No hope for it. I’d have to make my approach and hope I could talk my way past the door.
I headed toward where I assumed the entrance was, leaning forward even as my feet tried to take me in the opposite direction.
I summoned my visualization of my forest, hoping that the same trick that worked on a telepath would work here. Both affected the mind. If I could keep my mind hidden behind my little forest, maybe the magic would bounce off it or at least be slowed down enough for me to get in the damn door.
It might have been my imagination, but I thought the pull of the ‘don’t see me’ faded just a little. Not enough to make a big difference, but enough that I could continue forward. Each step harder than the last until I stood at the door feeling like I’d been on a military ruck march with a fifty pound pack on my back. I wanted to drop where I stood. Forget finding Brax, I needed a place to lay down and maybe sleep for a thousand years. As a vampire, I could do that now.
I pulled open the door and stumbled inside, nearly collapsing as the spell suddenly shut off. Like someone had slammed a wall between me and it. The sudden release of pressure was almost as overwhelming as the spell.
The din inside didn’t come to a screeching halt like you saw in the movies, but it definitely got a lot quieter until one by one I found myself the focus of a dozen eyes, some already shifted to the amber or ice blue of a wolf’s.
I straightened and gave them a radiant smile, praying they didn’t suddenly shift for an all you can eat buffet of messenger. Growls echoed from throats that should never have been capable of that sound.
Suddenly my plan to barge in here didn’t seem like such a great one. I probably should have tried to get through on the phone a few more times or given the person who answered the message and hope it made its way back to Brax.
A man stood up in the back. Nothing was said but the growls cut off as if they’d never been, though I remained the focus of attention.
A pair of ice blue eyes pinned me in place, observing and assessing. Brax never missed much and this time would probably be no different. I waited for him to decide whether to speak with me or set the watching wolves on the hunt.
I lifted my chin and gave him my best ‘make your move’ look. I saved his ass last year, and he knew it. Victor would have led him directly into that trap. He might have stood a chance against Victor, but he wouldn’t have been able to take out both the traitor and the draugr. Not without taking significant damage.
He made a small movement. Almost imperceptible to anyone not fully in tune with him. Just a twitch of the shoulders and the men and women turned back to the conversations they had been engaged in before I barged in.
He summoned me with a crook of the fingers. I took a deep breath and walked to him, not looking left or right but knowing that despite all appearance to the contrary, the entire room watched me, willing and ready to rip me apart at the slightest misstep.
He sat at a table with his back to the wall and indicated the chair across from him. It would place my back to the rest of the bar. Not my preferred seating arrangement. Strategically, it was the worst seat in the place, but I had no choice but to sit there or risk insulting the alpha.
I took a seat and leaned back, hooking one arm over the back and forcing myself to relax. My skin might be itching with the number of stares aimed in my direction and every instinct I had might be calling for me to flee, but I would appear relaxed and at ease if it killed me.
I hadn’t anticipated he would want to talk to me out in the bar like this. It had been my assumption we would speak in a back office where no one could hear what was said.
I had no idea how I should start or what information I should share. My earlier reasons for not giving my message to the phone keeper held true. They were perhaps even more relevant with half the pack eyeing me like I was a tasty morsel of vampire delight.
I turned my attention to Brax. He was the sort of guy that was difficult to overlook. Not handsome. He was too rough around the edges for that, but there was a magnetic quality to him, one that would draw women and men alike.
I knew from watching him shift last year that his body was the kind that fanatic gym goers worked themselves into a grave trying to get. He looked good with clothes on, women no doubt hit on him all the time, but he looked even better without them.
His hair was dark and cut close to his head. He looked to be in his thirties. He wore power like other people wore coats. It was a bonfire on the coldest of winter nights. Almost painfully warm, and you knew if you got too close you’d go up in flames.
He wasn’t the kind of person you took lightly. I’d seen him rip apart an undead wolf with his bare hands.
“For someone so intent on getting hold of me, you’re awfully quiet,” he said. One hand rested on the table, his finger tapping as if he was thinking very hard about something.
“You’re a hard man to get ahold of.”
“Maybe there’s a reason for that.”
I narrowed my eyes. Perhaps I hadn’t given the message taker enough credit. Maybe he had given my name to Brax and the alpha had just decided not to call me back.
“So I guess you don’t care that I bumped into one of your wolves running in their fur on the bike path near the Olentangy River.”
My words fell like a bomb and had nearly the same effect as one. Chairs scraped as people came to their feet. I tensed, expecting biting teeth and ripping claws. Brax’s eyes shifted to the people behind me, he gave one sharp jerk of his head.
Chairs were pulled back in and the sound of people sitting reached me.
They hadn’t liked my statement. Guess I was right that running so close to the city wasn’t allowed unless you had the alpha’s permission. My words caused enough of a reaction that I suspected it was forbidden and possibly even carried a death sentence.
Brax’s intense stare found mine. “Explain.”
