Silent Cravings

by E. Blix

  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.

  For his part, Christoph was having a problem with the events of the evening. Hell, he was having a problem with the events of the month. Right now he wanted to be on his couch with a bottle of beer and a bag of chips watching manly men hurt each other on TV.

  “Clear as crystal,” he ground out in response to Royce’s question.

  “Christoph,” Ashi said, his voice dangerous and low again. “Attack that vampire.”

  There was a moment of silence, broken by Christoph laughing as well as he could with a bruised throat and a sword pressed to his Adam’s apple. “Well, Mr. Ashi, I’d love to do just that, but it seems that my knee is acting up and so I think I’ll keep my ass planted right here.”

  Ashi looked like he was going to explode. “That was an order.”

  Christoph looked sidelong at him, not moving his head, and grinned. “Ashi?”

  “What?”

  “Fuck you.”

  Analie gasped and took a step back, as if the hate radiating off Ashi could kill her where she stood.

  Royce curled his lip in distaste. Ashi clearly was not going to take this gracefully. Much as he had with Analie the first night, he’d have to use violence to make his point about who was in charge.

  He strode forward and reached down to lock his fingers around the smaller man’s throat again. Mouse focused the whole of her attention, and her sword point, on Christoph as Royce dragged Ashi off the floor just enough to look down into his eyes. He spoke with a quiet vehemence that was terrifying in its intensity.

  “I thought I had just expressed to you that you no longer give orders, boy. You’re mine now. Your alpha isn’t here to protect or save you. If you’re trying to provoke me into killing you, I’d like to clear up any misunderstanding. You see, you aren’t valuable to me if you’re dead. I will gladly—gladly—hurt you to make a point.” To illustrate the truth of his words, his fingers were gradually tightening, blunt, manicured nails digging into Ashi’s neck until tiny rivulets of blood trickled around his fingertips. “But I won’t ever kill you. Even when you beg for it.”

  By this time, Royce was sure Ashi was more interested in getting air than listening to what he was saying. He shoved the Were back to the floor and ran his tongue along his fingertips to catch any stray droplets of blood before speaking, staring into Ashi’s wide eyes the entire time. “So, to put this in words you might understand, don’t fuck with me. Don’t fuck with Analie. Don’t fuck with my people, and I won’t have any reason to hurt you. Get it?”

  The Weres couldn’t suppress shudders as Royce licked the blood off his fingers. Analie put a hand over her mouth, her stomach rolling unpleasantly.

  Ashi nodded stiffly to Royce but didn’t look at him. Under normal Goliath circumstances, it meant he was acknowledging someone as being his better. But Analie had seen the way Ashi acted around other Weres. His mannerisms were still ex
tremely human. In this case, he wasn’t looking away in respect. He was not acknowledging Royce.

  Analie shook her head. Ashi was good at pack politics, but he wasn’t really a Goliath. It struck her as a little—maybe a lot—unfair that her friend Freddy wasn’t part of the pack anymore because he was a shifter, not a werewolf, despite that he had been ten times as loyal as any of the other Weres in Goliath. Even without the fuzzy side, Freddy’s behavior was heavily tinted with pack mannerisms and gestures. He should be the one with a high rank, not Ashi.

  Christoph wasn’t having any deep thoughts at the moment. He was mostly concerned with keeping still and trying not to think about what would happen to him whenever he got home. If he got home. He might find some pack in the Midwest and stay there forever, damn the loss in rank. Of course, this was assuming he was going to get out of here.

  John excused himself and left the room. Royce turned away from the pair of prone Weres while Mouse patiently held them at sword-point. She’d returned the tip of her second weapon to Ashi’s throat when Royce backed up and she seemed to have no trouble remaining perfectly still, keeping them pinned in place.

  A few minutes later John returned, this time with a young man in jeans and Coke-bottle glasses following behind him. The newcomer hid his nervousness by pocketing his shaking hands and greeting Royce with cautious familiarity. His eyes widened behind his glasses as he spotted the damaged window and two men trapped in place by swords wielded by a short, pretty girl who looked far too nice to be doing that sort of thing.

  “John said you needed an urgent favor?”

  “Yes,” Royce drawled, walking over to shake the mage’s hand. Arnold met his gaze, though tiny stress lines appeared around his eyes at the vampire’s touch. “Thank you very much for coming on such short notice. Do you recall that charm we were discussing in the waiting room while Shiarra was being admitted to the hospital?”

  Arnold frowned, considering, then blinked and nodded. “Yes.” His gaze slid over to the men lying on the floor, and his frown deepened.

  Royce waved Analie over. “They’re from a West coast pack attempting to branch into New York. They’re violent, and I need to ensure that these two don’t do any more damage.” As Analie came closer, he smiled grimly, looking down to her. “Arnold, I’d like you to meet Analie, a member of the Goliath pack. Analie, Arnold. Would you kindly shift for Mr. Moore? Be careful of the statuary, please.”

  Analie had felt a tingling sensation all over her skin when Arnold had walked in, and being near him only increased it to pins and needles. She tried not to scratch or fidget too much, but she couldn’t help it. It was like fire ants were swarming all over her. However, at the mention of shifting, she almost forgot she itched so much.

  “Shift? Yeah!” she exclaimed—but her enthusiasm was soon tempered with caution. “It’s going to ruin my clothes again.”

  She couldn’t see Royce’s expression and hoped he wasn’t annoyed. “That’s fine.”

  She checked around to make sure she was standing in a relatively clear area and closed her eyes. In a couple minutes she started to grow. It hugely exacerbated the itching, and she snarled, trying to hurry. She shifted faster than usual and as a result was extremely sore. She pinned her ears back and crouched, keeping her head down to prevent herself from denting the ceiling.

  Royce appeared as the usual outline, but with more clarity and with more shadows filling in his shape. Analie gave him a doggy smile and stuck her massive head under his arm.

  Both Christoph and Ashi made loud choking noises.

  Arnold rapidly backpedalled when he saw that she was still growing at twelve feet. This was not normal. Not that Weres were particularly normal, but he was gaping by the time she was finished, particularly when he saw her acting affectionately toward Royce. The vampire had the mildest smile as he watched Arnold’s reaction and scratched around Analie’s fuzzy, laid-back ears.

  Analie’s jaw dropped open in a happy grin, revealing massive fangs. Christoph was looking at her as if she had a piece of cake and he didn’t. She felt sorry for him.

  She was disappointed when Royce stopped scratching and had to shake herself to remind herself that she was not a wolf or a happy little doggy, but a Were, and she should have dignity.

  And head scratches.

  Mostly dignity.

  John, like Arnold, had also retreated to the wall, pressed against it and looking anywhere but at Analie.

  “What the fuck?” Arnold exclaimed.

  “You see why the charm is needed, I take it.”

  Arnold just looked at him.

  “Thank you, Analie,” Royce said, patting her lightly on one massive shoulder as he approached Ashi and Christoph. “These two are bigger than she is—and, as I mentioned, of violent temperament. Can you provide the charm?”

  Arnold stood there, staring silently at Analie for a long time. Eventually, he found his voice again. “You’ve got to be shitting me. Bigger?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fuck.”

  Royce barely restrained a growl. “Will you do it?”

  The mage’s voice was hardly a whisper when he managed his answer. “I’ll do it. God help me, but I’ll do it.”

  “Would you accept the going rate for glyph-work? I’ll add a bonus if you can also throw in something that keys the removal to me alone.”

  Arnold shuddered visibly at that, but nodded. He licked his lips nervously when he glanced at the two Weres, avarice and fear of what those two might do if left uncontrolled driving the decision. The rate for glyphs was far above what he would have asked had he named the price himself. He wasn’t about to alert the vampire to that, either.

  “Do you have anything to imbue it into? I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I didn’t bring any supplies.”

  Royce looked at John, quirking a brow. The younger vampire surged away from the wall, rushing downstairs. He was back in a few minutes, looking dubiously at the pair of spiked black leather dog collars in his hand.

  “These were all I could find. Someone must have taken the other box of props back to The Underground or Twisted Temptations.”

  Arnold shrugged, taking them from John. “They’ll do. Give me a minute.”

  He edged around Royce and Analie to place the collars on an end table. The mage took one and traced some symbols with his fingernail on the inside of the collar, etching something into the leather. It didn’t take long. He whispered a few words over it and the symbols started glowing pale blue.

  Whatever Arnold was doing with those collars really made Analie itch. It quickly went from annoying to painful, and she bit back a growl. She squirmed and clenched her claws, though she was careful to not gouge the floor. Relatively careful. Her long, swishy tail lashed from side to side. Instead of fire ants all over her skin, it was fire ants in her skin, in her muscles, her fur, her eyes—ears—lungs—stomach—heart—teeth—everywhere.

  Neither Royce nor Arnold paid her any mind, though John’s attention was fixated on her.

  Arnold took the first collar and advanced on the two Weres, though not too close just yet. He looked down at the collar in his hand, then at the pair. Back down to the collar. Back to the two. Then the collar. Finally, he swallowed hard and turned to Royce.

  “I’m going to need a drop of their blood to key it.”

  Before Royce could say anything, Mouse nicked Ashi with the sword and then swept it in an arch to let the few drops on the tip patter onto the collar, then swiftly back against the Were’s throat. The movements were a blur, not as fast as Royce, but eerie enough for all of that.

  “Er. Thanks.” He held it out to Royce. “All that’s left is for you to put it on him. That will key the release trigger to you alone.”

  When the blood hit the collar, all of Analie’s muscles tensed up like the world’s wor
st cramp. She swung her head to one side, then the other, and then let out a loud, snarling bellow that rattled the remaining windows and shards of glass on the floor.

  Arnold jumped so badly his head nearly hit the ceiling. He dropped the collar, flinching back. John scrabbled even farther away than he’d been before, though in his panic he moved away from the door instead of closer to it.

  Mouse’s gaze flicked from her two captives to Analie, just for a second, before returning to Ashi and Christoph.

  Royce frowned, turning to look at the shifted Were. He kept his voice pleasant in that I’m-being-polite-now-but-if-you-keep-this-up-it-won’t-last-long tone. “Analie, that’s enough. It’s only a couple drops, not enough to do them any lasting harm.”

  Christoph wasn’t usually ruffled when some Goliath was going apeshit near him. He was big and tough and manly. Right now, however, he was pink and at sword-point and lying half-naked on the floor. And there was an enraged Were in the room.

  Wait—not enraged. Uncomfortable.

  He looked over at Royce. “ʼScuse me, as much as I am positively itching to see Ashi get a new fashion statement, I think you should know that the next magical thing you cast or key or whatever the hell it is you’re doing, Analie is going to make a hole in your wall and possibly some people. She is not concerned about Ashi, trust me. She is in enough pain to make all you pinkies shit your pants.”

  Ashi was watching Analie warily as she swung her head from side-to-side, growling. He glanced at Christoph. “You’re shitting me. She has magic sensitivity?”

  Christoph nodded. “Right now it feels like she’s trapped in a hornet’s nest. Didn’t you notice her itching?”

  Ashi frowned. “I don’t itch.”

  “Ashi, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but you’re adopted. Anyway, it’s different for everyone. I tingle a little. Some people sneeze.” Analie threw back her head and howled. “Analie makes like a manticore.”