Читать книгу Jaded Blood - Amy Blankenship, Amy Blankenship - Страница 6

Micah sighed for the hundredth time since calling Alicia. So far Tasuki had gone to check on the she-wolf six times, Titus had run off three more officers when Phillip started having trouble keeping them out, and the captive guard had started gnawing on his wrist in an attempt to get out of the chair.

Of course it wasn’t exactly the guard’s fault he was suddenly desperate to escape. They had gotten bored and started taunting him on the intercom about the things Lucca would do to him when the mob found out he was a snitch.

“This is not how I wanted to spend my day,” Tasuki complained.

“I hear that,” Micah muttered wishing Alicia would hurry. She’d said Damon wasn’t with her and that made him want to see her even more.

Tasuki glanced over at Micah, “I’m curious, how many cougars and jaguars are in this city?”

“A few hundred at least,” Micah answered. “But not all of them hang around with the pack. Some of them are satisfied with their mates and try to live a normal human life. I even know of several who try to act completely human… to the point that their mate doesn’t even know they are shifters.”

“Don’t you guys get urges or something like that?” Tasuki asked with a shrug.

Micah smiled, “Yeah, it’s one of the very few things Hollywood got right. At least once every few months, we need to get out of the city and run wild. All that the shifters that are pretending to be human have to do is say that they are going rock climbing for the weekend or something like that. We can survive just fine on regular food and a regular life, but if we don’t follow our instinct to shift and run once in a while, we tend to get a little snappy… or worse.”

Tasuki grinned, “I take it that it’s been quite a while since you went for a run on the wild side.”

Micah’s retort died on his lips when the main door opened and he heard two people walk in to the building. He went over to the observation room door and cracked it open to see. Some of his excitement faded seeing that Damon had decided to tag along.

“Don’t get your hopes up on a Sun God being awe inspiring… you’re about to meet one,” Micah said with a touch of sarcasm. “I’m still under the illusion it’s just another name for Dickhead.”

Tasuki cocked an eyebrow, “Is it smart to call someone with the sub-title God a dickhead?”

“If the shoe fits,” Micah shrugged.

Damon smirked wondering how long the uniformed cop outside the door would continue to stand on one leg. That’s what the punk gets for telling Alicia she couldn’t enter. Seeing Titus striding toward them, he silently wondered what an Alpha werewolf would look like walking around on his hands issuing orders to his pack. Damon sighed deciding he was already bored.

“Alicia, glad you could make it,” Titus said then gave Damon a weary nod of acknowledgement. He had to keep himself from rubbing his chin in remembrance of the force Damon had put behind that punch on their first meeting. Turning his attention back to Alicia, he noted the black leather duffle bag she was carrying. “Is that the stuff you brought for her?”

Alicia nodded and handed him the duffle bag, “Yeah, I even packed a brush and a little bit of makeup for her just in case.”

Titus smiled, “I’m sure anything at this point will be appreciated. I put her in the only cell we have that has a built in shower. She’s not a prisoner, but when we rescued her she was showing signs of being feral so we had to tranquilize her.” he said skipping the speech about her being in heat. “Hopefully, finding this stuff when she wakes up will calm her down. Let me take this back to her and then we’ll get started.”

The muscles in Damon’s jaw jumped as he gritted his teeth. He looked down at the top of Alicia’s head wondering just what Titus had meant by ‘we’ll get started’.

Alicia bit her lip remembering she’d never told Damon about the other reason she’d agreed to come. Wanting to stall Titus she quickly asked, “Can I see her?”

Titus shrugged, “I don’t see why not.”

He led Alicia and her imposing mate through the doorway leading back to the holding cells. When they approached the cell, Titus quickly took out the keys and unlocked the door. Placing the bag on the floor next to the bed, he carefully backed out.

“She’s lovely,” Alicia whispered feeling sorry for her. “It looks like she’s been in her wolf form for weeks… that’s dangerous isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’m hoping she’ll feel safe enough to shift back when she awakens,” Titus said.

“She’s barely out of her teenage years.” Damon observed slipping his arm around Alicia when he felt her sadness.

“Boris guessed around twenty,” Titus responded.

“Poor girl,” Alicia said under her breath and was suddenly looking forward to putting that man under her thrall. If he was responsible for this… her eyes narrowed a fraction trying to think of a punishment to fit the crime.

Micah timed it perfectly and came out of the observation room just as they arrived near it. He even let his eyes widen with surprise as if he hadn't known she’d showed up several minutes ago.

“There’s my elusive sister,” he said playfully and was rewarded with a tight hug. She hurriedly released him much to Micah’s disappointment but he figured Damon would get jealous if they held on to each other too long.

“How are you?” Micah asked while brushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes.

“Doing good,” Alicia answered then gave Damon a sly look hoping to put him in a better mood before they dropped the f-bomb by blurting out the other reason she’d come to the station. “Sorry about the disappearing act but my mate tends to keep me a willing prisoner for days on end.”

Damon smirked at Alicia’s choice of words then looked over Micah’s shoulder when he noticed another man come out of the same room Micah had been in. A slight frown crossed his features at the man’s strange aura. While he couldn’t read souls like the Fallen, he could usually see the aura around people if he tried. He didn’t have to strain to see this guy’s aura… he was glowing a florescent blue from the inside.

“This is Tasuki, one of our human detectives,” Micah introduced. “Trevor accidentally found out Tasuki here knew about the existence of the paranormal, so he got stuck with us.”

Human? Damon smirked at their ignorance. That man was so much more than mere human.

“You must be Alicia,” Tasuki said with a disarming smile and then extended his hand toward Damon after hearing about Damon’s temperament from Micah’s rants. “It’s a pleasure to meet both of you.”

Damon stared at the hand for a moment and finally took it. This man was no threat to Alicia so he would let him pass.

“So where’s the werewolf you want me to enthrall?” Alicia asked. “I take it he’s one of the SOB’s who kidnapped the girl?”

Damon again looked down at the top of his mate’s head and glared. “You said nothing about putting a werewolf under your thrall.”

“You didn’t exactly give me a chance,” Alicia accused. “And you owe me by the way.”

“I didn’t accept the bet,” Damon said with a devious smirk.

“That’s too bad,” Alicia said sympathetically and almost laughed when she saw Damon’s eyes narrow on her. She returned her attention to the matter at hand before Damon thought of a way to stop her. “I’ll have this creep singing like a jailbird if you’ll just lead the way.”

Tasuki moved aside and gestured toward the observation room. “Your target is right in there.”

Alicia stepped into the small room with Damon and Micah right behind her.

Tasuki sent a knowing grin toward Titus at their protective behavior before joining them inside the room.

Titus merely smirked and shook his head. Those two would probably never change but at least it was entertaining to watch.

The five of them looked through the two way mirror at the werewolf in the interrogation room on the other side of the glass. The damned idiot was still trying to fight his way out of that chair. Both of his wrists were in the titanium restraints and his ankles were manacled to the chair legs. At the moment, he had loosened the chair from its floor bolts and was now rocking back and forth trying to tip the chair over.

“Five bucks says he’ll fall over and hit his head,” Tasuki said out of the blue.

Damon smirked at the ‘human’s’ attempt at humor.

“Ten bucks says he’ll just fall over and try kicking his way toward the door,” Micah challenged and the two men settled in to watch.

Damon’s smirk widened and he decided to… help out a little. When the wolf tipped his chair again, it fell over and the man hit his head on the floor… hard enough to knock himself out.

Tasuki snorted and held out his hand for the money Micah now owed him.

“Yeah, yeah, you got lucky rookie,” Micah said good naturally as he flipped his wallet open and plucked a ten.

“Nice doing business with you,” Tasuki said and pocketed the bill. “Want to bet on how long he stays out?”

Alicia had been calmly watching the werewolf. She thought she’d at least be a little nervous but amazingly the emotion never came. Feeling brave, she took a deep breath knowing Damon wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

“Let me have a few minutes alone with him,” Alicia said.

“I don’t think so,” Damon growled not at all amused.

Alicia pouted up at him, “How do you expect me to learn anything if you’re always there to help me?”

“I’ll always be there to help you,” Damon corrected.

“Oh really,” Alicia put her hands on her hips deciding that batting her eyelashes wasn’t going to get her what she wanted so she again tried the truth. “What if we somehow become separated and I’m left to face something dangerous… alone?”

“You will not go into that room by yourself,” Damon insisted and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You know, it would be nice to be trusted enough to do something on my own for once instead of having a damn nursemaid.” She turned her back on him. “You’re worse than my brothers.”

Damon narrowed his eyes at Alicia’s back while Micah looked at her with a hurt expression.

“Couldn’t you go in with her and let her at least try it alone before you attempt to help?” Micah asked, for once trying to make peace with Damon.

Alicia looked over her shoulder at Damon liking Micah’s compromise.

“We really need every ounce of information we can get from him. I know for a fact that the girls we rescued tonight aren’t the only girls needing our help,” Titus offered as an incentive. “This guy might know where more are hidden.”

Damon inwardly sighed as he watched a stricken look cross Alicia’s face. He was getting too soft. “Very well Alicia, we will both enter that room but the werewolf is all yours.”

Alicia’s expression changed and she smiled up at Damon before sliding her arms around him in a soft grateful hug. Some people might not understand Damon but she did… and she loved every single inch of him.

Tasuki led the couple into the interrogation room and shut the door behind them. He quickly returned to Micah and Titus so he could watch. Micah pulled a chair around and straddled it, crossing his arms over the back of it. Titus leaned against the wall next to the two way mirror while Tasuki made himself comfortable on the other side.

“What’s she going to do exactly?” Tasuki asked as he watched Damon reach down and right the man’s chair even though he was still out cold.

“You know how vampires will hypnotize people in the movies and make them do stuff they normally wouldn’t do?” Micah asked.

Tasuki shrugged, “Well, yeah… but I figured since she was a shifter like you, it wouldn’t apply and I’ve kind of given up on the movies being anywhere near accurate.”

“Ordinarily, a shifter would not have that kind of ability,” Titus agreed then added, “But Alicia is a special case. Being mated to a Sun God does have its advantages.”

Tasuki sighed heavily, “When are you going to tell me what a Sun God is?”

“When we find out,” Micah answered as if that solved world hunger.

The werewolf opened his eyes and suddenly lurched forward in his chair toward Alicia, snarling and growling. “Just my luck… they send in a damn pussy cat.”

The emphasis on Alicia’s feline heritage caused Damon to react and, before anyone could blink, he was standing less than a foot away from the werewolf with a hand gripping the man’s neck. Much to everyone’s shock, Alicia was standing between the two of them with a scowl on her face directed at Damon.

“You promised,” Alicia hissed. “And if I’m right… the hardest thing to put under a thrall would be a dead person.”

Releasing his neck, Damon glared at the werewolf and his amethyst eyes darkened.

The werewolf swallowed when his chair started shaking and the table strained against the bolts that were holding it to the floor. One of the bolts popped loose from the floor sounding almost like a gunshot in the dead silence.

“Damon!” Alicia shouted.

“Just making sure he gets the point,” Damon said and went to lean against the wall on the other side of the table.

“If he didn’t get the point… I did,” Tasuki whispered even though the intercom was turned off at the moment.

Alicia approached the other chair at the table and sat down to stare at the werewolf who was now brooding.

“What the hell do you want?” the wolf asked coming to the conclusion that he was going to die whether he talked or not. “Do they think by sending a pretty girl in here that’ll make me talk?” He leaned toward her a little bit, “Ain’t nothin’ you can do that’d make me turn on Lucca. I got news for you Sweetheart. I got a freakin’ harem waiting for me out there.”

Alicia gave him a small smile and leaned closer, “I’m sure you do, but before you leave you really want to answer my questions. I’m looking for a girlfriend of mine… she’s missing and I was wondering if you’d seen her.”

“I’ve seen more than my fair share of women,” he said with a conceited smirk, not realizing he was already obeying. “But ain’t had any cougars under my tender care for a while now.”

“She’s not a cougar,” Alicia said and tilted her head to the side, feeling giddy when the wolf’s head mimicked her movement. She showed no outward surprise when she suddenly got a strange visual of another girl and realized it was his thoughts she was seeing… not hers.

Pulling on the few flashes of memory she found within his mind’s eye, Alicia decided to use them to her advantage. “My friend is human, reddish-blond hair, green eyes, and has the tattoo of hands holding a crystal ball across her lower back.”

The guard frowned in displeasure, “Yeah… we had that hot little number a couple weeks ago. Lucca took her for himself. He always takes the good ones.”

Alicia tilted her head the other way and he followed. “Where is Lucca?” she asked gently.

“Don’t know,” the wolf answered groggily. “He’s smart that one… doesn’t tell everyone everything… ya know? He’s got so many of us working for him in different areas… no one knows where the other areas are. That way if we get busted we can’t sell out everyone else.”

Alicia’s eyes widened allowing her pupils to enlarge and pulled the werewolf even further into her control. His answers were tempting her anger but she held it in check.

“Where do you find most of the girls you kidnap?” she inquired.

“Sometimes in the dance clubs or the bad part of town where the homeless are easy prey… no one cares enough to report them missing”

“The Slums,” Micah mused. “That actually makes sense.”

“Why’s that?” Titus asked.

“Alicia got into some trouble in that area a while back,” Micah answered remembering the two werewolves she’d drained in an ally. He shoved the memory away. “It’s not a nice area… a lot of drug activity and prostitution. There’s also a lot of demon activity down there too.”

“And my friend? Where did you find her?” Alicia asked since the man’s vision of the girl’s clothing had looked more like a rich girl’s party dress.

“Her and that she-wolf were dancing together at Night Light over a month ago. Parker slipped a drug into their drink and they didn’t know what hit them.”

Micah’s chair fell over he came out of it so fast. “They’ve had her in a cage like that for a month,” he thundered pissed beyond reason that girls had been kidnapped from his bar. “I suspected as much. That’s why I confronted Anthony about it.”

Titus held his hand up at Micah and pressed the button on the intercom, “Alicia, is there any way you can brainwash this guy?”

“There are many things I could do to him right now,” she said not looking away from the werewolf prisoner.

“He might be of good use later,” Titus answered.

“So you want me to brainwash him into being good for the rest of his life?”

Titus arched an eyebrow, “That’s not a bad idea… convince him he’s part of my pack and that Lucca is the pack enemy. Then, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to do the same thing to the other four guards we found.”

“You could make him loyal to you then send him back to Lucca as a spy,” Damon suggested knowing Titus could hear him.

Titus hesitated before clicking the intercom again, “Will I be able to trust him completely?”

“Alicia?” Damon smirked knowing she was just itching to make this guy claw his own eyes out and swallow his tongue.

“Oh I got this,” Alicia said with a saucy smile.

Titus smiled in satisfaction when Alicia added a couple rules of her own… like visiting gay biker bars on his night off and never again being turned on by a female of any race.

“Ouch,” Micah said grinning from ear to ear.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Tasuki whispered.

Micah snorted, “Welcome to our world. This is regular everyday bullshit compared to some of the stuff that goes on around here.”

“Looks like she’s done,” Titus said and pushed away from the wall just as the door opened.

“Was that good enough for you?” Alicia asked with a grin.

“Perfect as always,” Micah praised.

“I’ll take you over to the precinct so you can work on the others,” Titus reminded her but glanced toward Damon for approval.

Alicia stepped over and gave Micah another hug. “Thank you for letting me help out on this. I really enjoyed being needed, so if you catch any more bad guys that could use an adjustment, just let me know.” She quickly slid from his arms and eagerly followed Titus out the door.

Micah smirked at her retreating form but his expression melted away when he saw Damon glaring at him. With a heavy sigh, he shook his head and rolled his eyes before turning away from the man. Micah leaned close to the two way mirror to take a good look at the werewolf and blinked when a small crack suddenly appeared right in front of his face.

Tasuki took a step back from the cougar when he saw a golden hue appear in his eyes. The sight of golden eyes needled at his memory and the vision of the golden eyed man Kyoko had called an angel came back to haunt him. The sounds out in the hall faded away and Tasuki shook the vision away when Micah abruptly punched the two-way mirror with his fist. The glass shattered startling the werewolf still held inside the interrogation room.

“Calm down,” Tasuki said softly.

Micah shook his head, “He keeps Alicia away from her family and thinks everyone is out to take her from him.”

Tasuki left the small room and headed toward the break room, his destination… the coffee machine. He had a feeling that with all of the flashes he was having… sleep was probably a really bad idea. He’d made it two days without sleep so far… what would another one hurt. It wasn’t like he would suddenly go crazy or anything… you had to be sane to do that.

After a few minutes of complete silence, Tasuki headed toward the holding cells but paused when the front door opened and Titus stepped in with a grin on his face.

“Damon seems to be in a bit of a rush so he’s reprogramming three of the guards while Alicia works on the last one,” he announced.

“Figures,” Micah yelled sarcastically from inside the observation room.

Tasuki decided to ignore the remark. “What about ‘Mr. Loves Gay Biker Bars’ in there?” he asked tilting his head toward the interrogation room where the werewolf was still shackled to the chair.

“We are going to transport him and the other guards to the larger jail on the other end of town. Too bad they’re going to overpower the driver and make their grand escape along the way,” Titus answered with a smirk.

Tasuki frowned, “What if Lucca suspects them?”

“If we had only let one of the guards go, then you’re right… Lucca would be very suspicious. That’s why I’m letting them escape as a group, fighting their way out of police custody. Lucca will probably give them a damn promotion for putting one over on us,” Titus answered silently thanking Damon for the idea. “By the way, I need you to do something for me.”

“What’s that?” Tasuki asked.

Titus held up the empty bottle of spritzer, “Stop by The Witch’s Brew and pick up another bottle of this stuff.”

Tasuki took the bottle and looked at its small size, “Want me to pick up more than one?”

“Not a bad idea.” Titus answered and turned his head when he heard Micah growl. “I’d better get in there and give him something to do before Micah releases some of his frustrations on the poor guy.”