Dragon Kin

16

Alicja

"Alicja, this is Jake," Victor said, holding Jake by the back of the neck in one hand, and Jake's wallet open to his ID, in the other hand. "Jake, this is my bond-mate, so be very polite, and say hello."

"Ah. Hello," Jake said, his eyes wide, uncertain, humiliated and cowed.

"Hello, Jake," I said. Then, looking at Victor, "Bond-mate?"

He shrugged, "It's accurate, if undesirable. Just because we don't like something, doesn't make it disappear, does it?"

I looked at my wrist, "I guess not. Still. Sounds so, formal."

"I enjoy formality, always have. You know how men always complain about tight collars, and cravats?"

"Sure, only they're called ties, here."

"Not me. I love them. I like a formal ball. People are so polite, and the food is always very tasty. What about you Jake? Do you like formality?"

"I... I guess so," he said. Victor was holding him by the back of the neck, clamping him while lifting him up on his toes.

"Good," Victor said, pulling the chair closer. "because we're going to be formal now. I'm going to sit you down and you're going to tell me where your friends are, and why you're here alone."

Victor sat Jake into the chair. I stood up and backed away from the man. He was tall, thin, and had a scraggy growth of a beard, which was a few inches long, so he must be growing it on purpose.

"So, Jake," Victor said. "Where are your friends?"

"I... I don't know. I was to meet them down here, but they haven't shown up," Jake stammered. He wasn't old. Younger than Victor, who I believed to be thirty something. Or close to thirty something.

"Huh," Victor grunted. "That doesn't happen often. Men show up when they say they're going to, don't they?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Jake agreed, as Victor released his neck.

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Over two hours," Jake said, his voice reaching for the whine of complaint at being ill used.

"So, you thought you would see if they were around here," Victor said. "I get it. Just making sure. Then you were going to go back to ...?"

"Well, back to the house, I guess," Jake said, finishing the sentence he was lured into. "That's where everyone was yesterday, I mean last night. So I figure they must be back there, right?"

"Well, yeah, that makes sense. Sure," Victor agreed, then looked thoughtful. Straightening up, he mused, "I'll bet you have a car around here somewhere, don't you Jake?"

"I got the van...?"

Victor nodded, "A van is good. A van is perfect in fact. Feel like giving me a ride, Jake?"

Jake looked up at Victor, then to me with a plea in his eyes, and then at the ground. In a defeated voice he said, "Look mister, if you want to go to the house, sure. I'll take you. We've been trying to get you out there for two months. I mean, not necessarily alive, but that's where we've been trying to get you to."

He paused, and then looked up at Victor, "But they're going to be waiting, and they'll kill you soon as see you."

Victor clapped the man on the back, "Don't you worry about me Jake, I'll take care of everything." Then to me he said, "Want to tell them inside, that we'll be heading out, and we'll call them later?"