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by J. A. Smith


  I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until I heard the door close and Andre’s car peel out of the driveway. My head hurt, my body was shaking from pent up aggression, for some odd reason I was in Andre’s sights and he wasn’t going to give me up without a fight, I didn’t know the why of his sudden feelings, but I knew what I felt and love was far from it.

  Chapter 16

  For the next few days I did nothing but work, I didn’t want to think about how I was going to have to change my life once again, only this time I wasn’t sure if I could hide well enough from the Master of all Vampires. Thankfully Andre had been silent as well as had Quinn. I hadn’t seen either of them in two days, which was a relief in most cases but Quinn’s absence, had me wondering if he was ok. I had asked Henry where he was, but all I received was a shrug of his shoulders.

  On the third day I was all but twitching to see Quinn alive and well, but when I called his cell three times and received no answer I began to worry more. On instinct I called someone who might know, gritting my teeth as an unfamiliar female voice answered.

  “Hello”

  “Hello, this is Lana calling from the Organ office, I was wondering if Mr. Williams was available” I made sure to keep my voice as professional as I could, no need to tell the woman I was looking for my dad since he had disowned me.

  “One moment please” she said as I heard her place the phone down. I could hear a baby crying in the background, my stomach twisted into knots as I waited and listened to my brother or sister wail away.

  “This is Mike” my dad said as he answered the phone the crying had stopped a few seconds before.

  “Mr. Williams, I was wondering if you had heard from Quinn in the last few days” I asked. Silence was my answer until I was certain he had hung up, he would know whom he was speaking to even if his wife hadn’t told him. When I was about to disconnect the call he spoke.

  “He called me three days ago and said he was going to need more men for a job he had lined up” He was also keeping his voice professional.

  “He was supposed to be in the office today but never showed, if you could be so kind and see if you can track him down it would be very appreciated” there was slight pause as mike caught my meaning, Quinn wouldn’t have just left when he was supposed to be somewhere and not call in. Loud and clear I had pretty much stated Quinn was missing.

  “I’ll see what I can do” he stated as he hung up.

  Later I went into Quinn’s office in search for his mail with a home address on it. He was renting a place nearby, even though his truck wasn’t in the driveway I could hear two heartbeats coming from the house. After knocking on the door a woman came to answer it, to say I was shocked to see her would be an understatement.

  “Can I help you with something?” The women asked weary at the sight of me, I could smell her fear.

  “I am looking for Quinn, I work at his office and was wondering if he was home” I said smiling at the woman so she would calm down. “He hasn’t been home for two days” she stated looking me over. I was so curious I couldn’t stop myself from reading her thoughts. She was human and had been with Quinn for seven months now, she was hoping he would ask her to marry him soon because he loved him something fierce.

  A young child maybe the age of four came running out of the house and latched onto my knees.

  He was a cutie with his fire red hair and crystal blue eyes. He looked a lot like his mother, who at that moment snatched her son up like I was about to bite him. She didn’t trust me as far as she could throw me.

  “Well thank you” I said stepping down from the narrow stairs.

  The woman nodded her head before she quickly shut the door and locked it. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted anyone; Quinn lied to me like all the rest of the men in my life. Why hadn’t I learned yet? Don’t open your heart, don’t feel anything, it’s what makes you weak.

  I drove back home in a daze. I was angry, hurt and wanted nothing more than to hide away somewhere and lick my wounded heart.

  I had only been home for thirty minutes when I heard a truck coming up my drive way. I took a shaky breath thinking it might be Quinn. Boy was I so wrong. It was Mike and he didn’t look happy. I came outside and just stood on my porch, arms crossed in a defensive stance.

  “Lana” Mike said nodding to me.

  “Mike” I said doing the same stupid motion. “What do you need?” I asked because I wanted him to leave now.

  “Have you heard anything from Quinn?” Mike asked casually.

  “I went by his house today and the lady there said he hadn’t been home for two days” Mike’s face didn’t change but he ran a frustrated hand though his short hair. I waited for his to gather his thoughts since they seemed so chaotic even to me.

  “I’m sorry about the other day” he stated suddenly.

  “For what” I asked in a rude tone

  “You know for what Lana. I know you heard Hunter crying and Mia just doesn’t” . . . . I heard the rest in his thoughts. Mia didn’t know a thing about me, he had lied to me at Uncle Alan’s when he had said she wanted to meet me.

  “Still keeping your secrets I see, well don’t worry. You thought I was dead, and now I guess I pretty much am” I said going back into the house.

  “Lana wait, there is something else you should know about Quinn” he told me. I turned around hiding my face in the shadows so Mike wouldn’t see the tears.

  “Quinn was going to talk to a vampire about some mystical creature, you know anything about it?” Mike asked in an angry voice, he wasn’t the only one who was pissed. “I thought you told me you hadn’t talked to him? Keeping secrets again I see. And I know when I tell you this you will believe I am on their side but let me make this clear, I am on no one’s side but my own. Yes I had asked Quinn about a legendary creature but I never asked him to go looking for answers that I could find out myself. And since you have come to the conclusion I am nothing more than a bad egg that should have been drowned at birth I will bid you to get the hell off my property” I yelled as I slammed the door behind me. Mike stood there for a few moments in shock. Apparently he had been shielding to the best of his ability not wanting me to catch his thoughts about the world being better off if I were dead. He did try and apologize through thoughts but I shut him out. I wanted to turn back into the cold person I was when I lived with Richard and Amelia, but somehow I couldn’t. I had only been out in the world for a little while but already I had experienced too much to wall myself up. The one who only felt lust for two vampires they never hurt me until they moved away, seems everyone needed to be away from me eventually.

  As I came into work the next day I noticed Henry was in the meeting room with a very large fat man, the closer I got the more I read he was a cop, Mike had called the police and told them Quinn was missing. Henry saw me walking by and jumped to his feet. “Lana, can you come in here for a minute?” The fat man was wearing a white shirt with coffee stains on it and a blue stripped tie, his fatness hung over his pants.

  “Lana this is Detective Anderson, he is interviewing everyone here to find Quinn” I shook Detective Andersons hand and sat down.

  “When was the last time you saw Mr. Davis?” Anderson asked me as he starting his list of questions.

  “I saw him on Saturday, he came in while I was working” I told the detective.

  “Why where you here on your day off?” Anderson asked me looking at my face, he thought I knew something or that I was Quinn’s mistress.

  “I had a lot of work to do before Monday, so I came in” I said keeping my head held high. “What was Mr. Davis doing here?” Anderson asked and since I couldn’t tell him the truth because that would sign my mistress contract I had to lie.

  “Well he came in, saw me, then went to his office, we didn’t talk” I said shrugging my shoulders like it was no big thing. H
enry’s eye brows darted up, but he didn’t say anything. “What time did he leave?” Fat man asked me.

  “Around three maybe, I don’t know you will just have to check the security tapes” I said in a calm voice. “And why did you show up at his house the other day? His girlfriend said a women matching you description came over and was asking questions. Do you go over there often without an invitation?” Anderson asked me his face stony. I stood up and very gently placed the palm of my hands on the table. I looked at the detective.

  “What are you implying?” I asked in a rude tone.

  “Miss. Williams, your boss is gone, you were the last person to see him alive, and you went to his house and harassed his girlfriend. I have already spoken to the secretary Dorothy who stated on Friday Quinn looked quite interested in you” Anderson told me. I was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of my ears because I was so mad.

  “Detective Anderson let me be honest here. I am not sleeping with Quinn; I came to work to do work. And the only reason I even went over to his house was to see if he was sick. I had never been there till that day and quite frankly, I do not like that you are listening to office gossip” I said sternly “Now do you have any real questions or are you going to just waste my time and not try to find the man you are looking for?” Henry’s mouth fell down; he couldn’t believe how rude I was being. Detective Anderson started to feel guilty for listening to the grapevine. He shook my hand saying “that was all” before giving me his card.

  I went back to my office, left the door open for Dorothy because I knew she was going to apologize for spreading rumors.

  Henry came to my door but didn’t know what to say to me after the detective left. I just did my work and didn’t speak to anyone. I was so involved with work that I hadn’t noticed the time. Everyone was already gone when I looked up at my clock that read five pm.

  When I got home there was a bright white box with a black ribbon on it, tied into a bow with a note attached, the note read.

  Please wear this for me Lana

  With love, Andre

  I laid the box on top of the kitchen table and untied the bow. A white Chi faun gown with gold embroidery flowers on the bodice, I had to give it to Andre, the dress was beautiful.

  After hanging it up in my closet I made myself a microwavable dinner, not really in the mood for anything more after the day I had. I didn’t really want to think too much about Saturday’s “date” with Andre, my mind was plagued with thoughts of Quinn’s disappearance. If the vampires were indeed involved I would find out soon enough.

  The next few days were the longest in history in my mind, no words on Quinn’s whereabouts, not even the shifters could find out anything from what Mike had told me on a brief phone call, which I appreciated. Quinn’s girlfriend Maggie had shown up to talk to Henry on Friday, glaring at me as she passed my office, she didn’t trust me and figured I knew where Quinn was. I wished her accusations were untrue but I had a bad feeling I did know. Nightmares had haunted me about Quinn in the arena, nearly making my heart stop. I would wake up gasping for breath, covered in sweat and shaky. Yes Quinn was tough but to survive in the arena you had to not care about anyone else but yourself, and I knew Quinn cared about many. He wouldn’t want to take a life of a shifter, even if it meant him dying in the process, the thoughts would cause a cold sweat to form on my brow.

  Finally Saturday came, though again the time seemed to drag, I wasn’t in the least bit excited, nervous and scared were my top two emotions at this point, even when I started to get dressed. The lump in my stomach knotted more as the sun dropped below the mountain tops. I was dressed and ready in the gown Andre had requested I wore, if Quinn was indeed with the vampires I would do just about anything to have him released. I heard a car pull up and nearly ran to the front door, ready for this night to be over with, but it wasn’t Andre that came to pick me up, another vampire that seemed way to lanky to be anything but a vampire approached cautiously wearing a shofar suit.

  “Miss Lana I am Ziggy, the King has send me to pick you up” The vampire said bowing at me. Huh well this was new. I saw a white limo having small flashbacks to the last time I was in a limo; I had killed Marcus to save Jason.

  “I don’t really feel comfortable going with you?” He just smiled the slowly pulled an envelope from his jacket and handed it to me. It was a note from Andre; he knew I wouldn’t go with this guy without me knowing it was really from him.

  Lana,

  I am entertaining guests tonight, please just get in the damn limo.

  Andre.

  It unnerved me that he seemed to know me so well as I read the letter over once more. I had no choice but to get in the limo, even though I watched the vampire Ziggy cautiously as he opened the door for me. A small smile tugged at his lips as I slowly scented the air before I entered the vehicle. The interior of the limo was white with dark wood lining, but thankfully empty. The drive seemed to take forever, my thoughts and nerves were unsettled as we finally began pulling into the mansions driveway.

  I waited patiently for Ziggy to open my door as was accustomed, but once it opened my thoughts seemed to flee. Ziggy hadn’t opened my door but Emily had. She had her hair in its usual spikes and wore nothing more than a thin piece of leather the only covered her breasts down to her inner thigh. She smiled brightly at my uneasiness as I stepped out. If Emily were here did that mean Richard and Amelia were also? The thoughts had my heart pounding though not in fear; I had honestly missed my King and Queen.

  I followed Emily quietly as we ascended the stairs to reach the entry way of the mansion. I had to pull the bottom of my gown up so it wouldn’t drag on the stone steps. Andre was waiting just inside the door as we entered; he was wearing a white button down shirt with black leather pants and alligator skin boots, causal looking for such a big event. His eyes darkened a bit as he looked me up and down admiring his handy work before he bent down and gave me a small kiss on my cheek. I tried not to cringe and must have succeeded because no one said anything.

  “This dress suites you Lana, you look like a fallen angel from the heavens” he said taking my hand to wrap around his arm, showing every vampire who I belonged to for the evening.

  I could feel the stares coming from everyone as we entered the grand room, straightening my spin I held my head up high, desperately trying to get ahold of my inner tiger that wanted nothing more than to kill the vampires. I was so engrossed in my inner battle that once we stopped at the table to be seated I didn’t immediately see Richard and Amelia, but once I did I couldn’t stop the grin. I had truly missed them.

  “You look beautiful” Amelia said once I sat down. I grabbed her hand and kissed it, “Not as lovely as you” I responded truthfully; she wore a dark blue cocktail dress with spaghetti straps that clung to her small breasts then flared out at the waist; she beamed at me from the compliment. I reluctantly let her go than faced Andre with a genuine smile on my face.

  “Thank you for this” I said in a near whisper.

  He smiled brightly before leaning down to give me a gentle kiss on the lips. I kissed back because it was the least I could do for his gift of letting me see my friends once more.

  “Aren’t you excited to see tonight’s festivities?” Richard stated as I pulled away from the kiss that Andre was trying desperately to turn into a make out session. I knew that with Amelia and Richard here there would indeed be a fight, my happy mood vanished as I stiffened now glaring at Andre; I had told him I didn’t want to witness anymore fighting. Andre did nothing but smirk at my death glare to him, oh yes we were going to have a conversation after this was all over. When I didn’t answer Richard’s question Andre took upon himself to answer for me “Lana no longer is interested in the Arena activities” A stunned silence met his statement.

  “How can the only shifter in existence that has survived not one but three years in the arena not be i
nterested in the fights?” Richard asked as he casually leaned back in his chair, I don’t know who he was addressed the question to but I knew Richard was bating me for some reason.

  “Do you often get thrown into a circle to kill your own kind King” I nearly growled the last part but kept it in, barley. Richard and Amelia’s eyes widened at my directness while Andre chuckled.

  “Lana is riddled with guilt for those she killed while in your care, she is not the same as she was when you left” Andre again chuckled though there was nothing funny about the situation.

  “Believe me when I say you were treated as a princess, no other vampire would have tolerated you” Richard said coming out of his shocked state now angry. The desire to growl at him grew, but just before I would have told him what I really thought Andre squeezed my hand in reprimand. I closed my eyes taking in a deep breath; I needed to remember where I was and the respect needed to survive just one more night. The thoughts of Quinn’s disappearance flashed through my mind causing the breath I had taken to shudder out. I needed information and I wasn’t going to get that by telling off the Richard. Opening my eyes I regarded Richard with indifference before commenting “Very true” it was all I could say at the moment. No more words were exchanged as “dinner” was served though the sounds of slurping were nauseating to say the least as the vampires drank. I barely touched my food; a hard dreaded knot had formed in my stomach as the night dragged on, I knew I was going to have to witness once again another unnecessary death.

 

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