Teeth

Chapter Five

Pain radiated from Spencer's shoulder. He'd not been able to make the turn onto the stairs in time, crashing into the wall instead. He launched himself around the corner, swung around the banister, and jumped down the rest of the steps, landing silently. Tugging his shirt down, he slid his arm into the sleeve and checked he'd remembered to do up his fly in his haste to get downstairs.

They'd all heard it, he was sure of that. Some of the older people in the house had probably returned to their beds, those who had seen too much to care about something as mundane as an argument. The others were most likely staying away out of caution, but Spencer had recognised one of the voices. Or he was hoping he did, so that he had a reason to be there.

He crept through the shadows in the corridor. The voices were louder here and Spencer paused before the turning into the entrance hallway, staying just out of sight.

"I should kill you," the first voice came. "I should have taken that boy you're hiding and torn you both into pieces."

Spencer turned and pressed his chest to the wall, peeking out from behind the corner. He recognised both men instantly. August stood in the centre of the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest, looking thoroughly bored. His lips tightened and he took a deep breath through his nose, lifting his head. Despite the look of indifference at the situation, Spencer could see his gaze following William as the larger man prowled around the room.

William was one of those men that could inspire fear in anyone, even other vampires. His knuckles crunched and clicked as he flexed his fingers, stalking around August's back. He wasn't the biggest man, he wasn't even the tallest, but he had enough muscle to wield a decent amount of power, his fierce dark eyes could silence someone in an instant, and the legend of his turning was enough to make people stay out of his way. Where others scattered when he passed in the hallway and shrank under his gaze, August watched, unabashed and unafraid.

"Where is he? The new one?"

August didn't reply. If Spencer hadn't known better, he might have thought August was a statue.

"You think you can keep him from me, Caine?" William asked.

His slow, methodical steps echoed through the hallway. He kept a distance as if there were some sort of barrier he could not pass. Prowling the perimeter of the imaginary shield, he taunted.

"The moment that boy steps out, I will snap his neck. Then I'll be coming for you."

The corner of August's lip twitched in response. Spencer gritted his teeth. Why wasn't he moving or arguing his case? Was he hoping that William would run out of rage? August had said it himself: William had killed seventy guests and then his own bride the day of his turning. There was no chance a bit of shouting was going to calm him down.

Knowing that August knew William well enough didn't stop the nerves from creeping up Spencer's spine.

"I will pull out his insides and use them to string you up across the front of this house," William hissed, his lips pulling back into a snarl. "You will pay for the blood you have spilled."

Spencer wasn't sure whether to laugh. The threats William threw at August were examples of reasons August had always been amused by him. William was a master of slaughter, and his crimes had been in the papers more than once as vicious acts the police were hunting for information over. Not many vampires could pull off blind rage; that was what August had told him once. Most of them learned that they needed to stay quiet and mostly unnoticed to get by. Not William.

Tension prickled and itched up his arms. He wanted to reveal himself, to step in and support August, but he didn't dare move against William. While August held a certain amount of power within their group, Spencer knew he didn't have the sort of clout to stop William from tearing his head off just to have something to do with his hands. Maybe his presence would be enough to take the pressure off? If he could just distract William for long enough for August to make his move.