Solving a case was what Todd was here to do, and something niggled at the back of his mind, telling him this girl and his case were tied together. “I’m on it. Where is she?”
“Two doors down on the right.”
Todd nodded, stood, and, mug in hand, he found his way to the small room the girl was in. He knocked softly, eased the door open, and poked his head inside. “May I come in?”
She was huddled in a ball in an armchair. There was a small cot, a table with two chairs, and the armchair she was in. “Yes, sir.” She spoke barely above a whisper.
Todd slid through the door and closed it softly behind him. One thumb jerking over his shoulder, he said, “Do you want some coffee or something? I can get it for you. Or are you hungry?”
“My master always said coffee was the devil’s drink,” she mumbled. Even with her legs pulled into the chair, Todd could tell she was tall, probably just a few inches shorter than he was. She was older than Nick by a few years, closer to Todd’s age, he guessed, with strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, plus a few stray strands she brushed away from her face with long fingers. Deep blue eyes watched him intently.
Todd wrapped both hands protectively around his mug and glanced down at the liquid sloshing inside. “Pity. It’s way too good to waste it on the devil.”
She glanced up, the corners of her mouth twitching up. Todd set his mug on the table, slipped his jacket off, and hung it over the back of the nearest chair.
“Do you want anything?”
“No, sir, thank you. We have plenty of whatever we need in the dorms.”
Sitting in the chair, Todd leaned his elbows on the table, patting a hand softly against its flat, shiny surface. “Will you come over here and talk to me? You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but you came here for a reason. I’d like to hear about it.”
Hesitantly, she uncurled her legs, stood, and made her way to the table. She sat in the chair opposite Todd’s, hands folded on the table, eyes downcast.
“My name is Tyler. What’s yours?”
“Nadia, sir.”
“Nadia.” He repeated it and took a sip of his coffee. “That’s a pretty name.” Scrambling around for something to say to this girl to draw her out, Todd had a sudden flash of inspiration. “Can I share a secret with you, Nadia? Something between just you and me?”
Nadia blinked at him a few times before she nodded.
“You, all the people like you, you’re all here because you lost an owner.” Todd kept his voice low and soft.
“Yes.”
He huffed a soft, short laugh. “Well, I’m sort of here for the same reason. I had a slave I lost.” He pressed his lips shut before adding once. “So, I guess I can say I really do understand how you feel.”
“Did you love her?”
Todd smiled. “Him, and yes, very much.” He saw disappointment flash through her eyes before they softened and it turned to sympathy. “Now, you have a secret from me.” He dipped his head forward and raised his eyebrows enough to offer her a prompt to tell him hers.
“I came here…Something happened to me a few nights ago, in the dorms. When I got here and tried to get the words out, it all sounded stupid and silly and like a whiny little girl.”
“I promise I won’t think that. Will you tell me, please?”
“There’s been stories, since before I came here, going back to when this place was built, about parts of the slave dorms being haunted. I thought they were just stories, something people entertained themselves with. The other night, it was late, and I was coming back alone. I was in the hall just down from my room. Something…” Nadia’s voice cracked, and she broke off.
Reaching over the table, Todd patted her arm. “Take your time.”
“The last few months, things people have seen, or sometimes felt…” She shrugged. “I don’t know, it seems like it’s happening an awful lot.” Twisting her fingers together for a few minutes, she looked up at Todd and then away at once. “Something touched me. Grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me. I think it was a man. The little bit I saw, I thought maybe it was the chancellor, but that’s silly. Why would he be in the slave dorms? The worst part was how he—it—tasted and what it did.”
“Go on.” Todd prompted when she stopped.
“His tongue, or something, I’m not even sure, it was so bitter, and it made me feel…”
“Made you feel how?”
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and shifted in the chair. “This is so stupid. Please don’t laugh at me.”
“No, of course I won’t.”
“I felt…I haven’t felt like that since…since before…It made me…I got so horny.”
Todd sat back and blinked at her. This was certainly not what he’d been expecting. “Horny, as in—?”
“Yes! To the point I could barely control myself. But it wasn’t enjoyable. I felt used. I hated it. I was ashamed! Then whoever or whatever it was vanished.”
His mind played connect-the-dots. Started a few months ago, sexual predator…“Nadia, would you show me where this happened?”
“You believe me?”
Nodding, Todd stood up and pulled his jacket on. “I do, and that is definitely unwanted contact.”
They left the security office and made their way across the large expanse of lawn and gardens to the slave dorms. Todd followed while Nadia led him to the hallway near her room. Nick’s room, he noted, was on the same floor but at the opposite end of the building.
“My room is right over there.”
Todd glanced to his right and couldn’t help smiling. She’d painted small stencils on her door of bunnies in a nest. “Where were you, exactly, when it first happened?”
Nadia spread her arms wide. “Right here. This spot.”
He paced from one side of the narrow hall to the other, looking at the floor, the walls, the ceiling, scrutinizing every inch of the area.
“What are you looking for?”
Shrugging, Todd barked a short laugh. “When I see it, I’ll tell you.” He ran the fingertips of one hand over the outer wall, squinted at it, and stepped a bit closer. “Like, what do you suppose this is?” He used one finger to trace a line from floor to ceiling.
Nadia rocked up on her toes and leaned over Todd’s shoulder. He felt her shrug. “A crack in the wall?”
“Pretty damn straight for a crack, don’t you think?” Stepping first to the left, then the right, Todd ran his fingers the length of the wall, stopping a few feet from the line. Turning far enough to look at Nadia, he quirked an eyebrow and smirked.
“A door?”
“Let’s find out.” Todd leaned both palms flat against the wall and pressed his weight against it, shifting to the left. Nothing. He repeated the process, shifting his weight to the right, and nearly lost his footing when that section of wall gave way and slipped along a track and behind the next section of wall.
“Oh…my!” Nadia gasped, reflecting Todd’s sentiment perfectly.
Holding the edge of the doorway with one hand, Todd swung his upper body inside, looking around. “That does about sum it up, doesn’t it?”
There was a narrow tunnel between the wall and the very outer wall of the building. In the floor, a section was cut away from the ground, and dirt stairs led down, but it was too dark for Todd to see what was there. He’d have to come back armed with better supplies and a weapon or two. Cranking his neck back, he looked up. “It looks like it goes down but not up. At least here there is no access to any floor but this one. If you want, I can arrange for you to be moved to a room on the second or third floor.”
Nadia spent a few seconds looking back and forth between the hidden tunnel and the door to her room. “That’s been my room since I came here.”
Todd straightened, reached out, and touched her shoulder. “It’s not really fair. I know. Look, I promise I’m going to get whatever or whoever is doing this. I’ll put some extra security people on duty here. I
don’t suppose these doors lock?”
“Well, no.”
He smiled. “If you change your mind, let me know. In the meantime, do you have to go to work? I can excuse you for the day if you’d rather stay here.” He carefully slid the access door closed.
“Actually I’d rather go to work.”
Todd took Nadia’s arm and turned her away from the wall. “Our secret?”
“Yes, sir.”
“If there is anything else you remember or if something else happens, I want you to come to me. I’ll help you. I swear.” They started walking to the dorm entrance.
“Yes, sir.” She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
Todd walked her across the estate to where she worked, then returned to his office in the sanctuary security building. He collected some supplies and checked his watch. He’d have quite a few hours before he could get Nick, and traipsing around the tunnels at night didn’t sit right with him. For a few hours, at least, Todd was back to hunting solo.
Chapter 6
Nick tucked a few books under his arm and padded quietly down the main hall of the school. All the children had gone for the day. He had hours before Todd would be free and thought he could spend at least some of that time prowling through the school library. He’d have to get permission to stay much longer. He stopped in the door to the main office and waited quietly for the superintendent to finish what she was doing and look up at him. Gaze darting to the name on her desk long enough to make sure he would pronounce it correctly, Nick was relieved to see her name wasn’t unusual. Asking for favors went much more easily when he didn’t piss someone off mispronouncing their name.
Hers was easy: Elaine Gimble.
She looked like an Elaine Gimble, with her kind brown eyes that crinkled at the corners and gray hair held back from her face with heart-shaped clips. Barely glancing up at him, she waved a hand in the direction of the middle of the room. “You don’t have to stand in the hall. Come in, please. Nick, isn’t it?”
Nick took a few steps into the room and dropped to one knee, holding the books against his thigh. Even kneeling, Nick was probably still taller than she would be if she was standing. “Yes, ma’am.” He felt naked and completely vulnerable in front of this woman. Todd usually dealt with these types of people, leaving Nick to take up the background, guard the flank, which he was more than happy to do.
“Is there a problem? You came here for a reason, Nick. You can say what you’d like.”
Sneaking a peek at her from under his bangs, Nick saw she was smiling at him. “I wanted to find some more material for tomorrow’s lessons, but the school is closing. May I spend some time in the library after hours?” One of the perks of being a slave and having to follow certain rules such as “eyes down” was that it made lying easier. He’d dealt with angry spirits, demons, a werewolf, and countless other types most people thought were nothing more than myth or stories, but this tiny, round woman, like most people, scared the crap out of him. His fingers tightened around the books until they cramped.
“You’re doing a very good job, even after only a few days here. The children like you.”
Nick’s smile was genuine. “I like them.”
“You may certainly spend as much time as you’d like preparing lessons, but be sure you don’t miss dinner. No going hungry for work in my school.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you. I’ll watch the time.” Nick left, thinking about how much Todd would like this woman.
The school was three buildings nestled close together and attached by covered walkways. The classroom Nick had been assigned to was in the same building as Elaine Gimble’s office. The library was one building over and in the middle of the group. It took him a few minutes to get across the walkway and through the next building to the library on the upper floor.
It was warmer up there, and the afternoon’s humidity was on the rise, making his tunic stick to his back and chest, alerting Nick to the fact that more storms were on the way. A quick glance out the window, which took up the majority of the outer wall, confirmed Nick’s suspicions. The sky to the west was already going from blue to a darker purple. Checking his watch made his heart sink. It was only five now. He had another seven or eight hours until he would be with Todd again. At least he could occupy some of that time by searching this library for information.
A few trips up and down the many aisles, and Nick found plenty of resources to examine. He took the books to a table and carefully positioned himself so his back was to the window and the storm slowly rolling in. He became so engrossed in the articles he found and was reading, he didn’t notice the time go by until he was squinting to see in the dimming light. The rumbling of his stomach prompted him to sit back and rub at his gritty eyes.
Sighing, Nick started to gather his books to return them to the shelves. “Not missing dinner,” he said to the room. It was nearly seven, still too early to be as dark as it was outside. He hurried along, wanting to get back to the slave sanctuary before the storm hit. Books safely returned to their proper places, he went back to the table and gathered the notebook and few books he’d brought with him.
The sound of footsteps over the tile floor made him stop and straighten as he glanced around. The place was bathed in shadows, quiet, the air almost too still, making the fine hairs along the back of Nick’s neck and arms rise, his skin prickling. Twisting around when he heard the definite click of a boot heel against the floor, Nick was met with nothing but rows and rows of bookshelves.
This wasn’t Todd messing with him. What little Nick heard made him sure Todd was not the one wearing that boot.
“Hello?”
His voice echoed for a second before dying in the large space. Thunder growled, getting closer, making him shiver. Shaking his head, Nick tossed off the odd feeling, grumbling under his breath. “Letting your imagination get to you. Definitely time to eat.” As hungry as he was, the thought of sitting alone in the slave dining hall was depressing. Being a constant at Todd’s side for nearly two years, Nick had grown used to his company. Doing something as simple as eating seemed empty when he was by himself. He hated it and wondered how it was for the people here. For them it was a reality and forever. How did they cope from day to day? He felt pangs of guilt, knowing he was simply playing a part.
A soft sound slipped through the library and past Nick. He spun in a circle again. “Damn place is probably haunted.” Nick snatched his things off the table, turned, and headed to the stairs, stretching his legs to their full stride.
He was nearly to the staircase when something dark and quick slid into his path. Drawing up short, Nick stumbled back a few steps. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t see—”
“You should pay more attention. Here all alone?” Chancellor Shaffer moved so he blocked Nick’s exit.
Gaze flicking up for an instant, Nick swallowed the gasp when he got a look at the chancellor’s face. Again it morphed from human to something else. Shaffer shifted his weight back, brought one arm up, and the next thing Nick felt was the sting of the back of Shaffer’s hand across his face. The blow jerked his head to the side and sent him tumbling off balance to the floor.
Clamping his lips shut against the defiant snarl of “My master will kill you” that was pushing to spill out, Nick bit his lip and pulled his legs under him so he was kneeling, not sprawled over the floor.
“You do have a problem with that, don’t you, boy?”
“You startled me. I’m sorry.”
Shaffer snorted, crossed his arms over his chest, and paced around so he was at Nick’s back. Leaning in close, he spoke next to Nick’s ear. It was all Nick could do to keep from jumping and flinching away from the hot, fetid breath and low voice. “You’ll have to work on that, Nick.”
Nick closed his eyes slowly and tried to suppress the shiver working down his spine. The fact that Shaffer—it—knew his name started his insides churning. A strong hand clamped around his neck and tugged. Obediently, Nick stood, hands at his sides, st
aring at the floor.
He hadn’t been struck since he was seventeen, not like that. Todd never hit him in that manner, and he’d learned young how to avoid it from the tutors in his village. In the time he’d been with Todd, probably eighty-five percent of his physical contact with another human was from Todd. Very occasionally, Jimmy would give him a hug or a pat on the shoulder, but Nick was happy being off-limits to anyone but Todd. His master never pressed the issue or forced him into unwanted contact with others.
Being backhanded by Shaffer unnerved and incensed him all at the same time.
Far off in the distance, lightning streaked the sky, making its color intensify for a few brief seconds before settling back to deep purple.
Shaffer gave him a shove, and Nick stumbled before coming to a hard stop face-first against a wall. A low, distant roar of thunder reverberated through the building and into Nick’s chest, making every muscle clench. Shutting his eyes tight, Nick forced his mind to focus on the picture of Todd he thought up and hoped this creature that was Shaffer couldn’t read minds.
He felt more than heard Shaffer move in behind him. The creature trailed a pointed finger across Nick’s shoulders, making his muscles go tense and rigid. Leaning in until his chest barely brushed Nick’s back, Shaffer dipped his head and brushed his nose up Nick’s neck and over his cheek, inhaling deeply. “I can smell your master or mistress, whichever it is, on you.” Another deep inhale. “Ah, master, male, virile, his scent is as intoxicating as yours. You’re no orphan. Why are you here?”
Jerking in a sharp breath, Nick scrunched his eyelids tighter against the horrible image of Shaffer’s real face. “My master died.”
Shaffer’s laugh was low, hot air blown against the skin along the back of Nick’s neck, just under his hair, making a few strands ruffle and then settle against his skin again. “Not yet. His scent is all over you, and it’s fresh. That was no spur of the moment tryst.” He pressed his body to Nick’s, rubbing against Nick and blowing out a deep moan that was pure desire. A long, thick, pointed tongue darted out of Shaffer’s mouth and slithered over Nick’s jawline. “I can taste him on your skin, and so much as mentioning him amplifies the scent you give off. It’s quite delightful.”
Together Bound Page 9
