by M. Cheykota
Shiiiit! What was I thinking taking this stupid job?
My internal indecision is lost when I hear the little girl yelp and start crying. The scent of her blood fills my nostrils, bringing my own blood thirst to the forefront. The biker thrusts the girl in front of me and backs away to the edge of the room. I remove my jacket quickly, exposing all of my weapons and put my jacket around her. She is still crying and her wound must be deep for her to be bleeding freely.
“No guns, Olivia.” Simon barks from the side.
The guards in the room begin closing in. The scent of blood is too enticing for them to ignore. I’m having a problem ignoring it myself. Thank goodness, I can conceal my desire with the shades that are still covering my eyes. The others in the room are not as fortunate. The golden shine of their eyes betrays their secret. Weres, not vampires. I count five weres and five humans. The weres are not wearing any weapons. Against a human, they wouldn’t need any.
I command the little girl to sit on the ground behind me.
“Begin.” Simon calls out.
My twin daggers are in my hands before he finishes the word. The weres are swift and agile. I fend off the first straightforward attacks with a few kicks to the chest and punches to the face. The humans come at me slower, but they are holding hunting knives in their hands. Staying close to the little girl, I have no choice but to limit myself to defending so I may protect the bleeding child.
The blood is a distraction for me, but I am still feeling sated from gorging on blood before arriving, enabling me to ignore the urge to turn on the child myself. The attacks intensify and I force myself to hold back and not kill the weres and humans. Slicing at the weres and humans doesn’t seem to get them to back off their attack, so I use my mind control to stop the human guards from attacking me while I begin breaking bones on the weres. Within minutes, the floor is slippery with preternatural and human blood, along with the weres’ broken bodies. The human guards under my control are all standing frozen.
Wow, that’s new. I haven’t been able to command more than one human at a time, even with direct eye contact, until now.
I release the humans with a mental command to forget my face and walk outside. They obey without a second glance at me.
“Enough. Where are they going?” The biker asks with a curious expression on his face.
“Why don’t you follow them and find out? Regardless of how much money you offer, I don’t want this job.” I move towards the little girl who is no longer crying and take my jacket off her back. “Whose child is this?”
The biker shrugs. “The boss likes her enough. She is well cared for.”
The first were begins to stir as his broken body begins to heal. I walk over to him and check his broken bones. “I don’t want the job. I never showed up.” I adjust his broken leg so it can heal properly. “They need their bones set before they start healing. It will be more painful if they have to re-break the bones.” I work my way around the room, adjusting the bones visibly broken.
He shakes his head. “The boss needs the protection. These men are strong, but not skilled enough. A few lucky shots and they are out of commission. He needs a professional. He needs you.”
“I was told that you would inform me about the job. I need to know one thing right now or I am leaving. Does he work with vampires?”
“Sometimes.”
“Forget it then. I can’t work with vampires. I have my reasons and don’t expect me to tell you them. Have your boss find someone else.” I slide my jacket on and walk towards the door.
“What are you? You cannot be a vampire because it is still daylight outside. They can’t stand the sun. Unless... You are very old.” He gives me another appraising glance.
“Not gonna happen buddy.” I push the door open and see the group of guards standing outside, looking around lost.
The biker runs to my side. “The boss will be calling you.”
I remove my glasses and stare at the man in his eyes. “I never showed up. You don’t remember me. You don’t know what I look like.” I think about the little girl. Thinking about how she might miss her family, I put a final command in his mind. “Take the little girl back to her family and forget her face too.”
I climb onto my bike and put my shades back over my eyes. The biker turns around and walks back inside. Without a second thought, I pull out of the parking lot and gun it down the road. Never again will I take another crappy contract. Next time I’m looking for action, I’ll just go to Blixen.
I am almost home when my cell phone starts ringing. Tempted to ignore it, I allow it to ring several times before unclipping it from my hip. I slow down, but don’t stop until I reach my street.
“What?” I growl into the phone.
“Why did you leave Olivia?”
Timon. “I never showed up. I changed my mind about the job. Something better came along.” I try to bluff.
“Your fighting skills are very impressive.” Timon continues. “I need those skills tonight.”
“Find someone else.” I tell him firmly, realizing he must have been watching the fight.
“There is no time. I will double your fee.” He tries to negotiate.
“The weres would be fine against any human. Why do you need me?”
“I need an expert to protect me tonight. The weres I employ are plenty against humans, but are no match for other weres.”
“What are you?” I boldly ask.
“I am human.”
“Not many humans are aware of the preternatural community.”
“True,” He taunts. “I often work with the dangerous elements. I have business to tend to tonight and my safety is a concern.”
“Find someone else. If you need someone stronger than those weres to protect you, then you are working with people I don’t want to get involved with.” I explain uselessly.
“I do not anticipate any problems tonight. I have dealt with them before. I only require protection for myself if things do not work out as planned.”
“Use the person you used before. I’m not getting involved.” I say strongly.
“Aren’t you curious?” He tries appealing to my curiosity.
“Not enough to get involved.” I silently admit that I like the element of danger involved in jobs like this, but not enough to surround myself with vampires.
“I’ll triple your fee.” He begs.
I chuckle. “I’m telling you, I won’t do it.”
“What will it take?” A hint of panic laces his tone.
“Are you really that desperate? Maybe if you are that concerned for your safety, you shouldn’t be working with these people.” I state unnecessarily.
“I must complete my deal. In the future, I do plan to limit my contact with them. Tonight, I can’t back out or I’m dead.” Timon admits nervously.
“Not my problem.”
“Give me your price.” He pleads.
“Answer me this. Is your business with vampires?” I ask, dropping all pretenses.
He is quiet for a few moments. Long enough for me to know what his answer is.
“I don’t work with vampires. No amount of money will convince me otherwise. Find someone else and don’t bother me again Mr. Timon.” I bark at him, pulling the phone away from my ear as I am about to hang up.
“Wait! Is there someone you could recommend for the job? Someone with your special skills?” He asks desperately.
“I know people, but you are desperate. There must be a reason. If you are unwilling to tell me everything, I won’t risk sending someone else into a situation blind. Vampires are dangerous. I don’t need to tell you that. My recommendation is to give them what they are asking for and hope they leave you alive.”
“Please?” The single word whispered over the phone is enough to make me hesitate.
“When is your meeting?” I ask.
“Nine, tonight.” He volunteers without argument.
I look down at my watch. That’s less than six hours
away. “I may know someone that could help. If I find someone, you will pay him or her $25,000 and give me $10,000 as a recommendation fee. I suggest that you continue actively searching for another bodyguard. I will give you no guarantee that I will find someone in time.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Timon. If you do not hear back from me by sundown, do not expect to hear back from me at all.”
“Very well. I look forward to hearing from you soon, Olivia.”
“Yeah, sure.” I hang up and clip my phone back on my hip. Looking down the street, I can see my house. Sighing, I turn my bike around and head back to the one place I shouldn’t be returning.
Chapter 7
After giving the vampire guard my name at the entrance, the guards wave me through the large iron gates in front of Christien’s house. I pull up behind my Mercedes and turn off the bike. Before I can climb off the bike, Christien is standing in the doorway.
“I came back for my car.” I inform him as I walk up the steps to stand in front of him.
He gives me a quick once over and his nostrils flare.
Shit, I must have blood on me.
“Whose blood are you wearing, chatte?” He moves to the side to allow me entry.
“I must have spilled a bit.” I shrug, walking inside.
“Non, this blood is fresh.” He inhales deeply. “Human and werefox blood if I am not mistaken.”
“Just give me my damn keys. I have some things I need to do and I need my car. I’ll have to come back for the bike later.”
He shakes his head. “Where have you been?”
Stubbornly, I ignore his question, walking pass him to search for my keys on the table in the foyer.
“Chatte, if you would talk to me perhaps I could offer you some assistance.”
Unable to find my car keys, I swing around to face him, hands on my hips. “I have a job to do. I need my keys.”
Head shaking, he shuts the door behind him. “This is a job that requires you to fight weres and humans?”
“You know what I do for a living Christien. I’ll be fine. Now, where are my keys?”
“I have them. Tell me about this job.” He moves towards the couch in the living area.
“Christien, I don’t have time for this. I don’t like riding around on my bike unless necessary. Don’t make it necessary for me.” I say with a little more vulnerability than I want.
He pats the seat next to him. “Surely you can spare a few minutes. Maybe there is something I could do to help.”
“Why?” I walk into the living room, but sit on the table in front of him.
He smirks at my defiance. “I care for you, chatte. Anything you do is a concern to me. I may not like your chosen profession, but I understand why you do.”
“You hardly know me.”
“And that is my fault? I have tried to get to know you better Jessica. Give me a chance and I will see that you will not be disappointed.” He leans back on the couch. “Tell me about this job you have and why you have blood all over your clothes.”
Grumbling, I reluctantly tell him about my afternoon. Starting with the first phone call, I continue with the story, finishing with the last phone call. As the story continues, Christien’s body nearly vibrates with tension. He takes a deep, unnecessary breath to calm his temper before speaking.
“This dangerous life you live, is it worth it?” He asks, shaking his head in disbelief.
I think about his question. “I have never had any other options. This is all I know how to do. It’s not as if I can get a 9 to 5 job anywhere. I don’t exist. I have no job skills.”
Christien runs his fingers through his hair in thought. “Maybe other options will present themselves to you in the future.”
I shrug. “Whatever. Can I have my keys now?”
“I wonder which vampires your client is working with.” He ignores my question. “Now that I will be establishing myself in this area for a while, perhaps I should let the local masters become aware of my presence.”
I am about to ask for my keys again when his rambling stops me. “What do you mean by ‘let the local masters become aware of my presence’? How can they not know you are here? Isn’t that one of the vampire rules or something? I remember Austin telling me that vampires are strict about vampire etiquette.”
He casually shrugs and reaches beside me for a drink that has been sitting on the table since before I arrived. “I was not planning to stay long. I am only renting this house. My vampires and I do not wander through the city or interact with other vampires. We do not even hunt to feed. We are careful to stay unseen unless we choose not to be. Now that I am staying, I have decided to buy this land, expanding my compound to accommodate my new additions. With over 100 vampires in my get, it would be prudent for me to introduce myself to the local master.”
“Won’t he feel like you are trying to take over his territory?”
“I will make sure that he will not feel that way. I do not wish to cause a war. I only want to stay close to you, ma chatte petite.” He confesses.
My heart pounds loudly in my chest. Shocked by his confession, I slide off the table and sit next to him on the couch. “Really? You want to stay here because of me?”
He smiles, kicking my heart rate up another notch. This vampire is truly breathtaking.
He leans closer to me, brushing his lips against mine. “Yes. I will admit it is much sunnier here than I like, but life, such as mine is, would be unbearable without you. I have already informed my vampires that we are staying here as long as you choose.”
“What do they say about that?” I ask curiously.
“I have had less than a handful of vampires choose to leave my get when they have matured enough to have their own. They are still loyal to me; they just have their own territory they are responsible for defending. Even though they may not want to stay in this hot and sunny place, they will do so because they enjoy being part of my get.”
“Wow, to have that kind of loyalty must mean you are a great master.” I reluctantly admit. “Some might consider you weak to be adored by your vampires instead of feared.”
“I do hope so.” He replies, shocking me. “If they felt we were a threat in any way, we would always be under attack anywhere we stopped for any length of time. My only true territory is in France. Anywhere else, they would consider us visitors or enemies. We never cause major problems when we visit other master’s territories so they have no reason to bother us. Since I have decided to stay here, the master of the city will need to know that we are here. He will not be happy, most likely upset that I want to stay in his city. I am powerful and most likely older than most, if not all, of the vampires in the young United States.”
“What will happen if the master of the city does not want you to stay in his city?”
“I will try to be convincing.” He smiles knowingly.
“Oh no, don’t go starting a war on my behalf.” I warn him.
“You have no reason to worry. I will reassure him that he has no worries from me. Most likely, he will request my vampires’ assistance in securing his city. That is a price I am willing to pay in order to stay close to you.”
I frown. “What if I move? You will be stuck here.”
“If you move, I will follow. I belong to you as much as you belong to me. You still do not understand what it means to be someone’s mate. It is only a matter of time until you give in to your desire and come home. I will be waiting when you do. There is no pressure. You may take as much time as you need. You will find that I have an abundance of patience. That is something I have learned over the thousand years I have been searching for Hassan.”
I snuggle closer to him, resting my head on his chest. His arms circle me without hesitation. “How can you be so sure that I am your mate?”
“In over 1500 years, I have never felt about anyone the way I felt about you from the moment I saw you. Trust me. Nothing else can explain this incredible connect
ion between us.” Christien states amorously.
“Trust has always been an issue with me. I do not give it lightly.” I whisper against his chest.
He chuckles. “That is one thing about you I already notice. The short time you have known me, you have managed to trust me enough to tell me several of your biggest secrets. Some that you have not even mentioned to Roman in all the years you have known him. How do you explain that?”
I can’t. I blink in surprise.
That knowledge stops me short with my ready-made reply. Everything he has told me is true. Even my mother believes that he is my mate and has told me so. Do I have it in me to believe what he is saying and seize what is right in front of me? I don’t know, but for now, I’ll let things continue. He has done nothing to me that would make me think otherwise.
“Okay, I’ll need some time to think about it. For now, I need my keys so I can go. I don’t have a lot of time to find someone to take this contract off my hands. Obviously, I’m not willing to deal with vampires, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others who will. There’s a lot of money in it for them if they want to take that chance.”
Christien’s chest begins to rumble. I look into his eyes and see the humor he is trying to control.
“What’s so funny?”
“You are in a house full of powerful vampires yet you want to ask strangers for assistance?”
“You?” I ask incredulously. “I wouldn’t ask you to put yourself in danger like that.”
“It does not have to be me if you disapprove. I have many vampires capable of performing guard duty if you wish. However, if you are directly involved, I would like to join you.”
