Shattered Restraint

by Cassandra Lawson

  “Mate?” Ian asked. “I thought I moved fast with Kyleigh.”

  “Yes, it’s sudden,” Danny said. “It just feels right.”

  “So, you stayed away because you were busy fucking a shifter?” Ian asked. “I might be able to forgive you for that.”

  Anyone else, Danny might be tempted to hit for being an asshole. Since Ian was pretty much always an asshole, Danny let it slide.

  “Sit down, Ian,” Connor ordered. “We need to get information out of Danny, not antagonize him.”

  “True,” Ian agreed. “I’ll have plenty of time to express how angry I am about Danny worrying me later.”

  “We already know you were taken while you were on the way to the business district with Faith and Jared. Tell us what happened from there,” Connor prompted.

  Danny swallowed hard. “Roger wanted to infect me with the new virus and let my heart stop. He took great pleasure in telling me how he was going to do it. I figured I was thoroughly screwed until Craig injected the virus and then filled my veins with shifter blood—Cam’s blood to be exact. I guess they were stockpiling it because we can go longer between feedings on shifter blood. Mind you, Roger had no idea it was being used.”

  “So, Claire really has been working with Cam,” Connor said thoughtfully. “Cam said she was, but I figured he’s blinded by his feelings for her. This is good news for us.”

  “I’m kind of worried she’ll get caught,” Danny said. “From what I hear, Roger’s not letting her leave the settlement at all anymore. There’s no way of knowing if that’s because he’s worried something will happen to her before the big meeting, or if he’s worried she’s going to betray him.”

  “Knowing Roger, it’s both,” Simon said.

  “Roger wanted me nearly starved of blood so my heart would stop and he could control me. I was supposed to be a weapon to use against you,” Danny continued.

  “Bastard,” Layla said angrily.

  “I’m guessing you kept getting shifter blood behind Roger’s back,” Connor said thoughtfully. Connor had probably already noticed Danny acted differently than other vampires and was trying to determine the cause.

  “Yeah, until some of the other vampires there helped me escape, I still got some human blood,” Danny said. “After that, I only had shifters to feed me. I was supposed to head to Treasure Island and make contact with you from there since Roger would assume I was heading this direction.”

  “Obviously, that didn’t happen, and I’m guessing you had no intention of going to Treasure Island,” Ian said.

  “When I left Roger’s settlement, I hated what I was,” Danny admitted.

  “Makes sense,” Ian said with a nod.

  “Makes me an asshole,” Danny shot back. “You’re my friend. Mitchell is my friend. Still, I hated myself for what I’d become. There I was saying it was fine that you were a vampire, but I sure as hell didn’t want to be one myself. I was still having trouble just living with vampires.”

  Ian laughed. “You think I didn’t realize you were having trouble dealing with us? Seriously, dumbass, I’m not going to judge you for this kind of thing. I was so caught up in my own hate for decades that I wasn’t allowed to feed from humans for fear I’d kill them. You got nothing on that.”

  Danny blinked twice because he honestly hadn’t expected Ian’s reaction.

  “It never ceases to amaze me when Ian actually manages to comfort someone,” Simon said.

  “I’ve never seen it before this,” Connor added. “In fact, I’m still not sure we’re witnessing that now.”

  Rather than responding, Ian made a rude gesture with his middle finger and returned his attention to Danny. “So, get back to the story. You ran because you were wallowing in self-pity.”

  “That’s when I ran into Quinn,” Danny continued. “Some cougar shifters were trying to kidnap her, and I managed to save her.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing she’s a shifter, or you might have gotten your ass handed to you,” Ian remarked.

  “She’s only half shifter and hasn’t had her first change yet,” Danny explained. “The shifter blood affected my change. I guess I react more like a shifter in some ways. I’m also faster and stronger than I should be. Before I left Roger’s settlement, they had me in restraints that were designed to hold vampires, but I broke them. One of the guys helping me freaked out when he found out what I’d done.”

  Connor let out a whistle. “Okay, so we’ll have to test that. I’m dying to know more about how the shifter blood affected you.”

  “Later,” Danny said. “For now, I need to get to Quinn. This is all new to her.”

  Raven had just walked in the front door and made her way to Connor’s side.

  Connor looked like he wanted to argue, but Raven’s tug on his arm stopped him. “Fine, we’ll meet tomorrow after I send the patrols out.”

  “I’ll bring food for Quinn,” Raven offered.

  “I’ll bring some cookies,” Layla added, and Danny experienced his first true pang of grief about not being able to eat food.

  “What’s wrong?” Layla asked.

  “I can’t digest any solid foods because I’m a turned vampire,” he said. “I hadn’t really missed it until you said you were bringing cookies. Damn, I’m going to miss your baking.”

  Simon grinned. “I hadn’t realized what a good thing you being a turned vampire is until now.”

  “Good thing?” Layla all but gasped, but Danny was pretty sure he knew where this was going.

  “Danny being a turned vampire means there are more cookies for me,” Simon said happily.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Danny was grateful for the fact that Raven and Layla didn’t stay long when they dropped off the food. Raven also brought him a new cell phone, which buzzed almost as soon as he turned it on. The message was from Mark, a human he’d been friends with for many years. Danny was pretty sure Raven would have told him about Danny being a vampire.

  Glad you're okay. Message me if you need to talk or fight. Promise you’ll go easy on me if we fight.

  Danny typed back a quick message.

  Thanks. Getting my mate settled in. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

  Mark’s reply came back right away.

  Looking forward to meeting her.

  Mark was one of the few people who really got it when he wanted to be left alone. It’s why they’d been good roommates before Mark had started seeing a female vampire and needed his own space. Danny missed his old friend, but it still felt strange messaging him like they used to.

  “You need a phone,” Danny told Quinn.

  “They look fun to use,” Quinn said with an eager grin. Everything in his house seemed to excite her.

  She was sitting at his kitchen table, picking at a tray of meat and cheese. Mostly, she was picking out the meat and leaving the cheese behind.

  “Not a fan of cheese?” he asked.

  “I’ve never tried cheese before,” she admitted. “We usually just eat things we can hunt or pick in the wooded areas. There’ve been times when some of our people traded with human settlements under the guise of being human, but that’s about it.”

  “You should at least try the cheese,” he said. “It’s good.”

  “It feels funny,” she admitted when she picked up one of the cubes. Then she sniffed it and wrinkled her nose. “I already tried the cookies. That’s enough new things for one day.”

  “No more new things today? Are you sure?”

  “You aren’t going to trick me into trying the cheese,” she said. “I’m not eating any new foods.”

  “Fine, no new foods,” he relented. “I really do think you’ll like it.”

  “Maybe later,” she said. “How did your meeting go?”

  Danny opened his mouth to tell her it had been fine, but then he closed it and considered his words more carefully. “It’s weird being back here,” he admitted. “There’s this part of me that wanted to grab you at the gate and make a run for
it.”

  Quinn laughed so hard, she nearly fell off her chair.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  Covering her mouth, Quinn shook her head until she got her laughter under control. “I was imagining what Connor’s face would have looked like if you’d taken off running with me over your shoulder. I get the impression he would not have been amused.”

  Danny chuckled. “No, Connor would have been pissed had I done that. Layla’s the one who probably would have hurt me.”

  “That was the second thing that made me laugh,” Quinn said. “She’s so tiny, and I still get the impression she would have beat you to the ground for trying to run.”

  “You’re right about that,” Danny said with a grin.

  Quinn looked down at the food in front of her. “I don’t think I can eat another bite.”

  “You’re just trying to get out of tasting the cheese,” he accused playfully.

  Quinn eyed the cheese dubiously. “I’ll consider trying it tomorrow. For now, show me how the shower works.”

  Danny’s grin widened at the thought of Quinn’s naked body rubbing against his own in the shower. “Are you feeling a little dirty?” he asked with a grin.

  Quinn giggled at his ridiculous come on line. “That was really bad,” she accused.

  With a chuckle, Danny gathered up the leftovers and put them away. He eyed the bags of blood in the refrigerator, wondering if he should have one before heading upstairs with Quinn. They still weren’t sure how long he could go without blood. It seemed to vary some based on his activity level.

  Deciding it would be better to play it safe, he grabbed a bag.

  “You can have my blood,” Quinn offered.

  Danny shook his head. “I don’t want to take too much from you. I’m going to have to get used to supplementing with human blood anyway.”

  He was not looking forward to the blood at all. The little bit of human blood he’d had at Roger’s settlement had been disappointing compared to shifter blood, and shifter blood didn’t come close to Quinn’s.

  Emptying the bag into a glass, he tried heating it up, hoping it might taste better warm, but it didn’t really improve the flavor. He decided it would be best just to get it over with and downed the entire glass as quickly as he could.

  When he looked up, Danny found Quinn watching him with laughter in her eyes. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a cheese cube, which she popped into her mouth. As she chewed and swallowed, Quinn didn’t look like she was enjoying the cheese much more than he’d enjoyed the blood.

  “How do you like it?” he asked.

  “It’s not bad,” she admitted. “I just don’t like the texture.”

  “You don’t have to eat cheese if you don’t want to,” he assured her before reaching out to pull her against his chest and kissing the top of her head.

  Looking up, she gave him a sexy smile. “Are you going to show me how the shower works now?”

  “Hell yes!” Danny said before leaning forward to toss her over his shoulder.

  Quinn squealed with delight as he jogged up the stairs to his bathroom.

  Danny was very much looking forward to getting his mate into the shower, and then getting inside his mate.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  “We spotted Danny.”

  The shaky male voice grabbed Roger’s full attention. “Where is he?” Roger demanded.

  Two newer vampires stood just inside the room. Neither spoke nor made eye-contact with him. Both seemed fascinated with their well-worn shoes.

  “One of you had better start talking,” Roger ground out. It was getting harder and harder to keep his temper under control with his underlings.

  “He was in a jeep, being driven by the blond vampire—the pretty male,” one of them explained.

  “The jeep was moving too fast for us to do more than confirm Danny was with them,” the other added.

  Roger cursed under his breath. Could this get any worse? If Danny was back with the blood whores, they would tell the council what Roger had done. Of course, that didn’t mean the council would believe them, or act before the meeting. From what Roger could tell, the council was hoping to avoid intervening. Making contact with the vampire council had given Roger insight into how the world worked, and he’d learned that this area wasn’t that important to the vampires who didn’t live here. The council’s focus was on making the land look safe enough to have travel to Fangri La continue.”

  “Maybe we can capture another human from there,” one of the vampires said.

  Roger suddenly realized they’d continued talking while he’d been lost in his own thoughts. Not that it mattered. These idiots wouldn’t be able to help him. They were loyal to the cause only because they believed they were saving their loved ones from horrible fates. These two were in a group that were more ruthless, and that meant they knew more about Roger’s darker activities. Still, if they knew how much Roger longed to spend days torturing them for bringing him bad news, he doubted their loyalty would last. No, it was important that they continue to believe he only tortured their enemies.

  “What makes you think we’ll find another human traveling in a small group?” Roger snapped. “Those bastard blood whores aren’t complete idiots. They know we’re trying to destroy them. Once they talk to Danny, they’ll be guarding the humans even more closely.”

  When one of them started to speak, Roger put his hand up to silence him. “Get out of here,” he ordered. “I need time alone to think.”

  Once they left, he put his fist through a supply cabinet and struggled to get his breathing under control. He had no idea what was happening to him but wondered if this might be a side effect of the Moon virus. Control was one of the many things he’d always prided himself on, but it seemed to be rapidly slipping through his fingers as his carefully knit plans unraveled.

  What he needed right now was the soothing sound of someone screaming. He needed to hear his victim beg for mercy. Making his way down the hall, Roger noticed that everyone gave him a wide berth. That was a good thing considering his current mood. It also gave him a moment’s hesitation. Fear was a good motivator when dealing with people. Then again, too much fear led to discontent, which could lead to rebellions. After he relieved a little tension, Roger needed to find a way to rally his people around him.

  There was only one guard outside the door to the cell the shapeshifters were being kept in. All of them were being kept heavily sedated, but Roger was hoping at least one of them was somewhat coherent.

  Abram stood guard outside the door. His face remained impassive as Roger approached, and Roger wasn’t sure if he was relieved or annoyed to see one person who didn’t act afraid. Then he realized he was a little excited by Abram’s lack of fear. Abram would be fun to torture, and Roger couldn’t help but wonder what it would take to break the young vampire.

  “Was there something you needed?” Abram asked, interrupting Roger’s fantasy.

  “Have they stirred at all?” Roger asked.

  Abram shook his head, looking bored. “Not for more than minute or so, and they were really confused then. We’ve been sedating them on a regular schedule to avoid any problems. Should we cut back the dosage so they start coming around?” he asked hopefully. Abram knew what would happen once they gave up hope on the other shapeshifter coming. That was when the real fun would begin.

  If Roger’s people weren’t having so much trouble deciphering Craig’s handwriting, they’d have already injected one of them with the Moon virus to see what would happen. Craig was the one who’d prepared the virus and handled dosage. Roger hadn’t noticed until too late that Craig never used an assistant. The idiot had also scrawled everything out in the messiest possible handwriting, using code for part of it.

  “We’ll need to get our hands on a scientist or doctor soon,” Roger mused.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Abram added. “Problem is, the only place I can think to get one is the blood whore settlement. I g
uess they might have one at Treasure Island.”

  “I’d already thought of that,” Roger said irritably. Abram was too comfortable in Roger’s presence, and that needed to be remedied.

  “I figured you had,” Abram said smoothly. “I was just working it out in my own mind. Helps if I say stuff out loud.”

  Roger nodded, not really believing Abram, but not caring enough to make an issue of it.

  “So, did you want us to lower the dosage?” Abram asked again.

  “I suppose I really don’t need the help of the shapeshifters’ leader any longer. Why even wait for him to show up?” Roger asked.

  “Couldn’t hurt to have more of them to experiment on,” Abram said with a shrug. “They also might be able to help take down the shapeshifters who’ve been giving us problems.”

  Roger hesitated with his hand on the door. As much as he hated to admit it, Abram was right. His original plan had merely been to use the shapeshifters to get Danny back, but they might be useful against the others. If he could get enough of them on his side, they might even be able to help him attack the blood whores and kill Danny. Still, he had no intention of waiting forever to have his fun with the shapeshifters in the cell.

  “Decrease the dosage of the sedative and guard the shifters closely. I want to know as soon as they’re more coherent,” Roger ordered.

  Abram gave him a sly smile. “We found some humans from Treasure Island out in the woods earlier today.”

  “Close to here?” Roger asked.

  Abram nodded. “According to them, they just got turned around. That’s probably the truth, but we brought them in any way.”

  “And you waited to tell me?” Roger practically snarled.

  “I was saving it as a surprise,” Abram said with an innocent shrug.

  Roger suspected Abram might have kept them for himself had Roger not shown up looking for a distraction. That thought made him worry. He didn’t need his underlings keeping things from him. Too bad he couldn’t just torture Abram. Roger hesitated at the door and smiled. Abram was strong-willed and wouldn’t break easily. Yes, he would act tough for a long time. It would be even more fun to torment Abram by threatening those he cared about.