Finally, after nearly another hour, a woman in her thirties entered the room.
* * *
When a door openedand closed at the end of the hall, Asher braced himself for whoever might appear, but no one did. He waited for footsteps. None came.
The opening door hadn’t sounded like it came from the one he’d been led through but the one at the other end of the hall. The one he’d assumed had led outside.
He contemplated going up to the bars and trying to see more, but he wouldn’t see much, and he didn’t want whoever was out there to think he cared about their presence. Tilting his head, he listened for anything more, but the sterile hall beyond his small cell remained silent.
He couldn’t see into the two cells he’d glimpsed on his walk to this middle one, but he knew they were both empty. What was going on?
When time continued to click past, Asher edged closer to the cot, but still, no one came, and no other sounds followed. And then a boot sounded against the floor as whoever was out there approached his cell. With it came the scent of garbage.
Yes, he was most certainly not alone, but he was weaponless.
* * *
Brie studiedthe woman as she scented something from her, something…. And then she realized it was milk. This woman was a mother, and judging by the dark circles under her eyes and the smell, she was a new one.
The woman pulled back the chair, but Brie spoke in an assertive, calming voice before she could sit. “You’re going to let me out of here.”
The woman froze, her hand fell to the holster at her side, but she didn’t try to remove her gun.
“You’re going to get me the box you took from my friend, shut down all the cameras in this place, and let me out of here,” Brie continued.
The woman was exceptionally strong-willed as she didn’t move. Pouring more of her power into her voice, Brie flattened her hands on the table as she rose from her chair and leaned toward the woman.
“Go and do as I’ve commanded.”
As she spoke, the woman’s hands twitched. “I’ll lose my job.”
A pang of guilt stabbed Brie. She didn’t want a new mom to lose her job, but they couldn’t stay in this jail.
However, this woman could lose the roof over her baby’s head if Brie didn’t do this carefully. The love for her child allowed this woman to withstand her persuasion a little.
“Before you get the box, bring in the others out there,” she commanded.
The woman’s mouth pinched, her fingers twitched faster, but when Brie leaned closer and commanded, “Go,” the woman turned and walked stiffly toward the door, opened it, and called in the two male officers. They had questioning expressions on their faces as they approached, but they still came.
When the male officers looked to Brie, she smiled at them as she sent her power out to entwine with their minds. “Come on in,” she commanded.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Asher’s browfurrowed when a middle-aged man stepped in front of the bars. He wore a blue police officer’s uniform like the others wore earlier, and he was a vampire.
There hadn’t been any vampires in the group that arrested them, and certainly not one who was starting to turn borderline Savage if the smell radiating from him was any indication.
“What the fuck?” Asher muttered as he eyed the man up and down.
“I was thinking the same thing when your picture came up on my computer earlier,” the man replied. “Except, I thought what good luck on my part. I remember seeing your picture on TV; what was it about—” The man rubbed his chin as he pondered this. “—six years ago?”
It was actually about seven years ago if he was talking about the time the Savages and demons plastered him and Declan on the news in their hunt for Elyse, but Asher wasn’t about to point that out. It made no difference anyway.
“Were you human then?” Asher asked.
“Oh no,” the man said as he dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out some keys. “I haven’t been human for a while.”
“And now you’re becoming a monster.”
