Chapter 16
Danton
He didn't want to leave her there.
Lan came to get him a scant half hour after they had pulled apart and fallen asleep in each other's arms the way humans and Vampyren did not.
"There's been another attack," Lan said, standing at the door to Danton's room and waiting for Danton to move aside and grant him access. When that didn't happen, he looked past and Danton knew he saw a woman in his bed, but he couldn't possibly see who.
"Where? Did we lose anyone?" He was ready to go back in the room and dress, but he wanted Lan to go. He wasn't ready for the truth of him and Cassi to reach anyone's ears.
Lan didn't back off and he didn't step away. Instead he said, "I thought the commander gave you the captive. What have you done with her?" Before the color bloomed in his face as he understood and then as he saw Danton didn't intend to move.
"Her? That's what you did? You went on wanting her after that day. What did you do to find her?"
His voice dripped contempt, as if there was no reason any of them should risk anything for a human female.
Danton stepped in front of the open door, blocking his best friend's view. "Tell me about the attack." His voice was calm and steady.
Lan had never been one to take misdirection. Physically shoving Danton aside, he stuck his head in the door and whistled low in his throat.
"I don't know what you did, but command must be pretty proud of you. I can't imagine for anything else they'd give up a prize like her."
Danton shook his head. He wanted the conversation over with. At the same time he needed to know what that meant.
He made his voice harsh. "She's a stupid human girl. She was doing something foolish when we saw her and gave chase. No one is even going to ask for her back. It isn't a prize."
Everything he could think to do except to mark her his, a brand, a scent, his pheromone. But females could go crazy from that. It was just that, for the first time, he didn't even want his best friend and brother in arms to know about his woman.
For the first time ever he didn't want to share what he had with his best friend.
The next words unraveled his hope of keeping her to himself.
"You've been called up. They want you to lead one of the units against the women."
He shook himself, coming back to attention. "Why me?"
Lan shrugged. "We're to lead it together. They believe you can learn something from the woman."
As if all human women knew the same things.
He wasn't the only one called up, which made more sense. A handful of Vampyren had been brought up to deal with the threat of the women.
He thought they might want to bring in more but even with the slaughter at the theater the Vampyren command refused to take the women seriously. They were human, they were female.
They couldn't be that much of a threat.
"We've put together games for tomorrow night," the commander told the five of them. "Well publicized. Another huge theater." He shook his head at the excesses of humans. "We're hoping it will draw them out. Our teams will be able to take them into custody and question them."
At what cost? Danton wondered. Daily there were fewer of them in this city. They still held the human population down. Easily, in fact. But their numbers were dwindling.
Humans folded easily, it seemed, but they didn't stay down.
Lan had told him command must be proud of him, the fact that he'd been given the woman. Maybe, but by that same token he wondered if now he'd done something to warrant punishment.
Because the plan sounded like it was going to lead to a bloodbath. Set up an event the teams of armed women were likely to try and hit. Pack in the Vampyren, watching the games. Every single one of them armed.
What could possibly go wrong?
But questioning command wasn't done. He tried to let the passion and pride fill him again, the way it had after the rally, but all he felt was doubt and concern.
And a longing to go back to where she waited.
He had not liked leaving her alone with Lan.