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.

voice and slowing my

need

priest proves himself a brave man, then, by baring his teeth at me in a little

him faulter. And then I step away, secretly

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

Roger commands, his arms crossed as he looks down

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

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

at him blandly for a moment and

of the reconnaissance team standing behind the priest who whips

it swiftly against the priest’s

body, making him shriek

The priest goes a

again,” Roger says, kicking the leg of the chair to get the

people want with my

as the priest looks up at Roger again and just

his head and holding his gaze. “Because,” he

smile growing on his face. “You are

to laugh – really, truly laugh, as a

upstairs –

I recognize it, instantly,

Ella

my rocking chair by

it always is – shushing him quietly

–

tapping sound at the glass of

towards it curiously, expecting a little bird – maybe a squirrel

a black–masked face calmly tapping on my window,

I froze, as he quietly pointed

coming for him.”

–

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

the window

don’t know how he did it – it should have broken his hand –

into the room through the hole he made with

of the window cracking

–

an instant later, my instincts came back to me, and I

child’s rolling basinet behind

rocking chair away and back into the

to his feet at the foot of the window.

–

–

behind him, working their way up to the window and

unnaturally fast

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