Unnatural Allies

by Edward Kendrick

  Thorin chuckled. “He does do that at times.”

  Malik was back moments later, walking to the railing. Andre stood and joined him.

  “There.” Malik pointed to a group that was heading toward a large, newly vacated, table.

  “Damn!” Andre swore softly, and realized as he did that it came out more as admiration for the muscular, blond-haired man than as a curse that a werewolf would dare come into the club as if he belonged there. He was with a pretty female wearing a dress that did little to hide her obvious assets.

  Thorin came over, leaning his hands on the railing. “Well, this is interesting,” he murmured.

  “Oh?” Andre looked at him.

  “Unless I’m wrong, and I’m quite certain I’m not, our werewolf is Sandalio, Raúl’s disgraced younger brother.”

  Andre hissed out a breath. “Here to avenge Raúl’s death?”

  Thorin lifted an eyebrow. “I’m not a mind reader. Well, I’m not when it comes to werewolves. Why don’t you go down and find out?”

  Andre bowed his head at what he knew was an order from his Sire. “You,” he looked dead at Malik, “stay here and keep Thorin company.”

  It seemed as if Malik would protest before obviously getting that it would do him no good. Andre glanced over his shoulder as he walked to the stairs going to the main floor, smiling briefly when he saw Malik talking a mile-a-minute to Thorin. ::Don’t kill me, Thorin::

  ::Perish the thought, my boy. I need you alive:: There was laughter in Thorin’s words so Andre knew he was forgiven for foisting Malik off on his Sire.

  * * * *

  For a moment, when they first got to the Crimson Cathedral, Sand thought he wouldn’t be allowed inside. The two vampires manning the door bristled when they saw him. Then one of them sent a young vampire off with orders to ask ‘Thorin’ if they should let ‘the damned werewolf’ in. Thankfully, the doorman spoke so quietly that only someone with supernatural hearing would have heard what he said.

  Whoever Thorin was, and Sand figured he had to be the club’s owner, or at least the manager, he must have decided a lone werewolf would be no threat. The young vampire returned to say it was okay. It was all done quickly enough that the doormen were able to check the IDs of the rest of the group, and then Sand’s, with no perceptible pause that might raise questions in the minds of the others.

  Once inside, the group commandeered a large, just vacated table. Sand pulled out Patricia’s chair for her, getting a bright smile in return. He took the one between her and one of her girlfriends, and then beckoned to a waitress, signifying they wanted to order drinks.

  He barely had time to remove Patricia’s hand from his thigh, hoping she got the message that he was her bodyguard and nothing more, when he sensed a presence behind him. He turned to see who was there and felt a jolt of pure lust. The man, the vampire because Sand knew that’s what he was, was tall, with a well-trimmed beard and mustache, had dark, piercing eyes, and full, sensual lips. Lips that, at the moment, were drawn tightly together as he returned Sand’s gaze.

  “Welcome to the club,” the vampire said. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.”

  “Because it’s our first time,” Patricia piped up, raking her gaze over him. “I’m Patricia Lincoln,” she added as if he should recognize her name and be impressed.

  “A pleasure, I’m sure,” the vampire replied, glancing briefly at her. “I’m Andre. And you are?” His question was obviously for Sand since he was staring hard at him.

  “Sandalio, but most people call me Sand.”

  “Sand it is.” Andre returned his attention to Patricia momentarily, saying, “Do you mind if I borrow your boyfriend?”

  “Why?” she asked, looking upset.

  Andre smiled. “Nothing to worry your pretty head about. My boss thought he recognized him as the son of an old friend and sent me to find out if he was correct, which he was. He wants to say hello.”

  “Then why didn’t he…”

  “It’s okay, Patricia,” Sand broke in. “I’m sure it won’t take long. You behave while I’m gone.” He winked and stood.

  “If I have to,” she replied with a pout.

  Sand laughed before saying to Andre, “Lead the way.”

  Andre did, taking him upstairs and into an office along one wall of the balcony. He closed the door, leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest, asking with evident suspicion, “Why are you here, Sand?”

  “I was hired by Patricia’s father to be her bodyguard for the evening.” Sand looked dead at him.

  “Really?” Andre smiled tightly. “And you had no idea what you were walking into when you came here.”

  Deciding on honesty, Sand replied. “I knew.”

  “And yet you still came.”

  “It wasn’t my decision. I’m doing what I was paid for, escorting her on a night out.”

  Andre studied him, as if assessing his reply. Sand felt him try to touch his mind and blocked him with a knowing look. “I’m telling you the truth. You don’t need to pry.”

  “It’s what I do, if I’m going to keep my people safe.”

  “Now why do you think I’m any danger to them? I’m a lone werewolf in a building filled with vampires. I’m not about to try anything. If I did, it might reveal the presence of vampires, and werewolves, to the humans who are enjoying your hospitality. Not something either of us wants, I’m sure.”

  Andre’s eyebrows rose. “Your brother thought otherwise. At least when it came to vampires.”

  Sand sucked in a breath, his hands balling into fists. “You know who I am. In that case, why was I allowed inside?”

  “Relax, Sand,” Andre replied. “I have no beef with you—at the moment. I’m aware that you were cast out of your father’s pack, and why. If I were to make a guess, you hold…held no love for him or for Raúl.”

  “Perhaps not, but…” Sand bit back his next words, saying instead, “I have a job to do, so if you don’t mind I’ll return to my charge before she does something stupid.” He smiled ruefully. “She has a propensity for forgetting how a well brought up young woman should act, once she’s had a drink or two.”

  “I think you could say that about most humans,” Andre replied dryly. “All right, get back to her. However, I would like to talk with you again about your brother. Say after you’ve delivered her home? I’ll be here until dawn.”

  “I’ll consider it.” When Andre didn’t move, Sand chuckled. “I’m not going to teleport down there. That would really blow it.”

  With a nod, Andre stepped aside. “I’ll see you later.”

  “As I said…”

  “You’ll consider it. I hope you decide you will come back.”

  Something in his look, and tone of voice, made Sand wonder if there was more behind his words than his wanting to talk about Raúl. Imagination, or wistful thinking? He knew that was probably it. Something about Andre stirred a need in him he hadn’t felt in too many years. If he wasn’t a vampire, and my enemy…

  With that thought, Sand left the office.

  * * * *

  “This is not good,” Andre murmured when he was certain Sand was too far away to overhear him. “He’s a damned werewolf. Despite the fact we were civil to each other it doesn’t negate the fact we’re enemies. No truce drawn up over a hundred years ago will change that.”

  “Problems?” Thorin asked, startling Andre as he came into the office.

  “I don’t think so. He, Sand, is here legitimately, working as a bodyguard.”

  “You’re certain of that?” Thorin asked, striding over to sit at the desk.

  Andre lifted a shoulder. “Fairly certain—at the moment. I’ll know better later tonight if he accepts my invitation and comes back so we can talk.”

  “Keep it to that,” Thorin replied with a knowing look.

  “Of course.”

  “Andre, remember, I’m you Sire. I know you almost as well as you know yourself. You’re attracted to him.”

>   “Physically, yes, I’ll admit as much. I have the feeling, although I may be wrong, that he’s not exactly immune to me, either.”

  “If you want to act on it, do. I won’t stop you,” Thorin said. “But remember what he is. It can never go beyond that. You’re two different species, as it were.”

  “Different, and enemies when it comes down to it. Believe me, Thorin, I’m aware of that.”

  “It’s good that you are. Just don’t forget it in the heat of the moment.”

  Andre shook his head. “A moment that may not happen.”

  “Time will tell, I’m certain.”

  Chapter 4

  Once Sand had taken a very inebriated Patricia home, managing to keep her from doing anything stupid before that happened, he returned to the Crimson Cathedral. He didn’t teleport in, although he could have now that he’d been there. He wasn’t about to do so and find himself in the middle of a gang of vampires who wanted his hide—and not in a good way. Andre had seemed sincere, but it might all have been an act. Instead, he positioned himself across the street and waited. As it was after closing time for the club, he saw the vampires who worked there leave, some singly, some in pairs or groups. And still he waited, until he decided if he didn’t take the next step it would be too late and Andre would leave as well.

  He chose the office where he and Andre had had their first meeting, landing beside Andre’s desk.

  “It took you long enough,” Andre said as he looked up from what he was doing. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to accept my invitation.”

  “I tend to err on the side of caution,” Sand replied, ignoring for the moment the flare of lust seeing the vampire brought on. “I’d prefer not to end up as a wolf-skin rug in front of your fireplace.”

  Andre snorted. “If you were dead, your body would be human. You know that.”

  “Indeed,” Sand agreed as he took the chair beside the desk. Casually crossing his legs, he said, “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Your brother and what he planned to do before he died.”

  Sand corrected him. “Was murdered.”

  “It’s all a matter of perspective. To my way of seeing things, he was executed before he could set his plan in motion.”

  Staring dead at Andre, Sand asked, “Do you know who was responsible for that?”

  Tapping his fingers together as he returned Sand’s gaze, Andre replied, “Of course. I’m willing to tell you, if you can give me your word you won’t go after him. If your loyalty to your pack—”

  “Ex pack,” Sand broke in. “And I’m not loyal to them. As you pointed out earlier, I’m no longer a member. I was kicked out for something I have no control over.”

  Andre nodded. “Which doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like to avenge Raúl’s death.”

  “I’ve considered it,” Sand admitted. “I found a clue to who it might have been.”

  “Really?”

  Sand nodded, wondering whether to tell him, and decided he might as well. “I went to the spot where my brother was killed. Logic said whoever did it didn’t walk right up to him, or even hide in the brush along the path. Raúl would have been aware if they were that close. An attack from above, however, especially if his killer was a vampire who has no detectable odor…I eventually found the tree where he had hidden, and two hairs he’d left behind. When I returned to where I’d parked, I noticed tire and partial shoe prints, and photographed them.”

  “Have you taken it any farther than that?”

  “No. I don’t have the resources.” He chuckled. “Even if I did, I’m not about to clip a hair or two from every vampire I run into so I can do a microscopic comparison with the ones I found.”

  “That could keep you busy. You haven’t answered my question, however. Are you looking for revenge?”

  Am I? Why bother? The cost could be a flare-up of the animosity between vampires and werewolves, especially if one of them decided to retaliate. Raúl is not worth it.

  “No. Raúl’s not worth it,” Sand said, repeating his last thought aloud.

  “In that case, why should I tell you who killed him?”

  Sand smiled. “To satisfy my curiosity?”

  “All right.” Andre tensed as if expecting an attack if Sand had been lying. “I did.”

  Instead of attacking, Sand smiled slowly. “An honest vampire, despite the possible consequences.”

  “I have my moments,” Andre replied, visibly relaxing.

  “What if the consequences include something unexpected?”

  Andre lifted an eyebrow in question. “Such as?”

  “This.” Sand stood, closed the distance between them, and gripped Andre’s shoulders before he bent to kiss him hungrily. He wasn’t terribly surprised when Andre returned it with equal fervor. He was good at reading males, human or otherwise, when it came to sexual interest, and Andre had given a few, very brief indications that he found Sand at least intriguing, if not more.

  “Now this is a consequence I rather like,” Andre said when the kiss ended. “However, this is as far as it goes.”

  “You say that, but your cock seems to have a different idea,” Sand retorted, pressing one hand to the obvious bulge in Andre’s slacks and squeezing.

  “Sand, don’t try to start something unless you plan on finishing it.”

  Sand grinned wickedly. “Oh, I do. The question is whether it’s here…and now, or at my place…now.”

  * * * *

  “Neither.” Andre cupped his hand at the back of Sand’s head, pulling him down into another fevered kiss. “Later. Once we’ve finished our discussion, because I have more to say.”

  Groaning, Sand moved away, retaking his seat. “Make it fast. I don’t like waiting.”

  “I’ll try.” Andre willed his cock to relax, not an easy chore with such a sexy man sitting so close. He closed his eyes momentarily, opening them to see Sand watching his with a mixture of lust and inquisitiveness. “Now that you know I’m the one who killed Raúl, and seem to accept it without wanting to retaliate—” he smiled, “—or rather without wanting to kill me in return, I might have a proposition for you.”

  Sand snorted. “I think I’m the one who did the propositioning.”

  With a wry smile, Andre replied, “That’s not how I meant it. First, a question. Do you know what your brother was planning?”

  Sand sobered quickly. “Yes, and it might have worked if you hadn’t stepped in.”

  “I agree. The problem now, as I see it, is whether the others he brought in on it intend to finish what he began.”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Before you say I wouldn’t be, because I’m no longer connected to the pack, I have a friend who is. He’s the one who let me know Raúl was dead. According to him, Raúl did his best to threaten his Betas into going along with his plan, with very little success.”

  “But he did find one or more who were willing?”

  Sand’s mouth tightened. “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “Is it possible for you to get in touch with your friend to find out if they are going forward with the plan?”

  “I should be able to. I can also find out if one of them is the new Alpha. That should have been decided by now, I hope.”

  “If it has, and he was one of Raúl’s supporters…” Andre sighed.

  “Things could go bad fast for all you vampires. It only takes one well-armed man to wreak havoc in a place like this.”

  “It wouldn’t go well for the werewolves, either. If you think your retaliating for your brother’s death might cause waves, it would be nothing compared to what we would launch against the werewolves if they attacked us here—even if the humans did begin hunting us.”

  “The end of the world as we know it.” Sand stared desolately at Andre. “I’ll get in touch with Dimas immediately, if I can,” he said, taking out his phone.

  “There goes the rest of our night if you do,” Andre replied with a brief smile.

  * * * *

&
nbsp; Sand glanced at Andre, saying, “Dawn isn’t for another two hours,” just as Dimas answered his call.

  “Why would I care?” Dimas asked.

  “No reason,” Sand replied. “I have a question or two. Has the new Alpha been chosen?”

  “If you mean did Estebe thrash his first three opponents badly enough that no one else was willing to face him, then yes. He’s the new Alpha.”

  Sand sucked in a breath, looking at Andre in dismay. He remembered Estebe well as a vicious werewolf who bowed to no one and had agitated for Sand’s execution as a deviate, rather than his being ousted from the pack. “I don’t pity you, then, or anyone else in the pack who doesn’t bow to him.”

  “No shit,” Dimas replied.

  “Next question. Have there been any rumors that he intends to move forward with my brother’s plan?”

  “You know I’m not in the inner circle, Sand, so I couldn’t say. I can try to find out.”

  “Do. If he’s planning something, we have to stop it.”

  “Uh-huh. You, me, and what army?” Dimas said. “For damned sure neither of us is strong enough to do it on our own, unless you think you can assassinate him the way someone did Raúl. You know he’s going to be on high alert because that happened.”

  “Yeah. At least find out, please. Maybe he’s not as stupid as my brother was and won’t try to complete what Raúl planned on doing.”

  “One can only hope. I’ll let you know one way or the other.”

  * * * *

  When they’d hung up, Sand relayed what he’d learned to Andre.

  “What do you know about this Estebe?” Andre asked when he finished.

  “He’s crazy?”

  “He’s a werewolf, so that’s a given,” Andre replied with a smirk.

  “Watch it or this werewolf won’t take you home with him when we’re finished here.”

  While Andre was certain he was kidding, he wasn’t about to test it. His physical need for Sand’s body was intense by now. Enough that he almost suggested they shelve their discussion until later. He didn’t, however. “How likely is he to carry through on your brother’s plans and have enough followers to do so?”