Kym Grosso - Tristan's Lyceum Wolves

Tristan rolled his eyes. “Yes, tell me something I don’t know.”

“My vampires. They do treasure being able to go to the club for a bite to eat and to seek carnal pleasure. They watch. They protect what they value.”

“You have surveillance on my club?” Tristan could hardly believe she’d go so far as to stalk him, but at this point, he just wanted answers.

“Please, darling, don’t make it sound so crass. They weren’t spying on you,” she countered defensively. “They were merely making their rounds, making sure our ranks were behaving. They are my eyes and ears. As their leader, I’m acutely aware of their activities. One must keep vampires in line.”

“Yeah right,” Logan grunted under his breath. He didn’t trust a single word that came out of those finely painted lips.

“Did you have to bring him?” Alexandra asked Tristan, quite annoyed that Logan was allowed to speak in her presence.

Tristan shot him a pleading look as if to ask him to curb his anger. He knew Logan didn’t do diplomacy, whereas the Alpha was trying to get as much information as possible about what had happened. The last thing he needed was war with the vampires, as he might need their help with whoever had attacked the pack.

“Please go on,” Tristan encouraged.

Alexandra huffed, smoothing her hair. “The day of the fire they were merely doing rounds of the city. All they saw was her leaving with that dreadful snake of yours in tow. Honestly, I don’t know why you even kept that vile reptile.” She rolled her black eyes in disgust. “But I digress. Long story short, we tailed her then snapped her up a few days later in a parking garage.”

“What else did your workers see that night? Did they actually see her set the fire? Was she with anyone?”

“No, they did not see her set the fire, nor did they see anyone else. Please, Tristan. As if I would lie to you.” She batted her heavily mascaraed eyelashes at him. “Now that I’ve already told you what they knew, can we please go into the parlor and sit like civilized people? I’d love to hear all the details about your new club,” she pleaded, and turned to walk away.

“What do you mean by ‘knew’? I want to talk to the vampires who saw her that day and the ones who captured her,” he demanded. “They might be able to tell me something you overlooked.”

She stopped in her tracks, slowly turning around with a cold sneer plastered across her face. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, as they are no longer with us. The vampires who saw her and took her were one and the same. Unfortunately for them, they did not understand the meaning of ‘do not touch’ and tried to play with my new toy.” Vampire justice was swift and merciless.

“Okay then. Since we are about to do a transport, I need to know if the woman’s supernatural,” Tristan inquired. He stoically waited for answers that did not come, while Logan began to pace.

“From what I can tell, she is not of a supernatural origin, now please, let’s just go sit down and…”

“Alexandra, I don’t have all day. If you have no further information, then we’ve got to get going. Where is she? Oh and she’d better be alive,” Tristan snapped. He was growing impatient.

“Mouse? Don’t worry, I didn’t kill her,” she scoffed. “I merely played with my toy. But if you are in such a hurry, I’ll ask James to bring her down to you. Honestly, I’ll be glad to be rid of the nasty little thing. I’ll tell you this, my dear Alpha, the twit may not be supernatural, but I’m not convinced she’s entirely human, either. Never in all my years has a human tasted so foul.”

Kalli heard voices. Her beast had risen for mere seconds only to cower inward. Even though her medicine was starting to wear off, it wasn’t enough to allow a transformation. After opening herself to what lay within, she’d hoped she’d have more energy. She was grateful that she could at least walk, which was more than she could have managed earlier. Slowly, she turned the door handle, sensing there were no guards. As she peeked around the corner, she spied the staircase.

She hesitated and looked down at her bare feet. What the hell had they done with her shoes? And even though they’d left her in her jeans, they’d torn her sleeveless turtleneck, exposing her bra. Out of modesty, she tried gathering the material together, softly gliding her fingers over the welts on her neck in the process. It was September, so she wouldn’t freeze. Kalli made a split second decision; she needed to leave. It was either flee or die. A coward she wasn’t.

She quietly padded down the long hallway, cringing at every little creak her feet made on the old hardwood floor. A shiver ran down her spine when she heard the demon female voice she’d come to know the past few days. Startled at the sound of a man’s voice raised in anger, she jumped. Had she brought more vampires here? Were they here for her? She had to get out quickly. She’d die if she lost any more blood.

As she intrepidly descended the stairs, she found they led into a kitchen. Kalli caught sight of a backdoor only twenty feet away; freedom was so close she could taste it. A few steps more and she could reach the handle. She didn’t see or hear anyone and darted for the door.

Pain seared through her body as a pair of large hands wrapped around the loose tendrils of her hair, yanking her backward toward the floor. Choked in fear, she gasped for air as vomit rose in her throat. A gut-wrenching scream tore from her lungs as the man dragged her flailing body along the stained wooden planks. Although fraught with confusion and despair, she took note of his perplexing attire; a clown? No, it was another monster, a vampire. His fangs bared, he silently continued to pull her toward the voices. Thrashing about, she grabbed onto his hands, trying to free herself from his iron grip. A flash of the vampire who’d bitten her and two strange men crossed her vision. Saviors?

“Please! Help me! They’re going to kill me!” she cried out, begging for rescue. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried kicking her abductor in an attempt to escape the bloodthirsty, fanged savages who’d been holding her hostage.

Breaking his silence, the harlequin man stopped and straddled her. “Silence! The mistress wants her mouse quiet!” She recoiled as he raised the back of his hand to hit her.

As Tristan heard the screams, he caught a glimpse of the evil smile blooming across Alexandra’s face. Growling, he rushed the vampire who sat atop the young woman, shoving him so hard that he flew across the room and smashed into a wall. Tristan cradled the woman’s head in his lap, while Logan blocked Alexandra.

Tristan looked down at the battered woman, who looked emaciated and bloodied. Dark raven curls covered her face. Gently, he pushed the strands of hair aside. She whimpered and cringed in fear, balling herself into a fetal position. At first sight, Tristan found it hard to believe that such a vulnerable creature could be involved with starting a pack war.

“Logan, coat!” Tristan barked. He would have given her his own but he refused to let go of the woman for fear that she’d run. Obediently, Logan removed his tuxedo jacket and placed it over her quivering body, never taking his eyes off of Alexandra.

Even though one of his best friends was a vampire, Tristan was irate as he saw the puncture marks all over her skin. Animals. She might be a suspect in the fire, but he didn’t condone torture. He scooped her small body up in his arms, and stood.

Without another word to Alexandra, Logan opened the door for Tristan, protectively shielding him. He slammed the door as they left, pissed at the vampire. Rage rolled off his Alpha, nearly making him tremble. If it hadn’t been for the abused woman lying on the floor needing aid, he was fairly sure Tristan would have killed Alexandra. And he would have gladly helped.