Page 73 of Vampire Kings Box Set

“It’s not William,” she said. “Here. Look.” She handed him a tablet with a video cued up.

Maddox didn’t know what to expect. Something to do with Will, he supposed. Everything seemed to be about Will, even with an almost infinite array of vampire affairs to attend to. He had already checked on the boy and found him fast asleep in bed, so at least he knew this wasn’t an “oh dear, he’s been arrested” visit.

He tapped the video and it started playing. He couldn’t help noticing the particularly anxious way Captain Candy was looking over the frame of the tablet as if she wanted to see it all over again for herself.

It was a news report.

“Reports of a massive wolf sighting in NYC have set social media alight. The beast appears to be several times larger than any known wolf species and can be seen briefly in the background of several social media uploads. Experts claim this must be an elaborate hoax, but people are insisting they know what they saw.”

“Listen, Melody. If people started knowing what they were seeing, we’d be out of a job,” her co-host, Herb, laughed.

Candy turned the feed off. “This is playing nationally,” she said. “I don’t want to overstep. But…”

“You’re concerned this is real.”

“I am.”

Maddox’s eyes narrowed just a fraction, barely perceptible to the human gaze.

“And what makes you think that? The news frequently plays hoaxes. There was a yeti sighting a month or two ago and I don’t believe you came in the middle of the night to tell me.” The clock on the tablet proclaimed it to be 3:27 am.

“I. Er.” Captain Candy looked everywhere but at Maddox. “I’m just concerned. There are more things in heaven and earth…”

“Lora.” Maddox used her first name. He rarely, if ever, did that. It was enough to bring a very guilty gaze to his face. She suddenly looked a great deal younger. And familiar in a way that tickled the depths of his dusty memories.

“I’ve seen one before,” she mumbled. “I mean. I’ve met one. It was a long time ago.”

“Hm. And you failed to disclose this in your interview process.”

"You didn’t disclose you were a vampire, sir.”

That was the closest thing to sass he’d ever heard emerge from Candy’s mouth. It made him quite certain he was near a hidden truth, something Candy did not want him to know about.

“Sorry,” she apologized immediately. “I’m worried, sir.”

“There’s no need to be worried,” Maddox assured her, handing the tablet back. “This is a known quantity.”

“It is? Should the unit not be informed?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“I would like some further information,” she tried again. “If you’re familiar.”

“I’ll take care of it, Candy. For the moment, I’d like you to focus on monitoring the vampire violence situation. We’ve gotten the Pentagon off our backs for the moment, but they’re watching.”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”

She was a good soldier. She knew how to take orders and follow them. It was a blissful relief from the chaotic actions of Will, who was certainly not the wolf in the video. He couldn't take his wolf form. Not without help of a kind Maddox had not provided. Will had been internally decimated by his first and likely only transformation into his wolf self, and even then, he’d done it under extreme stress and with a little chemical nudge. The only slightly suspicious thing was that he’d been sleeping a great deal lately, but Maddox had put that down to exhaustion and petulance. Humans needed a lot of sleep. They fell asleep every day and never seemed to get tired of it, ironically.

Still, after seeing Candy off at the door, Maddox found himself going to Will’s room just to make doubly sure the boy was not out terrorizing glib tv hosts. He opened the door to reveal Will passed out in the moonlight, looking the perfect image of masculine repose. That was a relief.

“If not you, boy,” he murmured. “Then who?”

Will took a deep breath in his sleep and let out a little feral growl. He didn’t know the answer, of course. He was still a very simple, very innocent human. The rest of his kind might have considered him a vessel of violent guilt but to Maddox’s gaze there was still some part of Will that remained untouched and entirely pure. In the silver light coming through the bars of the window, he was cast in an almost ethereal glow. He was beautiful. Maddox felt a surge of protectiveness and desire. Perhaps he’d wake him. Perhaps…

Clunk.

Somewhere in the house something moved that shouldn’t move.