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.

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

if need

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

And then I step away, secretly grateful for it,

rip this man’s head off. Roger steps in to take my place.

he looks down at

you are. And what your people want with

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

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

standing behind the

places it swiftly against the priest’s neck.

shriek and twist

priest goes

try again,” Roger says, kicking the leg of the chair to get the priest’s attention.

people want with my

up at

priest says, shaking his head and

smile growing on his face. “You

really, truly laugh, as a crash of glass sounds

upstairs –

heart stops as I recognize

Ella

was just sitting here, tense, in my rocking chair by Rafe’s basinet, one hand on the edge

quietly as he falls asleep

–

heard a little tapping sound at the glass of his

curiously, expecting a little bird – maybe a squirrel

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

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

coming for

–

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

window –

it should have

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

the window cracking and shattering

–

instant later, my instincts came

child’s rolling basinet behind me and screamed

shove the rocking chair away and back into the

his feet at the foot of the window. As he stands, my heart jumps when I see that

–

–

men behind him, working their way up to the window and through

fast –

on his feet now,