Bellis watched Sam from a darkened corner of the interrogation room.  Believing she was alone, she let her guard down, and her turmoil wafted through the air along with something else.  She was uncomfortable, cold.  Her slight frame shook and her full lips were losing their pink hue.  That was their plan.  Make her as uncomfortable as possible, while giving her mind time to think up the worst case scenario.  It should be easy to break her then.  Offer her warmth, food, safety, and she’d give them what they wanted.  Right?
 
One of her knees started to bounce as she tried to get warmth circulating through her body.  He didn’t like that she was cold.  He didn’t believe in playing with prey before killing it, but Monroe did, and this woman had no idea the hell she was in for.
 
Motionless in the corner, Bellis watched Sam for at least an hour.  She’d peered into the darkness, scanning the room, but he knew she couldn’t see him.  He also knew she felt like she was being watched.  Finally, her bouncing knee stilled and her shivering lessened.  He noted her lips had turned a light shade of blue, and he wasn’t surprised when Sam’s head fell forward as nervous sleep claimed her.
 
Bellis couldn’t keep his nostrils from flaring every few minutes.  There was something different about her scent, and he wondered if it was her Megalya connection.  He’d scented them in battle though, and the faint fragrance wafting from her wasn’t them.  No, it was soft and decidedly feminine.
Arms crossed, Bellis tensed a moment as a secret panel in the wall opened.  With his heightened Skin Walker senses, his eyes narrowed on King and Bishop as they slid into the room.
 
Showtime!
                                                                  ***
A warm draft brought Sam alert, but she kept her eyes closed, no hint of change in her façade.  She hadn’t survived all these years by making such foolish mistakes.  Mistakes like the one she’d made at the Megalya compound in the old mining town.
 
Disgusted by her brother’s actions, she’d slipped from the compound to gather her thoughts, to wash the blood from her hands.  Her brother had assumed the Skin Walker blood was the result of kills she had made at StoneCrow.  She’d been preoccupied, and sensed an approach too late.  An animal that she assumed was a Skin Walker was right on top of her.  She couldn’t have run if she’d wanted.  She’d threatened the Walker, only to realize too late the beast wasn’t a Skin Walker at all.  But the huge cat wasn’t the true threat.  Something, some…shadow came out of nowhere and swallowed her whole.
 
It’d been the Skin Walker she’d woken to in her cell, but this Walker was like none she’d ever known.  Demon black, lightning fast, and mountain strong, he’d been Godlike.  She’d had no chance.
 
“No sudden movements, Sam.”
 
She didn’t recognize the voice behind the caustically issued order.
 
She snorted, slowly blinking her eyes open, realizing she hadn’t fooled whoever was now standing before her.  How did he get in?  Clearly, he hadn’t come in through the door, because there was no beeping when it unlocked or the loud clang of disengaging locks from earlier.
 
Playing it cool she slowly lifted her head.  “I’m handcuffed to a fucking chair, Skin Walker.  I’m pretty sure you’re giving me credit I don’t deserve.”
 
The light over her head blinked on and there he was.  The Walker had striking green eyes.  She could just make out the grim set of his lips through his full beard and moustache.  She recognized him as Dominant Skin Walker Monroe StoneCrow’s Second, King Mulholland.  He towered over her in all his terrifying glory.  Those dark green eyes locked on hers as he shoved off the wall and stalked over to stand before her, crossing his arms over his thick chest.  He was clad in black BDU’s, just like most Sentries she’d encountered at the Estate.
 
“Ms. Michaels, I wasn’t concerned with your actions.”  He jerked his head toward a darkened corner.  “Bellis has a temper like a hand grenade.  You never know what’ll set him off.”
 
She slid her gaze to the corner of the room but saw nothing.  Not even those intimidating pinpoints of neon-blue in the demon Walker’s eyes.  She knew it was him, and now she was wondering if he—the Demon Walker—had been in the room with her this whole time.  Shrugging, she pulled her gaze back to King as she clapped her knees together repeatedly in a show of nonchalance that was actually intended to get her blood flowing.  She’d been knocked out earlier and still felt groggy.  The cold hadn’t helped.
 
“Now I’m certain you aren’t giving me enough credit.”  She looked around the darkened room as if bored.