Page 143 of White Wolf
He pulled in tight, shoulders jacked up around his ears, and failed to suppress a whimper.
“Sasha,” Katya whispered beside him. She put a soothing hand on the back of his head. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t sure he would be again, unless something happened to Rasputin.
God, that was a horrible thought for him to have. They needed the vampire now.
But.
But…
“Ivan,” Nikita said. “You made arrangements?”
“Yeah.”
“Time to go, then.”
“You know,” Rasputin said. His voice was beginning to sound slurred. He’d had the whole bottle by now. “It would be nice to–”
“Already taken care of,” Nikita said darkly.
~*~
Ivan had scouted yesterday and procured them a set of rooms in a house owned by the sort of landlady who would turn the other way, and engaged some entertainment for the afternoon.
The rooms were a little shabby, but clean and neat. The hardwood floors gleamed in the afternoon sunlight that filtered through the curtains. There was a living room with a sofa, two chairs, and well-trod braided rugs. Two bedrooms and a bathroom with a claw-foot tub. It seemed luxurious after the base.
Four bottles of vodka sat on a side table.
Four prostitutes sat on the sofa, already half-undressed and smiling as they entered.
“Oh,” Katya said, quiet and startled.
Nikita darted a glance her way and saw that her cheeks were pinking. He settled his arm around her waist, briefly, patted her hip. “I thought we’d go for a walk.”
She looked relieved when she turned to face him.
“Would that be alright?” he asked.
“Yes.” She smiled a little.
“The boys have earned a little fun.” Before the fighting started.
She nodded. “They have.”
“I saw some books downstairs in the parlor,” Philippe said. “I wonder if the landlady might let me look through them.” He left them with a thin smile.
“Ladies,” Ivan greeted, beaming at the prostitutes with that cheeky, little-boy smile that made women fall at the big man’s feet.
Pyotr was blushing furiously, but Nikita saw the eager way he eyed the slim, young woman with the pale hair and small breasts.
Only Sasha looked stricken.
Nikita touched his shoulder. “Come with us,” he said. “We’re walking down to the river.”
Sasha managed a halfhearted smile. But before he could respond, Rasputin turned to face them.
“Nonsense. The wolf child will stay with me. Hasn’t he ‘earned a little fun’ too?”
