“Dragon.” He returned the greeting.
His blood red eyes flicked across to me. I fought the urge to shiver; he was like the mayor of creepy town, right down to the clichéd pale skin, black stringy hair and razor sharp pointed nails. But the part which cemented his status as Creepy McCreep was the eyes for sure.
“And who is this delicious little morsel?”
I fought the urge to barf in my mouth. It was either that or punch him in the skeletal protrusion that he was working as a nose.
“None of your fucking business,” I said, curling my lips. The movement was involuntary.
Braxton tightened his grip on my hand, but otherwise didn’t show any signs of concern.
“Everything in here is my business, little girl. I run Vanguard.”
I flicked my ponytail behind me and let out a sigh. “I’m pretty hungry. Can we just move this interrogation along?”
The smallest of smiles lifted the corner of his mouth. “I like you. I think I won’t kill you for a while. Although…” He breathed deeply. “The scent of your blood … very tempting.”
His hard features lighted on Braxton. “Keep her under control. Muzzle the bitch if you have to.”
Braxton moved then, in his usual move that was faster than the eye could track. His hand hovered over the vampire’s neck, but he didn’t touch him.
“Don’t threaten me or Jessa. I don’t want to take you on, but if it comes down to it, I will. And you will not best me.”
Something slid across the red depths of Vlad’s eyes, and without another word he turned away. My worried eyes followed him, he was very old and powerful, I did not want Braxton anywhere near him. We were at the start of the food now, so it was a convenient distraction for him to turn away. But it also spoke of his hesitation with the Compasses. I wouldn’t have guessed their reputation ran deep enough to have penetrated the prison system. Maybe they’d left an impression when they’d been in here for their short time.
Silence reigned as we traversed the length of the buffet. For once I couldn’t even find enough food to fill my plate. For the first time since we entered the prison, I was depressed.
I dropped my tray with a huff and slowly sank onto a bench seat. Braxton grinned as he sat down right next to me. “All that we’ve gone through in the last few days and finally you’re upset because of shitty food.” He flashed me a double row of blindingly white teeth.
I picked up a bread roll which could actually be used as a weapon. It was like a rock.
“Shitty?” I almost screeched, throwing my rock down. “This food is so bad it should be used to feed the criminals who are on death row in the human prisons. It would actually kill them.”
We didn’t have death row in our prisons. When supernatural criminals were hunted down, many of them received immediate death sentences in the field, mostly because it’s in our nature to fight back. But our laws state that if you come in quietly and accept imprisonment you get to keep your head. Which was the reason Vlad, who wore the blood of millions of humans, was still kicking. It wasn’t exactly a law I always agreed with, but that’s what we had.
I picked at the lumps of crap which were masquerading as food on my plate. Tension filtered through my body as a large figure dropped into the bench seat across from us. I lifted my head, wishing I could call on my wolf. I was really lost without her.
The new arrival was a massive vampire male, bald headed, with scars riddling his visible skin. He had one particularly nasty gash: red, raised and ropy, which ran from the corner of his right eye and down to his chin. He didn’t say anything at first. I think he was hoping his appearance alone would work as intimidation. Braxton and I just stared back, although I did have my bread rock in my hand again. A girl needs to be prepared. Just sayin’.
“I’ve heard a few rumors of your reappearance, Braxton.” His voice was low, and sent chills down my spine. He was dead inside – you can always tell by the voice, nothing good left there anymore. “And of the little wolf that’s been glued to your side.”
“Last time you started trouble, it ended badly,” Braxton drawled. “For you.”
He grinned; his teeth were a little pointed. “Ah, but this time you are minus your brothers. With the addition of a pretty large vulnerability.”
His eyes settled on my face and I wanted to turn away. I felt dirty just having his gaze on me. But I’d played this game before – not with a crazy criminal of course, but I knew that the first to break eye contact lost. I might be a little separated from my wolf, but being alpha never went away, and I was all alpha.