Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1 (53 page)

My thoughts were interrupted when my cell phone rang.  “Hello?”

“Kat, its Starla.”

“Hey.  What’s up?”

“I was wondering, Sal told me you had that big house still, and, uh…”  She paused. 

“Did you need to use it, Starla?”

“Would it be too much to ask?” 

I chuckled.  “No, it isn’t.  You can use the house.  Give me a few hours to make sure it’s clean and then you can move in.”  I didn’t want to know why she needed the house and she didn’t explain.

“Thanks, Kat.” 

I mumbled, “You’re welcome,” and hung up the phone. 

I told Todd about Starla’s request as I changed into jeans and a t-shirt.  The vampires must have told Trace and Erick because they came into the room and changed.  “You’re going with me?”

“Of course, Kat.  We aren’t going to leave you alone.” 

I left the room because I didn’t want to see their gorgeous bodies and be distracted before I got the house fixed up for Starla.

Thorn, Sven, and Haven were already in jeans and t-shirts and ready to go.  Todd walked up behind me and kissed behind my ear.  I shivered and turned to hug him.  “Ready to go?” I asked against his lips.  He kissed me then nodded. 

Trace and Erick came out of the bedroom.  I stared at them.  Erick’s wavy brown hair was tied back in a ponytail that gave him the appearance of having short hair and his green eyes were sparkling.  Trace’s blue-y grey eyes were striking against the blue-grey shirt.  I took in a sharp breath as they walked up to Todd and me.  I think I moaned because they beamed at me and kissed my cheeks.  I turned in Todd’s arms and watched them walk away.  I took a deep breath and looked up at Todd.  He was watching the two as they walked up to Sven and Thorn. 

I stopped them from doing anything that would keep us here with, “Ready to go?”  They turned from the two vampires and nodded.

><                            ><

We left the house and Todd drove us over to the other house.  It wasn’t far but we didn’t feel like walking, more specifically I didn’t feel like walking.  The three vampires would probably have beaten us if they’d decided to run over. 

We piled out of the truck and walked into the house.  It had been cleaned recently and just needed airing out.  We opened windows in the big bedroom and the kitchen, sitting room, and what used to be my office.  I stopped as the memories of me sleeping in this room came back.  I was glad I no longer lived in this big house.  I was much happier in the small house that we lived in now.

I called Starla and left a voicemail saying the house was ready for whenever they wanted to move in.  I clicked the phone shut and walked out of the house. 

Cyril and a bunch of his goons walked around the side of the house.  “Cyril,” I said.  I had no weapons.  I stepped back and a vampire I hadn’t seen grabbed me around the waist, pinning my arms at my side.  I screamed and kicked the vampire in his shin.

“Your men can’t help you now, slayer,” Cyril said as he laughed, more like chortled but whichever.  I struggled against the big vampire’s iron embrace. 

“What did you do to them?”

“Nothing.  Yet.”  His eyes got that sadistic glow to them. 

My heart thudded in my neck.  “Are you just going to talk to me or are we going to fight?”

“Oh, no, we aren’t going to fight.  I just needed to know how off guard you are and I found you amazingly off guard.  Your men will be returned to you as soon as I bleed you, slayer.”  I gulped and struggled harder.  He walked up to me and put his hand on my face.  I turned my head away from his hand.  “Oh, my.”  He sniffed me and laughed happily, crazily.  “I’m going to enjoy this.  Why don’t we bring your men out?”  He snapped his fingers and my men were dragged from behind the house, bloody and bruised, by big vampires.  Tears popped out of my eyes as I looked at their faces.  Sven and Thorn were fighting hard against the big vampires that had them.  I didn’t see Haven, maybe he had escaped. 

Cyril took my neck in his cool hand and brought his lips to mine.  I grimaced and he kissed my teeth.  I opened my mouth to bite his lips but he had moved back.  “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this as much as I enjoyed taking Thorn in front of Sven.”  I hissed and clenched my teeth.  “He’s told you, has he?”  I didn’t say anything. 

Sven was shouting and cursing Cyril.  I flicked my eyes to him and shook my head.  It was no use.  I was going to take my punishment and hope to find a way out of it before he did horrible damage to me. 

I wiggled around to see if I could find any weapons on the big vampire that had a hold of me.  I felt a knife on the left side.  I groaned and moved my body.  I could feel the vampire loosen his grip.  Cyril had turned his back on me and was rehashing the past with Sven and Thorn.  I could see the pain Cyril’s words were causing. 

I wiggled a little more and the vampire’s hold loosened further.  I breathed deeply and turned into him.  His black eyes were surprised.  I grabbed the knife and stabbed him, twisting the blade.  He hadn’t had a moment to squeak or make a sound to alert Cyril.  The vampires that were holding my men shouted in surprise.  I turned abruptly and stabbed Cyril.  Unfortunately it was on his right side and did minimal damage.  I pulled the blade out as I twirled around and caught a vampire that had tried to sneak up on me.

The surprise was enough for Sven and Thorn to break the bad guys’ hold on them and take them out.  They were gunning for Cyril.  I let them do their thing.  I was just trying to stay alive long enough to make sure my human men were alive.

Haven appeared out of thin air.  “About time,” I muttered.  He chuckled and shoved his fist through the vampire’s chest that I had been fighting.  The vampire looked down at me in surprise and fell forward, dead.

I turned and found that Sven and Thorn had Cyril by the arms.  Cyril was on his knees and his arms were held back at odd angles.  The other vampires that we hadn’t killed took off as soon as Thorn and Sven had captured Cyril. 

I walked over to my guys and helped them up.  Todd had a big gash on his forehead and blood was running down his face.  Haven came over and gave them each a little blood, healing their wounds. 

When all were healed we stood in front of Cyril.  I still had the blade but it was of no use to me.  Sven and Thorn were going to take their revenge on Cyril, we were only going to keep watch and make sure Cyril didn’t escape.  Cyril glared at me and I just smiled.  I looked at my guys and found them smiling as well.  The smiles weren’t exactly happy, more a wild smile than anything else.  Cyril stopped glaring and fear took its place.

“Have at him, Sven, Thorn.  We’ll keep our eyes open for anything else.  Make sure he’s dead before we leave.”  The hard edge to my voice startled me.  They took Cyril into the house.  Todd walked over to me and kissed me. 

I pulled back and called Starla.  “Hey, Starla.  Uh, the house isn’t ready.  I lied earlier.”

“What are you talking about?” 

My heart faltered.  “Um, nothing.  Never mind.  Talk with you later on.”  I clicked the phone shut and ran into the house.  I found the guys in the sitting room.  Sven was beating the shit out of Cyril.   The others followed a few moments later.  I had to make sure that Cyril died.  It was the only way, hopefully, to free Starla from the vampire’s hold. 

I stepped back to Haven and asked him.  “Yes, the only way will be for that vampire to die.”  I nodded.  Good. 

I turned back and watched as Sven hit Cyril again and again, blood flying everywhere.  Sven called Haven over.  Haven held Cyril as Sven walked over to me.  His eyes were cobalt and not happy.  I cringed.  “Don’t be afraid of me, Katja.  I am going to ask for your blood though.”  I nodded.  He took my wrist and bit me.  He took enough to color his skin pink and walked back over to Cyril. 

Sven ripped Cyril’s shirt to pieces and clawed his chest.  I grimaced as blood flowed from the claw marks.  Thorn snapped off a piece of the windowsill and stabbed Cyril in the stomach.  Cyril screamed as Thorn ripped the wood out of Cyril so viciously that his stomach was opened. 

Thorn walked toward me with the piece of wood held in his hands.  I flinched and curled tighter into Todd.  “Don’t be afraid, love.”  He planted his lips against mine and licked my lips.  “Some blood, love?”  I nodded.  He nuzzled my neck and I arched back for him.  He took his fill without turning his bite.

The wound in Cyril’s stomach was knitting as I watched.  Thorn walked over to Cyril and grabbed his neck.  He pulled and threw flesh to the side of the room.  I heard gurgling and when Thorn moved away, I found that he had ripped Cyril’s throat out.

I didn’t say anything but my mind was screaming: ‘how could you allow this torture’?  I fought against the words.  This was Thorn and Sven’s retribution for being tortured.  I curled into Todd’s body as I watched them torture Cyril further.

Thorn ripped Cyril’s pants off and kneeled in front of him.  I could see the fear in Cyril’s eyes as Thorn whispered something.  Thorn walked behind Cyril and used the stick to… I turned.  I didn’t want to see it.  It was bad enough that I had to hear the blood curdling screams that issued from Cyril. 

“Finish this,” I said tightly.  I heard a few more screams and then nothing.  I turned back around and saw that Cyril’s head was clean off his body and he had a gaping hole in his chest where his heart used to be.  Thorn, Sven, and Haven were a bloody mess.

We cleaned up all pieces of Cyril and burned all of the dead vampire bodies.  I walked off into the woods and threw up.  I stayed kneeling on the ground and dry heaved.  God, that had been horrible.

I stood up and fell back to my knees and lay on the bed of pine needles and moss.  I held my stomach and curled into the fetal position. 

I heard footsteps and felt strong arms around me.  It was Thorn.  “I’m sorry you had to see that, love.”  I nodded and groaned as my stomach turned again.  I flew out of his arms and threw up again. 

I was still on all fours and dry heaving when the others came over.  I muttered an apology and tried to throw up again but I had nothing in my stomach.

Todd kneeled beside me and put his arms around me.  I leaned back and wiped the spittle from my mouth.  He held me until my stomach settled and my mind wasn’t replaying the torture every two seconds and I wasn’t hearing the screams echo through my brain. 

“How can you not throw up after what happened?” I whispered to Todd. 

“I’ve seen worse.  Not necessarily the torture but the aftermath.  I’ve been called to help clean up worse.  The first time I saw a scene, uh, a bad scene, I threw up and couldn’t get the images out of my head for weeks after.  This was mild compared to what I’ve seen, babe.”  He kissed my cheek when I turned my mouth from his.

“I shouldn’t have had to throw up.  I’ve done something similar before.  Maybe it’s because it wasn’t me doing the torturing.  Maybe it was two men that I love that had to torture someone.” 

Thorn and Sven came up to us.  Their eyes were back to human color.  Haven stepped over and kneeled beside Todd.  Thorn and Sven came over to my side.  Trace and Erick were at our backs. 

“Let’s go home.”  Todd helped me up and we walked to the truck.  I started to shake as the screams returned. 

“Don’t think about it, love,” Thorn whispered next to my ear.  He helped me into the truck and slid in.  Sven got in on the other side and they held me.  I think they wanted to reassure themselves that I didn’t hate them for what they had done. 

I should have been relieved that Cyril was dead.  That the one big threat had been eliminated but I wasn’t.  I felt like something bad was going to happen and there would be nothing we could do to stop it.  I leaned my head on Sven’s shoulder and fell asleep.

I woke up screaming.  Lights turned on.  I looked around.  Thorn was hugging me before I could take everything in.  “It’s okay, love.  We’re here.”  I hugged him back as hard as I could.  I ran my hands up and down his chest and back.  He chuckled breathily.  “If you keep that up, love, I’ll take you right here.”  I pulled back from him and let out a shaky breath. 

“Oh, God,” I murmured and leaned my head against Thorn’s shoulder.

“Kat?”  I looked up and into Todd’s worried face.  “Are you okay?” 

I nodded.  “I am now.  Thank goodness you’re all okay.”  Todd gave me bewildered look.  “I…I dreamed of…” I felt the tears sliding down my face a second before Thorn wiped them away.  “Cyril.  He’s dead, right?” 

“Yes, love, he’s dead.”  Thorn cuddled me closer and whispered so low I couldn’t hear him. 

“He wouldn’t die.  And then…” Thorn made ‘shh’ noises and petted my head.  “You’re all okay, right?”  I looked around and saw that everyone was looking at me, alive and well.  I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out of Thorn’s embrace. 

I walked into the bathroom and cleaned up.  I looked in the mirror and found my eyes bloodshot and haunted.  I found some Visine and dropped the liquid in my eyes.  They started to clear up.  When I felt that I was acceptable and in control of myself, I walked out of the bathroom and saw that everyone was up and getting ready for the day. 

I pulled back the blinds and found that the sun was bright and high in the sky.  I groaned and wanted to go back to bed but I didn’t.  I grabbed dark blue jeans and a t-shirt with the word ‘sexy’ written in glitter across my chest, and changed quickly.  I was still freaked out about my dream but the fear was fading as I became more awake.

I had nothing to do today but relax and I could feel that I would go stir crazy if I stayed in the house.  “Let’s go out and shop or something.”  They groaned.  “Something.  I can’t stay in the house, guys.” 

Todd came over to me and kissed me gently.  “Where would you like to go?”

“I don’t know.  Just anywhere I guess.  Let’s go out to lunch, climb a mountain, bike across America, anything.” 

Todd chuckled.  “You hate to hike.  You don’t own a bike.  I guess that leaves eating out.”  I rolled my eyes but smiled.

Thorn stalked up to me and whispered, “We can play a game during lunch, love.”  My heart sped up at the thought.  He laughed softly against my ear, making me shiver, and whispered, “Oh, yes, let’s go out for lunch.”  I bit my lip and shook my head in disbelief. 

><                            ><

We left the house and piled into the truck.  Todd drove around for a little while and found a decent sized restaurant and parked.  We walked in.  The hostess blushed and led us to our seats.  We got a back table that was cozy. 

Todd sat beside me, Trace and Erick sat across from us, and Thorn and Sven sat on either side of Haven.  We ordered light lunches and sodas.  There were a few customers around us.  They had taken one look at my men and turned quickly to their meals.  I guess they weren’t sure about six guys and a girl.

Thorn took Haven’s hand in his and brought it to his mouth.  Haven sighed and licked his lips.  “Don’t worry, love, we won’t do anything as obvious as last time,” Thorn said after I gasped.  He chuckled and went back to Haven’s hand.  He ran his tongue along Haven’s index finger and pulled it into his mouth.  Haven bit his lip and writhed softly against Sven’s body without saying a word.  Thorn pulled Haven’s finger out of his mouth and laid it on the table a moment before the waiter came over with our food.  We thanked him and he left.  I was torn between eating and watching them send Haven over the edge.  I started eating and turned my chair slightly and pressed against Todd as I watched and ate my sandwich. 

The sex-fest stopped for a few moments and we finished our meals.  I couldn’t take them anywhere.  I paid the bill and we left.  “Where to now, Kat?”  I shrugged.  I had no idea. 

“Home, I guess.”  Todd shook his head and started the truck.

I was sitting up front with Todd.  Haven was sitting in back with Trace and Erick, who were in the middle of Thorn and Sven.  I heard gasps and moans coming from the back and turned in my seat.  I suppose the sex-fest was on again.  Trace had his head back and was thrashing about as Haven ran a finger along his jaw.  Erick was arching his back as both Thorn and Sven ran their hands along his chest and feeding.  I turned back in my seat and looked at Todd.  He was grinning and shaking his head.

><                            ><

We made it home to the sounds of moans, sighs, groans, and whimpers.  I got out of the truck and walked into the house.  I found Beatrice and Ardeness in the kitchen.  They stopped talking when I walked in and, gasp, smiled at me.  I waved to them and grabbed waters. 

“Katja?” 

I turned and looked at them.  “Yeah?”

“We were going to go out tonight.”  Beatrice’s young voice was filled with indecision. 

“That’s good.  Cyril’s out of the picture.  You shouldn’t run into too many bad guys.”

“We were wondering if you’d like to go with us.” 

I bit my lip to keep the shock from my face.  I obviously hadn’t succeeded because they grinned at me.  “Just us girls?” 

They shifted their eyes and shook their heads.  “We were thinking that we could all go out.  A group affair.”  I could see the reasons clearly on their faces.  They were being nice and offering me a chance to go out with them but they wanted every eligible male to know that I was taken. 

I smiled at them and said, “Thanks but I have other plans.”  Beatrice had relief in her eyes but Ardeness was nearly pleading with her eyes.  “Hey, I’m sure Sandra and Mark wouldn’t mind or even Charles and Nadja.  I know those two wouldn’t mind going out.  You should talk with them.  Maybe all four of them will go out with you guys.”  I walked out of the room and went to find my guys.

They were in the guest room that was even more destroyed than it had been the other day.  I rolled my eyes and passed out waters.  I sat next to Todd and Trace and watched as Erick was being well taken care of. 

Todd leaned into me and said, “We’re going to need to do some shopping.”  I groaned.  “We have to go to a formal ball to introduce us as king and queen.  It will be an all-night affair and we all have to wear formal attire.”

“Can I wear a suit?”  I got the look I thought I would.  “Okay.  When is it?”

“A week away.” 

I stood up and shouted, “A week?  Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I didn’t know until today.  Sit down, Kat.” 

I heaved a sigh and sat down.  “I have to get a dress, shoes, gloves, and anything else I need for the function.”

“You won’t need to.  I already have a gown for you.  Well, it wasn’t my idea.  Haven actually has some from…uh…he has some.  He’s asked that you wear one.”  I flicked my eyes to Haven. 

He said, “It would be a great honor for you to wear one.”  Then he turned back and bit Erick on the neck, causing Erick to buck against Sven and Thorn. 

“What will you be wearing?” I asked as I turned back to Todd. 

“I will be in tails and a bunch of other suit things.” 

I smiled and cuddled into him.  “Will all of us be going?”

“Yes.  It will not only be to intro us but a show of force,” Todd whispered into my ear.  Trace slid up and laid his head in my lap.  I stroked his head and played my hand along his neck.  He sighed into me and ran his hand down my leg.

I was stopped from any further conversation as Erick screamed.  I turned my head and found that Sven, Thorn, and Haven had their fangs in Erick’s body.  Erick was convulsing in pleasure and murmuring to not stop.  The vampires pleasured Erick for a long while.  I couldn’t get into it so much since I was thinking of the ball.  I was secretly thrilled to be going to a ball.  I’d never been and I hoped it would be just as good, if not better, than I expected.

When the vampire had finished and Erick had told them enough and Erick could stand, we went into the kitchen to grab something to eat.  I wasn’t all that hungry but the guys were.  The vampires were well fed at this point.

I felt adrift now that we didn’t have a bad guy to fight.  I frowned and plopped down in a chair and watched the guys eat and laugh.  They were happy.  I don’t know why I should be so surprised by their happiness but I was.

><                            ><

A few days later, we were at Haven’s house.  Yes, he actually has a house.  I was standing in front of a mirror with one of several gowns on.  A billowy gown made of lavender silk with lots of taffeta underneath to fluff out the skirt.  Haven was pulling on the strings in the back, making my body jerk with each tug.

“Really, how much tugging can a person take?” I asked between tugs.  Haven laughed softly and tugged some more. 

When he was done tying the back of the dress, I twirled around for everyone to see.  Haven’s eyes were silver and expressionless.  Trace, Erick, and Todd were whistling softly as I twirled.  Thorn and Sven were smiling and looking at me with a critical eye. 

Thorn came over to me and whispered, “Not this one, love.”  He’d said that three times already.  I think he just wanted to see me change clothes.  He grabbed another dress; this one was off-white with little red and blue roses patterned on it.  The neck was lower than the one I had on but had a see-through lace inlay that had a high neck and showed off my skin without being indecent. 

I sighed and said, “That better not need to be tied or I’m not wearing it.”  That got chuckles.  “Where did all these dresses come from?” 

Haven said, “From a very special woman in my life.” 

Haven walked up to me and untied me.  I breathed a sigh of relief as air filled my lungs.  How women used to wear these dresses and still breathe was beyond me.  He slipped the dress off my body and left me on the podium thing.  I was in a corset and undies with a garter belt and nylons and I was panicking from the looks of desire that were in their eyes.  I felt, one overwhelmed, and two on display.

Haven brought the other dress to me and helped me slip in.  His thin fingers slipped the hooks into the eyelets easily.  I turned to look at myself in the mirror and found that the dress showed off my tan skin and brought out my eyes.  The high neck lace was delicate and accented my skin perfectly.  I smiled and twirled around. 

Haven caught me between his arms as I was twirling and hugged me to him.  I could feel his tears on my face.  I looked up and asked softly, “Are you okay?”  He nodded against my head and spun me around slowly.  We danced a few minutes and it was decided by all that this would be the dress that I was to wear to the ball.

Haven pulled out a long thin box and opened it.  The box held a set of white opera length gloves.  He held them out and I slipped them on.  He sighed happily and hugged me again.  “Thank you for letting me wear this beautiful dress, Haven.”

“You are most welcome, Katja.  You look delectable and I can’t wait to dance with you in front of all the other vampires.”  He kissed my cheek and told me to wait here.  I frowned a little and waited.  He came back with a small box.  He opened it and lying on velvet was a sapphire necklace with diamonds interspersed between sapphires.  He took the necklace out of the box and undid the lace of the dress.  He clasped the necklace and buttoned the lace back up. 

I turned to the mirror.  The sapphires and diamonds were catching my eyes magically and changing them from sea-green to blue and back.  I let the guys get a load of me and got whistles and grins. 

I turned to Haven and said, “I can’t wear this, Haven, it must have cost you a fortune.” 

He smiled and took me in his arms once more.  His voice was soft and sad as he said, “I want you to wear it, Katja.”  I nodded against his shoulder.  He spun me around for all to see and then disappeared once more.

He came back and had suits for everyone, except me of course.  They tried on their suits and each fit perfectly.  “How did you know what sizes we were?”  Todd asked as he buttoned the waist jacket.

“I’ve known for quite some time.”  We frowned at him.  “I know a seer.  She told me that you would be in my life and well, I had to get all the details.  Up until now, that is.  After, I don’t know.  She told me to have five 1860’s style suits ready.  I did.” 

I wasn’t the only one who was staring at Haven with an open mouth.  Todd, Trace, and Erick were also.  Thorn and Sven were smiling.  I turned to them and asked, “Did you know, too?”

“No, love.  But we do know of whom Haven speaks and she is quite the fortune teller.  For a price.”  Thorn winked at me and turned to Sven.  Thorn purred as he got a load of Sven in his suit.  I was tempted to purr at them too.

I pulled the gloves off and laid them in their box.  I started to unbutton the lace neck on the dress when Haven took my hands away and twirled me around and into his arms.  “Why do you want to take the dress off?”

“The ball is a couple days away and I don’t want to ruin it.”  He kissed me gently and then helped me out of the gown.  “Thanks, Haven,” I said.  I put on the skirt suit I had worn over and left the others to explore Haven’s house.

The house, a three story Victorian, had been his for a very long time.  I think he said somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred years.