by E. Blix
Analie smiled at the idea of a couple hikers having a cow over finding a full-grown Siberian tiger on the trail. Freddy was huge.
She texted him back.
So cool! Plz bring artifacts, wanna see up close. U so bad 4 scarin hikers!! Watch out, u get tranq & sent to Russia. Will ask R or M abt W/Hats. Stay strong.
Analie curled up in her den-bed. She had school tomorrow, and she wasn’t going to let her anger at Ashi keep her up.
Mouse was inordinately pleased that Ashi didn’t appear to be as afraid of her as he’d been of John. She smiled sunnily at him for a moment before reaching for the ever-present pad and pen. She scrawled a few words, then paused. She looked at him thoughtfully, frowned over the words and crossed them off, starting over.
You should think about getting a
Can I get you anything? Tea? Water? Food?
Never mind that he’d probably lost his appetite after what had happened, she was intent on being a good hostess and doing what she could to set him at ease. Unlikely she would succeed, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying.
Ashi shook his head at the offer. “No. Thanks.” He doubted he could keep anything down. He was trying not to dry-heave at the thought of being bitten again.
She grimaced and gestured at Christoph, then wrote a few more words on the pad.
I don’t know what to do for him. Should I get him something?
Ashi read the next note and looked at Christoph. “Most likely a straightjacket and a heavy, blunt object. Once he gets past his amiable, crazy stage he’s going to get violent.” He tugged at his own collar. “Not that it’ll matter now.”
Mouse gave him a funny look, which quickly shifted to concern over Christoph. She very much wanted to say something, and was frustrated she couldn’t. Once again, she hastily scribbled on the pad.
You should drink something to replace lost fluids. Jessica can give you vitamins tomorrow. For now, tea would be better to keep you warm and soothe your nerves. You’re still shaking. If you’re like that when Sebastian arrives, it will make him more interested in you, not less. Your fear will only tempt him more.
Also, if Christov (sp?) is going to have a psychotic break, he’s more likely to hurt himself than someone else. Can you help keep him calm?
Ashi shook his head. “Christoph is with me because he’s trying to climb ranks, not because he wants to be my friend. He was useful to me and I was useful to him and that is that.” He smirked and some of his old self came back to him. “If you want someone to calm him down, have Analie stay with him. The little bitch has been carrying the torch for him for years. She’d love to hang around and she’s the closest thing he has to a friend right now.”
Mouse made a very soft, very threatening hissing sound between her teeth. The words on the pad were scratched out rapidly, and much more terse than before, but still clear enough to read.
I’d watch my mouth if I were you.
She found she no longer had any desire to play the helpful host. It was good Sebastian would be along as soon as he was done moving things around to collect Ashi. If the Were called Analie something harsh again, she might be tempted to hurt him, too.
Disgusted and angry, she stalked back to the kitchen, rather savagely going through the motions of preparing tea. She’d have some for herself and Christoph, and make a cup for Analie, but Ashi could go fuck himself.
He really was an asshole.
Sebastian showed up a few minutes later. His shoulder-length brown hair was tied back, showcasing sharp cheekbones and a tan that hadn’t faded in death. He was rather handsome and muscular but had the body of a teenager still coming into maturity. It was at odds with the jaded look in those seawater green eyes as he took in the two Weres, calling out a greeting to Mouse.
“Hey, we’re done moving the crap upstairs. You ready for me to get these two out of your hair?”
Mouse set the kettle down once the last cup was poured, the heavenly scent of lemon and honey filtering into the air. Her hands moved in a fluid message, imparting something to Sebastian that had him nodding, his gaze flicking back to the pair on the couch now and again as a frown started forming on his thin lips.
When she was done, he scowled, then turned to Ashi. He gestured curtly, looking like he’d just stepped barefoot on a slug.
“You. Come with me.”
He waited in the doorway for Ashi to join him. If he failed to follow orders, no doubt Sebastian wouldn’t hesitate to pick him up and bodily carry him to wherever it was he intended to take him.
Ashi felt like low-rank again. On one hand, he dearly wanted to challenge the vampire and establish his place as a cut above him. On the other hand, he was squishy and pink now. On the first hand, this was a vampire who could potentially bite him. Ashi wanted to avoid that; if there was one thing that any Goliath would never give in to, it was the allure of a vampire’s narcotic bite. Beating the living shit out of Sebastian would certainly get that message across. On the second hand, he was squishy and pink now.
Ashi stood up and trudged over, keeping the blanket. He’d even managed to alienate the only nice vampire in this pit.
He really felt like a low-rank again.
After Sebastian and Ashi left, Mouse gathered up one of the cups of tea and walked over to Analie’s room, knocking. She hoped the girl wasn’t too upset by Ashi’s behavior.
Analie crawled out of her den-bed and opened the door. A Mouse-shaped shadow offered her a cup of tea, and Analie smiled, despite a slight fluffing of the hair on the back of her head. She still wasn’t used to opening a door or rounding a corner to come face to face with a jigsaw silhouette.
“Thanks.” She took the cup, not having the heart to tell Mouse she didn’t drink tea. Gavin never bought it, and Freddy’s caretaker Amelia was strictly a coffee-drinker.
Analie stood aside in case Mouse wanted to enter.
“What’s going to happen to Ashi and Christoph?” Analie asked, hoping the answer wasn’t going to curdle her blood.
Mouse gestured for Analie to follow her, since she hadn’t brought her pad and pen with her and Analie did not understand sign language. Mouse went to get a cup of tea for herself from the kitchen, and started scribbling away.
Sebastian is taking that ungrateful little prick upstairs to his new room. Told Seb what he said about you and Freddy and Christov (sp?). He’s not going to get a very warm welcome from the others. Seb might bite him, don’t know. Risky to do it this soon since John bit tonight, but he deserves whatever he gets. If he wants to live, you should tell him to find someone to claim him, or he’s going to have a very unpleasant stay here.
Pretty boy will stay with us for now. Told Seb he’s too hurt to be moved yet. And he’s mine, no one else will touch him.
Mouse seemed inordinately pleased with herself at that last. She gathered two cups after handing the pad to Analie, settling on the edge of the couch by Christoph’s stomach. She took a sip out of one, put the teacups down, then proceeded to tug the unconscious Were so his head was elevated, lightly patting his cheek to bring him around so she could get some tea in him.
Sebastian led Ashi up to the second floor. A small crowd had gathered to see what was going on. It was unusual for someone to be brought in without notice, particularly if it meant shuffling around the established donors, especially since no one had been turned or sent to another of Royce’s holdings. Most of the onlookers were sleep-tousled and half-dressed, and every one of them was eye-catching and attractive. Only one other vampire was in the crowd of humans, and he didn’t stay long, only taking note that Ashi was being escorted by Sebastian before disappearing into one of the apartments.
The expressions on their faces varied from intrigued to welcoming to outright pissed off. Sebastian didn’t stop to answer any of the questions some were calling out as he went to
the end of the hall.
“Who is this guy?”
“Where’d he come from?”
“What’s with the collar?”
The whispered comments and speculations were left behind as Sebastian gestured for Ashi to enter an apartment that was laid out exactly as Mouse’s. The difference was in the decorating; there were movie posters and pin-ups from Playboy plastered on the walls, an entertainment center with a huge TV, and enough action movies and video game consoles to bring tears of joy to the eyes.
There was a guy in the kitchen pulling a beer out of the fridge and holding it to his sweat-plastered forehead. Aside from numerous tattoos and slightly longer hair, he looked exactly like Sebastian. He was human.
“Welcome to your new home. Your room’s on the left. Mine and Thad’s is on the right. Stay the hell out of it.” Sebastian said, stalking off to said room and slamming the door behind him.
“Oh, uh, it’s generally a good idea to let a sleeping Were lie, especially when it’s a Goliath,” Analie said quickly, backing away. “We’ve got these psycho self-preservation insti—”
Christoph jerked, then sat bolt upright and clenched both hands into fists. Analie wasn’t sure how strong a human was, so she set her tea down, slopping a bit of it on the floor, and jumped on Christoph, putting him in a tight headlock. Mouse quickly got up and took a step back, dismayed.
As Analie expected, he struggled and made snorting noises that would have likely been snarls had he actually had that capability. Other than that, he couldn’t do a damn thing while Analie was clinging to him. It both weirded her out and amused her to no end.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Christoph screamed. His voice was almost shrill.
“Calm down, you fucktard!” Analie yelled right back.
“Fucking hell! Holy fucking hell!”
“Shut up! You’re okay! Jesus!”
“What the fuck?”
Analie rolled her eyes. It was greatly frowned upon to falsely use the alpha’s name to establish order, but Mouse was making very worried gestures. Analie liked her quite a bit and didn’t want this to drag out for hours, as it very well could. She’d seen Christoph in a mood.
“Alpha in the house!” Analie bellowed.
Christoph went rigid and tried to cough respectfully. It was thin and garbled, but recognizable. Analie still kept him in a lock.
“Are you going to stop thrashing?” she demanded.
“Sure,” Christoph mumbled, realizing there was no alpha in the house.
“Are you going to sit still and not cause a commotion?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you totally lying to me to get me to let go of you?” Analie asked.
Christoph started thrashing again and managed to throw himself off the couch, dragging Analie with him. She managed to get one knee between his shoulders and twist his arms behind his back.
“Calm down! You haven’t been bitten, you got bashed around less than a high-rank would have done, and you’re not dead! Be thankful, you idiot!”
“Fuck this shit,” Christoph rasped, trying to throw Analie off. “Fuck this. I am going back to California and I am—”
“No, you’re not. They will tear you apart. Can you imagine what Gavin would do to you?” Analie found herself newly surprised at how weak Christoph was and eased off with her knee a little. It was very strange to her, physically having the upper hand against him. “And you are not bringing a fight back. What the hell do you think we’d do if that happened?”
“This is insane. This is fucked up,” Christoph snapped.
“No shit! You broke cub-hide, burst into Royce’s room, and then went crazy! No wonder it’s fucked up! You fucked it up!” Analie glared at the back of his head. “Frankly, I think you deserve this after the great switcheroo you pulled.”
Christoph sagged slightly.
“Can I let you go now, or are you gonna be an idiot still?” Analie asked.
“Lemme up.”
“If you’re lying I am going to body-check you through that wall, squishy be damned.”
Analie stood up and took a step back. Christoph slowly sat up and dragged himself onto the couch.
“I swear to God, sometimes I think you need a babysitter,” Analie grumbled, going to the kitchen to find something to mop up the spilled tea.
While Christoph was being put in his place by a Were ten years younger than him, Ashi shuffled into his new room. He didn’t notice much about the surroundings, only located the closet, stepped inside, shut the door, and curled up into a ball on the floor.
With luck they’d forget about him and he could eventually sneak away. Right now, though, he just wanted to sleep.
Thad had watched him with curious, seawater eyes—the same unusual color as his older brother. He’d muttered something under his breath, watched Ashi disappear into his new room, but didn’t say a thing. Obviously, something was wrong. After moving all of his own crap around and being tossed out of his own room, Thad couldn’t say he was sorry to see Ashi retreat into the bedroom like a kicked dog.
With a shrug, he cracked his beer open and settled down for a bit of explosive summer blockbuster action on the couch.
Mouse was gesturing frantically, tempted to step in to keep Analie from hurting Christoph too badly, but afraid she might make it worse. Some of the faces she made would have been quite comical under other circumstances. Unlike Analie, she was used to having to temper her strength to deal with humans, and she wasn’t sure Analie had realized that what amounted to a casual gesture to her could easily snap Christoph’s neck now, completely unintentionally.
When Christoph started dragging himself back on the couch, Mouse moved in to help, offering a supporting hand. She wasn’t intending to scare him into a fit all over again, but no doubt as soon as he recalled she wasn’t just “the chick with the boobs,” but a vampire, he’d plaster himself to the ceiling.
Once he was sitting up, she pressed one of the steaming cups of tea into his hands and urged him to drink it. It had been heavily sweetened with honey, but it couldn’t hide the undertone of bitter herbs. A natural means of soothing nerves frayed to the breaking point to help ease him out of shock. Once she was sure he had a grip on the mug and wouldn’t slosh the contents all over himself and the couch, she took her own cup in one hand, sipping it while she scrawled him a note with the other.
You’re safe here. No one will hurt you. Drink the tea and please try to relax.
Analie watched as Christoph took the cup and sipped. His eyes had a hollow, staring quality. When Mouse showed him the note, he looked at it. Analie wasn’t sure if he even read it.
She wiped up the spill and took a sip of her own tea. She liked the honey, but the underlying bitterness made her hair fluff. She set the cup down.
Analie wondered about that one statement Mouse had made: He’s mine. She couldn’t imagine Christoph belonging to anyone. Maybe Mouse thought Christoph would get as close to her as he would to a packmate. It wasn’t uncommon for a Were to say “he’s mine,” meaning part of that Were’s group or beta pack.
Maybe she should tell Mouse about the Rattlesnake Talk.
“Hey, Mouse?” When the shifting shadows seemed to focus on her, Analie managed not to have a fluff attack. “I think there’s something I should tell you. About Goliaths.”
If shadows could look interested, Mouse’s certainly did.
“As soon as we’re old enough, or as soon as you join the pack, we get the Rattlesnake Talk. It’s what to do when we encounter a vampire.” Analie paused. She was trying to think of the least offensive way to put it. “This is like, really rude to vampires, maybe. So bear with me.”
Mouse motioned for her to continue.
“Basically, if we see a vampire when we’re walking down the street, you
don’t look at them or sniff at them or anything. You keep your head down and go right past. If you find one standing around, not going anywhere, you find a different way around. You just get out of the area.”
Analie thought for a minute. “If you get into a—uh—‘bad situation’ with a vampire, you’re supposed to kick and punch and try to get away. You’re not supposed to go on the attack. If it gets really bad, you go for the throat.”
Mouse nodded slowly.
“With Ashi and Christoph, it’s not so bad,” Analie said, glancing up at the silent vampire. “They joined—they weren’t born into the pack, like me. But we’re also told lots of stories about yo—about vampires. Like Lev, a Russian vampire who—”
“—gutted the prettiest boys and girls he could find and hung the carcasses on the eaves of their parents’ houses,” Christoph finished.
Analie winced. She was glad she couldn’t see Mouse’s expression. If she was horrified, Analie would feel bad. If she was calm, Analie didn’t know what she’d think.
“Y—yeah,” Analie said. “Lev is sort of like our bogeyman. There are other stories, ones I’m technically not supposed to know about until I’m older.”
“Gil?” Christoph asked.
Analie couldn’t hold back a shiver. “Yeah. Gil, um, did... bad... things.”
“He snapped every bone in a woman’s body and then r—”
Analie put a hand over his mouth. “My point is, we’re an ancient pack and we have over a thousand years of horror stories and constant warnings to make us hate vampires. All things considered, I think the three of us are handling this really well. Some better than others.”
