the vampire’s retreat.
“Never heard of him. Just keep your damned pack from using our
tribe members for their sick games, will you?”
If he had such power, Hart would do that. “I’ll try,” he
muttered, and turned to pull Danni’s door shut.
*
Danni paced the cell from the concrete block wall to the
double set of bars separating her cell from the next, which was empty. It
smelled like sweat and piss down here. One other vampire had been contained two
cells down from hers, but he lay on the floor, face down, arms prostrated. No
shirt, and his pants were torn to his knees, revealing wicked boils on every
part of exposed skin. Every time the UV lights switched on he’d yelp and hiss as
his flesh bubbled. She’d only been here a few hours, but she dreaded that sure
and painful future.
What a fool to have been grabbed. Tribe Zmaj would never find
her now. Slater could care less, she felt sure. She was lost, an unwanted
creature plucked from the streets, as invisible as the homeless, and as reviled.
No one would look for her.
Rubbing the tattoo on her wrist, she smirked at the words. Come
what will? Uh-huh. Well, they wouldn’t bring Dan the Man down that easily. She
still had some fight left in her. If she went down, she was going to do it with
fangs embedded in some werewolf’s neck.
Her only hope was Hart. Would he question her absence when he
returned to her apartment? She hoped so. But then came the hard part. She’d
never expect him to go against his pack and request her release, or even attempt
to save her.
The steel door at the top of the basement stairs opened and
footsteps shuffled down the concrete steps. Turning and crossing her arms, she
would not give them the pleasure of seeing her weakness or fear.
“Make it quick,” a man said to someone else. “I got a lunch
break in five minutes, and I don’t need to spend that babysitting you and the
vamp.”
A throat cleared and Danni lifted her head. Not going to play
their games. Fuck ‘em all.
“You found her outside the compound?”
Hart’s voice. Oh yes! Danni
cautioned herself from spinning around and rushing to the bars, eagerly
stretching out her arms to him.
“Tony got the jump on her. She’s tough, but when threatened
with a stake they always crumble. Ha! Crumble into ash, get it? I kill
myself.”
Out the corner of her eye, she saw the idiot wolf who had
tossed her in this cell. Roughly, shoving her to land on her knees and palms,
scuffing the skin bloody. He’d made smacking kiss noises and had spat on
her.
“Turn around, vampire,” Hart said. His voice was steady, calm.
He hated her. He had to. “I need some information about why you’d risk your life
approaching the pack, twice over. What is your mission?”
He knew what her mission was. Something was up.
Tilting back her head, and rubbing her hands up and down her
arms, Danni resisted turning. But if she didn’t look at him now, she may never
see him again. What color were his eyes? Gray-blue. But could she recall the
exact shade now? And his mouth, full and soft; would she ever recall the curve
of it as he marked his territory across her skin, or the dark stubble that
shadowed his jaw and roughly tickled her when they kissed?
Look now or never again .
Turning, her head bowed, Danni thought she heard Hart exhale.
He gripped the iron cage bars and she wanted to grasp his fingers, to touch his
warmth, and remember how gentle her mighty wolf had been with her.
“Name,” he demanded.
“We got her stats,” the other said from the shadows by the
stairs. “She’s with tribe Zmaj. We’re sending scouts out after them. They think
they can mess with us? Ha!”
“That’s a stupid move,” Hart said to the other. “If Caufield
thinks he can continue with the nasty blood games he has to lie low, like I
always tell him. If he starts a war with the vampires it’ll all get blown to
hell. Do you want the Council on our arses?”
Good play, Hart. The Council was
“Never heard of him. Just keep your damned pack from using our
tribe members for their sick games, will you?”
If he had such power, Hart would do that. “I’ll try,” he
muttered, and turned to pull Danni’s door shut.
*
Danni paced the cell from the concrete block wall to the
double set of bars separating her cell from the next, which was empty. It
smelled like sweat and piss down here. One other vampire had been contained two
cells down from hers, but he lay on the floor, face down, arms prostrated. No
shirt, and his pants were torn to his knees, revealing wicked boils on every
part of exposed skin. Every time the UV lights switched on he’d yelp and hiss as
his flesh bubbled. She’d only been here a few hours, but she dreaded that sure
and painful future.
What a fool to have been grabbed. Tribe Zmaj would never find
her now. Slater could care less, she felt sure. She was lost, an unwanted
creature plucked from the streets, as invisible as the homeless, and as reviled.
No one would look for her.
Rubbing the tattoo on her wrist, she smirked at the words. Come
what will? Uh-huh. Well, they wouldn’t bring Dan the Man down that easily. She
still had some fight left in her. If she went down, she was going to do it with
fangs embedded in some werewolf’s neck.
Her only hope was Hart. Would he question her absence when he
returned to her apartment? She hoped so. But then came the hard part. She’d
never expect him to go against his pack and request her release, or even attempt
to save her.
The steel door at the top of the basement stairs opened and
footsteps shuffled down the concrete steps. Turning and crossing her arms, she
would not give them the pleasure of seeing her weakness or fear.
“Make it quick,” a man said to someone else. “I got a lunch
break in five minutes, and I don’t need to spend that babysitting you and the
vamp.”
A throat cleared and Danni lifted her head. Not going to play
their games. Fuck ‘em all.
“You found her outside the compound?”
Hart’s voice. Oh yes! Danni
cautioned herself from spinning around and rushing to the bars, eagerly
stretching out her arms to him.
“Tony got the jump on her. She’s tough, but when threatened
with a stake they always crumble. Ha! Crumble into ash, get it? I kill
myself.”
Out the corner of her eye, she saw the idiot wolf who had
tossed her in this cell. Roughly, shoving her to land on her knees and palms,
scuffing the skin bloody. He’d made smacking kiss noises and had spat on
her.
“Turn around, vampire,” Hart said. His voice was steady, calm.
He hated her. He had to. “I need some information about why you’d risk your life
approaching the pack, twice over. What is your mission?”
He knew what her mission was. Something was up.
Tilting back her head, and rubbing her hands up and down her
arms, Danni resisted turning. But if she didn’t look at him now, she may never
see him again. What color were his eyes? Gray-blue. But could she recall the
exact shade now? And his mouth, full and soft; would she ever recall the curve
of it as he marked his territory across her skin, or the dark stubble that
shadowed his jaw and roughly tickled her when they kissed?
Look now or never again .
Turning, her head bowed, Danni thought she heard Hart exhale.
He gripped the iron cage bars and she wanted to grasp his fingers, to touch his
warmth, and remember how gentle her mighty wolf had been with her.
“Name,” he demanded.
“We got her stats,” the other said from the shadows by the
stairs. “She’s with tribe Zmaj. We’re sending scouts out after them. They think
they can mess with us? Ha!”
“That’s a stupid move,” Hart said to the other. “If Caufield
thinks he can continue with the nasty blood games he has to lie low, like I
always tell him. If he starts a war with the vampires it’ll all get blown to
hell. Do you want the Council on our arses?”
Good play, Hart. The Council was
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