by Limelan Z
I panicked. ‘l can’t hear you,’ I shouted. ‘I can’t hear.’ I couldn’t even tell if the words were coming out of my mouth. The most I had to go on was the feeling of my lungs pressing the air from my throat. Wolfe looked restless and uneasy. His animal body was tense. I struggled to my feet. ‘I can’t hear,’ I repeated over and over again.
Armande began speaking. I couldn’t hear him, but his theatrical movements were proving invaluable. He sighed, shook his head and wagged a finger at Wolfe. Pack hierarchy didn’t matter to me, but there was something about the dismissive movement that filled me with anger. The anger nearly took away the lessening pain in my head.
Then Armande began his breathing again. I scowled but, at his insistence, forced myself to follow suit. In and out. Slowly. Each breath began to calm me down. And then, gradually, a soft hum began to appear in my head. Armande’s soothing voice brought me back.
‘Better?’ he said, dropping his arms.
I nodded and then looked across when I heard a whimper. Without thinking, I gave Wolfe a reassuring stroke. ‘What happened?’ My throat stung, my voice was hoarse. I must have been shouting.
‘I removed the block on one of your senses.’ It should have been obvious. ‘Your hearing. Your wolf must have incredible senses to have nearly deafened you with them.’ He pursed his lips, hands on hips, and looked away. ‘We must go slower, I think.’
I scowled. ‘Or maybe stop entirely?’ I let out a breath. My ears were stinging. ‘I think my ear drums have blown. Or at least are damaged. I need to go to a hospital.’
He flung his hands into the air. ‘Don’t be so dramatic!’ An ironic sentiment in my opinion. ‘You can hear fine. You are back to normal.’ I caught a little trickle of blood on my finger as it made its way down my neck and stared at it pointedly. ‘Breathe through it. We will make it better.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t think—’
I suddenly felt like I was on a rollercoaster. My vision began to blur and my head began pounding. I squeezed my eyes shut and slumped over to the wall to keep from losing my balance.
‘Is too much, again,’ Armande’s voice tutted. ‘Your vision as well. I think this will be the same with all your senses. Perhaps we do all at once?’ I shot my eyes open at that and held up a hand towards in his general direction. ‘I am kidding. Just a little bit.’
I frowned and straightened as the dizziness settled. ‘Maybe another time.’ I felt like I’d been beaten up. My body was raw and aching. I didn’t want to play anymore. I wanted to lie down.
‘You are tired?’
I didn’t feel especially tired – I was angry and upset. I felt like I had been pushed and prodded and generally not had the Tinkerbell treatment I’d been expecting. I wanted some time to myself. ‘Yes,’ I lied.
‘Okay.’ He slapped his hands together, walked over to me and took mine. ‘You must eat some red meat, okay? Something like a steak.’
I gave a creaky nod. I was eager to get rid of him so I could try to figure out what the hell had just happened. Wolfe nudged my leg so I lowered myself carefully onto the floor and leant back against the wall. He watched me a moment to make sure I was okay and then led Armande from the room. I waited until I was alone before closing my eyes.
‘You look like shit.’
I raised my head. Vince was leaning against the door frame. ‘Thanks.’
‘No problem.’ He made his way over, sliding down next to me. ‘What happened?’
‘I’m not entirely sure.’ I supposed a part of me had assumed Armande wouldn’t be able to do anything. After all, I’d never seen magic at work. I hadn’t given much thought to the consequences of it having an effect. ‘He tried to sort out my vision and hearing.’
‘And?’
I ran my hands over my face. ‘And I felt like I was dying so he stopped.’ Eventually.
‘Your ears are bleeding.’
‘I know.’
‘I guess your body isn’t used to Ariane’s increased sensitivity. She must have amazing senses. Well, either that or you’ve got really shit ones.’ I scowled again and he grinned. After a while he said: ‘You hungry?’
I thought about it. I was hungry. ‘Yeah.’
He was on his feet in one swift movement and lifted me upright with him. ‘Let’s eat.’
I was a little wobbly on my feet but managed to keep up a normal pace as I followed him through the house. He led me to a huge kitchen filled with noisy conversations that hushed when I walked in. I’d almost forgotten that I was something to gossip about. It probably didn’t help that I had blood smeared on my face and down my neck. I gave a light wave at the staring eyes and pretended not to care before following Vince over to the fridge. After a while, the general hubbub drifted back.
‘Steak?’
I stared into the huge fridge and felt an immediate surge of excitement at all the food. If there’s one thing I’ve never had an issue enjoying, it’s food. And there are few things more enjoyable than the promises of a fully stocked fridge. ‘Isn’t it a little early for steak?’
‘It’s 8am.’
‘Yeah?’ He seemed to miss my point and pulled two steaks out of the fridge. I decided not to protest. Steak sounded good. Steak always sounds good. And Armande had said red meat. Vince directed me to a bathroom so I could wash the blood off my face while he made the food.
By the time I made it back, there were two plates of meat with crusty bread and salad. We grabbed two stools around the counter and sat, eating.
‘Johnson didn’t get the funding,’ Vince said covering his steak in burger sauce. Sacrilege. Tony Johnson was one of the guys we shared the lab with. There were six of us up for the same grant money to continue our research.
‘Have they announced who did?’
He shook his head. ‘Not yet. We’ll hear on Monday.’
‘Then how do you know Johnson didn’t get it?’
‘He messaged me last night. He’s moving back to Canada.’
I thought it over and then scowled. ‘I need to get back to work. Wolfe seems to think I’ve got to stay in his company indefinitely.’ A day or two of missing work wasn’t impossible to reason, but I didn’t want to lose my job because the alpha was a control freak.
Vince grunted and continued eating. Presumably part of being pack meant you weren’t allowed to question your alpha’s actions. Well, it didn’t matter to me. I wasn’t pack. In spite of the experiments, I was still me.
‘Are you going in today?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Good. I’m coming with you.’
He looked at me for a long while. His face was blank but I could tell he was debating his next action. I held his eyes. Suddenly he grinned. ‘Alright.’
Good. I gave a determined nod and ate.
Chapter 10
To my surprise, Wolfe didn’t intercept me as I left the house. I got the tube with Vince to the labs, lugging all the stuff he’d brought back for me before. Everything was reassuringly in place when I arrived. It was as if the last few days hadn’t happened.
I managed to make a hash of my first experiment but quickly recovered. The routine of calibration gave me a chance not to think about anything that had happened. Before I knew it, it was lunch. I wasn’t in the mood for social interaction. I walked with everyone else to the canteen but grabbed a sandwich and ate it on the way back. Then I kept my head down until late. For some reason Vince hung around too. It took me a while to realise he was waiting for me.
‘Did Wolfe tell you to keep an eye on me?’
He had headphones in but I knew he would be able to hear me. He was sat on one of the benches opposite me. He looked up innocently and tugged one headphone out. ‘Huh?’
‘Did Wolfe tell you to keep an eye on me?’ I repeated, tiredly.
‘Yeah.’ He popped the headphone back in and continued staring at his paper. I rubbed my brow. It had been obvious. Still, it would have been nice if Vince had at least pretended to be surprised I’d f
igured it out.
‘Well, I’m going home now.’
He pushed his stool out and stood. ‘Okay.’ He pulled out his music and began packing away.
‘You’re not coming with me.’
He sent me a look. ‘See, Ceri - ordinarily, I’m not the stalker type,’ he said, flipping his notepad closed. ‘But this isn’t an ordinary set up.’
‘You don’t have to follow me.’
‘Actually, I do. Wolfe gave me explicit orders to stay with you. He’s already pissed at me for letting you leave the house. Although, technically, that didn’t breach his instructions.’
I let out a long breath. ‘Well, I’m going to my place.’
‘Sounds good.’
‘Ugh! Fine.’ In theory, Vince was better than Wolfe. At least Vince wouldn’t walk in on me changing. I didn’t think. I felt my cheeks warm slightly at the thought. I grabbed my bag, ready to leave, and waited for him to finish faffing.
‘Shall we stop off for pizza?’
I wanted to scowl at him, to shout and stomp and rail at the idea of being assigned some kind of bodyguard. How dare they treat me like a child who needed caring for? How dare they make Vince cancel all his plans to become my babysitter? I wanted to fling my papers in the air and complain.
But I was hungry and pizza sounded like a great idea. And I liked Vince. By the time we got to the flat, I’d forgotten I was irritated with him. In fact, he’d put me in a good mood. He was good at that.
‘Ceri, is that you?’ Fi’s voice called when we came in through the door. From the sound of it, she was in the bath.
‘Yeah.’
She laughed. ‘It’s been a while, lady! I’ll bet you have stories to tell!’
I winced at the grin that appeared on Vince’s face. ‘I’m not alone,’ I called back. There was a slight pause and then Fi called hello to Wolfe. I winced again and avoided meeting Vince’s eye. ‘I’m with Vince. From work. Vince Leyton.’
‘Hi, Vince!’
Vince ushered me further into the flat with a hand on my back. ‘We brought pizza,’ he called in the direction of the bathroom. ‘Come grab some while it’s hot!’
‘Great! I’ll be right out.’
I scowled and led him to the kitchen. He set down the two huge pizzas on the island and pulled up a stool. I grabbed some drinks from the fridge and sat opposite.
‘When she comes in, tell her we’re working on something for a deadline.’
He seemed amused by it. ‘Why? Can’t you tell her that you’re having a sleepover?’
‘No,’ I shot back. ‘And you have to make it obvious that you’re sleeping on the sofa. Or not at all. Otherwise she’ll think I’m sleeping with you and Wolfe.’
He laughed and lifted a slice. ‘Instead of not sleeping with either.’
‘Well, instead of only sleeping with Wolfe.’
‘But you’re not sleeping with Wolfe. At least, you’re not having sex with him. I’d be able to smell it.’ I cringed at the crassness of his words. I was about to ask what he meant but decided I didn’t need to know the specifics. The gist was plenty.
‘That’s disgusting.’ I turned two pizza slices into a sandwich and took a cheesy bite. ‘And, she doesn’t know that.’
Fi padded into the kitchen in her bathrobe, her hair wrapped up in a towel turban. Her eyes were bright with excitement as joined us round the island.
‘Hello!’ There was a huge grin on her face as she pretended to concentrate on helping herself to pizza.
‘Vince, Fi – Fi, Vince,’ I said, warily. ‘Vince and I are working on a grant proposal. It’s due tomorrow, so—’
‘Say no more!’ Fi said, taking two slices. ‘I’ll leave you guys to it.’
‘No, it’s alright,’ said Vince, lifting one of the pizza boxes. ‘We’ll use Ceri’s room.’ I felt a blush reach my cheeks as he walked directly down the corridor to my bedroom. Presumably he was guessing which room was mine because it smelled most of me. Either way, I couldn’t help looking guiltily at Fi. She grinned excitedly at me over the pizza and then slapped my arm.
‘Get in there, girl! Before he starts doing some work.’
‘We’re not...’ I fizzled out pathetically.
‘Working? I kind of got that,’ she winked. ‘Your bags are by the door and he knows exactly where your bedroom is.’ She grinned again, eyes bright. ‘He’s hot!’
I blushed. I knew Vince could hear us. ‘He’s really not.’
‘He really is. And you need to tell me what happened between you and Wolfe. Thanks, by the way,’ she added as I began to leave the room. ‘I got a phone call from Trevelyan today. We’re having breakfast next week. Not sure if you had anything to do with it but I assumed you smoothed things over.’
I hovered. ‘Trevelyan? The guy from the boat?’ I hadn’t seen him since I’d broken his leg. I probably should have asked after him. If he was meeting Fi for breakfast, presumably he had healed alright.
She nodded. ‘Yep. He said he’d be interested in hearing my take on the contract. I’m assuming you said something?’
I shook my head. ‘No. I met his wife, though. She seems nice.’
Fi laughed. ‘Really? What have you been up to for the last couple of days?’
I couldn’t think of a satisfying response to her question so I sent her a look and disappeared after Vince. He was lying down on my mattress flicking through my bedtime reading with a grin.
‘I can’t believe you actually read werewolf books.’
I scowled and kicked the door shut behind me. ‘Yeah, well, I shudder to think what’s on your bedside table.’
He winked. ‘I can guarantee you’d shudder.’
I stepped aside the innuendo and sat opposite him around the pizza. ‘What did you mean earlier about Wolfe being angry at you for letting me leave the house?’
He chuckled and resumed eating the pizza. ‘He’d wanted you to stay in Mayfair. He gave strict instructions that I stay with you, since you don’t seem to mind my company.’
‘Oh, I mind it,’ I said a little exasperatedly. There was no need for him to be in my room. And certainly no need for him to pretend to my flatmate what we might be doing.
‘Actually, no, you don’t. Wolves can read emotion pretty well and your entire body gets excited when I’m about.’
I flushed. I couldn’t help it. My body was excited by him? ‘I—’
‘You want me,’ he grinned. ‘And that’s okay.’ He placed a hand on my thigh, which I immediately slapped away. ‘Anyway, you don’t feel that comfortable around any of the others, yet. And Wolfe wanted you to be comfortable.’
‘How generous of him to pimp you out to me,’ I said, dryly. ‘But he could have left me alone. You could have.’
He shook his head and leant back against the headboard. ‘You don’t disobey a direct order, which is why it was okay for me to go with you to work. I’m impressed we’d been there an hour before he realised you’d gone. Your scent must be faint. Even for him.’
‘But somehow you can smell when I’m excited?’
He grinned. ‘It’s the human in you. Your pheromones are going crazy right now.’
There was no point in me denying it. As I said, I’d had a crush on Vince for ages. Everyone did. But I doubted that was the only emotion he detected in me. I’d have bet money he could tell I was pissed off and tired.
I finished a fifth slice and decided that was probably enough. ‘So...what now?’
‘Now?’
‘What other rules did he give you?’
‘Oh. Nothing, much. Just to keep you out of trouble.’ I felt my irritation grow. ‘And keep you happy.’ I softened a little. I couldn’t help it.
I smiled. I suddenly felt the desire to be outside. I folded the pizza box shut on his fingers and stood up. ‘Let’s go out. Is that band playing again tonight?’ I felt bad he’d had to drop all plans to babysit me.
He didn’t need asking twice. ‘As a matter of fact,’ he said, grabbing my ha
nd and starting for the door, ‘yes.’
Chapter 11
‘I was 26. The whole street had scrubbed up and made our way to take up a post by St James’ Park.’ Vince smiled, his eyes crinkling as he reminisced.
‘Did you see anything?’
He laughed and shook his head. ‘No chance. We were too far from the front. I’d never seen such crowds! And we were a load of Irish immigrants living in the Docklands, so that should tell you something. Heard the guns, though. It was incredible.’ He took a swig on his beer and leaned back against his seat. We’d taken up a booth in the Purple Dragon in Dalston. It was a Friday night and crazy busy. ‘What about you? Where were you?’
I hadn’t been out in a long time, but something told me that most of the other couples by the bar weren’t reminiscing about Queen Victoria’s coronation. It was nice. One of the problems with living alone for a long time is that there are very few people you can reminisce with. I tipped my head back and tried to remember.
‘I think I was working as a maid then. There was singing and cake. I remember most of that decade as singing and cake.’ There was a strange look on his face. ‘What?’ He shook his head and took another swig of beer. ‘What?’
‘I’m just having a hard time picturing you as Ariane. I can’t believe we shared the same office for years.’
I rolled my eyes and reached out for the remaining drops of my drink. ‘Yeah, well, you never struck me as werewolf either.’
‘It’s not the same. It’s like finding out Batman’s real...and he’s into shit music and frilly aprons.’
I scowled and pretended not to be flattered by the Batman reference. ‘I’m not into shit music!’ I do like frilly aprons, though. They’re classic.
He reached out and put his hand onto mine, leaning forwards. ‘You are.’ Then he straightened. ‘Another drink?’
I glanced at my empty cider and tried to decide whether I was still tipsy or teetering dangerously close to drunk. ‘I think I’ve reached my limit for a Thursday.’
