Page 23 of Black Hand
“I fail to see the humor in this. We are still considered younglings at ninety …” I trailed off when her eyebrows crawled all the way to her hairline. “Was there a point to your question?”
“I called you numerous times, but you didn’t hear me.” Fully turning her body my way, she propped a hip on the banister while nervously playing with the bracelets on her wrists. “I’ve been dying to ask questions, but I’m worried that I might piss you off and … you know …” she mimicked a mouth with her hand and snapped at her neck.
I blinked at her.
“In case you didn’t understand, that was in case you get made and decide I’m not worth keeping around because I’m annoying and you chew on my neck to get rid of me.” Rolling her eyes, she acted like I was dumb for not understanding her pantomime.
“There are other parts I could chew on that would keep you alive longer and prolong your suffering.” My mouth snapped shut when her face blanched, and then her body sagged heavily on the banister like her legs were unable to hold her. “Alice …” My hand reached out to catch her in case she crumbled, but I dropped it to my side when she flinched with a wide-eyed look on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean I would do it. Sometimes I say things before I think them through.”
“You think?” Her voice shook, but she recovered quickly, impressing me with the strength of her character.
The Syndicate was all I knew, and to survive in that snake pit I’d always had to speak as cruelly as possible. I had to make sure there was no emotion attached to my statements, else I wouldn’t be taken seriously. More importantly, so I wasn’t messed with. When dealing with a human, I had no idea how to hold a conversation without scaring the life out of her. Seeing Alice occasionally to make sure the shifters were transported safely was one thing. Being around her day and night was a whole new hell, and it was one I’d never had time to prepare for.
The sound of tires crunching the fallen branches and pebbles pinging off the bottom of the pickup truck announced Dominic’s return. We both turned at the sound and watched the vehicle bounce over the driveway, and we didn’t miss the large male gripping the steering wheel in both hands as if trying to strangle it. His face was relaxed, which turned his harsh features softer. I couldn’t help but admire how handsome he actually was. That was until he saw me. His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed until the familiar suspicious stare I was accustomed to clicked into place. Even his knuckles tightened around the steering wheel.
“Who pooped in his cereal?” Alice muttered while adjusting her glasses. “That man is as annoying as winding a yo-yo backwards, twisting it in knots, and trying to untangle it. Would it kill him to smile? All he does is glare and snap at both of us.”
“He doesn’t trust me. You have nothing to do with it.” I coughed, but only to cover up the laugh threatening to escape at her description. She wasn’t wrong.
“Did you do something to him?” she asked just as Dominic was exiting the truck, which made him pause halfway out the door.
“Me personally?” For some stupid reason I felt a blush creeping into my cheeks. “No, I haven’t done anything.” She took a deep breath, no doubt to say something else that would make me want to run and hide, so I rushed to silence her. “But my kind must’ve done something. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did.”
“So?” Undeterred by the now glaring shifter that was still frozen halfway out of the driver’s seat, she continued staring pointedly at him. No self-preservation whatsoever. “By that logic, every human should want to kill one another as soon as we see each other. Do you know how many crazies have done psychotic things in this world? Atrocious, unspeakable things to other human beings. I can’t hate all humankind because of a few bad apples.”
“That is kind of you to say, Alice.” Giving her a grateful smile, I flinched when Dominic slammed the door with so much force I thought the truck would fall apart. “But our worlds are different. He has every right not to trust me or like me because of what I am. I don’t blame him for that.”
“That’s you. I can blame him all I want.” She kept raising her voice until she shouted the last part at his retreating back. “Asshole.” Huffing in annoyance, she shook her head at me as if saying‘Can you believe that?’
Making sure he was out of ear shot, I tugged on her arm so she paid attention. Keeping my voice as low as I could so she could still hear me, I bent my head closer to hers. “Don’t anger him, Alice. Dominic is very calm and I’m very happy he is on our side making sure none of my kind get anywhere near this place. You need to remember that he is not human.”
“You said he is not a vampire.” She threw at me accusingly.
“Atua, and no he is not. This is the second time you compared him to me. Why?”
“He was fighting that panther in my kennel.” Her frame shivered as she remembered that night.
Frowning, I recalled the fight and realized she could’ve mistaken the two males in the darkness since they had the same color hair and similar height. Her human sight was not as good as ours, and that didn’t even count how scared out of her mind she had probably been and the glasses she wore, so it would’ve been difficult to tell the difference.
“What?” When I didn’t answer fast enough to her liking, she actually tugged on my arm. “What?” she repeated, and I decided I wasn’t going to lie to her.
“Dominic wasn’t fighting the panther in your building, Alice.”
“What do you mean? Yes he was.” My heart bumped hard against my breastbone at her worried, confused face.
“No, he wasn’t fighting it.” Locking my gaze on hers, I braced for the reaction. “Dominic was the panther.”
“Brooklyn?” Alice whimpered, her body leaning heavily on the banister. “I think I’m going to pass out now.”
I snatched her unconscious body before it hit the porch. Cradling her in my arms, I turned to take her inside but a movement from the corner of my eye stopped me in my tracks. Dominic was watching me from the side of the house, his gaze swiping up and down my body with an expression I couldn’t name.
“Take the human inside. We need to have that talk.”
Lovely, that was exactly what I needed.
A talk with a pissed-off shifter.
13
