Stolen-Kindle1

by Merrill Gemus

  At that moment, the phone rang. Immediately, it interrupted his thoughts. Should he answer the call? Would it be Benedict? Gabe highly doubted it. He was almost certain that Moira’s family was keeping him extremely busy before the wedding. If he were to be completely swamped with work, he would have little to no time to think about Ally. The machine eventually picked up the call.

  “H-hello? HELLO? Mr. Voss, are you there?”

  Gabe looked over to where the machine laid. Benedict was rarely called “Mr. Voss.” He was not a fan of formalities. The voice was barely a whisper. Whoever it was, it was female and her message seemed urgent.

  “If someone can hear this, please pick up. Mistress Moira is planning on doing something utterly foolish and she needs to be stopped.”

  Gabe leaped out of the armchair so fast; it fell backwards, as he raced for the phone. Once he reached it, he tore the receiver from its base.

  “Who is this?” He demanded.

  “Oh, thank goodness! My name is Joanie, and I am a servant for the Verdons’ house. Is this Mr. Voss?”

  “No, I am Gabriel from the Harlan Household. Benedict and I are good friends.”

  “W-would it be possible to speak to him?”

  “He is absent, but as I said, I’m a close friend. What is the problem, Joanie?”

  Gabe heard the hesitation in her voice. Clearly, this woman had information on Moira. As a servant, he understood that she was taking a great risk going behind her mistresses’ back. Gabe wondered what she or her household must have done to be sentenced as the Verdons’ slaves.

  “Will this remain confidential? I do not wish to cause more problems for my family. ”

  “You have my word.”

  Joanie’s voice was low and slightly trembling. “Mr. Harlan, my mistress has taken three humans as prisoners. Up to now, they have been well taken care of, except for the morphed who has not been fed.”

  Gabe nodded, hoping she would get to the point, but unwilling to interrupt in case she divulged useful information.

  Joanie pressed on. “Initially, she told me that they would be imprisoned until she married Mr. Voss, at which point, she would free them. Now, things have changed. She has become increasingly paranoid. She does not trust anyone, not even me. I am making this call when I should be doing errands.”

  “I understand.”

  “Well, I have a feeling that she is jealous of the morphed. She curses her name throughout the day. She even threatens to kill her! She doesn’t even seem to care that she could be exiled for such an offence!”

  “The problem, Joanie, please.”

  “Yes, well, she is taking them away. All three girls! Even the humans who are of no threat to her.”

  Gabe froze. He was potentially now dealing with a loose cannon: a paranoid woman on the verge of a mental breakdown. “Where are they?”

  “I am unsure of the exact location, but I overheard her ask the chauffeur to drive her and the detainees over to Helena’s Bog.”

  Gabe smiled, relieved. If Moira was heading to the bog, then he knew where she would probably put the girls. One of the estates, that was confiscated from the Harlan’s, was a small cabin situated in Helena’s Bog. He never understood why it was part of the deal; the cabin was run down, old and falling apart. It was more of a shack than anything. Still, it had a sentimental value to both his mother and father. The small cabin faced the bog, and was isolated in the area. Gabriel would head there directly.

  “I think I know where she is heading. Had she departed?”

  “No, but they will very soon.”

  From where he was, it would take him approximately an hour to get close enough to walk towards the cabin. It would still be daylight and dangerous. His safe bet, would be to wait until the sun set. This left him very little time to free the girls, stop the wedding, and bring down the Verdons from this hellish experience. He had to get a hold of Benedict!

  “Listen, Joanie, thank you. This will stay between us, and I promise you that your days as a will soon be over.”

  “One last thing, Mr. Harlan…” She seemed to falter but quickly regained her composure, “I think Mistress Moira is foolish enough to hurt the women. I mean, I have no proof that she would do this, but I can think of no other reason as to why she is heading there. I believe that she is trying to cover up her tracks. You must act fast! She has completely lost it!”

  “I will.” Gabe announced, “May I ask you why you’re doing this? Why are you risking your House’s welfare? Surely, you do not care for the well-beings of humans to jeopardize your standing within our society.”

  There was a slight pause. Gabe wanted to certify that this was not a trick. The last thing he needed was a wild goose chase and waste even more of his precious time.

  Softly, Joanie replied. “Mr. Harlan, my House, like yours, was reduced to ruins centuries ago. I will not go into the details, but I fear that the Verdons are hoping that Benedict will balk at marrying Moira. Even if he honors the wedding, the Verdons’ will gain more power than they already possess now. Ultimately, reducing the Voss family to nothing.” Suddenly, Joanie’s voice was cold and lethal. “I will not allow the House of Voss to face the same fate as mine. Enough is enough!” She said, hanging up the phone.

  Gabe placed the receiver on its based and stared hard at it. He did not personally know this Joanie, but he felt a kinship to her. Both were from destroyed families at the hand of the Verdons’ Household. He knew he was not the only House affected by Vincent thirst for power and wealth, but he never knew that others would be willing to fight them.

  Quickly, he grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen. He needed to hurry. Before he headed out to Helena’s Bog, he had to grab a few relics. He had no idea what to expect up there but if Joanie was right and Moira was losing her marbles; Gabe wanted to be prepared.

  Benedict,

  Join me at Helena’s Bog. Bring offense and defense relics.

  It is going to be a showdown.

  -Gabe

  With that, he left the study.

  Gabriel embarked on his motorcycle, and drove the 25 miles back to his apartment. He knew that war was on the brim of breaking between the Harlans and the Verdons, and it was about time. He hoped that in the end, he would safely be able to rescue the girls.

  He checked his watch, and knew he had some time to kill, but decided to head over to the bog. He would spend the extra time he had scouring the area. A lot could have changed since the last time he had been up there.

  He headed towards his bedroom and lifted a loose floorboard located at the foot of his bed. Inside, he grabbed a few relics; put away some he deemed too dangerous, changed his mind, and packed those as well. Who knew what type of situation he would come across?

  Next, he crossed the floor and opened a small battered chest inside his closet. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to bring this relic, but he decided that it was better that he came well prepared, than not at all. With everything in place, Gabriel headed out towards Helena’s Bog.

  As he rode to the bog, Gabriel slowly realized that revenge was no longer, what he was truly seeking. He was not risking his neck to catch the Verdons, but to save his mate. Damn it, he muttered to himself. I do not want to become attached to her. Save the girls, apprehend Moira, and get what was once supposed to be my life. End of story. Nothing more, nothing less.

  As he arrived at his destination, he hopped off his motorcycle and started scouring the area. No one was immediately visible. He sniffed the air and smelt human blood. They must have headed north from the entrance. Gabe commenced his pursuit.

  CHAPTER TEN

  November 3rd

  12:44 AM

  Benedict was busy working at his office, reviewing his last set of documents for the High Court. He was flabbergasted by the amount of paper work he had to audit and sign. Never in his life had he been so bogged down with bureaucracy.

  His desk was littered with several stacks of documents. He noticed that those that were re
ady to be delivered to higher management were still on his outbox. Where was his assistant? Each of these set were deemed urgent, and needed to be addressed as soon as possible. There was no way he could have delayed any of his work because their deadlines were so close, and it kept him working late at night. What was more frustrating was that the documents needed to be handled with his eyes-only. Benedict could not even entertain the notion of delegating some of his tasks to someone else.

  Interestingly, the Verdons clan was all somewhat involved with each of these set. Most of the documents came directly from Vincent Verdon’s jurisdiction. Benedict tried hard not to be suspicious, but it was very tough to do. He did not believe that this entire backlog was pure coincidence.

  Racing to finish the last set, he signed and approved the documents and placed his pen on the final pile. Good riddance, he thought to himself. He gazed at his watch, and saw that it was November 3rd. Did Gabe have any news of Ally? Was there any advancement in their efforts? He stretched as he contemplated calling Gabriel right away. No better time than the present.

  All at once, his office door opened swiftly and Arina, his assistant, arrived with her arms full of more documents. She walked over to him and dumped the set unceremoniously on his desk. In a fit of rage, Benedict leaned over and swept his arms across the table, sending dozens of documents flying across the room. “Enough!” He bellowed at his assistant.

  Arina winced at his words and stared at him. Benedict groaned. The last thing he wanted was to yell at the poor girl. She was only doing her job and following orders.

  Arina Verdon was a second cousin to Moira. Neatly dressed in a dark blue trouser suit, with her auburn hair styled in a short bob cut, she showed off a nicely framed face. Benedict had always trusted her. She had been his assistant for over half a decade, and despite his mood, he knew she was a damned good one, too. She was courteous, discreet, but most of all reliable.

  “I beg your pardon, Mr. Voss?”

  Benedict sighed as he rubbed his temples. It had been over five years, and still she refused to call him by his first name. He despised formalities. He did not need to be placed and ranked over others. Although with his recent display of emotion, he knew Arina would not be so quick to be on a first-name basis with him.

  “It’s nothing, Arina. Forgive me; I’ve been awfully tired lately.”

  Arina nodded and smiled weakly as she sorted the documents. Benedict was ashamed of himself. None of this was Arina’s fault, so he should learn to curb his temper. She was not the one who kidnapped Ally.

  He stood and walked over to face his large office window. The weather looked bleak. The days were getting bitterly cold and the thick gray clouds seemed to have finally matched his tenor. With the crisp November cold, he hoped Ally was somewhere warm and safe.

  He turned his back to the elements and regarded Arina, as she made neat, orderly stacks on his desk. These proceedings were tying him down, he thought. They left him no room to advance his search for Ally. He had heard no news of Gabriel and was starting to wonder if his secretary, Beatrice, was forwarding his messages. Furthermore, to complicate matters, he had less than 12 hours before his wedding with Moira.

  Incidentally, Moira was currently on hiatus. She had not returned any of his phone calls since he last talked to her. It was rather futile of him to hope that she could somehow convince Vincent of delaying their wedding for another week, just so he could find Ally. Despite, having found and bonded with another woman, Vincent would still force him to uphold to his side of the bargain. No, he could not postpone the wedding any further. It was truly a done deal. Ally needed to be present.

  God, he was a fool for signing that contract! Hadn’t Gabe warned him? If he were to give up his relics, he could no longer conjure magic. Magic inherited from his household. Magic that was unknown to anyone outside of his family. No vampire ever gave up his or her relics. On the other hand, he needed extra time to find Ally, and looking back, he did not regret risking everything to find her. She was worth it. Yet, here he was working on these useless documents. Were these papers more important than she was? Was he really wasting precious time signing off documents that in all honesty, could wait a few more days?

  He shook his head. How stupid was he? To hell with his duties, Benedict had pressing matters to solve. As he gathered his coat and keys, he stopped and apologized once again to Arina for his harsh tone and behavior. Next, he started heading towards the door.

  Arina gasped. “Where do you think you’re going? You have to finish your work here.”

  Benedict froze mid-step. Was she giving him orders? Arina had never spoken back to him. “I must step out for a bit, Arina. I’ll be back shortly.”

  “When? As an executive, you have responsibilities, Mr. Voss.”

  Ben was amused and he knew she was right, but to hell with it all. He wasted too much time already. With less than a day left, he needed to find Ally, get their union officiated, and annul his marriage with Moira.

  “These documents can wait or miss their deadlines, Arina. I must find… Moira.”

  At her name, Arina lightened up. It was completely understandable for Benedict to want to sneak out early from work to be with his fiancée.

  Arina beamed a bright smile. “You, two, will be the most perfect couple on our realm. Is everything ready for tomorrow?”

  “Um, you know, Moira, she probably has everything planned to the hilt.”

  “Everyone’s talking about the ceremony, you know? I’m looking forward to it.”

  “As am I.” He lied.

  Benedict’s suspicions over the Verdons implications with the amount of paperwork he was receiving were confirmed. Arina, beyond any shadow of doubt, would have prevented him from leaving his office for any excuse. She was only lenient because she believed he was trying to find Moira.

  He noticed that her stance visibly relax at her name. Did Arina know about Ally? Was she aware that he bonded with another and was hoping to annul his wedding? Everything was getting overly complex now. He no longer knew whom to trust. Was Gabriel right? Were the Verdons involved in this sordid mess? If they were, God helped them all.

  At the spur of the moment, he wondered where exactly Moira was. He had tried getting in contact with her for almost three days now. Yet, he was to wed with her tomorrow? Something was not adding up. He wondered if Arina would know anything about her whereabouts.

  “Arina, I have been trying really hard to get in contact with Moira. Do you happen to know where she is?”

  Arina looked away. “It’s a secret, Mr. Voss. She fears you might see her dress or you might overhear some of the surprises she has planned for the wedding. She really wants her day to be special.”

  Benedict’s eyes narrowed, with one brow raised. He knew Moira was not much into surprises. Also, even if it were true, he did not plan staying with her for long. He just wanted some information about her father.

  “Ah, I see,” Benedict smiled softly at his assistant. “The problem is that I have an heirloom to give to her. I want Moira to wear a pearl necklace that has been passed down to each new wife who is to become a Voss.”

  “R-really?” She breathed, mesmerized by romantic ideals.

  “Yes. I very much hope to see it around her neck tomorrow. It would mean a lot to me.”

  Arina considered Benedict’s words. It was all so romantic and lovely. The tale of two household joined by love and devotion. An heirloom signifying an immortal bond between husband and wife. It was so perfect, so wonderful, such a grand fairy tale!

  Arina smiled at Benedict with sparkly green eyes. She was not going to prevent Moira from getting the necklace. She was delighted that she would be part of the wedding, helping both Houses to perfect their day.

  “Ms. Verdon should be heading to Helena’s Bog.”

  “Helena’s Bog? Wait, why?”

  “She has a cottage there. I overheard her telling Mr. Verdon that she was going to the bog to settle a few matters before her big day.�
��

  “She was here?! When?”

  “Oh, well, she wasn’t here per say, but I heard her message on Mr. Verdon’s voicemail.”

  Benedict nodded slowly. “Anything else?”

  Arina frowned. “Well, to be honest with you, Mr. Voss, I’m not sure why she decided to spend her last days at the bog. It’s isolated, and the cottage is completely run down. Plus,” she whispered, “She’s bringing goons with her.”

  Benedict went rigid with that announcement. What the hell was Moira doing at Helena’s Bog? Along with goons? He did not like this one bit.

  “Thanks Arina. You’ve made my day.” He said as he rushed out of the room.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  November 4th

  1:14 AM