Page 33 of Dozer (Rolling Thunder MC #14)

Chapter 33

Dozer

I’d agreed to share her with Marco so she’d remember, and I was regretting that. Not the part about her remembering, but about sharing her at all. She was mine in a way I hadn’t expected, and my wolf wasn’t on board with us loaning her out.

I texted Julian and told him I needed a private conversation with Marco, and was surprised when the vampire walked into the Rolling Thunder Motor Hotel later that night.

He lifted a brow and telepathed. The wolf has developed an opinion about sharing your little flower.

He has.

It was part of our formal agreement. What are you prepared to offer for me to remove it?

I’m assuming you have something in mind, and that’s why you’re here?

At a minimum, I need to see her once a month, in your home, and I’ll need to feed from her. She will not remember being my meal, nor will she know I’m a vampire, at this time. She needs to know who I am, and she needs to consider me a friend. These things aren’t negotiable. If you can find something to negotiate I feel is worthy, I’ll consider agreeing you are no longer obligated to loan her to me or share her with me.

She was a human indentured servant in his territory, so he had every right to make that demand even if he wasn’t offering to act as a go-between to protect me from the Concilio and the slayers.

You told me you want the best for her, and that’s why you were leaving her in my care. It seems to me, having my wolf claim her is the best possible outcome for seeing to her future safety in my care.

True, but I’m going to need some more incentive to help you with our supernatural enforcement organizations.

I met his gaze, and that can be dangerous with vampires, but I was tired of looking at his cheeks and forehead. “What do you have in mind?”

Three and a half days with her in my custody, eighty-four hours, to be returned to you without a single mark on her. She won’t remember even a second of it, but she will smell of Bran’s blood when she’s returned to you. We will come to your home and retrieve her while you aren’t present, so she will have no subconscious cellular memory of you handing her over to us. We will return her in the same manner.

Meaning they could inflict horrible tortures on her, and Bran’s blood would heal her. When I didn’t respond right away, he said, Add another day and a half, and I’ll remove one of the favors you owe me as well.

My wolf wanted me to refuse him, but the truth is, five days of solid fifteen-hour shifts would give me some more time at home with her. Add to that, not having to share her ever again? The vampire had given me a deal I couldn’t easily refuse.

I didn’t want to loan her to either vampire, but I also didn’t want to have to share her with Marco every month for years to come. Honestly, as deals go, it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great, either. Still, this would keep her safe from the Concilio, and would keep me from having to share her with him again.

And she’d never find out about it, so she’d never have to deal with the trauma of it. Humans are rarely okay with the survival-of-the-fittest rules in the supernatural community, but she signed her rights away knowing I could loan her out so long as I trust whoever I lend her to — and I absolutely trust both Bran and Marco to abide by their word when it comes to this kind of deal, agreed to in black and white with no grey areas.

I kept my face clear of my thoughts, though that didn’t much matter because the motherfucker could read my mind. Your guarantee she’ll be returned whole, with no emotional trauma, and with no damage to her relationship with me?

Absolutely. Yes.

I know what Bran does to people.

On my honor, I will completely overwrite her memory of her time with him. This will remove a favor I owe him, plus it will get him involved to help with the Concilio, should they take issue with your human slave.

Indentured servant.

He tilted his head, and I made a quick decision — this was best for both of us . Throw in one blood donation from him in the future, to heal Daisy should she ever be injured badly enough to need it, and we have a deal.

Let’s make it three donations, since you live a dangerous life.

I didn’t expect him to offer more than I asked, but no way was I going to turn it down. I offered my hand, he shook it, and then he looked around. “Gen is looking for possible locations for our proposed joint venture.”

“I’m not likely to hear much about that until it’s close to coming up for a vote,” I told him. “I feel it’s a positive, having our club go into business with you, if we can find a suitable location.”

I’d told him I wouldn’t go against my oaths to my club to fulfill any of the debts I owed him, but this didn’t come into play for that, because I saw no reason, under the circumstances, to vote against us owning a legit hotel that happened to have one floor set aside for high-dollar whores. A whole different clientele than we currently serviced. The MC would manage it during daylight hours; the coterie would do so once the sun was down.

I have need of the services of a non-pack wolf who doesn’t belong to a Strigorii vampire to act as a feed-and-fuck for a female Lugat vampire. She isn’t interested in your ass so she’s fine with it being off limits, but she quite enjoys CBT. For four hours with her, I’ll trade one of the large favors you owe me.

Ah, that was why he offered more than I asked earlier. Buttering me up to accept this favor.

Zero repercussions? No political minefields you aren’t sharing?

My jet will take you to Massachusetts for this, and then a limo will drive you to her and then back to the jet. We’ll have plenty of raw meat of your choosing on the plane, so you can change and eat on the way home. You’ll be away from Chattanooga less than sixteen hours. They will be told your name is Mike, which is close enough to your middle name to come off as the truth. The vampire recently provided blood to save someone important to me. Since I’m no longer master of the territory, it wouldn’t be prudent to send someone oathed to me at this time. He shrugged. Keeping the peace at home means staying away from pack wolves, even the ones oathed outside of this territory.

I would’ve gladly agreed to this to keep Daisy from having to be gone for five days, but that deal was already set. Be careful when bargaining with vampires, for they’ve had centuries to perfect the art.

One favor without the CBT, two favors with, which will put us even.

One and a half favors, meaning you’ll only owe me one more small favor.

Four hours of torture is a helluva long time, so I said, Two hours with the Lugat, away from Chattanooga less than fourteen hours.

Done. Julian will have someone pick you up from the Rolling Thunder Bar and Restaurant at eight in the evening on Tuesday. Be waiting in the parking lot and get into the limo when it arrives. Someone will retrieve your Daisy the same evening. We’ll return you to the same place once the plane delivers you back to the Chattanooga airport. You’ll come and go from our private hangar. No record of you leaving town.

He offered his hand, I shook it, he walked across the room and talked to Slick a few moments, and he left.