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Troy paced the floor in the great library. The sun had set hours ago, yet Jerome had not graced him with his appearance. He was fond of playing his vampire games it seemed. Troy fixed another scotch and soda, his sixth in less than twenty minutes. Getting drunk wasn’t easy for a were person, but it did have an effect on his mood. He was getting madder. He finished the hot drink then smashed the glass into the fireplace, and howled. And howled.
“Jerome!” He tore out of the library, weakening the double doors. At the bottom of the staircase, he waited. “Damn it, Jerome! Get your ass down here!”
“Mister Tanaka.”
He twirled and snarled at the butler. “Is he in this house or not?”
“I believe I’ve already assured you of that, sir. The master is merely engaged at the moment. If you will step back into the library.”
“I’ll sniff him out!”
“Sir!”
“Troy.” Jerome spoke from the top of the stairs. Slowly, he took a step down the stairs and then another like he had all year to join his guest. When he came upon Troy, he smiled. He laughed as he continued on into the library. Lighting a cigar, he sat in a huge chair on a cushion that didn’t give at all to his weight. “So how have you been?” He asked as if he couldn’t care one way or the other.
“Conflicted,” Troy answered. “And angry. You enjoy your little games don’t you? Putting me off is not wise.”
“I’ve been resting. Vampires need rest too.”
“Two of my people are missing, and one is dead.”
“Missing?” Jerome raised a brow. “Grown people just go off somewhere.”
“Pack members will not without my permission.”
“Oh. Are you suggesting, I’m somehow responsible for your missing people?”
“I’m hoping that isn’t the case.” Troy closed the double doors. He put his back to it. “Because I don’t know what I would do if that is the case.”
“You are accusing me!” Jerome marveled at his actions.
“I know she has confronted you by now.”
“Who? What are you talking about?”
“Velvet.”
Jerome let his eyes widen and smiled. “Oh, I see.” He got up to fix himself a drink. A glass of port.
“Jerome, did you persuade Sheridan, Silas and Tank to attack that man?”
“And what would I gain from such a thing?”
That was the question. There were better ways to deal with a meddlesome witch. But Jerome hated Velvet. Would he try to murder her friends just to torment her? Yes, he would, but did he?
“Tell me why you care so much what I’d do to that witch?”
“I’m asking about my people.”
“She fascinates you,” Jerome stated rather than asked. “She just killed one of your own.”
“Most witches are fascinating, Jerome. And Velvet Washington is one of the strongest witches I’ve ever met. I also believe the reports that Tank was berserk at the hospital. She did what she had to do to protect herself and her driver. I don’t see any reason I should declare war on the woman.” But evidently Jerome did. The glare in his eyes and the sudden furrow in his brow assured Troy of that. “You hit her, and she hits you back. Why do you take everything she does so personally?”
“She’s the bitch that tried to cut my heart out while it still beat in my chest!” Jerome ran a hand over his new haircut, furious and livid at the memory. “She tried to destroy me forever!” He took his glass from the table, tossed it into the big fire then followed up with the decanter.
“Jerome, that was seven years ago!”
“Might as well been last week!” Jerome moved toward the exit and Troy moved with him, keeping the door blocked. Not very subtle. “You know, I am not happy with your attitude. First, you barge in here howling, scaring the human staff, then you have the nerve to accuse me of mishandling your people. And you actually defend that bitch to my face! In light of your attitude and mistrust of me, I think we should consider dissolving our partnership.”
“You’d do that just because I asked you a couple of questions? If something was amiss with your brood, I know you wouldn’t bother asking any questions. You’d kill anyone you merely suspected of going against you.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I prefer to behave reasonably and live as peaceably as I can. I admit that is not always easy.”
“You know what your problem is, Troy? You want to please women, you actually trust women. All they want is your gorgeous body and to be the only one in your bed. To a certain degree, I can see your wife’s attitude, but Velvet Washington?”
“Velvet?” He frowned at the idea. She’d just as soon stab him in the groin as let him offer her some loving. “Are you insane?”
“She put those bugs about us in your wife’s ear, didn’t she?”
Yes, she did, and made a big deal about it in public too. But that was just because she was mad, so mad that she cut his throat. With a knife that barely sank into his skin. For all her rage and fear, killing him wasn’t on her mind. She was more into stroking his fur and ogling his nude body. Not that he minded it one bit. In fact, he liked the way she looked at him and made his blood stir. Damn. It struck him like a bolt out of the blue. Velvet was attracted to him! And he liked it!
“What’s the matter with you?” Jerome asked, breaking into his wild thoughts. “Why is your mouth open?”
“Huh?” Embarrassed he looked away and wiped his mouth. “I, um, I have things to see to. We’ll discuss business matters later.”
“Where are you going? Troy?”
“I’ll see you later,” he said, turning toward the door.
“Are you going to see her?”
“I don’t know, maybe. She seems to be in the middle of everything. And she’s willing to tell me what she knows. She even seemed concerned about my people.”
“Are you saying, you trust her over me?”
“At this moment, all I want to know is where my missing are and why they attacked that man.”
“Troy.” Jerome rushed the space between them. “Do you really think I’d go behind your back and harm your people?”
“No,” Troy said. “I don’t think I can believe that.”
“Good.” Jerome beamed, giving him what appeared a genuine smile and hugged him in a tight embrace. “Good, good. No woman is worth coming between two friends.” He bared his fangs and moved Troy’s shirt collar to the side.
Troy pushed out of his embrace and headed for the door. “I have to go.”
“You’ll be back later.” He wasn’t exactly asking.
“Doubt it,” he said and kept moving. He was at a trot right out of the door. As he got in his car, his heart was starting to pound. A strange feeling had crept over him when Jerome attempted to nip him from the neck. Not fear exactly, but something like a warning sense. He felt his throat, as his pulse began to quicken. His body was trying to tell him something. “Velvet,” he muttered. Velvet’s questions and accusations. Velvet’s fingers running through the fur on his chest and her eyes watching his manhood thicken. “Aw hell, no.” He felt the change about to overtake him. He needed to run and howl. He needed to go home to his wife. “Velvet Washington, my ass!” He growled and bounded from the car as he changed. Looking up at the moon, he resisted the urge to howl.
~*~
Troy pulled out of his grasp. The fool did not believe him, not completely. Jerome watched him change, then slip back into his car and calmly drive from the estate. After the tail lights went out of view, he closed the door against the chill in the night air.
He climbed the stairs to his private study to think and relax. He didn’t like the feeling he had gotten off Troy. Something was different. Troy was different, and he hadn’t felt it until the wolf man practically ran from his house. “Who is in here?” he demanded, going behind his desk even as he sensed a vague presence in the room. The room was unnaturally dark near the open door.
A figure stepped from the shadows to sit on the edge of his desk before him. She was old, though not very wrinkled, and slender. The veins stood out on her coppery hands and forehead. She wore a long purple high collared dress with long sleeves. Her white hair was in long plaits that hung midway down her thighs. As heavy as it had to be, she stood erect. Around her neck, a black leather string held an amulet with the design of a monkey’s face. On her left hand was a similar ring. “So?” she asked when Jerome merely stared at her, dissatisfied with her appearance. “Is the wolf man useable or not?”
“He’s confused.”
“I thought you had control over him.”
“Mind control doesn’t last on an Alpha Werewolf. It isn’t easy and it can’t be attempted too often.”
“Hah!” She laughed holding her long dress to move off the desk and turn around. The dress was so long that it trailed behind her. “Such pitiful creatures you vampires are, afraid to force your strength on a mere animal!”
“I am not afraid of anything.”
“Then why are you up here sulking, rather than chasing down the wolf man to reassert your control?”
“It isn’t that urgent, and there is no reason to use force.”
“What?” She tossed back the long plaits on her head and laughed. “You hope to charm the boy? Eh? Been a while since your charms fizzled?”
“At least, I still have charms.” She continued to laugh with something rattling in her chest. “God, old woman!” Jerome jumped from his plush seat, hating to breathe the very air she expelled.
“So what is the wolf man’s problem, eh?”
“His pack.”
“Is he a good detective?”
“Are they dead, Samantha?”
“Are you?”
“What? What have you done?”
“Do you care?”
“One of his people is dead and he suspects I know what happened. I told you to leave them alone after you used them to attack the driver. Why did you go against my wishes and attack them again?”
“You don’t need to know what motivates me. You just keep the wolf man close and I will continue to make Velvet Washington’s life hell.”
“Samantha-
“I have things to see to vampire. Talking with a simpleton like you is neither productive, nor enjoyable. Besides, that brood of yours is crawling all over the place. I must center myself to withstand their foolishness.” She gathered her dress for another turn to exit the study. “Pitiful, damn fool,” she muttered and disappeared as she walked out into the hallway.