Dragons Crown (Elder Enterprises Book 2) (8 page)

Fabian chose that moment to walk in. He gave Katie and Paul a nervous smile before coming over to kneel before Katie.

“My Queen, I am so sorry for my actions as of late. I was not thinking of the race as a whole. I have been selfish and uncaring. I swear from here on out, I will do better.” He waited until Katie tipped her head before standing again. He then turned to Paul and Mark. “I am truly sorry for everything I have done to the two of you. I wasn’t the best father but I promise to change that as we move forward.”

Paul didn’t say anything, he just clenched his jaw and held his head high. Mark just shrugged at him and turned to the man standing at the head of the table. “What did you find on Lilith?” he asked impatiently.

“We managed to trace her through the many foster homes that she had. Then from there she attempted to go to college, but dropped out during her second semester.” The man paused and took a deep swallow of water.

“What happened to her after she left college?” Paul asked in a whisper. The knot in Katie’s stomach began to twist again. She reached over and gripped Paul’s hand.

Fabian bowed his head and took a deep breath. “We talked to some of her classmates. It seems she liked to visit a local vampire den. It started out as research but she quickly got addicted to some of the things that go on in there.”

Katie’s heart raced. She had raided a few vampire dens during her career. Most had rules, everyone involved in the blooding of vampires had to be willing, sign contracts. But with all things, there were a few bad apples out there. Places that kidnapped, brainwashed, and forced the subjects to participate in anything their vampire wanted.

They controlled these humans with the addiction. In trade for the human offering up their blood, they received the best orgasm of their lives, on top of a few drops of blood from the vampire.

The blood gave them a high. They had increased strength, speed, and stamina. It made these humans reckless.

“That’s not possible,” Fabian barked out. “You have to have something wrong.”

“Do they believe she is there willingly?” Paul asked in a calm, even tone that scared Katie. It meant he was hiding his true emotions.

“From my understanding, no. They believe she is being forced to stay there.”

Chapter 10

It had taken them several hours to get everything worked out. Mark and Chiles were going to be heading out soon to take over the recovery of females in the surrounding states. The team they were replacing would be working on the recovery of Lilith.

              Mark had fought them. He had wanted to go after his sister. As much as Paul would have liked that, he knew it wasn’t the smartest idea. They needed the best team they had, outside of the family, to go searching for her. So they had come up with the best option. Tony and Chris would go searching for this vampire den.

              “Are you okay?” Katie whispered as they walked down the street heading toward their building. The night was warm and quiet.

              “I will be once we find her. Until then, I will be worried about everything that could happen to her.”

              “We will find her and bring her home safely. But for now we need to get everything else figured out.” Katie laid her head on his shoulder as they passed people mindlessly walking by.

              Paul’s mind circled around everything they had learned, and everything that needed to be done. The book was being transferred tonight before Chiles and Mark left. The recovery of the females was now in full swing. In fact, they had one arriving in the morning. From everything that Paul understood, the woman had not come willingly. The team ended up having to drug her. Paul wasn’t too happy that it had come to that but in the end, what choice did they have?

              Katie had taken all the information in strides. The only thing he had not been able to get her to talk about was Julie. It was killing him not knowing what was going on in that head of hers. When she had heard about the female coming in, she immediately started planning, trying to think of ways to help this young woman. To get her to accept the fact that this was where she belonged.

              A smile crept across Paul’s face. Katie was an inspiration not only to him, but the rest of the race as well. He had watched the faces of everyone involved in the meetings today. With each development, Katie had taken charge, given orders, never backing down. The men were starting to respect her.

              They were just passing an alley when the hairs on the back of his neck stood. He paused and took a quick look around. He didn’t see anyone but knew someone was there watching them.

              “What’s wrong?” Katie asked as she glanced around.

              Before Paul could answer, Julie seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of them. “My guess is the bastard somehow felt my presence.” She stepped closer and ran a hand down Paul’s chest.

              He shivered in disgust. His stomach threatened to empty itself. How could Katie be related to this bitch? They were so different. Katie was all things good. She loved deeply. But Julie? She was pure evil. Selfish to the core.

              “Hmmmm, seems like he is excited to see me,” Julie whispered as she turned to look at Katie. Paul was about to remove Julie’s hand but Katie’s fist moved a lot quicker, making contact with Julie’s chin. She stumbled back a few steps. Blood dripped down the corner of her lip.

              When she looked back up at them, her eye’s glinted a soft red, proof that her dragon was getting antsy, wanting out, but that wouldn’t happen until she was mated.

              “That was for touching my husband.” Katie stepped forward and lashed out again. This time her foot came into contact with Julie’s knee. “That was for abandoning your own sister to the humans.” Julie bucked a little but remained standing.

              “I see you have started to compile a list of all the females. My sister shouldn’t have been born. I had told my parents not to even try, but they didn’t listen.” She shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t even matter.

              Paul watched as Katie’s temper rose. He could feel the power ripple off of her in waves. Knew that she was beginning to tap into other powers. Julie staggered back a few steps, eyes going wild as she looked at Katie.

              “You don’t even see it. You don’t realize that I’m your fucking sister,” Katie bit out, her words laced with hatred.

              Julie shook her head. “No. You don’t have my red hair,” she whispered out.

              “According to my DNA, I take more after our father.” Katie took a step closer to Julie. Before she could close the distance, Julie stuck her hand in her pocket and disappeared.

              Both Paul and Katie cursed at the same time. Paul stepped forward and placed his arms around Katie and pulled her against him. At first she flinched but quickly started to relax. Paul may not understand Julie’s motives, but he did know that it was time that he started chasing down Julie personally. It would seem that the ones they had put on the job were failing. He would not have this happening to his mate again.

***

              Katie sat at the dining room table watching the front door. She had decided that the new female should be brought to their home instead of Elder Enterprises. No need to walk an unmated female through a building of unmated males. That was just asking for trouble.

              The night before still sat in the front of her mind. They needed a new way to go after Julie. Needed to even the playing field. Yeah, Katie was the queen and had all these powers, but Julie had been playing this game a lot longer. Knew the ins and outs of this world. Katie was just learning.

              After the run in with Julie, Katie and Paul had come home. For the first time in several days, they had been able to have some alone time, though Katie had noticed that the book had been transferred in at some point during the night. Her cheeks had grown red to think that they had brought it in while her and Paul had been sexing it up.

              Footsteps sounded out in the hall. Katie’s head snapped in the direction of the front door again. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. A knock sounded at the door.

              Katie’s palms began to sweat. As she stood, she quickly wiped them on her pants. Paul came rushing out of the office to join her as she answered the door.

              There were two men on the other side of the door. One was carrying a woman who looked as if she were sleeping. Katie stepped out of their way and watched as Paul led them into a spare bedroom. The men came back out quickly without the female. They bowed to her before leaving, closing the door on their way out.

              Katie forced herself to head toward the spare room. She stopped at the door and watched as Paul checked her vitals before coming to stand beside her. The woman looked peaceful. Her jet black hair and piercings actually complimented her looks. She had a small build. Her cheeks were slightly sunken in, as if she wasn’t eating enough to survive.

              Katie knew how that felt. Had gone through it herself. A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye. Her sister had caused this pain and suffering. So many people had been affected by the actions of one person.

              With a sigh, Katie looked up at Paul. “I want Julie dead. She does not deserve to live anymore.” A look of tension crossed Paul’s face.

              “I could not agree more.”