Surrogate For Alpha Dom

Sinclair

I growl down at the man before me, who is younger than I thought he would be, for one with

such power. He has thick black hair and a day’s worth of stubble on his thin cheeks. The man

glares up at me with dark, angry eyes and opens his mouth to speak but before he can, I slap him

– hard with an open palm.

–

The man gasps with surprise and pain, his eyes going wide as he stares down at the floor, and I

smirk. I doubt this man has been slapped anytime recently, if ever. He has the smug look of

someone used to being in charge.

But he’s in my house now.

“You’ll speak when we tell you to speak,” I growl, and then I turn to the head of my

–

reconnaissance team, who is standing against the wall, his hands on his knees, panting a little.

Craig isn’t a small man to see him so undone by the efforts suggests that this diminutive priest

is, indeed, powerful in other ways.

“How did you catch him?” I snap. Craig looks up at me and does his best to straighten up.

“We followed the leads, sir,” he replies, looking me in the eyes, “that we gleaned from the

conversation with the other priest, who wished to remain anonymous. They were…fruitful. We

found this one’s lair, for lack of a better word. It was actually in a sewer -in an abandoned

maintenance room. He was living there doing…” Craig hesitates and then shrugs. “Forgive me, Sir,

for the dramatic language, but ‘arcane magics‘ are the only words coming to my mind now. Lizard

skins…and and snail shells, in jars – he had a cauldron –”

“Thank you,” I say, interrupting and nodding towards the head of my investigative team. “You.

will give your details to Alastair, as soon as you can. For now, though I want everyone here for

the interrogation.” I lean forward towards the priest, who watches me with wary eyes and a

clenched jaw.

and slowing my words, “will be

if need

his teeth at me in a little snarl. But

makes him faulter. And then I step away,

muscles are tensed, ready to rip this man’s

his arms crossed as he looks down at the man strapped to

And what your people

grins at Roger, a too–wide expression that shows all of his teeth. “No,” he growls, a

laughter in his voice now. Roger stares at him blandly for a moment and then

behind

it swiftly against the

priest’s body, making him shriek and twist in pain,

pulls it away quickly. The priest goes a little slack

kicking the leg of the chair to get the priest’s attention. “What do

with my

the priest looks up at Roger again and just huffs

doesn’t matter,” the priest says, shaking his head

his face. “You are

really, truly laugh, as a crash of glass sounds and a scream

upstairs –

heart stops as I

Ella

sitting here, tense, in my rocking chair by Rafe’s basinet, one hand on the edge of it –

always is – shushing him quietly as

–

a little tapping sound at the glass of his window –

curiously, expecting a little bird –

terror flooded me when I saw a black–masked face calmly tapping

my body turning to ice as I froze, as he quietly

for him.” (2)

–

seemed to go so fast – the man pulled back his arm, and made a

window

have broken his hand – Sinclair paid

hole he made

the window cracking and

–

the moment he hit the floor, only half an instant later, my

behind me and

shove the rocking chair away and back into the corner now,

at the foot of the window. As he stands, my

–

–

him, working their way

unnaturally fast –

is on his feet now, grinning at me, starting to prowl