by E. Blix
“Och, aye?”
“Aye.”
Angus stroked his beard speculatively, causing it to gnarl up around his fingers and bristle even more.
“Angus, don’t be gross.”
He just smiled at Jessica.
“Sick. Really sick.”
The smile widened.
“Okay, ew. No. I don’t even want to know.”
“What? What?” Analie demanded, glancing between Jessica and the two shadows. Ashi was struggling, but it wasn’t doing him much good. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside that she could hold him down.
“Let me go!” Ashi yelped, staring worriedly at Angus. What’d they mean, Don’t be gross? What was sick? Oh, God, what was going on? “Analie! I outrank you!”
“No,” Analie replied cheerfully.
“Angus is being gross,” Jessica said. “That’s all.”
“It’s an inside joke, lass,” Clarisse said. “He made a crack a couple months ago about his hair being that red from all the—”
“Haud yer wheesht! ’Ave ye no sense?” Angus cut her off.
“What? I have!”
“She’s just a wee bit of a lass. Watch yer tongue, woman.”
Clarisse threw her hands up. “No fun at all!”
“That reminds me. Thad’s in for fifty on two and a half,” Jessica said.
That was enough to throw Clarisse out of her huff. “Fifty now? I’ll have to check the odds on that.”
“What’s the bet?”
“How long the other new gent holds out before letting Mouse have a taste.”
Angus perked with interest. “Och, aye?”
“Meet the lad first.”
“Ooh! I want to put five dollars on four weeks!” Analie said excitedly.
Ashi had stopped struggling by now and was staying silent and sullen. Being bested by a fifteen-year-old low-rank and trapped in a room with a bookie, the most cheerful person in the world, and a bloodsucking Scot was disheartening and mind-breaking.
“Four weeks? Low odds,” Clarisse said, clucking her tongue.
“I don’t know. She probably knows the guy better than we do. Can I change my bet?”
“I’ll put fifty on three weeks, six days,” Angus said.
“Oh, I want to start a pool on when someone puts down a claim!” Jessica said, gesturing at Ashi.
Clarisse made a face. “Ye can run that one, darling.”
Ashi glared at Angus, then at Jessica. Analie shifted her stance slightly.
“I really don’t want to touch Ashi for any longer than I have to, so could you please do whatever it is you were going to do?” she asked Jessica, looking pleadingly at her. “I kind of hate him.”
“Thanks,” Ashi grumbled.
“Like you expected otherwise?” Analie snapped.
“Oh, whoops. Sure.” Jessica started poring through her kit, pulling out a stethoscope. She pulled up Ashi’s shirt to put the cold bit of metal against his chest, making a face as she did so. “Stop squirming. Is he always such a baby about this stuff?”
“Feisty bit. I bet Lisa might want him. Or Ken,” Angus mused.
Clarisse wrinkled her nose. “Ken would ʼave his feelings hurt if it wasn’t all in play.”
Jessica made a gagging sound, rolling her eyes. “Can’t say I’m surprised, but your heartbeat is faster than it should be. You might need a little transfusion. I want you to drink more fluids, and then I’ll check again in half an hour. If it hasn’t come down, I’ll check your blood pressure next and see how much you need. What’s your type?”
“Bet his type isn’t Lisa,” Clarisse said.
“Och, ye cannae say tha’ ’til ’e’s met the bonnie lass.”
“Ye only think she’s bonnie ’cause she’ll sleep with ye.”
“Do not!”
“Do so!”
“I have no idea what my blood type is,” Ashi snapped.
“I think our hearts beat faster than normal,” Analie put in. “I mean, everything kind of goes fast for us. We metabolize stuff fast, we heal fast, we regener—uh....”
Ashi had gone stock still. He swallowed, but didn’t say anything.
At Jessica’s raised eyebrow, Analie mumbled, “We regenerate tissue and stuff fast. Which is the same as healing—so—yeah. Dunno how much of that holds true for him right now with the collar.”
She didn’t see the vampires here as bogeymen anymore, but letting them all know that Weres regenerated blood faster than usual didn’t seem like a good idea. Sure, she wasn’t going to get chomped, but all the same…
Jessica pursed her lips. In the background, Angus and Clarisse were still arguing rather loudly over whether or not Lisa would find Ashi suitable. Jessica must have been used to it since she was doing a great job of ignoring them.
“That may be, but I’m still concerned. You—” she said, tapping Ashi lightly on the chest with the stethoscope, “—need to drink more water, stat. I’ll give you some supplements to take with that. Even a Were has to get the stuff to fuel their healing from somewhere. Oh, and you can let him go.”
Analie released Ashi. He promptly went to the closet and shut the door.
“All things considered, he’s not actually being a weenie,” Analie said, slightly distracted by Angus and Clarisse. “Goliaths like to sleep in small, dark spaces, and it’s kinda natural that he’d feel safer there.”
She rubbed her arm where he’d chomped her. “You’re probably the first doctor he’s seen since he was bitten. I mean, bitten by a Were. Hell, I’ve only been to a doctor once and that was when I broke my leg and scraped my face up.” She was rambling. “Uh, I’m glad Ashi’s assholery didn’t totally ruin your day. You held up better than most of his packmates.”
“I learned from the best,” she said dryly.
“Blazes and tarnation, woman!” Angus howled, abruptly dragging Jessica’s attention away.
“Take it back!” Clarisse growled, tugging hard on his ear until he was practically laid out on the bed.
“Never!”
“Take it back!”
“Nooo-OW!”
“Now!”
“For th’ love of St. Pete! FINE!”
“There,” she said, finally releasing him, looking smug as she folded her arms and flounced back onto the bed, making it bounce. Angus slowly sat up, rubbing his ear and giving her a baleful glare.
“Wasn’t necessary, ye ruddy harlot.”
“Piss off,” she told him, turning back to Jessica and Analie, then looking around in surprise. “What happened tae the wee lad?”
“He went back in the closet.” Analie paused a moment, then said, “Man, I wish you two were in my pack. You’d totally be high-ranks in no time.”
The two vampires smiled at that. Clarisse then prodded Angus in the side.
“I think ye should take the lad.”
“Ye’re daft, woman.”
“He needs someone who won’t really use him. Might break his mind.”
“Ruddy daft.”
“Ye donnae feed from men so much,” she said defensively.
“Bugger all if I’ll take a useless donor.”
“Ye have a better suggestion, ye great oaf?”
In the closet, Ashi covered his ears with his hands. He didn’t want to hear about anyone encouraging anyone else to take him on as a never-ending juice box. He was starting to admit to himself that he’d made a pretty terrible decision. Hell, he’d be lucky if anyone in the pack even looked at him when he got back.
Angus thought about it.
“Mouse?”
“She’s too softhearted.”
“Wes?”
“He’s not the forgiving sort. Might hurt
the lad if he got too angry.”
“Oh, and I’m that much better, aye?” he replied, laying the sarcasm on thick. “Wha’ abou’ John?”
Jessica answered that one. “Hell no. Why do you think he’s hiding in the closet to begin with?”
“Lass, ye aren’t helping.”
Analie watched the closet door to see if Ashi would re-emerge. He didn’t. She wondered how he could spend so much time in such a cramped space. Sure, it was dark and enclosed and den-like, but it was also tiny.
Hearing Clarisse and Angus talk about who should claim Ashi was starting to unsettle her. Goliaths didn’t belong to anyone. Even though it was in Ashi’s best interest to find someone fast, before other vampires came around looking for a sip, it seemed wrong. She wasn’t going to say that in present company, but it didn’t sit well with her.
“Unless you need me to drag Ashi somewhere else, I’m gonna head out,” she said to Jessica. She smiled and tried to sound cheerful to mask her unease.
Jessica nodded absently, fiddling with some things in the bag of equipment she’d dragged over. “Just make sure he hydrates, okay? I have to get some more homework done, but I’ll come back in a little to check in.”
She left the bag where it was, took a sidelong look at the arguing vampires, and headed out. Clarisse and Angus, not paying her any mind, followed her out, the sounds of their argument fading as they followed Jessica back to her apartment to continue the “discussion” there.
Analie booted the closet door with the side of her foot. “Hey, drink water sometime today.”
“Screw you.”
Analie stuck her tongue out at the door and started to leave. At the doorway she paused, then stormed back, opened the closet, and glared down at Ashi.
“Okay, listen up,” she snapped. “This is from packmate to packmate, and don’t give me any of that dominant bullshit.”
Ashi stared up at her.
“The people here can be nice. Okay, I don’t know about John. But everyone else I’ve met can be nice. This place is exactly like a pack, with the exception that you can’t dominate others to rise in rank. It doesn’t work like that here. I figure you can’t make friends—whatever. You can make yourself tolerable to be around. If someone shows an interest in you, I suggest that you be silent because ninety percent of the time what comes out of your mouth is caustic. I don’t want someone to own you. I don’t want someone to own any of my packmates. But Christoph isn’t going to be bitten by anyone but Mouse and she’s really nice. So try not to be a giant asshole and make the best of your situation until you figure out something else.”
Analie slammed the door and hurried downstairs.
When she got back to the first floor, Wesley was consoling Thad, who was quietly having hysterics at the end of the hall. The vampire was looking a bit sour about it, but Thad was shaking and demanding to know what the hell a monster like that was doing in the house, was it really safe here, should he and Sebastian leave come nightfall, so on and so forth. Christoph had long ago lost interest in trying to explain that she wasn’t a monster and he’d retreated back to Mouse’s apartment and shut the door.
Wesley glanced up when he saw Analie standing there and casually put a hand on Thad’s shoulder so he wouldn’t look back and see her. All he needed was to have the poor guy clawing the walls to get out again.
Analie quickly, quietly hurried back into Mouse’s apartment, grabbed her studies off the table, and shut herself in her room.
She’d had very little experience with humans. She was homeschooled, she hung out with Were friends, and the only interaction with non-Weres before she came here had involved them taking her order at the taco stand on the corner or ringing her up at a cash register. Humans were like little incomplete Weres; they were physically weak, didn’t have a fuzzy side, and regarded her as a monster.
This didn’t bother her, usually. Humans spooked easily. Avoiding them was easy at night. It weirded her out that Thad was so distressed over her full wolf form. Living here, shouldn’t he be used to some pretty freaky stuff? Sure, big animals were scary, but jeez—wasn’t that overreacting?
Analie heard her phone buzz under her bed. She walked over and dug it out. Freddy had texted her.
hey, u asked R if w/h r in penn? need 2 kno, don’t want to get shot runnin in woods. kk, thx.
She’d forgotten to ask. She’d check with Mouse when she saw her next.
Mouse, like Analie, had holed up in her room. She was a little afraid of Analie now and, even more so, was horribly embarrassed of what either Analie or Christoph must think of her after Clarisse started yammering away. She usually took months to cultivate relationships with potential donors, not hours, so she was feeling particularly self-conscious about herself and her needs. Now that the initial bout of possessiveness and “Look what I got!” had worn off, she also felt badly about how much she must have scared Christoph.
The bet on how long it would take before Christoph gave in made her feel even worse.
Chances were, she wouldn’t come out of her room for quite a while.
Chapter Eleven
Christoph watched Analie dash from her room to the bathroom and back to her room. She’d changed from jeans and a T-shirt to black slacks and a clean white shirt, and she was carrying a white jacket with a stiff collar. Her hair was mostly hidden underneath a black bandana.
“I have to say, I have never seen a woman get ready that fast.”
“I forgot the time, and I forgot I don’t have a ride,” Analie said, grabbing her brand new backpack. “Jacques is going to murder me and serve me with mint.”
“Where are you going, anyway?” Christoph asked.
“Cooking class. I’m being taught by the best. I really like it, actually. Jacques would make one scary pack leader.” She ran back into her room and emerged a moment later, stuffing her jeans and a T-shirt into her bag. “I can’t believe this. I can’t be late.”
“So rooftop it,” Christoph said, raising an eyebrow at her.
Analie looked sharply at him. “No way.”
“When’s the last time you ran somewhere? A month? Longer?”
Analie bit her lip and nodded. “But it’s different here.”
Christoph rolled his eyes. “So don’t be seen, idiot. Come on, you’re the second-fastest runner in Goliath. You could totally rooftop it there.”
Analie frowned, but Christoph could see the light in her eyes. “I dunno. I mean, it would be the fastest way. I wouldn’t have to wait for a cab. I’d probably have to take one back, but—yeah. Okay. Just don’t tell anyone, promise?”
“I promise.”
Analie grinned at him. “Sweet. See you later!” She slipped out of the apartment.
Shortly after Analie left, Mouse crept out of her room for the first time in hours, casually dressed in a long brown skirt and simple white blouse. She froze for a second when she saw Christoph in the living room, quickly looked away, and rushed for the door. He might not be putting out, but there were other donors who were, and she needed to feed.
She was unused to having someone sleeping on her couch, watching her come and go, questioning what she was doing or why. Though she did make a mental note to pick him up some clothes while she was out. He probably needed a few toiletries and such, and she could handle the basics, but she wasn’t going to rush to take him to get new things the way Royce had insisted she do with Analie. Maybe after she’d gotten over her horrified initial reaction at Clarisse’s betting pool.
Christoph was used to having people react to him weirdly, but having something he definitely feared acting nervous around him was new. He was glad for it. The longer she kept her teeth to herself, the better.
Since she was out of the apartment, he decided it was time to shower. He wondered if he still smelled like a Were. At the moment, he
smelled like a locker room. He’d have to figure out how to get at least one other pair of pants. Shower first, figure pants out later.
Ashi did not idle well. He was always a bundle of kinetic energy which he relieved by way of his job. Now he was forced to figure out another way of bleeding it off. He’d been hopping in and out of his closet, doing sets of push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, and anything else to wear him out. In between sets, he hid. Since he was pink, he might even be able to use a punching bag without the risk of ripping it out of the ceiling.
Small comfort.
Mouse was gone an hour and a half. When she came back, she was mobbed.
“Everyone! She’s back!” Clarisse yelled, as soon as she spotted Mouse in the hallway with the bags of clothes, shaving kit, and such that she’d picked up on her way back from “visiting.”
Everyone in the building must have heard the news about her taking on a new donor. Worse yet, word of Clarisse’s betting pool had spread. Everyone wanted to meet Christoph so they could take their measure of him and throw in their bets, congratulate Mouse, and welcome the new guy. Clarisse was looking mighty smug about it, too.
“Och, now, make some room,” she said, waving the eager crowd out of the way so Mouse could get inside. If she’d still been human, her cheeks would’ve been flushed hot red. As it was, she was glaring daggers at the cheerful vampire at her side.
Sebastian and Thad were some of the few people in the building who weren’t particularly interested in joining the festivities downstairs. Sebastian had fed and was lounging on the couch with his brother while they watched The Transporter. He was in a slightly better mood than he had been last night, mostly because he’d eaten. Thad was feeling more secure now that some hours had passed and he was back, safe and sound in his own apartment.
He was getting hungry though.
“Hey, Ashi!” he shouted, not bothering to get up off the couch. “I’m going to order pizza. You want some?”
