19 comments/ 40788 views/ 47 favorites Justine Ch. 01 By: kalamazoo707 Justine Graves woke up sore and disoriented. She remembered going out with her friend against her better judgment. She knew that she had an early morning meeting with the partners of the law firm that she was a junior partner at but dinner and drinks with her best friend and fellow junior partner Pam was too hard to pass up. "Come on Justine, we'll be home early." Pam begged. Early turned out to be about midnight and both of them had way too much to drink. Justine rolled out of bed and headed toward the shower moving slowly because of the pounding in her head. "What in the hell was I thinking?" she asked herself as she stripped. The hot water felt good as it hit her aching head and neck and then ran down her back. As her sore muscles began to relax she promised herself that she wouldn't let Pam con her into going out on a weeknight again. As she finished her shower, she wondered why she was so sore; it wasn't the first time that she had too much to drink and woke up fully dressed. She stayed in the shower for as long as she dared before hopping out and grabbing the bottle of aspirin from the medicine cabinet. She chewed three of the tablets usually enjoying the bitter taste but this morning they tasted more bitter than usual. She looked at the expiration date on the bottle, "January 2013" she read aloud. She shrugged and decided that her taste buds were off and finished getting ready for the day. She sprayed some leave in conditioner in her shoulder length naturally curly hair and applied Shea butter to her walnut shell colored skin which was already beginning to dry out. She brushed her teeth and applied just enough makeup to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and decided to wear just a little lipstick. She really felt like crap and gave a very brief thought to calling in but it wouldn't have looked good especially since some of the others heard her and Pam talking about going out. The good thing was that it was Friday, she only had to get through today and then on Saturday she was going to buy her first new car ever. She even had it picked out, she thought she did anyway. At this point it was going to be something sensible like a Prius or maybe a Honda. The one thing she did know was that she wasn't going out tonight and nothing Pam said was going to change her mind. Justine dressed in a dove gray business suit, one of only two and slipped on her shoes. If she didn't want to miss the bus she had to hurry. "One more day of riding the bus." she told herself as she grabbed the briefcase that had been a gift from her grandfather. She put on her scarf and then her heavy winter coat thinking that she would be happy to see spring but it was a long way off, it was just mid January. She made to the bus stop in enough time to buy a cup of coffee. She fixed it as she usually did with plenty of cream and sugar but when she tasted it, she almost spit it out. It tasted much too sweet and strong at the same time. She shook her head, took another sip spit it back into the cup and threw it away. She heard the bus approaching and gave the coffee no more thought. As the bus headed downtown toward Center City where she would catch the subway, Justine closed her eyes as she usually did but she didn't fall asleep. She knew that she had four stops from the time she got on the bus until she reached her subway connection. Usually the ride was relaxing but this morning the engine of the bus seemed louder, the conversations going on around her seemed louder and her head was beginning to hurt again. "I have to be getting sick." she thought to herself as she tried to block out some of the sounds going on around her. As soon as the bus stopped she got off as quickly as she could and headed toward the sub way, she couldn't wait to get to the office and to sit in her little cubicle for a few minutes peace before she started her day. She found the subway ride to be just as unsettling as the bus ride and was grateful that she wouldn't be riding public transportation again. She made her way to her cubby hole and reached into her drawer for the bottle of aspirin that she kept there. She poured three tablets in her hand and tossed them into her mouth and gagged at the bitterness of them. "What in the hell is wrong with me today?" she mumbled. Pam came in a few minutes later looking even worse than Justine felt. "What did we drink last night?" she asked. "I don't know but I feel like shit." Justine replied. "Me too and everything taste awful, maybe we caught something." Pam said reaching for the bottle of aspirin. Like Justine, she gagged as soon as the aspirin touched her tongue. "Damn Justine!" she exclaimed as she spit the offending pills into the trashcan. ******** The meeting seemed to drag on forever and everyone seemed to be talking with what Justine's mother used to call their outside voices. She was so intent on trying to mute the voices around her that she missed it when she was asked a question. "Justine!" Mr. Mathers said sharply, "I asked if you're feeling alright." "I.... no, I don't feel well." She replied. "Perhaps you shouldn't go drinking on a weeknight." he said sternly. Justine wondered how he knew that she had gone out after work. He wasn't there when she and Pam were talking. She looked around the room to see if she could pinpoint the snitch, her eyes landed on.....Malcolm Payne. It was him, she knew it, it was more than the fact that he didn't like her and she disliked him as well. He was a brownnosing bastard who had managed to get another junior partner fired and she was next on her list. Justine also knew something else; he had a thing for Pam. That was a fact that Pam refused to believe. "It's your imagination." she said when Justine told her how Malcolm was staring at her. "I'm telling you the man's got it bad for you." 'I think it's you he wants." Pam shot back. Justine heard a hint of jealousy in her voice and tried to tell Pam that she wasn't interested in Malcolm in any way shape or form but Pam didn't believe her. Justine stared at Malcolm until feeling her eyes on him he looked up at her and grinned at her. She didn't return the grin but continued to stare at him until he abruptly stopped grinning and looked away ******** Justine spent the rest of the day working on briefs and wishing the day was over. Every so often she would feel eyes on her and would look up to see Mr. Mathers looking at her. She swore under her breath as she realized that he had watched Zoë Carter the same way and by the end of the next week she was gone. She wondered if she shouldn't confront him and get it over with but decided against it. It was Malcolm that she needed to confront. She took three more aspirin and was relieved to find that they tasted as they usually did but the relief didn't last long. When she opened her soda and took a drink, she gagged. She recapped the soda and put her head between her knees until she felt better. She put off the idea of confronting Malcolm for the moment, she really didn't feel well. The end of the day finally arrived and she couldn't wait to get out of the building that had become increasingly stuffy throughout the day. Pam met her at her desk looking even worse than she had at lunch. "I would ask if you wanted to go grab a drink but I feel like crap." She looked up to see that they were being watched not only by Mr. Mathers but by Malcolm. She plastered a fake smile on her face and waved at them somewhat surprised when they waved back. She grabbed her briefcase and hurried out with Pam close behind her. The first blast of fresh air felt wonderful and then began to smell. "What is that smell?" Justine asked Pam. "I don't know but it sure smells bad!" Pam replied, "Hey why don't I take you home?" Justine gratefully accepted, she didn't think that she could stand to be closed in on the bus with so many people. The odd thing was the closer to evening it got the better she felt, the air still stunk and sounds seemed louder but she felt better. She looked over at Pam and noticed that she seemed better to and asked her about it. "Yeah, I do feel better isn't that weird?" ********* It was after six-thirty when Pam dropped Justine off. Justine ran up the stairs foregoing the elevator. It wouldn't occur to her until much later that she never took the stairs even though it was always her intent to do so. It also wouldn't occur to her until later that she walked up three flights of stairs and she wasn't even winded. She changed her clothes putting on as pair of shorts and a tee shirt instead of her usual flannel pajamas that she wore in the winter. For some reason she was warm... more than warm she was hot, so hot that she turned off the heat and opened the windows in all of the rooms in her apartment. When she realized what she had done, she went around and closed the windows only to open them again. Her plan was to go to bed early so that she could get to the car dealership as soon as it opened but when ten o'clock came and she was still awake she decided to watch television, then midnight came and went and she was still wide awake. Her eyes started to get heavy around five am, by five thirty her body was heavy as well. She barely made it to her bed before she was in a deep sleep. ********* Quinn O'Dell was an early riser, he always had been and it didn't matter how little sleep he got which these days wasn't a lot. He really couldn't remember the last dreamless and restful sleep he had; he knew it was around the time when his wife Amanda left him taking their daughter Lana who was two at the time with her. That had been five years ago, he hadn't seen or heard from them except for the one time that he went to see them. It was his fault that they left, it wasn't as if Amanda hadn't warned him that she would leave if the gambling and drug use didn't stop, he just hadn't believed her choosing to believe that she loved him too much to leave. The night he came home and they were gone was forever burned in his memory. He sat on the couch for hours holding the money that he had won on the horse races; there was enough money to pay the rent several months in advance and to stock the cupboards with food. The bag from Target that was filled with books, crayons, coloring books and a pair of pink footie Pajamas sat on the floor by his feet; he held the jewelry box containing the diamond necklace for Amanda in his hand as he waited for them to come home. "They'll be back soon." he murmured as he settled in to wait, it was midnight before he realized that they had really gone. He found the goodbye letter on his pillow in the bedroom; he reread the letter over and over again as he cried. He looked at the bag of gifts and the jewelry box and walked out of the apartment and never went back. He walked the streets for the rest of the night looking for who or what he didn't know. When he finally stopped walking, he was at a coffee shop. He went in and spent the morning drinking coffee and reevaluating his life. He wanted his family back and knew what he needed to do to make it happen. He asked for a telephone book and found the numbers for gamblers anonymous and a drug rehab program. He went to the meeting first and then to the address of the drug rehab. It had been hell kicking the coke habit and he did it cold turkey. It had to have been the longest week of his life; he refused any medication that would have made withdrawal easier not wanting to exchange one addiction for another even though he was assured that it would make him more comfortable. Ever since then he never took anything stronger than Tylenol no matter what the pain was, he didn't want to do anything that could send him back to that place in his life. He hadn't even bought as much as a lottery ticket since that time even though he was invited to join in on the group lottery. He was too afraid of what would happen if they won. Whenever the urge to backslide hit he called his sponsor of which ever addiction was rearing it's ugly head., on occasion he called both of them although it had been months since the last phone call because of an urge. Quinn saw Lana once in the last five years; he had managed to track them down to show Amanda that he had changed. His hope was that she would see that he had changed and that she would give him another chance, he went armed with three years worth of pay stubs and his bank statements for the past four years. He wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination but if anything ever happened that he lost his job he would be alright for a while. When he found them, Amanda was happy to see that he was doing do well but refused to look at his pay stubs and bank accounts. "You look great." she told him, "and I'm really proud of you." "I did it for us; I want you and Lana back." The sound of a crying baby was like a splash of ice water, he gave Amanda a questioning look. "I.... I remarried three years ago." she said softly, "I'm sorry." Quinn swallowed hard and tried to smile as he wondered what he had been thinking. "Congratulations.... Could I see Lana before I go?" Amanda took him to Lana's room where she was reading a book. His eyes filled with tears when Lana didn't recognize him. She gave him a sunny smile and said hello. "Hello sweetheart." he said as tears rolled down his cheeks. She was the image of Amanda, petite with dark curly brown hair and eyes. "Who are you?" she asked. "Lana this is your....." "A friend of your mom's" he interrupted. Amanda looked at him in surprise. "Oh, are you a friend of my dad's too?" "No, just your mom's, you're beautiful just like she is." Lana smiled at him and went back to her reading. "Why did you do that?" Amanda asked when they left the room. He really didn't know at the time but later he realized that it was because he had given up. He got clean and did everything that he did for them and it was better that Lana not know who he was. He left shortly afterwards with the intent of hunting up his dealer and when he found him, he couldn't do it. He walked away and never looked back. The only thing he did was to have his will drawn up; everything which wasn't much would go to Lana. Since that night, he slept poorly and began taking online courses for photography, when he was through with those he took actual classes. In addition to his regular job as a landscaper, he worked freelance as a photographer and was actually making decent money at it. Sometimes when he wasn't working and he was up early like now he would go for a walk taking his camera with him. The weather didn't matter, it could be snowing or raining and he would go out and take pictures of whatever caught his eye. Some of his pictures had actually won awards and there was someone after him to sign on with his gallery. But his real dream was to move somewhere where the weather was always warm, someplace like Arizona, Florida or California. Every time he thought that he was going to make the move, something happened that he changed his mind. Quinn looked outside, there would be no work today, the ground was covered with snow and more was falling. He ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal and a piece of fruit and dressed to go out. He grabbed his camera and did a quick battery and film check and headed out into the cold January morning. Once outside he adjusted his stocking cap hat so that it covered his auburn hair and headed in the direction of downtown, on the way back he would treat himself to a Philadelphia Cheese steak, one of his few guilty pleasures and have it for lunch and the leftovers if there were any for dinner. ********** Justine started to rouse just as dusk came; she initially felt lethargic and then gradually became fully awake. The room was cold but she didn't feel it as she got up from the bed and stretched, she felt..... Wonderful and better than she could ever remember feeling but she was hungry for something that she couldn't identify. Her phone rang as she walked into the kitchen, it was a hysterical Pam. "Jussie! What's wrong with me?" "Pam.... Pam slow down! What's the matter?" "I.... I don't know! I got home last night and I thought that I was going to burn up, I had to open all of my windows and then I slept all day!" "I know me too." Justine replied. "Maybe we should go to the hospital or something." Pam said. "No!" Justine exclaimed not understanding the reason for her alarm. "Why not?" Pam asked, "Maybe we have some weird disease that could kill us." "I don't know why but we shouldn't go to the hospital." Justine said, "Why don't you come over here?" Pam hung up after saying that she would be over in an hour. ********** As she began to dress Pam felt someone behind her. She turned around to see Malcolm Payne standing behind her. "Don't be frightened." He said softly, "I can help you." Pam backed away as she tried to figure out how Malcolm had gotten in. "You really shouldn't leave your windows open, anything can get in." "How did you get in here?" Pam asked. "You're not listening, I told you that you shouldn't leave your windows open." Malcolm replied. "The window? But I'm five floors up!" "I know you are." Malcolm said with a smile. "I want you to leave." Pam said. "I can't do that, we have things to discuss and things to do." he said as he looked at her from head to toe his dark eyes glittering. "I.... I have to go, Justine is waiting for me." "Justine can wait." Malcolm said saying Justine's name as though it conjured up a disgusting thought. "She was right, you don't like her." Pam said. "That's putting it mildly." Malcolm said as he took a step toward Pam, "But you on the other hand are an entirely different story." "Why are you here?" Pam asked and then she looked at the window. "You got in through the window?" she whispered. "Give the lady a kewpie doll!" Malcolm exclaimed as he took another step closer. "Tell me, did you feel like shit yesterday and then better in the evening? Did you feel like your body was on fire? Don't answer that I already know the answer, that's why the windows are open and it's all of twenty degrees outside but you aren't cold are you? Flavors are more intense and you're hungry but not for food, you want something different." Pam stopped moving away, "how do you know this?' "I have experienced the same thing but a long time ago." he replied. "What's wrong with us?" "Who says that anything is wrong with you?" Malcolm asked, "Who says that you aren't as you were meant to be?" "I don't understand." "I know you don't, that's why I'm here." Malcolm said taking another step closer to Pam, Don't move." ********* Justine searched her cabinets for something to satisfy the unidentified craving. The kitchen counter was covered with the various snack foods that she had tried and spit out. Her stomach was beginning to cramp with what she knew to be hunger pains. She hadn't felt that particular pain in years but in some ways this was worse only because she had food, it just didn't taste good. She was beginning to wonder if Pam hadn't been right in suggesting that they go to the hospital but everything in her was telling her that it would be a mistake. The cramps increased as the minutes passed, she was holding her stomach and bent over in pain. She made her way to the refrigerator, flung it open and reached in for the first thing she saw, leftovers from a few nights ago. She opened the container and then threw it, the smell was repulsive, she grabbed something else opened it and it joined the container on the floor. Tears ran down her face as she frantically searched for something to take away the hunger and the pain. Justine Ch. 01 Justine Thorsendottir was in Munich for Oktoberfest '74. The genetically gifted buxom blonde superwoman from Southern California with sexual power on par with a W53 nuclear warhead drank beer, and sang along with equally sloshed partiers. She wore a pretty brau-haus outfit tailor made for her exquisite body. Her ensemble was a red and black dirndl, off white embroidered pullover blouse and black shoes. Her long golden blonde hair was done up in a bun, and a silver Edelweiss pendant with a small diamond in the center hung about her long neck. She was with a man and woman who were sharing her body like so many other sexual partners she had conquered. The man had one of her golden N cup orbs out from hiding and sucked greedily upon her large pink areola and raspberry sized nipple while massaging her other through the fabric of her dress. He marveled how Justine's tit flesh tasted vanilla sweet. The raven haired woman had hiked a hand up between the blonde's toned long legs fingering the thick fat hot pink pussy meat that was soaked in Justine's juices. The brunette could no longer resist and went down to pleasure a pussy with no equal. She was met with a fragrant heat that set her own juices flowing like she had never experienced before. The brunette fingered herself before being passionately kissed by the incredible blonde. Justine pushed the brunette upon a table, spread her legs apart and flicked out tongue that was so long it looked like a pink python. It was satanically beautiful. Without even bending over to bring herself closer to the raven haired woman's pussy the tongue wound it's way up her inner thighs massaging them before stopping to flitter like the wings of a hummingbird on her little nub. She cried out in absolute ecstasy thrashing her head back and forth. Minutes passed before the thick pink snake invaded the woman so deeply it touched the walls of her womb. Justine's tongue now acted like a cock undulating and growing in circumference as ripples sailed down the entire length of the python assailing the pussy. She was orally fucking the brunette's brains out. Orgasms one after another racked the poor thing as the man not wanting to miss the action whipped out his steel rod. He hiked Justine's dress up, she spread her tanned legs obligingly. "Fuck me,.....hard!!!", she commanded her blue eyes narrowing. "Yeah fuck!!!" He rammed his meat within her hot pussy and almost blew his load from the sensation. Justine wanted him to last so she didn't set her vaginal muscles against his dong just yet. She growled as he commenced to savagely pound her from behind. The brunette disrobed the other golden orb and squeezed and massaged the giant milk pillows. They were so soft and heavy as she nearly became smothered by them as Justine's entire body rhythmically thrust forward by the man's fiery fucking, she moaned in appreciation. The pink python thrust out from between Justine's bee stung lips and filled the brunette's mouth. She wished to shove more of it down the woman's throat but she knew she couldn't take it, few could. Rivulets of saliva cascaded down the pulsating tongue. The man was beginning to slow and tire from exhaustion. Justine fired off her vaginal muscles against his cock with a broadside of sensation that made him delirious with pleasure, he rocked his head from side to side as she tightened her grip to such an extent that kept him from exploding right away. Oh, how she wished he could last longer as she moaned, her muscles giving the man's dick the sensation of being massaged by hundreds of soft nubs. She cried out as his first rope of seed exploded within her. Justine sighed and arched her back, her glorious pillows wobbling back and forth her nipples hard as diamond. More ropes of seed fired of within her hot pussy from his cum cannon. He had never experienced so heavy an orgasm in his life, he squeezed her impossibly small waist biting his lip as her vaginal work coaxed more man jam from his balls. She was literally fucking him dry as she moaned feeling each hot glop of cream explode within her. He was spent as was the brunette played upon the table. A thunderous cheer erupted from the throngs of wide eyed onlookers amazed by the performance. She grabbed another stein of beer, gently stuffing her twins back inside the constrains of her blouse and dirndl. She winked and beamed a smile of appreciation from her new legion of fans as she headed back out into the masses celebrating. Justine was 23, single obviously and quite wealthy as a result of an inheritance from her mother and father who had died tragically in a plane crash ten years previous. She had dreams of becoming a gymnast, perhaps even striving for the Olympics but Mother Nature had other ideas. She had to give up her gymnast interest by age 16 after years of devotion. Her body developed in ways that boggled her mind and forced her to resign her fascination. But at least the 11 years of training shaped and helped tone an already genetically gifted physique. Every body part was accentuated by muscle tone that filled her frame out. Her rear end was a perfectly half moon in shape, each cheek taught with trained muscle. Her waist was incredibly small compared to her height at 5'11". It officially measured in at 22 inches, a true wasp waist that elegantly bowed out to her hips and toned legs and calves. Justine would've been considered perfect had that been all that nature had intended to gift her, but alas her chest the reason and cause for her departure from gymnastics developed. Developed may not even be the word for her growth. Perhaps morphed or even explosion is a more fitting term. It began early around 13 years of age, and her chest expanded at a reasonably slow steady rate. Suddenly by age 16 her breasts grew literally over night in one instance from a DD to F cup then two months later to an H. By 18 she was topping a whopping KK and before her next birthday, she morphed into a blistering M cup. Two days before her 20th, her twins expanded once again at an incredible N cup size before finally pulsating up to an O cup two months later. She loved every explosion of growth, once confided with a best friend that her mounds became hyper sensitive and blazing hot signaling an imminent expansion. Justine loved every part of her body but considered her immense breasts, her crown jewels. They were two giant tear drop shaped gravity defying orbs capped with large pink areolae. Her nipples were the literal cherry or raspberry on top of the proverbial milk sundaes. Incredibly sensitive and hotwired to give her on orgasm if fondled. Justine loved the way her twins moved when she walked or even took a deep breath. They wobbled, shimmied, swayed, in their own pendulous way. She fondled them every moment before falling asleep in bed whether with one hand or both. Justine loved to look at them in a mirror whether clothed or naked, their presence and beauty always amazed her. But this was not the only thing on her self that astounded her. That would be her tongue. She had few words to describe it herself except to say that it was a "yet another freakish thing on my freaky body." Justine remembered that even as a child her tongue both fascinated and horrified fellow classmates by it's length, and size. The way it moved, rippled, slithered out from her mouth. She'd often make her tongue wrap around her head, legs arms, or neck mimicking a snake around a tree limb or simply flick it out to get a lick of some friend's ice cream from several feet away before they even noticed. To her it was a playful thing kids did to entertain themselves and others for kicks and laughs. Only when she got older upon the first time she kissed, gave a blowjob or gave a girl oral sex did Justine realize her tongue's true sexual power and the untold many who were in awe of it. From her first lesbian encounter with Michelle Nance in 8th grade to orally screwing fellow nymphomaniac Lady Abbie Hartington in the backseat of her Rolls Royce Silver Shadow at Ascot a few years before, while Lady Hartington's husband watched the race. A wealthy Kuwaiti sheik who on several occasions enjoyed her company described Justine to a close friend that she was, "a female of absolute pornographic lust and hedonistic creation,.......everything about her is a volcanic desire that no army of lovers could satiate,......to experience her touch and abilities is nothing short of an out of body experience." Justine kept a black book, actually several, that listed and rated practically all of her conquests. Partners were rated from one to five stars and comments were jotted down detailing anything out of the ordinary or of interest for later review. All told there had to be hundreds of persons with whom she had sex with, and most received anywhere from three to four stars. Some got two, several received one for such offences like prematurely blowing their load or having a rotten demeanor. Only four persons, three man and one woman were ever awarded 5 stars apiece. The man was a superstud age 31 from Switzerland of Herculean musculature and stature named PaulStaubli, who possessed a freakishly sized cock and balls. Paul's animalistic fucking always made her scream with a mixture of pain and pleasure. She couldn't get enough of him and vice versa. Paul was one brother from a set of triplets. His two fellow brothers Max and Peter were identical in musculature and similarly endowed with massive cum cannons. Justine had balled all three many times and had enjoyed all three at once on a beach in Acapulco. The chance encounter was shot by a tourist who happened to be a film maker. He turned his film into one of the best selling X-rated loops in history titled "Acapulco Sweet". Her "five star" female partner is known only by her first name; Karin. There is little information regarding this Karin except that she is incredibly favored by Justine who in turn has made a number of visits to meet with her in various cities such as Vienna, Helsinki, Milan, Tangiers, West Berlin, Athens, Amsterdam, and Bremen. Justine had enemies too. Several East European secret police outfits like the Czechoslovak StB, and East German Stasi had her name on an "enemies list". A shadowy organization known as LGP was out looking for her with the intent on kidnapping Justine and handing her over to the Bulgarian DS secret police. Apparently the main reasons for her being wanted was that she had turned quite a number of East European operatives to work with the West. She was a natural "honey pot", someone who could use sexual persuasion to make someone turn. Justine was said to be so successful that she unraveled an East German spy-ring that operated within the Danish Defense Ministry. To an enemy agent, she was trouble and to be avoided at all cost. She had lent her "services" to several foreign intelligence services but mainly assisted the Norwegian Intelligence Service NIS, or the West German BND. She refused payment for services rendered as she was more than happy to help weed out those who presented themselves as a threat. Justine turned on the television and plopped down on the bed in her hotel room. It was half past 1 in the morning and she was exhausted from a day of drinking, eating, and fucking. She undid her dirndl as she lay on her back and let out a big sigh as she desperately wanted to take a hot shower. Tomorrow she was going to meet with a reporter for the adult magazine Vulkan so she wanted to look her best and get plenty of rest. Justine Ch. 01 It wasn't long before almost all of the contents of the refrigerator were on the floor. Finally there was one container left, she slowly opened it and sniffed. The contents of the container smelled heavenly, it was a raw porterhouse steak that she was going to cook in celebration of buying her first brand new car. She took a large bite of the meet sighing with relief as the blood from the meat trickled down her throat. By the time the steak was half eaten the cramps while still present were manageable. When the steak was consumed, Justine looked down at herself and then at the mess in the kitchen. Her next thought was about Pam, "Where are you?" she asked as she stood up and stretched. She called Pam's house and began to worry when the phone rang several times. Not knowing what else to do, she decided to get dressed and to go over to Pam's apartment. She dressed as she normally would for the cold weather and then stripped opting to go with a sweat suit and even then she felt too warm. She grabbed her cell phone and keys and left her apartment to walk to Pam's. She could have taken the bus but something told her that she and the people on the bus wouldn't be safe. As she walked a word came to her mind. Vampire. ******** Malcolm circled Pam pinching her nipples as he passed by. "Stop that!" Pam exclaimed. Malcolm didn't respond but continued to circle Pam assessing her. "That isn't what you think at work." he said smugly, "At the office you wonder what I look like underneath my suit." "No I...." "Don't lie." Malcolm interrupted, "You are also jealous of your friend, you think that it is her that I want." Pam didn't bother to deny it. "What else do you wonder about?" he asked not really expecting an answer. "What do you want from me?" Pam asked getting angry. "Tell me love, are you hungry?" "What do you want and why can't I move?" Pam asked. "Why don't I feed you first?" Malcolm asked as he took off his suit jacket. "What are you doing?" Pam asked as Malcolm bit into his wrist. "Drink up!" Malcolm said cheerfully as he put his wrist to Pam's mouth. At first she tried to resist but when the first drop of blood touched her lips she gave up and drank from him moaning in pleasure as the hunger pains began to diminish. She now knew what she and Justine were and she wanted to know if he had been the one to turn them and what he wanted from them. "Enough!" Malcolm said as he removed his wrist. "Better?" "Y...Yes." Pam replied feeling disgusted with herself. "Good and don't worry, the feeling of disgust will soon pass." Malcolm assured her. "What do you want with us?" "There is no us, your friend was an accident, it was only you that we were interested in." Malcolm replied. "What are you talking about?? "That pain in the ass friend of yours was supposed to die and you were to be brought to us." "Us? Who are us?" "You will see but for now I am going to collect my reward and I promise you will enjoy it." Pam tried to move but couldn't. "Just the other day you were wondering what my lips would feel like on your nipples weren't you?" Malcolm asked, "And tell the truth, I command it." "Yes." Pam whispered wishing that she had never had those thoughts. "Would you still like to know?" "N....yes." Pam closed her eyes as Malcolm bent down and licked one nipple and then the other and watched as they turned into hardened peaks. "You are already wet, I can smell it." he said as he took a nipple into his mouth and sucked gently at first and then harder as he pinched and rolled the other nipple between his fingers. "Malcolm.... Please stop!" "Is that what you want?" he asked releasing the nipples from his mouth and hand. "Y....yes." Pam sobbed. "As you wish but I should warn you that where you are going your wishes may not mean much." "Where am I going?" "Right now, with me until you are ready." Malcolm replied as he put his jacket back on. ********** The hunger was coming back and she had no way to satisfy it. Pam's apartment wasn't too much further and Justine was surprised by how fast she had gotten there. With each step she took, the cramps grew; she was expending energy and not replacing it. She had acknowledged what she was and wondered when it happened and who was responsible but that wasn't the priority right now, anyone out in the street was in danger. The only thing that she could think of was to go down into the subway where there were rats. She didn't relish the thought of drinking rat blood but what other choice did she have? Her next question was how did she know so much, she loved watching dark shadows and the Dracula movies is that where the knowledge came from? The other question was why was she accepting this so easily? "Delayed reaction." she muttered, "More important things to worry about." She looked around and saw no one as she stumbled down the stairs to the subway, it was much too cold for people to be out she realized as she looked around again. She went to a bench, got on her hands and knees and looked beneath the bench. "Shit!" she cursed and then whispered "come out come out wherever you are!" a moment later, she saw a pair of beady eyes looking back at her. She blinked in shock but recovered quickly, "Come on you ugly bastard!" she hissed forgetting that she was terrified of rodents. The rat looked at Justine's hand and inched toward her, squealing when her hand shot out and wrapped around its neck crushing it. Justine looked around to see if anyone had been watching, seeing no one she carried the dead rat to the far end of the station and drank. A part of her was repulsed by what she was doing but another part of her accepted it as survival. Question after question popped into her head as she drank from the dead rat. She thought about calling another one to her but decided that she needed to get to Pam, she would be scared shitless. Feeling energized after her meal Justine made her way to Pam's apartment bypassing security without really knowing how she did it but adding that to the list of questions that she had. When she got to Pam's fifth floor apartment, she tapped on the door already knowing that Pam wouldn't answer. She touched the doorknob and the door opened. Cautiously she stepped inside and looked around; Pam had been here and not that long ago. If she hadn't stopped..... Someone had been here with her Justine realized, she smelled blood but.... It wasn't human. Whoever had Pam wasn't human and they had left no trace of where they would have gone. Justine closed the windows and locked them before she left. She knew that she had to eat again before she went home, rats were an option but it was getting late, people who had to be at work early would soon start filling the bus and subway stations thus increasing her chances of being spotted. She looked around and got her bearings, there were several areas in the city where there were vacant houses where stray cats and other animals lived. The only thing that she would have to be careful of is the homeless that sometimes lived in the vacant houses to escape the weather but she saw no other choice. Instinct also told her that she needed to find someone who could help her understand what happened and could teach her how to manage her new lifestyle. Once again she wondered about the ease in which she was adjusting to this way of life, it was almost as if she had done this before. She wondered about the sunlight thing and decided that she didn't want to find out just yet. She quickly made her way to the closest vacant house and slipped inside watching and listening for any signs of human life. When she was satisfied that no humans were there, she issued her call for whatever animals were in the house. There were enough strays that she didn't have to kill any and for that she was glad, she really hadn't wanted to kill the rat but she needed all of the nourishment that it could give her. Finally sated, she left for home making it just before the sun rose over the horizon. She ran to her bedroom and closed the drapes and reinforced them with blankets. She felt her body grow heavy and like the morning before she barely made it to the bed before she was asleep. Her last conscious thought was that she needed to find another place to live, she was vulnerable here. ******** Mr. Jeremiah Mathers was furious, Justine Graves was supposed to be dead and out of his hair but she was turned. The guilty vampire was already past history, the only one that was to be turned was the friend Pamela, she fit the requirements of a friend of one of one of his customers, she was petite and looked younger than her thirty-four years of age, blonde hair and blue eyes were a must as well as a somewhat submissive personality. At least that was successful thanks to Malcolm who was rewarded by being able to train her. The woman was actually quite lucky; the vampire who wanted her was actually very gentle.... As long as the female gave herself willingly. As long as she met that requirement her future was secure and safe but it would be up to Malcolm to make sure that she understood that. The pressing problem was Justine; he knew that there was something different about her as soon as he saw her over a year ago. He only hired her because she intrigued him but now he wished that he had let her go. at first he thought it was because he sensed a will of iron beneath the soft exterior and that intrigued him, then he thought it was because she was a barracuda in the courtroom out maneuvering attorney's with decades more experience than she had then he thought it was a physical attraction, he liked how her eyes flashed when she was angry and the way she chewed on her lower lip when she was thinking but it was more than that, there was something very different about her and now he thought he knew what it was- she was dangerous and could be his downfall. It didn't occur to him that if he were to let Pam go, Justine would no longer be a problem. He had been in business for well over seven hundred years and he had never let anyone go, it wasn't good business and it would look suspect if he let someone go because of another woman- he would look afraid and that was unacceptable. He knew where she was, and knew that she was vulnerable she would be easy to dispose of but while he could explain the loss of one attorney, he couldn't explain the loss of two especially since they were friends. Over half of his staff was human and most of them knew Justine and often sought her help in preparing their briefs. They were also aware of the friendship and would question of one stayed and one was gone just as they would question it if both women were suddenly gone. There was nothing that he could do now but wait for an opportunity to kill her. She was a newborn and even awake she wouldn't be able to do much. He simply had to bide his time. ******** Pam sat huddled on the corner of Malcolm's massive bed thankful that he let her keep her clothes on and that he hadn't touched her again. She was surprised when he made no moves to restrain her in any way; instead he left her on the bed and went into the bathroom. She waited until she heard the shower running before slipping off of the bed and heading toward the door. She had no idea where she was but she had to try to get away. She looked over her shoulder and heard the shower still running; she could hear Malcolm singing one of the Italian arias in a rich baritone. She touched the doorknob and jumped when it turned in her hand and opened. "Did you need something?" a man who was obviously a vampire asked. "N....No thanks." Pam said as she backed up toward the bed. He nodded at her and closed the door. She went back to the bed and sat in the same corner where Malcolm left her. She felt tears fall as she sent out a message that she had no way of knowing if it would make it to its recipient. "Justine help me!" Justine Ch. 02 Justine woke up slowly and was slightly disoriented. It took her several minutes to remember what had happened to her and her best friend Pam. Somehow they had been turned into vampires, she didn't know by who but knew it was sometime on Thursday after they had dinner and drinks. She lay still until the lethargy wore off and crawled off of the bed to go to the bathroom when she realized that she didn't need to, it was another question that was added to her rapidly growing list. She got into the shower staying in until the water ran cold, got out, brushed her teeth and braided her still wet hair. She looked at her reflection in the mirror to see if there were any obvious changes in her appearance. She started with her hair and then carefully examined her face. She was blessed in that she never had skin problems but her skin looked even clearer than before. Her eyes were clear and the same color brown she noted with relief. She opened her mouth, looked at her teeth and was surprised that while they looked whiter, there weren't any fangs. "Where are they?" she asked herself as she continued her examination of her mouth. In the end she decided that the fangs only came out when needed, She stepped back from the mirror and looked at her hands, they didn't look any different than before but like her teeth, Justine suspected that any changes would come when and if needed and wondered it she could change at will. Justine took a large breast in each hand and examined it, "thank god these didn't get any larger." she thought to herself as she looked at the rest of her body. After she finished her self examination she threw on a pair of shorts, bra and a tee shirt. She had to find food; the hunger was just beginning and would progress quickly if she didn't take care of it soon. She once again wondered about the ease with which she was accepting the fact that she was a vampire, she was even more curious about how she knew the things that she did. Justine grabbed a duffle bag and began to throw clothes into it; she had to leave her apartment and the sooner the better. She didn't know where she would go but if she stayed at her apartment someone would come for her. She grabbed her wallet and the petty cash that totaled over three hundred dollars and change and put them in her duffle bag. The last thing that she put in her bag was her cell phone and charger and at the last minute pictures of her family and Pam. She put on a sweat suit and left her apartment for the last time. She hadn't gone very far before she realized that she had left just in time, someone was in her apartment. ******* Pam woke up to find Malcolm staring at her with undisguised lust. "Good evening Pam." he greeted pleasantly, "are you hungry?" "No." she lied. "Are you certain? The hunger pains should be beginning soon if they haven't already." he said with a teasing note in his voice. "Why am I here?" she asked. "Are you sure that I can't tempt you with breakfast?" Malcolm asked ignoring the question and biting into his wrist just enough that the blood oozed out. Pam's stomach rumbled as the scent of the blood assailed her nose. She licked her lips and shook her head no as she closed her eyes. She went to move off of the bed and was surprised to find that she couldn't move, during the night she had been restrained. "Why am I tied up?" she demanded. "We can't have you trying to escape now can we?" Malcolm asked as he moved closer to her, "You are going to feed whether you want to or not." he added. "NO!" "Yes and then your training will begin." Restrained as she was, Pam couldn't fight Malcolm off. He pressed his wrist against her mouth and waited for the hunger to take over. It wasn't long before Pam was greedily drinking from him and making sounds of enjoyment as his blood hit her tongue and trickled down her throat. As she drank, Malcolm wondered just how much he should tell her about her new life, if he told her too much she would at the very least try to escape or at the worst try to kill herself and that just wouldn't do. He wondered about Justine. "Where is the bitch?" he asked himself and hoped that she was lying dead somewhere because she didn't know how to survive as a vampire. He had to admit that she made him nervous and always had, that was the reason for the dislike that over the months had turned to hatred. He tried to tell his uncle not to hire her but he wouldn't listen. He thought back to the morning of the meeting, the way that Justine stared at him had unnerved him and increased his hatred of her. He hated anything that had the potential to scare him and Justine fit that criteria. The final blow had been when she looked up at them, waved and then smiled at them. Silently he swore at his uncle for hiring her although he understood why he did. Justine Graves was intriguing and definitely easy in the eyes but there was something very different about her, something dangerous..... She was the kind of woman that his uncle Jeremiah Mathers was drawn to. "Stop!" he hissed when he felt Pam's teeth bite into him. He had let her drink too much and now she would want to go back to sleep like a baby did once it was fed. It really didn't matter he decided, while she slept he would go to Justine's apartment and take care of business. Pam was already almost asleep when he left the bed. By the time he was dressed; she was out cold and would be for a while. ******* He had just missed her; he knew this because her scent was still strong. The question was where would she have gone? But a more important question was how had she gotten through the night without feeding? There had been no suspicious human deaths reported, he checked before he left the house. Malcolm walked through the apartment which was immaculate except for the kitchen. It was a disaster area with food thrown all over the floor in Justine's attempt to calm her hunger. He caught sight of the porterhouse steak bone that was cleaned of every piece of meat that was on it and felt a sense of disquiet. "Just who in the hell are you?" he asked quietly. For her to have figured out that she could obtain nourishment from raw red meat was remarkable. The feeling that Justine was much more than she appeared crossed his mind. "You're overreacting like an old woman!" he told himself, "It was just luck and nothing more." he added as he walked to her bedroom. She left in a hurry he realized as he looked around the room. The dresser drawers were left open, the bed was unmade and most of her clothes were still there. He wondered if she had sensed his approach and once again disregarded any idea that she would have such skills. "She's one lucky bitch." he muttered as he went back to the kitchen and vanished from there to the street. He looked in every direction trying to pick up her scent and becoming angry when he couldn't. "Who in the fuck is she?" he asked himself again as he looked around again. ******* Justine found herself in South Philadelphia not far from the Italian market. The odors nauseated her making her rethink her decision about finding an abandoned house in the area to stay in until she figured out her next move. The first of the hunger pains hit her as she walked toward the subway station. Since it was a Saturday night and the streets were busy, that left out going down to the subway to catch rats but then she had an idea and headed toward China town. As she walked she kept an eye out for potential places to hide out for the day. She had gone maybe eight blocks when she knew that she was being followed. Whoever they were she knew that they were human and that they didn't have good intentions. She kept walking acting as if she wasn't aware of their presence hoping that they would lose interest and go away. After several minutes it became obvious that the group of men weren't going to go away. Justine walked faster as she had no desire to tangle with these men. She was already hungry and if one of them bled she wasn't sure that she could stop herself from drinking from him and possibly killing him. "Hey you!" one of them called out to her, "stop!" Justine kept walking and eased into a jog. It occurred to her that she had never jogged a day in her life and here she was jogging and not even becoming winded. "I said stop bitch!" the voice shouted at her. Justine picked up the pace and kept running but the group of men kept after her. She glanced behind her to see where they were and was angry to see that they were catching up to her. She sped up even more now aware that she was having no trouble seeing in the dark and that she was running on ice without difficulty. She could hear the men falling behind and cursing because she got away but there was another issue. She was wracked with pain, she needed to eat, and she had expended too much energy trying to get away from the men. There was no other option, she looked around and ran into the closest abandoned house she saw. She did a quick check for other people before setting her bag on the dirty floor and calling to whatever animals lived in the house. "Come out, I promise not to kill you." she said softly and then she waited. A few seconds ticked by before a cat came out and walked up to her. "I thank you for your assistance." she told the cat as she picked it up and bit into its neck. Tears of relief ran down her face as the cat's blood trickled down her throat and the pain began to ease. When she was finished with the cat she put it on the floor and stroked its head before calling for the next animal. By the time she was comfortable but not sated, Justine had taken from six cats and a dog. Feeling much better she looked around the house and wondered if it would meet her needs. She picked up her bag and went to a door that she assumed led to a basement but found that it was a closet. She continued her search of the house while listening for signs of anyone coming. Eventually she found the basement and went down the stairs. There was one window to the front of the house but the back of the basement was so dark that no one would see her even if they were looking right at her. "This will do." she murmured as she walked to the back of the basement. A few minutes later she had cleared a space for herself in one of the corners. The blood from the animals was already wearing off so she had to get moving. She called an animal to her, fed from it and then left the house looking around before she left. ******* Quinn was restless. He had been indoors all day and was getting a touch of 'cabin fever'. He looked out of the window and then at the clock. He normally didn't go out at night but he was bored, he had spent the day on the internet searching for things in general; cost of living in various states and cities. He was more than ready to leave the "City of Brotherly Love" he had no real ties here and he had more than enough money to get settled somewhere else, the question was where. Unable to settle down, Quinn decided to go out for a walk. It was early enough to get to China Town, eat a meal and order more for lunch and dinner for the next day or two. As he dressed to go out, he wondered if he should take his camera. He didn't have many nighttime pictures and it was one of the things that the guy who wanted to show his work commented on. He packed up his equipment taking the least expensive equipment. He had been robbed once with the man taking everything. The camera had been quite expensive but fortunately everything had been insured and he was able to replace his equipment with very little cost. He checked his cell phone battery before tucking it in his pocket and then checked the battery of the camera. Finally ready, Quinn left his small apartment making sure that he locked the door behind him. It was times like this that he missed his wife and little girl the most; both of them loved the winter and the snow. His heart hurt as he remembered what he considered to be a happier time although he was sure that Amanda would remember it differently. He kept his wits about him as he walked and then wished that he had taken the bus or subway but he was almost to China Town and it would have been a waste of money and time to catch a bus now. He would splurge and take a cab back. Quinn wasn't sure about what drew his attention to the woman walking in front of him. Maybe it was the speed in which she walked which was fast considering the snow and icy sidewalks or maybe it was the way that she was dressed which wasn't nearly warm enough for the twenty-five degree temperature. Whatever it was that had initially attracted his attention became unimportant as Quinn watched the woman hurry down the street. For reasons that he didn't understand Quinn decided to follow her, he sped up trying to catch sight of her before she disappeared. Just as he rounded a corner he saw the woman go into a Chinese meat market. He caught just a glimpse of her face and wanted to see more of her. He went into the meat market and walked around until he saw her. "Jesus." he breathed, "she's beautiful!" as if she heard him, the woman looked right at him and then looked away. Quinn's mouth went dry as he watched her; there was only one other woman that had done that to him and that was Amanda and now this woman who didn't even seem aware of her beauty. He had to buy something to justify his presence so he went to the meat counter, stood next to the woman and bought two chicken breasts. He didn't cook and would give them to the old couple who lived next door to him. He paid for his purchase and left the market wondering how he could get in contact with the woman. ******** Justine knew that she was being followed but sensed that her pursuer meant her no harm. As long as he didn't approach her she would leave it alone. She stopped once to ask where the nearest Chinese meat market was and headed in that direction. As she walked she realized that she stuck out like a sore thumb, she was dressed as if it were a spring day but if she dressed like everyone else, she would burn up. She didn't know what to do about it unless she moved to a place where she could always dress as she was but she would think about that later. First she had to find a more secure place to live and she had to find Pam. She found the market without a problem and found someone to help her. "Do you sell animal blood?" she asked. "Yes we do but it is not fresh, it is....coagulated." Coagulated blood didn't sound appetizing but for the moment she had no other choice. "How much is it?" she asked. She knew the moment the man following her came into the market; she turned and looked at him to let him know that she knew that he was there. She asked for four pints of the congealed blood not worried that it would spoil but concerned that she wouldn't be able to tolerate the taste and texture of it. She didn't look when the man was standing next to her and ordered 2 chicken breasts. After he paid for his order Justine watched him leave and wondered if she had seen the last of him. "Here is your order, do you want anything else?" Justine looked at the meat in the cooler and took four of the thickest steaks just in case the congealed blood didn't work. She paid for her purchases with her bank card because she wanted to hang on to her available cash until she could get to the bank and make a withdrawal. When she left the market she looked around and was about to walk away when she heard a voice behind her. "Hi." Justine ignored the voice and kept walking in hopes that the man would go away. Quinn watched Justine walk away and made a decision, he was going after her. "Hey wait up!" he called but Justine took off at a run. ******* Malcolm sat in Jeremiah's office telling him that Justine had taken off. "Taken off? She's a new vampire, where could she have gone?" He asked. "I don't know and at the risk of beating a dead horse I told you not to hire her!" Malcolm replied. "Yes you did and yes you are beating a dead horse and for once I agree with you." Jeremiah said. "You're being awfully calm about this; did you hear what I said? She figured out how to get nourishment...." "I heard you and I maintain that it was luck pure and simple. I doubt that she's made the connection, she's too new." Jeremiah said unconcerned. "Ok, then how do you explain that she disappeared without leaving a scent? Is that dumb luck too?" Malcolm asked. "I must admit that I don't have an answer for that, maybe someone is helping her." Jeremiah replied. "Maybe but I don't think so, there's something about that woman...." "You hate her, I get it but I don't understand why." Jeremiah said interrupting him, "did she turn you down or something?" Malcolm threw his hands up in exasperation, "Damn it! Will you listen to me? That woman is trouble with a capital T and if we don't find her...." "For God's sake!" Jeremiah exclaimed, "Stop clucking like an old woman and tell me how Pam's training is going." Malcolm was going to say something else but thought better of it; Jeremiah wouldn't listen to him anyway. "I'm going back now to begin her training in earnest, she'll be ready within two weeks time if not before but Jeremiah...." "If what you're going to say is about Justine Graves I don't want to hear it." Jeremiah interrupted, "however, I would suggest that you get on with the training of Pam, two weeks will pass quickly." Malcolm knew a dismissal when he heard it and stood to leave but he couldn't but help to issue another warning. "That woman or whatever in the hell she is will be the death of all of us, you mark my words." "Goodbye Malcolm." Jeremiah said ending the conversation. After Malcolm was gone, Jeremiah poured himself another drink. Malcolm was right about Justine but he wasn't about to tell him that nor was he going to tell him that he was as nervous as he was. He already had people out looking for Justine and he would send more. What he would do with her once he found her he didn't know but she continued to intrigue him and that intrigue was growing by the minute. Jeremiah picked up the phone, spoke to someone and hung up. If this person couldn't find Justine Graves then he was overpaid and she deserved her freedom for managing to evade him. ******* Quinn watched Justine take off and realized his error, he shouldn't have approached her like that. The time to have spoken to her was in the meat market when other people were around. With nothing else to do, Quinn went to his favorite Chinese place and ordered enough food to last him for two days. As he waited for his order her thought about the woman who was so inadequately dressed and who could move with a speed and grace that he had never seen before. When his order was ready, Quinn took out his phone and called a cab to take him home. He found himself hoping that whoever she was that she was safe and had someplace warm to go to. The temperature had dropped during the few minutes that they were in the store. ****** Justine didn't stop running until she was back at the house. After looking around she went in and went to the basement checking for signs of human life as she made her way down the stairs. She went to her corner, sat down and took out a container of the congealed blood. She sniffed at it, looked at it and sniffed again. "It smells alright." she thought as she tentatively touched the cold thick substance with her tongue. She gave an involuntary shudder and wasn't sure that she could get the stuff down. Taking a deep breath she gulped down half of the container without stopping. She fought not to gag as the substance slid down her throat and made a decision, she wouldn't do this again unless there was no other option. She wouldn't waste what she bought but it was just disgusting. Justine Ch. 02 What she really needed she decided was to get to a coffee shop or one of those internet cafes where she could do some research on what she was and to find places that sold fresh blood. The other thing that she had to do was get to the bank, since it was dark enough to go out by five and the banks were open by six she would do that tomorrow evening. For tonight she would lie low and continue to make plans. She put the lid back on the container of blood and set it aside to reach for one of the steaks. It was half eaten when she heard sounds coming from above her. She lay the steak on the paper that it had come wrapped in and stood up listening to the sounds above her. She sprung into action when she heard a female scream and the laughter of several male voices. It didn't occur to her to stay where she was; she didn't like abuse of any kind and felt that all abusers both male and female should be whipped by those they abused. She opened the basement door, slipped out and made her way toward the sounds of the screams. She hurried when she heard the sound of ripping fabric. "Please don't hurt me!" the voiced pleaded but to no avail. "Please don't!" one of the male voices mimicked as the others laughed. "Leave her alone." Justine said softly but with authority. At first no one seemed to have heard her so she repeated the command. "I said, leave her alone!" The men looked at her surprised that she was even there. Then one of the men, the leader spoke. "Well looky here." he drawled as he looked Justine up and down. The woman on the dirty floor was temporarily forgotten as the men looked at Justine who hadn't moved or spoken since she issued her last command. "Definitely more than a mouthful." one of them said as he openly gazed at Justine's chest but she didn't respond. The leader told two of the men to watch the woman on the floor while the remaining four including him advanced on Justine. "What are you doing here?" he asked attempting to put Justine off guard. Justine stayed rooted to her spot and let the men come to her. She heard the sound of a switchblade being opened but didn't react and didn't speak until they were two feet away from her. "I would leave if I were you." she said softly. "Or what?' the leader said. "Or I'll kick your asses." Justine replied in a nonchalant tone of voice. The leader looked at his men and started to laugh. "You're going to..... You're going to kick our asses chica? Did you not notice how many of us there are?" "I counted six." Justine replied. "And you're going to kick our asses? You're a very funny lady." the leader said and made a grab for her. Justine was ready and sidestepped him laughing as he went flying by her. The three other men charged her at the same time and were perplexed when they didn't catch her. Quickly tiring of the game Justine stopped moving and confronted the men. "Last chance to leave unhurt." she said. Later when it was all over with and she had time to think, Justine would again question her knowledge. Two of the men attacked at one time but ended up on the floor and she hadn't even touched them. She was as perplexed by it as they were becoming distracted enough that she didn't sense the man behind her. The man grabbed Justine around her waist trapping her arms by her side. "So whose going to get their ass kicked?" he asked as he kissed her neck and ground against her. Justine stomped on the arch of the man's foot and with a strength that she didn't know she had, she freed her arms and threw him against a wall. The men holding the woman were long gone as this had become more than a simple robbery and fuck. That still left four of them, the other two were back on their feet and glaring at her furious that she had managed to get in what they thought was the first punch. Suddenly Justine stopped and looked at the leader. "Take your goons and get out of here." She didn't know what was going to happen but was shocked when he listened and left with the remaining four members of his group. A few minutes later Justine and the woman were alone. She waited for a few minutes to make sure that the men weren't coming back before going to the woman. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Yes, thank you! Thank you for helping me!" Justine helped the woman up and turned her back as the woman tried to fix her clothes, "You live far from here?" Justine asked. "Not too far." the woman replied, "I was on my way home from work when they took me." "Wait here." Justine said. As much as she wanted to stay inside she couldn't let the woman walk home alone, the men might still be out there. When she got to the basement she swore, while she had been upstairs helping the woman the animals had gotten into her food. All that was left was the wrappers that the meat had been in and the containers that had held the blood. She picked up her backpack, looked at pile of trash that had contained her meal and went up the stairs to find the woman gone. "Well fuck me over!" Justine mumbled. It didn't matter, she still needed to move to another location and she had to buy more food too. Cautiously Justine stepped out of the house and onto the street and headed back toward China Town hoping that the market would still be open. ******** Pam woke up to find that she was still restrained but naked. Malcolm was sitting at the foot of the bed reading what looked to be a brief. "Oh good, you're finally awake." Malcolm said with a smile, "did you rest well?" Pam glared at him. She felt like crap, her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton balls and she wanted a shower but she sure as hell wasn't going to ask Malcolm for one. "I'm sure that you feel.... Hung-over and that is my fault and I do apologize, I allowed my mind to wander as you were feeding and I let you take too much." "Let me go home." Pam said quietly. "I can't do that." Malcolm replied with false regret. "Why not? Why are you doing this?" "I'll tell you what." Malcolm said, "How about you take a nice hot bath and we'll talk." "I don't want a bath; I want to know what you're going to do with me." "As you wish." Malcolm replied still smiling. Pam stared at Malcolm as he told her what the plans for her were. "You sold me? You turned me into a vampire so that you could sell me?" "That's the gist of it." Malcolm replied. "But Pam, let me tell you how fortunate you are. The vampire who purchased you is a very gentle vampire... as long as you give yourself to him willingly." "Give myself? You ....." "I mean exactly what I said." Malcolm said anticipating her question, "but he is very particular about some things and well, I get to train you in those things." "What if I don't give myself freely? What if I make him kill me?" "That always is a possibility but you're forgetting something, you are now immortal. You will only die if he chooses it and I am told that he can be merciless if he isn't pleased as I have told you. "Do you even understand how contradictory that is?" "I do understand but as I've said, do as you are expected to do and you will be fine." Malcolm assured her. "And this training? What is it?" "Training of the most enjoyable kind if you allow it to be." he replied with a smile. Understanding dawned and Pam began to struggle against her binds as Malcolm watched with amusement. He wasn't concerned about her going anywhere. He went back to reading the brief that he held in his hand as he waited for her to wear herself out. When she finally stopped struggling Malcolm put the papers down. "Are you ready to continue our conversation?" he asked. "Where was Justine?" Pam thought as she looked at Malcolm, "Is she looking for me?" the thought that Justine would be looking for her gave her a ray of hope that wasn't missed by Malcolm. "Are you thinking about your friend Justine?" he asked still smiling, "Perhaps you think that she is coming for you so let me inform you now that she isn't." "Yes she is! She'll ....." "She's dead." Malcolm said smugly. "You killed her?" Pam whispered as tears formed in her eyes. "No but I wish that I had." he replied, "She died because unlike you, she had no one to teach her how to survive as a vampire." "Justine is smart! She would have found a way!" Pam protested but the seed of doubt had already been planted. "Yes, I will concede that she is very resourceful but this is beyond her realm of experience and I have a witness who saw her die." Pam started to cry as Malcolm's words hit her and he went in for the kill. "You have a decision to make." he said as he moved closer to her, "You can either comply like a good girl or your ass will be tossed out on the street where you won't last a night. Decide." Pam's heart pounded and her mind raced as she tried to decide if Malcolm was lying to her and if he wasn't what her options were. Deep in her heart she knew that he was lying but her fear and panic overrode what she knew to be true "But what if I'm wrong?" she asked herself. Malcolm was right, she wouldn't survive a night out on her own, and she wouldn't even know where to begin. "Decide." Malcolm repeated the good humor that he had previously shown now gone and replaced by impatience. ********* Justine found another place to hide without too much difficulty. She decided not to go back to the Chinese market; she had decided that the congealed blood was no big loss but the steaks.... She stopped at a grocery store and bought several containers of chicken and beef livers because of the liquid blood and four of the thickest steaks that she could find. After paying for her purchases she stopped at the ATM located in the front of the store and took out the maximum amount of cash which 500.00. She had forgotten that her bank didn't have Sunday hours and she wanted as much cash as she could get her hands on. She tucked the cash into the front pocket of her sweatpants and headed back to her new hiding place. This place hadn't been vacant for nearly as long and actually had a mattress in the basement that she dragged to a corner of the room. Once back in her home for the night, Justine opened one of the containers of beef liver. She sniffed at the contents and took a tentative taste. Deciding that it was worlds better than the congealed blood she drank the cold liquid moaning as it hit her stomach. Afraid that the rest of the blood in the other containers would congeal, she drank those as well and then combined the pieces of meat into as few containers as possible. She topped off the blood by eating one of the steaks and then offering the bone to a stray dog that had sat hungrily watching her. As an after thought she gave the dog several pieces of the meat which he practically inhaled without chewing. After her meal, Justine stretched out on the mattress using her backpack as a pillow and began to plan for the next night. The first thing she decided was that she needed to find out more about what she was, that was important if she was going to be able to find and help Pam. She also needed to find a more secure place to hide and she couldn't use her real name and she had to use her credit cards as little as possible. "I've got to take all of my money out of the bank." she muttered not feeling comfortable with carrying around more than twenty-thousand dollars. She was also going to spend the next night at a hotel, the cheaper the better and one that would take cash without asking questions. She wanted a hot shower although much to her surprise she didn't smell at all bringing home again that she had to find out more about herself. As she closed her eyes she wondered what had happened to the woman that she rescued earlier and hoped that she had gotten home safely. As sleep overtook her the dog, a mutt of indiscernible color crept closer to her and lay at the end of the mattress and fell asleep. ******* Mikhail leaned back in his chair after talking with Jeremiah Mathers. He hadn't hunted a newborn in over four-hundred years and wondered what it was about this one that had Jeremiah so spooked even though he tried to hide it. That in and of itself was cause for concern as Jeremiah wasn't easily spooked but there was something that Jeremiah wasn't telling him. It really didn't matter; he had hunted others with much less information than he had just been given. He had to admit that he was impressed that the newborn had not only figured out that she needed blood to survive but found an alternative source and had managed to go under the radar. That made her either very lucky or something else which was yet to be determined. He was honest enough to admit that this hunt unsettled him but he pushed the unease aside when he remembered the easy 2 mil that he would be making for capturing the woman and taking her to Jeremiah. "She must really be something for Jeremiah to fork over that much money." he thought as he stood to get ready for his trip to Philadelphia. He went to his weapons closet and took a little of everything as he had no idea of what he was up against. He packed his clothing next, he didn't pack much, "I'll be back home by Tuesday" he thought as he debated on his wardrobe. He threw in two changes of clothes and took a dark gray with blue pinstriped Armani suit, a light gray dress shirt that brought out the gray of his eyes and blue tie. Finally packed, Mikhail his New York pent house for the penthouse in Philadelphia provided for his use by Jeremiah. ******* Justine tossed and turned disturbing the dog at her feet. Suddenly her eyes flew open and she sat straight up looking around. The dog let out a low growl as it looked toward the front of the basement and moved closer to Justine as if to protect her. Justine knew. Someone or something was coming for her. Justine Ch. 03 Justine looked in the same direction that the dog was looking but sensed nothing other than the knowledge that someone was coming. Whoever it was hadn't gotten to the city yet and it was much too close to morning to go out again. As she calmed down the dog did too, his hackles relaxing as he lay at her feet. Justine absently scratched behind the dog's ears suddenly grateful for the company. Thinking about the morning made her wonder about the whole daylight issue, could she go out? She opened a container that held the livers in it and drank the blood that had accumulated at the bottom then she gave the meat to the dog who to her surprise wasn't begging but patiently waiting. "Here you go." she said as she fed several pieces of meat to the dog. "Who do you belong to and what are you doing wandering the streets?" she asked the dog who tilted his head to the side and gave her a quizzical look as if to say, "you are aware you're talking to a dog aren't you?" Justine drained the blood from the other container but saved the meat to give to the dog later. Still hungry but not famished, she took out a steak, ate it and gave the bone to the dog who accepted it gratefully. "You're like me aren't you?" she asked the dog, "out here all alone.... I'll tell you what, why don't you stick with me?" Justine asked the dog who had stopped eating and was watching her, "unless you have someplace else to be." she added. The dog laid the bone down, walked over to Justine and licked her face and for the first time since she had become a vampire, Justine laughed. "You have to have a name." she said pushing the dog away. "How about Rover?" she asked. She could have sworn that the dog raised its eyebrows at her. "No? Willard? Oscar? Come on buddy! Give me a..... Buddy? You like that name? Then Buddy it is!" Justine exclaimed not at all concerned that she was carrying on a conversation with a dog. The dog's tail wagged rapidly as he started licking her face again. "Ok, Ok!" Justine said still laughing, "Your name is Buddy!" Buddy went back to his bone leaving Justine alone to plan her next move. The question about the daylight continued to nag at her, "for once it would be nice to know what I can do before I have to find out the hard way." she thought as she looked toward the one window toward the front of the basement. She could see the signs that the sun was going to rise soon and made a decision, she was going to see if she could stand the sunlight. Buddy watched her as she approached the basement window and then abandoned the steak bone, trotted over to her and stood by her side. Nervously Justine placed her hand on Buddy's head and waited. She looked out of the window and watched as the sun slowly rose. Finally the first rays of the sun shone through the window beckoning her to move closer. Slowly Justine stretched her arm out prepared to pull it back if there was pain. She held her breath as the sun touched her skin for the first time in two days. The warmth of the sun felt.... Neither good nor bad, it really didn't feel like anything. It wasn't long before her hand was bathed in sunlight to her pleasure and surprise it tingled but didn't hurt or burn. Taking courage from her experiment, Justine stepped further into the sunlight letting it hit her face. It was several minutes before her skin began to itch and burn which told her what she needed to know, she could stand to be in the sunlight about forty-five minutes. It wasn't a huge amount or time but it as time enough to get to a place of safety if she should have to leave wherever she was before it got dark. She wondered it she could condition herself to withstand the sunlight for a longer amount of time and added that to her list of things to find out. ******** Quinn was up early in spite of the fact that he really hadn't slept. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the image of the beautiful black woman who had been so inadequately dressed for the cold weather. His mouth went dry every time he thought about her and he wondered how he could find her. Tired of lying in bed Quinn got up and headed toward the shower. On his way he looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Quinn O'Dell you need a haircut." he told himself as he ran his hand through his thick auburn hair whose length was barely collar length. His green eyes which he considered to be his best feature felt grainy and dry from the lack of sleep from thinking about the woman. "What is it about you?" he murmured as he stripped out of the lounge pants and tee shirt that served as his pajamas. As the hot water ran over his body Quinn thought about the unnamed woman and hardened. The erection both shocked and pleased him. Pleased because the thought of a woman could still rouse him and it had been a long time since a woman had done that for him, shocked because the woman was a stranger. That she was black was neither here nor there although he had never thought about being with a black woman. As far as he was concerned a woman was a woman and one thing that one never did or tried not to do was piss them off. From what he could tell, the reaction of a pissed woman was the same no matter the race, age or nationality. He stopped himself from traveling down the mental road of a relationship with this woman. He didn't even know her name much less where she lived. He had screwed up finding out her name by approaching her on the street instead of in the store around other people. He finished his shower, dried his six feet four inch frame and dressed for the day. It was a cold but sunny day and he decided to go out walking. He had a meeting but he didn't have to be there until after lunch, fortunately this was an inside job so he wouldn't freeze his ass off. The employer a rich old woman wanted him to design an indoor garden but the plants had to be real and the room had to have the illusion of being outdoors. So he in conjunction with an interior decorator and an artist were working together on the project. The job was paying big bucks further cushioning his savings giving him even more of a comfort zone for when he decided to move. As with all of his jobs he took before and after pictures for his portfolio but this one he was taking pictures throughout the process. He loved this job and it wasn't all about the money, he loved having his creativity challenged and loved working with other people except for this time. The artist was Leila Calhoun who was quite beautiful and in some ways reminded him physically of Amanda but that was where the resemblance ended. Leila was loud, crass, domineering and she wanted in his pants, a fact that she made clear from the first time that they met. He already knew how the conversation would go when the meeting was over, she would offer him a ride home because it was so cold out and then she would throw hints that she wanted to come in and when he didn't offer she would blatantly tell him that she wanted to fuck him. Once he became fully aware of her agenda, he stopped meeting her outside of the woman's home to talk about the project and never accepted a ride home from her. "I'll be there fifteen minutes early." Quinn told her when she called the day before. "Come on Quinn!" she wheedled. "I promise that it'll be all business." "I'll see you tomorrow at 11:45." Quinn told her and then hung up. Quinn wondered how he could have gone from not wanting to be involved with someone to thinking about the woman that he saw last night almost non stop. Once again he wondered how he could find her, Philadelphia was a big place and she could be almost anywhere. Then he had a thought, she was walking so that meant she couldn't be that far away from Chinatown and given the way that she was dressed.... He was going back with the hope that he saw her again. ******** Mikhail arrived at the Philadelphia penthouse just before sunrise; his body felt like it weighed a ton as he dropped his bags and stumbled to the king size bed. He barely got his shoes off and got laid down before he was dead to the world. When he rose, he called Jeremiah to let him know that he had arrived. "I'm here, any clues on where your girl is?" "No Damn it!" Jeremiah replied, "It's like she just dropped off of the face of the earth." "Are you sure that no one is helping her?" Mikhail asked. "We've talked to every vampire that we can find." Jeremiah said exasperated, "and no one has seen her." Mikhail walked around the penthouse as he talked; he found that it helped him to concentrate. "Where are you?" Mikhail asked. "At the office, why?" "I'm coming over so stay put." Mikhail hung up his mind working; there was something that Jeremiah wasn't telling him about this woman. He went to the fridge, took out a bag of blood and warmed it in the microwave before pouring it into a glass. He began to ask several questions with the top one being, how was she surviving without help? The second question was why no one could find her. Instinct was telling him that this was going to be no simple hunt and that he was going to be earning every dime of that two million dollars that he was to be paid for finding her. ******* Pam stared at Malcolm as he waited impatiently for her to decide. She fought her rising panic and forced herself to calm down. What she needed was time but the question was whether Malcolm would give it to her. "I need time to get used to the fact that I'm going to be sold like a piece of meat, so could I please take that bath that you mentioned-alone?" Malcolm eyed Pam suspiciously, he had sensed a subtle shift in her mein, one that he would have missed if he hadn't known her from the office or just spent the last several hours with her. Normally the change wouldn't have concerned him but he was getting a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he didn't like. "Take your time." he replied as he released her from her binds, "but don't do anything stupid like try to run, you won't survive." "So you've said." Pam snipped and then regretted it. The feeling in the pit of Malcolm's stomach grew; something was happening that he didn't understand. "You will watch your tone with me is that clear?" he snapped back at her. "I... I'm sorry, I'm still trying to get used to the idea that Justine is gone." Pam said. "She's.... she was like a sister to me." "I understand." Malcolm replied but the feeling in his stomach remained. "Go have your bath; we'll talk when you're through." Malcolm watched Pam as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, he didn't believe her. He didn't believe that she believed that Justine was dead. They needed to get rid of Pam too, he would offer to pay the money for her and to find another woman for the vampire but it couldn't be Pam. The problem was that he had nothing concrete to go on and if he killed Pam without permission from Jeremiah, he himself would be killed. All that he could do for now was to watch and wait, he wasn't even going to go to Jeremiah with his suspicions, as with Justine his warnings would fall on deaf ears. ******* It was finally dark enough to go out. The first thing that Justine did was go to a bank machine and took out another 500.00. The next thing she did was to make another trip to the grocery store to buy more containers of the beef and chicken livers. At the spur of the moment she asked the meat clerk if he knew of anyone that sold fresh blood. He gave her an odd look and blinked rapidly. "You're her!" he exclaimed drawing the attention of the security guard in the back. "It's her!" he called again. Justine looked around her and panicked for just a second before calmness set in. "How do you know me?" she asked. "I don't." the clerk replied realizing his error. "You just said and I quote, it's her." Justine said calmly, "I could be wrong but that sounds like you either know me or you know of me so which is it and don't lie to me again." Justine was aware that the security guard had called for reinforcements without knowing how she did it; she vanished from the store and reappeared several blocks away. She leaned against the wall trying to catch her breath and fought the waves of nausea that threatened to end with her vomiting her meal. Suddenly she remembered Buddy. Just as he was going to head back to find him, he was there looking at her and whining softly. "I'm ok but how did you....." "Hello again!" a voice from behind her said. ******** The afternoon meeting went longer than he thought and that was Leila's fault with her nitpicking and being a general pain in the ass. Quinn had hoped that the meeting would be a quick one so that he could run home and get his camera. His plan was to go back to Chinatown and hope to run into the woman who hadn't been far from his thoughts since he first saw her and take pictures of her if he could do it without her seeing him. When that didn't happen, he stopped at a CVS pharmacy and bought two disposable cameras. There wouldn't be a problem with getting them developed and then having the photos put on DVD. He had just walked out of the pharmacy when he saw her leaning against the wall. He rushed across the busy street and got to her just as she was about to walk away. When he saw the big dog sitting by her side he stopped short, he wasn't very fond of animals especially ones that looked like they could attack without provocation." "Hello again." he said from behind her. He saw her shoulders stiffen before she turned around and for just a second wondered if he shouldn't just walk away but he couldn't. When she turned around to look at him, Quinn's mouth was so dry that he felt as though his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and when she spoke to him.... ******** "What do you want?" Justine demanded when she turned to face Quinn. She was still a little nauseated but she was beginning to better. "I... I just recognized you from the Chinese market and I...." "Are you following me?" Quinn's face turned beet red as he tried to come up with an answer and decided on the truth. "Kind of..." "Kind of?" Justine asked with an eyebrow arched. "Alright, yes." Quinn replied, "I was going back to Chinatown hoping that I would see you." "What do you want?" Justine asked. "Your name?" Quinn asked hopefully, "My name is Quinn O'Dell" Justine was about to tell Quinn to get lost when Buddy growled and the hairs on the nape of her neck stood up. Without a word she walked away as fast as she could. This man could not be seen with her, his life depended on it. She didn't have time to give it anymore thought; she had to get away from him. She looked over her shoulder to see Quinn following her and if she kept at her current pace and with his long legs he'd catch up to her in no time. Not really seeing any other choice, Justine took off with a speed that surprised Quinn who was gaining ground on her. He stopped short not sure if he had really seen her take off like a rocket. He cursed when he realized that he still hadn't gotten her name. ******** Pam took as much time as she could without arousing suspicion, now that she had forced herself to calm down and think logically. Justine wasn't dead, she would have felt it ... she was coming and she Pam had to find a way to stay where she was for as long as she could. She climbed out of the tub, dried off and wrapped one of the towels around her. The question was how long did Malcolm have to get her ready for her buyer? As she brushed her hair she realized that she felt different. It wasn't a huge difference but different all the same, stronger she thought. She brushed her teeth and went back to the bedroom where Malcolm was impatiently waiting for her. "Do you feel better?" he asked. "Yes thank you." Pam replied, "May I ask a question?" Malcolm hesitated but then gave her the go ahead. "How long is my .... Training?" Malcolm looked at her, "no, something isn't right here." he thought. "As long as it takes." he replied reluctant to give her any information." "Liar" Pam thought to herself as she gave Malcolm what she hoped was a sincere smile. "So now what happens?" she asked. Malcolm didn't like the lack of fear that he heard in her voice, he knew that it could have been resignation but he didn't think so. "Have you decided to comply?" he asked. Pam's mind screamed "no!" but the knowledge that she had to buy more time and that her body was saying yes decided the matter for her. "I... I don't have too much of a choice do I? She asked. "There's always a choice." Malcolm replied. "Yes but mine are do as you say or die and like I said, I really don't have much of a choice." "I will take that as a yes." Malcolm said, "Now lose the towel and come over here." For a brief moment the Pam who was scared half out of her mind appeared and it was that Pam that Malcolm saw. It was that Pam that made the nervous flutter in his stomach ease but it was the stronger Pam that he led to the big bed so that he could begin her training. ******** Justine went back to the vacant house that she was staying at and thought about her options, she was no longer sure that going to a hotel was the best thing to do. Unless..... "Come on Buddy, we can't stay here." she said as she picked up her bag. She had decided to go to a hotel after all her rationale being that they would expect her to go into hiding again after almost being caught. The almost being caught meant something else, she couldn't just walk the streets whenever she wanted, she had to choose her times carefully but she was no longer going to hide out in vacant houses. As they walked, Justine paid close attention to Buddy, he had sensed danger just seconds before she did. At the moment he was relaxed his tail wagging so fast it looked like a blur. Justine stopped walking and looked at Buddy, "are you really a dog?" she asked. Buddy looked back at her quizzically, "I guess you are." Justine mumbled and started walking again. She needed several things with the most important being more food for her and Buddy. She had to leave the store before she got and paid for the meat. The other thing that she needed was her laptop but did she dare go back to her apartment to get it? "It's probably being watched." she said under her breath. Her only options were to do without, go to an internet café, go to her apartment or just buy a new or used laptop. The first option was out, she had to have a laptop and going back to her apartment wasn't a good idea either at least not until she knew who was looking for her which left the internet café and buying one. The internet café would leave her too exposed which left buying one. She did a mental cash count in her head. If she used cash the purchase of the laptop would take quite a bit of her cash which meant that she had to use one of her cards. The question then became which was less risky, going to her apartment or using her card and she decided her apartment as she could be walking into a trap if she went to the bank. Deciding that there was no time like the present, Justine went back to her apartment building and waited outside. She wondered if she could make herself vanish like shed did from the store but she didn't know how she made it happen. "Damn!" she swore under her breath, "do I need a pair of ruby slippers or what?" Justine looked down at Buddy and rubbed his head and wondered if just thinking about it would work. With no other feasible ideas, Justine closed her eyes and thought about her bedroom. When she opened them she was in her bedroom, very nauseated but pleased with herself. Not taking the time to recover from her nausea, she quickly packed up her laptop making sure to pack the charger as well. She looked around her bedroom and wondered if she had time to pack anything else, "another change of clothing." she mumbled as she ran to her closet and grabbed not one but two sets of sweat suits. Justine Ch. 03 She felt a wet nose on her hand and looked down to see Buddy looking up at her as if to say, "Move it!" Justine picked up her laptop case and her bag and thought of where she wanted to go. "Motel 6 downtown." she thought and within seconds she was there. "I think that I like this vampire stuff." she said to herself as she went inside of the motel leaving Buddy sitting outside of the door. "Can I help you?" The clerk on duty asked. "Yes, I need a room where the windows don't face the sunrise, extra blankets and I don't want to be disturbed by house keeping." "Yes ma'am." the clerk said as she looked for a room that met Justine's requirements. "Does it matter which floor it's on?" She asked. "Do you have on the bottom floor?" Justine asked as she looked to see if Buddy was still sitting by the door. "Yes we do but it's next to the laundry room...." "I'll take it." Justine said interrupting her. "For how many nights?" She hadn't thought about that and wondered how safe it would be for her to stay more than one night. "Three." she said not knowing why that particular number, "and I want to pay now and in cash." "That's fine, I just need to see some identification." the clerk replied as she started the registration process. "I forgot my identification; surely we can bypass that this time?" Justine asked in a soft voice "Oh no, we can't do that!" the woman replied looking up at Justine. "Yes." Justine said, "We can and we will." "Of course we can! But I will need a name." The woman replied cheerfully. "Thank you so much." Justine replied with a smile, "and my name is......Annie Oakley." "Annie Oakley like the one from the olden days?" The clerk asked. "Exactly." Justine replied. She loved westerns especially the ones that were about strong, capable women. Their races were immaterial to her; she just liked the fact that they were strong women who weren't afraid to face challenges head on. Justine paid for the room and then had a thought, "excuse me." she said politely. "Yes ma'am?" "If anyone should show up and shows you a picture of me you won't recognize it as being me." "Of course!" the clerk agreed emphatically, "we do all that we can to protect the privacy of our guests." Justine thanked the woman and went outside to find Buddy calmly waiting for her which meant that for the moment all was well. She took stock of her surroundings looking for places that she and Buddy could take refuge in if there was a need. She started walking and realized that there was another issue, keeping their food cold. It hadn't been an issue when they were in the vacant houses but she planned to stay in the hotel room for three days and to do that she had to buy enough food to last that long. She turned around and went back into the motel where the clerk was busy on the computer reminding Justine that she hadn't asked for the internet code. "Yes Miss. Oakley?" "Two more things, one, I need the code so that I can get onto the internet and two I need a refrigerator in my room." "The first thing I can help you with the second thing I can't unless you move into one of the studio rooms, it would have everything included." The idea to make the woman give her the studio suite crossed Justine's mind and she discounted it. The one thing that she didn't want to do was to abuse her new found gifts and that was how she was choosing to look at this, she had been given a tremendous gift whether she was meant to receive it or not. "How much is one of those studios?" she asked. "89.00 Per night plus tax." "I'll take one but it has to meet the same requirement as the other." Justine said. "Not a problem." The clerk replied, "They're all vacant. Would you like one in the corner?" A few minutes later Justine was on her way to the grocery store which wasn't too far away. This time she didn't speak to anyone as she filled her cart with beef and chicken lovers, steak and hamburger. She was curious as to whether she could begin to eat regular food so she tossed in a can of chicken noodle soup. If she couldn't eat it she had no doubts that Buddy could. Ninety minutes later she and Buddy were in the motel 6 studio apartment settling in. ********* Mikhail watched Jeremiah closely. The vampire was more than nervous but not quite afraid either. Never one to pussy foot around, Mikhail went straight to the point. "What is it about this woman that makes you so nervous?" he asked. "She doesn't." Jeremiah replied. "Then why am I here?" Mikhail asked. "I told you that no one can find her and I want her found." "Pardon my bluntness." Mikhail said, "But I don't believe you. You don't pay someone two million dollars just to find someone unless that person is special to you somehow... is she?" "Is she what?" Jeremiah asked not sure of what Mikhail was getting at. "Is she your one? Is that why you want her back? But then why should that make you nervous?" Mikhail asked. "No she isn't my one and I told you......" "I know what you told me." Mikhail interrupted, "but your behavior tells me otherwise. You haven't stopped pacing since I arrived and you are being evasive. Now either you tell me about this woman and I mean everything that you know or I leave taking your money with me for wasting my time." Jeremiah hesitated, he almost told Mikhail to take the money and go but then that wouldn't find Justine and Mikhail was the best there was at what he did. The problem was telling Mikhail what he needed to know without revealing that he was turning human women into vampires and then selling them to the vampire that ordered her. If he knew that he'd be out of the door with the 2 mil. No one knew much about Mikhail except that he came from Mother Russia and no one knew exactly where, he was the absolute best at what he did and was well worth the money and he abhorred the mistreatment of women no matter the species. Jeremiah could count on one hand the times that Mikhail had to kill a woman... one time and she had been someone very close to him. Jeremiah told Mikhail everything except about the side business. "Let me see if I understand you correctly." Mikhail said in his accented English, "This woman, Justine Graves is one of your junior partners, she and her friend have both disappeared but it is only this Justine that you are showing concern for. What of the other woman?" "We believe her to be dead." Jeremiah lied, "she had no one to show her how to survive." "According to you, neither did this Justine but yet you are so convinced that she lives that you paid me a substantial amount of money to find her. So my question is this and I will only as it once, what aren't you telling me?" Mikhail listened as Jeremiah told him once again about how Justine had gone completely off of the radar and reiterated how she hadn't been found. "So why do you think that she still lives? You said yourself that she has no help." "Didn't you hear me?" Jeremiah asked, "She shouldn't be able to do these things and there's one more thing..." Mikhail found himself becoming fascinated with this woman as Jeremiah told him about the grocery store incident. "She fucking vanished!!! You tell me how a newborn can do that! I don't know about you but it took me weeks before I could do that and even then I couldn't leave a room!" Mikhail didn't really understand Jeremiah's nervousness and said so. "Alright so she is a gifted newborn but that doesn't explain the level of anxiety that I feel coming from you." Jeremiah thought fast, "I am only concerned for her safety as well as the safety of any humans that she will come across. I would like to bring her here so that I can help her adjust to her new life." "I could be mistaken but it seems as though she is adjusting quite well on her own." Mikhail replied not believing Jeremiah's claims. But he would find her on Jeremiah's dime .and when he did he would decide whether he would bring her to Jeremiah or not. ******* Quinn went home with his mind on the woman. He knew that she was about to tell him to get lost when she suddenly took off. He wondered what it was that had scared her off and he actually thought that he was going to catch up with her until she took off at a speed that he didn't think her capable of given her physical appearance. Height wise she barely reached his chest and while she wasn't what he would call really overweight there was no way that she should have been able to outrun him like that. He took comfort in knowing that he had at least told her his name. If she ever got curious enough to look him up, there weren't too many Quinn O'Dell's listed in the phone book. He threw a TV dinner in the oven wishing that he had picked up something from one of the fast foods places on the way home. He thought about going out again and changed his mind, the TV dinner would do. As the frozen dinner heated, Quinn changed his clothes and turned on his laptop to work on the project. Leila came to mind and Quinn realized that at some point, he was going to have to be blunt with her. Preferably after the project was completed. If he did it now she would do everything in her power to sabotage him and get him fired from the project. He tried to concentrate on the images on the laptop screen but all he saw was the face of the beautiful black woman with the most beautiful pair of eyes that he had ever seen, even more so than Amanda's and a mouth that..... "Quinn O'Dell stop it! You don't even know her name!" he admonished himself standing to go check on the TV dinner. "Just great!" he moaned when he looked down to see that he was fully erect. ******* After feeding Buddy and then herself, Justine stripped and took a long hot shower using the samples from the hotel to wash her hair and body with. Although she was accepting her life as it was, the shower gave her a feeling of normalcy. As she showered, Justine realized that she was going to need that feeling from time to time and that Buddy contributed to that feeling. She got out of the shower, put on her pajamas and turned on her laptop. While she waited for it to go through its log on procedure she thought about the man that she had seen not once but twice. She wondered why she was so certain that he would die if he were seen with her. The more she thought about him, the more curious she became so when she could finally log on, she typed in his name. "Quinn O'Dell." she murmured as she scrolled down the page until she found a man with that name that might fit with what she saw. "Landscaper and photographer... thirty-five... business number and address..." she murmured as she read what little was posted about him. She liked the fact that there wasn't a lot posted about him, it told her that he was a private person and she liked that. She went from that page and typed in the word 'vampires'. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed when what looked to be thousands of hits came up. She sat back, wondered where to even begin and decided that at the beginning was the best place, "How was I made?" she asked herself. ******** "Take me to her apartment." Mikhail said as he stood up. "She isn't there and she hasn't been back." Jeremiah said nervously. "You are certain of this?" Mikhail asked patiently. "I have the apartment under guard...." "I would still like to see it." Mikhail interrupted with a smile. Seconds later they were in the kitchen which was still a disaster area. Mikhail walked around the small kitchen and then moved toward the living room. His nostrils flared as he caught the faintest scent of Justine but it should have been much, much stronger than it was. Not saying anything he went to her bedroom and stopped, she had been here and not very long ago. He turned to Jeremiah, "I thought that you had this apartment watched." "I do! No one had seen her." "Well," Mikhail said with a small tight smile, "Either someone has been sleeping on the job or they helped her." "What are you saying?" Jeremiah asked. "I'm saying that she has been here and very recently." "What?" "We've missed her by no more than a hour." he replied. "How do you know?" Jeremiah asked. "Compared to the scent in the living room the scent in here is fresh but it is fading rapidly. In a few moments it will be almost undetectable. Jeremiah, who and what is this woman?" Mikhail asked in wonderment. Jeremiah was right; this woman was too far advanced for a newborn. He was also beginning to suspect that she wouldn't be found unless she wanted to be. The next question was what would make her want to be found? ****** Pam lay on the bed spread eagled and unresisting. Instead of pleasing Malcolm as it should have, it unsettled him even more. "No questions or trying to bargain with me?" he asked. Pam shrugged her pale white shoulders, "would it make a difference?" she asked. "No, it wouldn't but I'm curious as to why the sudden acceptance of your future." Malcolm replied. "Why fight if I know that I'm not going to win?" Malcolm's instinct was now telling him that to kill her would be a mistake but if they let her go he and Jeremiah would come out of this...... what..... Alive. It was then that he fully understood that if he didn't do something, he was going to die. He looked down at Pam and then walked out of the bedroom; he needed to try to get Jeremiah to see the danger in keeping Pam. He found Jeremiah in his study sipping a glass of blood laced with wine. "We have to talk...." "If it's about Justine Graves, I'm well aware of the threat." Jeremiah said cutting him off. "You believe me?" Malcolm asked in relief. "I believe that she is a threat to us." Jeremiah conceded. "But?" "I'm wondering if we can use her somehow." "What are you talking about? That woman is dangerous!" Malcolm exclaimed, "I came to warn you about Pam too, she's changing and if we let her go then the problem with Justine goes away." Jeremiah looked at his nephew as if he had gone daft, "Let her go? Are you out of your mind? She's been bought and paid for!" "I know but just listen to me...." "She goes and not only that, I think that I might have a buyer for Justine." "Are you serious? She's dangerous and as long as she's alive we're in danger too!" Jeremiah gave Malcolm a patronizing smile. "If we get asking price for her then we can go back to just practicing law or just close up shop." "We don't need any more money!!! We already have enough to last us hundreds of eternities." Malcolm said. But Jeremiah was seeing dollar signs. The truth of the matter was that if he wasn't so afraid of Justine he'd keep her himself. A female such as her would give him strong sons and daughters, that's if she didn't kill him first but still.... ****** Justine's eyes had started to cross fro so much reading. The more she read the more it became clear that she needed someone to help her. There was just too much information to sort through; the stumbling upon her gifts she could handle but it was the basic everyday practical questions that she needed help with. Frustrated, she logged off and stretched out on the bed and closed her eyes. She heard her cell phone ring but it was on the other side of the room. "Damn!" she swore as she started to get up. Then she wondered if she could call the phone to her in the same way that she could call animals. She stretched her hand out toward the phone and said very softly, "come." She gasped in delight and surprise when the phone flew across the room and into her waiting hand. She looked at the caller ID which said "unknown" so she let it ring until it stopped and then she checked her voice mail, no message. She closed the phone and laid it on the bedside table. A few minutes later it rang again. Justine ignored the calls until the fourth one. She snatched the phone from the table, snapped it open and hissed, "Who the fuck is this?" "Justine Graves? A voice asked. "Who is this?" she asked again, her tone belying her anger and impatience. "I know that you have many questions," the voice replied, "I can help you." "Who is this?" Justine yelled now sitting up in the bed. "A friend, I will call again.... Goodnight Justine." Justine Ch. 04 Justine looked at the phone in her hand for a few seconds before tossing it onto the bed. The voice sounded vaguely familiar but she just couldn't place it. In her past life she had learned to leave things alone and eventually the memory or whatever it was would come back to her. She didn't see why it should be any different now. The urge to rest had passed so she opened up her laptop again and pulled up vampires again. Like before she was overwhelmed with the amount of information there was about a life form that until she had been turned she really hadn't believed in but then there was the ease in which she accepted this new life. She started her search again with finding out how one was turned. The prevailing theory was that one had to be bitten, and there were varying opinions on how many times the victim had to be bitten before they were turned. The number of bites required ranged from one to seven and all of the accounts agreed on one thing, the new vampire needed a guardian or an experienced vampire to help them survive. She found that interesting because she had been doing just fine on her own. She wondered what that meant but then things had always come easy for her; she had also never been one to cry over what she did or didn't have. Whatever was thrown at her, she took it and kept moving. It was that determination that got her through school and into the law firm that she was currently employed at. "Shit!" She cursed remembering her job. She would have to call in; there was no help for it. The rent on her apartment was paid up three months in advance as were all of her bills. She found herself grateful that she was a planner; she could concentrate on totally on what was happening with her now. Her next thought was about Pam and where she was. The one thing that she was sure of was that she wasn't dead, she would have known it, she would have felt her die but time was running out. "Where in the hell are you?" Justine asked into the air. ******* Pam lay on the bed wondering what had just happened. She was all set to go and Malcolm had just taken off like a bat out of hell. As she lay there she had to wonder if Malcolm was sensing the changes in her and if that wasn't why he left so suddenly. If that was the case then she had to be more careful, she had to keep acting like the scared, insecure woman that was brought here. The question was whether he would buy it or not. She was no longer worried about Justine; she knew that she was alright just as she knew that Justine was coming for her. Pam felt a pang of guilt that she even doubted her. In all of the time that they had been friends and that had been all through college and law school Justine had become the sister that her real sister never was. They studied, cried and passed the BAR together but the icing on the cake was getting hired at the same law firm together. For a short time they talked about renting an apartment together but decided not to. They were such an unlikely pair to become best friends that were closer than most blood sisters and.... "Justine has always carried me." Pam thought to herself and here she was waiting for Justine to rescue her again instead of trying to help herself and Justine. It was time for that to change starting now. ********** Mikhail thought about all that he had been told and observed about Justine Graves. That she was highly intelligent and versatile there was no doubt and those were two things that he respected in a being no matter the sex. There was something about her that intrigued him much as it had Jeremiah except that his intrigue ran to the hows and not to the physical appearance as Jeremiah's did even though he didn't admit to it. He thought back over the conversation that he had with Jeremiah, something was very off about it, "He's lying about something." Mikhail said to himself. He let the thought go for a moment and thought about Justine, "just who and what are you?" he asked, "you figured out how to feed , vanish and protect yourself all without the benefit of a mentor, how did you know to do those things?" Mikhail walked around the penthouse stopping in front of the large window. He looked at the twinkling lights and wondered where Justine was. One of his strongest skills was being able to smell his prey no matter where they were but he caught not even the slightest whiff of Justine since he was in her apartment. Hiding her scent was yet another ability that she shouldn't have had but yet she did. He was also sure that she was stumbling across her gifts not realizing that she had them until the need for them arose and then she quickly adapted and moved on. A man could do much worse than to have a mate such as her but there was something else, Jeremiah was afraid of this woman and Mikhail wondered why, what else was there besides her having gifts that she shouldn't have been able to use without guidance? Mikhail vanished from the room to the grocery store from which Justine had done her vanishing act. He casually walked through the store looking for the vampire who in his excitement tipped Justine off. He found the nervous vampire working behind the counter in the meat section. As soon as he saw Mikhail he blinked rapidly and began to panic. "Settle yourself." Mikhail said softly, "I only want to talk to you." "About what?" he asked nervously. "What is your name?" Mikhail asked in that same soothing voice. "J....Junior Tibbs." "Junior, you have no need to fear me." Mikhail said, "I only wish to ask you about the woman." "What about her?" Junior asked looking as if he was ready to run. "Tell me about your conversation with her, what you noticed about her and leave nothing out." Mikhail listened intently as Junior told him about Justine's visit to the store. He stopped him when at the point where Justine told him not to lie. "She said that?" Mikhail asked. "Yessir." "And she knew that more guards were coming and yet she stayed to question you?" "Yessir." Junior replied. "I thought that kind of odd myself and the next thing I knew... she was gone." "Was anyone or anything with her?" Mikhail asked. "I didn't see anything but the security guy up front might have." Junior said pointing his chin at the front door. Mikhail made his way to the front of the store to find the security guard who was also vampire. The question that he had was this, he could understand why Junior couldn't or didn't stop Justine but this man was much older than Junior and Justine and had powers so why couldn't he stop her? Unlike Junior, this one wasn't nervous or afraid as he didn't avert his eyes from Mikhail's. "Help you with something?" he asked a challenge in his voice. "Yes, I have questions about the night that the woman vanished from here." "Who in the hell wants to know?" the guard asked standing to his full six feet six inch height. Mikhail recognized it for what it was; the vampire was trying to intimidate him. He smiled politely at the posturing guard before speaking. "I am called Mikhail...." That was all that he got out. The vampire paled, everyone knew who Mikhail was, he had even used Mikhail's name to get his children to behave and now Mikhail was stranding in front of him. "My apologies!" the guard gushed, "I didn't realize...." "Tell me of that night." Mikhail said disregarding the apology. "Was there someone or something with her?" Mikhail asked when the guard finished talking. "I don.... There was a dog." "What kind of dog?" "A dog, you know what the humans call a mutt." the guard replied. "Did it seem to be more than it was? In other words was it really a dog?" Mikhail asked. The guard hesitated in thought, "It sure as hell looked like nothing more than a dog." he said after a few moments. "After she vanished, where did the dog go?" "It ran that way toward city hall." the guard replied. "One more question," Mikhail said, "You are much older than she is and she is a newborn, why did you not stop her?" The guard looked around to see if anyone was listening, "she told me not to." he whispered. "She what?" Mikhail asked. "She told me not to stop her and so I didn't." Mikhail was getting an itch at the nape of his neck and he was beginning to understand why Jeremiah was afraid of this woman, there was much more to her than met the eye and that dog.... ******* Quinn couldn't get her out of his mind. The only time he didn't consciously think of her was when he was asleep but when he work up it was with her on his mind and a hard on that just wouldn't quit, he felt like a pervert because he was always aroused when he thought about her. He was beginning to wonder about his sanity and he felt as though he was entering stalker mode but he couldn't help it. He was at a loss as to why he was feeling such strong feelings for a woman that he had only met twice. The only other time that she didn't dominate his thoughts was when he was at work, more specifically the old woman's house. He didn't know why but he always felt a measure of peace there even with Leila's constant complaining and bitching about everything including why he wouldn't go out with her. As long as he was inside of those walls it didn't matter but as soon as he left, Leila's voice sounded like that of a harpy and for whatever reason, that day he couldn't take her or her comments any longer. "Come on Quinn." Leila cooed, "One drink and then we can...." "Leila I don't want to have a drink or anything else with you don't you get that?" Quinn asked. "I don't even want to talk to you but since we work together I have to so let's keep it on a professional level shall we?" He didn't give her a chance to answer but turned and walked away knowing that Leila could and probably would cause trouble for him. Quinn didn't notice that they were being watched and neither did Leila. Had she known that there was someone around she wouldn't have approached Quinn. As far as she was concerned everyone who lived in the house with the old woman was a bunch of religious fanatics. Why else would a bunch of people live together with an old woman who looked like she was a thousand years old? She had never seen any of them but knew that they were there simply because she had seen evidence of other people living in the house. She was a snoop and on occasion a thief except that she hadn't stolen from this house even though there was plenty to steal. She had the feeling that to steal from the old woman was a very bad idea and she was always one to listen to her instincts except where Quinn O'Dell was concerned; she just couldn't leave him alone... She got this job under the recommendation of a friend who couldn't do the job himself. The only stipulation was that she had to meet the old woman Miss Violet Rose Rhodes before the job was officially offered to her. She remembered how the old woman had weirded her out with her eyes whose pupils were completely white and her bony claw like hands that were as cold as ice. She felt as though the old woman was looking deep inside of her and could see everything that she had ever done in her life. Even remembering the meeting gave her the chills. The interview lasted no more than thirty minutes and it was thirty minutes too long as far as Leila was concerned but in the end she got the job. What she hadn't counted on was meeting someone who looked like Quinn O'Dell. From the very moment she saw him she had to have him, what increased the desire was that he made no moves on her whatsoever. It both angered and perplexed her, men always without fail stuttered and tripped whenever they saw her except for this one and she wanted to know why. Quinn grabbed his coat, hat and gloves and went outside before Leila recovered and wanted to talk to him. As soon as he stepped outside into the cold January air thoughts of his unnamed woman came to mind along with the hard on. He heard the door open behind him and he quickly held his coat in front of him to hide his erection. "What's wrong with me?" Leila demanded her eyes blazing. "Nothing," Quinn replied, "you're just not my type." "And what is your type? "Not you." Quinn replied and started walking away. "Men, is that it?" Leila asked. "You like men?" "You aren't going to let this go are you?" Quinn asked hating the fact that he was going to do one of three things, make her angry, hurt her feelings ort a combination of the two. He didn't want to do any of the above; he just wanted her to leave him alone. "I want to know why you don't find me attractive." "Leila..." "Why?" she demanded not knowing why it was so important to her. "Alright," Quinn said, "You want to know why I'm not attracted to you. Well I can tell you that it's not because of your looks. You're a beautiful woman on the outside but you're crass, rude and a general pain in the ass. Maybe some men like to be told that they're going to be fucked but I'm not one of them. I like my women strong and decisive but there's a fine line that crosses into domineering and that isn't cool with me." Leila stared at him, no one had ever spoken to her like that and it didn't sit well with her. "I could have you fired!" she hissed. "Yeah you could." Quinn agreed, "And maybe I'll just quit and save you the trouble." "Leila, a moment please." a soft voice said through the crack of the door. Leila paled, it was Miss. Rhodes. ******** Justine spent the entire day sifting through the information on the internet regarding vampirism. There was so much information that her head spun. She suddenly remembered two things, one-Buddy hadn't been walked or even given any indication that he had to go our and two-she still hadn't tried to see if she could eat real food. She knew that it was late enough that she could take Buddy out without the being any issues as far as the sunlight but she didn't want to risk being seen. "Gotta go?" she asked the dog. Buddy gave her one of his "are you crazy?" looks and put head down on his paws and closed his eyes. "What in the hell are you?" Justine asked now convinced that Buddy might be a dog but he was a dog with secrets. No time like the present Justine thought as she sat the laptop on the bed and headed to the small kitchen. She picked up the can of chicken noodle soup and looked at it before finally opening it. Very slowly she brought the can of soup up to her nose and sniffed at it ready to fling it away if the smell was too offensive. She poured the contents of the can into a bowl and heated it in the microwave, let it cool and attempted to take her first bite of human food. As soon as the hot liquid touched her tongue, she spat it out. Buddy raised his head and looked at her. "Here you go." Justine said setting the bowl of soup on the floor, "it's all yours" Buddy got up, stretched and walked over to the bowl of soup. He looked it and gingerly stuck his tongue into the broth and gagged. "I knew it!" Justine exclaimed, "You're not a dog are you?" She could have sworn that the dog smiled and then winked at her as he padded away back to his resting spot. Justine picked the bowl up from the floor and poured the contents down the garbage disposal before going back to her research. She froze as she felt someone looking for her. In her mind, she slammed what she considered to be the doorway to her existence shut. ****** Mikhail jumped as he felt and heard the "door" slam. "What in the hell?" he asked shocked. He was now more convinced than ever that Justine was much, much more than she had appeared to be when she was human and that the change had awaken whatever she was. He also knew something else, Jeremiah Mathers knew that as well as he did and he had no intentions of helping Justine but the opposite. "What to do?" he mused as he thought about his options. One thing was clear, he wasn't going to give her to Jeremiah Mathers and he was going to keep the money. That left him two options, find her and see what he could do to help her to level out the playing field or just go back home and let Jeremiah find her himself. He knew with a certainty that she wouldn't be found until she was ready to be found and when she was..... What he also wanted to know and Jeremiah had never answered him was why the lack of concern for the other woman. He decided to find out, instead of looking for Justine, he was going to start investigating Jeremiah Mathers and his firm- something just wasn't right. ******** "Have you spoken to her this evening?" "Not yet." Zoë replied, "I was planning on calling her within the hour." "Good." the ancient voice whispered, "so tell me, what do you think of our Justine Graves?" "She is very strong," Zoë replied, "and she always has been. The fact that she is surviving without instruction attests to that. The fact that we can't find her is another testament to her innate talents and knowledge. If she is this powerful untrained, can you imagine what she will be like trained?" "We must find her." the ancient voice said. ********* Jeremiah paced, this wasn't going as planned. He had expected to have Justine in his custody by now and if not that at least her location. So far Mikhail had failed to deliver and now his sniveling nephew was worried about the woman Pam. Malcolm was right about one thing and it was too late to do anything about it, he should have just let Pam go and taken the hit for it. If he did it now it would raise more suspicions and Mikhail was already suspicious. He should have come up with a better story about Pam he realized, he should have acted more concerned .... "Too late now" he mused. The one thing that he could do was to get rid of Pam early. He would offer her buyer a discounted rate for taking her untrained at least that way Mikhail wouldn't find her.... He picked up the phone and called the buyer who was more than willing to take Pam early especially if it saved him several hundred thousand dollars. "Perfect, you can pick her up tonight." Jeremiah said relieved. The next call was to Malcolm. "Have her ready but don't tell her that she is being moved, he's coming for her tonight." ****** Malcolm breathed a sigh of relief, the longer he was with Pam the more nervous he became. He no longer cared that he didn't get to fuck her, he just wanted her gone. His anxiety increased when he thought about Justine. "Shit!" he cursed out loud, he and Jeremiah had just placed themselves in what humans called the "catch 22" position. They had only compounded their problems, if Justine figured out where Pam was..... "Fuck!" Malcolm exclaimed, it wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when Justine came looking. His stomach clenched at the thought angering him, "she's a damned newborn!" he growled but newborn or not, he was afraid of her and if he didn't leave, she was going to kill him. He no longer cared about Jeremiah, he had been warned and chose to ignore the warnings. It was decided; as soon as Pam was gone he was leaving without telling anyone where he was going. ******* Zoë walked around her spacious bedroom. She had been at the house for two years now, she really didn't remember too many of the details surrounding how she ended up living at the house but she knew that she had been a lawyer and a damned good one at that. She remembered it being a Thursday night and Malcolm had begged her to go out for dinner and a drink. Against her better judgment she agreed mostly because she found Malcolm incredibly sexy with his dark good looks and she couldn't believe that he was interested in someone like her. Not that she was ugly even anything close to it but she was innately shy except for when she was in the courtroom but it was her shyness that men saw first and they didn't approach her. She remembered how flattered she was when Malcolm approached her; she blushed as she remembered how hard her nipples got when he looked at her and that smile.... Justine Ch. 04 "Bastard!" she hissed. That Thursday was the last day that she worked in that office. She now worked as an attorney for her benefactor, the woman who had rescued her and explained everything to her. "I'm sorry my dear but the bastard has turned you." "Turned me? Turned me into what? A hooker?" she asked confused. Zoë laughed at the memory although at the time it wasn't in the least bit funny. But she had adjusted rather quickly and actually grew to love her new life. Like Justine and so many of the other women here, she had taken the view that there was no use crying over spilled milk. She also knew Justine and had liked her and wished that she were more like her in her confidence outside of the courtroom. There were many times that she wanted to approach Justine but didn't because of her shyness and now because of her previous contact she had been selected to find and bring Justine home. The other part of her mission was to keep Justine's mate safe but Justine had been doing that herself by staying away from him but it was only a matter of time before they formally met, he was already looking for her. As for herself she had no mate although her benefactor assured her that she had one and that he would appear in due time. As far as Justine's mate was concerned at the present there was one problem at the moment, Leila. It was obvious what the woman wanted and just as obvious that Quinn wasn't interested. "Let me take care of that part of it dear." Her benefactor said when Zoë told her about the problem. What was meant by that Zoë didn't know and she didn't ask. She was grateful for the help. It was almost ten pm and time to make another phone call. ******** Justine picked up the phone as soon as it rang; she looked at the caller ID and saw that there was no number. She almost didn't answer it but curiosity and instinct won out. "Who is this?" she demanded. "A friend who wants to help you." "The only friend I have is named Pam and you're not her! So who in the hell are you and what do you want?" The woman on the other end of the line seemed to be considering something. "I wanted to be your friend in life." she said. "We know each other?' Justine asked as she tried to place the voice. "Not well but yes. Justine, there are many people and beings looking for you..." "And so are you, that's why you keep calling me." "I admit that we are looking for you." "You know what? I'm tired of this, so either you tell me who in the hell you are or this conversation is over." Justine said angrily. Again the woman seemed to be deciding something. "Do you remember an attorney by the name of Zoë Carpenter?" Justine frowned. "I remember her, she was sweet and very shy but she was a good attorney, one day she was just ... gone. Why are you asking about her?" "What do you suppose happened to her?" the voice asked. "That damned brownnosing son of a bitch Malcolm!" Justine replied. "Word had it that he tried to get into her panties and when she refused he had her canned." "But you know that isn't what happened don't you?" Justine hesitated, she had never really believed the story but neither had she questioned it. She had her own issues with Malcolm and it wasn't because he wanted to take her to bed. "What are you getting at?" Justine asked. "Justine, this is Zoë Carpenter and we can help you if you will trust us." "Trust you? I don't even know who you are! I have no way of knowing if you're really Zoë and right now the only thing I trust is Buddy." "He is with you?" Zoë asked sounding relieved. "What the f....I'm hanging up now." Justine said abruptly and slammed the phone down. She looked at Buddy who gave her a nonplussed look back and then closed his eyes. ******* Quinn walked toward Chinatown hoping to see his mystery woman as he now referred to Justine. He made sure that his coat was zipped and pulled down as far it could go so that his erection was hidden. The last thing he wanted or needed was to be propositioned or to be pegged as a pervert. He had put his conversation with Leila out of his mind as he walked cursing that he hadn't brought a camera with him The closer he got to Chinatown the more certain he was that he wouldn't find her there. He turned around and tried to decide which direction that he should go next and picked downtown. He was beginning to get really cold, he hadn't dressed warm enough for the walk that he was taking but he couldn't make himself turn back to go home, he had to find her. ******** "Get up you're leaving!" Malcolm said to Pam as he threw her an outfit. "What? Where am I going?" Pam asked. "You buyer wants to train you himself, now get dressed he's on his way." Malcolm said. "I don't understand." Pam said, "You said that I had to know how to please him." "Things have changed." Malcolm replied, "Now hurry up! He doesn't like to be kept waiting!" Pam thought frantically. There had to be a way to slow things down or to leave some kind of clue that she had been here. "Please not tonight." she begged, "I want to know how to please him." Malcolm saw through her plea, she had to go and now. Instead of responding, he walked out of the room leaving Pam alone. He wanted to be no where near her. ******* Justine stared at the phone and then the dog and back to the phone wishing that she hadn't hung up. She didn't trust the person who had called her but that didn't mean that she couldn't pump her for more information. She was rethinking whether she should stay put for three days only, there were too many people looking for her and now there was one more..... Quinn O'Dell. Justine Ch. 05 Justine counted her available cash, she still had plenty and she still had to get to the bank. If she stayed longer that meant that she would have to go out to the store again and if she left, she had no idea of where they would go and she would still have to buy food. She looked over at Buddy and spoke. "What do you think? And don't give me that I'm just a dog look either." she said. "Do we stay or do we go?" Buddy sat up, stretched, wagged his tail and lay down again. "I assume that means that we stay?" Justine asked. Buddy's tail wagged in double time. Justine picked up the room phone and waited for someone to answer. When the clerk finally answered, Justine told her what she wanted. "I'm going out and if housekeeping needs to get in now's the time to do it." A few minutes later Justine and Buddy were on their way to the store. This time she went to a different store, it was further away from the hotel but she didn't want to go the same place twice in a row. As much as she wanted fresh warm blood, Justine decided that she would make do with the blood from the containers of liver that she bought. She hadn't gone very far when she realized that someone was following her. ******* Quinn was freezing, his walk had taken him past City Hall and there was still no sign of her. He ducked into a coffee shop, ordered a large coffee with cream and sugar as well as a muffin and found a corner to sit in. He tried to remember the last time he felt the way he did at that moment, it was when he was still using, it was the same anxiety he felt when he thought that he wouldn't be able to find his dealer but in this case, it was a woman he was looking for. He sat in the booth trying to figure out why he was so fascinated with this woman. It wasn't just that he thought her beautiful; he had seen plenty of beautiful women and had never reacted to them like this. It was as if this woman had a spell on him and if he didn't find her soon.... He sipped at the coffee holding the mug in his hands to warm them. "Go home" he muttered under his breath but even as he said it, he knew that he would keep looking for her. The last time he even remotely felt like this was when he first saw Amanda. He had followed her everywhere until she agreed to go out with him but this... it made what he felt back then almost non existent. If he didn't know any better, he would have said that he was in love with a woman that he didn't know. "Is that even possible?" he mumbled, "I don't even know her damned name!" he added as he put the mug of coffee down. Just as he was about to leave, he heard the voice of a harpy-Leila. "Mind if I join you?" she asked. "The table is yours, I was just leaving." Quinn replied as he stood up. "Please, I promise not to make any forward comments." Leila said, "in fact, I want and need to apologize to you for my behavior." Quinn sat back down even though something was telling him not to trust her. "Look, I'm sorry alright? I'm not used to men turning me down and I'm certainly not used to men talking to me the way that you did." "How did you find me?" Quinn asked warily. "I live near here and this is my favorite place to get coffee." Leila replied. "I stop in every evening on my way home and I saw you sitting over here." He didn't believe her, he didn't know why but he knew that but while part of what she said was true, the majority of it was a lie. She did stop here for coffee and she did live nearby but the rest of it was a lie, she wasn't sorry and she planned to continue harassing him until either he quit and even then she wouldn't stop or he fucked her. When he thought about the latter option, he became almost physically ill. "Do you accept my apology?" Quinn hesitated, he wanted to tell her that he didn't believe her but though better of it. "I'll accept if you'll agree that everything is to be kept on a professional level." Leila gave Quinn a bright smile, "Wonderful! I promise to be a good girl." "Good." Quinn said as he stood up to leave, "I'll see you at work." Leila watched Quinn leave, her dark eyes glittering. She wanted him and was determined to have him. She quickly got up and decided to follow him. ****** Justine stopped for barely a moment before moving on, whoever was following her was human and she even knew who it was, Quinn O'Dell. She didn't even question how she knew; she just accepted it as she had everything else. She looked down at Buddy to see that he was relaxed, just as she started to take off; she heard a voice behind her. "Hey! Wait up!" She debated as to what she should do; it was obvious that he wasn't going anywhere until he talked to her. Justine looked around and then looked down at Buddy again. Satisfied that they were safe for the moment Justine waited for Quinn to catch up with her. "What in the hell do you want with me?" she asked before Quinn could say anything. "Nothing.... I mean I don't know." Quinn replied. "You don't know?" Justine asked, "This is the third time that I've seen you and I want to know why you're following me." "Can I be honest?" Quinn asked. "Yes." "First of all, it's as cold as hell out here and you're not even wearing a winter coat....." "I'm fine." Justine interrupted, "why are you following me?" "You may be fine but I'm freezing my ass off," Quinn replied. "Can we go somewhere warm and talk?" After hesitating for a minute, she agreed. Justine was also surprised to see that Buddy had taken to Quinn. His tail was wagging and he had a stupid dog grin on his face it was if he was saying, "I approve!" Justine ignored Buddy's obvious acceptance of Quinn and started walking. She didn't look at or speak to Quinn until they arrived at a small sandwich shop. As soon as she walked in her stomach roiled, the odors were just too much for her, they had to go somewhere else. "I can't stay in here, the smells...." Quinn didn't understand but didn't argue with her, "Where would you like to go?" he asked. Several minutes later, they were sitting in an old abandoned house. Quinn wondered about her choice but didn't question her; he didn't want to give her any reason to send him away at least until after he had a few answers. When they were sitting, Justine gave a single command. "Talk." Quinn didn't know how to respond, now that he was with her, his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. He would have given anything for a sip of water. "Why are you following me?" Justine asked. "I... I think that you're beautiful and I wanted to get to know you and.... I can't stop thinking about you." Quinn said knowing that he was sounding like a babbling idiot. "Do you know me?" Justine asked. "No, I would remember someone like you." Quinn replied. "Is this all that you wanted? To talk to me?" "Yes, No, I don't know.... Could we have dinner or something?" Quinn asked nervously well aware of the hard on that strained against his jeans. "I don't eat and it would be good if you stayed away from me." "Why?" Quinn asked, "You don't go out with white guys?" Justine's eyes flashed, one of her pet peeves was the thing that Quinn had just done, throwing up the race card. "That has nothing to do with it!" she snapped, "it's just not a good idea and it's not safe for you to be seen with me. After this, stay away from me." "I don't understand....." Quinn was interrupted by Buddy's growls. "What...." "Shut up!" Justine hissed as Buddy crept toward the sound that only he and Justine could hear. The seconds turned into minutes as Justine waited with Quinn for Buddy to come back. Just as she was beginning to worry, Buddy returned with a satisfied look on his face. "Let's go." Justine said to Quinn. "What just happened?" he asked. "There's a lot of.... People looking for me and if you want to stay safe then you stay away from me." Justine said as she walked through the house with Quinn on her heels. "Will you at least tell me your name?" he asked ignoring the warning. Justine stopped short and turned around so quickly that Quinn ran into her. "You seem like a really nice guy and if things were different I would go out with you but things are... complicated and I won't risk your life needlessly so do us both a favor and go out with that woman that's been following us all evening." "Woman? What woman?" Quinn asked. "The one that's been following us ever since you stopped me, she's probably the one that got Buddy..... We've got to get out of here now!" Justine exclaimed as she reached for Quinn's hand and took off. "Wait!" Quinn called after her as she dragged him along as if he weighed nothing. ******* Leila was surprised to see Quinn in the coffee shop; it was a stroke of good luck. The decision to follow him had been a rash one but one that paid off. She now knew who her competition was and she just didn't get it, the woman Quinn was so obviously attracted to wasn't ugly but she was no beauty queen either and she was.... Fat wasn't the right word, voluptuous was more like it and she was black. Why that fact surprised her she didn't know, maybe it was because Quinn didn't seem the type to date outside of his race but in the end, it didn't matter. As she got closer, she recognized the woman. Jeremiah Mathers was looking for; the very woman that she was to keep an eye out for at the old woman's house and she- Leila had found her the woman! Instead of calling Jeremiah right away, Leila followed them to the abandoned house and waited. Tired of waiting for them to come out, she took out her cell phone and began to dial Jeremiah's number. She had barely begun when she became aware of a dog standing in front of her. "Shoo!" she said to the dog and proceeded to continue punching in Jeremiah's number only stopping when she heard the dog growl. Leila closed the phone and backed away dropping the phone in the process. Buddy chased her for a short distance, doubled back, retrieved the phone and chomped it to bits before going back to the house where Justine and Quinn waited. Leila didn't stop running until she got back to the coffee shop. She had never liked dogs but none of them scared her as much as this one did. She suddenly realized that she dropped her cell phone and decided to go back for it. When she found it, she gasped, it was chewed into tiny little bits and scattered all over the ground. With no other options, Leila went back to the coffee shop to use the phone there. Jeremiah answered on the first ring. "What?" "I know where she is or I guess I should say where she was." Leila said nervously. "What are you saying?" Jeremiah asked impatiently. He hated dealing with humans because so many of them were like this one. Instead of saying exactly what she meant she had to pussy foot around the issue whatever it was. "I'm saying that I saw her...." "Where?" Jeremiah demanded sitting up in his chair. "At an old abandoned house, she was with some guy...." "Address!" Jeremiah snapped. Leila gave Jeremiah the address her voice shaking. Then she asked about the reward money to which the response was a dial tone in her ear. ****** Jeremiah called Mikhail first and gave him the address and then several others to go to the house. He had no idea of what Justine could do. Like everyone else looking for her, Jeremiah was beginning to understand that there was something very special about her and he was determined to find out what it was. He made it clear that while she was to be incapacitated, that she was to be in no way harmed. As he thought about his next move, a memory stirred in the back of his mind, it was more of a fairytale than an actual memory. The story was more for the females of his race so he hadn't paid much attention to it and now he was wishing that he had. He picked up the phone and called his mother, she told the story countless times to his sister and to any female children who cared to hear it. ******* Mikhail listened to Jeremiah with interest, he would go to the address but he also knew that Justine wouldn't be there. The human male was an added twist and he wondered who he was that Justine had allowed him to get close to her and then there was the dog. He was convinced even without seeing the dog that it was her familiar and that meant that its strength matched hers and grew as hers did, they were a formidable pair. He was also becoming aware that Jeremiah wasn't the only one looking for her and if he knew that then so did she. Mikhail stood, looked around the penthouse and vanished without taking any weapons with him. If by some stroke of luck she was still there, he wanted to show her that he meant her no harm. As he expected, by the time he got there, the trail was cold with the exception of .... And that faded just as he caught the barely there scent, she had erased the scent of the human male. Jeremiah arrived just after Mikhail and fully expected answers. "Well? Where is she?" "You really didn't expect her to be here did you?" Mikhail asked. "Well, no but what about the human male? Can't you follow his scent?" "No." "Why in the hell not? Jeremiah demanded. "Because she erased his scent as well as hers." Mikhail stated calmly and watched the look of disbelief cross Jeremiah's face. "There's more, she has a familiar...." "A familiar? When has a newborn ever had a familiar?" Jeremiah asked. "It is not unheard of." Mikhail replied, "But it is rare I will admit." "There's not even a trace of them?" Jeremiah asked as he looked around. "No, but they can't have gotten far." ******* Justine wanted to vanish but wasn't sure if she could with Quinn. Instead, she ran as fast as she could still dragging him behind her until they reached the motel. "Hurry! Up the stairs!" Justine yelled as she dragged a now panting Quinn up the stairs, unlocked the door without thinking about it and pulled him inside. "Wh... What's going on?" Quinn panted as he tried to catch his breath. "What's going on that as soon as it's safe you're getting the hell out here and you will leave me alone." Justine said looking into Quinn's eyes. "Look, whatever trouble you're in, I can help...." "I don't want nor do I need your help." Justine interrupted, "what I do want is for you to stay the hell away from me." They stood looking at each other with Buddy watching them. "Fine," Quinn snapped, "Anyone with eyes can see that you need help whether you think that you do or not, my number is in the book if you change your mind." Quinn moved toward the door and was stopped by Buddy. Every time Quinn moved to step around him, Buddy stopped him. "Buddy move!" Justine commanded. Buddy looked at her as if she hadn't spoken and plopped down in front of the door and closed his eyes. Both Quinn and Justine looked at him and then each other and tried to move the dog from in front of the door. "Jeez, what do you feed him?" Quinn asked when he couldn't move Buddy an inch. "N.... beef and chicken livers." Justine replied as she moved Buddy a few inches away from the door only to have him move back. "Buddy! Move!" Justine commanded but to no avail, the dog simply refused to move. ******* Pam put on the clothes that Malcolm threw at her and wondered just how much time she had left before her owner came for her. She had been unsuccessful in getting Malcolm to let her stay longer, he was frightened of her, she could smell his fear whenever he was close to her. The one thing that she did know was that she couldn't allow herself to be taken away; if she did, she would never be seen again, the vampire who bought her would make sure of it. She had another thought; she couldn't be the only one that Jeremiah had turned into a vampire for profit, there had to be others. The names of various female attorneys' that had been fired came to mind and the names of several women that she had heard about on the news came to mind. Pam made her decision. She was going to escape. She would figure out how to survive somehow, it Justine could do it then so could she. She jumped when Malcolm came back into the room, "Change of plan." he said and walked out. ***** "Why didn't I think of this sooner?" Jeremiah asked an alarmed Malcolm, "We had the way to grab Justine right under our noses...." "I don't like it." Malcolm said, "We should get rid of her." "I never realized what a pussy you are." Jeremiah said and then continued with what he was saying. "Mikhail thinks that Justine won't show herself until she's ready and if we wait for that there will be no way in hell that we'll be able to capture her, we have to force her hand." "And you plan to use Pam to do that?" Malcolm asked, "I'm telling you that it's not a good idea! I think we should just let her go..." Jeremiah silenced him with a look, "we're not letting her go." "What about her owner?" "Taken care of, now go put that wench under lock and key." Jeremiah said. "Why can't you just let this go?" Malcolm asked. Jeremiah wasn't about to tell Malcolm what he found out about Justine. For one he wasn't completely sure that he believed it and for two, Malcolm may have been a pussy but he was an ambitious one, he wouldn't think twice about killing him and taking Justine for his own. However, before that could happen, her mate, her real one had to be disposed of and that is who Jeremiah believed the human male to be. "Uncle?" Malcolm called, "why can't you let this go?" he asked again. "Call it stubbornness," Jeremiah replied, "Now go and secure Pam." ******* Pam looked around the room for a possible escape route concluding that the window, which was three stories up from the ground, was her only option. She quickly looked around not knowing how much time that she had left and made a decision. She quickly made her way to the window and pushed until it gave an inch or so. She pushed harder until it opened wide enough that she could squeeze through. The cold air felt like heaven to her, even the odors of the outside world smelled like the sweetest bouquet. Counting to three, Pam jumped out of the window and was pleasantly surprised when she landed on her feet. Without looking back, Pam took off at a speed that she didn't know that she possessed. Even before Malcolm reached the bedroom, he knew that something was wrong. His sense of alarm rose the closer to the bedroom he got. The first place he looked was in the bathroom, it wasn't until he went back into the bedroom that he saw the open window. "Shit!" he cursed as he reached for his phone. Pam ran until she reached the outskirts of the city. The one place that she knew that she couldn't go was her apartment and probably not Justine's either but she had to find someplace to spend the day and there was also the issue of feeding. She took off at a run forming a plan as she went... she would hide at the office, in the basement. It would be the last place that they would look for her. Malcolm called Jeremiah in a panic, "She's gone! She jumped out of the window...." "Slow down!" Jeremiah demanded. "I came back to the room to lock her up but she was gone, the window was open." "You go to her apartment and I'll send someone to Justine's." Jeremiah said, thinking that those were her only options. "And report back too me." Jeremiah hung up the phone with a sense of foreboding. Inadvertently he had waken something that he thought of as a child's bedtime story and the window of capturing Justine and controlling her was growing smaller by the second. He cursed himself for even hiring her on, if he hadn't he wouldn't be in this mess. Still the prestige of having captured and mated one such as Justine.... Jeremiah decided to throw caution to the wind, if he could catch Justine the benefits would far outweigh the risks. The absolute worst that she could do to him was killing him, which could happen anyway. The next issue was Malcolm. He had to go. He was one more thing that stood in his path and the woman that got away... he no longer considered Pam a threat, with any luck she would be dead by morning. She had no clue as to how to survive as a vampire, none of their captives did. Her escape did one more thing, Mikhail wouldn't accidentally discover her, and she had just eliminated another threat to him. Justine Ch. 05 Jeremiah picked up the phone and gave instructions, if they were followed to the letter, in a few minutes Malcolm would be no more and Jeremiah would have access to all of Malcolm's accounts even the ones that were supposedly hidden. With the additional money and Justine, Jeremiah could close his practice and give up his sideline business of turning human women and then selling them. The reality of it was, he could have stopped centuries ago but he was always convinced that he needed more. Now that the issues with the woman Pam and Malcolm were settled, there remained one more issue, Mikhail. He couldn't be sent away since Justine hadn't been found and he was already suspicious about something. By his calculations, he had forty-eight more hours in which to locate Justine before any one else did, forty-eight hours to more wealth and power than he ever could have dreamed of. Jeremiah could almost hear the minutes ticking away as he planned his next move. ******* Malcolm vanished to Pam's apartment already knowing that she wouldn't be there. He was so intent on trying to figure out where else she might have gone to that he didn't realize that he was in danger until he felt the sharp edge of a sword touching his skin and by then it was too late. The assassin called Jeremiah to let him know that it was finished and then vanished leaving a pile of dust that had been Malcolm on the floor. ******* Pam made her way to the office building constantly looking over her shoulder for any evidence that she was being followed, seeing none, she continued on her way. When she made it to the office, the next problem was getting in. She hid in the shadows trying remember what she knew about vampires and realized that she knew precious little. Like Justine, she didn't believe in them other than they made for a good story. It came to mind that they were supposed to be able to vanish from one place to another. With nothing else to lose, Pam closed her eyes, clicked her heels together and visualized herself in the basement of the office building. At first, she felt a little tingle and tried again. It wasn't until an hour later that she was able to get into the office but not in the basement, which had been her goal. She was in the main office area. She hid beneath a desk when she heard footsteps approaching staying put until they disappeared. Pam looked in the direction that the footsteps had gone and realized that at night an entirely different world existed here... a vampire world and where there were vampires, there had to be blood. She crawled from under the desk and headed toward the one place that they had never been allowed to go near as humans- the basement. She moved slowly not knowing exactly what she could and couldn't do and not wanting to attract attention. She reached the basement door and prayed that it wasn't locked whispering a word of thanks when it wasn't. Taking another cautious look around, she slipped through the door and down the stairs her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She stopped halfway down the stairs when she heard a voice. "Please, help us." ******** Quinn and Justine gave up on trying to move Buddy who appeared to be disappointed that the game was over. So now what?" Quinn asked curious as to why they couldn't move a dog that appeared to weigh no more than seventy pounds. For the first time since she had been turned, Justine didn't know how to proceed. If it had been just her, she knew what she would have done, laid low and then moved on. The human male had just complicated things, she knew that she told him that he had to leave but the reality of it was that he couldn't. It just wasn't safe and she was sure that she knew who tipped Jeremiah off, the woman that had followed them. His name resonated through her head as clear as the ringing of a bell. He was now looking for the human male as well as her. That's why Buddy wouldn't let him out but there was another problem, the human had to eat and he didn't know what she was. "Why couldn't you have just stayed the fuck away from me?" Justine asked Quinn angrily, "Do you even have an inkling as to how much danger you're in?" "Me? What about you?" Quinn asked, "I can take care of myself...." "Stupid human!" Justine hissed before she could stop herself. Quinn gave her a curious look, "Stupid human?" he asked. "And just what in the hell are you?" he snapped back, "From what I can see you're a flesh and blood woman!" Buddy sat up, watched the exchange as if there was a tennis match going on, and then laid down when it became quiet again. Justine took a deep breath to calm her temper and to giver herself a chance to think. "Look, Quinn..." Buddy's growl interrupted her, "What is it?" she asked the dog. ****** Mikhail suggested that Jeremiah start checking out hotels not to help him, but so that he would have extra help in looking for Justine and the human male. "Think about it, he is not able to tolerate the cold as she is and he was last seen with her." Mikhail said, "He is now under her protection and she will not allow him to leave. The only options are her apartment, her friend's apartment or a hotel." Time was rushing by; Jeremiah would have agreed to bring in the National Guard if it would have helped. "Do it and I want her found within the next forty- two hours!" "Why within forty-two hours?" Mikhail asked interested, "We may not find her for days." "That isn't acceptable!" Jeremiah snapped, "I paid you good money to find her and as of yet....." "As of yet." Mikhail interrupted coolly, "you have yet to tell me the entire truth about anything. I will keep the money for that reason alone and you will pay me an additional two million dollars for wasting my time." Jeremiah sputtered, "You can't do this! We had an agreement!" "An agreement that you broke when you withheld information from me." Mikhail said, "Did you not read the contract? It explicitly states that there is to be full disclosure. Now, either you tell me why you really want this woman and her mate or I walk away." Jeremiah weighed his options, telling Mikhail the truth was out of the question. If he did, Mikhail would take Malcolm's place as a competitor but with a major difference, he didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of killing Mikhail. With a perfectly calm expression, Jeremiah lied. "Justine is my mate." "Why did you say that she wasn't?" Mikhail asked seeing through the lie. "I...." "Spare me your lies and from now on, I am no longer under your employ." Jeremiah watched helplessly as his best chance of finding Justine walked away taking a picture of her with him. ******* Mikhail went back to the area where Justine and the human male had been spotted and began to walk. He didn't even try to pick up their scents because it would have been useless. He headed away from city hall and began stopping at every hotel that he saw and then backtracked in the opposite direction. On a whim, he headed toward Market Street and saw a motel 6. With picture in hand, he went in. "Help you sir?" the woman behind the counter asked looking up from her magazine. "As a matter of fact you can." Mikhail replied his voice low and seductive, "I am looking for my friend." Mikhail showed the picture of Justine to the woman who looked at it carefully, "no, there's no one here who looks like that." "You are certain?" Mikhail asked. "I'm sure, I would remember somebody who looks like that." the woman replied. "Why is that?" Mikhail asked. "She's very pretty." "And?" Mikhail probed and then his eyes flashed as he turned toward the door. Justine Ch. 06 As soon as Buddy growled, Justine went to full alert, looked over at Quinn and cursed. "What's happening" Quinn asked hating being left out in the cold. "We have to get out of here now!" she said as she quickly packed up her laptop and gathered her clothes. She didn't bother with the food; she would get more later after she found another place for them to stay. She opened the door, peeked out and grabbed Quinn's hand frowning when she met resistance. "We're not leaving until you tell me exactly what's going on." Quinn said. "We don't have time for this!" Justine said angrily. "We're taking the time." Quinn said, "Who are these people and what do they want?" Justine peeked down the stairs, got a tighter hold on Quinn's hand and took off running not giving him time to object. She didn't look behind her as she ran nor did she worry that Buddy wouldn't be able to find her, somehow he always did. They didn't stop running until they were several blocks away from the hotel. Justine looked around and almost vanished until she remembered Quinn. "Where do you live?" she asked. "About ten blocks from here, why?" "We need to get off of the streets and hotels are no longer an option." Justine replied. As far as she could tell, no one knew where Quinn lived and there really was no other choice. He was now safer with her than without her. The problem was getting there, ten blocks was a long way to go when people and things were searching for them. "Alright, I want you to listen to me." Justine said her tone firm, "I'm going to have to do something that I've never done before and you just have to trust me." Without waiting for an answer, Justine embraced Quinn and vanished hoping that she didn't kill him in the process. They reappeared about a block from where Quinn's apartment was but Quinn was in no shape to walk. He bent over gasping for air and dry heaving while Justine kept look out. She remembered the first time she teleported and how ill she felt afterwards and felt sorry for him but they had to get moving. "What the fuck just happened?" Quinn asked shakily. "I'll explain later." Justine replied, "Where's your apartment?" Quinn pointed in the direction that they needed to go and headed that way on shaky legs followed by Justine. A few minutes later, they were safely inside with all of the curtains closed. Quinn plopped down on the couch feeling only slightly better but not good enough to ask questions. Justine found the bathroom, rummaged around for a washcloth to moisten with cold water to place on Quinn's forehead. By the time, she returned Quinn had kicked off his boots and was fast asleep. ******* Mikhail forgot the woman behind the counter and focused on the dog sitting in front of the door recognizing him for what he was. "Where is your mistress?" he asked as he approached Buddy. "I mean her no harm and would like to help her." Buddy sat watching Mikhail backing up when he got close. "There are those who wish to capture her for their own purposes but I am not one of them and I believe you know that." Buddy gave a low growl in his throat and took off, as soon as he was out of sight; he vanished ending up at Quinn's door. Justine heard him at the door and let him in after looking around to be sure that the apartment wasn't being watched. Her stomach rumbled with hunger and she wished that she had taken the time to pack the food from the fridge at the hotel. She had to feed soon before the hunger pains set in and before Quinn became her only source of food. She glanced over at Quinn who was still asleep but not looking so green and weighed her options of which there were few. Her best bet she decided was to go to a store far from where they were, it would accomplish one thing in particular, it could draw anyone looking for them away and buy her some time to come up with another plan. The good thing was that she now knew that she could vanish with Quinn if necessary. "Buddy, stay here with him and don't let him leave." Justine said, "I'll be back with food for us." she rubbed Buddy's head and was gone reappearing in North East Philadelphia near the 'Pathmark' grocery store. She looked around and scanned the people in the parking lot and coming out of the store, "all human" she murmured but reminded herself that it was a human that reported their location to Jeremiah. In hindsight she wished that she had captured the woman to find out what she knew, the next time they would do just that. It was time to find out who they were dealing with and to find out just what in the hell they wanted from her and then there was Pam. Her sense was that she was alright and as long as she laid low and did nothing stupid.... Justine laughed, Pam was the queen of doing stupid things most of them harmless, a few of them not so much. "Keep your head down." Justine murmured as she went into the grocery store. She spoke to no one as she went directly to the meat counter and loaded her basket with steak, beef and chicken livers and beef roast enough to last for several days. Looking at the meat reminded her of another issue; she had to tell Quinn what she was. She laughed for the second time that day when she realized that she had never told him her name. Justine went to the frozen food aisle and bough several frozen dinners for Quinn that included breakfast entrees and frozen orange juice. He wasn't going anywhere either. She paid for her purchases, stopped at the atm machine, and withdrew another 500.00 dollars. Doing so gave her an idea; she would go to different parts of the city every couple of days and take money out of the machines in effect sending everyone on a wild goose chase. She hoped that Quinn had internet as she could no longer use her laptop without it being traced. The problem was that even on Quinn's internet, she could be tracked which meant that she couldn't do any research on vampires. She pushed the problem aside, the immediate issue was telling Quinn what she was without sounding like a compete nutcase. She carried her sacks of groceries to a secluded spot behind the store and vanished to behind Quinn's apartment building. She was pleased that it was becoming easier to do each time and that the nausea was no longer a problem. She touched the knob on the door willing it to unlock and open hoping to find Quinn still asleep. She slipped into the apartment, past Quinn who thankfully was still asleep and into the kitchen. She looked over her shoulder and pulled out a container of chicken livers, opened it and greedily drank the blood from it and then set the container on the floor for Buddy so that he could eat the raw meat. She was on the third container when she heard a voice behind her. "What in the hell are you doing?" ****** Pam froze on the stairway, she smelled what she knew was raw fear coming from the basement. "Please." the voice said again, "help us." Pam counted the cots that lined the wall, ten but only four of them were occupied. These women were newly made vampires she realized, they were meant to be sold as she was supposed to have been. "Shhh!!!" she hissed as she looked behind her. "Please!!" "Shut up already!" Pam hissed as she made her way down the rest of the stairs. She stopped and looked at the cots that contained the women. "How long have you been here?" she asked. "I'm not sure." a voice said, "I woke up here." It was the same for all four women and there was another common denominator... Malcolm. For the first time in her life, Pam found herself in a position of leadership. The idea both frightened and excited her as she realized that she had no option but to step up. The thought that Justine would be proud of her gave her courage. The first thing she did was to release the women from the chains that held them to the bed asking them their names as she went. "Is there any blood down here?" she asked as she released the last woman. "There's a refrigerator in the back." The one named Janine replied as she stood up and stretched. "Alright, Janine and Kendra, you go check for blood, the rest of you look around to see if there's another way out of here besides the stairs even if it's a window." Pam said as she looked around the basement for something to carry the bags of blood in. A few minutes later, Janine and Kendra came back with their arms filled with bags of blood. Pam salivated at the sight of it. She grabbed a bag, pierced it with her teeth and drank it down in one long gulp moaning with pleasure as the thick liquid coated her throat on the way down to her empty stomach. "Pass a bag to everyone and let's get out of here." She said as she took another bag. "Where are we going?" A woman who said that her name was Miriam asked. "I don't know yet but drink up, Allison found a way out." Pam divided the blood up into five sacks and gave one to each woman, "That's your supply so don't lose it and don't drink it all at once because I don't know when or how we'll get more. Stay close together and if I say run, then you run like hell and don't look back. If we get separated, find a place to hide where the sunlight can't get to you and stay there as long as you can." "What are we?" a shy diminutive woman asked. It hadn't occurred to Pam that the women didn't know what they were. She searched for a quick explanation and came up with none. "I don't know how to tell you this," she said softly, "but none of us is human anymore, we've been turned into vampires. When we get to someplace safe, I'll explain more but we've got to leave before someone comes." They followed Allison to what appeared to be a wall. She pushed on the wall and was rewarded with a quiet squeak, after they were all through the door; she found the lever and closed the door. "How did you know about that?" Pam asked. "I'm an architect and I actually helped design this building several years ago when I was still a student." Allison replied, "And if memory serves me there's a doorway that leads to the alley at the back of the building." Pam counted her blessings that none of the women had freaked when she told them what they were but as they walked, they talked and it became somewhat clear why. Each of the women were in high stress occupations that required cool heads, Allison was an architect that ran her own business, Janine ran her own accounting firm, Kendra was friends with Janine and also a business partner and last but not least was Corinne who ran her own fashion design company. None of the women were married or in any type of relationship and their families were either on the other side of the country or overseas. It wasn't uncommon for any of them no to speak to anyone from their families for weeks making them good targets. Pam understood something else. Malcolm wasn't working alone. He might have been a good attorney but he wouldn't have the guts or the brains to do something like this without help. Jeremiah had to be involved and more than likely the brains of the operation. He needed to be stopped but that wasn't the priority at the moment, finding a safe place was. "Start looking for anyplace that will protect us from the sun and where we can stay for a couple of days if we had to." Pam instructed. "And the further away from the office the better." she added. It took them almost an hour and a half before they located what was at one time a mom and pop grocery store. It took no time to make sure that the place was secure with so many of them to scout the place out. Within minutes, they had a section in the back of the store cleared out and the windows sealed tight against the sun. ******* Jeremiah sat in his chair with his long fingers pressed against his lips. He had just gotten off the phone with his mother. He made her tell him the complete story about the woman who was to replace the queen from beginning to end twice. He now knew who Justine Graves was and it became even more important that he find her before the forty-eight hours were up. If he could find her..... "What?" Jeremiah snapped when the phone rang before he could complete his thought, "When? How?" he screamed into the phone, "I want them found now!" he added and slammed the phone down in its cradle. The hunt for Justine was beginning to cost him more money than he liked. If the four women that were already paid for weren't found he would have to pay back all of the money and make a peace offering of some kind. He mentally calculated his losses, at least ten million not counting whatever he offered on top of it. It occurred to him that while a pussy, Malcolm had been right, they should have closed up shop long ago and concentrated on their law practice. However, had they done that, he wouldn't have the opportunity that had presented itself. A seed of doubt rose in his mind, what if she wasn't the queen? "She has to be." he thought to himself. It explained the ease in which she adapted to not only vampirism but also the way in which she knew how to use her inherent gifts. If he could find her and mate with her, everything that she owned and that meant everything would be his as well. Ten million dollars would be nothing compared to what Justine would have as queen. The thought begged another question, where was the queen? She had to be somewhere close by looking for Justine as he and those he employed were and if she found Justine before he did, it was over. Justine would come for him looking for her friend if she figured out what he and Malcolm had been doing. Suddenly, he didn't want those women found. It was a matter of time before Mikhail put it all together and if he did..... This way there was no evidence, he could deny all of it. Mikhail. "Fuck!" Jeremiah swore. Mikhail was looking for Justine too and once he figured out who she was he would do one of three things, take her for himself, take her to the queen if he knew where she was or leave her be. He wondered which option Mikhail would choose and then he knew... he would take her to the queen. He knew it as surely as he knew that his nephew was dead. Just then the phone began ringing off the hook, Justine had been spotted in North Philadelphia, and then she had been spotted in the western part of the city, seconds later someone would say that she had been spotted in the south part of the city. It didn't take long to understand what was happening; by offering a reward for her, he had inadvertently helped her. He swore under his breath, thought for a few brief seconds to say, "Fuck it", and move on but the dollar signs and the thought of the power that he would have won out. He was going to find her and mate with her even if it was by force, even if he had to have vampires hold her down while he did it, it was going to happen. He pulled out a map of the city and began to place stickpins at every spot where Justine was reported to have been seen. It was impossible for her to have been seen in all of those places but maybe not. According to his mother, every new queen had a talent that the last one didn't have; it was definitely food for thought. He called his mother back and asked her about the latest queen. "Why are you so interested in this?" she asked. "Just curious." he replied and asked another question, "How often is there a new queen?" "Not often, the current queen stays in place until the new queen is born and somehow brought into her power. It is the dream of every female child to be that lucky one." she replied. "So the queen is born vampire?" he asked. "Not necessarily although it could happen. There is one instance where the queen was born human but had a vampiric background but that was a very long time ago." Jeremiah's mind raced. "Did she have a child?" "Yes and that child had children as did they..." "So another of this queen's female descendants could become queen." "Yes but only if she is female and the one destined for the role... Jeremiah, what are you into?" Jeremiah ignored the question and continued asking his own. "What about the mate of the queen? What happens if he dies before they find each other or he dies before they mate?" "As far as I know it's never happened but the story says that if it does, whoever mates with her first will become her king but....." "Thank you mother." Jeremiah said and hung up not giving her the chance to complete her sentence. He heard what he needed to hear. The question was did Justine know that the male with her was her mate and king? He hoped not, he hoped that she was so busy trying to figure out she was and trying to survive that she hadn't thought about it. ******* "How are things?" a creaky old voice asked Zoë. "As well as can be expected." she replied, "Justine is quite resourceful but soon she will have no choice but to talk to me." "Do you know her whereabouts?" "Yes, my queen." Zoë replied, "She is at the home of her mate Quinn. They are both safe for the moment." "How are you planning to bring her home?" "As you know, I used to work with Justine." Zoë said. "And one of the things I admired about her then and now is her resiliency, how she always found a way to get out of a tight spot. She never asked for help until her back was up against the wall and that is what I'm waiting for, she has to have no other options available to her before she will talk to me." The old queen was thoughtful for a moment, "it is a reasonable plan but what of the others that are looking for her as well? Will she not see them as possible allies?" "Possible but Justine is distrustful by nature, she's not going to trust them anymore than she trust us." "Then why do you think that she will choose us over them?" "I think that once she sees us or talks to us she'll recognize the truth when she hears it but I have another concern." "I am listening." the queen replied. "As you know, her friend Pam was also turned to be sold. She escaped and is in hiding with four other women, and if she is captured, she could be used as bait for Justine. I would like your permission to bring them here...." "You want to use this friend the same way that Jeremiah Mathers would use her." the queen said dryly. "Only if there is no other option and I am concerned about how long the women with her can survive without proper teaching. I can only imagine what would have happened to me if one of your servants hadn't found me." "Bring them here but I do not want the friend used as a pawn unless all else has failed." "Yes my queen." Zoë replied with a bow. Mrs. Rhodes looked at Zoë with affection; she had come to love the young woman as a daughter and trusted her explicitly. She had groomed her to become Justine's right hand and confidant, as she would need someone to confide in other than her king. After all, she was still female and females liked to have someone to talk and giggle with about the silly things in life. She had initiated this change when she had become queen although she didn't reap the benefit of that change for herself. Her king, Edward, lay in state waiting for her to rejoin him so that they could return to their former youth and dwell in the realm of the queens before her. There they could watch the happenings of the world much as the gods of Greek and Roman mythology watched over their human subjects except that there would be no interference from the former queens. Now that the time of giving up her reign was near, she found herself becoming impatient for it to be over, she was more than ready to hand over the reins. The temptation to grab Justine herself was at times overwhelming but she had to wait, it was important that Justine came to them even if it was coerced after a fashion. The queen listened as Zoë confidently gave instructions for Justine's friend and the women to be rescued and brought to the house. Justine Ch. 06 The queen walked out of the room content that Zoë had things under control. She went to her chambers to choose the outfit that she would wear when she rejoined Edward. "Soon, I shall be with you again." she said as she looked at the photograph of a handsome dark haired man who looked to be in his late thirties. "I have missed you." she said softly to the picture of the man who had been her mate for centuries before he was so severely injured by a hunter that he had to be put into a deep sleep and placed to ground. She remembered that day as if it had just happened. Edward had gone out to get her a surprise for her birthday even though she begged him not to go. "I'll be fine," he told her, "I won't be but a few moments." Those few moments turned in several minutes, which in turn became an hour and then hours. One of the servants who knew where he was going found him with an arrow made from an ash tree buried almost to the quivers in his chest. Instead of removing the arrow, the servant called for help to get Edward home where a physician was waiting. "It's a good thing that he didn't remove that arrow." The physician said, "It would have killed him when he pulled it out, the sides of the tip are barbed and it would have punctured the heart on the way out." Violet remembered the helplessness and anger that she felt as the physician spoke. "Are you saying that it has to stay there?" she asked. "For a while yes." he replied, "You must put him to ground and wait for the wood to soften and disintegrate but I must warn you, that could take centuries." Violet was about to reply when several of her guards burst in dragging not one but two men into the room. "My queen," One of the guards said bowing, "These are the ones responsible for the king's injuries." She looked at the men, one of them was quite young and was a younger version of the other man and felt nothing but anger and hatred. For centuries, she had done nothing but try to keep the peace between the vampire and now this. Her king almost lost his life to hunters. She had to remind herself that not all humans were like the ones on their knees before her and that some of them were allies. "Why did you do this?" she asked quietly. "Because you aren't human! You and your kind are an abomination to god and the church!" the older man exclaimed. "And because you are frightened of us, you seek to kill us?" Violet asked. "I'm not afraid!" the older man protested. "If that is so, why did you hide? Why did you not stand and shout, look what I have done?" Violet asked, her anger rising. She looked at the younger man who as of yet hadn't spoken. "And what of you? Why did you accompany him?" she asked. The younger man looked at the older man and then back at Violet. "I.... I didn't want to do it... he made me, he said that you were all evil...." "Silence!" Violet commanded. "You say that we are evil?" She asked the older man, "you are the evil one; you are the one who is responsible for what's going to happen here this night!" "Please, my son, he's just a boy doing what I told him to do. Let him go and I swear that he'll never bother you again." "It isn't that simple." Violet replied, "You tried to murder my husband and my king." The man fell silent, he knew that there was nothing that he could do or say to change his fate. He was warned by fellow hunters not to go near the queen but he hadn't listened, he wanted to make a name for him and his son. He stole a look up at Violet and knew that his death would be painful but he made a plea for his son. "Please, spare my son..." "Why should I?" Violet asked, "So that he can bring others to try to kill us?" "He won't! I'll tell him not to, please!" "Which of you shot the arrow that almost killed my king?" "I... I did ma'am." the young man replied. "Why? What have we done to you to deserve such hatred?" Violet asked, "Have you been harmed by any of mine?" "No ma'am and I don't know how to answer your question." "Honesty, how refreshing." Violet commented to herself. She looked at the father and then at the son. "You," she said to the father "are going to die but your son will live." "Than...." "As one of us." she interrupted A horrified expression crossed the man's face but interestingly enough, not the son's, he almost looked... pleased. He looked up at Violet and whispered a heart-felt thank you. "What? Why are you thanking her?" the father demanded forgetting where he was and before whom he knelt. "She and her kind are nothing but murderers!" "Take him away." Violet said softly. Two of the guards dragged the screaming man away, moments later. There was silence. That night had been almost four hundred years ago and the young man was still with her and had actually found his mate. Violet lay the picture on her pillow on the bed as she whispered a prayer that Justine come soon, she was tired of this world and of the humans in it. ******** After Buddy took off, Mikhail went back to the penthouse to think. He sipped on a goblet of blood as he paced length of the living room several times before he stopped in front of the window to look out. From the very beginning, something about this woman nagged at him. Jeremiah's insistence that she be found within the forty-eight hour time limit triggered something in the back of Mikhail's memory. The dog was another thing; he was her familiar, the instinctive use of her gifts...a queen! "I'll be damned!' Mikhail exclaimed now understanding everything. He believed that initially, Jeremiah didn't know who Justine was but was now convinced that he did, that's why the push to find her. Time must be getting short because everywhere Mikhail looked; he saw vampires and humans who worked for vampires searching for her. She had to be running out of places to stay and she was restricted because of the human male. It was only a matter of hours until they were found and the male killed. Jeremiah would try to mate with her thus becoming her king for a short time at least. The question was where would they go? He was certain that they wouldn't risk another hotel, vacant buildings were out which left only one place... the human male's home. Mikhail pulled out a map and looked at it, like Jeremiah he had people working for him but none of them human. As far as he was concerned, humans were too fickle and not to be trusted. He was receiving the same intel as Jeremiah including the crank calls that were overheard via Jeremiah's tapped phone lines. He took his time placing pushpins at every area where Justine was supposedly seen. He didn't believe for a minute that she had been in all of those areas, it didn't make sense and she wouldn't have left the male alone for that long. A bright red pushpin marked the area in where his people had actually spotted her before she disappeared. An hour later, the map was covered with stickpins where she was reportedly sighted by his and Jeremiah's people. He noted with interest that there was one area where there were no pushpins... the twenty block areas surrounding center city. That's where she was, somewhere in that twenty-block area lying low but not necessarily hiding until she figured out her next move of which there weren't many left. Mikhail picked up his phone and called several numbers giving strict instructions, "Do not approach her or else you'll lose her. As soon as you spot her call me and keep an eye on her." He finished his goblet of now cold blood and vanished to center city. He stood in front of city hall and tried to imagine where he would live if he were a single man. "Somewhere where I could walk to a restaurant if I didn't have a car or bike." he muttered. He made a complete circle and then picked a direction and started walking. ******* "I asked just what in the hell you're doing?" Quinn repeated, "And how did we get here so fast?" Justine stopped mid swallow and looked at Quinn, really seeing him for the first time. She liked his height, his red hair and green/hazel eyes; overall, she liked the way that he looked. She had been serious when she told him that if things had been different that she would have gone out with him. She pushed the thoughts aside; it was time for full disclosure. "I think that you need to sit down." she said. "I don't need to sit, I need to know just what in the hell is happening here! Why are you drinking blood from a chicken liver container?" "I really think that you need to ...." "Look lady, ever since that first night I saw you weird shit has been happening, first I'm chasing you around like a love sick puppy and then I can't get through the day without thinking about you! Next, when we finally do meet some people who you won't or can't tell me about chase us. Then there's your dog that looks like he doesn't weigh more than seventy pounds tops and we can't move him. In addition, let's not forget how we got from downtown to here in no time flat and now you're drinking blood? Excuse my French but what the fuck is going on?" "First of all, my name is Justine Graves; I was an attorney at the Law offices of Jeremiah Mathers and his nephew Malcolm." "Was?" "Yes was, do you to hear this or not?" she asked impatiently. "Sorry." Quinn said as she decided that maybe he'd better sit down. "Do you mind if I finish dinner?" Justine asked. Quinn started to object but nodded his head yes instead. A few minutes later, she was finished and Buddy was eating the raw chicken livers from what turned out to be Quinn's favorite cereal bowl. "Alright," Justine said as she pulled up a chair to sit in front of Quinn. Two hours later, a shell shocked Quinn had the entire story and was speechless. The frightening thing for him was that he believed her. The thought that she might be crazy or that she was making it up never crossed his mind, he saw her drinking the blood and had been a witness to the speed in which she could move. The transporting thing he just found plain fascinating except for the extreme nausea afterwards. As she talked, more knowledge flowed into Justine's brain. Somewhere along the line, she realized that meeting Quinn had been no accident, he was meant to be with her as her.... Mate. The thought didn't disturb her in the least but she decided to withhold that bit of information for later, he needed time to adjust to what she had just told him. "So let me make sure I've got this." Quinn said, "You went out to dinner human and when you woke up you were a vampire?" "That's the gist of it." Justine said seeing Quinn in a completely different light. "And you've been living on animal blood?" "Yes." "Why? I mean there are millions of people living here, you could have taken blood from any of them." "That's true but I didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone." Justine replied. Somehow, she felt relieved to be able to talk to someone about what happened to her. That the person she was telling it to didn't freak out or judge her but seemed to accept what she was saying as truth was a plus. "I grant you that I don't know much about vampires but isn't human blood supposed to be better for you?" Quinn asked feeling protective as well as curious. "It is." Justine agreed "but I won't risk a life to get it." Quinn's mind started working. He ran through his list of contacts from his drug days and tried to remember if any of them had access to a blood supply. "What are you thinking about?" Justine asked. "Blood and how to get some for you." Quinn replied absently. "I won't involve anyone else in this." Justine said firmly, "and you're not leaving here, it's not safe." "But you can't keep surviving on animal blood can you? I mean doesn't human blood have stuff in it that animal blood doesn't?" "Not the point." Justine argued. "It is the point!" Quinn retorted, "Are you telling me that you're as strong as you could be by drinking animal blood?" He had a point; Justine knew that it was only a matter of time before she needed human blood. "Alright, tell me what you're thinking." Quinn told her about his past including Amanda and Lana, "I still have the numbers of my dealers in my head." he said. "I don't know if any of them are still around but if they are ...." "Too risky." Justine said, "How would you get it?" "I would meet them at one of our old meeting places...' "Absolutely not!" Justine interrupted, "That's way to dangerous, what if you got caught?" "I won't get caught." Quinn said not realizing whom she was talking about. "I'm not talking about the police; I'm talking about the people looking for us. Do you understand what they'll do if they catch you?" she asked, "they'll use you to get me and that can't happen at least not yet." Quinn was frustrated, he wanted to help her but he had to admit that she was right. "Why dies this Jeremiah Mathers want you so badly?" Quinn asked. "He turns human women into vampires and sells them. That's why my friend Pam was turned, but I wasn't supposed to be turned, I was supposed to be killed." "And you know this how?" Quinn asked. "I don't know but I know that its happening and I also know that I'm not supposed to be alive. I also know that Pam has gotten away from him but I don't know where she is or how she managed it." "I think that there's more to it than what you're telling me." Quinn said, "I'm not saying that you're lying but there's something else going on here. Think about it... why would he go through such lengths to find you? You're one woman but yet he has people looking for you non stop." Justine gave his words some thought, "You're right." she conceded, "but what could he want from me? Pam escaped but I would do everything I could to shut him down but that doesn't make sense either. All he would have to do is pack up and move somewhere else and keep going." "So we agree then." Quinn said, "But that doesn't solve the blood issue." Justine thought about the phone call that she had gotten from Zoë Carpenter. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't sensed any deception in her voice but there had been real concern and then relief when she found out that Buddy was with her. Maybe she was someone that could be trusted.... Justine froze, someone was coming, and more than one and they were looking for her. Time was growing short. ******** Jeremiah looked at the map and came to the same conclusion Mikhail had, he now knew the general area in which Justine and her mate were hiding. He made several phone calls and headed to Center City, he wanted to capture her himself. He gave the same explicit instructions that Mikhail had, "call me immediately if you see her and under no circumstances are you to approach her." He hummed to himself as the thoughts of limitless wealth and power went through his head. He was already mentally going through the checklist of things that he would have to do in order to close his office. "Me a king." he said to himself as he vanished. ******** Pam and the women huddled together in the back of the abandoned store. Each of them had six units of blood left, enough for another day or two. After that, Pam had no idea of what they would do for blood. None of them had any cash on them and none of them felt good about compelling people to let them drink from them. "So what are our options?" Janine asked. "We have none." Pam replied, "Which brings us back to what we don't want to do." The discussion continued and grew heated. Three of the women were adamant about using their new vampiric powers to coerce people into giving them their blood. "It's too much like what that scum Malcolm did to us." Allison said. "Fine and what do you propose we do? Starve to death? I don't want to compel anyone anymore than you do but if I have to do it in order to survive....." "Shush!" Pam said urgently, "someone's here." The women hushed and looked toward the front of the store and waited not sure of what they were going to do. "Pam." a soft female voice whispered, "I'm here to help." "Who are you and what do you want?" Pam called back. "I'm a friend and I can get you and the others to a safe place where Jeremiah Mathers can't get to you." "How do I know that he didn't send you?" Pam asked. "Do you remember an attorney by the name of Zoë Carpenter?" "Sure," Pam replied, "she disappeared a couple of years ago, what does she have to do with anything?" Zoë stepped forward so that Pam and the others could see her. "Malcolm turned me just as he turned you." "Zoë? How did you find us and what are you doing here?" Pam asked surprised. "That's a very long story but I'm here to help you as I was helped after what Malcolm did to me, will you come?" Pam and the others listened to Zoë's voice and detected no lie. "Where are you going to take us?" Janine asked. "To the home of the queen, come on, we have to go now." Zoë said and walked back to the front of the store not giving the opportunity for more questions. The five women looked at each other and nodded, they had nothing to lose and the worst that could happen was that they would be turned over to Jeremiah. ******* "What's the matter?" Quinn asked as he looked at Justine and heard a low growl come from Buddy. "Time is running out and I haven't told you everything." Justine said. "There's more?" Quinn asked. "Yes and it has to do with why you were following me... it was a natural response." "Response to what?" Quinn asked. "Me... Quinn, you're my mate. In other words, we belong together." "You and me?" Quinn asked shocked, "You wanted nothing to do with me and now you're telling me that we're mates or whatever you call it?" "It wasn't like that exactly; part of it was that had I acknowledged you, your life would have been in danger as it is now." "And you're just now realizing this?" he asked. "Honestly? Yes and I haven't had much time to think about it, I've had my hands full with trying to survive and a mate was the last thing on my mind." Justine replied a bit tersely. "What does this mean?" Quinn asked. "I don't know yet but we have to come up with another place to go and soon." Buddy's growls became deeper and louder, whoever was coming was getting closer. "Quick, pack a change of clothes, we need to go." Justine said. To his credit, Quinn didn't argue. He knocked the chair over in his haste to pack a bag, five minutes later he was back in the living room with his backpack. He looked around the small apartment knowing that he would never see it again. He hefted the backpack onto his back and adjusted it trying to distribute the weight of his cameras and clothing. "Where to?" he asked. "The last place they'd expect me to go... my apartment." Justine replied. "Are you sure about this?" Quinn asked, "They'll be watching your apartment too." "No, they're not." Justine said as she picked up her own bag. "How do you know?" Quinn asked, "And where's Buddy?" "At the apartment waiting for us." Justine replied as she put her arms around Quinn and hugged him tight. Unlike the first time they embraced to teleport, Justine felt something when Quinn wrapped his arms around her. For a split second, she thought to kiss him but footsteps approaching the front door stopped her. The door banged open just as Justine and Quinn disappeared. Three men rushed into the now empty apartment and swore. Jeremiah Mathers was going to be furious and they would be severely punished if not killed especially since he had given explicit orders that they weren't to approach the woman but to call him. "Shit!" one of the men exclaimed and ran out of the apartment leaving his two cohorts to explain to Jeremiah why his orders weren't followed. "Maybe no one called him." One of the men said, his voice shaking with fear. Justine Ch. 06 "Maybe...." "Where is she?" A deceptively soft voice said from behind them. Justine Ch. 07 "Well?" Jeremiah demanded, "Where the fuck is she?" The two men looked at each other but didn't speak; they were too terrified to say anything. "Do not make me ask again." Jeremiah said softly. "I... I mean we came to the door and they were gone." one of the men said. "Why did you come to the door? Did you not understand my instructions?" Jeremiah asked his tone almost reasonable. Only one of the men noticed the tic in Jeremiah's left jaw and knew that it didn't bode well for them and began to back away. "Stay." Jeremiah said softly. Immediately the man stopped frozen in place wanting to run but unable to move. Jeremiah circled the men and looked them up and down as if trying to decide whether they were idiots or not. "Who made the decision to come to the door?" "I... I did." The man standing closest to Jeremiah replied. "What part of do not approach did you not understand?" Jeremiah asked in a deceptively soft voice. When the man didn't reply Jeremiah stopped in front of him. "Do you have any idea of what you have done?" he asked. "Of course you don't, you're nothing but a stupid human who cannot follow simple directions!" His voice, which had started out softly, was now loud and filled with anger as he grabbed the man by the lapels of his jacket and shook him so hard that his teeth rattled. The other man stood frozen in place, terrified. He had heard of Jeremiah's temper but hadn't seen it until now. "Sir, please... I think I know where they went." he said, his voice almost a whisper. Jeremiah looked at him, his eyes blackened with rage. He lifted the man that he had just shaken and threw him as hard as he could across the room. The other man grimaced and let out a soft sob when he heard the sickening thud of his friend's body hit the wall. The truth was he had no idea of where Justine and Quinn had gone and was going to lie. If he managed to escape Jeremiah Mathers, he would move far away and never work for another vampire for as long as he lived. "Where are they?" Jeremiah hissed as he reached for the man who tried to back away. "The woman's apartment!" he squeaked. "What woman? Pam?" Jeremiah asked. "Yeah! Her place! He agreed even though he had no idea of who Pam was. "You are sure of this?" Jeremiah asked. "Yes sir!" the man said enthusiastically. "Then you won't mind going with me." Jeremiah said smoothly, his eyes still black. "N...no sir." the man stammered as he realized that he hadn't really saved his life but had in effect just ended it. Jeremiah grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out of the house. Within minutes, they were at Pam's apartment. Jeremiah dropped the man to the floor and casually walked around. "No one seems to be here." he said as he walked from the kitchen to the bedroom, "I thought you said that they were coming here." "I must have heard them wrong." the man said, "Please Mr. Mathers... it wasn't my idea to go to her door! I tried to stop him but he said that you would pay us more if we had her...." The man blubbered and begged for his life for a full ten minutes before he realized that he was alone. He got up from his place on the floor, looked around and bolted for the door. He was leaving on the first bus or train headed out of Philadelphia and he was never coming back. ******** Quinn was doubled over fighting nausea while Buddy sat at his side offering moral support. They had been in Justine's apartment for approximately thirty minutes and he was still dry heaving. Justine was in the kitchen cleaning up the mess from the last time she was there and taking stock of her food supply. The issue of blood for her and Buddy remained unsolved and Quinn contacting a friend was out of the question. This left only one option, she had to be the one to go out. After rummaging through her freezer, she found a package of hamburger that would be good for Buddy but wouldn't do much for her. She was already hungry although she had eaten not long ago but she wasn't at the critical point... yet. "Mint tea" she thought as she looked through her cabinets. Finding the tea, she set about making Quinn a cup to settle his stomach. She found herself quite impressed with how quickly he was adapting to what had to be a very new and trying situation for him. The calendar caught her eye as she walked past the fridge. "Had it really been just a week?" she murmured. In many ways it seemed much shorter than that and in many ways it felt like a lifetime since she was human. A week ago, she was going to be buying her first brand new car and eating a porterhouse steak in celebration. Now she was no longer human and others who she now knew to be vampires were chasing them. It took Quinn to point out to her that there had to be more to it, Jeremiah Mathers wouldn't waste his time on one escaped newly born vampire unless she was important. He wouldn't have hired a hunter to look for her either and then there was Pam, where was she? She was so lost in her musings that she didn't realize that she no longer heard Quinn dry heaving. She carried the hot tea to the living room frowning when Quinn wasn't there. "Quinn!" she called, "I made you some mint tea!" She frowned when there was no answer and then realized that Buddy was missing as well. "Quinn!" she called again as she walked back to her bedroom thinking that maybe he was in the shower. "Damn it!" she swore when she realized that both Quinn and Buddy were gone. ******* Quinn looked back at the kitchen and heard Justine puttering around. His nausea had passed and he felt good enough to start thinking about the blood situation. He inched toward the door and was stopped by Buddy who like before became an immovable object. "Come on," Quinn whispered, "she needs blood and you know it." Buddy refused to move and no amount of coaxing helped. Quinn grabbed Buddy by the collar and pulled as hard as he could while keeping an eye out for Justine. "Look, she's your mistress isn't she?" Quinn asked, "And aren't you supposed to help her? She needs blood and if you won't let me go alone then come with me." Buddy actually seemed to be considering Quinn's suggestion. He looked around Quinn as if looking to see where Justine was and then he moved. A few minutes later, they were on the street walking toward center city. As they walked, Quinn called several of his old dealers hoping that one of them would be able to help him with a contact. "Mikey! Hey, it's Quinn! Yeah, I've been clean for a while. No, I'm not looking to score... well not drugs anyway. Blood, yeah human blood, ok thanks man." It wasn't until the third phone call that he scored. "Brucie! Quinn O'Dell here, I heard that you know someone who deals in human blood. Cool! How much? Two hundred a unit? What's in it? Gold? " As they talked Quinn did a mental count of the cash in his wallet, there was barely enough for one unit. "Alright, how soon can he meet me? An hour? I'll be there." "It's our lucky day." Quinn said rubbing Buddy's head and headed for the nearest bank machine. ******** Justine cursed Quinn for his stupidity and called him every name in the book that she could think of and then she cursed at Buddy, he definitely should have known better but at least he was with him. She closed her eyes and wondered if she could get a fix on Quinn by smell and then wondered if she could reach Buddy. She decided to take the path of least resistance and call out to Buddy since her bond with him was already strong. "Buddy!" Justine called out in her mind, "get your asses back here! I know that you can hear me damn it!" She knew that Buddy heard her because she felt and heard his response, "we are fine." "That's just great now get back here now!" she sent back. "soon." was the one word response. "Where are you?" she asked and closed her eyes. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed when she realized that she was seeing through Buddy's eyes. She could see Quinn talking on the phone as he looked around although he had no idea of whom he was supposed to be avoiding. "Stay put, I'm coming to you." she sent, "and don't you let him leave!" she added. On a whim, she grabbed both her and Quinn's bags and teleported to the corner where Quinn and Buddy were apparently waiting for someone. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed from behind Quinn startling him so bad that he almost dropped his phone. "Don't do that!" Quinn exclaimed. "What are you doing here? People are looking for you!" "Not only me you idiot!" Justine hissed, "You too now let's go before someone sees us!" "Not yet." Quinn replied, "I scored some blood for you and Buddy... here it comes now." A black SUV pulled up to the corner and stopped. A tall lanky white man got out of the vehicle, looked at Quinn and then at Justine. "Damn dude! She's ...." "You got the blood or not?" Quinn asked not liking how "Bones" as he was called was looking at Justine. "I got it." Bones replied not taking his eyes off Justine. Quinn stepped between them blocking Bone's line of vision, "How much do I owe you?" "I got five units at two hundred each, that make a thousand but if you give me a few minutes with your lady friend, I'll knock two hundred off." Quinn felt a rage that he couldn't explain as he went for Bone's throat, "She is mine and don't you ever forget it!" he hissed into the startled man's face as his hands tightened around his neck. Justine looked around; she had to stop this before someone saw them. "Quinn, let him go." she said softly, "he is nothing to get caught over." Seeing the SUV gave her an idea. Looking at Bones, she spoke softly, "invite us to your home." "We're not going anywhere with him!" Quinn protested still holding on to Bones. "Yes we are." Justine said, "Aren't we?" she asked Bones. "Of course you are! Jump in." "Quinn let him go so we can get out of here." Justine said firmly. Buddy let out a soft growl that got Quinn's attention; he had learned that whenever the dog growled, it was a warning of some kind. He let Bones go and shoved him aside so that he, Justine and Buddy could get into the SUV. "Take us to your most secure place." Justine said as she settled into plush seat of the SUV. It wasn't long before they were on the Schuylkill Expressway heading out of the city and Justine was having her first taste of human blood. The first taste was tentative but then in a matter of seconds, the bag was empty and she was reaching for another one. "Whoa there!" Quinn said moving the cooler before she could get another one. "I don't know but I don't think that you're supposed to drink so much at first." As if in agreement, Buddy moved and lay in front of the cooler. "I want more!" Justine said pushing past Quinn almost knocking him out of the seat. To his credit, Bones kept driving keeping his eyes on the road while Justine wrestled with Quinn and Buddy over the cooler. "Fuck!" Quinn screamed when Justine in her rush to get to the blood finally succeeded in knocking Quinn to the floor of the SUV. "Justine! Stop it!" Quinn said in his most commanding voice. For just a moment, he didn't think that she would listen to him but then her eyes began to clear and Buddy began to relax. Justine shook her head and looked down at Quinn still on the floor of the moving vehicle. "What happened? Did I hurt you?" She asked. "Let's just say that you're a light weight when it comes to human blood and I'm fine." Quinn said as he got up from the floor. "Are you sure that I didn't hurt you?" she asked taking his face in her hands and examining it closely. "I'm fine but you don't have to stop touching me." Quinn replied surprised by his boldness. Justine didn't answer but leaned forward and kissed him, "Thank you." she said after she broke the kiss. She looked down at Buddy and rubbed his head, "and thank you too." "You got any empty containers in here?" Quinn asked. "Look in the back, you might find something." Bones called back. The only thing that Quinn found was an empty take out container. He looked at Justine, "are you going to be alright if I give Buddy some blood?" "I'll be fine, I promise but I have a question for you." Justine replied. "Sure." "How did you know to stop me?" Quinn shrugged, "it only made sense. I mean you've had nothing but animal blood for the past week and I just didn't think that you should drink so much until your system adjusted to the human stuff." "Why didn't you freak out when I told you what I was?" "Should I have?" Quinn asked. "No but..." "Justine listen to me, I've been missing something in my life for a very long time. The drugs and alcohol temporarily filled that void. I had Amanda and Lana but they just weren't enough. I don't know if I'm explaining this right but .... It's as I told you, since I saw you that first time nothing has been the same. I feel like I've been waiting for someone like you to come along and here you are. Am I making sense?" "It does." Justine replied. "I know that you must have thought that I was some kind of pervert or nut case but I swear to you I couldn't help myself, I had to find you." "Do you understand why?" Justine asked. "Because of the mate thing but why didn't you know that the first time we saw each other?" "I think on some level I did." Justine replied, "But you have to understand something, I went to work one day human and the next day I was a vampire. I was concentrating on understanding what was happening to me and surviving on my own. My best friend Pam was and still is missing and I had people looking for me and I knew that if they found out about you, that you would be in danger and it was all that I could do to keep myself alive." "You seem to have adjusted well." Quinn said, "How did you figure things out if no one told you?" he asked. "I don't know," Justine replied, "the knowledge just seems to be there when I need it." "These people who are chasing us, they're not human are they?" Quinn asked. "No they're not and at some point, I'm going to have to face them." An hour later, the SUV was pulling up to a large gated home. "Welcome to my humble abode!" Bones quipped as he jumped out of the vehicle. Buddy got out first, sniffed the air and then ran around the house faster than any dog that Quinn had ever seen. When he came back, he wasn't even winded. It seemed that the human blood was what he needed too. They followed Bones top the front door and waited when he went inside. "What are you waiting for?" he asked, "come on in!" ******* Pam and the women looked around the large van that had the plushiest seats that they had ever seen. There were glasses of warmed blood sitting on trays as well as human snacks and drinks if desired. Each woman took a glass of the warmed blood, sniffed it and took a tentative taste before guzzling it down. "Where are you taking us?" Pam asked. "To a place that we hope that you'll come to think of as home." Zoë replied with a smile. "Do you live at this place?" Janine asked. "I do," Zoe replied, "I've been there for two years." "What happened to you?" Pam asked. "You were there one day and gone the next." "What did Jeremiah Mathers say?" Zoe asked. "He said something about you getting an opportunity that you couldn't turn down." Pam replied "Is that how he put it?" Zoe asked amused. "Yes and by the next day, someone new was sitting at your desk. You are aware of what he and Malcolm have been doing aren't you?" Pam asked. "We know and have been trying to rescue any woman that wants to be rescued; believe it or not, there are those who like their new lifestyle." "That doesn't really surprise me." Pam replied and thought about Justine. "Justine was turned too." "We know and we're looking for her." Zoe replied. "Who is this we you keep talking about and who is Justine?" Janine asked. "When I say we, I am referring to myself and the Queen." Zoe replied. "Queen? What queen?" Pam asked. "There's a lot to explain but there is a queen and king of the vampires and for the most part humans are unaware of us and it needs to stay that way. There are those who would try to kill all of us if they could." "So you're trying to rescue Justine?" Pam asked suddenly getting the feeling that there was something else going on. "What else?" she asked. "We need to find Justine and her mate before Jeremiah Mathers and Mikhail do." "Jeremiah? He wants her dead and who is this Mikhail?" Pam asked anxiously. "Jeremiah wanted her dead but not now and Mikhail is a hunter and assassin that Jeremiah hired to find Justine." As Zoe talked, she realized that she wouldn't have to ask Pam to help her find Justine, she would offer and if anyone could get Justine to come to them for help, it would be Pam. "I don't understand." Pam said. "Pam, the current queen is ready to step down partly because she's tired and partly because the new queen has risen even though she isn't aware of her role." "New queen?" Pam murmured and then the lights came on, "Justine? Justine is the new queen?" She asked. "Yes and that's why we have to find her before anyone else does." Zoe replied. "Do you know where she is?" "We did." Zoe replied. "Did? What do you mean did? And why didn't you go after her?" Pam demanded. "It isn't that simple...." "The hell it isn't!" Pam retorted, "You came after us didn't you?" "Yes but Justine is different, she has to choose to come to us and as of yet she is mistrustful of anyone except for her mate and her familiar." Pam was silent for several minutes before she spoke again, "I get it now, you came for us because you needed me. You need me to talk to Justine." "That is partially true." Zoe said, "We would have come for you regardless of your relationship with Justine. I'm not the only woman at the house who was turned to be sold for profit." "So what is this? A halfway house for turned women?" Allison asked. "I suppose you could call it that," Zoe replied, "but each of us were working professionals before we were turned against our will. I was an attorney and I still practice. We have women who are nurses, doctors as well as many other types of professions living in the house. As they become more comfortable with their new life they move on and continue in their chosen fields." "Let me ask you this," Pam said, "were you going to con me into helping you or were you going to ask for my help?" "I was and am fully prepared to get your help in any way that I could and if that meant deceiving you then yes, I would have done it." Pam looked at Zoe, she wasn't the same introverted attorney that she had been two years ago. She was still soft spoken but there was toughness about her that hadn't been there before. But then, she herself had changed; she was much stronger and needed Justine as a friend but no longer as a protector. The realization that she no longer needed Justine as nothing more than a friend made her feel good, the fact that for once she could help Justine made her feel even better. "Justine is closer to me than my own family," Pam said, "I would do anything and I do mean anything to help her whether she's a queen or not, what do you want me to do?" ******* Mikhail was looking around Justine's apartment when Jeremiah appeared. That they had been there was obvious, the mess in the kitchen was cleaned up and there was a pile of dirty clothes on the bedroom floor. The question was, where could they have gone and why did they leave? "What in the fuck are you doing here?" Jeremiah demanded, "You quit remember?" "I remember." Mikhail replied unfazed by Jeremiah's appearance. "You didn't answer my question." Jeremiah said as he approached Mikhail. Justine Ch. 07 "It's obvious isn't it? I'm here for the same reason you are, "I'm looking for Justine but I think for very different reasons." That statement just confirmed what Jeremiah already knew, Mikhail knew who Justine was but it didn't give him a clue as to what he planned to do with the information. "Was she here?" Jeremiah asked. "She was and not long ago." Mikhail replied as he stepped back from Jeremiah not because of fear but because he couldn't stand the stink of greed that came from him. "I would like to renegotiate the terms of our agreement." Jeremiah said. "There is no agreement." Mikhail replied, "You violated our agreement not once but twice." "I can pay you double what I've paid you already and more later." Jeremiah replied. Mikhail looked at Jeremiah and vanished without answering him. ******** Jeremiah stared at the spot where Mikhail had just been. "Son of a bitch!" He swore. He now had less than twenty-four hours in which to find Justine and Quinn. In order to take Quinn's place at her side as king, they had to have mated by no later than 10 pm the following night and it was now eleven pm. As he paced through the apartment, he realized that there was one thing that he hadn't done; he hadn't checked into Quinn O'Dell. Once again, he missed Malcolm. Looking into Quinn O'Dell would have been a detail that he would have thought of and handled it without being told to. He took out his cell phone and made a call. "Find out everything that you can about Quinn O'Dell; call me back in an hour." ******** Bones showed Justine and Quinn to a spare bedroom, "mi casa es su casa!" he exclaimed as he led them into the spacious bedroom and took his leave but not before giving Quinn an envious look. Buddy went into the bathroom and then went back into the bedroom sniffing every corner before declaring the room safe. Like his mistress, he felt so much better and stronger since he had fed on human blood, he was anticipating the time when the both of them would be fully into their power and was looking forward to a long and hopefully peaceful reign. The time was approaching when he would need to start edging her toward the currant queen but other things needed to happen first one of which was disposing of Jeremiah Mathers. He lay on the floor in front of the door and closed his eyes. He appeared to be falling asleep but he was fully alert, he could hear every voice and sound in the house and... He didn't trust the human called Bones. ********* Without really thinking about it, Quinn began to strip. It had been quite awhile since soap and hot water touched his body and he was looking forward to it. He was down to his briefs when he felt eyes on him. "Oh shit! I'm sorry!" he said as he grabbed his jeans and held them in front of him. "I was thinking about a hot shower and, sorry." Justine watched Quinn undress and wished that he would go slower, she cursed silently when he realized that she was watching him and went to cover himself. Her gums itched as her fangs began to descend as she heard the too fast beating of his heart and the swish, swish of his blood as it rushed through his veins. She found herself wondering what he would taste like and licked her lips at the thought of it. She felt her entire body warm much as it had when she was changed but this was different, this was desire. She wanted Quinn O'Dell, she had to have him and there a new sense of urgency that the sooner they made love the better off they would all be. ****** Quinn watched as Justine seemed to be debating with herself. He stood rooted to the floor with his jeans in front of him. He tried to slow his heart beat and to control his breathing as he watched Justine's eyes go from the warm brown that they normally were to a darker brown and then to black. Instead of being frightened, his heart raced even faster and his already hardened cock got even harder. Suddenly, Justine was standing in front of him. He could feel her breath on his chest as she took her time inhaling his musky scent. "You smell good," she said softly as she stuck out her tongue and licked his chest, "and you taste good." Justine took the jeans from Quinn's hands and threw them across the room not looking to see where they landed. What little part of her mind that was human was telling her to stop, that she didn't know this man well enough to sleep with but the queen part of her recognized and accepted Quinn as hers. Justine looked up at Quinn, put her hands on his hips and pulled him into him into her. Quinn let out a soft moan when his cock pressed against her clothed belly, the hot shower forgotten. All he wanted was to make love with the woman/ vampire standing in front of him. He wanted her naked and on the bed with her legs opened as wide as they could go. He wanted to smell and taste her as she had just done him. All that he wanted to do to and with her swirled through his mind like a cyclone. This, he realized, is what he had been waiting for, what he had been missing. What he felt for Amanda was pale in comparison to what he felt for Justine, a woman that he barely knew. He reached out, cupped a breast in each hand, and gave them a gentle squeeze while looking into Justine's eyes. He wanted to say something but no words came as he kneaded her large breasts in his hands wishing that her clothes were gone. As if he willed it, her clothes lay in a heap on the floor and Quinn got his first look at his bride. "Justine." he breathed as he bent down to kiss her. ********* Bones was so intent on making his guests comfortable that he didn't notice that one of his guards was watching them. At first, the guard wasn't sure if it was the right woman because she looked different from the picture, he had but then he saw the dog and the man. He took out his cell phone and called Jeremiah directly. "You girl is here, him and a dog are with her.... In an upstairs bedroom...." A soft growl caught his attention and he turned around to see Buddy who seemed much bigger than earlier staring at him. Moment's later, the bloodied body of the guard was dragged and left in the wooded part of the property and Buddy was back in the bedroom issuing a warning. ******** Quinn had just eased Justine onto the bed and was about to take his first taste of her when they heard Buddy's warning. Quinn's first thought was that Bones had betrayed them but that thought was put to rest by Justine, "it wasn't him," Seconds later, they heard Bone's indignant yell, "Who in the fuck are you and get off of my porch!" A gunshot rang out telling Justine that whoever the intruders were, they were human and that they had to have been nearby in order to have found them so quickly. Without thinking about it, she grabbed Quinn close to her and teleported to the only place that she could think of at the spur of the moment, Pam's apartment. Quinn was only slightly green this time. He was quickly adapting to teleporting and was quickly learning not to argue with Justine and Buddy. He was about to say something about clothes when Buddy appeared in the living room with both of their bags. "We can't stay here long." Justine said as she quickly dressed. "And I'm running out of places for us to hide." "Why are we hiding?" Quinn asked, "We have to make a stand at some point so why don't we choose the place and time?" "Because I don't know who all of the players are yet." Justine replied. "So let's find out, you mentioned something about Jeremiah Mathers... Start with him." Quinn suggested. "There's something else, we need to find out why he wants you so badly." Justine's cell phone rang before she could reply. 'Private' flashed across the screen giving her the choice as to whether she answered it or not. "What?" she asked. "Justine, this is Zoe Carpenter." "What do you want?" Justine asked. "To help you if you'd let us." "Why would you want to do that? For all I know you're working with Jeremiah Mathers and that hunter he's hired." Justine said tersely. "We could be but we're not and I think that you know that." "I know no such thing! Where have you been all of this time huh? Are you helping Jeremiah turn human women and then selling them?" "No, I'm not." Zoe replied calmly, "I was one of those turned, I told you that. I can see that we are going nowhere and that you don't trust me but I have someone here that you do trust." There was a few seconds of silence before a voice came on the line. "Justine?" ******** Jeremiah thought about the information that he had just received. He didn't like involving families in his business it was too messy and too much could go wrong. He looked at the photographs of Quinn's ex-wife and child noting how beautiful they were. Quinn had been a very lucky man who had let his addictions control and then destroy his life. Jeremiah had a rather unsettling thought, he and Quinn weren't' very different. He could still walk away from this, move his offices and start over but... He couldn't, he wouldn't. He would always wonder what would have happened if he didn't try. In many ways, he realized that Quinn though human was the better being, he was able to put his demons to rest before they killed him. True, he lost his wife and child but what did he get in return? A queen. It just wasn't right! What would a human male know about being a king? Jeremiah looked at the clock and then at the photo on his desk and came to a decision. ********* Mikhail stood in front of the home of Violet Rose Rhodes for a long time before deciding to formally announce his presence. He knew that she knew he was there but was waiting for him to state his intent. As he waited, Mikhail thought about his life as a hunter and of all that he had killed for pay. Many of them were the dregs of their race, killing and raping humans indiscriminately thus becoming a danger to their race as well. Those he deemed as a necessary to kill but he had never ever killed a woman with the exception of one and it still made him ill to think about it. That it was to protect a child, a human one at that didn't matter. The woman had been the child's mother and in a drug induced haze was going to drop the child off the top of their apartment building after she had beaten her. The woman was standing on the ledge of the building holding the child by her feet and muttering something about teaching the child how to fly. Horrified, Mikhail watched as the child was thrown from the building and he had a choice to make, the child or the mother who was tottering on the edge of the building. He chose the child. That child was now an adult with children and a family of her own. She was a fifth grade school teacher living in Baltimore, Maryland. He knew this because he monitored her out of guilt and a sense of responsibility. He always knew when the small family was in financial trouble and found a way of helping them without it leading back to him. Sometimes there would be a bank error in their favor or tickets to the movies would somehow be won. Her children would also be cared for as long as they were good, upstanding citizens of society, it helped to soothe his guilt just a little. He tried to remember the last time he had seen Violet Rhodes and found it hard to believe that it was just before human hunters tried to kill her husband Edward. Although civil to each other, he and Violet had never really gotten along and for that reason he stayed away from her but here he was standing in front of her home prepared to offer his assistance. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the button on the intercom and waited. ******* Amanda, Lana and the baby were cuddled on the couch together watching Cinderella for what had to be the hundredth time when the doorbell rang. Amanda looked at the clock and frowned before going to the door, it was past eight-thirty and too late for anyone to be at the door. "Stay there." she told Lana as she made her way to the door. She peeked through the peephole and saw a well-dressed man on the other side of the door. "Can I help you?" She called through the door. "Yes ma'am, I'm looking for Quinn O'Dell." "He doesn't live here." Amanda replied. "I know that ma'am but he has you listed as a contact person and well, we've been unable to reach him. Could you help me with that?" "Who are you?" Amanda asked. "My name is Jeremiah Mathers. Your husband, made you and your daughter beneficiaries of his life insurance and he forgot to sign a few papers." "We're not married anymore..." "My apologies, he did tell me that but he still wanted you and the child to be taken care of in the event of his death, could I please come in and show you where he needs to sign? It won't take long." Amanda's gut screamed "no" but the fact that Quinn would think of her and Amanda even though they weren't together made her less cautious and the man on the other side of the door did not look dangerous. ******* Jeremiah waited until dark to approach the house and then he vanished from his car to the front door. He had his story all worked out and knew just what buttons to push. Money was a problem, especially money for education; he did his homework on Amanda and Adam Lewis and knew that they were struggling. When she hesitated, he played his ace in the hole. "I forgot to mention that Quinn also has an account separate from the life insurance policies. He is very aware of the rising cost of education and wanted to help with that. Your daughter attends...." "Saint Mary's." Amanda volunteered. "Yes that's the one!" Jeremiah agreed amiably, "At any rate, he wants to help with the tuition payments and for that to happen I will need your signature." Amanda couldn't believe it! She and Adam had been trying to figure out a way to keep Lana in the small private Catholic school and with Quinn's help, they could. ****** Lana, never one to listen stood behind her mother as she talked to a man. Even though she couldn't see him, she didn't like him. He scared her. Trusting that her mother wouldn't do what she had warned her against, Lana didn't say anything. It wasn't until she heard the doorknob turn that she realized that her mother was going to let the man in. "Mama don't!" she screamed but it was too late, Jeremiah Mathers was in their home and he wasn't leaving until he found Quinn. Justine Ch. 08 "What do you want Mikhail?" Violet asked over the intercom, her voice cool. "I come to offer my services." He replied his tone just as cool. There was a surprised silence but the voice that came over the intercom remained cool. "What is your price?" Violet asked, "Or are you still working for Jeremiah Mathers?" Mikhail addressed the last question first. "I am no longer employed by Jeremiah Mathers, I left his employ when I found that he was less than honest with me and as for my fee, I am waiving it." There was another shocked silence. "Violet," Mikhail said, "I know that you don't trust me but if you remember anything about me you will remember that I do not lie even if it is to my advantage to do so. Time is getting short and I know that you must find Justine before Jeremiah does..." "What do you know of her?" Violet snapped cutting him off. "I know who and what she is." Mikhail replied. There was another pause before Violet spoke again. "There is one thing that I do know," Violet said, "and that is nothing is free so what is it that you want?" Mikhail sighed. This was going nowhere fast. "I only want to help you and her, is that so difficult to believe?" he asked. "Yes, it is." Violet replied, "But be that as it may, you may enter but understand something, if you come into my home and make one false move, your life will end. Do you understand?" "Yes my queen." Mikhail replied addressing her formally. He was entering her home and she was due all of the respect that he had for her which was considerable. He also knew that once he entered her home, he would be at her mercy. All of his gifts would be neutralized, whether she knew that he knew that he didn't know and it really didn't matter. In her home, he would be like a human and dead within seconds if he made a move toward her or anyone under her protection. The gate slowly swung open and he walked through it. Almost immediately, he felt the drain of his gifts as he walked toward the house. Once he left the house, they would return maybe stronger than before. One of the myths surrounding the queen was that if she deemed one worthy, she could accentuate the gifts already present or could grant a new one. He supposed that he would find out one way or another if the myth was true. Mikhail walked up to the door and waited for it to be opened. After several minutes, he was inside and following a young man to Violet's study. Mikhail had no idea of what to expect, the last time he had seen Violet she was young and quite beautiful with brown eyes and dark hair that fell past her waist. He knew that the reigning queen was suppose to gradually begin to age when they decided that they were ready to step down and that once the new queen was born or in Justine's case activated, the aging process sped up. The process would be reversed when they went to the realm of the queens before. He had no idea of when Violet decided to give up her reign or how long Justine had been on her radar so he prepared himself as best he could. The young man tapped on the door not opening it until he heard Violet speak. "Enter." The young man opened the door and stepped aside. When Mikhail was inside, the door closed softly. ******** Violet didn't trust Mikhail even though she knew that he may have been many things but a liar wasn't one of them. She had to be honest; the fact that he didn't want to be compensated for his services unnerved her. Mikhail was if nothing else was a mercenary selling his skills to the highest bidder but yet... The tap on the door distracted her; she smoothed her hair, stood and pushed the wheelchair out of the way. It was one thing to appear elderly and quite another to appear invalid. She smoothed down her blouse and straightened her skirt before she gave permission to enter. As she waited, she wondered if Mikhail was as handsome as she remembered. He had been the topic of many discussions and dreams of many young vampire females including her. In her mind's eye, she could still see him, tall, and blond- haired, blue eyed and devastatingly handsome and she wondered what he would think about her. She turned to face him and gave him a small rueful smile. He was every bit as handsome as she remembered if not more so. "Mikhail." "My queen." he replied with a bow. "You are as lovely as ever." he added meaning it. The waist length white hair and wrinkles did nothing to diminish her beauty but seemed to accentuate it. "I thank you for that." Violet replied. "Now, let's get down to business, why are you offering your services to us?" Mikhail started at the beginning and ended at what brought him to her doorstep. "Jeremiah knows who and what she is and if we don't find her and her mate first, he'll kill the male and mate with Justine." "Why does this concern you? And what is your stake in this?" Violet asked. "Violet," Mikhail said with a patience that he didn't feel, "we may have had our differences but I have always been your faithful servant as I intend to be for the next queen. You also know that I can't stand for someone to have an unfair advantage as Jeremiah Mathers does. I only wish to even the odds." "Do you know where she is?" Violet asked. "No, I don't but you stand a better chance of finding her with my help." Violet walked around the room for several minutes before replying. "And how do I know that your goal isn't the same as Jeremiah's?" she asked. "You only have my spoken word for it." Mikhail replied, "But if you wish to enter my mind, I won't stop you as a matter of fact, I am volunteering." Violet blinked. For Mikhail to make such an offer was no small thing. "You would do this?" she asked warily. "I made the offer didn't I?" Mikhail asked, "My mind is yours to explore at your will." Mikhail dropped to his knees and waited for Violet to make her decision. ******* Lana held on to the back of Amanda's shirt, her eyes wide with fear as Jeremiah stepped into the living room. "Mama?" she asked as she gripped the shirt tighter in her fist. Jeremiah looked at Amanda and then peeked around her to look at Lana. "My aren't you the pretty one!" he said in an attempt to win her over. "Your daddy must love you very much to make sure that you get a good education." Lana wasn't buying it and her fear only intensified when Jeremiah smiled at her. She swallowed hard, let go of her mother's shirt and went back to sit with the baby who had fallen asleep. "May I sit down?" Jeremiah asked. "Oh, sure." Amanda replied nervously. Some of Lana's nervousness had rubbed off on her and she found herself wishing that she hadn't let Jeremiah in. "You know what?" she asked, "My husband will be home in the morning, could you come back then?" "I'm sorry but I only work at night and I'm here already." Jeremiah replied with a false smile plastered on his face. "I know and I'm so sorry but I would like for you to leave." Amanda said as her feeling of unease grew. "Do you know where your ex husband is?" Jeremiah asked ignoring the request that he leave. "What? No, I haven't seen Quinn for a few weeks." Amanda replied. "Does he have a cell phone number?" Jeremiah asked. "Yes but... I thought that you said that you had it." "I said that I couldn't reach him." Jeremiah said. He had tried to find a number for Quinn but only found a home number. He found it hard to believe that given the type of work that Quinn did that he didn't have a cell phone. It came to him that he must have had a prepaid cell phone, one that was untraceable and required no contact. "Amanda, may I call you Amanda?" Jeremiah asked the now frightened woman. "I know that you have a way of reaching Quinn and if you wish me to leave, you'll give me that number." He had no intentions of leaving but there was no point in telling her that until after he got the information he needed. When Amanda didn't reply, he looked over at Lana and the sleeping baby, smiled but didn't say anything; he didn't have to. Amanda followed Jeremiah's gaze and turned back to him. "Who are you?" she asked thinking that he had to be someone that Quinn still owed money. "I told you, I'm Quinn's attorney..." "No you aren't." Amanda interrupted, "Does he owe you money or something?" "Or something." Jeremiah replied quickly running out of patience. "Amanda, look at me." Amanda tried not to look at Jeremiah but couldn't help herself. "Good, now tell me how to reach Quinn." "I..." "It would be such a tragedy if something happened to those beautiful children of yours." Jeremiah said as he gave another mental push. Tears ran down Amanda's face as she thought about her options. "If I give you the number, will you leave us alone?" "Give me the fucking number!" Jeremiah hissed glaring at Amanda. "I...555-219-0017! Now please leave! We're not involved with Quinn and whatever it is he's mixed up in." "Go sit with your children and don't try to run." Jeremiah said, "You won't make it and it would be such a shame to have to hurt one of you." Amanda moved over to the sofa and gathered both girls into her arms with her eyes glued on Jeremiah. He hadn't moved but his intent was clear. As Amanda settled in on the sofa, she silently cursed Quinn in a way that she hadn't since they were married. ******* "Pam? Where are you? Are you alright?" Justine asked. "I'm fine... Justine listen to me." Pam said softly, "I know that a lot's been happening and you don't know who to trust but you have to trust Zoe." "No, I don't Justine replied." "Do you trust me?" Pam asked. "Yes of course but...." "Then you can trust Zoe, she has some things to tell you and she can help you." "She could be lying...." "Justine, she isn't. You have to let us help you." Justine closed her eyes and listened to the sound and inflections of Pam's voice. "Alright, you're not lying now let me speak to Zoe." "Yes Justine?" Zoe asked in a soft voice. "What the hell is going on here?" Justine demanded, "and you had better not be lying." she added "Justine....." Then the line went dead. ******* Quinn had forgotten about his cell phone until he heard it buzzing from the outside pocket of his bag. He frowned at the sound, very few people had his number and those included Mrs. Rhodes and Amanda. Amanda had only called him twice and both times, it had something to do with Lana. He took the phone out the pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was Amanda's number. "Amanda?" he asked not bothering to say hello. "Hello Quinn." a deep masculine voice said. Quinn froze; he knew that the voice didn't belong to Amanda's husband. "Who is this?" he asked, "and where are Amanda and the girls?" "Let's address your concerns first shall we?" Jeremiah said, "Your ex wife and the children are safe... for the moment but how long it stays that way depends on you." Quinn's breath caught in his throat as he tried to remember if there was anyone from his past that he left unpaid. "What do you want?" Quinn asked. "Just one, no two things... you and Justine Graves." "Jeremiah Mathers." Quinn said more to himself than to Jeremiah. "At your service." Jeremiah replied smugly. "Leave them alone, they haven't done anything to you!" "Blah, blah, blah," Jeremiah replied, "So cliché but you do happen to be correct, they haven't done anything to me which is what will make what happens to them so tragic." "Let them go and I'll meet you." Quinn replied. "Not just you but the Justine as well or there's no deal." Quinn closed his eyes and then slowly opened them; a cold rage had taken over. This man was holding his ex wife and their daughter not to mention another child hostage and would hurt them if he didn't do as he said. "We'll be there." Quinn said coldly and then threw the phone as hard as he could against a wall. ****** Buddy and Justine came into the room to see what the commotion was. "Quinn?" Justine asked, "What's happening?" Quinn turned to face her, his green/hazel eyes glittering with anger. "That son of a bitch has my ex wife and the kids!" "Who.... Oh shit! Jeremiah Mathers." Justine breathed. "He wants the both of us or else he's going to hurt them and he meant it, I could hear it in his voice." Quinn said. "Justine just who the fuck is this guy and don't tell me that he's a lawyer that you used to work for and what the fuck does he want with you?" "Quinn, I'm sorry about your ex and the children but I really don't know why he wants us so badly....." "We'd better damn well find out!" Quinn snapped glaring at Justine. "Tell me something, this Jeremiah Mathers, is he human?" "No, he's a vampire who was turning human women into vampires and then selling them to other vampires." "Is that what happened to you?" Quinn asked. "Not exactly, I was supposed to have been killed and my friend Pam was the one who was to be sold." "That even makes my point even more valid," Quinn said. "Why is he after us? There has to be more to it than the fact that you didn't die and you knew what he was doing. It doesn't make sense! Think Justine, what could he possibly want with us?" "I don't know but I think I know who does." ******* Zoe wondered what happened on the other end of the line and tried to call back. Her first thought was that Jeremiah and his goons found them but then she relaxed a little. So far, Justine's gifts appeared when she needed them the most and if Jeremiah were there, she would be able to escape. She tense again when she remembered that Justine had Quinn with her. "Where would she go?" she asked Pam. "I don't know.... Maybe my apartment? But that wouldn't make sense because it's probably being watched. Zoe tapped her fingers on the desk, "Maybe but maybe not." she replied. "She has to be running out of places to go...." "She's going to make a stand." Pam said softly. "Something is going to happen where she's going to make a stand and force Jeremiah's hand." "She can't!" Zoe exclaimed. "Why not?" Pam asked, "You said that she was the queen..." "Yes but Quinn is still human! Don't you get it? If Jeremiah gets his hands on Quinn he'll do one of two things, he'll use him to get Justine to make him king instead of Quinn or he'll kill him and force Justine to mate with him and he won't care how he does it." "But she's strong right? He couldn't make her mate with him." Pam said her voice filled with anxiety. "She's strong but Pam, if Jeremiah had help he could pull it off and become king. If he kills Quinn, Justine would want to die and Jeremiah wouldn't stop her." "There's more to it than that." a quiet voice said from behind them. ********* "Mr. Mathers." Amanda said quietly, "I don't know how much money Quinn owes you but we have some money that I can give you if you'll just leave." "Quinn owes me nothing." Jeremiah said, "He has something that I want." "Then go get it! We have nothing to do with whatever Quinn's into." Amanda replied hugging the girls closer to her. "I am well aware of that and believe me when I say that I regret that it came to this." "Then let us go, at least the girls..." "Mama...' "Shush Lana," Amanda said softly, "let the girls go to the neighbors and I'll stay here with you." Jeremiah pretended to be considering her request even though he had no real intentions of honoring it. He waited for five minutes before responding. "As much as I would like to honor your request, I can't. Now please sit back and relax. As long as Quinn does what is required of him then all will be well." Jeremiah gave Amanda a cold look when she opened her mouth to speak. Lana looked at Jeremiah and snuggled closer to her mother and sister. She knew that he didn't feel bad about what he was doing and even liked it. Tears ran down her face as she realized that this man was going to hurt her father and the woman that he was supposed to bring with him. ******* Jeremiah stood up, stretched and looked through the refrigerator noting that there wasn't much in it. Something about seeing the mostly empty fridge triggered a memory from centuries ago. They were starving, all of them. Somehow, they had been found out and everyone who was able to walk combed the streets of the small town that they lived in looking for Jeremiah, his brother and the parents. They hid in the cellar during the day with plans to slip away that evening. Their stomachs growled and burned with hunger and if they didn't feed soon.... He remembered thinking how he hated being poor and thinking that if they had money this wouldn't be happening. They would have been living in a house far away from the town and if by some chance they were discovered, there would have been secret rooms that they could have hidden in until it was safe to leave. As it was, the only place to hide was the dank root cellar and no way to get to the nourishment that they needed. It was during that siege and that was how Jeremiah saw it, he made a decision; never again would he be in this position. Never again would he be hungry. It was at that point in his thoughts that he realized why he was never satisfied with what he had. He softly closed the refrigerator door and joined Amanda and the girls in the living room. The baby was now awake and crying, the sound grating on Jeremiah's ears. "What's wrong with her?" he asked impatiently. "She's scared." Lana replied. "She needs to be fed and changed." Amanda replied. 'Will that shut her up?" Jeremiah asked as the baby's cries got louder and shriller. "yes." "Then do it." Jeremiah said sharply. Before Amanda turned away, Jeremiah spoke. "You will tend to the child and come right back, the other one stays here." Lana started to object, "But..." "Quiet." Jeremiah said softly before Lana could finish her sentence." He looked back at Amanda, "Go." Amanda stood up, holding the baby close to her shuddering as Jeremiah watched her. The word predator popped into her head as she headed first to the spare bathroom where she always kept supplies for the baby. As she quickly changed the baby, Amanda tried to think of a way to get the girls out of the house and kept hitting a brick wall. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw Jeremiah sitting on the sofa next to Lana. Lana had squeezed herself as far into the corner of the sofa as she could and was whimpering. "Get away from her!" Amanda hissed. Jeremiah's head snapped up toward the sound of Amanda's voice. "I said get away from her!" Amanda demanded, her fear gone erased by the concern for Lana. Jeremiah stood in one fluid movement and walked toward Amanda. ********* "Alright Mikhail." Violet said. "Your assistance is accepted." Mikhail bowed again and headed for the door, he had a good idea of where Jeremiah was. "Where are you going?" Violet asked. "To find Jeremiah." Mikhail replied. "Do you know where he is?" "I believe so and I must hurry." Mikhail said as he walked out of the study and out of the house. As soon as he was outdoors, he felt his gifts begin to trickle back into him, by the time he was through the gate, they had all returned. There were no new ones and the old ones didn't feel any different to him. "So much for that myth." he murmured as he vanished from the front of the house to Jeremiah's office. As he suspected, Jeremiah wasn't there. Mikhail looked at Jeremiah's desk noting how disorderly it was. He knew that Jeremiah was meticulous and the disarray told him that Jeremiah was in a hurry. He took the time to look at the papers on the desk and within moments, he knew where Jeremiah had gone. "Damn it!" he swore not believing but believing that Jeremiah had gotten so desperate that he was going to use a woman and her children to get to Justine and Quinn. Within seconds, he was back at his penthouse and was changed into his hunting clothes. Justine Ch. 08 Dressed in black from head to toe, Mikhail began to arm himself. He was fully prepared to kill Jeremiah to protect the human woman and her children as well as Justine and Quinn. It surprised him that Jeremiah would go through such lengths to become king and wondered if he knew how it would end. He suspected not, because if he did, Mikhail doubted that he would still be after Justine. ****** "What do you mean there's more to it than that?" Pam asked "Exactly what I said." Violet replies, "You must be Pam." "Who are you?" Pam asked. "Pam, this is Mrs. Violet Rhodes, she owns this house and she is our currant queen." Pam blushed and apologized. "I'm sorry; I meant no disrespect and thank you for giving us a place to stay." "You are very welcome and no offense was taken." Violet replied. "Have you spoken with Justine?" "Briefly." Zoe replied. "She hung up on me but I think that something was happening." "I've sent Mikhail after her." Violet said in a voice that dared anyone to argue with her. "Isn't he the assassin?" Pam asked not knowing or caring about vampire etiquette. "Yes he is but he has offered his services." Violet replied. "And I will hear no more of it!" she snapped stopping Pam from arguing with her. "There is something that Jeremiah must not be aware of, if he should succeed in taking Justine, he will be in for a very nasty surprise- remember the sayings beware of what you wish for? Or king for a day?" "Can he kill her?" Pam asked. "There is a way to kill all of us." Violet replied. "I don't understand!" Pam explained, "she's your replacement but you're not really doing anything to bring her here and don't tell me that you didn't know where she was because if you did you'd be lying..." "Silence!" Violet said. "I know that you are concerned about Justine as we all are but that doesn't give you license to be rude." Violet said her eyes flashing in warning. "I am your queen whether you chose me or not and I expect the respect due me." "Yes ma'am." Pam replied her face red from embarrassment. "Good, now that we understand each other," Violet continued, "if Quinn dies..." "I get it!" Pam snapped once again forgetting who she was talking to, "but what aren't you saying?" Zoe and Violet looked at each other. "I don't owe you any explanations!" Violet said angrily. "The hell you don't!" Pam retorted, "Justine is like a sister to me so start talking!" Before Pam knew what was happening, Violet had her hands around her neck. "My Queen!" Zoe exclaimed. Violet ignored her but slightly released the pressure around Pam's neck. "Listen to me and listen well!" Violet hissed, "I am not one of your girlfriends that you can speak to me in such a manner. As long as I am queen, you will speak to me with nothing but respect. You will accept whatever information I give you and you will not ask for more! Do you understand?" "Yes!" Pam squeaked out. Violet dropped Pam to the floor and walked out. "She's nuts!" Pam exclaimed. Zoe didn't disagree; the Violet she knew wouldn't have done what she just did. She may have voiced her disapproval but she never would have raised her hand to a newborn. They had to find Justine and get her to the house quickly. If Violet had to remain queen until another queen came along... Zoe looked at the clock; they had sixteen hours left in which to convince Justine that she needed to come to them. ******** Jeremiah stood in front of Amanda and glared down at her. He could smell her fear even though she fought to hide it. "What were you doing to her?" Amanda asked as she held on tighter to the baby. Jeremiah reveled in her fear. He had forgotten what it felt like to feel the naked fear of a human, that's what he had been doing with the girl. He has been bathing in her fear and this human thought that he was going to molest her. "I am not a pervert!" he said as he stepped even closer and took a deep breath inhaling Amanda's fear laced scent. Had he been a much younger vampire, he wouldn't have been able to resist but he wasn't and there was no reason for him to allow himself to lose control. He was about to step back when the baby suddenly wriggled in Amanda's arms and reached for him. Horrified, Jeremiah stepped back and looked at the baby whose arms were still stretched out toward him. "Sit down and don't speak." Jeremiah commanded. Amanda gasped as she moved to the sofa and sat next to Lana who was paralyzed with fear. She didn't want to sit down; she wanted to promise the sun, moon and the stars to this man if he would only let the girls go. "I know what you're thinking about." Jeremiah said, "Don't waste your time, I only want two things and they aren't here yet." Jeremiah wondered where they were. He had expected them to rush over without thinking which would have been to his advantage. He wondered if they had mated yet, it they did... He couldn't have he realized, he would have known it. Every vampire no matter where they were would have felt the changing of the queens. He still had a chance. Another thought occurred to Jeremiah, if he killed Quinn, Justine would kill herself even if they hadn't mated. If she claimed him verbally and he accepted, that was almost as good as the mating and if that happened... "Shit!" he swore as he realized that if Justine died, Violet would remain the reigning queen until a new queen came along. If that happened, he would be hunted down and before Violet. He shuddered at the things that she could and would do to him. She would keep him alive for as long as she remained in power and that could be for centuries. "Leave!" he told himself. However, he wouldn't, in his mind he had nothing left to lose and everything to gain. Once again, he wondered where Quinn and Justine were. He didn't believe for one second that Quinn would allow his ex-wife and two children to suffer, "where are you?" he whispered. ******* Mikhail found Jeremiah's car parked down the street from where Amanda Adams lived. The problem was going to be getting inside of the house. Jeremiah wouldn't be so stupid as to come out and he was sure that the woman wouldn't invite another strange man indoors even if Jeremiah let her answer the door. It was a mistake that she would never make again becoming almost manic about it. Mikhail vanished to the front of Amanda's house and debated his next move. He didn't need to tell Jeremiah that he was there, he already knew. He took out his cell phone, dialed Jeremiah's number, and was surprised when he actually answered the phone. "What do you want Mikhail?" he asked. "Since when do we involve innocents in our affairs?" Mikhail asked. "I had no choice!" Jeremiah replied. "There is always a choice." Mikhail replied, "You have the choice of letting them go. You have the choice of placing yourself at the mercy of the queen...." "She'll kill me and you know it!" Jeremiah interrupted. "Maybe, but maybe not but if you continue with this you will die whether it's by my hand, the queen's of Justine's. I am prepared to make you a one time offer....." "Fuck you Mikhail! Do you really think that I don't know what's happening here? You'll kill me and then Quinn O'Dell and take Justine for yourself." "That isn't true." Mikhail replied, "I just want everyone to come out of this in one piece primarily the innocents, they have nothing to do with this. Once the queen here's of this....." "Exactly.... So tell me Mikhail, what do I have to lose?" Jeremiah asked and hung up. Mikhail relaxed slightly, the humans were safe for the moment but that could change at any time. He considered telling Jeremiah that even if he mated with the queen, his reign, as king would be short lived-if the story was to be believed. After thinking about it, he believed the story, so far, everything else in the story had happened so Jeremiah was right, he really had nothing to lose by continuing. He was going to die no matter what he did the question was who was going to be the one to do it? ******** "What did she mean when she said that's there's more to it than that?" Pam asked massaging her neck. "I have no idea but Pam she could have killed you." Zoe replied worriedly. "But she didn't." Pam replied. "She's at a very fragile point right now, don't push her, as a matter of fact; keep your mouth shut whenever she's around." Zoe advised. "What? I'm just supposed to sit here and not say anything? If you think that I'm going to do that you're just as nuts as she is!" "Try calling Justine back." Zoe said ignoring Pam's outburst, "see if she'll tell you what her plan is." ********* "Call whoever you need to call so that we can figure this thing out." Quinn said. Justine found herself impressed by a few things, one, Quinn didn't just go running out of the door. The second thing was how calm he was and how logically he was thinking. She didn't think that she would be as calm if it was her own family... "What in the hell am I supposed to tell them?" she muttered under her breath. In all of this, she hadn't taken the time to think about how her vampirism would affect them. They absolutely couldn't know but how would she explain the not aging thing? In addition, how could she live through watching her family die of old age and disease? Quinn she decided, he would help her through that. Which brought up another question... he was human so how did that work? "Justine?" Quinn called worriedly. "What?" "I was asking if you're going to call whoever it is that can give us some answers." "Yes, I'm going to call.... Quinn, I'm sorry that your ex and child are in the middle of this." "It isn't your fault but I promise you this, the son of a bitch who has them is going to wish he had killed himself." Justine blinked, she knew that Quinn was strong but there was a.... she searched for the word to describe what she was seeing. A warrior! There was a warrior buried deep inside of her King... King? Why that word she wondered and if he was her king... Her cell phone rang before she could complete the thought. "Justine? It's me, Pam. We really need to talk..." "Pam, I don't have time right now, I'll call you when I can." "Justine! Wait!" But she had already hung up. ******* "What did she say?" Zoe asked anxiously. "That she couldn't talk right now and that she was going to call when she could." Pam replied. Violet stood outside of the door listening. She felt horrible at the way she had acted and being upset about the possibility of remaining queen was no excuse. She took a deep breath and walked into the room. Both women looked at her but only Zoe spoke. "Pam just spoke to Justine." "And?" "She didn't have time to talk but will all later. Frankly, I'm concerned." "As am I." Violet replied softly as she turned to Pam. "Pam, I owe you an apology. I am sorry for the way that I acted toward you. Justine is your friend and you have every right to ask questions. I sometime forget how humans can be so impulsive and inquisitive and yes, I am aware that you aren't human but you do not know the ways of this world yet. I humbly ask your forgiveness for my behavior." Pam was speechless. She was getting an apology? And from a queen to boot? "It's alright and I do kind of let my mouth get ahead of me sometimes... apology accepted." "I thank you for that, now where do you suppose Justine is?" Violet asked now back in full control of herself. "The only place that I can think of is my apartment but it's probably being watched." Pam replied. "Our Justine has gifts that would override any security system and get her past any sentries." Violet replied, "I think that you should go there... Zoe, go with her." Violet watched as they left the room and began to resign herself to spending several more centuries in this world. "I'm so sorry Edward." she murmured softly as a tear ran down her face. She began to wonder if the arrow that laid so close to his heart had disintegrated. If she had him by her side, she could stay and be relatively happy about it but she wanted this to be done. Time was racing by. ******* "Do you know how to teleport?" Zoe asked Pam. "I did it once and it took me awhile." Pam replied honestly. "We'll have to drive then, how far is your apartment from here?" Pam asked as she grabbed her purse on the way out. "Not sure... forty-five minutes maybe?" "Then we'd better get moving, call Justine and see if she'll answer the phone." Zoe said as she unlocked the car doors of a deep purple Lamborghini Diablo. "Pam's mouth fell open as she looked at the car. "Damn girl!" she exclaimed enviously. "It is a gift from the queen, now get in we have to go." Pam got into the car and settled back into the plush black leather seats. "I have got to get one of these." she muttered as they took off with tires squealing. ******* Justine's phone rang again and she answered it with an impatient hello. "Pam? Yes I'm here, where are you? I'll wait." "Who was that?" Quinn asked. "My friend Pam, she and Zoe Carpenter are on their way here." "Do you trust them?" he asked. "I trust Pam with my life and if she trusts Zoe then that's good enough for me and besides, I knew Zoe from the law firm." Justine replied. "People change." Quinn replied. "I know that and she has changed but for the better." Justine replied, "I think that she can tell us what we need to know." Quinn looked at the clock and decided to call Amanda's house, if Jeremiah answered, he would demand to speak with Amanda. "What are you doing?" Justine asked when Quinn picked up the phone. "I'm calling Amanda's house, I need to know that her and the girls are alright and besides, Jeremiah has got to be wondering why we aren't there yet. At least I would be if I was in his position." Quinn replied. Justine gave it some thought, Quinn was right. Jeremiah had to be wondering and possibly become more dangerous to his hostages if he didn't hear from them. She nodded her agreement and sat back to wait while Quinn made the call. ******* "Where in hell are you?" Jeremiah asked no one in particular. He was becoming antsy. Maybe he had overestimated the regard in which Quinn seemed to hold his ex wife and child. On the other hand, he thought, maybe they didn't believe that he would hurt an innocent. But he would, even if he didn't want to, he would hurt one of them... the daughter he decided. "Come here." he compelled Lana. He could see her struggle not to obey the command and he could see Amanda trying to hold her back. "Come here now!" he said impatiently and watched as Lana made her way toward him. When she was standing in front of him, he looked down at her. "Why hasn't your daddy come yet?" he asked not really expecting an answer. "I don't know." Lana replied softly. She was in fact, wondering the same thing." "He must be afraid." Jeremiah said softly. "No he isn't!" Lana screamed in defense of a father that she barely knew. "So where is he?" Jeremiah asked again. Amanda watched helplessly as Jeremiah psychologically tortured her child. She was now regretting telling Lana about Quinn but she had the right to know who it was that came to see them that night. She then realized that it would have changed nothing. This man would still be here threatening her and her daughters. Tears ran down her face as she listened to Lana jump to Quinn's defense. She felt shame as she agreed with Jeremiah, Quinn hauled ass and left her and her children in danger. An anger that she hadn't felt in years rose in her that he would do this to them. She kicked herself for actually believing that he had changed, apparently he hadn't. A drug dealer was in their home looking for him and some woman. The clanging of the telephone ringing made all of them jump. Amanda stole a peek at the clock; Adam would be taking lunch break about now and would be calling. "Who calls this late at night?" Jeremiah asked, "Speak." he commanded. "My... my husband, he always calls on his lunch break." "Answer it and get off of the phone quickly." Amanda practically ran to the phone snatching it from its cradle. She stole a look at Jeremiah and saw that he had a hand on Lana's shoulder. She tried to sound natural as she spoke with Adam. "I'm fine, yes the girls are too, and we watched Cinderella again.... I agree, alright, have a good rest of your shift, we love you." Satisfied that she hadn't give anything away, Jeremiah removed his hand from Lana's shoulder and gave her a shove. "Get back over there and don't move." he commanded. Amanda had barely sat down when the phone rang again startling her. She didn't think that it was Adam unless he forgot to tell her something. "Answer it." Jeremiah said. Amanda handed the baby over to Lana and went to the phone. "Hello?" ********* Quinn groaned in frustration when he called and got a busy signal. He hung up waited a few minutes and tried again relieved when he heard Amanda's voice on the line. "Amanda....." "What have you done?" Amanda cried into the phone, "One of your drug dealing friends....." "Where in the hell are you?" Jeremiah asked after snatching the phone from Amanda, "I would have thought that you'd be here by now." "Before I say any more to you, I want to talk to Lana and Amanda." Quinn replied. There wasn't a trace of nerves or fear in his voice as he made his demand. "We talk first and then we'll see." Jeremiah replied. Quinn took a deep breath and decided to take a risk. "Good bye ass hole." he said and hung up. Justine watched and listened with pride. She understood how hard it must have been for him but like him, she knew that he couldn't show any fear whatsoever. It was their best chance of getting Amanda and the girls out of the house alive. ******** Jeremiah stared at the phone in disbelief he hadn't foreseen this. He thought that Quinn would be willing to do anything to speak with his wife and daughter, and what was that he heard in Quinn's voice? He had only spoken to him once before and what he had just heard hadn't been there. Not only was there no trace of fear or at the very least anxiety that Jeremiah had anticipated, there was strength. He had been strong but this was different, added to that strength was the anger of a father whose child was in danger. There was also calmness that unsettled Jeremiah. Without his even knowing it, Quinn was growing into his role as Justine's king. ******* Mikhail sat on the porch of the house and waited. There had to be a way of getting into the house without being invited or some way of getting Jeremiah to come outside but the way escaped him. Even if the little girl came to the window, he could compel her to let him in but them Jeremiah might harm her in the process. He tensed when he felt Jeremiah searching for and locating him. Mikhail hoped that his presence would be enough to keep Jeremiah from doing anything rash. "Jeremiah," Mikhail said softly, "end this now, come out before an innocent gets hurt." He wasn't surprised when there was no response; Jeremiah was going to play this out until the bitter end. ******* "Justine! It Zoe and me! Open up!" Pam called through the door. Justine looked at Buddy who was sitting by the door, his tail wagging excitedly. She opened the door, grabbed Pam pulling her inside and hugged her. "Are you alright?" she asked stepping back and examining her from head to toe, "You're not hurt or...." "Justine, I'm fine! Better than fine, this vampire stuff is pretty damned cool." "Hello Justine." Zoe said softly. "I hate to rush the reunion with your friend but we have things to talk about...." "It will have to wait; Jeremiah Mathers is holding Quinn's ex-wife and two children hostage." Justine Ch. 08 "He's involved innocents?" Zoe asked. "Yes and he wants me and Quinn in exchange for them." Justine replied. "You're seriously considering this?" Zoe asked incredulous. "What are we supposed to do? Let him kill them or worse yet sell them to the highest bidder?" Justine snapped. "Of course not!" Zoe retorted, "You forget, I know what Jeremiah Mathers is but you don't know what's at stake if you turn yourself over to him." "Whatever it is, it's not worth the lives of a woman and two children." Justine replied. Quinn watched and listened from a corner of the room. Time was racing by and he was getting impatient. "Look," he said as he stepped toward the three women. "I don't profess to understand everything that's going on and at this point in time, I really don't care. The only thing that concerns me right now is my ex wife and the two children with her. Now, I'm leaving and if you're coming with me then let's go, if not then stay the fuck out of my way." "Yes, sire." Zoe replied before she could stop herself. Quinn in his haste to get going didn't notice but Justine did. Quinn, she realized was right, now wasn't the time to try to understand what was happening. "How did you get here?" Justine asked. "Zoe drove us here in this totally badass car and..." "Meet us at this address." Quinn said cutting Pam off and handing her a piece of paper. He walked over to Justine and wrapped his arms around her, "let's go." He said and seconds later, they and Buddy were gone leaving Pam and Zoe alone in the apartment. "Very, very cool!" Pam breathed as she followed Zoe out of the door. ********* Violet paced restlessly holding the picture of Edward to her chest. The physician had just finished examining Edward and she was waiting for the report. "The arrow is disintegrating but not as quickly as I had hoped." "How much longer?" she asked. "Another century at least." he replied, "But that could change." he added. "How?" Violet asked. "The new queen, she will have the ability to remove it without causing Edward's permanent death." Violet sighed, yet another thing that depended on Justine's survival. She whispered a silent prayer that Pam and Zoe would be able to convince her to come with them. ******** Mikhail tensed when he felt the arrival of another vampire and a human. "Finally." he thought to himself as she waited for them to make themselves known. "I get to meet the woman that every vampire, werewolf and human under vampire employ had been looking for" As he waited, he wondered what she planned to do and if she knew who and what she was. Like Jeremiah, he knew that they hadn't mated. For one, Violet was still here and for two, he would have known. He erred on the side of caution and decided not to address her as "my queen" he would do the same for the male. "Mikhail." Justine said softly not even bothering to wonder about how she knew his name and what he was. "Justine," He replied politely, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you." "This is Quinn, my mate, Quinn, this is Mikhail one of those who was looking for me and now us." Quinn and Mikhail looked at each other sizing each other up before speaking. "A pleasure to meet you." Mikhail said with a nod of his head. "Yeah, you too, what are you doing here?" Quinn asked. Mikhail liked him and his no nonsense approach. "I am here to help." he replied. "I have been trying to figure out a way to get into the home without being invited." "I don't need an invitation." Quinn said. "Yes but you are human and Jeremiah will tear you apart." Mikhail said. "Maybe, but I'm not going to just sit here while you all twiddle your thumbs and try to figure a way in." he replied. Mikhail tensed, "who else is here?" he asked. "Friends." Justine replied and then turned to Quinn, "what are you thinking?" she asked. ******** Zoe parked the car several blocks away from Amanda's house and warded it before they rushed to where the others were waiting. As soon as Zoe spotted Mikhail, she stopped dead in her tracks and then made herself move. This wasn't the time to moon over the fact that she had just found her mate and judging from his reaction, he was thinking the same thing. The only acknowledgement she received was a brief flashing of Mikhail's eyes that flashed black and then went back to blue. In that brief second, Zoe knew that she had been claimed. "So what's the plan?" Pam asked. "Quinn is the only one that can go in uninvited." Justine said, "And before you start objecting, we know that it's dangerous but there isn't any other way to get in there." "You can't be serious!" Zoe exclaimed, "We can't risk his life!" "I'll be with him." Justine said taking Quinn's hand. "As soon as Jeremiah comes to the door, I'll grab him and...." "You can't do this! Let Mikhail go with him." Zoe suggested. "It won't work, he wants Justine and me." Quinn replied, "So let's stop debating and get on with it." A few minutes later, Quinn was standing at the front door, waiting for someone to answer it. Justine Ch. 09 Violet paced the length of her room several times before finally stopping to look out into the courtyard that she couldn't enjoy in the daylight. The indoor garden was going to be her gift to the incoming queen but it looked like she was going to be the one to enjoy it instead. She warned herself not to fall into melancholy; it would suit no purpose other than to make her extended time here more painful. Of course, there was always the chance that Justine would prevail; she had already overcome obstacles that she wasn't sure that she could have overcome herself. From the beginning, she wanted to help Justine but the rules prohibited it, Justine as every queen before her had to prove herself and she was beginning to look like the strongest queen yet. Violet looked wistfully at the dress that she had chosen to wear for her reunion with Edward and started to put it away. She picked it up, looked at it and laid it back on the bed. To put it away was the equivalent of saying that she had no faith in Justine and that wasn't true. She wondered what the previous queens were thinking as they watched the events as they unfolded. Were they in support of Justine and her king or were they hoping that she would fail? If she failed, it would be the first time in known history that it happened and she- Violet would have to remain until another queen rose. Violet walked away from the window after saying a silent prayer that Justine was successful and not just because she was tired, she wanted her Edward back. She missed making love with him and although she as queen could have taken lovers, she never did. She wanted to go before her king and be able to tell him that she remained loyal to him in every way in his absence. She really hadn't given too much thought about the physical part of their relationship until Justine appeared. It was something that she pushed to the back of her mind... they were so close to being together again, so damned close. Her thoughts turned toward Mikhail. While she still didn't trust him, she didn't think that she had much choice in allowing him to help. At least she knew where he was and he hadn't lied about hating unfairness. On more than one occasion much to the chagrin of his employer, he had temporarily switched sides to even the odds. A part of her wanted to go see what was happening, all she had to do was.... "no." she murmured, she would sit and wait just as all those before her had. ******* Jeremiah glared at Amanda when the baby started crying yet again. "Shut that brat up!" he snapped as he released Amanda from the compulsion to sit still and to remain quiet. "Stop yelling at her!" Amanda replied angrily her nerves frayed. "Just shut her up!" Jeremiah snapped as he turned away. "I want Lana to come with me; she probably needs to use the bathroom." "No, she stays." Jeremiah replied. "Lana, come with mommy." Amanda said ignoring Jeremiah. When Lana didn't move or give any indication that she heard her, Amanda tried again. "Lana, come with me." Amanda looked at Jeremiah and then back at Lana. Lana had been quiet but Amanda assumed that it was because of fear but now she wasn't so sure. She looked alright but a little dazed and pale. "Lana? Honey?" Jeremiah watched as Amanda tried to elicit a response from the girl and then turned away. A part of him hated what he was doing but he had managed to convince himself that he had no choice. "What did you do to her you son of a bitch?" Amanda whispered, "What did you give her?" "I gave her nothing." Jeremiah replied not bothering to turn around to answer her. "Then why won't she talk or move? What in the fuck did you do to my baby?" Amanda asked her voice shrill with anxiety. "I told you...." Jeremiah bellowed in pain as a heavy object of some kind smashed into the back of his head. Out of reflex, anger and pain he flew across the room faster than Amanda thought possible and grabbed her by both arms. Amanda let out a scream that she hoped would attract the neighbors and that someone would think to call the police and Adam. "You bitch!" Jeremiah swore as he slapped Amanda across the face unaware that his true face was showing. "Oh my god!" Amanda whispered as she looked into Jeremiah's face that was filled with anger, his eyes were dark and flashing ominously. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed in a voice no longer filled with anger but fear when she saw the fangs slowly descend. "Oh my....." "Shut the fuck up!" Jeremiah commanded, "and you too!" he said glaring at the squalling baby. "Sit down and don't you dare move from that spot!" he said pointing to the empty spot next to Lana trying hard to ignore thin trickle of blood that was making it's way down Amanda's chin. The scent of it combined with her fear made his stomach rumble with hunger and his loins burn with desire. The combination of blood and fear had always been the ultimate aphrodisiac for him, which was why he never broke in the merchandise himself. On more than one occasion, he had to give a vampire their money back and find a replacement because he had a hard time controlling himself. Moreover, if he touched this human woman, he would kill her and then all bets were definitely off. He stomped out of the living room and went to the kitchen, found a washcloth, wet it and carried it back to Amanda. "Wash your face." he said as he threw the wet cloth at her. His stomach still rumbled but he was in better control now that the scent of blood had diminished. One thing was clear, this had to end soon or the woman and the two children would become dinner. "Where in the fuck are you?" he asked aloud and then he froze, someone other than Mikhail was here. ******* Justine, Quinn and Mikhail tensed when they heard Jeremiah's bellow of pain and anger. Quinn ran for the door but Mikhail stopped him. "Get your damned hands off of me!" Quinn said as he struggled to break free of Mikhail's grip. Mikhail ignored him and held him fast. "They're fine!" he assured Quinn, "its Jeremiah that's hurt!" "He'll kill them!" Quinn replied as he doubled his efforts to break free of Jeremiah's grip. "If he does it will be because we've acted rashly." Mikhail said, "Now calm yourself and let's come up with a plan." Justine walked over to Quinn, she understood how he must have felt but Mikhail was right. "Quinn, he's right." she said, "We have to think this through." Quinn looked at Justine and nodded. "Let me go." he said to Mikhail, "I'm calm." Mikhail slowly released Quinn ready to grab him again in case he decided to make a run for the house. Several minutes later they came up with the only plan that they could come up with, Quinn had to be the one to go into the house. Zoe objected but couldn't come up with a better idea although she was tempted to tell Justine that the humans inside were collateral damage. She kept her mouth shut because she already knew what the response would be from both her and Quinn- an unequivocal no. Justine tried to assure Zoe that she would be with Quinn and as soon as he was in the door, he would invite them in but Zoe was far from reassured. "Too much can go wrong!" Zoe argued, "Quinn could be dead before he got the first word out." "There is something that you're not aware of." Mikhail said, "We have a slight advantage in that Jeremiah cannot sense the q.... Justine. If she is with Quinn then he won't be able to sense him either." "And what happens if he does? He grabs Justine and takes off for parts unknown until he mates with her!" Zoe exclaimed. "There is that possibility but....." "Everyone just shut the hell up!" Quinn roared, "Time is running out! Does anyone even know when the bastard last fed? And correct me if I'm wrong but isn't fear a turn on for you guys?" The group fell silent, Quinn they realized was right. If Jeremiah hadn't fed and if the humans were afraid which was a given, then the situation was even more dangerous than they thought. "Now, Justine and I are going up to the house." Quinn said taking charge, "You." he said pointing at Mikhail will come in through the front after us, "You and you" he said pointing at Pam and Zoe "will take the back and the roof, I don't care which of you does what but I don't want this bastard to get away, got it?" Justine felt a little tingle in her nipples and between her legs but ignored it, there were other things to think about. As the others went to their post, she took Quinn's hand and held him back for just a moment. "What?" he asked impatiently. "They need a moment to get situated." Justine said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I also want your promise that you won't try to take Jeremiah, leave him to me and Mikhail....." As soon as she said it, Justine knew that she said the wrong thing. She was thinking about his safety and the fact that he was human but he interpreted her statement as saying that he needed to be protected which was true but.... Quinn pushed her back, kissed her and headed toward the house not caring if the others were ready or not. By the time he reached the bottom step, Justine was beside him holding his hand. ******** Jeremiah's stomach rumbled loudly. He looked over at Amanda and the girls and then quickly looked away. Although his true face was no longer visible, he could still see and smell the fear that radiated from Amanda. The girls had fallen asleep because of the mild compulsion that he used but Amanda he wanted awake. If he had put her to sleep, the scent of fear would be gone and he had decided that if he couldn't feed... He could only imagine what Malcolm would be saying right now. "Uncle you didn't think this through, leave now while you have a chance!" or there would have been the "I told you so." And Malcolm would have been right as he was about most things like this. It occurred to Jeremiah that had he listened to Malcolm, he wouldn't be sitting here hungry and in need of physical release. It also occurred to him that as much as he liked to think that he was the brains of the operation, he wasn't and never had been... Malcolm was and had only let him think that he was in control. It seemed that his late nephew wasn't a pussy after all and had been much smarter than he had been given credit for. "Put the child down." Jeremiah commanded. Amanda in her fear had worried her lip until it bled again and Jeremiah could no longer resist. The scent of Amanda's blood combined with the scent of her fear filled his nostrils. He inhaled deeply as once again his true self reappeared. He moaned softly when he heard Amanda's heart racing in fear, his cock throbbed as he thought about tasting her blood that would be all the sweeter because of her fear He stood up making sure that she saw his erection. He wanted her to see what would be deep inside of her as he drank her fear-sweetened blood. Amanda's eyes widened as she saw how far out Jeremiah's slacks protruded out in the front. Her lips began to move in silent prayer as she looked up at his face and saw not an ounce of humanity or compassion in his eyes and the fully descended fangs. Her mind tried to reject what she was seeing. Vampires weren't real. Vampires were things of legend but yet here approaching her was one of those mythical creatures. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out, then she thought that if she offered herself to him that he would leave the girls alive, she didn't care about what happened to her. Then she thought about Adam who had taken her and Lana in and loved them both, she silently told him how much she loved him and how sorry she was that she had let this monster into their home. Lastly, she said another silent "I love you" to her girls. Jeremiah stood in front of her, reached down and roughly yanked her up from the sofa. He moved his face close to hers and smiled when she tried to pull away, all thoughts of offering herself to her gone. "You smell.... Delicious" he said and licked the side of her face, relishing the sweet taste of her fear. He tailed his lips to the throbbing pulse in her neck and opened his mouth exposing his fangs as he ground against her. "I am very much in need." he whispered almost apologetically. He gently kissed her neck, prepared to bite and he froze. Mikhail and the others had moved closer to the house. ******** Quinn stood at the door, looked at Justine who nodded at him and banged on the door. He waited a moment and then banged on the door again. "Come on you son of a bitch!" he muttered, "open the damned door!" ******* Jeremiah dropped Amanda as if she was a hot potato, his need temporarily forgotten. He knew who was at the door. Quinn O'Dell but was the new queen with him? "Finally!" Jeremiah said through the door, "I was about to have dinner and dessert all at once." "Where are they?" Quinn asked. "Well, the little ones are asleep and your ex-wife looks as if she's about to have a mental breakdown." Jeremiah replied. "Let them go and I'll come with you." Quinn replied. Justine tugged at his hand in an attempt to remind him that this wasn't the plan. "Hmmm, are you offering to step aside so that I can be king?" Jeremiah asked. "King?" Quinn asked, "What in the fuck are you talking about?" Jeremiah hesitated, and then realized that if Quinn didn't know what he was, then more than likely neither did Justine. Which meant that she didn't know that she was the new queen and that was to his advantage. Inadvertently, Quinn had just provided him with a loophole if he could only exploit it before Mikhail or one of the others interfered. "Please excuse me," Jeremiah said smoothly, "Every man wants to be king of his castle and to have a lovely queen at his side does he not?" "What are you talking about?" Quinn asked again as his brain tried to process what he knew to be a trick. "There is a way that we can all walk away from this alive." Jeremiah replied, "All you have to do is give me what is mine and that happens to be the very lovely Justine." ******** Zoe looked down at Mikhail from her place on the roof. He looked back at her and shook his head no. They couldn't interfere unless Quinn and Justine's life was in danger. The ball was now in Quinn's court. ****** "Just think about it Quinn," Jeremiah continued, "You, your daughter, her sister and your ex wife get to live if you hand the q... Justine over to me." Jeremiah silently cursed his near fatal error. He had completely forgotten about Amanda who he thought was back on the sofa with the girls. ******* Quinn closed his eyes and listened to Jeremiah talk. He had heard that tone before from his father who was a retired used car salesman. Suddenly, he understood and much to Justine's horror, he agreed to the deal. She gave his hand a hard yank that made him grunt with pain. "Trust me." he mouthed to her. "NO!" she mouthed back and looked around for Buddy. "Open up." Quinn said. ********* Amanda lay on the floor dazed and sure that she had lost her mind. She looked at the sleeping girls and then at Jeremiah who had his back toward her. It seemed that he had forgotten all about her. She swallowed the anger that she had let this creature into her home and tried to think of a plan. Keeping an eye on Jeremiah, Amanda slipped into the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife that she could find without actually looking and slipped back into the living room. She had no sooner sat down when Jeremiah turned, glanced at her and turned back toward the door dismissing her. She felt ashamed that she really thought that Quinn would leave them in danger. While it was true that he had his issues, he never physically endangered them by bringing his gambling and drug buddies home with him. She felt shame at the fact that Lana had more faith in her father than she did. She gripped the knife tightly in her fist, she had no idea of where she was supposed to stab him but if it bought Quinn some time then she would just go for it. It then struck her that Quinn was as defenseless against the vampire as she was and that he could die as well. That would leave Adam to care for the girls provided they survived. A sob caught in her throat as she visualized her girls' dead and Adam all alone. She gently touched each girl, said a prayer and waited. ******* Violet felt nauseated with anxiety, there were only a few hours until morning and then things would be at a stalemate until the evening. Once again, the urge to look into the silver tray almost overwhelmed her and once again, she just barely managed to resist. She didn't want to be known as the first queen to have cheated by watching events as they unfolded. "Damn it!" she swore as she left her room and went to the room where Edward lay in state. She would sit and talk with him confident that he could hear every word that she was saying. She kissed his cold cheek and began to tell him of the events of the day. By the time she was finished, she was considerably calmer. She decided to stay where she was until she received word, she wasn't sure that she could resist looking into the silver tray. ******* "Are you going to let me in or what?" Quinn asked impatiently. "Is the .... Is Justine with you?" Jeremiah asked. "She's nearby, all I have to do is call her and she'll be here in less than five minutes but before I make that call I want to see Amanda and the girls." "Call first." Jeremiah said. "Look, we can do this until the sun comes up-which by the way won't affect me so what are we going to do? I'm not calling Justine until you meet my demands." Quinn said firmly. "I'll kill one of them... your girl." Jeremiah countered. "You could." Quinn replied calmly, "but you won't because if you do, between Justine, myself and Violet...." Quinn stopped, why did he just mention Violet's name? He had never addressed her by her first name because he didn't know what it was. She had been introduced to him as Mrs. Rhodes so why... "How do you know Violet?" Jeremiah snapped. "Open the damned door!" Quinn demanded. ********* At the mention of Violet's name, Jeremiah knew that it was over even if Quinn didn't know or understand why he used Violet's name in the same sentence as Justine. The question was what was he going to do? He knew that Mikhail was here but who was with him? He sniffed the air and tried to track the scents of the others. There were more other than Quinn but he didn't consider them a serious threat. The two others were... Female! He realized. His hopes rose even more when he realized that that one of them was a newborn and that the other wasn't very old. He could escape because Mikhail would be his only serious obstacle. The next question was where he could go where he wouldn't be found. The answer wasn't a pleasant one but at least he would still be alive. He could go to ground he thought... "Yes" he murmured under his breath and then frowned. If he did that, he would come back penniless, the queen would take control of all of his accounts and his homes and even if she didn't who knew what currency he would come back to? If he went to his office long enough to grab the cash in his office safe, the issue remained the same, he would be essentially homeless and penniless. "To die or not to die?" he asked himself. If he chose to run and that was exactly what he would be doing, could he go back to being poor and having no place to live? He wondered. The memories of his stomach clenching in pain as he and his family hid in the root cellar came back and then there was the question of how long he had to stay hidden before he could come out. "Centuries." he murmured, and for what? Just so he could say that he was alive? Even if he went to ground for centuries and came back, he would never be able to be in the public eye of the vampire world. Meaning that he could never accumulate the wealth that he had now without coming under the radar of the queen whomever she happened to be. Justine Ch. 09 The previous queen would pass on to the new queen the things that she accomplished and the list of those that she considered enemies.... He would be on that list. What it amounted to was that while he might be alive, that would be all that he could claim but maybe if he could get away.... ******** Quinn pounded on the door again. Jeremiah was taking too long in answering him and in his experience that meant that he was weighing his options. "Never give them too much time to think." Quinn's father used to tell him when he was teaching him the fine art of selling cars. "Mathers!" Quinn called, "Open the door!" ********** Amanda waited quietly; she didn't want to do anything that would draw attention to herself. Her anxiety grew when she heard Jeremiah mumbling to himself and she realized that he was trying to make a decision. "Please god, let him just leave here without hurting us!" she prayed saying the same prayer over and over again like a mantra even as she tightened her grip on the knife handle so hard that her hand hurt. With mounting fear, she watched as Jeremiah slowly turned to look at her with eyes that held no trace of their original color or warmth. He had made his decision. ********* Even Quinn sensed the subtle change in the atmosphere. The danger had just increased exponentially but he wasn't afraid, not even of dying which he knew was a very real possibility. His only regret would be that he didn't get to finish making love with whom he considered the most beautiful woman in the world. He felt Justine tug at his hand again and then he heard her speak. "He's scared and that makes him even more dangerous." "I know." he mouthed back to her as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. ********* Justine watched Quinn as he talked with Jeremiah noting that there was no fear coming from him and that to some degree worried her. She pushed the worry aside and refocused on Quinn and Jeremiah. She listened to Jeremiah's voice and heard the fear in it.... He was going to try to escape and if he couldn't, he was planning on someone dying with him... and he didn't care who it was. Her concern shifted from Quinn to the children. Quinn at least could try to protect himself, there was Mikhail, and the others to help but the girls would be defenseless. It dawned on her that she might have to make a choice, Quinn's life or the lives of Amanda and the girls and at that moment, she really didn't know who she would choose but either way, Jeremiah Mathers was going to suffer for making her have to make that choice. He would suffer for more than that, he would suffer for every woman that he turned against her will and sold and for those women that Justine knew with a certainty that he killed. "Quinn, I'm going to unlock the door." she said telepathically. She realized what was about to happen, Jeremiah had no intentions of opening the door because he realized that he was cornered. She was about to unlock the door when they heard Jeremiah scream in rage and pain. ******** Amanda refused to look up at Jeremiah, she knew that if she did it would be over; she wouldn't be able to protect her girls. She heard him approach her, squeezed her eyes shut and fought the impulse to look at him to see where he was. "Don't look." she added to her prayer "oh god help us!" She held her breath when she felt his hand brush by her to reach for the girl closest to her. The hand paused and made its way to her thigh. She waited until it rested on her thigh before whipping the knife from behind her and stabbing Jeremiah's hand. That the knife went through his hand and into her thigh didn't register as Jeremiah screamed and jerked his hand back taking the knife with him. She had been lucky and she knew it, there would be no second chance but at least his anger was directed at her. She moved off the couch and away from the girls staying in Jeremiah's sight. She hoped that if Quinn came through the door that he wouldn't worry about her but that he would take the girls and run. Amanda stole a glance at the still sleeping girls and blinked. Sitting in front of the couch was a dog. She didn't have time to wonder where it had come from as Jeremiah had begun to move toward her with murder in his eyes. ******* Mikhail moved to the other side of the door and waited for Justine to unlock the door. As soon as they heard the soft click of the lock disengaging, Quinn shoved the door open in time to see Jeremiah advancing on Amanda. "I'm here you son of a bitch!" he announced drawing Jeremiah's attention from Amanda to himself. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Buddy sitting in front of the couch guarding the girls and he had to wonder how he got in without an invitation. That moment of distraction was all that Jeremiah needed. He was on Quinn before Quinn realized his error. "This is the second time that you've interrupted my dinner with your poor timing!" Jeremiah said as he lifted Quinn and then tossed him as if he weighed nothing and began to advance on him. A soft growl halted Jeremiah's progress. He looked at Buddy, blinked rapidly as if he were trying to clear his vision and then looked at Quinn. Like him, he was wondering how Buddy had gotten in uninvited but he also knew that the dog couldn't interfere unless ordered by his mistress who fortunately for him and unfortunately for Quinn wasn't there. Quinn sat up holding his arm that had taken the brunt of the force when he hit the wall. He tried to move it and realized that it was at the very least dislocated but more than likely broken. He caught sight of Amanda inching her way toward the girls and waited. He wanted her to be as close to Buddy as possible before he called for Justine and the others in the hopes that Buddy would protect her as well. Whenever Jeremiah tried to turn in her direction, Quinn would say something to bring Jeremiah's focus back to him. Only when she was next to the sofa did he call for the others. ******* Justine heard the crash of Quinn's body hitting the wall and tried to go in but was stopped by what seemed to be an invisible barrier. She looked at Mikhail who could only shrug his shoulders and give her a look of sympathy. He was as powerless as she was as far as getting into the house. "Come on damn you!" she thought at Quinn not knowing whether he could hear her or not. "Come the fuck on!" she screamed at him telepathically. After what seemed to be an eternity, she heard his slightly dazed and pain filled voice filter out to the front porch. "Now! Come in all of you!" Justine tried to run into the house and bounced backwards as if someone had grabbed her by the neck and yanked her backwards. "What the fuck?" she screamed. "Oh shit!" Mikhail exclaimed alarmed, "This isn't his house! The woman has to be the one to do it!" "What?" Justine asked softly. Her fury was only evident in the intensity of the tone in her voice, "You didn't know this?" she demanded. ******* Mikhail swallowed hard, it was something that he knew and had forgotten. His exposure to humans was minimal and he had never had to enter a human home under these conditions. He knew that if he didn't do something, he would be sitting right along side of Jeremiah as Violet and Justine decided how best to punish him. It alarmed him that he was actually afraid of Justine and that he had no desire to see what she could do if angry. He had a feeling that Violet would be tame compared to Justine. He even felt a small amount of sympathy for Jeremiah; he was in for a long and painful death. "Tell Quinn that he has to get the woman to invite us in! He said urgently. He was given a cold glare that spoke volumes. He watched as Justine tried to speak telepathically with Quinn. Like her, he didn't know if it would work because of the barrier of the house. ****** Quinn looked expectantly toward the door frowning when he didn't see anyone there. "Get your asses in here!" He yelled again. ****** Jeremiah looked toward the door and realized what was happening or in this case not happening. Mikhail and the queen had made a grave mistake, she was here, he now knew that but she couldn't come into the house. She didn't know that her mate although human couldn't invite vampires in for one simple reason; this wasn't and had never been his home. Only the woman or one of the young ones could do that and the young ones were out cold. That left the woman and he doubted that she knew what she had to do. He looked over at Quinn and licked his lips as he wondered what the blood of a king would taste like. The thought to turn Quinn himself crossed his mind but what in the hell would he do with him afterwards? Jeremiah looked at Quinn again; he was looking at his way out of this mess. As long as he had Quinn, he would be able to get out if the house... Then he remembered why he was going to make his stand. He no longer cared about the humans; he knew who was going to die with him. ******* Quinn looked calmly at the door. There had to be a way to get Justine and the others inside if only he could remember. "Think!" he told himself and he began to sift through all of the vampire lore that he knew immediately discarding anything that wasn't pertinent to his situation. "Damn it!" he screamed when Jeremiah grabbed him by his injured arm and pulled him up so that they were nose to nose. He didn't flinch when Jeremiah sniffed at him, frowned and then sniffed again looking disappointed. "Something wrong?" Quinn taunted. "You aren't afraid of me." Jeremiah said. "Hell no, my old dealers and bookies were scarier than you are." Quinn replied groaning when Jeremiah tightened his grip on his arm. "Very amusing." Jeremiah said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Let's see how amusing you are when I drink from one of the two young ones." Quinn didn't flinch as he shrugged his good shoulder, "Your life so go ahead." Jeremiah stared at Quinn in disbelief and then smiled, "I almost believed that you didn't care... I think I'll start with the one called Lana." he turned around, saw Buddy and turned back to Quinn. ******** Buddy moved his body so that he could watch Jeremiah and still guard the humans. He quickly glanced back at Amanda and looked at her as if to say, "Think human! You know what you have to do!" But Amanda was way ahead of him. She had never been a fan of science fiction, horror or the paranormal opting to read historical romances, mysteries and biographies. He sister Naomi had been the one to watch the vampire movies and read about anything that went bump in the night. Naomi told her something once... something about vampires but she had only been half listening. Suddenly she knew that whatever it was, it was imperative that she remember it. ******* Jeremiah threw Quinn back against the wall injuring the same shoulder again. This time Quinn heard the sickening sound of the bone as it broke and felt pain so severe that he threw up. Ironically, it was in that moment of pain that he remembered that Amanda that had to invite the others in. The problem was now how he was going to get her to do it. ********* "There's got to be something that we can do!" Justine said as she helplessly looked into the living room. She could see Quinn on the floor after being thrown against the wall for the second time and she could see Jeremiah as he looked at the three humans on the sofa. She saw Buddy and knew that for the moment the humans were safe no matter what Jeremiah thought. It was also clear that as long as Quinn was in the house she couldn't communicate with him telepathically. All she could do was wait. ********** "Hey jackass!" Quinn called, his voice filled with pain, "didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to keep company waiting outside?" It was all that he could think of and he hoped that Amanda would remember the conversation that occurred not long after they were married. He had come home after losing almost two hundred in a poker game; the money was at home but the man he had lost to hadn't trusted him to come back with the money. "I'm going with you." the man said not giving Quinn a choice. As they walked to the house, Quinn tried to persuade the man that he would be back with the money. "Just shut the hell up and go get my money!" the man said when they reached the house. Amanda had been waiting for him and was looking out of the window when they walked up. Quinn hadn't missed the gleam in the man's eyes when he caught sight of Amanda smiling and waving st him. When the man started to follow him up the steps that led to the house, Quinn stopped him. "You're not coming in." The man started to argue but Quinn stuck to his guns and decided that they were moving and that he would never expose Amanda to his secret life again. When he got into the house, she greeted him a hug and a kiss. "Who's your friend?" she asked. "Nobody, he's just here to pick something up." Quinn replied. "Well invite him in!" Amanda said as she headed for the door, "didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to keep company waiting outside?" He remembered grabbing her just before she reached the door and hugging her before sending her into the kitchen to make him a cup of coffee. "But your friend...." "Baby he isn't a friend now go make my coffee and I'll be right in." Quinn closed his eyes and willed her to remember that one conversation, "come on sweetheart remember!" ******** Four vampires waited anxiously for something to happen. Each of them alternately tried the doors and windows to see if they could get in, swearing when they couldn't. Zoe felt guilty, she should never have agreed to this plan not that it would have changed anything but time was getting short. There was only three more hours until sunrise and unless they got in, Quinn was going to die even though Buddy was right there. He was Justine's familiar and not Quinn's... if only they had at least exchanged blood once but there was no point in thinking along those lines, it wouldn't help anything. ********** Amanda looked over at Quinn; he was trying to tell her something.... There were others! But did she want them in her home? What if they were like the one that she let in? Amanda almost laughed, the time for caution had passed a few hours ago and Quinn had never deliberately brought danger to them and she had no reason to believe that he would now. ********* Jeremiah looked at Quinn and wondered about the strange comment. By the time he realized that Quinn had given Amanda a hint about what she needed to do, it was too late. He lunged for Quinn, grabbing him by his good arm, breaking it in the process, held him in front of him like a human shield, and waited. ******** "Please!" Amanda screamed as loud as she could, "Come in!" ******* Justine was the first one to enter. Her eyes were nothing more than black orbs surrounded by a ring of bright red flames indicating the depth of her fury. Mikhail was right behind her and standing to her left as Pam entered through the kitchen and stood behind Jeremiah to the right and Zoe to his left. Amanda looked around her and unconsciously pulled the girls closer to her thankful that they were asleep. Buddy licked her hand in reassurance and settled in to wait for instructions from Justine. "Take them out to the back." Justine said looking at Pam. Pam approached Amanda slowly, knelt down beside her and spoke softly. "My name is Pam and these are my friends, you're safe now but we need to go outside for a while." Amanda nodded dumbly and then realized that she couldn't carry both girls. "I'll carry the little one, I promise she's safe." Pam said holding out her arms for the baby. "Quinn?" Amanda called. "It's alright." Quinn assured her. Justine waited until Pam, Amanda and the girls were gone before she turned her attention back to Jeremiah. She took in Quinn's appearance her fury rising even more as she saw how his arms hung uselessly at his sides. Her mate had been hurt and it was time to end this and to take him home. "You will let him go." she said to Jeremiah not really expecting him to comply. "I don't think so." Jeremiah replied, "Let's see how long you last without a king." he said as he grabbed Quinn's head in his hands using it to hold him up. The word "king" resonated through Justine's head. She had used the same word for Quinn herself and what was it that Mikhail started to call her before he caught himself? "Queen", he had started to call her queen but queen of... "Sweet Jesus!" she breathed as suddenly everything made sense. She was the queen of.... She forced herself to focus; she could worry about everything else later. She gave Jeremiah a smile that made his blood run cold. *********** Violet was still sitting with Edward holding his cold hands tightly in hers. Just as she was about to give up, she felt the control of the earthly realm begin to leave her. Tears of relief and happiness flowed down her face as the aging process began to reverse itself. By the next evening, she and Edward would be gone, reunited with friends from the past and living the lives that they had put on hold when she became queen. There was only one thing left in order for it to be complete, the new queen and her king had to mate. ********** "Greed is such an ugly thing isn't it?" Justine asked Jeremiah, "And look where it's gotten you." She raised her hand, pointed a finger at Quinn and gave him a come-hither motion. Quinn began to move toward her even as Jeremiah tried to hold on to him. Quinn moaned in pain as Jeremiah released his head, wrapped his arms around him, and squeezed. Jeremiah only let go when he realized that he was moving with Quinn toward Justine. As soon as he let Quinn go, he tried to vanish to the first place he could think of... his secret resting place. Mikhail pulled a whip from his waistband, and got ready to use it. "No. he belongs to me and my mate." she said. What Jeremiah noticed was that not once did Justine raise her voice, not once did she act like a hysterical woman whose mate had been hurt. And .... He finally admitted to himself, he was frightened. When Quinn reached her, Justine gently took him into her arms and kissed him. "You have done well now sleep." "Damn it no!" Quinn exclaimed, "I want to kick his mother fucking ass!" "Sleep." she said softly as he was screaming at her not to put him to sleep. "Mikhail, take him out of here." "But...." "Now." "Yes my queen." She waited until Mikhail was gone and turned back to Jeremiah who was still trying to escape. "Were you planning on going to your resting place in the Himalayas?" she asked conversationally, "the one that no one is supposed to know about?" Jeremiah froze, no one knew about that place except for Malcolm and he was dead. "How do you know about that?" he asked. "I just do." Justine replied smiling although her eyes remained dark and red rimmed, "Just as I know that over the centuries you have turned hundreds of thousands of human women and sold them and..." she paused for effect, "You've killed hundreds. One of whom I should have known but you took her away from me before I had a chance to really know her, but we'll talk about that later." Jeremiah's eyes widened, he had expected to be killed so who and what was she talking about? "What's the matter? Did you think that I was going to kill you?" she asked as she walked toward him. She didn't stop until she was close enough to kiss him. She inhaled deeply and smiled at him, "what is that delicious smell?" she asked, "Is it fear?" Jeremiah whimpered and tried to back away when she planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked as she circled him and slapped him hard on the ass as she walked behind him, "we have so much to talk about and plenty of time to do it but before we go, I owe you a little something." Justine Ch. 09 Suddenly, Jeremiah's screams filled the house as both of his arms broke at the same time, "That's for my mate." she said as she walked away. "Please!" "Silence." she said softly. Zoe watched in amazement as Justine stepped into her role as queen but when it tonight was over with, she would need tending to. That she was doing had to be done wasn't going to matter and until she adjusted fully to her role, the part of her that would never do what she just did would suffer. It had been the same for Violet and all of the queens before her. However, Justine would have something that the other queens didn't have... a confidant with whom she could share all things. It was Violet's gift to Justine as well as the indoor garden but who knew? Maybe Justine would be the one queen that could tolerate sunlight and the one queen who would adjust to her role with minimal psychological discomfort. "Zoe, call for a van for our guest and have them take him home. I'm assuming that you know where he's supposed to go? And call for a separate van for Quinn, I don't want him in the same space as that." she said indicating Jeremiah. "Yes my queen..." "And stop that, my name is Justine... by the way, you don't happen to have any blood available do you?" "No my.... Justine but I can have some brought with the van." Zoe replied. "Ummm no, I can wait. Before you go have Quinn taken to the front and make sure that he's comfortable and then have Pam bring the family in here." ********* Several minutes later, Jeremiah, Quinn, Zoe and Pam were gone leaving Justine alone with Amanda and the girls. Amanda stared at Justine wide-eyed and too afraid to speak although she wanted to thank her. When she looked at her, Justine looked like a very nice woman who couldn't have just been a vampire. "What were you doing before he came here?" Justine asked. "W... watching a movie, snow white.... No, Cinderella! I shouldn't have let him in... I....." "Quiet." Justine said gently, "he was a bad person." Justine woke both girls and compelled them and Amanda to look at her. "You won't remember anything that happened tonight. None of it happened; you watched Cinderella and you all fell asleep on the couch. If you ever see any of us, you won't remember us with the exception of Quinn. Whatever worries you have regarding money or anything else are gone, you will always be safe... When you wake up, it will be when your husband comes home and your lives will go on. Get comfortable and go to sleep. Don't wake up until the time I told you." Justine watched as Amanda and the girls got comfortable and fell into a deep sleep, she healed the wound on Amanda's leg making sure that there was no trace of it. She walked around the house to be sire that there was no evidence of the nights events and cleaned it up if there were. Justine looked at Amanda and the girls one last time before vanishing to a home that she had never been to in her entire life. Justine Ch. 10 Quinn woke in a strange bed. His first thought was that he had just had one hell of a dream that involved a gorgeous woman named Justine who as it turned out wasn't only a vampire but his wife as well. There were several other people in the dream as well including his ex wife Amanda, their daughter and Amanda's daughter by her second husband Adam. He started to move and hissed when pain radiated up both of his arms. "What in the hell...." and then he remembered everything including being tossed through the air and being caught by the wall. He laid back down and looked around trying to take stock of where he was. He closed his eyes and then tried to sit up again. Justine! Where was she? The last thing he remembered was her telling him to go to sleep and he didn't want to, he wanted to kick Jeremiah Mather's vampire ass to hell and back. He heard the door open and then softly click shut. "Sire? Are you awake?" He answered without thinking about it, "Yeah I'm awake." "Are you in much pain?" "I've been better... who are you and where am I?" Quinn asked as he licked his dry lips. "My name is Darren." The voice said as it moved closer. "I'm what you would call your personal assistant and you are at home." "Home? I don't live here and where's Justine?" "She just called, she will be here shortly." Darren replied. "I took the liberty of bringing you something to drink." "Great, can you help me out here? I think my arms are broken." "Yes sir they are but the queen will tend to those as soon as she returns." "Justine, is she the queen?" Quinn asked. "Yes sir." Darren replied. "And I'm her....." "mate and king." Darren replied finishing the statement as he put a straw into a glass filled with ice water and put it to Quinn's mouth. He greedily drank it down draining the glass in seconds, "More." "Not a good idea sir but how about a few ice cubes?" Darren offered. "Sure, why not?" Quinn asked. Darren spoon fed him pieces of ice until Quinn decided that he had enough. "I can have one of the physicians here give you something for pain if you like." "No, thanks." Quinn replied, "it doesn't hurt too much unless I move and I want to be awake when Justine gets here. ******* Jeremiah walked around the small room that was his cell. He shook his arms that had already been healed and then hugged himself. He didn't even try to vanish because he knew that his gifts were all gone. He felt them leave as soon as he got close to the house. Once he was inside he felt them completely disappear. The worst part of it was that he was still vampire Justine and Quinn could keep him here for centuries or even forever if they so chose to. This, he knew was where he would either die or where he would languish forever at their mercy. Of the two choices, he preferred death, the permanent one but if he had to go by what Justine said, that wasn't going to happen. He wondered where she was but then figured that she was with her mate and really? He wasn't in a big hurry to see her. As he walked around the cell, he wondered how long it would be before Violet made her appearance and if the aging process had already begun to reverse itself. Jeremiah sat down on the thin narrow cot and tried not to imagine the things that Justine could do to him. In all of his years he had never seen a vampire's eyes change the way Justine's had. He could still feel the heat and anger of her gaze. The memory of it made him shudder. If there had been anyway in which he could kill himself, he would have done it but there were guards on all four sides of the cell. All of them facing him, their eyes glowing with anger. "You are the scum of the earth!" one of them said to him as he glared at him. "It is bad enough that you involved innocents in our affairs but you were going to kill the queen's mate! And you turned and sold women too?" he asked. "I hope that you suffer long and hard and that the face of each woman that you sold flashes before your eyes." Jeremiah recoiled at the anger in the vampire's voice. He wasn't the only one who held that opinion, every vampire guarding him held the same opinion even if they didn't say it. He had the idea of trying to provoke one of them into killing him but decided against it. For one, these vampires were guards because of their self restraint and two, if one of them did kill him, they would replace him and would suffer everything that he would have. A sharp pang in his stomach reminded him that he hadn't fed and he wondered if starving him was part of the punishment. It would take years before he finally died and they would be painful years or would he be given just enough so that he would always want more? Then there was the solitary confinement where he would spend centuries with no one but himself to talk to. He knew of vampires who had been driven insane that way and as far as he knew none of them had ever been the same. But he knew that there would be no solitary confinement for him. He also knew that there would be a great deal of pain involved. Would the queen peel his skin from him one strip at a time? Would she remove it all at once or remove a strip everyday from a different part of his body and then start over with the parts that had healed? He grabbed his cock at the thought of the skin being pulled of leaving it bleeding and in excruciating pain. He began to wonder what he had to bargain with and soon realized that he had absolutely nothing worth bargaining with, everything he had was gone. He stood up and began to pace wondering when Justine and or Violet would come to see him. A guard, the one who had just spoken to him laughed. "You might as well sit down, neither of the queens will be here to see you today, they have much more important things to deal with than the likes of you." "Do you know when they will come?" Jeremiah asked. "Whenever they get here!" the vampire snapped as he tossed in a flask filled with what Jeremiah assumed was blood. He looked at it and left it where it had fallen, he wasn't drinking anything until he spoke with either Violet or Justine. "Drink up!" the guard said, "for all you know it could contain the end of your life." "Poison?" Jeremiah asked hopefully. "You won't know until you drink it now will you?" the guard replied. The thought that his death could be as simple as poisoning made Jeremiah snatch the flask off of the floor. Even if it were a painful death it would be over in a matter of hours and that was preferable to centuries of suffering. He twisted the top of the flask off, tossed it away and guzzled the warm liquid down as he said a prayer that it would end his life. ******** Justine appeared in the bedroom where Quinn lay sleeping, his arms laying at his side. She moved to the foot of the bed and watched his slow, easy respirations and wondered if she should wake him so that she could fix his arms. She waited for a few minutes before making her decision. "Sleep until I wake you." she murmured as she placed him into the deepest sleep possible. She wanted him to feel no pain when she healed him. She knew that Violet was waiting for her but she didn't care, Quinn came first. Violet and Edward would just have to wait. She started with the arm closest to her, touching it to see if he would flinch. When there was no reaction, she pulled the arm into its correct position, held her hands over it and murmured words in a language that she had never heard before. Heat left her hands as she moved then up and then down the entire length of the arm twice. Satisfied that by the time she woke Quinn up the arm would be completely healed, she moved to the other arm and repeated the process. Without touching him but just thinking of what she wanted, she stripped him and examined him for other injuries. She moved her hands over his shoulders making the large deep purple bruises disappear before moving down his back and stopping at his ass. She fought the urge to touch him. If she started she might be not be able to stop and if it were her, she would want to know that she was being touched. For all practical purposes even though they were mates, they were still strangers of sorts. She didn't count the first time that they had almost made love as enough to move them from the stranger stage to something more intimate. Justine sighed as she turned Quinn over moaning softly and salivating as she took in his chest, almost flat stomach and cock which was erect and seemed to be looking for her. Unable to help herself, she reached down, gently caressed it watching with longing as Quinn thrust his hip forward pressing himself into the palm off her hand. She removed her hand and left the room. Her whole body was tingling with the need to be with her mate but she had to take care of Violet and Edward first then she could take her time with her mate. She knew that she had until ten to complete the mating but there was time, it was still late morning and hopefully whatever she needed to do with Violet wouldn't take long. Jeremiah she decided, could just stew in his juices. She wanted his imagination to run wild with thoughts of what she could or would do to him. Part of her instructions were being carried out even now. She found Violet in the room where Edward her king lay in state. She wasn't sure of what to expect but she was unprepared for Violet's beauty. Her hair was no longer gray but a dark brown with reddish hues, her skin was flawless and so translucent that Justine could see the veins. To Justine she looked ethereal almost angelic, all she was missing was the halo and the wings. Violet stood when Justine came in and thought her exquisite even though she hadn't taken the time to change as she would have done. She stopped herself, she was being nit picky and Justine was the new queen, she could dress as she pleased. The important thing was that she was here and had the power to return Edward to her. "My Queen." Violet said with a bow. "My name is Justine so please call me that." Violet started, to her recollection, no queen had requested to be called by her first name. "As you wish." she replied. "Welcome home." she added with a smile. "Thanks... so how did this happen?" Justine asked. Violet fought her impatience remembering that she had asked the very same question and the patience in which it had been answered. "Come sit and we will talk." Violet replied as she led the way to a small sitting room. "You must be famished!" she exclaimed as she went to the bar, took two large glasses down and filled them with blood from the warmer. She carried the glasses back to the sitting area and handed one to Justine who drank the entire glass without stopping. "Would you like another?" Violet asked. "Maybe later," Justine replied as she remembered what happened the last time she tried to drink too much. "So tell me what I need to know so that you can start your new life." Violet blinked at Justine's bluntness but found that she liked it. This was a queen who wouldn't pussy foot around and play games, she was going to be an excellent queen and from what she heard about Quinn, he was going to be an excellent king. "So, give me the skinny." Justine said. She was as anxious to be done with this as Violet was. "Well......" "So let me get this straight, I was already chosen for this and being turned is what activated it?" "Yes." "And everything that I went through was a test?" "yes, all of us went through it in one manner or another but I must say that you've exceeded all of us in skill and in the way in which you adapted." Violet said, "some of us needed a little help which is acceptable and expected but you were just simply amazing!" "Yeah, well anyway, what else do I need to know?" Two hours later, Violet had given Justine a very condensed version of her reign, the creatures that were still being hunted for punishment and what was expected of her as queen. "I understand," Justine said, "and thank you for Zoe and the indoor garden but you need something from me." Justine said. Violet told her about Edward. "So you see, you are the only one that can take the arrow out without sending him to his permanent death." Violet concluded. "How do you know that I can do this?" Justine asked. "You have to be able to!" Violet replied her voice holding a hint of panic. "Just do what you've been doing ever since you were turned, follow your instincts." Justine was quiet for several minutes, "Alright let's go." she was sure that she could remove the arrow even though she wasn't sure of how. ********* Violet led Justine back to where Edward lay. Justine looked down at him taking in his good looks noticing that he didn't look much older than she was. She pulled back the blanket and almost laughed at Edward's outfit. She looked up and saw Violet watching her with anxiety filled eyes and managed to contain her laughter. "You might want to have some blood ready." she said, "I have a feeling that he's going to be more than ready for it oh and make sure no one comes in." she added. Violet hurried back to the sitting room and came back with two carafes filled to the top with blood. "Come over here and bring the blood with you." Justine commanded forgetting that until she and Quinn mated, Violet was in effect still queen. She waited until Violet was standing next to her before she started giving directions. "I'm going to keep him asleep until the arrow is out and then I'll start to gradually wake him up. When he's half awake start feeding him and maybe we can keep him from going into a frenzy. Are you ready?" "Ready." Violet whispered as she took one of Edward's hand's in hers. Justine unbuttoned Edward's shirt and examined the area where the arrow had gone in. She palpated the entry site and could feel the broken off end of the arrow. She gave Violet one last look, and put her hands over the wound and waited. The same heat that came when she healed Quinn's arms radiated from her hands turning Edward's skin a bright red. Slowly the skin began to peel open layer by layer until the jagged end of the arrow was visible. She felt Edward trying to wake up and pushed him back into sleep. "Not yet." she murmured as she continued the process of removing the arrow. Finally, she could see the barbed spikes on the arrow head that were almost but not quite touching his heart. One by one, she dissolved the wooden spikes starting with the ones closest to the heart. Sweat ran down her face as she concentrated on her task. She barely noticed when Violet wiped her face with a cool cloth as she worked. Two painstakingly slow hours later, Justine pulled the remainder of the arrow out of Edward's chest, closed the wound and began to wake him. "Get that blood ready." she muttered when she had him to the point where he could open his eyes. "Call his name." she instructed. Edward's eyes were open and he was trying to focus. He looked in the direction from which he heard his name being called and looked at Violet as if he had no idea of who she was. He licked his lips and tried to sit up, his brown eyes flashing black when he couldn't move. "Talk to him, remind him of who you are." Justine said urgently. "Edward? it's me Violet. Remember?" she asked as she put a cup of blood to his lips and gave him a sip and then another. "The new queen is here and she has removed the arrow from your chest." Edward's eyes narrowed as if he were trying to remember something. "You went out to buy me something for our anniversary, do you remember? It was several centuries ago" Violet said as she gave him another sip of blood. "A hunter shot you with a barbed arrow, we couldn't remove it without killing you so we laid you in state." The cup of blood was emptied and Justine handed her another one. Edward's eyes were slowly changing back to brown as he remembered what happened and he began to recognize Violet. Justine allowed him to move his hands so that he could touch Violet but stood ready just in case. By the time the second cup of blood was finished Edward remembered everything. "Violet? You waited for me all of this time?" he asked touching her tear streaked face. "Of course I did!" she exclaimed, "did you think that I wouldn't?" Satisfied that Edward wasn't a danger to others, Justine excused herself but not before Violet stopped her. "Thank you! And if there is ever anyway that I can be of service to you, you have only to ask." Violet had just done something rarely if ever done, she made herself and her experience available to the new queen. "I know that you're anxious to get going but do you have to leave right away?" Justine asked. "No, we can stay for as long as you wish and to be quite honest, you intrigue me. I would like to know you better as would Edward." Violet replied. "Great!" Justine replied. "I have some other unfinished business to attend to but how would you like to be with me when I go to see Jeremiah Mathers?" A grin appeared on Violet's face, "I would be honored." "I'll let you know when." Justine said and left the room. Violet and Edward had a lot of lost time to make up for. She smiled when she heard Violet's gasp of pleasure followed by Edward's. ********* Quinn tried to wake up, he knew that Justine had been in the room by the way his cock throbbed. He had even felt her touching him and tried to wake up enough to call her back to him. "Damn it all to hell!" he swore silently. They really needed to talk about this sleep thing. He fought the compulsion for as long as he could before giving up and relaxing. What else could he do except try to relax and wait for her to come back? As he allowed his mind to relax Quinn thought about how much his life had changed. In one week he had gone from a landscaper who had landed a dream job to being the mate of a queen. He didn't know exactly what that meant but if it meant that Justine would be in his life, he didn't care. He thought about Amanda and the girls and hoped that Justine or someone erased their memories, what had happened at their house was the stuff nightmares were made of. Then he though about Jeremiah and wondered what had happened to the bastard. He still wanted to kick his ass and hoped that he was still alive so that he could. ********* Justine slipped into the bedroom and looked down at Quinn. Immediately, he was hard as if he sensed her presence. She stripped leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor and lay on the bed next to him. Her eyes darkened not in anger but desire as she began a visual examination of him. She started at his face taking in the light splattering of freckles on his nose and moved down to his full lips. She took her time in her assessment and considered Quinn what she and Pam used to call "eye candy" the difference was, this particular piece of candy was hers and that made it even better. She continued her perusal of his body, stopping at his chest that had a light coating of hair that was the same color as the hair on his head. Unable to resist, she leaned over and touched a nipple with the tip of her tongue and watched as his cock jerked. She leaned back and looked at his almost flat stomach. It had the slightest of bulges to it but she could tell that at one time, he had been an athlete. Finally her eyes rested on his cock which was fully erect and seemed to be pointing at her, begging to be touched. Her breath caught as her fangs descended, her nipples hardened and she began to leak fluid from between her legs as she watched the cock of her king throb. "Quinn wake up!" she commanded. His eyes flew open and searched for Justine. Without thinking about it, he moved an arm and stopped perplexed because there was no pain. His first thought was that someone had slipped him something for pain and he was prepared to be pissed. Justine Ch. 10 "Your arms are healed." Justine said softly as she ran her finger tips up the arm closest to her. "How?" Quinn asked as he flexed his fingers and rolled his shoulders at the same time, "did you do it?" "Guilty." Justine replied, "are you in any pain?" "No, you didn't give me anything did you?" "No, I just put you to sleep.....:" "Yeah, about that, don't do it again." Quinn said cutting her off. "I don't like not knowing what's going on around me. I've had too many days like that." "I'm not going to promise you that I won't do it again." Justine replied, " if I have to do it to keep you safe then I will and I could give a rat's ass about how mad you get but FYI, the last time was so that I could fix your arms without causing you pain but hey, the next time I'll let you suffer." "I get it and I'm sorry." Quinn said. "It's just that in the past it wasn't a good thing for me not to know what was happening." "I understand and I promise not to put you out unless I absolutely have to and you have to promise the same to me." Justine said as she moved closer to him. "I can't put you to sleep!" Quinn said. "Not now but you'll be able to after we mate." Justine replied as she planted a kiss on Quinn's chest, "as a matter of fact, Violet says that you'll be able to do everything that I can." Quinn hesitated, "I'm going to be a vampire?" "Yes." Justine replied as she took a nipple into her mouth and nicked it with a fang before sucking on it gently. "That feels.... Good," Quinn breathed. "But.... Stop a minute." Justine released the nipple and looked at him. "Amanda and the girls?" "They're fine, I erased their memories and they will always be cared for." Justine replied. "That bastard Jeremiah Mathers?" "Is downstairs imagining what we're going to do to him." "Violet?" "Reunited with Edward and doing what I want to be doing right now." Justine replied as she took his nipple back into her mouth and sucked as she nicked it again with the tip of her fang. "Do I get the fangs too?" Quinn asked as he took her hand and put it on his cock. "umm humm" Justine replied without missing a beat and stroking Quinn's leaking cock. In a surprise move, Quinn had Justine on her back and looking up at him, "I used to wrestle." he said to her unspoken question. He took her lower lip in his teeth and bit hard enough for it to sting but not cause real pain and then sucked on it before kissing her and using the tip of his tongue to touch the razor sharp fangs. Justine lay still not wanting to cut Quinn's tongue but was pleasantly surprised when he nicked his own tongue and offered it to her. As Justine sucked and lapped from his tongue, the need to finish what they started at Bone's house hit him, but he resisted the urge to rush. He knew that there was some kind of time restriction but they had plenty of time. He used his nose to caress her cheek inhaling her scent as he did it. He tried to think of what her scent reminded him of and it came to him, it was his favorite fruit- apples, the sweet but tart kind. He stuck out his tongue and licked her cheek, relishing the taste of her. Apples. Justine lay still and let him explore her although she was getting impatient. Her pussy was soaked and her clit throbbed with the need for attention. Even though she could have taken control from him she didn't because as impatient as she was, she loved the teasing and the feeling of not being fucked but being made love to. When she thought about it, she couldn't remember ever really being made love to, not like this. She jumped when Quinn nipped at her neck and then kissed it, his instincts were already awakening even though he hadn't been turned yet. When he got to her nipples, he sucked, nipped and played with one and then the other for so long that she was beginning to wonder if he had forgotten that she had other parts that needed attention. She was just about to say something when he moved on. He kissed her soft stomach leaving a wet trail of kisses that stopped when he reached her mound. Quinn stopped, looked at it and then buried his nose in her pubic hair grateful that it wasn't shaved. To his way if thinking, if a woman's pussy was meant to be bald then it wouldn't grow hair. He inhaled deeply and once again smelled apples. He wanted to stop and tell her how good she smelled but didn't want to stop what he was doing. He moved down letting his nose guide him until it was between her lips, using the tip of his nose, he rubbed her clit while inserting a finger deep inside of her and thrusting in and out. Justine writhed on the bed trying to communicate her need but Quinn was in his own world, he was claiming her in a way that he had never claimed Amanda, he was loving her in a way that he had never loved Amanda or anyone else for that matter. As he rubbed his nose through her pubic hair and between her pussy lips the word "mine" resonated through his brain. Any doubts that she belonged to him and he to her were gone by the time he slipped his tongue between her lips and took his first taste of her. Justine bucked so hard that she almost threw Quinn off, the intensity of her emotions combined with the sensation of him licking her took her by surprise. She let out a high pitched scream that made the windows shake. When he finally took her clit into his mouth, he took long hard pulls from it while flicking his tongue over it as fast as he could. The intensity of her scream increased when he pressed his mouth tighter against her and sucked harder. The throbbing in her clit increased and then exploded and even then he didn't stop. His heart soared when he heard Justine scream for him, he likened what he was feeling as a high that he never wanted to come down from. Justine tenderly touched Quinn's head which was now lying on her mound and called his name. Instead of answering, he slid his body along the top of hers, looked down at her not at all fazed by the fact that her brown eyes were black and ringed with warm red colored flames. "You belong to me." Justine said as Quinn rammed himself into her so hard that her head hit the headboard. "You are my king." she said with the second thrust, "There will never be another." she said with the third thrust, "I love you." she said with the fourth. Quinn pumped in and out of her like a man possessed, it was time to complete this. His head flew back as his mouth opened wide to let out a scream that rivaled Justine's. He felt as though his entire being was being emptied into her as he came but that he was being filled at the same time. Justine wrapped her legs around him and held him fast as she gyrated her self against him, her vaginal muscles milking him dry as her scream intermingled with his. Neither of them heard the windows crack when they came together, it wouldn't be noticed until later. Quinn rolled off of Justine while still holding her close to him. They lay still for several minutes not talking. Both of them could honestly say that neither of them had experienced anything as intense as what just happened. "Jesus Justine." Quinn said when he could speak. "I don't know about you but that was way beyond intense." "I agree but we're not finished yet." Justine said softly, "we still have to exchange blood." Quinn looked over at the clock, "it's getting late so let's do this." he said and turned on his back. Justine sat on top of him, looked down at him and ran a finger along his cheek. She began a slow but steady grind to music that she heard in her head grinding even harder when she felt Quinn begin to harden beneath her. Quinn reached up and took her breasts into his hands looking at them with longing. Using them, he pulled Justine down to him so that he could take a nipple into his mouth moaning happily when the first turgid tip was in his mouth. Justine pulled back, sat up, rose to her knees and slid onto Quinn's fully erect cock. "Come back down here." Quinn said as he reached for her swaying breasts. Justine smiled at him as she leaned forward to give him what he wanted. It wasn't long before she felt his cock stiffen and swell, he was going to come. She moved so that the nipple that he had been nibbling on popped out of his mouth, gently turned his head to the side, kissed the throbbing pulse point and bit just as Quinn's orgasm began. She drank until she heard his heart beat slow. Since he was her mate there was no need to drain him to the point of death, all he needed to do was to drink the same amount of blood that she took from him. He would have an uncomfortable night with chills and fever but by tomorrow evening it would be over. As soon as Quinn's heart beat slowed, Justine stopped drinking and licked the wound closed. The mark would never disappear as it was the equivalent to a wedding band. She looked down at Quinn who was looking back at her with a silly grin on his face. "My turn?" he asked. "Your turn" Justine replied as she considered where he would take from. "I love your nipples!" he said as he reached up and tweaked one and then the other. "Yeah?" she teased as she took a fingernail that hadn't been there a moment before and cut across her right nipple before leaning down to offer it to her mate. Quinn wasted no time in accepting the offering making sounds of pleasure as Justine ground against him moaning at the sensation of his sucking on her nipple and her clit rubbing against his pelvic bone. Quinn came with his mouth full of nipple and blood but kept drinking. It wasn't until Justine came again that she stopped him. With a touch of her finger, the bleeding from her nipple stopped. She moved to Quinn's side and lay her head over his heart sighing when felt a warm hand on her back. "Justine?" he called sleepily. "Yes?" "I love you." *********** The moment the mating was completed, every vampire enemy or ally knew that there was a new queen. Those who were allies had nothing to fear, those who were enemies began feeling the anxiety that lasted until they had they had either figured the queen herself out or her agenda. ********** Jeremiah sat up on his cot the moment power changed from Violet to Justine. He took consolation in the fact that Violet was more than likely gone and he would only have to deal with Justine. The guards on duty smiled and congratulated each other and began to talk about the big gala that would occur in celebration of the ascension of the new queen. All of the queens of the past and their mates would also be in attendance making it a very big deal indeed. Jeremiah had always wanted to attend one of these things but it had never happened. It now looked like he would be attending one and not in the way that he wanted. He heard that whoever happened to be in a cell at the time was taken to the gala in the cell for others to look at. It wasn't just about humiliation, it was about recognition. If in the unlikely event that he should escape, everyone would know who he was and there wouldn't be the excuse that he wasn't' recognized. Anyone caught helping him would be at the very least imprisoned. By now even the lowliest of vampires knew about him and would just as soon turn him in for a reward as help him. He was royally fucked. ******** Quinn slept like the dead until the next afternoon. When he woke up he realized something, he didn't have to go to the bathroom and that he had a very beautiful woman in his arms. He looked down to see that his cock was hard and throbbing. He looked over at Justine, turned on his side and rubbed the head of his cock against her thigh in an effort to get a little relief. Suddenly he was looking into black eyes that were circled with warm red flames. He wondered what his eyes looked like and decided to ask. "What do my eyes look like?" Justine touched his face, "They're green/hazel with light green flames going around them, they're beautiful." she breathed. "Yeah?" "Yeah" Justine replied as Quinn pulled her on top of him with an ease that he hadn't had the night before and slid into her. ********** They had dinner with Violet and Edward and found that they liked the couple very much. So much in fact that Justine gave them an open invitation. A first. Edward offered to explain to Quinn what his responsibilities as king were, another first. Violet was pleased. Justine was bringing much needed change to the office of queen and she was going to set the vampire world on its ear. "Justine." Edward said during dessert, " I cannot thank you enough for what you did for us. I along with Violet offer you my service in anyway that you might need." "You're welcome, I'm glad that I was able to help." Justine replied. "Violet, how about we go check on our guest while the men chat?" They made their way down the stairs chatting as if they'd known each other forever. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs and listened. " All you have to do is...." "Is what?" Justine asked as she walked into the room. "My queen!" four guards said in unison and dropped to their knees. As much as she wanted to tell them not to bow and not to call her "my queen" she didn't. Violet had made a valid point. "It's alright to have your inner circle address you by your first name but even they must address you by title at any formal or informal gathering and as much as you may not like it, the servants must address you by title at all times. If you don't, it will give the impression that you are lax when we all know that you are anything but." "You may stand." Justine said with her eyes glued to Jeremiah she took a deep breath and smiled, "Ah the sweet smell of fear." she said as she took a step forward. Jeremiah didn't speak, he was relieved that Violet was gone. The last thing he needed was for her to be giving Justine ideas for his punishment. His relief was short lived when a short time later he heard Violet's voice. "Fuck..." "I'm sorry did you say something?" Violet asked sweetly. Jeremiah was speechless, what was Violet still doing here? "Oh, I know." Violet said, "you thought that I was gone!" Jeremiah's face was coated in a fine sheen of sweat as he looked from one woman to the other. "What's wrong Jeremiah?" Justine asked, "it doesn't feel good to be locked up and waiting to find out your fate does it? Just imagine, that's what you and your nephew did to hundreds of thousands of women some of whom live in this house." Jeremiah backed up so that his back was against the back bars of the cell. "You even know one of them." Justine continued as she crooked a finger at him forcing him to leave the back of the cell. "Remember my friend Pam? She's here as well as a few others who would just love to rip your ass apart and let's not forget my mate and king Quinn, he was asking about you." Justine was now standing directly in front of Jeremiah. "Tell me, when you had that poor human woman and her daughters captive, did you stand this close to them and smell them?" she took a deep whiff and smiled. "And did you lick them like this?" she licked the side of his face with the tip of his tongue and watched as it smoked making a welt along the side of his face. The guards watched wide eyed and made a mental note not to piss off this queen. Jeremiah to his credit didn't scream but tears ran down his face. "Speaking of humans," Justine continued, "what in the hell were you thinking to involve them in vampire affairs? Speak!" "I... it was the only way to get you and your mate to come to me." "Do you remember the speech you gave to all new hires?" Justine asked. "Yes." "There was one piece of advice that you always stressed, what was it?" She was toying with him and he knew it but it didn't change anything, he was afraid of her but what he didn't understand is why she hadn't attacked him, he could smell the strong odor of his own fear so why was he still alive? For that matter, why hadn't Violet attacked? The guards were in fact wondering the same thing. Instead of four hours shifts, they had gone down to two hour shifts and judging by the way he was smelling, they would have to go to every hour. If they didn't, it would be only a matter of time before the prisoner was dead. And once word got out about what the queen could do with a touch of her tongue.... "I'm waiting." Justine said. "Research, I said to make sure that you did your research." he whispered. "And did you do yours?" Violet asked. "Y.... Yes." "I'm thinking not." Justine replied, "because if you had, you wouldn't be here but I'm going to let Violet explain that to you." "You know Jeremiah, your greatest weakness is your greed." Violet said as she stepped up to the cell. "I think that once you got to the part of the story about the king, you either stopped reading or stopped listening. What do you know of the black widow spider?" she asked. "They kill their mates." Jeremiah replied not seeing the significance. "Let me make this easy for you, if you had killed Quinn and mated with Justine... you would have been dead by morning. Her blood would have killed you because it would have treated you as a foreign object which in fact you would have been. It wouldn't have been a pleasant death so you see, you did all of this for nothing." "But she would have died!" Jeremiah exclaimed. "Maybe but maybe not." Violet replied. "I must admit that I thought the same thing but Justine is something special and I believe that she would have been given another king and you would still be dead." Jeremiah remembered his mother trying to tell him something but he cut her off before she could tell him what it was. Justine was right, had he known that one piece of information he wouldn't have continued to pursue her once he knew who she was. "I know that I am in no position to ask for anything but my mother...." "Will not be harmed." Justine said "but let's talk about mothers." Justine said softly. "I never really got to know mine. She disappeared when I was three and fortunately, she was close to her sister who raised me." "Why are you telling me this?" Jeremiah asked. "My mother was a nurse a nursing home in North East Philadelphia up by Roosevelt Boulevard, you know the area don't you?" she asked as she looked around the room, spotted two chairs and willed them over to her. When the chairs arrived, she sat down in one and Violet sat down in the other. "I know the area, so?" Jeremiah asked irritably. A guard started to discipline him but Justine stopped him with a wave of her hand. "One afternoon, twenty-seven years ago, my mother Josephine, Josie to friends and family went to work after taking me to my Aunt Belinda's house. She was supposed to pick me up the next morning and take me over to my grandmother's house so she could go shopping for my birthday party the following week." Jeremiah sifted through his memory, there was something about that name that niggled at him. "She never came to get me and do you know why?" Justine asked, her voice calm. "I... I don't know." Jeremiah replied. "My mother was a very attractive woman, I know this because I still have pictures of her. So how did you find her? "Me? I don't know your mother!" Jeremiah exclaimed. "Actually you do, you may not remember her specifically but I'm betting if I show you a picture, you will." Justine pulled a picture out of her pocket and held it up, "remember her now?" Jeremiah's mouth went dry as he looked at the picture. Josephine had been one of the last ones that he had tried to train before Malcolm wouldn't allow him to train anymore. The memories of that night flashed through his head. The vampire who had wanted her was attracted to her because of her looks, her personality didn't matter. Josephine had been tall at five -feet seven and built much like Justine was but was a little more curvy and that was all that mattered. When Jeremiah found out that there was a child involved, he tried to talk the vampire out of it. Justine Ch. 10 "Give me some time and I'll find another one like her." But the vampire wouldn't be swayed, he had to have Josephine, the other part of the attraction was her name, his name was Napoleon although he looked nothing like Napoleon of history. For whatever reason, Jeremiah decided to capture and train Josephine himself. He determined that the usual way of wining and dining was too risky so one night when he knew that she was working, he waited outside for her. When she got to her car, he called her name and the moment she looked at him, he compelled her to get into her car and to go wherever he directed her. Even through the compulsion he could smell and feel her fear but he was in control. He took her to the house and up to his bedroom to begin her training. To this day, he still didn't understand what happened next. It was as if a light switch had been turned on, suddenly Josephine was screaming like a banshee grabbing whatever she could get her hands on and throwing it at him. The rage mixed with fear was a potent combination and then.... She cut herself on a piece of something. By the time he had regained control of himself, Josephine's barely live body lay under him, her uniform was torn to pieces, blood ran from bites on either side off her neck and his flaccid cock lay on her belly. Not knowing what else to do, he called Malcolm who was there in a matter of seconds. "What the fuck happened?" Malcolm asked as he looked around the room before seeing the cause of his uncle's panic. "Shit! She isn't dead yet! We can turn her...." "No, I don't want to be a parent! I don't care what you do with her!" Jeremiah said and left the room leaving Malcolm to clean up yet another mess. Not wanting to be a parent either, and because of the way that Josephine had overcome the compulsion, Malcolm made the decision to dump her somewhere to finish dying. "So where is she?" Justine demanded, her eyes black and ringed with hot red flames. "I..... she's.... I .... she's dead. Malcolm buried her and I don't know where, he didn't tell me!" Jeremiah replied as he tried to figure out how Justine tied him to her mother. "How did you know?" he whispered It didn't register as a lie because as far as he knew, Josephine Graves was really dead and Malcolm really hadn't told him what he did with the body. Justine blinked back hot tears, her mother had been one of Jeremiah Mathers' victims in more ways than one. "I just know." Justine said as she walked toward the cell, "I just know!" she screamed at him. And that was the truth of it, she just knew just as she had known so many other things. Jeremiah cowered as Justine yanked the cell door open, reached for him, grabbed him and threw him against the bars of the cell. If he thought that she was angry at the human woman's house, he was mistaken. Fury poured off of her blistering his skin, he stopped trying to get away, finally he was going to die. "Not today mother fucker." Justine hissed, "I promised Quinn that he could beat your ass and if he kills you, I hope that it's slowly." She walked out of the cell and then turned back. She reached out a hand and the burns on Jeremiah's face, hands and arms were gone. "I don't want my mate to have damaged goods." she said and walked away. ********* Violet put her arm around Justine, she knew that she was hoping that her mother was still alive somewhere and Jeremiah had just dashed that hope but still she had shown remarkable restraint. The bastard deserved to die. Quinn and Edward were playing pool when they came up from the cell. Quinn immediately knew that something was very wrong even before Justine and Violet reached the recreation room. He laid down his stick and met Justine partway to the room. "Sweetheart?" Justine pulled Quinn into an empty room and told him about her mother. Without a word, Quinn kissed her and went down to the cell. As soon as the guards saw him, they knelt, "Sire!" "Let him out." Quinn growled. "Sire?" one of the guards asked. "Let him the fuck out!" Quinn snapped. As soon as Jeremiah was outside of the cell, Quinn was on him. He picked Jeremiah up and threw him against the nearest wall much as had been done to him. He didn't give Jeremiah a chance to recover before he was sailing through the air and smashing against another wall. "Mother fucker!" Quinn shouted as he picked Jeremiah off the floor and threw him again. When he picked him up, he punched him in the face so hard, that Quinn felt the bones of his face shatter. "You threaten and terrorize women! You entered a human home and threaten my family! You fucking sold people and killed?" he screamed as he continued to pummel Jeremiah. "You killed Justine's mother? Where in the fuck is Malcolm? Speak!!" Jeremiah spit out a mouthful of blood and teeth. "Dead." "Did you kill him?" Quinn demanded. "Yes." "Son of a bitch!" Quinn said as he grabbed Jeremiah and threw him again. Jeremiah didn't move, he couldn't have even if he had wanted to. Fortunately, he didn't need to breathe, if he had he would have choked on the blood running down his throat. He knew that many of his facial bones were shattered, several ribs were broken and the bones of at least one arm. He looked up at Quinn but could barely make him out because of the blood running in his eyes but what he saw filled him with absolute terror. Quinn was advancing on him with fangs descended and claws stretched out, he was going to be torn apart piece by piece. Jeremiah closed his eyes and said a silent farewell to is mother and prepared to die. "Quinn, no, I'm not done with him yet." ********************************* Jeri tidied up the kitchen after making dinner for David her husband of twenty-seven years at least that's how long he said that they were together. She really couldn't remember. He told her that they had always been vampires and she believed him, she had no reason not to. He told her that she had never worked and that her only job was to care for and to please him and as long as she did those things, she would be treated well. But something bothered her. Sometimes when she rested, she saw snippets of places that she had never been to before. For instance, there was a place that made sandwiches and there was another place that a bunch of old people lived but most disturbing was the snippets that she saw of a child. She didn't know if it was male or female because all she ever saw were the eyes. When she talked to David about it, he assured her that it was just an overactive imagination because of all the television shows she watched. She especially favored the hospital show and was always amazed when she understood what they were talking about. Whenever she saw a show where they were performing CPR, she would find herself muttering, "That's not right or you have to push faster!" Usually after one of those shows, she would rest and wake up not remembering any thing other than what David told her. Today had been one of those days when she woke up not remembering anything, not even what she dreamt about. The only thing of note had been the feeling she got when there had been a shift of power. "No worries love," David said as he kissed her cheek, "it just means that we have a new queen." "Will we meet her?" she asked. "No sweetheart." he said gently as he hugged her. "Tell you what, let's celebrate the ascension of the new queen since we won't be going to the gala." "Why can't we go?" she asked. Jeri swallowed when she saw David's steel gray eyes flash. He had indulged her as much as he was going to. "I would like to go out." she replied with a sincere smile, she loved dressing up and going out. "That's my girl!" Max said with his deep voice that carried a British accent, "And where would my love like to go?" he asked happy again. "Could we go to that place that's on the water?" she asked not remembering that last night she could have told him the name of the place. "Of course we can! Now go make yourself even more beautiful than you are and I'll call to make sure that our table is ready." Max watched as Jeri walked out of the kitchen. He had been on business in the states when he found her almost dead. It was obvious as to what had happened to her, she had been assaulted and drained almost to the point of death and then just dumped. Without really knowing or understanding why, he took her to his room and began to feed her his own blood. When she eventually woke up, she had no recollection as to what had happened to her or even what her name was. For several days he really tried to help her remember and then realized his error, he shouldn't have fed her his blood. He was now responsible for her whether he wanted to be or not. It wasn't long before he fell in love with her and didn't want her to remember so for twenty-seven years, he erased her memories when she started to remember things. He knew by the way that she knew about medical things that she must have been in the medical field in some capacity. He never stopped her from watching whatever she wanted including medical shows but by morning the memory would be gone. Eventually, he did find out who she was and pieced together what happened but kept it from her. Selfish he knew but he couldn't bear to let her go. That he had to change the way he did certain things didn't matter. That he had to altar the way he made love didn't matter. When she came screaming for him, it was worth it. He loved the woman that he called Jeri and to whom he gave his last name of Sheffield to. The last thing that he admitted to himself as he made the phone call for their table was this.... When he felt the shift of power, he felt something that he had never felt before. Anxiety. ********* Later that night as Quinn was massaging Justine's back, she dozed off. For the briefest of second's she thought that she felt someone think of her and then it was gone. She opened her eyes which had been their normal shade of brown but quickly turned black and immediately back to brown as she closed her eyes again. The feeling that her mother wasn't dead niggled at her but Jeremiah hadn't lied, she would have smelled it on him if he had but still the feeling persisted that something just wasn't right. *********** Max's anxiety rose. This time instead of Jeri having a restless rest, it was him. He looked over at Jeri who was asleep with her back to him and made a vow. He would allow nothing or anyone to take her away from him even if he had to kill her and then himself. Having made that promise, he snuggled into Jeri's back, closed his eyes and fell asleep. Justine Ch. 11 *Josephine* Twenty-eight year old Josephine Graves got ready for her shift at the nursing home. She hated second shift only because it kept her away from her little girl Justine but it was the only shift open. She looked down at her daughter and smiled at her. The little girl was what kept her going; it was her picture that Josephine kept in front of her as she struggled through nursing school. It was Justine's name that she said first when she delivered the speech at her pinning ceremony followed by the names of her mother and her sister Belinda. She hadn't bothered to mention the name of Justine's father, he hadn't supported her in her endeavors but as soon as he realized that she was really going to graduate, he became the supportive significant other. "That's my baby!" he would say to anyone who would listen, "she's going to be a nurse!" Then he started with the plans that cost money. Rock as he liked to be called would come home with brochures from different car dealerships and leave them laying around for her to look at. When she found them, Josephine would throw them in the trash and he would bring more. After a while, he realized that she wasn't taking the hint and would take her to the different dealerships thinking that she could be pressured into buying a car. That told her something, he didn't know her very well if he thought that she could be pressured like that. All it did was make her mad and him frustrated. She wasn't sure when she decided that she had had enough of Rocky aka Willis Melvin Cooper but what she did know was that he wasn't going to remain in her life as a significant other. Unbeknownst to her, she was pregnant with Justine. The thought of abortion or adoption never crossed her mind, this baby was hers. Although she knew though they might be upset at first, she knew that she would have the unwavering support of her mother Debra and her sister Belinda, her father had he been alive would have supported her too. She wanted to be fair so she told Rocky that she was pregnant and that she was going to keep the baby whether he was around or not. She also told him that the baby would have her last name and that he was welcome to be involved with their child if he wanted to. At first, he was upset and then he got used to the idea and eventually asked her to marry him. On the surface of it, it sounded like a sincere proposal but the more she thought about it the more the feeling that to marry him would be a huge mistake grew. The surprising thing was the ease in which he accepted her answer, he was almost relieved but even so, he went to the doctor appointments with her and to his credit, he really tried but after awhile things began to come up that he considered more important than the doctor appointments. Nevertheless, Josephine hung in there; she wanted her baby to have a father in its life even if they weren't together. The closer the birth came, the more Rocky came around trying to get back into Josephine's good graces. She took him back telling herself that it was for the good of their baby. She bit her tongue more times than she could count. He had picked out the names for the baby, Willis Melvin Cooper Jr. if it was a boy and Ellen Agnes Graves if it was a girl. "The baby gets my last name no matter the sex." she told him unable to keep her mouth shut any longer. "And why does the baby get your last name if it's a boy?" she asked "Continuation of the male name." Rocky replied as if that explained everything. They argued about it for an hour before Josephine threw her hands up. She was honest enough to admit that there really wasn't anything wrong with giving the baby his last name male or female but just as with the proposal, she knew that she shouldn't. The baby's last name had to be Graves. Eventually, Rocky dropped the subject saying that he would go with whatever she decided. Justine Angelica Graves made her grand entrance into the world on December 7, 1982 at ten pm on the dot. Josephine remembered the time only because at the moment Justine was born, she felt a shudder of anticipation along with the knowledge that her baby girl was something special. That feeling wasn't the normal feeling that most parents had about their children. This was a certainty that she would have staked her life on. Justine weighed in at nine pounds, six ounces and measured 21 inches in length. She had a full head of black curly hair and had what Josephine considered the most beautiful pair of dark eyes that looked to old to belong to a newborn. She was in a word perfect. Even Rocky was smitten with her even approving of the name. "She's gorgeous!" he said kissing Josephine's head, "I want to be a daddy to her, can we try again?" She agreed. For the first year, things went relatively well. The problem started when Josephine decided that she wanted to go to school. She wanted to be able to support her and Justine if she had to but Rocky hadn't seen it that way. He took it as an affront to his manhood that she thought that he couldn't provide for his family. "I'm not saying that!" Josephine protested and tried to explain that she was thinking about the future with college and things like that. Eventually she stopped trying to convince him and applied for the nursing program. Her mother and sister helped her with babysitting and even helping her to study for tests because one, Rocky refused to help with Justine even if he was home and two, he had no interest in helping her study. Once he realized that she was going to graduate, then he became the doting significant other but by then it was too late, she didn't want or need his support. "Was that only three years ago?" Josephine asked herself as he packed Justine's overnight bag. Justine looked up at her and smiled as if to say, "Yep it was." Josephine picked her up and hugged her, "you be good for Aunt Belinda, ok?" In response, Justine kissed Josephine's cheek, froze and began to cry. "Hey!" Josephine crooned, "I know that you're a good girl calm down." It took Josephine more than twenty minutes to calm Justine down so that they could leave. As she put Josephine in the car, she gave her a puzzled look. She had never acted like that before and then she decided that it was nothing. When she got to Belinda's, Justine clung to her crying for her not to go. For a brief moment, Josephine considered calling in but changed her mind when she saw the time. It was too late to call in and she couldn't bring herself call in at the last minute, she couldn't and wouldn't do that to her coworkers. "What's wrong with her?" Belinda asked as she literally peeled Justine from Josephine. "Her daddy been around?" "I don't know what's wrong with her, she was fine and then she started crying and no she hasn't seen Rocky since last week when he brought her birthday gift over." Josephine replied. "I've gotta get going before I'm late, I'll call later." She kissed Justine goodnight, which set the little girl off into another round of almost hysterical sobbing that sounded so painful that once again Josephine almost changed her mind about calling in. Her sense of fairness to her coworkers and the concern that if she gave in once it could set a precedent made her steel her resolve to go to work. Tears burned her eyes as she heard Justine screaming for her even though the door to the house was shut. ******* The shift passed quickly enough but not fast enough as far as Josephine was concerned. Something about the way Justine had clung to her and begged her not to leave worried her. Justine had never been a crier and when she did, there was something wrong. She called Belinda whenever she could to check on things and the report was always the same. "I don't know Josie but something's not right." Belinda said. "You know that picture of you and her at the zoo? She keeps looking at it and crying. No not as bad as that but Josie, this baby is scared, is there any way that you can come back?" "I....." Josephine heard a crash and then a cry and without saying good-bye, she hung up and ran toward the sound. By the time the resident who had fallen was back in bed, the family and doctor called and report given, it was time to go home. The last thing Josephine did before leaving was to call Belinda to check on Justine and to let her know that she was leaving. She gathered her things and walked out into the cold December night and as was her habit, she glanced around looking for any one or anything suspicious. Seeing nothing, she headed toward her car and for just a moment allowed her mind to wander to Justine and her upcoming birthday. The key was in the lock of her car when she heard someone calling her name. "Don't look!" a voice whispered urgently, "please don't look at him!" the voice begged. Josephine shook her head and looked up straight into the eyes of an attractive man. She tried to avert her eyes but it was too late. She was already opening her car door and he was sitting in the passenger's seat, his eyes glowing. Even though she knew that it was useless she tried to resist, Josephine tried not to get inside of the car, she knew that if she did... She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. As panicked as she was, she still thought about her baby and realized too late, that her little Justine had been trying to warn her and she hadn't been listening. As she drove, she wondered how the man had managed to get her to do what he wanted and how she hadn't seen him when she looked around, there weren't that many places for someone to hide. Then she realized that she could hear him talking but the sound wasn't coming in through her ears but her head. She stole a glance at the man but quickly turned away when she saw that he was looking at her. "Please." she begged silently as she followed the directions that he gave her without actually speaking to her. Instinct told her not to show fear but she couldn't help it, she was frightened that she would never see her baby again. She could tell that her fear excited the man and she tried to control it but nothing she did worked. Her panic grew when she realized that he was directing her to go the opposite direction from which she lived and that they were leaving the city. She renewed her efforts at trying to break his hold on her finally giving up when she accepted the fact that he was much stronger than she was. She drove until he directed her to a gate that required a security code to get in except that she hadn't heard him say anything. Josephine risked a peek at him quickly turning away when his glowing eyes met hers. Once they were through the gate, she parked the car, like a good little lamb, got out, and followed him into the house, up a flight of stairs and into a bedroom. It was as if someone slapped her to wake her up. Josephine looked around, began to scream and throw whatever she could get her hands on at the man who was approaching her. She didn't even notice that she had cut herself on something that she had thrown at her abductor. Before Josephine knew what was happening, the man was on her tearing at her clothes as he bit her. She could hear him gulping down her blood even as he was thrusting deep inside of her. After what seemed to be an eternity, she closed her eyes her last conscious thought being of her daughter. *********** Belinda had finally gotten Justine to settle down a little, not much but she wasn't sobbing hysterically as she was before. The relative calm however was short lived. As soon as Belinda hung up with Josephine, Justine began to scream at the top of her lungs. The screaming went on for more than forty-five minutes, and then suddenly, it ended. Justine lay on the floor clutching the picture of her and her mother. That was the last night that Belinda would ever recall Justine crying about anything. *********** November 27, 1985 Josephine It was one of his human lackeys that spotted her first and brought her to his attention. The man even had the wherewithal to take a picture of her. "Do you know her name?" Jeremiah asked. "Yessir, its Josephine Graves." he replied eagerly in hopes that there would be a reward for the information. "How do you know this?" Jeremiah asked as he looked at the picture of the beautiful black woman. He could hardly believe his luck. One of his clients wanted a woman by the name of Josephine. The only real stipulations were that she had to be of childbearing age and be able to have children. How he was supposed to find that out Jeremiah didn't know but this woman met one of the criteria. Jeremiah judged her to be in her late twenties to early thirties." "Well once I spotted her... she works at an old folks place, I started to ask around about her and one day, I said hello to her....." "You spoke to her?" Jeremiah asked incredulous. "Yessir." "And she actually spoke to you?" he asked taking in the man's unkempt appearance. "Yes sir she did!" the man replied defensively. The man filled Jeremiah in on what he knew which wasn't much but more information than what he was used to getting. When the man was finished, Jeremiah reached into a drawer and pulled out two one hundred dollar bills, handed them to the man without touching him and sent him on his way. He fought the temptation to call the client because he wanted to find out more about her first. He picked up the phone, dialed a number said a few words and then hung up. An hour later, the phone rang. He picked it up, listened and then hung up. "Shit!" he swore, she had a brat. "So much for that" he muttered under his breath "Mr. Mathers sir?" a voice over the intercom called. "What is it Ann?" "A Mr. Napoleon...." "Is he on the phone?" Jeremiah asked hoping against hope. "No sir, he's headed to your office." she replied. Just as she said it, Jeremiah felt the presence of the vampire and then suddenly he was standing in front of him holding the picture of Josephine. "Is this her?" he asked abruptly. "No, it isn't." Jeremiah replied taking the picture away from the vampire. "No?" the vampire asked, "word has it that you found my Josephine and from the description that I was given, this looks like her." "Well yes but there's a problem." Jeremiah said. "What's the problem?" "She has a child." Jeremiah said. "So?" the vampire replied not seeing the issue. "As you know we don't touch anyone with children or family close by and this woman has both." Jeremiah explained, "Give me some more time and I'll find you another...." "I want that one." the vampire said taking the picture back and looking at it. Jeremiah almost told the vampire to go get her himself but didn't. If word got out that he told a paying customer that, he might as well retire now. All he could do was try to get the vampire to change his mind. It seemed that the more he talked, the more the vampire wanted this particular Josephine. Jeremiah agreed with him on the fact that she was beautiful with her high cheekbones and full lips but that didn't change the fact that she had a family. Tiring of the discussion, the vampire stood up and issued an ultimatum. "You have one week in which to deliver her to me, trained or untrained I don't care or else you by the end of the following week you won't find a new customer anywhere. As a matter of fact, I will make sure that even your old customers leave." Jeremiah considered himself trapped, the option of telling the vampire to go fuck himself never crossed his mind but it crossed Malcolm's. "It's not too late!" he told Jeremiah when he found out about the threat. "We have millions many times over, we can end this!" However, Jeremiah couldn't be persuaded to change his mind. ********************* Jeremiah looked at the woman who could have cost him what he considered everything if he didn't take her. Even through the compulsion, he could feel and smell her fear as it radiated from her. That the fear wasn't necessarily of him didn't matter. Fear was fear no matter the cause. He respected the fact that she tried to control it although she was failing miserably. It also hadn't escaped his notice that she had a strong mind, most human women would have been completely compliant immediately but he had to keep exerting more control over her until finally she was compliant. By the time they reached his home in the outskirts of the city, his captive was compliant and he couldn't believe the amount of compulsion that he had to use to get her to this point. That alone should have been a warning but in his arrogance, he chose to ignore it It wasn't long after he got her into his bedroom that all hell broke loose, her fear, anger and then the blood.... ****************************************************************************************** Quinn could tell that Justine was restless and he had a good idea as to the reason why. It was because of that bastard that he almost killed and would have had Justine not stopped him. He still wanted to kill the miserable son of a bitch but Justine was right, they still needed him. The one thing that mollified him was that he could kick Jeremiah's ass on a daily basis for an eternity if he so chose to. He kissed Justine's shoulder and continued to rub her back until her breathing slowed. With a start, he realized something. He had missed her birthday. The next thing to hit him was that they had ascended on her birthday and if he had to guess, the ten pm time was the time that she was born. He couldn't wait to prove out his theory but in the meantime, he wanted to do something for Justine for her birthday. Then he had an idea but he would need Pam's help to make it happen. Now that he had a plan, he could rest. He snuggled next to his new wife and wondered if she would consider wearing a wedding band. ******** Jeremiah huddled in his cell thinking about the night that he took Josephine Graves. When he thought about it, that night marked the beginning of his end. There had been a few more after her that Malcolm hadn't known about or if he did, he didn't say anything about it. Those times he had cleaned up his own messes by hiring beings whose specialty was doing just that- cleaning up messes. Each time he picked up a woman he knew that he was taking a huge gamble but he didn't really care about that. He then had a terrifying thought, what if the queen knew about them as well? After all, she somehow knew about her mother so it made sense that she would know about the others. He groaned with pain as he moved his body, which was healing, but at a slower rate. Whether that was because his gifts were gone or because the queen willed it, he didn't know and in the end, it didn't matter. The end result was the same. He jumped when one of the guards banged on the cell signaling that either someone was coming and not that his next meal had arrived. He fed several times each time hoping that the meal would be his last. It hadn't taken him long to realize that the guards had been fucking with him. His death when it came wasn't going to be as easy as a simple but painful poisoning and more than likely any and all of the women living in the house would be a part of it. "Get up you piece of shit!" a soft female voice said from behind him. Jeremiah closed and then opened his eyes grimacing as he stood up to face whoever this was. When he was standing, he turned to see who had spoken to him. "How does it feel to be locked up?" Pam asked. Jeremiah relaxed, it was the one that got away and he saw her as no threat, she was only a newborn. "But then," he reminded himself, "so was the queen and look what she could and can do." He immediately put his guard up and didn't reply. Pam took a step toward the cell watching as Jeremiah without realizing it backed up a step. Justine Ch. 11 "My, my, my," she crooned, "look at you, who hurt the big bad vampire who turns human women?" she asked as she took another step noting with satisfaction that Jeremiah had taken another step backwards. She did this until she was standing against the cell bars and his back was against the bars opposite her. "I really should thank you for a few things." she said suddenly from behind him. The guards laughed as Jeremiah jumped, tried to hurry away from the cell bars, tripped and fell flat on his face. Jeremiah couldn't hold in the moan of pain as he rolled onto his side. He let out a startled yelp as he came face to face with Pam. "As I was saying," Pam said after Jeremiah recovered from his shock, "I should thank you for a few things the most important being that I learned a few things about myself. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I'm not angry because I am. I would love nothing more than to kill you as would my mate Darren but Justine says that you're off limits.... For now. Apparently, she has some big plans for you. Oh, and just a word of advice, if any of us ask you questions, answer them. Now isn't the time for you to decide to be brave." Jeremiah watched as Pam vanished from where she lay on the floor next to him. He sat up and lay back down wondering just how long it would take him to will himself to die. ************** Mikhail cuddled Zoe closer to him thankful that he had taken this "one last job." It was a hell of a way to find her but what mattered is that he did and his mercenary days were over. His one and only employer was the queen and he had already taken the necessary steps to have himself removed from the list of those for hire as well as move and change all of his accounts making sure that he added Zoë's name to them. He wondered how long it would be before he was called before the new queen and if she would accept the offer of his services. He knew that while Quinn would have a say, the final say would come from Justine. He decided that there was no point in worrying about it, whatever was going to happen would happen. He kissed the top of Zoe's head, closed his eyes and drifted back into sleep. ********** As Darren waited for Pam to come back from seeing Jeremiah, he tried to acclimate to the change in his position. Not only had his mate just walked into his life, he was no longer a servant in the usual capacity, he was part of what he called the queen's cabinet. "So much change and in such a short time." he thought as he ran a bath for them. They had finally mated the day after the queen and her mate and so had Mikhail and Zoe. There was some unspoken rule about mating on the same day as the king and queen and it would have been the equivalent to another couple showing up at a wedding in wedding garb. That night had been one of the longest of his life and as soon as it was proper he and Pam made love so many times that they lost count. They briefly wondered if there was a chance that there could be a child from their union but it was highly unlikely. No female mate in the house would become pregnant until after the queen did and no one could remember a queen giving birth while she was reigning queen. He added rose scented oil to the water and settled in to wait. He had wanted to go with her when she went to see Jeremiah but she had declined saying that she wanted to talk to him alone. "I have to do this; I want him to see that he didn't change me in the way that he wanted to." That had been almost thirty minutes ago and if she wasn't back by the time he finished preparing their bath, he was going after her. Pam was immensely proud not just of Justine but of herself. While she wouldn't have chosen to learn about herself in the way that it happened, it felt good to know that deep down she wasn't the clingy, insecure woman that had let Justine carry her. That she was really a strong confident woman that could and would help her friend buoyed her spirits. Watching Jeremiah cringe buoyed them even more. The only thing was she wished that she could have hurt him as he had hurt so many. As she neared the quarters that she now shared with her new husband, she didn't like the term mate although she didn't know why, she pushed all thoughts of Jeremiah out of her mind; she had more pleasant things to think about. ************************************************************************************************* Jeri/Josephine Jeri woke first, looked over at David and frowned. His face wasn't relaxed as it usually was and he had been restless which was very unusual for him. She reached over, touched his blue/ gray hair that was the exact same color as his eyes and felt a surge of warmth toward him. She let her hand wander down his face lingering on his lips and then moving down to his chin. In all of her time with him, she had never really thought about what she felt for him although he had told her on more than one occasion that he loved her. She believed him but the intensity of what he felt for her frightened her at times it bordered on obsession but she..... She jumped when blue/gray eyes suddenly opened and a hand grabbed hers. "Good evening love." David said as he brought his hands to his lips and kissed them. "Why are you awake? Did I not do my job sufficiently?" he teased. "You did your job just fine." Jeri replied as she snuggled into him. "So why are you awake?" he asked. "David, are you alright?" she asked cautiously. Instead of being irritated, he was touched. It wasn't that she hadn't ever showed concern for him before, she had, but it was the kind of concern that she would have shown anyone and that was what had always irritated him. He wanted her to be concerned about him because she really cared about him in a way that was different than in the way that she cared for others. He wanted her to love him and wanted to hear her say it, he could have compelled her to say it but he wouldn't, she had to say it voluntarily. It was one thing to compel her to forget anything that she remembered of her past, to him that was self-preservation and his way of protecting her but another to make her say that she loved him. For all he knew, she was in danger and whoever had left her for dead could still be out there somewhere and if they saw her.... And then there was the possibility that she would see something or someone that would jar her memory. He turned so that he faced her and held his breath. This touch was different from any of the others, even than the touches of making love. He cupped a cheek in his hand and waited. For what? He wasn't sure. Jeri covered his hand with hers, turned her head so that her lips were pressed against the palm of his hand and kissed it. David held his breath and didn't move. The tenderness in that kiss was unmistakable just as her concern for him was, but would she verbalize it? He wondered. "David?" "Yes love?" "I know that I've never said anything about how I feel about you and maybe you don't care but....." David forced himself to remain calm but his heart was racing. He knew that under normal circumstances, she would have noticed but she was too nervous, concentrating on what she was going to say. "You have been so good to me and I know that you love me... David, I love you too." She had finally said it and he didn't know what to do first. He crushed her to him, told her that he loved her and ground against him at the same time. The feelings of anxiety were forgotten replaced by the joy if finally being accepted by his mate. *********** Mikhail received the summons to meet with Justine and Quinn soon after the evening meal. He kissed Zoe, got dressed and walked to the room that Justine had chosen to be her and Quinn's office. When he got to the door of the office, he paused, took a deep breath and knocked. After a few seconds, he was standing in before the new queen and her king. Buddy sat on the floor between them watching him as he walked in. Following protocol, he approached them with his hands arms held away from his body, hands open with the palms facing toward them. He dropped to one knee, bowed his head and waited. "You may stand." Justine said softly hating the formality. Mikhail stood up keeping his gaze down. "This is bull shit!" Justine exclaimed. "Mikhail, you're not a servant so stop acting like it! Get up and sit down." Mikhail hid a smile as he went to the nearest chair, he liked this queen and her fuck it attitude. "Ok, now," Justine said, "here's the way this is going to work. In private drop the my queen king crap, I don't like it. Next, I want you to tell me why I should trust you. You were hired by Jeremiah Mathers to hunt me and then you end up helping me so what gives?" Mikhail's mouth went dry. He had heard the story about what she had done to Jeremiah with just a touch of her tongue and he wondered what other gifts she had but now wasn't the time to wonder about such things. Justine and Quinn both listened without interruption and then said nothing for a long time when he was finished. "You switched teams out of the goodness of your heart?" Justine asked. "I switched teams as you put it because the odds were against you." Mikhail replied, "As Violet can tell you, I hate unfairness but it appears that I need not have worried." he added. "The other thing is this, it didn't take me long to realize a few things, the fact that Jeremiah called me in and paid me good money to hunt a newborn told me something, he was afraid of you. Secondly, there was more going on than what he was saying. I didn't know what it was but I was in the process of trying to find out what it was when I began to realize who and what you were." "Are you going to switch teams again?" Quinn asked. "No." "How do we know that? The scuttlebutt is that this isn't the first time that you've done it." Quinn said. "Violet can also attest to another thing about me." Quinn replied, "I do not lie. If I tell you that I am at your service then I mean exactly that. I have already removed myself from the list of hunters and assassins. However, there is a more important reason for that decision, Zoe. I will not have her live the life of an assassin's mate and her place is here with you as is mine if you will have me." "Jumped the gun on getting rid of your job didn't you?" Justine asked. "You were to have been my easiest and last job." Mikhail replied. "I was going to retire anyway but even if you decline my services, my decision to retire stands. If you don't believe me, I make to you the same offer that I made to Violet. Look inside of me, examine my thoughts and motivations and if you find one deception, you can do with me as you will." Unlike Violet, Justine took Mikhail up on his offer. There were a number of reasons for the decision but the main one was that she wanted the word to get out that everyone who offered their services would be closely scrutinized by her and Quinn. Already there was one amongst them who would be joining Jeremiah in his small cell in a few minutes. Even as she was examining Mikhail, the man, one of the day guards was caught planning Jeremiah's escape. As much as she hated it, the man had to die and she had to be the one to do it. She would make Jeremiah watch just to drive her point home. She was no one to be fucked with. Mikhail jumped when he felt Justine probe him. It wasn't unpleasant but if she chose to make it so.... Her examination of his thoughts seemed to last for hours before she pulled out and someone else- Quinn entered. His examination was rougher than Justine's was and painful. Mikhail bore the pain silently as Quinn pulled out a memory putting it back intact before looking at another one. He too it seemed had an innate ability to the use of his gifts, he was someone that he would do well not to cross. Then it was over. "Alright Mikhail, you're in." Justine said, "We'll talk again later. Quinn and I have something to take care of." ******* Jeremiah stood up and stretched before picking the flask of blood up from the floor. He made the usual show of hoping that it was poisoned by questioning the guard about it. "Just shut the fuck up and drink it!" The guard snapped. It was all that he could do not to laugh; the idiot really thought that he was going to escape. Every guard knew to let Jeremiah think that he was escaping. Jeremiah drained the flask dry, his bruises and injuries were almost completely healed making movement easier. He handed the flask to the nearest guard and stretched again, he wanted to be ready. "Soon." he thought as he wondered which guard was going to help him. The sounds of someone being dragged down the stairs filled the quiet basement. "I'm innocent damn it! He compelled me!" Minutes later, a man was shoved into a cell that hadn't been there before. Jeremiah didn't know the man personally and didn't care to. It wasn't until he realized that the man was accusing him of something that he began to pay attention to the man. It had to be the vampire who had slipped a message inside one of the flasks of blood. The vampire had somehow gotten himself caught and was accusing Jeremiah of compelling him. Jeremiah had never laid eyes on the vampire before so how was he supposed to have compelled him even if he had his gifts? Jeremiah realized the vampire's error, he didn't know that Jeremiah's gifts didn't work here and he probably didn't realize that his didn't work anymore either. There was another commotion when Justine, Quinn and Buddy appeared in front of the cells. The vampire in the next cell didn't even have the sense to be frightened. Jeremiah watched as the vampire boldly walked up to the bars of the cell and came face to face with the king who just looked him up and down with a smirk and then.... There was a loud crash and then the sound of bones crashing as the vampire crashed into the bars hard enough that they bent outwards. Quinn looked over at Jeremiah, his eyes a hard green with cold green flames surrounding them, "meet your rescuer." he said. "This is and soon to be was Leonard Wise and contrary to his last name you can see that he really wasn't wise at all." A hundred thoughts swirled through Jeremiah's head with the biggest one being that Quinn although a newborn was every bit as powerful as the Queen was and that he was in full control of his powers. Any chances of an accidental death were gone but what concerned him now was what was happening now. Still not realizing that he no longer had his gifts, Leonard tried to vanish from the cell. Jeremiah watched with more sympathy than he had ever shown any of his victims. The vampire was going to die, that much was certain. Envy joined the growing list of emotions that Jeremiah felt which included anger and fear. He blinked rapidly when he looked up to see Quinn looking at him, his eyes still hard and unwavering. A soft growl made Jeremiah look down and then back up. He hadn't seen the dog come into the cell and suddenly there he was, his teeth bared. When he started to move away, Buddy growled in warning stopping him in his tracks. Jeremiah's eyes widened He watched in shock and then disgust as Buddy lifted a leg, pissed on his right leg from the knee down, and then repeated the gesture on the left. Jeremiah grimaced as the strong smell of urine assailed his nose. Tears of humiliation ran down his cheeks as he fully understood what was happening. This was his life. There would be no permanent death for him and nothing he did would change that. "Look over at your rescuer." Justine said softly. Against his will, Jeremiah turned to face the vampire who was about to lose his life for his efforts. He listened as Justine explained the charges against him and the penalty for his betrayal. "But he compelled me!" the man protested, his courage gone. He like everyone else heard about the queen and her gifts but he didn't believe it choosing to believe that no one was that powerful. "Shhh." Justine said, "You're only making things worse and as much as it galls me to do this.... He didn't compel you. He has no gifts." "But...." "Your gifts are also gone; they were neutralized the moment you began to carry out your plan. That's why you couldn't vanish." she explained. "Do you understand the charges against you and the penalty?" she asked. "I...." "Do you understand the charges levied against you and the penalty?" Justine asked again. "Yes." the vampire replied as he wondered what he had been thinking when he planned this. He had always been a skeptic and that skepticism was going to cost him his life. Jeremiah watched unable to look away as the vampire seemed to dissolve starting with his feet. Screams of pain ricocheted throughout the basement as the vampire slowly disintegrated into nothing. "That is what will happen to anyone who tries to help you in anyway." Justine said sickened at what she had to do even though it was necessary. She knew that now wasn't the time to show what would be construed as weakness. She tried to ignore the nausea and continued to address Jeremiah. "I've been giving serious thought to your sentence she said, "and I think that I have one that will do very nicely." Jeremiah's heart pounded and to his shame, he couldn't control his fear. He felt every guard tense as they inhaled the sweet smell of his fear. Quinn moved so that he was standing next to Justine and put his hand on her back drawing the nausea from her to him. Justine didn't say anything but he felt her gratitude as she focused fully on Jeremiah. "We found your records which is a good and bad thing for you." Justine said smiling. "Good because I won't have to dig through your head to get it which disappoints me by the way and bad because I'm going to start looking for the women that you turned and sold. They will be presented with a choice of staying with those that bought them or coming here and spending time with you and here's the best part, they choose how that time is spent with one restriction, they can't kill you." "You can't be serious!" Jeremiah protested, "Do you have....." "Thousands." Justine cut in. "And it's too bad that your nephew isn't here because if he were... But at any rate, rest up because your first visitor is due in about an hour." Justine smiled with satisfaction as Jeremiah paled at the thought of every woman that he and Malcolm had ever turned appearing before him.... "I didn't turn all of them!" he protested. "True but then you killed the one who did and you were the one to handle the money end of it weren't you?" "This isn't fair!" Jeremiah roared. "Neither is what you did to thousands of women including the women that you killed. So shut the fuck up and take your sentence like a man!" Justine snapped. Justine looked at a guard and nodded before walking away. The cell door swung open, two guards went into the cell and dragged Jeremiah out. "Can't have you smelling like piss for the ladies can we?" a guard teased as she held open a door, stood to the side as Jeremiah was shoved into the shower. As soon as he was inside, the shower turned on. Only because the dog piss was beginning to burn and smell did he use the soap. If he had known for sure that the burn and stink wasn't going to get worse, he would have tried to stay out of the falling jets of hot water. When he came out, he came face to face with his first visitor. ********* "Are you alright?" Quinn asked when they left the basement. "Yeah, thanks for helping me out there." Justine replied, "I don't like that part of me very much." Quinn hugged and then kissed her, truth be told he hadn't liked that part of her anymore than he liked that part of himself. He could only hope that the times those sides of them had to show was few and far in between but his gut was telling him otherwise. Some of the owners of the women who would choose to leave would put up a fight to keep what they considered to be theirs. They had some time to plan and they had to make sure that they were ready for the women that would choose to leave their owners. Zoe, Pam and a few other women were already working on that part of it. Justine Ch. 11 Even now, they were on the phone hiring physicians, therapists and psychiatrists to meet the mental and physical needs that these women would have. Even Violet and Edward were helping by offering the services of their own private physicians. They had a long road ahead of them and neither Quinn nor Justine could even begin to imagine what some of the women had been through. ************************************************************************************************* Jeri/Josephine Jeri was alarmed by the intensity of David's relief and the almost desperate way in which he held her. She closed her eyes, held him as tightly against her as she could and ground back against him. Desire for this vampire with whom she had spent more than a quarter a century with flared. It wasn't that she hadn't desired him before, she did but she had to admit that part of it was out of duty but this was different somehow. There was no sense of duty involved; it was all want and need. She didn't know why she hadn't told David how she felt about him until now. The only thing that she could think of was that it the time wasn't right. Now the time was right but there was more to it, there was... A light nip on her neck brought her back from her thoughts. It didn't matter. The important thing was that she finally realized after all of this time that who and what she needed had been with her the entire time. She also realized that he had been waiting for her to come to that realization. That he waited so long and relatively patiently amazed her and clarified a few things as well. The impatience that he sometimes showed had nothing to do with whether she had done something wrong but was more to do with him waiting for her. Granted, David was impatient by nature and there were times that he really was irritated with her but that was only when..." Another nip on the neck, this one, while playful.... Playful? David and playful in the same sentence? Jeri pulled back and took a good hard look at him. Who was this in bed with her? She asked herself silently. Their lovemaking wasn't what she would call perfunctory but it wasn't like this, not even close. "David?" "Yes love?" "What just happened?" she asked knowing that he was anxious to make love. "Can we talk about that later?" he asked, his eyes twinkling in a way that made Jeri's heart speed up. Whatever was happening, an explanation could definitely wait. David couldn't even begin to explain his sense of relief and now returning anxiety. For twenty -seven years, he had kept her identity from her and granted it was partly for her protection but partly because of purely selfish motives. He wouldn't have been able to let her go. It wasn't until now that he could say it, she was his mate. That was why he gave her his blood instead of the bagged human blood. He hadn't claimed her then because in spite of what others thought about him, he could be kind, caring and gentle... to the right person. And she had been in his bed for years but she hadn't been ready. What changed he didn't know and he didn't care, all that mattered was that finally she was coming to him. He knew that he was going to have to tell her, but not now, they would mate first. He knew that he was hedging his bets but instinct was in control now that she had accepted him. In one move, he was on top of her and inside of her before she could blink. He covered her mouth with his not caring that he was crying. This was his mate and if one couldn't show emotion to her then what was the point? He knew that he was rushing but he couldn't help it, he had waited for so long... he felt Jeri shaking beneath him, a sure sign of her impending orgasm, the first of many that he planned to give her. He kissed her lips again before moving to her neck. This was it... in all of their time together they had never exchanged blood and the last time she had taken from him was when he had saved her life. He salivated at the thought of the first taste of her blood and had to force himself to step back. He had no desire to frighten or hurt her. He stopped moving even though Jeri protested and bucked up against him telling him verbally and non verbally that she wasn't happy with him. "Jeri... love, wait a moment." He said in uncharacteristic gentleness. The tone was an unfamiliar one to the both of them but it felt right. David now understood the vampires who he had considered pussy whipped, always seeing to the comfort and needs of their mates. "Pathetic!" he would exclaim under his breath and now he had joined their ranks after almost a millennia of scoffing at them. As he began to move within her, Davis could have sworn that he felt the aging process begin to reverse. He would never go back to being as young as Jeri was, but there was the possibility that he could go back to the age when he was turned which would have been at the ripe old age of fifty. "David?" He stopped when he heard just a trace of anxiety in her voice; he was scaring her without meaning to. He had become someone that she didn't know. He was a stranger. "I'm here love." he murmured in her ear, "I'm here and I've got you." Jeri knew that something momentous was happening and she trusted him but this vampire was not the same one she had gone to bed with. Instead of reassuring her, it made her anxious but he felt so good, better than good and she wondered how much of it was because of whatever it was that was happening. "Oh God Jo... Jeri!" David murmured catching his almost slip of the tongue just in time thinking that she hadn't noticed. "I have waited so long for you to accept me as your mate, so long." Jeri in fact had caught the almost slip but her orgasm had started pushing it out of her mind. Instinctively she turned her head to the side, her anxiety gone. David had never ever hurt her no matter how exasperated he was at her or anything else for that matter. He would actually go out sometimes for hours before saying anything to hurt her, and now she fully understood why, he loved her. As soon as he felt her begin to tighten around his cock, David kissed her neck and bit. He sobbed as he tasted her blood for the first time. Even though in the throes of orgasm, Jeri sensed his profound relief and realized that she was just as relieved as he was. ********** Zoe got ready for her meeting with Jeremiah. Like Pam, she wanted to go alone much to Mikhail's chagrin. He understood on an intellectual level that Jeremiah powerless but he still wanted Zoe nowhere near him. However, he understood, she had to show Jeremiah that she wasn't afraid of him and that she didn't want her mate to be at her side to do it, she had to stand alone. He had no idea what she had planned for the vampire but if the look in her eye meant anything Jeremiah was in for hell. Mikhail glanced at the bag sitting by the doorway and didn't even want to know what was in it. As of yet Zoe hadn't told him what happened to her while she was a captive of Jeremiah and Malcolm and he hadn't asked. "Zoe..." 'I'm fine," she assured him, "I'll be even better when I'm done. Wait up for me?" "I could come with you." Mikhail offered for the third time touching her face and then hugging her. "I know but I have to do this alone, just be here when I get back ok?" "I'll be here; I promise but Zoe, whatever you do or don't do, it changes nothing between us." Zoe blinked back tears. That had been her fear, that somehow things between her and Mikhail would change if she did what she was planning to. She hugged him back, looked up at him, kissed him and left their room picking up the bag on the way out. ********** Jeremiah looked at Zoe with a mixture of anxiety, fear, trepidation and relief. He recognized her as one of the attorneys that he had hired only because a client wanted her. It wasn't that she wasn't a good attorney but her petite build and what humans would consider low self-esteem made her attractive, the very qualities his client had been looking for. He saw the indecision in her eyes and played on it. If nothing else maybe he could provoke her into killing him. "Ah Zoe, just as lovely as ever." he drawled, his own fear dissipating as he saw hers rising. He made a move as if he were going to hit her smiling inwardly when she flinched. What he didn't see was when the guard started to intervene; she made a small movement with her hand warning him off. Jeremiah took another step toward her and then another until he was inches from her trembling body. It was all she could do not to step back but she held her ground. "Such a brave little lamb." he crooned as he reached out to stroke her cheek. Suddenly his fingers were in her hand and were bent back to his wrist. His touching her had brought out all of the deeply buried rage at what he and Malcolm had done to her. Her only regret was that Malcolm wasn't here for retribution. Jeremiah screamed for the guard who only looked at him with a grin on his face. "He's not here to stop me; he's here to make sure that I don't kill you." Zoe said in a voice so cold that she didn't recognize it as her own. She stared at Jeremiah with ice-cold blue eyes as she shoved him away from her. "You know, when I went to work for you, I was so proud of myself because well, you remember how I was but I was changing. Then you and that bastard nephew of yours.... Dinner, dancing... and I blamed myself for being stupid enough to believe that someone like him would look twice at someone like me." She paused long enough to get the bag and then approached Jeremiah. "Why are you wearing clothes slave?" she hissed any thoughts of not being able to do what she was planning gone. "Wh..." Slap. "Did I tell you to speak?" she demanded. Slap. "Why are you still dressed?" Slap. "Hurry it up!" Slap. Jeremiah was horror-stricken; he now knew how he was going spend his evening. "Since we don't have the pleasure of Malcolm's company, I've asked Gino over there if he would assist me." "I....." Slap. Slowly, Zoe removed the contents from her bag and set them out on the table placed in the room for her use. She made sure that Jeremiah got a good look at each instrument of torture. "Remember these?" she asked as she held up a pair of clamps that were attached to a battery. "I believe that you said that they was your favorite item, well let's see if you still feel that way when I'm finished." "Zoe..." Slap. "You don't get to say my name, but I will refer to you by name that you called me, do you remember what it was?" she asked coldly. "You may answer." Jeremiah whimpered as he realized that she was only the first of many. "Nobody, I called you nobody." he said softly. Four hours later, Jeremiah's bloody and battered body lay in a heap on the floor. He was alive and wishing that he wasn't. He had felt every ounce of her rage as she tortured him as he had done her, that it sickened her to do it only made it worse because it should have sickened him to have done it. He groaned as the Gino the guard who had helped in his humiliation unceremoniously dragged him to the shower, tossed him in and walked away. Jeremiah lay on the floor of the shower and let the hot water wash away the blood and pain. "Centuries." he murmured, "Centuries of this." ************** Mikhail was about to go see what was happening when Zoe came in, her face tear streaked, hair mussed and clothes bloody. "Jesus! Zoe? Did he hurt you?" Mikhail asked and then realized that the blood wasn't hers. Zoe didn't speak but threw herself into his arms and sobbed. It was over, she had effectively exercised Jeremiah Mathers from her soul but now she had to deal with what she felt she had to do in order for that to happen. Mikhail picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, within minutes, they were in the tub and for the first time since she was turned, Zoe told someone about her time with the Mathers. Mikhail wanted to tear Jeremiah apart piece by piece not just for Zoe but for every woman that he and Malcolm had turned, violated and then sold as if they were no more than a piece of merchandise. "No, please... I just never thought that I was capable of the anger that I showed... and the things I did...." "He deserved that and more." Mikhail told her. "But I'm no better than he was." Zoe replied crying. "Zoe, ihbim-sweetheart, at any time did you enjoy what you were doing?" Mikhail asked. "No but still...." "Do you feel guilt?" "Yes." "Would you choose to do this thing again?" "NO! Oh my god Mikhail! How could he have done this for so long?" "Because not only is he greedy, he is a vampire without honor and integrity. He also has no compassion or empathy. In other words, you are everything that he is not and those qualities are what makes you different than what he is." Zoe snuggled back into Mikhail's arms, she would never look at Jeremiah Mather's face again and she never wanted to hear his name again. *************** When Jeremiah came to, he was in his cell lying on his cot buck-naked. "Damn!" a soft voice said, "remind me not to piss Zoe off." Pam said amazed at the damage to Jeremiah's body. Jeremiah tried to jump up but found that he couldn't move because excruciating pain in areas where there should be none. The bitch had hurt him and badly... he had at least tried to make sure that she had gotten some pleasure out of it but this was... Revenge. "So Jerry, how's it hanging? Oops wasn't quite the right thing to say was it?" Pam said laughing. "Anyway, it's my turn and even though I should kick your ass up and down this cell I won't. It looks like our girl Zoe did enough for the both of us. So guess what? Just to show that I'm not heartless, you get a get out of jail free card for tonight at least from me. I don't know about Justine though, she's still pretty pissed off about her mom and then there's Quinn who I hear is looking for a guinea pig to experiment on.... New gifts and all of that and let's not forget Mikhail. Damn! Wouldn't want to be you! Nighty night!" Then she was gone. What she had done Jeremiah thought was worse than what Zoe had done. He would be unable to rest now. He would jump at every voice and sound just waiting for one of them to torment him. Fuck. Pam stood just out of Jeremiah's sight and laughed, she loved mind games. ************ Justine paced the length of the game room several times before Quinn finally grabbed her and hugged her. "Talk to me." he urged. "The bastard killed her. He killed my mother and ....." "Baby don't...." "I want to know what happened, I want to know how he found her, and I want to know who he was supposed to sell her to...." "Justine listen to me," Quinn said making her look up at him, "is knowing any of that going to change things?" "No, maybe, I don't know but what I do know is that I have to know what happened to her. Maybe it's because I want closure. Maybe then, I can stop secretly hoping that she's alive somewhere but Quinn, I have to do this and... I want you with me. I don't trust myself not to kill him." "Did you really think that I'd let you go through that alone?" Quinn asked. "I know that you're the queen which by the way, I think is way beyond cool but you're also my wife and you don't go through anything without me got it?" "Got it and have I told you that you wear being bossy very well?" Justine teased. "Yeah?" Quinn replied as she kissed her. "Yeah." Justine replied. In truth she liked the fact that he was confident enough to put his foot down and to argue with her and it felt good not to always be in control. That Quinn had no problems with taking control was all the better. 'Let's go." he said stepping back. "Go? Where are we going?" Justine asked. "Out," he replied, "Do you realize that we've never gone out on a date real or imagined... well I imagined anyway." "There wasn't time for that." Justine replied. "And now there is." Quinn replied. "Jussie from the first time I saw you my life became this trip that I don't think any drug in existence could simulate. I went from a quiet landscaper working for a rich old woman who turned out to be a vampire queen to a love sick thirty something year old man who jacked off to a woman whose name I didn't know and to whom I'm now married to. I just want to do the one thing I've wanted to do since I saw you that first time; I want to take you out." "Where would we go?" Justine asked warming up to the idea. "Do you like to dance?" Quinn asked. "Sure.... Dancing? You want to go dancing?" Justine asked excitedly looking like nothing more than woman whose man had just surprised her with something that he knew would please her. "Gregory Hines I'm not but I'm not too bad." Quinn replied laughing at her enthusiasm. Her eyes had gone dark and there was the slightest hint of red flames surrounding them. He was quickly learning what the flames meant, they matched her mood... this one was the one he always wanted to see... She was happy, at least for the moment. "Yes!" Justine exclaimed. "Great, you go get ready and I'll ask someone for suggestions." Quinn replied kissing her. ********* Before heading to their rooms, Justine decided to pay a visit to Jeremiah. She found him huddled in a corner of his cell, his eyes glued to the front. "Did you have a good evening?" She asked startling him. "Why don't you just kill me?" he asked tiredly. "What? Despondent already?" Justine asked. "If it makes you feel any better, I would like nothing more but I made a promise that as many women as I can find will have the choice of confronting you....." "Confronting?" Jeremiah exclaimed jumping up from his corner. "Look at me!" "You really are something." Justine replied amazed. "After all that you've done, it still comes back to you. Good night Jeremiah." Justine said as she walked away ignoring his demands that she come back. ************************************************************************************************* Jeri/Josephine Jeri couldn't remember feeling as safe as she did right now. She wondered why she hadn't seen it before and stopped herself. She believed that all things happened for a reason and not before they were meant to, and this thing between her and David wasn't supposed to happen before now. In the end, she decided that it didn't matter. She closed her eyes, pushed back into David who tightened his arms around her and adjusted himself so that he was pressed tight against her ass. He opened his mouth; he was going to tell her.... J... There were soft snores. She had fallen asleep. Tomorrow he would tell her. Justine Ch. 12 Jeremiah watched as Justine walked away and wished that he could kill her even if it meant his own death. He could have given a rat's ass about the hierarchy. He hated her. He hated her inner strength and her control, he hated everything about her and that hate extended to Quinn. He felt a sharp bite on his leg, looked down and saw Buddy looking up at him with a knowing look in his yellow eyes. Jeremiah backed up and sat on the cot still buck-naked. It had hurt too much to put clothing on after everything that Zoe had done to him. The longer the humiliations continued, the harder he found it to believe that he had really done those things to not only her but to thousands of others. It was much too late for regrets he realized and he wouldn't humiliate himself further by asking for mercy or forgiveness. He was also honest enough to admit that he didn't regret one minute of it. His only regrets were that he his greed had gotten him where he was now and that Malcolm wasn't with him to share the burden. Buddy watched him intently and then moved closer to him. "Go away!" Jeremiah snapped. Instead, Buddy moved closer before finally deciding to leave a few minutes later. Jeremiah looked up into the faces of his guards and froze. "Nice to see you again." a female voice from the distant past said. ********** "I really don't think that you should go out." Violet said as she braided Justine's hair, "at least not without a guard." "We'll be fine." Justine replied. "You could be hurt or worse, kidnapped! And what about Quinn? He doesn't have full control of his gifts yet and...." "I am not going to hide in this house!" Justine interrupted. "I'm not saying that's what you did but Violet, we need to be visible. I want everyone to know that we're here but not only that, Quinn's right, we've never had a date and I'm ready for some fun!" Violet shrugged and gave up after she realized the reasons for her fear. The first being, that if something did happen to Justine and there was no one to take her place, the queens of the past would have to draw straws to determine who would rule until Justine recovered. If she didn't recover then they would have to decide who would rule until the next queen came along. The second reason for her nerves was due to how close she had come to losing Edward. However, Justine was right; she and Quinn needed to be more visible. She had chosen to stay out of sight as was her right but to Justine it was hiding. What Violet thought of as being prudent, Justine saw as hiding. Had she been hiding? She asked herself. Would those hunters have come after Edward if they had done as Justine and Quinn were doing? There was no way to know as it was now the past. She watched as Justine walked away and wished that she had just an ounce of the confidence that she had. Violet realized that while she had been an adequate queen, she hadn't been spectacular. More things escaped her notice than she cared to admit and once Edward had to be laid in state, her interest in her reign diminished to the point where there were rumblings about how much longer she could hold on. She had left a mess of sorts for the new queen and felt guilty about it. She also was relieved that she wasn't the one who would have to clean the messes up although it was well within Justine's right as reigning queen to demand that she at least clean up some of it. When she handed Justine the list of those who needed to be found, their crimes and in some cases where they were, Justine hadn't batted an eye. She had given the list the briefest of glances and put it in the pocket of one of her many sweat suits. Violet braced herself for the curses that she was sure were going to come. Instead, Justine smiled at her relieving her of her anxiety. "Violet, its alright." she said, you were missing Edward, you just wanted to get the hell out of dodge, and besides, I love a challenge It was then that Violet realized something; Justine could possibly be the queen of all queens but only time would tell. She found herself honored and pleased that Justine and Quinn counted her and Edward as friends. It was a new thing for her, having friends and she liked it. She was actually to the point that she didn't care if they never joined the queens from the past. There was so much that she and Edward hadn't seen or experienced. Maybe it was time and maybe Justine and Quinn would be the ones to show them. ********** Justine found Quinn waiting for her in their rooms naked and hard. "I thought we were going out." she teased as she reached for him. "We are." Quinn replied as he crushed her to him, "I want to make love to you now and then later." he added as she gently bit her earlobe. "Maybe we'll just stay in." Justine replied suddenly as naked as he was. "We're going out." Quinn said, "I want the whole damned city to see us together, I want every man to see how lucky I am to have such a beautiful and sexy wife which brings me to my next question, will you marry me?" Justine was shocked; the thought of a wedding never crossed her mind. "I know that we're already married and but I want to have...." "Yes." Justine replied, "We can have the wedding during the initiation gala!" Quinn paled. "What's wrong?" Justine asked. "I guess we could but I was thinking of something a little more private. " Quinn replied, "You know, you, me, a few close friends and a romantic honeymoon afterwards." "How about this," Justine said, "we have a private ceremony and then have the reception as part of the gala." "Jussie, what are you thinking about doing?" Quinn asked. "I'll tell you later." she replied, "right now someone needs to be taken care of." Justine pushed Quinn backwards until he was standing in front of a chair. She pushed him down until he was sitting in it, knelt down between his legs, smiled up at him and took him into her mouth. Around and around her tongue swirled around the head of his cock starting out slowly and gaining in speed until Quinn thought that he was going lose it and then.... She stopped. "Justine?" Quinn watched her and was about to shake her when she came back from wherever she had gone. "Where was I?" she asked as she took his cock back into her mouth as if nothing had happened. Whatever it was had passed and Quinn forgot about it as she took him all the way down her throat and began to hum. The vibration made his already throbbing cock throb even harder. "Ju....." Was all that Quinn got out before there was one big throb and he was emptying down her throat. He hadn't had too many blowjobs in his life but he could say that the one that he had just received from his wife and queen surpassed any of them. "Your turn." he said his breathing still ragged. Before she realized what was happening, Quinn had her spread-eagled on the bed and was already devouring her drenched pussy. She ground herself against his mouth trying to direct him as to where he should go next with his tongue. Sometimes he listened, sometimes he didn't but when he latched onto her clit and sucked. The newly repaired windows shattered from the sound and high pitch of her screams. Quinn didn't stop; he wanted to hear her scream again. "Quinn... stop... we'll... We'll...." and she screamed again. Slowly Quinn slowed his manipulations of her clit until his tongue was resting on it. "Damn, where's you learn to do that?" Justine asked breathlessly. "Do we really have to go out tonight?" she asked hoping that he would say no. She wanted to find out what else he could do. "We don't have to," Quinn replied, "but I want to... I'll race you to the shower!" An hour later, they were dressed to go out. "Wow!" Quinn said as she took in Justine's appearance. "You look pretty good yourself." she replied with a grin. "What? You didn't think that I could wear anything other than sweat suits?" she teased. Quinn could hardly speak, his mouth had gone dry as it had the first time he saw her. "No... I mean, Justine you look amazing! Turn around, I want to see you." Justine smiled, winked and began a slow three-hundred and sixty degree turn. The red of the dress seemed to match the warm red flames that surrounded her eyes making Quinn's breath hitch. He salivated as he watched her turn and he saw how the dressed hugged her every curve, accentuating her breasts and ass. Suddenly, Quinn wasn't so sure that he wanted other men ogling what was his. "What color undergarments are under that dress?" Quinn asked his voice hoarse. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Justine teased as she turned toward him and slowly raised the hem of her dress stopping just short of mid-thigh. The red heels gave her legs a sleek sexy look that was even better because she wasn't wearing any panty hose, which she had always hated. Quinn felt himself harden again at the thought of what he would love to do to her on a dark dance floor with a sexy slow song playing. "Your car is ready!" Darren called in after he tapped on the door. "You know...." Quinn started. "Let's go." Justine said interrupting him. Now that she was dressed up, she wanted to go and it was important that they people see them. Humans unless they were working for or with vampires wouldn't know who they were but vampires or other beings would instinctively know who they were. "Wait a sec." Justine said as she walked over to him. She brushed his hair back from his face, kissed him and stepped back. "Your turn." she said and crossed her arms to wait. Quinn made the same three-hundred and sixty degree turn modeling the dark suit with a green dress shirt that brought out the green of his eyes. "Do I pass inspection?" he asked with a grin as he did another turn. "With flying colors... you look good enough to eat." Justine replied as she took his offered hand. ********* The club Merlot was located in an out of the way spot in center city. Most people walked by it and kept going, the cover charge and dress code was enough to deter most humans. Most of the patrons of the club were other than human and their vampire lovers or friends invited what few humans were there. The line to get in was already around the corner and wasn't moving very fast. Quinn was all for telling the security at the door who they were but Justine stopped him. "I want no special treatment, I want this to be as normal as possible and believe me, it won't be long before someone realizes who we are." Quinn was actually relieved when no one seemed to know who they were but that relief however, was short lived. It was as Justine said, it started with a murmur from several couples behind them and by the time it reached them, everyone behind them knew that he and Justine were in line. "My queen!" someone called out and it attracted the attention of those in front of them. Two security guards made their way to them intent on seeing what the problem was but as soon as they saw Justine and Quinn, they dropped to their knees. "Get up!" Justine hissed as she looked around to see if they had drawn the attention of any humans not with vampires. "My queen." A deep voice said, "You should have told us that you were coming. Please follow me." Quinn took Justine's hand and followed the vampire into the club that was already over three quarters full. The crowd parted as they passed through and a few patrons who were brave enough reached out to touch them. Quinn had Justine pulled tight against him, his green/hazel eyes glittering with just a hint of green flames around them. Most who saw his eyes backed off not knowing what he would do if they touched Justine. Justine acknowledged those who called out to her but was grateful to reach their table. "This is the table used by Violet and Edward long ago." their benefactor said, "but please excuses my manners, my name is Napoleon and I am the owner. What may I get for you?" he asked trying not to stare at Justine. He had seen her face before.... Josephine! "Is there a reason why you're staring at my wife like that?" Quinn asked bring Napoleon out of his thoughts. "My apologies sire, but it is impossible not to look at one as lovely as she." Napoleon said smoothly. It wasn't a lie, he thought that Justine was gorgeous but the stare was more about who she resembled. He along with everyone else had heard about what happened to Jeremiah Mathers and he could feel the power as it flowed from the royal pair even though they tried to rein it in. "As I was saying, what would you like?" "What do you think sweetheart?" Quinn asked, "Dare we try the human stuff?" "Why not?" Justine asked, "I'll have a long island iced tea." "As you wish." Napoleon said with a slight bow, "and you sire?" "A coke with a slice of fresh lemon." "Will that be all?" Napoleon asked. "For now." Quinn replied looking around the room. Napoleon bowed and took his leave. That Justine was a relative of Josephine there was no doubt.... Her daughter! It had to be. Jeremiah had mentioned that Josephine had a child. He wanted to find someone else for him but it had to be Josephine... he counted his lucky stars that he hadn't ended up with her, he could only imagine what would have happened to him if he had been caught with her. "Oh shit!" he swore as he wondered if the rumors he had heard about Justine were true. His woman Josephine stood by his side as he mixed the drinks for Quinn and Justine. It had taken him a while to find a replacement but he had done it without the help of Jeremiah Mathers. He had wanted nothing to do with the vampire when he found out what happened to his Josephine as he still called her. The woman standing next to him was a pale imitation to what he considered the real Josephine. There was a slight physical resemblance but that was all. This woman didn't have the strength that he saw in the eyes of the real Josephine and she had broken too easily for his taste. "Take this over to the king and queen." he said handing her the tray, "and no mistakes." he added as she walked away. Quinn and Justine were already on the dance floor by the time Josephine made it to their table. Not knowing what to do, she left the drinks and stood by the table to wait for them to come back too afraid to go back to Napoleon for fear that he would yell at her. ******** Quinn held Justine so close that it would have been impossible to slide a playing card between them. One arm held her while the other hand roamed up and down her back going just a little lower with each downward stroke until it rested on her ass. "Are you going to tell me what color panties you're wearing under this dress?" he asked nuzzling her neck. "Who says that I'm wearing any?" Justine replied and then laughed at Quinn's gasp of surprise. "Well are you?" Quinn asked recovering as he moved back just enough that he could slide the front of her dress up. "Not saying." Justine replied thoroughly enjoying herself. Quinn began to pull the dress up between them. The scent of apples hit his nostrils making his eyes glow a soft green. He reached down between them and then moaned as his fingers made contact with the coarse hair of her mound. "Are you trying to kill me?" he asked his voice husky. Justine laughed, stepped back so that the dress could fall down covering her. "Tease." Quinn said pulling her close again and grinding against her. Justine remembered the broken windows in their bedroom and stopped him. "Not a good idea.... Quinn?" Quinn's eyes were glued onto Napoleon who was watching Justine but trying to act as if he wasn't. "Quinn!" Justine called again. "What?" "Are you alright?" Justine asked. "I'm fine but do you know our host?" he asked. "Never met him before why?" "I don't know... I don't like the way he's looking at you and before you say it, I'm not jealous, there's something about him that doesn't feel right." The dance ended and they walked back to the table hand in hand to find Josephine waiting for them. At the same moment they arrived at the table, Napoleon realized his error and appeared at the table just as Josephine was about to introduce herself. "Thank you love, I'll care for our esteemed guests." he said smoothly as he kissed her on the cheek. "As you wish." she said and walked away. The woman's mannerisms around their host didn't escape Justine; the woman was afraid of Napoleon. She wanted to ask Napoleon the woman's name when there was a ruckus in the front of the club. "Please excuse me while I see what is happening." Napoleon said with a bow. It turned out that a group of humans who had somehow found out about the club and had managed to get passes was the cause of the ruckus. Napoleon had arrived to the front just in time, a feeding frenzy was about to start. The humans didn't believe that there were real vampires at the club and deliberately cut themselves. When Justine found out about the near catastrophe, she had to wonder how the humans found out about the club and who had given them the passes. One of the things that she wanted to put an end to was this kind of thing. She knew that there were clubs where humans allowed vampires to feed from them and as much as she wanted to stop it, the humans were consenting. Her main concern was security; it would be a very bad thing if humans as a whole believed in vampires. The ranks of the few remaining hunters would swell and.... "Earth to Justine." Quinn said rubbing her back. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking...." "No apologies are needed," Quinn replied, "I have a few questions for our host myself." ********** Jeremiah turned toward the voice that he had not heard in two centuries and swallowed hard. She was one that was supposed to be dead but here she was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "No greeting?" she asked seductively as she approached him. Natalia stood in front of him looking as beautiful as ever with her black hair and dark brown eyes. Of all the women that he had laid eyes on, she had to be the most beautiful. He could tell by her dress that she was stuck in the seventies with her big afro, bell bottomed jeans decorated with glitter and her platform shoes. "What are you doing here?" he whispered. "Visiting an old friend." she replied as she moved even closer, "I hear that you've been .... How can I put this...? Busy." "How did you know that I was here and how is it that you live?" "Word travels fast, the queen put the word out that you were here and that any of us who would like to see you could. And to answer your second question, obviously I didn't die." "I never hurt you!" Jeremiah exclaimed already fearing the worst. Natalia glared at him, her eyes flashing with anger, "Never hurt me? What in the fuck do you call it? I sure as hell didn't get any pleasure out of it!" Jeremiah backed up; in his mind, he really hadn't hurt her. That he didn't have her consent to turn her made no difference, that after he almost drained her to the point of death and then changed his mind about turning her and left her for... a terrifying thought occurred to him. If Natalia was still alive and he thought he had killed her, how many others were there and more importantly, what if one of them was Justine's mother? "Cat got your tongue sugar?" Natalia asked. "How did you....." "How did I survive?" Natalia interrupted, "someone found me and that someone happened to be a vampire who thought that he owned me because he saved my life. I told him what I told you, no one owns Natalia Simone Fletcher!" "Wh... Where is he? The one who completed the process?" Jeremiah asked. "How in the hell should I know? She retorted, "In hell for all I know and care." "You killed him?" "Damned straight I did about ten years ago, he hit me one too many times and the fool let his guard down. But that's past history; let's talk about you and me." Natalia drawled. Justine Ch. 12 "I'm sorry if you think that I hurt you..." "You fucking left me for dead!" Natalia screamed as she vanished and was suddenly standing in front of Jeremiah. "Do you have any idea of what it felt like to know that death was at the door? I could hear people walking by me and no one stopped. They thought I was a drug addict or prostitute, I was raped, I was... Here let me show you." Natalia roughly took Jeremiah's head in her hands and screamed into his face, "Look at how you didn't hurt me!" Jeremiah tried to pull away from her; he didn't want to see what happened to her. Even with his eyes closed, he could see everything that happened from the moment he found her until the present. She hadn't lied when she said that she killed the vampire that saved her life, he watched as she took his head off as he slept thinking that he had her trained. She was even still living in the house and using his money to live on and she was always on the look out for others like herself. When the vision was over, she threw Jeremiah against the bars of the cell, "do you still deny that you hurt me?" she asked. "No." "No? Is that all that you have to say to me?" Natalia demanded. "There's nothing to say." Jeremiah replied, "Just go ahead and kill me." Natalia laughed, "I don't think so." she replied, "There are far too many of us that would like a few minutes of your time and besides, the queen forbids it." "I thought you said that no one told you what to do." "True but see... the queen is a cool chick and she's a sister to boot. I'm thinking about asking her to let me help her locate more of us that you hurt." "Aren't you going to hurt me?" Jeremiah asked. "No baby, not my style and besides, I think you're going to have plenty of hurt coming your way without me adding to it. Live long, die slowly and with much pain!" Natalia said and was gone. ********** Jeri/Josephine David looked at Jeri still undecided about what he should do. The right thing would be to tell her everything and hope that she loved him enough to forgive him. Of course, he would help her find her child who had to be around thirty and that is if she was still alive. The alternative would be to continue as they were but that no longer felt like a viable option. The reality of it was that had never been an option, he had convinced himself that it was. "So damned stupid." he muttered to himself as he watched Josephine sleep. Jeri moaned and muttered somethin in her sleep. That was always an indication that a memory was trying to break through. David realized that he was at a crossroads; if he was going to tell her about the past then he could no longer erase the memories. He kissed Jeri and cuddled her closer. He had made his decision, he would let her memories come and would answer any questions that she had honestly. He wouldn't sugar coat it and try to make himself out to be some kind of hero. What he had done was selfish and wrong even though part of it was that he was trying to protect her. He braced himself for the explosion that was sure to come once Jeri realized that he had been lying to her all of this time. Jeri relaxed back into David's arms and kept sleeping. She was dreaming about that place again, the place where all of the old people lived. Some of the faces looked familiar as they smiled at someone with small brown hands handing then a small cup containing what looked to be pills. The hands looked familiar but ... Then the dream changed. The sandwich shop again and then it changed again to the eyes of a child. "Mama?" Jeri jerked awake, looked around her and then at David, "I was dreaming." she said quietly and waited for him to tell her not to worry about it. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked pulling her back into his arms. "You really want me to tell you about it?" Jeri asked surprised. "Yes love, I really want to know." Jeri told him about the dream and he faced a decision, should he tell her now or wait until she had more pieces of the puzzle? "If you should have any more dreams, will you tell me?" David asked. "Yes but David? Why do you suddenly want to know?" "Because.... Jeri... I have to tell you some things and you're going to be very angry with me." he said deciding to get it over with and face the consequences. Jeri sat up and looked at him taking note of the apprehensive look on his face, which in turn made her nervous. Now that he had started, he was committed and in a way, he felt relieved. Keeping things away from her had been draining. "Jeri, love, I guess the first thing that I should tell you is that your name isn't Jeri, its Josephine." "Josephine? Then who... who was or is Jeri?" She asked. "Jeri was no one, I liked the name and that was the name I gave you." "Why did you change my name?" "When I found you, you were almost dead." David explained. "Someone, a vampire had fed from you and left you for dead. I don't know if he or she meant to but when I found you, you were almost gone. I couldn't just leave you there so I took you back to my hotel room and fed you my blood. In doing that, I became responsible for you. Afterwards, I wondered what I had been thinking but it was too late and I cared for you. When you woke up, you didn't remember what happened to you or your name so I called you Jeri." Josephine was shocked, "Where was this? Where you found me I mean?" "Philadelphia, I was there on business. The night I found you, I was on my way back to the hotel. I took a route that I usually didn't take thinking it a shortcut. When I first saw you, I thought that you were dead and if I hadn't gone that route, you would have been. As it was, you were so very close. I fed you there and then took you to the hotel where I had several bags of blood already thawed but I couldn't make myself give them to you. Jeri...." "Josephine, my name is Josephine." "Alright then, Josephine." David said softly, "After you recovered I brought you back to England with me. I had no idea of who had done that horrible thing to you or if they realized that they hadn't killed you and would come looking for you. That was part of the reason that I didn't tell you who you were and why I brought you to England." "The dreams, they're memories aren't they?" Josephine asked softly. "Yes." "How long have you known my identity?" Josephine asked as her anger began to rise. "Twenty years but..." "Twenty years? You kept me here for over twenty years and didn't tell me who I was? You've been lying to me all of this time?" she asked her voice rising with each question. "Yes but sweetheart...." "What else haven't you told me?" she asked her brown eyes now black with anger. "You were a nurse in a convalescent home." "The elderly people," she whispered, "I took care of them didn't I? I was a nurse, that's why I sometimes know when they're doing something wrong on the television shows but the next morning I can't...... you take my memories don't you? When I start to remember, you take them! What else have you taken from me?" she demanded. "You have a sister but I don't know her name or where she went. By the time I started trying to find out who you were, she had moved taking your .... Your daughter with her." "Daughter? I have a child? You kept me from my child?" Josephine screamed losing all semblance of control. "Where is my daughter?" she screamed as she began to pummel David with her fist. "Where is she? Where is she? Where?" she sobbed. David made no attempt to defend himself. He could only imagine how she felt. "I don't know and I don't know what happened to your sister." he replied honestly when Josephine had stopped hitting him. 'I don't understand," Josephine said crying softly, "If you could find out about me then why couldn't you find out about my daughter and my sister?" "I didn't want to." David said softly. It was time for full disclosure; complete honesty was his only chance of keeping Josephine with him. "Why not?" Josephine asked with tears streaming down her face, "Why didn't you want to find them?" "I have no good reason for what I did." David said, "And I'm not going to try to justify it. The one thing I will say is this, I kept your identity from you because I wanted to keep you safe. The not looking for your daughter and sister was partly because I was being selfish but I also didn't know if they were being watched. I was also afraid that you would leave me." "You... you ..." and then she was gone. "Oh fuck," David swore as he vanished after her. ************* Napoleon made his way back to their table with an apologetic look on his face. "My apologies for the excitement." he said with a smile. "How did they get those passes?" Quinn asked. "I don't know." Napoleon replied, "Can I replace your drinks?" "No thanks." Quinn replied not put off by the obvious evasion of his question. "Tell me if I'm wrong but when I was human and went to clubs, the clubs had a certain amount passes and each one was accounted for. The only way someone got a pass from someone at the club which means if you do things the same way, one of your staff is giving away or selling passes to humans." "No one here would do such a thing!" Napoleon exclaimed angrily. "No?" Quinn asked "No." "Alright then," Quinn said, "what about that cute little blonde over there?" Quinn asked. "What about her?" Napoleon asked. "Call her over here but before we do, let's make a small wager." Quinn said smiling, "if I prove to you that someone from your staff is selling or giving passes to humans you have to tell me why you keep staring at my wife and I don't want to hear that she's beautiful." "And if you don't prove it?" Napoleon asked. "I won't kill you for hurting your wife." Quinn replied, "Do we have a deal?" Napoleon didn't like the odds but felt that he had no real choice and agreed even though he knew what was happening with the passes. Usually there wasn't any problem but of course, there had to be the night that the king and queen decided to drop in. "I agree." Napoleon said. "Good, bring her over here." Quinn said leaning back in his chair and putting an arm around Justine. He watched as Napoleon went over to the girl, whispered something in her ear and brought her back to the table. "What's your name?" Quinn asked. "Elena." "Ok Elena, when your boss came to get you, what did he whisper to you?" Quinn asked. The woman looked over at Napoleon seeking guidance. "Don't look at him, look at me." Quinn said, "What did he say to you?" "He told me to tell you that I'm the one selling the passes." she replied as she glanced over at Napoleon. "It isn't you but you know who it is don't you?" Quinn asked. "Yes but I can't ...it's the head of security and Mr. Napoleon knows about it." Elena said so quickly that her sentence sounded like one long word. "Thank you Elena." Quinn said dismissing her. He turned to Napoleon who had gone pale as he realized that he had seriously underestimated the power of the new royal couple. He had to wonder how many others would make the same mistake. "It looks like you lost." Justine said softly, "so pay up." "While it is true that you are very beautiful, you remind me of someone." Napoleon replied. "Who?" Quinn asked. "A woman that I fancied many years ago." Napoleon replied. "I never met her but saw a photograph of her." "What was her name?" Justine asked. "I don....." "If you're thinking about lying, don't." Justine said interrupting him. "I only knew her first name.... Josephine." Justine felt the room spin as she gripped Quinn's hand. "That's why I was staring at you... I was going to purchase her...." "You miserable piece of shit!" Justine spat out at him. Napoleon gasped and backed away when he saw the flames of anger in Justine's eyes. "You took my mother away from me!" she screamed not caring that the room had gone silent and everyone was staring at them. "No! That was Jeremiah! He...." "If you hadn't asked for someone with her name she would have been safe!" even as she spoke the words, Justine could see the conversation between the two vampires. "He told you about me and you told him that you didn't care." "Yes but... "Napoleon's throat closed. He clawed at it trying to remove hands that he could feel but couldn't see. "Jussie let him go." Quinn said softly, "we have to find out what else he knows." Reluctantly, Justine released him. Napoleon fell to the floor but didn't get up. She looked around the room for the woman who had been their server and called her over. "I won't hurt you, I promise." she said when the woman hesitated. The woman slowly made her way over to Justine and Quinn and waited. "What's your name?" Justine asked. The woman looked at Napoleon and then at Justine. "Josephine my queen." the woman relied shyly. "Are you with him voluntarily?" "I... no my queen." Josephine replied looking down. "Does he hurt you?" "S.... sometimes." "Do you want to stay with him?" Justine asked. For just a moment, Justine thought that the woman was going to say yes. "No ma'am." "Then you will come with us." Justine said putting an arm around the woman who stiffened and then relaxed. "We have a doctor and someone that you can talk to but for now go wait for us by the bar. Quinn ...." "Already on it." Quinn said as he pulled out his cell phone. Justine turned back to Napoleon, "Where did you find her?" "I bought her after your mother disappeared." Napoleon said still rubbing his neck. "I found her on my own; it was much cheaper that way." "What do you know about my mother?" Justine asked. "I only know that Jeremiah went to retrieve her and that somehow she ended up dead. I swear to you, that's all I know." "Get up." Justine commanded, "You're coming with us." "Why? I held up my end of the bargain!" Napoleon said. "So did I," Quinn replied, "I didn't kill you." "What about the club?" Napoleon asked. Quinn looked around until he spotted Elena and called her over. "You now own the club; your first order of business is to get rid of any staff that you know is untrustworthy. Some of our vampires will be here shortly to help you with that and will be at your disposal until you feel that you no longer need them. Your second order of business will be to design new passes if anyone shows up with the old pass, they are to be taken and destroyed." "Just a fucking minute!" Napoleon said, "You can't....." "Excuse me?" Quinn asked as he turned to look at Napoleon. "N...nothing." Napoleon replied when he saw the hard green of Quinn's eyes. *********** Jeremiah sat on the floor of his cell and waited. Someone was going to come, he was sure of it. He felt a little like Ebenezer Scrooge in that he was receiving visitors who were showing him his life. The difference was where Scrooge had only three visits, he was going to have thousands and most of them would want to inflict pain on him. He wondered how long it would be before he lost his sanity and he just wouldn't care anymore. He prayed that it would be sooner rather than later. "Won't happen." a guard said with a grin. "She'll control how many see you in a day and then she'll let you rest for a couple of weeks and then it'll start again." "She would be that cruel?" Jeremiah murmured as he lay on the floor. He lost track of time as he drifted in and out of sleep finally unable to stay awake, he fell asleep only to be disturbed by someone kicking him. "Get up, you've got company." a guard said. Jeremiah got to his feet and waited. His eyes widened when Napoleon was shoved into the cell with him. "Have a nice visit." the guard said as he went back to his post. "What are you doing here?" Jeremiah asked. "You tell me!" Napoleon replied, "What did you tell her? They showed up my club out of all the places that they could have gone to." "And you think that I sent them there?" Jeremiah asked. "I didn't send them to your shitty little club! But if you will recall, Violet and Edward used to go there before you turned it into a so- called club." Napoleon calmed down and looked around, "have you tried to escape?" "No and the one person who was going to help me got caught and is now dead and don't bother trying to teleport, it won't work." "Why not?" Napoleon asked as he tried. "You didn't notice the drain of your gifts when you got close to the house?" Jeremiah asked "That's true?" Napoleon asked. "All of it and Napoleon? Be prepared." "For what?" "To receive your sentence." Justine said from behind them. Both vampires looked up to see Justine standing in front to them still in the clothes that she wore to the club. Quinn was standing back and to her right. "Are you ready?" Justine asked. "Don't argue with her." Jeremiah advised, "It won't help." "You should listen to your counsel." Justine said. Napoleon looked at Jeremiah who nodded at him. "Go on! Get it over with!" Napoleon snapped. "You are charged with taking a mother away from her child even if you weren't the one who physically did it, you are also charged with buying a human and turning her against her will and then treating said human as if she were no more than a piece of shit. Your sentence will be as follows, you will sign all of your assets over to her, I do mean all of them including the accounts hidden in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, and wherever else you have money stashed. The club now belongs to Elena Martinez as well as any money and stocks that you own in the club's name. The rest of your sentence is as follows, you will spend the rest of your existence as a slave to Josephine even if she finds her mate. If that should happen, then you will be a slave to the both of them. If you should happen to escape, you will be found and brought here where you will share Jeremiah's sentence. Do you have any questions?" Justine held out her hand and Zoe appeared with a stack of documents. "These papers are legal and binding. Once you sign them it's done and I or Quinn are the only ones who can reverse the ruling but I can tell you now that it won't happen." "And if I refuse?" Napoleon asked. "That isn't an option unless you want to spend eternity with Jeremiah." Quinn said. "Sign the damned papers!" Jeremiah said wishing that he were in Napoleon's place. "Will my gifts be returned to me?" Napoleon asked. "No, the only thing you will have left is the ability to heal and your immortality so which is it?" Justine asked. "Can we come to some....." "Ten, nine, eight, seven...." Justine began to count. "Give me the god damned papers!" Napoleon snapped. "Wise choice." Justine replied unfazed by his tone. "I would suggest that you both get some rest, you have a very busy evening ahead of you." ******** After Justine and Quinn left, Napoleon looked at Jeremiah, "What is she talking about?" Napoleon gasped when Jeremiah told him what his sentence was. "So you see you got off lightly, I've had three visitors so far and only one of them has exacted any physical retribution from me but there will be thousands more." "What do you think is going to happen to me?" Napoleon asked. "The woman that you bought will be allowed to do anything she wishes to you. If you whipped her, you may be whipped, if you abused her sexually, she may do that as well. The only stipulation is that she can't kill you and to ensure that it doesn't happen, there will be a guard with her and save your breath, they are only there to make sure that you don't die." "She's insane." Napoleon murmured meaning Justine. "No she isn't, she's cleaning house starting with us. When she's done, this side of her that we are seeing? It will lie dormant until it is needed again." Justine Ch. 12 Napoleon looked in the direction in which Justine and Quinn walked out and decided that Jeremiah was right, he had gotten off lightly. What Josephine would do to him, he didn't know but at least it was only her and not thousands. "You take the bed." he told Jeremiah. "I have the feeling that you need it more than I do." ************************************************************************************************* Josephine Josephine reappeared in a part of London that she had never been to before. She hadn't thought about where she was going only that she had to leave. David had lied to her all of this time! He had kept her from her child and who knew what had happened to her and her sister... Where was she? Josephine wracked her brain trying to remember names becoming frustrated when she couldn't . How could she not remember the name of her baby who had to be thirty? Josephine sobbed as she realized that her child wouldn't know her if she walked up to her. Questions ran through her mind, was she married? Did she have children? What did she do for a living? Was she still alive? She stopped to take stock of where she was and then looked down at herself. In her haste, she hadn't put on any clothes. She was as naked as the day she was born. She took a quick look around and was relieved to find that she was alone. Seconds later, she was dressed in a long sleeved shirt, a pair of jeans and boots. She braided her hair as she walked toward what looked to be the direction town was. She could have vanished but the air felt good on her face. How cold it really was she didn't know, she didn't feel it but she figured that it had to be cold the way the first human she saw was bundled up Her stomach grumbled but she ignored it. She had to get to Philadelphia, she thought to herself. "I might remember something." she murmured under her breath. "Who do we have here?" a male voiced asked from behind her. She froze and then kept walking hoping that he would go away. Suddenly, he was standing in front of her. "Let me by." Josephine said. "Where's your mate?" he asked smelling her, "Oh my, my, my newly mated at that." He added inhaling her sent again. "Who do you belong to I wonder? You smell like money." Josephine panicked, she had never been out without David and by the time she thought to vanish, it was too late. She was on her way to one of the vacant buildings. ********** David was beside himself with worry, Josephine had not surfaced at any of the places that they frequented and hadn't called anyone. Not knowing what else to do, he started calling anyone and everyone to help look for her. Within minutes, the streets of London were being searched. David vanished from where he was and went to the park; it was one of Josephine's favorite places. His hope was that he had missed her or that she arrived after he left. He ran to all of her favorite spots becoming discouraged when he didn't sense her. "Call to me." he willed her, "Josephine, please call to me." ********** Josephine huddled in the corner of the dirty room and tried to vanish. "Give it up sweetheart, you can't leave, there are special wards and all of that so just relax while I figure out what to do with ya other than the obvious." Josephine tried to vanish and soon gave up. As angry as she was with David, she would have given anything to see his face. "Eppi!" a voice called, "where are you?" "Down here and I got a surprise for ya, a tasty little morsel if I don't say so myself." Eppi replied. Josephine heard the descent of the owner of the voice. "What cha got?" he asked. "Look over there." Eppi said as he pointed to the corner where Josephine sat. The man, also a vampire walked over to the corner, took one look at Josephine and cursed. "Eppi! We must let her go! Better yet we have to make sure that she gets home safe." "What are you going on about?" Eppi asked going over the corner. "We can't keep her! Don't you recognize her?" Freddie asked. "No, should I?" "That woman is David Sheffield's mate." Freddie replied, "And he isn't someone that you want to mess with." "David Sheffield you say?" Eppi mused already seeing dollar signs in his head. "Eppi listen to me!" Freddie begged, "I don't know what she's doing in this part of the city but I can guarantee you that he's looking for her. If we take her back maybe he'll give us a nice reward so that we can get us a nice place somewhere." "And just how much of a reward do you think he's going to give us?" Eppi argued. "More than likely he'll give some pittance and then add a pat on the back. But you do what you want with the exception of telling anyone she's here." Freddie looked down at Eppi's crotch and closed his eyes. If he as much touched her anymore than he had, he would be signing his death warrant. "If I stay, "Freddie said, "You have to promise that you won't touch her in any way shape or form." Josephine listened to the discussion and realized the vampire Freddie was only staying behind so that he could try to protect her. She would have to remember to tell David that when and if he found her... The proverbial light bulb went off in her head. "If you ever need me just say my name and I will find you no matter where you are." He had told her this on more than one occasion and why she didn't remember before now, she didn't know. She closed her eyes and sent her thoughts to David including the name of the last street that she remembered being on and that he wasn't to hurt the vampire named Freddie. She opened her eyes, sat back and waited. ************************ Unable to rest, Justine tossed and turned. The need to know what happened to her mother the night Jeremiah took her grew until she couldn't stand it anymore. She tried to extricate herself from Quinn's arms but he only tightened them when she moved. She was about to vanish when she realized that he was awake and had been the entire time. "What do you need?" he asked. "I need to know what happened that night he took her." Justine replied. "And you were going to go alone?" Quinn asked. "I thought that it was understood that we go through everything together." he added. "I know but Quinn, this is my mother we're talking about! If I can't sleep because I'm thinking about her then he shouldn't be able to sleep either....." "Let's go talk to him then." Quinn said kissing her as he got up. "One more thing before we go, I know that you're the top cheese and that's fine but in this room you aren't the queen but my wife. This is the one place where you can feel safe to do whatever you need to do and not be afraid of looking weak. This is the one place where I can openly take care of you." "What do you mean openly take care of me?" Justine asked. "I mean that I can touch you and it doesn't look like you need my support." Quinn replied. "Is that what you think?" Justine asked, her dark eyes glowing. "Do you really think that I give a damn about what people think? Quinn, you're my husband in and outside of this room. If you want to kiss me in front of a roomful of people do it but don't ever think that outside of this room that I see you as less than you are. You are my husband no matter where we are or what we're doing. One more thing, this king/queen thing is a joint venture. As you said, we go through everything together and that includes this. Is there anything else that we need to clarify?" "I think that about does it." Quinn replied as he tried to decide what to call the look in her eyes. Irritation he decided as he held out his hand to her. ********** Jeremiah lay awake long after Napoleon had gone to sleep. He wondered how long it would be before the next woman came to see him and if the woman Napoleon bought was one of them. Somehow, he didn't think so but he couldn't be sure. There had been so many but if she were, maybe she would pass on her chance to spend time with him. He knew the moment that Justine and Quinn walked into the room. Their combined power was almost overwhelming and it was sending out a message. "We are as one and cannot be divided." Jeremiah tried to remember if any previous couple sent out that message and couldn't remember any. Without being told, he stood and faced them. They stood side by side whereas before Quinn always stood back and to the right of her. Now they stood before him as equals hand in hand presenting a united front. Jeremiah's last thought before Justine spoke was that the vampire world as they knew it was gone. In less than two weeks, Justine had turned it upside down and she had only just started. He looked at her and waited for the inevitable question that he was surprised hadn't come sooner. "What did you do to my mother?" Justine asked, "And I want the whole story from the beginning to the end." "All of it?" Jeremiah asked and then realized that his chance to end his misery had arrived. By the time he was finished telling Justine and Quinn about that night, Justine was shaking. The room pulsed with her power. Pictures flew from the walls, her eyes... were the deepest black that Jeremiah had ever seen, and the flames surrounding them would have scorched him if he had been standing close to her. As it was, his eyes were watering profusely, the tears scalding hot as they flowed down his cheeks. "Come on!" he urged silently, "Kill me, kill me, kill me....." ************ Quinn watched and listened without comment. While Jeremiah talked, he could see and feel Justine's rage and pain build and got ready to intervene. He knew what Jeremiah was trying to do and he couldn't let it happen as much as he wanted the bastard dead. The heat of her rage burned him but he refused to let go of her hand. "Jussie." he said softly, "don't let him goad you, he wants you to kill him." However, she wasn't listening, she was listening to Jeremiah describe how her mother died while being raped. Suddenly, she raised her left hand and pointed a finger in Jeremiah's direction. The finger glowed... "Justine! No!" Quinn cried out. *********** Jeremiah watched as Justine raised her hand and pointed a finger at him. "Yes!" he thought happily as the finger glowed red, "Yes!" The next thing he knew, he was enveloped in darkness. ************ Justine looked over at Napoleon who had woken up during the commotion and had squeezed himself into a corner. She then looked down at Jeremiah and walked away. Justine Ch. 13 Jeremiah said a silent thank you to the fates that his ordeal had finally ended. On the end of that thanks was a "fuck you bitches!" to the king and queen. "So this is what it's like to die." He murmured to himself as he relaxed into the quiet darkness. He had imagined it to be much different than this. According to what he had been told and read, he was supposed to be reunited with the friends and relatives that had gone on before him. Of those, the only one that he wasn't looking forward to seeing was Malcolm. He had been told that old grudges carried over and he was sure that Malcolm knew that it had been him that ordered his death. Who else could it have been? No matter he thought to himself as he floated in the comforting darkness enjoying the first sense of peace that he felt since his capture. There really weren't too many from his past that he cared to see especially if any of them were those that he had turned and had since died. He sighed in contentment and then frowned as a horrible, foul smelling wetness assailed his nose and touched his skin. His eyes snapped open to see Quinn sitting across from him watching as Buddy emptied his bladder his-Jeremiah's stomach. "I'm dead! She killed me!" he screamed as he tried to push the dog that seemed to be immovable off of him. "Good morning!" Quinn said cheerfully. "That must have been one hell of a dream you were having judging from the smile that was on your face." "She killed me!" Jeremiah repeated as tears of disappointment, anger and frustration ran down his face. "No but it was damned close." Quinn replied. "Why did you stop her?" Jeremiah asked his voice filled with disappointment and anger. "It wasn't because I wanted to." Quinn replied. "I would love to see your ass dead but Justine made promises and if she broke them she would never forgive herself and I can't have that." "Have you no mercy?" Jeremiah asked. The anger in his voice was gone but replaced by weariness. "I have as much mercy as you did when you turned, raped and sold thousands of women to the highest bidder. I have as much mercy as you had when you raped and killed women and then threw them aside as if they were nothing more than trash. How many of those that you thought you killed actually survived? If Natalia survived then there are probably others. I guess we'll find out won't we?" Quinn asked not really expecting an answer. "You might want to rest up; I hear that there are a few women arriving who would like to spend some time with you." Jeremiah blinked and when he opened his eyes both Quinn and Buddy were gone. He looked over at Napoleon who was staring at him wide-eyed. He understood for the first time just how lightly he had gotten off. "Get up stinky!" one of the guards called to Jeremiah. He got up from the cot grimacing as his clothes stuck to him like a second skin. The urine was already beginning to burn and the smell was getting stronger by the second. Once in the shower he quickly stripped, grabbed the bar of soap and began to scrub his skin. Maybe it was his imagination, but each time the dog pissed on him, the intensity of the odor and the burning increased. He took a moment and examined his skin looking for areas that hadn't healed yet but all he saw were old bruises that were an ugly greenish/yellow in color. As he finished his shower he tried to remember if the woman who was now Napoleon's owner had been one that he had found for him but he really couldn't remember. There had been too many women to count. The only thing that he was sure of was that the woman's name had to have been Josephine and that initially, she had to have been a strong woman. Those had been two of the most important requirements as Napoleon wanted to break her. Someone banging on the door reminded Jeremiah that his time in the shower was almost up. They would drag him out even if he wasn't dried or dressed so he quickly dried off, dressed and ran his fingers through his dark hair to give it some semblance of order. As he stepped out of the shower, he heard Napoleon scream in pain. "Jussie? Baby? Are you alright?" Quinn asked as he snuggled against Justine's back. "I was going to kill him." She replied. "But you didn't." Quinn reminded her as he kissed her shoulder. "I would have if you hadn't been there." She replied. "I would have robbed thousands of women of their right to justice if you hadn't been there. Thank you." She paused before speaking again. "I can't believe that she died like that." Quinn hesitated. "Jussie, do you really believe that she's dead?" he asked. "He isn't lying," Justine replied, "so I guess she is." "Baby turn around and look at me." Quinn gently commanded. When she was facing him, he looked into her eyes which were hardly ever their normal shade of brown anymore. He saw the sadness in them noticing that the flames in them were a dull red, she was miserable and in pain. She was missing a woman that she barely knew. She needed closure. "I want you to forget about whether you believe that Jeremiah is lying or not and listen to your gut. Do you believe that your mother is dead?" Quinn asked. Justine closed her eyes for several minutes and then opened them. "No." she said softly, "but if she isn't dead, then where is she?" "I don't know." Quinn replied, "But let me tell you why I don't think she's dead. First of all, Jeremiah knew that your mother was alive when he called Malcolm to clean up his mess. He didn't want the responsibility of caring for her. He didn't even care enough to ask where Malcolm took the body. Secondly, who saw her? The reason why we believe that Jeremiah isn't lying is because he's telling the truth as he knows it. As far as he's concerned, your mother is really dead but what if someone found her like someone found Natalia?" "You mean like another vampire." Justine said. "Yes." Quinn replied. "But no one has seen her." Justine said. "Okay but what if she isn't in this state?" Quinn asked, "Hell, what if she isn't in the country?" "Maybe she doesn't know who she is!" Justine exclaimed, "She wouldn't know to look for me! Quinn O'Dell you are a genius!" "No..." "Justine cut him off with a kiss. The red flames around her eyes were now bright with hope. Quinn returned the kiss and pressed closer to her as his hands roamed down her back until they rested on her ass. He cupped her ass cheeks and pulled her tight against his hardened cock. Her natural scent of apples intensified along with her level of arousal. Quinn pulled back so that he could look into her face. He loved the warm red colored flames of her eyes when she was aroused and never tired of seeing it. When she closed her eyes, he moaned in frustration. "No, please, keep your eyes open." It wasn't a demand or a command but a heartfelt request. When Justine opened her eyes and looked at him, he sighed with pleasure. As much as he loved her breasts, her eyes had come to outrank them as his favorite part of her body. "Quinn..." "I know baby." He crooned as he looked into her eyes before kissing her again. He took his time nipping and sucking on her earlobe before moving to her neck. He didn't think that it was possible that he could love her any more than he did but each time they made love that love grew. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he lost her. "You're not going to lose me." Justine said as she kissed the top of his head just before it moved out of reach. In response, Quinn took a hardened nipple into his mouth, nicked it with a fang and nursed from her. Justine moaned with pleasure as the sensation traveled straight to her clit that at the moment was being neglected. She wanted to hurry him but she also didn't want the pleasure to end so she let him do as he wanted. The thought that the windows were going to need replacing again crossed her mind as Quinn nipped and then drank from her other nipple while kneading the other breast. Justine cried out as he pinched and rolled one nipple with his fingers while pulling at the other with his teeth and lips. Reluctantly, Quinn left her breasts after giving each nipple a lick and a kiss before moving down to her soft stomach. He paused, looked up at her and knew that he wanted children with her. Whether it was possible or not he didn't know but if it was, he wanted as many as she would allow them to have. He kissed her stomach, laid his head on it for several seconds before moving down to her mound. He laid his cheek against it soaking up the warmth radiating from it and inhaling her scent. He now realized that there was no part of her that he could say was his favorite; he loved all of her. As much as he wanted to tease her, he needed and wanted to hear her scream; he wanted to hear the windows as they shattered from the volume and intensity of her release. Gently he spread her open, gazed at the already pulsing jewel and blew on it. Justine's hips jerked in response and the pulsing of her clit increased. Quinn could hear her rapid and irregular breathing and tuned his hearing to her heart. It was pounding in anticipation of her pending release. He licked and then blew across her clit again and wondered if he could control the temperature of his breath. He closed his eyes and imagined that his breath was cool like the taste of a peppermint patty after taking a sip of water. He licked and then gently blew across her pulsing clit. "Oh God!" Justine screamed as her hips bucked up toward him, "Do that again!" Pleased with himself, Quinn licked and then blew across Justine's clit eliciting another demand that he do it again. "Once more." He said. After the third lick and blow, Quinn wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked until the windows were shattered from her screams. But he wasn't finished; he wanted to hear her scream again. While he sucked, he slid two fingers inside of her and slowly pumped them in and out. When he sensed that she was about to come again, he kept pumping with his fingers but pulled off of her clit far enough to blow across it with a cool breath. The scream that Justine released was louder the one before. As her orgasm ended, Quinn moved on top of her and rammed into her as hard as he could. He knew that he wasn't hurting her but was doing quite the opposite. Their combined screams filled the room making any remaining windows shatter and the pictures on the dressers and walls crash to the floor. "How did you do the thing with your breath?" Justine asked afterwards as they cuddled. "Peppermint Patties." Quinn replied as he pulled her even closer. "The candy?" "Yep." Quinn replied. "Don't you remember eating one then taking a sip of water? Remember how cool your mouth felt?" "Yeah and?" "That's what I thought of." Quinn replied. "Well let me tell you," Justine said, "that was absolutely amazing and I'll have to see what I can come up with." "I can't wait." Quinn said as he closed his eyes content that he had pleased his woman. Josephine Josephine kept her eyes on the vampires, Eppi in particular. She didn't like the way that he kept looking at her or the way that he kept trying to get the one named Freddie to leave. The more she watched Freddie, the more she liked him. She thought that he was a good vampire who made a mistake and wanted to help her. The problem was Eppi. It was an hour before she got the chance to talk to Freddie without Eppi listening. "Thank you for helping me." She said as she accepted a cup filled with blood. "What were you doing in this part of town?" he asked as he sat down across from her. She wasn't about to share the details of her life with a stranger so she turned the question around. "I could ask you the same question." Freddie looked at her and grinned, "I know what you're doing but alright. I used to be an executive at one of the big London firms and suffice it to say that I didn't move my money in time." "What happened to the others?" Josephine asked. "Most of them got away with their money; a couple of them are in prison made specifically for vampires and a couple of them committed suicide." He replied. "Wouldn't the ones that got away help you?" "One or two of them offered but I said no." Freddie replied. "Most of that money was stolen from some very powerful vampires your mate being one of them. I have no desire to be caught with stolen money even if it's supposed to be untraceable. I'd rather live like this then have to keep looking over my shoulder wondering if it's going to be my last night to live. "Don't you have family? Aren't they worried about you?" Josephine asked. "I had a family...look, have you tried calling to your mate?" Freddie asked. "I tried just before you came over." "Keep trying!" Freddie urged. "This place is warded but I don't know to what extent. Keep trying to vanish out of here. There are times when the wards are weak but the times vary with the weakest time being during the day and early evening. Keep your eyes open, I'll try to get you out of here if I can. I'd better go before Eppi gets suspicious." "Wait!" Josephine called as Eppi walked away, "Why are you helping me?" Freddie gave her a bright smile, "I'm a sucker for a pretty lady in trouble and doing the right thing is all that I have left." David went back to all of Josephine's favorite spots not once but twice and sometimes a third time in the hopes that he had missed her. He was in constant contact with the vampires and other beings that he had looking for her but so far no one had seen or heard from her. "Why aren't you calling for me?" he asked aloud. He tried not to think the worst. What if she couldn't call for him? He realized that this wouldn't have happened if he had only told her the truth years ago. In his selfishness, he had done the very thing that he had been trying to prevent; he had inadvertently put her in danger. He took out his cell phone, looked at the contact list, closed the phone, opened it again and looked at the number that he was thinking about calling. He would give it one more hour. If he hadn't heard from her by then, he would call. "How much do you think that your mate will pay for you?" Eppi asked. "You'll have to ask him." Josephine replied not showing any fear. That was the one thing that David had drilled into her, "nerves is one thing but fear is another thing altogether. The scent of fear will make even the most timid of us turn into a dangerous predator." "Huh..." Eppi said inching closer to her. "You're very pretty and you're not from here...no accent. Where are you from?" he asked as he moved even closer. "The United States." "I've always wanted to go there but never had the money. Maybe I can go once your mate pays for you." Josephine looked around for Freddie wondering where he was. When she didn't see him, she sent out another telepathic message to David and tried to vanish. "There's no use in trying." Eppi said, "You can't vanish and your mate can't hear you." "Why haven't you called him yet?" she asked. "I'm in no hurry," Eppi replied, "it isn't very often that I have a woman who isn't a whore down here." Eppi reached for her foot just as she pulled it back. "You do understand what will happen to you if you touch me don't you?" Josephine asked meeting Eppi's leer with a glare. "You won't get to spend one cent of the money that my mate gives you so I'm going to make a suggestion. Call him, tell him what you want and let me go. I swear that he won't come after you right away." "Gutsy bitch aren't you?" Eppi asked as he made another grab at her foot. "Leave her alone!" Freddie snarled from behind Eppi. When Eppi didn't move Freddie advanced on him, "I said to get your fucking hands off of her NOW!" "We were just taking... I wasn't going to do anything to her!" Josephine looked from Freddie to Eppi and understood something. While Freddie didn't want anything to happen to her, he wasn't her friend. He was the brains behind whatever the two of them were into and Eppi was his lackey. The way that Eppi had reacted when Freddie yelled at him was confirmation of that fact. Freddie had lied about the wards weakening and he had lied about helping her to escape. Realizing that Josephine had put it together, Freddie gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry love but I had to keep you calm and all of that." "You lying bastard!" She said angry that she had been lied to again and that she had thought that the vampire was going to help her. "Yes well... sorry about that." Freddie said not really meaning it. "Have you contacted my mate yet?" "No. We'll let him stew for a day or two that way he'll give us what we want." Freddie replied. "What I still don't understand is how you came to be in this part of town. It was fortuitous for us but very unfortunate for you but in the end, it really doesn't matter. You just saved us from finding another target." "You've done this before?" Josephine asked incredulous. "A time or two." Freddie replied with a smile. "It always ends with everyone being happy as long as we get what we want." Josephine was at a loss. According to David they were supposed to be able to find each other no matter where they were so why couldn't her and why couldn't she sense him? "It's the wards." Freddie said answering her unspoken question. "I don't understand." Josephine said. "It doesn't matter." Freddie replied, "The end result is still the same. Your mate can comb this city with everything that he has, he can be standing right on top of you and he won't be able to feel or sense you. The only thing that he will know is that you aren't dead." Tears of anger rolled down Josephine's face as she glared at her captors. "You are both going to die." She said her voice strong even through her tears. Eppi and Freddie looked at each other and laughed before walking away leaving a very angry Josephine sitting alone in the corner. It was a threat that each of their hostages had voiced and as of yet they had never even been pursued. ********** The hour had come and gone. David looked at his cell phone. He hadn't spoken to his friend in over three centuries. He hadn't even gone to his wedding or acknowledged the birth of his first child. He didn't why; there was no good reason for it except that he hadn't taken the time. He closed his eyes and wondered what time it was in New Orleans. ************************************************************************************ New Orleans Maurice grinned at his two-year old son Jon who had his favorite food-applesauce smeared all over his face. He was on daddy duty while Regina his mate was taking a nap. She was expecting their second child and the bouts of nausea and vomiting were taking their toll on her. "Alright Jon," Maurice said affectionately, "Let's get you cleaned up before mommy wakes up." He gently washed the boy's face and picked him up. "Now what shall we do?" he asked glancing at the clock. It was time to wake Regina up but she had been resting so poorly that he decided to let her sleep even though she would be irate about it. "Let's go to my office and see how daddy's companies are doing? How does that sound?" Maurice asked. "K." Jon replied giving him a wet kiss on the cheek. "Glad that you agree." Maurice said as he returned the kiss. He carried Jon to his office, sat down at his desk and switched on the computer. As he waited for it to come on, his private line rang. He hesitated before answering it wondering who would be calling a rarely used phone number. "Delgado here...David Sheffield? How in the hell are you?" "I... I'm fine but I need your help. I know that I haven't been good about keeping in touch and I missed your wedding..." "David," Maurice interrupted, "What's the problem?" Justine Ch. 13 He listened without interrupting as David explained the situation. "I'm sorry to hear about everything that's happened and of course you have my help but under one condition." "Anything!" David said the relief evident in his voice. "When this is over, we get together so that our mates can meet." "Absolutely! Maurice, I cannot thank you enough!" "You're welcome but here is the thing, my mate is expecting our second child and has been having a rough time of it. I won't leave her unless I am positive that she will be alright in my absence but I can send someone. Do you remember Gremlin?" "I know of his race." David replied. "I'll talk to him to see if he or any of his relatives can assist you and I will be there as soon as possible." "Thank you a million times over!" David said. "I'll call you back." Maurice said and hung up. "Where are you headed to this time?" Regina asked from the doorway. Maurice looked up at her, smiled and held out a hand to her pulling her into his lap when she reached him. He explained the situation to her and waited for her response. It still amazed him that she had adapted to the major change in her life so quickly especially given what had happened a few years before. "Have you called Gremlin yet?" she asked. "Not yet, I was about to when you came in." Maurice replied. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he rubbed her back. "I think better." She replied. "I think that the worst is over." She said as she kissed his cheek. "Let me take Jon so that you can make your phone calls." Regina stood up and took Jon who was very pleased to see her from Maurice and headed toward the door. "Regina?" Maurice called after her. "Yes?" "Thank you and I love you." "You're welcome and I love you too." She replied. "And if you want to go, I think that you should. Annie and the others can stay with me and the kids will have a ball playing together." She added. "Are you sure?" Maurice asked. "I'm sure and as much as I would love to go with you I think that I need to stay home. Just be safe alright?" "I promise." He replied. As he watched her walk out with Jon, he wondered if she felt well enough to make love before he left. "Yes!" she called back. Maurice called Gremlin and explained the situation. It was ten minutes before Gremlin came back with an answer. "We will be there in two hours' time; I want to give my mate a proper goodbye." He called Regina's brothers Edward and Daniel to see if they wanted to go. After talking with their mates they also agreed to go and would be at the house in two hours with mates and children in tow. The last phone call he made was to David, "We'll be there before morning." He found Regina in the kitchen sipping on tea and munching on saltines. "What's the word?" she asked. "We're going." He replied taking Jon from Regina's lap. "Everyone will be here in a couple of hours which gives us plenty of time to say goodbye. Regina... are you sure that you're alright with me going?" "I'm sure," Regina replied, "and to be honest, as much as I love you, your hovering is driving me a little crazy. And from what you said it doesn't sound too dangerous." "It isn't." Maurice agreed, "He only wants help in finding her. He can handle things after that. I don't expect to be gone longer than the night after next." A minute later, a housekeeper appeared from seemingly nowhere. "Did you need something?" she asked. "Yes Leticia," Maurice replied, "Could you please care for Jon for a short time?" "Certainly." The girl replied as she took Jon from him. When she was gone, Maurice stood up and held his hand out to Regina. When she was standing, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "I don't have to go." He murmured against her lips. "Yes you do." Regina replied. "I'm fine and I promise to call if I need you but just come home safe." "You have my word." Maurice said as he led Regina to the nearest bedroom. ************************************************************************************* Jeremiah froze at the sounds of Napoleon's screams and was glad that the woman wasn't one that he had found for him. From the sounds of it, he thought that Napoleon would need the cot more than he would. His blood curdled at the gut wrenching screams that he heard coming from a room at the end of the basement. He wondered what the woman was doing to Napoleon and then decided that maybe he didn't want to know. Instead, he thanked god that it wasn't him that was screaming this time. It seemed as if the screams had gone on forever before they became heart breaking sobs and eventually even those went silent. Three hours later they brought Napoleon back to the cell and he wasn't moving of his own volition. They were going to throw him into the cell and onto the floor but Jeremiah stopped them. "Please, let me take him." The guards looked at each other, shrugged and threw Napoleon into Jeremiah's arms and walked away. Jeremiah helped Napoleon to the cot and eased him onto it and then looked for wounds and bruises frowning when he saw none. "What did she do to you?" he asked. "She did nothing that I haven't done to her for the past twenty-five years." Napoleon replied licking his dry lips. "But you aren't marked." Jeremiah said confused. "The welts on the surface are healed but not the ones beneath the skin." Napoleon explained. "She whipped over those...Jeremiah, she is only one. How will you survive thousands without going insane?" "I don't think that I will be given that luxury." Jeremiah replied. "You poor son of a bitch." Napoleon said as he fell into a fitful sleep. *********************************************************************************** Josephine "Come on love." Freddie said, "You have to feed." He held out a cup of fresh blood. The woman that they had taken it from lay motionless on the sofa. At first Josephine thought that the woman was someone that Eppi and Freddie paid to feed from but it hadn't taken her long to realize that one of them, most likely Freddie had compelled the woman to follow him to the basement. It was obvious that the woman hadn't expected to die and when Josephine realized what was happening she tried to stop it. There was no need for the woman to die unless they were trying to prove a point. Now they expected her to drink the blood of the murdered woman. "I don't want it." Josephine said, "You didn't have to kill her." "Don't make me have to pour this down your fucking throat!" Freddie snarled showing yet another facet of his personality. He ignored the fact that Josephine was right; there was no need for the woman to die but he hadn't been the one to kill her, Eppi was. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. The woman was already dead. "Are you trying to frighten me?" Josephine asked, "Is that why you killed that woman?" "No." Freddie replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "but I am going to give you a choice, you either drink this like a good girl or I'll go for a walk and give you some alone time with Eppi so which is it?" "Bastard!" Josephine snapped as she snatched the cup from Freddie, drained it and then threw it at him hitting him right between the eyes. "Bitch!" he yelled and raised his hand to hit her. "Go on, do it." She taunted. "Mark me so that David can see it." Freddie lowered his hand realizing that she was right. They had to return her unmarked or they definitely wouldn't live to spend the twenty million American dollars that they were going to ransom her for. That also meant that the threats to leave her alone with Eppi were useless. Somehow, and he didn't know how she did it, their hostage now had the upper hand. Freddie also realized belatedly that she was different from all of the other hostages that they had ever taken. They had been so afraid that they promised them the sun, moon and stars including their bodies if they would only be released. The offers were always declined for the reason that their latest hostage just cited, he and Eppi would be dead even if it was years from the time of the offense. Eppi knew this but yet he had still touched her. It didn't make sense. "You really aren't scared are you?" Freddie asked. Josephine's look gave him his answer and made his gut clench at the same time. "He will find me." She said her voice strong in her conviction, "And when he does it won't be pretty so I'm going to suggest the same thing to you that I did your partner. Make your call, tell him what you want and let me go. I'll even give you a twenty-four hour head start before we come looking for you." Freddie almost laughed but stopped when he realized that she was serious and her offer might be worth considering. "Aren't you going to promise that you'll never look for us?" he sneered. "And for the sake of argument, let's say that I agree to your offer, what guarantee do I have that you're not lying? And I want seventy-two hours head start." "I don't make promises that I can't keep." Josephine said, "Am I lying about the money? That's for you to decide but you have my word on the head start. I agree to the seventy –two hour head start. Freddie was surprised by how quickly she agreed to the head start and how she didn't make an offer of money. She had the demeanor of someone who was confident that things were going to turn out well for her. "Why are you giving in so easily?" he asked. "I want to go home to my mate." Josephine replied. "I have more important things to do than to sit with a liar, murderer and kidnapper. So what are you going to do?" she asked impatiently. Freddie looked back at Eppi who was watching reruns of his favorite sit-com, 'keeping up appearances' "Oh Hyacinth!" he would exclaim and then burst into loud laughter. Freddie was tempted to make the decision alone but he and Eppi always made any major decisions together. And since Eppi had been the one to find the woman, it was only fair that he have a say in what happened. As he turned away, Freddie missed the flash of anger in Josephine's black dark violet flame-rimmed eyes. She watched Freddie walk toward Eppi, turn around and give her a curious look. She returned the stare and knew that there had to be a way to get around the wards, she only had to find it. Eppi. He was the weakest of the pair. Even if he didn't know how the wards worked, he might know something that could help. She sat back and relaxed against the wall to wait until she could talk to Eppi alone. ********** David continued his physical and telepathic search for Josephine. After walking for another hour, he stopped. There were only two ways that he wouldn't be able to reach her. One of them was if she was dead and he knew that she wasn't, he would have felt it. That left only one other option, wards or shields of some kind. If that were the case, she could be anywhere in the city including within touching distance and he wouldn't know it. He wondered just how much good having Maurice and the others would do. He knew of Gremlin's race. They were legendary but not even they would be able to find someone who was being warded. The help that he needed was more technical than physical. He had to find out who had the capability to ward like this and why they hadn't called with a demand for ransom. It was clear that this was a kidnapping but one of opportunity and not planned. The next question was who had her? On a hunch, David called a business associate whose wife had been kidnapped several years before. She had been returned physically unharmed after a five-million dollar ransom had been paid. David talked with the woman's mate for several minutes before hanging up. The vampire's mate had been held for several days before the call came and that was the only time that he had spoken to her. When the ransom was paid he received a phone call telling him where his mate was. David's question was why the vampire didn't have someone at the drop off site. "I did but no one saw or sensed anything. The drop off point was warded as was the place where she was being held which was why I couldn't sense her. The only thing that I knew was that she wasn't dead. David, has Jeri been kidnapped?" "Yes, did your mate remember anything about her captors?" "There were two of them. One called himself Freddie and the other was Eppi. Freddie initially pretended to be her friend but he was the one in charge and not the other one as she had initially thought." "Did they harm her in anyway?" David asked. "Not physically but as you know, Bren isn't the emotionally strongest of mates. She had nightmares for weeks and before you ask, both of the abductors were vampire. She also thought that they were related in some way." "Thank you for talking with me." David said and hung up and immediately called Maurice. "I know why I can't reach Josephine! She's been kidnapped. They have her in a warded area. Yes... but don't come. The help I need is technical... I need to know who is strong enough to ward like this. There can't be many of us. I know that you can and so can I but to a much smaller degree. That house keeper of yours, the one who liked to do research, is she still with you? She did? Congratulate her for me. Do you think that she could do some research for me?" David gave Maurice all of the information that he had, "call me if she discovers anything. Yes...Thank you." He hung up and continued walking as he called everyone helping to look for Josephine and sent them home. There was nothing any of them could do. He continued walking after the last phone call was made. Now that he knew what was happening, he was calm and focused. The vampires who took Josephine would die for taking what wasn't theirs to take. ************ Jeremiah sat on the floor watching Napoleon sleep. Whenever Napoleon moved, he moaned and then cried out in pain. In his sleep he muttered apologies and then begged the forgiveness of the woman that he had tormented for the past twenty-five years. Jeremiah watched as Napoleon reached between his legs and then screamed in agony even though he was still asleep. That told Jeremiah one thing, Napoleon had abused the woman sexually as well. Still it was only one woman and not thousands. Even if she tormented him daily it would be better than what he had to face. Napoleon opened his eyes and looked at Jeremiah. "Holy mother of god." He moaned as he tried to sit up. "How are you feeling? Jeremiah asked. "I feel like shit! And I have an eternity of this!" he said and then realized what he was saying. "My apologies... will they allow me to shower?" "Whenever they choose to let you." Jeremiah said as he stood up and stretched. "Will you be seeing the woman again?" "Not until this evening when we leave." Napoleon replied. "The one called Zoe is making sure that all of my assets with the exception of the club are transferred into Josephine's name. They are taking everything." Jeremiah looked at Napoleon. "Justine meant every word that she said to you. If you try to escape, you will be brought here. Stay with the woman and count yourself fortunate that you are getting off as lightly as you are." "You know," A voice said from outside of the cell, "it amazes me that you give such good counsel but confuses me as to why you didn't listen when it was offered to you." Justine said. "My Queen." Napoleon said as he dropped to his knees. "You really should listen to him." Justine said. "If you try to escape you will be joining him in his cell." The door of the cell swung open and Justine stepped aside. "The shower and clean clothes are through that door; your owner will be here in thirty minutes." Napoleon shot Jeremiah a sympathetic glance before he practically ran to the shower. He knew what would happen if he kept Josephine waiting. "Sit down." Josephine said to Jeremiah when they were alone. "I'll st..." Jeremiah found himself flying through the air and landing hard on the cot. He sat up and looked at Justine who was now sitting in a chair with Buddy at her side. He wondered where Quinn was and breathed a little easier. Being alone with Justine was bad enough but the two of them together was almost overwhelming. His relief was short lived however, a moment later Quinn was sitting at Josephine's side. "Hi sweetheart, sorry I'm late." He greeted her with a smile and a kiss as he sat down beside her in a chair that hadn't been there previously. "No problem," she replied, "I just got her a few minutes ago myself." She turned her attention back to Jeremiah. "I want to go over that night again and don't worry, I won't almost kill you again." she assured him. This time instead of just letting him talk, she interrupted him with questions. "Was she alive when Malcolm took her away?" "Just barely but yes, she was alive." He replied. "Did Malcolm tell you that she was dead when he left her or did he just leave her there?" Justine asked. "I...I don't know, I didn't ask." Jeremiah confessed. "So it is possible that she is alive somewhere...did Malcolm say anything about where he took her?" Josephine asked. "No, he just said that it was taken care of and I let it go at that....Justine if I may..." "No you may not, you have a visitor." She said cutting him off, "and to you I am to be addressed by my title. Is that clear?" "Yes my queen." Jeremiah whispered hating the fact that he had to address her by title. "Good, your guest is here." Josephine said as she and Quinn stood. Jeremiah looked up to see a petite, red-haired woman looking at him. "Hello lover." She crooned in a voice whose sweetness contradicted the coldness in her blue eyes. "Remember me?" "We'll leave you to it." Quinn said as he and Justine passed her, "Just remember that you can't kill him." He added only because he felt the woman's hatred and rage. "I understand and thank you my king, my queen." She said with a bow of her head. As they left the basement, they heard Jeremiah whimper and then the deceptively gentle voice of the woman that said her name was Maeve. "Come lover, I've been dreaming of this moment for a very long time." There was a blood curdling scream followed by a "shh...we've just started." ********* Napoleon's gut clenched when he heard the scream. It was that scream more than anything that convinced him that he had indeed been lucky and that he had to learn to adjust to his new life. "It's time to go." A soft voice said. It was the voice of Josephine as it was before he broke her. The angry woman that had whipped him and did things to his cock that he didn't think were possible was concealed under a cool demeanor. During those hours with her, he had learned something, he hadn't broken her at all but merely subdued that part of her and now it was coming back to life. He had no illusions as to what his life would be like, he would suffer especially at the beginning but in time he hoped that she would level out as he had. But even if it didn't, he was in far better shape than Jeremiah was; his life was going to be and was a living hell. As if in agreement, Jeremiah screamed again. *********************************************************************************** Josephine Joshua Archer aka Freddie left Josephine sitting in the corner and went to confer with his cousin Frank aka Eppi about the offer. His gut was screaming at him to accept it but he had to let Eppi have his say and besides, he didn't want to give up the money. They would be set for life with this one last, unexpected kidnapping. Eppi listened to the offer while watching Josephine watching them. It hadn't escaped him that somehow they had lost control of the situation. He didn't like it and he didn't like the way in which she was looking at them. Suddenly, he wanted to be rid of her. Justine Ch. 13 "Seventy-two hours?" he asked for the third time. "That's what she says?" Freddie replied. "Do you believe her?" Freddie shrugged, "I don't think that she's lying but you do understand that we probably won't get the money but something's changed. I don't know about you but I want that money." Eppi gave him a dubious look. It was clear that he thought that they should consider her offer. Josephine continued to watch them as she tried to reach David. She didn't know if they would go for her offer or not but she could tell that Eppi wanted to by the way that he kept looking at her. While she waited, she began to plan her trip to Philadelphia. She still didn't know what she was going to do about David. He had been lying to her for years and had kept her away from her daughter. How she felt about him wasn't the issue, she loved him but the fact remained that he lied to her about some very important things. But no matter what happened, she was bound and determined to remember everything about her past life including what happened to her that she would have left her child. But first things first, she had to get away from Freddie and Eppi. She no longer hid the fact that she was watching them or that she was trying to break through the wards. Whenever they looked at her, she gave them a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Whenever one of them left, the other one stayed on the far side of the room and didn't speak to her. She also knew that even though she was a captive, she was now in control. *********************************************************************************** Justine and Quinn finished dinner. To their delight they could eat human food again although they still needed blood. Violet and Edward wondered if they could eat human food as well and decided to try it. They took several small bites and finally gave up deciding that they didn't care for it. Dessert sat in front of them and they looked at it skeptically. Violet picked up her spoon, put a small amount of vanilla ice cream on it and looked at Edward. She knew what it was, the women who lived in the house with her had eaten vast quantities of the stuff but she had never been tempted to try it. She looked at Edward who returned the gaze and nodded. "Come on guys!" Quinn said as he doused his ice cream with chocolate syrup, "it's just ice cream. Try it." He encouraged. Slowly Violet put the spoon to her mouth and ate the ice cream that had already melted. Her eyes widened in surprise and pleasure as she tasted ice cream for the first time. "Edward! You must try this... it's...Divine!" she exclaimed as she took a bigger spoonful of the ice cream. Edward gave her a wary look and took a small taste of the ice cream. His expression mirrored Violet's. "This is one human food that I like!" he exclaimed. "There might be others." Justine said laughing. "Violet," Quinn called, "Can I ask you a question?" "Of Course." She replied. "When you ascended, was it your birthday?" "Why yes it was." She replied surprised by the question. "And did you and Eddie have to be mated by a certain time?" "Eddie?" She asked confused and then realized that he was referring to Edward. "Yes but why are you asking?" "I was curious." Quinn replied as he finished Justine's ice cream. "I'm willing to bet that if you asked every other queen they would tell you the same thing, their ascensions were on their birthdays and they had to be mated by the time of their births." "Interesting." Violet commented. "No one has ever made that connection before but as you know, the previous queens didn't exchange information. Even in the realm of the queens before there is very little interaction between us. This thing that is happening between us, friendship is a new thing and Edward and I thank you for it." "The realm of the queens that came before doesn't sound like a fun place." Justine commented, "Which brings up something that Quinn and I have wanted to talk to you about. We would like it if you could stay for a while longer. You have contacts that I don't have and let's be honest, I suck at the protocol thing and I could really use your help in planning the gala." Violet was so touched and stunned that she didn't speak for several minutes. She looked over at Edward who smiled and nodded his agreement. He liked the reigning king and queen and had never wanted to go to the realm if the queens who have gone before. He wanted to explore and experience the world and thanks to Quinn and Justine, that was going to happen. Like Violet, having friends was a new thing and he liked it. As he sat there, he swore his allegiance to Quinn and Justine just as he knew Violet had done. It was another unprecedented occurrence. The rest of the evening was spent in making plans for both business and pleasure with the business part of it being looking for Justine's mother. ************* "How are you doing?" Pam asked Jeremiah, "You look like shit." "What the fuck do you want?" Jeremiah asked. "Nothing much, I just wanted to see how you were doing after our meeting with Maeve." Jeremiah rolled over and moaned. His cock was swollen to twice its normal size and his balls were the size of oranges from the almost non-stop pulling, yanking and twisting on them by Maeve as she yelled in his face about what he and others did to her. "I used to dream about this day." She hissed as she squeezed his cock so hard that he thought that she was going to break it off. "Do you know what happened to the asshole that you sold me to? He's dead and no I didn't kill him. I wish it had been me but he was so far into debt that they killed him. Do you have any idea of what it was like to be treated as if you were nothing but a toy?" Yank. "To be passed around and to be used to pay off debts?" she screamed. Yank, squeeze, twist. Jeremiah missed more than half of what she was saying even though she was screaming in his face. His screams overshadowed hers. For four hours she tormented his cock only stopping because she had allowed him to pass out. He closed his eyes in an attempt to erase the memory. When he opened his eyes, Pam was still watching him. It occurred to him that her mate was never with her and he wondered why. "As I was saying," she continued, "You look like shit, what did she do to you?" "None of your damned business!" Jeremiah snapped. Pam stiffened; her tone became cold and unforgiving. "I still have the option of taking my retribution so if I were you, I would be very careful of how you talked to me." Jeremiah's shoulders slumped, she was right. "Let me ask you something." Pam said, "Did it ever occur to you that you would get caught?" The reality of it was that he hadn't thought about it. He thought that he would retire and live the life of the idle rich but then again maybe not. It was because of his greed that he was here. That and the fear of not having enough money to live on. It was worse than that now, he had to depend on the bitch queen for everything, and he had absolutely nothing but his life such as it was and his name. The thing was, even with all that was happening; he couldn't say that he had any regrets and if asked, that's what he would say. "Why is it that your mate doesn't come with you?" he asked. "He would kill you if I did and that's what you want." Pam replied. "You know Justine, will she go through with this sentence?" he asked. Pam smiled at him and vanished. "Time for your shower." A guard said after Pam was gone. Jeremiah looked in the direction of the stairs and wondered what would happen if he tried to run. Would they kill him on instinct? He made a split second decision and took off toward the stairs and ran right into Mikhail. "Going somewhere?" Mikhail asked. Jeremiah backed up as Mikhail walked toward him. "I asked you a question." Mikhail said. Jeremiah realized that even when he ran no one had come after him. There was nowhere for him to go, no escape except through death which wasn't going to happen anytime soon. "It would be much easier for you if you would accept that this is your life until the queen decides otherwise." Mikhail said as he took another step toward Jeremiah. "Go back to your cell, we have things to discuss." "My shower..." "You forfeited it when you tried to escape." Mikhail said dryly, "Now back to your cell." "Did you really think that I wouldn't try to escape?" Jeremiah asked. "Of course we knew, it was only a matter of time but as you can see, we weren't concerned that you would make it. Now back to your cell." Jeremiah thought to resist but walked back to his cell. He had no doubt that if Mikhail helped him back to his cell that a great deal of pain would be involved. He sensed that Mikhail hoped that he would resist so that he would have a good reason to inflict pain, not that he needed one. What was done to his mate was reason enough. He counted himself fortunate that Justine-and that was how he would refer to her even to her face, hadn't included the mates of the females in his punishment. When he was in the cell, he waited for further instructions. "Sit down." Mikhail said. Jeremiah sat down. It was clear that he was given a command. "The queen has reason to believe that her mother lives and I have been charged with finding her." Jeremiah's stomach roiled at the thought of being punished by Justine's mother. She could well be the one to kill him and if that happened, it wouldn't be a quick death. She could make him linger for years or she would make him complete his sentence. He wasn't sure which of them was the lesser of the two evils. "In order to do that," Mikhail was saying, "I need to speak with the last person to see her alive which would be you since you had your nephew killed." Mikhail had him got through the entire story once without interruption and then had him repeat it again stopping him to ask questions. "Do you realize that you made two mistakes?" Mikhail asked. "If you hadn't hired Justine as your nephew suggested, you might not be sitting here. Had you let Pam go and not pursued Justine, you might not be here. At least not yet anyway. Everyone who had anything to hide took cover when they felt Justine take power but they are in for a very rude awakening. They will be dealt with once the situation with her mother is resolved. The hope that he might get a reprieve vanished with that statement. The best that he could hope for was that the next queen would grant him clemency. "Where is the house that you took Josephine to located?" Mikhail asked. He was in hunter mode and realized that he missed it and that maybe he wouldn't have to give it up after all. He could hunt for Quinn and Justine but no one else. He was aware of the long list of beings that needed to be found to face justice and once her mother was found; a major worldwide house cleaning was going to begin. Jeremiah told Mikhail where the house was. "How long was Malcolm gone?" Mikhail asked. "I don't know, around an hour, maybe a little less. "And you are positive that she was alive when he took her?" "She was alive." Jeremiah replied. "I was very close to figuring out what you were doing and had I found out, you would be dead right now. Think about that and by the way, you have a three day reprieve. The queen wants you completely healed for any visitors that you might have. Mikhail left him sitting on the cot not sure of whether to be relieved or nervous. He decided to be both. ********************************************************************************** Josephine The chance to talk to Eppi alone didn't happen for several hours. Freddie was going out to make some kind of arrangements. Before he left, he issued a stern warning. "Stay the hell away from her, is that clear?" "Yeah I got it!" Eppi snapped not appreciating the tone in which he had been spoken to. "I mean it, don't touch her!" Freddie said as he vanished from the dingy room. Josephine waited for a full ten minutes before beginning to work on Eppi. "How are you related?" she asked in a conversation tone. "Cousins." "He takes care of you?" "I take care of myself!" he snapped. "I can see that." Josephine said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Who owns this place?" she asked changing the subject. "Me and Freddie, we bought it a few years ago. Why do you care?" "I don't, I was making conversation... how long have you owned it?" "I don't know exactly, five years or so." "I see, where's your family?" she asked wanting to hurry but knowing that she couldn't. "I don't know, it's always been just me and Josh." "Josh? Who's that?" Too late Eppi realized his error, "I mean Freddie." He amended relieved when Josephine didn't question him. They talked about other incidental things and when he seemed to be more comfortable, Josephine asked about the wards. "Did you make them?" "Me? Nah, Freddie did. He used to work for someone who taught him how to do it." "Do you know who taught him?" "He never said." Eppi replied nervously. "Freddie told me that there are times that the wards are weak, is that true?" Instead of answering, Eppi walked away. ********* David went home, checked in with everyone and thanked them for their help. After the last call he poured himself a drink, sat at his desk, closed his eyes and waited for Maurice to call him back. In a fit of anger, he opened his eyes and threw the empty glass across the room. He should have told her as soon as he found out who she was and they could have looked for her family together. If he had told her, they would have been past this and her daughter would have become his daughter as well. He had been selfish, he saw that now but he had always been that way even when he was human. He was the youngest of five brothers all of who were long gone. Because he was the youngest, he had been spoiled far beyond what was acceptable. Whatever he wanted was given to him with little hesitation or argument. He had lived his entire adult under the same premise. He had been turned when he was what was considered old. He was mid-forties, his dark hair was already graying and he was considered to be an eligible if not eccentric bachelor. The problem was that none of the women interested him. As far as he was concerned, they were after him for his money and the prestige of being Mrs. David Hiram Sheffield. Additionally, he didn't think any of them terribly bright with the incessant twittering about things that he considered silly. He tried to remember that that the era from which he came was one in which the women weren't expected to do much more than to look pretty and become wives and mothers but he wanted more than that. He wanted to be able to talk about the issues of the day whatever they happened to be. The night that he was turned, he thought that he had met such a woman in Sylvia Manchester. She was exquisite with her long black hair and the most unusual shade of light brown eyes. She was the unmarried cousin to his best friend Nigel Manchester and needed an escort to the New Year's Eve gala that was to usher in 1812. He had no plans of attending but when he saw her, he was smitten. He recalled thinking that there was something odd about her but her beauty and intelligence overrode the strangeness. Soon after midnight when people were still hugging and calling out salutations for the New Year, Sylvia asked him to escort her outside for a breath of fresh air. Without hesitation he agreed and to this day he had no memory of what happened once they reached the rose garden. He woke up at home, in bed and dressed in his night shirt. He remembered with vivid clarity how he had burned with fever and then chilled so much that he shivered uncontrollably. Food tasted horrible and he craved something that he couldn't define. The next evening he received a visitor who said that he could help him. At his wits end, David accepted the visitor who turned out to be none other than Nigel Manchester. He apologized profusely and offered Davis a way out after he explained what happened. David refused because he really didn't believe Nigel and partly because he did. Nigel stayed with David for several months teaching him what he needed to know in order to survive as a vampire. When he finally asked about Sylvia, Nigel went silent. "What became of her?" David asked. "I am sorry to say that Sylvia no longer walks amongst us. You aren't the first male that she has turned and left to fend for himself." "Are you saying that she's dead?" David asked shocked. "We have a council whose job is to keep us safe." Nigel explained. "Sylvia was a threat to that safety and had to be eliminated. I know that it seems harsh but this is the way of my now your world so have a care." David swallowed hard before asking the next question, "What happened to the men that she turned?" "Not all of them were as fortunate as you were. Most of them had to be killed because they had become like rabid animals killing at will because they didn't know any better." That conversation took place a little over two-hundred years ago and in all of that time he hadn't found anyone that he wanted to spend his life with until Justine and now he was in danger of losing her in more ways than one. "Where are you?" he whispered. ********************************************************************************** Justine and Violet walked around the grounds while the men played pool. "When were you thinking of having the gala?" Violet asked. "How long does it take to plan one of these things?" "It depends but at the very least, several months." Violet replied. "Does it have to be formal?" "That is up to you." Violet replied, "You could have everyone come in sweat suits if you wish." She added with a smile. "But they've always been formal haven't they?" "Yes." Violet replied. "Damn Violet! Don't we ever get to have a little fun?" Justine asked. Violet lay a hand on Justine's arm. "Justine this is your reign. You have already made your presence known and have turned our world on its ear. Do what you will." Justine nodded and then smiled, "Quinn and I are getting married; I want the reception to be part of the gala which is going to last for two nights. The first night will be formal for the ones who insist on having to wear formal attire. The second night will be purely casual meaning people can wear whatever they want as long as it's clean. However, nothing is going to happen until my mother is found but it doesn't hurt to start planning." As the women talked, their mates looked down at them. "Violet and I are pleased that you consider us friends." Edward said. "We're glad that you're staying." Quinn replied, "But be honest, you didn't want to go to the realm did you?" Edward blushed, "No but I would have gone without complaint, my place is with Violet. There is so much of this era that we haven't seen or experienced and thanks to you and Justine we now have that opportunity. "She's something isn't she?" Quinn asked looking at Justine. "Yes she is." Edward agreed, "You are a very lucky man to have been given one such as her." "Violet's no slouch either." Quinn replied as he waved at Justine who was smiling and waving at him. Edward had a suspicion about who Justine and Quinn were and wondered if he should say anything. After a brief hesitation he decided to tell him. "Quinn I am aware that there is much about our world that you don't know and you probably know even less about our politics." He now had Quinn's full attention. "You already know how the queen is selected. They are already chosen and remain unknown until the reigning queen decides to give up her rule." Justine Ch. 13 "You're right," Quinn said, "I already know this." "My apologies." Edward said. "I never could start at the middle of an explanation. At any rate, there is one who is called the queen of queens. That queen will have gifts stronger than any queen before her; she will be strong, honest and just. There are many who do not believe that such a woman exists because we have never seen anyone who even remotely meets that criterion until now." He paused to see if Quinn understood what he was being told and then continued. "This queen will rule until the day she dies which will more than likely be never. She will be almost impossible to kill. The gifts of her mate will grow along with hers especially since she has recognized him as her equal. He like her will be almost impossible to kill." "What are you saying?" Quinn asked, "That Justine is that woman?" "That is exactly what I'm saying and you are her king. The only way this changes is if she is killed and then the process begins again. I am telling you this so that you can prepare for an eternity of rule and to offer my services to you for as long as you want or need them." "Uh... should I tell Justine?" Quinn asked quickly recovering from his shock. "Yes but my guess is that she already knows even if she hasn't admitted it." Edward replied. "How do you know it's her?" Quinn asked. "First of all," Edward said, "the innate way that she used and trusted her gifts is a major sign. No queen has ever done that. The other thing is her eyes. It is said that the queen of queens will have eyes of fire... Justine's eyes are hardly ever their natural color are they? And there is always red flames surrounding them am I correct?" "That's true." Quinn conceded. "Quinn it's her. I have seen her eyes and there are always flames around them and your eyes, they are hardly ever their normal shade of green are they? Even now I see the green flames dancing around them." Quinn blew out a breath as he looked down at Justine who was looking up at him with a worried expression on her face. "I'm alright." He said telepathically. "We need to talk later." He added. Justine smiled and nodded before continuing her walk with Violet. *********************************************************************************** Mikhail went over the information that Jeremiah gave him. He was unfamiliar with the section of the city where the house was located but he knew of someone who was. It was time to start calling in favors. He picked up the phone and waited for someone to answer. After six rings someone picked up. "What?" the voice barked. "Hello Dante." Mikhail said. "It's nice to know that you're still so pleasant." "Mikhail?" "Yes and I'm calling in the favors that you owe me." "What do you need?" Dante asked. Mikhail explained the situation and told Dante what he needed. "I know that section of the city, give me the address and I'll get right on it. What else do you need? "That will be all for now, thank you." Mikhail said and hung up. "Do you have to go somewhere?" Zoe asked from behind him. "Not just yet." Mikhail replied as he stood up. "Do you have time for me to please you?" "There's always time for that." Zoe replied as she walked toward him. She realized that in the not so distant past she wouldn't have been able to have this type of conversation with a man. Even to admit that she wanted him would never have happened. Just as she reached him, the phone rang. She was disappointed but she understood that the search for Justine's mother had begun in earnest. After he answered the phone, Mikhail hugged her. "I must ask for your forgiveness in advance." He said. "There will be many phone calls and times that I will need to be away from you but I promise that you will not be neglected in any way." The phone rang again before she could reply. "Zoe..." "It's alright, take the call." She replied as she kissed his chest. The fact of the matter was that both of them as well as Pam, Darren, Violet and Edward were servants to the king and queen although neither Quinn nor Justine would use that term. They were considered to be friends but that didn't change the fact that whatever they needed came before anything else. "I'm sorry for the interruption." Mikhail said when he came back to her. "It's alright, is there any news?" "Not yet but let me love you before the phone rings again." Mikhail said as he picked her up. Mikhail laid Zoe on the bed and stretched out on top of her already nude body. She was so petite that he had to be careful not to hurt her although she was constantly reminding him that she wasn't as fragile as she looked. He lay on top of her not moving for several seconds just as she liked because she said it gave her a feeling of safety. He slid down until they were face to face and kissed her eyes, cheeks and finally her lips before murmuring that he loved her. He wanted to take his time with her but knew that the phone would start ringing again. He moved from her, sat on his haunches and held out a hand to her pulling her up onto his lap when she took it. Zoe put her legs on either side of him and cried out as Mikhail slowly eased her down onto his waiting cock. When she was seated, he began to pump into her while sucking on one rose colored nipple and then the other. He held her firmly in place so that he had to do all of the work; he wanted her to concentrate on feeling his love for her. Just as her orgasm started, the phone rang but he didn't stop. Whoever it was would either leave a message or call back. The tightening of Zoe's vaginal muscles around his cock triggered Mikhail's orgasm. He came with her nipple firmly in his mouth. He kept pumping knowing that if he didn't stop that she would come a second time. He moved to the other breast, took the nipple between his teeth and gently bit as he pumped into her. Zoe clung to him unable to move as the second orgasm washed over her. Afterwards, she was lying back on the bed fully sated and trying to catch her breath. Mikhail lay next to her, pulled her into his arms to hold her for a few minutes before he had to get back to the task of finding the queen's mother. ********************************************************************************* Freddie had finally come back with a cooler that contained several units of blood. Josephine had made it perfectly clear that if they murdered another innocent she would rescind on her promise of the seventy-two hour leeway. She realized that he had agreed because of the blood in the cooler although he complained about how much it had cost him. It was time to make the next demand. She needed to talk to David. If she did, she might be able to communicate with him telepathically or be able to give him some clue as to where she was. Eppi cautiously approached her with a cup of warmed blood that was in the same cup that she had thrown at Freddie. "Thank you." she said with a smile. "Yeah, sure." He said as he backed away from her. "Send Freddie over here." Josephine demanded. "He's busy..." "Now." She interrupted her voice cold. A few minutes later Freddie approached her, his eyes on the empty cup. "What do you want?" he asked all civility gone. "I want to call my mate." "No." "Alright Freddie or is it Josh?" Josephine asked. Freddie's head snapped toward Eppi and then back to Josephine. "As I was saying," Josephine said calmly, "I want to talk to my mate now give me your phone." Freddie looked at Josephine and blinked rapidly. Her eyes were no longer brown but black with deep purple flames dancing around them. The feeling that this time he and Eppi were out of their league hit him but he wanted the money. This time instead of consulting Eppi, he made a unilateral decision. They were keeping her until they got the twenty million American dollars and he wouldn't tell Eppi about her eyes. If he did, Eppi would insist that they cut their losses and let her go. "Phone." Josephine said holding out her hand. "Thirty seconds." Freddie said slapping the phone into her hand. "And while you're at it, tell him that we want twenty-million dollars in American dollars." ********* David answered the phone before it had a chance to ring the second time thinking that it might be Delgado. "Hello?" "David, it's me, Josephine." Justine Ch. 14 **************************** Josephine "Josephine?" David called jumping out of his chair. "Are you alright? Where are you?" "I'm fine." Josephine replied, "They haven't hurt me." "Can you tell me where you are?" Josephine looked at Freddie who stood ready to snatch the phone out of her hands if she said too much. She closed her eyes and sent a mental picture of the last street sign that she remembered seeing and waited for confirmation that he had received it. "I love you and I'm coming for you." David said letting her know that he had gotten her message. "Let me talk to one of them." he said his voice intense and businesslike. "He wants to talk to you." Josephine said handing Freddie the phone with a small smile on her face. Freddie took the phone from her not liking the way that Josephine was smiling at him. He put the phone to his ear but didn't say anything. A few minutes later, he put the phone away, his color considerably paler than it had been. "What did he say?" Josephine asked already having a good idea of what David said to him. Freddie didn't answer her but walked away. **************************** As soon as David hung up, his cell phone rang. "Sheffield." he said his tone curt. He listened as Maurice gave him the information that he had requested. "The vampires that have your mate have done this before. The difference is that this kidnapping is one of opportunity; Josephine was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The kidnappings are always very well planned out and the mates are returned unharmed. The vampires involved are cousins named Joshua and Frank Archer and until now haven't even been close to being apprehended. Word has it that the new queen has a list of criminals that she has plans to apprehend and I'm sure that these two are near the top of the list. As far as the wards go, Joshua Archer learned to construct them from a friend, relative or someone that he worked for named Walter Abercrombe and we're still trying to locate him so that we can find out how to break the wards. As soon as we find him, we'll go see him and call you with the information. Have you heard from them yet?" "I just talked with Josephine." David replied, "She managed to send me a mental picture of the last street sign that she saw. She's somewhere in the warehouse district and although she could be anywhere down there, it narrows down the search." "Are you sure that you don't want us to come? My mate says that my hovering is driving her crazy." Maurice said. David chuckled and then had another thought. "I'm sure and I thank you for the offer but could I ask you for yet another favor?" "Of course." David gave Maurice a quick synopsis of how he found Josephine. "I want to start the search for her family. It will in no way change what has already transpired but I want to do something. Once this is over, I'll take over." There was a long silence on the other end of the phone and David could only imagine what Maurice was thinking. "I'll email any information that I find to you, where did they live?" he asked, his tone cool. David felt Maurice's displeasure at what he had done and it didn't surprise him. The Maurice Delgado he knew would never have done what he did. He would have laid the cards on the table as soon as possible and then let the chips fall where they may. If his mate had been angry, he would have wooed her until he won her over and would have helped her find her child. "Thank you again for your help." David said. "You're welcome and I'll let you know as soon as we find Walter Abercrombe." David made a few calls to vampires from his personal security team that he knew weren't mated and instructed them to meet him in the warehouse district that evening. His hope was that now that he and Josephine had communicated with him, that she might find a way to tell him exactly where she was. He also wanted to be there when he got the call from Maurice. Although he wasn't hungry, David made himself eat and feed just in case it would be a few days before he could do so again. He could only hope that Josephine was being fed blood at least. She could do without human food as long as they were giving her blood. Guilt and anger at himself washed over him but he pushed it aside and focused on Josephine. "I am so sorry." he murmured under his breath as he made several more phone calls. ***************************** Jeremiah found it hard to believe that his reprieve was almost over. In the two days that had passed, he hadn't seen anyone other than the guards with whom he didn't speak. One more day of peace but it really wouldn't be peaceful, the anxiety of what was to come was already growing and by the next evening, he would be a nervous wreck. As he lay on his cot looking up at the ceiling, he thought about the night that he took Josephine Graves. He remembered how much it had taken to compel her to drive to his house and then how quickly he had lost control of the situation once they reached the bedroom. He cursed himself for his shortsightedness in not asking Malcolm for information about where he took Josephine but how in the hell was he supposed to know that she was the mother of the future queen? Had he known that, he would have kept her alive and raised the brat as his own. He would have been in the inner circle just because he was married to her mother.... Maybe. There was too much about the stories that he didn't know or remember. It was entirely possible that he would still be exactly where he was, alone and waiting for the next woman to dole out her punishment. Now Mikhail was looking for Josephine and that told him something, Justine believed that her mother was alive. The thought of being alone with Josephine terrified him almost more than facing the thousands of women that wanted a piece of him. He closed his eyes and tried to think about something else. Nevertheless, the more he tried the more certain he became that Josephine Graves was indeed alive and well. ***************************** Mikhail hung up after talking to Dante. The house was still there and remained in Jeremiah's name even though it was no longer his. In a few weeks, it would be redone, any of Jeremiah's victims who had no place to go or simply because they wanted to could live there rent free until they decided to leave. Justine had already taken control of Jeremiah's law offices and placed Zoe and Pam in charge. Their primary job would be to do all of the legal work that would ensure that the women got what was coming to them financially, medically and psychologically, even those who chose to stay with the vampires who bough them. Anyone who had knowledge about and was involved in Jeremiah's other business was sent to Justine. As it turned out, half of those involved were other women. "I don't understand." Justine said to one woman, "why would you do something like this?" It was a question that she asked every woman who stood before her and Quinn. Some of the reasons were understandable. Malcolm turned a few of the women for his and Jeremiah's use and they felt as though they had no choice but to comply. "Who could we have gone to?" one of the women asked, "we were always watched and our phone calls monitored. One woman did try to get away and we never saw her again." These ten women were considered victims and offered a chance to face their rapist and to punish him. Almost all of them said no saying that they never wanted to see Jeremiah Mather's again. The remaining three wanted to see and talk to him but had no desire to hurt him. Each of these women was given enough money that they never had to work another day in their lives and knew that help would always be available. The women who willingly helped Jeremiah and Malcolm were an entirely different story. They had no good reason for helping other than monetary gain. Justine took control of all of these women's assets and put them toward the care of the women who were in need of psychological and physical help. The women themselves would be sent to prison. Their release would be determined on a case-by-case basis. Of everything that she had been through, Justine found the day that she confronted the women to be the most difficult. It had always been her belief that all women regardless of race, nationality, religion, age or size were sisters that needed and were supposed to help and protect each other against the likes of Jeremiah Mathers and Napoleon. It hurt her to realize for the first time that not everyone felt as she did. Her anger was evident as she pronounced sentence on Jeremiah's conspirators. Each of the women had the sense to cringe as they looked into Justine's black, red-flamed rimmed eyes as she spoke. "You are not women. I don't know what to call you except traitors to your sisters and for what? Money? You will all be imprisoned until I deem that a sufficient amount of time has passed, now get the fuck out of my sight!" Quinn put an arm around Justine's waist and pulled her tight into his side. "Are you alright?" he asked as he kissed her temple. "I will be." she replied. "But I just don't get it. Maybe I was naïve to think that women couldn't do what these women have done but damn it Quinn! They betrayed their sisters!" "I know but sweetheart, not everyone believes as you do and money is a powerful tool." Justine didn't reply, she knew that there would be more women who had helped Jeremiah and she would deal with those as she had just dealt with these women, one case at a time. Quinn had given some thought to telling her about the conversation that he had with Edward and decided to hold off. As formidable as she was, she still needed a respite from their new world and roles. He also knew how deeply it had hurt her to punish the women even though she knew that it had to be done. "Come on sweetheart." He said as be begun to lead her away. "We're not done yet." she protested. "Yes we are." Quinn said firmly as he led her away. "Tomorrow is another day and besides, it'll do them good to stew in their juices." He was right and she knew it. Justine allowed herself to be led away to their rooms where the tub was already waiting for them. The scent of lavender greeted them when they went into the bathroom. Quinn undressed Justine in the human way wanting her to know how much he cared for her and then undressed himself before helping her into the tub and getting in behind her. When he was settled, Justine relaxed back against him and sighed contentedly. "I think that I got the better end of this deal." she said as she stroked the arms around her. "I don't agree." Quinn replied kissing the side of her neck, "and even if that were true, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but where I am." "Do you think that she's alright? My mother I mean?" Justine asked. "I think that if she's anything like you that she's fine and I also think that you would know." Quinn replied. He said it with such certainty that Justine questioned him. "Do you know something?" "Not anymore than you do, it's just a feeling that she's alright. What were you and Violet talking about?" he asked changing the subject. "The gala and how it and the wedding won't happen until we find my mother." Justine replied. "What were you and Edward talking about?" "He's glad that they're staying, he didn't want to go to the realm although he would have." Quinn replied. "And what else? And before you say nothing, I felt your worry." "Let's make an agreement." Quinn said not answering the question. "Let's agree that once we're in our rooms that any and all discussion about business stops outside of the door. The only exception to that will be talking about your mother and I don't consider her business." he added. Justine sat up, turned around, put her legs on either side of Quinn's hips, and looked at him. Quinn's gaze went from her face to her breasts that were bobbing in the water and licked his lips already feeling them in his mouth and hands. From there his eyes traveled downward and didn't stop until they were resting between her legs. He reached for her and drew her so close that his cock was trapped between them. "Was that a yes?" he asked as he took a breast into his hands, brought it to his lips and kissed the hardened nipple before taking it into his mouth and sucking on it. "If you're trying to bribe me." Justine breathed, "It won't work but I'll let you try." Quinn didn't reply but put her breast together until the nipple were almost touching and took both of them into his mouth and sucked hard. Justine felt a gush between her legs and rubbed herself against his cock seeking relief. "This is our place." Quinn said after releasing her nipples from his mouth and grinding back against her. "This is where we come to regroup and to care for each other. In these rooms we aren't the king and queen but two people who love each other, are we agreed?" Justine nodded. She realized that Quinn was right about the respite and that she was doing the same thing she did when she was in college. She pushed until she couldn't push anymore because she thought that she had to. The other difference was there hadn't been a Quinn in her life to tell her to stop and to keep her grounded. She loved the fact that he wasn't threatened by her role and had no problems with telling her what she needed and taking the steps to make it happen, even if she objected. "I want to hear you say that these rooms are sacred ground and that the only business we talk about is your mother and I don't consider that business but a family matter," he said grinding against her even harder. "Say it Justine." he commanded. "I... agree under one condition." she panted. "What is it?" "Peppermint Patties." Quinn grinned at her, "I thought you couldn't be bribed." he teased as he took a nipple back into his mouth and sucked as he lifted her up and eased her down onto his cock. "Say yes." he mumbled with a mouthful of nipple. "I agree." she moaned, "Do I get my Peppermint Pattie?" "Deal." Quinn said as he crushed her to him so that her breasts were smashed against his face. He pounded into her as he rubbed his face against the softness of her breasts before taking a nipple into his mouth and biting hard enough to draw blood. Justine clung to him, her arms around his head holding him close as he drank from her. She put her lips against the top of his head and cried out. This time the windows rattled but didn't break prompting her to make a mental note about checking into Plexiglas. After the bath, Quinn carried her from the tub to the bed where he gave her all of the 'Peppermint Patties' she wanted. When she was sated and recuperated, she pushed Quinn onto his back. "My turn to take care of you." she said as she kissed his lips and then made a trail down his body. When she got to his cock, she bypassed it and made her way to his feet and then back up to his waiting cock. Slowly, she took the head into her mouth and sucked with varying degrees of speed and pressure. When his moans increased in intensity, she stopped. "Jussie? What are you doing?" Quinn asked. He had been so close to coming. "What's your favorite temperature?" she asked and then licked the length of his cock. "I.... I... warm, I like warm!" Quinn cried out as his cock was enveloped inside of Justine's mouth that felt warmer than usual then cold and back to warm. "Do you like that?" Justine asked as her mouth cooled to its normal temperature. "I like it... a lot." Quinn gasped. "How about this?" Justine asked as she took one of his sacs in her mouth and rolled it around. His loud moan was all that she needed to hear. She released the sac and took the neglected on into her mouth and sucked on it lightly before releasing it and taking his cock back into her mouth. She felt him tense and knew that he was close to coming. His cock became even harder as she took him deeper into her throat and swallowed allowing her throat muscles to squeeze until suddenly he was coming. His shouts made the windows shake but they didn't shatter. He was still hard when Justine released him. He pulled her up to him until she was straddling him and rammed up into her. His cock was still sensitive from the orgasm he had just had and he screamed out when he entered her. He came again calling her name not hearing the windows as they shattered once again. ************************** It occurred to Mikhail that if Josephine were still alive that she wouldn't be in Pennsylvania and that she might note even be in the one to find her, he would have gotten her out of the country as soon as possible. The same would have applied no matter what country he found her in but then the question became what country would she have been taken to? Dante had been thorough in his inspection of the house and of the surrounding area. He had his people search in a one-hour radius of the house. Of all of the possible directions, there were only that Malcolm could have taken Josephine where she would have been found. One of them was a hotel that catered to vampires and other beings and the other was a hotel meant for humans. "The hotel for vampires, is it still in operation?" Mikhail asked. "Yes, why?" Dante replied. Mikhail gave Dante the date that Josephine went missing. "Go there and see if there was anything major happening at the hotel on that date and week. If so, get the guests lists get it even if nothing special was happening. If you run into problems call me and I'll handle it." Mikhail was almost certain that whoever took Josephine was staying at the hotel that night or week. It was the only thing that made sense but what he didn't know was why Josephine did not attempt to find Justine unless she really was dead. He believed that no more than Quinn and Justine did, there was no definitive proof to indicate that she was dead and like Quinn, Mikhail believed that Justine would have known. He wondered about the women who were in the basement and wondered if any of them would have information that he could use. He was standing back in a corner watching the women as Justine interviewed them; he discounted the women that she released, they were too traumatized and they were nothing more than pawns. The woman who would have the information wouldn't be traumatized, she would be one of the stronger ones, one who could and would have been able to keep her mouth shut. None of the women Justine released fit that profile which meant that it had to be one of the women in the basement, but which one? He closed his eyes and replayed the interviews in his head. At the end of two hours, he had eliminated half of the remaining ten women. Of the remaining five, he eliminated two, replayed the interviews of the remaining three and eliminated one more. By early evening, he knew whom he needed to speak with. **************************** Jeremiah looked across the room at the one person who could know something that could either hurt or help him. The woman had been one that he had turned and then wished that he had let her die. The woman, Olivia Lipton had worked for him for a long time before he finally decided to do the right thing and to claim her for what she was, his mate. After he claimed and turned her, he lost interest in her, as she became the kind of female that he detested- submissive, clingy and needy. She did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it including helping him find other women even though she knew what he and Malcolm were going to do to them. It was something that she offered to do of her own free will even before he turned her. Afterwards, he offered to release her from their bond such as it was but she refused his offer in the hopes that he would come to love her. Justine Ch. 14 He had been brutally honest with her even when she was human explaining to her that he could never love her as he was supposed to love his mate but she hadn't cared and offered to help him in his side business. Not one to turn away free help and a willing bed partner, he turned her and instantly regretted it. They had been together for almost a century before Olivia finally understood that Jeremiah was incapable of loving anyone, even his mate but by then, she was in too deep with his operations. It was a fact that he reminded her of on a daily basis. "You are as guilty as I am." he told her, "You entered into this business with your eyes open and stayed even after I gave you the chance to leave." Jeremiah continued watching her; she was beautiful with her dark brown eyes and dimples when she smiled. For just a moment, he felt regret that he didn't love her then and that he didn't love her now and if it would have shortened his sentence, he would thrown her under the bus and not looked back. Olivia looked back at him with eyes filled with love, hatred and anger. The one thing that she didn't feel was pity. He was getting everything that he deserved for what he did to all of those women and for not accepting her. She was more than willing to take her punishment, it was as the queen said, she had betrayed her sisters and for what? A vampire who cared nothing for her. She couldn't place the entire blame on him, he did warn her and he did offer her a way out that she had foolishly turned down. Now she was facing an eternity in prison, it was what she deserved and she wouldn't fight it. She saw Jeremiah watching her with a look on his face that she knew well; he wanted something from her. He wanted her to lie. Any hope that Olivia would lie for him was dashed when he saw Mikhail appear in front of her cell. And really, what lie could she tell? That Josephine was dead? It wouldn't matter; they wouldn't believe her. The consensus was that Josephine was alive and even if she did lie for him, they wouldn't believe her. He turned away, went to his cot and sat down to wait for Mikhail to finish with Olivia who would spend eternity in prison. Of all of the women, she had been the one that Justine had been the hardest on because she had been the one to find the other women who helped them and she had willingly volunteered her services. To Justine that made her an equal partner and the only reason that Olivia wasn't sharing his fate was because she was a woman. Her life in prison would be far from easy but she wouldn't be physically punished. He envied her. ***************************** Mikhail had the other women moved to another cell. He wanted to talk to Olivia alone and didn't want her to have any support from the other women. Olivia remained standing after the other women were gone and wondered what was going to happen to her. "Please sit." Mikhail said politely but left no question as to whether it was an order or not. Olivia sat on the cot, put her hands in her lap and began to wring them. "I am Mikhail." Olivia paled; she knew about Mikhail and had heard the stories about him and wasn't sure if she believed them. Now that he was sitting in front of her, she wasn't so sure that the stories weren't true. The fact that he had never hurt a woman with the exception of one didn't ease her mind, there was always a first time. Mikhail watched Olivia struggle with her fear and felt no sympathy for her. He could have assured her that he wasn't going to hurt her but as far as he was concerned, she didn't deserve it. He let her squirm for a few more minutes before he spoke to her. "Were you in the house the night that Josephine Graves was there?" "No." she replied. Mikhail leaned forward, smiled at her and then sat back. "You're lying and I don't like being lied to, I will only ask you this once more, were you in the house that night?" Olivia swallowed. There was no point in lying, "yes I was there." "That's better," Mikhail said. "Tell me what you saw and heard." Olivia's story was the same as Jeremiah's but with one difference, she followed Malcolm and knew exactly where he left the body. "Did you see what happened to the body after Malcolm left?" "If I tell you what I know, will you go to the queen on my behalf?" Olivia asked in spite of her belief that she deserved her prison sentence. "No because you will tell me what I want to know anyway." Mikhail replied. "Tell me what you saw." Olivia tried to resist but within five minutes, Mikhail knew everything that she did. He now had confirmation that Josephine Graves was alive. Now he had to find her. ******************************* Josephine Josephine sipped at the cup of bagged blood and openly watched her captors. They were nervous but not afraid... yet. Whatever David said to Freddie, it had him on high alert. She watched as he talked to Eppi and felt Eppi's sense of alarm grow. David was coming. She closed her eyes and tried to reach out to him but felt nothing. She tried to vanish but couldn't. Instead of becoming frustrated, she leaned back against the wall and waited. She took the time to think about everything that David told her. She could accept that he was trying to protect her but not to tell her about her child was unconscionable and wrong no matter the reason. It meant that he didn't trust her and that hurt. "What have you done with your life?" Josephine murmured as she thought about the last time....she sat up straighter. She remembered the last time she saw Justine! Justine was three at the time and was crying for her not to go work. She almost changed her mind but went anyway. And that's where the memory stopped. She frantically tried to recall more and became frustrated when she couldn't. When she opened her eyes both Freddie and Eppi were staring at her with shocked expressions on their faces. "What?" she asked. "What are you?" Eppi asked. "What do you mean what am I?" Josephine snapped. "I'm your captive! Remember?" "No... I mean yeah but your eyes, what's wrong with them?" Eppi asked in a hushed voice. "Nothing! What are you talking about?" Josephine asked. "They're not the same color... they're different." Freddie replied as he went to get a mirror. When he found one, he handed it to Josephine who warily looked into it. Her eyes widened as she looked at her reflection. They were right; her eyes had changed. Instead of being their normal brown, they were black but that wasn't the alarming thing. It was the deep purple flames that danced around them that startled her. She blinked rapidly in an attempt to get her eyes to go back to their normal color. "Who are you?" Freddie asked as the sweet smell of his fear wafted toward her. Although he had seen her eyes before, he was still startled. The colors hadn't been so intense. "I.... I don't know." Josephine whispered too in shock to notice the scent of fear coming from the men. "Maybe we should let her go." Eppi said as he backed away. Josephine's head snapped toward him, the smell of his fear was much greater than Freddie's and drew her like a magnet. Freddie saw what was happening and backed away while talking to Josephine. "Easy lady, you don't want to hurt anyone." he said in a low calm voice. Josephine turned to look at him, her eyes burning brightly. "Don't I?" she asked. "You brought me here against my will, you lied to me and you killed an innocent but even so, I gave you opportunity to let me go to my mate." "I know." Freddie said, 'but you don't seem the type to hurt someone. How about we let Eppi go get some air and I'll stay here." "How about you call my mate and tell him where to find me and I may just let you live." Josephine countered. She listened to herself talk and hardly recognized herself. In her past life, she would never have threatened someone but here she was doing just that. In her past life she cared for people and didn't hurt them even the ones that had tried to hurt her. She looked over at Eppi who had backed himself all the way to the other side of the room but she could still smell him. "Lady...." "Shut up!" Josephine snapped as she fought for control. "Get him out of here!" Eppi didn't need to be told twice. He vanished from where he stood to the outside where he saw several vampires walking around the buildings. Without a word to Freddie, he vanished to one of their emergency hiding spots. Freddie was on his own to face Josephine. ****************************** David continued his patrol of the area frequently checking in with the others but not really expecting them to have anything to report. The phone call from Delgado hadn't come yet and he was becoming impatient. The urge to call to check on progress nagged at him but he resisted. Delgado would call when he knew something. He had just circled a building for what seemed to be the hundredth time when he felt a disturbance. He turned around just in time to see someone, a male vampire vanish. It could have been someone walking in the area and became nervous when they saw all of his men but he didn't think so. He would have wagered his considerable fortune that the vanishing vampire was one of the ones that had Josephine. "At least we're in the right spot." he murmured as he called to one of the vampires. "Walk with me." he said. He and the vampire walked to the spot where Eppi had disappeared. Davis and the vampire sniffed the air trying to pick up Freddie's scent. "Do you smell him?" David asked his fangs descended. "I smell him and he is afraid." the vampire replied. "Find him and bring him here... and Bruno? I need him alive." David said. "I understand." Bruno replied and vanished. After Bruno was gone, David continued his walk calling out to Josephine every few minutes willing her to answer him. He took comfort in knowing that she was close and that she was alive but she might as well have been on another planet. ****************************** Eppi went to the closest of their hideaways and began to pack up the cash that they had there. From there he would go to the next place, take the money and then repeat the process until he had taken the money from each place. By the time he was finished, he would have almost a million in cash. As he packed, he gave no thought to his cousin Freddie even though he was alive because of him. He had actually made it to the third hiding place when he felt someone in the room with him. ***************************** Justine and Violet were talking about the past and what mistakes had been made. "You are the only person that I will tell this to." Violet said. "I never wanted to be queen. All I ever wanted was to have a normal life with Edward but as you know, I had no real choice. There were and are many things that I didn't address because I simply didn't care." "Why didn't you resign earlier than you did?" Justine asked. "For one, you weren't born yet and two, there was some vanity involved. I didn't want to be the queen with the shortest reign. But as soon as I knew of your birth, I resigned although I had to wait for you to grow up and to come to us." "You knew when I was born?" "Yes, just as the queen before me knew when I was born. Like me, she didn't want to be queen and like me, she had no choice in the matter. As soon as she knew of my birth, she began to prepare for her retirement. She handed me a list much like the one I gave you and was gone before I could ask any questions. I'm sorry to say that I did very little with it but added to it. When Edward almost died, I lost what little interest I had. I prayed for your safety every night and began to prepare for your arrival and when you were turned, it was all that I could do not to grab you myself." "You hated it that much?" Justine asked. "Hate is too strong of a word but I was very unhappy. The only thing that made it bearable was Edward. Justine, I am so happy that you're here but sorry for the mess that we left you." Justine smiled at her, "don't worry, as I said I like a challenge. But I have a question for you." "Of course." Violet replied. "What rights do women have in the vampire world? Are they and children protected?" Violet looked away and then back at Justine. "They're not? No wonder bastards like Jeremiah Mathers got away with murder!" Justine exclaimed. "If anything needed to be addressed, it's the safety of women and children human or not. As a woman I'm surprised that you or none of the queens before you addressed this issue. However, I want to take it a step further, I want everyone who feels that they are at risk included and I don't care if they are male, female, wolf... it doesn't matter. This is what I want you to do; I want you to write down ideas on what we need to do to change this. Tell Zoe and Pam to do the same thing. In fact, ask all of the women to do it and any of the men. Me, you, Pam and Zoe will meet in a week to talk about it and then you can tell me how to make the announcement so that it reaches everyone. "Yes my queen." Violet said softly. "What? Oh geez Violet will you knock it off? I'm not angry with you but you have to admit that this should have been a priority no matter how much you disliked your position." "You're right." Violet conceded. "Let's just get it done alright?" Justine asked. ********* A few minutes later, Justine was meeting with Mikhail. "Wait for a few minutes, Quinn is on his way." she said when he came in. While they waited, Mikhail brought up his idea about hunting for her and Quinn. "I have contacts and I am sure that there are those that you want to find in order to bring them to justice." "You miss it don't you?" Justine asked. "You love Zoe and I know that if I said no that you would accept it but you would be unhappy." "What you say is true." Mikhail replied. "How many vampires would you want on your team?" she asked. "I would like two teams each with alternates in case of injury, death or emergency." "Mated or unmated?" "Both. There are those who have mates who understand and are supportive and the teams are a male/female pairing." "How many on each team and how many alternates?" "Eight to a team with two alternates pairs for each team." Mikhail replied liking the way that Justine fired questions at him. "Women?" Mikhail hesitated; he had known that the subject would come up. He and Zoe had discussed it at great length. "Yes." "In addition to the men?" "Each team would consist of four pairs. The alternates would also be a male/female pairing. Several of the team members that I would use are mated couples." Mikhail replied. "What would your role be?" Justine asked, "Zoe isn't a hunter." They had talked about that too. "We have discussed it." Mikhail replied. "My partner will also be female but she will lead the other team." Justine tapped the arms of her chair for several seconds. "I like it." she said, "we'll run it by Quinn when he gets here but I don't see him having a problem with it." Quinn appeared a few minutes later. He had been working on the indoor garden and taking pictures. He wasn't too surprised to discover that he missed working with his hands and taking his pictures. "What'd I miss?" he asked as he kissed Justine and nodded at Mikhail. "Hunting teams... I like it." he said after Mikhail explained what he wanted to do. "But I have a couple of stipulations, I want us to meet each and every member of your teams and that includes the alternates and I want frequent updates." "Agreed." Mikhail said and launched into the next topic of business. "I talked to one of the women downstairs, Olivia Lipton. She was at the house the night that Jeremiah had Malcolm take your mother away. She followed Malcolm to where he took the body of your mother and left it." "Was she aware that she was still alive?" Justine asked. "Yes." "Did she do anything to help her?" "No." Mikhail replied. "She said that she thought about it but had no place to take her." "So she just left her there." Quinn murmured. "What else?" Justine asked. "I had people go to the house and go an hour away in each direction. There were only two directions in which your mother could have been taken. The one direction was ruled out because the only place that she could have been taken led to a hotel for humans and I believe that it was another vampire who found her. But the second direction was near a hotel that was and is owned by vampires. There was a conference that week and I think that someone from that conference found your mother and took her with him. I am in the process of getting the guest list for that week and also the names of everyone who was working that week." "Who do you have doing this?" Quinn asked. "Pending your approval, members of my team." Mikhail replied. "I want them here as soon as possible." Justine said, "And they don't have to come together." "Will tomorrow evening be soon enough?" Mikhail asked. "Perfect." Justine said. "There's one more thing that you need to know." Mikhail said, "Olivia Lipton is Jeremiah's mate. I only know this because she told me." "Why didn't I know this?" Justine asked. "Because they weren't really bonded." Mikhail explained. "Jeremiah claimed her physically but that was as far as it went. They never lived together as a bonded couple and rarely had relations." "Oh shit!" Justine exclaimed. "She knew what he was doing." Mikhail continued, "She volunteered to help him." "Let me guess." Justine said, "She wanted him to love her so she helped him even though she knew it was wrong." "Yes and here's the surprising thing, he offered her a way out even after he turned her." "And she refused?" Quinn asked. "She still loves him as much as she hates and detests him." Mikhail said shrugging his shoulders. "She also accepts her sentence although she did ask me to speak to you on her behalf." "Is that what you're doing?" Justine asked. "Not at all, I'm just relaying the conversation that I had with her." Mikhail replied. "If you ask me, she's getting what she deserves. She was the one who got Zoe and Pam hired in at the firm. They only took you because Pam told them that it was a package deal and you intrigued Jeremiah. She did say that Malcolm tried to warn his uncle against hiring you and she agreed but only because she saw you as competition." "Alright, her sentence stands." Justine said, "What's your next step?" she asked Mikhail. As soon as we have the guest list for that week, we'll start contacting the guests. We're already interviewing the hotel staff that worked that night in the hopes that one of them will remember something." "What are you thinking?" Quinn asked as he took Justine's hand in his. "This is purely speculation but I don't believe that she's in the country." he replied. "Because?" Justine asked. "If I had found her, I wouldn't have stayed. I would have taken her back to Russia. Why? Because I wouldn't have known who left her for dead or if they were still looking for her." "But what about her child?" Quinn asked. "If she was unconscious or if she had lost her memory for some reason I wouldn't have thought about a child. My concern would have been for her safety." Mikhail replied. "Jussie?" Quinn asked when he realized that she wasn't saying anything. "What.... What if someone like the vampire that found Natalia has her? Or someone like Napoleon?" she asked her eyes brimming with tears that steamed as they ran down her cheeks. "Justine," Mikhail called softly, "we will find her I promise you." "Mikhail, could you give us a few minutes?" Quinn asked. "Of course." Mikhail replied, "I have a few follow up phone calls to make." Justine Ch. 14 As soon as they were alone Quinn pulled Justine into his lap and hugged her. "I want you to listen to me." Quinn said, "I am with you in this just like I am in everything else. I don't know how I know this but your mom is alright and we're going to find her." Justine dried her eyes and kissed Quinn on the cheek, "Just think I used to consider you a pain in my ass." she said with a weak smile. "And now?" "I'm glad that you stuck around, I couldn't do this without you and before you disagree with me, let me amend that statement. I could do it but I need you to help me, you keep me sane." "What do you need from me?" Quinn asked. "Just that you keep doing what you're doing." Justine replied. "Jussie, what happened to the aunt that raised you?" Quinn asked. "She died just after I graduated from college." "I'm sorry baby." Quinn said hugging her again. "Me too, she was a lot like you... she kept me grounded. Where is your family?" Justine asked as she settled in his lap. "My father was a used care salesman and mom was a florist. We weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination but we lived in a nice house with nice neighbors. I had a brother Neal who was killed overseas while working for his company and well... let's just say that the sun and the moon rose and set with him." "He was older?" "Yeah by a couple of years and he was supposed to be an only child and then surprise! Quinn Sean O'Dell makes his appearance and shot the family plans all to hell." "They didn't want you." Justine commented. "They loved me I guess at least they said they did but I didn't really see it until Neal left but by then I think it was too late. It didn't feel real or sincere; do you know what I mean?" "It felt temporary, and if Neal had come home, the love would have been taken back." "Something like that." Quinn replied. "Is that why you started drinking and doing drugs?" "That didn't start until after we found out that Neal died. Mom and dad were so wrapped up in their grief that they forgot that they still had a kid. They didn't notice or didn't care when I started to miss meals or that I wasn't coming home at night after being gone all day. One day, I never went back home. I hadn't planned to leave at least not like that but anyway I bounced around from place to place, met Lana's mom and really tried to straighten my life out. By the time I realized that I had lost them, it was too late." "What about your parents?" "Once I was sober and clean I went to see them. I don't know what I was expecting but the reception was cool at best. They were polite like they would have been to a stranger and I guess in a way I was but I wasn't going to leave until they understood why I felt that I had to leave. They listened and thanked me for coming by. It was as if I was someone who came to their door selling magazines instead of their son. I stopped by a few times after that trying to apologize for any pain that I had caused them in addition to losing Neal but... anyway; I stopped trying. Mom died a couple of years back and dad soon after. I went to both services, paid my respects and that was that." "Didn't they have a will or something? What happened to the house?" "That's the funny thing, they left it all to me and I couldn't and still don't understand why but I didn't want it. I sold the house and put all of the money in a college trust fund for Lana. By the time she's ready for college she'll be able to go to any college that she wants." "Did they know about Lana?" Justine asked. "I told them and even showed them a picture of her. They looked at it, remarked on how pretty she was and asked where she lived. I had hoped that they would have wanted to meet her but they didn't offer although I hinted. I did find out later that they sent her gifts for her birthday and Christmas." Justine toyed with Quinn's hair a gesture that he found calming. "What do you want to do about Lana?" she asked after a few minutes. "What are my options?" Quinn asked. "After a while I won't be able to see her because I'll always look the same and then I'll have to deal with her mortality and all that comes with it including the weddings, graduations... all of it." "First of all it's we and not just you." Justine reminded him and I'm sure that we can come up with a way that you can be involved in Lana's life without having to tell her what you are. As far as the mortality issue it's something that we'll just have to deal with when it comes but like you told me, I have a feeling that it's going to work out." She went to move from his lap and he stopped her, "Justine, I love you always remember that." "I love you too." she replied as she kissed him. It was time to get back to the business of finding her mother. ********************************** Eppi froze. He didn't have to turn around to know that it was another vampire in the room with him or to know that he was caught. That knowledge did nothing to stop him from trying to escape but before he could formulate the thought, the vampire had his arms around him taking away his chance for escape. "It's pointless to struggle." Bruno said gruffly, "you will only hurt yourself." Eppi stopped struggling and began to bargain. "I have plenty of money, I'll split it with you... five-hundred thousand each!" Bruno let him talk allowing him to believe that he was interested in his offer. When Eppi stopped talking, Bruno spoke. "I have no interest in your money, I don't want or need it but what I do want is information on how to break the wards holding Josephine Sheffield." "I don't know! Freddie made them!" Eppi exclaimed. "Then I am sorry for you." Bruno replied as he vanished with Eppi in his arms. ***************************** David paced restlessly feeling helpless. He was going to call Delgado back when his cell phone rang. "Maurice? Please tell me that you found this Abercrombe person." "I did as a matter of fact but David... he's dead. We've checked everyone else as well and none of them are familiar with the vampires that have Josephine. It had to have been Abercrombe that helped them with the wards, one of the vampires worked for him... the one called Freddie whose real name is Josh Archer, the one called Eppi is his cousin Frank." David felt his heart drop. He looked around him trying to figure out his next move. His last hope was on the vampire that he sent after Eppi. ****************************** Josephine "Would you like to know what I think?" Josephine asked Freddie and then didn't give him a chance to reply. "I think that your cousin Frank is already on his way out of town with all of the money that you had saved for a rainy day." "Shut up!" Freddie hissed, he had already thought about that possibility but hearing it verbalized somehow made it seem more likely that Eppi was probably gone. "David is close...." "I said to shut up!" Freddie said as he raised a hand to her prepared to slap her. Instead of flinching, Josephine held her hand out with the palm facing forward and quietly said "no." Freddie yelled as he found himself flying across the room knocking over the television as he sailed by it. Josephine looked at her hand and then at Freddie who was picking himself up from the floor with a dazed expression on his face. The expression went from shock to anger and then to fear as he realized what had just happened. Justine looked at him with eyes blazing. Deep purple flames angrily danced around them. She was tired and wanted to go home to David so that they could work on their issues and find out what happened to her family, Freddie was keeping her from that. "Let. Me. Go." she said softly but she might as well had screamed it judging by the way that Freddie cringed. To his credit, he controlled his fear knowing that the slightest scent would set her off. To his shock and horror, Josephine began to approach him and he had a choice to make. The money no longer mattered and he wasn't penniless, he had money hidden that he hadn't told Eppi about. Before Josephine realized what was happening, Freddie was gone leaving her trapped alone in the basement of the warehouse. ******************************* Eppi looked into the face of a very angry David and tried to back away. Bruno stood behind him holding on to his arms restricting his movements and prohibiting his escape. "Where is my mate?" David asked. "I don't know." Eppi replied. "Where is my mate?" David asked again as he took a step toward Eppi. "Tell me and your death will be painful but quick." Eppi frantically looked around for an escape route and seeing none, he conceded defeat. "She's in the warehouse at the end of the block." "Where is your partner?" David asked. "He was with her the last time I saw him." Eppi replied. "Did you touch her?" David demanded. "No, not like that... I swear it!" "How do I break the wards?" "I don't know! It's like I told the one that caught me; Freddie built it. He said that someone that he used to work for taught him how and he never showed me how to do it." "You didn't lie." David said as he looked at Eppi and I will keep my word. He stretched out his open hand toward Eppi's chest and then slowly closed it. Eppi's eyes widened and then watered as David symbolically closed his fist around his heart and crushed it. He was turning to dust even as he hit the ground. ****************************** Freddie vanished from the warehouse to the loft that he kept rented for emergencies. He pulled a briefcase from beneath the single bed, looked around and vanished without giving Eppi or Josephine another thought. When things cooled down, he planned to find another partner and to start over again. He and Eppi had money stashed in various places around the city other than where they lived and if he was careful, he could live comfortably until he found another partner. Even though his gut was telling him to take what money he had and go, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had worked hard for it and it was his. He appeared in another loft in the trendier part of London never dreaming in a thousand years that someone would be waiting for him. As soon as he was in the loft, a pair of arms went around him and before he knew it, he was back in the warehouse district. "I know where my mate is, your cohort told me before I killed him." David said. "He also told me that you were the one to build the wards. I will give you one opportunity to release them of your own volition." "We had a deal your mate and me." Freddie said smugly. "I made no deal with you." David replied. "But she did. She said that if we let her go you would give us seventy-two hours to get away before you looked for us." "Have you released her?" David asked. "No but I will." Freddie replied. "The terms of your agreement are null and void." David said. "You have not released her and if you had not been caught you would be long gone by now. The only deal I will offer you is this, release her now and your death will be painful but quick just as your cohort's was." "Eppi is dead?" Freddie asked as if hearing the news for the first time. "He is." David confirmed. "If you don't tell me voluntarily, I will find out and you will still die but more slowly." "Kill me then because I'm not telling you anything." Freddie replied. "As you wish." David replied. "Bruno, bring him to the warehouse." David said and walked away. ****************************** Josephine Josephine walked around the large room trying to remain calm. There had to be a way out, there had to be! In a moment of silliness and because she would have otherwise cried, she began to say things like "open sesame!" and "abracadabra!" when none of those worked, she looked in the fridge to see if there was any blood left. In their haste to leave, the cousins had left behind four units of blood in the fridge and two more in the freezer. If she was careful, she could make it last for several days. She made another tour of the room touching the walls and extending her senses to feel for weaknesses in the wards. "Let me out of here!" she demanded softly as she touched a wall and was startled when she felt a slight shift in the wards. "It can't be this easy can it?" she asked herself. "Let me out of here!" she demanded again but in a louder voice. Once again, the wards shifted. ******************************* Freddie felt the wards shift and knew that his time was ending. It was as David told him; he was going to die no matter what he did. The point was how painfully he wanted to die. The third time the wards shifted, every vampire there felt it. David looked at Freddie and gave him a cold smile. "It appears that I don't need you after all." he said. "Wait! She's not out yet! I can help!" Freddie screamed as David reached for him. David stopped; he would wait until Josephine was free before he killed the vampire. For all he knew, she might want to punish the vampire herself although he doubted it. Her base personality was that of a caregiver and she wouldn't voluntarily hurt someone "Remove the wards." David said. Freddie closed his eyes and moved his lips. Within seconds, David could feel Josephine's presence. "Hold on to him!" he shouted at Bruno as he ran into the warehouse. "Josephine!" he called out and waited for a response. "David?" "I'm here!" he called back. "Me too." she said from behind him. David turned toward the sound of her voice and then just stared at her not knowing what to say. Josephine took step toward him and held out her hands. It was all the invitation that he needed. He ran to her and gathered her into his arms kissing her face and finally her lips. "I am so sorry that I didn't tell you the truth!" he said repeatedly as he crushed her to him and kissed her. "Are you hurt?" "No, I'm fine but please get me out of here." Josephine said as she wrapped her arms around David's waist and hugged him. David picked Josephine up and carried her out of the warehouse. When she saw Freddie she asked to be put down, she wanted to see him face to face. "All you had to do was to let me go." she said softly her eyes glittering. "I told you that he would find me and that you would die but you laughed at me." "Please... Don't kill me." Freddie begged. "David, he and his cousin killed an innocent for her blood even though I begged them not to. I listened as she begged for her life." Josephine said without taking her eyes from Freddie's face. "How many have you killed?" she asked. "I... I don't know." "It doesn't matter, one was too many. How many mates have you and Eppi kidnapped?" she asked. "Ten? Twelve? I really don't know for sure." Freddie replied. "Josephine," David said softly, "what do you want done with him?" "Is there a place where he can be sent and never released?" she asked. "There is but I want him dead." David replied. Josephine looked at Freddie who was now begging her with his eyes. His fate was in her hands. ****************************** Mikhail called another friend who was reputed to be the best internet researcher in the vampire world. Auggie usually charged what Mikhail considered an outrageous fee but for him, it would cost nothing. Auggie owed Mikhail a lifetime of favors and gratitude because Mikhail was supposed to kill him but didn't. Auggie Simpson had been a young and foolish vampire back then. He was still young in that he would forever be nineteen and that alone was what saved his life. He had been hacking into the finances of several wealthy vampires for years one of whom was Lucian Coombs. What Auggie didn't know because it was the one time that he didn't do his homework was that Lucian was the head of what was considered the vampire mafia. When he saw the financials on Lucian, he got greedy and took more than he usually did but it wouldn't have mattered how little he took. Lucian was a very paranoid and suspicious vampire. He had every security system know to man and vampire alike and a few that weren't so when Auggie took the ten million from various accounts, Lucian knew about it. Instead of having one of his own find Auggie, he hired Mikhail who found Auggie in less than three days. "Are you crazy?" Mikhail shouted at him when he saw how young Auggie was. "Do you know who you've stolen from?" Mikhail could see from Auggie's expression that he hadn't a clue. "You stole from Lucian Coombs. He happens to be one of the most dangerous vampires around." Mikhail told the frightened boy/vampire. "He sent me here to kill you." "Look Mr. I'll give the money back just don't kill me ok?" "How long have you been doing this?" Mikhail asked already seeing the potential in the boy. "A couple of years and I promise not to do it again!" Mikhail looked at the frightened boy and couldn't kill him. "Can you put the money back?" he asked. "Yessir." "Do it... and it wouldn't hurt to add a little extra." Mikhail said. Auggie rushed to his computer, booted it up and transferred fifteen million back into Lucian's accounts. "It's done." Auggie said. "Are you still going to kill me?" Mikhail took out his phone and dialed Lucian's number. "Check your accounts... I'll wait." While he waited, Mikhail looked over at Auggie who was literally shaking. He wasn't going to tell him that he wasn't going to kill him; he wanted him to be scared and to realize how lucky he was that Lucian had sent him instead of someone else. "It's there? Good so there's no reason to continue this... I expect to see my payment within the hour... I did what you asked, I found him, I didn't kill him but you got your money back plus interest... if anything happens to him, I will kill you." Mikhail snapped the phone shut, pulled a chair over to where Auggie sat still trembling. "I just vouched for you." Mikhail said. "Thank you!" "This is what I require in return for the favor I just did, whenever I call you and need something you will do it without question. If it is illegal, there will always be a good reason for it and you will be protected. You will also stop hacking into the accounts of others and earn your money legally. Start a research company or something but you will not take money from others again unless it is for services rendered is that clear?" "Yessir... you aren't going to kill me?" "Not this time but if I find out that you've gone back to stealing I will. There are no second chances." That conversation had taken place in 2002 and Auggie true to his word had never stolen again and had taken Mikhail's advice about starting a company. He currently had three others working with him and was doing very well with the company and his new mate who was one of the vampires working with him. "Mikhail! How are you?" Auggie asked when he answered the phone. "It's been too long!" "Yes it has." Mikhail agreed. "I now have a mate." "Cool! Congrats! What's her name?" "Zoe but I have a job for you." Mikhail said changing the subject, "Whatever you need." Auggie replied. "I want you do find out everything that you can about the disappearance of Josephine Graves. She disappeared several years ago from her job. I also want you to tap into every website that we have and alert everyone that we are looking for this woman. I'll email you a picture within the hour and one more thing, set up another email address for the responses and make sure that I have the address so that I can access it." "You got it." Auggie replied. "Give me about an hour and it'll be done." "Thank you Auggie." Mikhail said once again glad that he had spared the young vampire's life. The next phone call he made was to another vampire who was disabled and was always looking for ways to help him no matter what it was. Justine Ch. 14 "Stark!" Mikhail exclaimed when the phone was answered. He was always glad to talk to the vampire because in spite of what happened to him, he was never bitter and accepted full responsibility. "Mikhail you son of a bitch! How the fuck are you?" "I am well my friend! How are you?" Mikhail asked. He wasn't going to rush this phone call; he counted Stark as a true friend. "I'm good, cooling my heels." Stark replied and then laughed. Cooling his heels was impossible as he had no legs from above the knees having lost both of them when he was caught by vampire hunters over a hundred years ago. I can't blame any one but myself." he told Mikhail one day. "It was my own stupidity, arrogance and carelessness that got me caught so no pity alright?" That simple admission was what drew Mikhail to the vampire and gave him such respect for him. "So what's new in the world?" Stark asked. "I have a mate." Mikhail announced proudly. "Do tell!" Stark said. "Well, her name is Zoe and we haven't been mated for very long." Mikhail said, "I hope that you will meet her soon." "I would like that; I have a piece of news of my own." Stark replied, "I also have a mate." "You found her? Stark that is wonderful news! Tell me of her." "Her name is Sarah and she's a fourth grade school teacher. I would love for you to meet her." "Why didn't you tell me?" Mikhail asked. Stark was the one person before Zoe and Justine that he would have dropped everything for and gone to if he was in need. "I didn't know what you were doing and you know me, I just wait until you call." "It has been a while hasn't it?" Mikhail asked. "Yes it has so, what do you need help with?" Stark asked. "Let me make sure that I heard you right," Stark said, "You work for the new queen and king?" "Yes, are you able to help me?" Mikhail asked. "Do you have to ask?" Stark replied. "Just give me the info and I'll start watching for messages. Will you have a phone dedicated just to me?" "Yes and here's the number. Call it at anytime day or night." "You got it, I'm glad to help." Mikhail hung up and answered another phone. "Mikhail, it's me Auggie, send that pic when you're ready, the website is set up and I took the liberty of adding a designated phone line for those who aren't computer savvy." "Thank you Auggie, you'll have the picture in a few minutes. Has the alert been sent out?" "It hitting all of our websites, television and radio stations as we speak, I'll put the picture up on the news and in our papers too." Satisfied that all of the fronts had been covered, Mikhail went to give Justine and Quinn an update. For the time being, all they could do was talk to the guests who had stayed at the hotel and those who had been on duty. His hope was that once Josephine's picture hit the news and website that she would be found quickly. ******************************* "What's happening?" Jeremiah as he was taken to the showers. The air of excitement hadn't escaped him. "The hunt for the queen mother has begun in earnest." the guard replied. Jeremiah's heart sank; he was really hoping that Josephine was dead. "Hurry you have visitors." The guard added." Jeremiah looked over at Olivia as he passed her cell. He wanted to say something to her but what? That he was sorry? But he wasn't and he wasn't going to pretend that he was. When she looked at him, Jeremiah averted his eyes. He didn't need to see them to know that while she hated him, she still loved him. "Too bad for her." He muttered as he began to prepare himself for whatever woman was going to punish him. By the time he came out of the shower, Olivia and the other women were gone. A guard volunteered the information. "They left a few minutes ago." "Where were they taken?" Jeremiah asked. "One of the queens prisons and then they'll be separated." Jeremiah looked at the empty cells with envy; once again, he was alone. ********************************** Freddie looked at Josephine willing her to spare his life. He didn't want to die even if it meant spending the rest of his life in prison. At least there, he would have a chance at freedom. His gaze went from her face to David's and then back. There was no point in asking him to spare him; it was up to Josephine who was still staring up at him. "Sweetheart?" David said, "What do you want to do with him?" "I know that you wan to kill him," Josephine said looking up at David, "and I would be less than honest if I said that there's a part of me that wants the same thing but ....I can't. An hour or two ago maybe but not now, send him to where he can't hurt anyone else. Freddie breathed a sigh of relief and started to speak, he clamped his mouth shut when David looked at him with eyes filled with fury. "The queen has a prison on the other side of the city, take him there." David said and then led Josephine away. A few minutes later, they were home. While David ran her bath, Josephine examined her eyes in the mirror wondering why David hadn't seen the change in them. As she looked, she understood why, they were her normal shade of brown. She didn't understand it. She didn't have time to think about it because David was standing behind her rubbing her shoulders. They needed to talk but now she was so relieved to be home that she decided that it could wait. David pulled her back against him and hugged her for a long time before helping her into the bathtub and then getting in with her sitting at the opposite end of the tub but close enough that he could catch her if she slipped under. "Why are you sitting there?" Josephine asked confused, she wanted him where he usually sat which was behind her with his arms around her. "Are you angry with me?" "No sweetheart, I'm not angry with you but I am angry with myself. If I had been honest with you, this wouldn't have happened. I can't tell you how sorry I am but I have a friend looking for your family." "David, I'm tired and I need you. We can talk about this when I've had some rest but can you come sit behind me like you always do?" He didn't have to be asked twice. Before she knew it, David was sitting behind her and holding her tight against his chest. It took her several minutes to realize that he was crying but trying not to and then she started crying too. David helped her turn around so that she faced him; she closed her eyes as he kissed her tears away and told her that he loved her. When she opened her eyes, he stared at her. "Josie... your eyes... they.. What happened in that place?" he whispered as he held her head still. "I don't know... they just changed." Josephine replied. "I always thought that your eyes were beautiful but these are exquisite." David breathed. "You aren't afraid?" Josephine asked relieved. "The only thing that I'm afraid of is losing you because of my selfishness and stupidity." David replied "But I am curious as to what this means." His response was a soft snore from Josephine telling him just how exhausted she really was. David lifted her out of the tub and carried her to bed, tucked her in and climbed in behind her. He sighed in contentment when Josephine pushed back into him seeking the safety and warmth of his body. Instead of resting, he began to think about how he was going to explain his actions and thanking god and the fates that she was safe. "David?" Josephine said softly. David jumped; he thought that she was asleep. "Yes love?" "I'm mad at you but I love you." she said and fell back to sleep. ****************************** Justine was in a deep sleep when her eyes snapped open. The flames surrounding them burned brightly as the black centers glittered. "Jussie?" Quinn called, "Are you alright?" Justine didn't answer; she didn't hear him. A few moments later, she relaxed, closed her eyes and went back to sleep snuggling back into Quinn who remained awake. Justine Ch. 15 Jeremiah found it hard to believe that he had been in the basement for only a few short weeks. During that time, he had seen a number of his victims half of whom only wanted to talk to him in an attempt to understand how he could so what he did. The other half of them chose to exact their revenge and none of it was pleasant. He tried to listen for information regarding the search for the "queen mother" as all of the guards had started calling Josephine and found out very little. What he did know was that once the search went world wide, it would only be a matter of time before she was found. Once again, he wondered about his fate and if Justine would allow her mother to make the final decision regarding it. He did get the opportunity to speak with Olivia before she was taken away but only because she asked to speak to him. "I don't blame you for this." she said. "I blame myself for choosing to believe that you could love me. The queen is right; I am nothing more than a traitor to women. The sad thing is that as much as I hate you, I still love you as much. Take care Jeremiah." He hadn't spoken the entire time she was there and when she was through, she left not giving him a chance to say anything. The one thing that he did find out was that there were new edicts placed by Justine. The new edicts allowed any abused being to go to any of the homes owned by her for safety. There they could tell of any illegal activities without the fear of repercussion if they were forced to take part in the activities and if they did so willingly, she would give them a chance to explain. If they were abused, the abuser would be found, brought in to face Justine and Quinn and sentenced. Something that Mikhail said came to mind, "there's going to be a major house cleaning." It had already started. "Hello Sugar!" a husky voice said. Jeremiah turned around to see Natalia lookin gat him with a big smile on her face. "What do you want?" he asked. "Nothing much other than to give you a message from the queen." "What is it?" he asked wearily. "You get a weeks vacation! It seems that there is someone who really wants to get her hooks into you and the queen has granted her extra time with you." Jeremiah sat up straighter alarmed. "Do you know who it is?" he asked. "Sure do." Natalia replied. "Who?" "I can't tell you but you must have done something really bad to her in order for you to get a week's reprieve and for the queen to grant her three days with you." "You're enjoying this aren't you?" Jeremiah asked. "Believe it or not, no." Natalia replied, "But neither do I feel sorry for you. You brought this on yourself." "Can you tell me anything?" Jeremiah asked. "Have a good week." Natalia said and vanished. Jeremiah felt his sanity begin to shred and began to give in to the peace of losing his mind. "No you don't." Justine said watching him and pulled him back to complete sanity. "You still have women to see." Jeremiah went back on his vow not to beg for mercy and began to beg. "Please end this! What you are doing does not become a queen! It's barbaric! You allowed the women a chance to explain their actions to you, do I not deserve the same?" he asked. Justine gave his request a moments thought before replying. "Alright, I am going to ask you one question, how you answer that question will determine my response to your request." Justine said, "And remember, I'll know if you're lying. If you lie, your week of reprieve will be reduced to three days. Are we in agreement?" "Yes!" Jeremiah eagerly agreed. "Here's your question, have you ever regretted and do you regret anything that you've done? And that doesn't include hiring me at your firm or getting caught." "Yes!" Jeremiah shouted forgetting another promise that he made to himself. "What is it that you regret?" Justine asked, her eyes blazing daring him to lie. "I regret what I did to all of those women! I cannot tell you how sorry I am about them and your mother." Justine looked at Jeremiah, the flames around her eyes growing brighter as they danced angrily around the black pupils. "Didn't I tell you not to lie?" she asked softly, there was no hint of the anger that her eyes held in her voice. "I... give me another chance please!" Jeremiah begged. "I only said what I thought you wanted to hear!" "Do you know what the correct answer is?" Justine asked ignoring his pleas. "It was no my queen, I don't regret anything that I've done other than the things that you just stated." "Fuck...." Jeremiah whispered as his shoulders sagged. "Fuck indeed." Justine said, "Your three days begin now but this wasn't why I came to see you. I came to tell you something." she said and waited until he was looking at her. "I'm sure that you know that we're looking for my mother. When we find her, and notice that I said when, I'm going to give her the chance to spend some time with you and after every woman that you've wronged has her chance with you, I'll leave it to my mother to decide what happens to you." "If she says to let me go, you will abide by her decision?" Jeremiah asked as a little flicker of hope appeared. "If she says that you have suffered enough, I'll abide by her decision." Justine replied. Jeremiah looked at her not quite believing her. "Have I ever lied to you?" Justine asked seeing the disbelief on his face. "No." "So why would I start now?" Justine asked. She had a point, in the time that he had been here; no one had lied to him. They didn't tell him everything but neither had they lied. Just as he was about to thank her, Jeremiah realized that she wasn't giving him the information out of the goodness of her heart. She wanted him to hope, she wanted him to think that he had a chance at freedom and of a life even though he would be penniless. "Thank you for telling me." he said with a bow of his head that made Justine laugh. "Do you really think that I'm buying this act?" she asked, "You really don't learn." she said as she vanished. ******* Mikhail's head hurt. There were calls and emails coming as far as far away as the tiniest villages in Russia to as close as the house a mile away. Every call and sighting had to be investigated, if one were missed, chances are it would have been a legitimate sighting. Stark, his mate and several others fielded the calls, monitored the emails and then sent out a team to investigate. The search had only been in effect for a few days and already hundreds of supposed leads had been followed and discarded. The staff at the hotel had been interviewed and those who had moved or resigned hunted down and questioned. Out of all of them, only one remembered anything. "I remember that there was a man, a vampire who didn't allow us in his room." the housekeeper who had to have been old enough to remember the Crimean War said. "Do you remember his name?" Dante asked her. "No sir... just that we weren't allowed in his room." "Do you remember what he looked like?" "No sir." "What do you remember?" Dante asked trying not to snap at the woman. "He wasn't from here." she replied. "He had a foreign accent of some kind." "What was the room number? Do you remember?" "It was... 118." Dante stepped out of the room, called the team that had the guest list and asked the names of the guest who had stayed in that room. He crossed his fingers as he waited for the information. Three people stayed in the room that week, two female and one male. The male had been visiting from out of town and didn't have a discernable accent. However, just to be thorough, females were also checked out although the consensus was that it was a male that had found Josephine. That lead had been yesterday and like the others had turned out to be a bust. Mikhail rubbed his eyes and picked up the phone to call Auggie. There had to be something else that they could do, but what? He had no idea. What he did know was that he needed to feed and he needed some time alone with Zoe. He missed her and realized that as much as he had missed the hunt, he missed her more. That decision prompted the decision that he would only hunt locally and if he had to leave, there had to be no other choice. His mind went back to the business at hand as soon as Auggie answered the phone. ******************* Josephine The day after her escape/rescue Josephine spent the day in bed at David's insistence in spite of her assuring him that she was fine. She put her foot down when he tried to feed her. "David! I'm fine will you stop coddling me?" He stopped trying to feed her, but wouldn't let her get out of bed until the next day and only because she insisted. Whenever she could, Josephine looked in the mirror to see if her eyes had gone back to their normal shade of brown. It wasn't until the evening of the second day that she and David realized that it wasn't going to happen; her eyes would always be as they were. It was also when Josephine began to wonder if David no longer wanted her. Other than to hold her as she slept or to kiss her cheek, he hadn't touched her. Before the kidnapping, she wouldn't have addressed it. She would have accepted it as one of his moods that would pass in a day or so but she needed him and they needed to talk. She waited until he had dismissed the staff for the evening to bring her concerns to him. She didn't even know how to bring it up so she went straight to the point. "Why did you lie to me?" Instead of being angry as she thought he might be at her tone, he was relieved. It was then that she realized that he was waiting for her. "I told you how I found you." he said softly, "I didn't know who had done such a horrible thing to you or of they were still looking for you. For all I knew, they were going to double back to make sure that you were dead. My only thought at the time was that you were almost dead and that if I didn't do something that you would die. I fed you some of my blood there, it wasn't much but it was enough to keep you alive until I could get you to my room. You had no identification with you and you were unconscious so I couldn't ask. I was going to give you the bagged blood in the fridge but... I couldn't, it didn't feel right." "So you fed me your blood." Josephine murmured. "Yes." David replied, "But it wasn't until we are on the plane that I understood what happened and knew who you were. I was meant to find you... I had been staying at the hotel for almost a week and I never took that way back when I walked. However, I still didn't know your name, where you came from so I started calling you Jerri; it sounded better than hey you. I could have looked into your memories but I had no idea of what else had been done to you, I didn't want to risk making anything worse." "Why didn't you tell me about my daughter?" David shrugged, "There isn't a good reason for that other than I didn't want to lose you." "You didn't trust me." "I was afraid that you would leave me because I didn't tell you about your child. It didn't occur to me that I could have told you and that we could have raised her together... I was thinking only of myself. The times that I was so short with you was because of guilt and fear and I cannot tell you how much I regret the decision to keep you away from your child." "But we're not talking about a year here! She would be in her thirties if she's still alive. She was three the last time I saw her. You've known about her for years but you still said nothing!" Hot tears ran down her face but she continued. "I understand why you didn't try to find out who I was in the beginning and I know that you cared for me and loved me but David, you lied to me. If I hadn't accepted you as my mate I still wouldn't know the truth would I?" "I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how." he replied, "The mating made it imperative but I swear to you, I was going to tell you before we mated but the time never seemed right." "What would have made the time right?" Josephine asked her tone a little softer. "I can't answer that except to say that I began to realize several years ago that I needed to tell you. What stopped me? The fear that you would leave... selfish isn't it? I put my own fears and needs before the fears and needs of my mate and child. I'm not even going to try to defend myself because there is no defense. I can only beg your forgiveness and ask that you remember that I love you." Josephine was quiet for several minutes keenly aware that David was waiting for her to say something, anything that would alleviate his guilt. "I wish that you had trusted me enough to tell me the truth." she said softly. "I would have been angry but I wouldn't have left you either. We could have been far past this but the question is what are we going to do? As I told you, I love you in spite of everything but I have to know is there anything else that you haven't told me?" "About your past? No, I've told you everything." "When you looked for my daughter, did you find her?" "I didn't actively look for her." David replied, "But at the time she was alive and living with your sister in New Jersey." "New Jersey?" Josephine asked, "We don't know anyone there." "I don't know why they moved there but they moved several years after you disappeared." "What about my mother? Where was she?" Josephine asked not really wanting to hear the answer. "I don't know," David replied, "she wasn't with them when they moved." "I need to find all of them, will you help me?" "Of course I will." David replied, "As a matter of fact, I've already started." "Thank you... I want you to do something else for me." "Anything." David replied. "I want you to help me remember that night and before you say no, you really don't have any choice in the matter. I want and need to remember it so that I can deal with it and be able to concentrate on finding my daughter." David nodded his head, he really didn't want her to remember what happened to her or know how he found her but she was right, he really had no say in the matter. "Josephine, is it too soon to ask for your forgiveness?" Josephine hesitated before answering; it all came down to whether she loved and trusted him. If she didn't, how would it affect the finding of her daughter and the relationship between her and David? It occurred to her that maybe this was why David hadn't touched her; he was waiting for her as he waited for her to bring up the subject of his lies. David watched her trying to decipher the expression on her face and gave up. He could see the purple flames around her eyes flickering as she thought about her answer. He wondered what the change in her eyes meant but finding out the reason for it wasn't at the top of his list of priorities at the moment. After what seemed like hours, Josephine spoke. "I'm not going to pretend that I'm not hurt or angered by what you did because I am and I probably will be for a long time." she said. "But.... My mother used to tell me...." She stopped, she remembered her mother! "Josephine?" David called when she stopped talking. "I remember my mother... when she got angry with me she would always tell me that no matter what I did that she would always love me. That even if she didn't like what I did, that the fact that she loved me would never change and I guess that's what I'm saying to you. I understand why you made the choices that you did but I hate the fact that you kept things from me for so long." David could hardly believe it. While she was still angry with him, she would forgive him but he needed verbal confirmation that she was still going to accept him as her mate. If she said no, he would let her go without a fight but he would never be far away from her. "Thank you for that and if your mother were here, I would give her a big hug and a kiss." David said. "But I must ask you a question... You accepted me as your mate before you knew about what I did, now that you know, will you still accepts me as your mate?" Josephine started; she hadn't thought that the question of being mates would be an issue. She had assumed that they would remain mates and would work out their issues. "When I was trapped with Eppi and Freddie, one of the things that I kept thinking about was you and how I knew that you were going to find me. The other thing that I kept thinking about was how I missed you and couldn't wait to be home with you again even with this thing between us so yes, I accept you as my mate." David let out a breath that he wasn't aware that he had been holding but she wasn't through talking. Her eyes flashed and the flames around them intensified as she spoke, David jumped as the heat of the flames touched him even though he was sitting across from her. "Don't you ever lie to me again and if there's anything else that you need to tell me, now is the time." David swallowed hard, he wasn't afraid of Josephine but surprised at the strength he felt flowing from her. He tried to think of anything that he needed to tell her and came up empty handed. "There is nothing more to tell you and you have my word that I will never lie or withhold anything from you again no matter what it is." As David spoke, the intensity of the flames around her eyes cooled until they were not quite diminished but a warm glow. She really had missed him. "I believe you." she said after a moment and held out her hand to him inviting him to come to her. Seconds later, David had Josephine in his arms and was kissing her eyes, nose and face murmuring how much he had missed her and how frightened he had been for her. With his arms securely around her, they vanished from where they sat ignoring the insistent ringing of the phone that had started seconds before. ************* Justine wasn't resting and Quinn was growing concerned even though she assured him that she was fine. "Will you stop already?" she said after he asked her what felt like the millionth time what was bothering her. In truth, she felt better than she had since she became queen, the lack of rest didn't concern her because in her human life she had episodes of sleeplessness and in her experience, it meant that something good was going to happen. It happened before she was accepted to law school and then again, when before she found out that she passed the bar and when she stopped to think about it, it happened just before her and Pam went out that night for dinner. She took Quinn's hand in hers, brought it to her lips and kissed it. "Quinn, I'm fine, I promise. This isn't a new thing for me and besides, you would know if I weren't fine wouldn't you?" "Yes but you're not resting." Quinn replied kissing her hand in return. "It happens and usually when something good is about to happen so relax and I promise that later I'll show you a new trick that I learned." "That sounds... interesting, why can't you show me now?" he asked his cock already hard. "Because we have a meeting with Violet and Edward and then with Mikhail for updates." she replied rubbing the front of his jeans. "But I promise, it will be worth the wait." "You are such a tease!" Quinn exclaimed as he pulled Justine so that she was flush against him. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed against her. "Can we be just a few minutes late?" He didn't give her a chance to answer before he picked her up, stripped her with a thought and was deep inside of her. Justine wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as Quinn lifted and then slammed her back down onto his cock until she came first and then him shortly afterwards. Afterwards, Quinn kissed her soundly, set her on her feet and held her until she steadied. "Now we can go." he said with a grin as he redressed them. Justine Ch. 15 ************** Maurice slammed the phone down in frustration. He had tried every number that he had for David and he hadn't answered any of them. "Fuck!" he swore softly and then looked around to see if Jon or Regina were within hearing distance breathing a sigh of relief when they weren't. He had to talk to David as soon as possible, he knew whom and what Josephine was and was sure that David didn't. The information came to him the hour before when he was scanning through one of the websites that was for vampires only. ATTENTION!!!! If you have seen this woman please call one these numbers (555) 219- 5410 or (555) 219-2222. If you wish you may also send an email to ............ Do not approach this woman or anyone with her; we only seek to find her. Any information leading to her location will be rewarded and you will have the gratitude of the queen. There was nothing overt in the information that led Maurice to believe that David's mate was who the queen was looking for, but he knew it. He could taste it. Then there was the fact that Mikhail was involved. He continued reading and what he saw confirmed his belief. "Josephine Graves was taken from her home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania several years ago and hasn't been seen since. Once again, if you have any knowledge of this woman or her whereabouts please use one of the methods listed above to contact us. Please be aware that no reward will be given until the information is corroborated and confirmed." Below the alert was a picture of a beautiful young black woman who had a smile her face indicating that she was pleased with something. Maurice sat back, weighed his options, and decided that he wasn't going to call or email anyone until he talked to David first. He picked up the phone and started dialing one number after another and an hour later, he still hadn't reached him. "Damn it!" he swore as he stood and began to pace his office trying to decide what he should do. He could ask Gremlin or one of his family to try to track him but if David used wards, that would be useless but still he had to do something. Ten minutes later, he had spoken to Gremlin who assured him that the search for David and Josephine would begin immediately. **************************************************** Josephine Josephine looked around her taking in the beauty 0f their location. The sound of the ocean sounded like music to her ears, the scent of it teased her nostrils. The soft ocean breeze made the leaves of the palm trees dance reminding her of the graceful way that hula dancers moved. "Where are we?" she asked as she continued to look around until her eyes rested on a house that was much smaller than the one in London. "This is where I planned to bring you after you accepted me as your mate." David said as he carried her toward the house. "I know that you are anxious to look for your daughter but I was hoping that we could renew our commitment to each other here." "It's beautiful." Josephine said as she kissed David's cheek. He was right in saying that she was anxious to begin the search for her daughter but they also needed time together if only for a night. Something in her gut told her that it was important that she and David be reunited physically and emotionally and that his life could depend on it. Then there was whatever happened to her the night that she was taken away from her family. David knew some if not all of what happened. She was convinced of it just as she knew that he didn't want to tell her. First things first. Taking her silence as consent, David carried Josephine into the house, straight to the bedroom where he gently laid her on the bed and then stretched out next to her completely clothed. When she reached for the buttons of his shirt, he stopped her by taking her hand into his and placing it over his heart. He closed his eyes and then opened them to a nude Josephine who was looking at him, her eyes filled with curiosity and love. The purple flames in them danced and glowed with desire. "I love you Justine Graves and formally ask that you take me as your mate. All that I have is yours to do with as you see fit. I humbly once again ask your forgiveness for all of the wrongs that I have done against you and yours and swear that I will never do it again. What say you?" Josephine listened to and tasted his words as he spoke them listening for a lie. It was then that she realized that he wasn't the only one with an issue with trust, she hadn't trusted him either. She reached up, touched his face with her free hand, and knew that he was telling her the truth. "I love you David Sheffield and accept you as my mate. All that I have is yours to do with as you see fit. I offer you my forgiveness for your past wrongdoings and I trust and accept your word that it will never happen again. This is what I say." David crushed Josephine to him and set the wards around the small island that no one except him and now Josephine knew about. When Josephine once again tried to unbutton his shirt, he stopped her by trapping her other hand in his and raising both hands above her head. "Thank you." he whispered as he bent down to kiss her, "Thank you." he murmured as his lips brushed against hers. He knew how lucky he had been, it would have been well within her rights to deny him what he wanted most... to love her as her mate. Josephine struggled to free her hands suddenly needing to touch him, to reassure him that she really had for given him. "Let me go." she whispered against his lips. Slowly, David released her hands and sighed when they caressed his face. Taking his face in her hands, she held him in place as she kissed him offering him her tongue. When she reached for the waistband of his slacks, he stopped her. "No, not yet." He kissed her again and moved across the skin of her face until he was at her neck. He stopped, kissed the spot where her pulse beat and kept moving until her reached her breasts. He kissed the valley between them before taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking on it his cock hardening when he heard her moan and the scent of her arousal filled the air. He took his time in loving her, each second remembering how close he had come to losing the privilege of loving her as he was doing. "David, take your clothes off, I want to feel you." Josephine said her voice husky with desire. "In a moment." David replied as he made his way down her body stopping at her belly, kissing it and then continuing until his lips rested on her mound. In all of their time together, he could count the times on one hand that he had tasted of her but now it seemed imperative that he did. He moved so that he was between her thighs, opened the lips that were hiding his goal and licked. He paused to savor her flavor and then licked again trying to remember if she had tasted this sweet before. He looked up to see Josephine pulling on her nipples and realized that she had changed in many ways. She had never touched herself when they made love even though he had encouraged her to do so. What the difference was he didn't know nor did he care, he loved the new and more confident woman who was clearly enjoying being made love to. The flames surrounding her eyes seemed to crackle as they burned brightly, the intensity increasing as her arousal grew. Now if he could only make her scream... Still looking up at her, David opened her vaginal lips even wider until he saw what he was looking for. Her clit peeked out from beneath its hood throbbing as if inviting him to please it. Unable to hold off any longer, David covered her clit and every thing around it with his mouth and fed from the juices that flowed from her. Josephine not really prepared for the assault jumped and then cried out and then started when she heard David's voice in her head encouraging her to let go, to trust him, to scream for him, to come. His voice, while always seductive with its English accent now sounded even more so. There was something different about it and she realized what it was, he trusted that she was never going to leave him. She was close, he could feel it, he heard it in the intensity of her moans that were growing in volume. He sensed a freedom in her moans that had never been there before and came to some realizations of his own, the first being that although he loved her, he had given her no reason to completely trust him and as she said, he hadn't completely trusted her either. Now there was a mutual trust that would never be broken and it was far too long in coming. Suddenly, Josephine was screaming her release, while it wasn't the ear-splitting scream that he wanted to hear, it was a start. As her orgasm waned, David stripped and slid into her while staring into her eyes, the flames surrounding them were such a deep purple in color that they looked black. He slid in and out of her slowly, deliberately pausing to press against her when he was all the way inside of her and then slowly pulling out. "David... "Josephine moaned and flexed her vaginal muscles around his cock needing to feel his seed flood her insides. "Jos...." he was going to tell her to stop but it was too late. David came murmuring her name buried in her so deeply that his pubis was pressed tightly against hers. Afterwards, he collapsed on top of her, his shoulders and head to the side of hers and struggled to catch their breaths. It was done; they were truly mates as they should have been years ago. ********** Mimi Scott looked at the array of wigs that lined the dresser in the room where she waited to see a long time friend and then looked at her reflection in the mirror. At one time, she was a beautiful raven-haired woman with flawless skin and dark expressive brown eyes. The black hair was long gone, her skin flawed with scars and her eyes? Who knew what color they were? The only thing she knew is that they hadn't been brown in a long time. She looked at her fingernails, which were now a vivid blue, and then green and then blue again. At least the bastard that had owned her did something to her that she liked. Her gaze traveled down her body that hadn't seen hair in over fifty years. It was the first thing that her owner had taken care of telling her that he found hair on a woman's body disgusting and that included the hair on the head except in certain situations. As much as she had hated Albert, the vampire that bought her over fifty years before, she hated Jeremiah Mathers even more. When she heard that Jeremiah had been caught, she waited for her chance and ran away. She knew that Albert would be looking for her and that if he found her he would punish her ferociously but she hadn't cared and still didn't. He could kill her for all she cared just as long as she could have her time with Jeremiah. When she finally arrived at one of the queen's safe houses, she was told that she never had to go back to Albert unless she chose too. "I don't have to go back?" she asked shocked. "Not unless you want to." a woman at the house told her. "What if he finds me?" Mimi asked. "You will be protected." the woman assured her. However, Mimi didn't believe her although she didn't say anything. The last person that promised her that she would be safe was Jeremiah Mathers just before he kidnapped her and took her someplace where he kept her for weeks raping her and finally turning her into this thing that she had never wanted to become, a thing that she had only believed to be a myth. Her multicolored pupiled eyes flashed with anger and she now understood why the queen had insisted that a guard be in the room with her and Jeremiah at all times, given half a chance, she would kill him or die in the attempt. Mimi looked at the clock, her appointment with Jeremiah had been moved up by four days and she curious as to why, not that she was complaining. A week had seemed such a long time. Another hour to go. ************** Jeremiah was literally sick to his stomach. All of the other women came down to the basement and used one of the rooms down there but this time, he was being taken to another part of the house. "Shower!" the guard called out, "and make sure that you get all of the nooks and crannies." "Where am I going?" Jeremiah asked knowing that he wouldn't get an answer or not much of one. "You'll see soon enough and make sure that you use the shampoo that's in there... the whole bottle." Jeremiah stepped into the shower, looked at the small shelf with the shower supplies were and looked at the shampoo, the name of it didn't sound familiar so he opened it, sniffed and gagged not knowing why the scent of it was so repulsive to him. He turned off the need to breathe and showered making sure to use the entire bottle of the shampoo. He looked at the name on the now empty bottle and realized that it was vaguely familiar to him and just as the memory was about to come forward, the shower door opened. "I have fifteen minutes left!" he snapped. "I 'm not dressed yet." "You don't need your clothes, put these on." The guard said throwing a pair of paper coveralls made in the fashion of the ones that he saw prisoners wearing and his alarm grew. A few minutes later, he was in a dining room where the table was set with fine china and the candles lit. The room was dimly lit giving the room a romantic ambiance. Jeremiah was so surprised that he almost forgot where he was until he tried to move. "Hello Jeremiah." A voice said from behind him. Jeremiah didn't speak, he was trying to place the voice, and it sounded so familiar. A few moments more and he would have remembered but Mimi was standing in front of him. "Do you remember me?" she asked looking up at him. He remembered, and in spite of everything, his cock hardened. He hadn't remembered her voice only because for except for the initial dinner date, she was gagged and when she wasn't gagged, she was screaming either in anger or pain but never in pleasure. Even when he made her orgasm, there had been no pleasure in those screams only deep hatred and anger. "You should take what pleasure you can while you can." he remembered telling her and would make her come against her will again. He remembered one other thing, the way that she had looked at him just before she was taken away. That look was a non-verbal promise that she was going to come after him and take her revenge. Of all of the women that had made that promise verbally and non verbally, she was the one that had made him the most nervous. He spent the better part of a decade monitoring her whereabouts only relaxing when Albert told him that she was completely broken. Apparently, he was wrong because his woman was standing in front of him wearing... Jeremiah began to understand what was happening, she was wearing the same outfit she was wearing the night that he took her too dinner and then to his house. "Oh my, don't you look hideous in orange!" she exclaimed, "I took the liberty of having a suit brought here for you, the bedroom is over there." Jeremiah looked in the direction that Mimi pointed and headed that way. No matter what, it would feel good to wear on of his suits for even a short time. He had grown to hate the sweat pants and tee shirts that had become his usual attire since his capture. The guard accompanied him, waited in the room, and stood by the door to wait while he changed. Jeremiah knew that there was something different, the paper suit felt tighter. Frantic, he ripped it off and looked down at himself. His previously hairless body was now covered in thick hair the same color as the hair on his head. Even his cock was coated in black hair. "Hurry! Dinner is waiting!" Mimi called into the room as Jeremiah continued to examine his body. He looked toward the sound of the voice and wondered what her game was. He recalled fucking her and making her scream but nothing that involved hair. "You heard her." the guard said, his voice indicating that he was as shocked as Jeremiah was at the hair that covered his body. Jeremiah dressed scratching barely noticing the style and cut of the suit as he tried to get used to not having bare skin. When he was dressed, he went to the room where Mimi was waiting. Her black hair was piled up on top of her head as it was that night. She walked over too him, blushed prettily and waited. When he didn't say anything, Mimi looked up at him, her eyes flashing in anger. "What's wrong? You do remember that night don't you?" she asked her tone daring him to say no. He understood what was happening; they were going to replay that night. "Of course I do!" he said politely, "I would never forget dinner with such a beautiful woman." "That's better." Mimi said. "Shall we begin?" The pre-dinner and dinner conversation was almost verbatim even up to the point where he asked her to go home with him except that it was her doing the asking. "Why don't we go back to my house and have coffee?" she asked. Jeremiah hesitated and responded when he saw the anger reappearing in her eyes and the madness behind them. "I would like that." he replied as he stood, walked around the table and held out her chair for her. "Good, my house is just over there." she said and pointed to a door different from the one he had gone into. Taking her elbow, Jeremiah led Mimi to the door and opened it. His heart pounded as his eyes adjusted to the darkened room. For just a few seconds, he thought that he was at one of his homes. The room was identical to the one that he had taken Mimi to fifty years before. He looked around the room, saw the wigs, shaving materials and a few items that he couldn't identify and tried to back out of the room only to be stopped by the guard as he gently but firmly pushed him through the door. "What is all of this?" Jeremiah asked looking at the wigs and shaving supplies, "I did nothing to you..." "You call raping me nothing? You call making me scream while you forced orgasm after orgasm from me nothing?" "Yes! I mean no!" Jeremiah shouted, "I only meant that other than those things I did you no harm!" Mimi laughed; it had an almost hysterical, insane sound to it. "You are about to find out what you didn't do to me." she replied no longer laughing. "Where's Albert? Surely he's looking for you." Jeremiah said hoping that there was a word to trigger her compliance. Sometimes it was something simple such as the owner's name. "Give up." She said smiling at him, "Albert might be looking for me but he no longer owns or controls me. By the way, the word for my compliance is hair. Try it and see what happens." she urged. "Hair." Jeremiah whispered and then repeated it again louder until he was screaming it. "See? I told you that it doesn't work." Mimi said as if she was talking to a three year old and then began to seduce Jeremiah as he had seduced her that night. She rubbed his cock through his slacks laughing when she cupped his balls in her hand and he winced. "Oohhhh did someone hurt these?" she purred as she moved her hand and went back to his cock and began to stroke it. It had been weeks since he had released and the stimulation felt good. Jeremiah allowed himself to enjoy the sensations forgetting for a moment who he was with and why he was with her. He thrust his hips toward Mimi encouraging her to go faster. "Take it out, take my cock out." he urged surprised when she did. "Let's see if I remember how you liked to be stroked." she said as she increased the speed and pressure of her hand on his cock. "That feel good?" she cooed. "God yes!" Jeremiah hissed through clenched teeth. "Don't stop!" Seconds later, Jeremiah was screaming his release; it felt so good that he was actually sobbing. "Glad that you enjoyed it." Mimi said as she wiped her hands on his shirt. "Strip." Justine Ch. 15 Jeremiah quickly stripped in anticipation of a fuck. His hopes were dashed when Mimi turned the bed back and he saw the cuffs and chains that would restrain him in the bed. "Remember these? They're the kind that you suggested to Albert. Get on the bed." Jeremiah hesitated, he knew what was going to happen next, she would rape him for hours, give him a brief break and then start again but he still didn't understand the thing with the hair. When he was stripped and on the bed, the guard helped Mimi restrain him. "Look at me." Mimi said after surveying their work. Jeremiah watched with mounting horror as Mimi first took off what he thought was her real hair, took off her dress and revealed... his eyes snapped up to her face. "Jesus what did he do to you?" He asked. "Tell me something, did you ever check out the vampires that you were selling us to?" Mimi asked, "Or did you just look at the dollar signs? However, you asked me a question. What did he do to me? First he shaved every strand of hair from my body." Jeremiah watched her walk across the room and come back with the shaving supplies, starting at his feet, Mimi shaved him, "accidentally" nicking him several times and drinking from him when he bled. "That is how Albert shaved me." she explained as she continued at her task. "Did you know that he was a sexual sadist and that he hated women? And when he shaved me here guess what he took away from me?" Jeremiah's eyes widened as the implication of what she was telling him set in. "He... he...." "Yes, he took it and do you know why? Because he believes that a woman isn't supposed to feel pleasure but don't worry, your cock is safe for the moment. But these aren't." she said pinching a nipple. "Yes he took those too but thanks to the queen, I'll get what he took from me back but you won't" Jeremiah screamed as Mimi sliced through a nipple so that it looked like he had an 'X' across each one. Afterwards, she coaxed him into orgasm and then continued her vengeance. The last thing that she did before continuing her punishment was to shave Jeremiah's head. At the end of three hours, Jeremiah was exhausted, bleeding, bald and wishing for the safety of his cell. By the end of the second day, Mimi had raped him repeatedly each time putting a different wig on his head and painting his finger and toenails. In between the sessions, she told him every gory detail of her life with Albert. "And when he comes for me, his fat ass is dead and unlike you, he's going to lose his cock." By the third day, Jeremiah was a bloodied, emotionally distraught and a blubbering mess. Even the guards who came for him at the end of the third day handled him gently as they carried him back to his cell. If they even looked as if they were going to reach for his cock, he screamed. Mimi watched him leave and realized that what she had done to him really hadn't helped in the way that she thought it would. The only thing that it really did was that now someone else knew how she had felt even if it was only for three days. A tap on the door distracted her from her thoughts. "Are you ready?" A soft female voice asked. Mimi looked around the room taking in the wigs, the dirty dishes and the messy bed. She didn't know where Albert was nor did care anymore. She was going to a place where she never had to see another male as long as she lived and Jeremiah had given her the one thing that she didn't think she needed or wanted. An apology that wasn't a lie. It was the last coherent thing that he said to her before they took him away. "Mimi... please no more! I'm sorry!" She ignored him relishing in his screams as he had hers all those years ago. "Mimi?" the voice called again. She blinked back tears, picked up her bag and left the room hoping that she wouldn't see Albert again because if she did, she really would kill him. ******** Zoe rubbed Mikhail's tense shoulders and kissed the top of his head. He wasn't fooling her, as frustrated as he was, he loved every minute of the hunt. To him, it was like a big puzzle that needed to be solved but to her it reminded her of the book 'Where's Waldo?' but in this case it was 'Where's Josephine?' She was going to suggest a soak in the Jacuzzi when the phone rang. She gave him another kiss and left. She didn't want to distract him and she had to take Mimi to the cabin that was on a deserted part of a beach owned by the queens. Up until now, no one other than the queens had been allowed to use it but Justine, touched by Mimi's story gave the cabin to her to use for as long as she wished. When the previous queens complained, Justine told them in no uncertain terms to "shut the fuck up" which most of them promptly did. Justine assured Mimi that she already knew where Albert was and that he would be of no further concern to her. "Do you want to see him?" Justine asked. "No my queen but I thank you for everything that you've done for me." Mimi replied surprised at how ordinary Justine looked dressed in her red sweat suit and 'Reeboks'. Mimi carried her bag to Zoe's car and for the first time in fifty years felt free. She dropped her bag, turned to Zoe and hugged her. "Thank you!" she said crying, "Thank you!" Zoe returned the hug, looked up and saw Mikhail looking down at them with a smile on his face. He had been the one to find Albert who had been stupid enough not to go into hiding. He would be kept in a cell next to Jeremiah's until Justine saw him and passed judgment on him. After she was gone, Mikhail sat back at his desk and looked at the long list of sightings that was growing with each passing minute but still no verified sighting. He turned on his computer to skim through the news when something caught his eye. A kidnapping of opportunity. He skimmed through the story, discarded it and came back to it, something about the story niggled at him but he couldn't say what. Experience taught him never to ignore that niggling feeling; he always regretted it when he did. ******* Freddie sat in his cell speaking to no one and hardly believing that he was still alive. The mate of the last victim had wanted to tear him apart but hadn't only because of her. He replayed in his mind how quickly they had lost control of the situation and she had taken control and her eyes... he would swear until the day that he was turned into dust that they hadn't been black and purple at the beginning. He was almost asleep when he heard the guards talking about a woman who had been missing for several years that she had been taken from her home in Philadelphia. "Philadelphia?" he murmured and then frowned. Their captive had been from Philadelphia; at least that was what she had told Eppi. It couldn't be a coincidence, for one Freddie didn't believe in them and two, it just had to be her. He didn't know or care why the queen was looking for her; all that mattered to him was that she could be his ticket out of prison. He sat up and began calling out to one of the guards that he heard talking. "I know that lady that you were talking about!" he exclaimed hoping that it really was the same woman. "How do you know her?" the guard asked. Freddie told the guard about the kidnapping, the guard remained unimpressed until Freddie described Josephine. The only thing that he didn't say was that her eyes were now black and purple. "Sit down and wait." The guard said as he rushed away. Freddie smiled; he could almost feel the fresh air on his face when he would leave the prison as a free man. Freddie was about to doubt that the guard would come back when he heard his name called. "Josh Archer! Front and center!" Josh/Freddie jumped up and walked to the front of his cell. "Turn around, hands behind your back." "Why? I'm free right?" Josh asked. "You didn't really think that we were going to let you loose because you claim to know this woman did you?" the guard asked. "But..." "You're going to see Mikhail, he'll be here in about a hour." the guard replied. "Why are you moving me then?" "Mikhail's orders and I should warn you, you had better not be lying, Mikhail doesn't suffer liars and he's coming a long way to see you." "Mikhail the hunter?" Josh/ Freddie asked weakly. "Yes so you'd better be sure of your facts." The guard led Josh to a room that only contained a table and a chair, walked out and locked the door behind him. Josh was almost sure that it was the same woman but now wasn't so sure, but she must have been someone important if Mikhail was coming. ******** "Yes?" Mikhail said when he answered the phone. "Where is he? England? Is he reliable? He described her? No, I'm on my way and move him to a secluded room; I don't want anything happening to him." Mikhail picked up the phone, dialed Justine's private number and waited for her to answer. When she answered, he told her the updates and that he was going to England to interview the vampire who said that he knew Josephine. When he heard the excitement in her voice, he cautioned her. "Please don't get too excited until I've spoken with this man and can verify his information. Remember that he is in one of your prisons and could be lying." "But he described her didn't he?" Justine asked. "Yes but even so I urge caution, for all we know he somehow managed to see a picture." Mikhail replied. "I know," Justine said conceding his point, "but you call me no matter what you find out." "I was planning on it." "Does Zoe know that you have to leave?" Justine asked. "Not yet, she should be back any time now." Mikhail replied. "Why don't you take her with you?" Justine asked, "She's been working hard and deserves a break." "I don't know what to say... what about her work at the office?" "Mikhail, before all of this queen stuff, I was a lawyer and a pretty good one at that. I think that I remember how to work as one. Now don't argue, pack a bag for her and get to England." Mikhail wasted no time in packing a bag for Zoe; it was ready by the time she got back from taking Mimi to the cabin. "Don't take your shoes off, we're leaving." Mikhail said as he kissed her in greeting. "We are? Where are we going?" Zoe asked not used to seeing Mikhail excited. "England, there is a man there who claims that he saw Josephine. I'm going to talk to him and Justine suggested that I take you with me." "I can't go to England! I have so much paperwork to do to help these women and...." "Justine says that she'll do it, now let's go." Mikhail said grabbing her hand. ******************* Maurice fumed, three days had passed and he still hadn't heard from David. Gremlin and his family had also been unsuccessful in finding him meaning that he had to be in a warded location. "Damn it!" Maurice cursed. He was running out of time and needed to make a decision. If he didn't call Mikhail and tell him what he knew, it could be construed as treason. Already he was on thin ice. He heard Jon and Regina laughing and made his decision, they came before any friendship. He picked up the phone and called dialed the number from the website. "Stark." the voice on the other end of the phone snapped. "Stark? Dyson Stark?" Maurice asked surprised. "Who is this?" Stark replied suspiciously. Maurice closed his eyes, he really didn't want talk to Stark, he was one of the few true enemies that he had. He hadn't seen or spoken to him since the fiasco during which Stark lost his legs. Maurice shook his head to clear it of the memory of that night. "Who is this?" Stark demanded again. "Dyson, its Maurice Delgado." The silence was palpable as Maurice waited for Stark to respond. "Maurice, we need to talk but now isn't the time. I assume that you're aware of what's happening or you wouldn't be calling." Maurice listened to Starks voice and realized that the anger that had been there the last time that they had spoken was gone. "I need to speak with Mikhail." Maurice said, "Could you contact him for me?" "Do you know something?' Stark asked. "Maybe but I will only discuss it with Mikhail." Stark hesitated and then asked Maurice for a number where he could be reached. "Tell him that it's imperative that I speak to him as soon as possible." Maurice said after giving him the number. "I'll call him right after we hang up." Stark said and then paused, "Maurice, it wasn't your fault. Keep your phone close." Stark said before Maurice could say anything and hung up. Maurice hung up the phone and began calling all of David's numbers again praying that he would answer. After calling the last number, he called Gremlin for a status report. "They seemed to have disappeared." He growled. Gremlin hated failure but he had come to the same conclusion that Maurice had, David and Josephine were in a warded location, there could be no other explanation. "Maurice, they will not be found until they return from wherever it is that they went to. I am sending everyone home and I am going home to Annie and the children. Call me if you need us again." Maurice didn't try to stop him, he was right; all they could do now was wait. ************ "Are you certain that you want to do this?" David asked Josephine hoping that she would say no. "I have to, I have to know what happened to me that night." she replied. David nodded hating to disturb the happy time that they had over the last three days. He took Josephine into his arms and told her how he found her. "You were... sweetheart, you were practically naked... you had... you had..." "I was raped?" Josephine whispered. "And you took care of me anyway?" "Even though I didn't know it at the time, you were mine. At the time, I saw you as a woman who needed help and yes I could have taken you somewhere that could have helped you but I didn't want to. I took you back to my room and the rest you know." Tears burned Josephine's eyes at the violation that she couldn't remember and for the fact that a vampire who didn't know her took a chance and helped her even though he didn't know who or what had raped her. "Was I... was ..." she couldn't bring herself to ask the question. "No love, you weren't with child and even if you had been, I wouldn't have turned either of you away." She let out a sigh of relief. Her next question was who had done this thing to her? "I don't know love, there was no one there when I found you and I didn't take the time to look around but if you wish, we'll look for him." Josephine gave it some thought before she answered. "No, I want to find Justine first and then I want to find the bastard who did this to me. I can't be the only one that he's done this too." "Alright love, now what?" he asked hoping that they were finished. "I want to remember all of it; I want to see what happened the night I left my family." "Jo....." "I need to remember... please help me with this." Reluctantly, he agreed because on some level, he understood and agreed with her, she needed to know so that she could explain to her daughter when they found her where she had been all of this time and why she hadn't looked for her before now. David kissed Josephine once and then again but the second time, he held her where she was and murmured against her lips, "remember that you are safe here with me" and let the memories start. Josephine felt as if she were watching a movie as she saw herself getting ready for work and getting Justine ready to go to her sister's house. When Justine began to cry, Josephine felt guilt and anger that she hadn't paid closer attention to her. She began to cry as Justine's cries became louder and more panicked. She could almost feel Justine's arms around her neck clinging to her, begging her by crying not to go. She sobbed when she saw herself choose her coworkers over what her baby wanted and needed but at the time, she was convinced that she was doing the right thing. "I should have stayed home, I should have listened to her." she murmured as she watched herself drive away. She watched herself at work and saw that she was having a hard time concentrating; her mind was on the screaming child and trying to figure out a way that she could leave early. The nurse coming in to relieve her was always at least thirty minutes early, maybe she could get out thirty minutes early. The chance of that happening was gone the moment she heard the crash and then the moans as someone hit the floor. As Josephine watched herself take care of the resident and then get ready to go, a sense of foreboding filled her. She heard herself telling herself not to go out, to stay inside. She wanted to grab herself as she walked out of the door and actually began screaming for herself to stop. She saw the man before the Josephine back did and began screaming in earnest for her to go back inside, and then it was for her not to look at the man. "Oh god, don't look at him! DON'T LOOK!" But she did, she looked at him and got into the car letting the man get in with her. Like then, Josephine knew that there was something different about the man... it took her seconds to realize that the man wasn't human. He was a vampire. Josephine could hear David's voice in the background calling back but he sounded far away. She no longer felt his arms around her as he held on to her in an attempt to anchor her. He was losing her but he couldn't get her to come back because she was determined to see it through. Josephine watched as Jeremiah made her drive out of the city in the opposite direction of where she lived. She saw the confusion on her face. What was happening? How could he make her do something that she didn't want to do? She saw herself tense with concentration, fighting whatever it was that was talking her away from her family and then there was resignation. "No, don't give in... keep fighting please fight him!" The Josephine of the past was no longer struggling; he had her under his control as he led her into the house and to a bedroom. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a woman and began to beg her with her eyes as she began to struggle again. To her, the woman symbolized hope. Surely, she would help her wouldn't she? Josephine moaned in surprise and defeat as the woman made no move to help her but instead, turned away. The Josephine of the present grabbed onto David's hands as she watched what was to become her rape and almost murder. She cheered when the Josephine of the past seemed to wake up and begin fighting again and sobbed as she watched Jeremiah lose control and rape her. By time she was to the point where she had been taken to the dumpsite and left for dead, she couldn't handle anymore; she had had enough. Slowly she made her way back to David, following his soothing voice until she was back with him. "Y... You saw me like that?" she whispered. David didn't answer but hugged her closer and let her cry. The sobs were initially sobs of rage that became sobs of deep sorrow. "I should have listened to her." Josephine said, "She was trying to warn me and I didn't listen!" There was nothing he could do but to hold her but he now knew something that he didn't know before, he now knew who had hurt her. It was now his personal mission to find him and to tear him apart. No one, Josephine included could stop him. He didn't know the name of the vampire, but he would find out and at the moment, the vampire wasn't important, Josephine was. Still not speaking, he carried her into the bedroom, laid her on the bed, got in beside her and held her as she dealt with what happened to her. ******** Jeremiah stirred to the sound of blubbering coming from the left of him. At first, he though that it was him and then he remembered that he was back in his cell. The woman named Mimi was gone after taking her vengeance over a period of three days. Justine Ch. 15 He tried to remember how long he had been back and then the stench of blood mixed with his body odor hit him. He cried out in pain when he sat up and plopped back down when the cell began to spin. As was his habit, he raised his hand to untangle his hair and stopped when he touched skin. "What the fuck?" he muttered, and the he remembered Mimi shaving his body and then finally his head as she raped him. For the first time since he had started his long and lucrative, he was beginning to understand something but it was far too late. If Justine were to ask him again about regrets, he could now honestly say that he was beginning to have them. Finally, someone, a guard came into his cell, helped him up and led him to the shower. As he left the cell, he looked over to see who was blubbering in the cell next to his. "Albert? What are you doing here?" Albert stopped blubbering and looked up surprised that someone knew his name. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Jeremiah realized how different he must have looked and introduced himself. "Albert, it's me Jeremiah Mathers." Albert peered at him from the corner of his cell and finally got up to get a closer look. "Dear lord! What happened to you?" "Mimi happened to me." Jeremiah replied. "Why in the fuck did you disfigure her like that?" "Mimi?" Albert asked no longer crying but angry, "where is the little bitch?" "Somewhere safe but I would worry about you." Jeremiah advised him. "The queen took a special interest in her; she gave her three days with me. Albert, you drove her insane... I'm lucky that I still have my cock. Did you really make it so that she couldn't feel pleasure?" "None of your business!" Albert snapped, "She was mine to do with as I pleased and what do you mean somewhere safe?" It was obvious to Jeremiah that Albert had no idea of where he was or who he was about to deal with and took it upon himself to try to warn him. "Albert..." "When are they going to let me make a phone call?" Albert asked. Jeremiah had forgotten that Albert was almost a recluse. He came out only for very special occasions and more than likely didn't know or didn't care that there was a new queen. More than likely it was the latter. Like him, Alfred though that he was invincible and he was going to find out that he wasn't. "Albert, there won't be any phone calls; you won't be leaving here and neither will I." "What are you talking about?" Albert asked indignantly. Before Jeremiah could reply, the guard interrupted him. "Enough talk, let's go." Jeremiah nodded at the guard and began to head toward the shower that would hurt like hell but would also feel good. He also hoped that the foul smelling shampoo would be gone not that he needed shampoo anymore. He ran his hand over his baldhead missing the feel of the thick hair that had once graced his head. He hadn't seen himself yet and wasn't sure that he wanted to. As he expected, the shower was painful but felt good at the same time and thankfully, the foul smelling shampoo wasn't there, his usual shampoo sat in its place. When he asked Mimi about it, she told him that it was what Albert made her use on a daily basis. As he gingerly washed his still very painful cock, he wondered if there were any more like Mimi out there and if there were... he pushed the thought out of his mind, he didn't want to think about it. His session with Mimi was far too fresh in his mind and on his body to want to entertain the idea of another one like her. He finished the shower and put on the sweat suit that he would never complain about again and went back to his cell feeling a little better. "What did you mean by we're not ever leaving? Of course we are! At least I am. I just need to call my attorney." Jeremiah couldn't help it; he burst into laughter that must have sounded hysterical to Albert. "We... you really don't know where you are do you?" He asked between fits of laughter. "We're at the home of the new queen and neither of us is leaving it alive." "You're not making sense! Violet is the queen and she hasn't cared about anything for centuries." Albert replied. "If that's true, then why am I here? Why would she allow Mimi to have three days with me?" Jeremiah asked. "Have you tried to leave from your cell yet?" Albert's silence told him that he had. "And who found you?" he asked. "Mikhail but that doesn't mean anything." Albert protested. Jeremiah gave up and told Albert the blatant truth about why he was there and why Mimi had been allowed to have her way with him. "An eternity of this?" Albert asked looking around the cell. "Will she do the same to me?" he asked now beginning to panic. "I don't think that I could survive!" "You couldn't survive what you put others through?" a voice asked from behind Albert. "Turn around and look at me." Albert turned around and looked into the angry eyes of Josephine. "I must apologize but do I know you that you would speak to me like this?" he asked, his voice taking on the condescending tone that he took with all women and those he deemed beneath him. Justine's eyes flashed, suddenly, she was in the cell with Albert staring into his face. Albert took a step back and looked over at Jeremiah who returned the look with one of pity mixed with envy. Albert was going to die. "I gave Mimi the chance to spend some time with you but she didn't want to see you." Justine said as she stepped closer to Albert. "You fucked her up to the point of insanity, you are here in one of my prisons and yet you still act as though your shit don't stink. You took so much from her some of which I was able to give back, she will feel again if she chooses to and her body looks as it did before you got your hands on her." "Then no harm done!" Albert exclaimed, "If you let me make my phone call, we can get this unpleasantness over with." "Up until now," Justine said, "I haven't interfered in the administrations of justice that the women choose other than to make sure that a death doesn't occur because of it. Since Mimi has opted to pass on seeing you, I'm going to pass judgment on you myself." "Just who are you to be speaking to me in this manner?" Albert demanded now angry. "No bitch speaks to me like this!" He raised a hand to slap her and gasped when he couldn't move. He finally did what he should have done from the first time that he saw her; he took a good look at her and felt a sharp pain behind his eyes and in his head. Just as suddenly, it was over. "My name is Justine Graves O'Dell. I am your queen your king is Quinn O'Dell and on the behalf of Mimi Scott I have just passed sentence and it will begin immediately." Justine turned toward a guard, "Is his room ready?" "Yes my queen." "Take him there and I want him guarded at all times." she replied and began to walk away. "What did you do to me?" Albert whispered as what Justine told him sunk in. "I gave you Mimi's memories; you will suffer the nightmares and terror for her. As of this moment, you no longer exist to her and she has the chance for a happy and normal life if she wants it. If we happen upon any more of your victims, their memories will be added to hers and if you think for one damned minute that you're going to go insane, you won't, I won't allow it. You can ask Jeremiah. And if you think that you'll be able to will yourself to die, forget it, you will live until I decide otherwise." Albert still didn't believe her until the first memory hit him, he gasped in surprise and began to moan as the memory filled his brain. "Take him." Justine commanded. ********* Many miles away, Mimi lay in bed with tears running down her face and soaking the pillow. While a part of her was whole, what she considered the most important part of her wasn't... her mind. She now believed Justine when she said that she was safe but she wouldn't feel that way as long as Albert could look for her. "I understand." Justine told her, "So I would like to do something to help." Justine explained her sentence for Albert to her and waited for her response. "You can do that?" Mimi asked. "If you want me to but I have to have your permission. In effect, I'm tampering with your memories...' "Do it." "Don't you want to know the rest of it?" Justine asked. "The only thing that I want to know is this, how soon can you do it?" "As soon as possible, can you manage for a day or so?" "I can and I will." Mimi replied. "How will I know?" she asked. "You'll just know, and if Albert's name is mentioned, you won't know who he is. In essence, you'll have a clean slate." Unsure of what to say, Mimi hugged Justine and then abruptly pulled back. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" "No worries." Justine said with a smile, "Even queens like hugs... Mimi, I'm not going to take away all of your suspicion about men. I don't want you to be caught by another Jeremiah Mathers. All I will do is leave just a little memory of what he was like, is that alright with you?" "That's perfect! And if you ever need anything from me, and I mean anything please let me know." That conversation had taken place early that morning and Mimi spent the day anxiously waiting to feel the change. Finally, unable to stay awake anymore, she went to bed and the dreams started as soon as she closed her eyes. Sometime during the night, the dreams stopped and Mimi had the first dreamless sleep she had since she met Jeremiah Mathers over fifty years ago. When she woke up, she felt refreshed. She looked out of the window and heard the sounds of the ocean; her nightmare was really over. ********** Justine found Quinn working on the indoor garden. She stood back, watched him consult a drawing and then look at his work, and realized that he was a perfectionist, even more of one than she was. "I know you're there." he said not looking up from the drawing but she could hear the amusement in his voice. Justine walked up and stood beside him, "This looks great!" she said as she looked around the huge room. "I'm glad that you like it." Quinn replied as she put an arm around her, "any preference as to what kind of flowers or plants?" "I don't care as long as I don't have to take care of them, I killed a cactus once." Justine replied. "Sweetheart, how in the hell do you kill a cactus?" Quinn asked laughing. "I don't know but I managed." Justine replied. "Quinn, before we met, I was experimenting with the idea of finding out if I could be out during the day." "And?" "I was able to tolerate some sunlight... an hour or two but I'm wondering if I could tolerate more." "To be honest with you, I was kind of wondering the same thing. I mean, you have all of this power so why not that one? And besides, I want to know if I can go out too." Justine looked at Quinn and remembered that he said that there was something that they needed to talk about and now was a good a time as any. "A few days ago you said that we needed to talk, so what's up?" "Let's sit down." Quinn said leading her to one of the park benches that would be placed around the garden. An hour later, she knew everything that he did. "Forever?" she asked. "That's what Eddie said." Quinn said watching her carefully. "Wow... I mean Quinn are you alright with this?" "I am if you are." Quinn replied. "Eddie also said that deep down you already knew, is that true?" "Are you asking if I was keeping something from you?" Justine asked. "Not at all and I would know if you were, I was just asking are you surprised by this?" "No." Justine said after several minutes, "And I'm good with it as long as you're with me and you're ok with it." They sat in silence holding hands each of them adjusting to the knowledge that they would rule forever. ********* Mikhail and Zoe arrived in England, checked into their hotel room and quickly made love. "Zoe, I promise you that when this is over...." Zoe shushed him with a kiss, "Get going." she said and gently pushed him away from her. "I love you Zoe." "I love you too now get moving." An hour later, Mikhail was sitting across from an obviously nervous and frightened Josh Archer, he was about to begin questioning him when his cell phone rang. He almost ignored it but didn't. It would do the prisoner good to sweat for a few more minutes. "Stark? What's happening? Yes, I'm in London, why? Who called? Justine Ch. 16 Maurice checked his cell phone several times to make sure that it was fully charged and that the volume was up. The seconds turned to minutes, the minutes tuned into what seem like hours as he waited for Mikhail to call him back. Other than to tell him that Josephine Graves was alive and who her mate was, he didn't have much to tell. He had already decided to come clean about waiting for three days to contact anyone. It would be better if it came out at the beginning and then as far as he was concerned, his part was over and he could sit back and watch as the drama played out. He heard Jon laughing in the other room as he and Regina watched his favorite 'Muppet' movie. He wanted to be out there with them but he didn't know when Mikhail was going to call him. Instead, he turned on his laptop and read the newest bulletins on the search for Josephine Graves. From what he read, no one was having any luck in finding her which didn't surprise him. With nothing better to do, using his private line, he began calling all of David's numbers. When he called the last one and got no answer, he started over again leaving messages at each number every time he called. ****** Mikhail could hardly believe it; Maurice Delgado wanted to talk to him. He had never crossed paths with the vampire but knew of those who had and the outcome hadn't been pretty. He wondered what information Delgado had for him but decided to talk to the prisoner first. He would have something to compare when he spoke with Maurice. He also wondered how Maurice Delgado had become involved in the search for Justine Graves and how he had come by his information. He added those questions to the others that he planned to ask. He went back to the room where Josh/Freddie sat staring at a plastic cup filled with blood. "Drink it before it clots." Mikhail said as he sat at the table across from Josh. "I'm not hungry." "You have nothing to fear from me as long as you don't lie." Mikhail said, "Now drink up." Josh took the cup into his trembling hands and gulped it down without stopping. "Would you like more?" Mikhail asked. "No, thanks." Josh replied not sure of what to make of Mikhail. He didn't seem so badass and he wondered how much of what he had heard about him true and how much of it was myth. Mikhail leaned back in his chair and then leaned forward, "What would you like to be called? Freddie or Josh?" "Josh." "Alright then, I am Mikhail and I will reiterate what I said earlier, you have nothing to fear from me as you don't lie to me. Do you understand?" "Yes," Josh replied, "can I ask a question?" Mikhail nodded and waited. "If this lady is who I think it is and you find her, will I get out of here?" "I won't lie to you and say yes because only the queen can make that promise but I will promise you this," Mikhail said, "I have come a very long way to speak with you and you will tell me what you know regardless of what the queen says." "Then I'm not saying anything until I have her word that I'll be let go when the woman is found." Mikhail's blue eyes flashed as he spoke, "You are in no position to barter if it is true that you kidnapped the queen's mother." "No, but you can't kill me either." Josh replied smugly, his nerve coming back. "What if I'm the only one who saw her?" he asked, "That must be it, you wouldn't be here if you had other leads so here are my terms, I tell you what I know and when you find the woman you let me go and I want the reward money." Mikhail leaned back and assessed Josh. He wasn't about to give in to Josh's demands and gave him more chance to tell him what he knew. "You have my terms." Josh replied as he crossed his arms. "Consider this," Mikhail said, "I may not kill you but I can do things to you that will make you tell me every wrong deed that you have ever done. I have a phone call to make, think about what I told you." Mikhail stood up, walked out of the room and called Maurice Delgado. ******* Maurice was about to give up when his phone rang. "Delgado." he said not letting the phone complete its ring. "This is Mikhail; I was told that you wanted to talk to me." "Yes... I have some information that you may find helpful in the search for Josephine Graves." Maurice replied. "I see," Mikhail said his tone cool, "how is it that you came by this information?" Maurice bristled at Mikhail's tone and responded. "I am well aware of who you are and have a healthy respect for you and what you do. I also am well aware of the task that you have before you and called to offer what information that I have. I understand that you have questions and I am happy to answer them but I will not be spoken to as if I were one of your unsavory characters, is that clear?" For a second, Maurice didn't think that Mikhail was going to respond. "I apologize." Mikhail said. He knew that Maurice wasn't without his resources and that he might need both him and his resources. "Apology accepted." Maurice replied in a conciliatory tone. "I can only imagine how frustrated you must be. Perhaps my information will help alleviate some of your frustration." "I'm listening." Mikhail replied mindful of his tone. He listened as Maurice told him about the search for the kidnapped mate of a friend. "It wasn't a planned kidnapping but one of opportunity." "And she is alive?" Mikhail asked. "Yes she is alive and with her mate." Maurice replied. "Well, where are they?" Mikhail asked. "That's the problem." Maurice said, "I've been calling every number that he has for the past three days and he doesn't answer and before you say anything, yes I waited until now to call you because I wanted to warn him that Josephine was being searched for and to tell him who she was so that he would react accordingly." "I assume that you've searched for them?" "Yes and we couldn't find them. I believe that he took her somewhere and then warded it. We won't find them until they come back." "If he should contact you or you manage to reach him, will you call me?" Mikhail asked. "Absolutely." Maurice replied, "I want the queen's mother as safe as well as you do and I will notify you immediately when I reach David or he calls me." "What is David's last name?" Mikhail asked. "Sheffield, he's one of the biggest industrialists in Europe." Maurice replied. "Is she safe with him?" "Yes... he loves her and he would never do anything to hurt her." Mikhail gave Maurice his cell phone number and hung up. He would call Justine after he took care of Josh Archer. ******** Josh was getting nervous. Mikhail had been gone for quite awhile and he was beginning to wonder about the wisdom of trying to bargain with the hunter. He stood up, paced, sat down only to stand again his anxiety growing with each passing moment. He had just sat down again when Mikhail walked into the small room. "Thank you but I no longer need your information." Mikhail said. "You should have told me what you knew, the information that I just received would have corroborated yours. Take him back to his cell." Mikhail said and walked out. He could hear Josh screaming fro him to come back but he ignored it, he had a very important phone call to make. ******* Justine sat at her desk finishing the paperwork that Zoe had started. The women were coming out of the woodwork as well as some men who had been sold by Jeremiah. As it turned out, Jeremiah was getting off rather lightly. So far Mimi had meted out the worst punishment. There were a few who wanted to see him and not all of them wanted to hurt him but wanted nothing more than an apology and to know that they would be cared for. The houses that she sat aside for victims of abuse were filling up almost faster than she could buy them, which led her to her next decision, apartment buildings. She had Pam look around the city for apartment buildings for sale, get estimates on how much it would take to make them livable and how long it would take. The first building held two hundred fully furnished apartments and would be ready by the weekend. It wasn't luxury living by any means but it was safe and well guarded. She took a moment to look out of the window to give her eyes a break from reading. She hadn't heard from Mikhail yet and didn't call. He would call her when he knew something but until then, she kept busy and tried not to jump every time the phone rang. A short time later, she signed the last form for the day and went in search of Violet who was laying the groundwork for the gala. She found her in the kitchen eating a huge bowl of ice cream. "This is called rocky road, have you tried it?" Violet asked taking another spoonful. "Yes." Justine replied laughing. "It's a good thing that you can't gain weight." "Indeed but this would be worth every pound." Violet replied. "I have some things that I want to talk to you about regarding the gala." she said after taking another spoonful of the ice cream. "Good, I was going to ask where things were." Justine replied as she grabbed a spoon from a drawer and sat down next to her. "Well, the biggest challenge is going to be where to have it." Violet said, "There are going to be thousands of vampires and other beings in attendance." "What did you and the others do?" "We rented a mansion that had several ballrooms in it as well as several bedrooms where of course you and Quinn will have the master suite and the other rooms will be taken by guests that you invite to stay at the mansion with you. Everyone else will stay at hotels and a shuttle service will be provided for those who don't want to bother with driving." "And you did all of this work for one night?" Justine asked. Violet shrugged as if the amount of work didn't matter. "Ok, find the mansion and reserve it for the year. When that's done, notify the hotels surrounding the mansion and give them a heads up. I know that I said that I wanted this to last for two days but hell, make it a week..." "A week? Justine...." "A week... make sure that the mansion has a huge yard so that we can set tables out... and we'll have a cook out one of those nights! Make ice cream and have all of the toppings... and we need a head count, live music... Are you taking this down?" Justine asked. "I don't need to." Violet replied, "You are truly amazing." "Nah... I just like to have fun speaking of which, where are the guys?" Justine asked. "Working in the indoor garden, Quinn is teaching Edward how to use his cameras." Violet replied as she took the last spoonful of her ice cream. "Let's go see what they're doing." Justine suggested as she took the dirty dishes to the sink. On their way out, her phone rang. Her heart stopped when she saw the caller ID. "It's Mikhail." she whispered and was suddenly afraid to answer the phone. She jumped when she felt Quinn's arms go around her. "What's wrong?" he asked giving her a squeeze, "Why aren't you answering your phone?" "It's Mikhail" she replied. Several scenarios ran through her mind including that her mother was dead after all and that she would have to plan a service for her. "Sweetheart, answer it." Quinn said tightening his arms around her. Justine opened the phone, put it up to her ear and prepared herself for the worst. "Mikhail?" she asked in a shaky voice. "You're sure? Has this Delgado seen her? All right, I want to talk with him and bring the kidnapper back with you; I want to talk to him as well. No, come home but first make sure that all of David Sheffield's known homes are watched and if they resurface, I don't want them approached. I want to be notified before anything is done." Justine hung up the phone, turned in Quinn's arms and cried tears of relief. Her mother was alive; they only needed to find her. ******* Josephine was cried out. She had mourned the lost years with Justine that she would never get back, mourned the loss of the years that she and David could have been happy together if only he had told her the truth. She mourned the loss of her mother and sister through death and mourned the way in which David had found her. By the fourth day she was ready to go and find Justine whether she as dead or alive. She looked over at David and saw a look that she knew well, he had made up his mind about something. He wanted to kill the vampire that had hurt her. She knew by the set of his jaw that his mind was made up. "Tell me again what he looked like." he said as he sketched on a sketchpad. "Dark hair, tall, dark eyes, very well dressed." she repeated again. Several minutes later, David showed her a sketch, "is this him?" Josephine looked at the sketch and swallowed hard, it was him. David had drawn an almost perfect replica of the man who had stolen her from her family. Before she realized what she was doing, she had gone into full defense mode; her black purple-rimmed eyes glittered as the memory of that night came back. "Josephine, love? It's alright, he can't hurt you." David said softly as he removed the sketch from her hands. "You're safe with me." He folded the sketch and put it in a pocket before sitting next to her and taking her into his arms. Several minutes, she calmed and pulled away. "I'm alright now." she said, "It still feels as though it just happened." "I'm going to kill him." David said softly. "David...." "I am going to kill him." he repeated slowly. "I will find him no matter where he is and I am going to kill him. There is nothing that you can say to me that is going to stop me." Josephine didn't argue, there was no point in trying to change his mind, he was far too angry. Instead, she distracted him by suggesting a walk along the beach. They would be leaving soon and she wanted their last day here to be pleasant. In fact, she hoped that they could come back to live on the island for a while. "Do you like it here that much?" David asked reading her mind. "I do, could we come back here?" she asked. David put his arm around her, "We can go wherever you wish." Josephine nodded, "here, I want to come back here." "Then we will." David promised. "Jo... can I call you that?" "My mom used to call me that... But yes you can call me that." "Jo," he started again, "Before we leave we have to talk about your family. We know that your mother and sister are deceased but we can find them and have a service for them if you like. My friend who I will take you to meet soon has already started looking for them and for your daughter but love..." "I know." Josephine said softly, "she might be dead but I would know wouldn't I? I would have felt it." she said her voice filled with hope. "I promised you that I would never lie to you again." David replied, "And I mean to keep that promise. I would give anything to be able to tell you that you would know if Justine was dead but I can't. I would like to hope so but I can't promise you that. What I can promise you is that I'll do everything in my power to find her no matter where she is." Josephine bit back a sob, stiffened her shoulders and looked at David. "She isn't dead." "Jo..." "David, she isn't dead." Josephine insisted, "I don't know where she is or what she's doing but I'm telling you that she isn't dead." Not wanting to upset her, David didn't try to make her see reason, he could only hope that she was right and if she wasn't.... he didn't want to think about it. If Justine was dead, it would be his fault and he didn't think that Josephine no matter how tenderhearted she was would ever forgive him for that. "Is tomorrow soon enough to leave or do you want to leave now?" he asked. To his surprise, she wanted to stay another night saying that she wanted to enjoy the peace and solitude before they went back. That day as she rested after they made love, David lay awake and planned his revenge on the vampire that had hurt Josephine and what he would say to Josephine's daughter when they found her. They would find her but the question was would it be dead or alive. In the years since he had been turned, he hadn't prayed much but he found himself praying that Justine was alive and well somewhere. He prayed that she wouldn't hold those missing years against her mother and refused to see or to talk to her. He didn't care about how she would feel about him or if she never accepted him as her mother's mate. The only thing that mattered was her reaction to Josephine. He slowly relaxed only to jerk awake again. There was an issue that they hadn't discussed, if Justine was alive, she would be human. How would they explain the fact that Josephine looked no older than she did? As he lay next to Josephine, thinking, more potential issues came up. Issues that wouldn't have been issues had he only been honest. "First things first." he reminded himself. He had to call Maurice and let him know that all was well but that could wait until morning, it was only one more night. ******** "Damn you David Sheffield!" Maurice exclaimed after yet another unsuccessful attempt to reach David. "Dam you!" a small voice said from beside him. Maurice jumped; he hadn't heard Jon come in. He looked around for Regina, picked the boy up and held him in his lap. "I just said a bad word and I'm sorry but we mustn't let mommy know...." "Too late, she already knows." Regina said walking into the office. "You still haven't reached your friend yet have you?" she asked. "No and my apologies about the cursing." Maurice replied. "I know that you're worried about your friend but be more careful with the language ok? So what's your next step?" Regina asked sitting in his lap. "There really isn't anything that I can do until he decides to show himself but I was at least hoping for a phone call." he replied. "So she really is the queen's mother?" Regina asked. "I have every reason to believe that she is and apparently so does Mikhail." "What happens when they find her?" she asked "They will make sure beyond all doubt that she is indeed the mother of the queen. There will be certain things that they will look for starting with physical appearance and they will go from there. According to the stories all of which have been coming true by the way, the queen will have black eyes surrounded by red flames. Word has it that the new queen's eyes are as I have just described. The queen mother is supposed to have black eyes surrounded by purple flames indicating that she is royalty. She will be powerful but not nearly as powerful as the queen." Regina was quiet for a moment, "What's with the eye thing? Did the other queens have it?" "That is the other part of the story." Maurice replied, "According to the story, the woman whose eyes are as I have described is to be the queen of queens. What that means is that there will be no other queen after her unless she is killed and I can tell you that it won't happen. Flames that are the color of his eyes will also surround her mate's eyes. It they are brown the flames will be brown and so on but his powers will grow in conjunction with hers. The final thing is whether she accepts him as he equal and from what I have been able to find out, she has." "They'll be indestructible won't they?" Regina asked. "Yes. And they will be able to do things that vampires haven't been able to do for centuries including going out into the sunlight." "So can you." Regina reminded him. "Yes but it's because of my genetic makeup and other than me there are only a handful of those....." Maurice stopped mid sentence, he was remembering more of the story that he hadn't thought about in centuries "What?" Regina asked. "Regina...." Maurice's cell phone rang making Regina jump. He looked at the caller ID and answered the phone. "Delgado." Justine Ch. 16 "The queen wants to see you." Mikhail said, "How soon can you get to Philadelphia?" "When does she want me there?" Delgado asked. "As soon as possible, can you be there by tomorrow evening?" "Of course, is there anything that I should know?" Maurice asked. "Just that everything that you've heard about her and the king are true with the exception of them being insane." Mikhail replied. "And whatever you do, don't lie to her even if you think that it's what she wants to hear." "I understand." Maurice replied, "I'll be there by tomorrow evening." He hung up and hugged Regina, "Have you ever been to Philadelphia?" he asked. "No and what's going on?" Regina asked. "It seems that the queen wants to talk to me." he replied "About what?" "I don't know, but I suspect it has something to do with me not saying anything for three days but Regina, there are some things that I need to tell you." ******* Jeremiah rubbed his head, which was now covered with fine dark hair. The rest of his body was as it was before Mimi got a hold of him. From time to time, he could hear Albert scream as a memory from Mimi hit him. As for himself, he had seen more of his victims some of whom most of them didn't want to hurt him. He began to harbor hope that he might make it through the next several centuries without too much pain. He lay on his cot and closed his eyes trying to imagine what all of the excitement was about. There was levity in the atmosphere that was previously missing. Even the guards were smiling. It couldn't be that they had found Josephine he thought. The search for her had just started. He took a chance and asked the guard who was the most likely to talk what was happening. "The Queen mother is alive!" he exclaimed excitedly when Jeremiah asked about the much lightened mood of the house. "They found her?" Jeremiah asked, a sick feeling settling in his stomach. "No, not yet but there are viable witnesses who have seen her but it is only a matter of time before they do." The guard said happily. "Get moving, its time for your shower and you have a visitor coming." Jeremiah hardly heard him making the guard repeat his request. He stood up and walked out of the cell not thinking about who his guest was, it really didn't matter. In the weeks that he had been here, he had seen hundreds of women thanking god for each one that wanted no more than an apology and an explanation. What surprised him was that as time went on, the apologies were slowly becoming more sincere. With each woman that chose to heap their justice on him, Jeremiah realized how selfish, greedy and stupid he had been but and that the knowledge had come much too late. However, even with those realizations and regrets, he knew that if given a chance, he would do it again and the consequences be damned. He sighed at the knowledge that he would and could never change who and what he was no matter how sorry he was and how much he wanted to change. That fact and that alone was what would keep him here for eternity even if Josephine stopped the punishments. He stepped under the hot water and inspected his body. There were a few healing bruises left from the last woman. His hair was growing back just as thick as it had been before Mimi shaved it off and his cock... He couldn't look at it or touch it without remembering Mimi. He still jumped when he showered and left any erections unsatisfied. He didn't want the pain that he thought would come if he ejaculated. He hoped that whoever was waiting for him didn't want retribution in the form of sex; he would rather have a beating. He wondered if Mimi had ruined his want and need for sex as Albert had ruined hers. It didn't matter; it wasn't as if he was going to get another mate. His stomach dropped when he saw that the clothes waiting for him weren't his usual prison garb. Memories of Mimi came back and he bit back a moan and then squared his shoulders. There was no point in fighting it; it would change nothing. He put on the tan Khakis, light blue dress shirt and black loafers and stepped out of dressing room. Jeremiah stopped the guard as he was being taken back to his cell. "Where did they find the queens mother?" "As I said, "the guard said, "she isn't found yet, we only know that she's alive and was spotted last in England." "England? How ...." Jeremiah bit off his question when the guard scowled at him indicating the end of the conversation. When he got back to his cell, another guard was waiting. "You visitor is waiting for you upstairs." "Please, bring her here." Jeremiah said softly. "I can't do that, the queen wants you too see the visitor upstairs." Jeremiah nodded and fell into line between the two guards. He wracked his brain trying to think of who it could be that the queen wouldn't allow her to come to his cell. ********** Genevieve Mathers looked at Justine with a mixture of surprise, awe and respect. She really hadn't expected a response when she requested an audience with the new queen. She hadn't even expected to like her even though her son was a prisoner in her basement. Justine smiled at the woman in an attempt to put her at ease. "Could I offer you another cup of tea?" Justine asked gently. "No thank you, I thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to see me." Genevieve replied. "I don't know what to say on the behalf of my son except to apologize fro all that he has done not only to you but others." "Did you know what he was doing?" Justine asked. Genevieve looked away unable to meet Justine's eyes which had seconds before mesmerized her with their beauty. "I knew that he was into something but I didn't know what. When he started asking questions about a children's story, I knew that whatever it was that he was thinking, that it couldn't be good. I asked him about the sudden interest and he shut me out." "Tell me about him." Justine urged. After an hour, Justine had a better understanding of Jeremiah and told Genevieve as much. "I understand how he must have felt but that in no way excuses what he's done. I won't tell you the details; I can see that you are in enough discomfort as it is. It took a lot of courage for you to come here." Justine said. "This isn't about courage; this is about a mother speaking on the behalf of her son." "A son who has raped, killed and sold thousands of women after turning them without their permission. A son who has no regrets other than that he was caught and if given the chance, he would do it again. This is a son who gave no thought to how his actions would affect others, you especially. Tell me, what should be done with him?" Justine asked but not unkindly. "I don't know... but if what you are doing is true, it's too harsh." "Let me ask you this," Justine said, "what if you had been one of the women or your daughter? Would you be saying the same thing? I understand that you are looking at this from the viewpoint of a parent, but try to see it from a woman's point of view. Your son is a monster who even as we speak may feel some remorse but knows that he will never change." "You don't know that!" Genevieve snapped forgetting to whom she was speaking. Justine ignored the outburst but continued, "I do know that just as I know that you came here hoping that I would give in to the tears of a mother. I'm not unsympathetic because one, he is your child and two, you're also a victim but in another way. You have to live with what he's done." "He's my only child...." "Stop." Justine said her eyes flashing, "don't lie to me, you have another son even if you don't acknowledge him as such but back to Jeremiah, when you see him, ask if he has any regrets." Genevieve shook at the sound of Justine's voice but spoke anyway. "And if he does will you reconsider your sentence?" "No." "No? Why not?" Genevieve asked now angry. Justine's eyes flashed in warning which Genevieve wisely acknowledged. "I beg your pardon." she said as she bowed her head. Justine waited several seconds before replying. "I'm not a mother so I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I completely understand what you must be feeling. What I do understand is that Jeremiah has hurt thousands of women for profit. I also know that I don't have to explain my decisions to you and therefore I won't. But you can ask Jeremiah whatever you want, you might get your answers as well as a better understanding of your son." "You're not staying?" Genevieve asked. "No." Justine replied. "This is the one time where Jeremiah will be allowed a guest without guards present. In case you're thinking of using the opportunity to help him escape, don't. Not only is it impossible, it will land you in the cell next to his. One more thing, hand me the vials that you have hidden in your pockets and in your bags." Genevieve stared at her and knew that she had underestimated the new queen. She handed the vials, all four of them to Justine with a small smile. "I had to try." "I understand but let me warn you, if you try anything like this again, you won't be allowed to see your son. Is that understood?" "Yes my queen." Genevieve replied thankful that she was getting off with a warning. "Jeremiah will be brought to the study that's through that door, you can go wait for him there." Justine watched Genevieve hurry to the small study and waited for Jeremiah to be brought up. A few minutes later, he was standing in front of her. "Your guest is through that door." she said, "Have a nice visit." ********* Jeremiah hesitated at the door surprised that the guards had moved to the other side of the room. He slowly opened the door not knowing what to expect. He glanced around the small room until he saw a figure sitting in a chair in the corner. "Mother?" he asked. "Jeremiah, what have you done?" she asked softly as she rose from her chair and walked to him with her arms open wide to receive him. Jeremiah stepped into arms that he hadn't felt around him in centuries. He inhaled the light floral scent of the shampoo that she had used for years and hugged her back not speaking but relishing the feel of being in the arms of someone who loved him. Reluctantly he broke the embrace and gently pushed her back. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I had to come see you. I talked to the queen but she won't change her mind, she says that you don't have any remorse and that given the chance; you would do it again. I told her that she was wrong... she is wrong isn't she?" Genevieve asked already knowing the answer. "Jeremiah, why?" She asked when he didn't answer her. He didn't answer but turned away from her. She had never understood how that night when they were trapped, hiding from the people who wanted them dead had affected him. She didn't understand how the hunger pain that had him doubled over and in tears had made him swear that he would never go through anything like that again no matter what he had to do to prevent it. Malcolm and Justine were right on one point, he had made more than enough money that he could have stopped long ago but he grew to like it. He could finally admit that now. The money had become secondary only he hadn't realized it until now. The being hungry all those years ago was no longer a viable excuse; he simply liked what he did. That knowledge also explained why he didn't feel more remorse and why the remorse that he felt was temporary. "Mother, I want you to leave and never come back here." "What? You don't mean that!" "Yes I do." Jeremiah said. "I've caused you enough pain and I don't want to remind you of it by your coming here." "Just tell her that you feel remorse!" Genevieve begged, "Please...." "I can't." Jeremiah said softly, "it would be a lie that she would see through." "Wh... what are you saying?" Genevieve asked. Jeremiah hesitated before replying. "I'm saying that she's right. I am sorry but not nearly as sorry as I should be. In the beginning, it was all about the money but after awhile, I liked it... it's something that I am only just now admitting to myself." Genevieve couldn't believe her ears. She backed away from Jeremiah as if he were some strange man that she had seen on the street and struggled to understand what he was telling her. She didn't know who the man standing between her and the door was but he wasn't her son, at least not the son that she gave birth to but still she tried. "You don't mean that." she said. "Yes mother, I do and if I were released tomorrow, I would start again but with a few lessons learned." Genevieve wiped her hands on her dress as if she had just touched something filthy. Her throat was so tight that she couldn't speak. Tears ran down her face as she made a wide berth around Jeremiah, opened the door and walked out without back. She had another son who needed his mother more than this one did. Justine stepped into the small room right after Genevieve walked out. Jeremiah turned to face her. There was not a hint of remorse on his face that he had hurt the only other person other than Olivia that loved him. "You are piece of work do you know that?" Justine asked. Jeremiah shrugged and waited for her to continue. "She came here to beg for your life because she loves you." Justine said softly, "she came here prepared to slip vials of poison to you to help you escape your sentence fully aware of what would happen to her if caught. She didn't deserve what you did to her." "I didn't...." "Please don't say that you didn't do anything to her." Justine said. "Because you did. No parent should have a child like you and then have to face friends and other family members. Go back to your cell." "Wait! Is it true that they know that the queen mother is alive?" Jeremiah asked as the guards came back into the room. "Yes it's true and no, I haven't changed my mind about letting her decide your fate." Justine said answering his question before he answered it, "but that doesn't mean that I won't give my input but hypothetically, let's say that my mother chooses to release you, what would you do?" "I would do it again but I would be smarter about it. If I hadn't let Napoleon cajole me into capturing your mother, I wouldn't be here... I liked it, is that what you wanted to hear?" "No but it's the truth." Justine said. A guard stood on either side Jeremiah and got ready to lead him out of the room. Jeremiah stopped, turned around and looked at Justine. "I'm never leaving here am I? He asked. There was no anger in his voice, only quiet resignation. "Only my mother can answer that but my suspicion is that you're right... Jeremiah, do you have any idea of the damage you've done? Do you even care?" "No, at least not as much as I should." Jeremiah replied. "Ah... finally some honesty." Justine said. "Why lie anymore?" Jeremiah asked, "You would know but since we're being honest, I should have listened to Malcolm and never hired you, I wish to god that they had killed you. I will never recognize you as my queen or Quinn as my king." Justine smiled and shrugged, "do you think that I didn't know that?" she asked, "and do you think that I give a shit?" Jeremiah took an involuntary step back as Justine approached him. When she was within inches of him, she spoke. "I hope that my mother decides to uphold my decision and let every wronged woman have her chance with you. I hope that she takes it a step further and allows the wronged male mates of these women have a chance with you as well... maybe ....." She stopped when she saw the panicked expression on his face realizing that it was something that he had already given thought to. "I think that I'll just leave that up to her... enjoy your evening." she said as she walked away. She caught a faint scent of something that she hadn't smelled for a couple of weeks...Jeremiah's fear. The other vampires stiffened as the scent hit their noses. Justine not concerned for his safety continued to walk away. It would be good for him not to get too comfortable. She felt for Jeremiah's family and couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to know that a child that had been raised and loved was an unfeeling monster. She said a silent prayer that if she and Quinn had children, that they wouldn't turn out anything like Jeremiah Mathers. ****** Maurice sat holding Regina in his lap for a long time after he spoke to Mikhail. He felt Regina's growing anxiety and sought to calm her the only way that he knew... he had to tell her the truth. He took another minute to collect himself; he couldn't believe that this was happening. The events in a child hood story were happening. He shook his head to clear it. "Maurice?" Regina called the worry in her voice evident. She had never seen him so shaken. "Regina, I have some things to tell you that ... well let me explain." She let him talk uninterrupted and then didn't know what say. She didn't want to move, she had come to love New Orleans in spite of all that had happened there. "Why didn't you say something before?" she asked. "I didn't believe it." Maurice replied, "It was a child hood story mostly told to the females. Part of the story is that any vampires who are day walkers are automatically part of the queen's guard unless she eliminates us for some reason." "Is that why you have to go to Philly?" "No." Maurice replied. "The queen wants to talk to me about my part in the search for her mother but I'm sure that she will know me for what I am." he added. "Do we really have to move?" "That remains to be seen," Maurice replied, "go get ready, you and Jon are going with me. Regina, I'm sorry... if I had any inkling that the story was true, I would have said something." "I don't understand," Regina said, "how do you know that it's true?" Regina asked. "I just do." Maurice replied, "Everything in the story has come to pass. Maybe she won't want me." he added. "Come on, you know that she'll want you and admit it, you're excited." Regina said. "Are you angry?" Maurice asked. "No... nervous, a little scared, proud of you but not angry." she replied. "Thank you Regina, you have no idea of how good it makes me feel to know that I have your support." Maurice said as he kissed her. "Go get ready and I'll make the arrangements and yes you can call Annie and the others and see if they want to move too." he said smiling at her. Three hours later, everyone was on the plane and headed to Philadelphia. ********** Freddie looked at the vampire in the cell next to him and wondered what he had done that he was here. "Hey!" he called over to Jeremiah, "What are you here for?" Jeremiah looked at him and turned away. He had no interest in talking Josh and hoped that his silence would indicate that. "My name is Josh Archer..." "I don't give a fuck." Jeremiah said dryly. Josh kept talking, ignoring the obvious blow off. "I'm here because I kidnapped some chickee who turned out to be the queen's mother....." "What?" Jeremiah asked his interest suddenly piqued. "Who was she?" "She told Eppi... my cousin that her name was Jeri but I think that she lied. Had we known who she was we would have let her go." "Who came for her?" Jeremiah asked. "Her mate but here's the thing; she broke the wards on her....." "Wards? What wards?" Jeremiah interrupted. Josh gave Jeremiah an irritated look; he hated being interrupted. "If you'll stop butting in, I'll tell you the story." he said tersely. Jeremiah's heart raced as he listened to Josh talk, it became clear to him that Josephine had lost her memory. It was the only explanation for her not looking for Justine and for her not telling her captor's who she was- she didn't know. He snapped back to full attention at the mention of David Sheffield's name. Justine Ch. 16 "David Sheffield? What does he have to do with this?" Jeremiah asked interrupting Josh again. "He's her mate but as I was saying, she broke the wards and I don't know how." Jeremiah wasn't listening. He knew of David Sheffield and of how ruthless he could be. The fact that the vampire had been human at one point and was relatively young for a vampire did nothing to comfort him. David Sheffield was the male mate that he had to worry about or as he corrected himself, the male that could put him out of his misery. His hopes were dashed by Josh's next statement. "He wanted to kill me." he said. "The only thing that stopped him was her... so why are you here?" he asked hoping for a little quid pro quo. Jeremiah started to tell him that it was none of his damned business but thought better of it; his new "friend" might remember something useful. Jeremiah gave Josh a very watered down version of his crimes but Josh wasn't stupid, he knew that there were vampires who bought and sold other beings. He even knew a few of the big fish. The plans for a deal began to form in Josh's head but he needed to know more about the queen. "What's she like?" he asked. "A bitch." Jeremiah replied but didn't elaborate. "Okay... what else can you tell me?" Josh asked. "That if you're planning on trying to make a deal with her to forget it. Chances are that whatever information you have; she already has it. If I were you, I'd take whatever sentence she gives you, serve it and move on." Jeremiah replied. Josh gave Jeremiah a dubious look, "She can't know everything." he said. The disbelief was evident in his voice as he continued, "no one and I don't care who they are can't know everything." Jeremiah shrugged. He didn't care what the idiot next to him believed or didn't believe, he would find out soon enough. "I would also make one more suggestion." Jeremiah said, "Whatever you do, don't lie to her; it will only make things worse for you." "He's right." Justine said as she appeared in front of Josh's cell making him yelp in surprise. The first thing that Josh noticed was Justine's eyes. That alone convinced him that the woman that he and his cousin had held captive was a relative. When he looked at her face, he knew that they were mother and daughter although they could pass as sisters. Josh glanced over at Jeremiah who was sitting on his cot watching with interest to see what he would do. Josh turned back to Justine and did what had worked for him for centuries. He flirted with her. "Aren't you the lovely one?" he asked with a smile on his face. It helped that he really did think that she was lovely. "Tell me about my mother." Justine said in response, "and don't lie." "I like that...." That was all that Josh got out. Justine silenced him and froze him in place with a thought as she was suddenly standing in front of him, her eyes blazing with impatience. "The next time you open your mouth," she said, "it will be to tell me what you know and you will keep your lame ass flirtations to yourself. Got it?" Josh blinked to let her know that he understood. As soon as she removed the compulsion, he began to talk a mile a minute giving Justine some information that he hadn't given Jeremiah. "Her eyes were black like yours but they had purple flames around them but they didn't start out that way... they were brown." "When did they change?" Justine asked. "I don't know for sure." Josh confessed, "at first I wasn't sure because they changed back and forth but then they stayed black with those purple flames around them." "Guess." Justine demanded. Suddenly it was important that she know when the eye change began. "If I remember correctly, it started not long after we found her. It was then that the control went from us to her. By the time we were about to decide to leave, she had complete control even though she was trapped." "Did you or your cousin hurt her?" "NO! we didn't touch her like that!" Josh exclaimed. "Calm down." Justine said. "I know that you didn't even though your cousin wanted to." "How do you know all of this?" "How I know doesn't matter." Justine replied. "I also know that you want to bargain with me so lets just put our cards on the table shall we? What do you think that you know?" Jeremiah sat up straighter and found that he was hoping that Josh came out on top. It wasn't because he liked him or even cared about him; it was because he wanted someone to beat Justine. "A proposal if I may." Josh said smoothly fully recovered from his surprise. He waited for Justine to grant him permission to continue. "Go ahead." Justine replied. "If I am able to inform you of one thing that you have no knowledge of, you will give me a much reduced sentence and I get to spend that time at a nice place." "And if you don't?" Justine asked warming up to the game. "Whatever your original sentence was, I'll accept it." Josh replied. "Not good enough." Justine replied, "you will accept my sentence and you will lose your gifts permanently. Any time that you even begin to think of kidnapping another person whether they be human or otherwise, you'll burn where you stand... do you still want to play?" Josh had a moment of uncertainty but the gambler in him won out. "I accept your terms my queen." he replied. "Let's start... what do you have to offer?" "I have knowledge of others who have and are making a profit of turning and selling human men, women and.... Well at any rate, this is what I have to offer." Justine smiled at him and offered him another chance to back out of the deal. Jeremiah knew that Justine already knew about whomever Josh was going to tell her about. Foolishly, Josh accepted the deal. "Russell Webb." "In a cell in New York, he is waiting to begin his sentence." "Lionel Marsh." "In the cell next to Russell Webb, his sentence will be carried out at sunrise." Justine replied. With each name that he gave, Josh realized that he had lost and that his life as he knew it was over. Ten names later, he went silent. "Is that all?" Justine asked. "That was it." Josh replied. "My sentence is as follows," Justine said, "you will spend the next three hundred years at the facility in Newark, New Jersey. As I said you will never regain your powers and if you even begin to think about going back to your old life in or out of prison, you'll burn. Any questions?" Josh couldn't speak. He dumbly nodded his head realizing that he had actually gotten off easy. He had kidnapped royalty and just because he didn't know, it didn't mean anything. Justine could have killed him as was her right. "Your ride will be here shortly." she said and then she was gone. "Damn!" Josh exclaimed, "she is so fucking hot!" Jeremiah looked at him in disbelief, she had all but castrated him and the man was thinking about her in a sexual way. He just didn't understand it. ******** Maurice made sure that Regina and Jon were settled before going to meet the queen. Gremlin wanted to go with him but Maurice declined. "She will see it as fear and I can't allow that, I'll be fine." Reluctantly, Gremlin agreed but didn't like it. Maurice kissed Regina and then Jon goodbye and left. As soon as he approached the house, he began to feel a drain on his gifts. By the time he was inside the gates, his gifts were gone. He wasn't concerned about it because he knew that they would return when he left the house. He also knew that when she chose him to be one of her guard, they would return and were more than likely be enhanced. He couldn't deny that Regina was right; he hoped that the queen and her mate would accept him as part of their day guard. Next to Regina accepting him as her mate and giving him beautiful children, it would rank as the happiest day of his life. He picked up the phone at the gate and waited for admittance wondering what the new queen was like. ******* Justine and Quinn had just showered, made love and showed again when the intercom buzzed. "Justine?" Pam called, "Your guest is here." "We'll be down in a few minutes, take him to the study and offer him something to drink." "Will do." Pam replied, "Anything else?" "Yes, have Violet and Edward meet us there too." ****** Maurice walked around the study stopping to look at the books that lined the bookshelves. The goblet of red wine sat on the tray untouched as continued his inspection of the study. He sensed Justine and Quinn's arrival seconds before they appeared behind him. "My queen, my kind." he said with a bow. "Maurice Delgado at your service." Violet and Edward appeared shortly thereafter and stood next to Quinn and Justine. Delgado blinked in surprise. In all of his centuries alive, he had never heard of two queens and kings in the same room and wondered what it meant. The second thing he noticed was the way each couple was dressed. Quinn and Justine were dressed very causally, he in jeans and a tee shirt, her in a sweat suit. Violet and Edward were dressed as if they were going to a formal gathering. Of the two couples, he was drawn toward Quinn and Justine. They were more like him in that they didn't see the need to flaunt what they had. "Mr. Delgado." Justine said, "this is Violet and her husband Edward, you may recognize them as the queen and king that ruled before Quinn and I. Violet and Edward this is Maurice Delgado, he's here to explain to us why he withheld knowledge of my mother for three days." Justine said. For the first time since he came into being, Delgado felt nervous. The power that emanated from Justine and Quinn overshadowed that of Violet and Edwards' to the extent that theirs felt almost non-existent. "Please sit down." Justine said politely but Delgado could see that it wouldn't take much to anger her. "Thank you my queen." When they were all sitting, the niceties ended. "Start talking." Justine said, her tone cool. Maurice balked at her tone but kept his peace, it wouldn't do to chastise the queen and he fully understood her tone. He told them about the initial phone call from David making sure that they understood that at the time he didn't know who Josephine was. "When did you know?" Quinn asked. "When I saw the alerts." Maurice replied. "I immediately started calling David but I couldn't reach him. I even had certain members of my family looking for them. We concluded that David had taken her to a warded place; it's the only explanation. I've been calling every number that David has ever since." "Why did you wait three days before calling someone?" Justine asked. "I'll give you the same response that I gave Mikhail." Maurice replied. "I wanted to give him a heads up. I am convinced that he doesn't know who his mate is. I was and am afraid that if he isn't warned and they are approached, he'll protect her and the possibility to them both being hurt increases. I was going to offer to meet them somewhere and to bring them to you." "You do know that you could be charged with treason." Justine said. "I know that." Maurice replied, "but I also know that even though you're angry, you understand why I did as I did. My one and only goal was to bring David and your mother back safely. When I saw that it wasn't going to happen, I called and offered my knowledge and resources toward the search of your mother." "You still could have called and met the same goal." Justine said. "Possibly." Maurice conceded, "but at the time I went with what felt right and what seemed to be in the best interest of all involved. David, your mother's mate asked me to begin the search for you, your grandmother and your aunt. I was going to tell him when I reached him that I had found you but my question is this... are you going to charge me with treason or will you allow me to serve you to the best of my ability." In spite of her anger, Justine liked Maurice. That he didn't lie or try to sugar coat the reasons for his decision made her respect him. She liked his confidence and that he wasn't put off by being in the same room with four powerful vampires. "Alright Mr. Delgado." she said after several minutes, "I don't like that you didn't call. You should have and you know it but... I understand your reasoning. Consider yourself warned that if you ever withhold anything again, there will be consequences and I won't care what the reason is. Do you understand me?" "I understand but let me make myself perfectly clear." Maurice said. "If I have to keep something away from you to keep you safe, then I will and if I die because of it... then so be it and the only thing that I ask is that my mate and children are cared for." Justine's respect for Maurice increased ten-fold. She had known who and what he was as soon as she saw him. She also knew that he meant what he said; he would disobey her if he felt it was in their best interest. She looked over at Violet and Edward and then at Quinn. Ever so briefly, she touched their minds. A resounding yes came from all three of them. "I want you to keep trying to reach them." she said. "And I want a direct phone call from you the moment that you reach them; Mikhail will be your second phone call." "Understood." Maurice said as he took out his cell phone to add Justine's number his contact list. "It's already there." Justine said. "Quinn's number is there as well. How is your mate's evening sickness?" It was a polite inquiry but Maurice knew what it was, it was the queen's way of letting him know that he wouldn't be able to hide anything from her. "She's feeling much better, thank you for asking." he replied. Justine, he realized had just accepted him as part of her guard. Even as they spoke, he could feel his gifts trickle back into him and as impossible as it seemed, they were stronger than before. "Glad to hear it." Justine said, "and I would like to give you a word of advice. You and Mikhail are alike in many ways and I can see the two of you butting heads. Find a way to work together, an eternity is a long time to be butting heads." "That is very true." Maurice conceded. "I'll do my best." Justine nodded, "good, now get back to your mate, she's worried about you." After he was gone, Edward spoke, "I knew Comte St. Germaine but I didn't realize that he still had living relatives. We are very fortunate to have one such as Delgado." "Just curious," Quinn said, "how did you know that he was related to St. Germaine?" "All of the St. Germaine's have a very distinctive mark on the left earlobe, Delgado had it. No one else has that mark and any of Delgado's children and their children will have that mark. Even centuries from now that mark will never lose its power." "Cool... so now what? We just wait?" Quinn asked. "That's all we can do." Justine said quietly. ******** David put his arms around Josephine, kissed her and vanished from the island. They reappeared in another one of his homes that he kept off the grid and warded it as soon as they were inside. After making sure that Josephine was comfortable, he began checking his voice messages. He concern grew as he listened to message after message from Delgado. "David god damned you! Call me! It's urgent!" He turned on his cell phone to find his voice mailbox full of the same messages as well as his email. He looked at the time stamps and saw that the messages that had been calm at first and had grown in intensity started on the same day that he took Josephine to the island. He checked on Josephine who was napping in the bedroom, shut the door and dialed Maurice's number. "Delgado?" ************** Justine Ch. 17 Jeremiah watched with envy as Josh Archer was led away to begin his three-hundred year sentence. While it was true that other than immortality and the ability to heal that Josh was for all practical purposes powerless, he would still be free. A small part of him wished that he could lie well enough so that his sentence would be reduced but he also knew that it would have been only a matter of time before he ended up exactly where he was now. Justine would have kept him in her sights and he would never have been truly free. He knew exactly what she would do. Instead of taking away his desire to continue his life as it was, she would give him just enough free will so that he could hang himself. He sat down on the cot and wondered how the search for Josephine was going. He was going to ask until he saw who the guard was. The guard glared at him as if daring him to say something so that he could tell him to fuck off. Jeremiah lay back on the cot determined to rest as much as he could. The next victim could show up at any moment. Rest evaded him as anxiety took over as he thought about Josephine Graves and her role in his future or lack thereof. As he lay there, he thought about all of the possible outcomes and came to the same conclusion that he had reached after seeing his mother. Even if Josephine didn't kill him, even if she put an end to the visitations of his previous victims, he would never be allowed to go free. He wasn't sure of how he felt about that or if he felt anything. He had given up on the idea of dying accidentally; it just wasn't going to happen. This was his life now and he decided to take the advice he had given to Napoleon- "accept your punishment". Even as he struggled to take his own advice, a small flicker of rebellion remained. There had to be a way out of this house and remain intact, there had to be someone who could and would help him but the question was who? ******** Justine tossed and turned unable to rest no matter how many times Quinn made love to her with the intent of sending her into the oblivion of sleep. The thought that she was so close to finding her mother wouldn't allow her to rest. Question after question entered her mind and was gone before she could think it through. What would she say to her? Would she be proud of her? The vampire that took her- what punishment should he get? Did he deserve to be punished? What if she didn't like her? What if she didn't like Quinn? What was her mate like? What did she look like? "Sweetheart, why don't you call Delgado and ask him about your mother's mate?" Quinn asked. "It might make you feel better." "I know." Justine conceded as she turned to face him. "It's not only that, do you think that she'll like me?" Quinn pulled Justine into his arms and kissed her. "Are you kidding?" He asked, "She is absolutely going to love you!" "You sound pretty sure about that." she replied. "That's because I am." Quinn replied hugging her tighter. "Jussie, she never stopped loving you just like you never stopped loving and missing her even if you never admitted to it." "That's true but maybe she didn't miss me." she replied. Quinn pulled back and looked into her black eyes that were filled with tears that steamed from as they rolled down her face. He realized for the first time that as strong as she was, she was to a certain extent very vulnerable. Her mother was her Achilles heel and would be the only way to get at her. They had to get her and her mate to the house as soon as possible. As she looked back at him, the tears dried and the grown up Justine was back. He knew that the reunion would be a bittersweet one but thinking about that had to wait. "Jussie..." "I know, we have to get them here." she said as she pushed her insecurities and fears aside and began to think about how to get her mother and her mate to the house. "I think that you need to call Maurice and...." Justine already had the phone to her ear even as Quinn was talking and was waiting for Maurice to respond. ******** Maurice had just finished making his last round of calls to David's numbers. He was no longer able to leave messages because the voice mailboxes at each number were full. "Damn it!" he swore as he slammed the phone down. He sat at his desk staring at the phone willing it to ring jumping when it did. "Delgado." he said not looking at the caller ID. "Maurice, this is Justine." "Yes my Queen." Maurice replied wishing that he had some news for her. Justine hesitated, she was going to tell him to can the "my Queen" thing but decided against it. While it was true that he was one of her guard, he hadn't earned the right to address her by her first name. She still wasn't happy that he withheld information from her even though she understood why. "Have you reached them?" "No, in fact, I just hung up after trying the last number on my list." Delgado replied. "And you have no idea of where they could be." Justine said dryly. "No my Queen and you would know if I did." "Tell me about him, my mother's mate." Justine said in a tone that said that it wasn't a request but an order. "What do you want to know?" Maurice asked cautiously. "How do you know him?" Maurice explained how he and David were on again off again business partners but had always been friends. "I hadn't heard from him in years until he called me asking for help in finding his mate. I didn't know anything about her other than her name and that he was frantic. In all of the years that I've known him, I've never seen him so beside himself." "Did he hurt her?" Justine asked. "No and I would wager my life on it." Delgado replied. "Tell me how he found her." Justine said once again leaving no question that she had just given an order. Maurice hesitated. The story wasn't for him to tell. Risking her anger, he told her as much. Instead of being angry as he thought she might be, she seemed oddly relieved and he felt as though he had passed a test of sorts. "I hope that you understand my position." he said politely. "I understand and appreciate the fact that you aren't afraid to be honest with me." Justine replied. "A question if I may." Maurice said. "Shoot." Justine replied. "You were testing me weren't you?" "Have a good evening Delgado and call me as soon as you hear anything." Justine hung up without verbally answering his question but he had his answer. If David asked him the same question, his response would be the same. He wasn't about to muddy the waters by speaking out of turn for either party. Their stories were for them to share. "Daddy!" Jon called as he ran into the office. Maurice never failed to smile when Jon ran into a room calling him daddy. His smile broadened when Regina followed on his heels obviously feeling much better. She wasn't enthused about the move to Philly but chose to see the bright side of it. "There's so much history here and I've always wanted to go to the Philadelphia Zoo." she said after Maurice told her about the meeting with Justine. She had something else on her mind but he knew better than to ask her what it was. She had to work it out in her head before she came to him with it. He had a good idea of what it was; she wanted to offer her assistance to the queen. He had no doubts that Justine would accept the help and he had no doubts that Regina would adjust to her new life. "So what happens now?" she asked. "Well, I contact others like me and present them to the Queen for her approval." Maurice said. "Will she turn any of them away?" "Hard to say but I'm certain that there is at least one that she will reject and if she doesn't, I'll be surprised." Maurice replied. "Who is he?" Regina asked. "He is someone that I never want you to be alone with but someone who would protect you and Jon with his life." Maurice replied cryptically. "Is he that bad?" Regina asked. "Yes... how about we go out for some real Philadelphia cheese steaks?" Maurice asked changing the subject. The deliberate change of subject didn't escape her but she let it pass. Like her, he would tell her when he was ready and the thought of cheese steaks made her stomach rumble. "You've got a deal." she said as she moved from his lap. "I'll tell the others." "Sounds good." Maurice said as he held her in place. "Regina, I want to thank you for being so gracious about this. I know that you really didn't want to move." "Maurice, I'm your wife." she said softly, "we go where you go even if I don't like it and maybe the Queen will let me help at one of her houses." "Maybe so." he agreed. When Regina and Jon were gone, he started calling David's numbers again this time starting with the last one called. He cursed when he got the voice mailbox is full message, "Damn it all to hell!" ******* David checked all of his phones and heard the same messages on each one. "David, call me as soon as you get this message, it's urgent that we speak." David's anxiety grew with each phone message. Had Delgado found Josephine's daughter? Was she dead? "Anything but that." he prayed. He went to check on Josephine relieved to find her still sound asleep. He almost compelled her into a deeper sleep but changed his mind. If she woke up during the conversation with Delgado then she was supposed to hear what was going on but his prayer was that she remain asleep. If the news was bad, he would have some time to decide how to break the news to her. He softly closed the door behind him, went into his office and closed the door. With shaking hands, he picked up the phone and dialed Maurice's number. The ring hadn't even completed when Maurice's voice came over the phone. "Maurice..." "David? Where in the hell have you been?" Maurice demanded. "Didn't you get my messages?" "I... no. I took Josephine away and warded the area so that we couldn't be disturbed. What's happened?" "That's just great!" Maurice snapped, "You couldn't see your way clear to have at least told me that?" "I didn't think about it." David replied. "I just wanted to get Jo away so that we could talk... What happened?" he asked again. "What happened," Maurice said sarcastically, "is that you have every vampire in the world looking for you and Josephine. I was within a breadth of being labeled a traitor because I waited three days before letting anyone know that I had information about your mate...." "What?" David asked, "Why are we being searched for?" "Even Mikhail was in on the hunt!" Maurice said ignoring the question. David paled, "Mikhail? Why is Mikhail looking for us?" "If you would have ..." Maurice stopped, took a deep breath, counted to ten and then started over again. "I'm going to tell you but I want my say first. None of this would be happening if you had been honest with your mate as soon as you realized that she had a family. I understand and agree your reasoning at the beginning but afterwards? In my opinion, you lied to her and made a conscious decision to keep her from her family, specifically her child. In the days that you went incommunicado, hundreds of vampires and other beings spent hours following up leads most of which were dead ends..." David's anxiety grew by the second and be began to make plans to disappear again taking Josephine with him. "Don't you even think about it!" Maurice snapped. "I have vouched for you not once, but twice. Now if you're not sitting, you'd better do it." David sat down holding the phone tightly to his ear preparing to hear the worst. "Is her daughter dead?" "No, far from it." Maurice replied. "God damn it! Will you just spit it out?" he growled. ******** The Realm of the Queens Who Have Gone Before was buzzing with excitement and activity that was unheard of. The previous queens were already talking about gala. It didn't matter that the date hadn't been announced, it was something to look forward to. And in all likelihood it wouldn't happen for at least a year if not longer. "I bet that this one is going to be fabulous!" Dominique one of the queens from several millennia ago exclaimed. "I simply cannot wait to see what she does!" she added. Everyone, the male mates included in the realm, held that sentiment. Even the servants to the royalty were excited as they also got to attend the gala. It was the one time that they could freely mix with their masters. They were fully aware of what was happening in the human world, all of them were and for the most part were supportive and proud of the way that Justine had taken the bull by the horns and didn't care whose feelings she hurt by changing things that were long over due to be changed. "It's about time someone started thinking about the women and children." Lenore another ancient queen said not thinking that it was something that all of them had had the power to change but didn't. The excited chatter about the gala continued as well as the topic about the queen mother. Once it became known that Justine's mother was alive, everyone knew beyond any doubt who Justine was. They were almost sure just because of Justine's eyes and then she made Quinn her equal but now there was no doubt. Her mother was the only one of them whose mother was alive during her ascension. If she was found, then Justine and Quinn's power would be absolute, there would be no way in which to take power from them. Even without the queen mother, their power was almost iron clad. The only previous queen not participating in the excited chatter was sitting back in a corner with her mate Thomas sitting to her right and her servant Lottie was sitting at her feet. Both Thomas and Lottie wanted to join the activity and excitement- the realm had been far too quiet before Justine came along but they knew better than to even hint at joining in. Ever since Justine appeared, Wilhelmina's normally sour mood, soured even more with each passing day. She could tell that Lottie and Thomas wanted to join in the festivities but she wouldn't allow it. Their place was with her even if they didn't agree with her. She was sick of hearing about the new queen, the seeds of hate and jealousy had taken root as soon as Justine came into being. They continued to grow as she along with everyone else watched as Justine gained control and use of her gifts without assistance. She had to admit that she was as impressed and intrigued as everyone else was but that didn't negate the fact that she was jealous and wanted what she thought to be rightfully hers. "Wilhelmina." Thomas called softly. He was going to take a chance and ask to join in the festivities. "No." was her one word reply. Thomas' shoulders sagged and some of the light went out of his eyes only to reappear as he looked down at Lottie. She was the only thing that had kept him sane for centuries. He often wished that he was mated to her instead of Wilhelmina but it hadn't been his choice to make. He also knew that part of her bitterness was that she had hoped that she would be the queen of queens but she hadn't shown any of the innate abilities that the current queen had but there was more. Wilhelmina had needed more help in mastering her gifts than any other queen before or since. That combined with the fact that she was a cruel, uncaring queen who was the first ever to be impeached completed the picture of the bitter woman that was sitting next to him. Her impeachment was the topic of discussion for decades after it happened. It was also added to the story told to the females as a warning. He had tried to warn her himself. "Wilhelmina, what you're doing... it isn't...." "Shut up!" Wilhelmina shouted at him. However, he didn't listen; he kept talking. "You are being called the cruelest queen that ever was." he said, "You think that you are respected but you aren't... Willie, listen to me. You have to stop allowing the rampant hunting of humans! We have to learn to live amongst them and if they volunteer to be our nourishment, then fine but you are sanctioning murder!" That little outburst earned him three months locked away in a room with no food of any kind or contact with anyone except Lottie who would sneak into the basement just long enough to whisper words of encouragement. That confrontation took place a decade before Wilhelmina was impeached. Other previous queens shared her reign until her replacement was born, found and passed the test for her rule. That they were even allowed to enter the realm of the queens that came before in and of itself was a minor miracle. He found out later that it was only because of the fear of what might happen if she wasn't allowed in that prompted the decision. Thomas understood and agreed and if there had been any way that he could have taken Lottie and left, he would have. Thomas looked over at his mate and his stomach dropped. There was going to be trouble. ******** "What did he say?" Quinn asked Justine after she hung up the phone. "He hasn't heard from them yet but is still trying to reach them. He also vouches for David Sheffield but wouldn't tell me what happened." she replied. "You could have ordered him to." Quinn said. "I could have but he's right, it needs to come from them. He asked me if I was testing him." "And?" Quinn urged. "I didn't reply but yes I was and he passed. I need to know that whatever I say won't be on the vampire internet and the fact that he won't tell me about what happened with my mother and how she came to be with the vampire who is her mate tells me that I can trust him." "But you already knew that." Quinn said, "We all knew it." he added. "I know but at heart I'm still human, I needed to see proof." Justine replied. "Understood but I have a question, what are you going to do about her mate?" Quinn asked as he took the phone from her hand and laid it on the bedside table. Justine shrugged, "I don't know yet. I'll see what he has to say and then go from there." "Sounds fair." Quinn replied as he pulled Justine back so that she was lying on her back. "Have I told you that I love you?" he asked as he took an already hardened nipple into his mouth nicking it with the sharp tip of a fang. "Not today you haven't." Justine replied arching her back to push more of her breast into his mouth. "But tell me later." she added not wanting him to stop what he was doing. She opened her legs when she felt Quinn's hand wander down her belly, pause and then continue on not stopping until it rested on her.... "Jussie? What did you do?" he asked after letting her nipple fall from his mouth. "Where's the hair?" he demanded. "I just thought I'd surprise you. You don't like it?" she asked surprised. "No." Quinn replied, "I don't. I love the feel of your mound hair on my face when I'm eating you. Please put it back." "I didn't know." she replied. "Other than peeking into my mind, you wouldn't have because I never told you that." Quinn replied. "Sweetheart, I thank you for the surprise but I want and love you exactly as you are." "So no EEE boobs?" she teased. "Nope, you're perfect." Quinn replied and then sighed with contentment. "That's better," he said as he ran his fingers through the coarse hair of her mound before slipping them between the lips of her nether lips. He went back to nipping at her nipples as he rolled, pinched and pulled her clit with his fingers. The scent of her arousal almost made him come but he managed to hold back by thinking of something else. Then he had an idea. "Quinn? What are you thinking about?" Justine asked. "I'm wondering if I can desensitize my cock." he admitted. "Dese... why would you do that?" Justine asked even as understanding dawned on her. "Okay, here it goes." Quinn said as he concentrated on his cock. After a few minutes, he had the hang of it. He could still feel but the sensation felt as though it were coming from far away. He experimented with increasing and then decreasing it when the urge to come became too much. Justine Ch. 17 Justine cried, begged and pleaded with him to stop saying that she had had enough to don't stop. The Plexiglas windows shook but held as Quinn took Justine in a variety of positions. They finally shattered after he allowed himself to feel Justine's vaginal muscles clamp around his cock as she came. His scream joined hers as the windows cracked but didn't shatter. "Wow." was all that Justine could say as she finally fell asleep. ******** Lorenzo Delgado slowly opened his eyes and then closed them again. He had been watching the new queen and decided that he liked her and her kick ass attitude. She reminded him of someone that he knew but hadn't spoken to in several centuries. He wanted to sleep a little more but it evaded him. He felt the prickle of anxiety in the pit of his stomach, it meant two things- trouble, and he would be hearing from his only sibling any day now. The question was would he comply? He knew that he would simply because not even he would ignore the call of the queen that would come through his brother Maurice. "Shit." he muttered as he climbed out of the bed taking care not to wake the hooker lying on the other side of it. He was through with her and did not want to hear her spiel about being his one and only. He kept telling himself that he needed to stop seeing her but she was the only human woman that could keep up with his sexual appetite and who was open to whatever he was into at the moment even if it was another woman in bed with them. She was in love with him and he to some degree was in love with her even if he hadn't acknowledged it. Every morning before she left, he would ask her if she was going to be servicing any other clients that day. If she was, he gave her more than enough money to cover what she would have made and it kept her owner happy. Lorenzo stood up, looked down at the sleeping Naila and resisted the urge to get back into bed with her. He watched as she turned onto her back bringing her small but firm dark tipped breasts into full view. He realized that if he would only allow himself to do it, he could love her as a mate loves his woman but there were so many reasons why he couldn't and wouldn't. "There were reasons that he was ashamed to admit to, things that he would never tell her or anyone else. He pulled his gaze from Naila's breasts and let it wander down to the vee between her legs. She had tasted exceptionally sweet last night and he wanted more of her. Abandoning the thought of leaving money on her table and then slipping out without saying goodbye, he slowly pulled the sheet away from her nude body and looked at her. "This will be the last time." he murmured as he got back into bed with his head facing the foot of it. The scent of their earlier lovemaking assailed his nostrils as he slowly slipped his tongue between her vaginal lips and then stilled. Naila moaned softly and thrust her hips up to meet his waiting tongue. He flicked it once, then once again before using it to press on her clit. "Lorenzo?" she called out not sure if she was dreaming or not. "I'm still here." he said looking up at her and then attacking her clit until she screamed his name. "I love you." she murmured when he was finished. "Don't say that!" Naila sat up and looked at him not understanding his reaction. "Is it because of what I am?" she asked. "No! Baby no." Lorenzo replied hating that he was hurting her. "Then what?" she asked her dark brown eyes filling with tears. "There are things that you don't know about me." Lorenzo replied as he got dressed. "Then tell me." At that moment, he wanted to. He wanted to tell her everything but something stopped him. "I can't." he replied and was gone. When he got home, there were several messages on his answering machine all of them from his brother asking for a return call. Lorenzo closed his eyes and replayed the messages. Maurice sounded the same but different. There was contentment in his voice that hadn't been there the last time they spoke. It had to be because of his mate and child Lorenzo thought to himself. For a brief second he wondered if he could be that content with Naila but pushed the thought away, it did no good to think about things that one couldn't have. He walked away from the phone deciding to call Maurice after he took a shower, changed his clothes and fed. ******** "If she isn't dead then what?" David all but screamed at Maurice. "David, Josephine's daughter Justine is our new Queen." David thought he had misunderstood, Justine their Queen? Impossible! He thought and then remembered the change in Josephine's eyes. It also explained why everyone had been so frantically searching for them. "Are you sure?" David whispered. "Positive." Delgado replied. "Where are you?" "What... I...the queen? Jo is the Queen Mother?" "So it seems but we have to get you here where we can protect the both of you." Maurice replied. David's head spun. His Josephine was the Queen Mother? "David, where are you?" "We're at one of my homes outside of London... Maurice are you positive?" David asked again. "I'm positive but if you need proof, I sent a picture of her daughter as she is now to your phone. Look at it and call me back." David hung up, took out his phone and went to messages. Closing his eyes and then opening them, he opened the pending message. His eyes widened when he saw the picture of a young woman who could have passed as Josephine's sister. The woman in the photo seemed to be staring at him with an accusation in her eyes but he couldn't stop looking at her. He was staring at the photo so intently that he didn't notice that Josephine had come into the office and was staring at him. He looked up just as she reached the desk and closed the phone. "Why are you up so soon?" he asked trying to sound normal. "I couldn't sleep anymore, why are you up?" she asked walking around the desk so that she could sit in his lap. He wasn't ready for this; he wanted time to think about how he was going to tell her about her daughter but then remembered that procrastinating was part of what had caused their current issues. "I couldn't sleep and thought that I would clear my messages while you slept. Jo..." he said and then hesitated, "the messages were from my friend Maurice Delgado." "He's the vampire that helped you look for me." Josephine commented. 'I would like to thank him." "You'll have your chance; I promised that once I found you that we would get together so that you could meet him and his family. He's also the one that I had looking for your daughter." Josephine tensed, sat up straighter in his lap and turned to look at him. David could sense her anxiety as she waited for him to continue. "Jo... she's alive..." Josephine let out a sob of relief along with the breath that she had been holding. "Thank god! Is she all right? Where is she? Is she married? Babies?" Josephine asked. She was asking the questions so quickly that he didn't have a chance to respond until she took a breath. "First, she is well." David assured her. "She is mated..." "Mated? She's married to a vampire?" "Yes." David replied resisting the urge to tell her to let him finish. "Her mate was also human at one time and as of yet there are no children." He paused to give her time to ask questions. "But she's alright? He doesn't hurt her?" Josephine asked. "No love, she's fine and doing well." "What does she do? Jussie always like to read, is she a teacher or a writer?" "She lives in Philadelphia with her mate and she is an attorney..." "When can we go? Can I call her?" Josephine asked excitedly. David couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm and happiness but he still had to tell her who she and Justine were. "Sweetheart, there's more." David said readjusting her on his lap. "I told you that Justine was a lawyer, she is but she's something more just as you are more than you appear to be." Josephine stilled in his lap neither of them noticing that his cock which was usually hard when she sat in his lap was soft. "One of the things that I have been remiss on is telling you about vampire politics. That's because for the most part I try to stay out of it but now that is impossible because of who you and your daughter are. Jo... Justine is our Queen. Remember the night that we went out to celebrate because the new Queen had come into power? It was Justine..." "Justine? But ... but how? She was born human and... we don't have any vampires in our family and..." She was rambling but couldn't stop. David silenced her with a soft kiss on her lips. "I don't know the how's or the why's but there must be someone in your line who was or is vampire. Justine had the gene which lay dormant until it was needed which means that you also had the gene." "So what does this mean?" Josephine asked. "It means that you are also royalty- you are the Queen Mother. That's why your eyes changed; they signify who you are. Justine's eyes have changed too, they are black but the flames surrounding them are red." "David, what are you saying?" Josephine asked her eyes flashing with anxiety. "The red means that Josephine is the Queen of Queens. There will never be another after her unless she dies which simply will not happen. You are the missing piece to making her power absolute which makes it imperative that we keep you safe." Josephine had stopped listening, she didn't care who or what they were she just wanted to see her daughter. "When can we leave?" she asked again. "As soon as I make the arrangements." David replied. Josephine nodded, she was almost numb with relief that her baby was alive and well and that in several hours she would be face to face with her. She had to wonder what she would think. Did she think that she had been abandoned because she wasn't wanted? Josephine hoped that her sister made sure that Justine knew and understood that she would have never willingly left her. Josephine listened as David called Delgado. "We'll be leaving here within three hours time. Yes, I understand that, yes... do you really think that's necessary? Alright, we'll stay put and wait for your call." "What?" Josephine asked. "He wants us to stay here until tonight when he and his guards can get here." David replied. "You have guards." Josephine replied anxious to be gone. "Yes but he wants to be absolutely sure that you will be safe...." "And how do you know that you can trust him or his guards?" Josephine asked. "I trust him because he is Delgado and I would trust him with my life as I trust him with yours. I know that you are anxious to leave but Jo, I agree with him. Every precaution must be taken." Josephine was going to argue but she saw the stubborn set to David's jaw and knew that it would be useless. All she could do now was wait. ******* Maurice hung up and called Justine's private number. "I have spoken to David Sheffield." he said. There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before Justine spoke. "Is she alright? Is he bringing her?" "Yes to both questions but I am sending someone to accompany them back." Maurice replied. "Who?" Maurice told Justine about Gremlin although he really didn't need to. Once she heard the name, the memories of him and his kind manifested. "Good choice, how soon can he leave?" "He will be my next phone call." Maurice replied. "I also planned on going with him." "Good... Keep me posted." she said and hung up. ********* She's coming." Justine said softly, "she's really coming." Her stomach churned with nerves as her mind tried to accept that her mother was alive and that in less than twenty - four hour, she would be seeing her for the first time in more than twenty -five years. Quinn hugged her from behind and kissed her shoulder. He didn't try to settle her, it wouldn't have done any good but he did try to reassure her. "She's going to think that you're gorgeous." he whispered in her ear, "and she would be right." "God Quinn! What do I say to her?" Justine asked. "How about something really simple like hello?" he replied kissing her neck. "All you have to do is be you. Not the queen but a daughter who is going to be reacquainted with her mother and I would bet that she's just as anxious and scared as you are." "We've missed so much because of Jeremiah Mathers. There are things that we'll never be able to make up for like telling her about my first kiss or picking out a dress for the prom... so many things." "That's true." Quinn conceded, "But she'll be here to help you plan our wedding and she'll be here to help you plan the gala." "I know but there's a part of me that is so angry that we were robbed of those other things but it is what it is and I'm just happy that we found her alive and well." Justine said and then hesitated. "What else?" Quinn asked as he looked in the direction of the Jacuzzi and turned it on. "I want her to like you." Justine replied sounding very much like a young girl taking her boyfriend home to meet her parents for the first time. "I hope that she does too but Jussie, this isn't about me. This is all about you and her. If she likes me, great, if not, then oh well. It won't be the first time that mys didn't like me." Justine turned in his arms so that she was facing him. "Have I told you just how amazing you are?" she asked as she kissed his chin. "You may have mentioned it a time or two but I am who I am because of you and you definitely are the better half." he replied as he picked her up and carried her to the waiting Jacuzzi." ******* Word spread through the house like wildfire. "The Queen Mother is coming!" could be heard shouted throughout the house. Even in the basement where Jeremiah was held, it was all that was talked about. Even the guards who rarely spoke to him were free with their information. "When is she coming?" Jeremiah asked his stomach in knots. "We don't know and it's not something that they would tell us." a guard replied. "I'm actually surprised that they told us this much." he added. "Why is that?" Jeremiah asked wanting to keep the guard talking. "Security but then again, the Queen has Maurice Delgado on her security detail now." "Delgado as in the New Orleans Delgado?" Jeremiah asked. "That's him... You know him?" "Only by reputation." Jeremiah replied. "Well anyway, he's setting up the day walker detail for the Queen and is arranging the security for the Queen Mother." Jeremiah asked the guard a few more questions before going to sit on his bed. In as little as twenty-four hours, he would know his fate. ******** If the realm of the queens who have gone before was in a tizzy before, it was in an uproar now. Everyone with the exception of Wilhelmina was ecstatic that Josephine the queen mother had been found. The usually quiet realm hadn't been quiet for weeks and it was driving Wilhelmina crazy. No one was listening to her complaints about the noise and activity and that included Thomas. Thomas had been a fun loving man in his human life and the fun and excitement had finally gotten to him. Unable to resist any longer and risking the wrath of Wilhelmina, he joined in and encouraged her to do the same. "Come Willie! A little gaiety never hurt anyone." Her only response was to glare at him to which he only laughed. Grabbing Lottie's hand, he ran off to join the others leaving Wilhelmina alone with her thoughts. She wondered what changes would occur in the realm and if she would be allowed to stay. She hoped not. She saw the realm as nothing more than a pretty prison that kept her from what she saw as her true calling- to be the queen of queens. She didn't care about what she thought to be pretty fairytales, it didn't matter that everything in those tales had happened down to the finding of the queen mother. She knew that whatever she did, she couldn't go into it haphazardly, and it would take time and planning. The gala would be the best time simply because there would be so much going on and thousands of people in attendance all she would need would be one shot.... Wilhelmina looked up to see Thomas watching her with a curious expression on his face. She remembered that she would have to watch him; he was far too intuitive for his own good. She wondered not for the first time if it was possible to get rid of him. He was too weak for her and incapable of doing what needed to be done. As always, he turned away first and went back to what had turned into a full-scale party with music and dancing. ******** The hours moved slowly. Every five minutes Josephine would look at the clock. It would be another hour before they were on David's jet and on their way to Philadelphia. She was so anxious that the thought of food nauseated her. David held her in his lap and talked about anything that came to mind to calm not only her nerves, but his as well. He had no illusions about what Justine's reaction to him would be. She was going to be furious and he couldn't say that he blamed her. He glanced over at Gremlin who was looking straight ahead and then at Maurice who was sitting across from them talking on the phone to Jon and then to Mikhail who sat toward the very front of the jet. He listened to the conversation that Maurice was having with Jon with interest. "Are you taking good care of mommy?" Maurice asked and then laughed, apparently Jon had said something funny. David looked away realizing that he had never really wanted children but that one little snippet of conversation had started him thinking about it. Josephine was still young in human years and they could conceivably have dozens of children if the fates allowed it. First, he had to get through the meeting with his stepdaughter. He stopped himself; Justine was and always had been his daughter because she was the child of his mate. It didn't matter that she didn't come from his loins, she was a part of Josephine and Josephine was his. A different sort of guilt hit him. Not only had he denied Josephine and Justine the joy of being together, he had denied himself the joy of seeing their child grow up to become what she was. Gently he moved Josephine to the seat next to him and went back into the small bedroom that was located in the back of the jet. He sat on the bed, placed his head in his hands and cried. It had finally hit home about how selfish he had really been. There was no escaping the fact that his initial choices were to keep Josephine safe but that the choices afterwards were based almost entirely on selfishness and lack of trust. He looked up when he heard a tap on the door. "May I come in?" Delgado asked through a crack in the door. David quickly wiped his face and invited Maurice in. "How are you doing?" he asked as he leaned against the door. "I feel like shit." David replied. "It wasn't until I heard you talking to your son that I fully realized what I've done. I didn't just deprive Jo the joy of raising her daughter and Justine the joy if knowing her mother; I deprived myself of the joy of watching her grow into the woman that she is. Maurice, in effect I denied my own child and I only just now understand that." Maurice didn't say anything as David talked more to himself than to him. Finally, David looked up at him. "What do you suppose she'll say to me?" Maurice sat on the bed next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I can't answer that but what I can tell you is that while she might be angry, she's fair. Don't lie to her or make excuses because I promise you she'll see right through it and no good will come of it whether you are the mate to her mother or not. Tell her what you told me and you can't go wrong. What she will do I can't say but David I cannot stress this enough, do not make excuses and whatever you do, don't lie. The two things that she respects is honesty and the courage to admit to doing wrong." Justine Ch. 17 David nodded his thanks and stood up. He looked down at Maurice and gave him a weak smile. "Did I ever tell you that when I grow up that I want to be just like you?" Maurice stared at him and burst out laughing, "Oh shut up and go tend to your mate who by the way is quite lovely." Josephine looked at David as he sat down next to her and took her back into his lap. "I'm alright." he assured her as he kissed her cheek. ******* The countdown had begun. Justine paced from one end of the huge house to the other with Quinn pacing with her. He had given up on trying to settle her down and simply walked with her with an arm around her waist. The closer to the time of Josephine's arrival came, the more anxious Justine got. Quinn drew the line when she started snapping at people. "Our room now." he said not giving her the option to refuse. "I'm not...." "Yes we are." Quinn said picking her up and carrying her away. "Take a deep breath." he told when they were alone. "Take another one." he urged and then hugged her. "I'm better. Thanks." she mumbled into his shoulder. "I have an idea... come on." Quinn said taking her hand and leading her out of their room. "Where are we going?" she asked. "You'll see." he replied as he whipped out his cell phone, said a few words and then hung up. By the time they reached their destination, Justine was so curious that her nervousness was temporarily forgotten. Along the way, Buddy jumped out at her excited to see his mistress again. Justine knelt before him and hugged him allowing some of her tension to flow into him. The destination was the indoor garden where the picnic table was set with paper bowls, napkins and plastic eating utensils. Violet came out pushing a cart that contained several kinds of ice cream and every topping imaginable with Edward following with a cart filled with beverages. "Quinn, what is this?" Justine asked. "It's called circling the wagons." he replied. "We're all going to eat ice cream until we're sick and wait here with you. I think that you kind of forgot that you're not alone in this so I'm just trying to remind you that we're here for you." "I don't know what to say." Justine said looking around at the people who had become her closest friends and family. "You have all gone so far above and beyond duty that thank you doesn't seem adequate, but it's all that I can say." "How about this?" Edward asked, "Dig in!" Justine wiped a tear from her face realizing that whatever happened or didn't happen with her mother, she still had a family. ********* Josephine's hands felt like ice in David's much bigger and warmer one. In her mind, she rehearsed what she wanted to say to Justine when she saw her and none of it sounded right. As the plane descended, Josephine's heart raced and she was sure that she was going to throw up the blood that David had encouraged her to drink. A few minutes later, she was in the bathroom kneeling in front of the small toilet throwing up. David knelt behind her holding an icepack to the nape of her neck with one hand and holding her hair back from her face with the other. When she was through, he helped her up, poured a small amount of mouthwash into a cup and offered it to her. "I'm sorry." she said as she took the small cup from him. "You have nothing to apologize for." he assured her as he held her steady. Thirty minutes later, they were taxiing down the runway of the Philadelphia International Airport. Gremlin and Maurice got off first to make sure that the rest of the security detail was in place and that the car was out front. "We're all set." Maurice said when he got back on the plane. David put Josephine on her feet and hugged her before taking her hand and leading her from the plane. As she walked off the plane, Josephine felt as if she had entered a foreign land. In a way she had, the airport looked nothing like it did when she disappeared. She wondered how many malls had gone up, what her old neighborhood looked like and if the nursing home was still in operation. She thought of anything and everything to keep the nausea and the fluttering of her heart under control. In two hours, she would be face to face with her daughter. ********* Lorenzo leaned back against the car smoking a cigarette. He looked completely at ease but he was anything but. He couldn't believe that he had let Maurice con him into being the driver for the queen mother. Once he agreed, he had to meet with the queen herself and he counted that as one of the most harrowing experiences that he had ever had and hoped not to repeat it anytime soon. His stomach twisted as he remembered her poking around in his head, heart and soul. He was certain that with the things that were hidden there that she would have turned him away. Instead, she had managed to relieve him of some of the guilt that she told him was misplaced. "It wasn't all you fault." she told him when she was done poking around. "While it's true that you played a part in the death of those people, you were misled and there was nothing that you could have done to save them. She had already decided their fates." "I should have known." he told her, "Maurice tried to warn me but I wouldn't listen." "Lorenzo," Justine said softly, "You're taking on more guilt than you need to. Yes, you should have listened but you didn't. That's something that you will always have to live with but you tried to save them once you realized what was happening and you did manage to save four of them." "What's four out of thirty?" he shot back forgetting that he was addressing the queen. "Four that lived to have children," Justine said kindly, "and their children had children. The lines of the four that you saved live on and they have remained friends to us. As of this moment, I am absolving you of your part in what happened that night. I'm also accepting Maurice's recommendation that you be a part of the day guard detail pending the approval of the others." A few short minutes later, Lorenzo Delgado was officially a member of the Queen's court. Even now as he thought about it, it didn't seem real. However, it was. That day he had the most peaceful rest that he had had in centuries. He hadn't been aware of just how heavy a weight his guilt had been. After meeting with Justine, he met with Maurice. He knew what Maurice thought of him and hadn't done anything to correct it because it was how he saw himself. The meeting was tense at first but gradually the tension eased as Lorenzo finally told Maurice the whole story. "Why didn't you come to me?" Maurice asked. Lorenzo shrugged, "what was I supposed to say?" he asked. "Was I supposed to tell you that I helped round up thirty humans for the Queen?" "But you didn't know..." "I should have! I should have listened to you but I was so fucking full of myself because the Queen asked me to help her and she didn't ask you. Twenty-six people died because I did what she asked without questioning it. Twenty-six! It doesn't matter that I saved four... None of them should have died." Maurice listened to Lorenzo and felt his guilt even though Justine had absolved him. "I can't tell you that I understand how you feel, I can only imagine it." Maurice said. "But Lorenzo, the Queen is right and she's given you a gift and it's up to you whether you accept it and the place on her court that was offered to you. I also want you to know that I am glad to know the truth and that I wish that you had come to me long before this." Lorenzo pushed the conversation from his mind and stood up. He looked around extending his senses, searching for trouble. While he wasn't blessed with all of the gifts that Maurice had, he was very talented with the ones he had. He closed his eyes and listened to the conversations around him making sure that no mention of the queen or the queen mother was happening. He stiffened slightly when an elderly couple walked a little too closely by the car. He sniffed the air and recognized them as beings other than vampire but not human. "We're coming out." he heard telepathically. "I'm ready." he replied in kind as he looked around again. Fifteen minutes later, Maurice came out of the airport in front of a couple who were flanked on either side by two huge vampires and were followed by a large greenish colored vampire. Mikhail was inside gathering their belongings; he would meet them at the house. As soon as Lorenzo saw them come out, he opened the back door to the car and waited. Maurice got in first followed by the woman and then the vampire who was her mate. Gremlin got into the front seat while the other two vampires walked away and vanished when they reached a corner. "Are you ready?" Maurice asked Josephine. ********** "How soon?" Justine asked as she rubbed Buddy's head. "An hour? Alright just get her here safely." She told Maurice. Justine wiped her sweaty palms on her legs of her sweat suit. One hour. One more hour and her mother would arrive. "Jussie? You ok?" Quinn asked. "I'm scared as hell but ok." she replied honestly. "Just remember to be your sweet sometimes hardheaded self and you're going to be fine." Quinn said. ******** Josephine peered through the darkened windows holding on to David's hand. "So much change." she whispered as they sped away from the airport toward where Justine was waiting for her. She wanted to vomit again but there was nothing left in her stomach to vomit. David pulled her into his arms and kissed her head ignoring his own nervousness. "It's going to be fine, you'll see." he told her. After what seemed to be an eternity, Lorenzo pulled up to a gate. Three large vampires appeared and stopped them. One stood in front of the car and one on either side of it. "State your business." the one on the driver's side said to Lorenzo. Lorenzo gave his name as well as the names of everyone in the car. "Wait here." he said gruffly. When he walked away, another guard took his place. Several minutes later, he returned and dropped to his knees. "Welcome Queen Mother." he said. The gruffness in his voice was replaced with reverence and awe. The other guards followed suit and remained frozen in place. "They're waiting for you to tell them that they can rise." David murmured to her. "What? Oh! You can get up." Josephine said a little self-consciously. As one, the vampires rose and peered into the car to get their first look at the queen mother. Josephine's nails dug into David's hand as the car approached the house. The closer they got to the house, the more they felt their gifts leave them. "Don't worry, once it is determined that we are who we say we are our gifts will return." Maurice assured them. Josephine wasn't listening and could have cared less if she ever got her gifts back; she only wanted to see her child. "Please stay in the car until we say otherwise." Gremlin said when the car finally came to a stop in front of the house. Josephine reached for the door handle but David stopped her. "No love, just a few minutes more." Josephine swallowed the lump that had been forming in her throat ever since they passed through the gate and put her hand back into David's holding it tightly. Finally, Gremlin came back to the car and opened the back door. ********** Justine was almost hyperventilating. She was the one who had answered the phone when the guard at the front gate called. "Let them pass." she said with a voice so shaky that she didn't recognize it as her own. After all that she had been through her wasn't nearly as nervous as she was now. It was time. Quinn stood behind her with his arms around her as she stood in the foyer. He tightened his hold when he heard several footsteps approach the front door. "Breathe baby." he whispered in her ear and then telepathically called for Buddy. The dog entered the room silently and sat on the floor next to Justine pressing his body close to hers taking away some of the anxiety. Justine had a death grip on one of Buddy's ear but he didn't whine or object but instead moved closer pressing his body against her legs. Slowly the door opened and Maurice walked in. A few second's later, Josephine Graves Sheffield walked into the room. Time stopped as the two women, mother and daughter looked at each other for the first time for more than twenty-five years. Josephine looked at the woman who was a stranger but wasn't with tears flowing down her cheeks. She had always imagined that Justine would grow up to be a beautiful woman who would do great things but the woman standing in front of her was beyond beautiful with her black eyes surrounded by dancing red flames- she was exquisite. She choked back a sob as she remembered the last time that she saw Justine and all of the time lost. For just a brief second, anger at David flared but was gone before it took root. What mattered now was that she was here. Justine's grip on Buddy's ear tightened as Quinn's hold on her tightened. She took in the appearance of her mother thinking that this all had to be a dream. She was afraid that when she woke up, she would be in bed with Quinn and their night would go on as usual. She was brought back to the present by the nudge of Buddy's head against her leg and Quinn's soft kiss on her neck. "Baby go to her." Quinn urged with another kiss. Justine turned to look at him with tears of uncertainty in her eyes. "Go on, she's waiting for you." he whispered. "Come with me?" Justine asked softly. "This is your time but I'm right here so go see your mom." Quinn replied. "I love you now get going; you've waited for this for a long time." Justine turned around, touched Buddy's head and took the first step toward her mother. Josephine watched as Quinn talked with Justine and waited. For what? She didn't know. She felt David pressed against her and planting soft kisses on her head. "Go to her." he murmured. Slowly he loosened his hold on her and gave her a gentle shove. "Go." Slowly mother and daughter made their way to each other stopping when they were about a foot apart. They looked at each other from head to toe neither of them knowing what to say. Josephine spoke first. "Jussie?" Justine couldn't speak but nodded as she closed the distance between her and Josephine and wrapped her arms around her. Neither woman spoke but sobs filled the foyer as they held each other. Justine felt a sense of completeness that had nothing to do with Quinn; she needed her mother. Josephine felt the same sense of being complete as she hugged Justine even tighter. "This is my baby." Josephine thought as she cried tears of relief thanking god that Justine was well. David watched the scene with a mixture of emotions. Anger at himself, happiness because his mate was happy, sadness because it had taken so long, anxiety because it was clear that Justine was the most powerful being ever in spite of her tears and he still had to face her. He looked over at the male whom he assumed to be the King and wondered what he was like and how big a part he would play in deciding his punishment if there was any. He started when Quinn's green eyes landed on his the green around them flickering indicating how angry he was. Not knowing what else to do, David bowed his head deferentially and then looked away. He realized that he was really in trouble and that the only thing that was going to save him was begging for mercy and that Josephine was his mate. It was then that he knew that he would have to face both Justine and Quinn and he had neglected to ask Delgado about the King. "The same applies to him." Delgado whispered from behind him, "Don't lie and you'll be fine." he added. After several minutes, Justine stepped back and looked at Josephine, stepped forward and hugged her again. Josephine ran her hands through Justine's hair remembering how she used to hate having it combed. She could even remember the scent of the off brand baby shampoo and conditioner that she used to wash it with. "I'm so glad that you're safe." she murmured into Justine's ear. "I'm so sorry that I didn't listen to you! I would have never left you like that." "I know and it's alright. We'll talk about that later, I'm just glad that you're here." Justine said slowly going back into the role of queen. There would be time for more emotional release later. She stepped back from her mother and took her hands in hers. "I want to thank everyone who helped look for my mom and made sure that she got here safely. Maurice, would you let Mikhail know that he can shut down the phone and internet lines as soon as possible? Also, Zoe can pay out any reward money to those who earned it." "Yes my Queen." Maurice said with a bow. Justine looked at David while speaking to her mother. "This is your mate?" "Yes, his name is David Sheffield. Is that young man your mate?" Josephine asked looking over at Quinn. Justine's expression softened when she looked back at Quinn. "That's Quinn; he is my mate and king. He was the first to question if you were really dead." She held out her hand toward Quinn and waited until he reached her before she spoke again. "I wish that we could have done this the normal way but mom, this is Quinn O'Dell my mate and my King. Quinn, this is my mom Josephine." "I'm glad to meet you." he said taking Josephine's hand and kissing the back of it. "Welcome." Josephine looked back at David and nodded at him indicating that he should join them. "Jussie, Quinn, this is my mate and the man who saved my life the night that I was taken from you." Quinn and Justine looked at each other and then at Josephine. ****** Jeremiah knew without being told the instant Josephine stepped into the house. He felt it as he was sure every vampire in the world felt it. There was a subtle shift in the atmosphere signaling that Justine and Quinn's power was now complete. All of the parts of the legend were now complete. There was nothing for him to but to serve his sentence and wait for Josephine to pronounce his sentence. ******* The party in the realm of the queens that have gone before grew even more rambunctious when the subtle power surge was felt. For many it was a freeing moment- the chances that they would be called upon to serve as queen again had just gone to zero. For others it was a reason to have fun and plan for the gala. For Wilhelmina it signaled the end of a dream that if she still wanted it, she would have to initiate drastic measures to make it happen. She didn't quite believe the entire story and felt that there had to be a loophole of some kind. The one thing in her favor was that the gala wouldn't happen for some time yet... She could have as long as a year or as little as a few months to form some kind of plan. She watched the celebrants, Thomas among them with undisguised hatred and disgust. She rose from her chair in the corner and went to their quarters, locked the door and sat down at her desk. It was time to start calling in some favors. Justine Ch. 18 "Saved your life?" Justine asked. "Yes saved my life." Josephine confirmed. David didn't say anything but kept Josephine's hand in his. He had known at some point the subject would come up but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. Justine looked at David and then her mother and made a decision. "We'll talk about that later." she said. "The important thing is that you're here." David let out a silent sigh of relief. He needed time to regroup from his brief brush with true power. Justine was dangerous and so was the King for that matter. He was just wondering what the plan was for the rest of the evening when Quinn spoke. "Our wives have a lot of catching up to do so that gives us time to talk." David nodded, he knew exactly what the talk was about but he also knew that Quinn would wait before meting out any punishments. He almost wished that Quinn would wait until Justine was with him so that he would only have to tell the story once but then he understood. Part of the catching up that Josephine and Justine would do included her time with him. Quinn was acting as Justine's equal and was well within his rights to question him. "Are you hungry?" Justine asked still holding Josephine's hand as if she were going to disappear. "No, I don't think that I can eat yet." Josephine replied, "I want to hear all about you- You are so beautiful!" "You both are beautiful." Quinn said his eyes warming when he looked at Justine and her mother. He was amazed at the likeness of the two women who looked like sisters instead of mother and daughter. What he found odd was that in human years, Justine was the older of the two since she was thirty-three when she was changed and her mother twenty-eight when she was taken. He looked over at David and could tell that he was nervous but not exactly scared. He made no effort to put the much older vampire at ease and wouldn't until they talked. He followed Justine and her mother into the sitting room, kissed Justine telling her that he would see her later and left the room. David kissed Josephine, caressed her face and followed Quinn out. Once outside of the room, the two men assessed each other. David found himself almost mesmerized by the green flames that danced around Quinn's eyes. "Follow me." Quinn said walking away. David hurried to catch up with him and followed him through the house not daring to ask where they were going. They ended up in the large indoor garden not far from where not long ago; he, Justine and the others anxiously awaited the arrival of the Queen Mother. "Have a seat." Quinn said as he sat a picnic table. David sat down across from Quinn and placed his hands on the table. He braced himself for the onslaught of questions and got ready to explain himself. "Tell me about yourself." Quinn said. "Excuse me?" David asked. "Tell me about yourself- how old you are, things like that." "I..." "Okay... look, take a deep breath and calm down." Quinn said. "I'm not going to tell you that I'm not pissed but I'm not going to hurt you either. All I want for the moment is for you to tell me about yourself. Can you do that?" Something in Quinn's tone made David square his shoulders. He was David Sheffield one of the biggest industrialists in Europe and he hadn't gotten there by allowing himself to be intimidated. His eyes blazed as he returned Quinn's assessing stare. "Loo...." "Ahh there you are." Quinn said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "That's much better... the meek, nervous thing doesn't work for you. Now, let's get this party started shall we?" David's mouth dropped open, he had been baited and he took it hook, line and sinker. He had to wonder what Quinn did for a living in his human life. "As you know, my name is David Sheffield. Josephine and I are only recently mated although we have been together for more than twenty-five years. I am the sole owner of Sheffield enterprises a company that I started in the 1800s." "So you were turned is that it?" Quinn asked. David wondered what Quinn was up to, it was obvious that he knew his background. "Yes, that would be correct." David replied. "Why does any of this matter? What you really want to know is why I kept Josephine from her daughter." In spite of everything Quinn found himself liking David, he had balls to talk to him as he just did. "You're right, I do want to know those things but I also like knowing about people. I want to know what it was that made you make the decisions that you did- now talk." David blinked, no one had ever ordered him to do anything, he did the ordering. He almost forgot who he was talking to but quickly remembered when he saw the cool flames in Quinn's eyes begin to heat up. He started with his childhood and ended with the night he was turned. "Her cousin helped me through the transition." he concluded. Quinn didn't speak for a long time. "She's dead isn't she? Sylvia I mean." Quinn said. "Yes she's dead and I know what you're doing. You're letting me know that I can't lie because you would know so lets as you said, get this party started." "Alright," Quinn said smoothly, "Why did you keep Josephine away from Justine?" ******** Justine held Josephine's hands as she told her about the night that she was taken. "I was so sure that you were just trying to get me to stay home. I thought that if I gave in once that I would be setting a precedent. It never crossed my mind that you were trying to warn me... The thing is I almost turned around. You had never acted like that before, I should have known." "How could you? You made a decision based on something that was entirely possible. I would have made the same decision." Justine replied. "You have to know that I would have never willingly left you." Josephine said crying. "I tried to fight him but I couldn't. Even when we were driving to his house, I tried to fight him. When we got there, there was a woman there. I looked at her and willed her to help me but she turned away-maybe she was one of his victims, I don't know but when he took me to a bedroom, I woke up. I can't explain it any clearer than that and I started throwing things at him. I only know this because of David, he didn't want me to remember but I needed to." "When did he know about me?" Justine asked. "He finally found out who I was about five years after he found me." "He knew about me and he didn't tell you." Justine said softly. She could have allowed herself access to all of her mother's memories but she didn't because it wouldn't have helped either of them and they needed to mourn the loss of time. "No, at first he didn't try to find out who I was because he didn't know who had done this to me or if they were still looking for me. I don't know why he finally decided to find out my true identity, that's something that you'll have to ask him about." "I plan on it." Justine said. "I can understand why you didn't remember anything at the beginning, but what about later?" Josephine hesitated but then answered the question. "David kept my memories from me. He..." "He did what?" Justine asked shocked. "Justine listen to me.... At first, it was to protect me. Later and he will admit to this, it was out of fear and mistrust..." "Fear? What could he possibly been afraid of?" Justine demanded and then softened her voice. "I'm sorry; I don't understand how he could have kept us apart like that." Josephine stroked Justine's face and continued. "I know and I was angry too but I think that he should be the one to explain his actions. Will you do something for me? Will you at least hear him out?" "You love him don't you?" Justine asked. Josephine gave her a small smile, "yes but as I told him, that doesn't and didn't change the fact that I was angry, hurt and felt betrayed." "Have you forgiven him?" Justine asked. "Yes but I don't think I realized that I loved him until I was kidnapped. While I was being held, the only things that I could think about was getting out of there so that I could find you and fix things with David. Don't get me wrong, I was angry and I still am to some degree but it won't get those years back but we have the future." Justine listened to her mother's words and agreed that she was right on a number of points but she still wanted to talk to David. Him she would probe for lies and deceit, as she was sure Quinn was doing. "Tell me about you." Josephine said, "When did your grandmother and aunt die?" "After you disappeared, gramma looked for you. So did daddy and everyone who knew you. It was as if you just vanished from the face of the earth. The people at the nursing home remembered seeing you leave and assumed that you made it home ok. Gramma and Auntie hung pictures of you anywhere they were allowed to and after a few months' people lost interests. The thing is, gramma never lost faith, she always maintained to her dying day that you were alive somewhere and that you'd be back. She died two years after you disappeared. Auntie kept looking for you. She called the police everyday looking for updates until they stopped calling her back and then she would go down there demanding to know what progress was being made. She got a job offer in New Jersey so we moved and we lived there until she died from a heart attack. I missed her so much! I can still hear her telling this boy or another to go away because I had to study." "Did she ever meet anyone special?" Josephine asked. "Not really." Justine replied. "She put all of her energy into finding you and raising me... she never gave up either. She made sure that I understood that you wouldn't have just left us for any reason. She told me every night how much you loved me and of the plans that you made for us. I can only hope that I've become a little of what you wanted me to be." "Jussie... look at me." Josephine said softly. "When I first saw you after all of this time my first thought was that you were and are exquisite. There is no way that I can be and am disappointed in you; you have exceeded anything that I ever wanted for you. I'm only sorry that I wasn't around to see your accomplishments but what's important is that I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. So tell me about Quinn." she said changing the subject. The next hour was spent with Justine telling Josephine about Quinn and how they met. "Persistent wasn't he?" Josephine asked. "More like a pain in the ass." Justine replied laughing and then turning serious. "You know that I have to talk to David don't you?" "Yes I know but Jussie... hear him out and I think that if I can find my way to forgive him then you can too. I'm not saying don't be angry or not to tell him how you feel but just listen to him before you make any decisions." "I can and will do that." Justine promised. "I have something else to tell you. The vampire that took you away from me is here." "What do you mean?" Josephine asked. "I mean I... we captured him but at the time we didn't know that it was him that took you. He's in a cell downstairs." "Why is he here?" Josephine asked. She listened as Justine told her about Jeremiah and Malcolm Mathers. "Malcolm is dead by order of his uncle. I've been allowing any of his victim's access to him to do to him what they will with the exception of killing him. Once we started looking for you, I told him that I would allow you to have the final say as to what happens to him." "Me? Why me?" Josephine asked. "Because you are the Queen Mother and he has harmed you. That he didn't know who you were is immaterial and he's hurt thousands of other women. There's no rush for you to decide, he isn't going anywhere and there are plenty of victims who would still like to see him." Josephine sat silent for a long time before she spoke. "I want to see him." ********** Quinn listened to David without interrupting and when he was finished, he didn't say anything. He had heard all that he needed to hear now he would wait for Justine to talk to him and he wanted David to squirm a little longer. David waited for Quinn to say something and then realized that he wasn't going to say anything. "Let me show you around." Quinn said. He stood up fully expecting David to follow him and walked away. David didn't move for several seconds only moving when he saw Quinn vanish around a corner. He caught up with him easily and walked beside him. "Your rooms are just ahead." Quinn said. "If you need anything you only have to ask for it." "Thank you, a question if I may." David replied. "Shoot." "Do you know who hurt Josephine?" David asked. "That wasn't the question that I was expecting." Quinn said, "But the answer is yes and she wasn't the only one." David listened in horrified shock as Quinn told him about Jeremiah. "Does he live?" David asked. "Yes he's alive." Quinn replied liking the fact that not once did David ask about what was going to happen to him but was thinking about Josephine. "Do you know where he is?" "Why?" Quinn asked as he stopped at the door. "I want him dead." was David's quiet reply. "Believe me when I tell you that I understand and agree." Quinn replied. "But you can't kill him, not yet at least..." "Why is the bastard still alive?" David asked cutting Quinn off. "Because Justine made a promise to his victims." Quinn replied. David froze, "Are you saying that Jo can see him?" he asked. "I forbid it!" he exclaimed. "You, my friend aren't in a position to forbid anything." Quinn said dryly. "It's up to Josephine whether she wants to see him or not." "Then I'm going with her." David replied. "Again, that isn't up to you." Quinn replied. "In case you've forgotten, you haven't talked to Justine yet." "So?" David asked the irritation evident in his voice. "What's that have to do with anything? Jo is my mate and I won't allow her to face that fucker alone!" Quinn looked at David with approval. It was obvious that he loved Josephine and it was just as obvious that if given the chance, he would kill Jeremiah no matter what anyone said. "David, I'm giving you a direct order, stay away from the cellar. If you should happen to see Jeremiah, you will not speak to or approach him. Is that clear?" He wanted to say no. He wanted to tell Quinn that he could go to hell but reason won out. He had no real power here and couldn't kill Jeremiah anyway but there had to be a reason for the warning. "I understand my king." David said his voice barely concealing his anger. Quinn gave David a long hard look. "I mean it. Don't disobey me." David looked into Quinn's green eyes which were now a hard green." "You have my word." he whispered. ******** Jeremiah paced his cell anxiously jumping at every sound wondering when Josephine would be brought to see him. "You really should relax." Pam said from behind him making him yelp in surprise. "Did you come just to torment me?" Jeremiah asked. "As fun as you make that sound, the answer is no." "Alright, I give, what do you want." Jeremiah asked wearily. "You really are no fun!" Pam pouted, "Ok fine... you're getting a visitor but not until tomorrow." "You did come to torment me." Jeremiah whispered. "Is it her?" "The Queen Mother? Give that man a booby prize! Rest well! She quipped knowing that he wouldn't and disappeared. He sat on the floor of his cell suddenly weak with nerves. "What in the fuck am I supposed to say to her?" he asked himself. ********* Lorenzo left the house in good spirits. It felt good to be out of the shadows and to be doing something worthwhile. He and Maurice had spoken briefly after Josephine and David were safely in the house. "I think that it's about time that you meet your sister and nephew as well as other additions to the family." The invitation had come as a surprise to Lorenzo and he admitted as much. "Lorenzo, you explained yourself to me." Maurice said. "And you have the total acceptance of the Queen but even without that, all you had to do was come to me." "And you would have accepted me just like that?" Lorenzo asked not quite believing it. "I would have if you would have given me the chance." Maurice replied. "The Queen and her mother aren't the only ones who lost time together." Lorenzo nodded, "Let me know when but at the moment I have someplace to be." A few minutes later, he was at the club where Naila worked as a dancer/hooker. He walked into the dimly lit building where the air was hazy from all of the cigarette smoke and other things. He stood at the doorway scanning the room for her, listening for her voice. He looked up at the stage where there were naked women and men dancing to music that was much too loud hoping to see her there. When he didn't see her he began to walk through the club tuning out everything listening for the sound of her voice. "Lorenzo! You look for Naila?" Anthony the bar keeper on duty asked. "Yeah, where is she?" Lorenzo asked. "She's not here.' "Not here? She's supposed to be working tonight." Lorenzo replied. "Well, she is working." Anthony replied, "Just not here." Lorenzo quickly lost patience, leaned over the bar, and grabbed Anthony by his shirt. "Where is she?" "Alright! Just chill out and I'll tell you! Norm sent her to a private party...." "What the fuck? She doesn't do those!" Lorenzo shouted. "One of the girls bailed and he sent Naila. He even paid her a bonus." "Where's the party?" Lorenzo asked. "Come on, you know that I can't tell you that!" Anthony protested. Lorenzo pulled Anthony over the bar and put his face in his. "Where is the mother fucking party?" he demanded, his dark eyes flashing. "Norm's gonna kill me!" "I really don't give a shit, where's the damn party?" "Out by Malvern..." "Give me the address or I tear your head off!" Seconds later Lorenzo was headed toward the suburbs of Malvern, Pennsylvania. As he traveled through the air, he realized that he should have stopped Naila from working a long time ago. He hadn't said anything because he felt that he had no right to tell her what she could and couldn't do if he wasn't going to claim her. He increased his speed hoping that nothing had happened to her. He found the house with no problem. The sounds of male laughter and moans mixed with those of females filled the air. He stood in front of the house listening for Naila's distinctive giggle. He told her once that it reminded him of twittering birds and now he listened for it. He walked around the house, looked over the fence and saw a few of the girls from the club but not Naila. A feeling of dread filled his gut as he remembered some of the stories Naila had told him about some of these parties. He had made her promise never to do one of the parties even if she was fired because of her refusal. He continued his search blocking out all other sounds so that he could hear Naila. He had just made it to the other side of the house when he heard it. "Please... no more." Naila. Her voice sounded hoarse, weak and as if she was in pain. "You'll do as I say and you'll like it!" a male voice bellowed. Then she screamed. Lorenzo burst into the house and followed the sounds of Naila's pain filled sobs. He got there just as the man was ready to strike her naked body with a whip. Lorenzo saw red, flew across the room and stopped the whip just before it touched her bloodied back. "What the fuck?" The man yelled. Lorenzo grabbed the man and threw him against the nearest wall not caring whether he killed him or not. He went over to Naila and called her name. "Naila? Sweetheart it me Lorenzo." "L...Lorenzo? You're here?" She asked weakly. "Yes baby I'm here and I'm going to take you home. Look at me." Justine Ch. 18 When she did, his rage flared again. Her face was swollen and bleeding from the beating that the man had given her. "Oh my god... baby sleep." He covered her with an afghan that was lying on the end of the sofa and made sure that she was asleep. He walked over to the unconscious man who had somehow managed to hold onto the whip. Lorenzo looked at him with a mixture of hatred and rage and broke his neck. He went back to Naila and picked her up as gently as he could grimacing when she moaned. "I'm sorry." he murmured as he took to the air with her held closely to his chest. What she needed was a hospital but he didn't trust them. She would have to explain her injuries and he would have to explain how he came to find her. As it was, he was going to take heat for killing the human male but he didn't care. He would take whatever punishment the queen dished out, his one and only concern was Naila. Fifteen minutes later, he was standing at Maurice's front door waiting for someone to answer. ******** If Wilhelmina thought that things were loud before Josephine was found, she was wrong. The music and laughter only increased to the point where people were shouting to make themselves heard. Everyone, Thomas included ignored her complaints as the party continued. So far, she hadn't been able to reach any of her contacts and she was irate. That irritation was turning into concern as the stories about the Queen's prisons started making their way into the realm. "I heard that she's appointing people to hear cases all over the world." Someone said. "I heard that too." was the reply, "and I hear that she's going after everyone on the list that Violet gave her." Wilhelmina's ears perked up. If what she just heard was correct, it would explain why she hadn't been able to reach anyone. They were either in prison or in hiding. "Damn it!" she cursed angrily as she stomped off to her suite no longer caring if Thomas and Lottie followed her. They were now obstacles that needed to be kept out of the way. At some point, she would have to decide what to do about them. That Thomas cared for the petite servant was obvious. That he hadn't acted on it was commendable but as far as she was concerned stupid. All he had to do was ask for a permanent dissolution of their mating and him and the little bitch could have gone on their way. She could have just as easily let him go but why should she? It wasn't her way to give things that weren't asked for especially if it wasn't beneficial to her in some way. If she released them, they would be out of her hair. It was worth considering. She wondered how long she had to make plans now that the Queen Mother was back. Even if they rushed, the gala wouldn't take place for at least six months but from what she knew of the new Queen, she would probably have a year if not longer. She sat at her desk, drummed her fingers along the surface and wondered what her next step should be. She couldn't take any more chances with trying to reach her contacts. For all she knew they could have been interrogated and told everything they knew. She tried to think of anyone in the realm who might be of use to her but could think of no one. She hadn't exactly endeared herself to anyone and she knew that Thomas was out of the question unless... a smile began to play on her lips as the very beginnings of a plan began to form. ****** Thomas watched Wilhelmina from across the room. One word came to mind-trouble. He wondered what she was up to and what part in it he would have to play. Whatever it was, he would have to do his best to protect not only himself but also Lottie. In a sudden flash of intuition, he knew that Lottie was going to be an integral part of whatever was going to happen. He looked over at the petite brown-haired woman who was laughing as if she hadn't a care in the world. He had rarely seen this side of her as Wilhelmina was a stern mistress. As he watched and listened to her, he began to wonder if there wasn't a way to get her out of the realm. The mention of Wilhelmina's name pulled him back to reality. "I wonder how she's taking it?" the voice asked. "We all know that she wanted to be the Queen of Queens." "She isn't here is she?" Someone asked. "What does that tell you?" Thomas knew that he should say something in Wilhelmina's defense, but what could he say? His mate had made her views known from the moment they arrived and had tried to run the Realm as though it were her own personal kingdom. Several of the much older and stronger queens had put an end to that not long after they arrived. "You had your chance to rule." Antonia a tall svelte French queen told her. "And as the humans would say, you fucked it up." "You can't talk to me like that!" Wilhelmina replied. "I can and I will." Antonia replied. "In case you have forgotten, I am one of the oldest and most powerful ones here. Now, back to what I was saying. This is not your personal kingdom, it belongs to all of us and if there were a designated queen, it sure as hell wouldn't be you. Like it or not, the current ruling queen is our queen so I would suggest that you behave yourself like a good little girl." Francesca, a small dark skinned Spanish queen spoke next. "I concur with Antonia." she said. "The best thing that you can do is to sit back and stop trying to control things. If you cannot..." "Thomas? I apologize for speaking about your mate as I just did." Thomas looked over to see Hanna who had been from what was now considered the Deep South. "It's fine, I know how the others feel about her." he replied quietly. "I know but still, it was rude of me to talk about her like that. May I ask a question?" "Of course." Thomas replied. He had always liked Hanna and her wicked sense of humor. "How is it that you're here?" she asked. "Willie has never permitted you to attend any other social events." He had been wondering the same thing but did not say it. Instead, he came up with another response. "I know but I guess she sees this as a special event." Hanna gave him a dubious look and then smiled. "Whatever the reason, I'm glad that you and Lottie are here." Thomas smiled back at her. He liked the use of his and Lottie's name in the same sentence. He glanced over and saw Lottie talking to someone else. The conviction that he had to get her out of the realm returned even stronger than before. It was time for him to call in a few favors of his own. ******** It seemed like an eternity before the front door of Maurice's house opened. "Lorenzo?" Maurice asked clearly surprised to see him. His gaze went from Lorenzo's face to the face of the woman that he held in his arms. "Come in." Maurice said as he stepped back to let Lorenzo in. "Follow me." Lorenzo followed Maurice to a bedroom, laid Naila on the bed and turned to Maurice. "This is Naila Jenson my mate." "What happened to her?" Maurice asked as he took out his cell phone. "Daddy!" Jon cried barreling into the room followed by Regina who stopped short when she saw Naila lying on the bed. "Jon, come here." she said holding out her hand to him. Jon paused, looked at Lorenzo, Naila, his father and then Regina. "Who is that?" he asked looking back at Naila. "Go with your mother." Maurice said not answering Jon's question. Reluctantly, Jon took Regina's hand and allowed her to lead him out of the room. She looked back at Maurice with a question in her eyes. "I'll explain." he said telepathically. "You'd better." she replied in kind. Maurice continued with his phone call. "Dean can you come over? No Regina is fine but I have a human woman....what do you mean you don't take care of humans? They have the same body parts don't they? Yes... are you not under my employ? Then get over here... ten minutes." "I'm sorry to just show up like this but I couldn't take her to a human hospital. There would be too many questions." "You killed the one who did this to her." Maurice said understanding what the issues were. Lorenzo's silence confirmed it. "Dean will be here in a few minutes... she doesn't know does she?" Maurice asked. "No... I.." "What's going on?" Maurice asked exasperated. "Whatever happened to confessing to your mate, letting the chips fall where they may and then claiming her? You're the second vampire that I've run into that has kept things from his mate and nothing good came of it." Lorenzo didn't get a chance to reply because Regina had come back into the bedroom. "Regina this is my brother Lorenzo and the young lady on the bed is his mate Naila." "What happened to her?" Regina asked as she approached the bed and sat on the edge next to Naila. "Maurice, can you get me some wet washcloths?" While Maurice was gone, Regina looked at Lorenzo. "It's nice to finally meet you although I'm sorry that it had to be under these circumstances." "You know about me?" He asked surprised. "Not until recently." Regina replied. By the time Maurice returned with the washcloths, Dean Elliot, Regina's doctor had arrived. After having Lorenzo compel her into a deeper sleep, he examined Naila. He washed her face so that he could assess the damage to her face. "Not as bad as it looks but she'll be in quite a bit of pain." he said as he palpated her cheeks and moved her jaws. "For the next few days don't give her any solids, just things that she can swallow." He looked at Lorenzo taking in his size and noticing that he was still very much on edge. "She is your mate?" he asked softly. Lorenzo gave him a curt nod of his head in response. "I have to uncover her, is that alright?" "No!" Lorenzo bellowed as he moved closer to the bed. The only person he ever wanted to see her body nude was him. "Lorenzo." Maurice said his voice was low, almost hypnotic. "He has to examine her. I'll step out and if you wish Regina will stay with you." Lorenzo looked from Naila to Maurice, slowly nodded his head but didn't move away from the bed. "Alright, shall we get started?" the doctor asked. Lorenzo struggled not to grab the doctor as he removed the afghan from Naila's body. Tears stung his eyes when he saw the bruises that covered her stomach, legs and feet. He almost grabbed Dean when Naila moaned as he palpated her stomach even though he was as gentle as he could possibly be. "No ribs or any other bones are broken." he muttered as he continued his examination. No internal damage... seems that the injuries are more external than internal.... Must watch for bleeding..." Rage flared when the doctor with his help turned Naila over and the welts from the whip became visible. Lorenzo wished that he could go back in time, take the man somewhere and whip him to death. "No!" Naila groaned in her sleep and tried to move away from Deans gently probing hands. "Naila baby, it's alright, you're safe here with me." Lorenzo crooned as he stroked her forehead. Finally, the exam was over. "She's had the hell beaten out of her but she'll recover. I'll leave something for pain but if I were you, I would leave her under the sleep compulsion for a day or so. She needs the rest. Keep her back clean and apply the ointment that I'm going to leave with you. I don't think that there will be any scars and if there are, they should be minimal." "Thank you." Lorenzo said as he sat on the bed next to Naila. "You're welcome... Oh and one more thing, watch out for bleeding, especially in the abdomen... on second thought, make the sleep compulsion very light. She needs to be able to tell you if she's having more or unusual pain but as I was saying, watch for bleeding. If her abdomen becomes hard call me immediately, she might be bleeding into her abdomen. Maurice knows how to reach me but I'll give you the number to my direct line." Regina followed the doctor out of the room. "Is she really alright?" she asked. "I believe so but we'll need to watch her." Dean replied. "How are you doing?" he asked. "Much better since the vomiting has stopped." Regina replied. "Good and you're taking the vitamins?" Dean asked. Regina grimaced and stuck her tongue out at Dean before answering. "Yes I'm still taking the horse pills!" "Good." Dean said with a smile. "Call me if either of you need me." he said and vanished. "Regina..." Maurice said from behind her." "Yes they can stay." she replied turning around to look at him. "I'm actually looking forward to getting to know him. I'm sure that he has some tales to tell about you." It was Maurice's turn to grimace and then he smiled. He walked over to Regina, put his arms around her and kissed her. "You are amazing and I thank you for accepting Lorenzo and his mate into our home." "You're welcome." Regina replied. "I'd better go see if I have anything that she can wear." ****** Lorenzo listened to the soft voices outside of the door. Even with the door closed, he could hear the love that his brother and mate had for each other and wanted the same for himself. He took the used washcloths into the bathroom, located clean ones and ran them under cool water. When he got back to the bedroom, Naila was looking at him through swollen eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't. The tears running down the sides of her face said it all. Lorenzo quickly moved to her side, sat down and began to wash her face. "It's alright now. You're safe." he told her. "And you're done... you will never work like that again now sleep." when she was back to sleep, Lorenzo took off his shoes and got into bed with her. He slowly but gently took her into his arms murmuring to her when she moaned in pain. He realized that Maurice was right about something. If he had just told her the truth, she wouldn't have been hurt. He decided that once she was awake and healed, he would tell her the ugly truth and let the chips fall where they may. If she accepted him, he was going to mate with her as soon as possible. There were a few issues to be worked out since they both enjoyed having a third person in their bed. But that was for later. "I love you Naila." he said with his lips pressed against her short, curly hair. ******** Justine and Josephine talked until late morning with the men joining them in time for brunch. Justine could tell that Josephine had been concerned about David but hadn't said anything. Justine could see the look of relief on her face when she heard David's voice. She jumped up, ran to him and hugged him as Quinn passed her. Quinn took Justine into his arms and kissed her. "How's it going?" he asked. "She really loves him." Justine replied. "You?" "He loves her and what he did? At first, it was to protect her. He admits that after that it was selfishness on his part but even then in his mind he thought that he was protecting her." Quinn replied. "I know but he kept a mother and her child apart!" she exclaimed. "Yes he did and I don't think that there's anything that you can do to him that will make him feel any worse than he already does. You'll see what I mean when you talk to him. "Mom thinks that if she can forgive him that I should be able to as well." Quinn shrugged, "Maybe but that's a decision that only you can make. He also knows that Jeremiah is here." "And?" "He reacted the same way that I would have." Quinn replied. "He wants to kill the bastard. I had to give a direct order for him to stay away from him." Justine blew out a breath. David was well within his rights to want to kill Jeremiah but so were his victims and their mates. "It's mom's call." she said after several seconds. "I know but when we take them to see him, be ready to intervene. David and Josephine approached Quinn and Justine hand in hand, stopped and knelt before them. "Mom? What are you doing? Get up!" Justine said appalled that her mother would be on her knees before her. Josephine ignored her and remained on her knees along side of David. "My Queen," she said softly. "I kneel before you with my mate to ask that you hear him out. If you decide that he needs punishment then I ask that it be merciful and that it not include death." Justine looked at Quinn whose only response was to put his arm around her waist. This was her decision to make alone. "Please stand up... both of you." Justine said her voice tight. When they were standing, she addressed David. "Talk to me." "Why don't we sit first?" Quinn asked. "By the way, is anyone hungry?" "No." three voices said at once. They were anxious for it to be over one way or the other. "Alright then, why don't we sit down?" Quinn asked. He took Justine's hand and led her to the dining room where brunch waited. He was hungry even if no one else was. There was an uncomfortable silence as they all sat down at the table. David didn't have to be told again to start talking. "Before I say anything I want you to know something." he said. "I love your mother. Why it took so long for me to realize that I don't know and if there was anyway possible, I would undo everything that happened and that includes her being taken from you." Justine didn't reply but looked deep inside of him and was none to gentle about it. Seeing that he was telling the truth, she backed off a little. To his credit, David didn't fight the rough examination. Josephine however did. "Jussie please!" David took her hand in his and quieted her. "I'm fine; let her do what she must." He looked at Justine and nodded for her to continue. "Tell me everything." she demanded. The tone of her voice implied that she wasn't going to tolerate any lies or excuses. The flames that danced around her black eyes showed her anger. David swallowed hard and decided that he needed a drink. He reached for the glass of blood in front of him and drained it dry. After he sat the glass down, he told Justine the same thing that he told Quinn but added more to it. "There is no excuse for what I did after I knew who your mother was and about you. I won't try to explain or justify it except to say that I was afraid and I didn't trust her as I should have." "What were you afraid of?" Justine asked. "I was afraid that once I told her about her past and you that she would leave..." "Wait, didn't you know that she was your mate?" Justine asked. "I... on some level I knew but I didn't acknowledge it." David replied. "As you know, we are just recently mated." "I'm aware of that." Justine replied. "If not for that, would you have told her about me?" "I can't answer that." David replied honestly. "What I can tell you is that I knew that I had to stop erasing her memories if I wanted her to accept me for who I was." "So it was all about you, is that it?" Justine asked sharply. "I guess it was." David said softly. "You can question my motives all you want but just remember this; I love her and would die for her without thinking about it. On the way here, I had time to think. I didn't just rob you and her of time together; I robbed myself as well. Had I told her the truth when I discovered that she had a child, we could have found you and raised you together. I would have loved you as my own daughter and I could have shared in the joy of watching you grow and becoming what you are. That is something that I will have to live with for an eternity. I threw away the one thing that I didn't realize that I wanted until I heard Delgado talking to his son, a child. Justine, all that I can say to you is that I'm sorry and that I regret all of my decisions regarding you. I also accept responsibility for the kidnapping of your mother. By keeping silent, I put her in danger. I don't know what else to say except do with me what you will." Justine, the little girl who lost her mother was back when she spoke. Justine Ch. 18 "Do you have any idea of what it was like thinking that she was dead? I watched my grandmother die partly because she missed my mother so much. I watched my aunt give up a normal life because she was convinced that my mother, her sister was out there somewhere and you had her! You could have ended so much suffering if you had only come forward." Then the adult Justine was back. I appreciate the fact that you found her and that you saved her life. I owe you for that but for after that? Part of me wants to kill you where you sit but I can't and won't because it would hurt her too much and what good would it do? I know that she's forgiven you and she thinks that I should too. While I won't kill you, I'm not ready to join the let's forgive Dave movement but I will accept you as my mother's mate. That's all I can offer you, take it or leave it." There was a long silence as David considered his options of which he really had none. "I accept and thank you for your generosity. I can only hope that in time that you can forgive me." Justine nodded noting the relief on her mother's face. The reality of it was, Justine didn't see where she really had any choice. If she had harmed David in any way, she would have lost her mother and that was an unacceptable loss. She looked at David and knew that he was wondering what he should call her. "You can call me Justine in private but in public I am to be addressed formally." "I understand and again, you have my thanks." David replied. He knew that had he not been mated to Josephine, he would have been dead at worst or sharing a cell with the man in the cellar at best. Still holding on to David's hand, Josephine spoke. "Thank you my queen..." "Will you stop that?" Justine asked her tone harsher than she meant it to be. "Before I became queen, I was your daughter and now that I am queen, that hasn't changed. I am first and foremost your daughter so stop with the my queen crap." Josephine jumped at the intensity of Justine's words and then she smiled. "Only if you agree to call me mom." she countered. "Agreed." Justine replied reaching for the glass of blood that had remained untouched. The next hour was spent in discussing where the remains of Josephine's mother and sister were. It was decided that the remains would be transferred to the small cemetery located behind the house and that there would be a small ceremony. Once that was decided, the subject of Jeremiah came up. "I understand that you are giving the victims a chance to confront him but as I told Quinn, I don't want Josephine facing him alone." "And I'm sure that Quinn told you that this isn't your decision to make." Justine snapped. "He did but I am her mate and I..." "Let me explain something to you." Justine said. "I understand the mate thing but this is another matter. If my mother wants you to go with her then fine but if she doesn't you will abide by her choice. Is that clear? I also want to reiterate something; Quinn told me that you want Jeremiah dead. I understand and even agree with you but he doesn't die unless my mother- the Queen Mother says so. If you do anything to cause his death, the fact that you are my mother's mate will do little to help you. Any questions?" "No." David replied. "Good..." "I want David to go with me." Josephine said. "Fine and if you don't mind, I won't give him his powers back until afterwards. I don't want any accidents." Justine replied. Several minutes later, they separated for some alone time. Both couples needed to regroup before they went to see Jeremiah. Quinn pulled David aside before he and Josephine could leave. "Look, I know that I was kind of hard on you but I also knew that if you couldn't get past me there was no way that you could get past Justine. Now a word of advice, don't push her and she'll come around. She sees how much you love Josephine, let that work for you." "Thank you my King..." "About that... Quinn is fine." David was surprised to find that he was beginning to like Quinn and that he understood why he had reacted as he had. "Thank you... Quinn." David said. "No problem but a warning, if you do anything to Jeremiah, no one will be able to help you. She won't kill you but whatever she does it won't be pleasant." Quinn said before walking away. ****** As soon as they were alone, David grabbed Josephine and kissed her. Justine might still be angry with him but he was alive and in one piece. In less than a minute, they were naked and on the bed that was large enough for four people. Even though they had been in the same room and touching, he had missed her and needed to connect with Josephine on a deeper level. As he kissed her lips before moving to her neck, he paused and to thank her. "Thank you for forgiving me." He didn't give her a chance to reply before he took a nipple into his mouth and suckled it. Josephine gasped and then moaned as she reached between them and began to stroke his cock. He thought it was his imagination that her stroking him felt even better than it ever had before. For that matter, her response to him seemed even more passionate. He had to wonder if it was because of Justine or if it was because things were finally out on the table. He didn't have time to give it anymore thought because in a rare show of aggression, Josephine had pushed David onto his back and straddled him. "Jo?" David asked and then moaned as she slid down onto his cock until she was sitting on him. She began to slowly rock back and forth and then side to side while looking down into his eyes. The purple flames around her eyes were warm with love and desire as she reached for his hands. He reached for her hands and intertwined his fingers with hers as he began to move beneath her. "I love you." She whispered and began to move faster. Her grip on his fingers tightened the closer to orgasm she got. She added a grind to the rocking motion increasing the friction to her clit. David looked up into her eyes, mesmerized by their beauty and the power that he felt coming from her. He realized then that she didn't need him to protect her from Jeremiah, more than likely Jeremiah would need protection from her. As his own orgasm approached, David felt a trickling of power enter his body and realized that it was coming from Josephine. Even though Justine hadn't released the gifts that he came in with, he was steadily growing stronger from the gifts that Josephine was sharing with him. His gifts would now match Josephine's and his other abilities would-be enhanced. When they came, it was at the exact same moment. Later as they talked, they would both say that it felt as though their relationship had finally solidified. Later as Josephine napped, David realized that he had the power to kill Jeremiah but he wouldn't. He would wait for Josephine to decide. He closed his eyes to rest content that things were going to be all right. ********* "I know how hard that was for you." Quinn said when he and Justine were in their suite. "It was but I think that you're right about something, there's nothing that I could do to him that would make him feel any worse than he does." Justine replied. "Had he been anyone else I would have stuck him in the cell with Jeremiah but ..." "Jussie? What's the matter?" Quinn asked. "Nothing... David and my mother's relationship is now for lack of a better term solid. I guess we needed to talk in order for that to happen. His gifts are the same as my mother's." she added. "He has power?" Quinn asked. "What about Jeremiah?" "He won't hurt him." Justine replied as she slipped her fingers through the loops on Quinn's jeans and pulled him closer to her and began too walk backwards toward the bed. "What other tricks have you learned lately?" she asked in a seductive tone. "It would take too long to explain and I think that your mom wants to get the initial meeting with Jeremiah but there's always time for a teaser." Quinn replied. What he really wanted was to take his time and undress her but business came first. His green eyes flashed and Justine was naked, they flashed again and they were on the bed with his cock buried in her as far as it could go. Once again, the thought of babies crossed his mind just as his orgasm began but he knew that the time wasn't right. Something niggled at the back of his mind but it was forgotten as soon as he felt Justine's nails rake across his back hard enough that it stung but not really hurt. It was her way of telling him that she was going to come. Quinn slowed his movements for just a moment and then began to pound into her hard and fast without really understanding why. He could hear Justine's screams but they seemed to be coming from a distance instead of beneath him. When he came, it was with a silent scream. Afterwards, he collapsed on top of Justine totally spent in a way that he hadn't been since he was human. But he felt strong too and then he understood and wondered if Justine did. "We're connected to my mother and David." Justine said as she fell asleep. ******** Jeremiah hadn't rested all day and had no appetite. He had spent the day trying to figure out what he would say to Josephine when he saw her. "I'm sorry" seemed so inadequate and it wasn't true. That left nothing but the truth and the hope that she would be merciful. Just then, he heard Albert scream and it occurred to him that Josephine could give him the same fate. He decided that he would much rather have to face his victims than have his mind flooded with their memories. He had just finished his dinner when he felt a rush of power in addition to what he was accustomed to from Quinn and Justine. This power felt much more.... Condensed was the only word that he could think of, it was almost oppressive. He looked around at the guards wondering if they felt it too. All of them didn't look or act any different but Albert who had been screaming just seconds before was now for the most silent with the exception of an occasional whine. Jeremiah turned to face the direction from which Quinn, Justine, Josephine and presumably Josephine's mate would come. He fought the feelings of panic and fear that were rapidly rising in his chest. He closed his eyes, swallowed hard and slowly opened them again. They hadn't arrived yet. He wondered if Josephine changed her mind but doubted it. She wasn't afraid of him then and she wouldn't be afraid of him now. Maybe they were playing with his mind and emotions he thought and disregarded it. That was that bitch Pam's style. Suddenly, if possible, the oppressive feeling returned and Albert was screaming again but it wasn't the usual screams of terror. It had a different quality to it that Jeremiah couldn't pin point and then there was silence. For a brief moment, Jeremiah thought that the man was dead until he heard sobbing. He backed away from the front of the cell and waited. ******* "Are you sure that you want to do this now?" Justine asked Josephine. "He isn't going anywhere." "I know.... Maybe... No, I want to see him." Josephine replied. "But give me a minute." She wasn't afraid of Jeremiah, far from it but she hadn't really thought about what she was going to do about him either. She realized that what Justine had just said was true; Jeremiah Mathers wasn't going anywhere so there was no hurry to decide his fate. She also realized that deciding too quickly would do nothing but soothe him and deny any other women the chance to face him. "I'm ready." Josephine said after a few minutes. She took David's offered hand and followed Quinn and Justine to the basement. When they got there, she looked around not sure of what to expect. That the large room was tastefully decorated hadn't really surprised her but she hadn't expected the inmates to be in such nice surroundings. She chuckled when she realized that she was thinking about the old movies where the cellar or basement had negative connotations. "What?" Justine asked when she heard Josephine's chuckle. "I was just thinking of the old movies that I used to watch where the basements would be ugly, have rats and people would be hanging from the walls." she replied. Justine smiled, "I like old movies too... maybe we could do a movie night! You haven't met everyone yet... that would be perfect!" Quinn smiled, pleased that his queen was happy. As they walked, he made mental notes of what they would need for the party. He frowned when the niggling feeling that he had earlier came back something.... "Quinn? What's up?" Justine asked. She had felt his feeling of disquiet earlier but hadn't said anything because it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared but now it was back. "I don't know." Quinn replied. "I can't put my finger on it." "May I make a suggestion?" David asked ignoring the cool look that he received from Justine when he spoke. "Sure." Quinn replied. "Let it go. The harder you try to bring it forward the more it will retreat. It could be that you haven't received enough information to make the thought complete and when that happens..." "The rest will come." Quinn finished. "That makes sense... Thanks." "We're here." Justine said looking at Josephine. "Jeremiah's cell is on the other side of the wall at the far end and I'm sure that he knows that we're here. Does everyone have their tempers and emotions under control?" she asked looking at David. "I'm fine." David replied. "I gave you my word and I intend to keep it." "Good. Then let's go." Justine replied. As they got closer to Jeremiah's cell, Josephine's anger grew. The only thing that stopped her from going into a full rage was that other women would be denied the chance of facing him. However, that didn't mean that she couldn't hurt him she thought to herself. Even as she thought about it, the gentle caregiver that she had been spoke to her. "Do no harm." but oh how she wanted to. She wanted to rip his teeth out one by one before twisting his cock from his body... but she wouldn't. If she did, she wouldn't be able to live with herself. There had to be something that she could do that wouldn't involve her directly inflicting pain but would serve as an adequate punishment. She reminded herself that she had all the time in the world to figure it out. Suddenly, she could see his cell. Jeremiah was backed against the back of the cell with a look of apprehension on his face. She heard Albert screaming, turned toward the sound and whispered one word, "quiet." at that moment she wasn't Josephine Sheffield, she was the Queen Mother. She pulled away from David and walked toward Jeremiah, her eyes fastened onto his. ******* Any thoughts that Josephine might be afraid of him vanished the second he saw her. Jeremiah pressed back into the bars as if they would magically open and give him more room in which to get away from the woman who was approaching him. She was as beautiful as he had remembered and there was no denying that Justine was her daughter. He wanted to look away from her black-purple rimmed eyes but found that he couldn't, she wouldn't allow it. He watched as a male who he knew to be her mate followed close behind her and wondered if he would be the one to kill him. The power emanating from the couple was staggering. When Quinn and Justine approached the cell, Jeremiah fell to his knees, his legs unable to support him. He glanced around to see if the guards were faring any better than he was. All of them were on their knees of their own volition. Their heads were bowed, their backs straight as they knelt in honor of royalty. "You may stand." said a voice similar but just a little richer than Justine's said. Jeremiah slowly got to his feet having to use the bars to help him stand. Waves of nausea and dizziness assailed him as he tried to acclimate himself to the power that surrounded him. He looked at Josephine and waited. ******** Josephine stared at him but didn't speak. He looked the same as he had all of those years ago minus the fancy clothes. For several minutes she looked him over trying to understand how he could have done the things he did and not feel remorse. It was a question that she had to have the answer to. "Why?" she asked. "Why did you feel that you had the right to ruin so many lives? Answer me." she commanded. Jeremiah thought about lying but realized that he could no more lie to her then he could Justine. "In the beginning, it was about money." Jeremiah began. "And until recently, I thought that money was the only motivation but it wasn't. I've had plenty of time to think since my capture and I've come to acknowledge and accept that I liked what I was doing. I liked the feeling of control and the only regret that I have aside from hiring that bitch of a daughter of yours is that I got caught through my own stupidity and greed." "So you admit that you feel no remorse at all?" Josephine asked. "I didn't say that." Jeremiah countered. "That wasn't the question put before me but I'll answer it. I have some remorse but not nearly the amount that I should have. In fact, I'll even answer the next question that you're going to ask before you ask it. If I had to do it over again, I would do it but I would be smarter about it. If somehow I got out of here, I would go back to doing the same thing whether I had my gifts or not." Josephine looked at him not at all surprised by his answer. "What do you think I should do with you?" she asked. The question seemed to surprise Jeremiah but he recovered and answered the question. "Let me go but we all know that you won't do that. You could kill me but I don't think that you'll do that either. It would go against the caregiver part of you, the part of you that for the most part still defines who you are. So what are my options? I rot here and wait for my past victims to appear." Jeremiah watched David and saw another chance to die. Still looking at Josephine, he continued talking. "I should have known that there was something different about you the night that I took you. It was in the way that you fought me. You fought way past the point where the others had given up. The fact that I had to exert so much energy to control you should have been a dead give away but then, I was always a sucker for sexy nurses." He paused, looked at David and continued. "For the record, I did try to tell the vampire who was going to buy you that you had a child but he didn't care. When he threatened to tell all of my contacts that I was reneging ... I couldn't have that so I decided to go after and train her myself. David, have you ever seen her in a nurse's uniform? She's magnificent!" David took a step forward but was stayed by Quinn's hand firmly on his arm. "Don't fall for it... he did the same thing to Justine." he whispered. David nodded; the desire to kill Jeremiah was growing stronger by the minute. "And those nipples rolling around in my mouth... the taste of her blood that had the sweet taste of fear..." "Shut up!" David snapped. He was now standing in front of Jeremiah in the cell. Before anyone could stop him, he had Jeremiah's head in his hands and was about to wrench his head off. Then, he stopped. "No." he said softly. "You deserve to die but not like this. I want you to suffer for centuries and while my mate may have a tender heart, I don't. It is my wish that she will allow me to spend time with you on her behalf." Jeremiah paled, this was one of his biggest fears. "What's wrong? Nothing more to say? You don't care to share any more details about the violation of my mate?" David asked. Jeremiah went mute. He watched helplessly as David turned to Josephine and Justine. "Queen Mother and my Queen, I humbly petition you to allow me to take the place of my mate in punishing this.... You have my word that he will live to face more of his victims." Justine Ch. 18 Jeremiah found his voice and began to protest. "He isn't a victim! I didn't touch him!" "But you took and touched what wasn't yours." David replied. "Taking Josephine set in motion a chain of events that never would have happened otherwise. That doesn't excuse my part in it but you were the catalyst. To be honest with you, I'm surprised that no other male has made this request." "You can't do this!" Jeremiah screamed at them. "You ...." "We can do whatever we like." Justine said coldly. She looked at her mother whose eyes flickered with indecision and then cleared. If she said no, David would always feel that he hadn't avenged the wrong done to her. Who was she to deny him that? She looked at Jeremiah, then at David. "You may have your time with him." Jeremiah stared at her in disbelief, "You... you can't be serious... you swore to do no harm!" "Consider this, "Josephine said softly, "simply by being alive you made an unsaid vow to do no harm. You have violated that vow thousands of times and it wasn't out of necessity such as war. You deliberately choose to harm people. My decision stands." "I will see you soon." David said and vanished from the cell and to Josephine's side. Quinn and Justine looked at each other and nodded their approval. David had played the hand dealt him well. Justine was starting to like her mother's mate. As they walked away, they could hear Jeremiah's screams for them to come back. "This discussion isn't over! Get back here!" ******* Much to Wilhelmina's displeasure, the party in the Realm was beginning to wane. She now saw it as a way for her to work without discovery. Now she had to resort to sneaking around Thomas and Lottie. Once again, she thought about releasing Thomas so that he and Lottie could go fuck themselves silly but she needed him but... a slow smile crossed her face. She had just figured out how to get rid of Thomas and still enlist his help. "Thomas!" she called. ********************** Once again I would like to thank all of you who take the time to read and comment on my stories. A big thank you to my Beta readers Donalde and Anjel54 for taking the time to read over my stories. Justine Ch. 19 Jeremiah finally stopped yelling for them to come back. He had played his last hand and had lost. He could only imagine what David Sheffield would do to him and consoled himself that he wouldn't be abused sexually. It was one thing to be treated that way by a woman but to be touched sexually by a man was another thing altogether. But then again, it would be the ultimate humiliation. However, he just couldn't see David touching him like that. He sat on his cot, placed his head in his hands and began to tremble. He could honestly now say that he was afraid. A soft snarl reminded him to pull himself together. The guard that had snarled at him was new and under the guidance of a much older vampire. Who happened to be out of the room. Jeremiah took a quick look around and allowed his fear to come forth. His death would be painful but it would be quick. The vampire approached the cell transfixed by the smell of Jeremiah's fear. His dark eyes never left Jeremiah's as he approached the cell. "Hurry up!" Jeremiah wanted to scream but didn't. He could see that the vampire was struggling for control but he lacked the experience. The vampire was to the door of the cell and was about to open it when his mentor came back. "What in the fuck are you doing?" he screamed at the young vampire. "Stand down NOW!" The young vampire shook his head as if trying to wake up from a deep sleep. "I... he..." he stammered. "Go out and get control of yourself." The older vampire said quietly. When he was gone, the older vampire approached the cell. His nostrils flared at the smell of Jeremiah's fear. "You do smell good but not good enough to die for." The vampire said. "The Queen Mother scares you but her mate scares you even more. I guess you now understand how all of those women felt. It doesn't feel so good now does it?" he asked with an angry smirk on his face. Jeremiah didn't reply. He wasn't expected to. "I think that we're going to have to make other arrangements, we can't have someone accidentally killing you now can we?" "What are you going to do to me?" Jeremiah whispered. "Nothing but the queen has ordered a cell mate for you." The guard replied. "A cell mate? Who is it?" David asked. "Not who but what." The guard said with a smile. "He's behind you." Jeremiah turned to see Buddy sitting on his cot. Buddy looked at Jeremiah with cold yellow eyes and stretched out on the cot. "Oh fuck no!" Jeremiah said. "Get that mangy piece of shit out of here!" Buddy slowly rose with his eyes fastened on Jeremiah's face and growled a warning. "I don't give a fuck!" Jeremiah screamed, "GET THE HELL OUT!" Buddy looked at him and laughed, at least Jeremiah thought that he was laughing and lay back down on the cot. Jeremiah stood in the middle of the cell for more than an hour before he realized that the dog did not intend to give up the cot. He knew from previous experience that the dog couldn't be budged unless he wanted to move. "Fuck you." Jeremiah muttered as he went to a corner of the cell and sat down. He thought about going for his pillow but thought better of it when Buddy looked at him as if daring him to move. Jeremiah settled in for a long and uncomfortable day. Every time he opened his eyes, Buddy's yellow ones were on him. At that moment, Jeremiah hated Buddy more than he hated Justine. As if to tell him that the feeling was mutual, Buddy stood up, squatted and left a pile of shit in the middle of the cot before vanishing. Jeremiah's eyes watered as the stench hit his nostrils. He turned when he heard someone chuckling behind him. It was the older guard from the evening before. "I would suggest that if you don't want the Queen's familiar in the cell with you that you stop trying to get yourself killed." He appeared in the cell with an armful of clean linens and cleaning supplies. "There's a laundry bag in there, you can put your dirty linens in there." "You don't expect me to clean that up!" Jeremiah exclaimed. "I could care less." The vampire replied. "Sleep in a shitty bed for all I care." he said as he dropped the armload of supplies on the floor and disappeared. Jeremiah couldn't decide if his treatment had gotten worse or if it was his imagination. He decided that it was a combination of the two and wondered what it meant. He stood up, grabbed the linen bag and held his breath as he quickly stripped the cot hoping that the odor hadn't seeped through to the thin mattress. If it had, he doubted that they would honor his request for another one. By the time he had the bed stripped, he was gagging with tears stinging his eyes. As soon as the dirty linen was in the bag, Jeremiah sat it by the cell door hoping that it would be taken away sooner rather than later. He looked at the cot with distaste and decided to take a chance and ask for another mattress. To his advantage, the vampire that brought him the clean linen was gone. "Is there any chance that I could get a different mattress?" "What's wrong with that one?" the guard asked. "You don't smell anything?" Jeremiah asked. The guard inhaled deeply and shook his head. "I don't smell anything." he replied. "You don't smell dog shit?" Jeremiah asked confused, his eyes were still burning. The guard shrugged, "I don't smell anything but I'll see about another mattress." "Thank you, I appreciate it." Jeremiah replied touched by the small show of kindness The guard came back several minutes later with another mattress. "You're in luck, it's a brand new one." the guard said as he put the new mattress on the floor and took the old one off the bed. "I don't know how to thank you." Jeremiah said softly. He wanted to know why the vampire was being so kind to him and decided to tempt fate by asking. The vampire looked at him, started to say something and changed his mind. On his way out of the cell, he picked up the bag of dirty linen and walked away without looking back. Jeremiah put the new mattress on the frame, made up the cot and laid down. Although he was worried about what David had in mind for him, and if it would set a precedent, he slept. Pam kicking at his feet awakened him a few hours later. "What is it now?" Jeremiah asked wearily. "Can't a girl say hello to a friend?" Pam asked feigning hurt. Jeremiah didn't answer but looked at her and waited for her to continue. "You have a dinner invitation." She said after several minutes. The first thing that came to his mind was Mimi. His balls ached and his bowels clenched at the memory of those three days. He knew that Pam was watching him and knew what he was thinking. He could see the gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. "Who am I having dinner with?" he asked his mouth dry. "See you in a hour." she replied and vanished. "Bitch." Jeremiah muttered under his breath. ********* "Mom? Are you alright?" Justine asked after they left the cellar. "I'm fine... he looks the same. I didn't know what to feel, I still don't. I mean that man took me away from you! But it isn't just about me. I don't know if there's a punishment severe enough for what he's done and death would be an escape for him and far too easy." "What are you thinking?" David asked. "I'm thinking that the caregiver part of me is fighting with the outraged part of me. It's reminding me of my promise to do no harm. And before you tell me that I'm not, I am even if I'm not physically doing it myself. The other part of me wants him to suffer for the rest of eternity" "Mom, are you thinking about letting him go?" Justine asked her fingers crossed. "What?" Josephine asked surprised. "So that he can do it again? Absolutely not. I don't know what I'm thinking but release isn't it." Justine let out a soft sigh of relief. If Josephine had decided to free Jeremiah, she would have kept her word and supported the decision. It would only have been a matter of time before he was back in one of her cells but in the meantime, women would be at risk. She agreed that death would be too easy of a sentence and it was what Jeremiah was hoping for. "There's no rush." she told Josephine in attempt to ease her mind. "Invite him to dinner." Josephine said suddenly. "What?" three voices asked at the same time. "Invite him to dinner." Josephine replied. "I want to see him in a different setting." "But dinner?" Justine asked. "I know that you don't understand." Josephine said, "I'm not entirely sure that I do myself but please indulge me." Justine, Quinn and David were speechless. David and Quinn waited for Justine to decide on what to do about her mother's request. "What is it that you hope to accomplish?" Justine asked. Several minutes passed before Josephine replied. "I don't know." she admitted. "I keep thinking that he is someone's son and from what you tell me, a mate. One of the things that you don't know about me is that I've always been interested in why people think or do the things they do. Maybe I'm wondering if there isn't something redeemable about him. Even if there were, it wouldn't change anything but I just want to know for my own knowledge." "I can tell you that there is nothing redeemable about him." Justine said, "But alright to dinner... what else?" "I want to talk to him alone." "Absolutely not!" David protested. Justine shot him a withering stare but she agreed with him. "Mom, I don't think that..." "Why not?" Josephine asked. "What can he do to me? He has no power and even if he did it wouldn't matter." she argued. "I want and need to face him alone. He still feels as though he has some control, he thinks that I'm afraid of him." "She's right." Quinn said softly. "He thinks that she's afraid of him and the fear that he showed wasn't because of her, it was because of David." "You're agreeing with her?" Justine asked incredulous. "What can he do to her besides glare at her or try to manipulate her?" Quinn asked. "We'll be in the next room if he tries anything although my suspicion is she won't need any help." Josephine gave Quinn a grateful smile and then turned to Justine. "I'm meeting Jeremiah Mathers alone." she said firmly. "You can be in the next room if it makes you feel better but this is my decision to make." "Jo..." "David, enough." Josephine said softly but her black-purple rimmed eyes flashed. Justine, Quinn and David heard the determination in her voice but it was more than that, it was authority. The room vibrated with power as she looked first at Justine and then at David. "I know that you're worried about me and I appreciate it but I'm fine." she said her tone softening. "David, I know and understand that you want to protect me but you have to let me do this. You too Justine." The debate went on for another hour before Josephine ended the conversation. "I'm doing this." ********** Quinn sat back and watched realizing that life was going to be interesting with two strong willed women under the same roof. He and David were in for a very interesting and challenging ride. He waited for the debate to be over before pulling Justine aside. She was angry with him, he could see it but he wasn't going to back down. "You agreed with her!" Justine exclaimed. "Yes because she was and is right." Quinn replied quietly. "But dinner alone with him? You support that?" Justine asked. "Again, yes." Quinn replied. "Justine, your mother is fully capable of handling scum like Mathers but this isn't what this is about is it?" he asked. "Of course it is!" Justine snapped. "My mother wants to have dinner with her rapist! Don't you find that odd?" "How is that any odder than what the other victims wanted? Mimi had dinner with him too." Quinn said. "And while she wasn't alone, she did spend three days with him your mother is dealing with Jeremiah in her own way but I think that the real issue is that I agreed with her." Quinn said. "No it isn't!" Justine retorted. "No?" Quinn asked raising his left eyebrow indicating that he didn't believe her. "Are you accusing me of lying?" Justine asked. "Not at all." Quinn replied. "I'm only saying that you thought that I would agree with you just because we're married. Let's face it, this is the first real disagreement that we've had since we mated and we need to understand something, I don't expect you to always agree with me. I fully expect you to tell me when you don't even if I may not like it and I think that you're wrong. I also expect to be able to do the same with you." Justine started to argue the point and realized that Quinn was right. She had expected him to back her for the reason that he stated. He was also right about something else, her mother was entitled to deal with Jeremiah Mathers in whatever way she chose and if it was dinner then so be it. "You're right and I'm sorry." Justine said after a few minutes. "No apologies needed." Quinn replied as he took her into his arms. "It's a learning experience and I can't wait until we have our first really big fight." He said hugging her tighter. "Why is that?" Justine asked her mind still on her mother. "Haven't you ever had make up sex?" Quinn asked. "What? No... I don't think so." Justine replied distractedly. "Jussie, she's going to be fine." Quinn assured her. "We'll be in the next room." "I know." Justine said after several seconds. What she was concerned about was Jeremiah. "She won't kill him." Quinn said reading Justine's thoughts. Just hearing him say it eased her anxiety. She wrapped her arms around his waist, laid her head against his shoulder, and relaxed. She wondered what Josephine had in mind for her dinner with Jeremiah. ******* David took Josephine to their suite and tried to talk her out of her dinner with Jeremiah. "You don't have to put yourself through this." "I know that but David, I need to face him. It's something that I need to do for myself." She said. "I don't expect you to understand, you've never been violated before." "No I haven't." he agreed, "But Jo did you see the way that he looked at you? Even after all of this time he lusts after you." "I know and it doesn't matter." Josephine replied standing on her toes and giving David a kiss on the chin. "Once I do this, I can start thinking about what I want done with him. I know that you don't understand but I need you to trust me on this." "It's not you that I don't trust." David replied putting his hands on her hips. "But you have to understand that under normal circumstances a male wouldn't allow his mate to face her attacker and would be murderer alone." "I do understand." Josephine replied, "But these aren't normal circumstances." "No, they aren't and I have to remember that." David replied. "May I propose a compromise?" he asked. "I'm listening." "I'll agree as long as I'm in the next room and as soon as he raises a hand to you, I kill him." "No because I expect him to try. He has no other choice than to try and kill me in the hopes that he'll be killed." Josephine said. "If I were in his place that's what I would do." Josephine replied. "I don't like it." David said pulling Josephine closer. "I know but my decision is made. I'll be alright, I promise." Josephine assured him. "I know." David replied thinking about how she had survived her kidnapping but the protective mate part of him couldn't accept what she was going to do and tried again. "Jo..." "Dinner is in less than an hour, make love with me." she interrupted. David immediately hardened when Josephine reached down between then and began to rub his cock through his pants. There wasn't enough time to take her to bed properly and he thought about asking her to postpone the dinner with Jeremiah until the next evening. He didn't only because he knew that she would refuse. Suddenly, Josephine's hand stopped moving. "What's the matter?" David asked hoping that she was reconsidering her decision. "Nothing, but David, your eyes. Go look in the mirror." Curious, David went to a mirror with Josephine following. He looked down at her and then looked into the mirror. His eyes, which had been a clear gray, were now a storm cloud gray with steel gray flames dancing around them. "What does this mean?" he whispered. "It means that you are my counterpart in this reign." Josephine replied looking in the mirror at their reflection. She had always thought that his eyes were beautiful but now they were gorgeous. They stood looking in the mirror forgetting that they were going to make love before her meeting with Jeremiah. There was a subtle shift as David's strength was added to that of Josephine, Justine and Quinn's power. ****** Jeremiah was in the shower when he felt the power surge. He paused and then continued his shower grateful that the shampoo wasn't the foul smelling stuff that he used for Mimi. A banging on the door reminding him that he had about ten minutes left before they dragged him out of the shower. He quickly rinsed his hair and body, dried off and slipped into the clean sweat suit that was waiting by the door. When he got back to his cell, he saw one of his suits hanging from the bars of the cell and a pair of his dress shoes sitting on the floor. A small cart sat by the cot containing various toiletry items. He should have been excited to see them but he wasn't. The fact that he was expected to dress up only made him more nervous about who he was meeting for dinner. Whoever it was, it had to be someone important and he wondered if he or she would be able to help him in some way. He had just finished dressing when they came for him. He gave himself one last look in the small mirror and nodded at his reflection. He almost felt normal. "Let's go." one of the guards said his tone curt. Jeremiah followed the guard up the stairs, through the house and into a dining room where he saw a place setting for two. He turned to speak to the guard but he had already taken his post by the door. Not sure of what to do, Jeremiah walked over to the table, stood by a chair, and waited. His heart pounded as the seconds passed. He was beginning to wonder if his guest was coming when he heard the door behind him open. ******* Josephine stood on the other side of the door with David's arms around her. She wasn't nervous or afraid and she was ready to face her attacker. "We'll be listening in the next room." he assured her. "I know and David? I'm fine." Josephine assured him as she pulled him down for a kiss. She took a moment to look into the storm-gray eyes and whispered that she loved him before going into the dining room. She looked at Jeremiah's back for several seconds before going to the table. She knew that he heard her come in but could tell that he was too afraid to look. She could smell his fear even through the aftershave that he wore. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of his fear and slowly released it before she spoke. "How does it feel to be frightened?" she asked. ******* When he heard Josephine's voice, Jeremiah's fear increased. Why would she want to have dinner with him? He wondered as he slowly turned to face her. He didn't understand it. When he saw her last, he wasn't afraid of her per se but more afraid of what she had planned for him. Now he was afraid. Maybe it was the softness of her voice or the lack of anger in it but whatever it was, it frightened him. "I asked you a question." Josephine said as she approached him. "How does it feel to be afraid?" she asked again. Jeremiah's mouth was dry. He tried to speak but he couldn't. Then he realized that she was doing it. She was controlling him as he had controlled her that night. The difference was that her power was stronger than his had been and he was centuries older. Abruptly, she released him. Justine Ch. 19 "How did you like that?" she asked as she stood in front of him. "How does it feel to be controlled?" She looked up into his eyes forcing him to look into hers when he tried to look away. "Sit down." she commanded. Jeremiah struggled to stay standing but plopped heavily into the chair with his eyes fastened onto hers. Josephine sat across from him and stared at him for several long minutes. "Answer my questions." "I don't like being controlled." he said. "And I don't like being afraid especially of the likes of you." "The likes of me?" Josephine asked not raising her voice. "I was a single mother with a child. I worked my ass off to get through LPN school. I was going to continue for my RN and maybe my bachelors. I had plans for my daughter and me. Plans which you destroyed so explain what you mean by your statement." Jeremiah didn't reply. What could he say? Except.... "Do you think that I cared about you and that brat?" he snarled. "I was being paid good money for you plus I got to train you..." "We see how well that worked out." Josephine said as she reached for the goblet of blood in front of her. "I'm sorry, help yourself and continue. I want to hear more about my kind." Unable to help himself, Jeremiah reached for the goblet of blood, took a sip and sat it down." "Tell me what you were thinking that night." Josephine said. "What?" Jeremiah asked shocked. "I want to know what went through your mind as you waited for me to come out of the nursing home. What were you thinking as you compelled me to go with you and then raped me. Were you relieved that you killed me? Did you feel anything at all? Speak." she commanded. "I tried to tell him that you had a child but he didn't care- I told you this. I really didn't care about that; it was just that it made it difficult if the mark had family or friends. When I saw you, I thought that you were beautiful and when you fought me, I should have known. Actually, I did know that there was something different about you. None of the others fought nearly as hard as you did. By the time I got you to the house, I had used more compulsion on you than I had any ten of my most resistant women combined. I thought that I had you under control but then you came out of it. It had never been my intent to kill you, fuck you yes, but kill you? That would have been stupid. I was paid well over two-million dollars for you and as it turns out, you cost me more than the two-million I was paid. You started throwing things at me and then you cut yourself. The combination of the scent of your blood and your fear was too much and I lost all control." "So you raped and almost killed me, who was the woman?" Jeremiah couldn't believe the almost detached way that he was being questioned. The only real indication of her emotions was her eyes. The purple flames flickered and he could have sworn that he saw sparks jumping out of her eyes. He was going to deny that there was a woman at the house but then he realized that it had to have been Olivia. "Don't think about lying." Josephine warned. "That was my mate Olivia." Josephine was silent for several minutes. "She's in one of the prisons for helping you. Why would she do that?" Josephine asked. "What can I say except that she was a stupid bitch." Jeremiah replied. "I gave her the opportunity to leave and she chose to stay. I was going to release her from our bond but she thought that by helping me that I would love her. By the time she finally realized that it wasn't going to happen, it was too late." "According to you." Josephine said. "It's not my fault if she wouldn't think for herself." Jeremiah replied relaxing. "I see and it doesn't bother you that she's going to spend the next two centuries in prison because she loved you?" Josephine asked delivering the first of the surprises that she had for Jeremiah. "Two centuries?" Jeremiah asked. "She's as guilty as I am!" "To an extent that's true but Justine talked with her at great length and decided to reduce her sentence. Of course, there are stipulations upon her release. She has to work in one of the houses set aside for your victims and she has to apologize and do what she can to help them recover." "This is bullshit!" Jeremiah screamed as he tried to jump out of his chair. "Your mate feels remorse for her part in your business. In a way, she was a victim even though she made a conscious choice to help you. That you didn't break your bond with her even though she didn't want you to shows a lack of compassion for the woman that you were to spend an eternity. But back to me. After you raped me, you had your nephew dump me like garbage. I'm not a person to use profanity but Karma's a bitch isn't it? I mean, let's think about this, you've been raping, selling and killing women for centuries. What are the chances that you would run across the mother of the future Queen? I have no doubt that had you known it then, you would have forced me to become your mate thus insinuating yourself into power. Instead, years later, you hire my daughter into your law firm and then you try to kill her. But you didn't know the whole story did you?" "I wish to god that I had killed her!" Jeremiah snarled. "I'm sure that you do and I'm sure that you'll pardon me if I don't share that sentiment." Jeremiah was tired of the pussy footing around. His stomach was roiling with nausea. "Stop fucking around and tell me what the hell you want!" he roared. Josephine didn't flinch but watched Jeremiah as if he was no more than a child throwing a temper tantrum. When he was finished, she continued. "To make matters worse, not only do you chase my daughter and plan to hurt her, you bring humans into it. You endangered a woman and two children in order to reach your goals. We won't mention that Quinn is my son -in -law and that his human family had absolutely nothing to do with this. Death is out of the question, it's what you want, and setting you free is also out of the question." Jeremiah held his breath, what was left other than a lifetime of torture by the women that he harmed? "I noticed something last night." Josephine said. "You weren't afraid of me but you were very afraid of my mate. Today is a different story but that's unimportant. In listening to and watching you, I have made my decision. Jeremiah waited anxiously. He was still frightened of her mate but now it was Josephine that frightened him. "I've decided that your suffering will continue for an eternity. There won't be a reprieve and there won't be a death sentence, you don't deserve to die. I'm also adding something to your sentence. It seems to me that you've gotten comfortable and even accepting of the women taking their revenge." Jeremiah felt himself pale. He knew what was coming and knew that once she said it, there would be no changing her mind... "Wait!" he said. "What other options are there?" Josephine smiled at him before replying. Her eyes flashed so rapidly that Jeremiah thought that the flames were going to jump out, make their way to him and burn him alive. He clamped his mouth shut and awaited his fate. "First. I want you out of this house." Josephine said. "You're going to be moved to another location where you will share a space with Albert. You can keep each other company. You've had it much too easy here. Justine has been too kind to you in that she gave you respites from your visitors; I'm rescinding that. You will be available to them whenever they choose to see you and you won't be able to go insane nor will you be able to kill yourself." "Be reasonable..." "And the mates of any of your victims will be allowed to take their vengeance." she added her tone cool. "I know that you were hoping that the fact that I was a nurse in my human life would be to your benefit but who you are seeing right now is a wronged woman, one of your victims. Believe me when I say that nurse part of me is going to sleep very well. Do you have anything to say?" "You can't do this! I never hurt a male!" Jeremiah protested as he again tried to get out of his chair. "Yes you have." Josephine replied. "There are males whose mates still cannot rest during the day because of you. There are women who are afraid of the touch of their mates because of you so don't tell me that you've never hurt a male. By harming a woman, you by extension hurt her mate male or female if she had one. You leave tomorrow night." Josephine stood up and left the room without giving Jeremiah a backwards glance. She paused and walked back to the table. "I don't think that physical punishment is enough. From this moment forth, what little conscience you have will be awakened." The purple flames around her eyes turned dark and flashed once. Once again, she turned and walked out of the room and straight into David's arms. They could hear Jeremiah screaming for her to come back. "Please! Reconsider!" ********* Justine, Quinn and David listened to the conversation from the other side of the wall. At first, all of them with the exception of Quinn were nervous and ready to burst into the room if necessary. As Quinn listened to Josephine, he saw where Justine got her strength. The longer the meeting went, the more Justine and David relaxed and realized that their fears although reasonable had been groundless. They held their collective breaths when Josephine announced that she was ready to pronounce her sentence. They felt and smelled Jeremiah's anger and then fear when Josephine pronounced the sentence. Justine nodded in approval. Her mother had done well. She and Quinn left the room so that David and Josephine would have some time alone. In spite of what Josephine said, she would have some difficulty with her choice. That she would deal with it and move on, no one had any doubts. ******* "You knew." Justine said when she and Quinn were alone. "I knew." Quinn replied. "I also know that had it been my mother or you that I would have reacted the same way you and David did. Question, did you think that she was going to release him?" "I wasn't sure." Justine replied after several seconds. "But the more she talked, the more I realized that she had no intentions of letting him go. I think that she gave him exactly what he deserved." "I agree." Quinn said. "Where are we going to send them?" he asked. "I have an idea or two but we need to personally interview the guards. I can't help but believe that there are some who sympathize with him and who may try to help him." Justine said. "What are you thinking?" Quinn asked. "A vampire like Jeremiah Mathers had resources. While it's true that I took all of the financial ones, he has personal ones. They may not like him, but they are allies and have everything to gain by attempting a rescue." Justine replied. "The other alternative is that they'll try to kill him." Quinn replied. "Do you know what I think? I think that we need to start rounding up the people listed in his books and on his hard drives." "Pre-emptive strike." Justine said. "Good idea, I'll call Mikhail and Maurice and get the ball rolling." "I'll start going through the names of potential guards for Albert and Jeremiah." Quinn said. "Quinn?" Justine said softly. "Yes?" "Thank you." Justine replied as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "There's no need to thank me but you're welcome." Quinn replied kissing her. "How about we get this taken care of and we meet in the Jacuzzi?" he asked as he tweaked a nipple between his thumb and forefinger before cupping the entire breast in his hand. "I think that I like your plan." Justine replied and returned the kiss. ********* "Jo, are you really alright?" David asked again. "I'm fine... or I will be." Josephine replied. "I just have to adjust to my new role in life but I won't lie to you, I hope that I never have to do anything like that again." "But you know that you will." David said. "I know." Josephine replied. She was suddenly tired. She felt as if she had run a figurative marathon and she had just crossed the finish line. "You're tired." David said picking her up. "Yes but we need to help Justine and Quinn." she replied and struggled to get out of his arms. "Jo." David said in the no nonsense tone that she hadn't heard in a while. "Enough. I know that you want to help with whatever Justine is planning but you need to sleep." David said as he carried her to their suite. When she tried to argue with him, he shushed her with a kiss. "Jo, I know and accept who and what you are and I am proud to be at your side. I also want to tell you that you were magnificent in your handling of that son of a bitch but that's over. It's time for you to allow me to take care of you. Justine will know and she understands now no more arguments. When she tried to object again, he kissed her. "You're not going to win this round so stop trying." he said his tone firm but amused. As he carried Josephine to their suite, he was hit with another pang of guilt. Having Josephine and Justine in the same house would have been an adventure as well as entertaining. Like Quinn, he saw where Justine had gotten her strength. By the time they got to the suite, Josephine had already fallen asleep. ****** Lorenzo lay next to Naila watching her sleep. Whenever she cried out in fear or pain, he whispered assurances to her until she settled down. He kept an eye on her stomach looking for the signs of bleeding that the doctor had mentioned and breathed easier when he saw no signs. As he lay next to her, he practiced in his mind the things that he needed to tell her. None of it sounded right. It sounded contrived, as if it was something that he was reading from a cue card. What he needed to do was to ask Maurice for guidance but he couldn't and wouldn't leave Naila alone. Regina had offered on more than one occasion to sit with her but he had always refused. The doctor had called twice to check on Naila's progress and seemed pleased. Now he only had to wait for her to wake up. A light tap on the bedroom door distracted him. "May I come in?" Maurice asked. Lorenzo checked to be sure that Naila was covered before allowing Maurice to come in. "How is she doing?" he asked. "Alright I think." Lorenzo replied. "Thank you for your help." "Lorenzo, you are and always have been my brother. I have always loved you and I've missed you so stop thanking me. Naila is now a part of our family and will be treated as such. Our home is your home for as long as you wish it to be." "Thank you... I have to tell the Queen about the human that I killed." he replied. "I know and I'll go with you." Maurice replied. "But I don't think that she'll find fault with you. You did what any of us would have done in your place. On the bright side, the man that you killed wasn't a good person and they're saying that his death will probably never be solved. Have you thought about what you're going to say to her?" "I have no idea of where to begin." Lorenzo replied. "I've spent so much time and effort pushing people away that I'm not sure of how to begin to bring them toward me. This was my fault. My pride and need to keep my past to myself led to this. She wouldn't have been at that party if I had claimed her when I first found her. She wouldn't have been servicing others if I had only told her to stop and cared for her whether I claimed her or not. I could have lost her." "But you didn't and you have another chance to fix things." Maurice said. "I'm not saying that it'll be easy but if she needs to talk to someone, Regina will help in any way that she can." "What was it like for you? Was it difficult to convince Regina that you belonged together?" Lorenzo asked. "You have no idea." Maurice replied laughing, "But once Naila is feeling better, I'll tell you the whole story. And by the way, I almost lost Regina too so I do understand what you're feeling." Maurice's phone quietly chirped. He looked at it, nodded at Lorenzo and left the room closing the door behind him. "Yes my Queen. This evening? Of course but it will be a problem for Lorenzo." Maurice quickly told Justine about Lorenzo and Naila. "Will she be alright?" Justine asked. "She was badly beaten but the doctor expects a full recovery." Maurice replied. "What about Lorenzo?" Justine asked. "He's alright but obviously he's concerned about Naila and your response to the death of the human male." "The male was hurting his mate wasn't he?" Justine asked. "Yes but he was going to let the male live until he saw the full extent of Naila's injuries." "Understood." Justine said, "Fine, his place is with his mate for as long as she needs him but I expect you to be here within the hour. Make my apologies to your mate." "Yes my Queen." "What's happening?" Lorenzo asked through the cracked bedroom door. "I have to go to the Queen's home. Apparently, something happened. She wants you to stay with Naila for as long as she needs you and she understands about the human male." Maurice replied. Lorenzo nodded and started to close the door. "Our Queen is very special isn't she?" he asked knowing that had it been Wilhelmina, she wouldn't have cared about his mate. "Yes, she is." Maurice replied. "If you'll excuse me, I need to talk with Regina." A few minutes later, he was on his way to the Queen's home. ******** Jeremiah sat on his cot trembling. He dug deep within himself looking for the trigger that would initiate the process of dying. It had been there before Josephine came but it was always just out of his reach, taunting him but now it was gone. The madness that had always hovered around his sanity was gone as well. He truly understood his sentence when the first real remorse that he had felt in centuries hit him. He tried to push it away but the harder he tried, the stronger the feeling became. Suddenly, he jumped up, ran over to the front of the cell and began to scream at the top of his lungs. "You mother fucking bitches! Bastards!" He screamed until his throat was raw and his voice was gone and then he cursed them in his mind. ********* Everyone including Wilhelmina watched the events unfold in the human world with growing excitement. All of them, with the exception of Wilhelmina were as taken with Josephine as they had been with Justine if not more so. She kept her silence as she watched Thomas out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't so sure that she could trust him but at the moment, he was all that she had. She could see that Thomas was making an effort not to look at her. Even from where she sat, she could feel his hatred of her but she didn't care as long as he did what was required of him. She kept her expression neutral as her gaze wandered over to Lottie. She wondered if Thomas had told her about the proposal yet and what her response was. After thinking about it, she decided that Thomas hadn't told her and wondered why. Her gaze went back to Thomas who was staring at her; his gaze didn't waver as she returned the stare. She saw a strength and determination in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. It unnerved her. It was a reminder that she really didn't know her mate of several centuries. All she knew were the basics about his family and she never bothered to find out more. She had always considered him weak and ineffective but then, she hadn't made him her equal either. As she returned his gaze, she wondered if not getting to know him had been an error on her part. Thomas had just become a wild card. ******* Thomas looked at his mate and hated her. He had felt that way for centuries but never admitted it, not even to himself. Every negative adjective he could think of ran through his mind as he looked at her. Bitch and traitor were amongst them. He had always known what she thought of him and he did nothing to change her mind. If she had taken the time to find out about his lineage, she would have done things differently. Justine Ch. 19 He was content to keep his lineage to himself as long as she left him alone and didn't do anything to hurt Lottie. However, that was changing; it was time to get Lottie out of the realm. He like Wilhelmina was sorry to see the party end and hoped that it would begin again. It was time to reach out to his friends and family. He hadn't told Lottie about Wilhelmina's proposal for one reason. Wilhelmina did not intend to honor her end of the proposal. As soon as she got what she wanted, Wilhelmina would kill her. To buy time, he agreed but only after playing the part that Wilhelmina expected him to- the meek, grateful male. "Thank you!" he said repeatedly playing his role to the hilt while seething that she would offer to release him so that he and Lottie could be together and then threatening Lottie's life if he didn't comply. "You do understand the terms of our agreement don't you?" she asked in the smug voice that he had come to hate. "I will release you from our bond so that you and the little bitch can live happily ever after but only if you agree to help me with something that I'm planning. If you refuse...." "I understand and would like some time to think about your generous offer." he replied It was all that he could do not to throw himself at her and try to kill her but he managed-just barely. Part of it was that he knew that he wouldn't succeed-yet and the other part of it was that Lottie would be alone and at her mercy. That conversation had taken place in the wee hours of the morning in his suite. Because of it, he hadn't rested and his anger grew. Along with the anger, there was curiosity about what she was planning, but he didn't ask. She wouldn't have told him anyway. The only thing that he was sure of was that it had something to do with the Queen and her mother. The thought that maybe Wilhelmina would try to overthrow the Queen crossed his mind. "She wouldn't be that stupid." he muttered after Wilhelmina left the room. He sat at his desk for a long time trying to think of what she could be up to but kept arriving at the same conclusions only to reject it again as a possibility. "She wouldn't... would she?" he asked himself. Suddenly it became even more imperative that he get Lottie out of the Realm. He didn't care about what happened to him as long as she was safe. The other thing was that he had to tell someone of his suspicions but who? There was no one in the Realm that he was close enough to and if Wilhelmina found out, she would do something to Lottie. He leaned back into his chair and began to run down a long list of names. ******** Josephine slept the entire day and into late evening before she woke up. David was sitting naked in an overstuffed chair next to the bed with his laptop in his lap reading. As soon as he heard her stir, he closed the laptop, got up and climbed into bed with her. "Welcome back." he said kissing her. "How are you feeling?" Josephine stretched and snuggled into his arms. "Much better, thank you. Are you alright?" "I am but I'll be even better after I'm through with that bastard." he replied. "You don't have much time." Josephine replied. "I won't need much..." "What are you going to do?" Josephine asked not sure if she really wanted to know. "It's better that you don't know." David replied as he pushed her onto her back and took a nipple into his mouth. Josephine jumped and then sighed as David lapped at the nipple before tracing a circle around it. He released the nipple and made his way down her forever twenty-eight year old body to the area of his desire- her mound. The urge to taste her had grown as she slept. It had become almost over powering when she moaned and pulled the sheet off her nude body and her scent wafted through the air. It was all that he could do not to wake her up by nibbling on the tender flesh between her legs. "God you smell good." he murmured as he buried his nose in the coarse hairs of her mound. He closed his eyes and listened to the pounding of her heart and the sound of her blood as it raced through her veins. To him, blood laced with desire was even sweeter than blood laced with fear. He had to taste it. He had to. He slipped his tongue between her nether lips, went straight for her clit tapping it with the very tip of his stiffened tongue. Josephine cried out, took him by his ears and held him in place as she ground her clit against his tongue until she came with a scream. She released his ears and lay back on the bed panting in an attempt to catch her breath. David wasn't finished with her. He took her still throbbing clit into his mouth and sucked hard sending her into another orgasm. At the height of it, he nicked her clit with the tip of a fang and began to drink from her. Josephine screamed again as she pushed against him encouraging him not to stop. David needed no encouragement as he continued to drink her desire laced blood. Reluctantly, he stopped a few minutes later. He licked the tiny cut closed and laid his head on her sweaty stomach. He was as sated as he had ever been and needed nothing more but the warmth of her body next to his but he was loathe to move. He didn't want her to stop stroking his hair as she came down from the orgasms. He stayed put for several minutes before moving to lie beside her. He took her into his arms, closed his eyes and slept. ******** Jeremiah paced and hoped that David had changed his mind about seeing him. The later the hour got, the more his spirits rose. He would be leaving in a matter of hours. He looked in the corner where his bag laid waiting. He wouldn't be sorry to leave the cellar. One more hour. Jeremiah allowed himself to relax. David Sheffield wasn't coming. ******* David knew exactly what he was doing. It was a tactic that he had used frequently in his business dealings. He would let the opposition stew in their juices. Then they would begin to relax thinking that he wasn't going to follow through on his promise. He had no doubt that Jeremiah Mathers was breathing a sigh of relief. There was only an hour before he was going to be leaving. He kissed Josephine and told her that he would be back within the hour. On his way to the cellar, he stopped by Quinn and Justine's office. "I just wanted to tell you that your mother is doing well." he said meeting Justine's direct gaze with one of his own. "I'm glad to hear that." Justine said. "Your eyes, when did they change?" "Sometime during the day." he replied. "I also wanted to let you know that I'm on my way to see Mathers and to give you my word that I won't kill him." "You won't have your three hours." Quinn said. "I won't need them. Thirty minutes is more than enough time for what I have in mind." David replied. ******** Forty-five minutes and counting. "Let's go!" the guard shouted out. Jeremiah jumped up, grabbed his bag and headed for the front of the cell. "You won't need that." The guard said. Jeremiah's stomach dropped as the bag fell from his hand and to the floor. "Where are you taking me?" he asked not really expecting an answer. "Follow me." The guard said. As soon as Jeremiah was out of the cell, a guard appeared on either side of him. When he stepped forward, one appeared behind him. He followed them for what seemed to be a long way until they stopped in front of a door. The guard in front of him knocked on the door and waited until he heard the command to enter. Jeremiah cringed when he heard David's commanding baritone and tried to back away. He knew that whatever David was going to do to him, it was going to be excruciating. The guard opened the door, stepped aside and the guard behind Jeremiah pushed him into the room. Jeremiah stumbled forward and gained his balance by grabbing on to a chair. David nodded at the guard who was standing behind Jeremiah. The guard reached around Jeremiah and grabbed the buckle of his belt. "What the fuck?" Jeremiah yelled and tried to grab at the hands unbuckling his belt. Images of being sodomized ran through his head as he fought against the guard. "Enough." David said as he walked over to Jeremiah and the guard. "I'm not going to fuck you although I'm quite sure that there are some who will." He said. "I'm going to give you a choice, take down your slacks yourself or I'll do it and I won't be nearly as gentle as your guard." "W... What are you going to do to me?" Jeremiah stammered. "You have ten seconds in which to decide who removes your slacks." David said his grey eyes flashing. "Fuck..." Jeremiah said when he saw the gray flames around David's eyes. "Your time is up." David said as he took hold of Jeremiah's slacks and ripped them off. Jeremiah howled in pain as the material of the slacks cut into the skin of his ass, balls and cock. "Do you know how I think rapists should be punished?" David asked as he dropped the destroyed slacks to the floor. "I think that their cocks should be cut off and crammed up their asses." Jeremiah's eyes widened as he understood where David was going with his comments. "Don't do this." Jeremiah said weakly. "Is that what Josephine said to you that night? If not her then others?" David asked as he reached into his pocket and brought out a pair of gloves. Jeremiah began to blubber as David snapped the gloves on. "Do not move." he commanded staring into Jeremiah's panicked eyes. "Let him go." he said to the guard. Jeremiah struggled to move backwards when he felt David's gloved hand on his cock. However, the compulsion was too strong. "Oh god... not that! Fuck me but don't..." A scream resonated through the room as David tightened his grip on Jeremiah's cock and yanked it hard. He screamed again when he felt another hard yank and warm blood running down his thighs and legs. "Remember this." David hissed as he gave a final yank and held Jeremiah's bloody cock and balls in front of his face. Jeremiah felt the room spin around him. The pain where his cock had just been was indescribable. The last thing that he remembered was seeing his bloodied cock complete with his balls in David Sheffield's gloved hand. When he came to, he was lying on his cot. He opened his eyes and whimpered as he reached between his legs hoping that what he had just experienced was a horrible nightmare. "Jesus!" he cried when he didn't feel his cock or balls. "Oh my god!" Tears of humiliation and pain ran down his face as he gently prodded the areas where his cock should have been. "Lose something?" Pam asked from across the cell. "Ahh no worries, you'll have a new one in a few hours. I mean you didn't really think that we'd leave you like that did you?" Jeremiah didn't know whether to be relieved or not. He was going to go with relief until Pam added her next jibe. "Someone else may want the pleasure of yanking you off... get it? Instead of wanking I said yanking?" She laughed at her own joke and then went silent for a few minutes. "I wanted to see you one more time before you go to your new home. You were supposed to go tonight but David asked that you stay for a while longer." Fear ran through him at the prospect of another visit from David. He licked his dry lips and forced himself to ask a question. "Why? Is he coming back?" Pam shrugged. "I don't know... maybe but anyway, see ya!" and then she was gone. Jeremiah lay on the cot not moving until they came for him the next evening. Once again, he picked up his bag and prayed that he wouldn't be told to leave it behind. He moved slowly so that his slacks didn't rub against his newly formed cock. Even so, it rubbed and he whimpered in pain. He could only hope that no one else got the same idea. He caught sight of Albert who was blessedly quiet and prayed that he stayed that way for the duration of the ride. He didn't know where they were going just that it was somewhere out of the city. He was expecting to see Justine and Quinn before he left so that they could gloat at his demise. The fact that they weren't there told him that they no longer considered him worth their time. As he walked through the cellar for the last time, he cursed everyone who he knew to be associated with Justine and Quinn. As he approached the van, he squared his shoulders and began to prepare himself for an eternity in hell. ********* Maurice arrived shortly after Jeremiah and Albert left. He found Quinn and Justine in the living room along with David, Josephine, Violet, Edward, Mikhail and Zoe. "Thank you for coming. How is Lorenzo's mate?" Justine asked. "She'll recover, thank you for asking." Maurice replied. "And your mate, is she alright?" "She's well and would like to offer her services wherever you need them." Maurice said. "She's a social worker right?" "Yes my Queen." "Justine and I would appreciate any help that she would like to give. Actually, I would like to meet your family and that includes Lorenzo's mate when she recovers." "We would be honored... Justine. So tell me what's happening." Maurice said. "As you know, Jeremiah and Albert are no longer here. They've been taken to a location outside of the city." Quinn said taking over the meeting. "We all know that he has friends some of whom would like to see him freed. What we want to do is to start taking care of the names that he had on his hard drive and his books. We're hoping to eliminate or drastically reduce any chance that someone will attempt a rescue mission. We're also hoping to find and rescue any other women that Jeremiah turned and sold." "I understand but isn't that Mikhail's area of expertise?" Maurice asked. "It is but you'll be able to help with some of the bigger fish." Quinn replied. "In other words you want me to use my contacts to find these people." "Exactly." Quinn said. "I'm at your disposal." Maurice said. "Could I have a copy of your list?" Quinn handed Maurice a folder. "We want to start with the top guys and work our way down. We'll let you deal with the ones that you know. Whatever resources you need are at your disposal. Any questions?" "No." Maurice said hoping that none of the names on the list were friends or business partners. But even if they were, he would do what he needed to do. "The next topic is the gala." Justine said. "I know that it's usually a one night affair but this one will last for a week. Anyone who wants to attend can come regardless of his or her station in life. I know that it's going to be a security nightmare so that's why it won't be for two years from now. That should give you and Mikhail enough time to put together a security team that will be able to handle anything." "Justine... are you certain about this?" Maurice asked. He was already seeing the problems with a weeklong celebration. He could tell by the look on Mikhail's face that he was having the same thoughts. "I'm sure and I'm willing to listen to any suggestions regarding security and I'm willing to do what I can not to make it any more difficult than it needs to be. Zoe, I want you and Violet to start announcing the dates of the gala that will be July 1-7 the location and further details will be announced later. Also, add that there will be a website set up in a few weeks where people can check for information. Mikhail, have your friend Auggie take care of that and then he and his group can manage it. Of course, he'll be compensated for his time and expertise. Any questions?" ******* Naila stirred, cried out and tried to open her swollen eyes. She tried to talk but her throat was raw and sore. The last thing that she really remembered was the party, being beaten and Lorenzo coming for her. She jumped when she felt a cool washcloth being applied to her eyes. "Easy baby, you're safe." Lorenzo said as he rubbed an ice cube across her lips. To Naila, it felt like a cold piece of heaven as the ice melted and the water ran down her parched throat. She tried to talk again but soon gave up and fell back into an exhausted sleep. The next time she woke, she was in Lorenzo's arms. His chin was resting on the top of her head, his breathing deep and regular, he had finally fallen asleep. She had barely moved when his dark eyes opened. "Are you in much pain?" he asked as he touched her stomach relieved to find that it was still soft. "N...no" she mouthed. "Bathroom." It was slow going but they finally made it. Naila sat on the toilet and tried to see as much as she could through the slits in her eyes. "We're at my brother's home." Lorenzo said. "Are you finished?" "Yes... shower?" she whispered. Lorenzo ran the shower, made sure that the water wasn't too hot. He got in first shielding her much smaller body, especially her back, from the direct spray of the water. He washed her hair and then her back with slow deliberate movements trying to minimize the pain that he knew she had to be feeling. When she began to tremble, he turned the water off, turned her so that she faced him and held her as she cried. He could feel her lips moving against his chest. He could imagine what she was saying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." "Naila, this was my fault... I should have stopped you from working a long time ago. I'm sorry." Naila looked up at him ands shook her head no. "Yes baby it is and when you're feeling better, I have some things that I need to tell you and I hope that you'll forgive me." Naila laid her head back on his chest and pressed against him looking for safety. A few minutes later, she was back in bed. Lorenzo applied the cream to her back and helped her put on a nightshirt that Regina had dried off. "Are you hungry?" he asked. "A little, my throat hurts." she replied in a whisper. "Will you be alright alone for a few minutes? I'll see what I can find in the kitchen." Regina was in the kitchen making a snack for Jon when Lorenzo got there. "How is she?" Regina asked. "Hurting but she'll be alright." he replied. "She's hungry and I was wondering if I could get her something to eat." "Of course! What about you? When did you last feed or eat?" "I'm fine; I want to take care of Naila first." Lorenzo replied. "Ok, let me finish with Jon and I'll bring a tray to your room." Regina said. "I... we don't know how to thank you for your kindness." Lorenzo said softly. "Lorenzo, you're Maurice's brother and Jon's uncle. Naila is your mate and that makes the both of you my family as well so stop with the gratitude." Lorenzo hesitated. "What do you know about me?" "I know that you've made some mistakes one of which was staying away from your family. I also know that you're feeling a lot of guilt. I don't know the specifics and I don't need to but you're welcome here for as long as you want to stay." "Again, you have our thanks." Lorenzo said. "My brother is a lucky man." "You're welcome. Why don't you go check on Naila? I'll be there shortly." When he got back to the room, she had already fallen back to sleep. ********* Jeremiah tried to see where they were going and tried to memorize the turns in the off chance that he would escape. After a while, he gave up. He knew what they were doing. They were taking a haphazard route to their destination. They would drive in circles for hours before they finally arrived. He looked over at Albert who had been mute but was beginning to open his mouth to let out a scream. Jeremiah closed his eyes when Albert began to moan softly and the moan grew into a loud piercing scream as one of Mimi's memories flashed across his brain. Jeremiah covered his ears with his hands and tried to block out the screams that seemed to reverberate through his whole body. "Please stop." he moaned as the sound made even his already painful cock hurt even more. When he thought that he couldn't take it anymore, the screaming stopped and became sobs and even those grated on his frayed nerves. Justine Ch. 19 "Shut the hell up!" he screamed at Albert who appeared not to hear him but kept sobbing. "Oh god." Jeremiah murmured when Albert began to scream again." ******** Wilhelmina smiled to herself when she heard the date for the gala, July 1-7 2014. It was still winter so she had more than two years to plan. Better yet, because of the length of the gala, she would have more time to pick the best moment. Finally, things were looking up but now she had to decide what to do about Thomas and Lottie. After thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons, she decided to release Thomas. If she allowed him and Lottie to be together, his emotional attachment to her would be strong and she would become an even better pawn then she was now. The next step was to get someone inside of the house. This, she knew was going to be difficult if not impossible but she had to try. First things first, she had to bring Thomas into line. She left her suite and went in search of Thomas with Lottie following close on her heels. Wilhelmina stopped in front of Thomas' door, turned to Lottie and dismissed her. "I won't need you, go run my bath." "Yes mistress." Lottie replied and hurried off. Wilhelmina didn't bother to knock but walked in to find him sitting in an overstuffed armchair reading. He didn't stand up when she came in and she made no comment about it as she sat in the chair across from him. Thomas closed the book, sat it aside and waited. "As you know, I offered to release you from our bond. I would like to do so immediately." His initial reaction was happiness as it had been before but then caution set in. There was much more to the offer than she was saying and then he understood. She wanted him even more attached to Lottie than he was and then she would be snatched away from him and he would do anything to get her back. Thomas' throat tightened at what he was about to do. "Well?" Wilhelmina demanded. "I thank you for your offer but I'm afraid that I must decline." "What? What do you mean you decline?" Wilhelmina asked shocked. She had thought that he would have jumped at the chance to be free of her- except that he wouldn't live to enjoy that freedom. "I respectfully decline your offer and choose to remain at your side as your mate." "I demand that you accept!" Wilhelmina said. "And I am well within my rights to refuse." Thomas said quietly. They argued for several minutes before Wilhelmina stood up and stormed out of the room. She had calmed by the time she arrived at her suite. She reminded herself that she had time and that all she had to do was to dangle Lottie in front of Thomas like a prize. It was only a matter of time before he gave in. ****** Thomas sat in his chair shaking. He had just denied himself the one thing that he wanted in his long life. He almost ran after Wilhelmina to tell her that he had changed his mind. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that Wilhelmina would kill Lottie and then try to kill him as well. For the moment, Lottie was safe although he couldn't say for how long. Wilhelmina was as unpredictable as she was cruel. After his shaking subsided, he warded his suite with a ward that not even Wilhelmina knew that he had and sat at his desk. He took out a small mirror that had been in his family for generations and laid it on the desk. Whoever he called, it had to be someone who wasn't afraid of Wilhelmina and who hated her as much as he did. He looked into the mirror and said a name three times. He leaned back into his chair and waited. Justine Ch. 20 The Realm was in a frenzy. Word of the weeklong gala has spread like wildfire. Even though the event was more than two years away, frantic calls were made to dress makers, hair and make-up artists and anyone else anyone could think of. To delay was to invite disaster for once the true professionals were taken, one had to rely on those new to the field or those who were mediocre at best. Wilhelmina was among the first to make a phone call and she got the people that she wanted. She didn't care that they didn't like her or didn't want her as a client; she paid well for them to put up with her. Of the people that she selected, there was only one who resisted. However, he soon came around when the name of his mate was mentioned. Wilhelmina smiled. It felt good to know that there were still those who feared her. The smile disappeared as she thought about her dwindling number of those who would have been able to help her. In the past week alone the Queen had arrested, tried and punished no less than two-hundred of those who had been loyal to her when she had been in power. Every day there were new reports about the arrests but the one that hit hardest was the arrest of her right hand woman Alicia Duchain. Wilhelmina let out a string of profanities when she heard of the arrest. When she calmed down, she remembered hearing that the current Queen was sometimes easier on the females but that didn't mean that she would go easy on Alicia or that Alicia would be freed in time to help with any planning. She wondered how the Queen found Alicia. She was a master at hiding and not being found unless she wanted to be. That meant only one thing, someone had betrayed Alicia and by extension her. She made a mental note to find out who it was and when she did, they would be sorry. Thinking about Alicia filled her with longing. Alicia was the only other person that she knew of who was as ruthless as she was and who wasn't afraid to take what she wanted. It was because of Alicia that she had never made Thomas her equal. Her initial plan had been to rule forever by killing any female child that she thought of as her replacement and then to get rid of Thomas. Once that was done, she would make an unprecedented move, make Alicia her co-ruler, and openly acknowledge her as her lover. Her impeachment ended her plans and for all of these centuries she waited and now she had only one slim chance of taking back what she had lost. The question she had was where Alicia was and was she still alive. Cold rage rose in her as she thought about what could be happening to Alicia. There had to be a way to find out about Alicia without raising suspicions. She looked over at Thomas and didn't like what she saw. Something had changed. He looked and acted like the same timid and weak vampire that she knew him to be but something ... "I see you've already booked Julian, Phillip and Moon." Gabra a former queen from Ethiopia said. "What of it?" Wilhelmina snapped. "Nothing... Just making conversation." Gabra replied unfazed. "You really must interact more with others, I find your manners... lacking." "Then don't converse with me!" Wilhelmina replied her voice terse. Gabra only laughed at her and walked away. Wilhelmina stared at her back and wondered what the real purpose of the brief conversation had been. ******** When he didn't get a response back from his contact, Thomas began to make other plans. He knew that there were those in the Realm that hated Wilhelmina, but the question was would they help him. BBut more important, could he trust them? He was still in a quandary about what he should do about Lottie. As long as Wilhelmina was planning, she was safe enough, but the closer the time of the gala came; the more danger her life would be in. He wondered where his contact was and hoped that he wasn't in the queen's custody. If he was, then he hoped that the Queen would look into his soul as she was reputed to be able to do. If she did, she would see that Lorenzo Delgado was as honorable as they came and that he had been pulled into Wilhelmina's web like so many others had been. He still had nightmares about that night. When he closed his eyes, he could still hear the screams of the humans as they awaited their fate. Up until that moment, he had no real idea of what Wilhelmina had been planning although he was aware of her feelings toward humans. Lorenzo also realized what was happening but it was almost too late. Between the two of them, they had managed to save only four of the humans. Wilhelmina wasn't aware of this only because Lorenzo had taken full responsibility, thus saving his life. Soon afterwards, Wilhelmina had been impeached. He and Lorenzo talked one time afterwards. "Thomas, keep an eye on her, she means trouble whether it's now or in the future. Part of my accepting full responsibility for the escaped humans is so that you can watch her." "What do you think she'll do?" Thomas asked. "She'll spend eternity in the Realm." "I don't know." Lorenzo said. "But I don't trust her." "But you trust me." Thomas commented. "Yes, but only because you tried to help the humans and I know that you've tried to reason with her about her views." Lorenzo replied. "But Thomas, watch yourself and whatever you do, don't let her find out what and who you really are. She'll either use it against you or try to get you to use it to her benefit but I suspect the latter." "Lorenzo, do you really think that she'll try something?" Thomas asked. "Let's hope that I'm wrong." Lorenzo said. "But if you ever need to reach me say the word treason into any portal and I will respond." It seemed impossible that that conversation had happened centuries ago and that what Lorenzo had feared was happening. "Lorenzo, where are you?" Thomas murmured. He looked up when Gabra walked past him. She gave him the barest of nods and moved on. Thomas was startled and surprised. He knew that Gabra was one of the past Queens who hated Wilhelmina and wondered if she wasn't a potential ally. Time would tell he decided as he stood to go to his suite. On the way, he passed Lottie who gave him a shy smile. In that moment, he decided not to tell her. The less she knew the better and if he told her anything, it would be just enough to keep her safe. When he got to his suite, he locked the door and set wards that he hadn't used since before he mated with Wilhelmina. The wards set; Thomas sat down in front of the mirror and said the word. "Treason." ********* Naila was awake and eating when the first summons came. Lorenzo ignored it deciding that he would answer it later. He knew who it was and wondered what was happening that he was hearing from Thomas after so many centuries. Naila was looking a little better than she had the day before although her face was still swollen and bruised. She could however, open her eyes more than half way and the pain was gradually decreasing. She had gone from eating just soups to soft foods, which Lorenzo insisted on feeding her. He continued to shower with her even though she objected. Afterwards he would apply the cream to her back, get into bed with her and hold her as she slept. The second summons came during one of those times. Lorenzo swore as he slowly eased out of bed. Naila moaned, moved into the spot where he had just been and went back to sleep. Lorenzo went into the bathroom and shut the door. "Open." Lorenzo said softly. A few seconds later, he was looking at Thomas. "Where are you? Are you well?" Thomas asked. "I am well but my mate hasn't been. That's why I didn't respond the first time you summoned." "Lorenzo, you were right! She is planning something but I have no proof." "Tell me what you know." Lorenzo said as he glanced behind him making sure that he was still alone. He listened without interrupting. "This Gabra, do you believe her to be trustworthy?" Lorenzo asked when Thomas was through. "I believe so but it is too soon to say." Thomas replied. "I know that there are others who hate her as much as we do but I haven't spoken to any of them yet." "Don't" Lorenzo advised. "As you say it's too soon and we know too little. I agree that Lottie is safe for now but I will work on getting her here. As you know, only the Queen can give permission for someone to leave the Realm." "I understand." Thomas said. "Thomas, I know that you're worried but if we bring Lottie here too soon, Wilhelmina will know that you know something." "Then she'll take Lottie hostage." Thomas said. "What are you going to do?" "Alert the Queen of course and start laying the ground work for bringing you and Lottie here..." "Her first." Thomas interrupted. "I don't care what happens to me but I need to know that Lottie is safe." "Agreed but in the meantime see what you can find out and watch your back." "I will and I'll be in touch." Lorenzo closed the portal and sighed. "Why now?" he murmured as he thought about the woman sleeping in the next room. "Lorenzo?" Naila called softly. "I'm here baby, do you need something?" "No... who were you talking to?" she asked. He started to lie to her and tell her no one, that he had been talking to himself but he stopped. It was time for the truth just not now. "Go back to sleep and I'll tell you about it later." he said as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Naila, will you be alright for a few minutes? I need to speak with my brother." "I'm ok." she assured him and closed her eyes. Lorenzo kissed her forehead, dressed and left the room. A few minutes later, he found Maurice in his office looking at the laptop screen and sipping a cup of coffee. "May I come in?" Lorenzo asked. "Of course you may." Maurice replied. "I told you that this was your and Naila's home. Would you like a cup of coffee?" "No thanks." Lorenzo replied as he sat down. "Naila must be doing better if you've left her alone." Maurice commented. "She is and I only left because I have urgent information to share with you." Maurice closed the laptop. The word "urgent" had caught his full attention. Lorenzo told him about the summons from Thomas. "What I didn't tell you," he said, "was that Thomas helped me save the four humans that lived. He was going to admit to it, but I told him not to because I had a feeling then that Wilhelmina would cause trouble further down the line. But what I don't understand is why now? Why didn't she try something when one of the weaker queens was reigning?" "That's a good question and one that I'm sure Justine will ask but my question is this, who is Thomas? And why is he just now saying something?" "Two reasons." Lorenzo replied. "A servant named Lottie, and until recently he wasn't sure." "He's in love with Lottie is that it?" Maurice asked. "He always has been but never acted on it." Lorenzo replied. "And before you say it, this isn't a ploy to get her out of the Realm. Wilhelmina demanded that she and Thomas break their bond for a reason; she wants to use Lottie to coerce Thomas' help. That's why he turned her down. The only thing that he's asking is that we get Lottie out of there, he's willing to stay." "Is Wilhelmina crazy? Surely she can't believe that she would succeed?" Maurice asked. "To answer your first question, yes she's crazy, but she's also a realist. I honestly believe that she thought that the Queen of Queens would never appear even though she believed in it. During her reign, she killed hundreds of women and girls whom she considered threats to her position. She knows that her chances are slim, but I have to be honest with you, a week long gala only helps her." "She may think so but she is at a disadvantage." Maurice said. "She doesn't know Justine. I'm sure that she's keeping track of what's happening but she doesn't know Justine personally." "I've only met her once but I see what you mean." Lorenzo said. "Do you have to rush back or can you stay while I call Justine." "I can wait." Lorenzo said. ********* Justine and Josephine sat in the living room with Pam, Violet and Zoe looking at bridal magazines. "I want a small wedding and these dresses look like something for a coronation." Justine said wearily. "Yes but you only get married once." Josephine reminded her. "I know but all of this for less than ten guests? I don't know mom, it seems extravagant." Justine replied as she thumbed through a magazine. "I suppose you would wear a sweat suit and Reeboks?" Josephine teased. "Could I?" Justine asked. Pam began to laugh; she couldn't help it. "Good luck with convincing her to wear a gown." Justine gave Pam a withering glance and turned back to Josephine. "How about a compromise?" she asked. "Let's see if we can find something that's a combination of the two?" "Or something that isn't as ornate." Zoe suggested. "You have a dressmaker at your disposal. We could call him instead of going through the magazines and Queen Mother; he could design your dress as well." "I have a dress maker?" Justine asked. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" "I didn't know until we started looking through the magazines what your preference was and I thought that maybe it was something that you and your mother would enjoy doing together." Zoe replied. "Alright, call the dressmaker... what's his name?" Justine asked. "His name is Nolan and he is always at your disposal." Zoe replied. "Have him come tomorrow evening for dinner... does he eat food?" "No he doesn't but he'll be fine as long as you have warmed blood for him. By the way, you also have a hairdresser and makeup artist at your disposal as well. All of these people will be the ones preparing you for the wedding and the gala." "Well hell, call them too. I might as well meet them." Justine said. "Pam and Violet, could I get you two to plan the menu for tomorrow night? In fact, could you work with the caterers on the menus for the gala? Just bring me a copy of the menus when he has them so I can look at them." Josephine watched Justine as she delegated. The thought that she was born to do this crossed her mind and the memory of Justine's birth followed. "Mom? Are you alright?" "I'm fine. I was just thinking about the night that you were born." Josephine replied. "If you will excuse us." Violet said sensing that mother and daughter needed time alone. "Thank you all for your help." Josephine said as the women stood to leave. "And one more thing, please call me Josephine. You've all been like family to Justine and I also consider you family." The three women looked at each other and then at Justine who only smiled at them. Several seconds later, they were gone leaving Justine and her mother alone. "I was telling you about the night that you were born." Josephine said. "When I first saw you I knew that you were special. I know that every parent thinks that of his or her child but this was different. I knew that you were born to do something great but this? I watched you as you delegated and as you fulfill your role as Queen. Honey, this is what you were born for and I am so proud of you." "I'm proud of you too." Justine said her throat tight. "And I'm glad that you're here." As they hugged, Justine's eyes landed on the open page of a bridal magazine. It was the magazine that Josephine had been looking at but she had never turned the page. "You really like that dress don't you?" Justine asked. "It would look beautiful on you." Josephine replied. "Then I'll wear it under one condition." Justine said. "You wear one exactly like it." "What?" Josephine asked. "We've lost so much time together that ... look, I'm still pissed at David but he loves you and that's what's important. It may take a while for me to stop being angry but that doesn't change the fact that he's your mate and a part of this reign. So I think that it's only fitting that we get married together." "I... what about Quinn?" Josephine asked. "Quinn will agree, so what do you think?" Josephine looked at the picture of the dress and then back at Justine. "I would like that." she replied hugging Justine again. ******* David, Mikhail, Darren and Quinn were working on the indoor garden. Quinn was surprised that David knew so much about horticulture. "My mother was an avid plant lover." he replied. "I spent a lot of time helping her in her gardens when I was a child and later when I was a young man." David hesitated. "What's on your mind?" Quinn asked. "Justine, do you think that she will ever forgive me?" Quinn stopped working and looked at him. "She's still plenty pissed, and you can't blame her but eventually she'll come around." Quinn replied. "The main thing is that you love and care for her mother and that you are now a part of this whole thing. Just keep doing what you're doing and don't push her." "Thank you." David replied relieved. "No problem and David? What size tux do you wear?" Quinn asked. "Why do you ask?" "You're getting married. Justine just told me that we're having a double ceremony." "Are you alright with this?" David asked. "I'm good and if you think about it, it makes sense." "I guess it does." David replied after a minute. ******** Thomas paced and tried to calm down. It would raise suspicion if he acted differently. The nervousness wasn't for him but Lottie. He was glad that he hadn't told her anything. He wasn't sure that she could have acted normally. He thought about whom in his family that he could ask for help and decided that he didn't trust any of them enough to contact them. They were as greedy as Wilhelmina was and to trust them was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. His father, Anthony Rhys was as driven and as greedy as they came. When he found out that Thomas was the mate to the Queen, he had been ecstatic. "You do me proud!" he said and slapped Thomas on the back. That had been the only time his father had ever told him that he was proud of him. "She's lucky to get you... there aren't too many of us around. Make sure that she knows that." he added. "Yes father." Thomas said. But he did not intend to tell his mate to be anything about his lineage. She didn't like him and the feeling was mutual, but the pull of the mates couldn't or wouldn't be denied. The thing was the only physical attraction was of a sexual nature. It was something that he didn't understand any more than he did before. Of course, he had no one to talk to about it and went through with the mating, which was unsatisfactory at best. "Get it done!" Wilhelmina snapped as she opened her legs. Unbelievably, he was actually hard. He rammed into her so hard that she grunted and a few thrust later, he had emptied his seed in her praying that there was no child as a result. Much to his relief, after that night they slept in separate suites with him going to hers on occasion to do what he considered a job. He found out years later that she had a lover that went to her suite every evening. Alicia Duchain. Thomas shuddered at the memory of the woman. She had been as cruel and unfair as Wilhelmina had been and he had hated her just as much. She and Wilhelmina had the same agenda, as he would find out the night that the humans had been murdered. He hadn't thought about Alicia in years and wondered where she was. His hope was that she was rotting in one of the Queen's prisons somewhere. As he thought about his next step, he marveled that after all of this time Wilhelmina hadn't asked about his lineage. His mother Patrice was the daughter of a long line of vampires some of whom were mage and had little use for the Queen or anyone who served them unless it was in their best interests. Their politics unfortunately were the same as Wilhelmina's politics; humans were good for only two things. Food and servitude. If any of them would help him, it would be his mother but she was firmly under the thumb of his father. That one fact was the thing that ruled her out as a possible source of help. The control that his father had over his mother would also be the one thing that would bring further danger to Lottie. Wilhelmina would force him to contact his family and enlist their aid, which they would all too willingly give. Justine Ch. 20 He had no choice but to wait and to see who the possible sources of help were in the Realm. ******* Something was happening. Wilhelmina could feel it in her bones and Thomas was somehow at the root of it. She still hadn't gotten over the fact that he had turned down a chance to be with Lottie in order to stay with her. It could only mean one thing; he knew that she was planning something. Denying Lottie was a defensive move and was a way for him to find out information. He had to die. Lottie didn't matter. Wilhelmina was convinced that the woman didn't know anything. Thomas hadn't told her about the offer-another defensive move on his part. She was coming to realize that her mate was much smarter than she had given him credit for which meant that he more than likely knew about Alicia. As she sat at her desk, she berated herself for not making her move sooner. But how was she to know that the real Queen of Queens would appear? It didn't occur to her that even if she had made her move that Justine would still have come to power and her reign would have ended for a second time. She concentrated on the best way to dispose of Thomas. It was well past the time of their monthly conjugal visits, which were for the most part pointless. The only real purpose of the visits were physical release and to ensure Thomas' loyalty to her. Tonight she would pay her mate a visit. ******* Justine's cell phone rang as she and Josephine were planning the wedding. "Maurice, what's up? Really? How soon can you get here? What about Lorenzo? Can he come with you? Alright call me back." "What's happening?" Josephine asked. "Treason." Josephine replied grimly. "Treason? Who?" Josephine asked. "If you don't mind I'd like to wait until we're all together that way we can all hear the information once." "That makes sense." Josephine agreed. "I need to get Quinn, David, Edward and Mikhail up here." Justine said. "I want to deal with this before it goes any further." Her phone rang a moment later. "Hey Maurice... he can? Good. I'm glad to hear that Naila is better. See you in a few." ****** Are you sure about leaving Naila?" Maurice asked. "I'm sure and she says that she's fine with me leaving." Lorenzo replied. "The Queen has been more than kind in allowing me to stay with Naila but its time that I start doing my job." "Alright then let's go." Maurice said and vanished from where he stood with Lorenzo following a few seconds later. ******* "What's happening?" Quinn asked after greeting Justine with a kiss. "I'll tell you as soon as Maurice gets here..." "Treason." Quinn said. "It's someone in the realm. Did you forget that I know what you know?" he asked. "I did, but why didn't mom and David know?" she mused. The red flames around her eyes flickered as she tried to figure out the answer. "It's clear that they're a part of the reign so why....I got it!" she said snapping her fingers. "There's one more step." "You have to accept them." Quinn said. "Exactly." Justine replied. She stood, walked over to her mother and David, took each of their hands in hers and looked back at Quinn. "I think that you need to be a part of this." she said holding out her hand. When Quinn joined them, he took Justine's hand in one hand and Josephine's hand in the other. "I now accept you Josephine and David as a part of this reign." she said and gave Quinn's hand a squeeze. "I likewise accept you David and Josephine as a part of this reign." he said. Josephine and David looked at each other and replied in unison. "We accept." The flames around each of their eyes flashed once and then dimmed. "It's done." Justine said softly just as Mikhail tapped on the wall to announce his presence. "Where's Edward?" Justine asked. "He's coming. He and Violet were talking to the caterers for the gala." he replied. "My apologies for being late." Edward said just as Mikhail finished his sentence. "You aren't late." Quinn replied. "Maurice and Lorenzo aren't here yet." While they waited, Mikhail brought up the issue of the weeklong gala. "I know, understand and respect what you're trying to do but Justine a week? Maurice and I have the same concerns about security." "I'm aware of that but Mikhail part of the problem has been the queens distancing themselves from the people who they were supposed to protect." Justine replied. "Edward, I mean no disrespect toward Violet or any other former queen when I say that." she added. "I understand." Edward replied. "No offense was taken." "Justine, do you realize how many humans and other beings you're talking about attending the gala?" Mikhail asked pressing the subject. "Yes and your point is what?" Justine asked. "I understand about the security issue but you also have two years to build up your forces. I trust you and Maurice to select people who are reliable and trustworthy. I'm sure that Lorenzo will be able to assist you with that as well." Justine said her tone indicating the end of the conversation. "Yes my Queen." Mikhail said as he began to formulate a plan to swell his security ranks. ****** Lorenzo and Maurice both felt the drain and return of their powers when they entered the house. "They're in the living room." Darren said when he met them at the door. "Thank you." Maurice said. "Every one is present?" "Yes... I'll be there shortly with refreshments." Darren said as he led them to the living room although Maurice knew where it was. He could tell by the look on Mikhail's face that he had tried to get Justine to reconsider the length of the gala and that he had failed. Maurice had told him not to bother and that Justine's mind was made up. However, he had invited him to try. Their eyes met briefly and Mikhail gave a slight shake of his head that wasn't missed by Justine but she let it pass. "Alright, here's what we know." Maurice said when he and Lorenzo were sitting. "Actually, it would be better coming from Lorenzo; he was there and knows the former queen in question." For the second time, Lorenzo told about the conversation with Thomas. "How do you know that he isn't the one planning to try something?" Edward asked. "He hates Wilhelmina almost as much as I do." Lorenzo replied. "He also risked his life to help me save those four humans." "But that could have been part of the plan." Edward replied. "It wasn't." Lorenzo replied his tone curt. "How well do you know this Thomas? And other than tonight, when did you last see him?" Edward asked aware that he was making Lorenzo angry. But he had always been the one to ask the hard questions even when Violet was queen. "I know him well enough that he entrusted me with the knowledge of who his family is. I know him well enough to vouch for him with my life. Does that answer your question?" "Who is his family?" Edward asked. "That would be for him to tell." Lorenzo replied. "If they are a threat to the safety of anyone here, it is for you to tell." David said saying what they all had been thinking. "I don't know that they are." Lorenzo hedged. "But you don't know that they aren't." Maurice said. Lorenzo was silent for several seconds before he spoke. "His parents are Anthony and Patrice Rhys." Everyone went silent for several seconds. "The mercenaries?" Edward asked. "Do you know who these people are?" "Who doesn't?" Lorenzo snapped. "But he isn't like them and as I said, I'll vouch for him with my life." "That's good enough for me." Maurice said. "Lorenzo doesn't make such offers casually." "What does he want?" Mikhail asked. "He isn't offering this information out of the goodness of his heart." "The only thing that he asks is that Lottie-the servant that he is in love with be taken out of the realm. He is willing to stay there if that's what it takes to make it happen." Lorenzo replied. Justine said nothing as Edward fired questions at Lorenzo. When there was a lull in the questioning, she spoke. "This is what's going to happen; I'm going to pay this Wilhelmina a visit. This stops now." Edward stared at her. "What?" Justine asked. "Nothing... I mean no reigning Queen has ever gone to the Realm." "Is there a rule that says that I can't?" Justine asked. "No... shall I prepare them?" He asked wishing that he could go along and watch the fireworks. "No, this is going to be a surprise visit." Justine said with a smile. "Are you up for a field trip?" Justine asked Quinn, Josephine and David. ********** Wilhelmina took her time in getting ready to spend time with Thomas. She planned to make his last hour memorable, it was the least that she could do. She had long stopped worrying about a pregnancy. If it hadn't happened by now, it wasn't going to happen not that she was complaining. She had never wanted children especially if there was any chance that it would be female. She startled when someone tapped on her door. What in the hell is wrong with me? She muttered as she gave permission for the person to enter. Lottie walked in with her eyes to the floor and waited for permission to speak. "Well? What do you want?" "I... I was wondering if you needed me. Some of the others are getting together to plan their wardrobes for the gala..." "Go." Wilhelmina said taking advantage of the fact that she wouldn't have to rush in getting rid of Thomas. "And do not come back, you may go to your quarters when you are through." Lottie's mouth dropped open. In all of her time with Wilhelmina, she had never been given a command like that. She quickly recovered and ran out of the suite without saying thank you. Wilhelmina went back to her preparations which included making sure that her vaginal area was clean and perfumed. The only part of being with Thomas that she enjoyed was having her pussy eaten. She would imagine that it was Alicia and she pulled it off because he was almost as good as she was. Since it was going to be the last time for a while, she put on a pair of edible panties so that Thomas couldn't rush as he usually did. Her nipples and clit throbbed with anticipation as she slipped on a red house robe made of the finest silk. As she gave herself one last perusal, she suddenly froze. ******* Thomas looked at the coming hours with dread. Unless a miracle happened, he was going to die. He comforted himself with the knowledge that at least Lottie would be safe. He cursed when he tried to waken the power that he knew that he had but couldn't use. It would be another fifty years before that power flared into life. "A lot of good that does me." he grumbled as he showered and prepared for his death. He only knew of his pending death because of Gabra who was clairvoyant but rarely used her gift. "She plans to kill you the next time she visits your bed..." She hadn't gotten to say more because they heard Wilhelmina coming toward them. Thomas hadn't gotten the chance to thank her before she disappeared. "There you are." Wilhelmina said. "Your suite tonight. Be prepared." His stomach had been in knots for the last eight hours. He spent an hour writing a letter to Lottie telling her everything that he had kept bottled up inside ever since he met her. He ended the letter with an "I love you and I'm sorry." He got into the shower and scrubbed his skin as hard as he could in anticipation of Wilhelmina's touch. Each time he got ready for a visit from her, he questioned the fates. "What have I done to deserve this? I am not my family." as usual, his question went unanswered. He was ready a half-hour before Wilhelmina's arrival. He reread the letter to Lottie and added a few things to it after which he warded it so that she would be the only one who could open it. If anyone else attempted to open it, the letter would disintegrate. "I'm sorry." he murmured as he waited for Wilhelmina. ******* Justine, Quinn, Josephine and David stood at the gate of the Realm and looked around. "It's beautiful here." Josephine said. "Yeah but according to Eddie, it's as boring as hell." Quinn said. "It doesn't sound too boring to me." Josephine said as the sound of music and laughter filled the air. "Violet said that when the new Queen takes over, they start to party and plan for the coming gala." Justine said as she approached the gate. "Who goes there?" a loud, deep voice boomed out. They found themselves surrounded by no less than eight vampires with weapons drawn and fangs bared. "Stand down!" Quinn ordered. "This is the Queen and the Queen mother." The lead guard looked at Quinn's eyes, and then Justine's before he dropped to his knees with the other guards following suit. "Stand up and let us pass." Justine said. "And don't alert anyone that we're here." "Yes your majesty." The guard replied. "It is an honor to meet you and yours." he added with a bow. "What's your name?" Quinn asked. "Richard, my King." "Do you like it here?" Quinn asked. The guard wasn't sure of how to answer the question. "I do whatever it is that my King and Queen require of me." he replied. "I know that, but that wasn't my question." Quinn replied. "Do you like it here?" "No sire, I don't." "Pick four men that you would trust with your life and wait for us here." Quinn replied. "He is wasted here." David said. "This is a job for one who doesn't want to work hard." he added. They followed the sound of the music and laughter and a few minutes later, they were at the scene of the party. Immediately, the music stopped and people turned to look at them drawn by their power. Then, everyone was on his or her knees with heads bowed. The room was deathly silent as they waited for the command to stand. "Stand up." Justine said. Her voice was soft but it sounded loud in the silence of the room. When everyone was standing, she smiled at them and introduced Quinn, Josephine and David. "I am aware that I will be the first Queen to visit the Realm, I hope to change that. Please continue your party while I attend to my business here." "Your majesty." a heavily accented voice said. "Welcome and you have come in time. Wilhelmina means to kill her mate and attempt to free her lover Alicia Duchain." "Thank you Gabra." Justine said noting the widening of the woman's eyes that she would know her name. "I need to go but we'll talk again." Gabra took in Justine's appearance and realized that no one could look as regal in a sweat suit and sneakers as she could. "I look forward to it." Gabra said bowing her head and backing away. ****** Wilhelmina stood frozen at the mirror trying to understand what was happening. A feeling of absolute power washed over her making her feel nauseated and weak but she didn't recognize the source. Not until it spoke to her. "So you're Wilhelmina." Justine said softly looking the woman up and down. Josephine stood back and watched from the doorway. Wilhelmina turned around and faced Justine. She didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't a woman dressed in purple sweats and sneakers. Justine could have been anyone off the street except for the eyes. "Yes my Queen, I am Wilhelmina. To what do I owe this honor?" "Honor?" Justine laughed, "Even as you stand there and pretend to be respectful, you're trying to figure out a way to kill me so lets just cut to the chase. I have a memorial service, a wedding and a gala to plan. It has come to my attention that you're planning a coup. Is that true? And don't lie." Justine's eyes blazed as they bore into Wilhelmina's pale blue ones daring her to lie." "There must be some kind of misunderstanding." Wilhelmina replied. "I wouldn't do such a thing." "So you aren't planning to kill your mate tonight?" Justine asked as she took a step toward Wilhelmina. "Of course not!" Wilhelmina replied. "Who told you that?" "And you weren't planning to free your lover Alicia Duchain so that you could rule together?" "Alicia who?" Wilhelmina asked innocently. "Ok, since you're not going to fess up, let me tell you what I know." Justine said as she took another step toward Wilhelmina. "I know that you are responsible for the deaths of at least thirty-six humans. Four of them escaped because they were rescued by Lorenzo Delgado and your mate Thomas Rhys..." "You lie!" "I also know that you've killed hundreds of young women who you thought might be your replacement and you would have continued if you hadn't been impeached- the first queen to have that dubious honor. I also know that you've been fucking around on your mate from the beginning. By the way, did you ever research your mate's family?" "I saw no need to, the fates put us together and I didn't question it." "You should have... What did he tell you his last name was?" "Reese. I don't see .... What's so funny?" Wilhelmina asked confused by Justine's laughter. It took Justine a minute to collect herself. "You are one stupid bitch. His last name is Reese but not spelled the way that he told you, it's Rhys, RHYS. It seems that your mate is much smarter than you gave him credit for." Justine watched as disbelief and then anger crossed Wilhelmina's face. "That's right, Anthony and Patrice Rhys kid, but you have to know that it wouldn't have made any difference. What I don't get is why they didn't execute your ass." Wilhelmina dropped all pretenses of being respectful. "Do you know why?" she spat out, "Because they were weak pussies! None of them wanted to be the one to be known as the one who executed a queen. Instead they stuck me in this hell hole!" "Former queen." Justine corrected "And this is far from being a hell hole considering the options." "How did you know?" Wilhelmina asked. "You told me. I have the memories of each queen that came before me so you lied for nothing." "Then why did you ask?" Wilhelmina asked. "I wanted to give you the chance to come clean. It's the same opportunity that I give to everyone who comes before me." Justine replied. "What would have happened had I not lied?" "That's something that you'll never know." Justine said as suddenly, she was standing so close to Wilhelmina that she only had to bend forward and she could have kissed her. "You see, I have no issues with being the first to execute a former queen. You are a cold-hearted murdering bitch who never should have been queen. Your reprieve is over. To bad you didn't make the most of it. Any last words?" Wilhelmina smiled hoping to catch Justine off guard and then swung at her with her nails fully extended and hit air. "I'm behind you." Justine said. Wilhelmina whirled around enraged. "Who in the hell do you think you are bitch?" "I am Justine Graves O'Dell." Justine said softly as she approached Wilhelmina. "I am the Queen of Queens and Quinn O'Dell is my mate and my King." Her eyes were black, the purple flames around them danced and audibly crackled. "Josephine Graves Sheffield is the Queen Mother and David Sheffield is her mate. They rule along side of Quinn and me. You will stand and receive the sentence that you should have received centuries ago." Wilhelmina found herself frozen in place but that didn't stop her from cursing and damning all of them to hell. "Silence." Justine said. "I find you guilty of murder, premeditated murder and treason. If it makes you feel better, you'll meet your lover on the other side." "Alicia is dead?" Wilhelmina whispered. "Yes and so are you." Justine said as she touched Wilhelmina's chest with a finger, traced the outline of a heart in it and whispered one word. "Stop." Wilhelmina's eyes widened in shock as what felt like bolts of electricity ran through her. "This is the final death, you may not return in any other form or person." Justine said. Justine Ch. 20 "Shatter." Justine caught Wilhelmina's body before it hit the floor, carried it to the bed and laid her on it. She looked at the lifeless body for a few moments and vanished from the room taking Josephine with her. ******* Thomas paced and then jumped when he heard someone outside of his door. He whispered another goodbye to Lottie and gave the command to enter. "Thomas Rhys?" Quinn asked when he and David entered the suite. "Yes who are... your majesty?" Thomas asked and dropped to his knees. "Get up." Quinn said. Thomas got shakily to his feet and waited. "Maybe you'd better sit down." Quinn suggested. Thomas sat down and stared up at Quinn and David. He knew that Lorenzo would try to send help, but this was more than he had thought possible. "Lottie?" he asked when he found his voice. "She's fine and you won't have to worry about Wilhelmina any more." Quinn replied. "Is she..." "Dead? Yes." Quinn said finishing the question and then answering it. Justine and Josephine appeared outside of the suite. The music had stopped. Everyone was waiting to see what was going to happen next. No one had ever died in the Realm before let alone having the Queen of Queens appear to mete out the sentence herself. "It's done." Justine said softly. Quinn walked over to Justine and hugged her not caring who was looking. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I'm fine, we need a couple of guys to get rid of the body... shit... where do we bury her?" Justine asked. "I would suggest that we burn her." David said. "I'm sure that you were thorough and that she won't be back, but why take chances?" "Good idea." Justine said. "Will you arrange it?" she asked. "Of course." David replied. He looked over at Josephine to see how she was faring. She looked a little pale but seemed otherwise fine. Even so, he left Thomas sitting alone and went to her. "Jo?" he said softly. "I'm fine... you should have seen her, she was amazing." "I'm sure that she was." David replied. "Look at who her mother is." he added. Will you be alright while I arrange for the disposal of the body?" "I'll be fine." she assured him with a kiss on the cheek. "I'll help you." Quinn offered. Justine walked over to Thomas and sat beside him. "Thank you for being brave enough to go up against your mate. Lorenzo told me about how you tried to help save the humans from Wilhelmina. He also told us that you were willing to stay just so Lottie would be safe. You're free to be with her now." Thomas didn't know what to say except thank you. "No, we should be thanking you." Justine said. "I don't know how you managed to live with Wilhelmina all of this time but I have a proposition for you. I'll tell you what it is and you can discuss it with Lottie, but Thomas just know that we'll accept any decision that you make." "Do you know who my family is?" Thomas asked. "I know and I also know that you aren't like them. The fact that Lorenzo vouched for you with his life spoke volumes but here's the offer, you and Lottie can leave the realm and live with us or you can stay here." "I don't know what to say." Thomas said. "If we came what would I do? I won't come into my mage powers for another fifty years." "I'm sure that we could find something for you and Lottie to do and she will no longer be a servant. When you decide, contact Lorenzo." "Jussie? It's done." Quinn called from the door. "Think about it and there's no rush. Enjoy your time with Lottie, you both deserve it." Justine stood up and headed for the door. She had to address the rest of the realm. With Quinn, Josephine and David at her side, she spoke to the inhabitants of the realm. "I'm sorry that our first visit here was because of an unpleasant issue. Without going into detail, the issue has been resolved and I would like us to move forward. As you know, I've been making changes in the way that things have been done in the past. One of the things that I would like to change is the Realm. I don't know whose idea it was that once you were here, you couldn't leave. I'm rescinding that. I also know that some of you are very gifted and if you want to offer your services, contact us through the portal. Once again, you have my apologies for disrupting the festivities." In response, every person present, dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. As they passed by, she heard murmurs of "My Queen." Richard and the four guards he chose were waiting for them by the gate that would take them back to the human world. "These are the men I chose my King." Richard said. "Fine, we'll talk later, come with us." Quinn looked at one of the guards that was being left behind. "You, what's your name?" "Phillip my King." "Phillip, you are now in charge of security up here. It won't be as simple as before because people are now allowed to go between the two worlds. Do you understand?" "Yes my king." Justine looked back toward the realm. The music had already started again and she could hear laughter. The atmosphere had already begun to change. It was lighter and more carefree. Several minutes later, they were back at the house. The five vampires with them felt the drain of their powers. "Sorry guys." Quinn explained. "You'll get them back as soon as you're cleared. If you step through that doorway, someone will meet you and take care of whatever needs you have." Maurice and Lorenzo came into the room as the guards left. "Well?" Lorenzo asked. "Wilhelmina is dead." Justine said. "And Thomas is safe; she was going to kill him." "And Lottie?" He asked. "She's fine too." Justine said. "We'll talk about it later." "Of course." Maurice said taking the cue. "Call us when you're ready." ******* Quinn took Justine by the hand and led her to their suite. The scent of lavender and the Jacuzzi filled the air when they walked in. Quinn led her straight to the Jacuzzi, made her stand still and undressed her. For once, she didn't protest. He stepped in first and then held out a hand to her. "Come on baby." he said softly. Justine took his hand and climbed in sitting between his legs after he sat down. "Lean forward." Quinn said as he gently pushed on her shoulders. He started at the nape of her neck massaging it with firm but gentle strokes before moving to her shoulders and down her back. It wasn't long before she was purring in contentment. "God that feels good." "Better than peppermint patties?" Quinn teased. "Close but not that good." Justine replied. "Why do you think she was going to do it? She had to have known that she wasn't going to succeed." "She knew, but she had everything to gain and nothing to lose." Quinn replied as he closed down his ability to know what Justine was thinking. It was an unspoken agreement between them. When they were in their suite, the ability to know what the other was thinking was shut off. It gave the illusion that they were a normal couple when they were anything but. "I understand that but jeez...I asked Thomas to come stay with us. I figured it was better to have someone with the skills that he'll have on our side than working with his family." Justine said. "I figured as much." Quinn replied. "I'm sure that he'll want to talk to Lottie about it first." "True but as far as his family is concerned; they need to be warned that they're treading on thin ice." Justine said as she moved to better accommodate the hard cock digging into her back. "We need to make sure that Thomas understands that his family will be treated the same as anyone else." "Agreed." Quinn said and sucked on her earlobe. Justine jumped and then sighed as she always did when he sucked on her earlobe. He was teasing her and she loved it but she could tease as well. She pressed back against him and rubbed his cock with her wet back grinning when he moaned into her ear. She stopped and moved forward when she heard his breathing change into rapid pants and he was pulling her tighter against him grinding into her back. "Cock tease." he said and nipped at her ear making her yelp and then laugh. "Turn around." he said and actually lifted and repositioned her before she had a chance to move. "That's better." he murmured as he took a hardened nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. Justine rubbed against him trying to rub her clit against him but he pushed her hips back. "Clit tease." Quinn grinned, pulled her closer and lifted her until she hovered just above his cock and then without warning slammed her down on it. Justine immediately began a rocking motion combined with a swiveling of her hips. She had the idea to tease him by stopping but that would be postponing the orgasm that was rapidly approaching. She wrapped her arms around his neck crushing her breasts against his chest. Quinn opened himself to her and let her feel everything that he was feeling for her. The love, the desire, and the total trust that he had for her flowed into her. Justine cried out as Quinn's emotions washed over her. Unable to speak, she opened herself up to him as well. "I love you too." Quinn managed to say just as he came with a low moan that shook the walls. Justin's orgasm started the moment she felt Quinn's seed shoot inside of her. Her moan of release started deep in her chest and was a scream by the time it reached her mouth making cracks in the walls of the Jacuzzi room. Afterwards, she slumped onto Quinn's chest. "Damn." she said when she could breathe again. Quinn stood up with Justine still impaled on his still hard cock, stepped out of the Jacuzzi and carried her to the bed. "We're not done yet." he murmured as he laid her on the bed and began sliding in and out of her with slow, deliberate movements meant to bring her as much pleasure as possible. He lowered his head and traced the outline of her lips with the tip of his tongue before giving her a deep kiss that took her breath away. Justine writhed beneath him trying to hurry him along but he refused to be rushed. He stretched out on top of her covering her and pinning her down with his bigger body. She could have thrown him off had she wanted to but she didn't. She closed her eyes to savor the sensations that traveled from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. She savored the feeling of letting someone else being in control. She clung to him and just went along for the ride. Only when he felt her orgasm begin did Quinn let her loose. The Plexiglas windows shook and then cracked as Justine clung to Quinn and screamed into his chest Quinn hung onto her as tightly as she was holding him. When she turned her head to the side offering her neck to him, he didn't hesitate. He bit and came as soon as her rich, sweet blood touched his tongue. Quinn stayed where he was for several seconds. He didn't want to move. When he did, he rolled so that he didn't lose contact with Justine's skin. Still shaking, he kissed her head as it rested on his chest. "I can't wait to marry you." Justine said softly kissing his chest. "Ditto." Quinn replied. "When? And it can't be soon enough." he added. "Soon." Justine replied. "There's one more thing that I have to do." "You mean we don't you?" Quinn gently corrected. "We." Justine said. "We need to have a memorial service for my aunt and grandmother." "Understood, is Pam or Zoe working on it?" Quinn asked. "Zoe is...I want to bring them here." "Then we'll do it and I think that I know the perfect spot." Quinn replied. "The spot at the east end of the cemetery where the rose bushes are." Justine said. "Exactly." Quinn replied. "If all goes well, we can have the service next week and then we can plan the wedding." Justine said. "How close is the indoor garden to being done?" "Close, it will be finished another week or two especially with David helping me." Quinn replied. "He knows more about plants and flowers than I do." Justine sat up and looked down at Quinn. "Was that strictly for my information or are you trying to tell me something?" "Both." Quinn replied. "Jussie you need to get to know him." "No I don't." "Yes baby, you do. Aren't you even a little curious about the man who was chosen to be your mother's mate? He's a part of this, you accepted him so it behooves you to get to know him." Quinn replied. "You like him." Justine commented. "Yes, but that's beside the point." Quinn said. "You're still angry at him. I get it and so does he, but sweetheart, an eternity is a long time to be angry at someone." "Are you saying that I should just forgive him?" Justine asked her eyes blazing. "No." Quinn said, "But I am saying that in accepting him as a part of this reign you agreed to at least get to know him." "What else?" Justine asked. "There's only one thing that can destroy us and that's unresolved issues between us. Three of us are good..." "You're saying that if I don't deal with my anger toward David, I can destroy everything." "Maybe, but maybe not. But you give an outside source a way in." Quinn said. "Why risk it?" Justine looked at him, started to say something and then closed her mouth. Quinn was right. ********* Lorenzo and Maurice walked into the house on the off chance that Naila was up and was glad that they did. Naila was in the kitchen with Regina and Jon. They could hear her giggles and voices as they approached the kitchen. "He really did that?" Naila asked. "He did what?" Maurice asked by way of announcing that they were back. "Hi baby." Lorenzo said as he walked up to Naila and kissed her. "How do you feel?" "Hi and I feel better." She replied smiling. Her face was still swollen and bruised but her eyes were open. "I woke up and got tired of being in bed." "I'm glad that you feel well enough to eat." Lorenzo commented looking into an empty bowl. "Regina makes kick ass potato soup." Naila replied. "Actually, this is my second bowl- you really should try it." "Maybe later. Are you up for a talk? It's long past the time that I tell you some things." Lorenzo said. His heart hammered with anxiety. "I know." Naila said and reached for his hand. "What do you mean that you know?" Lorenzo asked. "I mean I know that there's something bothering you, and whatever it is, it's been eating away at you." Naila replied. Lorenzo looked at her wondering what else she had noticed. He pulled Naila to her feet, nodded at Maurice and Regina and led her to their room. When they got to the room, Lorenzo sat down and pulled Naila into his lap. He ran a finger over the fading bruises and her lips. "I'm sorry. This is my fault." "No, it's mine." Naila said. "I promised you that I wouldn't do a party." "Why did you break your promise?" Lorenzo asked. Naila shrugged her shoulders. "I wasn't given a choice." "There's always a choice." Lorenzo said. "Between what?" Naila asked. "You or a paycheck?" "I paid..." "Yeah you paid so that I wouldn't have to work, but Lorenzo, what was I going to do when you left?" she asked. "I don't want to do this forever." "You knew that I wasn't going anywhere... you know that I love you." he replied. "I knew no such thing! You came and went without a word! Even when I told you how I felt about you, you didn't respond so you tell me how I was supposed to know that you loved me?" Lorenzo was silent. He couldn't deny that she was right. "You're right." he said softly. "For the record I'm telling you that I love you and you won't be in bed with anyone else but me." Naila looked at him for several seconds before responding. "I love you, you know that, but Lorenzo, if you're telling me that you love me out of guilt then I don't want to hear it." "Naila, I love you. It's something that I should have said a long time ago but I didn't because you have no idea of whom or what I am." "Vampire." she said softly. Lorenzo jerked almost tossing Naila to the floor. "I've known since the beginning." she said. "You aren't my only vampire client." she added. "Why didn't you say something?" Lorenzo asked still shocked. "What would you have said or done?" she asked. "Erased my memory? I wanted you for as long as I could have you and when it was over, it was over." "But you told me that you loved me." Naila hesitated. "You were so tortured inside even though you didn't say anything. I wanted you to have one good thing to counter some of that pain even if you didn't feel the same way about me." "How did you know what I was?" Lorenzo asked. "I don't know. I just did." Naila replied shrugging her shoulders. "I knew which of my clients was vampire the same way. I can't explain it." Somehow knowing that she knew what he was made telling the rest of it easier. If she could accept the vampire part of him, then maybe she could accept the rest of it. He would wait until afterwards to tell her that she was his mate. "Naila, I have some things to tell you and most of them aren't good." "Are they the things that you dream about? She asked stroking his hair. "You mumble in your sleep. I don't understand most of it, just a word here and there." Lorenzo talked for three hours straight without interruption. When he was through, he waited for Naila to respond. "Wow." she said as she readjusted herself in his lap. "No wonder you're miserable, but Lorenzo you didn't hurt those people, you tried to help. I agree with your brother and your queen in that you should have listened to yourself and to him. The second mistake was not going to your brother and telling him what really happened. He loves you and I can tell that you love him too. So much time has been wasted because of pride." "I know that." Lorenzo replied. "And there's this." Naila said. "If it hadn't been you to help kill those people, it would have been someone else who wouldn't have cared. There's no denying that what happened was terrible, but because of you and Thomas, some of them lived. Do you remember when I asked you if you didn't love me because of what I am?" "I remember." Lorenzo replied. "When I asked that question, it had nothing to do with me being ashamed of what I am. It had everything to do with whether you were ashamed of what I am because if you were, love you or not..." "I was never ashamed of you." Lorenzo said. "I didn't accept you because I couldn't accept myself. When I heard that you had gone to that party all I could think of was the stories that you told me about them. And when I found you..." "You killed him." Naila said. "I wasn't going to." Lorenzo replied. "But then I saw what he did to your beautiful face. So yes, I killed him as I would any thing or anyone else who hurt you." "Where do we go from here?" Naila asked. "What happens when your mate comes along?" Lorenzo was confused. He didn't understand how she knew what he was but not that she was his mate. After thinking about it for several seconds, he realized it was because he treated her as her other clients did with one exception- he paid her not to service anyone else. "Naila, you are my mate." he said quietly. "I've known it from the first time I saw you at the bar. It's why I always paid you not to be with anyone else. I didn't tell you because I was ashamed of my past and didn't think that I was good enough for you." It was Naila's turn to be quiet as she thought about her response. "I never worried about my safety whenever you were around." She said. "I was never afraid of you like I was some of the others. You never treated me like a slut or looked at me with disgust or pity. I think that deep down I knew that you loved me but wanted and needed to hear it, and now I have. Lorenzo, I love you and I'll do whatever I need to do in order to be with you. I know that this is a forever kind of thing and that I won't be able to change my mind but I want this. I want you." Justine Ch. 20 Lorenzo looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I have been so stupid." he thought to himself as he kissed her. He wanted to make love with her but held off. He would claim her in words and then they would consummate their new relationship in a few days. Naila however, had other ideas. She deepened the kiss, touching Lorenzo's tongue with hers ignoring the pain as his hands touched her back. "Naila..." Lorenzo said as he broke the kiss. "Not now. We'll wait for a few more days when you're not in pain." "I can handle a little pain." she replied and kissed him again. Lorenzo pushed her back again, looked into her eyes and smiled at her. "I know, but I don't want you to have to handle a little pain. I never want you to feel pain again so we'll wait for a few more days." Naila started to object but Lorenzo kissed her into silence. "For the next few days, you rest and build up your strength; you're going to need it." Lorenzo said as he stood up and carried her to the side of the bed. "In you go." He turned back the bed and gently laid her in it. He stripped and got in behind her careful not to press to hard against her back. When she was settled, he asked the one question that he hadn't asked. "How is it that you know about vampires?" "My grandmother used to tell me stories about them. In her later years when she became confused, she would tell me about her lover who she said was a vampire. No one believed her but I eventually did." "Why did you believe what could have been the ramblings of an old woman?" Lorenzo asked. "My grandmother always had an active imagination and at first I didn't believe her. As I got older, I began to feel the truth in her words. She wasn't lying or making it up, she had a vampire lover." Naila replied. "But she could have convinced herself that it was real therefore there was no lie." Lorenzo pressed. "Possible, but I don't believe that. Even in her confusion the details that never changed." "Did this vampire have a name?" Lorenzo asked. "I asked but she wouldn't tell me. She mentioned something about it not being safe for any of us if she told me. I know what you're thinking." Naila said. "Because I've wondered the same thing, why did he reveal to her what he was and then not erase her memory. The only thing that I can think of is that she like me knew what he was before he told her and trusted her to keep his secret." Lorenzo was quiet. That had been his question and he thought that he knew the answer. "Sometimes a vampire will find a human woman and fall in love with her even though she isn't his mate. That may have been what happened with your grandmother. I would say that whoever he was, he loved and trusted her a great deal not to have erased her memory." "She loved him too." Naila said. "She died without telling me anything about him other than that she loved him. Toward the end she barely knew her name but if I asked about him, her mind cleared and she would say, now Naila, you know I can't tell you that and then she would slip back into confusion." "His faith in her wasn't misplaced." Lorenzo said softly. "She must have been a remarkable woman. But enough talk, you need to rest. When you wake up, I'll fill you in on vampire politics." Naila snuggled back against him, closed her eyes and fell asleep. As she slept, Lorenzo began planning for the gala. Security was going to be a bitch. ******** "I've got the paperwork so that we can move the remains of your aunt and grandmother here." Zoe told Justine two days after the visit to the realm. "Great! How soon can we get them here?" Justine asked. "Well, we have to schedule and appointment to have them removed from their currant resting places. It looks like the soonest we could have it done will be two days from now which would be Thursday." Zoe replied. "Alright, set it up and we'll send someone for the remains that evening. We'll hold the service Friday evening." Justine replied. "I'll take care of it." Zoe said and then hesitated. "What is it Zoe?" Justine asked. "Are you sure about the gala?" "If you're referring to the length I'm sure." Justine replied her tone making it clear that it wasn't up for discussion. "I understand what you're trying to do but Justine logistically..." "I get it." Justine said firmly. "But do you know what the problem has been? We're responsible for all of these people and they don't get a chance to interact with us. They need to know that we're real and not a child's bedtime story and that won't happen unless they see us. So this gala is going to happen and it's going to last for a week." Zoe smiled at her, nodded and walked away. The right woman had been chosen for the job. ******* Friday evening arrived faster than anyone thought possible. The remains of Justine's aunt and grandmother, Josephine's sister and mother lay in sealed caskets in the east part of the garden. Music played softly as Justine, Quinn, Josephine and David stood in front of the two caskets. Quinn's arm was around Justine who was holding Josephine's hand in support. David was on the other side of Josephine with an arm around her waist. After several moments, Josephine let go of Justine's hand and took a step toward the caskets. She went to the dark mahogany one first and lovingly touched it. "I'm so sorry that I didn't get to say thank you for all that you did for me and Justine. I'm sorry that you died worrying about me and that I didn't get the chance to tell you that I loved you while you were still alive. I love you mama, and you can rest easy now. I'm back and with my baby girl. You should see her! Maybe you can, but mama she's gorgeous and she's a queen! Remember how you used to call her your highness when she wouldn't eat lima beans?" Josephine paused a moment to regain her composure. She leaned into David when she felt him at her side. "You would be so proud of her. I wish that I knew if you were hearing me." she said softly. A second later, Josephine and then Justine felt a touch that was as light as a butterfly's touch on their cheek and then it was gone. Josephine went to the dark blue casket next and as she had with the first one, she touched it lovingly. "God Belinda," she murmured. "I don't even know how to begin to thank you for raising Justine into a fine young woman. You gave up so much for her and for me too. I wish that I could tell you how sorry I am that I went to work that night. If I could go back and relive that night, I would have chosen differently. I want you to know that I love you and mama both and that you can rest now. I'm safe and with Justine." Justine and Josephine felt another light touch but on the opposite cheek. Justine and Quinn joined Josephine and David at the caskets and stood silent while final good byes were said. A few minutes later, Debra Adele Graves was lowered into her resting place and then Belinda Ann Graves was lowered into hers. Quinn held Justine and David Josephine as they both cried. They stood at the site until the caskets were covered and the headstones were in place. Taking Josephine's hand in hers, Justine placed protective wards over the gravesite. They walked away from the gravesite closing one chapter of their lives and walking into a new one. *************** Thank you to my beta readers Donalde and Anjel54 for taking the time to read and to alert me of any errors. I appreciate you! On a personal note, I know that my submissions aren't coming as quickly and I ask for your patience. I have been busy with real life things such as helping my daughter get ready for her wedding, which is a couple of weeks away. Thank you all for reading my stories and your patience. Kal Justine Ch. 21 Two weeks after the memorial service for Justine's grandmother and aunt were over, plans for the wedding began. The current discussion was centered on the guest list. "This is supposed to be a small, intimate affair." Justine said wearily. "It's beginning to look like a circus." "I understand." Violet said, "But I did tell you that there were some things that couldn't be helped and a public wedding is one of them." "Why can't we have two weddings?" Justine asked determined to have the private ceremony that she, Quinn, David and her mother wanted. "You could do that." Violet replied. "I assume that you would want to have the private ceremony before the big wedding?" "Yes." Justine replied speaking for all involved. She understood that the big, formal wedding had to happen; but she had hoped that it could be avoided. "How many people are we talking about?" she asked certain that she really didn't want to know the answer. "Quite a few." Violet replied. "All of the dignitaries and their mates as well as everyone that you appointed as heads of state and their mates." "So... oh shit Violet, forget that I asked. Let's concentrate on the private wedding first. We can have the big one a month or so later." "As you wish." Violet said with a smile. "When would you like to have the first ceremony?" "What month is this?" Justine asked. "April." Violet replied. "Okay, the first ceremony will be June 9th. That's my mother's birthday. The big ceremony will be on September 14 which puts it between Quinn and David's birthdays. I don't want the date for that one announced until several weeks after the private ceremony. I don't want to be flooded with letters and phone calls about a date and details." "I'll take care of it." Violet said, "There's one more thing...." "Don't say it." Justine interrupted. "I know that I'll have to wear a formal wedding gown." Violet smiled and left the room leaving Justine alone for a few minutes. "Damn!" she swore. She had only wanted a private ceremony, but now she was going to have to contend with a circus. She was tempted to say the hell with it, but Violet was right. She had to make nice with the dignitaries and their mates. This was a part of her new role that she didn't like. "Suck it up girlie." She chided herself. On a bright note, the indoor garden where the first wedding would be held was completed. The only thing left was for the flowers to bloom. The dresses were being altered; the menu for the reception was planned and the guest list which included the entire household was complete. There was only one thing left to do. It was the one thing that Justine had been putting off since the memorial service. She had to talk to David. To his credit, Quinn hadn't mentioned it again. He trusted her to do the right thing not only for herself, but for the reign. Josephine however, had to say her piece. "I know that you're still angry at David." She said, "But Justine, when does the anger end? He was wrong and he admits it as do I, but there comes a time for forgiveness. You can't continue to treat him as you have been." "What are you talking about?" Justine asked. "I've accepted him as your mate haven't I? I've accepted him as a part of this reign haven't I?" "On the face of it, yes it appears that you've accepted him, but I maintain that deep down you haven't." Josephine countered. "I see the dirty looks that you give him when you think no one is watching or when he says something. The fact is you're barely tolerating him." "Mom...." "Don't you mom me!" Josephine snapped. "Would you like it if I treated Quinn the way that you're treating David? Even if I didn't like Quinn he would be treated with respect simply because he is your mate. What I don't understand is why you invited us to share your wedding day and reign feeling as you do." "I understand what you're saying, but it isn't that simple." Justine replied. "Why not?" Josephine shot back. "From what I can see, you're the one who's making things difficult. David has been waiting for a chance to talk with you and you won't give him the time of day. I'm not expecting you to call him dad or anything like that, but I am asking that you try to get to know him. I am expecting you to start treating him with respect if only because he's my mate." "Mom..." "And I'll tell you something else young lady..." "Mom..." "I don't care if you're the queen or not..." "MOM!" "What?!" Josephine yelled back. "You're right and so is Quinn. He told me that an eternity is a long time to be angry with someone. He also told me that if this reign fell apart, it would be because there are unresolved issues between two of us meaning me and David. You're right in that I've been rude to David, and I wouldn't like for Quinn to be treated that way. I'll talk to David, where is he?" ******* David went from plant to plant checking on their progress. He was especially pleased with the daffodils which were Josephine's favorite flower. After making his rounds, he went to the work station to mix a gallon of plant food from a recipe that Thomas had given him. He enjoyed his time in the garden; it gave him time to think about things. One of the things that were weighing on his mind was Justine. He was tired of walking around on eggshells. It was to the point where he was thinking about talking to her in spite of what Quinn suggested. He knew that Justine was still angry with him and rightfully so, but they needed to talk. They had to come to some kind of understanding if only for Josephine's sake. "The garden looks nice." Justine said from behind him. "Thank you." David replied. "I think we can get the flowers to bloom in time for the wedding." "That would be great...David, we need to talk." "Yes we do." David replied. "In fact, I was just thinking of coming to find you. We can't continue as we have been." "I agree." Justine said as she sat down. She waited until David was sitting before she continued. "I know that you're sorry and that you feel guilty for what you did; but I'm still angry about it. I won't sit here and pretend otherwise. I know that you saved my mother's life and you will always have my gratitude, but..." "We've been round and around about this." David interrupted. "I can't change anything that happened in the past. I was wrong. I admit it and I still feel as guilty as hell about it. I think that I always will, but the question is; how do we get past this?" Justine was quiet for several minutes. "Maybe we've just started." She said. "I will never forget what happened and it would be unrealistic and unreasonable for you to expect me to. However, both Quinn and my mother made valid points. In accepting you as part of our reign and my mother's mate, I have to get to know you. Quinn was right when he said that if anything happened to destroy this reign, it would be my fault. I've been rude to you and I apologize for that. It was and is uncalled for but I want you to understand something. I know that you love my mother but I can't accept you as a father. You lost that right with the choices that you made. I know that it sounds harsh; but that's how I feel. I do accept you as my mother's mate and an important part of this reign. I don't have a word for what we are, but we aren't friends." "But that could change." David replied. "I don't expect you to see me as a father figure. As you just pointed out, I lost that right years ago. I understand your anger and I don't expect you to forget anything. If I were in your position, I would feel the same way. I only hope that one day you'll forgive me and that we can be friends. I also want to tell you this, daughter or not; I'm very proud of you. I am honored to be a part of this family and to be a mate to your mother. I'm glad that we finally took a step in the right direction. Thank you." Justine looked at David for several seconds. She realized that while she had acknowledged that he had saved Josephine's life; she had never thanked him for it. "I need to say one more thing to you." she said. "I'm listening." David replied. "Thank you for saving my mother's life and for keeping her safe." "You're welcome." David replied with a slight bow. ******** Quinn and Josephine watched from a window that overlooked the garden. "Do you know how hard headed your daughter is?" Quinn teased. "If she's anything like she was when she was a child; I can only imagine." Josephine replied with a smile. "I bet she gave you a run for your money didn't she?" "That's putting it mildly." Quinn replied with a chuckle. "But I would do it again if that's what it took to be with her. Even without the mate thing I would have loved her." "You're a good man." Josephine said as she laid a hand on Quinn's arm. "I don't think that I could have chosen anyone better." "Thank you." Quinn said, touched by the complement. "I wasn't always a good person." "But you are now, and you were when you found her." Josephine replied. "Thank you for caring for her." ********** Justine left the garden unprepared for the slight feeling of relief she felt. She stopped, turned around and looked up at the third floor window. Quinn and Josephine smiled and waved at her. "Stay put." She said telepathically. She went to the recreation room where Quinn and Josephine were waiting for her. Justine walked over to her mother and hugged her. "I'm sorry." She whispered in her ear. "It's alright." Josephine replied kissing her cheek. "Thank you for talking to David." "You were right." Justine replied hugging Josephine tighter. "Forgive me?" "Always." Josephine replied. They talked for a few more minutes before Josephine went to the garden to find David. "How do you feel?" Quinn asked as he put his arms around Justine. "You were right. Is that what you want to hear?" Justine asked her tone a little terse. "It wasn't about me being right." Quinn replied. "It was about you dealing with a man that we're going to be spending an eternity with. It was about doing everything possible to protect us." "You're right, I'm sorry." Justine said kissing his chin. "No problem." Quinn replied kissing her back. "You're upset about the big wedding aren't you?" "I know that I'm being irrational, but all I've ever wanted is a small wedding. I never wanted all of the hoopla that went with a big wedding." She replied. "I also know that it has to happen, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it." Quinn was quiet for a moment. "As far as I know, there's nothing that says that the royal wedding has to take place within a specific time period." He said. "No there isn't." Justine replied. "I don....Quinn O'Dell you're brilliant!" She exclaimed as she understood what he was thinking. "We could have the small wedding as planned and the big one just before the gala! All of the dignitaries will already be here! The first night of the gala will double as the reception and will be by invitation only." Quinn listened as Justine rattled off plans and ideas without interrupting. "Why didn't I think of that?" she asked kissing him again. "You would have eventually." Quinn replied. "Jussie, I'm proud of you." "But?" Justine asked warily. "No buts." Quinn replied. "You're the most important thing in the world to me. I don't think that I've ever told you this, but if I had met you without the mate thing; I still would have fallen in love with you. I would have been a pain in your ass until you married me." "I love you too." Justine replied. "And you really were a pain in the ass." She teased. "What do you think about skipping supper?" "I think that I like that Idea." Quinn replied as he scooped her up in his arms. He carried them to their suite and stopped outside of the door. "Is there any business that we need to discuss before we go in?" he asked. "None that I can think of." Justine replied. "Why?" "Because we aren't leaving this room for twenty-four hours." Quinn replied. "During those twenty-four hours, no business will be discussed. You've been working your beautiful ass off and you're taking a day off." "Quinn..." "No arguments. Even the Queen of Queens needs a day off to relax. I've already told everyone not to disturb us. David and your mom are in control until tomorrow. They'll call if anything earth shattering happens. Mikhail, Lorenzo and Maurice are also aware and are working on the list that Violet gave you as well as security for the gala. Pam and Zoe are working on the housing issues, Edward and Violet are working on the gala. Auggie is working on the website and finally, written reports will be on our desk by Monday morning. Did I miss anything?" "I don't think so." Justine replied laughing. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, last chance, one! If you remembered something, it's too late!" Quinn said as he opened the door with a word. Justine was amazed by his thoroughness, but she shouldn't have been; he was as detail oriented as she was. "I think you've got it covered." She replied. "Just how long have you been planning this?" "Since we came back from the realm." Quinn replied. "Why do you ask?" "I was actually planning something too." She replied. "You just beat me to it." Justine started to laugh. "What's so funny?" Quinn asked missing the joke. "Listening to you cram all of that information into one breath." She replied still giggling. "It was rather amusing watching you talk a mile a minute." "Ha Ha very funny." Quinn said as he stripped them. He picked Justine up and took off at a run toward the waiting Jacuzzi. When he was close, he jumped in feet first with Justine in his arms. "Are you nuts?" she asked laughing not in the least bit afraid that he would drop her. He didn't answer her as he sat down in the tub and slammed her down onto his waiting cock. His green, flame encircled eyes shone with love and desire as he lifted Justine until just the head of his cock was inside of her. He held her there for just a moment before slamming her down again. Justine leaned forward so that her breasts brushed against Quinn's face and chest. He slammed her down once more, took a breast in his hands and stuffed as much of it as he could into his mouth. Justine moaned and crushed herself against him, cutting off his airway. If he had been human, he would have suffocated. Quinn bit, sucked and gnawed on her nipple as he ground against her. "Harder!" Justine screamed as she ground back rubbing her clit against his pubis. Quinn bit and sucked the now swollen and sensitive nipple even harder as he swiveled his hips against her. He nicked the tip of her nipple with a fang and began to feed from her. "Like that!" Justine moaned as the first orgasm of the day began. The moan began as a soft mewling that grew louder each second. It became a full out scream when Quinn began feeding from her breast. Without missing a beat, Quinn released the nipple, kissed it and took the other nipple into his mouth. He nicked it and began to feed from her. "Quinn." Was all that she got out before she came for the second time. He carried her from the tub to the bed and laid her on her stomach. "You didn't come yet." Justine said when she caught her breath. "Don't worry about it." Quinn replied. "We've got plenty of time. This is all about you." He snapped his fingers and a bottle of lavender scented oil appeared in his hand. "Close your eyes and relax." He told her as he moved to her feet. He poured a generous amount of the oil into his hands and began to massage Justine's feet taking care to get between each toe. After massaging one foot, Quinn kissed it and moved on to the other; giving it the same loving attention. He moved to her calves, gently massaging and kneading the muscles in his hands. Each movement was slow and deliberate meant to give relaxation as well as pleasure. "Where'd you learn to do this?" Justine asked thinking that it might have been a skill he learned in his human days. "I just know, now shush and relax." Quinn replied. He worked his way up her thighs and stopped at her ass. He poured warm oil over each globe and began to massage it into her skin. Justine moaned and opened her legs in invitation. Quinn slipped his oil slicked hand between her legs and went straight for her clit. He circled it several times with a finger before pressing down and moving it from side to side. When she was about to come, he pulled back only to take her to the brink again. On the fourth time, he let her come. Justine buried her face in a pillow and came for the third time that day. As she settled, Quinn continued the massage. By the time he was done with her arms, Justine was more than half asleep. He gently turned her onto her back, snapped his fingers and another bottle of oil appeared. This time, he started at her head massaging the fragrant oil into her temples. He slowly worked his way down her body stopping to massage her breast, her stomach and finally her mound. He toyed with her nub while he sucked a nipple until she came again. "Quinn..." Justine said sleepily. "Shh." Quinn whispered as he lay beside her and wrapped his arms around her. Justine slowly closed her eyes. Minutes later, her breathing had slowed and deepened. She had fallen asleep. Quinn didn't move. He knew that she wouldn't sleep long as he wanted her to, but then according to her; she never slept much even when she was human. When she woke up, he planned to talk to her about scheduled getaways. If she balked, he would have no problems with taking control as he had just done. As he rested, he thought about the future. If there were children, would they be boys or girls? A few of each? Finally, he decided that it didn't matter. He thought about Lana and where he would fit in with her life. There would come a time when he wouldn't be able to talk to her. A time when she would grow up, get married and have children of her own-his grandchildren. Then she would grow old and die. He pushed the thoughts away for another day. For now it was enough to know that she, her baby sister and parents were safe. A soft, but insistent sucking on his balls woke him. Justine stopped long enough to look up at him and smile. "Very sneaky, but very nice." Quinn commented with a sigh. Justine went back to sucking one sac and then the other as she stroked the hardened length of him. Quinn closed his eyes and blocked out everything except the sensation of being stroked and sucked. "On top." He demanded. He wanted to release his seed deep inside of her. Justine released the sac that she was sucking and gave him a stern look. "You got to call the shots earlier. Now it's my turn." She took as much of him as she could into her warm mouth and began to hum. "Oh shit!" Quinn swore as Justine continued to hum around his cock. His cock felt as if it were inside a warm, wet vibrator. He was about to dull the sensations when Justine stopped him. "Don't '' she said telepathically. "I won't last if you keep that up." He replied even as he thrust his hips toward her in search of her mouth. "Then don't. "She replied. "You denied yourself for me last night, don't do it now." "Justine...." Quinn thrust his hips up to her face, his pubis meeting her nose as she took the length of him into her mouth and resumed humming and sucking him. She pulled back until just the head of his cock was in her mouth and very gently bit down. "Oh god!" Quinn moaned. He could feel the orgasm begin in his toes and he wanted it to stop; but yet he didn't. He moaned again when Justine touched the underside of his cock where the shaft met the head with her tongue, wiggled it and hummed. Justine Ch. 21 His entire body stiffened and his mouth opened in a silent scream as he emptied into Justine's waiting mouth. When nothing more came out, Justine climbed on top of him and eased herself down onto his cock. "Oh my god Justine! Don't...." His words were cut off by a scream in a voice that he barely recognized as his own. He screamed again as Justine's vaginal muscles vibrated around his already sensitive cock. Afterwards when he was recovered, he wanted to know how she did what she did. "I gather that you liked it?" Justine asked. "I loved it!" Quinn replied. "Where did the idea come from?" "I just thought of it and decided to try it." She replied with a shrug. "I'm glad that you liked it." "I loved it." Quinn repeated. "But back to caring for you; are you hungry? There's fruit and sandwiches in the fridge." "I'm not hungry yet." Justine replied. "And this is as much about you as it is me. You work every bit as hard as I do and you need to be cared for as well. I have a proposal to make." "I'm listening." Quinn replied wondering if they were on the same wavelength. "I propose that once a week we spend the night and day alone. It doesn't have to be the same night each week and if it doesn't happen, it has to be because of something urgent." "I like it." Quinn replied. "But I would like to take it a little further. We take turns planning the evening. Whatever happens is up to whoever's turn it is to plan the evening." "So if I wanted to watch a chick flick?" Justine asked. "Then we watch a chick flick." Quinn replied. "If I want to watch a ball game, then that's what we'll do. The point isn't what we do, but that we do it together. Our lives are crazy and we need to make time for each other. What do you think?" "Who goes first?" Justine asked. "Ladies first." Quinn replied. "Just say when and I'm here." "Anything goes?" Justine asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Anything... what are you thinking about doing?" Quinn asked. "I'm not saying." Justine replied. "But I can tell you that it'll be fun." "I can't wait.'' Quinn said and then hesitated. "Jussie, I've asked you to marry me, but I never asked if you would have children with me. Will you have children with me?" Justine thought that it was a given that they would have children, but evidently she had thought wrong. "I would love to have children with you." Justine said. "I thought you knew that." "I knew it, but I just had to hear you say it." Quinn replied and then started to laugh. "What?" Justine asked. "It just occurred to me that your mother and David could have children too. Their baby would be your sibling and our baby would be their grandchild." Quinn replied. "And let's not forget that I'm older than my mother." Justine added seeing the humor in Quinn's observation. They talked, made love and made plans with the remaining hours of their alone time. When their time was up, they left the suite refreshed and ready to face the real world. ******* Lorenzo and Naila sat in the Jacuzzi in the back of Maurice and Regina's house. The bruises on Naila's face were barely visible and the swelling was completely gone. The whip marks on her back were still very visible even though Lorenzo applied the cream that the doctor gave them faithfully. They finally came to accept that those scars would be permanent. She still had nightmares but they were gradually decreasing in intensity and frequency. As of yet, they hadn't mated. Lorenzo wanted to be sure that Naila was completely healed and that he had told her everything before they took that step. Naila kept telling him that she didn't care about the past and that she wanted to be with him no matter what. But he had to be sure. He was going to give her another chance to change her mind. If she didn't, they would mate that night. "I've told you everything." Lorenzo said. "Do you still accept me as your mate knowing what you do?" "For the millionth time yes!" Naila replied exasperated. "You aren't the only one who's ever made mistakes and you won't be the last. I understand that this will be forever. I understand that once it's done I can't change my mind. I get it!" "Are you alright with the fact that I may be away from you for days at a time?" Lorenzo asked. Naila looked at him, her expression wary. "If I didn't know better, I would think that you're trying to get me to change my mind. Are you?" she asked. "Of course not!" Lorenzo exclaimed. "I have to be certain that you understand what this means." Naila moved over to Lorenzo and sat in his lap. "I told you before, and I'll tell you again; I want and love you. I want to be with you no matter what it entails." She kissed his cheek and then his lips. "I love you. I want to spend eternity with you. How much clearer can I be?" she asked. Satisfied that she understood, Lorenzo vanished from the Jacuzzi with Naila in his arms and reappeared in a house located on the outskirts of the city. "Where are we?" Naila asked as she looked around. "This is one of our homes." Lorenzo replied as he sat her on her feet. Maurice and Regina have invited us to live with them, but we need a place that we can come to when we want and need to be alone." "What did you tell them?" Naila asked. "I told them that I would discuss it with you." Lorenzo replied. "I think that it's a good idea. I like knowing that you won't be alone if I have to be gone." "And they're alright with this?" Naila asked dubiously. "They're the ones who brought it up." Lorenzo replied. "Naila, they love you and it isn't an imposition. They have an entire wing of their house that isn't being used. Regina said that you could decorate it any way you want and she and the other mates would love to help." "What do you want me to do?" she asked already knowing the answer. "I would be less than honest if I said that I didn't want to take them up on their offer. I have to know that you're safe when I'm away." Lorenzo replied. "If I say no?" Naila asked. "You will be guarded no matter where you are. You must understand that ours is a dangerous world. While it's true that Justine is cleaning things up, there is still much that needs to be done. There are still those who would try to harm Justine and the Queen Mother by using one of us. What do you think would happen if you were kidnapped? I would do anything, and I do mean anything to get you back. Do you understand what I'm saying? I would commit treason to save you. Maurice would do the same if Regina or Jon were kidnapped." Naila was stunned. She hadn't looked at it from his point of view. It wasn't that she didn't like Maurice and his family; she was just ready to be alone with Lorenzo. She finally understood why he wanted to be sure that she understood what she was getting into. The bottom line was that she was going to be guarded no matter where she was and she might as well have company. Regina was also in a position to help her adjust to her new life as the mate of a vampire. She also realized something else. Lorenzo didn't have to ask. He could have just told her what the plan was and expected her compliance. She had watched Maurice and Regina enough to know that when it came to the safety of her and Jon; Maurice was boss. Lorenzo had asked her out of courtesy. "I'll agree under one condition." Naila said after a few minutes. "What is it?" Lorenzo asked. "I'll agree if we can go away every so often." "Agreed." Lorenzo said as he picked her up and carried her to their bedroom which was located in the basement. As eager as he was to mate with her, she needed to know how to escape if something happened. "I've told you about the hunters." He said. "I also told you that they are primarily human. It is important not to be fooled by that fact. They are extremely dangerous and we must take all precautions. All of our homes have escape routes. Each of us also has a safe house that no one knows about and that includes each other. I've already talked to Maurice about sharing this knowledge with each other. He is in agreement and we'll share information. As an added security, we will share blood with him and everyone else in the family. This way if something happens, we will always be able to find each other." "The kids do this too?" Naila asked. "Especially the children." Lorenzo replied. "Don't worry." He assured her. "Only a small sip is required. This house has several escape routes. The main one is in this room behind the bed. Why do you suppose this is the main escape route?" he asked. "Because we sleep during the day and that's when the hunters are more likely to come." Naila replied. "Good." Lorenzo said and kissed her. "There will always be a warning when someone is near. As soon as you feel or hear the warning, press the flower in the center of the headboard. The entire bed will swing into the wall and a made bed will come out in its place. If I'm not with you, don't wait or look for me. Escape and I will find you." "Where do I go once the bed is on the other side?" "There is a path for you to follow." Lorenzo replied. "Go as quickly as you can until you can go no further. Touch the wall, wait a moment and it will open for you. Don't worry about closing it; it will close after you pass through. Continue to follow the path and it will lead you to the basement of another home. Wait there until one of us arrives." "So I'm just supposed to leave you?" Naila asked. "Yes and I expect you to keep your word." Lorenzo said firmly. "I can't concentrate if you aren't safe. Now give me your word that you'll do as I ask." "I couldn't just...." "Naila listen to me." Lorenzo interrupted. "If you were caught, it would endanger everyone. Now give me your word." "I promise." Naila whispered hoping that if anything happened that she would be able to keep her word. Lorenzo nodded knowing that if the time came, Naila would have a hard time keeping her word. He knew that he would have to hammer it into her until she truly understood the safety issue. He laid her on the bed and stretched out on top of her. The time had finally come. By morning, they would be mated. His hard cock pressed into her soft stomach reminding him that they hadn't made love since before she had been hurt. Naila spread her legs so that Lorenzo's hips rested between her thighs. She began to move against him as she pulled at his clothes. "I need you." She murmured looking up at him. Naila knew that his intent was to make love slowly, but she couldn't wait. They could take their time once the immediate need had been met. She peeled his shirt away from his chest baring it to her lips. She kissed and then bit a nipple in an attempt to hurry him along. Lorenzo understood and with a thought, they were naked. He slid down her body until his cock rested at her entrance. Naila moaned when she felt the large, hot head of his cock push into her. She brought her knees up and spread her legs wider to help his entrance into her. Her nipples throbbed and ached to feel his lips, tongue and teeth on them as he slid in and out of her. She felt the hot fluid of her arousal gather between her legs, trickle down her ass and gather onto the bed beneath her. Just when she thought that he was going to thrust; he stopped. "Lorenzo?"" she called disappointed that he had stopped. Instead of answering, he pulled out of her and slid down her body until his face was at her crotch. Lorenzo gently opened her nether lips, looked at the pulsing, glistening jewel and took it into his mouth. In the past, he had always teased her; but it had been far too long since he had felt her clit throbbing against his tongue as she came. He flicked the tip of his tongue over it before he began to lap up her juices as if he were a cat drinking from a saucer of milk. He purred in his throat as the clear liquid touched his tongue and made its way down his throat. Naila threw her legs over Lorenzo's shoulders and trapped his head between her thighs. She ground hard against his mouth crying out when he began to suck and lick her clit with no particular rhythm. Sometimes the touch of his tongue was hard, sometimes it was soft; but it was always relentless. She pulled and twisted her nipples adding to the pleasure of her clit being teased. The closer to orgasm she got, the harder she pulled. Lorenzo firmly, but gently pried her thighs away from his head spread her legs as far as they would go and renewed his assault on her clit. "Lorenzo!" Naila screamed as she writhed on the bed. She released her sore, swollen nipples and tangled her hands in his dark hair and held his head in place. He could have freed himself; but he didn't. He allowed his fangs to descend, gave her clit a hard suck and nicked it. He knew that many found blood laced with fear a delicacy; but he disagreed. He found blood laced with love and desire far sweeter than anything he could think of. He struggled not to come when her blood mixed with her juices hit his tongue. He could hear Naila calling for him between her moans and sobs of pleasure as he drank from her. He reached up and tweaked an erect nipple knowing that it would send her into orgasm. "Don't stop! Please don't stop!" She begged as she frantically moved against him. Lorenzo wanted to give her his blood during making love. As he fed from her, he decided how to do it. He gave her clit another long, hard suck sending her into another orgasm. As her orgasm waned, he positioned himself between her quivering thighs, looked down at his swollen member and murmured "bleed." He watched as a drop of blood formed at the tip of his cock and became a thin stream that leaked onto Naila's still pulsing clit. He reached down and massaged the blood into her clit sending her into a third orgasm. Unable to hold back any longer, Lorenzo rammed his full length into her prolonging her orgasm. The weeks of abstinence and pleasuring Naila had taken its toll. His head was thrown back and his eyes were squeezed shut as he pummeled her. His voice mixed with hers as his blood laced seed filled her womb. When it was over, Lorenzo collapsed on top of her. A moment later, he was lying on his side with Naila securely in his arms. He covered her with a thin blanket, kissed her head and watched her as she slept. Naila woke up a few hours later, sore but sated. "Am I supposed to feel different?" she asked. "I don't think so." Lorenzo replied. "Is it over?" "Almost." Lorenzo replied. "One more blood exchange and then it's done." "How long can we stay?" she asked hoping for at least one more night. "Three nights. Maurice and Mikhail have things under control and will call if I am needed." "Good." Naila replied as she cuddled closer to him. She planned to take full advantage of their time alone. ******* "I'm glad that you and Justine finally talked." Josephine said as she helped David feed the plants. "Me too, we have a long way to go, but at least we made a start." David said as he examined the progress of the daffodils. "She'll come around." Josephine said. "Do you really think that these will bloom in time for the wedding?" she asked changing the subject. "I think so." David replied. "We'll know for sure in a week. How is the wedding plans coming along?" "Good. I guess you know that there has to be a second wedding." Josephine said. "I assumed as much." David said. "What does Justine have to say about it?" "She isn't happy about it, but Quinn came up with a solution that she's happy with." David listened to Quinn's solution and smiled. "He's one sharp boy," he commented. "Yes he is." Josephine said. "I was wondering if we could go back to the island for our honeymoon." "I don't see why not." David said. "It's still warded, but I'll have it checked out. What are Justine and Quinn planning?" "They haven't said anything, but I'm sure they'll go away for a few days." Josephine replied. "Jo, what would you have done if Justine had rejected me as your mate?" "I don't know. I just prayed that she would accept you." The fact was she wouldn't allow herself to think along those lines. The thought that she might have to choose between her mate and her only child had been almost more than she could bear. Every time the thought came to her, she pushed the thought away choosing to have faith that she wouldn't have to choose. "But what if you had to choose?" David asked. "I wouldn't allow myself to consider the possibility." She replied. "It was too painful and too frightening to think about. It doesn't matter anymore. I didn't and I won't have to choose so let's not talk about it anymore." David started to say something and changed his mind. Josephine was right. It was a moot point, and he believed her when she said that she never thought about it. He turned his thoughts toward business. He hadn't spoken to anyone in his offices since he and Josephine arrived at the house. He did however; keep an eye on things via email. "Sweetheart, would you mind if I made a few calls? I need to touch base with my office." "Of course I don't mind." Josephine replied. "I wondered how long it would take you to get the itch." She teased. "It could be a while. " David cautioned. "David, go. " Josephine urged. "I'll be fine. I used to spend hours alone while you did your business. I was going to look for Violet anyway." "I'll see you later." David said as he kissed her. Josephine sat in the garden for a long time after David left thinking about things in general. As she thought about the past, she came to realize that some of the things that happened were meant to. She didn't count Jeremiah Mathers as one of them. She believed that Justine and he would have crossed paths at some point, but that she herself was a victim of circumstance. As far as David was concerned, she still would have met him; but under much different circumstances. Anger flared as she once again realized that everything that happened between her and David was the result of that one encounter with Jeremiah Mathers. That one meeting had changed so many things. That didn't change any of the decisions that were made in her and David's later years together, but it Jeremiah hadn't taken her... She pushed the thought away. It was over and done with. She her daughter and her mate and that was all that mattered. Before she left the garden, she whispered a prayer. "I only ask one thing." She said softly. "I only ask that Justine and David work out their differences before the wedding. Thank you for all that you have already done. Amen." She sat for a few more minutes, stood up and headed for the kitchen where she would more than likely find Violet eating ice cream. Josephine was sure that she had never seen people who could eat as much ice cream as Violet and Edward could and did. ******* Thomas looked over at his new mate. The drab, baggy clothes that Wilhelmina had insisted she wear where gone. In their place were pastels and bright colors with patterns. She now wore her waist length dark hair loose instead of what Thomas called the librarian bun. He found it hard to believe that only two short weeks ago, he was going to be murdered by his last mate. His rescue had come from the king and Queen themselves. He still marveled over it. The rescue earned Quinn and Justine not only his gratitude; but his undying loyalty. As of yet, he hadn't told Lottie about Justine's offer. They were too busy making up for centuries of lost time. Even after two weeks of almost constant love making, he wanted her again. Thomas pushed his desire aside. They needed to talk. "Lottie, we have things to discuss." He said as he held out his hand to her. Lottie looked at him with a questioning look in her eyes. Anxiety washed over her as she walked toward Thomas who was sitting on the sofa. She still wasn't convinced that Wilhelmina was gone even though Thomas showed her the spot where she had been cremated. Justine Ch. 21 "She's gone." Thomas assured her. "She cannot come back, the Queen has ensured it." Lottie swallowed hard, sat next to Thomas on the sofa and waited. "Lottie, she's gone." He repeated as he put an arm around her. "There is no need to fear her any longer." Lottie nodded. Thomas didn't know the half of what her life had been like before he mated with Wilhelmina. He didn't know what she had to do in order to survive. There were things that she would never tell him about unless he gave her no choice. "Lottie, I want to tell you about my family." "Rhys?" she asked nervously when Thomas told her about his family. "Thomas, they will never accept me! They'll disown you!" "I don't care about that." he said. "They already consider me a failure, even more so now that Wilhelmina is gone." "They're wrong." Lottie said. "They're only saying that because you aren't like them. But Thomas, they're still your family." "No they aren't. " Thomas said firmly. "If they were my family, I would have been able to go to them for help. I would have been able to trust them with not only my life; but yours as well. I no longer claim them as my family." Lottie could tell by his tone that he was serious. "What are you thinking of doing?" she asked. "First, you need to know that I am more than able to care for you and any children that we may have. Even without the settlement from Wilhelmina's estate, that wouldn't have been an issue. She never asked about my assets and I didn't volunteer the information." A few minutes later, he told her about Justine's offer. "We can stay here until I come into my mage gifts or we can leave. What would you like to do?" he asked "I want to leave here." Lottie said without hesitation. "I hate it here. Every time I hear footsteps approach, I think it's her. I don't care if I have to be a servant for eternity, but I can't stay here." "Don't you want to think about it?" Thomas asked surprised by her reaction. "No, please! I want to leave here." She said. Tears ran down her face as she begged him with her eyes. "Lottie..." "This place has too many memories of her. I won't..." "Alright." Thomas soothed as hugged her. He wondered why she was reacting so strongly. He knew that Wilhelmina had been demanding and often cruel but Lottie's response made him wonder about what happened before he came into the picture. "We'll leave as soon as I've made the arrangements." "Thank you." Lottie replied gratefully. As Thomas held her, Lottie made a decision. She had to tell him about the things that Wilhelmina made her do. "Thomas, I have to tell you something that I should have told you before we mated." Thomas listened horrified as Lottie told him how Wilhelmina used her to lure humans into the woods where she and Alicia would lie in wait. "I didn't want to do it. The one time I refused, I thought that they had accepted my decision. They sent me on my way and then called me to their chambers later in the evening. When I got there... my mother... they had my mother tied to a table. Alicia was standing on one side of the table with a barbed stake and Wilhelmina stood on the other side. Wilhelmina looked at me... Thomas, she was smiling at me. She smiled while Alicia stabbed my mother in the heart. I watched my mother die!" Lottie stopped, unable to go on. The memory was as painful as if it had just happened. "Oh my god Lottie." Thomas murmured. "Afterwards, they made me go out to find a human. They told me that if I failed, they would bring another member of my family and make me watch them die. If I refused, they would kill someone else and I would still have to do as they said. What choice did I have?" She asked pleading for understanding. "If it were just me, I would have let them kill me." Thomas waited until Lottie calmed before he asked the next question. "What else did they do to you?" Lottie's anxiety level shot through the roof. "They... she... don't make me say it!" Lottie sobbed. "You don't have to say it." He soothed. "I understand." Wilhelmina and Alicia had used Lottie's body. He wished that he could bring Wilhelmina back from the dead and kill her. Her death wouldn't have been near as merciful as the one Justine had given her. "Thomas, I am so sorry. I should have told you." "None of it was your fault." Thomas assured her. "You were put in an impossible position. Wilhelmina and Alicia took advantage of you and used their position to get what they wanted. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you." He took an emotionally exhausted Lottie to bed, tucked her in and lay beside her until she was asleep. A moment later, he was at the portal summoning Lorenzo. He jumped when Maurice's face and not Lorenzo's appeared in the portal. "You must be Thomas." Maurice said politely. I am Maurice Delgado. Lorenzo is my brother. He told me that you might be calling." "Where is Lorenzo?" Thomas asked. "He is claiming his mate." Maurice replied. He only gave the information because it was a reasonable question and he knew that it would be asked. "Is everything alright?" "When will Lorenzo return?" Thomas asked ignoring the question. "He'll be back in three days. Is there something that I can do for you?" Thomas wanted to say no, and was going to until he looked back at Lottie. She was sleeping; but moaning softly. He turned back to Maurice having made his decision. "The Queen made me an offer and I wish to accept. How soon before we can leave here?" "I am aware of the offer." Maurice replied. "Is tomorrow evening soon enough?" Thomas looked at Lottie again and decided that they could endure one more night. "Tomorrow evening then." he said. "I'll make the arrangements." Maurice said. "Thomas, we owe you our thanks. It couldn't have been easy to go against your given mate. Lorenzo speaks very highly of you and I can see why. Someone will come for you and your mate early tomorrow evening." "Where will we be taken?" Thomas asked. "The Queen has reserved a suite for you at her home." Maurice replied. "She will meet with both of you sometime within the next few days. I will be there when you arrive to make sure that things are well. I'm happy that you decided to join us." The sentiment surprised Thomas. He knew who Maurice was although he had never seen him before now. The Delgado name had come up during many family discussions. "No vampire can do all that they say he can do." his father said one night. "Have you ever seen him?" He asked. "He's short, bald... an abomination if you ask me!" But Thomas had believed the stories. If asked, he couldn't have said why. Of course he wasn't foolish enough to tell his father that. To do so would have invited trouble and ridicule. Thomas looked at Maurice and had to agree with one thing, Maurice Delgado didn't look anything like the badass everyone said he was. He looked more like someone's kindly uncle, but Thomas knew better. The stories of how he rescued his mate from the Lassiters had kept those in the Realm entertained for weeks. Thomas had wanted to watch along with everyone else; but Wilhelmina had forbidden it. "Why are you so pleased?" Thomas asked. "You don't know me or my mate." "No, but I know who your family is." Maurice replied. "Don't be angry with Lorenzo; he had to tell us." "I see." Thomas said his tone curt. "This way you can keep an eye on me. Is that it?" "As far as the Queen is concerned; no. She is repaying a debt although she is hoping that you will swear loyalty to her. As for me, yes. It's my job to scrutinize anyone or anything who enters her home. That my brother vouches for you is significant, but as you just pointed out; I don't know you or your mate. I can see that you are offended and angry and for that, I apologize; but this is the way it is. Even if I knew you, I would do the same thing. Now, back to tomorrow evening, as I said; someone will be there to meet you early evening. Bring whatever belongings you want, but the suite is fully furnished. Are there any questions?" Thomas closed the portal after asking a few more questions. He checked on Lottie and went to his office to do some thinking. No one other than Lottie knew about Justine's offer. He debated whether he should say anything to his family and decided not. They couldn't be trusted no to take Lottie to get him to do as they wanted. They would find out soon enough. He went back to the bedroom, crawled into bed next to Lottie and kissed her cheek. He lay awake waiting for her to wake up. He needed her again. ******** Justine and Quinn were waiting in the sitting room when Thomas and Lottie were brought to them. Justine took notice of Lottie's subservient behavior and addressed it. "I know that you've been a servant for a long time, but you aren't anymore. You are the mate of a member of my court so try to relax. In a day or so Violet and the other women will meet with you and figure out what you would like to do." "Yes my Queen." Lottie said with a curtsey. "Thomas," Justine said. "I'm glad that you and Lottie have decided to join us. Maurice told me that you were offended when he spoke to you. Don't be. He was doing his job. Quinn and I also wanted to talk to you about your family. We want to make sure that you understood something. We know who your family is and we don't hold it against you, but if your family commits treason or any other crime; they won't be treated any differently than anyone else." "I didn't think that they would be." Thomas replied, his tone cool. "For the record, I no longer consider them my family. I don't trust them and know that they would try to take advantage of the fact that I'm here. Lottie and I are pledging our allegiance to you, the King, the Queen Mother and her mate if you will have us. As you are aware, my gifts do not manifest for another fifty years but we are willing to serve in whatever capacity that you wish." Justine and Quinn looked at each other and nodded. "We accept, but first we have to examine you. I promise that we'll be gentle and that there will be no pain." Thomas took Lottie's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "We're ready." Thomas said still holding Lottie's hand. Justine started with Thomas first so that Lottie could see that there would be no pain. She gently probed and sifted through Thomas' memories looking for anything that would indicate that he would betray them. The only thing that she saw was the same thing that she saw in all the members of her court. It was the one thing that would lead any of them to commit treason- the taking of a mate or child. Satisfied, Justine withdrew to let Quinn do his assessment. Like Justine, he was gentle with his probing and came to the same conclusion. He took a moment longer than Justine did, but he was satisfied. "See? "Justine said to a nervous Lottie. "No pain." Lottie nodded even as she tried to think of a way to get out of the probe. She didn't want the people who had been so kind to them to know what she had done for Wilhelmina. Before she could think of anything, the probing started. "Relax." Justine soothed, "it won't take long." Lottie tried to block Justine, but it was useless. It felt as though hours had passed before Justine spoke to her. "Lottie." Justine said telepathically. "Wilhelmina used her power and authority to make you do things that you wouldn't have done under normal circumstances. You were given no choice in the matter. I'm going to absolve you of your guilt and take away your fear of her. She and Alicia are gone and can no longer hurt you or anyone else. From this moment, you are absolved and free of the memories of your time with her. The remainder of your family is alive and well and would love to see you." Lottie was speechless. She had often wondered about her family but Wilhelmina forbade her to see them. The only time that they were brought up was when Lottie became what Wilhelmina called obstinate. "Thank you... I don't know what to say." Lottie replied telepathically. "You don't need to say anything." Justine replied, her tone soft and soothing. "You've had one hell of a fucked up life through no fault of your own. I want you to use any of the services that we offer. No one needs to know about it." "Thank you." Lottie said quietly still in shock over the compassion that she had just been shown. Justine pulled back and stopped Quinn before he could begin. "She's okay." Quinn nodded in understanding and smiled at Lottie and Thomas. "Welcome." He said cheerfully. "I hope that you have everything that you need and if you don't, just ask." "Thank you." Thomas and Lottie said in unison. "No." Quinn said. "Thank you." A few minutes later, the rest of what Justine called her circle came in. The only one missing was Lorenzo. Justine called everyone to attention and made the introductions. "Everyone, this is Thomas Rhys and his mate of two weeks Lottie. We all know who his family is and there is no need to bring it up. They have both sworn allegiance to us and as you know, have already proven themselves trustworthy. They are now a valuable part of this household and will be treated as such." "So, you are a Rhys." Edward commented. "If I'm right, your mage gifts don't come into play for another fifty years." "That's right." Thomas replied a tad defensively. "Please." Edward said. "I meant no offense. I've always been interested in vampires such as you and your family. I was hoping that you would allow me to ask questions of which I have many. I would also, with your permission of course; like to track the development of your gifts." The discussion ended with the announcement that dinner was ready. Out of habit, Lottie headed for the kitchen. "Where are you going?" Violet asked. "I... I don't know." Lottie stammered embarrassed. "The dining room is this way." Thomas said as he took her hand. When they got to the table, he held her chair out for her and kissed her temple. "It will be alright." He assured her. ******* The two weeks before the wedding flew by. True to his word, David with Thomas' help got the flowers in the indoor garden to bloom. "You're good with plants." David remarked as he eyed the daffodils. "I wonder if this is one of your gifts." "I've always been good with plants." Thomas said with a shrug. Caring for plants had come easily for him. It wasn't something that he had to work at; the knowledge just seemed to be there. He could name the antidote for every poison known to man and vampire and knew how to make it. Until David off handedly mentioned it as a possible mage gift, he hadn't thought about it as such. It didn't take long before everyone figured out what Lottie's gift was. She had no discernable psychic gifts other than those mates had, but she was a good listener. She would sit quietly with her hands in her lap and listen without interrupting. Usually, by the time whoever was listening was finished talking, they found the solution without her saying a word. Thomas watched as day by day Lottie began to relax and began to fit in. A fun-loving personality that had been hidden began to surface. As of yet, she hadn't mentioned going to see her family. Thomas was curious as to why. "I don't know." Lottie replied when asked. "I'm just not ready yet." She replied. Thomas didn't push her. When she was ready, she would tell him and they would go. "The garden looks beautiful." She said changing the subject. "Yes it does." Thomas agreed. He thought about taking a quick peek into her mind, but didn't. She had been probed and violated enough. ****** The garden was ready for the wedding. The tables were set; the chairs for the guests were arranged. The sound of the water fountain's tinkling water filled the large room. Everything was double and triple checked before being pronounced as perfect. "What are the chances of convincing Justine and Josephine to spend the evening /day with us?" Pam asked. "Good luck with that." Violet replied laughing. "Good luck with what?" Justine asked from behind them. "I was just wondering if we could get you and Josephine to spend the evening with us. You know the traditional thing... the groom doesn't see the bride or in this case brides until the wedding." "As a matter of fact," Justine said grinning, "I was just looking for you to talk about that very subject. We would love to! Where are we meeting?" There was several seconds of silence before anyone said anything. "We can use our suite." Lottie said so quietly that they almost didn't realize she had spoken. "Perfect!" Pam exclaimed as she took Lottie by the arm. "Let's talk food!" she said as she led Lottie toward the kitchen. Zoe and Violet waited for Justine to give instructions. "I was also thinking about inviting Lorenzo and Maurice's mates. " Justine said. "Things have been so crazy that I haven't even had them here for dinner. It would be nice to meet them before the wedding." "I'll call them." Zoe said but she didn't move. "What?" Justine asked. "Nothing... I'm just surprised that you suggested this." Zoe replied. "I don't hate all traditions." Justine said with a smile. "And besides, I'm always up for something fun." ****** "A bachelor party?" David asked. "Sure! Why not?" Quinn asked. "It'll be great! You've never had one and I don't remember my first one." He added. "There won't be any strippers will there?" David asked. "Hell No! Are you crazy?" Quinn asked. "We'll play cards, shoot some pool and bull and watch sports." "Then I'm in." David replied. "Great! I'll call Maurice and Lorenzo. While I'm doing that, why don't you tell the others?" Quinn said as he reached for the phone. "I'll ask Darren about refreshments." David said as he left the room. After talking to the others, David decided to make one last check on the garden. ******** The sound of the water fountain soothed his nerves as he went from plant to plant. Although he and Josephine had been together for years, he was nervous at the thought of marriage. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry Josephine; it was that he wanted it so badly. He moved from plant to plant watering it if it seemed dry and speaking to each one in a soft melodic tone. He thanked all of them, especially the daffodils for blooming in time for the wedding. "Does mom know that you talk to plants?" Justine asked with a hint of teasing in her voice. "I neglected to tell her that bit of information." David replied smiling at her. "What brings you to the garden?" he asked. "I was walking by and I heard a one-sided conversation." Justine replied. "I assume that it was one-sided?" "I only talk to them." David replied chucking. "Thomas is the one who hears them." "What do you mean?" Justine asked not sure if David was kidding or not. "I mean that he says that he can hear the plants and trees talk. He's been doing it for as long as he can remember." David said. "He's absolutely amazing! He knows every poison there is and their antidotes including how to make them. I believe that this is only one of his gifts. It is mostly because of him that the flowers are in bloom." Justine was silent for a moment. David was right about Thomas, but did she want to confirm it? It was time for another step. "You're right." She said. "I felt it when I probed him. He doesn't consider it a part of his gifts because he's always had it. I'll tell you something else; this is the least of his gifts." "I suspected as much." David said. "I have a few ideas as to what his other gifts are." "Do tell." Justine said as she sat down. She was finding out that David while not a big talker was intuitive about people. It was a good trait to have and was a part of the reason that he fit in so well. Justine Ch. 21 "I think that he is a healer." David said after he sat down. "It hasn't fully manifested yet and probably won't for several decades. Don't get me wrong, he can heal with his knowledge of plants and herbs, but Justine, when I say heal; I mean he's going to be able to heal with a word or a touch." He paused to let her think about what he said before continuing. "Then there's Lottie. I know that it appears that she isn't any more gifted than the average mate, but he needs her or will need her. She is his anchor and relief mechanism. If anything happens to her..." "There'll be hell to pay." Justine finished. "How long have you known this?" she asked. "For as long as you and Quinn did. Jo knows it too." He replied. "Your next question is why I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything because I wouldn't be telling you anything that you didn't already know. I also thought that if you wanted to talk about it, you would bring it up." Justine hesitated before asking her next question. "How much of your not saying anything was because you didn't know how I was going to react?" "A very small part of it." David replied. "If it had been something urgent, I would have told you no matter your reaction." "David, part of doing this reign thing together is being able to talk freely. I haven't been exactly approachable have I?" "I would concur with that." he replied. Justine chuckled and shook her head. "That was very straightforward of you." she said. "But that has to change. I want and need all of you to be able to come to me without being worried about how I'll react." "I want that too." David replied. "Tomorrow night is a new beginning for all of us. I would like to start with a clean slate. I'm not asking that you forget anything, but I am asking that we leave it behind and move on." Justine looked in the direction where her aunt and grandmother's remains lay. That ceremony had closed one chapter of her and her mother's lives and the wedding marked the beginning of a new one. As she looked toward the burial site, a memory washed over her. 8888 She had been in high school and had gotten caught drinking. Her aunt had been livid and didn't speak to her for twenty-four hours. That day had been one of the longest days in Justine's life. She had honestly believed that her aunt would never forgive her. The knowledge that she had disappointed her aunt made her chest hurt. The feeling of self-loathing that she had hurt the woman who had given up everything to care for her was staggering. When Belinda finally spoke to her after twenty-four hours, Justine cried in relief. "I don't hate you." Belinda said hugging her. "But I was angry and disappointed. What you did was foolish and reckless. You could have been arrested! I know that it's hard not to join in when others are egging you on, but Justine; you're a leader not a follower. Many of those kids were following your lead and look what happened. I want you to remember that with leadership comes responsibility. Everything that you do or say is being watched by someone younger or weaker so you must act accordingly." "Are you still mad at me?" Justine asked as tears ran down her cheeks. "No baby, that was yesterday. Today is a new day." 88888 Justine could almost feel the hug and kiss on the cheek that Belinda had given her. As she grew and matured, she tried to remember what she had been taught although she still screwed up on occasion. Granted what David did was much worse than what she had done; but the principle was still the same. Justine also realized that just as there was nothing that Belinda could have done to make her feel any worse; the same applied to David. "I think that you're right." She finally said. "I would like to start over." "Thank you."" David said. "You have no idea of how much this means to me." "I think I do." Justine replied with a small smile. They sat in silence for a moment trying to adjust to the change in their relationship. "Would you care to help me feed the plants?" David asked breaking the silence. "I don't have to talk to them do I?" Justine asked only half joking. "Not unless you want to." David replied as he stood. "On second thought, I'd better not touch them." Justine said. "I might kill them." "You won't kill them." David assured her. "You just give them a few drops of food and move on." "David," Justine said in a serious tone, "I killed a cactus." "How in the hell do you kill a cactus? "David asked trying not to laugh. As they talked, Justine could see why her mother fell in love with David. He was at heart a kind man who could also be ruthless. She also knew that he had been losing patience with her and if she hadn't gone to him; he would have found her and forced the issue. After a few more minutes of chatting, Justine left David alone with the plants. She walked away feeling lighter in spirit. As she passed the window that faced into the east garden; she whispered a word of thanks to her aunt Belinda. ****** Naila and Regina were nervous wrecks. Neither woman knew what to wear to the party. "Why haven't you met her yet?" Naila asked. "We kind of hit the ground running." Regina replied as she eyed a pale yellow dress. "What do you think?" she asked. "Too dressy, what about that lavender sundress?" Naila asked. "You could wear that short sleeved white jacket to dress it up a bit." Regina looked at the outfit for several minutes before deciding to wear it. "What about you?" Regina asked as she laid the outfit on the bed. "I have no idea." Naila replied. "What are you going to wear to the wedding?" The two women looked at each other and grinned. ******** Maurice and Lorenzo sat in the office discussing the gala. "How many guards do you think we'll need? Maurice asked. Lorenzo blew out a breath as he collected his thoughts. "We'll need two shifts." He replied. "Each shift needs to be made up of Vampire and Were. We also need to circulate the teams so they aren't at the same assignment each time. As to how many we'll need, I don't think that there's such a thing as too many." "They shouldn't get their assignments until they report for duty." Maurice added. "Let's see how many we have already. Mikhail has ten teams of four; I have at least that many; how many do you have?" Lorenzo did a count of his teams. "I have six teams consisting of eight members each." He replied. "One hundred and twenty eight guards... not nearly enough." Maurice commented. "Here's something else." Lorenzo said. "We need to have undercover guards intermingling with the guest. They'll be able to spot a problem before it gets out of hand. Again, their assignments should be rotated." "I think I may have a solution to the guard issue." Maurice said. "We can hire Gremlin's clan as part of the visible guard freeing up the others to be the undercover guards. One of Gremlin's clan is like having four guards." "I know of his race." Lorenzo said. "They're supposed to be loyal to those they hire but Gremlin betrayed his last employer." "Yes he did." Maurice conceded. "But only because Regina's cousin Annie was his mate." "Maurice... it isn't going to be Justine, Quinn, David or Josephine that we're that we're going to have to worry about protecting." Lorenzo said slowly. Maurice gave him a confused look before understanding hit him. "Our mates and children." Maurice murmured. "Think about it." Lorenzo said. "It would be suicide to make a grab for Justine or any of the others. It would be dangerous to take one of our mates or children, but there would be a better chance of success." "Damn." Maurice muttered and then looked around to see if Jon was anywhere nearby. "This changes how we do things." Lorenzo said. "We need to talk with Mikhail." Maurice's phone rang with a quiet chirp. "Hi sweetheart... shopping? I don't see why not... yes, he's here. An hour would be perfect...We'll see you then." "They want to go shopping for wedding clothes." Lorenzo said. "Welcome to the world of the mated male." Maurice said with a smile. "We have an hour, I suggest that we call Mikhail and share our thoughts." ****** Mikhail still didn't like it. A week long gala was an invitation for trouble. Too many things could happen even with tight security. He had tried once more to get Justine to shorten the gala; but she couldn't be budged and now she was adding the royal wedding. "Damn it all to hell." He growled under his breath. His head was beginning to ache and the gala was still two years away. He needed to relax and concentrate on more pleasant things. He sent a telepathic call to Zoe. When she didn't immediately respond, a wave of anxiety hit him. "Shit! He swore as he realized the same thing that Lorenzo and Maurice had. Justine and the others weren't in danger, but the mates of the guards were. "Mikhail?" Zoe called telepathically. "What's wrong?" "Why didn't you answer when I called?" he demanded. "I was in a meeting with Justine. What's the matter?" Mikhail was instantly contrite. "I'm sorry. I got a little anxious when you didn't respond right away. How much longer will you be?" "Not too much longer. We're talking about the party tonight. Are you sure that you're alright?" "I'm fine." He replied. "I'll see you soon." Mikhail reached for the phone to call Maurice; but it rang before he touched it. "What?" he said tersely. "Maurice... I apologize, I was about to call you... I just had the same thought. Why don't we meet the evening after the wedding? I agree..." Mikhail hung up feeling a little better. It helped to know that someone else was thinking along the same lines as he was. As he waited for Zoe, he wondered which of their mates would be the one most likely to be targeted. After several minutes of thinking about it, he realized that it would be a kidnapping of opportunity. Any of the mates would be valuable as a hostage. All of the males, himself included would do anything to get their mate back. Maurice was right; they needed to rethink their strategy. ******* Justine met Naila and Regina in the sitting room. She wanted to get acquainted with them before the party. Both Naila and Regina were struck by how ordinary Justine appeared to be. If it weren't for her eyes, she would have looked like anyone else. She was dressed in her usual sweat suit sans the reeboks. In their place she wore bedroom slippers that matched her yellow sweat suit. "It's good to finally meet you." Justine said after they were sitting. "Naila, how are you feeling?" "Much better; thank you My Queen." Naila replied bowing her head. "I'm glad to hear that and it's Justine." "Yes my..." Naila stopped speaking when she felt Justine's gentle probing of her mind. She took a breath and relaxed. Lorenzo had warned her that it would happen. She waited for the condemnation that she received when people found out what she did for a living. She was pleasantly surprised when it didn't happen. "Damn!" Justine exclaimed out loud. "Can you teach me some of those moves?" "I would like that." A stunned Naila replied. "How about tonight at the party?" Justine asked. "Sure!" Naila replied not believing that she would be teaching the Queen some of her moves. Justine turned to Regina. "I'm sorry that we haven't met before this; but as you know, things were very unsettled." "No apologies are necessary." Regina replied. "Thank you for that." Justine replied. "Who's taking care of the baby?" "He's staying with my cousin Annie and her family." Regina replied as she felt Justine probing her as she did Justine. "When is this child due?" Justine asked. "I have several months yet, but at least the nausea and vomiting are gone." Regina replied. "Good." Justine replied. "I wanted to take a moment to thank both of you for your patience and understanding during the times I had to pull your mates away from you. It couldn't have been easy, especially for you Naila given what you went through and now you're newly mated. I also wanted to let you know that I won't be calling on your mates unless I absolutely have to." Naila and Regina looked at each other. Justine wasn't acting anything like they thought a queen would act. They only knew what Lorenzo and Maurice told them and they only knew the business part of her. "You're overdressed!" Justine said looking at them. "I think that we can come up with for you to wear." They followed Justine to Thomas and Lottie's suite where the party was being held. After the introductions, Justine gave each of them one of her sweat suits and a matching pair of slippers. With a wink, she altered Naila's to her proper size. After they changed, Naila and Regina joined the women who were already laughing. "We were just telling stories about our mates." Pam said. "It seems that men are men no matter their species." Each of them told a funny story and then a romantic story about their mates. When the last woman was done, Justine stood up, clapped her hands and several dancer's poles appeared in the middle of the room. "We are privileged to have among us a professional dancer. Naila, Lorenzo's mate has agreed to teach us a few moves." Several minutes later, all of the women with the exception of Lottie were standing at a pole. Naila started off with the basics and soon all of them were giggling like school girls. "Wait!" Zoe called out laughing. "How do you make your hips do that?" ***** The sound of feminine laughter trickled down to the game room where the men were teaching Thomas how to play pool. "It sounds like they're having a good time." Edward commented. "I'm glad." Quinn replied. "There hasn't been enough of that lately." Thomas looked toward the stairs and wondered how Lottie was doing at her first party as an equal and not a servant. David noticed that he was distracted and suggested that he check on her. Thomas went to a corner and called out to her. To his relief, she was laughing. It wasn't the polite twitter that she gave Wilhelmina; this was a full bellied laugh. Thomas' smile widened and he rejoined the other men pleased that Lottie was having a good time. "OK guys," Quinn said. "It's time for a few words of wisdom from the male who has been mated the longest; Maurice Delgado." Quinn had originally asked Thomas. He declined saying that he didn't consider his time with Wilhelmina a true mating. Quinn knew that would be his response; but asked out of respect. He asked Edward who declined as well. "I was in state for much of our time." He said. "In many ways, we're newly mated." That left Maurice who wasn't put out that the honor came to him by default. "This is supposed to be a party so I'm going to keep this short." Maurice said. He began by telling them how he had tried to make Regina jealous by implying that there was another woman. When the laughter died down; he continued. "The point I was trying to make is this, don't try to pull one over on your mate. I guarantee that it'll come back and bite you in the ass. The other thing is this, we as males tend to forget that our mates are strong. They have to be in order to adjust to our world and to be mates to us. We need to remember that and allow them to care for us. Regina had to hit me over the head several times with the figurative cast iron skillet before I fully understood that. One last thing and I'll sit down. Those of us whose mates were at one time human need to remember something. They come from a world where it isn't uncommon to change partners. I'm not criticizing or judging; I'm just stating fact. Our mates while immortal; still have a human mindset. At some point, they'll begin to wonder if we aren't getting bored with them. It behooves us to keep tabs on their emotional state and to encourage them to talk to us and in return, we have to talk to them. Thank you for your attention and for allowing me to impart a few word of wisdom to you. Quinn and David, you are bot h very lucky men. May the fates and god continue to bless you and your mates." Maurice sat down to a brisk round of applause. The men looked up when a burst of laughter wafted down to the game room. "I have a feeling that these gatherings are going to be happening on a regular basis." Quinn said with a smile. ********* It was cool and rainy outside but warm and sunny inside where the wedding was going to take place. The flowers were in full bloom; the air was filled with the scent of their sweet fragrance. Pam, Zoe, Lottie and Violet bustled about making sure that everything was ready for the ceremony. "Did Darren leave to pick up the minister yet?" Zoe asked. "Not yet." Pam replied as she straightened a table cloth. "It's too early." "I would rather have him here too early as opposed to too late." Zoe replied. "Would you please relax?" Pam snapped. "The man lives twenty minutes away! What would he do if he were here?" Lottie had just walked in when the exchange between the two women started. She had never heard them snip at each other the way that they were doing and it concerned her. "Where do you want these?" she asked interrupting a retort from Zoe. She stood behind the cart that held the place settings from the table and waited for an answer. Pam and Zoe looked at each other sheepishly and then laughed. "I'm sorry." Pam said to Zoe. "I guess I'm nervous." "I'm sorry too, and you're right; it is too early for the minister to be here." Zoe replied. Lottie smiled and pushed the cart over to the side of the garden where the reception was going to be held. ******** David told me that you and he talked again." Josephine said as she fixed Justine's hair. "What changed your mind?" Justine told her about the night she had gone home drunk. "Aunt Belinda was furious! She didn't talk to me for twenty-four hours. I felt horrible and thought that she hated me. I came up with every punishment imaginable, but when I tried to talk to her about it; she would just walk away. When the twenty-four hours was up; we talked and she explained a few things to me. I didn't remember that event until David said something about today being a new day. He's right. It's time to move on. I won't forget what happened, but I'm ready to put it away. By the way... did you know that he talks to the plants when he feeds them?" "Yes I know." Josephine replied laughing. "He doesn't know that I know so let's keep it that way." Josephine stopped fixing Justine's hair and put her hands on her shoulders. "Thank you." she whispered as she bent down and kissed the top of Justine's head. "Thank you for forgiving David and thank you for this day." Justine placed her hands on top of her mothers and smiled even as tears ran down her face. "I'm glad that you're here and doing this with me. This beats any childhood fantasy that I had about my wedding when I was growing up." "Look at us." Josephine said with a watery smile. "I'm glad that we don't have our makeup on yet." ******** The hair and makeup people showed up a few minutes later. "I don't usually wear makeup." Justine said as the makeup artist looked at her face turning it this way and that. "You don't need it." He replied. "But we want to enhance your eyes. I'm going to apply a very light coat of foundation, blush and then a little lavender eye shadow. Instead of lipstick, we'll go with lip gloss. What do you think?" "I just don't want to look like a circus clown." Justine replied. "You won't." he assured her. "Both you and the Queen Mother will be stunning brides." "Thanks, what about my hair?" Justine asked. "I think that Marisol is planning something simple but elegant." He replied. "I'll let her explain it. But I believe that the Queen Mother's hair will be in the same style." Justine Ch. 21 Justine sat quietly as the makeup was being applied. True to his word, she didn't look like a circus clown. She could tell that she had makeup on, but it was subtle and as he said; he had enhanced her eyes. The red flames flickered in nervousness and excitement. At that moment, she wasn't a queen but a woman about to marry the man that she loved. "Are you okay over there?" Justine called to her mother. "Nervous; but I'm alright. How about you?" Josephine called back. "Nervous." Justine replied. An hour later, they were ready to put on their dresses. Pam helped Justine while Zoe attended to Josephine. Justine looked at her reflection in the mirror taking note of how the dress looked on her. Beautiful. The white, off the shoulder design complemented her full figure. Normally, she avoided styles that showed her shoulders and arms but, this dress seemed to be made just for her. Even the small white beads that adorned the bodice looked and felt right. Initially, she hadn't liked the beads but now... The skirt of the dress accentuated her smallish waist but downplayed what she considered to be hips that were too wide and an ass that was too big-points on which she and Quinn disagreed. "Jussie..." Pam breathed. "You look amazing!" Justine fingered the pearl drop necklace and then touched her ears. She had to agree... she did look amazing. "Josephine looks as amazing as you do." Pam added as the first strains of music began to play. ********* David slowly dressed. In less than an hour, he was going to be married in the human world. The thought that he didn't deserve Josephine and the happiness he felt crossed his mind. "This is a new day." He murmured as he put on the dove gray suit that brought out the gray of his eyes. The gray flames danced and crackled nervously as he tied the gray tie with purple pinstripes in it. As excited as he was, there was a hint of sadness as he acknowledged that they could have had this day years ago. "But it's happening now." He said softly. His heart rate jumped when he heard the music begin to play... it was almost time to begin. ******* Quinn danced around exhilarated that the day had finally arrived. He was nervous, but not as nervous as David. He like David was wearing a dove gray suit and tie. The difference was that his tie had red pinstripes in it. He was dressed early because he wanted a word with his friend and priest James Montgomery. James was a good man and priest but had the tendency to get carried away when he performed wedding and other ceremonies. Quinn wanted to remind him of his time limits. Quinn left the suite whistling an unknown tune. When he was almost to the garden, he slipped on his sunglasses. Less than an hour to go. ******* Reverend James Montgomery walked around the indoor garden amazed at the variety of plants and flowers that grew there. He was even more amazed to be performing the ceremony. He had known Quinn when he was a drug addict who had been scraping bottom. Even then, he saw potential in Quinn and worked to cultivate a friendship with him. He remembered the many nights that Quinn ended up sleeping on his sofa after stumbling to the rectory in a drug induced haze. He thought that Quinn was turning around when he got married and had a child, but that didn't last. He suffered with him when Quinn's wife left him taking the baby with him. He drove Quinn to the inpatient rehab, called and prayed for him daily. As he walked around the garden, James said another prayer for Quinn. He prayed that this time, Quinn could and would make it. He talked to Quinn several times on the phone surprised in the difference in his voice. He heard something that he had never heard before. Control and confidence. "Tell me about this young woman of yours." James said when Quinn called him about the ceremony. "Her name is Justine." Quinn replied. "You know that I must meet with you and her for pre-marital counseling for several weeks before the ceremony." James said. "When would you like to start?" "How about next week?" Quinn replied surprising James. Quinn had fought tooth and nail the last time. They had gone through the sessions leaving James satisfied that they stood a good chance at succeeding. The only thing that bothered him was when they both insisted on wearing sunglasses indoors. He shrugged off the memory and continued his tour of the garden. "James!" He stopped and turned toward Quinn's voice. "Quinn! How are you?" "I'm good." Quinn replied. "I just wanted to touch base with you about a couple of things. First, no sermon... just do the ceremony and the vows. Second... thank you for doing this. Justine and I appreciate it." "Thank you for asking me." James replied. "I'm happy for you." ********* At six pm, the first strains of 'Pachelbel's Canon in D major' filled the air. Quinn, David and the minister were already in place patiently, but impatiently waiting for Justine and Josephine to make their appearance. Lottie looked expectantly toward the entrance point and closed her eyes. The notes of the music washed over her. Justine had asked her for a music selection and she had chosen this one. To Lottie's delight and surprise, Justine went with her selection. There was a collective murmur as everyone stood. The processional had begun. ***** Quinn and David each saw the same thing as their mates approached them. They each saw the most beautiful woman in the world. Josephine, carrying a bouquet of Daffodils stood by David's side while Justine, also carrying a bouquet of Daffodils stood next to Quinn. The minisrer started to speak and then stopped. He began to blink rapidly as he looked into four pairs of eyes. "It's fine." Quinn murmured. "Go ahead and start." "What?" James asked. "The ceremony." Quinn prompted. James began the ceremony forgetting about the eyes of the two couples. In fact, he would never remember it. The minister struggled to keep to the time restraints given to him. Several times Quinn had to give him a gentle reminder by way of a mental push. Finally, it was time for the vow and ring exchange. Pam slipped up to the front, took the bouquets and quickly moved away. The two couples faced each other and held hands as the priest navigated though the rest of the ceremony. "James..." Quinn murmured when the priest began to digress. Quinn and Justine exchanged vows and rings first and then David and Josephine. When the vows and rings were exchanged, James took advantage of the closing prayer making it longer than he usually did. Finally, he announced them husband and wives and the recessional music began. Before they began the recessional, the two couples joined hands with each other. A pulse of power rushed through the room and was gone as quickly as it came. ******** By four am, the couples were at their respective getaways. Quinn had made reservations at a vampire owed resort in Suriname, South America. He made no plans other than to keep Justine in bed. As soon as they were in the room, he stripped them naked and had her on the bed. "You were and are gorgeous." He said as he kissed her. His lips made a trail from her lips to her shoulder alternately licking, kissing and nipping at the skin. Justine's skin tingled and her nipples tightened into hard pebbles as Quinn teased the skin of her shoulders and a hand rubbed the tips of her nipples. Hearing her sharp intake of breath, Quinn turned his attention to her nipples. He teased them with the tip of his tongue and then pulled it into his mouth. He moaned with satisfaction as the already hardened nipple hardened even more. He gently bit down on it and flicked his tongue across the tip. "That feels good." Justine moaned as she pushed her chest toward him. Quinn's hand skimmed the soft skin of her stomach drawing obscure designs on the soft skin. The sensation made Justine shiver and then moan with pleasure. He released the nipple with a suck and a kiss and moved to the neglected one. This one, he didn't tease; but sucked on it as if he expected it to give him milk. His hand had moved to between her legs and was cupping her damp mound. He moved it back and forth several times before he slipped a finger between her vaginal folds. He sucked the nipple even harder as he rubbed her nub. "Come for me." he thought to her. Justine felt as if a bolt of electricity had gone through her body, but instead of pain; there was only pleasure. She moaned and then screamed as Quinn bit her nipple and pinched her clit. Before she had fully recovered, Quinn's face was buried between her legs. He kissed and licked her inner thighs as he opened her legs revealing his target. Without warning, he latched onto her nub and began sucking it as he slid three fingers inside of her. The second orgasm wasn't long in coming. Justine came with a scream that shook the walls. Any insects and wildlife had gone silent in the wake of her scream. Quinn's cock ached for relief. His balls were pulled up tight against his body and he knew that if he didn't do something, he would come as soon as he was inside of her. He closed his eyes and dimmed the sensations that his cock was feeling. After a few seconds, he was back in control. He raised himself to his knee and froze. Red sparks were dancing above Justine's face. They moved as if they were dancing to a waltz of some kind. "Quinn?" Justine called as she reached for him. Quinn felt his hips surge forward almost of their own volition. The closer his cock got to Justine's waiting entrance, the less control he had. Just as he entered her, green sparks left his eyes and joined in the intricate dance that the red sparks were doing. They watched as the sparks began to join together, hover and then vanish with a pop. Quinn began to pump in and out of Justine with wild abandon, all control gone. They came together just as the last of the sparks, joined and vanished. Exhausted, Quinn pulled his sensitive cock out of Justine coming again when he did." "Damn! What in the hell was that?" he asked when he could talk. "I don't know, but I'm not complaining." Justine replied looking into his eyes. She gasped at what she saw. With a thought, she summoned a mirror and handed it to Quinn. "What?" Quinn asked taking the mirror. Quinn looked into the mirror and then at Justine. His eyes now had red flecks floating in them. The green flames were now had tinges of red. Justine's eyes had also changed. Flecks of green danced across her pupils and her red flames were tinged with green. Instead of questioning what it meant, they held each other and fell asleep. ******** "Does this place have a name?" Josephine asked as they walked hand in hand along the shoreline. "It didn't" David replied pulling her closer. "But it does now." "What did you name it?" she asked. "Something that's going to sound rather cliché, but I've named it Josephine's Island. It will remain off the maps and is warded so there is no chance of accidental discovery." "Thank you." Josephine said giving his hand a squeeze. They walked along in silence for several minutes not speaking until the house was within sight. "David, wait." Josephine said. "I want you to listen to me for a minute. When I'm done, I don't want or need a response. It's something that I want you to think about. We've been through a lot together and we've been together for a long time at least in human terms. In all of the time we've been together there isn't a time where I didn't feel loved or protected. You may have been grouchy and impatient, but that was because you felt guilty. All of this started with Jeremiah Mathers. He was the catalyst that started us on this path, but I know that even without him we would have found each other. You've asked Justine for forgiveness, she gave it to you. You've asked me for forgiveness, I granted it. The only thing left is for you to forgive yourself. I love you, but it's time to let it go." David nodded, picked Josephine up and carried her into the house and straight to the bedroom. "I love you Jo." He said using the name that only he could use. Moments later, they were naked and lying face to face. David traced a line from her eyebrows to the tip of her nose before moving to her lips. Josephine caught his finger in her mouth and sucked on it nipping at the end of it with her fang. She licked away the drop of blood that formed and sucked harder. David moaned in pleasure and approval that Josephine was taking the lead. He pulled his finger out, nicked it again and outlined her areola leaving a circle of blood around it. He nicked the finger again and this time covered her nipple with his blood. Slowly, he lowered his head and took the turgid, blood covered nipple into his mouth and began to suck on it. His hips thrust forward when he felt Josephine's hand firmly but gently squeezing his cock. David rolled on top of her and ground against her crying out when she bit a nipple. Josephine spread her legs to accommodate him. As soon as his cock touched her clit, she came with a scream that rivaled that of a banshee. She bucked up against him and ground hard against the underside of his cock. David reached down, placed his hands under her ass and pulled her tighter against him. He crushed his lips against the pulse at the side of her neck and bit as his seed spilled out onto her mound. As he drank from her, he reclaimed her. "Mine, mine, mine." He thought to her. He pulled back and looked down at her as he slid inside of her. Bright purple specks danced around them and were joined by gray ones. The faster he pumped, the faster the specks danced until when they came; the specks blended and became one. When they climaxed, the purple/gray mass popped and then vanished. David didn't immediately slide out. He was mesmerized by Josephine's eyes. Gray and purple specks flitted to and fro and on occasion met. Josephine was just as mesmerized by David's eyes. Like Quinn and Justine, they didn't question it. David moved to Josephine's side, pulled her tight against him and kissed her. A few minutes later, she was asleep while he lay awake thinking about what she said about forgiveness. Finally, he decided that she was right and closed his eyes to rest. ******** Lorenzo, Maurice, and Mikhail sat around a table talking while the women supervised the post --wedding clean up. "I propose that we take the time that the newlyweds are gone to spend time with our mates." Maurice suggested. "I agree." Mikhail said. "Once they get back, we're all going to be busy as hell. I would also suggest that we take the time to come up with ideas for security for the gala. We'll meet again sometime in the next couple of weeks and compare ideas." "A suggestion if I may." Lorenzo said. "I think that we need to include Edward and Thomas in on these meetings. They may have ideas that we haven't thought of." A few minutes later, the group broke up. Each man went in search of his mate to spend some much needed time alone before they grappled with the next challenge. The gala. Justine Ch. 22 Zoe's head pounded as she dealt with yet another dignitary wanting to make changes in his accommodations. Not only did he want to change his accommodations, he wanted to change the name on his guest list. With the gala being less than a month away, the calls were coming in more frequently and those making the request were becoming ruder "I'm sorry Ambassador Bohannon, but that isn't possible." Zoe said in her most reasonable tone of voice. "Do you know who I am?" The vampire screamed at her. "I am very aware of who you are.' Zoe replied. "But the deadline for any changes was last week." "I want to speak to your superior!" "My superior is the Queen." Zoe replied her tone cooling. "I'm sorry that the guest can't come with you, but I'm sure that you understand the security issues." The vampire hung up on Zoe a few minutes later vowing to lodge a formal complaint. The next caller was more reasonable and the change they wanted was simple enough. By the end of the night, Zoe and Pam had had enough. To add to an already stressful situation, the royal wedding was going to take place the night before the gala officially started. Both Zoe and Pam hoped that if there was another gala that it would last no longer than a weekend. They knew Justine well enough to know that a one night gala wasn't going to happen. But that was a battle for later. This gala was less than two months away and even after two years to get ready; they were still scrambling to wrap up the loose ends. The calls like the one from Ambassador Bohannon weren't helping. The only part of the event that was taken care of was the wedding. All of the issues regarding it had been cleared up. There was no ceremony to prepare as it was already written, no music to choose and no minister to argue with about the length of the ceremony although Justine tried. "Two hours?" she asked when she read through the program. "Two hours?" Violet sat with her hands in her lap and let Justine rant. It would do no good to interrupt her. "Half of this shit could be cut out!" "I understand." Violet said when Justine had finally stopped for a breath, "But you must understand, you are our last Queen. There will never be another wedding like this." "I have no say in this?" Justine asked. "You can add to it; but you can't detract from it." Violet said. "I know that it seems excessive, but each part fulfills a role that cannot be skipped. It would be like baking a cake and not putting it the vanilla; it wouldn't taste right." "Damn Violet." Justine said with resignation in her voice. "What else do I have to do?" Violet took a deep breath and prepared for the next challenge- the wedding dress. "You need to try on the wedding dress." Violet said softly. "What wedding dress? I didn't pick out a dress." "No you didn't." Violet conceded. "This dress was made centuries ago just for this occasion." "And I suppose that I have no choice in that either?" Justine asked dryly. "Well actually you do." Violet replied. "There is some leeway in the design of the dress." Violet knew that Justine would hate the dress. She would consider it too gaudy and the truth of it was; Violet agreed with her. "Where's the dress?" Justine asked. She wanted to get it over with so that she could concentrate on the gala. "It's in a vault downstairs... would you like to go see it?" "Sure." Justine replied. "Let's make it a party. Call my mom and the others." ******* "What in the fuck is that?" Justine asked when she saw the dress. She walked around it horrified. "Who in their right minds would wear something like that?" she asked as she looked at the dress. It wasn't the color that she objected to. It was a deep red that matched her eyes. It was what appeared to be millions of jewels that covered the dress from neckline to hem. The style of the dress was far from complimentary for someone of her physical build. It was meant for someone small and petite with a perfect figure and not a curvaceous woman with big breasts, hips and ass. "I'm not wearing that." she said in a tone that brooked no argument. 'It's ugly and every fat roll that I have would show." "But Justine..." Violet started to say. "Violet I don't give a rat's ass about whose going to be offended. That dress is an offense and I'm not wearing it." Violet looked at Josephine and then Pam for help. "Don't look at me." Pam said. "I agree with her." "Same here." Josephine and Zoe said. "Excuse me." Lottie said quietly, "Does the creator of the dress still live?" "Emmanuel is the creator and yes he still lives." Violet replied. "Why do you ask?" "If the issue is whether he will be offended or not; maybe he won't be if someone talks to him." Lottie replied. "Where does he live?" Justine asked. "He lives all over the world." Violet replied. "He's never in one place for long." Justine closed her eyes and then opened them. "He's in Canada... he'll be here in a day." She said. "Until then, let's work on the gala." Even after all that they witnessed, all of them; Josephine included were still surprised at what she could do. ******** Emmanuel arrived early the next evening. He was a pleasant looking vampire with dark brown hair and eyes who favored brightly colored clothes. "I've been waiting for the summons." He told Justine and Quinn. "In fact, I thought that it would come much sooner than it did. The gala is less than two months away." "Yes I know." Justine replied. "I just saw the dress yesterday... may I be honest?" "By all means." Emmanuel replied. "I don't mean to be rude, but that dress... it's not me." Justine said. "I agree." Emmanuel replied. "You have to remember that I created that dress centuries ago when gaudy was in style. I can see by the way that you are dressed that you have much simpler taste. I can also see that the style is wrong as well. Give me two nights then come see me. I think that you'll be pleased." "Thank you for understanding." Justine said. "You are quite welcome my Queen. I also took the liberty of bringing some of my other designs with me. I would be most honored if you accepted any or all of them with my complements." Quinn watched the vampire with interest. He didn't quite trust him. As Justine and Emmanuel talked, Quinn slipped into his mind. The only thing that he saw was that the vampire was attracted to Justine and not as a friend. He understood the attraction, Justine was a beautiful woman; but he didn't like it. He poked around for a few more seconds and deemed Emmanuel for the most part harmless. "I also designed some things for you sire." Emmanuel said. "I hope that you will accept them with my complements." "Thank you." Quinn said. "Where are you staying?" "I have a home not far from here." Emmanuel replied. "But if I stayed here, I could work on the gown nonstop until it is as the Queen desires." Quinn gave Emmanuel a long assessing look before looking at Justine. "Of course you can stay here." Justine replied as she looked at Emmanuel. "I'm sure that you noticed the drain on your powers." "Yes I did." Emmanuel replied. "You won't regain them until you leave." Quinn said watching the vampire's reaction. "Oh my... I'll need some of them so that I can work on the dress." Emmanuel said. Immediately he felt a return of some of his powers. "The only ones that are restored are those that you need to work on the dress. You won't be able to vanish from one place to the other. The only speed you will have is for working on the dress." Justine said. "I understand." Emmanuel said with a bow of his head. "Good." Justine said. "Darren will show you to your room and see to your needs." After Emmanuel was gone, Justine turned to Quinn. "Did I see the green-eyed monster?" she teased. "No...." Pam burst in before Quinn could finish his thought. "Justine, I've had it!" She exclaimed. "I'm tired of dealing with all of the rude assholes who knew when the deadline for making changes was!" "Pam." Quinn said, "What's the problem?" "All of us are getting tired of being yelled at and being treated like shit when we won't give in. When we remind them that the deadline has passed and that the directives came from you..." "Call Auggie." Justine said. "I'll make a statement." "You will?" Pam asked. "Yes... now call him and let me know when he's ready." Justine said. A few minutes later, Justine and Quinn were sitting in front of a computer monitor talking to Auggie. "I want this to be one of those special broadcast things on every station including the radio and internet." Justine said. 'You got it." Auggie said. "Can I make a request?" "Don't tell me." Quinn said. "You're getting slammed with emails and phone calls too." "Yes." Auggie replied. "We can barely manage the website because we're being bombarded for information. We're trying to post daily updates, but as soon as it posts; we're already slammed for the next update." "I'll address it." Justine said. "How long before we're ready?" "Give me five minutes." Auggie replied. While they waited for Auggie, Quinn kissed Justine's cheek. "We need to meet with Mikhail and the others when we're done here." He said. "Yes I know." Justine replied. We need to get this security thing nailed down." "Okay... I'm ready." Auggie said. "Remember to look into the camera. It helps with the transmission." The light on the camera blinked signaling that Justine could begin. "Good evening everyone." She started. "I apologize for interrupting your favorite television and radio shows, but there are issues that need to be addressed. I'll start with the website first. It has come to my attention that the website is being spammed for information even after new postings. I am commanding that this stop. Information is posted on a daily basis and spamming the site will not hurry the next update. So once again, do not email or call for information. The next issue is the phone calls that our staff has been receiving. Each invitation contained the dates of the gala, a RSVP card and another card which gave the dates for which changes would no longer be accepted. That date passed two weeks ago and yet our staff is still getting calls demanding that changes be made. Those dates remain firm so do not call asking to make changes. Do not call asking to speak to me, the king, the Queen Mother or her mate. Our staff is following our directives. I understand that things happen, but I'm sure that you understand the security issues with having a weeklong gala. I want to be clear on something, if anyone and I don't care who you are, shows up with an unauthorized guest; you and the guest will be escorted off the premises. From this moment on, do not call asking for changes. This is my command. I will let you all return to your programs and I wish you a pleasant evening." The light on the camera blinked once and went out. "Thank you!" Auggie exclaimed. "That was perfect!" "Good... that should help." Justine replied. "Are you ready to meet with the security guys?" Quinn asked. ******** Mikhail, Lorenzo and Maurice sat in the library waiting for Thomas and Edward to show up. "Justine, Quinn, Josephine and David are coming too." Mikhail said. "We're here." Quinn said as he and Justine walked in. A few minutes later, everyone was present. "Alright." Mikhail said. "As we all know, the wedding and gala are less than two months away. One of the things that we've been working on is a threat assessment. In other words, we were trying to figure out which of our mates are the most likely to be taken. We know that Justine, Quinn, David and Josephine won't be the direct targets. You would know within seconds where the danger was and would act accordingly." "They'll try to get to us through one of you." David said. "If anything were going to happen; yes." Mikhail replied. "But not just us... any of the security people could be used which is why they won't know their assignments until just before their shifts start. They will not be allowed to trade assignments nor will they have the same assignments more than once. The same applies to those who will pose as guests. All of us who have security teams are using them and they will each be checked before they start their shift. Maurice has hired Gremlin's clan to assist as well. They will be part of the visible security teams with Gremlin coordinating them. Any questions so far?" When there were none, he continued. "Any children and mates of the security teams will be taken to an undisclosed location which will be warded as well as guarded which leaves the issue of our mates. After exploring all of our options, we finally came up with one that all of us were comfortable with. Our mates must never leave our side. If they need the ladies room to freshen up; one of us must go in with them. We've already been talking with them about the importance of staying close to us and not wandering off. There is no indication that there will be trouble; but we need to be prepared. It does help that the wedding and gala will be at the same place instead of in different locations as originally planned. Thank you for that." he said looking at Justine. As soon as she heard their concerns, she compromised and bought a large parcel of land away from the city. The two hundred acre parcel now had hotels and anything else that would be needed for the gala. "I'm going to let Thomas explain what he's doing." Mikhail said and sat down. "One of the buildings is an infirmary where three doctors and three nurses will be on duty at all times. For us there will be another set of medical staff that will come to our suites if they are needed. The infirmary will be stocked with the antidotes to the most common poisons and a few of the rare ones." "What if the poison is one that you don't have the antidote for?" David asked. "That isn't a problem." Thomas replied. "All that would be needed would be a drop of a missing ingredient. You see, the base of all of the antidotes is the same." "Would the medical staff know which one to give or which ingredient to add?" Josephine asked. "Yes... all of the medical staff must have a working knowledge of poisons and their antidotes. I should also mention that the antidotes will also be in the kitchen and in the different food areas." The meeting continued into the early morning hours and still there were things to work out. There were still too many unknowns. Justine stopped in to see if things had improved for those manning the phones. "Thank you!!" Zoe exclaimed as soon as she saw Justine. The calls had trickled to practically nothing and those who called had missed the broadcast. "You're welcome and let me know if it starts again." Justine replied. "Do you need anything else?" "No we're good." Pam replied. "We're about to shut down for the day. I can't wait to see what Emmanuel does with your dress." "Me either." Justine said. "It's got to be better than what it was." "True, but I think he'll come up with something that you'll like which reminds me, are we invited to the big wedding?" Pam asked. "Of course you are!" Justine exclaimed. "Why wouldn't you be?" "I... we didn't want to assume." Pam replied. "Pam, you are my best friend. We suffered through college and law school together, took the BAR together and became vampires together. Zoe has been here for me from the beginning, so yes all of you are coming to the wedding. I wouldn't have it any other way. Why don't you all get with Emmanuel and have him design your gowns for the wedding? My treat." "Are you serious?" Pam asked. "I'm serious as a matter of fact; I'll talk to him about designing the dresses for all of you including Regina and Naila." Justine said. "That would be awesome!" Pam exclaimed. "Good. I'm meeting him tomorrow night you can all come with me." Justine said. "I'll tell the others." Pam said as she stood up and stretched. Justine went to the office that she shared with Quinn and called Regina. Over the past two years, Regina and Naila had become two of her closest friends. When she needed a little more normalcy in her life; she always reached out to them. "Regina? How are you and my goddaughter? Poor Jon! And how is Naila? She's there with you? Can you put me on speaker phone?" Justine looked at a picture of her and Quinn while she waited. "Okay, we're good." Regina said. "How are things going?" A few minutes later they were laughing at Justine's description of her dress. "You are joking aren't you?" Naila asked. "No joke!" Justine replied. "I mean it was uglier than the worst thing that you could imagine which leads me to the point of my phone call. Emmanuel, the designer of the dress is here. He's redoing the dress and I thought that he could design your dresses for the wedding." There was a long pause before Naila or Regina spoke. "We're coming to the wedding?" Regina asked. "Why does everyone think that they're not coming?" Justine asked. "Of course you're coming! Now, be here tomorrow evening and bring the kids; I want to see them." "Thank you." Regina said. "We'd be honored to attend your wedding." "Good and besides, it I have to be uncomfortable in a gown and heels; so do my friends. I'll see you tomorrow evening with the babies." Regina hung up, looked at Naila and smiled. "I love weddings!" she said. ******** If the Realm had been in an uproar when Justine was found, it was far beyond that now. The place had an entirely different feel to it since Justine made it possible for people to come and go as they wished. Every available room was in use as dressmakers from around the world appeared to make outfits for the wedding and gala. Along with them came the hairdressers and the makeup artists to work with the designers. ******** Wilhelmina was long forgotten as the Realm prepared for the festivities. Gabra walked from room to room with a smile on her dark face. She loved the excited chatter and the music that was playing much too loud. Her mate Jian walked beside her with a hand on her back. They were both aware that they made an odd couple if only because of their nationalities; she was from Africa and he was Chinese. When they appeared in the realm after they passed on their reign, they were the topic of hushed discussions. It they noticed, they didn't let on. They took their walks around the grounds speaking to everyone they saw in soft voices. One evening someone's curiosity got the better of them. "Tell us." They said. "How is it that a woman from Africa meets and mates with a man from China?" The conversations around them stopped. "I mean let's think about this." The speaker continued. "You're both over three hundred years old; how in the hell did you find each other?" That was a question that they had asked themselves from the moment they mated and they still had no answer except for one. It was the answer they accepted and no other answer mattered. Jian took Gabra's hand in his, brought it to his lips and kissed it. They had been wondering when someone would ask the question. "We do not know." Jian said softly. "We have decided that it was purely the work of the fates and we no longer question it. It is of no consequence to us." "What do you mean that you don't know?" This time the speaker was Wilhelmina. It was obvious that she didn't believe them. "He means exactly what he says." Gabra replied her tone cool. She hadn't liked Wilhelmina on sight but had kept her counsel. The room remained silent as the two former queens assessed each other. Everyone was surprised when Wilhelmina backed down under Gabra's cool stare. "I meant no offense." Wilhelmina said with a bow of her head that further astounded everyone. "I was merely .... Well, never mind; please accept my apologies for my rudeness." Justine Ch. 22 Gabra and Jian both accepted; but knew that the apology wasn't sincere. Later they would talk in the privacy of their suite. "Lien ren-sweetheart." Jian said as he rubbed Gabra's neck. "She means trouble and she bears watching." "I know." Gabra replied as she turned to face Jian. "But not yet. We must also watch her mate. His life will be endangered." "Noted." Jian replied. "We must watch and wait for the Queen of Queens. She is the one who must deal with the traitor." ******* "Gabra?" Jian called softly bringing her back from her memories. "Yes lien ren?" Gabra replied. "If we are to help the queen we must leave here soon." He replied. Gabra stopped walking and looked at him. While they were both Clairvoyant, Jian's gift leaned more to the near distant future while hers was geared to the immediate future. She had learned long ago that whenever Jian spoke; he knew something. "What do you know?" she asked softly. "Nothing for certain." He replied. "But I feel that we must go soon." "Then we shall go." Gabra said. "We will speak to her tonight." "It will be good to see Thomas and Lottie again." Jian said with a smile that lit up his face and made his light brown eyes sparkle. "Yes it will." Gabra agreed. "Shall we finish our walk before we send our summons?" "Of course." Jian replied taking her hand. "Let's continue." ******** Justine had just finished adding bath oil to the Jacuzzi when the summons came. "Got it!" Quinn called in to her. A moment later, he called into her. "Jussie, you might want to hear this." Justine sighed and shut off the water. No matter how hard they tried to keep business out of the bedroom; sometimes it slipped in. "Who is it?" she asked as she walked into the bedroom. "Gabra and her mate Jian." Quinn replied. "They want to speak with us." Justine stood in front of the portal next to Quinn and greeted the couple. "Hello! I was expecting to hear from you long before now." "Yes my queen; but the time wasn't right." Gabra replied. "Please, may I introduce you to my mate Jian?" After the introductions were made; Gabra explained what they wanted. "When you came to the realm to deal with the traitor; we spoke briefly. I told you that I would like to offer my services to you." "I remember." Justine said. "As I mentioned a few moments ago, the time wasn't right. Jian and I needed to stay in the realm." "Why is the time right now?" Quinn asked. "My King, it you will allow me to explain what we offer; it will become clear." Gabra said. "We're all ears." Quinn said as he put an arm around Justine. Gabra nodded her thanks and continued. "Jian and I are both clairvoyants. We have other gifts but the clairvoyance is the primary gift. We knew many years ago that Wilhelmina was going to betray the Queen of Queens but we couldn't do anything. It was for you to handle. We also knew that Thomas' life would be in danger so we watched over him as best we could and when the time came; I warned him. Jian's gift is aimed at the near and distant future while mine is the immediate future although our gifts at times overlap. At the moment it is his gift that is at work. I detect no immediate danger but I have learned that when he speaks, it means something." "Tell us what you know." Quinn said to Jian. "At this point in time not much other than it is time for us to offer our services. We know that nothing is happening at this moment because Gabra would know. We are aware that you have little reason to trust us and we invite you to search our hearts and minds." "My Queen." Gabra said softly. "We are at your disposal. Jian and I have both sworn our loyalty to you and yours. We are at your command." The red flames in Justine's eyes flickered as the green flecks floated lazily between the flames. She looked first at Gabra and then at Jian and nodded. She waited for Quinn to finish his assessment before she spoke again. "Come for dinner tonight. I want you to meet my mother and her mate." "You wish to confirm what you already know to be true." Jian said. "That is wise." He added. A few moments later, the portal closed. "What are you thinking?" Justine asked. "I'm not sure." Quinn replied. "But that's the human in me talking. I didn't do a complete assessment because I'm determined to keep as much business out of this room as possible. Having said that, I believe we were going to take a bath weren't we?" Justine grinned. "I believe we were and then we were going to watch the baseball game in bed." "We'll see about that." Quinn said pulling her against him. "Maybe I have another game in mind." He said as he nuzzled her neck. "You've been talking about this game all week." Justine said as she reached around and grabbed his ass. "Yes... but that's why we have DVR. I can watch the game anytime, but I can't have you whenever I want... well I could; but I don't think that the others would enjoy the show." Quinn said. Justine looked at Quinn. He had always been very sexual; but this was different. It wasn't a bad different, but .... "Quinn what's going on?" "Nothing... I just want to spend the day in bed making love with my wife." He replied. "Quinn..." "Let's just skip the bath and go to bed." He urged. He nipped her neck hard enough to draw blood. When he began to fed from her, the questions that's she had flew from her head. Whatever it was, he would tell her when he was ready. Quinn picked Justine up, carried her to the bed and lay on top of her nudging her legs apart with his knees. He looked down at her, the green red flecked flames in his eyes blazing. "Jussie... I love you more than I can even begin to tell you." "I love you too..." Justine said. She was cut off by Quinn's mouth covering hers. She moaned into his mouth when he slid into her with one thrust. He rode her slowly, gently and with a reverence that almost brought her to tears but she knew that nothing was wrong per se. Quinn rode her for almost an hour just keeping her on the brink before he took a nipple into his mouth and bit down. "Come for me." he murmured against her breast. Justine bucked against him as if surprised at the orgasm that she knew would come. "Come with me." she whispered against his head. "Come..." She didn't have time to complete the thought. Quinn was pounding into her with wild abandon moaning as he bit and sucked on the nipple that he still had in his mouth. The nipple was now sore but the pain added to the pleasure instead of taking away from it. Justine cried out in protest when Quinn released the nipple, but cried out in pleasure when he took the unattended nipple into his mouth and bit down on it. The orgasm started in the pit of her stomach and spread throughout the rest of her body. There wasn't a part of her that didn't feel it. The scream came when she felt Quinn grow within her and fill her womb with his essence. She came a second time when Quinn bit down on her breast as he emptied into her. Afterwards, didn't speak as he held her close. Finally, several minutes later; he spoke. "Baby... I'm sorry... I got kind of rough there. Are you alright?" "Don't worry... I liked it." Justine replied kissing him. "Are you ready to talk to me?" Quinn hesitated trying to gather his thoughts. "I don't know where to start." He said. "I guess the most important thing is that you know that I wouldn't trade being with you for anything. There are times when what I feel for you is so strong that it's frightening... I know that I'm rambling, but bear with me here. Every so often, I think about Lana and her mortality and then I think about our children. Lana won't know her brothers and sisters and that saddens me. Knowing that she's going to get old and die saddens me. Jussie I won't get to know her children, my grandchildren and if there's one thing that I regret about this whole thing; that's it." "How long have you been worrying over this?" Justine asked. "A while." Quinn replied. "I didn't bring it up because there's nothing that can be done about it." "Quinn, you once told me that one of your roles as my mate was to bear all things with me no matter what they were. How dare you keep this to yourself! Did you think that I would blow you off? And don't you dare say that you didn't want to add to my stress level. You come before anything or anyone else here." "Jussie..." "I'm not finished," Justine said cutting him off. "Need I remind you that you work as hard as I do but yet you take care of me? But yet you won't let me do the same for you. I want your word that you'll let me care for you as you care for me." "I'm sorry and you're right." Quinn said. "You have my word." Quinn said quietly. "Jussie are you sure that I didn't hurt you?" "I'm fine and as I said, I liked it... more than like it, but back to Lana. We don't know what's in her future. For all we know, she could be the mate to a vampire and as far as seeing her and being involved in her life; I'm sure that we can figure something out." "I would like to go see her; you know spend time with her while we can. I want her to know you. I want her to be proud of her old man." Quinn said. "I understand." Justine said. "I wish that you had said something sooner." "I thought that I would be alright seeing her on her birthday and Christmas." Quinn replied. "I didn't want to place them in danger like I did before." "That wasn't you! That was that son of a bitch Jeremiah Mathers and not only that; you saved them. If you blame yourself for what happened then you'd better blame me too. It was because of me that you became involved with him." "Jussie..." "No seriously. If we follow your logic; then I'm as much at fault as you are. Now, if you're done playing the blame game; let's concentrate on Lana." "Jussie... thank you." Quinn said kissing her. "I bet you were a kick ass lawyer." "I still am." She teased. "As you know, Lana and her family are under our protection. We've already beefed up the security in anticipation of the gala. So the question is spending time with her... you know, we never did find out if we could go out in the sun..." "If we could that would solve more than a few issues." Quinn said. "I vote that we find out as soon as possible." "Agreed... I wonder about mom and David. I bet if we can be in the sun then so can they." Justine replied. Suddenly, Quinn felt better even as he realized his stupidity in not sharing his concerns with Justine. "I know that he gala is two months away and that we're busy...." "I would love to spend time with Lana." Justine interrupted. "I was thinking about all of them." Quinn said. "Quinn I have no issues with your ex-wife. In fact, I like her. She was prepared to give herself up for her babies even after she realized what Jeremiah was." "Baby, you're the best." Quinn said in his best Jackie Gleason voice. "Okay Ralph." Justine said laughing. "It's daylight; let's find out if we're going to turn into crispy critters." Thirty minutes later, Justine, Quinn, David and Josephine were standing by the door that led to the east garden. They were each dressed in long sleeves and pants so that their skin wouldn't be in direct contact with the sun. Maurice was on standby in case someone needed help back into the house. "You may feel some tingling." He told them. "That's fine but if it becomes pain then you must come back in. You will probably need to build up a tolerance which will take some time. I would suggest that Quinn and Justine go our first. I agree with her that if they can go out, then you David and Josephine can as well. Whenever you're ready." Justine and Quinn held hands as they looked out into the warm spring sunshine. It had been more than two years since either of them had been in the daylight. In their free hand they each had a pair of specially made sunglasses to protect their eyes. "Are we ready to do this?" Quinn asked giving her hand a squeeze. "I'm ready if you are." Justine replied. "Let's go." Quinn replied. "Wait!" Josephine called out. "Shouldn't you wear hats too?" Quinn looked at Justine and smiled. A second later they were wearing Philadelphia Phillies caps. "Are we all set?" Quinn asked. Maurice moved closer to the door poised to move if he had to. "Remember, come back if it burns." He reminded them. Still holding hands, Justine and Quinn took their first step in two years into the sunlight. They both jumped when the initial blast of heat touched their faces. "You ok?" Quinn asked Justine prepared to take her into the house if she said no. "I'm good. How about you?" "Me too... I'm going to roll up my shirt sleeves." Josephine and David watched anxiously as Justine and Quinn rolled up their shirt sleeves. "Look at that!" David said. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed the warmth of the sun until he saw Justine and Quinn standing in it. "Are you having any pain?" Maurice asked. "A little tingling but it's going away." Quinn called back. An hour later, the baseball caps were gone as well as the long sleeved shirts. "Jussie can you believe this? It feels wonderful! I can work outside and take pictures! I've missed this so much!" "Me too." Justine replied as she watched the sunlight play on Quinn's auburn hair. She looked back and saw the anxious expression on David's face. "Let's go back. It's been longer for David than any of us." She said. "You're right." Quinn agreed. "But if they can come out, I vote for an outing and I don't care where we go." "Deal." Justine said taking Quinn's hand. When they were inside, she took one look at David's face and knew how badly he wanted to be able to go out in the sun. She closed her eyes and prayed to whoever was listening that he could. She and Quinn watched as her mother and David put on the baseball caps and stood at the door. She Squeezed Quinn's hand as David and Josephine took one step and then another into the sunlight. They all moved when David dropped to his knees. "He's alright!" Josephine called back as she knelt beside him and wrapped her arms around him. David was at a loss for words when he realized that he could go out. Tears streamed down his face as he took the baseball cap off and felt the sun on his head. He grabbed Josephine and held her in a death grip as he sobbed tears of joy. He pulled back from Josephine and kissed her. "I didn't think that I would ever feel the sun again." he whispered against her lips. "I didn't...this is amazing! We can go out for breakfast and lunch! We can go shopping!" he said crushing her to him. Josephine clung to David. She like him didn't think that' she would ever see the sun again. Of all of the physical comforts that she had missed, it was going out during the day. She started to laugh as she listened to David talk about all of the things that they could now do. Josephine looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Justine was smiling down at her. "Let's walk back to the gravesite." She said and held out her hand. Quinn offered his hand to David and helped him stand. The two men looked at each other and hugged. Maurice stayed where he was and watched with a smile on his face. He had suspected that Justine and the others could go out into the sun; but hadn't said anything. In his experience, things happened when they were supposed to. He made a mental note to double check the security surrounding the house. He didn't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to come near the royal quartet; but it never hurt to be cautious. ******* The news that the two couples could go out into the daylight circulated around the house like wildfire. As far as Mikhail was concerned, it was a double edged sword. The positive was that if they needed to escape during the day time hours; there wouldn't be a problem. On the other hand, it also presented more of an opportunity for abduction. Mikhail started laughing when he realized what he was thinking. "The abductors would be the ones needing to be rescued." He said out loud and laughed again. The laugher stopped as suddenly as it began when he remembered that while the royal quartet was safe from harm, the reign itself wasn't. It would take the abduction of one child or mate and a traitor would be born. As he sat thinking, he had a thought. It was something that Maurice had mentioned months before. He hadn't thought much of it then; but now... He jumped out of his chair and paced. Could it work? And would Justine and Quinn agree to it? If they did, it would solve a whole myriad of problems with security not being the least of them. Mikhail snatched the phone off the desk and called Maurice. "Maurice... we must talk. How soon can you be here? Yes bring Lorenzo. I'll gather the others. We'll meet you in the library while the women meet with Emmanuel. I prefer not to say over the phone... I will see you soon. Mikhail hung up and felt for the first time that maybe all would be well. ******** Emmanuel looked at the dress. He had removed almost all of the jewels from it leaving enough of the blood red rubies to give the dress a simple but elegant look. The neckline was modified so that it didn't plunge down to the navel, but would show a fair amount of cleavage. He walked around the dress and looked at the back. The back was in the shape of a diamond with the bottom point ending mid back. The original design had the point ending at the crack of the ass. Fortunately, he still had plenty of the material left and had the presence of mind to bring it with him. He added enough material so that while the dress was still form fitting, it wasn't skin tight. He walked back to the front of the dress and looked at the waist line. "Perfect." He muttered as he looked at the hem. He had wanted Justine to wear heels but she was adamant in her refusal. "I couldn't wear the damned things when I was human why do you think that I can wear them now?" "But my Queen, it will put you at eye level with the King. It symbolizes the equality between you that one is not above the other..." "I have no problem with Quinn being taller than me and I sure as hell don't care what other people think about it. I'm only having this circus because I have to. Now don't bring up the damned shoes again or I'll go barefoot!" Emmanuel looked at the shoes of which the heel was two and a half inches shorter than the original shoes and hoped that she would fuss too much. The next challenges would be the accessories and head piece. He had noticed that the only jewelry she wore was her wedding band. He knew then that the giant ruby that was a part of the wedding ensemble wasn't going to happen. That he could work around but the head piece... He walked around the dress again stopping at the back again. "Pity." He muttered. "You delectable ass would have been perfect..." "GET YOUR FUCKING MIND OFF MY WIFE'S ASS!" Emmanuel heard in his head. Emmanuel dropped to his knees in supplication cursing at his stupidity and arrogance. He should have known better. "My... my apologies." He stammered but there was no response. He let out a sigh of relief. Quinn's warning had been a reminder of the many close calls he had in the past for doing the very same thing. He got to his feet and concentrated on the task at hand. Justine and the women of her court would be arriving soon. It was a dream job if he didn't manage to screw it up by not controlling his thoughts. Until he had gotten the summons from the Queen, he hadn't worked in centuries. His career as a designer would be rejuvenated especially when it got out that he had redone the wedding dress and if the King and Queen wore the clothing that he had given them as a gift. Justine Ch. 22 "Emmanuel all of these women are mated." He told himself. "Keep your mind and your hands to yourself." Two hours later, he heard the sound of feminine voices approaching. ********* "What are you thinking?" Quinn asked Mikhail when they were all sitting. "When I found out the royal quartet....." "Royal quartet?" Quinn asked. "That's what you call us?" "It's much faster than saying all of your names." Mikhail replied. "But as I was saying, when I found out that you were day walkers, I had two thoughts. The first thought was that it would present more opportunity for abduction. The second thought was that it would be the abductors who would need rescuing. This brings me back to what we all know; the only way the reign will be threatened is if one of our mates or children is taken. Realistically we all know that even if that happened, the reign would continue; even if there was a fight. The real concern is that any and all of us will do whatever we have to in order to get our mates or children back. I submit to you that that is where the real threat lies. The danger is from within." Mikhail paused to let what he said sink in and then he continued. "I started thinking about something that Maurice said weeks ago. I didn't think too much of it then, but then this morning; it came back to me. Maurice, you told me how you protected your family by taking blood from each other." "That's correct." Maurice replied seeing where Mikhail was going. "That way we are always able to find each other no matter where we may be." "Does that bond work through wards?" Mikhail asked. "Yes." Maurice replied. "It will go through anything. But you must understand that once this bond is created, it cannot be severed." "How much blood is needed?" Mikhail asked. "Not much." Maurice replied. "Let me make sure that I understand what we're talking about." Thomas said. "We all exchange blood and that way we can keep track of each other? What's to stop someone from taking advantage of that knowledge?" he asked. "There is an element of trust involved." Maurice replied. "But we weighed the issues and decided that safety was more important. As you know we take the giving of one's word seriously. Each of us gave our word that we would only use the bond in dire emergency." "How does it work?" Edward asked. "It works the same as the bond with your mate works." Maurice replied. "The difference is that it can break through any ward. Even if the mate can't speak, she can and will be found." "I don't understand." David said. "I exchanged blood with Josephine, but when she was kidnapped; I couldn't find her." "That's because you didn't have the blood of St. Germaine in your system." Lorenzo replied. "One drop is all that is needed which means that once a drop of our blood is in your system; you can pass it on to your mates and children." "The rumor about you being a direct descendent of Comte St. Germaine is true?" Edward asked fascinated. "It is." Maurice replied. "But my question is this... If we do this, do we include the security teams? Their mates are at more risk of being taken than ours. In fact, I think that they are more likely to be abducted than our mates are." "I disagree." Mikhail said, "And I'll tell you why. None of the security teams are close enough to the royal quartet to be of any use." "But they could get to us." Lorenzo said. There was a long silence until David spoke. "What if we put all of the mates and children in a place that they couldn't be found?" "We talked about having them scattered throughout the city in warded locations." Thomas said. "But I have a question. How many vampires have the ability to break through wards?" "Not many." Maurice replied. "But it would only take one." Thomas said. "I don't know, but if it were me; I would assume that the families of the security teams would be kept in the area. So how secure would they really be?" "What do you suggest?" Mikhail asked. "There is a place where they will be safe." David said. "But I also have a question. Maurice, you are also able to ward aren't you?" "I am... why do you ask?" "How likely is it that one vampire would be able to break the wards of two or more other vampires?" "Slim to none especially if the vampires involved build strong wards." Maurice replied. "I think that we can take the families out of the security teams out of the mix." David said. "The unfortunate thing is that they won't be able to attend the gala." "We can make amends for that later." Quinn said. "But right now I'm more interested in hearing what you're thinking." The gray purple flecked flames around David's eyes flashed and then dimmed. "I apologize, but I had to be sure that no one was listening." He said. "Just a moment." Maurice said. A moment later, he gave the go ahead. "An uncharted island." Mikhail mused after David explained what he was thinking. "Will Josephine be alright with using her island?" "She won't mind." David replied. "I would also suggest that we keep the location under wraps." "Even from the security teams?" Thomas asked. "Even from them." David replied. "If we told them that it was on an uncharted island, how long do you think it would be before someone figured out the general vicinity? This is all about secrecy which brings me to my next point. Only two of us other than the royal quartet will know the exact location. If we're taking the families of the security teams out of the mix that means that your mates will be the next target." "But they will never be alone." Thomas said. "It means that we'll have to be diligent in watching over them." "Here's something that's to our advantage." Quinn said. "Once anyone enters the grounds with the exception of us and our mates; there will be a drain on their gifts. The security teams will still have their speed, strength and telepathy, but they won't be able to use any of their other gifts. The one thing that we haven't announced is that the guests will lose the use of all of their powers... in effect; they will be human. It an emergency arises where their powers are needed, they'll reappear until the emergency is over. Now, here's the thing; they won't be able to use their gifts against any of us or our mates. If we're going to move the mates of the guards to the island, we can make it so that the only telepathy that the guards use is to each other and us." The room went silent as each vampire processed the plan that was on the table. "How will we get everyone to the island?" Edward asked after several minutes passed. "Having them gather at one place would be too conspicuous wouldn't it?" "How many are we talking about?" David asked. "Don't include Gremlin's clan." Maurice said. "They take care of their own and no one in their right mind will go anywhere near them." "What about their children?" Thomas asked. "Their children are taught to be warriors from the time they can walk. Every game that they play is a lesson. If one of them should be taken, God help the abductor." Maurice replied. "If my calculations are correct, we're looking at five hundred mates and children." Mikhail said. "Can your island handle that many people?" "Easily." David replied. "The issue is going to be housing for all of them." "We can take care of that." Quinn said. "David, thank you for doing this." David shrugged his shoulders. "It's the right thing to do, but there's another benefit to this." He said. "The guards will be able to focus on their jobs better if their loved ones are safe." The meeting broke up a few minutes later. Mikhail felt better about the weeklong gala than he had since he had first heard about it; but it was still going to be a long week. *********** One month before the gala "Mom are you sure that you and David don't want to do this thing with us?" Justine asked. "We're sure." Josephine replied. "I want to enjoy being the mother of the bride." "This isn't a wedding." Justine lamented. "It's politics." "I know, but try to have a little fun with it and remember after that is the gala." "True... I just feel bad for the ones who can't come." Justine replied. "They understand and besides, we're having a big party for them after the gala is over." Josephine reminded her. "Also true." Justine conceded. Once the plans for keeping the families of the security teams safe were made, the atmosphere at the house relaxed; but only slightly. The meetings regarding the plans were happening on a daily basis. As David said, Josephine had no problem with using the island as a safe place for the families of the security team. "We need to make sure that there are plenty of things for them to do." she said when David told her about the plan. She like Justine felt badly that the group would miss the gala and began to make plans for a special party just for them and their mates. "Mom?" "What? Oh sorry... I was just thinking about the party." Josephine replied. "I was asking where David is." "He should be in his office. He said something about a conference call." Josephine replied. "You do know that he can go out into the sun because of you don't you?" Justine smiled and kissed her mother's cheek. "It's because of all of us." She replied. "Each of us brings something unique to this group and that includes Mikhail, Maurice and everyone in this house." "Well whatever the reason, I'm happy for all of us. I didn't realize how much I missed the sun until that day. Speaking of which, aren't you and Quinn taking Lana and her sister to the zoo?" Josephine asked. "Yes but I want to talk to David before we go. Do you think that he'll mind an interruption?" "I don't think so; if his door is open the conference call is over." Josephine replied. ******** Justine decided to take the long way to David's office. It involved going outside and walking all the way around the house. She also knew that she would run into Quinn who was out on the grounds taking pictures. He had decided to restart his business. "I think that we need a sense of normalcy." He told her. "Our lives can't just be about running the entire vampire race. I was a landscaper/photographer before we met and there's no reason why I can't go back to it." He was right Justine realized. She loved being an attorney and missed it. The only real problem she saw was their eyes... or were they a problem? If she could control everything else, why not the color of her eyes? If she could do it then so could the others. She intended to find out after she talked to David. ********* David ended the conference call more than pleased. Now that he could go to his offices at any time of the day, production was on the rise. He met with several managers and laid down the law and then set up a telephone conference. To miss it was an instant dismissal. He leaned back in his chair and looked out into the sunshine. He still couldn't believe that he could go out into the sunlight. For the first week after he found out that he could go out, David spent every morning in the garden. For that first week, Josephine let him have that time alone. Now she spent the mornings with him either reading or helping him in the garden. He turned toward the door when he heard someone approach and mouthed the word "open". He smiled when he saw Justine waiting on the other side. "Hey, do you have a few minutes?" she asked. "Of course! Come in." David said. Justine sat in the chair across from the desk and smiled at him. "I gather that things are going well?" she asked. "Yes... how are you holding up?" David asked. "I'll be glad when the wedding is over." Justine replied. "I tried to talk mom into another double wedding." "I know. She told me." David replied with a smile. "But she's right, this is your show." "That's an interesting choice of words." Justine said. "That's exactly how I see it. It's a big show so that I can kiss ass." "That depends on your point of view." David replied. "On the face of it, it does look like you're kissing ass, but are you? Or are you building allies? The one thing that I've learned is that no matter how powerful you are; you will always need allies. It is much better to have them commit to you voluntarily then by coercion." Justine thought about what he said. "I never thought about it like that." she said. "Thanks. There's something else that I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if you would escort me down the aisle for the ceremony." "Excuse me?" David asked. "I know that we've had our differences but I would like to think that we've become friends." Justine said. "I would like for you to walk me down the aisle not as my father; but as my friend." "Justine... I would be honored." "Good and thanks for helping me to see the ceremony in a different light. It helped." "You welcome and Justine? Thank you." After Justine left his office, David sat staring at the chair where she had been sitting. A moment later, he was calling for Josephine. ********* Justine left David's office and went to her and Quinn's rooms. It was rare that she was in the room alone and it felt odd. She almost called to Quinn but changed her mind. She wanted to be sure that she was right before she said anything. She went to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. The flames in her eyes flickered softly as the green flecks moved lazily across her pupils. She stood there watching the soft flickering for several minutes before she closed her eyes. Slowly she opened them not sure of what she would see. Finally, they were open. "Quinn!!! Mom!! David!! Come quick!!" she screamed telepathically. By the time they got there, Justine was beside herself with excitement. "Jussie? What's wrong?" Quinn asked as soon as he arrived. "Nothing!! Look at my eyes!" she exclaimed. Quinn held her still and looked down at her. "Jussie... your eyes... they're brown. How?" he asked stunned. "I'll tell you when mom and David get here." She replied. "What's the ruckus about?" Josephine asked when she and David arrived. "Mom... look at my eyes." Justine said as she stood in front of her. She blinked and the red flames and green fleck appeared. She blinked again and they were almost gone. "You have to look hard to see the flames and flecks." She said. "You try it." A few minutes later, they were all standing side by side in the bathroom and looking into the mirror. All of them could change the color of their eyes at will. "Wow." Quinn mused as he changed his eyes to their normal shade of green back to the green flame red flecked ones. "I guess we don't need to wear the sunglasses anymore." "But we'd better take them anyway." Justine said. "We'd better get going or we're going to be late." She said grabbing his hand. "The zoo awaits." Quinn said. "We'll see you guys later." ******** Jian and Gabra took their evening walk through the indoor garden talking quietly. "You have not felt anything." Jian stated. "No." Gabra replied, "But neither have you." "I have not." Jian replied. "I do not know whether to be relieved or concerned." "Perhaps nothing will happen." Gabra offered. "This will not be the first time that you have felt nothing." "That is true... but something bothers me." he replied. "My spirit is unsettled." Gabra stopped walking, looked at Jian and didn't like what she saw. True concern. "Tell me what you need from me." she said softly as she stepped closer to him and touched his face. "I do not know yet." He replied. "When I know; I will tell you but for now let's continue our walk." ********* The closer the date of the gala got, the more anxious Thomas became. He had received several summonses from his family all of which he ignored. He didn't know how much they knew about what happened with Wilhelmina nor did he really care unless it impacted Lottie and her safety somehow. He did know that they knew that he was with Justine and that they were calling to see what favors he could do for them. The thing was, he wanted nothing to do with them. He didn't want Lottie or any children that they might have to meet them. Thomas looked over at Lottie. Being away from the Realm had done wonders for her. The nightmares had all but stopped; she smiled easily and no longer acted like a servant. Deep in his heart Thomas knew that if any of the mates were taken, it would be her. He didn't know why he felt that way but he did. His family .... "Thomas? Are you ready for dinner?" Lottie asked "I'm ready." He replied but his mind was still on his family. It was too much to hope that they wouldn't attend the gala. They would hunt him down until they found him, pretend to be proud of him and then try to use him. Much to his disappointment, other than knowing plants; none of his other gifts had manifested. Every so often he thought he felt a twinge or a stirring; but it never lasted. When he was alone, he did everything that he could think of to urge his dormant gifts to life. "Patience." Edward would caution him time after time. Thomas took Lottie's hand and walked by her side to the dining room. He noted how comfortable she was in talking with Violet, Pam, Zoe and now Gabra. Jian and Gabra were something of an enigma to him. He didn't understand how one couldn't know how they met their mate. He knew that they weren't lying; it just didn't make sense. But then, the fates had done stranger things. He blushed when Jian caught him watching them. Jian simply smiled and nodded at him putting him at ease. The two men hadn't talked much since Jian arrived a month ago... it was time to change that. The dinner conversation was about the gala. All of the women were more than pleased with their gowns and were looking forward to the final fitting. The men were silent. Each of them, including Thomas was thinking about the safety of their mates. As happy as he was to see the light in Lottie's eyes when she talked about the gala, Thomas wanted it to be over with. The feeling that Lottie was going to be the primary target of an abduction scheme wouldn't leave him. He looked up again to see Jian watching him. The vampire's soft brown eyes had an intense look about them. "Thomas." He said softly. "Would you join me for an after dinner walk?" Thomas hesitated and then nodded his head. He had the feeling that the Chinese vampire knew something. As he wondered about the walk, he felt slight warmth in the pit of his stomach. It felt a little stronger than before...but then it was gone just as quickly as it came. He closed his eyes in frustration and tried to will the warmth back. He felt Lottie's hand on his knee squeezing it gently. She knew that he was trying to wake his gifts before the gala and knew of his feelings of uselessness. It was something that they talked about frequently, but he couldn't shake the feeling of uselessness. "But you aren't useless." She told him that morning. "You've prepared all of the antidotes..." "But if something happened to you I couldn't protect you..." "Of course you could and you would." Lottie interrupted. "But Thomas the only one who thinks that you're useless is you." Thomas put his hand on top of hers and squeezed it. He had just realized that she was right. He could and would protect her even if it cost him his life. Suddenly, he felt better than he had since they arrived two years ago. He also decided that Edward was right, he needed to relax. If his gifts were meant to manifest early; they would. ********* After dinner, Jian and Thomas walked through the indoor garden. For several minutes, neither of them spoke. Jian was the first to break the silence. "You are somewhat of an enigma to me too." He said. "I have heard of your family; but have never had the honor of meeting one of you." Justine Ch. 22 "I don't know how much of an honor it is." Thomas replied with a tight smile. "You are not like them." Jian said. "You have honor and you are loyal to those that you care about." "I'm curious about you as well." Thomas said. "As is everyone." Jian replied with a chuckle. "Even Gabra and I were curious about ourselves. Finally, we decided that how we came to be together didn't matter." "However it happened, I owe my life to the both of you. "Had Gabra not warned me..." "It wasn't your time." Jian interrupted. "Every one of us that is here was meant to be here. I don't know for what purpose, the fates don't tell me that; but it is for the good." The two men walked in silence for a few more minutes. This time it was Thomas who spoke first. "Jian... do you know if there's a way to wake my gifts?" "No... but Thomas, sometimes things happen when we least expect them." "Do you know something?" Thomas asked. "No... that is just experience speaking." Jian replied. "The only thing that I can say is to be prepared for anything and to trust your instincts." "Jian..." "Thank you for walking with me. We must do it again." Jian said and walked away. Thomas watched Jian walk away curious as to what he hadn't been told. He walked for a few more minutes before deciding to let it go. It would do no good to agonize over it. He would find out in due time. ******** Two weeks before the gala Jian sat straight up in bed, mumbled something and lay down again. Gabra lay next to him watching, waiting and listening. It had been that way for as long as they had been together. Whenever he was dreaming she lay awake. She was like Jian's personal recorder. More often than not, he couldn't remember what he said whereas she remembered everything and forgot nothing. Gabra turned on her side to look at Jian. There were lines of worry etched on his face and she wondered who the worry was for. Suddenly he was awake and looking back at her. "Gabra, we must be careful." He said softly. "You mentioned a name." she replied as she smoothed his brow. "What was it?" He asked. "Naila." Jian frowned. "Are you certain? That does not make sense." "That is the name that you mentioned." Gabra replied. "But I agree with you, it doesn't make sense. Is she in danger?" "No... but...someone is looking for her." Jian replied. "What of the other mates?" Gabra asked. "They are all in danger." Jian replied. "Thomas believes that Lottie will be the target and I believe he is right, but it will come down to opportunity. He also thinks that the threat will come from his family." "You do not think so?" Gabra asked. "I believe that it is possible." Jian replied. "What else do you believe?" Gabra asked. "I believe that Thomas' family is afraid of him. That is why they were never supportive of him. His way with plants is only one of his gifts. They want him on their side." "Are they thinking of treason?" Gabra asked. "I do not have the answer to that." Jian replied. 'If they are not, then they are helping someone who is." "Do they not understand that even if they are successful that they will not overthrow the queen?" Gabra asked. "I am not so certain that is the objective." Jian replied. "If it were the window of opportunity has passed. Justine and Quinn are fully into their powers. They want something or someone else." "But why take a mate then?" Gabra asked. "In all honesty, I think that Lottie is the key and I think that the Rhys' are behind this. You said so yourself, they're afraid of Thomas. I think that they'll use his mate to keep him in line." "You may be right." Jian conceded. "Especially since he hasn't come into his powers yet..." "What is it?" Gabra asked. "Something is not right." Jian replied. "Nothing is making sense. Whoever is planning to cause trouble must know that security will be extremely tight." "Jian you must let it go now." Gabra said softly. "You know as well as I do that we have to wait for further clarification." Jian allowed Gabra's soothing touch to calm him. She was right. He had to be patient. *********** One week before the gala Jian was becoming concerned. There had been no further clarifications on where or who the danger was coming from. The mates and children of all of the guards were already gone to the secret location and all of those in the house had already exchanged blood. He was confident that no one from the inner circle was a threat as no one had even balked at the blood exchange. "But that in and of itself means nothing." He told himself. He had become so anxious that Gabra suggested that he talk to Justine and Quinn about it. "What would I say to them? He asked. "Tell them of your concern." Gabra replied. "Maybe they know something that we do not." Later that evening before the women went for one of the last fittings before the wedding, Jian approached Justine and Quinn. "Something is not right." He said without preamble. "I have not received any thing more since last week." Quinn and Justine looked at each other and then at the concerned Jian. "We know." Quinn replied. "Whatever is going to happen has something to do with Lottie and Thomas." "You cannot tell what it is?" Jian asked. "Treason." Justine replied. "What does that have to do with Lottie and Thomas?" Jian asked alarmed. "Surely you do not believe that they are traitors!" "They have the same potential to be traitors as the rest of us." Justine said. "But to what end?" Jian asked. "Jian... what has Thomas told you about his family?" Quinn asked. "I know that they are mercenaries and that they don't care who they fight for as long as the price is right. But I don't see how that makes Thomas a traitor." "It doesn't." Justine replied. "All I was saying is that all of us have that potential. Think about this... Why would Thomas and Lottie be the targets?" A flash of understanding crossed Jian's brain. "He will be the strongest of all of them." He whispered. "If they have Lottie then they have him." "Bingo." Quinn said. "That's treason!" Jian exclaimed. "Yes it is." Justine replied. "Thomas and Lottie are members of this court. They have our blood in them and that makes them a part of us." "They will make Thomas fight with them." Jian replied. "They'll try to." Quinn said. "They don't know about the blood exchange. Even if they manage to get Lottie out of here; she'll be found in minutes. They also don't know that their power will be drained." "In effect, they're walking into a trap." Justine said. "The only question is when they're going to try something." "It will be near the end of the gala." Jian said. "It will be someone that she trusts who will take her. That is how they will succeed without their gifts." "Do you know who?" Justine asked. "No... but she must not go with anyone other than Thomas or one of us. I need not tell you what will happen if anything happens to her." "We know." Quinn said. "His gifts are already trying to waken." "They want him in their control before that happens." Jian said. "If his gifts wake then it will be too late. Have you spoken to Thomas?" "He's aware." Justine replied. "He also said that he asked you if there was a way to waken his gifts and you told him no. That wasn't exactly the truth was it?" Jian flinched under Justine's intense stare. "It wasn't the entire truth." Jian confessed. "Why did you lie?" Justine asked. "I didn't lie.' Jian replied. "I did not tell Thomas everything. Justine, from the beginning you have discovered your gifts on your own and Thomas needed to figure out for himself from where he needed to get his help from. My telling him would not allow you to discover yet another gift nor would it teach Thomas that he has to be able to ask for help. If he had asked me if you could help him wake his powers, I wouldn't have given him a straight answer. I would have sent him to you." Justine began to laugh. "You know, you would make one hell of a lawyer. Alright, I see your point. What about Gabra? I know that her gift is aimed to the immediate future, but has she seen or felt anything?" "Not yet." Jian replied. "If she sees anything it may not be until moments before the event." "The key is going to be in waking Thomas' gifts." Quinn said. "I think that we should do it." "I agree." Justine replied. "But it needs to be all of us. I'll call mom and David while you get Thomas. We'll meet in the basement." "No...not there." Quinn said. "We can't take the chance that Manny will overhear." "You really don't like him do you?" Justine asked. "I don't like anyone who fantasizes about my wife's ass." Quinn replied. "But that's beside the point. The point is that we need secrecy. I don't believe that I'm going to suggest this, but I think that we should use our suites. No one has any excuse to be there unless it's by invitation and I think that it's time to move anyway. This house has met its purpose. All of us that are meant to be a part of this reign are here." "I was thinking the same thing." Justine replied. "Do you know where you would like to go?" "I would love to go somewhere warm." Quinn replied. "But there's Lana. I don't want to leave when I'm just getting to know her." "I have an idea but let's take care of Thomas first." Justine said. "I'll meet you in the room." ****** Thomas wasn't feeling well. His body ached and he felt feverish. Lottie sat helplessly at his side washing his face with a cool washcloth. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that he was going through the change. "Tell me what to do." Lottie said. "I... I don't know." Thomas replied. It wasn't until the warmth in his belly began to spread that he understood what was happening and then...it just stopped. "NOOO!" Thomas cried out in frustration as tears ran down his face. Lottie got on the bed with him and held him as he wept. Finally, he settled into an uneasy rest. ******* Quinn tapped on the door and waited for someone to answer. A few seconds later he heard Lottie's soft footsteps at the door. As soon as he saw her, he knew that something had happened. "Lottie what's wrong?" He asked. "It...its Thomas." She replied. "I think that his gifts are trying to wake up but it's too soon." "Take me to him." Quinn replied. Thomas was awake but pale. Quinn could see that he was in distress. "Hey Tom, what's happening?" he asked as he assessed him. "I... I think that my gifts are trying to wake up; but there's something holding them back." "We know and we're going to help you." Quinn replied. "Can you walk?" "Where are we going?" Lottie asked. "To me and Justine's suite." Quinn replied. "David and Josephine are already there. I'll explain later. Thomas, can you walk?" "I can walk." Thomas said. When he stood, he wobbled and then righted himself. Quinn reached out to help him; but Thomas pulled away. "I can make it." However, he didn't refuse Lottie's hand. He seemed to draw strength from her Quinn noticed. His color seemed to improve and some of the pain in his eyes faded away. It confirmed what he and Justine had thought. Lottie was Thomas' anchor. ****** Justine removed the comforter from the bed while Josephine and David lit candles. "Are we set?" she asked looking at her mother. "I think so." Josephine replied. A few minutes later, Quinn came in followed by Lottie and Thomas. "Let's get the show on the road." Quinn said. "He's in a lot of pain." "Lottie... help him to the bed." Justine said. "Everyone else surround the bed." Lottie helped Thomas to the bed and then stood by his side holding his hand. "Thomas." Justine said. "We're going to waken you gifts... is this what you want?" "Yes." "There will be no going back; are you sure?" she asked. "I'm sure." Thomas replied without hesitation. "Wait, I want to say something. I swear to use my gifts for the good of the reign. If I should become jaded and evil, I will die immediately." "Thomas..." Justine said. "No, it has to be this way. I'm ready." He said interrupting Justine. Justine nodded and then gave instructions. "Everyone lay hands on him... Quinn you put your hands over his heart, mom put yours on his stomach and David his legs. I've got his head. When everyone was in place, Justine looked at Lottie. "Hold his hand. This may hurt." Lottie nodded and gave Thomas' hand an encouraging squeeze. Justine placed her hands on either side of Thomas' head. "Do we all agree to wake the gifts of this vampire mage?" she asked. "We do." Four voices said in unison. "Do we accept that if he should become evil that he will immediately die?" "We do." "Thomas Rhys, do you consent to the waking of your gifts?" "I do." Thomas replied. "Do you swear to use your gifts only for good and in the defense of the reign?" "I do." "Do you accept the penalty of true death if you should break this vow?" "I do." "Do you understand that if you break this vow and die that your mate will also die?" Thomas hesitated and looked up at Lottie. When he saw the slight nod of her head; he answered. "I do." "I give you one last chance to change your mind. Do you wish to take it?" "No I do not." Thomas replied. "So be it." "Does anyone wish to change their vote on this matter?" "No we do not." Four voices said in unison. "Thomas Rhys." Justine said her voice barely above a whisper. "I grant permission for your gifts to wake to their full potential. I grant that you will have full command of them from the moment they awaken." At first nothing happened. Then suddenly, Thomas' body became as stiff as a board as he levitated from the bed. He felt as if his entire body was on fire. The pain was indescribable as it started at each end of his body and met at his stomach where Josephine's hands rested. His back arched pushing his stomach into her hands. He opened his mouth and screamed one long scream that seemed as if it never would end. The windows shook as pictures flew off the walls crashing to the floor. Their personal items crashed to the floor after swirling around in the air for several seconds, amazingly; none of them were hit. The activity continued for as long as Thomas screamed. When he stopped, everything was suspended. When he screamed again, it was a blood curdling scream that made the hairs on everyone's neck stand up. That scream was repeated four more times before his body went limp and he crashed to the bed. "Is he alright?" Lottie asked worriedly. "He's fine." Justine assured her. "He needs to sleep." "Thank you... he was so worried about everything... he felt so useless." Lottie said. "You're welcome... Just take good care of him." Justine replied. ********* Anthony Rhys drummed his fingers on the table. When he heard about Thomas' betrayal of Wilhelmina he had been furious. He had ranted and raved for a week. "What in the fuck was he thinking?" he asked anyone who would listen. "He betrayed his mate!" The bottom line was that he was concerned that their family would lose the respect of the various beings that employed them. But once he calmed down, he realized that he had another concern. Thomas had always been what he considered to be weak. He never talked back and did whatever he was told. Anthony knew that Thomas was more powerful than he was and it had been crucial that he be kept in line via humiliation and ridicule. Wilhelmina had picked up where he had left off. The question was where did Thomas' backbone come from? Then he heard about the servant girl and he went on another rant. During his rant he realized that it was Lottie who was responsible for the sudden sure of courage. In retrospect, he should have disposed of the girl as soon as he found out about her. How he would have done that he didn't know; but he would have found a way. The thing that concerned him the most was that Thomas would finally realize how powerful he would become and take over the family. Now that he was allied with the queen he was also in a position to get all of them thrown in prison. He weighed his options of which there were few. The bottom line was that he had to regain control of his son. The only way that he could think of to do that was to do the unthinkable... they had to get the girl. None of them had planned on going to the gala but Thomas' defection and betrayal had changed that. "Shit!" Anthony cursed. No one had seen Thomas' betrayal coming and it was going to bite them in the ass. The one thing that he was grateful for was that Thomas' gifts wouldn't manifest for another forty-eight years. But that didn't matter, that Thomas was under his control did. There were other things to consider as well. Thomas would become emotionally unstable without the girl. That emotional instability would be dangerous to all of them so he had to allow him to see the girl. The unknown factor was the gifts that she had if any. Letting Thomas go wasn't an option and even if it were; he wouldn't have done it. He needed Thomas. Over the centuries it seemed as if the strength of the family was fading. While people still feared and respected them; the Rhys name was slowly fading. They no longer got the high paying jobs. Those were going to newer and stronger families. In order to get back into the game; they needed Thomas. "What are you thinking of doing?" Marcus, Thomas' older brother asked. "To try anything at the gala would be suicide." "I know." Anthony replied. "We have to get her to come to us. If we can do that then we have Thomas. What have you found out about her?" "Not much other than Wilhelmina took her from her family when she was quite young in exchange for a debt." "Who owed her money?" "Her father." Marcus replied. "When he couldn't repay; Wilhelmina took the girl." "Where is her family now?" "Wilhelmina killed her mother and a few other family members, but her father still lives." "Find him and bring him here. Do not allow him to refuse." After Marcus left, a smile crossed Anthony's face. Things were looking up. ******* Thomas woke up feeling as though he had been run over. The fever and burning in his stomach were gone, but every muscle in his body ached. He looked around the room and tried to remember where he was. "We're in Justine and Quinn's suite." Lottie said softly. "How do you feel?" "I hurt all over... is it done? Did they do it?" Thomas asked. "Yes it's done." Lottie replied. "Justine says that you should be able to use your gifts without training." Thomas tried to sit up but fell back. "You need to eat. You've been asleep for twenty-four hours." Lottie said. "Stay put and I'll get you something to eat." "Lottie... wait." Thomas said. "Thank you for trusting me. I swear to you that you won't regret it." "I know that." she replied. "If I had any doubts I wouldn't have agreed." "I want to go to our own rooms." Thomas said. "You're too week." Lottie replied. "And I can't hold you up." "All I need is your hand... please I want to be in our bed when I make love with you." "Make love? Thomas you can barely move!" Lottie said. "If you help me I can do it." Thomas said. Lottie gave him a dubious look. "I'll make a deal with you." she said after several seconds. "You feed first and then we'll try." Seeing that she wasn't going to be swayed, Thomas agreed. "I will also need human food." He said suddenly. He was surprised as Lottie was. He had tried human food in the past and it made him ill. "Are you sure?" She asked. "I'm sure... I think that I will need blood and human food for energy." Thomas replied An hour later, a tray containing fish, boiled potatoes and green beans was sitting in front of him. Now he wasn't so sure about eating it. He took a tentative bite of the potato and waited several seconds before taking another. He still didn't care for the taste but he wasn't gagging either. Next he tried the fish and found that he rather enjoyed the taste. The green beans he spat out pronouncing them disgusting. Lottie took the tray and sat beside him on the bed with a basin just in case things came back up. Justine Ch. 22 To the amazement of both of them, Thomas actually looked better. His skin wasn't as pale and had a warm glow to it. "I think that I can walk now." He said with a smile that lit up his face. Lottie stood up and held out her hand. Playfully Thomas pulled her on top of him and kissed her. She giggled when he nipped and then sucked her lower lip. "Thomas! Not here! This isn't our room." She said when he broke the kiss. "Then let's go to our room." He said as he rose from the bed still holding her in his arms. Lottie squealed as Thomas floated around the room doing a series of loops and dips. Finally, he landed on the floor so gently that there wasn't even a thump. "I guess it worked." Thomas said happily. "Now I can pull my weight around here." Before they left, Thomas put the room back to rights. It looked as though it had never been disturbed. Thomas carried Lottie to their room stripping them before they reached the bed. "This is the final step." He told her. "You agreed to mate with Thomas Rhys the vampire but you haven't agreed to mate with Thomas Rhys the mage. Lottie Dunham, will you mate with Thomas Rhys the vampire/mage?" Lottie didn't have to think about her answer. "I would mate with you no matter whom or what you were." She replied. Lottie looked into Thomas' dark eyes and understood something. She understood why his family had treated him as they had. It just wasn't because he wasn't like them they wanted to control him. In order for that to happen, they had to have one thing; her. "What are you thinking about?" Thomas asked as he slid into her. "Tell me what bothers you." "I.... I can't think right now." Lottie replied and then let out a sigh as Thomas kissed her shoulder. She shivered when the tip of his fang grazed the area that he had just kissed and then pierced her skin. Although Maurice and the others had taken blood from her, Thomas wanted to be sure that she was protected by him as well. He didn't take much. It was just enough to claim her and so that he could find her anywhere and her him once she drank from him. Thomas had tasted her blood before but now he could have sworn that it tasted sweeter. He resisted the urge to take more; the mating needed to be completed. Suddenly there was a sense of urgency to complete the mating. He thrusts into her with long hard strokes pulling almost completely out when he withdrew. He listened to Lottie's cries making sure that they were cries of pleasure and not pain. Lottie clawed at his back drawing blood. Instead of hissing in pain, Thomas moaned with pleasure and thrust even harder into her holding her in place. "You are ... now ... you are now under my protection!" he said in a strained voice as he released his seed into her. "No one can harm you." Lottie tensed and then bucked against Thomas. The muscles in her neck stood out as she cried out his name. Before her orgasm had completely waned, Thomas held his wrist out to her. She gave it the briefest of looks, kissed it and then bit. She drank until Thomas made her stop but she wanted more. "That's enough." He said as he gently but firmly pulled his wrist away. She lay in his arms feeling more at peace than she could remember. She was just dozing off when she remembered that she hadn't answered Thomas' question. "Thomas, do you understand why your family treated you as they did?" "I know." He replied, "And it no longer matters. I am where I want and need to be." "Will they come to the gala?" "I don't.... yes; they're coming. Lottie, I need you to listen to me" Thomas said his voice intense. "They are going to try to take you. I don't know when or how, but you mustn't ever leave my side for any reason. I know that I will find you if they take you, but I don't want you taken at all." "I understand." Lottie said. "You're different." She said kissing his chest. "That's because I know that I can protect you and everyone else in this house if I need to." Thomas replied. "Do you think that your family knows that your gifts have wakened?" she asked. "No and it needs to remain that way." Thomas replied. "My family has committed treason many times over the years and it is time for them to answer for it. Also you will never be safe unless they are dealt with." "You would imprison your family?" Lottie asked surprised. "If it will keep you and those that I care about safe, then yes I would imprison them. But you forget that I no longer consider them my family. You and the people in this house are my family." "But what of your mother?" Lottie asked. "You said that your father ruled with an iron fist. Is she not a victim? Didn't she try to protect you?" Thomas hesitated. He hadn't thought of his mother as a victim. While she never spoke against his father about the way he was treated; she always tried to soothe him afterwards. "What you say has merit." He said. "I'll speak to Justine about it." ******** The same conversation regarding safety was happening in each suite and at Maurice's house. The gist of the conversations was the same with each male exacting a promise from their mates that they wouldn't wander off. "But I thought you said that they want Lottie and Thomas." Naila said. "They do." Lorenzo replied. "But they will use any of us to meet that goal. It's imperative that you don't wander off away from me." "But..." "No buts Naila." Lorenzo said firmly. "If I have to compel you to stay close then I will." Naila nodded. She was remembering what happened the last time she didn't do as she promised. "I promise." She said after a moment. "After this is over, can we move to our own house? It's not that I don't like living here; but I'm ready to make a home for us." "We could do that, but Naila you have to understand something; we can't live on the other side of the country. We have to be easily accessible to each other and Justine and Quinn." "I can deal with that." Naila replied. "And I don't care where we go. I'm just ready to be alone with you." "I know baby." Lorenzo replied kissing her temple. "Let's get through the gala and then we'll see what happens." ******* "We're moving aren't we?" Regina asked when she and Maurice were in bed. "I believe so." He replied. "It's time." "Do you have any idea where? Somewhere where it's warm all year around would be my vote." Maurice chuckled. Regina hated the winter although he and the children didn't mind it. "That will depend on Quinn and Justine." He replied. "But I think that Quinn is thinking along the same lines that you are." "What about his daughter?" Regina asked. "I don't know." Maurice said. "Regina I cannot stress enough how important it is that you always stay within touching distance of me." "Maurice, I get it." Regina replied. "We've danced this dance before." Maurice blew out a breath. She was right and she had never gone against what he said in regards to the safety of her and the children; but this was more than about them. "I know that I sound like a broken record." He said. "But every one of us is having this conversation. This isn't just about you and the children. It's about the safety of many of vampires and beings if they manage to get their hands on Lottie and Thomas." "I know... I'm sorry; you're just doing what you're good at." "No apologies are needed." Maurice replied. "It's been a stressful few weeks and we haven't seen nearly enough of each other. I was thinking... Jon has been asking about going to see Mickey Mouse... what you think about a trip to Disneyland?" "I think," Regina said as she slid her hand under the blanket, "that it's a good idea." ******** Quinn, Justine, David and Josephine sat in the back yard enjoying a moment of peace and quiet. By mutual consent they all agreed not to talk about the gala or the wedding ceremony. Instead they talked about moving. "I'm for someplace that never sees snow." Justine said. "I'm all for that." Quinn replied. "But as we talked about, there's Lana to consider." "What are you thinking as far as location?" David asked. "I don't know... Florida?" Justine asked. "Miami is nice." Josephine offered. "How about... California?" Justine asked. "I mean what's not to like? Ocean, warmth, palm trees and if we wanted snow for some unknown reason; it's accessible." "I like it but what about Lana?" Quinn asked. "What kind of work does your ex-wife's husband do?" David asked. "A little of this and a little of that." Quinn replied. "The economy and the job market haven't been good for them. Right now he's working at a restaurant bussing tables and he works part time as a handyman at Lana's school." "Does he have any formal education?" David asked. "I think he took a few business courses but didn't finish because of money." Quinn replied. "I offered to help him but he said no. He only agreed to us paying for Lana's schooling because it was directly for her." "Would he consider relocating?" David asked. "I don't know... why do you ask?" Quinn asked. "Could you arrange a meeting? I can help him without it appearing as if I'm doing him a favor." David replied. Once again Justine was struck at how kind hearted David could be. It helped that he and Josephine considered the children their grandchildren, but she wondered he was going to convince Jared that he wasn't doing him a favor. "I can do that." Quinn replied. "I'll set it up for after the gala is over." "So." Justine said. "Are we moving to California?" "I think so." Quinn replied. ******** Emmanuel watched the royal quartet from the indoor garden. He had a decision to make. He had grown to like all of them especially Justine with her kiss my ass attitude. What he found hard to believe was that no one had picked up on the fact that he wasn't being completely honest. He was there to alter the wedding gown, but he was also there to watch and report to the Rhys. The problem was that he had no way of getting information to them even if he had any to give. He had expected to be allowed in on the inner circle and that hadn't happened. He asked himself whether he would give the information if he had it and he just didn't know. For the most part, Thomas had remained out of sight and his mate Lottie didn't seem to be anything special. He made a decision, after the final fitting; he was leaving. The summons requesting his skills had been nonstop once word got out that he had designed the royal quartet's attire for the gala as well as the attire of the heads of security and their mates. "Treason is punishable by death." A soft female voice said from behind him. Emmanuel turned to see Gabra standing behind him. "To answer the question that you just asked yourself, you would have given Rhys the information." She said. "I don't know what you're babbling about." Emmanuel said nervously. Gabra shrugged her shoulders. "How did you become involved with the Rhys'?" She asked. "What did they promise you in exchange for information?" "I'm no traitor!" Emmanuel retorted. "They said that they were concerned about him because he hasn't been answering their summons." "But yet you agonize over what you should do." Gabra mused. "That tells me that you knew better. The fact that you are planning to disappear before the gala confirms that. But you haven't answered my question, what did they promise you?" "I don't have to talk to you." Emmanuel snapped. "No, but you do have to talk to me." Justine said quietly. "Did you really think that we didn't know that you were lying? Why do you think that we kept you at arm's length? Didn't it strike you as odd that we never discussed the gala at dinner or whenever you were around?" Emmanuel looked at Justine. His heart raced when he saw the flames in her eyes burn a bright red. He imagined that he could feel his skin blister from her gaze alone. "Now answer the question, what were you going to get out of telling Rhys about Thomas?" Justine asked. When he didn't answer, Justine took a step toward him. Emmanuel took a step back and backed into Quinn. He yelped, turned around and began to back away. Finally, he realized that he was trapped between them. Moments later he was sitting in the very cell that Jeremiah Mathers had occupied cursing the day that he met the Rhys. How he allowed himself to be talked into spying for him, he didn't know. The incredible part was that he wasn't being paid anything. "They are Mage." Gabra said. "He tricked you but you had every opportunity to come forward. He has no power here. The fact that you were questioning the wisdom of your decision is proof that you knew that you were wrong. My suggestion to you is this; tell them what you know. It may save you from a term in prison." "Prison? I didn't do anything!" "You spied on the court of the King and Queen. You were going to give the information to known traitors. Intent is a punishable offense." "Why are you here and not them?" Emmanuel asked. "I wanted to be the one to present your options. Justine and Quinn will be here to see you in a few moments." She left Emmanuel alone to think about his options. It wasn't long before he realized that he had none. He wasn't going to prison for anyone especially if he wasn't going to be compensated for it. As soon as they came, he would tell them whatever they wanted to know. ******** Wallace Dunham looked around at the opulence of the hotel room where he was staying. He was still sitting in the same spot that he had been sitting since his arrival. He was still peeved that he had been forced to accompany the vampire that sat guard outside of the hotel room. The truth was, he had been too afraid to object too much. He didn't know who these vampires were and maybe if he cooperated; he would be home by the next evening. As he looked around the room, he saw a carafe of blood sitting on a table. He licked his lips. It had been months since he had tasted quality human blood. He had been reduced to feeding from the drunks and drug addicts who had the misfortune of having no place to go after dark. Suddenly he was moving toward the carafe. When he reached it, he didn't bother pouring it into a glass. He picked the carafe, put it to his mouth and drained it dry. He moaned with pleasure as the slightly thickened liquid coated his tongue and ran down his throat. "It's been quite some time hasn't it?" Anthony Rhys said from the doorway. Wallace turned to look at him but didn't respond. "My name is Anthony Rhys." "Anthony Rhys? What do you want with me?" Wallace asked. "I don't owe you money." "No you don't but I believe that we can help each other." Anthony replied. He snapped his fingers and another carafe of blood appeared. "Help each other? How?" Wallace asked. 'It's simple." Anthony replied. "I want you to go to the gala. If you do, you'll never have to feed from another drunk or drug addict for the rest of eternity." "I wasn't going to the gala." Wallace replied. "I'm aware of that." Anthony replied. "But think about it. All you have to do is attend every night and you will never want for anything. You will be under my protection for eternity. I will also settle any debts that you still owe." Wallace stared at him. "That's all that I have to do?" Wallace asked. "That's it." Anthony assured him. "I'll even provide the clothing that you need." "Why me?" Wallace asked. "I needed someone specific and you meet that need." Anthony replied. "Do we have an agreement?" Wallace looked at the carafe of blood and thought about what it would be like not to hide from his creditors. He was being offered another chance to really live and not just exist. Even as he agreed, he felt a twinge of disquiet. He wasn't being told everything. He pushed the feeling aside and drained the second carafe of blood. "You will stay here until after the gala." Anthony said. "My tailor will be here later tonight to outfit you for the week." After Anthony left, Wallace took a long, hot shower. He threw his clothes into the trash and walked around with a towel around his waist. He knew that he should be asking more questions but the saying "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" came to mind. That was followed by the saying "everything that glitters isn't gold." He ignored the latter saying and clung to the first. Finally he would be able to stop hiding. He could find his daughter and apologize to her for giving her to Wilhelmina. He knew that Wilhelmina was a cruel woman, but he didn't think that he had a choice in the matter. Then his wife was killed. Word had it that Wilhelmina did it but he didn't believe it. His debt had been paid in full when he gave Lottie to her. When he confronted Wilhelmina about it, she looked him in the face and denied having anything to do with Ruby's death; and he chose to believe her. A soft tap on the door interrupted his thoughts. It was the tailor with a clothes cart that had several outfits hanging from it. He stepped back and let the vampire in. The feeling of disquiet was back; but worse. He had the feeling that he had just made a deal with the devil. ********* "What in the hell were you thinking?" Quinn yelled at Emmanuel. "I get that he put a spell on you or whatever, but why didn't you tell us the truth when you got here? That means that you made a conscious choice to commit treason." Emmanuel had no real answer. Quinn was right although that wasn't how he saw it. "And he wasn't paying you?" Quinn asked. "So why didn't you say anything? You were safe here." "I have no answer for that." Emmanuel replied. "I was told that Thomas was being held against his will..." "But you saw that he wasn't." Quinn broke in. "Sit down." He commanded. Emmanuel was flung across the cell and landed hard on the cot. He was barely sitting up when he felt Quinn in his head sifting through his memories. He was surprised at the relative gentleness of the search although it was far from comfortable. "You're a fucking idiot." Quinn said when he pulled out. "What's going to happen to me?" Emmanuel asked. "I don't know yet." Quinn replied as he vanished. ********* "He's guilty of stupidity." Quinn told Justine a short while later. "He doesn't see what he did as treason." "Are you suggesting that we let him go?" Justine asked. "I think that we could use him." Quinn replied. "He's going to be in contact with a lot of people after he leaves here. Suppose we do a little...compelling of our own?" "You mean make him a spy?" Justine asked. "Sure! Why not?" Quinn asked. "He's unassuming and we only knew that he was lying because of who we are. Otherwise we would have spoken freely in front of him." Justine gave the matter some thought. "I agree." She said. "But we won't tell him and we'll compel him to forget anything that he may have heard or seen here. As far as he is concerned, he came here to work on my wardrobe and nothing more." "That sounds like a plan." Quinn said as he vanished and appeared behind her. "Shall we go talk to our spy?" she asked. "Ummm no, let him simmer a bit." Quinn replied as he rubbed his body against hers. "You have too many clothes on." He whispered in her ear. A moment later he was rubbing his hard cock against her bare skin. "I'll never get tired of you or the way you feel." He murmured against her neck. "I hope not." Justine chuckled. "We're going to be together forever." Quinn kissed her neck, pushed her down so that she was bent at the waist and slowly slid into her. Justine moaned and pushed back against him. This was one of the times where they made love without using their gifts. In many ways it was every bit as satisfying as when they did. Quinn reached around her and took a breast in each hand his fingers finding her erect nipples. He pinched and rolled them until Justine whimpered for release. Justine Ch. 22 "Touch yourself baby." Quinn panted. Justine widened her legs, reached town and began to frantically rub her clit. She ground against Quinn as hard as she could. "Harder!" she moaned. Quinn slammed into her so hard that had he not been holding on to her she would have flown head first into a wall. Justine flexed her vaginal muscles, pinched her clit. She held off on her release until she heard Quinn moan deep in his throat. As soon as she felt him thicken, she squeezed her clit even harder and came just as Quinn released the first spray of his seed inside of her. Afterwards, Quinn stood her up and turned her so that she faced him. He looked down at her, smiled and then kissed her. Seconds later they were dressed and standing in Emmanuel's cell. He was sitting on the cot with a forlorn expression on his face. He stood as soon as he sat them. "I'm sorry!" he said before either of them could speak. "I was stupid! You were right but surely you know that I am no traitor! My only error was in not telling you what I knew. Please... I throw myself on your mercy. I swear my allegiance to you and yours... please!" "Calm down." Justine said firmly. She moved so that she was standing in front of him. Justine looked into his eyes and willed him to calm. "You now work for us. Anything that you hear regarding treason will be reported to Maurice Delgado, Lorenzo Delgado or Mikhail. You are now under our protection and no harm will come to you. Do you understand?" "Yes my Queen." "You will also forget anything that you may have inadvertently heard. If asked, you did nothing more than prepare our clothes for the gala. In fact, you won't remember being arrested. Now go, the wedding is in three days. We will meet you in your rooms for the final fitting." "Yes my Queen." Emmanuel said. Justine and Quinn watched Emmanuel as he was led away by a guard. "Well." Quinn said. "I should have told him to stop looking at your ass." "Will you please let that go?" Justine said laughing. "My ass belongs to you now come on; Mikhail wants to go over things again. ********* Justine looked at the wedding dress and was surprised that she actually liked it. Other than the color, it didn't look like the same dress. She still wished that her mother and David were going through the ceremony with them, but she understood. In three hours she would be going through another wedding. She tried to keep in mind what David told her. She wasn't kissing ass but cultivating allies. She wondered how Quinn was holding up. They hadn't seen each other since the evening before. Each of them had things to do that only they could take care of. "He did a good job on it didn't he?" Josephine asked from behind her. "I actually like it." Justine replied. "Now if we could only get this thing over with so that we can have some fun..." Josephine chuckled and then turned serious. "You've made David very happy. Thank you." "He's a good man." Justine replied. "It was above and beyond the call of duty for him to offer the use of your island. Thank you ...mom, I can see why you love him and I can see why he loves you. I'm glad that both of you are here. What's he got planned for Lana's dad?" "An entry position at one of his companies." Josephine replied. "He'll provide whatever education that he needs and set up a repayment schedule." "What are your thoughts about Thomas' family?" Justine asked changing the subject. "They'll be here." She replied. "But Thomas is ready." "He talked to me about his mother." Justine said. "I'll give her a choice to go free or go with her husband." "Which do you think she'll choose?" Josephine asked. "Her husband." Justine replied as she started to head toward the shower and then turned back. "Have you seen Quinn?" "Yes and he's as anxious for this to be over as you are." Josephine replied. "How many people are here?" Justine asked as she peeked through the curtains. "The room where the ceremony will be held is already half full. The guests for the gala started arriving an hour ago. So far no major problems have been reported." "Good." Justine said. "Whatever's going happen isn't going to happen until the end of the week. All of the guards are hyper vigilant but by the end of the week they'll be fatigued." "But that's when Gremlin's clan steps in isn't it?" "Yes but half of them are already here." Justine replied. "You need to start getting ready." Josephine said. "Do you need to feed?" "No, I'm good but can you just check on things for me?" Justine started to take a shower but opted for a bath. She added bath oil, turned on the radio and got in. she fidgeted around trying to get comfortable. The back of the tub felt rock hard against her back and she wished that Quinn was in the tub with her. Unable to relax, she got out of the tub and took a shower instead. Josephine was waiting her when she came out along with the same makeup artist that did her makeup for the first wedding ceremony. "It's a pleasure to see you again my Queen." "You too... just remember no clown faces." Justine replied as she sat in the chair. "I remember." He replied. "I brought Felicity to do your hair this time." "Yes I know." Justine replied. "The other girl just had a baby." "How are you doing?" Quinn asked telepathically. "I'm alright and I learned something." Justine replied. "Oh yeah? What's that?" Quinn asked. "Taking a bath alone isn't any fun." Justine replied telepathically. "I ended up taking a shower." Quinn laughed. "I'll tell you what. As soon as we get to our room we'll sit in the tub for as long as you like." "Deal... I just want this part of it over with." Justine said. "I know you do. So do I." Quinn replied. "But I've decided to look at it as another chance to show the world how much I love you. When I look at it that way, I look forward to it." "You know what?" Justine asked still speaking telepathically, "You're right and I'm holding you to our date in the bathtub. And Quinn, I love you too... thank you." "I'll see you in an hour." ****** An hour later, Justine was waiting to make her entrance. The room was filled to capacity and camera crews were everywhere broadcasting the event live to every part of the world that had the technology. Josephine stood to her left holding her hand while David stood to her right. The red dress shimmered whenever she moved, the rubies catching the light. Small rubies were placed in her hair adding to the shimmering effect. Justine moved her feet; they were already bothered by the three inch heels on her feet. She had already decided that the shoes would be the first to go. "You look beautiful." David whispered. "Thanks and thank you for walking with me." Suddenly everyone was standing. Justine could hear the monotone voice of the officiator from where she stood. She started to complain and then stopped herself. Both Quinn and David were right in how they looked at the event. She closed her eyes and blocked out the music and the murmurings of the guests. She decided to focus on Quinn. Nothing would be possible without him. "Josephine, are you ready?" Mikhail asked. Justine watched as Mikhail escorted her mother down the red runner. Quinn was already standing next to the officiator looking handsome in his gray tux. Apparently he could choose what he got to wear which irked her. As soon as Josephine was seated and Mikhail was sitting next to Zoe, it was time for Justine and David to walk in. The music had stopped and the man standing with Quinn was speaking in a foreign language that Justine actually understood. He was saying the same words over and over. "All hail the Queen of Queens... All hail the Queen of Queens..." He said this in the same monotone voice until Justine and David were standing in front of him and then he said something else. Justine let her mind wander only half listening to the man. Finally, he asked David who he was. "I am David Sheffield, mate to the Queen Mother, friend to the Queen of Queens and her mate. It is with great honor that I hand her over to our king." The man droned on for another ten minutes before holding his hand out to Justine and effectively dismissing David. Justine took the cold clammy hand of the official and looked at Quinn. "God Jussie, you're gorgeous!" Quinn said out loud and earning a dirty look from the official. "So are you." Justine replied ignoring the official. "Excuse me." the official snapped, "But you are not permitted to speak to each other until the ceremony is complete." The green flames around Quinn's eyes jumped to life as he stared at the official. The room was silent as everyone waited to see what was going to happen. Justine took Quinn's hand and gave it a squeeze. "You cannot..." "Don't you dare say that we can't talk." Justine growled. "You have forty --five minutes to get this done." "You cannot shorten the ceremony!" "She just did." Quinn said. "You've just used five minutes." Obviously flustered, the official sputtered as he looked through his book trying to see what he could eliminate. "Look." Quinn said. "Say your prayers without all the repetitions, say the prayer of fertility, sing your song, bless everyone and we're done." "Do you need an official command?" Justine asked when the official still hadn't started. Maurice looked over at Mikhail trying not to laugh and then looked at Lorenzo. They had tried to warn the official before the ceremony but he hadn't listened. Maurice took a quick look around the crowded room and liked what he saw. Justine and Quinn had just established themselves as no bull shit rulers. David put his arm around Josephine, pulled her close and kissed her temple. "That's our girl!" he whispered. He considered Justine as a daughter even if she didn't see him as a father figure. He was immensely proud of her. Like Maurice had done, David looked around the room. He had seen the dubious looks that several people had given Justine as they walked by during the processional. He noted with satisfaction that those looks were replaced with looks of respect and surprise. "Good girl." He muttered under his breath. Exactly forty minutes later, the ceremony was over. The official had gotten over his ire and was smiling. There was something to be said about a shorter service. "Everyone rise and acknowledge our Queen of Queens Justine and her mate and King Quinn!" As one, everyone stood and bowed their heads and said the equivalent of the Pledge of Allegiance. Undercover security guards took note of who did not say the pledge, but left them alone. As soon as the ceremony was over, Quinn and Justine vanished to a room set aside for their use. "I wish that we had time for a quickie." Quinn said as he changed into less formal clothes. "Me too but duty calls." Justine replied. A few minutes later, they were greeting their guests. Justine took quick peeks around looking for signs of trouble. Sensing none, she turned her attention back to greeting the guests. All was well for the moment. ******* Wallace Dunham felt uncomfortable in the formal clothes that he was wearing for the first night of the gala. He hadn't dressed up in centuries and wished that he could get rid of the bowtie that felt as if it was choking the life out of him. "Stop picking at it!" Dawn Rhys, Thomas' sister and Wallace's date for the week snapped. "Do you understand what you're supposed to do?" "I'm just supposed to walk around." Wallace replied. "But I don't understand... why am I being paid so well to just walk around?" "You're also being paid to do as you're told and not to ask questions." Dawn retorted. The feeling of disquiet was back. Wallace began to wonder what he had gotten himself into; but asked no further questions. He had the feeling that it wouldn't be in his best interest. He reached for the neck of his shirt again and stopped when he saw Dawn glaring at him. It was going to be a long week. ********* The first four days of the gala flew by. There were a few minor issues and several dignitaries had been asked to leave. Apparently they hadn't believed that the guidelines stated in the invitations would be followed. "Ambassador Kenda, you received a copy of the guidelines for the gala with your invitation did you not?" Maurice asked. "This is an outrage! I demand to speak to the Queen!" Kenda shouted. Maurice looked at the ambassador unfazed by his anger. "The outrage is that a man of your intelligence would do something so stupid as to try to sneak an unauthorized guest into the gala. Not only that... it was a human. The guidelines were very clear about that." Maurice paused to let the vampire defend himself. He hadn't delivered the most damning piece of information yet. While he waited for the ambassador to think of an excuse, he touched Regina's mind with his. "I'm fine; I'm with Naila and Lorenzo." She sent back. "Look here... can't we over look this? It would save me a great deal of embarrassment." The ambassador said with a smile. "It was such a small thing and he is gone isn't he?" "Ambassador, the young human male that you brought with you is a hunter. He was here to gather information." "You're lying! A hunter hasn't been seen in centuries! He is much too young!" "He confessed under compulsion." Maurice replied. "By bringing him here you endangered all of us. You've especially endangered those of us who don't have the luxury of having security teams to help keep them safe. You're fortunate that he was found before he did any real damage." "What do you mean?" He asked nervously. "I mean that your young man was caught talking to his contact." Maurice replied. "You're fortunate that you're not in a cell." Kenda blinked and then paled. "Surely you don't think that I knew what he was? I...." "Had you followed the guidelines we wouldn't be talking would we?" Maurice asked. "You have thirty minutes in which to pack after which a guard will escort you off the property. If you are found anywhere near here, you will be arrested. Your thirty minutes begins now." "Wait... what happened to the young man?" Kenda asked. "He's safe for the moment." Maurice replied. "Twenty-nine minutes." Maurice watched the ambassador rush off and shook his head. There would be no helping Regina undress before bed. The hunter had to be interrogated. It turned out that the hunter was new and wanted to make a name for himself. The information that he had gathered was important enough that it could have caused a great deal of trouble for all of them. Thankfully a security team member had stopped to listen and apprehended the man. After finding out who he called, Maurice compelled the man to call the number back and tell them that the information had been incorrect. After the phone call, Maurice compelled the man to give him the names and address of the hunters in the area. "It was stupid of you to come here." Maurice told the hunter. "You're lucky that you're still alive. It is well within our rights to kill you." The hunter's eyes widened; but he didn't say anything. He had to admit that the vampire was right; he shouldn't have come. "I don't understand this hatred that you have of us." Maurice said. "The majority of us are law abiding citizens. We have families that we love just as you do. We are doctors, lawyers and many of us struggle to live day to day just as you do. There are those of us who are evil and who make no effort to mainstream. Those we hunt and destroy. They are an enemy to you and to us so why do you come after those who do you no harm? Answer me." "It's what we are taught." The hunter replied. "We only know that your kind lie, steal, rape and murder." "Has one of my kind ever hurt you or anyone in your family?" Maurice asked. "No... but..." "But what?" Maurice interrupted. "You blindly believe everything that you've been told? You don't have a brain?" "Are you going to kill me?" The hunter asked in a shaky voice. "I could but I won't" Maurice replied. "I have a better idea." "W... what are you going to do to me?" "Silence!" Maurice said as he looked into the dark brown eyes of the terrified hunter. "You will be escorted away from here. You won't remember how you got her or anything about this place. You will remember what I'm about to tell you. Do you understand?" "Yes sir." "When you leave here, you will go home. You will tell the leader of your group about the rogues and convince him that they are the true enemy. You will suggest to him that he work with us to eliminate this common enemy. When he finally agrees... and this may take some time, you will say one word; oyez which means call to attention. That word is only to be used when you need to reach me. Is that understood?" "I understand." The hunter replied. "Repeat my instructions." Maurice commanded. Satisfied that the hunter would do as he was told; Maurice had him taken from the premises. He found Mikhail and told him what happened. "Good thinking." Mikhail replied. "I'm going to send someone to watch him and the leader." Fortunately the other incidents weren't nearly as serious but exceptions couldn't be made. Part of the reason for the gala was so that the reigning Queen could set the tone for her rule. Justine and Quinn had done that nicely. Everyone now knew that they would take no nonsense, but on the other hand; they were seeing a Queen and King who weren't afraid to intermingle with and have a good time with their subjects. Maurice watched as Quinn talked with vampires who were obviously struggling to survive. Whatever Quinn said to the vampires made them happy. Their toothy grins could be seen from across the room. Justine was handing a drink to a woman who looked to be in her seventies... the age at which she had been turned. All and all, things were going well; but three days remained. He watched Gabra and Jian was they walked from table to table sometimes stopping; but most times not. He was beginning to wonder if anything was going to happen but... He looked behind him to see Anthony Rhys talking to a group of vampires. The thought that they might get through the gala with no further incidents flew out of the window. Maurice looked around the room to see if he could spot Thomas. When he didn't, he sent out a group telepathic message. "Anthony Rhys is here." One by one he got a response acknowledging the message. "Let's go make ourselves known." Mikhail said from beside him. ******* Thomas hadn't let his guard down even though Lottie was much more relaxed. He wasn't going to relax until the gala was over and his father was in prison. His arm was around Lottie's waist when he felt her tense. "Lottie? What is it?" He asked looking around. "I... I thought that I saw someone that I haven't seen in years... but I must have been mistaken." "Who was it that you thought you saw?" Thomas asked. "My father... but he would never come to something like this. He would be too embarrassed. Many of his old business associates are here." The wheels started turning in Thomas' head. "Lottie if he tries to get you to go with him; don't. He's working with my father." "What? Thomas are you sure?" Lottie asked. "Remember we couldn't figure out how they were going to take you." He replied. "The only way would be for you to go with them." "My father... that's why he's here." She whispered. "He was the one person that we didn't think about." Thomas looked around the crowded room looking for his family. "They're here." He said. "Maurice just spotted my father. They're waiting you to wander off." "I won't... I promise." Lottie said. ********* Wallace walked around the large building still confused as to why he was there. He ran into a few business associates who while polite; were standoffish. Dawn Rhys was never far from his side, but she never spoke to him unless it was to berate him for something. It was clear that she didn't like him, but then; he didn't like her either. Justine Ch. 22 It was the fourth day of the gala and he was bored. The only thing that was keeping him there was the money. It was late evening when he swore that he saw Lottie. He stared at the spot where he thought he saw her and began to make his way there. "Where are you going?" Dawn asked. "I...nowhere." Wallace replied still looking at the spot. "Then let's keep moving." Dawn said and walked away. She knew who he had seen, but now wasn't the time to call him out on the lie. If she did, he would put it together and that would stop them in their tracks. ******** Thomas found Lorenzo and Naila standing by an exit watching the crowd. He knew what he needed to do, but he needed to make sure that Lottie was safe. He planned to put an end to his family's activities as soon as possible. "Lorenzo, I must take care of some things, may I leave Lottie with you?" "Of course, but are you sure that this is wise?" Lorenzo asked. "I have to take care of this in my own way." Thomas replied. "But I need to know that Lottie is safe. Will you help me?" "Thomas.... Please...this is what he wants." Lottie said. "You'd be walking into a trap." "I know." Thomas replied. "Then it is no longer a trap is it? I want your word that you'll stay with Lorenzo and Naila. That is the way in which you can help me the most." Lottie started to object, but then agreed. "Call if you need help." Lorenzo said. Thomas looked at him with an intensity that made Lorenzo nervous and glad that he was on their side. "Thank you. Just watch after Lottie." Lorenzo watched Thomas walk away like a man who knew what he had to do and had the confidence that he would succeed. He looked at Lottie and gave her an encouraging smile before sending a message to Maurice. "Thomas is on the move, leave him alone unless he calls for help.... yes... I'll tell them." ******** Quinn had just finished a dance with a woman who had insisted on bringing him a plate of food when he received the message from Lorenzo. Justine looked at him and nodded. She had just gotten the same message. "Thank you for the dance." Quinn said politely. The woman tittered and then blushed before she backed away. "What's he up to?" Quinn asked Justine when he reached her. "He wants to prove himself." Justine replied. "And I'm fine as long as we're ready to jump in if he needs help." "Jussie... he isn't going to need it." Quinn replied. "As long as Lottie is safe, he'll be fine." ********* "Wait here." Dawn said as she walked away. Wallace glared at her but did as she asked until he saw Lottie again. He started to leave his place when a voice stopped him. "Don't go to her. If you do, they'll take her." "Who are you?" Wallace asked as he turned around. "Thomas Rhys. Anthony Rhys is my father." "How do you know Lottie?" Wallace asked. "She's my mate and my father wants her to get to me." Thomas explained. "Stay here and someone will come to guard you." "What about Lottie?" "She's safe as long as you stay away from her." Thomas replied. "I need to talk to her...I need to explain..." "Later." Thomas interrupted and walked away. Wallace jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "My name is John; I've been assigned to watch you." ******* Dawn stopped short when she saw Thomas talking to Wallace. "Shit!" she swore and tried to vanish. "Your powers don't work here." Thomas said with a smile, "But mine do." Dawn's eyes narrowed as she looked into his face. "Fuck...." "Watch your language." Thomas said softly. "You may have your gifts." Dawn said, "But you don't know how to use them, and even if you did; that doesn't change what you are." "And what would that be?" Thomas asked as he took Dawn by the arm. "Weak and pathetic just like father says you are. " "Oh yes... I had almost forgotten that, but Dawn; who is it that is using a father to gain access to his daughter? Father is brave? Then where is he? Why hasn't he called me out if I am so weak? Why are you here on the front lines? But it doesn't matter... You don't have to explain why you were planning to kidnap of one of the Queen's court members." "You would turn me in? You would go against your family?" "I disowned you as my family when I realized what you wanted from me." Thomas replied his tone icy. "Lottie and the Queen's court is my family." Dawn laughed. "You really are stupid! Why do you think that they want you?" she sneered. "They want you for the same reason father wants you." "That's true." Thomas replied. "But here's the difference... they asked and didn't make me feel as though I was worthless. But I understand now. Father wanted me to feel that way so that I would be easier to control. It's why he was so thrilled when I was mated to Wilhelmina... they had plans. He didn't plan on the Queen of Queens appearing nor did he plan on Wilhelmina dying." "Thomas... I can help you..." "I don't need your help." Thomas replied. He murmured under his breath and Dawn was gone. ******** Justine spotted Thomas talking to a woman that had to be his sister. Moments later, the woman was gone. She looked to see if anyone had noticed. "Well damn!" she exclaimed. "Quinn, cover for me" Seconds later, Justine was sitting across from Dawn assessing her and not liking what she saw. "You like hurting people." Justine said. "You are loyal only to yourself... in fact, you're trying to think of a way not to go to prison for treason even as we speak." Dawn looked into Justine's glowing eyes and knew that it would be pointless to try to negotiate with her. "You're smart to not to try to bullshit me." Justine said. "I appreciate that. You know, I was prepared to give you victim status, but I won't. You're no more of a victim than the cot that you're sitting on. You liked tormenting Thomas along with your father and brother. You liked torturing the human males that you picked up at the bars... you are one sick bitch. Someone will be here to take you away shortly." "Where are you sending me?" Dawn asked. "You don't need to know that." Justine replied as she stood. "But you'll never be released. You committed treason the moment you planned to take Lottie and Thomas. They are members of my court. Don't worry, your father and brother will be joining you shortly." ********* Thomas found his brother Marcus in the banquet room. He had to laugh in spite of the situation. His brother loved to eat and always had some kind of food nearby. Until recently, Marcus was the only one of them who could eat. "Hello Marcus" Thomas said as he picked up a shrimp canapé. "The food is delicious isn't it?" Marcus stared as Thomas popped the canapé into his mouth, chewed and then swallowed it. "Delicious! Have you tried the little meatballs? They're made from a recipe that the Queen Mother got from her mother... what's wrong Marcus? You look ill." "When did you start eating food?" Marcus asked. "A couple of weeks ago." Thomas replied as he reached for one of the meatballs. "It took some getting used to; but now I can't believe what I was missing. Are you sure that you're alright? You seem nervous." "I... have you seen Dawn?" Marcus asked looking around. "As a matter of fact I have." Thomas replied. "Marcus, do you know what treason is?" Marcus didn't answer; but began to back away from the table. "Treason is what you, Dawn, father and mother have committed time and time again. It was only a matter of time before you got caught, but you screwed up." Thomas said as he ate another meatball. "What are you talking about?" Marcus asked. "You shouldn't have come to the gala." Thomas said. "You committed high treason against the Queen's court." "I did no such thing!" Marcus said as he took another step backwards. "Do you deny finding Wallace Dunham for father?" Marcus didn't reply. He didn't like the look in Thomas' eyes. "All of you have committed high treason. Lottie is my mate and you planned to use her to take me. Tell me, did you explain to her father why he was here?" Marcus opened his mouth to yell. "Shut up Marcus." Thomas commanded. "Go with the guards." ******** Quinn was waiting in the cell when Marcus was brought down. Marcus tried to vanish as soon as he saw him. "Give it up, you can't vanish." Quinn said quietly. "The only people with their gifts are those in our court so sit your ass down." Marcus sat down on the cot and waited. "What in the fuck were you thinking?" Quinn asked. "Did you really think that you could walk in here and commit treason? Oh... I know, you didn't know that Thomas and Lottie were one of us. It doesn't matter because we were coming after you anyway. You just saved us the trouble of finding you. Enjoy your last hours of freedom." Marcus watched Quinn vanish and then looked around the cell. He tried to vanish again; but soon gave up. "Maybe dad will get away." Dawn said from the cell on the opposite side of the room. Marcus didn't reply. He knew that it was a false hope. ********* Naila sat with Lottie holding her hand. "I'm sure that he'll be fine." She assured her. "I know... but... I'm still scared." "We won't allow anything to happen to him." Lorenzo assured her. Lottie gave him a grateful smile but still held on to Naila's hand. "Naila." Lorenzo said softly, "You're being watched. Do you know him?" Naila looked past Lorenzo and looked at the vampire that was staring at her. "No... I don't think so." She replied. "He's coming over." Lorenzo stood in front of the table and waited for the vampire to approach. "Please, I mean no harm to the young lady. It's just that she reminds me of someone that I loved." He said with a soft Scottish lilt. "Who are you?" Lorenzo asked. "I apologize... I am Blair Camran. As I said, the young lady reminds me of someone from my past." "Who do I remind you of?" Naila asked. "A very beautiful woman." He replied. "I loved her and still love very much but she was not my mate... I had to let her go." Naila gripped Lorenzo's hand. "Was her name Annalisa?" she asked. "Do you know her?" The vampire asked. "Is she well?" "She was my grandmother." Naila replied. "She used to tell me about you... not your name...I'm sorry, but she died five years ago." The vampire's shoulder's slumped s tears formed in his eyes. "I loved her." "I know. I could tell by the way her eyes lit up when she talked about you." Naila replied. "She died thinking about you." "Please... may I sit? I would like to hear your memories of her." Lorenzo nodded his agreement but remained in a defensive position. In a way, he was glad that the vampire showed up. It gave Lottie something else to concentrate on. ******** Something was wrong. Anthony looked around for Marcus, Dawn and Wallace. When he didn't find them, he looked for his mate Elizabeth. She hadn't wanted to come; but he had given her no choice in the matter. His anxiety grew as he went from room to room looking for any one of them. He had a moment of panic when he saw both Maurice and Mikhail heading his way; but relaxed when they turned in another direction. Now he wondered about it. Not having his gifts was a pain in the ass and he actually felt a little sympathy for the humans who had been born without gifts. Finally, he caught sight of Wallace and began to rush over when he realized that he didn't see Dawn. He hoped that she hadn't left Wallace alone so that she could sate her insatiable need for pain and blood. He took another step and then stopped when a vampire stepped in front of Wallace. It was obvious that the vampire was a guard. He realized that Dawn must have been caught; but what about Marcus? Even if Marcus was free there was no way that they could get to Lottie. They needed Wallace for that. There was only one thing to do. He had to leave and now. Elizabeth would have to get out on her own. "Aren't you having a good time?" Thomas asked just as Anthony reached the door. Anthony stopped. The voice belonged to Thomas; but it was different. "Thomas! How is it that we're just now seeing each other?" Anthony asked with false cheerfulness. "I don't know father. There are a lot of people here." Thomas replied pleasantly. "Your brother and sister are here... have you seen them?" "Yes, we've spoken." Thomas said. "I can even tell you where they are." Anthony had a bad feeling, but he asked anyway. "Where are they?" "Both of them are locked in a cell downstairs. There's one for you too." Thomas replied. "You fuck..." "Watch your mouth." Thomas said. "All of you are going away for a very long time. And before you start with the family crap... save it. I don't want to hear it. Before you ask if I'm really going to turn you over to the Queen; damn straight I am." "I see." Anthony said with a smirk. "Your gifts are active and you think that you're special. You're not. You're the same sniveling little bastard now as you were then. You can be brave now because you've got the Queen and King; but without them you're nothing." Thomas let his father talk without interrupting him. It was the same old things that he heard for most of his life, but this time; it didn't hurt. "Are you finished?" Thomas asked. His voiced held a bored quality to it. "I've heard all of this before... don't you have anything new?" "Cocky little bastard aren't you?" Anthony asked. "No, I finally understand." Thomas replied as he took a step toward his father. "This is all about control. That's why you're here. You brought Lottie's father here to lure her away... very stupid move on your part. What did you think would happen when Wallace realized why you wanted him here? Did you think that he would betray his daughter twice? You need her to control me. It was never about the Queen and King... it was about me and my gifts." "So brave aren't you?" Anthony asked smoothly. "How brave are you where our gifts can be used? Are you brave enough to face me alone?" Thomas stepped in close to his father and looked into his eyes. "I am no longer that timid, frightened child who grew to be a timid and frightened man. That man disappeared when Wilhelmina and then you threatened my mate. Are you ready to do this?" Anthony was stunned. He could feel a heat radiating from Thomas that hinted at the power that he held at bay. If he didn't do something; control of the family would fall to Thomas. "I have someone following your mother. If you don't come with me, she dies." Thomas' dark eyes flashed in anger and then he laughed. "No you don't." he said. "Mother is talking with the Queen. She's the only one not going to prison as Justine as given her victim status. She had the option of going with you; but she declined." "You're lying..." "So father, what would you like to do?" ******** Father and son faced each other in the field behind where the gala was taking place. Thomas agreed to have Maurice and Mikhail present only if they gave their word not to interfere. "If I die then he goes with me." Thomas said. "Just make sure that Lottie is cared for." Anthony's courage had returned now that his gifts were back. He believed that he would have no trouble defeating his son. After all, he had centuries of practice while Thomas was new to his power. Before Thomas could say anything, Anthony threw the first magical punch. His was stunned when Thomas stopped the spell to bind his gifts before it left his hands. "Would you like to try again?" Thomas calmly asked. Anthony tried several times to get the most powerful of his spells to go through. The last spell he whispered was aimed at Lottie. He had uttered the word just before he threw his last attempt to bind Thomas' powers again. As he had hoped, the whispered word was enough to distract Thomas. The spell had almost reached him when Thomas felt himself being shoved aside. Anthony screamed as the spell flew back at him, hitting him directly in the chest. It was a hit that should have killed him; but yet he lived. "Oh no you don't!" Thomas hissed in his father's face. "You don't get to die like this. I want your ass to rot in prison." Anthony laughed. "You can't stop me now can you? You may be strong..." He stopped talking when he looked at Thomas' eyes and then his hands. He strained to hear what Thomas was saying and then realized that he didn't understand the words. Pains worse than the one the spell had caused made him scream and then sob. A moment later, he was lying on a cot next to the cell Marcus was in. ******** Lottie sat at the table with Naila, Lorenzo and Blair listening to the stories about Naila's grandmother. She knew that Thomas was alright and had just begun to relax when her nose began to bleed. Lorenzo was the first to notice. "Lottie... your nose." Was all he got out before Thomas burst into the room. Without saying a word, he picked Lottie up and took her to their suite. "Thomas... what's happening?" she asked oddly not frightened but more curious. "My father sent a spell to you." He replied. "You're only still alive because the spell was severely weakened since it didn't come from one of us. Rest while I get ready to break the spell... Lottie, it's going to hurt." "But it doesn't have to." Justine said from behind him. "I can put her in a sleep so deep that she won't feel it." "Your guest..." Lottie said. "Don't worry about them." Justine replied. "Mom and David have things under control. Now close your eyes." ******** Anthony opened his eyes to see Quinn, Mikhail and Maurice looking at him. "Which of you took the shot for him?" he asked as she sat up. "That would be me." Maurice said. "Is that all you had? If so, no wonder you had to cheat." "Yes but you no longer have your powers do you?" Anthony said with a sneer. Suddenly he was floating off the bed and then dropped. He landed on the cot with a loud thud. "Do you mean those powers?" Maurice asked with a smile. "Fuck!!!!" Anthony yelled as pain ripped through his chest. "So..." Quinn said. "You're the infamous Anthony Rhys. You don't look like much from here." Quinn paused to give Anthony a chance to respond. "Nothing to say? Good then I'll talk." Quinn said. "I'm not going to go through the whole treason thing. I'm sure Marcus and Dawn will fill you in so I'll just skip to the sentencing part. The three of you will never see the light of day... I mean night again. You will never have access to your gifts again. I'm going to give you all your own very special kind of hell and since I'm a gentleman, I'll start with the lady first. I hear that you like to torture people so here's your punishment... I was thinking of letting you spend eternity with the souls of the ones you tortured, but you'd probably enjoy that. So I took the liberty of peeking into your memories to see what you hated the most. You hate your family... all of them so you will spend an eternity with your brother and father. And to promote bonding... your cells will be right next to each other. Now... Marcus. You were a little bit harder. You don't hate anyone... not really but you do love your food. The guards told me that you've been eating nonstop since you got here so here's what we're going to do. Food will be available; but it will be in Dawn's cell. You only get it if she gives it to you and judging by the way she's looking at you; that isn't going to happen. Last, but not least Anthony. "You could have done so much good with your gifts...well anyway, here's your punishment. As I said, you will never be able to access your gifts again, but you're going to have phantom pains. You're going to feel that little burn in your belly and you'll try to activate your gifts. You'll feel the beginning of them waking, become excited and then...nothing. I know that it doesn't sound so bad, but you won't be able to help yourself. You'll keep trying even though you know the end result. Imagine an eternity of having that frustration. Well you kids have fun... oh wait I almost forgot. You won't be able to commit suicide or kill each other. You won't be able to go insane either."