Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1

by R A Baker

  “You really want to know?” Todd nodded. “He’s arrogant. He thinks that because he’s a powerful vampire I should be attracted to him. He touches me without permission. He kissed me without permission.”

  “I agree he’s a bit on the arrogant side and he has taken a few liberties but I do need him, Kat. After, we’ll see about keeping that deal.”

  I frowned at him. What could be so important that I couldn’t kill Sven? “What’s going on, Todd?”

  “Cyril is planning to attack. I’ve called a few other vampires that I trust to help with this fight.”

  “We don’t have that much more room, Todd.”

  “There will be three more that will be here. I should warn you, two of them are women.”

  I blinked at him. Why should that bother me? “Why would you think that would bother me, Todd?”

  “They are as attracted to power as Sven is.”

  It sunk in as to what he was implying. “You think they’ll be attracted to you, Trace, and Erick?” He gave me a look. Oops. “What I meant was… Not that you aren’t attractive, because you guys are. Why shouldn’t they be attracted to you? Will this be a problem?” I mentally smacked my forehead.

  “It shouldn’t be but I expect that they may be pushy.”

  “Have you been having issues with that, too?” I had to ask. I didn’t want to be jealous but already a little jealousy was worming its way through my brain.

  “I have. The guys haven’t because they really aren’t around the other vampires. I am though and yes I have had some of the women try for my attention.” I couldn’t help it but my hands balled into fists at the thought of some chick playing for my man. Todd chuckled. “I’m glad you feel that way, Kat. I really am. I didn’t think you’d feel jealousy over me.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? You’re mine.” That sounded so wrong. “I should say that…”

  Todd cut me off with a wave of his hand. “I understand, Kat. I’m happy that you think I’m yours.” He pulled me into his arms, hugging me as close as possible. I hugged him back just as tightly.

  He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then left the kitchen. I wanted to follow but I couldn’t, so I stared after him instead. If there were going to be more vamps in the house then I really should be armed to the teeth and that’s exactly what I planned on doing.

  I went down to the armory and grabbed weapons. As many as I could hold on my body and went into my bedroom. I changed into dark jeans with a belt, t-shirt, and socks and shoes. I strapped, tied, and hid my weapons.

  I walked into the sitting room and found not only Sven, Todd, Trace, and Erick but three other vampires. Two beautiful women were standing against the far wall. One was a brunette, the other a blonde. The brunette had brown eyes that were almost black. She was petite and yet looked formidable. The blonde was tall, muscular in a feminine way, with bright blue eyes. I was introduced and found that their names were Monica, blonde, and Teresa, brunette.

  The other vampire, a male with brown hair streaked green and silver piercings through his ears, nose, tongue, and lip, was standing beside Sven. The vampire’s name was Thorn. At least that’s what he said anyway.

  I turned from him and looked at the women. They were licking their lips and looking at my guys. I clenched my hands and dug in my nails so I wouldn’t say something that would cause a problem.

  I walked over to my guys and sat on Todd’s lap. The two women narrowed their eyes at me. I looked at the two women as I gave Todd a kiss on the cheek. “Kat, don’t push them.”

  “Why not? They’re pushing me.” I was in a weird mood. Maybe it had to do with waking up to a man that I didn’t know and then fighting that same man.

  Todd released me. I stood up and sat between Erick and Trace. I put a hand on each of them. The two women flinched as Trace and Erick gave me a kiss on the cheek. I almost nodded when I saw their looks over disappointment.

  I swung my gaze to the two other vampires. Sven was licking his lips like he didn’t care. He probably didn’t. Thorn’s eyes glowed with a fierceness that made me want to look away. When I didn’t, Thorn’s eyes widened and he looked away.

  Todd spoke before anything more could happen. “What news do you have?”

  The brunette, Teresa, spoke up. Her voice was soft and seductive. “So far, Cyril is still in Germany. He hasn’t sent any of his vampires over here.”

  “Anything else? Do you have any ideas as to what he plans on accomplishing?”

  “We assume you’re death, Todd.” She flicked her eyes to me. “And yours.”

  I nodded. “Is that all the news for now?” I asked. I didn’t want to start anything even though I really wanted a fight. She nodded.

  I glimpsed Todd’s expression out of the corner of my eye. “I would like the four of you to help train my people.” I didn’t correct his choice of words. They weren’t just his people, they were mine, ours. I suppose since he is the reigning vampire king what’s mine is his but it was the way he said it that annoyed me.

  The vampires nodded. Todd stood up. I was about to stand but Erick and Trace held me down. I looked at them and they shook their heads. I guess I wasn’t going anywhere. I tightened my lips as Todd and the vampires left the room.

  “Why can’t I go, too?”

  “We need you to stay out of their way. The two female vampires are on edge as it is. You will just aggravate the situation.”

  “Thanks so much, Erick.”

  He waved his hand, dismissing my comment. “You’re itching for a fight, Katja. We need them to be by our side.”

  “What do you think of their attention? They’re very beautiful.”

  “They are but you’re all we want, Kat, at least for me anyway. I don’t want them and they know it.”

  I wondered if I could set them up with Thorn and Sven. I reviewed the way they looked at the two male vampires and knew that was out of the question. They had eyes only for my guys. The way the two male vamps looked at me said they didn’t care about the two women vampires. Damn it.

  “Can I go see how the fighting’s going, please?”

  They looked at each other and then nodded. “As long as you aren’t going to cause a problem, Kat.”

  “I won’t.” Yet.

  They walked with me to the double doors that led to the backyard. Beatrice and Ardeness were fighting Thorn and losing. Sandra and Mark were going after Monica. Charles was taking Teresa and sort of winning. Todd and Sven were fighting. I watched as each of my people were taken down, except Todd. Todd and Sven were still fighting and it looked real.

  Sven was trying for speed but with Todd’s abilities as the new king he was able to keep just ahead of Sven. Sven changed tactics midstride and caught Todd across the back. Todd went down to his knees. I started to open the door but Trace held me back. I continued to watch and by the end, Todd had gotten Sven a few times.

  When Todd came into the house I asked, “Can I take a swing at this?” He pursed his lips at me and then nodded. I was out the door and wondering who would take me.

  Erick called, “Katja, this isn’t real. You need to take off your weapons.”

  I cringed and went back into the house. “Are you sure I can’t keep my weapons?” They shook their heads. Damn. I took off my holsters and sheaths and set them on the side table by the door.

  I walked outside and grabbed two fighting sticks. I looked at each of the vampires. I could see that Sven wanted another crack at me, if only to taste me again. Thorn was looking at me like he wanted to eat me, and not in a good way either. The two women vamps were clenching their fists and looking at me like they wanted my head on a platter. Okay then. “Who wants first go at me?” Sven raised his hand. I nodded.

  I walked into the middle of the sparring field and waited for him to come after me. He circled me as I circled him. He lunged at me. I spun to the ground and nailed him in the stomach with my stick. He rolled to the ground and jumped up. He smiled as he made a motion for me to get him. I shook my hea
d.

  He came at me quickly. I fended him off as best I could and got in a head shot. He reared back and licked the blood from his mouth. “You do that again, Katja, and I will taste you.” I frowned at him. He didn’t give me a chance to answer. He hit me in the chest and I went flying. I hit the ground and all the air in my lungs exploded out of my mouth.

  I rolled when his foot came down near my head. I grabbed one stick and knocked his feet out from under him. He went down for a second and then popped back up. I was regretting that I had taken my real weapons off.

  He had me by the collar of my shirt and planted a kiss on my lips, for that alone I whacked him with the stick. I didn’t give him a chance to say anything. I hit him on the leg, hard enough for his leg to buckle. He let me go and hissed at me. His fangs came out. He growled and said, “I will have you, Katja. For that alone.” My heart went into my throat as I backed away from him.

  I held the one stick at the ready. He didn’t even try to stalk me. He simply pushed off the ground and was behind me with his arm around my neck. His fangs slid into my neck and I was immediately overwhelmed with a pleasure that made my knees weak.

  I tried to fight through the feelings that welled through me but I couldn’t. The stick dropped from my hand. Sven’s hands roamed my chest and stomach. I sighed as his mouth worked at my neck. I heard voices but they were far away. Sven’s body jerked and his teeth slid from my neck. He licked the wound and turned. I fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

  >< ><

  I woke up in my bedroom with my men surrounding me. I looked at them and sat up. The room swam as my heart beat loudly in my head. “What happened?” I asked as I put my hand to my head.

  “You don’t remember?”

  I blinked at Todd and thought about it. I sucked in a breath as the memories came back to me. “It was Sven. He took my blood. We were fighting. Did you shoot him?” Todd nodded. “Is he dead?”

  “No. He’s healing in the other guest room though. What kind of bullets were in that gun, Kat?”

  “I had some exploding rounds made. Sorry, I didn’t think you’d want to know being that they’re illegal and all. Besides, it would have been one hell of a surprise to some bad vampires.”

  Todd’s mouth hung open. He closed his mouth and thought for a moment. “Good thing I didn’t aim for his heart. He’d be dead if I had.” Yeah, what a shame.

  “How long was I out?”

  “Only an hour, Kat. You lost some blood but nothing dangerous. Sven is going to need some blood and no one wants to donate.”

  “Are you asking me something?”

  “No. I wouldn’t ask you to do that. I’m going to need to run and grab some though.”

  “No. Don’t. It was partially my fault that he’s injured. I’ll donate the blood. How about Thorn, Monica, and Teresa? Do they have donors?”

  “Yeah, Beatrice and Ardeness have offered to feed Thorn. Charles has offered to donate for the girls though Nadja wants to be in the room when they take his blood.” I must have looked surprised because he continued. “Charles has been a donor before, when he was with Antreas. I didn’t know if you would be willing to allow us to feed the girls or even Thorn. We wanted to speak with you first.”

  “If they need it, I suppose not. I can’t allow my jealousy of the girls to affect the mission. Besides, if I donate to Sven, you should feel what I feel.” They nodded but didn’t move. “What else?”

  “Nothing. We’re just surprised, that’s all.”

  I looked at each of them. “I guess I’ll go feed Sven then.” I got off the bed. Trace and Erick held my arms and walked me into the guest room. Todd went off somewhere.

  Sven was lying on the bed, bleeding and paler than he had been. It looked like he had lost a lot of blood. I heaved a sigh and walked up to the bed alone. I looked around for a knife.

  Trace handed me a knife and I cut my wrist. My blood dribbled onto Sven’s mouth. He didn’t move or flinch or even swallow. I hoped I wasn’t too late. I didn’t much like him but I didn’t want him to die, not yet. I pressed my wrist to his mouth. A moment later his mouth opened and his teeth slid in. I hissed as pain went through my arm.

  His hand wrapped around my wrist and his eyes flew open. His dark blue eyes shimmered with bloodlust. I gulped and tried to pull my wrist away. His hand tightened on mine. He continued to suck on my wrist as he looked at me. Pleasure filled me from the top of my head to my toes. I think I moaned but I couldn’t tell for sure, since blood was pounding in my ears and muting out almost all sound.

  He let me go and licked the wound, then smiled at me. “You saved me. Again. You really do like me.”

  “Don’t get excited. I only helped because we need you. After this is over, I’ll probably kill you,” I said as I got off the bed.

  “Before it was you will kill me, now it’s probably.” His grin widened.

  I walked over to Trace and Erick. They wrapped their arms around my waist. “I can get into this three on one thing, Katja. No wonder they stay with you.” He winked and got off the bed. He didn’t attempt to come near me but scented the air and groaned in delight. I don’t know what he smelled but it put one of those man-smiles on his face, then he walked out of the bedroom.

  Trace and Erick gave me a kiss on the cheek. Erick whispered, “That was quite a turn-on, Katja.”

  I looked up and found his pupils dilated, thoroughly aroused. “Really?”

  He nodded and then flicked his eyes to Trace. I lifted an eyebrow at Trace. “I found it strangely erotic.” I shook my head and pulled them out of the room. I wasn’t ready to have sex with two men in a house full of vampires.

  I found Todd in the other guest room. Sven was watching as Monica bit into Todd’s neck. Todd sighed as her mouth worked at him. I could feel the charge in the air, a sexual charge. I backed up a step and bumped into Trace. I looked up at him but he was staring at Monica and Todd. I swung my gaze back.

  She had her hands on his chest and his arms were around her back. It was strangely erotic but I couldn’t handle it. I turned on my heel and pushed through Trace and Erick. I went into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water, and sat at the table. This was getting stranger and stranger.

  Trace and Erick walked into the kitchen. Trace said, “It’s over. She took her fill. Todd should be in shortly.” They chuckled.

  “What?” They looked at me, their amusement slowly fading.

  Erick said, “I believe he needs to change his clothes. It might have been a bit too pleasurable.”

  I stared at them, then grinned. I might not be able to watch as she took his blood but I could just see him having to change clothes. I’ve been on the receiving end of that bite.

  Todd walked in and sure enough he had traded his blue jeans in for a darker pair. I smiled at him. He blushed. I walked over to him and gave him a big hug. I whispered, “Good, huh?” He stepped back from me and nodded. I didn’t think he really wanted to talk about it. “Don’t you want to talk about it?”

  “What’s there to talk about, Kat? It felt damn good. I’d do it again if I could but I won’t have them taking any more blood from me,” he said and paused. “To be honest, it felt like I was cheating on you. How can you want to kill Sven after what I just felt?”

  “It’s easy. I don’t really like him. His bite may be delicious but it isn’t for me. I like having three semi-normal guys.”

  “Semi-normal?”

  “Yeah, you guys are way too hot to be normal.” I chuckled at my joke and leaned against the table. The four vampires walked in. They were all rosy cheeked. I grimaced. I guess our time alone was over.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  After a few weeks it seemed that the vampires had made a home. We sparred with them and learned how to effectively fight vampires. By the end of the month we had a tight fighting force and nothing to fight.

  I stayed away from Sven and Thorn even though they continually gravitated toward me, especially Sven. The women snacked on other
s. Todd refused to let them take his blood any longer and Trace and Erick didn’t want any part of it. Erick still disliked vampires and Trace wasn’t comfortable allowing them to sink teeth into him.

  I didn’t allow any of them to snack on me either. They went out at night and found people that wanted to be bitten by a vampire. I didn’t realize that they had followers. I should have known but I hadn’t wanted to think about it.

  Todd woke me up with a kiss to my cheek. I smiled at him and snuggled closer. We hadn’t done much but train, eat, and sleep. I was still uncomfortable with having the vampires in the house and having sex. They had extremely good hearing.

  All four of us were snuggling when a scream sounded from down the hall. We launched off the bed and ran out. It was Monica. She was screaming in rage. We ran to her side and found Teresa dead.

  “How the hell did this happen?” Todd asked.

  We could only shrug. Monica wasn’t screaming anymore, she was crying. I repressed a sigh as the guys looked at me. Why did I have to deal with the crying vampire? I wasn’t any good with people who cried.

  I wrapped an arm around Monica’s shaking shoulders and brought her into the kitchen. I sat her down and held her hand. I let her cry it out and when her faintly pink tears stopped, she looked at me. “I’m sorry about your friend, Monica.”

  “She wasn’t just a friend. She was like my sister.” She looked up when Todd entered the room. “What happened?”

  He shrugged. “We haven’t found out. All we know is that she was staked. We don’t know who did it but I’m sure it was one of Cyril’s vampires. How he or she got into the house, I’ll never know.”

  “What do you plan on doing?” Monica demanded.

  Todd just looked at her. “I’m not sure yet. We’ll figure something out.”

  “It’s not safe here. I have to leave.” She stood up and looked at us. I think she was waiting for us to dispute the facts but we couldn’t. It wasn’t safe anymore. Someone had killed one of our vampires.

  Todd asked her, “Do you think it’s any safer out there?”

  “No, but at least I won’t be a sitting duck,” she said, then she was gone.