Silent Cravings (5 page)

She didn’t hold it against him for wanting to retake his city. She was not fool enough to think she had yet accumulated the wealth, the contacts, or the stability to hold one of her own. She was older than Royce’s second, but the damage done to her physically and mentally by Max might prevent her from ever having the will or desire to hold a city herself or even act as a master vampire’s second. For now, she was content, and would be so as long as she felt she could flee to Royce for protection if ever Max Carlyle tried to take her back.

She looked at the fuzzy teddy bear with the button eyes and lush, soft fur that Ari had given her. He’d told her to hold it close when she took her day-sleep so that she might have something to remember him by until the day he returned. They both knew he might not ever come back, but the ancient elder had been one of the few to ever see her bedroom and the softer things she privately allowed herself. Even her personally selected donors never came to her bed; the most they saw of her apartment was the living room outside.

The bear was the only doll she rested with. She put the book down and reached for it, tugging the plush toy close. It still had a trace of his scent, fading, but there. With a long-suffering sigh, heard only as a hissed exhalation of air, she slowly rose from the bed and trudged out of the room.

She paused when she reached Ari’s—no, Analie’s—bedroom, listening for any signs that the girl was up and about. The salt from her tears was still on the air.

Mouse looked down at the bear dangling from her hand. The button eyes gleamed up at her, its simple smile made of yarn curved serenely under the nose of soft felt mocking in its simplicity.

She bared her fangs for a moment, a touch of anger glittering in her eyes. With a low hiss, she dropped the bear before the door, tapping on it lightly before hurrying back to her own room.

It was a poor substitute for family or friends, but perhaps it would help the girl sleep better, just as it had helped Mouse.

Chapter Five

C
hristoph stood stiff as a board in front of a pay phone down a lonely, dismal New York street. The roads were unfamiliar, the scents numbered too many, and he was feeling like he’d been kicked in the nuts and had his nose rubbed in his own ego.

The phone in his hand was ringing. On the seventh ring he hung up. At least he was getting further into the phone call. Last time it had been three rings. He picked up the phone and dialed again.

Ring...ring...ring...ring...ring...rin—

“I have twenty-one missed calls from this number. Speak or I will track you down and take pleasure in eating you.”

Christoph almost hung up again. Instead an involuntary cough of respect forced its way out of his throat. He sounded more congested than mindful of his elders. And this was the second most important elder he would ever speak with.

“Hello, sir.” His voice was strained, thin.

“Christoph? How goes the meet-and-greet?” Gregory asked.

“That’s what I’m calling about. Is—is Gavin nearby?”

“No, he’s at home.” Gregory paused. Suspicion colored his voice. “Why? What happened? Where is the cub?”

Enjoying indentured servitude under a vampire,
Christoph thought bleakly. His mouth was dry, knees weak.

“There’s been a sort of... thing.”

“A thing? What thing? What the
hell
is going on out there?” Gregory snarled. Literally snarled.

There was no way around it. “The vampire I fought in the convenience store showed up again on the subway. We tussled again so now he’s looking for amends, and he figured having Analie around for the next five years or so would be good.”

There was a long silence. Then Christoph jerked the phone away from his ear as a ravening, furious, murderous roaring exploded from the receiver. It sounded like Gregory had shifted. It took him a long while to calm down and shift back so he could speak.

“Five
YEARS? Servitude?
Under a
vampire?
What in Seeker’s name have you done?
What did the alphas have to say?”

“No,” Christoph said, his voice little more than a thin whimper.

“
FUCK YOU TO THE PITS OF AGOTHAR!
”

Christoph didn’t know what the Pits of Agothar were, but he figured they couldn’t be a very nice place at all.

“She’s Gavin’s cub. She’s his
daughter
by everything but blood! You lost Gavin’s cub and a stake in New York.
New-fucking-York!
” Gregory was panting, snarling. “Okay, fine. Future territory lost. We’ll think about that later. The cub is our priority. Where is she? Do you know? Is this the same guy you
killed
?”

This conversation could not get any worse.

“Y-yeah, same one. Um... it’s a guy. He’s sorta well-known.”

“
Who?
What did you do, Christoph?”

Christoph’s voice constricted into a strained whisper. “Alec Royce.”

The sound that came from the other end of the line was positively incoherent. Christoph covered his face with his free hand. It took some time before Gregory could speak again, and his voice had taken on a tone of icy, barely controlled rage.

“Alec Royce. You
lost
Gavin’s
cub
to
Alec Royce
. Bad enough she’s a
slave
to a leech, now you’ve gone and handed her over to the most powerful leech in the country. Brilliant. Wonderful. If you call Gavin, I am not responsible for what happens to you.”

“Wait—you’re not going to tell him?” Christoph asked, stunned.

“Tell him? Are you insane? No, to Gavin, Analie is doing fine. Her stay in New York was requested by the alphas and condoned by ours. They find her charming. She is learning more about the New York Weres. She is enjoying her stay. She sends her love. Whatever. Gavin
will not
find out about this unbelievable fuck-up until after she is home. Get yourself out of New York before your temper causes any other disasters.”

“I can fix this,” Christoph protested. “It isn’t a disaster!”

“If it isn’t, then what the hell qualifies?”

Christoph sputtered, but didn’t have a good answer.

“Just drag your sorry ass back to California and don’t cause any trouble. Keep your mouth shut and stay away from Gavin so he doesn’t know you lost his cub!”

Ashi had a full week. First there was declaration of war with another local pack. He had been informed that there was a possibility he would need to go to New York with some other warriors, though he wasn’t pleased that he didn’t rank an answer why. Then that cub-hide started, along with the requisite bitching from the parents.

Lastly, Ashi had been ordered to stay out of the local fighting, but to be on hand just in case. He had been disgruntled with that mandate, but he was not one to make waves or start trouble because he didn’t have his way. He had no intention of questioning the alpha. But he was
very
surprised when Christoph returned from New York sans Gavin’s pup and in a state Ashi could only think to call shell-shock.

Christoph was as stereotypical a Goliath as they came. He wanted to climb ranks, bash heads, mate, and look good while doing it. Lately he’d been tagging along with Ashi and helping him out, which had afforded Christoph an instant jump in rank. Ashi found the big guy to be useful, not only because Christoph was running packages for him free of charge, but also because it paid to have big, strong friends.

Christoph wouldn’t talk about what had happened. Ashi thought some intimidation tactics would work, but something was holding Christoph in check that even Ashi couldn’t thrash out of him. The next logical thing to do was get him drunk. Christoph liked football, chips, and beer. It was easy enough to grab a bag of chips, a jar of salsa, and enough beer to drown a dozen sailors, and tote it over to Christoph’s place during the game.

Christoph’s roommate, Manny, was out fighting at the time. The prospect of company bringing him free beer to drink himself into a stupor was very appealing to Christoph.

Once Christoph got tipsy, he started to talk. He was vague—something had happened in New York that was a Very Bad Thing. Further into the game, the chips forgotten, the score meaningless, he talked about vampires and far-off packs. Ashi began to piece together the story. Christoph had screwed up, leaving the cub in the hands of a vampire. Ashi didn’t know a lot about vampires, but he knew that it was a horrifying situation. If Gavin found out, there would be another war. The cub’s keeper would pull something very stupid indeed if he thought his pup was in any danger.

No wonder he had been given the order to be prepared to travel.

Bringing the cub home was obviously a good idea, but not when followed by a pack of leeches. Clearly, Ashi would need to take down this Alec Royce and
then
bring Analie home. It would be quite the feather in his cap.

It took Ashi two weeks to sort everything out and formulate a plan, including how he would get Christoph to come with him. Ordering him to go would be out of the question—Christoph could go to a higher-ranking Were than Ashi and rat him out.

Football would be Christoph’s downfall.

Once his plan was formulated, Ashi returned to Christoph’s apartment during another big game. He made sure Christoph was good and drunk before working him into a sports-fueled frenzy. Once Christoph was a testosterone-and-alcohol-laden meathead, Ashi enthusiastically outlined his plan in short sentences and simple words.

The idiot’s immediate reaction was, “
Fuck yeah!
Let’s kick some ass!”

The drive to the airport was similarly enthusiastic. By the time they got through security, Christoph was starting to wind down. By the time they boarded, Christoph was almost asleep on his feet as his body frantically metabolized enough alcohol to kill a human. Ashi hadn’t had anything to drink and simply acted as Christoph’s handler.

It was at the tail end of the flight that Christoph woke up, vomited violently in a bathroom he didn’t quite fit in, and returned to his seat in a sort of stupor. He was silent, acknowledging Ashi with only a respectful cough. Ashi paid him no mind, instead going over his masterful plot.

They would contact Analie, have her tell them where she was, and then arrive and kill the vampire. Simple.

Christoph was looking out the window. Ashi was a little surprised at the other’s silence. He attempted light conversation.

“Sorry for the short notice. I’ve packed a bag with clothes and such for the both of us.”

Christoph nodded.

“I’ve arranged to stay in a motel, so that’s taken care of. I’ll cover the cost.”

Another nod.

“You have Analie’s number, right?”

Another nod.

“Good. We’ll call her once you feel up to fighting. She’ll tell us her location and we’ll go in and deal with her host.”

Christoph’s bleary eyes focused on Ashi. “You can’t ‘deal’ with him.”

Ashi stared at Christoph. “Pardon?”

“You don’t know how strong he is. You don’t know how fast he is. We can’t ‘deal’ with him.”

Ashi kept staring at Christoph as he reached over, set a hand on the other’s knee, and popped off his kneecap.

The tendons on the back of Christoph’s hands stood out as he clenched them into fists. To his credit, he didn’t make a sound.

“I think you should let me do the thinking and only use that bright little mind of yours to process my orders,” Ashi said quietly, a thin smile on his face.

Christoph nodded, his head jerking up and down.

“Very good.” Ashi let go of Christoph’s knee and sat back.

Things were going rather smoothly, in his opinion.

Chapter Six

A
nalie was going to barf.

Don’t barf
, she thought.

It was a challenge.

She was feverishly tearing the bed apart. The mattress lay in one corner, the box spring in the middle of the room, and the sheets and blankets everywhere else. The pillows were shoved in the far corner, for they carried the strongest scent of musk. Analie intended to get rid of them as discreetly as possible.

Not that she was being particularly discreet right now.

The bedframe and slats that supported the mattress were useless. Analie cleared a path through the fluffy chaos and shoved it against the far wall. God, why was there such a thing even
in
this room? She almost threw the box spring, but then remembered Royce’s warning. She dragged it over to the bed frame and put it on top.

Stupid, useless shit!

She had the idea she might be going crazy.

Okay, mattress.
She put that in a new corner, one away from where the leech must have slept. The new corner was nice. Analie noticed her hands were shaking. She grabbed a blanket and put it on the mattress. Better, more like a proper bed.
Okay, the sheet. Have to cover up the area. Closet too small to sleep in. Gotta cover it all up.
Analie realized she was mentally rambling. It was distressing. The situation was distressing. The fact that she had nothing to hang the sheet off of was distressing.

Get the box spring, prop it up against the wall. Useless as a lean-to. Too unstable for a wall. Useless! Bed frame? Weird, constricting. Not good. Okay. No covering for the bed.
That was okay with her. She could deal with that. It wasn’t a bad thing.

Oh god. Don’t barf.

She folded the rest of the blankets up and put them at the foot of the bed. Good. That was good. She looked around, spotted an easy chair.
Yes, go sit in the easy chair and calm down.
It would be more like home—a reminder of Gavin.

Analie felt her heart sink a little. Her foster father would be worried. If they couldn’t find another Were to take her place, would he gain a new cub? Would it stay in her room? The thought made her eyes water and throat hurt.

Analie hurried over to the chair and curled up in it. It was soft, and she wondered what the leech did here. Sit and read? Contemplate leechy things?

Feed?

She was up and across the room in half a second. Her stomach was rolling. She clapped a hand over her mouth and took deep breaths. It only made the nausea worse as she inhaled the reek of vampire.

She had to change the scent in the room. It was child’s play to get the scent from your hair to an object, but she would end up covering herself in the scent of the room considering the size of it. That thought was horrifying. And it made her want to barf.

Okay, sit on the floor and think of this logically. No, don’t stay still. Put the bed frame nicely in the corner with the box spring in it. There. Orderly. No reason for Royce or Mouse to point out that the room was in disarray. Good. Okay, change the scent.

Analie ran over to the drawers and opened each one, scrubbing her fingers in her hair and rubbing the insides of the drawers. Good, they smelled okay. No more leech reek. Right. She smelled her hair. Musky. Like a leech.

Don’t barf
.

The whole room had to change
right now
. Not later, not in a couple days,
now
. She made sure there weren’t any shadows lurking about in the room, kicked off her clothes, (hands still shaking, why were her hands shaking so badly?) and closed her eyes.

Out of the pink stuff, into the fuzzy stuff. Into the big, strong, warm, powerful, safe stuff. She was too big as a full Were to fit in the room. As a wolf she’d fit. That was good.

Bones changed, rearranged, set themselves into place. Her face pushed outward, fangs filled her mouth, and the scent of vampires became stronger. She coughed. It came out as a short snarl.

She carefully picked her way around the room, rubbing her fur against the walls, the furniture, and the floor. She was smelling worse and worse, but the room was smelling better and better. She could shower, but the room
had
to change.

She stood in the center of the room and shook. There. She no longer felt the urge to barf. Things looked and smelled better—more like home. She sat down, panting, exhausted. She’d shift back in the morning, before anyone noticed. And she’d sticky-roll the easy chair and the box spring. Right now she was tired.

Analie froze in the middle of the room at the tap on the door. Pony-sized wolves would likely not be welcome in this particular household, though she was used to seeing them in Gavin’s house. She stared at the door as if she could will the damn thing to stay shut. It was apparently working, as whoever was on the other side did not enter.

She was exhausted, and it took a long time to become pink again. When at last she could fit back into her clothing—though she was still a little fuzzy, a little fangy—she shuffled over to the door and opened it.

The softest, friendliest looking stuffed bear stared up at her from the floor. Analie crouched and sniffed at it. Vampire reek. Some vampire here slept with a stuffed bear. Probably Mouse, unless Royce was particularly fond of things small and fuzzy.

Analie picked up the toy. It smiled at her. She smiled back. Abruptly, she found herself crying again.
Stupid
.
She looked around, hastily swiping her face dry, but Mouse had retreated to parts unknown.

Analie backed into her room, shut the door, and went to her bed. She was tired, but she didn’t want to sleep. Sleep was dangerous. She hugged the bear close. Sleep was definitely a terrible, horrible idea. Yep. She closed her eyes. Awful, just awful. A foolhardy venture until she could at least get the desk up against the door. Yep.

She curled up around the bear and was out before she could remind herself not to.