Kym Grosso - Tristan's Lyceum Wolves

Tristan proceeded to sit in an overstuffed leather chaise, and propped his feet up on the ottoman. He gestured for Léopold to join him.

“Let me say that I am appreciative of any assistance you can provide with regards to finding the arsonists.”

“Nasty business, no? Kade informed me of your troubles, cowardly, indeed. Not that I mind revenge or war, when justified,” Léopold commented flatly.

“I can assure you that I do plan on revenge. And when I do, I’ll look straight into their soul when their life leaves this earth.”

Léopold let out a hearty laugh. “A man of my own heart. No wonder you and Kade are friends. Well then, I’d say you’ll enjoy this little tidbit of information I have for you.”

“I imagine I will.” Tristan grinned, tasting the justice he was readying to mete out.

“Let’s get to it then. You know Alexandra? My fille. My daughter. She runs our Philadelphia operations.”

Tristan silently nodded with an utterly emotionless expression. Did he know Alexandra? Who didn’t? She ran her vampire operations with a silk-covered, well-manicured, iron fist. Animalistic came to mind when he thought of how she lusted after anything with a cock, and provided little mercy for her enemies. Tristan considered her neither friend nor foe but generally avoided contact.

While it was true that he allowed her and her vampires to patronize his club, he’d had to refuse her sexual advances on more than one occasion and didn’t relish the thought of having to interact with the black-hearted mistress. Alexandra was interested in one thing and one thing only; Alpha blood. Alpha blood equated to power. As far as Tristan was concerned, it’d be a cold day in hell before he ever fucked her, let alone let her drink from him. He silently prayed that whatever Léopold said next didn’t involve quid quo pro.

As well as Tristan tried to hide his disdain for Alexandra, Léopold began to chuckle to himself. “Alpha, you need not conceal your feelings about her. I am not fond of the little witch, myself. But for now, she leads. And it just so happens that she’s found a toy which you’d like very much.”

Tristan raised an eyebrow. “A toy, you say?”

“Oui, a toy. If you know my fille; she sees most things or people as either food or toys. In some cases, they are one and the same.”

“So let’s say she does indeed have what I’d like to call a ‘person of interest’. Why hasn’t she come to me herself? Why send you?”

“Well, first of all, she very much likes her toy at the moment. And secondly, she’d want something in exchange for her troubles. However, when I heard you were looking for this ‘person of interest’, and I found out about her toy, I decided to force her to hand it over to you. You see, unlike Alexandra, I am very fond of Kade, and unlike most parents, I do play favorites. Sometimes she needs to be spanked a little to stay in line, no?” Léopold stated plainly as he fastened his cufflinks.

“Monsieur, I do appreciate your, shall we call it, intervention.”

“You can go do a pick up tonight. She’s expecting you. I can’t promise your ‘person of interest’ won’t be unharmed. I can, however, say that said person will be alive.”

“You sure about that?” Tristan didn’t mean to question the vampire but he knew Alexandra was nothing short of ruthless.

“Trust is a delicate thing, Alpha. You don’t know me well, so I shall let this pass. But know that my children do not cross me. For if they do, well, let’s just say that the immortal are not truly immortal. Death can come to us all given the right circumstance,” Léopold responded indifferently as he stood and put on his suit jacket.

Tristan knew his words to be true. Stake or remove a vampire’s heart or decapitate them, and a vampire would indeed die. Werewolves were nearly immortal and could suffer great injury, yet they could be killed by evisceration or broken neck. On that somber thought, Tristan stood up and faced the ancient vampire eye to eye.

“I want you to know that Lyceum Wolves is appreciative of your willingness to help. It will not be forgotten. If I can be of assistance to you in the future, do not hesitate to call on me.” He extended his hand.

“Alpha, you’ve been there for Kade many a time, no? I am only returning a favor. And I must say that after visiting your club, I see why it is so important to our upper echelon vampires. Willing donors for blood and pleasure combined with a decadent atmosphere is quite the attraction in the City of Brotherly Love. C'est une excellente.” Léopold reached for Tristan and returned his offer with a solid handshake. As Tristan opened the door, Léopold briefly raised his hand in a salute, before gathering his things to leave.

Logan gave Tristan a small grin. He’d stood watch outside, overhearing the entire conversation. “He’s quite the vamp, huh?” Logan commented. “Hard to believe Alexandra’s his daughter, although I will say they’re both as deadly as a rattlesnake in a pit.”

“That is true, my friend.” Tristan put a hand on Logan’s shoulder, not fancying a visit to Alexandra. Nevertheless, he couldn’t contain his excitement over the possibility that the arsonist could be in his custody within the hour.

Kalli slowly opened her eyes, entrenched in a hazy nightmare. Kidnapped and bled out, she could barely move her limbs, let alone try to sit up in bed. Two days ago, she’d left the hospital only to be attacked from behind by vampires. They’d knocked her out and brought her here, wherever here was. At first they’d chained her to the bed, but now her own body’s weakness shackled her. For two nights, she’d been visited by a diabolical bloodsucking mistress. The demon sucked her blood only to spit it out; something about poison, she remembered her screeching.

Kalli wasn’t naïve to supernaturals, far from it. She knew how evil they all were, and this nasty detour only proved her point. But Kalli was a survivor. She’d survived her so-called family; she’d survive this too. The effects of her pills were starting to wear off, as she could feel the beast within calling, begging to fight. She supposed she needed the extra strength it could bring her, but her brain refused to allow the animal to surface. She was human now, at least on the outside.

Looking around the opulent room, she craned her neck, struggling to identify where they’d brought her. If she didn’t know any better she’d have thought she was in a luxurious hotel. But the thousand-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets could not mask her hideous isolation; her deafening screams while tortured beyond reason. Still no one came to her rescue. Someone would have surely heard as she strained against the blood red talons that held her down while razor sharp fangs pierced her skin.

She spied a bottle of water and saltines on the nightstand. Had they been feeding her? Keeping her as some kind of blood bag? She didn’t remember eating, but she couldn’t deny she needed water. With great effort and a moan, she reached for the bottle and opened it. She felt almost human as the cool liquid slid down her sore throat. Almost human. That was the key, she thought to herself. For now, she thanked God that she was human enough to fool them. Repulsed by her blood, they hadn’t discovered her secret. She could sense the bitch’s confusion as her medicated blood hit her tongue. Damn straight, it didn’t taste good. Yet the greedy bloodsucker kept going, probably to make her weak on purpose. She might have succeeded in draining her, but Kalli was a fighter.

Letting the beast take control was seemingly her only option for escape. She hadn’t seen or heard anyone in the hallway. She reasoned from the short car ride, that she was still in the city. If she could just get out of this house, people wouldn’t be far; refuge was within her grasp. But her medicine suppressed the beast. She wanted it that way. Being human was far underrated, yet in this situation she could not deny that being supernatural would give her the strength to at least walk, find help, and hide.