Page 215 of White Wolf
Staring.
All the sensations hit him afresh, the ones that had previously seemed innocuous: he was alone, and it was late. The streetlamps cast dim puddles, and the sky was its usual muddy pink-purple-yellow, the night colored by light pollution. But there were still deep shadows in the alleys. Blinds in all the windows. The kind of alone that was colder for all the people around you who didn’t look and didn’t care. People got murdered on the streets all the time, and nobody even noticed, in this city.
Phantom insects crawled down the back of Lanny’s neck when he realized he recognized this young man not just by sight – but byscentas well. The blood he’d drank pulsed in his stomach, pulsed in his veins.
Rival.Enemy.Danger.
Vampire.
“Hello,” Alexei Romanov, former tsarevich of Russia, said.
Lanny ground to a halt, pulse accelerating. “Were you following me?”
The heir’s face was apologetic. “Yes. Sorry. Nikita refused you, didn’t he?”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’m fine.” He moved to charge past the kid.
Alexei caught him by the arm. The touch was gentle – but the strength behind it was not. Hopped-up on vampire blood or not, this boy who looked like he’d just stumbled out of a library could have lifted Lanny up over his head one-handed if he wanted to.
“Wait,” Alexei said. “A minute. Please?”
Lanny tensed his arm, and the fingers around his elbow tightened. He had the impression thepleasewas just a formality. “Make it fast.”
He nodded. “Nikita sees his power as a burden. But it’s not. It’s a gift. One that could save your life.”
“I…” Lanny started, and then trailed off. The urgency and worry fuzzed and then faded. He had nothing to be afraid of. Alexei didn’t mean him any harm.
Right?
“I can help you,” Alexei said, leaning in close, close enough that his warm breath fanned across Lanny’s face. Wow, his eyes were really cool, the pupils big as teacup saucers, the irises shining around them, almost glowing. “Do you want me to help you, Lanny?”
No.
Wait.
Maybe?
“I…” he tried again. “Sure.”
Alexei smiled, friendly, sharp-toothed, pleased. “I only want to help.” He ducked his head into Lanny’s throat.
There was pain, a bright spark of it.
And then he was fainting, falling, shutting his eyes.
Blackness.
~*~
When he woke, everything was different.
Hewas different.
~*~
EPILOGUE
Three basements resided beneath the expansive foundations of Blackmere Manor, and each had its own distinct flavor. The first one, the main one, housed Dr. Talbot’s labs, room after room of equipment, lockers for storage, coolers and freezers, long tables, the constant hum of electricity and modern science, an operating room, and even a padded-walled room for weapons training.
