Free Hawk by Patricia A. Rasey Page A

own … or her own desires, and for not first seeking counsel with me. Please send my regards to your pretty little mate. As for Kaleb, you tell him that I absolved him of his crime against Alec Funar. But should he take matters into his own hands again, I may not be so merciful.”
     
    * * *
     
    “Suzi Stevens … have you seen her tonight?” Kaleb asked Draven, who stood with his back against the bar, drinking a shiraz from a stemless wineglass, surveying the patrons.
    Red, blue, and yellow lights flashed about the room to the heavy beat of the industrial music. Ravers danced, hopped, and waved glow sticks to the pulsing heavy-laden bass beat. Normally Kaleb thrived on the energy coursing through the room. Some of the ravers were high on X, or ecstasy, a drug common to the Blood ‘n’ Rave and one Draven profited from.
    The drug was useless to his kind as their blood regenerated too rapidly to feel the effects for more than a few moments. But should any of the donors be high on X at the time of feeding, ecstasy having tachycardia as a well-known side effect, it pushed the sexual experience for them over the top, resulting in too rapid of a heartbeat for the user. Something he and the Sons avoided due to the high risk of death for the donor. If a donor was high on X, then no one used them for communion.
    Unfortunately, Kaleb had seen the fatal side-affect personally when one donor’s heart went into SVT, or supraventricular tachycardia, while he had had her bent over the bathroom sink and fucked her from behind, his fangs buried deep in her shoulder. It was all fun and games until she face-planted the ceramic sink, leaving them a mess to contend with. The young donor became an unfortunate added number to missing persons. The woman had to have come by the Disco Biscuit via another route, since Draven never sold X to a known donor, the reason the Sons allowed him to profit off his drug sales without interference from the MC.
    Wearing red, cat-eye contacts and rounded, blue sunglasses perched low on his nose, Draven glanced at Kaleb and shook his head. “Haven’t seen her in months,” he said. He held up his glass to the bartender for a refill. “What’re you drinking?”
    “I’m not.” Kaleb grit his teeth. Hell, the only thing he had a thirst for at the moment was Suzi Stevens’ blood. So where the hell was she?
    Being a Monday, the Blood ‘n’ Rave wasn’t exactly packed. If Suzi had been there, Draven would have seen her. It had been three days since she had sought him out, concern for his well-being clearly written in her blue gaze. Fuck her concern. Shoving his disdain for her aside in his moment of weakness, he had drank from her anyway. Not only that, but he had demanded that she feed him personally. And yet, knowing he would need to feed every three days to sustain himself, she had directly disobeyed him by not being here. Damn himself for agreeing to her terms that they meet in the public lounge.
    If he had to, he’d break down every donor’s door in Florence until he found her as he had no clue where the little bitch laid her head. If she thought to hide from him, then the state of Oregon was not nearly big enough. Kaleb would have every Son and Knight on a statewide search until she was found. And if she lived with her so called fiancé? Kaleb would love to go toe to toe with the bastard right about now. A one-carat solitaire wasn’t a big enough deterrent to stop him from getting what he wanted. He’d see to it the bastard learned his place. Suzi Stevens may not belong to Kaleb, but he’d be damned if he’d allow someone else to stand in the way of his need.
    “You needing a donor?” Draven broke into his murderous thoughts. “I could see one brought up to my office for you.”
    “What I need is a little brunette named Suzi. If you can’t provide me that—then I’m not interested.”
    “Someone got you by the balls—”
    Draven’s question was cut short as Kaleb gripped him by the