“I wasn’t asking you,” Mackie sneered.
Alex smiled at him. “No, thank you for the offer. Val is right, however inelegantly put. There’s nothing for us to do except wait for Harry to brew his potion and for Duncan or Logan to find us the location of the drug source.”
His kissed the top of Quinn’s head with a tenderness that hurt Mackie to witness. “Waiting is hard, I know. But, there’s nothing else we can do.”
* * * *
Wales
“It took you long enough, Petru. You know how much I hate waiting.” Dracul put venom in his tone because he did like to remind even the most loyal of men who was in charge.
“Your pardon, sir. I think you’ll be pleased with my offering.”
So saying, the man lifted the hood from the boy’s head, exposing an exquisite beauty. His naked body had already met with Dracul’s approval, all that milky-white skin pulled tight over a slender frame. The way he flailed in Petru’s grasp, despite having his hands tied behind his back, meant he had a bit of spirit to him. Dracul would enjoy breaking him of it.
“He says his name is Brenin.”
Dracul grinned. “As if I care. You are a slut for now, maybe a pet later, if you please me.”
The boy blinked his doe-brown eyes back at Dracul. His short black hair stood up in sweaty spikes. That wasn’t very appealing. Oh, well, it would grow. There was lots of time to shape the boy into something Dracul fully desired. In the meantime, the way the human’s chest rose and fell on rapid breaths and the strum of his heart with fear were very fetching.
Dracul snapped his fingers and pointed to the ground. When the boy didn’t move, Petru shoved him down. The boy winced as his knees hit the floor. Dracul’s cock twitched at the sight.
“Where did you find him?”
“Coming out of a homeless shelter.”
“Excellent.” Parting his robe and his thighs, Dracul exposed his hardened dick. The boy’s eyes went wide. Dracul smiled as he ran his palm up his length. “I trust you know what do to with this, hmm?”
The boy shook his head frantically and would have backed up but for Petru’s grip on his shoulder.
Dracul tsked. “Oh, come now. Nothing too difficult. I only want your mouth.” He’d leave what he hoped was a virgin hole for later. Taking time to savor delicacies was a strength of his. He prided himself on being disciplined.
When the boy still didn’t move, Petru pushed him forward until it was either knee-walk over or fall flat on his face. The boy wisely chose the former. Good. Dracul liked boys with a bit of brains. Not too much, mind, but enough to train quickly and easily.
He spread his legs even wider in invitation. “I’m sure I don’t have to warn you that if I feel teeth just once, you won’t be allowed to keep them.” The boy whimpered, a lovely sound that caused pre-cum to leak out. “Now, see? You’ve already paved the way for your lovely mouth to do its job. Come now. Don’t be shy.”
His arousal grew the closer the boy got. It was pure ecstasy watching the way the human reluctantly opened his mouth with teary eyes. He bent down to take only Dracul’s cockhead past quivering lips. Of course, that lasted about two seconds before Dracul grabbed a handful of hair and impaled the boy’s mouth on his shaft. The choking and gagging noises amused him for a few seconds before he let him up.
“Lick and suck, slut, or I’ll choke you with it again.”
The effort was tentative and artless, but he patted the boy’s head in appreciation. He could afford to be magnanimous as a reward for good behavior. Carrot and stick had proven an effective training strategy with Dafydd. These humans were pathetically easy to control.
He turned his attention back to Petru. “What is the status of my boys?”
“They continue to feed the drug into the local population. There have been three deaths so far and the local government has started warning their people away from vamp.”
“From what?”
Petru cleared his throat. “From vamp, sir. That is what your sons have been calling it.”
“Ridiculous.” Honestly, the human half of his sons made them stupider than need be. “Wait, what?” He straightened, sending his cock back down the new boy’s throat. “Only three! What are my boys doing? There should have been wide-spread use of the drug before anyone realized what was happening. The streets of that backwater city should have been littered with bodies by now.”
His pique caused his balls to tighten. Shoving the boy’s head down again, he spilled his seed into the unwilling mouth. “Get me my phone.”
Petru rushed off to comply. As the human struggled and gagged, Dracul fumed. Must I do everything myself? He poured all his anger into and through his cock, and when it was spent, he tossed the boy away. He lay sputtering and drooling onto the stone hearth.
“You’re going to lick up every drop of that,” Dracul snapped. “I’m surrounded by incompetence!”
“They only reflect your own failings.”
Outraged, Dracul stood and growled toward the wan human lying on the bed. Dafydd stared back at him in defiance. Training notwithstanding, the boy had never learned to keep his mouth shut and his foolish opinions to himself. Dracul took a step forward, his palm itching to deliver a vicious rebuke. He pulled up short immediately, remembering why the boy still lived at all.
He changed direction. “You need a stern reminder of your place, pet. I won’t risk the life you shelter, however, as he or they are far more important than you will ever be. But, then I don’t have to. Let’s bring back the ancient human custom of the whipping boy, shall we?”
He bent down and fisted the short strands of hair, hauling the human back to his knees. The boy started screaming before the first blow landed.
* * * *
“Do you have a moment, sir?”
Alex swiveled his desk chair away from the television. “Of course. I don’t know why I keep watching that damn thing. There’s nothing they can tell us of any use.”
“It’s hard to wait,” Val agreed, taking a seat in one of the visitor chairs. “With four more deaths, there’s more than a whiff of panic in the air. I don’t understand why humans would continue to try this stuff with the warnings being issued.”
Alex tossed his head back and stared at his ceiling. “You and I have been interacting with this species long enough to know there is often no logic to what they do. It’s no surprise that so far the victims have been the young and the marginalized. Males in particular have always strangely tied their manhood into doing dangerous things.”
Val did know that about humans. Two of the latest victims had been male college students, no doubt trying the drug on a dare. Duncan had told them that the police speculated the other two had been undergoing some kind of gang ritual of admittance. Sadly for all of them, no one had won any bets or prized positions, only a trip to the morgue.
“I hate to say it, but the one I’m worried about is the woman. Her survival is making it possible for that doctor Duncan mentioned to isolate the drug. Not that I wish any more ill than she’s already suffered, but she might be the key to exposing our existence on this world. It would be ironic if Dracul causes our demise by doing the one thing that he and we have always agreed on—keeping our presence a secret.” He choked out a laugh. “Sorry for being Captain Obvious. Waiting makes me squirrely. I think too much.”
Alex flashed a smile. “I understand completely. I don’t expect, however, that you came here simply to rehash what we know. What else is on your mind?”
Of course, Alex was always one to get to the point. Normally Val was as well. This conversation was going to be hard, because everything involving Mackie was. “When this latest battle is over, I want to send Mackie away.”
“Ahh…” Alex sat forward and folded his arms on his desk. “This is a familiar topic of conversation, although surprisingly reversed. Haven’t I been urging this very thing for the last couple of months? Mackie, himself, raised it only to have you shoot it down.”
Val had expected t
his reaction and deserved it. “Yes, sir, you have, and I apologize for being so stupidly stubborn on this issue. You’ve been right all along. So was Mackie when he complained of being little more than a prisoner.”
“Well, I would say I’m gratified to hear it, except now I wonder what has changed your mind. I have noticed, of course, since this latest aggression from Dracul began, that you’ve been running hot and cold with the boy. Mostly cold now. Glacial, one might say. What happened the other night?”
“I almost hurt him, badly.” Val had trouble getting the words out because every time he relived his actions, he pictured all the different ways he could have ended up killing Mackie.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true. I-I lost control. Savaged him, in more than one way.”
“Really? He seems fine to me. Not a mark on him other than the telltale signs of a feeding.”
The observation reminded Val of how the warm, salty blood had coated his throat and satisfied the deep hunger that never left him. “I lost control,” he repeated, choking a bit at the confession. “I could have bled him dry as well as ripped him apart with the brutal way I mounted him.”
He lifted his gaze so that his captain could see his anguish. “At first, I thought I could keep him close and safe without getting involved with him again. When that proved unworkable, I convinced myself I could provide the discipline he craves and still manage to keep emotionally distant. I was wrong.
“Now I know that I have no discipline of my own when it comes to him. He’ll be safer elsewhere. Yet I can’t stomach the idea of handing him over to one of our cadre, either. That might not be fair of me, but knowing I might run into him and his new lover drives me to distraction. I’m not sure I could handle that and I wouldn’t want to bring trouble to your command. There’s already enough fighting between our two factions as it is.”
“What makes you think if he went to live with one of my other men, they’d become lovers?”
Val merely blinked back at Alex in confusion. “Who could resist Mackie?”
Alex smiled. “Ahh… Of course. Forgive my obtuseness.”
Val sighed. “In any event, I’m sure we can find a place for him to live where Dracul won’t bother looking. As far as he knows, Mackie isn’t mine anyway.”
Alex shook his head and gave him the same look he had so many centuries ago. “Oh, my dear Valeriu, he is yours. Everyone can see that except you.”
Now it was Val’s turn to shake his head. “No. He can’t be. Please, sir, I don’t have the strength to have him near and not claim him. And, I don’t have the courage to make him truly mine, either.”
“Remember when we were picking our human names? We wanted to blend in with the locals, and though we thought it was strange that their names had meanings, we did each go for something we thought suited us.”
“I remember.”
Alex gave Val a wan look. “Because you have the uncanny ability to never forget, which makes you suffer perhaps more acutely than the rest of us”—he paused—“you chose a name that means ‘strong’. It suited you then as it does now. One of my biggest fears when I realized that Dracul was plotting against me was that he would woo you to his side.”
“Never!” Val issued the denial on a snarl.
Alex smiled. “Loyalty is the only thing about you greater than your strength. I was more relieved than I can say when you stuck with me.”
“There was never any question of that, sir. And, I have only the one regret, as you know. That’s why I’m begging you to help me deal with Mackie.”
On a sigh, Alex sat back again. “I will, certainly. He won’t like it.”
“He’ll do as he’s told.” He had to, or Val didn’t think he could survive anything different.
“I can’t imagine why you think that. That boy may be a natural submissive, but he’s no pushover. Nevertheless, we’ll figure something out.”
Val was on the verge of expressing his thanks when Alex got a text. “It’s Kitty. Duncan is here. She’s bringing him back. Let’s hope he has a line on the drug’s source.”
“And, let’s hope it leads right to Dracul’s whelps.” He’d seen little of the hybrids, as Harry would call them. What he had made him keen on disposing of them for good.
“Hey, boss.”
It wasn’t Duncan who arrived a few seconds later. Emil came in as he issued the greeting with Logan in tow. Val hadn’t seen her since that night in the T tunnel. She looked—and frankly, smelled—as if she’d spent the time since visiting homeless groups around the city.
Emil jerked his thumb in her direction. “Logan’s got some news.”
“So do I.” Duncan trailed Kitty into the office, looking again as if he hadn’t slept in a long time.
Behind him were Quinn and Mackie. Of course. Why would I expect anything else? He was on the verge of telling the boy to leave then decided it wasn’t worth the confrontation. Val had no illusions, either, that he would win the argument. With Quinn heading straight for Alex’s welcoming lap, there really was no logical reason for Mackie to be forced out. Val’s discomfort didn’t count.
Duncan dropped down on the couch. “Ladies first.”
Logan made a rude noise in response but then got down to it. “I’ve found the source, the place the dealers are using as a home base. I can take you there.”
“Where is ‘there’, if I may ask?” Alex’s polite phrasing notwithstanding, he was demanding the information. “We—Val, Emil and I—can go on our own.”
“You’re not going without me,” Duncan asserted.
“I have to show you,” Logan insisted. “It’s because you won’t know how to access it without someone who already knows the layout.”
Val faced her. “The layout of what?”
“The T. See… There’s lots of hidden parts underground that aren’t in use. It’s in one of those, at Harvard Square.”
“I’ve heard of that,” Duncan replied.
“So have I,” Val added. “I researched the area very thoroughly before we relocated here. Boston boasts the oldest subway system in the United States. There are forgotten places, as Logan says. You know the access route to where they’re holed up?”
“Yup. We street people use them from time-to-time. No one hassles you down there. But I have to show you. It’s too hard to explain.”
“Fair enough,” Alex replied. They all knew Logan could handle herself in a fight. Alex eyed Duncan. “What can you add to that?”
“Well, first off, I had the same info. Karl and I met with the Cambridge cops again this afternoon. They’d leaned on an informant and he’d told them the stuff was coming from somewhere in Harvard University’s underground steam tunnels. He must have confused them with the T tunnels, though.”
Val did the math in his head. “So, none of your police brethren will be looking in the right spot. We’ll have a clear shot.” The idea of taking down Dracul’s sons and ending this latest round of war gave Val something to focus on other than Mackie. It also meant the boy would be leaving that much sooner. Why doesn’t that make me feel better?
“Yeah.” Duncan frowned and scratched the back of his neck. “I really hate all this sneaking around.”
Alex inclined his head. “As always, we appreciate how difficult this is for you, Sergeant, and hope tonight will see the end of it, at least for now.”
“I’d like to think so,” the cop replied. “But there’s no telling how much of that poison is out there. The other thing I found out is that it’s being marketed differently, as a new and better version of Molly. You know, a form of Ecstasy or E. That explains the college kids.” He shook his head. “Dumb bastards thought they’d be fine taking a less-lethal drug.”
“Debbie would have thought that, too.” Everyone turned to Logan. “That’s her name, you know? The woman who trashed the bookstore.”
“We did not know,” Alex replied in a quiet voice. “I don’t think anyone’s come forward to say.”<
br />
Logan grimaced. “I didn’t know her well, but she was a vet, like me. Can you fix her?”
Alex shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. I can promise you, though, that once Harry finds an antidote, we will do our best to get it to her.”
“She’s heavily sedated on the psych ward,” Duncan offered. “No one’s guarding her because it’s a lock-down unit and she’s restrained besides. I bet I can get something past Dr. Paz, though.”
“All right,” Alex said, standing and setting Quinn down on the floor. “Let’s gear up.”
Mackie, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, said, “Wait. What about us?” He gestured toward Quinn, then himself. “What can we do?”
“Stay here.” Val issued the order before Alex could open his mouth.
“Yes,” the boss confirmed with a narrowed gaze at Val. “That would be best. Your presence out there would distract us,” he added when Quinn started to object.
“Oh.” The boy hugged Alex briefly. “We understand. Be careful.”
Alex brushed a kiss against the boy’s lips as if they were the only ones in the room. “Always, dearest boy. Always.”
“Hey, Duncan,” Emil called out. “You had dinner yet?”
The cop rubbed his stomach. “Now that you mention it, no.”
“Come on. You too, Logan. Can’t fight on an empty stomach. We’ll meet you at the back door in thirty, boss.”
As the others left, Mackie stood staring at Val for a few seconds before moving to bring up the rear of the column exiting the room.
“Wait.” The word popped out of Val’s mouth. With the boy and Alex already in the room and the end of the current crisis in sight, it made sense to talk about his future. Val didn’t need a half hour to get ready, anyway.
Mackie eyed him suspiciously. “What?”
Val took a deep breath for courage, itself a cowardly act. “I’ve been talking to Alex about where you should go once this thing is over.”
Mackie’s eyes widened. “When what thing is over, the war with Dracul?”
“Just this round of it. You won’t be in his sights, if you ever were, while he licks his wounds. It will be the perfect time to relocate you.”
Dangerous Dance Page 16
