I felt a bit of a heel making him conceal things about himself. Thankfully he wasn’t offended, or at least Pilar didn’t seem to be. If this case wasn't such a serious one, and getting more complicated by the hour, I’d say to hell with it and just let the servants get used to his differences on their own. Not that he’d be here if this was one of our run-of-the-mill crimes. The Council wouldn’t have sent for a Hunter just to deal with old Scoggins and his small animal poaching or the odd missing cask of ale from one of the taverns.
We both knew that our best bet was to make him seem as innocuous as possible. Not entirely possible, but if he at least appeared to be more human-like, he’d be better able to charm everyone, and they’d be more forthcoming.
Yeah, charm them like he has me. If he asked me to, I’d drop my pants for him. Or go down on my knees and help him with a bit of stress relief.
I licked my lips, the sudden thought of getting to taste him leaving me wanting. I shook my head mentally. This was neither the time or place for that sort of thing, real or imagined. Thankfully, the smell of bacon reached me and my stomach decided to make its empty status well known with a large growl. I flushed, feeling the heat creep to my ears and down my neck. Thanks to his keen eyesight and my shortly cropped hair, I knew he saw my embarrassment, which added to it. Thankfully, he made no comment.
A door loomed before me suddenly, bringing me up short. I braced myself, expecting him to run into me, but no. His brilliant eyesight had noticed that too. I played it cool.
“Best to open it before trying to go through it,” I joked, reaching for the handle and pulling.
A glance over my shoulder showed me a faint smile on his face. “Indeed,” he answered me simply as his eyes rapidly adjusted to the sudden bright light of the kitchen spilling through the door. I caught myself staring in fascination.
His pupils contracted, the back rapidly shrinking to show the iridescent gray of his irises. The light played over his skin, the warmth of its hue a stark contrast to the paleness of his skin. His very smooth, soft-looking skin. I spun back around, not wishing to follow that train of thought.
My stomach growled again as we stepped into the kitchen. The scent of the bacon was stronger now. I hoped they’d cooked a lot. Pigs were one of the few animals from Earth that thrived here after decanting. So far, our colony only had success with pigs, turkeys, and geese. Like us humans, they too survived the mutations that saw us conform to this world’s dominant method of sexual reproduction. The rest died and it was decided that it was best to leave their genetic material stored until we could figure out how to enable the adaptation. That would be a long, long time from now.
“You boys hungry?” a middle-aged alpha asked. He wore an apron dusted with flour and a cap to keep hair from the food.
“I sure am. I could smell that bacon all the way back in the hall.” I grinned.
He smiled right back. “Good thing I made a whole heap of it then.”
I stepped farther into the room and I knew the very moment when Pilar became visible and they’d taken note of him. The very air seemed to change, become heavier. The postures of everyone in the room looking our way turned tense, their eyes dilating in the same look of heightened awareness as prey sighting the critter about to make it dinner.
The alpha who’d spoken to me straightened up. “I’m Mal,” he said. “Head cook.”
“Sheriff Kelly,” I replied.
“Pilar of House R’jil’yae’k,” the Hunter offered.
“Oh, I know who you are,” Mal replied, his smile returning and reaching his eyes, but the wariness remained, telegraphed by his stance.
“You’re that Hunter,” one of the kitchen assistants blurted out. Pilar inclined his head. “You’re here to catch the person killing all the omegas,” the lad continued.
“We are.”
My heart warmed at how he made sure to include me in that, right where I belonged, not allowing the prestige of who and what he was to overshadow me at all.
“Why?” This from another assistant, this one mixing a bowl of some sort of batter.
“Because we can’t have a murderer roaming about killing folks willy nilly,” Mal snapped, tossing the younger man a glare.
Pilar took a step, coming to stand beside me now, his body loose but still. “Are alphas and omegas not of equal importance?” he queried, his voice soft.
“Supposedly,” came the reply, with a downcast glance, the spoon now moving in furious circles.
“I see.” Pilar sighed. “It can be that way among my own people.” He pursed his lips. “I am the first omega Hunter, for example.”
I watched in interest as all eyes in the room opened in wonder as they looked upon him.
“You’re not wearing an earring,” Mal stated bluntly.
Pilar shook his head. “Your Council asked me to remove it before arriving, to ensure no one made a play for me.”
“Roe knows,” I reassured them. I grinned wryly. “He even gave us a little talk about behaving ourselves while sharing a connecting bathroom.”
That broke the tension as titters sounded.
“I bet that was awkward,” the man stirring the batter said, giving his stirring a rest, gifting us with a mirthful smile. “I’m Paulo.”
“Roe said to give you that blood taken after the pig died, but if I remember rightly, I heard you need it fresh, taken while the heart is still beating.” Mal’s right eyebrow rose in question.
Pilar tilted his head back ever so slightly. “Yes. Dead blood can cause indigestion.”
The eyebrow lowered. “Good thing I had them catch it all in a pail as much as possible then. I can infuse it into the sausages,” Mal offered.
“That would be delightful, I’m sure,” came the smooth reply.
We were ushered to an empty end of the table and soon platters heaped with food appeared before us: bacon, eggs, sausage, and sugar-dusted Welsh cakes.
“Do you need a bowl of blood to dip the rest of the food in?” Mal asked Pilar.
He shook his head no. “I watched you fill the syringe with blood and fill each sausage quite well. It will be enough for now, thank you.”
“Okay, great. Mark,” Mal called out to yet another of his assistants, “bring these boys some milk to wash this down with.” His eyes flicked back to Pilar. “You can drink milk? It’s from our own beast herd.”
“We do drink that, yes.” Amusement laced every syllable.
“Wonderful!” Mal clapped his hands.