Page 40 of Whiskers on Kittens

“Why not?”

“We’ll terrify them,” the lycanthrope informed me.

“We’re sending them straight to hell, and you’re worried about terrifying them?” I attempted to stare the hybrid into submission, and he answered me with a shrug. “Let’s just go with the rag and worry about it later.”

“I guess a plan is better than no plan.”

THIRTEEN

“Behave.”

Sometimes, the easiest way to enter someone’s home unannounced was to use the front door. With the entire street inhabited by crooks and traffickers, a locked door wouldn’t do their victims any good. They stayed because of fear and conditioning more than any physical barricades.

Sure enough, the knob twisted and the door opened.

Easton let out a low growl, and I jabbed him with my elbow to shut him up. “Would you rather wait outside?”

He shook his head.

“Behave.”

Had I not known better, I would have assumed the house belonged to some form of sorority with a plethora of feminine touches everywhere while lacking anything of substance. There was furniture, but I failed to spot the small knick-knacks and other items that identified the place as being someone’s home.

That tracked with what I understood of traffickers and how they broke people.

With my fury mounting and my rag readily accessible in my pocket, I stepped deeper into the place. Down a short hallway, sterile in every sense of the word, I came across a sitting room.

Three women shared a couch, and two sat nearby on armchairs. They had a deck of cards, and they played some form of game on the coffee table, although I couldn’t tell which one at a glance. I’d seen the broken and bruised often enough to recognize the lifelessness in their expressions.

Their spirits had been beaten to the point the door could have been left open while salvation came calling and they would stay because they had lost all hope.

They glanced up at me, and despite my status as a stranger, they returned to minding their own business.

Well, then. Maybe I could go the route of negotiation after all—or pick a fight with all five of them and hope for the best. I’d have to be careful to prevent infecting them, although a hefty dose of my virus might help them get back onto their feet.

I’d offer the infection to them once the Devil got his hands on them and gave them a chance to recover.

But first, I needed to get them to go where I wanted with as little a fuss as possible—and I had the perfect way to test the waters. “Hey, girls,” I called out, and I gestured for Easton to come closer so they could get a good look at him. “I got a big, bad wolf here that needs some attention, and I don’t think one’s going to cut it tonight.”

From everything I’d read on traffickers, they made demands or the women under their thumb paid hefty prices.

That caught their attention, and they all scrambled to their feet and bowed. The whole lot began apologizing, and once they finished, they exchanged looks as though not sure who should take the lead.

All of them fit society’s standards for beauty, with their hair dyed blonde and even their pajamas designed to show off their sexual appeal. According to my nose, the thought of being sacrificed to Easton terrified them.

Well, mostly. After the initial surge of fear, once the lycanthrope hybrid made no threatening gestures, they took a second look at him, and the fear was replaced with something that set my virus on edge.

I was going to need therapy after the job was done.

I gestured to the nearest woman, who also had the misfortune of appearing to be the youngest of the lot. “All right, sweetheart. Can you please make sure everyone is here? This much lycanthrope is going to need a lot of love. He’s the gentle sort, but with so much of him, he’s going to need a lot of care.” To throw them off, I added, “If you have any large combs, those are good for his fur, and I’d rather he not emerge from tonight’s activities matted.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the woman said before she skittered out of the sitting room, eased by us, and bolted for deeper into the house.

Well, if I were a trafficker, I would have given her a good score for enthusiasm. I turned my attention to the other four. “I wasn’t given a roster for tonight’s activities. How many of you do I have to work with tonight?”

“Here or at the other house?”

“Both. In addition to this lug, I’ve got some thirsty sex demons who might need some gentle attention. We can’t work them too hard tonight, but I can’t have them running around starved right now, either. I have a whole lot of gentle attention on my docket, so if you could just get everyone gathered and brought over here, that’d be excellent. Don’t worry about getting prettied up; they’re definitely not picky, and as long as you’re ready to show them affection, it’ll be a job well done.”