Jason's look of consternation and
to ignore it.
Constantine marched forward savvy that Jason would get out of his
way. Her breasts pressed into his back with each inhalation, her
exhalations skimming over his back with the tangy smell permeating
his entire being. He couldn't prevent his mind from taking a small
tangential moment to imagine his own lips sealed over hers, taking her
breath from her.
The image made his lips part, but he forced them closed and made
it abundantly clear that his goals overrode any lustful interactions
unless she turned. And if she didn't, well he wasn't a necromancer and
had no interest in lifeless bodies when the blood no longer roamed
freely but rather turned to sludge.
He hoped for both their sakes she wouldn't make him take that
route. Joe Smith would appreciate it too, since he was the patsy for
the murder charges as the mover behind the kidnapping.
As Constantine foresaw, Jason moved backwards and turned to lead
him to the lair. Telepathy intrigued Constantine, because it made him
live in the future and relive the present. He'd already known what
Jason would do and had watched it happen before it did.
But with Helena Palmer, he couldn't read an unconscious person
and that both intrigued and unnerved him. The future was an
unknown entity when it came to her, and telepathy always worked
better on intimates.
He followed Jason through the passage ways that lead to the heart
of the meat shipping warehouse. Nothing living on two feet had
resided here in years, but he dank mildew infested place was full of
scampering critters wary of the intrusion.
He pitied the rats that feared their home was under invasion from
monsters, just the way the humans had invaded the vampire lairs eons
ago outside of human memory or written word. Constantine altered
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his scent to one the rats would relate to as friendly and listened for the
skittering to quiet down. He pitied them, but she wasn't going to be
on their feasting menu either. Altering his scent slightly again, he
made it clear that staying away would be for everyone's best.
Jason walked through a door ahead and stopped. Constantine
sensed Jason's nervousness, waiting for approval. That meant
Constantine was about to see what Jason had rigged as the holding
pen.
Constantine walked sideways through the door to get his bulky
body through it without confronting the hinges with her head. He
moved in front of Jason and looked around. Not bad, not bad at all.
Metal tracks for the meat hooks to be moved around on had been
rerouted to enter the room and run its length. On one end of the
tracks, a makeshift bathroom of toilet and sink had been fashioned
from water pipes running along the walls; on the other end, the floor
was covered with thick-piled oriental rugs and body sized pillows for
easy lounging. One lone meat hook hung from the tracks over the
pillows and carpets.
He placed Helena on the carpet, face up. "Do you have the rope?"
Jason came over with white nylon rope coiled in figure eights.
"Marine quality to take her weight and not collapse under the
tension."
Constantine nodded. "Hold her up for me so I can get her tied up."
He took the rope from Jason and let the first loop snake through his
fingers so only the end was left in his hand and the rest coiled on the
floor.
A growl escaped his clenched jaws at seeing Jason bracing her
upright.
"Hey man, you told me to touch her." Jason stared him straight in
the chin then looked down.
Constantine bit down on his tongue until blood broke through the
surface of his taste buds. The metallic flavor of blood always calmed
him down into a duller roar.
Pulling the rope with him, he towered behind Helena and yanked
her loose head up by a wad of strands he caught in his free hand. He
18
tugged harder than necessary to get her head in his direction, and
enveloped her hair up in his fist.
Her hair was delectably cool. It had already shed the heat of