For Love of a Wolf: Alric's Story
by SpikesKat
Chapter 13
Alric ignored the demons that raced by on their way back into the arena, his attention focused solely on his Consort. His hands skimmed impersonally over every inch of her body, confirming what his senses were already telling him: she’d not been physically injured in any way.
“Tala?” he murmured. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
It was like she hadn’t heard him. Lying impassively in his arms, her gaze was fixed on nothing, not even him. Her features were slack. She was just… listless.
The sounds of continued fighting drifted to him through the open doorway, but things seemed well in hand. In another few minutes, he knew the clan would make good its escape, its primary objective seen to. He debated all of two seconds on rejoining the fray before deciding against it.
His Consort needed him right now.
Not questioning his instinct to see to her welfare, Alric pulled out his cell phone and dialed Bob.
“Meet me in the alley. I’ll be there in two minutes.”
He snapped the phone closed after his employee’s firm “yes, sir.” For once not taking umbrage at the use of the formal moniker.
Alric lifted the girl in his arms and stood. The walk was a relatively short one in terms of distance, but it felt like forever to him. His Consort’s anguish was a physical thing, a whip tearing off a piece of his flesh with every step he took. Her body a dead weight in his arms – not that she weighed much to begin with.
Thankfully, Bob asked no questions when he showed up in the alley carrying the girl. He liked that about the man, how he instinctively knew when to hold his tongue. The drive back to the hotel was quiet; his repeated attempts to get Tala to acknowledge his presence were for naught.
“Alric?”
Alric lifted his head to stare at the man looking at him in the rearview mirror. As if sensing his attention he continued. “I’m going to park around back and open the fire exit door that leads directly into the stairwell. Give me about ten minutes to get the alarm disconnected.”
“Alright.”
~*~*~*~*~
“Where are you?” Adam’s voice barked over the line.
Alric wasn’t ready to talk with anyone about Tala. He was feeling decidedly territorial just then, his demon in an uproar over his Consort’s behavior. For the last few hours, she’d refused food and drink. No, it wasn’t that she’d refused, she’d done nothing. Absolutely nothing. No yea or nay, no flicker across her features that she’d even heard him.
It was enough for him to pull out his hair in frustration.
Left with no choice, he’d stripped her of jewelry and the tiny thong she wore and put her to bed. Hoping that when she awoke she would be more willing to talk. To do something.
“Alric?” Adam’s voice cut into his thoughts; he sounded less than pleased – which meant that Spike or Buffy, or both of them, were too. And for the first time since being turned, he lied.
“Recognized one of the slavers. One of the big ones. I went after him.”
“Okay, I get that. But why didn’t you come home afterwards? Buffy was fit to be tied when you didn’t show up.”
Ah, so it was Buffy. Easier – but not by much – to lie to the girl and not his sire.
“The hotel room was closer. I’m gonna sleep here for the day. I’ll be at Jocelyn’s tomorrow night.”
There was a long pause and then, “Are you alright, Alric?” Alric could hear the concern in the other vamp’s voice.
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. You seem… preoccupied…”
“I’m fine. Just tired. That place… Adam, we’re demons, but we’ve never… I’ve never…”
“We were fortunate—”
Alric snorted. “Yes, fortunate.” His thoughts immediately returned to his Consort. Had she been fortunate to have him there?
Yes, his demon growled. She would belong to someone else if not for him. A thought that didn’t sit well with him in the least. The girl was his.
“I’m going after them, Adam. All of them.”
“I don’t think—”
“You didn’t see. They were… Christ, Adam. They were like cattle in there. Half of them no more than children. I’m going after them. If I don’t…”
He couldn’t voice the thought. He’d make his sire see. See that without cutting off some of the arms, in addition to the head, these trade shows would pop up again. That they probably already were; they just hadn’t reached the clan’s radar yet.
That it gave him an excuse to be away from his family for awhile didn’t even enter into his thoughts. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to introduce Tala to the others yet. Maybe he knew, deep down, that there was more to the girl than just being some demon’s pet. He’d get her well first, teach her how to be a human again.
Buffy had done it – given Angelina a time to heal, to become her own person again. Given her back her pride after being reduced to whoring and serving food and drink in some seaside tavern just to get by.
He could do no less. The girl would get better; he’d see to it.
Alric told Adam he’d see him tomorrow night then hung up. Bob was sitting on the living room couch watching football and he joined him there. He’d been hovering over the girl for the last hour with no sign of change exhibited, and he needed a break before trying again.
If not, he didn’t know what his demon would do.
So he sat down on the opposite end of the couch. Tried to look interested in the men in two differently colored shirts kicking the football around. He’d not ever been that interested in sports, even after his sire had gone on for a bit about Manchester United. Spike’s retelling hadn’t made much sense at the time, especially given that soccer – or football, as he’d vehemently called it – had yet to be invented. Then again, it wasn’t like he spent much time watching television in the first place, preferring instead to train or play a hand or two of cards for enjoyment.
“I’ll come with you if you like,” Bob said after some time had passed. “I can keep an eye on the girl while you do your thing.”
Alric grunted, not surprised the man had listened in on his conversation. He’d been doing remarkably well at picking up their “speak.” Then again, the man was well traveled and knew several languages to boot. Still, he wasn’t convinced that he should take the man along.
Then Bob pulled out his trump card.
“If I’m with you, it’s not like Spike would be able to ask me questions, now would he?”
Alric frowned, his brows drawing together. He thought for a minute, then turned and stared at the human.
“Why would you want to come with me?”
Bob’s face grew just as hard as the vampires. “Because I agree with you. They need to pay. Those… animals. It’s not right. Humans are—” he cut himself off before he could get worked up. He took a deep breath then added, “Besides, you’re gonna need someone to look after the girl. She seems comfortable enough with me around.”
“Alright then.” Alric sat there for a time as a plan slowly began to take shape. He’d need someplace safe for Bob and Tala to stay while he was at Jocelyn’s. Someplace close to Chinatown. He had a Chinaman to track down, one that owed him a debt.
And he was damn sure going to collect.
“Come on,” he announced abruptly, rising to his feet.
“Where we going?”
Alric grabbed his katana and coat and put them on as he headed for the door. “Gotta find us some new digs. How much petty cash do we have?”
“Almost ten thou…”
“Good. That’ll hold us for a few days until I can get us some more.”
Bob’s eyebrows rose at that remark, but he didn’t comment. There had to be a reason Alric didn’t want the others tracking his whereabouts, and it probably had a lot to do with the girl resting in the bedroom. He checked his weapon, grabbed his coat and the cash from one of the drawers, and followed the vamp out the door.
The place they chose was a rundown apartment just outside of Chinatown. They paid for a month in cash, which had the landlord – a peaceable enough demon – passing over the key without any paperwork being filled out. The lift wasn’t working, surprising neither Alric nor Bob, so they took the stairs up to the fourth floor. The two went over every inch of the furnished two-bedroom apartment, noting weaknesses of the layout and determining other avenues of escape besides the front door. It paid to be cautious.
“What are you going to need?” To see himself and his Consort safe while he was gone, Alric didn’t add.
“Nothing a hardware store won’t supply,” Bob replied. “I think low-tech surveillance is more than sufficient to see the place secured. Might want to slip the landlord a few extra bills…”
Alric nodded, and the two left not long afterwards.
~*~*~*~*~
After they broke into a hardware store and grabbed the items Bob needed, Alric figured that they may as well move over to the new place now. He would feel more comfortable leaving the two alone if he knew things were set up before he left.
Packing was accomplished with relative ease; they’d not brought a lot of belongings with them. When Alric came across the lavish jewelry he’d purchased for Tala to wear, he debated throwing it all away. He was about to, then stopped, hand poised over the garbage bin. The pieces were exquisite, and he could easily have them fashioned into something more proper at a later date. So instead of throwing them in the trash, he folded them up in one of his shirts and stuffed it into his case.
His Consort’s lack of clothing became readily apparent, and he made a mental note to have Bob go out and pick out a few things once the shops opened up. He just prayed the girl didn’t balk about wearing them.
“Ready?” Bob called from the bedroom door.
Alric looked away from Tala and nodded at Bob.
“I’ll just take these down and then drive around back again,” he told the vampire as he walked in the room and grabbed the two suitcases. “The door’s alarm should still be disconnected. Just give me a few minutes to get into place before you head down.”
“Okay.”
Bob left, and Alric sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at his Consort. She was sleeping finally, but even so, he could still feel her anguish. It angered him, his inability to ease her pain. It angered him more that he didn’t know the source of it.
He couldn’t fix it if he didn’t know the cause.
Sighing, he sifted his fingers through her hair. The silvery strands were unnatural and he wondered what color her hair would be when the dye was finally washed away. He was guessing the same dark color of her brows.
Several minutes passed as he silently willed his Consort’s secrets to reveal themselves. His eyes bled to amber, his demon desperate to get inside her head, if only to extract some small clue as to the reason behind her pain. His phone rang; the noise actually startled him because he’d been staring so intently at the girl.
He recognized the number on the screen and flipped the phone open.
“I’m on my way.”
Bob didn’t get a chance to reply to the terse comment. The line disconnected before he could say anything. A few minutes later, the stairwell door opened and Alric appeared carrying the girl wrapped snuggly in one of the bedsheets. He got out of the car and opened the door to the back seat, closing it firmly once Alric was inside and had the girl somewhat settled on his lap.
Since the car they were driving would stick out like a sore thumb in the area they were moving to, Bob dropped Alric and the girl off, idling at the curb only long enough to run their cases upstairs while Alric got out of the car.
“I’ll catch a cab back,” Bob told him as he climbed behind the driver’s seat. “I shouldn’t be gone more than thirty minutes tops.”
Alric nodded and disappeared inside the rundown hotel as Bob drove off. He took the stairs two and three at a time to get the girl safe behind closed doors. Inside the apartment, he chose the smaller of the two bedrooms since its single window faced towards the west and he wouldn’t get the early morning sun. Just to be sure, he tacked an extra thick blanket over the window after getting Tala settled beneath the covers.
When Bob got back, the two worked quickly and methodically to make the place secure. It was nearly four in the morning by the time they finished, and Alric sent Bob off to bed with the instructions that once he awoke, he was to hit the streets and find some clothes for the girl.
“I’ve left a sheet of paper with her sizes on the table. See that she gets everything, enough for a few weeks at least.”
Bob mentally shuddered at the idea of shopping for women’s clothes but complied readily enough. He gave a half-assed wave goodnight and headed towards his bedroom. The door gave a muted click as it shut, leaving Alric alone with his thoughts.
The sun was just starting to rise when Alric sought his own bed. He climbed between the sheets and curled around Tala after dispensing with his clothes. She didn’t turn over and cuddle up against his chest, but she didn’t object to him wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him either.
He sighed and closed his eyes, vowing that when he returned from seeing his sire, he’d fix whatever it was that had apparently broken his girl.
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