The Guilty Innocent (12 page)

“Oh, this is a treat! Shit, I'm glad I came along!” Devin said, ecstatically.

“I'm starting to regret not leaving you at home.” Sergio pushed the other man playfully, Devin laughed. Sergio walked towards Xavier, but Devin stopped him.

“Allow me, you got to touch the last one.” Devin reminded. He sprinted across the room and picked Xavier off of the bed as if he was an infant and placed him gently inside the coffin, closing the lid over him. He stood up and smiled at me devilishly. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as the three shifters looked in my direction. I decided to avert their thoughts to more important matters other than whether or not I had slept with Xavier, I did, but that was none of their damn business.

“Okay, we've got the others packed away safely, now let's get going.” I said as I walked towards the front door.

I could hear them laughing in the other room and fought the urge to yell at them to “shut up”. Instead, I opted for telling them to “hurry up”. Sergio came out of the room first, then Elise, Devin was last as he carried the coffin on his shoulder. As they passed me, each one had their own way of letting me know what they were thinking. Sergio winked at me, Elise giggled coyly, and Devin simply came on out with it and asked me if the sex with Xavier was “good”. If you would look 'embarrassed' up in a dictionary, you'd see a short description with a picture of me beside it looking red in the face. After turning off the lights, I locked my apartment door and headed downstairs to the truck. I was thankful that none of my nosey neighbors were in the hallway. A man leaving my apartment carrying a coffin on his shoulders would surely give them something to gossip about.

Sergio navigated the huge SUV between lanes as if it were
a sports car. At one point, I thought we were going to turn over! Men drivers, go figure! We pulled into a private airstrip where Elise’s personal jet awaited us. She held a short discussion with her pilots as Sergio and Devin loaded the coffins
on the
plane. I was standing nearby, eavesdropping on Elise's conversation. If there was anything I needed to know about the plane, I wanted
to
know, unlike
the
rest of them, I'm mortal. It would be my first time
on
a plane and I was trying hard not to appear to be
the
nervous wreck that I was. Everything appeared to be in order, so I climbed aboard
the
plane and looked around.

It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful! There was a full white leather sofa and two matching chairs by the windows. A fully stocked bar, which didn't matter to me, since I don't drink. I just thought it was cool to have one on board. There was a grill, refrigerator and microwave in the galley. I turned around and saw a huge forty-eight inch flat screen plasma television. Even the floor was covered with thick white carpeting! I was truly amazed! Oh, to be wealthy must be a wonderful thing. I sat down on one of the chairs and felt my muscles relax instantly, the chair was extremely comfortable and heated. Sergio draped his long form over the other chair, leaving his legs dangling over the armrest. Devin began raiding the refrigerator, pulling out various meats, cheeses and other condiments. He started to make himself two gigantic sandwiches. I felt my stomach rumbled and decided to ask for something to eat.

“Is it alright if I make myself something to eat?” I asked Elise. She slid onto the sofa as if she were preparing for a photo shoot. She smirked at me and nodded her head. I must admit, I was shocked, I had expected some sort of catty comment, but nothing came. Relieved, I rose from my chair and stood next to Devin to make myself a ham sandwich. Devin took both of his gigantic sandwiches and sat on the floor between Sergio and Elise, and began eating. I sat back into my chair and ate. Afterwards, I looked at the telephone
on
the wall next to the bathroom. I wanted to call Annette's family t
o
give them my condolences. I'd been avoiding it, to do so, would mean I had accepted Annette's death. It was still hard for me to accept the fact that Annette was gone, but I wanted her family to know that I loved her and would miss her as they would.

“May I use the telephone to make one phone call?” I asked as politely as I could. My own cell phone needed charging.

Elise rolled her eyes. “Do you want to go and see the pilots too!” she said mockingly. I knew her good behavior could not last long.

“Go ahead,” Sergio said lazily as he began to drift off to sleep. Elise looked at him sharply.

“I do believe this is my private jet, my dear Sergio,” she said arrogantly. Sergio lifted his head and looked at Elise.

“Let her use the fucking phone, give it a rest already, isn't that what you're always telling me!?” he retorted, then laid his head back down.

Elise stared at him in shock as if she were insulted, she actually pouted. I looked at Sergio, he had a slight smile on his face. I had my own assumptions about their relationship, I suppose this was a small victory for him. I walked over to the telephone and called Annette parents to give them my condolences. They had to postpone making arrangements for the funeral until the police released Annette's body.

I found it quite difficult to discuss Annette's upcoming funeral, tears began to run down my cheeks. I spoke with her parents a little longer, then hung up the telephone. I walked into the bathroom to dry my face, I wanted to gain control over my emotions. I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked a bit stressed, even to myself. I walked back into the main area of the plane, sitting back down in the pretty white chair. Elise and Devin laid sprawled on the sofa as they watched the television. Devin's head rested on her lap. He looked at me and smiled. I thought he was adorable, it was nice to know that not all leopard cat people (my own little phrase for them) weren't as touchy as Elise and Sergio. I looked out of the window, the sun had set, the night was clear and beautiful, the stars shining brightly against the dark velvet of the sky. I gazed out the window and let my thoughts drift to Annette, was she watching us this very moment? She would be right here with us if she were alive, that's the kind of person she was. If someone needed her help, she would try her best to help them. I was lost in my thoughts when I was interrupted by a loud crashing noise. I jumped and looked towards the coffins where the noise came from. Sergio was standing in front of Elise, Xavier had his hand around Sergio's throat, his face contorted with rage.

“Xavier! It's okay!” I screamed, as I began to realize what had just transpired. Xavier seem to realize who he had in his grip A calmness seeped into his expression, he slowly released Sergio and stepped away. Xavier looked around the plane. I was still in awe of
Xavier's impressive show of power and agility, talk
about self defense! Both Xavier and Sergio were extremely vigorous and their speed was amazing!

“I'm sorry, I did not recognize what was going, on.” Xavier said politely, he looked at Sergio. “My apologies.”

“Yeah, no problem!” Sergio replied sourly. I could see the bruises left behind by Xavier's fingertips slowly vanishing from Sergio's throat.

“Look, I
said
I was sorry. What the fuck do you expect? Last I checked, I wasn't in a coffin on a plane!” Xavier retorted I stood there watching the two men exchange words as they glared at each other. I decided now would be a good time to intervene. I stepped between the two men, (a brave thing to do, I know) and pressed my hand on Xavier's naked chest. I felt the blood rush to my face, my cheeks were burning. The moment was so intense, I forgot that he was naked...and furthermore, I forgot that he would be hungry and would need to feed! Xavier looked down at me, his eyes softened. His warm expression made me feel comfortable, I knew that I was blushing ridiculously.

“Xavier, I had a vision,” I proceeded to update Xavier on all that had taken place since last night. Xavier listened intently to every word as he nodded his head. “We had to get to Russia, we really couldn't wait for you to wake up to do so.” I explained apologetically.

“I understand, you did the right thing, Tasha.” Xavier said, then he leaned closer and kissed me softly on the lips. I could hear Devin chuckle from across the plane.

“I was in such a hurry...I did not pack you anything... I'm so sorry. I didn't even think to buy you Synblood! Oh, I'm such an idiot!” I said, angry with myself that I did not think to better prepare for Xavier and John.

“It's alright, don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure I could borrow something of Sergio's.” Xavier speculated as he looked at Sergio, expectantly.

“His clothes are too big, they won't fit.” Devin said slyly, his eyes plastered on Xavier's naked body. A lecherous smile spread boldly across his face. I stepped in front of Xavier and Devin frowned. “Aww, come on, you've already seen the goods!” Devin whined playfully. He was cute, simply adorable! I shook my head and chuckled.

“I have something you could wear, but like Devin said, it will be loose on your less muscular body,” Sergio said mockingly.

“I'd really appreciate it,” Xavier responded condescendingly. Sergio snorted then opened up his suitcase, he pulled a pair of tan drawstring cargo pants, a tan t-shirt and a pair of shoes that were slightly too big for Xavier. Xavier dressed quickly then settled on the sofa.

“Well, now that the fiasco is over, things can get back to normal,” Elise said snobbishly. She settled more comfortably into the cushions then looked at Xavier. “Do not worry about feeding, Devin-”

She was cut off by the quick and aggressive movements of John as he sprang forth from his coffin. Scaring the hell out of me and alarming everyone else. The next thing I knew, Xavier had John in his embrace before he could attack. John's fangs were out, luckily he began to realize who was holding him. He settled calmly in Xavier's arms, his fangs retracting. Xavier whispered something into John's ear and he nodded his head, then Xavier let him go.

“Damn! You vampires are pretty serious first thing in the evening, aren't you!?” Devin chuckled as he settled back on the sofa.

“Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't know what the fuck was going on.” John said, he frowned, then look at Xavier. “What the fuck
is
going on?!” he asked, perplexed.

Xavier proceeded to fill John in on everything. After the briefing, John sat down on the rim of his coffin. He did not seem the least bit uncomfortable in the nude, or maybe it was the least of his concerns at the moment. He put his hand on his stomach and grimaced slightly.

“I'm hungry,” he whispered softly. Xavier patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

“When we land, we'll hunt.” Xavier said, John nodded.

“I'm afraid we don't have time for you to hunt-” Elise started but John interrupted her once again.

“Look, I'm starving, I need to feed...I'm hunting!” he growled.

I have to admit, it was getting a little tense and I felt uncomfortable about being tens of thousands of feet in the air during all of the arguing.

“John, settle down!” Xavier said sternly. John turned and looked at Xavier, he nodded dejectedly.

“Well, if I may continue!” Elise began, her hand on her chest as if she were appalled. “I have thought about your sustenance situation and I have brought along a willing donator,” she pointed to Devin.

Sergio rolled his eyes upward and snorted. “I still can't fucking believe you're letting him be their feedbag. And even worse...” he looked at Devin disgustedly. “You
want
to be their feedbag!!!” I could tell that annoyed Sergio.

“That's my decision, besides, I like it. Now breathe-back off me.” Devin retorted as he rose from the sofa.

“You don't have to do this, Devin,” Xavier said calmly.

I felt like I was watching a movie as an audience does, only it wasn't a movie...it was
very
real. I looked at Xavier, even though he was trying to stay in control, I could see that he wanted to feed, there was a look in his eyes that was a mixture of hunger and lust. It was definitely awkward to say the very least. I didn't know what to expect when I decided to do this, or the things that I would sec. I've never seen a vampire feed, let alone Xavier. Would I be able to handle it? I thought about running into the bathroom to hide out until it was all over, but then curiosity killed the cat (no pun intended) and I decided to bear witness to this side of Xavier. I figured it was simply another part of him that I was going to have to accept.
Big brave me!

“I know, Xavier...but I want to, now make it nice and sweet.” Devin chuckled.