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.

my voice and slowing my words, “will be long,

if need be.”

man, then, by baring his teeth

him, which makes him faulter. And then I

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

Roger commands, his arms crossed as he looks

are. And what your people want with

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

Roger stares at him blandly for a moment and then shifts his

team standing behind the

places it swiftly against the

shriek

priest goes

the chair to get the priest’s attention. “What

want with my nephew.”

eyes narrow, though, as the priest looks up at Roger again and just huffs a short, humorless

“It doesn’t matter,” the priest says, shaking his head and holding his gaze. “Because,” he

a smile growing on his face. “You

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

upstairs –

stops as I recognize it, instantly, as Ella.

Ella

chair by Rafe’s basinet, one hand on the edge of it

it always is – shushing him quietly as he falls asleep when –

–

a little tapping sound at the glass

curiously, expecting a little bird –

flooded me when I saw a black–masked face calmly

ice as I froze, as he quietly pointed to the

for him.” (2)

–

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

window

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

room through the hole he

window cracking and shattering around him

–

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

basinet behind

the

gets to his feet at the foot of the window. As he stands, my heart jumps

–

–

their way up to the

fast –

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