Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1

by R A Baker

  We stayed sitting at the table. How were we going to fight them? “Todd, I have an idea. You won’t like it but I think it may draw them out into the open.”

  He sighed and said, “What’s your plan?”

  “I was thinking about using live bait.” He waited for me to continue. He didn’t seem all that surprised. “I figure we could stage a huge fight or something and then have Cyril approach me or you. Probably me, since I’ll be leaving the house in a huff.”

  “How will they know?”

  “If the vamp traitor is near the house then he or she will report what happened.” I smiled. I could see how it would go down. “I’ll miss you, just so you know.” He nodded and thought about the plan.

  “Okay. Before we do this, I’m sure I speak for Trace and Erick, I want time with you.”

  I sighed and nodded. This wasn’t going to be a good thing with the two male vampires in the house. “We need to get rid of the other two vampires or we move to a different place for the day.”

  “You feel uncomfortable with them here? Why didn’t you say so?”

  “I didn’t think it’d help matters.”

  He sighed and grabbed my hand. He held my hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the knuckles and then set my hand on the table. “You should have told me. I wouldn’t have let them stay.”

  I chuckled and said, “It’s not all the time, just when we want to have sex, Todd.” He grinned. “I have a feeling that if we did have sex that Sven and Thorn would want to join.” His grin vanished as soon as the words were out of my mouth. His liquid brown eyes darkened. “Uh, Todd. Relax. I said it might happen.”

  “I know, Kat. I was okay with Sven but Thorn, no. He’s a strong vampire, yes, but he’s young.”

  “He hasn’t tried anything with me. I think he’s into one of the girls.” And by girls I meant Beatrice and Ardeness. Todd’s eyes lightened and he smiled at the thought. The girls were sex deprived and were interested in just about any guy.

  We were still chuckling at the thought when Trace and Erick came into the room. “Hey, guys.” I finger waved and became less happy. “What’s up?”

  “We thought you should see this.” Erick held a stake, the stake.

  “Yeah?”

  “This is the stake that was used on Teresa.” We nodded. “Doesn’t it look familiar?” We examined it closer and found that it was one of ours. We rarely used the stakes but sometimes they worked better than a bullet or a knife.

  “Who could have done this?” I asked. A thought skittered into my mind. Which one of us did it? I tried to toss the question but it was nagging me now. Did one of us kill Teresa with or without our knowledge?

  Neither of my men knew the answer to my vocalized question. I stood up and gave a nod to Todd. I was going to let him fill in the other two on our plan. I’m sure the vampires already heard our plan.

  I walked into my bedroom and packed a bag, then went downstairs and grabbed another bag full of weapons. As I was packing I thought up a better scheme. As long as Sven wasn’t our traitor it should work out.

  I sighed and tried to steady my heart as I walked up the stairs to the kitchen. As I entered, I heard talking. I stopped at the door and heard Beatrice and Thorn speaking quietly. They stopped speaking and I heard something that I didn’t want to think about. I went back downstairs and used the outside door.

  I walked up the hill and went in through the double doors. I glanced to my right and found that it had been Thorn and Beatrice. He was snacking and she was more than pleased. His brown eyes flicked to me and then closed.

  I continued down the hall and found my men in our bedroom. I dropped my bags by the door and sat on the bed with them. “Did you talk with the vamps?” Todd nodded. “Are they going to leave for a few hours?”

  “No. They’ll still be here but they were thinking about taking the girls out for a nice dinner.” That would work, I suppose, since I needed to ask Todd some questions about Sven.

  “When will they be leaving?”

  Todd looked at his watch and said, “In an hour.” I could live with that. We laid on the bed for the hour.

  >< ><

  A knock at the door made us sit up. I opened the door and found Sven standing there looking uncomfortable. “We’re going out to dinner.” He looked like he wanted me to say ‘don’t go’. I nodded at him and started to shut the door. He put his hand on the door and said, “I can stay if you’d like.”

  “It’s okay, Sven. I think you should go have a bit of fun. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay.” He nodded and left. I shut the door and grinned at my guys. Whew, that was done. Now, for the big announcement. I didn’t plan on letting Sven in on the plan.

  We waited a few minutes for the car to leave. “I have something to ask you, well, tell you.” They looked at me. “I think we should involve Sven. Well, not actually inform him of what we plan.”

  They frowned at me. “What are you talking about?” Todd asked.

  I sighed and sat cross legged on the floor in front of them. “Okay. Let me see if I can say this so it makes sense to all of us. I think we should use Sven. You trust him to protect me, right?” Todd nodded. “Okay. I was thinking that when we stage this huge fight, I’ll run to Sven’s waiting arms. You know as well as I do that he will be waiting for just that chance.”

  They stood up in alarm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Kat,” Todd cautioned.

  I stared at Todd. “Why not?”

  “Because, he really does want you. Because, he may be the bad guy. There are too many maybes.”

  I sighed. “Todd, guys, it really is a good idea. If he isn’t the bad guy it won’t matter. He’ll be there to protect me against them. Besides, he’s a lot faster than Thorn and stronger to boot.”

  “Kat. We don’t want to talk about this right now. We want our time together before we put this plan into motion.” I nodded. I was excited about our plan, mostly because I had thought it up, but I figured it would get fucked up one way or the other no matter who thought it up.

  I set the plan aside and looked at them. They were dressed in comfy clothes. Sweat pants and t-shirts. I was in jeans and a t-shirt. They were smiling a little. “Why aren’t you happier?”

  Trace spoke up. “We aren’t happy that you’ll be gone. Again. We don’t know how long you’ll have to be gone from us before we get you back.”

  “That’s too sad a topic. Let’s just focus on the here and now.” I grabbed Trace and pulled him to me. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist. He held me tight. I kissed him with as much passion that I could muster under the situation.

  He kissed me back with eagerness. He carried me, not to the bed, but to the bathroom. I pulled away long enough to raise an eyebrow. He smiled and carried me to the tub. It was full of hot water and rose petals were floating on the steaming water.

  Trace set me down and pulled my shirt off. He watched as I took my jeans and underwear off and slipped into the steaming water. I laid back, closed my eyes, and relaxed. The heat soaked through my muscles almost immediately. I felt Trace slip into the water and then he was right next to me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me flush against him. I leaned my head on his shoulder.

  I didn’t want to do this. Not have sex, that’s not what I mean. I didn’t want to make some stupid argument up and then have a fake fight. I wanted to stay with my guys and be warm and protected.

  The water moved and Todd and Erick joined us. They wrapped their arms around Trace and me and just held us. It was comforting to be held. We stayed wrapped in each other’s embrace for a long while.

  >< ><

  We relaxed and almost fell asleep when there was pounding at the door. We sat up quickly, droplets from our skin tinkling on the water.

  We stood up and tried to carefully get out of the tub. It looked like a circus act or something. We tripped over our feet and the slippery tub.

  We finally got out and grabbed robes. Todd got to the doo
r first. He opened it to Charles. I caught the terrified expression on Charles face, an expression that hardly was ever on his scarred face and it made my heart clench.

  “Charles?” I said, confused and worried.

  “It’s Thorn.” He wouldn’t say anything further.

  We followed Charles outside. It had to be thirty degrees outside. I shivered as we ran to the SUV. Sven was there, standing by the open back passenger door, with Thorn in his arms.

  “What happened?” I noticed Beatrice and Ardeness were standing by the driver’s door, tears streaming down their faces.

  I went over to them and wrapped my arms around their waists. I gently coaxed them into the house. “Charles?” He came up to me. “Take them into the kitchen and get them a glass of something really strong.” He took them into the kitchen and I went into the sitting room. Sven had Thorn laid on the couch.

  “Now, what happened?” I looked at Sven. His eyes were wide and frightened. “Sven, please, what happened?”

  He looked at me and blinked. “We…we were going to dinner when a beggar came from the alley and asked for money. We didn’t think much of it and blew him off. We started for the restaurant when Thorn took out a knife and stabbed his own throat. Luckily, I was fast enough and grabbed him. Beatrice grabbed the knife from Thorn’s throat even as Thorn fought me to grab the weapon. He managed to get out of my grasp and grabbed the knife from Beatrice. He started to run from us and as he was running he kept stabbing himself like he was possessed. I caught him before he could make the last fatal wound. I knocked the knife from his hand as he brought it to his heart.

  “He was bleeding severely and looked scared to death at the same time. When he couldn’t get to his heart, he passed out. I carried him to the SUV. The girls were already at the truck with the door open. They were as scared as I was. I drove here as fast as I dared, and that’s it. Beatrice tried to feed him in the truck but he wouldn’t take the blood. I’m afraid he might die.”

  I looked at my guys. They were shocked, and fear tinged their eyes. I couldn’t let Thorn die. It was almost never ending with vampires. I looked around for something to cut my wrist. No weapons. “Todd, I have to try. If I don’t succeed then you have to.” He nodded.

  I went to the bedroom and grabbed a dagger.

  I walked back into the sitting room and kneeled beside Thorn’s prone body. His streaked hair gleamed and glittered against his pale, pale skin. I took a couple of deep breaths.

  Sven was asking why I was taking so long. I shushed him and took another deep breath. I bit my lip as I put my wrist over his mouth and slashed through to the artery.

  Bright blood decorated Thorn’s mouth, making his lips ruby in the light. I shoved my wrist against his mouth and felt him move. It was almost like he was trying to move away. “Todd, hold his head. He’s fighting.” Todd gripped Thorn’s head and I pressed my wrist to Thorn’s mouth harder. His lips opened and blood trickled in.

  My wrist started to cramp from the pain but I kept it there. Finally, Thorn’s teeth slid into my wrist. I gasped as pain shot through me. He sucked at my wrist for a moment and then his hands wrapped around my arm. My vision started to darken as he continued to suck my blood. My breathing slowed as his mouth, and throat, worked in conjunction to give him life sustaining blood, my blood.

  I knew I had cut deeper than I had intended and, now that he was sucking the life out of me, it was only a matter of time before my breathing stopped completely. I tried to yell or scream or anything. The only word I could get out was, “Stop”, and that came out as a whisper.

  Even as I was losing consciousness I saw Thorn’s brown eyes open in surprise. I let my body fall into oblivion as I watched his eyes focus on me.

  >< ><

  I woke up. I was looking at the ceiling in the sitting room. I looked around and found that I was still on the floor. Everyone was looking at me. Todd took two steps and fell down at my side. “Kat, are you okay?” he whispered.

  I nodded. It took me two tries but I finally asked, “What happened?”

  He smiled and kissed me softly. “You saved Thorn but it took a lot more out of you then any before.” I think I said, ‘uh huh’, but I passed out again.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I blinked into sunlight. I was lying in bed with warm bodies all around me. I tried to sit up but found that I was pinned to the bed. I groaned and bodies shifted. I was able to sit up and found not only my guys in bed with me but Sven and Thorn.

  Sven was the one that had had me pinned to the bed. I tried for a graceful way off the bed but couldn’t see how. Instead of graceful I went for escape. I crawled over bodies and stood at the edge of the bed. All five of them looked at me like I had disrupted their good night sleep.

  I bumped into the wall. I hadn’t even realized I was backing up. “Todd, what the hell is this?” My voice came out in a harsh whisper.

  He looked at me and sighed. “You needed people to keep you warm. Sven and Thorn wouldn’t leave. They think they owe you for saving their lives and such. You were frozen and Trace, Erick, and I weren’t enough warmth.”

  I nodded and walked into the bathroom. I shut and locked the door. I turned on the shower and looked at my wrist. There was hardly a scar where I had sliced it open. I stepped under the hot water and washed up. I stayed until the hot water turned warm.

  I toweled off and grabbed the robe that was hanging from the hook on the door. I wrapped tightly into it and wrapped a towel over my head. I walked out of the bathroom and found that they were still in the bed. They all turned their heads to look at me. I stared gaped-mouth at them. It was like five heads but one unit. It was weird.

  I shut my mouth and shook my head. No way could I say anything to that. I walked out of the bedroom and went into the kitchen. Beatrice and Ardeness were in the kitchen. They looked at me like I had just killed their favorite dog or something. I grabbed some breakfast and sat at the table. They continued to look at me. I took a bite of my cereal and asked, “What?”

  “How could you take them away from us, Katja?” Beatrice asked as pain filled her young face.

  “I didn’t steal them. They have some dumb idea that because I’ve saved their lives they owe me. I can only say they don’t owe me a damn thing.” The explanation did nothing to ease their pain. I sighed and finished my cereal. “Look. I don’t want them. If you want Thorn and Sven, that’s for you two to decide. I have enough on my plate without two more.” I stood up and tossed my bowl in the sink. I grabbed a juice on the way out of the kitchen and went into my office.

  I sat at the desk, turned on the computer, and drank some juice while it booted up. When it was up and running, I shot off an email to Starla and informed her that I would be at work today. I found several emails from her. I read them and got all the updates that I needed for work.

  I turned the computer off and went back into the bedroom. Trace, Erick, and Todd were getting dressed but Sven and Thorn were still in bed. I raised an eyebrow in their direction and rolled my eyes. Lazy vampires. I grabbed work clothes.

  Todd looked at me and asked, “You’re going into work today?”

  “Yeah. I have some things I need to take care of. Why?”

  “Someone needs to go with you.” I nodded and went into the bathroom. I changed into grey slacks and a light lavender blouse.

  I stepped out of the bathroom and got whistles from the bed. I grimaced and walked out of the room. I slipped into some low heeled shoes and grabbed my purse. I was almost to the door when Erick stopped me. “You have to have someone go with you, Katja.”

  I turned and looked at him. “Are you going with me?”

  “No. I have to talk with the guys about some stuff. Why don’t you take Thorn?”

  I gave him the look he deserved on that. “Are you kidding? He’d probably pick up the clients.”

  “Then take Sven.”

  My mouth fell open in even more shock. “No. How do you think it will look when I walk in without one o
f you? They’ll think I’m flouncing around with more than just the three of you.”

  He sighed and his shoulders sagged. “Take them both. Maybe they’ll keep each other out of trouble.”

  I grimaced. “I’ll just go alone, it’ll be better that way. I have a lot of work to do.”

  Todd walked into the room. “Kat, take Sven. He’s promised to behave.”

  I started to argue but I could tell that Todd and Erick weren’t going to budge on me taking one of the vampires. I let out a groan and nodded. The two of them walked over to me and gave me a peck on the cheek. “Tell him to move now. I’m already late.”

  They walked into the bedroom and Sven walked out. He was dressed professionally in dark jeans, a black dress shirt over a black t-shirt, and black casual shoes. He looked completely different than when I had met him that one night.

  Trace walked out of the room and skipped over to me. He gave me a big hug and a passionate kiss. He released me, winked at me, and walked back into the bedroom. I stared after him for a moment and then shook the cobwebs from my brain.

  I turned on my heel and walked out the door with Sven close on my heels. He grabbed the keys from my hand before I could even get to the SUV. We were taking Todd’s truck since I still didn’t have a replacement for my Mercedes.

  I got into the passenger seat and Sven started the truck. “Do you even know how to get to my work?” He nodded. I guess he was playing silent bodyguard.

  It was a long drive to my work, even though it’s only a half hour drive. I was lost in thought when Sven stopped the truck at my office. I got out and walked into the building. Sven was walking just behind me. I rolled my eyes when two of the three clients turned their heads and let out low whistles.

  I waved to Starla on my way into my office. Sven pulled the blinds when I shut the door. I sighed heavily. “Why did you do that?” He smiled at me, staying silent, and sat on the couch by the door. I sighed again and went to work.

  >< ><

  Several hours later Sven stood up and pulled my chair from the desk. I saved my work and stared up at him. “It’s lunch time. I was told that you don’t eat very well when you get into your work. I’m to take you out for lunch.” I grimaced and wondered what his idea of lunch was.