Hungry is the Night - Page Seven
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"Oh, good, you're ready."
"Ready for what?"
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
"The werewolves are paying us a visit."
"Oh, good," Catlin smiled. "I liked Anthony."
Gabriel snorted.
"You sure do pick 'em."
"What's that meant to mean?"
"Nothing, mon chaton. Simply that of all the werewolves to befriend, you select their Ulfric, the pack leader."
"He smelled nice."
"I bet he did."
"What does that word you said mean?"
"Ulfric?"
"Yes."
"To be honest, I'm not sure, exactly. You'd be better off asking Damien, as it's a Norse word, I think. But it's the werewolves word for their pack leader, the alpha male."
"They're like real wolves?"
"Yes. Tonight I think it will be Anthony and Marie - she's his lupa, his mate within the pack."
"But not without it?"
"Very astute," Gabriel praised. "Anthony and Marie have what you would call a complicated relationship. They won't commit to each other, but neither of them sees anyone else either."
"That does sound complicated."
"It is."
"So that's all? Just the two of them?"
"No, they'll also have Wahaya and Stephen with them, and probably Paul."
"Who are they?"
"Wahaya is their Midir, or bodyguard, and Stephen is their Hati, or second bodyguard. Paul is Freki, or second in command."
"Wahaya is an interesting name. I like it."
"He is a Native American. Cherokee, I believe. It means wolf."
"How appropriate."
"Yes - and interesting coincidence is it not?"
"I have the greatest respect for the Native Americans. I'm quite sure it was nothing of the sort."
Gabriel offered Catlin his arm, and she took it as they started walking towards the ballroom.
"Did you have a nice hunt with Damien the other night?"
"It was alright. His neck didn't taste very nice though."
"That'll happen sometimes. Couldn't you smell his aftershave?"
"Of course I could. I think he had on half a gallon."
"Then perhaps next time you'll realise that smelling strong aftershave generally means that he has a lot on, and that generally means that you'll be able to taste it. Far better off going for someone who smells like themselves. In time, you'll be able to distinguish what smells mean the blood isn't going to taste very nice. For example, people with drugs in their bloodstream usually smell acrid, to me. You'll pick it up fairly quickly, I think."
"With luck."
"You remember which chair on the dais was empty for your questioning?"
"Yes."
"That's where you'll be sitting tonight. Later, we'll talk about the positions and work out if you'll stay there."
"I don't mind sitting next to Damien."
"Staying there means accepting certain responsibilities. We'll talk about it later."
"Alright."
They entered the ballroom, and he escorted her to her chair. Alex and Jade were already in place, and Catlin noticed a few vampires lining the walls, some of whom were giving her unfriendly looks. Jade's outfit was a sapphire blue kimono with silver embroidery, which brought out the highlights in her purple hair, and Alex's grey suit and blue shirt was a perfect match. Damien entered the room last, in a third grey suit with blue shirt, and Catlin smiled when she saw him. They were all colour-coordinated. As soon as Damien had taken his seat beside her, the large double doors at the far end of the ballroom were opened, and the butler Catlin had met when Gabriel brought her to the house entered the hall.
"Ulfric of the Blue Moon Clan, Anthony St.James, his Lupa, Marie St.Clair, and their party."
Seconds later, Anthony entered with a woman, and two men. The room was long, so Catlin had ample time to examine the quartet.
Anthony was sharply dressed, in a fine suit that fit him well. His hair was gelled, so the dark curls lay almost flat against his head, and his blue eyes smiled at Catlin as he strode up the floor. The woman beside him was only fractionally shorter than him, making her tall for a woman at 6 foot, and her body was slim but muscular - she had the look of an Amazon. Her blue eyes were almost an exact match for Anthony's, and her short blonde hair was slicked back to form a perfect curve to just under her ear. Her outfit almost matched his too, except that the jacket was cut for a woman. It only made her slim hips more noticeable, which was probably the whole reason she'd chosen the jacket. The man stood to her right was shorter than her by an inch, but he was more than twice her width, and all of that was muscle. He seemed as though he might burst out of his suit jacket at any moment, if he twisted the wrong way. His hair was cropped short - a buzz cut, which suited the shape of his face, and made his dark eyes stand out all the more. His hair colour was difficult to determine, being so little of it, but she guessed it was probably brown, or black. He looked Mediterranean. Catlin wondered if he were Stephen or Paul - one of them was missing, and the man on Anthony's left was obviously Wahaya. He looked to be of a height with the other man, and had similarly toned skin, but the similarities ended there. He wasn't as muscular, for a start - his body had the look of natural muscles earned through hard work, rather than hours spent in a gym. His overall look was exotic, in a way that nobody with European ancestry can manage. His hair was long, straight, and black, and Catlin wasn't disappointed to spy something attached to his hair - looked more like beads then feathers, but she'd have a closer look later. His mouth was fine and his nose was strong, but it was his eyes that captured her attention - they were fine amber, glittering in the light, wolf eyes in a human body. She wondered momentarily if he were born with them, or if they were carried over from his wolfish form.
And then, they were standing in front of the podium. Alex intoned a formal greeting, to which they replied, and then, after a time, Alex gestured, and the doors opened and food was brought in. Catlin's stomach rumbled hungrily. She hadn't had breakfast yet. Then Alex stood and moved down to greet the werewolves more informally, and was shortly followed by Gabriel. Damien stood and greeted Anthony and Marie, and then as Jade was greeted Anthony, Damien spoke to the muscular man, and greeted him. Catlin stood as Jade moved to Marie, and stepped down to Anthony.
"Hello, little cat."
"Hello, Anthony."
She leaned forward on tip toes to kiss his cheek, the way the others had, and breathed in his scent. He smelled just as wonderful as before, and she said so. He grinned, and introduced her to Marie, who looked down on her with a sniff, before bending to greet her. Anthony guided her over to Damien and the other two weres, and introduced her to them. The muscular one was Stephen, the second body guard, and the other was Wahaya, as she had expected. Stephen smelled like fur and the river, and Wahaya smelled like heat, and open plains of the desert, mingled with the scent of the earth after heavy rain and a hint of fur. Then Anthony guided her over to the food. As they filled their plates, he leaned in close.
"Well?" he whispered, quiet enough that she could barely hear him, even with her sharpened senses. "Who smelled the nicest?"
"Still you. Though Wahaya is a close second. Marie smelled like you, only weaker. Stephen smelled like wet fur and the river. Wahaya smelled wonderful, but not as nice as you."
"What was the difference?"
"You smelled like trees and rain, he smelled like the desert. You both had earth with the hint of fur."
Anthony chuckled.
"My own personal power-sniffer. I should ask Alex if I can borrow you."
They had reached the end of the food, and looked around. Wahaya was standing by himself, and Catlin decided she'd go and talk to him. Damien and Jade were talking to Stephen, and Alex and Gabriel were talking to Marie. Gabriel raised his eyebrows at Anthony, and he nodded.
"Duty calls. I'll speak to you again later, little cat."
Catlin nodded, and glided across the hall to where Wahaya was standing, looking relaxed, but the coiled tension in his muscles showed that he was very aware of all the doors, and of all the vampires lining the walls. She stopped, in front of him, and looked at him for a long moment. She ate a single strawberry while she considered him, then gave him her best smile.
"Hi, I'm Cat."
He didn't respond, but his eyes flickered to her before returning to their circuit of the room.
"Not very talkative, huh?"
Catlin moved closer, so she was standing well within his personal space. He still didn't look at her. He didn't to much for a girl's ego.
"I suppose Anthony told you to be on duty all evening?" she tried.
His eyes flickered again, but he replied.
"I am always on duty."
"What are you guarding against?"
"Enemies."
"What about me?"
"You're young."
"Does that mean I'm not dangerous?"
"It means I'd get to you before you got to him. Or her, considering Stephen's too busy flirting to be doing his job."
Catlin glanced over, and saw that Stephen was most certainly flirting with Jade. She was giving Damien "help me" gazes, and he was contentedly watching with amusement.
"But what if they weren't my target?" Cat whispered, flashing a little fang.
"You're too short to reach my neck."
"I could jump."
He snorted, and she poked him in the chest with her dinner knife.
"Or I could stab you."
In an instant, he had his hands on her waist, and she could feel the faint prick of claws, indenting her skin by her spine. The almost backless dress did nothing to protect her skin, and she felt a slight frisson of fear, combined with arousal. Her teeth extended.
"It's just a dinner knife," she whispered. "And I'm right-handed."
He snorted again, but she had his full attention.
"That just shows how young you are. It wouldn't matter if it were a butter knife, you could have slid it through my chest, and if it were silver, it would have killed me if you'd managed to get my heart."
"I guess I should prove my good intentions," Catlin smiled, shifting the knife away from him.
He looked at her for a long minute, then let her go. She reached for one of his hands, and he let her take it. It was slightly furry, and the claws were slowly turning back into fingernails. She felt the bones shifting within his hand, and the fur retreated.
"I didn't know werewolves could do that."
"Most can't. It takes a lot of control."
"And you have an abundance of that."
"I learned early."
"Can I see?"
He flexed his hand, and the fur came creeping out of his skin. The bones in the back of his hand shifted, and his fingers twisted while the nails grew and thickened into claws. She ended up with his hand encasing hers, and the tip of the claw that had been his thumb, pressing into her wrist. She felt the frisson of fear again, and his hand tightened.
"You're afraid."
"A little," she breathed.
"Try not to be. It makes the change harder to control."
His voice had the slightest hint of roughness, the hint of a growl below the normal timbre of his voice.
Catlin swallowed, and tried to think of something to say.
"So werewolves turn into wolf-men, like in the movies."
"No. We turn into real wolves."
"But the hand?"
"Like I said," he replied, and she could feel his bones shifting, "most weres can't do this. I could probably turn into a wolf-man, if I wanted to, but it would take a lot of effort. And where's the advantage?"
"I suppose that's a point."
At the end of the ballroom, the doors opened, and Wahaya looked up, startled. Instantly, his eyes resumed their circuit of the room, and he visibly relaxed when all doors and vampires were where they should have been. He shook his head, bemused at how well she'd distracted him. Movement in the doorway drew his attention back there, and he saw the human gentleman who had opened the door to them earlier that evening.
"Geri of the Blue Moon clan, Michael Valerio," he announced, then stepped back out of the doorway into the hall.
Under his hand, he felt Catlin stiffen, and glanced down at her. She looked shocked, but anger was quickly replacing the shock, and her right hand was moving towards her left, which, he remembered, was holding a dinner knife. Wahaya moved his hands to just above her elbows, and squeezed gently, before lifting her and placing her behind him. It left his back to the door, but it put him between it and Catlin.
"What is it? Do you know him?"
"The bastard," she hissed. "I'm going to kill him."
"I take it that's a yes. Whisper, Catlin, he'll hear you. How do you know him?"
"He won't hear me, he's human. It's his fault I'm a vampire, he tried to kill me. Let me go, I'm going to kill him."
"Catlin. Cat." Wahaya shook her a little as he heard Michael step into the room, and her eyes returned to his. "He's not a human, Cat."
The fury in her eyes began to change, and after a moment, he registered puzzlement.
"He's not?"
"He's not. He's a werewolf."
She was astonished.
"How long has he been a werewolf?"
"Years. He joined our pack about three years ago."
Catlin's eyes changed again, and she made an exasperated noise.
"Monthly hunting trips with the boys. Of course. Moron."
Wahaya felt that this last was directed at herself.
"How could he not know that?"
"Who?"
"Gabriel. How could he not know, when he saw him?"
Wahaya didn't reply, as Michael had reached Anthony and Marie, and had bowed to them. He straightened, and saw Gabriel, and froze.
"You."
"I?" Gabriel replied, eyes flickering to Catlin.
"Leave the room," Wahaya whispered.
"What?"
"Leave the room."
"No, I told you," Catlin began, but Wahaya tightened his grip, and walked quickly towards the closest door.
"Put me down," she whispered furiously.
"It's for your own good," he replied, nodding to the vampire that had opened the door for him, and placing her firmly in the corridor.
"Wahaya," she began, but he cut her off.
"Stay," he whispered, and closed the door firmly between them.
Catlin stared at the doorway in astonishment, hearing the lock turn. He had carried her out, and locked the door. It was unbelievable. And Michael, the bastard, was in there! The fastest way to get back into the room would be to go through the kitchen and in the door on the other side of the room, and Catlin started walking quickly. And while she walked, she thought.
So, Michael is a werewolf. That explains the monthly hunting trips. And the broken ankle that he said was only sprained when I was sure I'd heard it crack. And his refusal to go to the doctor. And Gabriel must have known. He must have. He said he chased them off, he must have smelled him.
The kitchen was bustling, and Cat took a moment to put her empty plate on the sink, and check the hallmark on the knife. It was stainless steel, but she swapped it for one that was solid sterling silver - 92.5% silver, 7.5% other things.
Probably good enough.
Catlin negotiated the kitchen quickly, and walked through the hall to the ballroom. At the door, she paused, then eased it open and slipped into the room. She scanned the room for Michael, and was disappointed. He was gone, and so was Stephen. Abandoning stealth, Catlin strode over to where Wahaya was watching the room, while Alex, Anthony and Marie were talking by the dais. Gabriel, Damien and Jade were standing by the doors, talking in whispers.
"You bastard," she said as she reached Wahaya, deciding at the last minute to slap him, rather than punch her knife into him.
He caught both her hands - he obviously wasn't sure which she had intended to do.
"Be calm," he whispered. "I'll come back later tonight and we'll discuss it."
"But-"
"Catlin, I promise we'll talk about it. But right now, we have to go. It's not the time, or the place."
Silently fuming, she glared at him, and irritatingly, he smiled at her.
"Remember your manners," he teased her, and walked over to Anthony and Marie.
A few minutes later, the farewells were complete, and the werewolves left the room. Alex left the room shortly afterwards, leaving Catlin, Gabriel, Damien and Jade looking at each other.
"So, who's going to explain to me what that was about?" Damien asked, looking between Catlin and Gabriel.
"That was my ex-boyfriend," Catlin replied, looking at Gabriel. "The one who beat me up so badly that Gabriel had no choice but to make me a vampire to save my life - or whatever. He forgot to mention that Michael was a werewolf."
Damien whistled softly.
"Bad move there, Gabe."
"Mon chaton, I did not think you would meet him again so soon. Had I known of his climb in the ladder of power, I would have told you immediately."
"You should have told me immediately anyway."
"You would have believed that Michael and the little angel were werewolves, when you did not even believe that you and I were vampires?"
"Let's just leave that alone for the moment," Jade interrupted. "What is the situation with Anna? She was their Geri, was she not?"
"She was. Anthony's expression when Michael was announced shows that his earning the promotion to Geri was a very recent thing."
"How recent?" Damien queried.
"Recent enough that he didn't know."
"Then how did he get promoted?"
"Promoted is probably the wrong word," Damien explained. "The werewolves structure of power is based on power. Michael would have challenged Anna to a fight, and bested her. At that point, he would rank above her in the pack, and her position would be his."
"So he's killed her?"
"We don't know that."
"But based upon our general knowledge of Michael... it's a possibility," Damien allowed. "Which is probably why Wahaya had to go with the others. They're going to need to find her fast, and he has the best nose."
"How do you know that?"
Damien coloured.
"Uh, well... I um... stalked him once."
"What?"
"I wanted to see what a werewolves range was. So I lined up a couple with Tony, he told them there was a vampire around and to keep an eye out, and I tested them. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement."
Gabriel shook his head.
"Forget that for the moment. Anna, please."
"I don't think there's anything we can do about Anna, Jade. She'll be very badly injured. If they can find her fast enough, they'll probably save her life, but there's no guarantee with them, just like anyone else."
"So we're to just sit here and wait for Wahaya to come back and tell us what's going on? That doesn't seem right."
"What do you suggest we do? We can't go helping to look for her, because we'll just muddy up the tracks. They're better trackers than us, they'll know how to help her shift into wolf to help her heal, and we can't do that. I can't see a single other thing that we can do."
Jade's shoulders sagged.
"I just feel like we should help her."
"And so we should, but we can't do that by getting in their way.
"What do you suggest we do then?"
"Wait for Wahaya, and then when we have the full story, we'll work out a plan of action."
Reluctantly, Jade agreed, and the boys visibly relaxed.
"Shall we change, and meet in the meeting room?"
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