he is. We can’t ‘deal’ with him.”
Ashi kept staring at Christoph as he reached over, set a hand on the other’s knee, and popped off his kneecap.
The tendons on the back of Christoph’s hands stood out as he clenched his hands into fists. To his credit, he didn’t make a sound.
“I think you should let me do the thinking and only use that bright little mind of yours to process my orders,” Ashi said quietly, a thin smile on his face.
Christoph nodded, his head jerking up and down.
“Very good.” Ashi let go of Christoph’s knee and sat back.
Things were going rather smoothly, in his opinion.
* * *
Meanwhile, at their destination, Mouse was busy showing Analie a collection of books that had been tucked away in boxes in the basement. There were a number of obviously rare, ancient texts haphazardly thrown in with trashy paperbacks and the occasional hardcover. Every inhabitant of the building came down here at some point or another looking for something to divert their attention, so there were enough genres to suit most any taste.
John and Mouse were often kept busy getting things for Analie meant to keep her out of trouble when she wasn’t doing schoolwork or training with Jacques, the temperamental chef. Showing her the room dedicated to nothing but exercise equipment on the second floor had done wonders to channel that boundless energy of hers. With the high speed internet hook-ups and cable available throughout the building, as well as art supplies some of the other occupants used occasionally, there was plenty to keep her occupied when she wasn’t doing school work or training under Jacques.
Isabelle, the Were the Moonwalker pack had “loaned” to Royce to home-school Analie, had relaxed to the point where she might even crack a smile or a joke when the vampires weren’t around. When they were, she was strict, no-nonsense, and eager to wrap up Analie’s lessons as rapidly as possible.
On the other hand, Jacques Fontaine was impatient, quick to anger, and a brilliant chef who was, surprisingly enough, quite willing and capable of sharing the secrets of his success. He had no issue with teaching Analie, except that he was always hopelessly enraged when she didn’t know what an “obvious” herb or utensil was, or what it was used for. Obvious, to Jacques, could be anything from salt to marjoram to essence of white truffle.
For the first time in her life, Analie was interacting regularly with humans—and she found she liked it. Even Jacques, with his irascible temper and strict teaching methods, was turning out to be unexpectedly kind, even if a bit impatient with her.
Royce didn’t involve himself directly in Analie’s business beyond the initial arrangements, mostly letting his people get on with it, and returned his attentions to the running of his businesses.
Things were settling down, becoming routine, and all going according to his plans.
* * *
Ashi had no desire to walk to the motel and Christoph wasn’t capable. They took a cab and Christoph immediately flopped on one of the granite-slab beds and fell asleep.
Ashi took this time to rest and set up his laptop to check out a map of the area. He was disturbed by how complicated the layout was—nothing like the suburbs of LA. He was going to print out a map, but it was useless. If he wanted to be able to pick anything out of the jumble he’d have to zoom in and make a map the size of the damn room.
Christoph woke up and they ordered in Thai. Their sleep schedules were off and they yawned and scrubbed at their eyes as they ate. Christoph tested out his knee and confirmed that, though still painful, it was good for a fight. Given he figured they had no chance of winning, he thought good enough to run away when the opportunity rose was good enough for what Ashi wanted of him.
That left calling Analie and getting her location.
* * *
Analie picked up, bewildered at who would be calling her. She usually texted Freddy so she wouldn’t be heard.
“Hello?” she whispered.
“Don’t hang up. That’s an order.”
Analie made a face. “Hi, Christoph.”
“Analie, where are you?”
Analie hunkered down in her den. “In my room.”
“What’s the street, the address?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“I will push your face through a wall if you don’t tell me where you are.”
“Hafta find me first,” she taunted.
There was a scuffling noise as the phone changed hands.
“Listen, pup. Listen closely. This is Ashi and I am in no mood for