Jaded Blood

“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.