I MADE IT as far as one of the sitting rooms before I collapsed into a chair, my legs unable to carry me any further. Without Thomas watching me, I gave up on trying to present a strong front, content to just rest for now. His blood was still playing havoc with my system.
If it didn't settle down, this would have been for nothing. There was no way I'd be able to talk to the wolf in this condition. I refused to let that happen, not after what I risked.
My eyes closed, and I slowed my breathing, in and out. In and out. Forcing my heartbeat to slow with it.
Silver lining in all this—I got the sense that the connection with Thomas didn't allow him to compel me, or at least not to the extent that I feared. I'm sure if he exerted enough raw power into the compulsion I wouldn't stand a chance, but that had been the case before as well. I'd learn eventually how far this connection extended, whether he'd have access to my thoughts and innermost self. I'd have to deal with that when the time came. Not now. I had more important things to worry about.
Liam walked around the corner, his focus on where I was sprawled in an armchair. His lips quirked with a trace of amusement, and I fixed him with a hard stare. Nothing about this matter was funny.
"I'm surprised you made it this far," he said.
I grunted. "Me too. I feel like half my bones went on sabbatical."
"Only half?" he asked, arching one eyebrow.
"The other half is too stoned to move."
"Ah." His chuckle wrapped around me in a warm embrace. He moved to the armchair across from me and sat down, his body as lithe and sinuous as a cat's. His sprawl was nothing like mine—which was more of a boneless flop. His was a thing of beauty. One that seduced and spoke of dark pleasures.
"Thanks for the advice," I said in a stilted voice.
He inclined his head.
"Why'd you help me?" I asked, unable to resist. His warning about staying separate made a difference. I just couldn’t tell how much of one yet. "I doubt Thomas would appreciate your interference."
The look on Liam's face was thoughtful. "Perhaps not immediately, but I have faith he'll see the wisdom in my actions eventually."
He was either naive or just stupid. I couldn't tell which. Thomas, in my eyes, was a power-hungry asshole who wanted things his way now. I doubted he would ever appreciate the fact that Liam had helped me maintain some distance in the connection.
"I don't know what you see in him," I said.
Liam rubbed his finger against the arm of the chair as he tilted his head. "You see him through the lens of a few interactions. Perception is rarely reality. I have the benefit of centuries of exchanges to pull from."
I made a sound of disgruntlement. If he said so. I didn't plan to take his word on it, though. What I'd told Thomas was the truth, this had been a one-time thing. I didn't plan on giving him any further opportunities to sink his hooks into me. Not unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Do you know when Brax's wolf will get here?" I asked. Sunrise was less than two hours away, and my experience last night had made me wary of cutting it too close.
"She's already here. That's why I tracked you down."
I struggled to sit up. "Why didn't you say so?"
"You looked so content sitting there, I didn't have the heart to disturb you," he teased. His expression turned serious. "You need to remain still for a while longer to let your body acclimate to the blood. Thomas has a lot of power and his blood packs quite a punch."
"I don't have time for this," I said, finally fully upright.
Liam was next to me in the next moment, pressing me back into the soft cushions, his face close to mine. His eyes flicked to my lips before he gave me a wicked smile. "You have more time than you think. Consuming Thomas’s blood has the nice benefit of enabling you to resist the sun once it rises."
I paused and gave him an intrigued look. "You mean I won't be tied to its coming and going?"
What would it be like to have so much more time in my life? I could finally take on more runs, which would mean I could stop living hand to mouth and finally make some decent money. It wasn't too bad with the long nights of winter, but during summer my hours were seriously curtailed. Shortened hours meant less runs, which meant less money.
"For a short time." He gave me a meaningful look. "Unless you make it a regular habit."
I grimaced at that statement. Tempting though it was to be free from the prison of the sun, I didn't think it was enough to make me come over to the dark side.
"What's with your sudden insistence that I tap his vein regularly?" I asked. My bones felt like they had a bit more substance. Liam was right, much as I hated to admit it. The few minutes we'd been talking had gone a long way to restoring my strength.
He studied me with a thoughtful expression as if he was trying to decide how much to tell me. "I've said before that you're not a typical vampire, even for a yearling. One of the ways your making is different than others is the fact you were not given regular access to your sire's blood, or any other master's blood, for the first year of your making."
"And you're trying to make up for that now," I said.
He inclined his head.
"Why?"
There was a pause. "There are certain benefits that come with drinking from your master for the first few years after the turn."
I nodded, pretending to understand even though his answer left as many questions as it answered.
I rested my head against the back of the armchair and watched him from under veiled eyes. His was the sort of face I could watch for hours. That is, until he opened his mouth. Then, I just wanted to punch him, more often than not.
"You two were made by the same sire," I said, tired of my own drama. They'd called each other brother once, which I'd learned didn't mean they were actually related but had shared the same sire.
"Yes, our sire was very old at the time of our making." His expression turned distant.
"Were you made at the same time?" I asked, curious in spite of myself.
"Near enough by vampire standards. In reality, we were turned thirty years apart." His eyes came back to me with an odd light in them.
"Which of you is the oldest?" I asked, my lips stretching in a playful smile.
His eyes glinted in the light, his expression turning seductive. "Which one do you think?"
A non-answer. I should have expected that. Still, it was a challenge I couldn't resist.
I tapped my lips thoughtfully as I studied him. It would make sense if Thomas had been the elder, but something stopped me from making that assumption. There was just something between the two of them that made me think differently. Liam was almost protective of Thomas, much like an older brother would be of a younger one.
"You're the eldest," I said, taking a chance.
His lips curved, but he didn't confirm or deny. "You should be feeling better now."
I frowned at him, knowing a subject change when I heard one. I couldn't argue with his statement since I was feeling a lot better. Actually, even better than I would feel normally, now that I thought about it. My body felt like there was a current running through it, like I could do an Iron Man and then go for a nice hike up a mountain afterward.
"Fine, have it your way," I told him, letting him know I was on to him. "Where is Brax's werewolf?"
Liam slid to standing in an otherworldly movement that had me blinking. Sometimes I forgot that he wasn't quite human until he did something to remind me.
"I had Nathan show them to one of our interrogation rooms," he said.
He kept pace with me as we made our way through the mansion. I kept an eye on the halls we turned down, wanting to better understand the layout so I wouldn't keep getting lost.
"Wow, not my first choice for questioning someone," I said. "Would have preferred to keep them comfortable so they were more likely to share."
People tend to clam up the warier they were.
"I've found fear is a powerful motivator in convincing people to talk," Liam said, humor in his voice.
I gave him a sidelong look. Hm, I could see how that might work for him. He'd scare the piss out of them, and they'd fall over themselves trying to say whatever it took to get him to go away. It was something I was unlikely to ever pull off, though. I lacked the necessary scariness that would make such a maneuver effective. Perhaps it had something to do with being a baby vamp.
"This is us," he said, stopping in front of a heavy wooden door, one just like every other door on this corridor. Nothing marked it as an interrogation room.
"You coming in with me?" I asked.
"Yes, I'm as curious you are to see what drove your friend to such desperate actions."
I thought as much, but the confirmation was nice. Perhaps I could use his presence.
"Let me take the lead," I said. I’d paid a steep price for this and wasn't willing to have him take over.
He nodded. "For now. If I feel the need, I will take control of the interview."
"Guess I'll just have to make sure you don't feel the need," I muttered.
There was a light touch on the small of my back, and then he reached past me to open the door, pushing it open. I took a deep breath before stepping through.
The woman waiting was not what I was expecting, nor was the room. Instead of an austere, grungy interrogation room straight out of a TV or movie set, it was a warm and welcoming sitting room. There was a dark gray couch and other comfortable looking chairs around the room. The coffee table had an array of bright magazines, and the room was painted a pale, sunny yellow. Everything was designed to put you at ease, to say come in and have a seat while we have a conversation.
I gave Liam a dark look over my shoulder, and he grinned un-repentantly at me, knowing exactly what I had envisioned when he said interrogation room. A dungeon this was not. Tricky, tricky vampire.
The wolf was a petite woman with wavy, blond hair and a pixie face. She wore a bright green sundress and greeted us with a happy smile, standing when we entered. This was the woman Caroline attacked? That didn't seem right.
"Are you Aileen?" she asked in a light, high voice, giving me a nervous smile. "They told me to wait because you had questions for me." She fidgeted, twisting her hands in front of her as she waited for my answer.
I smiled, hoping it didn't show how off balance her presence put me, and held out a hand for her to shake. She took it with a grateful smile, and I felt a smidgen of relief that my people skills hadn't completely deserted me.
"I'm Aileen. Sorry to keep you waiting so long."
She smiled again, the expression lighting her face. Her makeup was flawless, understated and elegant. This was a woman who had probably never been unpopular. She was all sweetness and butterflies, and I could easily imagine her in a sorority before making a graceful transition to adulthood. It wasn't a combination that should have set Caroline off. Granted, the two would probably have never have become besties—the woman in front of me was too normal for that and would have bored Caroline and inspired reluctant distaste, but not antagonism. Caroline would have just consigned her to being unworthy of her notice.
"I'm Lisa. It's nice to meet you."
"How long have you been a werewolf?" I asked.
She blinked and sputtered out a laugh. "That's a personal question."
I forced myself to give her an answering smile, even as I felt impatient. She must know Brax sent her here to answer my questions, most of which would be personal on some level. "Sorry, I'm new to the whole vampire life myself, and Brax led me to believe you were in a similar situation. I apologize if I overstepped."
"No, no. That's perfectly understandable. I remember when I first transitioned I was always looking for others in a similar stage as I was." She clasped her hands in her lap and shared a conspiratorial smile. "It helps to have someone who understands what you're going through."
"Exactly," I said. Not really. At least for me. I was too much of a loner for that.
"I've only been two natured for about a year and a half," she confided.
"Really?" I asked. A year and a half and she was still at the farm? I'd been under the impression from Caroline that they usually only secluded wolves for a year, so they could gain control over their other self. That this woman had to stay longer meant either there was something about this process I didn't understand or her control was very shaky.
"How'd you become a werewolf?" I asked, curious how the wolves went about choosing the people they planned to change.
She got a sheepish look on her face. "It was a bit of an accident."
How does one 'accidentally' become a werewolf? I thought Brax had more control over his wolves than that.
"My boyfriend is a werewolf," she said as if that explained everything.
The look I gave her was blank. I didn't understand.
Seeing my confusion, she blushed before leaning forward and confiding, "We were intimate a little too close to the full moon, if you know what I mean."
No, I had no clue what she meant. I raised my eyes to Liam, asking without words if he did.
He took pity on me. "Their control over their wolves gets shakier around the full moon. Passion has been known to snap that control. If any part of him changed during sex, his bodily fluids would have the potential to carry the lycanthrope virus. In rare cases, it has been known to spark the change in a partner."
Lisa looked slightly uncomfortable at the revelation.
Liam continued with a cool look in her direction. "I thought Brax had counseled his wolves on being careful around such times so as to avoid such a circumstance."
She bit her lip, looking slightly abashed. "He had, but we figured since I was on the list for the bite anyway, there would be little harm in it." Her eyes were avid as she leaned forward. "Plus, sex with a werewolf around the full moon is really intense. The inner animal comes out, if you know what I mean."
My eyes widened slightly, and I nodded. I did understand this time.
Liam retained his hard expression. "You realize your boyfriend would have been punished severely for disobeying his alpha. Brax has killed others for less."
She looked shamed, her chin wobbling and her eyes filling with tears. One escaped to roll down her cheek. She looked no less perfect for the show of emotion. When I cried, I tended to turn a blotchy red, my eyes looking like a puffer fish and my nose looking like it had a severe sunburn.
"I know. Since finishing Brax's punishment, he refuses to talk to me. I haven't spoken with him since that night." She sniffed. "I hope he knows I never meant for any of this to happen."
Liam looked unconvinced. Both of us studied her with a laser focus.
"What happened between you and Caroline?" I asked in a soft voice, trying to appear sympathetic.
She looked up at me, her eyes still watery. "It was my fault."
"I'm sure it was an accident," I said, giving her an excuse.
"I know better than to corner a new wolf." Her hands twisted in her lap, the picture of a remorseful woman. "I've just been so lonely being the only girl on the farm. I thought it might be nice to have a friend. All of the other wolves don't like me much because they think it's my fault Jonathan got in trouble."
"Of course, that's understandable," I said with a warm smile.
"It is?" Her look was hopeful.
"Yeah, I was in the military for several years, and it was always nice when I found a female friend. Guys are great, but they sometimes don't get everything we're going through."
I ignored the look Liam shot me, one that said he suspected someone had invaded my body.
She gave me a relieved smile. "Exactly. I just thought we could help each other out."
"Give each other tips?" I said, helping her along.
She nodded. "Yeah. Maybe even cover for each other when one of us needed a few minutes away to get ourselves back under control. I mean Brax and his people are so nice, but I think they forget sometimes what it's like."
"You know, I'm going through some of the same things. These older vampires, they just don't understand. They're all about rules and nit-picking everything I do. It's enough to drive a person mad," I said, flicking a glance Liam's way.
Her eyes went to him to as if she had just realized he was in the room with us. Panic flitted over her features, and she leaned forward, her hands gripping my arm, "Please don't tell Brax I said anything against him. He's a good alpha, but he wouldn't understand that sometimes us girls just need a moment. He might punish me for such thoughts."
My eyes narrowed. I kept my sly smile inside.
"Sounds like a pretty awful person to punish you for such a natural way of thinking," I said in an idle voice.
"Oh no, he's great. I mean, he's set in his ways and he can be a little harsh sometimes."
I nodded as if I agreed with every word she said. "Right. Sounds like you don't like him at all."
"No, that's not what I said," she denied, her gaze going from me to Liam and back again.
My voice was puzzled. "First you say he's great, then you say he's harsh. That you'd face punishment for saying anything against him. Does that sound like the alpha we know, Liam?"
Liam's eyes rested on me, warm with a slight quirk to his lips. It was a long moment before he looked back at Lisa, his eyes turning wintry. I shivered at the thought of such a gaze being turned on me. I'd faced his stony expression before, so I knew exactly how unsettling it was when the stone-cold enforcer came out to play.
"Nope, sure doesn't," he said.
"You're twisting my words," Lisa said, frustration beginning to show on her face.
I studied her for a moment, my mouth pursing just the slightest bit. Maybe. "Back to Caroline, what was it about being friends that she took issue with?"
Lisa stared at me for a long moment before jerking up one shoulder. "She invited me into her room, and then flipped out when I touched her things."
"So, it wasn't friendship that pissed her off. It was you invading her space."
"No, she invited me."
I made a face as if I understood. "But, I thought you said you pressured her."
"Yes, to be friends. That's all."
"So, it's her fault?" I asked.
"Yes." Her face blanched. "I mean no. It's just being a new werewolf can be hard. I think she lost control for a moment. That's all. Everything since then has gotten blown way out of proportion."
"Now, you're saying she over-reacted to what happened," I said in a flat voice, not bothering to hide my dislike for her anymore.
She scowled at me. "I don't think I like your tone. I'm not here for you to cast accusations and blame me for things that aren't my fault."
Bitch was good, playing the whole 'we women have to stick together' card before transitioning to righteous indignation. Too bad I'd dealt with that sort of thing more than once in my life. It stopped having an effect on me a long time ago.
"No, you're here because your alpha ordered your presence. I doubt he did it, so you could lie and misdirect us," Liam said from his corner, his voice a cold wind. He fixed Lisa with a gaze that said he was wondering what she would look like with her throat torn out and her blood gushing down the front of her pretty dress.
She blanched, reading the intent in his gaze, her gaze going to me for help.
I shrugged, allowing my amusement to show through. "Don't look at me. I've heard very few truths out of you since I sat down."
"That's, that's—"
"Unfortunate," I finished for her. "How about you try a little harder to tell us what happened? Otherwise, I'll leave you in a room alone with Liam. He's kind of upset with me because I took a bit of a breather from all this earlier tonight. He might enjoy working his frustration out on you."
Liam's lips curved in a dangerous smile, his fangs denting his lower lip and giving no illusion about just how he would get the information.
"You can't do that. Brax won't let you." Fear showed in her eyes. I think we were finally getting to meet the real Lisa.
"I think he would if it meant learning what actually happened that night." I leaned forward, my face set in a cruel expression. "I'm told some vampires can see memories from blood. He's pretty old. What do you want to bet he has that ability?"
"Please, help me. I didn't do anything. I'm not lying." Her eyes pleaded with me. A nicer person, a less determined person might have felt bad. Not tonight. She'd picked the wrong person to play her games on.
I rubbed my chin and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. I gave her an easy smile. She blanched. Hmm. Guess that smile needed work. "If the next words out of your mouth aren't the truth, I'm walking out that door. It's best that way, believe me. Right now, I'd like to dismember you piece by piece then watch as you heal, so I can do it again."
My smile held all of the dark yearning and terrible wrath that I concealed on a daily basis. I let some of my darkness peak through. This time she flinched, her mouth shutting so she could watch me with the intensity of a rabbit faced with a wolf. Pretty funny since she really was a wolf.
"Caroline is my best friend. One of my only friends. You did something so horrible to her that she fled a place that was supposed to make her feel safe, at a time she needed it most." My voice was a low thrum in the quiet. The yearning for violence might have scared me a few years ago, but now I embraced it. She had to believe I would hurt her if she lied to me. Had to believe I'd make her wish she was dead.
She’d brought this on herself when she did whatever it was that sent Caroline fleeing into danger. I wouldn't forgive her for that, and if scaring her was the most I could do, I'd take it.
"She found out I was still seeing my boyfriend. The alpha decreed that we weren’t to have contact until he approved." The sneer in her voice made it clear what she thought of that order. "I don't think she planned to tell anyone, but I had to be sure. Jonathan can't go through another punishment."
"What did you do?" I asked, my voice doing that weird growl thing that happened when my emotions were too close to the surface.
Lisa gave a negligent shrug. "I just planned to threaten her a bit."
A yowl escaped me, the dangerous sound similar to what a cat makes when they mean business. The sound was deep, and promised pain for anyone stupid enough to keep pressing me. It was a warning.
Lisa jerked, her lips curling to expose teeth that were a lot sharper than they had been a moment ago. I tensed, ready to act if she thought to attack me. She settled down when Liam shifted forward, violence in every line of his body.
"Nothing too bad. I cornered her in her room. Said some things."
"You're lying again," I threatened, my voice full of power that had an odd reverberation to it.
"I let my wolf out. It was just supposed to scare her, but she flipped out. Next thing I knew, I was on my back, and she'd almost ripped off my arm. Clay and Sondra came in then." Lisa crossed her arms over her stomach, looking defiant even as her eyes moved between Liam and me. "Happy now?"
I held my body very still, the urge to go for her throat very strong. She'd just admitted to terrorizing Caroline, and she didn't even acknowledge that she'd done anything wrong. Yes, her blood would look very nice decorating her front.
"Aileen," Liam warned.
I took a deep breath and sat back. She wasn't worth it. Such an action would put the final nail on the coffin of Liam's conviction I needed someone watching me at all times. I was better than that, even if it would be satisfying to make her pay for her actions.
"What happened after that?" I asked.
"Nothing." Her eyes shifted away from me.
I snarled and darted forward, my fangs brushing her throat. "What did I say about lying?"
"I left a few presents in her room. Made her think I'd be coming for her again, but with more wolves this time."
I sat back, my fangs retreating into my gums as I looked over my shoulder at Liam. He was just behind my chair, his body poised for action. I kept my smile to myself, seeing he'd bought my act. "You have anything else to ask?"
His chin tilted down as he met my gaze for a long moment. His face was thoughtful. "No, nothing else for the moment."
The door opened to reveal Brax in the doorway, his face a dark cloud as his eyes went straight to Lisa. He didn't say anything, his power rolling into the room like a pack of angry wolves. The glow of it to my magic sight seethed with rage. It was a burning, living thing.
Lisa flinched, hunching into the couch and looking terrified of her alpha. I couldn't bring myself to feel an ounce of sympathy for her. She'd brought this on herself.
"I’ll be taking my wolf now," he said, his voice a dangerous thrum in the quiet.
Liam didn't protest. I remained in my seat, watching through veiled eyes as Lisa jumped up looking like a shade of the confident, sunny woman I'd met when I first came in. She scuttled to the doorway, careful not to brush against Brax as he stepped aside to let her out.
He lingered once she disappeared, the power that had saturated the room pulling back until he wore it like a cloak. He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking suddenly tired.
"Why was nothing done to protect Caroline after the first attack?" Liam asked.
It was a question I should have asked, but fury and rage were too close to the surface to make speaking right now a good idea. Worse, I could feel the familiar burn behind my eyes that said I wasn't far from a crying fit sparked by all this surplus emotion. It wasn't that I was sad. It's just when I was thrown into a rage, my body sometimes got confused, which caused that awful thing called tears. It had been the bane of my professional life, and I'd learned the best thing to forestall it was to go silent until I got my emotions back under an iron grip.
Brax's sigh was heavy and tired sounding. "We didn't know what caused the altercation. Neither of them would tell us, and we assumed it was because Lisa threatened Caroline's personal space. It's happened before with other pups."
The chair arm cracked under my grip. Neither Brax nor Liam commented, though they both glanced in my direction.
"I knew there was something more between them, but I had to tread lightly. You managed to get more out of her than my people did. Good work." That last piece was aimed at me.
"Does this change anything?" My voice was tight and raw from the stranglehold created by my turbulent emotions.
Brax hesitated, the expression on his face answer enough. I went back to staring at the wall. "I'm sorry, but the former problems still remain. We need to find her before she hurts anyone else."