Silent Cravings (10 page)

If Ashi tried to take the collar off, it wouldn’t budge. If he should try to shift, nothing would happen. His strength, speed, stamina and agility were no longer augmented by his ability to shift. For all intents and purposes, he was now basically human.

And it would only come off if Royce removed it.

Royce stood, rubbing his jaw as he studied Analie before addressing Christoph. “Do you know how far her sensitivity to magic extends?”

Christoph looked over at Analie, who was smashed up against the wall, whining.

“No. Goliaths don’t work with mages.”

“Magi. Not mages,” Arnold corrected, his gaze locked on the gigantic werewolf cringing against the wall.

Christoph shot the mage a look. “Whatever. That’s Amberguard’s insanity. But hey, she wasn’t itching until your brave, stalwart mage boldly strode in here.” He smiled as Arnold glared at him. “Maybe if you gave her Ashi as a chew toy, it’d take her mind off it.”

Ashi didn’t comment. He had one hand on the collar and the other on his head, looking decidedly ill.

Analie scrubbed at her fur. The itching was fading—like there were only 20,000,000 fire ants instead of 30,000,000 under her skin. She hoped Royce would excuse her so she could get the hell out of there. To her surprise, the vampires were now dimly in focus. The haze had now filled out the silhouette. The shadows made sense. She could even see their features somewhat. Having faces to go with their scents made her feel a lot more comfortable.

I can see you now. Will I see you later? Don’t know. Don’t care. I can see you now. I can eat you now.

Analie clapped both hands over her ears and screamed, “Give me a damn blanket! I’m shifting!”

It came out more like, “AAAARGH ARR RAAR AAAAGH! AAAAH AAAAAAAAARAARRRGH!”

“Jesus!” John cried, covering his ears. Arnold was torn between glaring daggers at Christoph and trying to disappear into the wall. Even Mouse flinched.

Royce watched Analie’s antics with wary puzzlement before it struck him. She was shrinking. Shifting back to human.

He snagged a throw blanket from a divan and waited patiently until she’d shrunk enough that it would cover something before wrapping it around her. Once she was back to human, he scooped her up in his arms and started toward the door. He only paused long enough to speak to Arnold.

“Get started on the next one. I’ll be right back.”

With that, he headed downstairs, taking her to the basement where she could remain until Arnold was done with his casting. He’d check in on her later and help her back to her room if she needed. For now, he hoped that was far enough away that she wouldn’t be affected by the magic anymore.

For her part, Analie kept her hands over her face, partly because this was horrifically humiliating, partly because she was half afraid she’d try to chomp on Royce. Which would be a Very Bad Thing.

Or maybe he’d try to chomp on
her
. Which would also be a Very Bad Thing.

She pondered what to say in this sort of situation. “Thank you for wrapping me up in a blanket so I wouldn’t be bare-assed naked in front of my packmates, your packmates, and a mage.” Or perhaps, “Thanks for carting me to who knows where. Don’t kill me, m’kay?” Or maybe, “Sorry for causing a hullaballoo.”

Ms. Brain-to-Mouth Pilot suffered a massive coronary mid-flight and her usually wayward train of thought took over the controls.

“One time there was a mage in the area who was causing some shit with Weres in general and everyone was on edge and on the lookout. There was a party at Gavin’s house and there were a ton of people there and Freddy started itching like crazy. Totally freaked everyone out. Everyone was searching and sniffing around for the hidden mage.”

She laughed and then sniffled.
Oh,
fuck
, no. You are
not
crying.

“Turns out he had chicken pox. Half the people there got it.”

Royce gave a faint snort of laughter. “Yes, I hear that’s a frightfully contagious disease. And I’m sorry about what happened up there. If I’d known you’d have a reaction like that, I would’ve sent you away before he got started.”

He shifted his grip a little, quieting while he navigated the stairs. He paused when he reached the first floor, briefly considered taking her to her room, then shook his head and continued down to the basement. There were a couple chairs scattered around, and he lightly set her in one, kneeling to examine her face and see exactly how traumatized she was. His usual methods for handling a human in hysterics would not apply to a Were.

“Are you going to be okay?” Perhaps a silly question to ask, but he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t lose it if he left for the few minutes needed to get Arnold wrapped up with the spell and paid, and Ashi and Christoph settled in to their new roles as house pets.

Analie nodded. “I don’t feel all fire-ant-y anymore. Um, thanks for getting me out of there.”

Thank you for not picking up on the thought that, for a second there, I wanted to eat you
.

All her previous ideas about vampires were being crushed to dust. So far things had gone more smoothly than they could have ever gone if the same situations had presented themselves in her pack. Analie was not under some high-rank’s foot or pulling her face out of the ground. She wasn’t in the middle of an amends task. Aside from the whole “fire ants on steroids” thing, and the whole “I’m wearing nothing but a blanket” thing, she was doing pretty damned well.

“Like, I’m really okay. And sorry for the hullaballoo.”

And the thoughts about eating you
.

Upstairs, Ashi was clutching the collar in both hands, expressionless and pale. Christoph was grinning at him.

“Forgot what it was like, huh? Feeling blind? Deaf? Anesthetized? You’ve been a Were longer than I have. Hey, I know. When we’re settled in, we’ll head out and go for a run—oh, wait. You can’t. Because you’re weak.”

“The same thing is going to happen to you,” Ashi snapped, the underlying rumble in his voice gone.

“And in the meantime I am going to gloat. Did you know right now if I stood on you like you stood on Jo-Jo, your spine would shatter? I wish I had the opportunity to do that. You’d see what it feels like.”

“I
know
what it feels like. I started out as a low-rank.” Ashi glared at Christoph.

“No.” Christoph’s voice was sharp. “No, you don’t know what it’s like to be treated like that. You know why? Because no one was
ever
as cruel and cold to you as you are to others. You had it
easy
. So do
not
give me any bullshit complaints about your days as a low-rank.” Christoph laughed. “I’d love to see you try to pull some of your fancy moves now. Look at you, they’re not even guarding you anymore. I swear, I wish I had a camera. Send the pictures home titled: ‘Ashi just got neutered’.”

“You joke when you’re scared,” Ashi said, staring at the floor.

Christoph clenched his jaw. “Shut up.”

He didn’t joke anymore after that.

Arnold glanced at them warily from Royce’s desk, pausing in his task of etching the glyphs into the leather of the second collar. “You’re lucky you can still joke. If you’d done this shit to the Moonwalker alpha or at The Circle, we would’ve killed you. I don’t know why the hell he wants to keep you around.”

John spoke up hollowly from the corner he’d pressed himself into, watching Christoph with overbright eyes. “Food.”

Arnold jerked his attention over to John, the horrified look quickly passing into one of understanding and distaste. “Free meals. They’re Others, so you don’t have to contract them. You sick fucks.”

Mouse made a soft hissing noise. John sneered at the mage.

“Shut up. You don’t have any idea how hard it is for us to get by without being able to take what we want anymore. Some of us practically starve ourselves so we don’t break those stupid laws.”

Arnold said nothing, bending back to his task, looking grim and unhappy.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Royce said, reaching up to ruffle Analie’s hair before standing. “I should probably be apologizing to you. I know it must have been hard to watch, but Arnold’s skill will ensure those two can’t cause any more trouble. Not for you, me, or anybody in this building. Maybe they’ll learn some respect and temperance.” He started toward the stairwell, not looking back as he spared a few last words. “Stay here. One of us will get you when it’s safe.”

Analie nodded. When Royce was almost out of the room she took a deep breath and called after him, hoping she wasn’t making a big mistake telling him this.

“I know Christoph’s been the troublemaker, but Ashi is the one who’s dangerous.”

Christoph laughed upon hearing what John said, his voice almost cracking. Laugh lest he cry.

“See, Ashi? Lots to laugh about. We should get bumper stickers. ‘I got bitten in New York and all I got was this lousy bumper sticker.’ But that could get confusing because we could have been turned Were in New York. You’d have to say something like, ‘I got sucked in New York’ or ‘eaten’ or ‘was a smoothie’ or something like that. I
dare
you to make that sound not gay.”

“Shut up,” Ashi muttered, still holding onto his collar.

“Hey, maybe we get juice and cookies. Humans get juice and cookies when they finish donating blood. Hey, you’re human now! You could get juice and cookies.”

“Would you
shut up!
” Ashi snapped.

“Maybe it’s tailored to fit our tastes. Maybe I get beer and chips, and you get whatever it is in life you enjoy. Beaten children and fear.”

“I am very serious about wanting you to shut up right now.”

“Then come over here and beat me up with your superior strength. Oh, wait.” Christoph laughed again. His voice was definitely cracking.

Ashi rolled his eyes. “Good to see you’re holding up well under the strain.”

“We’re like punchbowls!”

Ashi shook his head.

“At least you’re like punchbowls instead of plastic cups, to be used and discarded,” John snarled, pacing now as they waited for Royce to return. “Some of us would never have been so kind. You would’ve been sucked dry and left to rot, not kept like treasured pets.”

Mouse, though still vigilant about keeping Christoph under guard, was rolling her eyes. Arnold muttered something unheard under his breath.

“I mean, look at you. You barge in here, tear up
the master vampire’s bedroom
, and he leaves you alive. Don’t you think you should be thankful you aren’t smears on the walls right now?” John was avoiding looking at anyone, pacing back and forth, fangs extended and eyes showing hints of red from his agitation. “Damn it, if I’d been in his place, I would’ve just killed you both.”

“Then I suppose we should be thankful that I’m still the one in charge,” Royce stated mildly as he came through the door, though the implied threat underlying the words had John cringing back and stuttering apologies. Royce cut him off with a sharp motion of his hand, ignoring him and walking over to study Arnold’s handiwork. The second collar was aglow, ready except for the few drops of blood that would be needed to key it to Christoph.

Arnold picked it up and trudged closer to Mouse, shoulders slumping. For his part, the ancient vampire was quiet, nodding affirmation to Mouse.

She seemed rather apologetic when she nicked Christoph this time, the cut tiny and precise, not nearly as deep as what she’d done to Ashi. Arnold reluctantly handed the second collar over to Royce, who didn’t waste any time in moving closer to Christoph to set the studded leather around his neck.