"I have a favor to ask, my friend," Carissa said. Carissa was a vampire, the queen of New Orleans. We were seated at a fine little café on the edge of the French Quarter, enjoying a shared lunch. I was fairly sure Carissa's invitation hadn't been as casual as she'd made it sound the day before, but I didn't mind. When you're a werecat living in a vampire's territory, it's a good thing when she calls you, "my friend". And we were friends. Not close friends. We didn't share secrets or have pajama parties. But we were friends.

"Of course, Carissa. You know I'm happy to help."

"First, I must ask you. How do you feel about cold weather?"

"Below freezing?"

She smiled. "Yes. For the high temperatures."

I joined her smile and already felt I had a good idea what she was about to ask me, although certainly not the details. Carissa didn't enjoy having someone guess her mind, however, and so I didn't ask about Wisconsin.

"I like snow," I said. "Did I ever tell you about my trip to Alaska?"

"No, but if I recall, you summited Denali."

"Now that was cold."

Carissa looked around for a moment. We had privacy, and I'm sure she knew it, but old habits can be difficult to break. Still, she lowered her voice. "I need to tell you why a certain very petite woman is so important to me. Very few people know about this, and I trust your discretion, Anna."

That's me, Annabelle Delacroix, although my friends usually simply call me Anna. Whatever were my parents thinking, giving me such a feminine name such as Annabelle? At least no one called me Belle. A few had tried, but they'd gotten my point when I discouraged them.

"Of course, Carissa."

The vampire proceeded to tell me, in great detail, exactly why Michaela was so important to her. At one point I declared, "That little thing held her own against mature-" then I was barely able to lower my voice to a discrete level, "-vampires?"

"She did more than hold her own," Carissa said. She looked away for a moment. It wasn't common for Carissa to display tender emotions. I'd seen her angry, but I saw a variety of other emotions cross her face. "She was badly ravaged in the process. The only vampires she had seen up until that point were Kristian and me, but she did what was necessary anyway."

She looked back. "They were all hurt. They all risked their lives for someone they didn't even know."

"Begging your pardon, Carissa, but the wolves risked their lives so Deirdre would break the thrall."

"They knew it was a risk going into it," Carissa said. "And you know how much Deirdre means to me." I nodded understanding.

"They've invited me to visit over Thanksgiving," Carissa added.

"I'd gotten the impression the wolves were rather leery of you."

"They are," she said. "And I don't blame them. But I intend a close friendship."

I considered carefully before speaking. "A friend doesn't bind a friend to a blood thrall, Carissa."

"No, and a friend doesn't deepen the thrall to pressure her friends into doing what she needs." She looked away again. "The stakes were high."

"I'm not sure that's an excuse."

"You don't need to tell me that," she said. Her tone wasn't sharp. "We'll fly up in the morning the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and remain until Sunday. Can you come? I know I'm asking you to be away from your family."

"They'll hardly notice," I said. That wasn't entirely true, but they wouldn't fault my choice. "I'd love to go."

"Thank you," she said. "Anna, I won't at all mind if you make friends."

"Is that a euphemism?" I asked with a grin.

"No, but I won't mind that, either. I want you to explore business opportunities with them. I'm not going to discuss business, but if you see opportunities for me, please tell me." Then her look grew intent. "If you're invited to stay longer, I hope you'll consider it."

I lifted an eyebrow.

"The wolves are quite qualified," Carissa said. "But I'd feel better if you were there."

"They're hardly going to invite a jaguar to live with them, especially one tied to a vampire queen."

"Well, on that last part, if you're ever forced to choose sides, choose theirs."

"Seriously?"

And she nodded.

* * * *

We met at Carissa's hangar early on Wednesday morning. Carissa wasn't yet present when I arrived, but the hangar door was open, and there was a human prowling around the aircraft, doing the sort of checks a pilot does prior to flying an airplane. I was momentarily surprised; Carissa's usual pilots were vampires, and so I wasn't expecting a human. But perhaps I should have been; the wolves in Wisconsin must already feel nervous allowing an ancient vampire like Carissa into their lair. Adding additional vampires would increase the tension.

I wondered what sort of welcome I would receive.

I introduced myself to the pilot, a young man named Jake. Jake eyed me with appreciation, and I offered a smile. But he showed his professionalism. "You can stow your things if you like, and board any time." Then he returned to his job.

I elected to wait for Carissa. Boarding her aircraft without her seemed like an invasion.

I didn't have to wait long, perhaps six or seven minutes, before a Rolls Royce Phantom drove around the corner and pulled into the hangar. As both the pilot and I watched, the driver exited the vehicle before moving to the passenger door and opening it. Carissa emerged first followed by Anika and Joanna, two of Carissa's human thralls. I saw immediately they were practically buzzing with energy, and I wondered.

But they didn't have that look the humans get when they've recently had their thrall reinforced. They were looking around with alert eyes. They both acknowledged me and then gazed at the aircraft for a moment. If they'd recently had their thrall enforced, they wouldn't be able to take their eyes -- or probably even their hands -- from Carissa.

Carissa stepped forward, the humans in her wake, while her driver attended to the luggage. She headed straight to the pilot first, greeting him warmly but briefly. Then she turned to me.

We hugged. Carissa didn't normally hug, at least not that I'd seen. But she hugged me, leaning up to kiss my cheek. "Thank you for coming, my friend."

She'd been pushing the "my friend" business lately, too.

"What did you do to the humans?" I asked, gesturing with my nose to Anika and Joanna, now helping the driver stow the bags.

"I topped them off," she said. "I won't need to feed from you this weekend. That's not why you're invited."

"Pity," I said. "I wouldn't have minded." I hadn't fed Carissa often. All the weres living in Louisiana helped to feed her. It was an outward show of loyalty. When you are the vampire queen, you do not drink bottled blood. Carissa was most directly nourished by the immediate members of her household, and she didn't absolutely require sustenance beyond what her household could supply. But the rest of us were on a rotation, presenting ourselves and allowing Carissa to drink deeply. My most recent visit in this fashion had been some time ago.

We also donated blood, which was used for the other vampires living in Louisiana. This was no different than providing blood for a human blood bank, but was used quite differently.

Feeding Carissa was an obligation, but for some of us, it was an obligation we cherished. Carissa could, after all, make feeding her quite pleasurable, quite pleasurable indeed.

We smiled at each other. "I know you wouldn't."

It was only a few more minutes before the luggage was properly stowed, and a few minutes after that before the aircraft was buttoned up tightly, all of us safely in our seats.

It was an easy flight of a little under three hours. The four of us spent much of the flight in casual conversation. It was when we were a half hour from landing that Carissa turned serious.

"I want all of you to deepen any friendships you have made, and encourage new friendships. I do not require any of you to attend to my needs-"

"But-" began Anika, but she immediately grew silent when Carissa held up a finger.

"I would readily survive the weekend, and much, much longer than that, without you, but I would grow somewhat crabby. We'll find time alone. But otherwise, you are here to make friends. Joanna, if you wish to spend your entire time with that rather stunning enforcer, you should feel free to do so, subject to his own duties and desires. If you wish to spread your attention more widely, that is also fine."

"I don't want to grow too attached," Joanna said slowly.

"I would release you, if you asked, Joanna."

"I would never ask, Carissa," Joanna said. "There is nothing I want more than to belong to you."

Carissa caressed her cheek. "I know," she said. "Your loyalty and love are a gift. We are here as friends, and I will support any choices you make in the name of friendship."

"Thank you, Carissa. Will you tell me what to do with Eric?"

"I think you should be honest with him," Carissa suggested.

"I will."

"And you, Anika?" Carissa asked. "Was there someone in particular you most wished to see again?"

Anika's eyes flashed to me for a moment before settling on Carissa again. "Not that way," she replied. "But I liked the little fox. She is so small but seems to command all of them."

"Size is not an accurate indicator of power," Carissa replied. She was a walking example of that. While she was larger than the werefox, she remained a petite woman herself, but she was one of the most powerful creatures I'd ever met. "Power within the Madison pack is a complicated affair. Lara shares more readily than I do. I admire her confidence."

She smiled at all of us. "None of you need attend to me. When I need one of you, I will find you. Feel free to make friends. Feel free to make lovers. Remember only these are important friends to me."

I found it interesting she didn't ask my intentions. The Madison pack had very little experience with any of the werecats, and turning me loose was a little like letting the fox loose in the henhouse.

So to speak.

But we wouldn't be there long enough for me to go through too many lovers.

* * * *

Either I hadn't been paying proper attention, or Carissa had failed to mention some important facts. It wouldn't have mattered, but it did leave me flustered for a minute.

We were meeting the Madison pack, but we didn't land in Madison. I might not even have noticed as soon as I did, but I looked out the window and saw a very, very large lake. It left me confused, as I'd never seen a lake so big I couldn't see the far shore from the air.

"I thought we were going to Wisconsin."

Carissa took a peek out the window. "You did notice the bare trees, Anna?"

"I also noticed the large body of water. Are we in New England?"

"No, I'm pretty sure we're in Wisconsin," said Carissa, mirth in her tone.

"But that's the ocean."

"Perhaps there is another explanation," she suggested. "I know you are used to our swamps, but you have heard of a lake before. I'm fairly certain we can find one or two near New Orleans."

"That's no lake," I said. "I can't see the far shore."

"Can't you?" she asked, and the mirth was even heavier. "I suppose you can't, but I imagine if you could, you would see people waving little Canadian flags."

"I don't understand."

"Really, Annabelle Delacroix," said Carissa. "Didn't you even look at a map when I told you where we were going? That's Lake Superior. We're landing in Ashland."

"Ashland?"

"We're about as far north as we can go and remain in Wisconsin. The wolves keep land here, their home away from home. Michaela is very fond of the water. Perhaps she'll take you swimming."

I felt like an idiot. Carissa smirked at me, but she didn't rub it in. It wasn't the first time I would wonder what I was doing so far north.

Five minutes later we were on the ground, and five minutes after that, we came to a stop on the tarmac. The engines spooled down, and it was only a short wait before the crew opened the cabin door and welcomed us to Wisconsin.