U looked around. "So how's the place working for you?"
Whatever, O thought.
"Perfect," he said. "I had him in one of the holes for a while, waiting for him to come around. The halter system works just fine." O flipped the vampire's arm up onto its chest and tapped the stainless-steel slab the body was on. "And this table is a godsend. The drain holes, the restraints."
"Yeah, I thought you'd like that. Stole it from a morgue."
"Nice."
U walked over to the fireproof closet they used to store ammunition. "Mind if I take a few rounds?"
"That's what they're there for."
U took out a palm-sized cardboard box marked Remington. As he refilled his clips, he said, "So I heard that Mr. X put you in charge of this place."
"He gave me the key, yeah."
"Good. It'll be run right."
Of course, there had been a condition to the privilege. Mr. X had required that O move in, but the relocation did make some sense. If they were going to be keeping vampires over a period of days, someone had to monitor the captives.
O propped his hip against the table. "Mr. X is going to announce a new orientation of the Primes. Within each squadron we'll be pairing up, and I get to pick first. I want you."
U smiled as he closed the box of bullets. "I was a trapper up in Canada, did you know that? Back in the eighteen twenties. I like being in the field. Catching things."
O nodded, thinking that before he'd lost his drive, he and U would have made a hell of a pair.
"So is it true about you and X?" U asked.
"Is what true?"
"That you met with the Omega recently?" When O's eyes flickered at the name, U caught the reaction and, thank God, misread it. "Holy shit, you did see him. Are you going to be X's second in command? Is that where all this is leading?"
O swallowed in spite of the nauseating whirl in his gut. "You'll have to ask sensei."
"Yeah, sure. I'm really gonna do that. Don't know why you have to keep it a secret, though."
As O didn't know any more than the other lesser did, he had no choice.
Jesus. A little while ago, the idea of being second Fore-lesser would have elated him.
U headed for the door. "So when and where do you want me?"
"Here. Now."
"What do you have in mind?"
"We're going back downtown. I wanted to call the others in for a lesson tonight, but I seem to have lost my textbook."
U inclined his head. "Let's head for the library, then. And get us another."
Rhage prayed for an outlet as he stalked the bar alleys downtown. In the cold rain he was a twitchy mess, anger and agony seething in his chest. Vishous had given up trying to talk to him two hours ago.
As they emerged on Trade Street once again, they paused next to the front door of Screamer's. An impatient, shivering crowd was waiting to get into the club, and there were four civilian males mixed in with the humans.
"So I'll try one last time, Hollywood." V lit a hand-rolled and repositioned his Sox cap. "What's up with all this quiet? You're not still hurting from last night, are you?"
"Nah, I'm good to go."
Rhage squinted into a dark corner of the alley.
Yeah, bullshit he was fine. His night vision was shot to hell, its acuity way off no matter how much he blinked. And his ears weren't working as well as they should, either. Normally he could hear sounds from almost a mile away, but now he was concentrating just to catch the chatter from the club's wait line.
Sure, he was upset at what had happened with Mary; getting shut out by the female you love will do that to a male. But these changes were physiological, not tied to emotional, crybaby crap.
And he knew what the problem was. The beast was not with him tonight.
It should have been a relief. Getting rid of the damn thing even temporarily was a blessing beyond measure. Except evidently he'd come to rely on the creature's flinchy instincts. God, the idea that he had a kind of symbiotic relationship with his curse was a flipping surprise, and so was the vulnerability he was now sporting. It wasn't that he doubted his hand-to-hand skills or his flash and slash with a dagger. It was more like his beast gave him information about his environment that he was used to relying on. Plus the ugly-ass