Silent Cravings (8 page)

His grip tightened when he pulled them closer, cutting off any hope of taking so much as a gasp of air.

“What in the name of the gods is this un-fucking-believable behavior about? Shift back,
now
,” the vampire snarled, anger dripping like venom from his lips. He shook the two like rag-dolls, ignoring the pain of their frantic attempts to pull his hands off their furry throats. “So help me, if your alpha sent you here for this, I am going to personally gut you and use your skins as my battle standard when I go to return the favor.”

Analie flinched at the first loud thump as she stood in the bathroom and examined the bruises on her shoulder. Something had happened. Something loud and heavy. She pulled her shirt back on and headed into the hallway. There were breaking-type noises from upstairs.

Hell if she was going to get involved with that. She scurried to her room.

Ashi was the first to shift back, hoping to catch a breath. His heart was pulsing in his ears and behind his eyes. He had obviously underestimated this vampire—but he was not going to accept defeat just yet.

Christoph was more reluctant to shift, but he did. He scrabbled at Royce’s arm with his useless pink hands, mouth gaping open as he tried to suck in air. This was about as bad as it could get.

No, it wasn’t. He still had pants. He was going to be thankful for that, even with his eyeballs ready to explode out of his face and his lungs shriveling into raisins.

Christoph was
never
watching football with Ashi again.

“John! Get up here!” Royce roared over his shoulder.

As the two shifted back, Royce took careful note of Ashi’s human features, committing them to memory as he studied the boy’s face. Not someone he had seen before.

When he recognized Christoph, his eyes narrowed to thin slivers, and his nails dug in hard enough to draw blood.

“You ungrateful little wretch. Are you trying to save the girl after so kindly handing her over to my care?” Royce shook his head, disgusted, finally loosening his grip enough so that the two could catch their breath. He didn’t release Christoph, but he did give him just enough breathing room to answer. “Tell me, Christoph, did your alpha send you on this fool’s errand?”

Before the Were could choke out a response, John threw the door open and rushed into the room, Mouse hot on his heels. Both were carrying swords and looked grimly determined to use them. Seeing that Royce had everything under control, John lowered his weapon, but Mouse kept hers on guard and sidled closer, ready if the two should attempt escape.

“I’m sorry, sir,” John said, frowning. “Henderson must not have been watching the security monitors closely enough. I’ll make sure he’s replaced immediately.”

Royce shook his head, voice thunderous with barely restrained wrath. “Worry about that later. Call Arnold Moore at The Circle and request his immediate presence. Then tell Analie to come up here.”

John hesitated for a second, long enough for Royce to shift that heavy glare from the Weres to his second. Rapidly backing up, John pulled out his cell with his free hand and dialed The Circle, retreating to make the call in the stairwell.

Royce turned his attention back on the pair, shaking Christoph again. “Answer me,” he snarled, “
now
.”

Christoph couldn’t even give a proper cough of respect before mentioning his alpha. It came out as a stuttering gurgle through his compressed throat. “Alpha...doesn’t know...we’re here,” he choked. “Didn’t want...come here...Ashi ordered—” He needed to stop and breathe for a few moments. “…out-ranks me.”

Ashi snarled, baring his teeth. “Quiet...! That’s...an order!”

Christoph went back to breathing after gurgling respectfully to Ashi.

Analie texted with Freddy some more, though she didn’t mention Ashi. Freddy had only had one run-in with him before. He didn’t talk about it, except to tell his caretaker what had happened, and Analie was careful to never mention Ashi around him.

She ended the conversation and tucked the phone under the mattress. Maybe she
should
tell Royce about meeting with Ashi. On the other hand, orders were orders. On the other, other hand, this was the kind of thing you didn’t keep from Royce. She curled up with Mr. Bear and stared at the wall.

Royce, eyes narrowed to dangerous slivers, studied Christoph. He didn’t think the boy was dumb enough to lie to him under the current circumstances, but he doubted that the alpha was oblivious of his actions. Even if he was, their pack would still have to pay for this. Dearly.

“So. Ashi ordered this little coup, did he?”

The flat, disenchanted tone sent a surge of frightened adrenaline through the Weres, and they renewed their efforts to squirm free.

“Ashi,” Royce purred, his fingers slowly tightening on the Asian man’s throat as he pulled him closer, lifting him a few inches off the ground until they were practically nose-to-nose. “I am in charge, here. You no longer give orders—you take them.”

With that, he gave the two men a harsh shove until they were thrown back on their asses. Mouse stepped in before they could rise, a sharp, slender sword-tip pressed to each man’s throat. The silver content was high enough to redden their skin in reaction, even without piercing it.

“If you’d like to live without scars, stay right there.” Royce growled, turning away. “Mouse, if they so much as twitch, do as you like. But do keep them alive.”

The mute vampiress smiled genially at the two, her angelic features reflecting utter peace with being given the all-clear to carve them up.

Royce pulled out his cell phone, sending a few text messages as he walked back to the bank of computers against the far wall.

  Analie padded into the hallway when John called to her from her apartment’s front door. He was busy talking on his phone but paused to tell her to go upstairs to Royce. She hopped up the stairs, apprehensive, then hesitated at the door before she opened it and stepped in.

It took her a moment to figure out what the hell she was seeing and, even once all the figures were in view, she still didn’t understand it. Mouse’s silhouette was holding two battered guys captive. One of the windows was smashed from the outside. Shadows she assumed were Royce hovered by a door leading into a bedroom. She sniffed the air and suddenly realized who she was looking at.

Christoph didn’t dare move with the sword against his throat, but he managed a glance at Analie. She edged around the perimeter of the room to get a look at the other Were. Once she could see his face, she froze, pressed against the wall.

Ashi narrowed his eyes at her. Immediately, she scurried toward Royce, keeping her gaze on the higher-ranking Were. Ashi obviously did not appreciate this.

“Show some respect,” he hissed through gritted teeth. His eyes flashed gold.

Instinctively, Analie’s knees hit the floor and she had both hands up in a “please don’t hurt me” gesture. Even looking like the alpha had chewed him up and spit him out, even with Mouse holding him at sword-point, Ashi was still the second most feared thing in her life.

Probably the first now that she had some firsthand experience with vampires.

Royce frowned upon seeing her reaction, snapping his phone shut and moving to block her line of sight to Ashi. Considering all she could see of the vampire was a mass of shifting shadows, the gesture didn’t help much.

He gently took her hands in his, noting how wide and frightened her eyes had become, pitching his voice low and soothing.

“Analie, why are you so afraid?” He’d called for her to find out if she knew anything about how the two had found their way to his haven. Had she been coerced into telling them? He shot a look over his shoulder, fury returning as he urged her to regain her feet and stand rather than abase herself before them. “Did he hurt you to make you tell him our location?”

The unspoken was obvious. If Ashi had, Royce would gladly gut him where he stood. Probably smiling while he did it.

Analie kept her eyes on Ashi, who was glaring at her as if he could tear her apart with his gaze. It was enough to give her jibblies
big time
, and she was sorely tempted to get back on her knees.

“What? Oh. No, I didn’t tell him where I was.” She felt like walking over to the nearest wall and putting her head through it. “I mean, he asked, but I said no. I didn’t tell him anything. He said he’d contact me later.” She thought it might be wise to add, “He didn’t hurt me.” Not entirely true, but she wasn’t actually
harmed
. This all sounded really bad summarized. “I’m not allowed to tell you this. I didn’t want Jo-Jo—uh, it’s kind of complicated, he’s sort of like my little brother—put in harm’s way.”

Ashi was obviously
very
displeased with the way she was speaking with the vampire. Rising from her position showing respect without his okay was hugely out of line. Talking to the vampire about their meeting was something he could barely comprehend.

John crept back into the room, nodding as Royce spared him a glance. Arnold was on his way.

Ashi started up a low growling that he quickly stopped when Mouse nudged him with her sword.

Though Royce wasn’t often given to showing much in the way of compassion, he put a hand reassuringly on Analie’s shoulder. “You don’t need to worry about that anymore. They won’t be hurting anybody when I’m done with them.”

Though that was meant to be comforting, the unspoken threat was clear. He continued in matter-of-fact tones.

“You certainly aren’t in trouble, and while I understand you feel you must adhere to the structure of your pack, until you’re returned to them, you answer to no one but me. If I’m not around, you look to John or Mouse.”

He gave her shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze before turning back to Ashi and Christoph. Analie watched with wide eyes as he paced slowly around the two, giving Mouse space so as not to come between her and her targets.

“You two are in a great deal of trouble,” he said quietly, clasping his hands behind his back. “Christoph, you should have known better than to come here. I’m totally within my rights to destroy you both.”

He stopped once he was in front of them, silent for a long moment to let the weight of his words sink in.

“However, killing you two would be a waste, and relations are already strained enough between our people. You will remain here at my sufferance until I give you leave to go. While Analie was given a time-limit, I’m not granting one here. Nor will you be allowed the same liberties. If you’re lucky, your alpha will want to negotiate and be willing to pay a hefty price for your release. If not… well. From this point forward, you do as I say, or I’ll devise a fitting punishment. Oh, and if I catch either of you threatening or trying to hurt Analie or any of my people again, I will revisit upon you whatever damage you cause—tenfold. Do I make myself clear?”

Analie suppressed a shiver. The thought of Ashi not being a threat was certainly nice, even if the vampire currently creeped her the hell out. At least Royce didn’t seem to be interested in inflicting his wrath on the pack.

How could Ashi be so
stupid?
How could he barge in here like this? Dragging someone else into it using his rank as clout was a low thing to do. Christoph was pretty cowed. It disturbed Analie to see a fellow pack member, even one she didn’t like very much, in such a state.