Faline

When we go through a short hallway and into the kitchen, he positions himself between me and a small table. I oblige and move off to the opposite side. Tabitha catches his movement and frowns at him.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be, Tad? You're annoying me."

He shakes his head. With me away from the table, he moves away as well. A small stick of incense is burning on it but I'll bet you anything it isn't anything I'd want to smell. I smile at her, acting oblivious while looking around her kitchen.

"You have a lovely kitchen, you must love to cook. I do too. The set up we have at home is amazing, you should come by sometime and see it."

My gushing has Tabby smiling, her attention coming off the tall male tucking himself off in a corner. He hasn't said a word and I doubt he will. Since I had casually left my glass out in the other room, she pours me another from a pitcher in her fridge.

"You have to try this lemonade. Made with real squeezed lemons that I got myself. They have that tartness to them as all do but they also have a natural sweetness that I've been cultivating."

A tall glass is poured and pushed towards me. I ignore it for as long as politely possible, still gazing around at all the shiny new appliances. With the six out front, that leaves another two that I hear on this floor.

Probably in bedrooms further in. As I reach for the glass, the unhappy guard clears his throat, capturing my attention. Really hope he doesn't give me any trouble later on, he seems like a good guy.

She frowns harshly, but when I turn to him and out of her eyesight, I wink at the male attempting to help. Lips are pursed as he looks unhappy but falls back into his silent watching. Once again tip back and act as if I'm drinking, casually turning as I bring it away from my mouth, looking out into another hallway.

"How many rooms do these houses have? My sister has been looking for a new place. She's found herself in a house full of boys of her own."

I chuckle, trying to coerce her into it as well. She does while watching me closely. Take it the juice is supposed to be fast-acting or the incense should be taking hold. Either that or she's caught on that I'm not drinking it.

Taking a chance, I blink several times and set the glass down. Pressing fingers into my temple as if a headache is forming.

"I'm sorry, I think with all the events I've had today and the excitement of coming here has gone to my head. Do you have a restroom I can use?"

By the glint in her eyes, I can tell I went the right way. With an expression of concern, she makes soothing noises and ushers me down the hallway I'd been looking down and into a bedroom.

"This one is the closest, it's the master bedroom so it has its own bathroom attached."

Tad has followed us but he won't look at me and stays outside the room. Good... I think. She wraps an arm around me and helps me to the directed room. I stumble a little, have to make it look good so she doesn't get suspicious. Just hope I don't overdo it.

Clucking on like a mother hen, Tabitha leads me into the room and turns the water on for me. Quick glance around shows no visible item she can use as a weapon, so I put my hands into the cool water.

"I'm so sorry, not sure what's wrong with me. This doesn't usually happen. I think your incense may not have agreed with my head or something."

She grins and pats my back. Around five inches taller than me, I'm going to have to get her lower somehow. I move to the toilet, putting the seat down and sitting on it.

Perfect! She hunkers down in front of me, all ladylike and proper, whispering soothing nonsense. Looking up with a sheepish smile, there's no seeing us from outside at this angle. Just hope Tad won't mind me screwing over his boss.

"There, there, it's alright. Would you like some Aspirin or Tylenol?"

I shake my head as I put a hand on her shoulder, swaying a bit before dipping forward. With our current position, her head is just low enough in front of mine that I can fall into her neck. Moaning lightly, I move my arms as if to wrap them around her.

She pats and rubs at my back. Her scent gets stronger as it spikes, her perceived accomplishment in her arms. I topple forward with more force than necessary, knocking her backward.

A giggle escapes me as I land atop her. Perfume fills my nose as well as something more earthy carrying a small bite. Abruptly I stop breathing, hoping I didn't take in too much. The action is so natural I'm not sure just how long I wasn't holding my breath. She chuckles as well but tries to move out from under me. The woman is pretty solid so this is going to be tricky.

Using Vampire speed and strength, my legs go around hers, holding them together to keep her from kicking out. One hand goes over her mouth hard, gripping it while my other grabs her braided hair. Didn't even really see her hair-do, wasn't paying any attention.

A thick dark blond braid circles her head, so I get a hold of it, wrenching her face to the side and sink fangs in deep. Really want it to hurt, but to keep her from making too much noise, she gets the heavy foreplay feeling. She goes from a hard flailing thing to a soft and pliant body.

Her memories fly into my head, making my gut clench at the depravity in her mind. The woman would fit right in with Nicolaus and Lady. I bite down harder as I swim through recent images for the information I seek.

Not only does this woman take care of the house and finances but she's also the headpiece keeping cops at bay. Helps beat the people down as well, taking extreme enjoyment out of their suffering and pain. Other information starts flooding in easily.

Bruce, Eddie's friend, isn’t only a guard, as he partakes in the gang rapes and drugs... Tad has been blackmailed into keeping his mouth shut and one other... Geoffry. Werewolf.

I keep pulling from her as I find out more and more condemning evidence. The Werewolf right now is in the basement with four others that he is 'training'. The thrill this woman gets when watching him at work and participating has me biting down hard. She starts struggling, but it's a weak attempt.

The wolf scouts out with Eddie, pointing out the 'freaks' from the normal humans. Blackmailing, seducing, or straight up abduction being their methods of acquisition. While Eddie screws with their heads, Geoffry is the main one who does the abuse. Brutal rape of body, spirit, and mind. More often than not he, Bruce, and the head of the operation are the ones gang-raping the others. Male and female, makes no difference to them.

Glimpses of tortures they've used on both humans and supernaturals really test my core of strength. Metal rods implanted on the hips as something to cause pain while being pounded from behind. The constant re-opening of healing wounds on the Shifters and Weres. Bound, gagged, and stuffed into luggage trunks for days, metal devices shoved into their mouths to keep them open while a male chokes them with his junk, made to parade lewdly in front of others while different implements protrude from tender orifices.

Supernaturals have it the worst; healing quickly just to go through it all again. Body modification and piercings, branding with the tools by the fireplace, whipped and caned. It just goes on and on.

The four below are the newest ones, there had been five, but one of the human males didn't make it. All the body trauma paired with Geoffry's preferred method of sex; he'd been killed. The body is buried in cement beneath the house.

The six up front are the more behaved ones; trained for stamina and the pleasing of the client in many different ways. Two in the back rooms are bigger males that they’ve yet to break completely, so others are used to continually shame them. Both had been free animals and are very straight males.

Can't very well have any of that, so measures were taken. Most of the others had been from other pimps or right off the streets. Didn't matter if they knew the trade or not. This is all over wrong.

I pull out of the memories before I go crazy, all of it trying to course into my head at once. Tabitha's struggles have all but stopped, her skin growing very cold. The incense, glass of water, and 'lemonade' are indeed all drugged. The back rooms have a couple of sticks burning as well.

The real kicker here? It has no effect on humans.

I freeze, going through the images in my head till coming to one in specific. A picture of Lady. They know who she is. Had sent the call out on purpose - knowing it would get to her.

They don't have much on me, but they think I'm an animal of some kind. They lured us here with intent, thinking that they’d be able to overpower her. Uncaring, I rip my face away from the woman’s throat, a chunk of flesh coming with me as I tear open the all-important vein.

She was on the verge of death anyway, this just makes sure of it. I can't find it in myself to feel bad about killing her. Tabitha really needs to die. Eddie had done a number on her, yes, but there was damage there before he came along.

A whisper of sound has me on my feet and turned to attack. Tad is standing there, blinking at me. Now is his moment; he will choose whether he lives or dies. I make sure he sees that in my face.

He comes further in and turns the water back on, shutting the door all but a crack. Grabbing a cloth and wetting it before handing it to me, his head tosses towards the mirror. I don't need to look to know I have blood on me. Not a whole lot, but still noticeable.

He leaves the water on as he whispers to me, motioning with his hand to the floor.

"The one below is like you, he won't be easy. I will do what I can when able, but I will not go down for this."

I shake my head at him.

"No, he's not like me. He's a wolf, I'm not. The information they have on you is in a safe downstairs. You help me get the two out of those rooms and keep the other six out of the way and you can have the combination. We're taking them with us."

He looks at me, gray eyes not very happy.

"Swear it."

I blink at him for a moment.

"I swear, but don’t think others like me will keep to their word, that will get you laughed at then killed."

He shakes his head.

"Don't plan on being anywhere near you people again. I just want to get my stuff and go."

My head cocks as I dab at my shirt. Good thing it's dark, but there's no hiding the scent of blood from animals. The one below is the big one we'll have to watch for.

"You do realize you cannot mention anything about what you know, right? Doing so will just get you killed. You tried to help me, I don't want to see you hurt."

He nods, looking down at Tabitha's corpse. I pull his attention away by asking questions.

"Do you know the ones in the rooms? Will they listen to you?"

His head inclines before spinning on his heel and heading out. I follow, tossing the rag onto the dead face looking up at nothing. May be disrespectful - in other cases. This woman deserves no respect, dead or alive.