Page 20 of Tooth and Nail

She was already turning and heading back to the table to sit in one of the two chairs across from the vampire Eoghanhad captured the night before. As he sat in the chair beside his boss, he noted the vampire-strength cuffs he was wearing securely fastened to the bar which ran through the table before being bolted to the concrete floor. Since they conducted interviews in here for a multitude of different creatures—most of whom could easily kill a human in a variety of painful ways—this room was made as safe for them as the cells in the basement. The vampire was rosy cheeked now, looking a hell of a lot better than he had the night before when he’d been starving.

“Eoghan Sapphire is the marshal who caught up to you last night, John,” Priest said.

The vamp immediately flashed several rows of bright, white fangs at him, hissing.

“Now, see, I know you’ve given the chief your name but I don’t even know your last name,” Eoghan said with a little chuckle. “Is that how we’re going to start off our relationship?”

“Listen, Sapphire, or whatever your damned name is,” the vamp began. “I don’t want to have arelationshipwith you, but I need your help and you’ll want the information I’m going to provide to the I.S.R. in exchange for it,” he said. “The only reason I didn’t tear your damned throat out last night was because I need you…my people need you.”

“Fine. Stop hissing like a serpent and tell us what’s going on,” Eoghan said. “Why were you starving anyway? Between Flagstaff and L.A. there were a ton of humans you could have snacked on.”

“I’m on a deadline. I didn’t have time to stop and eat, starved though I am. And—” he paused, taking a deep breath before going on. “I didn’t want to eat anyone. I’m accustomed to taking sustenance from willing donors to be honest.” He looked down at the table before looking back up. “To be totally truthful, I’ve never killed a human in my life and that’s exactlywhy I had to refrain from taking blood from one. I was starving—still am—and didn’t want to be responsible for a human’s death if I couldn’t stop.”

“Your greeting last night and the one I just got makes me think you aren’t being entirely truthful at all, John,” Eoghan said.

“I’m really sorry about that. Last night, before the bottled blood you gave me, I was dying. I could feel it. My speed was half of what it normally would be when I attacked you but even so, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist much longer. The smell of your blood…well, I apologize. As for just now, yeah, that was shitty. Forgive me?”

“Yeah,” Eoghan said. “So, what happened? Why are you so far from home and so hungry?”

“I came to the I.S.R. so that you guys can get a message to the Agency. I’m not the only one starving. Our entire rez is starving.”

“Why come all the way to L.A., John?” the chief asked. “We have an office in Las Vegas which is on the way to the coast.”

“And it’s full of spies. My escape from the reservation had to remain undiscovered as long as possible and now that you’ve screwed things up by contacting them to come get me while I was sleeping, I’m completely out of time.”

“What kind of spies? Spies for who?” Eoghan asked.

The man sighed. “They’re spies for the new king, Tillis Bradshaw.”

Eoghan frowned, glancing over at the chief. “I didn’t realize any of the clans had a new king. Isn’t the Agency generally informed of changes to a royal house?”

She nodded. “Of course.” They both glanced back at John who looked exhausted with dark circles beneath his eyes. They had a duller than normal glow in the bright light of the room.Normally, vampire eyes had a red glow like the one he’d noticed when they were in the subway tunnel the night before. “When did this leadership change? What happened to the old king and why weren’t we notified of the change?”

His cuffs rattled. “I’m the old king, John Townsend. Tillis Bradshaw had me stripped of my title, all my progeny killed, and crowned himself the new king. His new regime is a sham. Bradshaw overthrew my regime and might as well call himself dictator with all the crap he’s pulled since taking power. He has no sympathy for my subjects. He’s a monster.”

“He just overthrew the regime? Just that easily?” Priest asked.

John sighed. “He paid my Pretorian guards exorbitant sums of money to betray me. Then, he had me chained in a coffin. I was in there for three months. The only reason I’m sitting here at all is because a sympathetic prison guard who was left in charge of my coffin, finally gave in and freed me. When I got free and asked for a donor, I was told that Tillis and his followers have completely depleted the city of human donors by killing them all in a feeding frenzy. What blood he does allow my people to have is bottled, and the availability is strictly controlled by the new regime. My people are starving. I don’t have the wherewithal to save my subjects, but the Agency can. Please…you have to help save my people. They’re dying.”

Eoghan sighed and sat back in his chair before glancing over at the chief. She looked pensive and when she turned back to look at John, she nodded.

“Is there anyone who can corroborate your story, Your Highness?” she asked.

“Please. It’s just John,” he said, sounding humbler than he had when he’d hissed at Eoghan. He certainly looked like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders now that he’d finally been able to tell his story. “I don’t know if there’sanyone who can corroborate.” He shook his head. “The man who released me is the one who told me my mate, Rudy, my entire court, and all my progeny were murdered, slaughtered by Bradshaw. Any of my subjects can verify there’s a new king, I suppose, but I don’t even know if the guard who freed me is still alive.

“Then again, there’s been much suffering on the reservation. I’m just not sure anyone would be brave enough to tell the truth about what’s been happening to my clan over the last three months. The borders have been sealed to make sure the food supply is limited, and I was lucky I could get through and stay ahead of Bradshaw’s thugs as long as I did. I’ve been traveling on foot for two weeks.”

“We need to investigate your claims, John,” the chief said.

“We don’t have time, Chief,” Eoghan said, looking at his watch. “The representatives his clan sent will be here in just a few hours.”

Priest nodded. “I’m aware of that, Sapphire. I’ll contact the Agency and get counsel from them.” She turned back to John. “I’m sorry but until we can verify your story, I have to put you back into lockup.”

The king nodded. “I understand. Please hurry and get an answer. My subjects need the I.S.R. support.”

She nodded before turning to Eoghan. “Please take the king back to holding, Sapphire, and check in with me as soon as you’ve done that. I want to hear how everything went with Derwin ahead of the debrief.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She stood, and Eoghan got to his feet as well. As soon as she’d left the interrogation room, he unlocked the handcuffs from the table and then refastened them behind John’s back. “Sorry, it’s for everyone’s safety.”

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