Xander's POV:

I was yanked from my peaceful slumber by a loud and heavy knock on my door.

It startled Doe as much as it startled me, our arms tightening around each other as soon as we both snapped awake.

She pushed herself up with a quiet groan, "What the hell?"

As soon as she was up, I followed her lead.

Groggy as I was, I knew that kind of knock when I heard it.

"I'm pretty sure it's Nico," I yawned, blinking away the drowsiness.

I don't think anyone had the ability to knock with that much force. Or have any reason to see me this early.

"Nico?" she looked like just the sound of his name caused her to be fully awake.

There was a moment of silence where I stared in confusion as to why that was before she scrambled into bed and bolted towards the bathroom.

"He doesn't get to see me dressed like this!" She exclaimed on her way.

I couldn't help but smile at her wording.

"Why not? You look good." I edged on.

It's not like she was completely indecent or anything. Most of the buttons were secure.

She stopped about a step from her destination, head whipping to face me.

"The entirety of my legs are showing!" she insisted as if every inch of them weren't flawless

Well, not the entirety. Most of my shirts at least went down towards the top half of her thigh.

But I couldn't argue with her beyond the single tease. Something inside me stirred at the thought of anyone else seeing her like this, yet that same thing was jumping for joy as the exclusivity I had of viewing her in such attire.

The knock came again, and I hurried and tore myself out of bed.

I waited till Doe was safely secure in the bathroom before opening the door to exactly who I was expecting.

I was prepared to give him one of my gushy overtly-affectionate brotherly greetings, but the look he had made those stop dead in my tracks.

He was angry, immensely so.

Getting met with those thin pupils from my brother so early in the morning certainly wasn't how I expected my day to go.

"I need your help," he spoke. The tension in his voice told how tightly he was holding himself together right now.

"Done," I assured before anything else, "With what?"

His jaw clenched and unclenched, evening out his breathing before answering.

"I need you to lead an interrogation."

"An interrogation?" I repeated.

Well, now I was fully awake.

"Yeah. I told Marcus to gather all of the slaves on this floor into the kitchen." He explained, which only lead me to become more confused.

An interrogation for someone on our floor? What did Nico get himself into?

"OK but... Why?"

Again, he took a moment to answer

If just talking about it was pushing him to his limit, then it must be bad.

"Someone drugged Khloe last night and I need to figure out who and why before I decide to take it out on literally every slave here," he bit, hands tightening around his upper arms

Drugged... Drugged?!

Something flickered in me, a worry that I previously thought was irrational. That I pushed away because I thought it was just me being over-protective of her.

It didn't take long for it to roar back into view.

These boys... I knew some of their thoughts, but I never imagined that they'd have the guts to attempt such a thing.

To drug Khloe on a night Nico happened to be out.

What did they do to her...?

"Is she okay?" I pushed.

I didn't want to think of what they could have done after that.

"She is now, but I have no idea what happened to her before I found her," He nearly snarled.

The thought turned my stomach but also had me reigning back my own growing anger as Nico was.

Interrogations were rarely something I could say that I did well.

I wasn't too comfortable scaring people, but this... Yeah, I think I'll be able to handle this one just fine.

If they went for Khloe then what's to stop them from trying something with Doe?

Where do they find the audacity, to begin with?

I looked over his stance once more.

"Wow. You're really pissed about this."

I don't think I've ever seen this much of a reaction out of him when it came to someone else.

But if my feeling about him and Khloe are indeed true, then it made sense.

He did snarl this time.

"Wouldn't you be?" He extended a hand gesturing to my right, both of us turning towards my bathroom.

Doe looked between the two of us from where her head peeked behind the door.

Just looking at her after this caused a sting in my chest.

She shouldn't have to worry about shit like this.

If this did happen to her instead...

I didn't understand how Nico was just standing there, but it didn't take a genius to notice that even that was a struggle for him.

I faced him again, "Yeah ok you're right. What do you need me to do?"

If I was interrogating over 30 individuals, I needed a plan, and Nico was the type of person to make them.

"I need you to do the interrogating while I speak to Marcus on some matters. Ask them their alibis from last night and make sure they're telling the truth, frighten them if you want. If anyone seems innocent then dismiss them and if they don't-"

"Send them over to you," I filled in.

Nico had the right to deal with whoever did this.

He just gave me a nod at our understanding.

"Put some clothes on and meet me in the kitchen in 10 minutes." he directed.

I looked down at myself, admittedly having forgotten that I fell asleep without one.

Doe's direct warmth should have been a hint, but a lot happened right as I woke up.

"See you then."

I had to take a second to breathe after I shut the door, fighting off all the physical shows of anger that so desperately wanted to show themselves.

Not yet. Not in front of her, save it for them.

I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

I couldn't wrap my head around why they'd be stupid enough to try something like that.

I knew what thoughts would be swimming in their minds at the sight of two beautiful women so close, and I thought that they'd be smart enough to keep them as just thoughts.

All of us, especially Khloe and Doe deserved a place where they didn't have to worry about anything like this.

And they will, We'll keep it that way. This is just a minor bump we have to get over.

Maybe whatever happens today will scare them into thinking twice before attempting something like this.

"Drugged?" Doe spoke quietly behind me.

I turned to see her just a few feet away, worry and concern for her friend written clearly on her face.

No... I never want to see any semblance of that expression on her ever again.

She's served her time with emotions like that.

"We'll take care of it," I assured her, speaking as softly as I could manage.

As if the tips of my fingers weren't trembling from the need to let these claws out.

"Nico is Nico. He knows his way around that stuff, so I'm positive Khloe is okay."

I hoped, but I wish that I was more certain. I knew that Nico handled the drug, what I didn't know was what happened to Khloe after the drugging.

I needed more information.

"Just stay in here until I get back, Okay? I'll have-" I stopped, "I'll bring back breakfast."

She looked me over, surely catching on to what I was trying to hide.

I knew that she didn't grow up learning about these kinds of dangers, and in a perfect world, they wouldn't be an issue I'd need to warn her about.

Punish the creeps instead of the people getting preyed on.

We'll see how this goes...

"I don't know how long this will take, but I'll make it as fast as possible."

"What is it exactly you're doing?" She questioned, closing in another step.

"I gotta use my angry vampire tendencies to my advantage. Scare them into getting some answers and snuffling out the culprit. To make sure this never happens again, and that you and Khloe remain safe."

Her eyes were wide by the sixth word.

She was blushing.

"Right," She let out a little cough, "Try to uh..."

God, this girl had such a grip on me.

Enough to where every part of me could agree to put my anger on a quick pause while interacting with her.

I smiled, setting a kiss on the top of her head.

"I'll make it as quick as I can."

~~~

That pause of anger didn't last long after I'd gotten dressed and left.

Nico stood leaning back against the doorway of the dining room, keeping an eye on the inside and the outside.

He looked to have a calm exterior, which I began to question but stopped myself.

Nico knew himself- both halves of himself well enough to know how to properly approach certain things.

It was a 'what he wanted vs. the right way to get it' kind of thing.

He wanted the answers and had a good enough relationship with that beastly instinct to turn it down if it meant getting what he, as a whole, wanted.

He had the job here that needed a more open and clear mind to hear out Lily and Marcus.

I, on the other hand, had little restraints with what I was doing, and I knew it was already showing in my eyes.

Which was nice since me and my own little beastly instinct haven't been of perfect terms for a while it felt like.

The scent of fear, the one I knew more than I wish I did was already flowing through the air

He kept a steady gaze on me as I approached.

A quick glance on the inside showed every slave on this floor sitting in the far back corner, as far away from us as possible.

Panicking heartbeats from every single one of them.

Some even went as far as to stand instead of sit in a chair that was deemed 'too close'.

Lily and Marcus on the other hand were sat in a booth in the back but worriedly whispered to each other.

"What was the drug?" I questioned quietly.

I needed to know more, every detail if I could.

For a multitude of reasons.

"Rohypnol," He poke in the same, quiet, flattened tone, "One of the most common drugs that get slipped into women's drinks at bars for men to-"

"Did they?" I accidentally cut him off.

I had to know. I needed to know what we were dealing with.

He let out a long breath, "No. If they did, heads would have been rolling by now."

Yeah, no kidding.

He spoke while looking in on the pile of boys, "Whoever it was, they hid their scent, but either way, she had no offensive or defensive marks anywhere on her. Whoever did this didn't even touch her."

Okay... that made me feel a tiny bit better.

Not enough to change my intimidation plans.

"There were other things mixed with it that I couldn't differentiate from scent alone, and when I came back this morning, the drink had already been disposed of before Lily had shown up."

I took another good look across the boy's faces, seeing which ones I recognized.

"Alright," I stepped in, setting the claws free, "Let's get started."