Page 52 of Fangs for the Memories (Budapest Bites #1)
I ’m pacing, and I know it’s driving Lucy mad, but if I stop for a second, I’ll think about the blood on the cuffs of my coat and on my knees and of the look on Ferenc’s face before he went unconscious.
And how he was bundled unceremoniously into the back of a police riot van and driven away while an officious PC insisted on interviewing me as a witness. All while refusing, point blank, to tell me where they were taking Ferenc.
Things were getting more fractious by the second, especially given the itchy trigger fingers of the armed police, until Lucy turned up.
Which was probably the biggest surprise of the day, and given not only did Ferenc turn up out of the blue, but he threw Mark through a plate glass window, that’s saying something.
Now we’ve been five hours in the police station where they claimed to have brought Ferenc. My face is aching where Mark hit me, and I have two anxious looking werewolves in dark suits who are only just holding on to their humanoid forms.
“Is there any chance you could sit down before you fall down?” Lucy hisses at me.
“I’m keeping the wolf brothers busy,” I hiss back. “And no, I can’t.”
I pass the two werewolves again, and they watch me carefully. So, I’m not making it up.
“How about you ask again?” I suggest to her.
Lucy gives me a glare, then picks up her bag and saunters over to the front desk.
The sergeant looks up from his paperwork.
“Yes, it’s me again,” Lucy says with a megawatt smile which is entirely lost on the police officer.
She starts a back and forth with him I’ve already heard twice before with two different policemen, and she’s about a quarter of the way through when a door to one side opens, and a tall, strikingly handsome man dressed like he’s going to the opera steps through.
“I am Mr. Kóbor’s appointed representative,” Lucy says loudly. “I am police station accredited, and I want to see my client, or I will have to file a complaint.”
“The thing is, miss ,” the sergeant drawls, “this gentleman here is Mr. Kóbor’s representative, and ‘e’s just seen him.” He fixes Lucy with an interested look.
She doesn’t even hesitate.
“Why didn’t you or any of the previous desk sergeants inform me my colleague was already providing Mr. Kóbor with advice? It would have saved both you and me some significant time and effort,” she retorts and grabs the man’s arm, towing him away from the desk.
“Who the hell are you?” I growl.
“I am Dominik Király,” he says in a deep voice with a gentle Hungarian accent. “I am also a barrister at law in England and a friend of Ferenc.”
“Dominik? Aren’t you the vampire king?” I ask as my brain finally fires into action.
Beside me, Lucy stiffens.
“One and the same.” He gives me a short bow. “And you must be Ferenc’s mate, Grace.”
“You don’t have to speak to him,” Lucy interjects, glaring at Dominik.
“Have you seen Ferenc?” I ignore her. “He was shot.”
“Yes, he was asking after you,” Dominik says. “The bullet had silver nitrate in it, or else it wouldn’t have stopped him. He is recovering, but he remains a prisoner of the human authorities for the time being.”
I feel my legs go from under me. Fortunately Lucy is right beside me, and I hit her on my way down to the floor.
There is a lot of swearing around me before someone lifts me up and puts me in a chair.
A plastic cup of water is shoved in my hand, and Lucy exhorts me to drink while berating anyone who will listen for putting stress on a pregnant woman .
I want to tell her to shut up. Because otherwise literally everyone else is going to know about the baby before Ferenc.
Dominik can clearly understand English, and Ferenc’s two compatriots have a level of understanding, although as neither of them have said a word yet, I’m not sure how much they are getting.
Dominik drops into the seat on the other side of me, waving away the female police officer who has appeared through the same door as he used earlier.
“You feared for him?” Dominik murmurs. “You feared for the greatest alpha wolf in Hungary?”
“He’s not in Hungary,” I say, concentrating on the way the water in the cup ripples as my hand shakes, anything to avoid shedding tears in this place. “He’s in England, he’s been shot, and he’s been detained.”
Dominik chuckles richly. “Yes,” he says slowly, “but also he is an alpha werewolf.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Lucy snaps.
“It means he is neither at risk nor is he actually detained,” Dominik says, as if explaining basic mathematics to a child. “No human prison can contain a werewolf.”
Beside me, Lucy bristles. “Then why isn’t he out?”
“Because, as his legal counsel, I told him to stay put.” Dominik looks at his wrist, which sports an outrageously expensive watch.
“He’ll be fine. A flesh wound which has already healed,” he says, his hand hovering over mine until he thinks better of it.
“But your former human mate has powerful friends in high places, and I need to move fast.”
He stands up and Lucy follows suit.
“What are you going to do?” she says.
Dominik’s eyes trace over her. “What I can. Ferenc will be fine, Grace. I promise.”
“You’ll forgive me if, until I see him, I won’t believe it.”
“Spoken like a true mate.” Dominik gives me the most incredible smile I think I’ve ever seen.
The smile of a predator.
“You are a lawyer?” he says to Lucy.
“Yes,” she says emphatically. “And if you’re a barrister, I’ll eat my own shoes.”
“I hope you like cheap leather,” Dominik retorts, looking at her feet.
They take their bickering to the other side of the reception while I contemplate the remaining water. I want to be with Ferenc more than anything. The fact he is here, almost within touching distance, means I’d be prepared to take root in this place.
“Grace?” Lucy is standing over me. She has two red spots on her cheeks, and her eyes are bright. “We’ve come to an agreement. I’m going to take you home, and Dominik and I are going to continue to work on getting Ferenc free.”
“I can’t leave.”
Seemingly out of nowhere, Dominik drops down to my level and gazes into my eyes. “You can, and you will,” he says. “You’ll do it for your mate.”