by E. Blix
Reece scowled and shook one of the flowers at Ken. “You realize this is going to be a disaster, don’t you? I heard Christoph had a knee injury and the other one has no passion at all. Where are we supposed to put them?”
“The cages, I suppose.”
“Ugh. I suppose that will work. At least they won’t be in the way.”
“They’re supposed to start on Friday night. We’ve only got two days. Can you teach them some moves so they don’t make complete asses of themselves?”
Reece made a face. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Ashi was making good time. He’d head south for a few miles, then veer west and keep going. He could figure out the collar later. There had to be some mage out there willing to take it off.
Christoph couldn’t get back to sleep after Ashi prodded him awake. Grumbling, he got up and shaved, showered, brushed his teeth, and wandered back into the bedroom. He was starting to feel sleepy again. With a sigh, he crawled back into bed.
Ashi was going to get himself killed.
One of the people Ashi ran past caught a good whiff of him and turned to watch him with wide eyes. Her pack tattoo was hidden beneath her blouse and blazer, but the Moonwalker was well aware that there were some stray Weres from one of the banned packs who were supposed to be in the hands of Alec Royce right now.
The mix of vampire and unfamiliar Were-reek, along with the collar and ragged sweatpants, alerted her that she’d just had a brush with one of them.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her alpha.
Rohrik wouldn’t be happy about this.
With every block Ashi put behind him, he felt better. Free. A little more like a Were rather than a human. Being pink and weak twenty-four-seven was a nightmare. He didn’t like to be reminded what it was like to not have a side of himself that was so powerful it could throw trucks or tear people apart.
He opened his first bottle of water and sipped, slowing to a jog so he wouldn’t spill it all over himself. He wouldn’t eat until tomorrow. Where he was going to get food, he didn’t know. He couldn’t shift to hunt.
At least he was out. That was a good start.
Though he didn’t know it, he was being paced by the Moonwalker. She was keeping tabs on him, but had no intention of trying to stop or hinder him.
After making arrangements to keep a tail on him, Rohrik called Royce and gave him the news. Royce apologized for the inconvenience and promised suitable recompense if Rohrik’s people could keep an eye on him until nightfall, when one of the vampires could collect him. Rohrik agreed.
Royce, though tired and grumpy, immediately went downstairs and proceeded to harangue Lisa, who was suitably chastened by the end of it to consider burning her romance novel collection. He then collected every other vampire in the building for an impromptu meeting in his office upstairs.
Ashi paused just inside an alleyway to catch his breath, walking back and forth to keep his legs from cramping. It was time to head west. He’d keep moving—at some point he could probably hitchhike and make better time. Getting far away from Royce was his primary goal. Once he was on the West Coast again he could focus on getting the collar off and figuring out how to return to the pack.
As the sun blazed toward noon, he headed south for one more block before turning at the corner and running west.
Christoph got up after a while and wandered downstairs, yawning and scratching. He went into Mouse’s apartment and found Analie blearily eating cornflakes in the kitchen. Wordlessly, he joined her and they sat in amiable silence that was broken only by the crunching of cereal.
“I think Ashi escaped,” Christoph commented.
Analie choked on her cornflakes and spent the next couple minutes coughing. When she could speak again, she gasped, “Are you shitting me? How’d he get out?”
“I don’t know. But I haven’t seen him since he said he was leaving early this morning.”
Analie wiped the bits of cornflake she’d coughed up off the table. “Where’s he gonna go? It’s not like the pack will welcome him with open arms.”
Christoph shrugged, making a little whirlpool with his spoon for the last cornflake in his bowl. “He wanted me to go, but I refused.”
“Wow. You think Royce is going to care?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?”
“Think Gregory is going to care?”
“Oh, definitely.”
While they were discussing the probable outcome of the day’s events, Mouse came stumbling wearily back into the apartment. She was exhausted and didn’t seem to notice or care that Christoph was in the kitchen, tromping into her bedroom to get some uninterrupted rest for what remained of the day.
At some point, Ashi would run into a problem.
He was on an island. A rather large one. Sometime during the day, he would have to make his way toward one of the bridges that spanned several miles over the channel of the Hudson to get to the mainland.
Analie washed the dishes and moved into the living room to do homework. Freddy had given her a “cheat sheet” explaining equations in terms she could easily understand. He’d gone through her math book and changed the wording of some of the word problems to better reflect things that concerned her. Freight trains moving at a constant speed became running Weres and block A and block B colliding became Amberguard heads knocking together.
Math was a little more entertaining now.
Where the hell did this big-ass river come from?
Ashi remembered taking a taxi over the bridge, but—damn. He’d forgotten. There wasn’t anything like this in Los Angeles.
After asking a hotdog vendor where the nearest bridge was (earning a few odd looks for his clothes and his ignorance about the subway system), he started jogging north again. He was making piss-poor time now. It was taking him way too long to get off this God-damned island. He needed to move faster. He started pushing himself harder, a bad move for someone trying to run the most epic marathon of their lifetime.
Christoph could have told him that jogging the entire time would have gotten him farther, but he was in his bed reading one of Freddy’s Shifter Quarterly magazines.
He could have told him that stopping to rest was an exceedingly bad idea and that moving at a slower jog or a fast walk was the better option.
And so, when Ashi finally did make it to one of the bridges, he realized that it was late afternoon and that the shadows were rather long. He wasn’t even that far from the apartment building. He looked back the way he’d come, paused for a few minutes, and started running back.
With luck he could make it before it got dark, before something started hunting him.
Reece was extremely unhappy about having to work before work. Worse yet, with Angus, the great lummox, who seemed to enjoy the fact that he was waking Reece for the second time today while daylight still shone.
“Up an’ at ʼem, laddie!” he bellowed, startling Reece into sliding right off his silk sheets and onto the floor. A couple other vampires shouted epithets and orders through the wall to pipe down. Ken just pulled a pillow over his head and burrowed deeper into the covers.
Reece glared at the grinning Highlander, whose beard bristled about his face like a wiry mane.
“Daylight’s wastin’. Ye need tae know how tae hunt proper-like before we go.”
“For crap’s sake,” Reece snarled, “you could have let me sleep in until sunset!”
“Nae, boy, ye donnae know how tae hunt. Ye know how tae seduce, how tae mince abou’ like the great poofter ye are, but ye donnae know how tae hunt.”
“Oh, puh-leaze!”
“Alec wants ye tae bring the boy in with me supervising, so ye best do it right.”
Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck!
Ashi ran as fast as he could, his legs feeling lik
e blocks of wood. His lungs must have been partially solidified and his heart felt like it was jumping around his chest like a caged chimp. He had to stop a couple times, gasping for breath, which caused his legs to seize up. He couldn’t get back fast enough. He had no money for a bus or a cab and no way of resting long enough to get a second wind.
Christoph, unfortunately, had been right again. Ashi considered him a moronic ape with his only drives being Eat, Sleep, and Run—but he was proving to be more intelligent than that.
Ashi kept running as fast as he could, his breath wheezing in short gasps.
Sunset came far too soon.
Angus and Reece were given Ashi’s location by the Moonwalkers discreetly tailing him. Reece was still feeling disgruntled at having been woken up by Angus to learn his “barbaric, heathenish ways.” Though, he had to admit, the idea of pouncing on someone sounded kind of fun.
The two of them took Reece’s Jag, a sleek silver vehicle that roared to life as they prowled the streets in search of the little escapee.
Ashi looked like a terrified drunk as he ran-staggered down the street. He passed a silver Jaguar going the other way, but didn’t take more notice than that.
“There ’e is,” Angus said.
“I know.”
The car came to a smooth stop about half a block away from where they’d spotted him. The two vampires stepped out, Reece’s dark brown eyes flickering to red embers as he tracked Ashi’s movements.
“Ye want me tae stop him? And ye take over?”
“No. I’ll do it all.”
“Suit yerself.”
Reece was young for a vampire at less than a decade turned. Ken thought he was adorable and begged Royce to turn him so he could be a companion to the fashionable vampire for the rest of eternity. He was an excellent dancer, thus a good draw for the crowds at Twisted Temptations, and thus a good investment. Royce had granted Ken’s wish, and the pair had taken well to each other.
After this contract nonsense came about, opportunities for those so young under Royce’s wing to find out what it was like to hunt were few and far between. Royce felt taking down Ashi would be a good learning experience for him. Not to mention act as a deterrent on Ashi’s part against future escape attempts.
So Reece adjusted the lapels to his skintight shirt and took off after Ashi, nervous excitement bringing his fangs to extend and his movements to become more fluid, more predatory. Angus waited by the car, clasping his hands together as he leaned over the roof, watching.
Ashi leaned against a wall to rest and get some air into his lungs. Glancing around, he noticed a man running toward him, his movements unnaturally fluid and predatory. Whether it was a vampire or not didn’t matter—it was intent on attacking, and Ashi was in no condition to fight.
Still, he wasn’t going to throw himself at the guy’s feet and wail for mercy. He stepped away from the wall and settled into an odd stance, leaning away from the fast-approaching figure and bunching his arms up to his chest.
Ashi taught Tae Kwon Do to most of his students, more practical martial arts to the more serious students, and sparred with other Kendo practitioners. When his students caught him on a good day, they could persuade him to show off his kung fu.
And on a really good day he might be persuaded to exhibit some Krabi Krabong.
Krabi Krabong was something he never taught to anyone because of the likelihood that they would kill themselves or someone else. It was an armed martial art that used two short swords. This style suited Ashi perfectly because of its speed and ferocity. Unarmed, the style was still deadly and lightning-fast.
This was a kick-based style when unarmed, and Ashi’s legs weren’t in the best condition for kicking someone to hell.
He’d still give it his all, though.
Reece slowed down once he got closer to Ashi, practically vibrating with excitement. Despite his gym-honed muscles, he wasn’t much of a fighter. He’d never done more than bitch-slap anyone in his life.
Once he was about a car-length away, he stopped, grinning.
“Hi there. You must be Ashi.”
Probably not the most intimidating entrance, but it would do. Aside from the brief lessons received from Angus, Reece wasn’t familiar with how to subdue unwilling prey, and the fact that Ashi obviously knew how to fight worried him. After all, Reece might be dead, but he still felt pain, and he didn’t have the speed or agility of the older vampires.
“Look, I’m supposed to bring you back. I’d rather not make it a fight. Will you come quietly?”
The unspoken was obvious. He’d do whatever he had to in order to make him return.
Ashi thought about that. Going back without a fuss sounded good—no torn muscles, broken bones, or chomped necks. He was exhausted, dehydrated, and scared. This vampire was larger and had longer reach than he did, which counted for a lot in a fight. If he knew and practiced any martial art, Ashi was in big trouble.
Whether or not he fought, trouble would be the result.
“What happens if I go back?” Ashi asked, still holding his stance. If the vampire came any closer, Ashi would plant a heel in his throat.
“That mostly depends on you. Mr. Royce gave me the okay to claim you. He also wanted me to tell you this is your last chance to choose someone yourself, if you’d prefer.” Reece didn’t seem to like that prospect, and rapidly spat out the last of it, sounding a little afraid himself. It contrasted oddly with that deep voice. “If you don’t, or if you resist, he’ll have John put together a schedule so you’re on the menu for everyone in the house every couple of days, and he’ll bar any claim for two months.”
Reece cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know the situation isn’t ideal, but anything has to be better than being passed around like that.”
The options were nightmarish. Going back to the house to become this guy’s donor wasn’t at all ideal, but Ashi didn’t want to be passed around like a cheap whore. Escaping was now looking more and more unrealistic—hell, he hadn’t even gotten across the damn bridge.
Fucking island.
Then again, he had the chance to choose.
“I’ll go back,” Ashi said. “But I’m going to choose who I have to get bitten by.”
Reece nodded, torn between relief and disappointment. He would have liked a donor of his own, but wasn’t sadistic enough to force someone into it. “They have to agree by the end of the night, though. That’s part of the deal. You’ll have to tell them to tell Royce so he can rescind the order to make the schedule.”
He gestured for Ashi to follow. When they got closer, he lifted his hand in an “all clear” wave to Angus, who slowly straightened to stand his full height, towering over the car. The Highlander was mildly disappointed that the matter had been resolved without any bloodshed.
Ashi trudged behind Reece. He was surprised Angus hadn’t gone after him. He would have been impossible to beat.
He got into the back and slumped in the seat. He needed to find Jessica as soon as they got back. It was likely she knew everyone and could give him advice. He was going to listen to someone for once.
It didn’t take very long for them to get back, and Mouse was on guard in the foyer when they came in. She didn’t bother looking up from the paperback she was thumbing through. Angus and Reece escorted Ashi inside, only watching to make sure he didn’t try to make another run for it before heading back to their own apartments.
He wasn’t their problem anymore.
Ashi immediately went to the room he shared with Christoph to shower. He felt like he had a coating of smog all over his body, which might not have been far from the truth. Christoph wasn’t in the room. As soon as he was dry and dressed, Ashi hobbled to Jessica’s apartment and knocked on the door.
Christoph was on a treadmill in the second flo
or gym. He wasn’t alone. There could have been a dozen more people in the room without crowding, but there were only a couple of guys lifting weights and a girl working her abs on a metal contraption that could’ve passed for a medieval torture device. All of them were human, and none of them seemed particularly interested in conversation, just working on keeping already toned bodies in shape.
Christoph’s loss of strength and endurance was disconcerting. He was used to running all day, five days of the week, with a few odd errands on Saturdays. Now he was pacing himself and going much slower, gasping for air. Weak. Human.
He closed his eyes as he ran and could almost imagine he was on a trail in the Angeles Crest mountains. He was strongly reminded why humans tended to become fat and slow. It was too hard to maintain this sort of thing without serious discipline.
It wasn’t Jessica, but another girl who answered the door when Ashi knocked. Like everyone else in the building, she was lovely. However, she was wearing an ankle-length ball gown that looked like it belonged on the set of a star-studded forties glamour movie. Even without the heels, she would have towered over him, an Amazonian blonde. Her makeup was thick but tasteful, her lips very red and curved in a disapproving frown as she looked him up and down.
“Can I help you?”
Ashi stared up at the woman and tried not to let his surprise show in his expression. “Is Jessica in?”
He was pretty sure this was the first time in his life he’d ever felt intimidated by a woman.
While Christoph was running, Analie was frantically whisking.
