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 my words, “will

need

brave man, then, by baring his teeth at me in a little snarl.

And then I step

my muscles are tensed, ready to rip this man’s head off. Roger steps

as he looks down at the man

are. And what your people want with my brother’s

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

him blandly for a moment and then

member of the reconnaissance team standing behind the priest who whips

swiftly against the priest’s

him shriek and twist in

goes a little slack in his chair,

the chair to get the priest’s attention.

with my nephew.”

the priest looks up at Roger again and just huffs a short, humorless

says, shaking his head and

smile growing on his face. “You

starts to laugh – really, truly laugh, as

upstairs –

my heart stops as I

Ella

rocking chair by Rafe’s basinet, one hand on

always is – shushing him quietly as

–

heard a little tapping sound at the glass of

looked towards it curiously, expecting a little bird –

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

body turning to ice as I

coming for

–

fast – the man pulled back his arm, and

window

– it should have broken his hand – Sinclair paid to have

his body, head–first, into the room through the hole

the window cracking and shattering around him

–

hit the floor, only half an instant later,

basinet behind me and screamed –

the rocking chair away and back into the

foot of the window. As he stands, my

–

–

him, working their way up to the window and through

fast

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