CHAPTER 4

Price of Obedience

Eliot gave Quinn another plate of meat and everyone reconvened in the living room. "Quinn, can you tell us what happened?"

"Sure." Quinn swallowed the bite of meat he'd just taken. "Will was negotiating for a couple of new wolves for our pack." Quinn used his fingers to grab another piece of meat and popped it into his mouth.

Hardison frowned. "You were buying people?" He had to take a deep breath and deliberately relax his shoulders to keep control.

Quinn tucked a strand of hair behind his ear before picking up another cube of meet. He shook his head at Hardison. "Nah, it's not like that. Reese had four wolves that wanted to move to North Carolina, and we needed new people." After barely chewing the bite, he swallowed it. "They were still negotiating but things were going okay. We'd just left a club on Bourbon St., and we were headed back to that coffee shop Reese keeps on St. Peter." He raised an eyebrow at Eliot, who nodded. "He was taking us through some inner courtyard or something as a short cut when we got nabbed."

"How?" Eliot asked.

"Darts." Quinn gulped another bite. "I saw the red tail of a dart just appear in Will's neck and then I felt the sting of one in my neck and then that was it. The lights just sorta went out." Quinn picked up another bite and nodded at Ms. Teo. "Kinda like the stuff you hit me with but darts instead of bolts. Those bolts hurt by the way."

Ms. Teo snorted but didn't reply.

"So probably hellebore." Eliot frowned. "It means they were hunting werewolf and they knew what they were doing."

"Yah, but they weren't after me and Will. We were just a bonus. They were after Reese. They made that pretty clear from the get-go."

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Cigarette smoke drifted lazily on the muggy night air. Back home in North Carolina it was at least ten degrees cooler this time of year. Quinn wished he'd worn something a little more climate appropriate. But he knew he looked good in a suit, and he always wore a suit when he was working. This might have been pack business and not a regular job, but it was still work. He trailed a little behind Will and Reese as they moved through the courtyard. Will was tall with his dark hair cut short exposing pale skin at the back of his neck over the collar of his polo shirt. Reese was shorter than Will but taller than Quinn and his coppery-brown hair made him stand out in the crowd.

Quinn didn't like this courtyard space. There was a second-floor balcony that wrapped all the way around the courtyard, not to mention the roofline that added yet another vantage point. All it would take would be two shooters to make this a kill box.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he noticed the bright red tail of a dart appear in the back of Will's neck. Quinn spun trying to find the shooter but didn't spot him before he felt the bite of a dart in the side of his own neck. There was an overwhelming dizziness, and he could feel his knees give right before he fell unconscious to the ground.

He couldn't tell how long he'd been out when he woke up in a dark room with Will. "Ugh, where are we?" His head hurt and he touched his temple. His fingers came away sticky and while it was too dark to see the color, he could see the dark smear on his fingers and smell the blood. He must have been dropped onto the cement on his head.

"Glad you're awake again." Will's deep voice was nearby. "I'm not sure where we are. I was barely starting to wake up when they drug Reese outa here. The door is steel, but I haven't been able to budge it and the rest is cement but solid."

They fell into silence sitting next to each other with their backs against the cement wall facing the door.

Quinn's head continued to throb and his body's attempt to heal was making him hungry.

"Come'ere." Will's order was gentle.

Quinn scooted next to him so that their shoulders touched.

"Let me see." Will tilted Quinn's face to the side.

It had taken Quinn a long time to get used to following orders and he'd often thought that if he'd known how that worked for the wolves and what if felt like, he might not have chosen this life. He knew Will meant it for the best, but orders were orders and not choice.

"Alright." Will put a hand on Quinn's head and pushed power at the wound.

Immediately the headache stopped and so did the stinging pain from the torn skin. "Thank you Alpha." The response was something that Will had insisted on at first and at this point it was mostly habit.

Eventually they heard the steady sound of footsteps.

"I hear two, no more." Quinn whispered.

"Same."

They both rose to their feet and moved to opposite corners. Something outside scraped against the door and two men with glowing red eyes stepped into the room. Quinn had planned on springing at whoever came through the door but could do no more than stumble as he was caught in the ruby gaze. He felt the urge to sit back against the wall, but this wasn't his Alpha ordering him. He struggled against the gaze and was able to stagger forward a few more inches. In his peripheral vision he saw Will follow the other man out. Quinn was still caught in the vampire's gaze and didn't see the blow coming, his world just went black.

He woke with a gasp and for a moment he couldn't figure out what was happening. He hurt. It hurt everywhere. He felt a knife bite deeply into his left arm. He sat up clutching his arm but there was nothing there. He realized that it was Will. They were torturing Will and it was being broadcast through the bonds. It took several tries before he could close the bonds enough that the pain didn't feel like his own.

After Mckinna had been killed last year Quinn had become second in his pack but he still didn't know much about the bonds. He could give Tony orders but that was all he knew how to do. He knew that Will could use the bonds to make them feel things, or stop them from feeling things, but he'd never allowed Quinn to try it. Quinn couldn't completely stop the pain Will was feeling from being broadcast through the bonds but pushing it down allowed him to be more aware of his own surroundings.

He didn't know how long they tortured Will for, but it felt like an eternity before the door opened again. Before he could do anything Will was tossed through the doorway and fell into a heap on the floor.

Quinn could smell blood, and pain, and terror. He moved carefully making sure that Will saw him before he touched him. "Will, what happened? What do they want?"

Will swallowed hard. "Don't. Don't touch me." He tried to slide away but couldn't.

Quinn stopped immediately with his hands up. There was no doubt that Will had given him an order and he had to obey even if he didn't understand. "Why? What's wrong?"

"My wolf is so worked up I'm afraid I'd hurt you." Will panted as he spoke.

Quinn could feel a rage that wasn't his coming through the bonds. He tried pushing a little power at Will to help him heal and he immediately knew it had been a mistake. Power and energy were pulled from him so quickly he thought he might pass out.

"I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean to." Will moaned.

Now that it seemed the worst was over Quinn crawled closer. "It's okay. I'm fine." Quinn's head was still spinning, and he felt weak in all his joints. Running his hands over Will he tried to assess Will's wounds but there were so many it was hard to tell what had been done. He didn't find anything that he felt was immediately life threatening so he tried to make Will more comfortable. He pulled his shirt off and used it to cushion Will's head. He didn't want to have Will's head in his lap if he needed to move in a hurry so he gave will his shirt and stayed close by.

Eventually the door opened again but this time he made sure not to look at the faces of the men that came in. Instead, he lunged at the one closest to the door, but the man was much stronger than he looked, supernaturally strong.

"Quinn." Will's voice held him in place more than the strong arms he was struggling with. "Go with them." It was an order. Quinn turned to stare in disbelief. Feelings of utter betrayal shot through him. He saw the blank look on Will's face and realized something was wrong with Will. Will wasn't looking at him, he was looking at someone behind Quinn. Quinn looked over his shoulder at the young woman with long dark hair and green eyes. She had a smile on her face like she was proud of Will.

Quinn started to struggle again but someone grabbed his hair yanking his head to the side. He felt something warm and wet on his neck and an immediate jolt of sexual interest. That spike in pheromones freaked him out because he knew it wasn't something he really felt but a reaction to whatever was against his neck. Before he could struggle more though the mouth was back at his neck, and he felt like he'd been drugged.

"Do whatever they tell you." Will's voice was soft but the power behind the command wasn't.

Quinn wanted to struggle but he felt like the room was spinning and Will had made him obedient to the vampires. He was half escorted, half drug down a hall to a larger room. When the room opened up, he saw several others lounging on what looked like old stadium seating that had been shoved up against the walls. There was one heavily carved wooden chair that had been set up on a small dais. The chair had velvet cushions and there were a few velvet pillows scattered around it.

The men that had drug him into the room held him by the arms in the open space in front of the bleachers. The woman stepped around them and up onto the dais. Her long dark hair framed her face, and she shook it back over her shoulders as she sat.

"Reese, is this one yours?" She looked to her left and there was Reese looking only slightly better than Will. Which meant that he looked like he'd been drug behind a car a long way.

Reese shook his head.

"What did I say earlier about using your words?" She sounded like she was correcting a small child.

"He's not one of mine."

"Well, then you won't mind if we play with him a little." She smiled and leaned back in her chair.

She looked at Quinn. "Hold out your wrists."

The vampire on his right pushed at his arm. He didn't want to, and he tried to struggle against it, but it felt the same as when Will gave him orders, so he held out his wrists. A woman stepped down from the bleachers and sauntered toward him. In her hand she held a coil of thin cable. She had bleach blond hair and an outfit designed to look like a naughty catholic schoolgirl. She pressed herself against his side and he couldn't help the growl.

"No biting." She smiled at him revealing wickedly pointed fangs. "That's my job."

"Missy." The woman seated in the chair put a note of warning into the name.

"Yes Mistress." Missy acknowledged the warning without taking her eyes off of Quinn.

The Mistress looked at Quinn her green eyes wicked with intention. "She is right though. You can make all the noise you like but no biting or kicking."

This was also an order that laid over him with the subtlety of a choke hold.

Missy rubbed against him suggestively as she reached across him and slipped a loop of cable over each of his wrists. He couldn't help the gasp or the spasm of arm muscles when the cable touched his skin. The cable was mostly made of steel, but it had silver running through it as well.

"Mmm." Missy bit at her lip letting one fang peek out. "We are going to have fun, aren't we?" The other end of the cable was attached to a hook and chain. A vampire to the side of the room turned a crank until enough tension was added to the cable that Quinn had to stand on his toes to keep the cable from cutting into his wrists. Missy slid down him wrapping one of her arms around his right leg.

"Who would like a taste?" The mistress smiled. She turned to Reese. "Unless of course you want to put a stop to this?"

"Don't do this." Reese answered her but kept his eyes on Quinn. She reached over and turned his head to look at her. "Tell me where your pack is."

"No."

She sighed. "Children. Only a sip now. We'll want to save some for later."

Before Quinn could blink, he was being swarmed by vampires. Some used their venom to make him high, others used it to make him hurt, but there was no way to brace for it or prepare, as it all seemed to be happening at once. His wolf had panicked then, and Quinn's memories of the next little bit were fragmented.

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"They were trying to get him to tell them where his pack was." Quinn frowned and set the cube of meat he'd been playing with back on the plate. "It doesn't make sense. His pack was all over the city it's not like they'd be hard to find."

"But if something caused them to go into hiding, they might be harder to find than you'd think. I imagine that Reese had some kind of precautions in place." Eliot knew that he would, in Reese's place.

"What do they need the pack for?" Parker asked and leaned into Hardison.

"To control da Alpha and t'rew da Alpha da whole pack." A look of horror passed over Ms. Teo's face and she shuddered.

"But they were able to control all of us. Reese obeyed everything else." Quinn felt sick as memories of what happened started to run through his mind. A wave of comfort washed over him, and a low growl started in his chest. He couldn't have tolerated being touched just then and while it was well meant the comfort being offered in the pack bonds was just as unwelcome in the moment.

Eliot shook his head at Hardison before addressing Quinn. "How many were in Will's pack?"

"Just me and Tony." Quinn frowned at Eliot. "Mckinna and Karl were both killed last year. It's one of the reasons Will wanted to get the four wolves from Reese's pack. Why?"

"There's at least a hundred in Reese's pack." Eliot raised an eyebrow at Ms. Teo. She gave a noncommittal shrug. "The vamps could easily overthrow Will because he didn't have very many to back him, and he wasn't prepared. Reese and his pack probably were prepared."

"I'm still not following." Hardison frowned.

"Des Nosferatu 'ave kep' wolves in da past as guard dogs. Dey beat 'em or bewitch 'em until dey be nearly min'less and then keep 'em as servants. I never hear o' a whole pack da size o' Reese's bein' kept dat way but it don' mean da vamps won' try it." Ms. Teo tried to suppress a shudder.

"So, they're planning on using the pack and the Alpha to control each other until they are all under the vampire's control?" Hardison's eyes went round, and he could feel a thrum of horror coming from Quinn and Eliot.

"We need to stop this." Quinn started to rise.

"Sit." Eliot raised an eyebrow at Quinn but didn't make it an order.

Quinn sat. It still felt strange that Eliot didn't give him orders. His wolf was sure that Eliot was their Alpha, but Quinn was still struggling with feeling Will, and being allowed to decide things for himself felt disconcerting.

"You're in no shape for it tonight. Besides we don't know enough yet." Eliot took another look at Quinn. "Why don't you try and get some rest and we'll start planning after we know a little more."

"Fine." Quinn stretched until he felt the pull of his stitches. After covering a yawn, he looked at Ms. Teo. "Ma'am, will I be in the same room as before, now that everyone is here?"

Ms. Teo smiled at him. "Of course chil'. You jus' lemme know ifn you need anythin'."

With a nod Quinn headed for the hall that led to his room.

Ms. Teo fixed a look on Eliot. "You an' me need ta talk chil'. Ya might have bigga problems den jus' gettin' Reese back."

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The smell of fried food, moist earth, and the fug of too many people hung in the humid air as Eliot made his way down Toulouse St. There were a couple of vampire bars along this street, but he passed by the first one because it was mostly there for the tourists who didn't really believe in vampires but liked the aesthetic. Instead, he went farther down the street to a place he hadn't been to in years. This place wasn't as outlandishly themed as the place up the street but the crowd of twenty-something-ish goths milling around the entrance, and the smell of rotted paper, told him he was in the right place.

He waded through the crowd and flagged down a passing server as he took a seat at a table near the door.

"You needin' directions hun? No offense but I don't think this is your kin'a place." The server with multiple face piercings, acrylic fangs, and hair pulled up into two different color pigtails, cast an assessing look over his work boots, jeans, big belt buckle, and tan leather jacket.

"I'm lookin' for an old friend. She used to go by the name of Missy. Was a regular here a while back." He smiled charmingly, to little effect.

"Nope. Don't know her." She snapped her gum. "You still wanna order somethin'?"

"Sure. You got Parish Stout?" He leaned back in his chair. He'd smelled her lie even over the general stink of the place. She knew Missy.

"Comin' atcha." She flipped her notebook closed and headed for the bar.

The beer was brought quickly, and Eliot waited and sipped at it while he assessed the other patrons. He'd asked Quinn if he'd known where he'd been held at, but Quinn had shook his head and admitted that the wolf had been in control when he'd escaped, and he couldn't remember much before he'd made it up Ms. Teo's front steps.

He'd left Parker in charge at Ms. Teo's house much to Ms. Teo's amusement. Hardison was doing his best through the computer to find either Reese or Cleo. Eliot didn't have contact information for anyone else in the pack, but he knew that wouldn't slow Hardison down for long. Quinn had wanted to come when he'd heard Eliot getting ready to leave and Eliot very nearly had to order him to stay. Reason had won the day though when Eliot had pointed out that Quinn and Ms. Teo were the only fighters in the house.

He looked around at the crowd but didn't spot anything that made him think there was a real vampire there yet, just a bunch of kids playing dress up. A woman with curves in all the right places strolled past Eliot's table and sat in a booth where she could see the door. Eliot admired her green eyes and the way her long dark hair framed her face. She shook her hair back over her shoulders as she sat.