Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1

by R A Baker

  Deceptive Changes

  Kat Book 1

  By R A Baker

  Copyright © 2015 Rickianne Baker

  Cover Art by Rickianne Baker

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, and incidents, either are the product of the author’s imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author.

  Dedication

  To my family and friends that supported me, even when I was too wimpy to put my “babies” out there. A special thank you to my Aunt M for giving me valuable feedback on all of my Kat novels. To those who have waited patiently for Kat to be published, thank you for sticking it out with me.

  Author Note

  This is the beginning, before Annika Pierce, and tells the tale of Kat LaMond’s life after killing Antreas, king of all US vampires. You do not need to read his story to understand what Kat goes through, even though the beginning appears to indicate so.

  Please understand that this is a series and not all questions will be answered in this novel, but over many novels. I hope you enjoy reading Kat as much as I enjoyed writing her, and her lovers.

  If you’d like to stay up to date on Kat and Annika, on me, or just want to know when the next book will be published, please follow the link to my Facebook page:

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/R-A-Baker/488622654554445

  If you would like to let me know how you feel about my books, or would just like to contact me, please email me at:

  rickianne_baker@yahoo.com

  A small request: If you have read any of my books, and you feel so inclined, please leave a review to let others know how you feel about my books. You have my heartfelt gratitude for taking the time to do so.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Prologue

  After everything that had happened before this night was more bad dream than anything else, and it made me cranky, even when we were summoned to the induction ceremony to introduce Todd to all vampire kind here in the US as their new king. We consisted of: Todd, Trace, Erick, Sandra, Mark, Nadja, Ardeness, Beatrice, Charles, and yours truly.

  The place was beautifully done up with string lighting and silk-and-satin tablecloths, platinum silverware, bone-china plates, and tiered seating for all guests, all courtesy of Charles, an invaluable man that had been gifted to me by Antreas-the previous king-before I killed him. Antreas had chosen Todd as his successor, though I wasn’t exactly sure why considering they weren’t all that close before Antreas’s death.

  For the ceremony and power giving, we (all of those closest to me) stood on a stage, in front of thousands of vampires, and were announced in order, with Todd and me announced first. Those that were raised: Sandra, Mark, Ardeness, Beatrice, and Nadja with Charles, stood on the left of Todd, and me, Erick, and Trace stood on his right.

  An older gentleman announced Todd, making his voice loud enough, which surprised me, to fill the whole of the auditorium. Todd stepped forward, and then I was announced, which meant that I had to step forward as well. To say I didn’t want to kiss my ex-husband would be silly, because I did, but it was what would happen once I kissed him that was the problem. See, Antreas gave me his power before I killed him, and in order to transfer that power, I had to kiss Todd. Go figure, weirdo vampire power exchange meant that I had to be up close and personal with my ex.

  When I took too long, Todd gave me a honey-eyed stare that set my heart pounding. I did love him, even if we had divorced. The reason for that is long and right now, I had to do my duty.

  I walked up to Todd, taking in his six foot-two inch slender frame, his dark brown hair, and honey colored eyes. He was the first man I loved, ever. I was almost sad, and cranky, to kiss him out of duty, but whatever, maybe later I’d be able to give him a proper kiss.

  “Babe,” he purred, giving me a too-happy-for-words smile. “Ready to kiss me?”

  “Do I have to?” I asked, squinching my nose.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, Kat, you do. Okay, come on, I want to taste your mouth.”

  “But…this won’t be a tasting, Todd, this will be a duty-bound kiss.”

  “Yes, well, we could make it more.”

  Huh. I hadn’t thought of that. I had been so wrapped up in the duty and honor of giving a kiss instead of, duh, this was my ex-husband and I wanted to give him that kiss. “Okay. Kiss.”

  I lifted on tiptoes, wrapping my hands around his biceps, and planted a kiss that made the very air shimmer with power. Todd groaned softly and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me for a long moment while the power transferred, and then, once the power had gone from me to him, slid his hand up my spine to cup the back of my head. He tilted me a little, just enough that it made the kiss go from hello to hel-lo.

  Wow, that was more than I had bargained for. I ended the kiss, mostly because I could hear others murmuring and it embarrassed me that I had forgotten everything for that time.

  “Sorry,” I muttered. I was loath to even look at him, mostly because I was afraid that I had embarrassed him or done something I wasn’t supposed to.

  “Don’t be sorry, Kat.”

  “Yeah, well, thousands of vampires,” I said and waved my hand. “Anyway, I’m going to need to take off soon.”

  Todd frowned. “Why? This is our party.”

  “Correction, your party. And I have to leave because I have to go to work in the morning.”

  “All right. One dance though.”

  “Two, actually,” Erick chimed in. Erick was gorgeous, and at six-one, he had a slim body. He was one of my raised ones, the very first one I raised actually, and captured my attention like so few have ever done.

  I turned from Todd and looked into Erick’s emerald green eyes, noting that he had his shoulder-length chestnut brown hair tied back. I was sad to see that it was tied back, and only because when it wasn’t, he had waves that made me want to touch, all the damn time.

  “Make that three
,” Trace said.

  Sadly, Trace didn’t draw me like Erick, but it wasn’t really his fault, mostly it was mine. Yes, Trace was gorgeous, just in a different way. He was six-one, sandy-brown hair, with bluey-grey eyes. He came to me later, I guess, but I can’t be sure. However, I live with the man now, so of course he draws me in, and we have been intimate, on more than one occasion, so yeah, okay, I did like Trace a lot, just differently from Erick.

  “Oh, all right, three dances, and then I must leave,” I said.

  >< ><

  I danced, more than three, actually, but it wasn’t as bad as I make it sound. Trace, Erick, and Todd each got two dances out of me before I begged off and left them to do their thing. It was a party after all.

  I left the wooded fields of the auditorium for Main Street. Yes, how very clever of them, but this was New Hampshire, and every town has to have a ‘Main Street’.

  I made it to my apartment building, a building I owned, and walked inside after leaving my car with the valet. Valets were one of many reasons the people in my apartment building paid the high rent, and then there were other things like being full-service, as far as any item needed, my staff will endeavor to provide.

  I waved to Karen, a slim woman that had a no-nonsense attitude and was highly efficient at her job. I hired her after the previous manager told one of my tenants that he couldn’t help him out, whereas Karen had stepped up and made sure the tenant had something or other. After that, I fired the manager and replaced him with her, and it’s been the best decision I ever made.

  I shuffled over to the elevators and pressed the button. Now that I was home, I was beat. I had a long day before getting the call from Charles and the summons for power transfer. Along with being tired came that crankiness that I had been feeling for the last six months. I wasn’t sure exactly why I was cranky, but I had an inkling it had to do with killing Antreas.

  The lift dinged and I rode it up to the penthouse floor where my apartment was. It wasn’t all that lavish, mostly because I didn’t have an interior decorator bone in my body, and because I didn’t much care about my surroundings, so long as I had a bed to sleep in, I was good.

  The apartment consisted of: living room, kitchen, hallway, bedroom, and bathroom. I had a little table by the door where I set keys, wallet, and junk mail to be thrown away later. The bedroom consisted of bed, dresser, walk-in closet, and nightstand with lamp. Very utilitarian but hell, like I said, it was a place to crash.

  Even though I wanted to drop onto the bed in relief, I didn’t. I changed, did the bathroom bit, and then, finally, I was able to climb under the covers and fall asleep, which happened almost instantly.

  Chapter One

  I woke up, barely, to slurred voices that were way too loud for the wee hours of morning. I flopped over and squinted at the door. Trace and Erick were laughing at something, apparently trying to keep quiet, which wasn’t working, and then, to top it off, Todd joined them.

  “Hey, keep down,” I groused. I was not a morning person, and I hated being woken up in the middle of my sleep schedule. It was just so wrong that they were mostly drunk and not being quiet.

  “Aw, Kat, we’re tryin’,” Todd slurred.

  “Just keep it down. If not, leave. I’m tired and I have a very early morning.”

  “Sorry, Kat,” they said in unison.

  “Uh huh. I can hear it.” I rolled my eyes and waved my hand. “Go away. I want to sleep and apparently you three don’t. So leave.”

  “Come on, Kat, we live here too,” Trace said.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever, just be quiet.”

  I didn’t even hear what was said after since I passed the hell out, especially after turning over and burrowing into pillows and comforter.

  Chapter Two

  I woke up between Trace and Erick; both were cuddling me, having apparently gotten over the giggles last night enough to sleep next to me. I took their hands from my stomach and got out of bed. It wasn’t easy trying to climb between two bodies and a third but I managed.

  I shuffled into the bathroom and turned on the shower, stripping quickly. I was just a tad later than I should have been, but well, it was a damn good thing I ran my own company and I could be late, though I disliked being late for work.

  I stretched and froze when something caught my eye in the mirror. I looked over at the mirror and then down at my arm. Holy fuck! It was a tattoo. I shrieked in horror. When the hell did I get a tattoo? Did I do something before coming home last night? No way. I remembered very clearly that I had come home and I hadn’t even had anything stronger than one glass of wine, and that had been early on. There was no way I could have gotten a tattoo, even if I had been sleep walking.

  The guys came running into the bathroom, blinking at me, half-sleepy, half-aroused. Why would they…? Oh. I was standing naked.

  I grabbed a towel and wrapped up, not that I was shy around any of them. I’ve had them on more than one occasion but I wasn’t in the mood. I wanted to know what the hell was going on because I was damn sure that it had something to do with last night.

  “Todd, what the hell is this?” I pointed to my right arm. A one inch hand print with a dagger running through the hand was tattooed on my arm in black. I touched the spot and found it smooth, as if it had always been there.

  “Let me take a closer look,” he said as he walked up to me, blinking sleep out of his eyes. “You’re not going to like this.”

  I hissed a breath and said, “Tell me.”

  “This tattoo is to indicate that you’re my enforcer.” He looked at me with something close to desire, something, at this moment, was not what I wanted nor needed; I wanted to know what the fuck happened to me.

  I looked away from him, but only for a moment, and asked, “What does that mean?”

  “To you, it means that you won’t be able to get away from this life. To me, it means that you will be my helper in the event that vampires misbehave. If they do and I see fit to punish them and that punishment is death, you’re it.”

  I stared gaped mouth and took a step back from him. I didn’t mind helping him now and then, but to be stuck with this job forever? No way. I shook my head. “No, I will not. I will not be your assassin.”

  “Kat,” Todd said in that tone that said I was being difficult.

  “Don’t ‘Kat’ me, Todd. I didn’t choose this and I really, really, don’t want this. I will help as much as I can to allow you a simpler integration but I will not be the vampires’ boogeyman.”

  “I don’t expect that, Kat. All I want is for you to be what you are destined to be.” Whatever the hell that meant. He tried to come closer to me but I moved back. I didn’t want to be touched by him or anyone at the moment.

  Well, now I was grumpy and not just cranky. I could feel my top lip lift up in a sneer. “Just leave, Todd. I’ll figure it out, hopefully in time to save your ass.” I waved my hand dismissively at him. Todd turned on his heel and left the bathroom without another word.

  “You shouldn’t have been so hard on him, Kat. He’s only trying to help,” Trace said.

  I sighed and looked at Trace. He was looking at me with pain contorting his face. I wanted to say something to help him but I couldn’t. I had kicked Todd out and it was my fault. I looked at Erick and saw the same unhappy expression on his face. Boy, I really mucked this up, didn’t I?

  “Can you guys get out? I need to finish my shower.” Hurt flashed across their faces but they turned and stepped out of the bathroom. Thank fuck they were gone. I dropped the towel and stepped into the hot flow of water.

  I was still trepidatious about going into a bathroom after what happened a few months earlier. When I had been on my way out of the bathroom, after a nice shower and after I had killed Antreas, I was stabbed through the chest and my throat was slit, or I thought it was.

  It was Sadant’s ghost that did me in. It felt real, like I was dying but it was only a really good parlor trick. I came to on the floor of the hotel bathroom, l
ooking up at Todd, Trace, and Erick. I was so glad to see them and that they could see me. The first question out of my mouth was, “Can you see me?”

  They had laughed, mostly in confusion, and nodded, reassuring me with that simple head bob. Erick, the ever gentleman, said, “Of course we can see you, Katja. Are you well?” I had blinked up at him and nodded. Erick had then helped me off the floor and I told them what had happened. They weren’t as shocked as I had been but then again they hadn’t had their throats slit.

  We moved out of the hotel in time for the summer season and I got apartments for all those that I had raised. Those that I raised were split into pairs: Beatrice and Ardeness, Sandra and Mark, Charles and Nadja. Trace, Erick, Todd, and I share my apartment. That is until today, now it’s just Trace, Erick and me, since I kicked Todd out.

  >< ><

  I finished my shower and changed into clean clothes. I was going back to work, finally. It wasn’t like they needed me there, the real-estate firm did well on its own but I enjoyed selling houses and now I was looking for one for myself. The apartment wasn’t meant to hold all four of us. The apartments may be really nice and cater to the rich but it was much too small for us to be comfortable. The flats are laid out in the same general manner: a small foyer, living room, kitchen, and a good sized bedroom with a luxury bathroom.

  I walked out of the bathroom and found Trace and Erick sitting on the bed and waiting for me. I heaved a sigh. “What do you want now?”

  “We don’t want anything, Kat. We just want to make sure that you’re okay with this.”

  “Of course I’m not okay with this, Trace. I didn’t expect to be tied to Todd in this manner. Yeah, it was okay when it was just as a consultant or something but to be required to do this, I don’t think I can handle it. Besides, I have to go to work. I don’t have time to talk about this. Take showers, have a nice day. I’ll see you guys when I get home. Invite Todd over, I’ll bring dinner.” I waved as I walked out of the bedroom.