The Guilty Innocent (19 page)

“How did
this
happen?” he asked again as he pointed to my wound.

I looked at him and smiled, he was worried about me, I could feel myself blushing. “Well his partner came into the restaurant blasting away, we had to crawl away to avoid getting shot and I cut my hand on a shard of glass, that's all.” I said, Xavier examined my hand once more.

“May I fill you in now?” Elise asked in a smart-alecky tone.

Xavier turned to her as if he did not understand the question, then he remembered. “Oh...yeah, I'm sorry about that. Please do go on,” he said apologetically. I believed he'd forgotten that he had cut her off.

Elise began. “Well, I asked him who was behind all this and he told me that; Eremei Andreev is
the
man behind the entire plan. It was his idea to send Lidiya to seduce Anthony Juliano. Thus, making him believe that she and he could buy their freedom with certain information and that would pay the debt he owed when he left the mafia. Being the day manager of
Desires Unleashed,
Eremei hoped that Anthony could use his position to gain access to Darian's personal files.” Elise looked at me, her eyes reflected a hint of sadness, I could tell it was an emotion she was trying to keep from coining to the surface. “Even having Darian locked away for murder was his will. But Dmitri still did not know all of the details of Eremei's plan.” She looked at Xavier her head cocked slightly. “Do you recognize the name, Eremei Andreev, Xavier?” she asked.

Xavier nodded his head solemnly. “He is a notorious Russian mafia boss. He is known amongst the organized crime syndicates as one of the most brutal and vicious men in the world.” Xavier frowned. “What could he be planning?!” he asked out loud.

I looked at Elise. “What else did you find out?” I asked

Her eyes trailed from Xavier to me and she smiled. “I know where the mansion is,” she said.

“Well, that's great! Now we can go there and kick some ass, right?” I asked in my 'charged up' tone. Devin chuckled.

“What do you mean, we?” Sergio retorted. “Your only injury thus far is a cut from a jagged piece of glass and you were crying about that! Do you think you actually have what it takes to burst in on a Russian cartel and apprehend criminals?” Sergio asked then he shook his head in disbelief. “Look Natasha, you're a good person from what I can tell, but I think you better just head on home and let us deal with the rest.” I felt something sink inside me and I wasn't quite sure what it was. I just knew I felt an enormous sadness overcome me. I wasn't even sure I could put my feelings into words, but I was going to try.

“I know I'm not a crime-fighter,” I paused, Xavier tried to console me, but I continued. “I know that I'm not as physically resilient as you are, but I am just as useful here as any of you, and my reason for being here is just as significant as yours, if not more.” My voice was shaking with a mixture of emotions; anger, passion, sadness, doubt and probably a whole list of other emotions that I could not identify.

“I didn't mean to insult you, or make you feel unworthy, Natasha. I know they killed your friend and you're probably in this to see that justice is handed out and I understand this. However, you're human and your death can come easily, you're a liability to us,” he stated frankly.

I looked at him...was he right? Was I a liability? I looked for Xavier to come to my aide. When my eyes locked on his, he turned away.
“Is
that what
I
am, a problem?”
I
asked, tears begin to brim my eyes, but
I
refused to let them fall.

“It's not that Natasha. Remember when you went on the hunt with Warren and Darian? You were almost killed! Who's to say there won't be an 'almost' next time, or worse?” Xavier asked entreatingly.

“But I
want
to help, don't you understand!?” I could feel my bottom lip tremble, I bit my lip to keep it still.

“I do understand, but I agree with Sergio. I love you and it would kill me if anything bad happened to you. Natasha, I think you should leave,” Xavier said sternly.

That was the knife through my heart, I was left speechless.

“Natasha, you know that I know better than anyone else your reasons for being here. I admire your bravery and dedication, but I will not risk you being injured or killed, can you not understand this!?” Xavier asked passionately, as passionately as any man in love.

I looked at him and nodded. I did understand, but I could not envision myself flying back to America to sit back and wait, not when I felt in my heart that they would need me still. Was it my own stubbornness? Or was it my intuition?

“Xavier, I'm staying, there is nothing else you can say to me to make me change my mind, I am sorry.” I said, then I rose from the chair and walked towards the bedroom door. As I reached for the door handle, I looked down at my wounded hand, staring at it for a few seconds before turning around. Xavier was standing right in front of me only inches away. He took me by the shoulders and pulled me into his embrace.

“Stubborn, brave woman,” he whispered into my ear.

He lifted my face to his and kissed me deeply. There was so much comfort in that kiss, I felt safe. He pulled away and reached for my hand. He held it to his lips and his tongue darted out, there was blood on the pink tip where his fangs had broken the flesh. I wondered if it hurt a vampire to bite their own tongue, there was no way of telling, he did not show it if it did. He licked my wound and I began to feel a tingling sensation under my skin. He continued to lick over the wound several times until the skin healed perfectly. The entire healing process was ecstatic, a damn sight better than a shot and stitches!

“There, all better. Okay, since you're going to stay here, let me fill you in on what was done while you slept.” Xavier said as he took my hand and led me back towards the chair. I looked at Sergio, who only gave me a tiny smile and nod.

“I called Warren and asked him for some surveillance equipment, he said he should be able to get his hands on some. It should arrive here no later than tomorrow afternoon. I want to scope out our enemy before we attack.” Xavier said and everyone around the room nodded their heads in agreement.

“Why does Darian have all these politician in his pocket?” I asked. I figured it was time to ask that question. “Besides the politician list, is there another reason why everyone is in this situation?”

Xavier looked at me, the expression in his eyes let me know he didn't want to tell me, but he would if I really wanted to know.

“I need to know this, Xavier. I need to know why my friend had to die!” my voice sounded so serious, even to me!

He nodded then began. “Darian had done some favors for certain politicians in the past, so they owe him favors in return. But there are those that he has paid off to get what he wanted out of them. The politicians on his list vary from state senators to house representatives, even the governor is on his list.”

“Governor Andrews!?” I asked, surprised.

Xavier nodded. “Especially governor Andrews, he wants to win this year's election. He also realizes there are a lot of supernaturals who are extremely wealthy and can aid him in his campaign. Not to mention all of the influence they carry. Being voted in by the supernatural community can really gain him insurmountable clout in the political office,” Xavier said.

“So what does Darian get out of helping him?” Sergio asked.

“Whatever he wants out of the deal. That's how Darian is, he's been around a long time, he knows how this system works.” Xavier said, then he looked at me. “Trust me Natasha, if he could have foreseen that his connections would lead to innocent people being placed in harm’s way, he would have been more astute towards his associates and who they were associated with.”

“Man, what is he, like the vampire godfather?” Devin asked

“You could say that. I know that is how I picture him at times,” John said as he looked at Xavier. “I mean, everything about Darian is calculated to precision. I've never seen him make a mistake, not once! The way...well, let's just say he is one smooth guy.”

Xavier looked at John and laughed softly. “You see him the way I use to see him, I still see him that way at limes.” Xavier looked back at me. “You've been so quiet, what are you thinking?” he asked.

Hell, I didn't know what I was thinking, however, I did comprehend what I was hearing. Darian was being compared to a mafia boss. Was he as vicious as the one we were seeking to take down?

I looked at Xavier. “Is Darian cruel?” I asked softly.

“Only if he feels that it is necessary to be cruel. Darian is many things Natasha, but a tyrant, he is not,” Xavier stated.

I nodded my head, I remembered what Elise said earlier about Darian. 'He's a survivor if nothing else.' it made even
more
sense now than it did when she said it.

“I understand,” I said.

Xavier leaned forward and kissed the back of my hand, he looked up at me and smiled. I rose from the chair and walked towards the food on the table. There was only a little left. The shape-shifters had demolished what looked to have been three whole roasted chickens, a bowl of mash potatoes and a bowl of string beans. The shrimp cocktail and lobster rolls, I was told by Devin, were all gone. I was so disappointed, I loved seafood!

“Oh, we ordered room service for you. Xavier told us how much you loved seafood, so I ordered a seafood platter for you,” Elise said. “I would have ordered it with our food, but we had no idea how long you were going to lay there and snore, so I held off, room service should be here shortly.” Elise seemed to be in better spirits.

“Thanks Elise, I am starving,” I was beginning to feel more at ease around her. I sat down in the chair and looked at the television screen. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door and John jumped up from his seat.

“I got it, don't worry,” he said as he placed his hand on the knob. “Who is it?”

“Room service,” a male voice replied.

John opened the door and looked at the man in a red and gold uniform. He gestured for the man to come inside and he did wheeling the food cart in front of him. Xavier stood, slightly blocking my view of the food. Sergio was reaching into his pocket to tip the busboy when bullets began to fly through our windows. Xavier grabbed my hand and led me away from the flying bullets. Amidst the shower of glass, Sergio pushed Devin and Elise on the floor and they crawled into the master bedroom. John ran towards us and that's when I saw the busboy reach under his cart and pull out a huge double barrel shotgun. I screamed for John to duck and he did so just in time. The man aimed the shotgun at me and pulled the trigger, Xavier stepped in front of me and the buckshot bullets sprayed his chest blasting a huge hole in his torso. Xavier's blood splattered my face and arms and I screamed again-this time more hysterically.

Xavier fell on top of me, pushing me onto the blood splattered floor away from the spraying bullets. John attacked the uniformed assassin, his eyes were glowing red and his fangs extended. A stream of blood arched from the assassin's throat as John plunged his razor sharp teeth deeply into the man's jugular. The assassin cried out, he began to shoot his gun off randomly, blasting holes into the ceiling of the room. John feasted quickly, taking the assassin down to his knees. More and more bullets came ripping through our windows and the sound of police sirens became more distinctive as they approached the hotel. I heard Sergio cry out and I turned around to see that he was in front of Elise and he had been shot in his stomach and was bleeding profusely. John tossed the body away from him and we managed to get out of the room. But there was another assassin waiting for us outside in the hallway. He began to shoot at us and Xavier pushed me back into the room.

Devin had changed forms, I hadn't even noticed when he did it. But he was beautiful, a white leopard who looked to be at least three hundred pounds in weight with green eyes. He leaped over us and out of the door. Xavier grabbed my hand then led us out of the room to the stairway. I looked down the hall when I heard a man scream and saw Devin standing over the man, ripping out his throat. I wished I had not looked back to see gentle, adorable Devin pulling chunks of flesh from a dying man's throat. I began to feel nauseous, but knew I did not have time to throw up. Elise called to Devin but he continued to feed. Sergio, despite his injuries, ran to Devin and pulled him away from the body. Devin clawed at the body with his long sharp nails that shredded the assassin's flesh and shirt. Sergio slapped him on his nose, Devin yelped and looked at Sergio. Sergio fell to his knees next to Devin, weakened. Elise ran to Sergio, she put him over her shoulders in the same manner a fireman would and ran towards us with Devin at her side as we made our way down the stairway. John stopped us when he heard the loud transmission of the police walkie-talkies down below.