The Devil's Masquerade: The Remedy

by Jennifer Loren

  “If you had let me kill them a few days ago, I don’t think any of this would be an issue right now,” I snap with frustration. “Let me go hunt them down and handle this for you.”

  “Absolutely not!” he yells at me.

  “Why not?” I yell, but he ignores me. “Grandfather, I know you are trying to protect me, but I wish you would stop and fill me in on more of what is going on. I can help you if you would only let me. Who were they? At least tell me that. That one who was said to be my brother. He had strength similar to mine. He must be related to me somehow. And that woman acted as if I owe her a fuck.”

  “He is your brother, but he is not on our side. As you could see, he wants to kill us and take the power himself. That woman? Oh that woman is a menace. You must stay away from her, Ma Joie. She is much too powerful for you to deal with. I will take care of her. Then, and only then, will I allow you to kill the others.”

  “Well, who is she? Why is she against us? Maybe we can sway her allegiance …” He holds his hand up to me with a growl. I sit back, stewing over his belittling nature. I know I can handle anything. I know I can handle that woman if he can.

  To ease my frustrations, I work out in the fight room, practicing and releasing my tensions. I manage to calm, but I don’t manage to forget that woman. I need answers, and he is going to give them to me. I don’t care if he doesn’t want to. Determined, I seek my grandfather out, even though I am told that this is his meditation time and no one is to see him right now. Rabbie walks out of his room, leaving the door open as he gathers food and drink for him from his cart. Before I can step inside, I hear him discussing today with Galena and another woman. I quickly decide that it will be better to listen in on their conversation than to ask for what I want to know.

  “It is unbelievable to me that you manage to constantly get yourself into these situations that require others to help you out!” Grandfather yells.

  “I am sorry Father, but how was I to know that they would come after me? They have clearly joined forces with Amery. That is the only way Kayla could know about the High Council, and it is the only reason why they would target me. You know he hates me. It is astonishing to me that Amery would ever join up with anyone outside his small world. He doesn’t trust anyone, but he clearly has. I bet you they have Gideon, too. That dog of theirs! The dog … the dog is very strange and familiar. I wasn’t sure before. Hell, I thought it was an insane idea that is why I didn’t bother saying anything, but I think the dog is Dante,” Galena says.

  “What!?” Grandfather yells at her. “Dante died years ago. I saw it myself. Nicholas killed him right in front of my own eyes. How could he possibly come back to this world without …” There is silence in the room for a time until I hear a low growl. “I sense betrayal amongst the Council. Dante, of course. I also sensed a familiarity about that dog, but I dismissed it. I didn’t think it possible. Clearly, I was wrong. Our target list has grown. I can’t have Dante as a dog or as anything else helping them. Very well, Galena, you are forgiven for now but do not allow yourself to be cornered again.”

  “Yes, of course. Thank you, Father,” Galena says with a sound of relief in her voice.

  “And Ria! The very idea that you could live in their home and have no clue as to what is going on is even more astonishing than anything else. I should kill you now!”

  “No, please. I knew they had been sneaking around, but I had no idea why. They wouldn’t tell me anything. They kept to themselves. They didn’t trust me. There wasn’t anything I could do about that,” Ria pleads.

  “And why have you not done what I have already asked you to do? Why is Kayla still alive?”

  “I am trying to plan just the right approach so I can make sure to …”

  “You are planning?!? Who asked you to think and plan anything? I told you what to do. There should be no reason for you to wait another minute after that to execute my orders! You are the most disappointing woman! You have no value whatsoever. You go back to that house, and you do what I told you to do. Otherwise, Dear, I am going to have to go back on my promise to you and have Nick marry another. I certainly can’t have my grandson’s children coming from such incompetence. Maybe I should contact your sister instead. She obviously has something to offer. At least she has some guts to come after us,” Grandfather says.

  “But Catriona doesn’t want Nick. I do!” Ria pleads.

  “I don’t care what you want. I care about keeping that woman away from my grandson.”

  “Kayla is not easy to handle. I’ve tried. I can’t get near her, even to sneak up on her … she knows. I don’t know how, but she knows I am not who I say I am. I would go back over there but…”

  “But. But! BUT! I am sick of hearing that word. You either kill her or I will kill you and before you ask, I don’t care how. Just do it! The Masquerade is only a few months away now, so if you want it to be your hand that Nicholas takes that night then I suggest you make sure your duties and promises are completed by then. And Ria, don’t bother returning to me until you can report to me what I want to hear.”

  “Yes sir,” the woman says, running out of the room. I follow after her as she runs out of the house.

  “Ria,” I call out to her. She turns to me. “Where are you going?”

  “I have to go make arrangements for the Masquerade that is coming up. Lots to do you know.” She smiles, touching me tenderly as I notice the tears on her face.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, grazing my finger gently along her cheekbone.

  “Oh, it was absolutely terrible Nicholas,” she says, diving into my chest with dramatic tears.

  “Who did this to you? Tell me, and I will take care of them,” I say with a caring voice, but she backs away, shaking her head. “Tell me, Ria, it was that Kayla woman that has caused you so much stress, wasn’t it?” Her expression give me reason to pursue my efforts. “No reason to answer. I know it already.” I wrap my arms around her. “Let me take care of this for you. Do you know where this woman Kayla lives?” She looks up at me, wide-eyed. “Tell me please. Maybe I can help you complete the task that Grandfather has given you.” She hesitates, but with a warm kiss and a few soft touches underneath her dress, she promptly goes weak. “Tell me how I can help you, Ria. You know you want me to. Let me do it, and I will let you take all the credit. He will glorify you and give you everything you want if Kayla is taken care of. You don’t even have to break a nail.” I lean in close, touching her neck with my lips and humming my desires. “Tell me baby, so I can take you to bed. I want so badly to feel your naked body against mine. Don’t you want that? Don’t you want to feel my dick inside you, making your pussy feel so good and wet?” I hum gently against her breast. “Don’t you want me to make you come? I could do that for you, over and over again. I could fuck you so hard, so hard that you won’t ever want my dick to leave your pussy.” She gasps, gripping me tight as she weakens in my arms even more. “You want to come right now, don’t you? Of course you do. Just my words make you excited, don’t they? Just me telling you what I could do to you, how good I could make your body feel,” I breathe softly against her lips. She vibrates and comes right into her panties. “Now, tell me. Where does Kayla live?” Her heavy eyes smile as she tells me exactly what I want to know. “Thank you,” I say, straightening myself up and leaving her behind.

  “Nick?” I look back at her. “What about us?”

  “What about us? I am not going to fuck you now, Ria. You’re a complete mess. I do have standards,” I smile, walking away happily while Ria panics, knowing she just gave me information she shouldn’t have. She jumps into her car and speeds away to, as I imagine, try and quickly do what was asked of her before I can do it for her. Now I have to make sure she does or clean up her mess if she doesn’t.

  Chapter 14

  Elijah

  Savaged called the house today and left a message for Kayla, to let her know the court date has been set for Nick and Kayla’s divorce. Seems they can force the d
ivorce without Kayla’s acceptance of it, so she doesn’t even need to be bothered with showing up. Ryan and I, thankfully, intercepted it before Kayla returned home. However, Franky, calmly told me over the phone that she feels the need to bring the information by in person. She is clearly not the brightest woman in the world. Now, Ryan and I are trying to decide whether we should run or make popcorn for the big event that is about to happen.

  “Oh, I am pretty sure there is going to be blood shed tonight,” I say to Ryan before retreating to the bar for a drink.

  “That is one thing we both can agree on, but I think it is a little early to be drinking. We may need to be fully aware and ready to act quickly to keep someone from getting hurt or to keep them from destroying the house. We both still have to live here for a while longer,” Ryan says as Franky walks through the door with more paperwork for Kayla and a giant ring on her finger. “On second thought, maybe it isn’t too early to drink,” Ryan says, grabbing my drink from my hand and downing it. Son of a bitch!

  “Enjoy that, asshole, because I am not giving you another,” I say, rushing to make myself another. “Franky, you might as well just leave us the paperwork and be on your way before Kayla gets home,” Ryan says to her.

  “No, thank you. I want to make sure she understands that it isn’t her fault and that Nick wants her to be happy. There are no hard feelings, and everyone should be allowed to go their separate ways without any bitterness,” she says, making herself at home. Oh this is going to be bad. I better make myself a double.

  Kayla comes home with Exie at her side and Amery at her back, or, in other words, backup at her side and jackass at her back. “What are you doing here?” she asks Franky.

  “I’m here to talk with you, woman to woman. I think we can work all this out so everyone can leave each other peacefully,” Franky says, standing up to Kayla.

  “Get out of my house,” Kayla says calmly. Franky asks to speak to her alone, to which Kayla denies her without any consideration.

  Franky follows her around, offering bribes to get Kayla to sign the paperwork. “Come on Kayla, you don’t want to go through this. Nick doesn’t want to go through this. Just think about the hassle of going to court and the attorneys, and about how this is going to affect your children. He is willing to give all his rights as a father up so there will be no issue with custody, but if you continue this, he will fight for full custody, and you will not be allowed to see them ever again. You know he will win that battle. Do you want to put your children through that? Do you want to lose them, too? I suspect you don’t Kayla, and why would you? Sign these papers, and let’s all go on with our lives and find happiness,” Franky pleads with an innocent expression.

  Kayla looks up at her as if she considers the idea, and we all swallow hard. “No, but thanks for stopping by.”

  “Kayla! Stop being such a jealous whore and sign these damn papers!” Franky yells at her. I lean back and ready myself for my drink when Exie takes it and downs it. Motherfucker!

  Kayla walks up to Franky smoothly, “I am going to tell you this one more time, and please, make sure you understand because I won’t repeat it. I will see you in hell before I give up on my husband. Now get the fuck out of my house and don’t ever come back,” Kayla seethes in her face with a deadly stare. Kayla backs away and turns her back towards the woman with defiance so bold that the air goes cold and everyone in the room gets chills.

  Amery who had taken a seat when he first came in showing little interest in anyone, suddenly jumps out of his seat towards Kayla. “Kayla!” He yells as Franky takes a step towards Kayla and grabs her.

  That was the fastest second of my life. There was no time to think. If there had been, I would have thought for sure that Kayla was going to die. The entire room of people go into a panic, but Kayla does not. Her movements were so quick and so precise that not even her attacker saw them coming. We all get no more than half a step towards them before Kayla has her attacker down on the ground, bearing down on her with a bright, knife-penetrating stare. Who we thought was Franky slowly fades into someone else. She is begging for her life, and we all stand dumbstruck as Kayla smiles and leans down into her paling face. “Hello Ria, I knew it was you. Your desperate stench was thankfully shared with me by Amery. It didn’t take me long to figure out who you were after that. Now, where is Franky?”

  “She’s dead. She had two kids and a husband, so she had no interest in coming back for Nick. Savage had her killed so I could take her place. Savage made me pretend to be her in order to lure Nick away from you,” Ria says with fear in her eyes.

  “Her family thinks she’s dead?” Ria shakes her head. “They think she left them?” Ria nods and Kayla snarls and grips her until she screams out.

  “But I can tell them otherwise, and get her body back to them, no problem.” Ria says in between desperate gasps.

  Kayla picks up the blade from the floor and twirls it in front of Ria, torturing her into tears. “You tell him. You tell Savage I’m coming for him, and he need not bother sending another useless minion to kill me.” Kayla leans down into Ria’s face. “Do you understand me?” Ria nods. Kayla smiles wide and then strikes her hard across the face. The blow sends blood splattering from Ria’s nose. No one seems to move or even breathe as Kayla strikes her again. By the time Kayla allows the woman to crawl out from under her, she is barely recognizable, but she quickly runs before Kayla has a chance to stand and meet her face to face.

  Silence. Awe. We have no words within any of us, and Kayla does nothing more than stand tall, smile sweetly, and flip her hair back behind her shoulder before leaving us all. I look down at the bottle of liquor in my hand and decide to toss my glass before downing the alcohol straight from the bottle.

  Chapter 15

  Nick

  I make an excuse to Grandfather that I left some work that needs to be done at the office, and I explain that I am going to go ahead and get some dinner at a new restaurant I have wanted to try. He agrees but won’t let me leave Delin behind, so I decide to use Ro to my advantage and have him keep Delin preoccupied while I look into the information I just received from Ria. My two tagalongs and I stop by my office first; however, I don’t plan on doing any work I search the address Ria gave me and locate the residence. I review the entire estate and plan my way inside before I gather Delin and Ro and go to the new restaurant I told Grandfather about.

  The line is long for their opening night, and the bar is so packed with people that you can barely move. It is perfect for what I plan to do. After I speak to the maître d, we are escorted to a table immediately. I sit down as if nothing is amiss and order some food. I have already filled Ro in on what I need him to do for me, and after I promise to pay for whatever he wants to eat and drink, he is more than happy to keep Delin preoccupied with conversation. Before I can leave though, Ria shows up and corners me to help her.

  “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” I ask her.

  “I called your house looking for you, and Galena said you were planning on coming here. I need you to help me, Nick, please.”

  I lift up the floppy hood hanging in front of her face and notice she is bruised and swollen. “What happened to your face?” I say as she quickly adjusts it back.

  “I was attacked by that woman Kayla. She is a ruthless killer and is coming after me. She wants to kill me. I have nowhere to hide. Your grandfather is so angry with me, and I need you to protect me from them,” she cries, burying her head into my chest while Delin and Ro look on. “You said you would kill her for me. Did you mean it? Can you help me like you said?”

  I glance over at Delin’s puzzled expression, “You know Grandfather doesn’t want me to be anywhere near that woman. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. You are going to have to find help elsewhere,” I say, pushing her away from my chest. She seems shocked as she looks over us all. I lean towards her and whisper to her not to worry, but she can’t let anyone else know. Otherwise, we will both get onto trouble. Sh
e looks up at me with a hopeful expression.

  “Okay, I understand. I will find another way then,” she says, excusing herself and walking out of the restaurant.

  “Can you believe that?” I laugh.

  “She looked roughed up. Kayla did that?” Ro asks. I nod. “Damn! Girl has gotten even more deadly.”

  I nod agreement and quickly try to quickly change the conversation to something more calming. I need to sneak out without causing alarm. Thanks to Ria, Delin is watching me like a hawk. Damn woman. I have to wait through many Ro stories before I am able to find a good moment to slip away. I tell Delin that I am going to go to the bar and order a drink so I can talk to a beautiful woman I spotted there. He seems to understand and is at ease as long as he can keep an eye on me. The bar is so crowded that, when I find a shy man sitting by himself and trying to work up the courage to talk to the nearby women, I approach him for some help. He seems shocked at my approach at first, but I am able to put him at ease the moment his eyes look up to mine.

  “I need you to take my jacket and put it on and never move from this seat.” I say to the man. He nods and takes off his own jacket to put on mine. I slide back as he sits back down and silently drinks his drink with no intention of ever moving. I leave the restaurant and set out to find Kayla.

  Chapter 16

  Kayla

  The rest of the night I have to keep from smiling whenever I meet anyone’s eyes. Amery keeps his distance from me and so does Ryan. Elijah apologized for anything he has ever done or ever might do to upset me. I feel good about the new skills I have, but it doesn’t make up for Nick being gone.

  “I’m telling you, Eli, there is no way to get in that way,” Ryan says, entering the room with Elijah following closely behind.

  “Ryan, come on! You know damn well there is. Okay, I grant you there is no possible way for some people to get in, but others, like yourself, can get in by doing that voodoo thing that you do.”