel wasn't fond of the vampires and wished she didn't have to deal with them, but she knew Teya had been right to invite them. Not inviting them would have been a slight and would cause even more fric-tion between the Fractions than there already was. Reluctant to walk away from Chris, Rachel turned and went in search of someone she hadn't already asked about Ricky.