“Hold him.” Ra carried on, Zeus keeping pace with him easily. Yakov wasn’t having quite as much luck, running to keep up with them.
“My Lords. Ra. Zeus.” Yakov panted as he ran. “If you can just tell me what you are looking for specifically…”
Zeus swung around so quickly, Yakov almost ran into him. “Do you keep humans here for the purpose of feeding?”
“No, sir.” Yakov rested his hand on his chest, his eyes wide as though he was aiming for an innocent expression. “Our Master Kirill is very firm about us not taking our blood nutrients from the source. Only a mated couple might do that, if they were mated to a human. Bagged blood is brought in each week, sourced from medical institutions specifically for our coven’s needs.”
“Hmm. Why don’t I believe you?” Ra strode through a large doorway, which led into a commercial sized kitchen. “You two,” he chose two of the four guards that accompanied them. “Continue the search for humans or any non-vamp paranormal on this and the lower floors. Check outbuildings, garages and any other structures on this estate and alert me if you find anything.”
“Sir, I must protest.” Yakov’s eyes darted between the departing guards and Ra who was checking out what was in the refrigerator. “This coven is run to the highest standards. It meets and exceeds all paranormal laws relating to our kind. To have your guard dogs sniffing around, it’s… it’s… it’s an insult to our Master.”
“Is it?” Ra pulled out two bottles of beer and threw one at Zeus. “I doubt Kirill will think so, especially when he totally understood my need to confirm there were no unattached humans in this estate. If I’m going to think about living here, then I can’t have humans dazzled by my brilliance every five minutes. It’s quite annoying. Now, enough. I trust my guards to do their job. We’d like to see Kirill’s office now. Zeus wants to check out his computer system.” He opened his bottle and took a swig. It wasn’t bad as far as beers went.
“I can hook you up to our general system.” Yakov’s eyes kept glancing down the hallway where the guards had gone. “My master’s computer system is entirely separate to everything else and I don’t have access to it. It’s password protected.”
“Not against a god, it isn’t.” Zeus swigged down the contents of his bottle and put it on a nearby table before cracking his knuckles. “Come along fang boy, show me the way.”
“It’s er… you’ve already passed it. It’s back down the hall – the large dark wooden doors with the gold handles.” Yakov twisted his hands together. “I just need to go and…”
“You’re not going anywhere.” A rope tied with a lasso knot appeared in Zeus’s free hand. Seconds later that same lasso was around Yakov’s middle and Zeus pulled the loop tight. “You’re going to sit in your master’s office, with us, until Ra’s Anubis guards are done snooping.”
“And you’d better hope we don’t find anything,” Ra added. “I can’t imagine how my beloved Kirill will react if we do, especially after the lengths he went to, assuring me there were no unattached humans ever allowed on the estate.”
From the pasty green tinge along Yakov’s jaw, it would seem the second knew exactly how Kirill would react. But Ra had to give it to the sneaky vampire, he still thought he was in the clear. “So,” Yakov said brightly, as though he wasn’t being dragged down the hallway in front of many of his curious coven members. “How did you meet our Master? Was it romantic? When he was on holiday perhaps?”
Ra turned, the weight of his headdress pulling on his neck as he looked down at the still grinning vampire. “I met him in a basement where he was chained to a wall. Apparently, he’d been drugged by someone too chickenshit to challenge him. You can imagine how he and his beloveds, including me, feel about that.”
Yakov’s gulp could barely be heard above the sound of Zeus’s boots on the marble tiles, as they made their way to Kirill’s office.
/~/~/~/~/
“What if they don’t find anything?” Kirill had given up sitting twenty minutes before and was now pacing the room. “What if Yakov hasn’t got hidden humans being kept in cages or whatever else on coven grounds?”
“Everything we’ve heard about him indicates that he hasn’t changed at all.” Paulie leaned on his palm, his elbow on the table, watching the screen dreamily. “Doesn’t my Zeus look amazing in a suit? And when he flexes those fingers over a keyboard, my knees go weak.”
Kirill tugged at his hair. “I don’t know what’s worse. If they do find something, the council’s going to be looking real hard at me, and I’m not sure if I could live with myself, knowing abuse had been going on under my nose, but if they don’t… then I’ve still got to kill Yakov for freaking chaining me up and threatening my mate. I can’t do that standing around here.” He paused by the screens. “What’s your mate doing in front of my computer?”
“Hacking into it.” Paulie looked up and grinned. “It’s kinda what he does, although not often. There’s not a device around my mate can’t work his magic on and get into. He’s so smart about things like that.”
“There’s a known murderer and sexual abuser sitting in the office with my beloved, and your mate thinks it’s time to see how many blood bags I order for the coven every month?”
“And what your porn tastes are like.” Giggling, Paulie put his finger up to his lips. “Shush. Looks like he’s found something interesting. Oh, and it looks like one of the guards are back.”
Kirill slumped back in his seat. He’d never felt so hopeless in his life. From the moment he became an adult, Kirill had prided himself on being in control of his life and had been happy to suffer any consequence of his actions. Having his coven “invaded” by two gods, while he was stuck in Montana of all places, was so outside his comfort zone he didn’t know how much more he could stand.
Arvyn’s smile was sympathetic, but Kirill could tell his wolfen beloved was as tense as he was. The tightness in Arvyn’s shoulders and his chiseled jaw line was a huge clue. Kirill wasn’t sure he could offer much comfort, but he reached over, settling his hand on Arvyn’s taut thigh. The muscle under his hand didn’t relax, but Arvyn covered his hand with his own, letting Kirill know his touch was welcome at least. While Kirill wasn’t sure he knew which way was up anymore, knowing Arvyn was on his side was a bonus.
Chapter Fourteen
Ra did not like his mate’s coven. In fact, he’d go so far as to say he hated it. The whole place had a chill that had nothing to do with the weather. It was a building full of pretentious people who all looked as though a couple of gods visiting was an everyday event, and they were certainly too refined to gush about it. But, oh, Ra wasn’t deaf, and he’d heard their hushed gossip as he walked past, vampires eagerly wondering what they could get out of a god their coven leader had the sense to claim.
We’ll be the most powerful coven in the world.
Untold riches will be ours for the asking.