Gareth raked her with a nasty glare. "What are you? A fucking lawyer?"
"Worse. Reporter."
Gareth growled a sound that was animalistic and raw. "Phoenix!"
Ravyn's brother flashed in instantly. Susan frowned as a strange deep burgundy tattoo appeared on one half of his face before it faded out.
"Yes, Father?"
"Show these people to a room upstairs."
Otto curled his lip in disgust. "He can't be in daylight, Gareth, and you know it. "
If looks could kill, they'd all be nothing but dust. "Fine. Dump him in the basement then. In the holding room."
Well, didn't that sound all warm and cozy? "I guess I was lucky not to have a father, after all, if this is how they act."
No one said anything as Phoenix obeyed his father and led them to a stairway that was off to the right, concealed by a door. But she still half-expected the animals to turn on them as they made their way down to the room.
And it was small. It could barely accommodate the full-sized mattress on the floor. The walls were painted a dull gray and the room held a nice, musty odor to it. Nice... like a moldy piece of bread.
"What do they hold in here?" Susan asked as soon as Otto and Kyl dumped Ravyn on the mattress.
"Problem clients," Otto said, stretching his arm as if he'd pulled it. "If someone or something steps out of line, they have to hold them until they can get a council order to terminate them. "
That didn't sound pleasant. "Order from whom? The Squires' Council?"
Kyl shook his head. "No, the Omegrion. It's the ruling body for the Were-Hunters."
"By the way," Otto said, looking at Phoenix. "Thanks so much for helping us get him down here. "
"Fuck you, human." And then he vanished into thin air.
Susan feigned happiness as she clapped her hands together like a kindergarten teacher before her class. "Wow, boys and girls, they're just so inviting, aren't they? Martha Stewart would be proud."
Otto laughed while Kyl shook his head at her. Even Leo snorted.
"The Were-Hunters may be fuzzy," Kyl said, "but they're seldom warm. "
And that was definitely a shame.
Susan looked down at poor Ravyn, who was slumped in an awkward position on the mattress. "Could one of you at least get a pillow and blanket for him?"
Otto nodded. "I'll be back in a few."
The men stepped past her and left her alone with her charge. Although how he'd come to be her responsibility once more she wasn't sure. Then again, she was almost getting used to this.
Susan sat down beside Ravyn. As she was trying to make him more comfortable on the makeshift bed, she realized that he wasn't completely unconscious. "Ravyn?"
He gave a subtle blink but didn't really respond. He was as helpless as an infant, and that scared her. If he'd been hit with this while alone, he'd have been completely defenseless before his enemies.
It was one heck of an Achilles' heel to have. And now his enemies knew it...
Her gut tight with that thought, she brushed his hair back from his handsome face. Even though they were half-hooded, those eyes were still breathtaking and disturbing and they melted a foreign part of her. She'd never been the kind of woman who lost her head over good looks. But something in her was definitely drawn to him.
It was hard to believe she hadn't even known him twenty-four hours yet.
Otto came back with a blanket and pillow. "How's he doing?"
"I have no idea."
He sighed. "I tried to get one of the doctors in here to examine him, but, big surprise, they refused."
She ground her teeth in fury at that as she very gently placed the pillow under Ravyn's head. "Why do they hate him so much?"
"I killed them all."
Susan frowned at Ravyn's whispered words. "What?"
"I killed my family," he repeated, his voice distant and slurred. "Isabeau lied. She told them and they came for us..."
"Who's Isabeau?"
But there was no answer as Ravyn's eyes closed and he went limp. Again.
Otto shrugged. "I have no idea what he's talking about. Any more than I know why they hate him. I'm sure it has something to do with his being a Dark-Hunter, but anything other than that would be a guess on my part."
Feeling for Ravyn, Susan spread the blanket over him.
"You want me to bring you something to eat while you tend him?" Otto asked. "That is, assuming you intend to stay here with him."
Where else would she go? Besides, she'd been ill enough times in her adult life to know just how lonely it was. There was nothing worse than to have to tend yourself when you felt like complete crap.
"Yeah, I'll stay with him. And as for food, I'll eat most anything that doesn't bite me back."
Otto nodded before he left.
No sooner were they alone than Ravyn rolled to his side as if he was trying to sit up.
Susan caught him and pulled him back toward the mattress. "You need to stay down."
He cringed. "Don't yell at me."
Oh jeez he was on ketamine. What else would they use on a shape-shifter? She should have known. She'd had a college roommate who'd loved experimenting with all kinds of recreational drugs, and Special K, an animal tranquilizer, in particular had been a favorite. If Susan remembered correctly, it often left her roommate highly sensitive to light, sound, and touch.
Wanting to test the theory, she reached out to stroke Ravyn's hair. Like a cat, he arched his back and actually purred. It was so out of character for him that she wondered what he would say if he weren't under the influence.
He raised his hand up to cup her cheek. "You're so soft," he breathed. He grimaced as if something pained him. "I don't feel good."
Susan looked around quickly until she spotted a small trash can near the door. Releasing him, she grabbed it and barely made it back to him before he unloaded the contents of his stomach into it.
She cringed. They must have seriously overdosed him. Her roomie had often been nauseated by the drug, but Susan couldn't ever remember her actually getting sick from it-just very stupid and extremely over affectionate.
When he was finally finished, he fell back onto the mattress, where he panted and groaned.
Susan sighed wearily as she wondered what to do with the trash can. "What a perfect end to a perfect day."
Stryker stood in an alley outside of the Serengeti with three of his men and Satara. He glared at Trates, who'd allowed Ravyn to escape them yet again.
Stryker's second in command gave him a sheepish look that said he knew exactly how displeased Stryker was with him. "At least we know the tranquilizer works and it's every bit as fast acting as Theo promised."
Little consolation that.
Stryker licked his fangs meaningfully. "And where is the good doctor now?"
His face paling, Trates stepped back.
"Grow a ball, Stryker," Satara said irritably as she cast a glare toward the club. "March in there and take him down already."
" Grow a brain, little sister. You violate sanctuary and you open a whole can of worms that not even you can deal with."
"How so?"
Approaching her menacingly, Stryker backed her up against the wall. "I realize that as a handmaiden to Artemis you think you're immune to everything. Lucky you. But the rest of us aren't that fortunate. You go in there after Ravyn and you'll bring the wrath of Savitar down on us all. Not to mention it would become open hunting season on Spathi. We use those places to run to as much as the Were-Hunters do."
Her nostrils flaring, she pushed him back. "Then what do you want to do? Give up on taking Seattle?"
"No," he snarled. "We've gained too much ground here, and so far the humans have proven themselves worthy. We will wait them out and kill them when they leave."
She let out a disgusted breath. "You know what your problem is, Stryker? You think like an eleven-thousand-year-old man."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're too set in your ways. Give me a team of men to lead."
Yeah, right. Like he would trust her? She was too quick to act and too slow to think. "Are you insane?"
"No, but unlike you, I think outside the box." She gestured toward the buildings around them. "You want Seattle? I can give it to you."
Stryker hesitated as he considered her proposition. For centuries, Satara had kept to herself and only visited him whenever Artemis had no need of her. It was only in the last two years that she'd become a more frequent visitor to Kalosis. And with each visit, she seemed to get more and more agitated. Something had happened on Olympus to infuriate her, yet she never spoke of it.
But then maybe she had a point. He was old and tired. And set in his ways. Maybe she did have an idea that the Dark-Hunters and Acheron in particular wouldn't see coming.
"Fine." He looked back at his second in command. "Trates, go with her. If she makes a move to compromise any standing treaty, kill her."
Satara gave him a snide grimace. "I love you, too, Brother." She pulled the dagger out of her boot. "But don't worry... things are about to go deliciously our way. "