quickly rethought his words. “…can’t even steal so much as a kiss without a contract. When you’re contracted, you’re out of luck if the Other you signed with hurts you. Most of the contracts I’ve seen lately also include an umbrella clause to include other pack or coterie members. Makes it harder on us to get by since we can’t take what we need and move on. No one night stands anymore.”
“Wait, wait, wait. You need a contract to feed on someone?” Christoph said, eyes wide.
Analie frowned. “Then why could John bite Ashi? Is it because he was a total idiot and owes Royce, or is John breaking the rules? And does that law apply in California? Because I know Goliaths who had to fight off vampires.”
Christoph nodded. “Hawk, the guy in the luau pictures, joined up because he’d been trounced by vampires. He said they’d tried to herd him and three other strays somewhere. He got away, but it took him months to heal.”
Analie remembered Hawk joining the pack. Gavin had taken charge of the situation and ordered that arrangements be made to take care of the guy until he could decide to join the pack or not. She remembered him barking, “He’s got no eyes, Willow. What do you want to do, put him out on the street until the shadows or Amberguard pick him off?”
She shuddered at the memory. This was why the pack had been so impressed with Christoph’s supposed defeat of a vampire in a convenience store. Here, it was so different from the stories of long ago, or the stories more recent victims told. New York vampires were very different from their California counterparts, it seemed.
Wesley answered when it looked like Sebastian either couldn’t figure out how to respond, or, like Analie, was clueless.
“Ashi is a Were,” he explained, as patiently as he could. “He’s Other. The laws that protect humans don’t apply to him. He may not be able to shift, but that doesn’t change what he is. Alec could’ve killed him, or you, and no cop or judge would fault him for it. We’re all left to sort out our own affairs. Human laws only get involved when un-contracted humans get pulled into our messes. That means anyone in this building could bite, kill, or even torture him, and the only thing they’d have to face would be the censure of the people here, or the potential retaliation by your pack.”
“The vampires and Weres in New York have a kind of official, unofficial pact. We work together,” Sebastian said. “Magi, too. We help each other out, and do everything we can to be civilized with each other and with the humans we deal with. Doesn’t mean we’re friends, or even friendly when we meet, but we work together when we need to for the common good. That’s part of why I came to New York.”
“Sebastian,” Wes started warningly. Sebastian turned a glare on Wesley, who was giving him a look.
“I didn’t want to be turned,” Sebastian said, keeping his gaze challengingly locked on Wesley’s. “Hell, for a while, I thought the whole thing about vampires and werewolves being real was just a joke. Some creep who didn’t care what I thought turned me anyway. I couldn’t hide it long. When my parents found out, they kicked me out. Thad—my brother—came with me when we moved out here from LA. But not before I killed the son of a bitch who turned me.”
“I’m gonna go check on Freddy,” Analie said, and quickly retreated to her room.
“I’m going to see if Ashi’s alive,” Christoph said, quickly leaving the apartment.
Sebastian bowed his head, regretting that he’d spoken so freely about what had happened to him.
For their part, neither of the Weres wanted to hear any more about what could happen to those contracted or, worse, the ones who didn’t have to be contracted. Christoph’s unease had increased greatly and he wanted to get away from the vampires as fast as possible.
Analie felt jumpy again, just like when she first arrived. She was strongly reminded of the stories she’d heard her entire life. John’s dickery seemed more menacing now; he was a predator, and a cruel one at that. Even when bringing down strays, Goliaths didn’t toy with their prey.
Chapter 14
Mouse had been reluctant to leave her room, even after Jessica had reassured her that she wasn’t the ravening beast she felt she was. She knew she should’ve sated her hunger last night and that waiting