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.

interrogation,” I continue, lowering my voice and slowing

need

brave man, then, by baring his teeth at me in

And then I step away, secretly

of my muscles are tensed, ready to rip this man’s head

his arms crossed as he looks down at the

you are. And what your people want with

just grins at Roger, a too–wide expression that shows all

stares at him blandly for a moment and

reconnaissance team standing behind the priest who whips

against the priest’s neck.

him shriek and twist in pain,

away quickly. The priest goes a little slack in

try again,” Roger says, kicking the leg of the

people want with my

up at Roger again and just huffs a

shaking his head and holding

smile growing on his face. “You are

starts to laugh – really, truly laugh, as a crash

upstairs –

I recognize it, instantly,

Ella

in my rocking chair by Rafe’s basinet,

quietly as he falls

–

a little tapping sound at the glass of his window –

curiously, expecting a little bird – maybe

terror flooded me when I saw a black–masked face

to ice as I froze, as

for him.”

–

the man pulled back his arm, and made a fist,

window –

it – it should have broken his hand –

through the hole he made

window cracking

–

only half an instant later, my instincts came back to me,

my child’s rolling basinet behind me

the rocking chair away and back into the

to his feet at the foot of the window. As he stands,

–

–

more more men behind him, working their way up to the window

unnaturally fast

feet now, grinning at me, starting to prowl towards