Mated By The Demon Collections: Paranormal Romance

by Riley Moreno

  The pictures in the camera were all of Mr. Cowling at various stages of the evening leading up to their meeting. He could infer that she had followed them to the room, and had returned after they had left. She had not known that Sergei, who had been practicing the martial arts for decades, and was still strong in his old age, would be in the room. Viktor took the camera and the phone with him, and headed straight for his chambers.

  Gloria’s mind resurfaced, albeit with reluctance, in the early hours of the morning. Her mind felt groggy, heavy; a horse unwilling to do any work that day, and her awareness came in slow stages, each level adding to her growing alarm. By the time she became aware of the velvet sheets upon which she lay, she tried to scream, but her voice sounded like it belonged to somebody else; she could only muster a croak. She tried to remember what had happened, and when she did, she willed herself upright, though she would rather have slept for another week or two, cold shivers raced up and down her spine, and her breath came in short panicky spurts as she realized that she had most likely been kidnapped. The room was pitch dark, having no windows, but she could see a sliver of light coming in through the door from outside.

  She rushed to the door, hoping against hope to force it open, only to be perplexed to find it swing smoothly and silently open upon the first try. She did not know whether to attribute thanks to lady luck or the sheer incompetence of the kidnappers, but she did not wait to decide. She dashed forth immediately, only to come back with equal haste searching for her overcoat. She dashed towards the chair on which she saw it and cursed under her breath when she realized that her phone and high-definition camera were nowhere to be found. Groping frantically about the bed yielded no results, and she felt a bit sheepish expecting otherwise; if anybody were that lucky, she thought, they would not be kidnapped in the first place!

  The glow from the lights located just above her head at several points across the wall, although mellow, felt harsh upon her eyes, and she tried to keep her head down. She also realized that she had been tip-toeing for the last few yards. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, ignoring the faint pounding within her skull which she put down to the after effects or the ether. She moved slowly now, on the soles of her feet. She passed a series of rooms, and deduced that she was in a section of the house that was dedicated to bedrooms. Her number one priority now was to reach a phone, which she guessed should lie in the living room, if at all in the house. She soon came upon the end of the hallway, and negotiated a bend that descended into a short staircase which she was sure should lead to a living room or place of gathering of some sort, and hopefully a phone.

  The lights here were not turned on, but there was a window, through which a silver plate of light fell upon half of the room, giving it a soft, almost ethereal texture. The light also rested upon a portrait, positioned over a fire place, depicting a family. Despite the urgency of her mission, Gloria stopped to stare at the group of four portrayed on canvass just out of her reach-especially at the woman, whose hair seemed to shimmer in the ghostly light.

  “My mother, the Countess Valgloria”

  Gloria almost jumped out of her skin with fright, spinning round to where she had heard the voice come from to see Viktor emerge from the dark part of the room, the part which was not touched by the moonlight. He was clad only in black track suit trousers, and it took a second for Gloria to make out his face.

  “Get away from me!” she said, looking left and right for a suitable weapon.

  “You don’t have to worry” Viktor cajoled in his strange accent less voice “I am not going to hurt you.”

  The art of moving backwards was too much for Gloria’s muddled brain and she stumbled backwards unto a cushion seat, knocking that over as well, but Viktor was by her side in a flash, and caught her before she could fall to the floor. Despite herself, she was again aware of the puzzling mix of tenderness and firmness that lingered with his touch. She was dazed, and for a full three seconds, she lay in this comforting mix which his touch promised and in spite of herself, she drew some comfort from his warmth.

  Regaining her poise she struggled against him, pushing him away. “Get away from me!” she screamed scrambling to her feet as he let her go. “What am I doing here? Why did you kidnap me?! I swear to God if you come one step near me, I’ll scream so loud your ancestors will hear in Russia!”

  “Wow hold on! First off, I didn’t kidnap you; second, you shouldn’t be screaming like that in the condition you are in.”

  He took a tentative step towards her and just as she promised, she screamed-as loud as she could. Everything went black for her once more, and Viktor had to move very fast to grab her in order to prevent her from hitting the floor in an uncomfortable heap.

  Chapter 6

  Gladys had been mildly amused when Gloria had not picked up her call the previous night, but when she had not yet heard anything by the time she was ready to hit the office, Gladys started worrying.

  The office door was locked and the click rang hollow in the rooms beyond when she unlocked with the key. She cast a long shadow into the room as she stood contemplating whether to involve the police. Being the offspring of someone who had served on the police force, she was well aware of the mandatory two day waiting period before filing a complaint.

  Hell would freeze over before she would wait that long she thought fiercely. She decided to wait two hours, looked at her watch, and stepped into the office. It had been forever since she had run to Uncle Bill for help, but if by 10 am Gloria had not yet reached out to her, that was exactly what she was going to do.

  The calls kept coming in and she ran the office as if all was in order. She even received a call. She even received a client personally, hoping that Gloria would be okay and in the right state of mind to hit the ground running with all this week’s work as well as the others she was setting up. Oh Gloria when I set my eyes on you! You’re ancestors in Africa are going to feel it! She thought with a frown not to different from that on Gloria’s face whenever she was deep in thought.

  Fifteen minutes before the two hours were up, her cell phone rang. Gladys jumped at the machine mindlessly vibrating on the left side of her desk, relief washing over her nubile frame in waves when she saw Gloria’s face flash across the screen as caller identity.

  “Please don’t be upset; I’m okay.” Gloria began, her voice anxious.

  “I swear to God Gloria I will kill you in your sleep! Do you know how worried I have been? A minute later I would have gone over to the police station!”

  “Please don’t tell Uncle Bill anything, he would just worry. Things went south yesterday, I’m sorry, I – lost control of things but I am fine now- I think.”

  “You think? Well you better enjoy being fine because when I get over there that is the last thing you are gonna be.” Gladys snapped, already at the door, and about to lock up. “Where are you by the way?”

  “Home, and about to go into hibernation.”

  Gloria was seated at the tiny kitchen table on which they sheared meals, her head in her hands, when Gladys burst into the house. They met halfway between the kitchen door and kitchen table in a fierce embrace. There was no need for words; twins, no matter how different in character, usually share a special bond.

  “Now tell me what happened; all of it. From the beginning-and where is the coupe?”

  “The sneak mobile is fine Gloria said sitting down at the table; it should be here any minute.”

  “Yeah? Okay” Gladys replied, gently taking her seat. “Have you had something to eat yet? Cus I could rustle up something…”

  “Yeah…” Gloria replied, “I ate Russian. I could use some coffee though.”

  Gloria saw the eyebrows come together on her twin’s face in a pensive frown as she silently went for the cabinets lined along the wall in search of coffee.

  Gladys returned for the tale while the coffee pot bubbled. Gloria told her.

  “Wow! So they just let you go after breakfast; the camera, all cleaned
out! And your book confiscated?” Gladys asked after the tale.

  “Well they just told me they did not see any book; the only thing they could do since as keeping it forcefully would be illegal, plus make them liable to kidnapping and abduction” Gloria answered.

  Gladys went for the coffee when the signal went off and was soon pouring out some for Gloria. She poured out some for herself as she retook her seat. She let Gloria sip first before continuing:

  “How do you feel now? Does the ether still have an effect on you?” She enquired by Gloria shook her head.

  “Only a touch of slowness; nothing a good rest won’t set right.”

  “But that’s not on the cards for you is it?” Gladys asked rhetorically.’

  “Not a chance. Much as my heart rends for Mrs. Cowling, there could be more at stake here. Why would Mr. Cowling go to such lengths to meet Viktor-why not just meet him at the office, or his house?”

  “Hmmh, well we all know Vlad Dracula is a bit of a loner- maybe he doesn’t want people in his house-except you of course.” Gladys said, stirring her coffee. “I still don’t know how Viktor plays into all this though, to be honest.”

  “I have been thinking about it all morning!” Gloria said, clasping her coffee mug with both hands for the warmth.

  “I think he is gay; has to be.” Gladys said all of a sudden. “Mr. Cowling is hitting it on the side with another man.”

  “No, that’s not it…” Gloria said, staring into her coffee, pensively.

  “See I know you have the hots for this guy, but he’s gay, end of story.”

  “No…”

  “Two guys having an intimate drink in the cozy hours of the night, only to pack up and head into a hotel room; gay.”

  “Actually that is only strange here in America-“

  “Gay! Sorry but you gotta admit-“

  “I kissed him okay?!” Gloria cut her off, her voice high pitched all of a sudden. “I kissed him, and it was the sweetest experience of my entire life.” She sipped her tea; a false calm after the bomb is dropped.

  “Come again-what?!” Gladys asked, spilling some coffee on the table. “You mean I was here worried about you and you were on a dream date?! Is any part of your story even true?”

  “Yes, it is! But he was there at the breakfast table shirtless, and in nothing but track suit trousers and I never knew that muscles could ripple like that, nor could a face be so perfectly sculpted- like a Disney movie come to life, and he looked at me with an intensity I had never believed existed, and before I knew it he grabbed me-no caressed me, and I floated over to him, yielding to his embrace…his kisses did more damage to my being than a ton of ether.”

  “You should be throwing the book at this guy, not reciting poetry about him.”

  “It was magic.” Gloria whispered, staring into her coffee, and her face frowning as she contemplated the profound confusion of the episode.

  “You’re magic-a real piece of work.”

  “So he is not gay; the connection…he feels for me the same way I feel for him. It was in his eyes, he wanted me for himself, and I could see, clear as day, that if he could keep me forever he would without a second’s hesitation-if only he were not keeping secrets. I have to find out!” The half-empty coffee mugs clattered as Gloria pounded the table with her fist.

  “I’m listening.” Gladys said as she downed the last of her coffee. Gloria downed hers as well, and waited patiently for Gladys to pour another dose of Caffeine.

  “Listen, we are going about this wrong, looking at it through the lens of Mrs. Cowling. What if this is not about sex in the first place; what if it’s not about Mr. Cowling at all! Shift your focus to Mr. Viktor Belerin Konoplyanka. What if it is all about him?!”

  “Viktor what? I thought you could not remember the name, let alone pronounce it.”

  “Like I said, it was intense. What could bring these two men together? Ryan Cowling is a heavyweight in the jewelry business, and Viktor can probably buy a premium diamond set to fit about his cat’s ears.”

  “So you think Viktor is thinking of buying some jewels? That’s it?!”

  “No! If that were the case, then they could conveniently have met in the office and concluded business. What if it is Viktor who has something to offer, something he would rather not have other people find out about-not even the wife of the founder of Crystallyne. I don’t know what it is yet, but-“

  “Jewelry would be a good place to start.”

  “Exactly…” Gloria concluded. “I could be wrong though, but I intend checking all possible leads to find out-“

  “Whoa, hold on there, Jesse Jane! What you need now, and what you are gonna get, is some rest. I will handle the research for now; you go get some rest and possibly sleep-I made that coffee light. If by the end of the day I still haven’t come up with something then you can chip in all you want.”

  Gloria began to protest but Gladys would hear nothing of it, pulling her up to her feet and pushing her up the stairs and to her room. Gloria complained, but was thankful for the care; sometimes it helped to have someone strong around to whom you could abandon yourself to every once in a while especially when life got tough or when you bungled up an investigation, and got yourself kidnapped by karate savvy sexagenarians. Despite the coffee, Gloria floated off to sleep with a smile on her face.

  Chapter 7

  He stood outside, in the soft early morning sun, observing the sign that hung over the door that read ‘Patton and Patton’. He did not know why, but he had expected bigger. It was just after seven in the morning; very few people about, and his grey overcoat hung steadily over his frame in the windless day. The available hours on the complimentary card in his pocket read 8am to 5pm, and as expected the office was empty when he picked the lock. He cast a long shadow into the golden swathe of light that spilled into the office through the opened door. He stepped into a tiny reception area containing two medium-sized cushion benches placed astride each other on opposite walls; the type you see outside a doctor’s office. At the other end lay a door with a translucent glass on which was a placard: Patton and Patton.

  He picked this as well. He did not know what he was looking for, but he felt he would recognize it when he saw it. He was in an ante-room now, which clearly served as a secretary’s office. He headed for the desk first, and rummaged through its drawers. It was mostly empty, except for a few magazines. He headed for the filing cabinet located in the corner behind the desk. It was locked, and there were no keys in sight. His watched showed twenty minutes had gone since he broke in. He did expect the door to the inner office to be locked, and it opened, without a sound when he turned the knob, into a neat little working area with a bare desk up at the front. There was no filing cabinet here, but there was a laptop placed askew on the desk. He rummaged through the rummaged through the drawers, hoping to find duplicates of active files whose originals would be in the filing cabinet in the ante-room. He soon found what he was looking for, on a file labelled ‘Cowling’. It was not a thick file, and contained mainly photos of Jewel magnate, invoices, detailed schedules of his usual work day. He was flipping through this when Gladys burst through the door.

  “Okay step aside from the files, nice and slow.” She ordered calmly. She had a lady pistol, aimed straight at him. The man could see that her hands did not waver in the least.

  He stepped aside slowly from the table, but could not help being amused by the pistol itself, which was a deep shape of red, and fitted nicely in her hand. It looked like a scene involving Agent 99 of the Get Smart series in the seventies.

  “Try me.” Gladys said, realizing the source of his amusement, and pointing the gun straighter. “You know you look familiar-like I know you from somewhere.”

  “That’s because you do.” Gloria chipped, finding space to squeeze past Gladys who occupied the doorway. “He was at the party over at Viktor’s place a few days ago. Cool gun!”

  “I know right?! Very Agent 99 like. I had lost hope about ever h
aving to use it though.” Gladys remarked with a smile. “Where is your gun?”

  Gloria was embarrassed that she did not have one, and quickly veered the topic back towards the man in the room; the flushed face man, who was looking much less flushy every time she met him.

  “What are you doing here? Who sent you?” she asked, standing astride Gladys with the gun pointed at the intruder gave an intoxicating sense of power- the reason she was shy about guns.

  “I could ask you the same thing- you ladies are not supposed to be opening shop for another twenty-five minutes!” The flushed face man said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Plus, I was invited-you said call me.”

  “Yeah! But I meant call like everyone else; not breaking and entering!” Gloria interjected.

  “Well, when I saw you being lifted away and placed in a limousine by the old geezer, quite frankly, I thought that changed things a little.” The man replied calmly.

  “Wait he is the guy from the hotel? The one who saw you spying on Cowling?” Gladys asked, cutting into the exchange.

  “Ah so that’s your angle? Cowling!” The man announced. “Okay then we have no dealings together. I’ll just make my way out quietly, and disappear altogether-forget we ever met…although that should be much more difficult for me seeing as you ladies are a double dose for sore eyes.”

  “Stay where you are!” Gladys barked, “Put your hands up where I can see them. We are turning you over to the police for breaking and entering; even if you are intensely attractive and strangely funny.”

  The man stopped in his tracks, and in one deft move, whipped a pistol out of his inner coat pocket, pointing it straight at Gloria. Gloria felt the same thing. It was different from what she felt for Viktor. This guy had more layers than an onion, a new side of him revealed with every meeting with an ease and cleverness that seemed as effortless to him as breathing. A woman liked a little mystery, but Gloria wondered if there was anything real about him. She remembered the story her father used to tell them as children of the magician who changed so many times to so many things that he forgot his true form.