Silent Cravings (30 page)

“Vampire. She’s nice.” Analie remembered the bear. She could go for some serious teddy bear snugglies right now. “My room is technically in her apartment.”

Freddy looked toward the stairwell. “Where’s that go to?”

“Royce’s room.”

Freddy made a face. “You wanna go up and apologize?”

“How?” Analie demanded.

Freddy shrugged. “I dunno. Do a Goliath apology.”

Analie gave him a dead stare. “You want me to go up there and flop over on my back, exposing all my vital points, and say a Goliath apology? Freddy, he’s not a Were. He’s a
vampire
. He doesn’t know the response!”

Freddy nodded slowly. “Oh, right. You’re right, that’s a terrible idea.”

Analie sat down, her back to the wall. Freddy sat next to her.

“What do we do now?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Analie repeated.

Royce wasn’t intending to stop on his way up to his room, but a couple of people talking in the hallway on the second floor spotted him. Jessica abruptly cut short the joke she was telling John to turn with concern to the angry vampire stalking up the stairs.

“Alec, are you okay?”

He paused, foot on the next step, before replying. “No. Not really.”

John frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Analie.”

Royce didn’t say anything else. Jessica and John exchanged worried glances.

“Do you need me to do anything about her?” John asked tentatively.

Royce growled softly, then continued up the stairs. “No.”

Jessica and John exchanged worried looks again as Royce moved out of sight. John rubbed the back of his neck. “I suppose I should check if she’s still in one piece.”

“You want me to come with you?”

“Sure,” he said, grateful. He hated dealing with kids, so it was nice to have Mouse there most of the time to help him out when Royce wasn’t dealing with Analie directly. Mouse was across town at
La Petite Boisson
with one of her prospective donors, and considering how much John disliked the Weres, he was very happy to have Jessica tag along.

The pair headed down the stairs together, Jessica sliding her hand into John’s to give a reassuring squeeze.

Analie and Freddy, as their pack was wont to do, had gravitated together and were squished next to each other, sitting with their backs to the wall, knees drawn up. Freddy was telling her about running around at night in Pennsylvania when John and Jessica came down the stairs.

Freddy jerked his head in indication. Analie turned and felt a horrible, crawling sensation slither up her spine. There was a shadow and a human, the woman who had checked on Ashi.

Analie remembered walking to a pack gathering with Gavin and passing a shadow with a pretty lady on his arm. Once they had passed them and gone down a few blocks, Gavin had growled, “How foul a monster is that which makes its prey fall in love with it?”

Analie tried to keep her expression blank. She hadn’t seen Jessica so cozy with one of the vampires until now. Analie didn’t rise—she didn’t trust herself with moving. When she saw a human hanging off a leech like an adoring lapdog, she felt like shifting right then and there and tearing—

Whoa. Where the hell did that come from?

John hesitated at the end of the hall. Why was there another kid now? A Were, from the scent. Worrisome. No wonder Royce was pissed.

Jessica, oblivious, gave the vampire’s hand another encouraging squeeze before breaking away and approaching the kids, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jeans. She gave a bright, encouraging smile to the two, particularly Freddy, whose stricken expression tugged her heartstrings.

“Hi, I’m Jessica. That big pansy by the stairs is John.” The vampire made a faint choking sound, wondering if she had any clue what Analie was and what kind of image she was giving this young predator of him. “Sorry, but I’m a bit worried about Alec. He mentioned your name, but didn’t say what happened. Do you know why he’s in such a huff right now?”

Tall, slender, with thick auburn hair brushing her shoulders and wide hazel eyes, the donor waited patiently for Analie’s response. Jessica’s skin was lightly tanned, and showed only a couple very tiny, barely noticeable scars at her neck where she’d been bitten. One would have to look very closely to spot them; otherwise, her skin was flawless, and she did not seem to be particularly unhappy or unhealthy. Truthfully, she seemed downright cheerful, if concerned for her master’s wellbeing.

Analie couldn’t shake the feeling that she was looking at the equivalent of a snack bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.

On the other hand, Jessica didn’t look crazy or like a lap-dog. She looked happy, nice. She was pretty, too. Someone Analie would have hung out with had she been Goliath.

Analie hunched down slightly. “I kind of pissed Royce off. I was sort of an idiot.” That sounded lame. “Okay, I was an idiot. And ungrateful. A combination of the two.”

“But vampires are essentially evil incarnate,” Freddy put in.

“That’s what I’ve been hearing since, like, forever,” Analie quickly clarified, elbowing Freddy. “And instead he’s... he’s...” God, this was hard to say. “He’s
nice
. And I keep waiting for him to be
not nice
and so far he hasn’t been not nice and now I’ve totally screwed up.”

Freddy rubbed his ribs, but nodded hesitantly along with Analie.

Jessica blinked those large eyes of hers at that. Particularly Freddy’s little crack.

“For fuck’s sake,” John snarled, clenching his fists at his sides as he glared at the girl. “He’s given you food, shelter, clothes, and arranged for your tutoring and acceptance by one of the most powerful Were packs on the continent. Don’t you know who Rohrik Donovan
is
? He’s the guy who made it so all of us—you, me, every Other in the United States—can walk freely down the street without hiding what we are. Why can’t you accept the fact that he felt
sorry
for you and was trying to do what he could to make up for the fact that one of your pack members was too cowardly to take the fall for his own actions?”

Jessica paled, whirling on the vampire. “John!”

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, folding his arms. “It’s true. I’ve seen how she watches him. Like she thinks he’s going to go for her throat the minute she lets her guard down. It’s unaccountably rude, and I can’t believe it took him this long to finally snap.”

Jessica put her hands on her hips, shaking a finger at him. “That doesn’t mean you need to be cruel, either. She’s away from all her family and friends, and I’m sure it must be hard to adjust. Right?” She glanced at the two, but didn’t wait for an answer, rounding on John again. “Alec is a scary son of a bitch when he wants to be, and I’m sure he hasn’t done anything to make himself approachable since she got here.” Frowning, she turned back to the teens, focusing on Freddy this time. “Not all vampires are like Vlad the Impaler, you know. Come on, Analie, you’ve been here for how long now? Three weeks? A month? Have any of them done anything to hurt you since you got here?”

Analie shook her head. “No one has done anything to hurt me.” She ran both hands through her hair, shivering. “It’s just—it’s kind of like being a fly in a web full of
really nice
spiders.”
Only vampires are creepier.
“I want to apologize, but my pack’s method of apologizing doesn’t really work in this situation.”

Freddy nodded vigorously.

Analie stood up and looked at Jessica. “Can you help me with that?”

She pursed her lips, disliking the vampire/spider comparison. “You don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary. Just go to him and tell him you’re sorry. Maybe you should ask what he expects of you if you feel like you’re having trouble fitting in. He’s an easy guy to talk to, if you just talk to him like a person instead of a… a…”

She looked to John for help.

“An ancient, elder vampire,” he said dryly.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” she said, exasperated. “Like he’s out of the ordinary. Different. Just treat him like a professional businessman, and he’ll give you the same courtesy.”

Analie couldn’t help but imagine herself shoulder-bumping Royce and tousling his hair before initiating conversation. That thought almost made her choke trying to hold in a laugh. Or a shudder of horror.

Freddy evidently had the same thought, covering his mouth with his hand and trying to look composed.

Analie looked at the stairwell.
I get to walk right into a vampire pit. Oh, man.

“Am I
allowed
to go up there?” Analie asked.

“Probably not,” John muttered, earning another dirty look from Jessica.

“I’m sure he won’t have an issue with you paying a visit to apologize. I’ll go with you, if you want,” she offered, daring John with a look to gainsay her. He just threw his hands in the air and stalked down the hall to his room, skirting the group as best he could without looking like he was flinching from a couple of kids.

Jessica held out both hands in offering to the pair to help them up. “Come on, the longer you wait, the more time Alec has to get himself worked into a mood.”

Analie didn’t want to go into Royce’s room. On the other hand, she didn’t want him to get into a “mood.”

It was not a common gesture in the pack, but Analie thought it might be rude to leave Jessica hanging, so she took the woman’s hand. Freddy did the same.

Analie couldn’t help but think that Jessica was severely misinformed about Royce’s temperament.

“Thanks,” Analie said.

Her legs felt like lead as they took the stairs. She glanced at Freddy to see how he was doing. There was a strange fluidity to his movements. His tiger side becoming more prominent.

She nudged him and murmured, “Eye of the tiger, it’s the thrill of th—ow!”

Freddy punched her arm, a lopsided smile on his face. “
’
Cause I’m hungry like the wo—ow!”

Analie blew on her knuckles. “Watch it, buster.”

It was like they were walking down the liquor mart for dreamcicles rather than heading into a vampire pit.

Jessica was a bit perplexed, but nonetheless amused with their antics. She didn’t say anything else as she led the way, taking the lead. Once they reached the third floor, she rapped on the single closed door across the landing on the top of the stairs.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Jessica. Can I come in?”

A long, drawn-out pause.

“Alec?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. Come in.”

Jessica opened the door, heading inside first, but gesturing for Analie and Freddy to follow her.

The door opened into a room that ran the length of the building, open and spacious. There were two doors at the far end leading to a bedroom and office. The rest was just a spare, open space with a number of large pillows and throw-rugs here and there for people to sit upon and mingle, and a few pedestals with carefully spot-lighted statuary placed throughout. Every one of the many terraced windows had been thrown open, letting in fresh air and giving a view of Central Park up the block. The scent of vampire was still strong, but not as bad as it was downstairs.

Royce was leaning against one of the window sills, staring out into the night. He didn’t turn around until Jessica placed a hand lightly on his arm, shifting so he could give her his attention.

His expression instantly shifted to a blank, emotionless wall when he saw Freddy and Analie were with her.

“Someone wants to apologize,” Jessica said, poking him lightly in the side. Obviously a familiar gesture, since the intimidating expression cracked as a smile threatened at her antics, one arm sliding around her waist to hug her close.

Freddy hadn’t expected anything so
open
. He had been expecting something tomb-like, dark and musty and frightening. Hell, he was even starting to relax. The last time Analie had been up here—when Christoph and Ashi had broken through the wall—all the windows had been closed, and plaster dust had been heavy in the air. For the first time, Analie felt like she could breathe in this house.

The familiarity, the friendliness between Royce and Jessica—that was unexpected. Analie began to realize if she didn’t stop looking at Royce like a predator, she was never going to set things right.

She took a second to figure out a non-Goliath way of apologizing, flinching under the heat of those black eyes staring her down from across the room.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve been. You’ve been really nice and I haven’t been appreciative of that at all, and that’s really not cool. So I’d like to let you know that I do appreciate what you’ve done for me, especially considering the circumstances. And I’m sorry that I broke the rules and went out alone. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m really sorry.”

She glanced over at Freddy and was surprised when he stepped forward on slightly wobbly legs.

“I encouraged Analie to meet me knowing it was against your rules. I guess what I did was out of line. I’m really sorry, too.”

Holy crap, his voice wasn’t even its usual reedy pitch. Analie felt warm fuzzies, and not from an imminent shift. She smiled at him, though her expression froze when she spotted the faint outline of stripes on the back of his neck. So, he’d gotten a little courage from his fuzzy side.

Royce’s expression didn’t relax in the slightest. At least, not until Jessica poked him again. He sighed, closing his eyes and tilting his head to rest his cheek against Jessica’s hair.

“All right. Thank you for apologizing. I’m not trying to be the bad guy, but I am responsible for your safety, and if you don’t follow the rules I laid down, I can’t promise you won’t get hurt.”

Jessica seemed pleased enough with his answer, reaching up to ruffle his hair. “There, that wasn’t so bad now, was it?”

He smiled despite himself and leaned down to press a kiss to her temple. “No, it wasn’t. Stop being so damned cheerful, it’s ruining my image.”

“Oh, please. You’re lucky to have me around to lighten things up around here.”

He chuckled, giving her an affectionate squeeze. “Yeah, yeah. Will you tell John I’m sorry I snapped at him?”

“Nope. Do it yourself.”

Royce gave a dramatic, long-suffering sigh, turning to rest his butt against the windowsill and pulling Jessica back to lean comfortably up against his chest as he regarded Analie and Freddy. He seemed to have completely forgotten his irritation with the two.

“What’s your name, kid?” Directed at Freddy, obviously. He’d never bothered to ask.

Analie felt her knees turn to mush, but managed to stand straight. Freddy’s stripes faded, and he had to take a step back and lean against the wall. Not a very dignified gesture, but it was that or sit down hard on his rear.

Lucky, lucky, lucky.
If they had been dealing with Ashi, well, it would have gone differently to say the least. Even with a more good-humored were like Barry, it could never have gone this well.

“Frederick,” Freddy said. “Everyone calls me Freddy.”

Analie cough-muttered, “Mercury.”

Freddy kicked the back of her right knee and she stumbled. She reached back to smack him upside the head, but he side-stepped. Analie regained what dignity she had left and stood still. Freddy seemed to remember where they were and stuck his hands in his pockets, ducking his head.

Jessica snickered at the crack. The faintest smile curved Royce’s lips. “Very well, Freddy. As I’m sure you’ve already gathered, I’m Alec Royce.” He gave a polite nod, and then turned a sharp look on Analie. “I trust we won’t be going through this again, yes?”

Meaning, if she defied him so blatantly again, she could expect more than a verbal reprimand.

Analie nodded. “I swear on Seeker.”

It would be a hard promise to keep. Part of growing up in Goliath was challenging others, especially superiors, to wind up on top. Obviously there was a different system in place here, one she was not yet used to.

Royce closed his eyes and relaxed, breathing in Jessica’s scent, though he knew it was coaxing his hunger out by doing so. It was a bittersweet temptation, no more.