“And then what?” The shifter had crouched down, and was regarding Sorley in much the same way as one would an unexploded bomb.
“I…I don’t know exactly. But I’ll remember.”I have to.The wolf moved, arranging his backside on the carpet, his back to the wall opposite the cage. His expression now was wary, but definitely interested. Better than the barely-veiled contempt from before. He had nice eyes, Sorley noted absently. Warm. Intelligent. It made him squirm inside to admit the rest of the wolf was equally pleasing to the eye. He was dark-haired, with a short dark beard over his tanned, handsome face, and with noticeable muscles under his clothes. Sorley vaguely recalled having felt uncharitably scathing of the man’s intellect. It was too soon for shame, but his conscience gave him a prod. He didn’t have to like the wolf to appreciate he was, for now, theoretically safe. Considering the gaps in his memory, that was no bad thing.
A shudder rolled through him as another memory unpeeled itself from the gloom where it had been hiding. “Oh God. It hurt. It hurt so much. I wanted to vomit.” The fresh blood in his system felt faintly gurgly, as if he might throw up simply from the echoes of the pain. He focused on a random bare nail hanging on the wall.You’re a vampire. You’re an eternal creature of the night. You don’t hurl on your boots like a common peasant. C’mon, Sorley. Pull yourself together.
He realised he’d shut his eyes. He opened them with a snap. Wolfy was still watching him. Sorley inhaled a totally useless breath, because the action steadied him. He held it, then released it carefully. He no longer had the urge to lose his dinner.
“I couldn’t vomit. I wanted to, more than I’ve ever wanted to puke in my life. I knew I’d feel better if I did, but I couldn’t. I physically couldn’t.” He gave the man a resigned sigh. “I don’t know what the fuck went on, but I think it must have been a deliberate targeting. And if they did it to me…”
“They could do it to someone else. Yeah, gotcha.” A pause, like he was thinking. “If I let you out, are you going to attack me?”
“What? No! Or not as long as you don’t come for me.” Sorley glanced around the room. “Why, what are you thinking? Because if you’re planning on staking me, I’ll defend myself.” He tried to recall the terms of the agreements in the Council rules as they applied to prisoners.
The shifter grunted. “I’d hardly do that. I live here, but it’s also a Council-owned property and the whole place is rigged with cameras. If I wanted to off you, it’d have to be in my bedroom or the adjoining bathroom. So that’s a no.” He coloured slightly, as if mentioning his bedroom was a source of embarrassment to him.
Sorley sniffed, feeling aggrieved. “So everything that happened last night is on film?”
A nod.
“And you’re not ashamed of how you behaved?”
“Fuck it, man,youbroke in. You got no more ’n you deserved. I barely ruffled your hair, you big girl.”
“That’s very sexist of you.”
He shrugged. “Cry me a river, princess. I’m sure you’ve heard worse in your time.” He rolled to his feet with an agility his bulk didn’t suggest he’d be capable of, although, of course, wolf. “I’ll let you out of the cage. You play nice, I’ll think about removing the chains.”
This time he did leave, but was back shortly after with a bunch of keys. He pulled on some gloves, methodically released all the padlocks that bolted the cage to the wall, then tugged it loose, lifting it as if it weighed nothing and setting it down by the window.
Sorley stretched and winced as his back and neck cracked. The blood had gone a long way to restoring him to health, but whatever had polluted his system had dealt him a heavy blow and he could tell he wasn’t free of it yet.
Another thought came to him. “I didn’t want to, couldn’t, chance feeding. I was convinced if I did, I’d feel that pain again.” He let his head thunk backwards as more fragments came to him.You ran to keep away from towns, busy places. Kept running.“I don’t know how long I went thirsty.” He cracked a lid open a fraction to find serious brown eyes giving him their full attention. “Too long, I suspect.” He swallowed. “How out of it was I?”
“Depends on your definition of out of it. You put up a decent fight for someone as thirsty as I reckon you were. But you were more intent than action.” He cracked a grin. “Bit of a potty mouth on you, too.” The wolf stood and adjusted the cuffs of his thick gloves. “You want that chain around your neck off now?”
Sorley nodded. The shifter crouched near him, at arm’s length. “Don’t try anything.” He nodded again, suddenly desperately aware of the stinging bite of silver against his bare skin. He held still as the wolf quickly removed the chain, looping it deftly and placing it out of sight just beyond the door. He returned and shucked the gloves. “My name’s Gethin, by the way. Gethin Hughes. Wasn’t sure you took that in last night.”
“You know mine.” Sorley rolled his neck, grateful as he felt the burn begin to recede. “Nobody’s called me by my surname for…” He stopped to think. “…since my funeral, I guess. Or when they said a mass for my soul, or whatever they did. Because obviously they never did find a body.” He eyed the wolf — Gethin. “How did you find out?”
Gethin’s amused snort almost dragged a matching smile from him, but he held back. This man wasn’t a friend, possibly not even an ally, Council rules notwithstanding.
“Pretty boy old-school redheaded vampire with a pronounced Geordie accent? Can’t be too many of them to the pound. I rang Justin.”
“Who is..?”
“Head Wolf at the Council. He rang Millar to confirm, and here we are.” He gave Sorley a weighted look. “You really think you were nobbled?”
Sorley shut his eyes again, just to think. Gethin had a way of making him feel he could see through to his soul — if he had one. It was…uncomfortable. He ran his mind, still too hazy for comfort, over everything he could remember. There was only one conclusion he could draw, and it worried him.
Fixing his gaze on Gethin, he nodded slowly. “Aye, I do. I’m really trying not to freak out, which frankly is pretty much impossible, but—”
“It’s not easy, is it?” Gethin looked as sick at the prospect as Sorley felt. “We have to call the Council in on this.”
“We do.” Sorley’s heart sank at the thought. He’d spent the best part of three centuries keeping out of sight; to be flung into the limelight made him want to start a new life on the other side of the world. This was too big to keep to themselves. The Council had to know. Except…
“I don’t appear to have my phone on me.” Another worry, although a small one in comparison. “I need to call Dalziel.” Gethin’s eyebrows rose. “Please.”
Gethin heaved a sigh. “Guess I’ll remove the arm chains then.” He pulled his gloves back on.
