Meat

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kaleb snorted and shook his head. The smell in the vampires' home had been bad enough as a human, but it was nothing compared to the stench once the moon had risen. The others weren't happy about it either, and the brothers had complained under their breath about turning in a house of rotting meat. It hadn't been an option to stay in Priya's small apartment, and with nowhere else to go within the city, they'd had to settle for August's offer of turning in the basement of the house. If it was stuffy above ground, the windows closed and curtains drawn tight, it was downright suffocating beneath their floors.

What was worst, he found, was that the blood-soaked air was not in the slightest bit appetising. It didn't take long to realise that this room had not been used for killing humans or feeding. No, this was their slaughter room, and the blood that hung in every molecule of air was like swallowing dusty water.

The brothers, Jack and Darren, had curled into a corner, Darren's head resting on his brother's back. Priya prowled back and forth in front of the door, shaking her head every so often to rid herself of the scent as if it were a particularly irksome fly. Her swishing tail pushed the stale air around the room until Kaleb growled. She flattened against the ground immediately, her ears flat on her head as she looked at him.

Kaleb, on the other hand, got up and sniffed tentatively. The brothers lifted their heads, their ears twitching.

The door opened.

Darting across the gap, Priya rounded behind Kaleb, her teeth bared as the two vampires stepped forwards. Kaleb didn't recognise a single one of them from his visit earlier in the day. Tall and lithe, the redhead male stepped forwards and crossed his arms over his chest. He took a moment to look at each of them in turn, his brown eyes narrowed as he licked across his bottom lip.

"August said we should let you out for a while," he said. "You can go into the garden as long as you don't start howling."

Kaleb glanced at the others. Darren and Jack got up from their corner and padded closer.

"Not all of you," the vampire said. "Two at a time. Once you've had an hour or so, we'll swap you over."

Beside his shoulder, Priya whined and nudged against him. He lifted his head and stared back at the vampire. Jack slunk back to the corner and, with a wistful look at the open door, Darren followed. The brothers hadn't spent a full moon apart for a long time, and Kaleb knew they wouldn't want to start now. That meant it was him and Priya first.

The vampire stepped back, holding the door open. The second hovered at the bottom of the stairs, his back flat against the wall. His gaze flickered between them and his friend. He gave a small nod and led the way up the steps and out into the hallway.

Kaleb relished each step he took towards fresh air. A few other vampires came as close as they dared, watching them pass. The moment they were in sight of the open doors to the back garden, Priya shot past him, her claws clattering against the wooden floor. She raced across the large living room, across the balcony, and leapt down the steps onto the grass. Snapping at the open air and low hanging leaves, she bounded like a puppy.

The scent of the vampires, sour and dusty, didn't get any better as he neared the doors. He padded through onto the balcony. Priya rounded towards him at the bottom of the steps and froze. Her dark eyes widened and her lips pulled back into a silent snarl.

It was all around him amongst the drips of fresh air. Kaleb saw them in his peripheral vision, waiting. Caught between leaping after Priya, and stepping back, he growled as they advanced.

The two who'd come down to the basement closed off a retreat. They pushed him out onto the balcony. Priya jumped forwards. Kaleb snapped her back as the first chain landed across the back of his neck.

Howling in fury, Kaleb spun to the vampires on his right, three of them. The heavy metal links dragged across his flesh and through his fur. The vampires behind him yanked a metal noose around his back legs.

Kaleb's jaw hit the wooden slats of the balcony with a thump. His teeth rattled in his jaws. The vampires were on him before he could think. A chain flopped down over his neck, then a second. The vampires pulled hard and wrapped the ends of the chains around the posts of the balcony. He pulled and wrestled. He jumped and growled. It was no use. Against the heavy metal chains and the vampires holding them, he could barely move.

Priya whined from the bottom of the steps, prowling back and forth. She stayed close to the ground, her gaze flitting between her alpha and the vampires holding him. Kaleb yipped his answer. She backed up a couple of steps as four of the vampires vaulted over the balcony railing and landed in the grass before her.

"Ever since August took over and told us about the wolves, we've been thinking," one said.

He crouched before Priya and beckoned her closer. She stayed with her back to the hedge, her gaze travelling over each one in turn. Kaleb growled. The vampire paid him no mind.

"You see, we never knew about you lot. Charles never told us," he continued. "But now, we've been wondering. It's an age old question isn't it? The humans love these sorts of questions. Who would win... a vampire, or a dog?"

His voice was a low croon of amusement as he pointed between himself and Priya. Shaking himself violently, yanking at the chains, Kaleb snarled so loudly that one of the vampires on the grass came back to help hold a chain.

Priya whined again, pawing the ground. She stared past the vampires at him, her eyes so wide that they reminded him when she had been a pup, all alone and scared.

The vampire, a large man who would have made Priya look like a child in her human form, straightened up and stretched his neck. He cracked his knuckles as the others patted him on the shoulders and backed away.

Eyes narrowed and his lips pulled back to bare his teeth, Kaleb met Priya's gaze. Her chest heaved and she snorted, nostrils flaring.

The vampire lunged.