the foyer like she was supposed to.
Once in the first floor hallway, Ashi took off his shoes and crept along like a ninja, breathing as lightly as possible. After he was outside there was nothing they could do—the vampires would burn into ash in seconds.
If Gregory had been truthful about that.
Lisa heard him creeping down the hall.
She was a bit too involved in reading a scene where the hero gave his full attention to freeing the heroine’s heaving bosoms from the constraints of a corset to bother investigating.
Ashi almost didn’t believe it when he put his hand on the doorknob of the front door. He turned it slowly, very quietly, and all but leaped into the morning light. He shut the door behind him, put on his shoes, and started jogging. He’d warm up for about thirty minutes, then start pounding the pavement.
He headed south.
He could figure out the collar later. There had to be some mage out there willing to take it off.
* * *
Ken was wide awake. He and Reece were seated at the glass and chrome table just outside the kitchen. Reece fussed with the flower arrangement while they talked.
“Okay, so they look good in a suit. So what? Have they ever worked this scene before?”
“No,” Ken said, crestfallen. “They’re just for show, eye-candy. Alec wants them doing something to earn their keep.”
Reece rolled his eyes and shook one of the flowers at Ken. “You realize this is going to be a disaster, don’t you? I heard Christoph had a knee injury and the other one has no passion at all. Where are we supposed to put them?”
“The cages, I suppose.”
“Ugh. I suppose that will work. At least they won’t be in the way.”
“They’re supposed to start on Friday night. We’ve only got two days. Can you teach them some moves so they don’t make complete asses of themselves?”
Reece made a face. “I’ll see what I can do.”
* * *
One of the people Ashi ran past caught a good whiff of him, and turned to watch him with wide eyes. Her pack tattoo was hidden beneath her blouse and blazer, but the Moonwalker was well aware that there were some stray Weres from one of the banned packs who were supposed to be in the hands of Alec Royce right now.
The mix of vampire and unfamiliar Were-reek, along with the collar and ragged sweatpants, alerted her that she’d just had a brush with one of them. From what the pack had been told, these interlopers weren’t supposed to travel beyond the bounds of Royce’s holdings, and if they did, it was to be while escorted by one of the vampire’s people. They were said to be incredibly dangerous and unfit to be left without a chaperone.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed her alpha.
Rohrik wouldn’t be happy about this.
With every block Ashi put behind him, he felt better. Free. A little more like a Were rather than a human. Being pink and weak 24-7 was a nightmare. He didn’t like to be reminded what it was like to not have a side of himself that was so powerful it could throw trucks or tear people apart.
He opened his first bottle of water and sipped, slowing to a jog so he wouldn’t spill it all over himself. He wouldn’t eat until tomorrow. Where he was going to get food, he didn’t know. He couldn’t shift to hunt.
At least he was out. That was a good start.
Though he didn’t know it, he was being paced by the Moonwalker. She was keeping tabs on him, but given that she was alone and knew their reputation, had no intention of trying to stop or hinder him.
After making arrangements to keep a tail on him, Rohrik called Royce and gave him the news. Royce apologized for the inconvenience and promised suitable recompense if Rohrik’s people could keep an eye on the wayward Were until nightfall, when one of the vampires could collect him. Rohrik agreed.
Royce, though tired and grumpy, immediately went downstairs and proceeded to harangue Lisa, who was suitably chastened by the end of it to consider burning her romance novel collection. He then collected every other vampire in the building for an impromptu meeting in his office upstairs.
Ashi paused just inside an alleyway to catch his breath, walking back and forth to keep his legs from cramping. It was time to change direction. He’d keep moving—at some point he could probably hitchhike and make better time. Getting far away