Jaded Blood

Michael froze as he fully realized his train of thought. Panic immediately joined the high he was on and the thought of Aurora made a mass of fear settle in his belly accompanied by a bone deep chill. He remembered Kane’s warning on the roof top after killing Samuel. He’d pointed out to Aurora the dangers of letting him taste her blood.

Looking for a reason, he latched on to the memory of Samuel taunting Aurora by telling her about the demons loose in the city that were strong enough to easily kill a Fallen… demons that already held a Fallen body count. These demon masters were a danger to Aurora… Samuel hadn't lied about that.

A slow smile caressed Michael’s lips. He now had a valid reason to feed off the demons that had been released into Los Angeles. Not only would he be protecting Aurora, he could also fulfill his craving with the diluted blood of a hybrid. By taking such small amounts he could keep better control over the unwanted side effects like earthquakes and death by Syn.

“A win-win scenario,” Michael mused and buried his hands in his pockets as he enjoyed his high and searched for his next victim.

Chapter 4

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.