CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Making Deals
Lucian & AlexLucian found her sitting quietly in the chair, when he walked into the room. He was immediately on alert. She was up to something.
"How may I be of service", he asked.
Man, even his accent was sexy, Alex thought. That's just one more thing to hold against him, she told herself. Smiling sweetly, she was ready to offer up a truce.
"Listen, I'm aware that I'm in a tenuous situation here. I'm even willing to admit that you hold the upper hand", she offered benignly. "But, you obviously need me as much as I need you; otherwise, you would have drained me dry back there in the tunnels. So, I'm willing to cooperate with you; if you would be so kind as to remove these handcuffs and let me attend to certain....needs", she told him calmly. He had watched her face closely, looking to see if her emotions could be read. But her face was a blank canvas; there was no sign of the earlier anger he had heard nor any embarrassment at her current predicament.
Lucian though this to be a pleasant change of pace, but he still didn't trust her. Verbalizing his distrust, he asked, "Do you promise to behave?"
Without so much as a blink, she responded, "Yes, I give you my word that I'll not try to escape. It seems I have much to learn about my new.... peculiarities; and you seem to be the only person available to help me."
Curious about her change of heart he considered her request. Feeling he had nothing to loose, and only her trust to gain, he took a key out of his jacket pocket and walked over to her.
He knelt at her feet and unlocked the first cuff. He sat there tensed, ready to defend himself against an attack; but none came. Relief coursed through his body, as he relaxed his stance. He caught a glimpse of the newly free appendage, and saw she had rubbed the skin raw from pulling against the restraints. This bothered him. He reached for her hand and gently rubbed the abrasions.
Alex was momentarily startled; she had not expected him to be so gentle. Figuring there was a reason for this tender act of kindness, she watched him closely. She tried to discern his motives; but his face was unreadable. He just seemed upset at the red, raw scratches marking her skin. She sat completely still, not even breathing as he placed her hand into her lap then moved to free her remaining wrist. Once he had unlocked the second set of cuffs, he repeated his gentle ministrations with this wrist as well. When he was finished, he looked her in the eye, but offered no explanations. She released the breath she had been holding and watched him, confused by his actions.
"Do you always treat your prisoners so well", she asked, needing to find a reason for his tender touch.
Her voice was husky, like she had just woke up. Giving her what she considered his patented lopsided grin, he answered, "I don't normally have such fetching guests."
"A guest am I?", she queried with a smile of her own. Where the unexpected grin had come from she didn't know, but she quickly wiped the offending smile from her face.
He didn't know what he had expected, but when she smiled her entire face lit up from within. For a brief second he forgot to breathe. "Yes well", he said shaking his head, freeing himself from her spell, "A mandatory guest, but a guest nonetheless. I apologize for the injuries to your wrist, it was not my intent to further cause you harm."
His touch had spread like a small fire throughout her body and she was very uncomfortable with the feelings coursing through her veins. Needing to escape the heat his touch had generated, she used his "guest" statement to fuel her anger. After all, she had to remember he was one of the monsters, not an extremely sexy man with an awesome accent.
"Oh, but taking away my humanity was okay", she shot back working herself up to righteous indignation.
Knowing the brief moment of peace had passed; Lucian looked over his shoulder and saw she was now standing. He turned to face her, offering her the only explanation available.
"It's quite simple really, I wished to continue my existence. And, without blood I would have lain there suffering for days, maybe weeks. I am an opportunist; and, the means to my continued health was standing right there in front of me. I could do nothing else but take the opportunity offered."
She snorted, obviously not believing him. "Which is a condescending way of saying you're selfish. Did you not bother thinking of what or how this may affect my life? What if I had children or a husband waiting for me at home", she asked, working herself into full-blown argument mode.
"And, do you", he asked quietly. For some reason, the idea of her having a family bothered him. Mentally shaking off the feeling, he waited for her answer.
"Well, no, but that's really not the point", she said beginning to pace the small room. "For all you knew, I was just some nice lady who happened to find a wounded man and tried to help him. And how did you repay my kindness?" Not waiting for an answer she continued, "YOU BIT ME! Really hard. Oh and for the record, you took way too much blood, I'm still lightheaded", she complained. "And you know, the trip down your memory lane, leaves much to be desired", she said continuing her tirade.
Figuring he was going to be here a while, he causally leaned back against a table, with his ankles and arms crossed. She went on without even breaking stride.
"I thought my life was screwed up! No way mister, you take the cake. At first, I considered these little flash backs might be my memories; but, then I realized the period was all wrong. I may execute vampires and lycans for a living, but even I don't force men to watch their loved ones die a brutal, awful death such as the one I witnessed."
That thought seemed to take the wind out of her sails, because she stopped her tirade and frenetic pacing. Looking him in the eye she said, "By the way, I'm sorry for that. That was something no one should ever have to see, much less participate it."
Again she surprised him, her remorse at his pain seemed genuine. But his momentary surprise quickly disappeared when he realized what she had said. "You are paid to execute lycans and vampires", he asked incredulously?
"Oops, I let that slip, huh?" she said sheepishly. Damnit, the man rattled her like no one else could. Normally, she was calm, cool and collected. Her life, as well as the lives of others, depended upon her rationality and ability to remain the calm in the eye of the storm so to speak. She knew it was important to keep your enemies on their toes and she hadn't honestly meant to let that little tidbit of information out. He kept her off balance; she was really going to have to watch what she said. She had found a slight advantage when she realized she had some of his memories in her head. He on the other hand, knew absolutely nothing of her existence. Besides, she wasn't completely helpless; she had been killing his kind for years. For some unknown reason, Lucian seemed to throw her off her game a little. Well, she just needed to get back on track, which included finding a weapon, preferably one of her own.
Not falling for the innocent act, Lucian said, "Yes you did. There seems to be much I need to learn of you and your unusual hobbies. But before we get into that, I believe you mentioned having needs to take care of", he implied hoping to catch her off guard. But he quickly learned that she didn't embarrass easy; she didn't even have the grace to blush at his mention of her current problem.
Having forgotten her need to go to the bathroom, she quickly answered, "Yes, well, a bathroom would be most appreciated. A toothbrush and some soap would be good too", she blithely informed him. "I haven't had a shower in over 24 hours, and I do so hate to impose upon your delicate sensibilities", she replied.
"Well, a toothbrush, soap, and bathrooms are not high on a vampires' list of necessities. Did I forget to mention we were hiding out in the vampires version of a torture chamber? Then looking down at his own state of disrepair, he agreed with her, "Though at this point, I could use those things as well. Look, I know of a place where we can find these items as well as a change of clothing. If you agree to stay with me and not cause any problems, we can leave this place and both get cleaned up. Does that sound good", he asked?
She would kill for a real bath right now, but a change of clothes and a quick wash up sounded like the second best alternative. "Fine, I'll put away my resentment and anger until I feel better able to direct them at your black little heart", she agreed. Not that he seemed to have a black heart; she thought remembering his gentle touch. "Look, I have clothing and other necessities back at the place I was staying. If we could head over there, we could grab some of my things before we head to your little hideout", she suggested. If he went for it, she could probably grab some weapons without his noticing.
"And the men you were with, they won't be there?", he asked.
"If we go during the daytime, they will probably be out searching for me. We would have to be careful though, these guys are really good at their jobs, I don't want them to find me now", she informed him.
"Why not", he questioned. "I would think you'd want them to come to your rescue so to speak", Lucian asked slightly confused.
"Listen here buddy", Alex retorted, angry at his immediate assumption that she needed rescuing. "I don't need anyone's help getting rescued. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you! Besides, they wouldn't be looking to rescue me", she said, making her last statement quietly.
"If I had lost one of my followers, I would search for them", Lucian said trying to understand what she was telling him.
"Yeah, well your kind are already the bad guys. Me and my team take you and your species out of the equation. But now that you have bitten me, without killing me, my team considers me one of you. So, instead of looking to save me, they'll be looking to exterminate me", she explained.
She had lost the anger and was once again speaking without emotion. He now knew this was a sign that she was trying hard to contain herself.
"My God", Lucian exclaimed. "Just who are you people?"
Alex looked him square in the eye and said, "We're the people that ensure your kind doesn't eradicate the human population."
Realization dawned on him then. She worked for the Council. They had heard about the group but had managed to maintain a distance from them and their squads of hitmen, or hitwomen it would seem. This explained some things, but now he wondered why the Council had sent an extermination squad.
"So, why did the Council send you here?", he asked
"Oh, so you know of us", she replied. He was good, he hadn't even blinked an eye when she told him what she did.
"I no enough to keep my lycans below the Council's radar", he said evenly.
He still looked relaxed, not having changed positions since he she started her tirade. But she now could sense a tightening of the muscles. He was very interested in the Council's reasons for being here. She was just as interested in finding out why Michael Corvin had been so important to the lycans.
"I'll tell you what you want to know, after we go pick up my things", she told him.
She was good, he had to give her that. She had anticipated his reaction and was ready. Well, so be it! He would play along with her for a while. After all, she had no idea what she had truly become, and she was going to need his help. He was still in control, and it wasn't going to hurt anything to let her think she had the upper hand, at least for the moment.
"Okay, miss, we'll do it your way. We can go by your place first and get your things. If afterwards, you agree to peacefully go with me to my place", he said with a sigh, letting her think she had pulled one over on him.
Not fooled, Alex agreed; knowing the tricky lycan had something up his sleeve. He wasn't going to give up control so easily. That's okay, she would be ready, hopefully with a weapon or two of her own.
"Now be a good girl and let's go. I suspect the vampires may be looking for survivors of that little coup in the subway. I'm not quite up to another battle yet, how about you," he asked?
Unable to leave well enough alone, she piped up, "If you were to give me my weapons ......."
"Good try little one", he admonished gently.
"Hey, I was only trying to help, and don't call me little one", she retorted.
"Well, I can't continue to call you miss, and you haven't given me your name", he replied.
"Oh! You are so irritating", she murmured. "Fine, let's go", she said striding towards the door. Lucian quickly blocked her way. She glared up at him with a questioning look on her face.
"We'll do it your way, for now. Stay close and keep an eye out for vampires and lycans. Oh and do try to remember that the lycans are on our side", he advised sarcastically.
'Great", she mumbled, "I'm now on the side of evil. When did my life get so complicated?" she asked herself.
Stalking past the infuriating shapeshifter, she called out with a grin, "Listen gramps, I'll have no problem keeping up with you. Just make sure you don't hold me back. If you need my help, just give a holler", she said hoping she had irritated the hell out of him.
Now walking towards the stairs, she turned back and said, "Oh, and my name is Alexandra Douglas. Everyone calls me Alex."
Alexandra, huh, the name suits her, Lucian thought to himself. Mysterious and exotic. But not one to let an opportunity pass him by, he replied, "My dear Alexandra, I consider it an honor to make your acquaintance."
She stopped, quickly turned and glared at him, "I told you everyone calls me Alex. I haven't been called Alexandra since I was 10."
Well, I'm not just anyone, Alexandra", he said pointedly. "I find Alex... common", he said insultingly. "And I must say, you are anything but common", he informed her as he walked past her on the stairwell, looking her over from head to toe.
What did he mean by that, Alex asked herself? Well, whatever it was, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of asking. She'd either figure it out or die not knowing. Man, he's annoying, she thought rushing down the stairs to catch up with him.