The Executive's Red, #1

by Leeanna White

  “Here, lavender and camomile tea,” Sara says. “It will help you relax.”

  Through a red raging mist I watch her. She has no clue about what real friendship entails, standing there with not a care in the world, assuming that giving me a mug of weak tea, will make everything okay.

  “I don’t need it,” I state in a snappy tone.

  She’s still there, holding the damn mug near my face. “Elizabeth, drink the tea.”

  As soon as that last word departs her glossy lips, my hand swings out viciously across my body. I knock the tea out of her manicured fingers, and all over her vest. She gasps, arms out, shaking off the scold. If she wants to carry on, that’s fine by me. I need to take out this frustration on the fact no progress has been made, and she’s the perfect candidate.

  “Jeez, Liz.” Dom rushes before Sara, fearing a reprisal.

  I continue to glare up at her. Now she has lost that irritating false concern and is furious with me.

  Dom moves in front of one agitated Sara, expecting a full on bitch fight any second.

  Adrien finally emerges from his office, with Ben a step behind. He has his glasses on and is using the top rim to hit me with his sharp gaze. His pupils flick to Sara then back onto me. She growls out and storms into the kitchen.

  “What!” I have every right to be angry. I thought he was like the mafia boss of his kind. Why hasn’t he found Nathan yet?

  “This is not a good time to be fighting with each other, Elizabeth.” He lets out a disappointed sigh. “You need to get some sleep.”

  I scowl the scowl of all scowls, as Ben and Dom lurk away into the kitchen. I won’t rest, until I know he is safe.

  “Elizabeth.” He sits down next to me. “We’ve tracked him down. Laurie and Connor are on route to bring him back now.”

  I blink and breathe out all the air from my lungs. Relief is what I should feel, and I do for a millisecond, until I remember what he is, and that Laurie could have a hand in all of this.

  “Where is he? You have to go and bring him back yourself!”

  “He’s in St James Park. Has been for the last half hour. Laurie will bring him back safely.”

  “No he fuckin won’t!” I stress.

  Frazzled, he rubs his hand over his messy hair. “Elizabeth, what the hell is wrong with you? I’m doing everything I possibly can.”

  “You need to talk to Maria. This is all a setup or something. Please Adrien!”

  His eyes widen on me, shocked that I brought her name up. “Maria was found dead last night. And... and why would I need to talk to her?”

  “Oh my god. Oh my god.” I gasp in and out, my heart beating so fast I can’t say a single thing.

  “Look, I have a meeting with some very influential vigore. I will find out what happened to Nathan, why you were attacked, and I will resolve this.” He coils his fingers over mine and squeezes.

  I draw in a big breath. “Laurie is behind this. I know he is. He’s trying to frame you. Maria came to see me with a severed finger, then she must have been taken!”

  “Elizabeth, you’re being irrational. Laurie has been with Connor all night. In constant contact. Do you have evidence to back this up?”

  I smirk, gulping down. “No. Maria thought that someone was out to get you. She came to warn me. She said you wouldn’t believe it without proof.”

  “Then... then it could be anyone.” His jawline pulses as his teeth bite down.

  “She said you would do this, side with him,” I yell.

  “I will talk to Laurie. He’ll be back soon, with Nathan. He told me so himself.”

  “What is it that he has on you? There must be something, because I don’t understand why you trust him. Even I can see that he’s rotten to the core!”

  “Elizabeth, you don’t know Laurie like I know him. You have only been here for two damn minutes!”

  “Oh my god. Why the hell am I even here then?”

  A low groan emerges from his mouth. His eyes are narrow with annoyance. He takes a breath, shaking his head like I don’t know what I’m talking about. He really thinks I’m crazy.

  “You need to sleep and let me do my job.”

  “And a fine job you’re doing.” I hate it, arguing with him. But even if Laurie isn’t behind all this, he should at least consider what I’m saying.

  “Don’t be like this with me, Elizabeth.”

  I wiggle my fingers until he removes his hold on me. His shoulders roll back because he cannot make light of this, and he knows it. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of me has fallen so deeply for him, there is no way back. But there’s a small part of me that is in conflict with that love, pecking away at my human soul. It’s dreadful, and keeps telling me that when I found out what he was, I should have run a thousand miles away from him.

  “Elizabeth... say something?”

  “How is this fixable?”

  He closes his eyes for a moment. “It isn’t. But I will make sure Nathan is okay.”

  “He’s a vampire. He’ll never be okay!” A lone tear leaves my eye.

  “I will do my best to make sure he’s looked after.”

  I wipe my wet cheek. “Really?”

  “You have my word. But you need to calm down, and get some rest,” he says in a soothing tone. “Sara is going to take you somewhere safe when I’ve organised transport.”

  “I’m not leaving,” I say, stubbornly.

  “Until I know whether or not the voax have returned, or if this is just some scare tactic, I need you away from me. A place only I know of, where no one will find you,” he insists.

  “And Nathan... I need to see him!” He doesn’t like the fact I’m questioning his power, but I don’t care. I’m not one of them, and he cannot stop me seeing Nathan.

  “Nathan is vigore now, his future will be determined when he’s awakened,” he states. “But I’ll vouch for his safety until I’m sure.” He takes my hand again. “But he’s at a critical point which could go either way. If he tries to hurt you again, I’ll have no choice but to...” he hesitates.

  “What!”

  “Deal with him.”

  “You mean kill him?”

  “What will you have me do, talk to him?” he barks. “He may have fed already, and if he has, it’s one hell of a mess to clear up. That’s why you can’t be here. I will not allow him to see you.”

  I slide my hand from his to cover my face. I can’t believe he’s even contemplating killing Nathan.

  “I will walk out of that door and never come back.” I bite my lip hard. “I don’t care if I’m attacked, or if this voax find me.” I stare right at him. “I have to do this because I won’t let Nathan pay for something that has absolutely nothing to do with him,” I snap. “No false promises. If I mean anything to you, you will do everything in your power to make sure he’s not hurt, no matter what he’s done!”

  He shakes his head, leaning back into the couch, chafing his fingers against his stubble.

  “Dammit Elizabeth, you know I’ll do anything for you. But I can’t give you assurances because I don’t know what he’s done,” he says. “What if he’s murdered innocent people?”

  “Then that is on our heads, not his,” I argue.

  “Okay.” He takes my hand again. “But only on the condition you do everything I ask of you.” I reluctantly nod in agreement. “Which means right now, taking a shower, while I organise your transport.” He kisses my hand gently, then leaves me on the couch alone.

  I STAND BEFORE THE fire surround in the guest room, scrubbing my clean wet hair with a towel. I shiver, like someone has walked across my grave as I hear Adrien’s raised voice through the door panel. The bedroom has become strangely dull and the ambiance has changed, like a bright sky suddenly being veiled by thick black cloud. Something is zapping all hope from the air.

  I toss the towel onto the bed, and make my way to the wall.

  Slyly, I take hold of the panel as irate voices grow louder. I hang back to listen, opening the do
or just enough to see through with one eye. I linger in a thin fragment of light and see the back of a head I’m not familiar with. It’s definitely a man, though I was confused for a second because his brown hair is longer than mine. And there’s a woman next to him with the same length hair, but hers is wavy and strawberry blonde in colour.

  My pupils skim from left to right, hoping to see Nathan. But no, he’s not here.

  “You have ordered us here, for what?” the woman snarls, sliding a bag of blood across the table. “You have a lot going on in that skull of yours. You need to work on keeping up your shield.” Whoever she is, she’s clearly not thrilled about being here. “And who on earth is that hiding behind the wall?” She looks over her shoulder and her big eyes hit me.

  “Shit!” I gasp, holding my chest while clumsily stepping back into the bedroom.

  “Well-well-well, I see you’ve had your eye off the ball and on something else, Mr Knight,” she snickers. “I told the order that replacing our old executive would be a mistake. But like most pure bloods, they never listen. First you send us contaminated blood, then make demands that we attend this meeting because you require our help.”

  I move back out of earshot. To stand there eavesdropping, was a big mistake. Hell, they can read my frigging mind.

  I try hard to clear my head as the panel opens and Sara enters, gesturing her head. She’s changed her vest to a grey one and still looks pissed-off about my outburst earlier. Her glaring eyes and silence is telling me to watch my back. I stay still for a moment, take a breath, and then warily move by her.

  My view journeys around the table. The atmosphere is so dense and my lungs feel compressed. Ben appears to be in a world of his own, gazing at the rain battering the windows. I’m guessing it’s a tactic to prevent the vigore from reading his thoughts. Whereas Sara doesn’t seem concerned, making her way around the table to sit down in the chair next to Ben, as Dom flirts, winking at the vigore sitting opposite.

  Adrien stands up. He presses his fingertips down on the glass, watching as I loop my eyes nervously around the room. I’m awkwardly frozen behind the vigore, who haven’t even turned to see me yet.

  “You know I have dealt with that contaminated batch. And I have reimbursed you,” Adrien states. “I will find out who laced those bags.”

  “Yes, let’s hope you do, because I have anxious vigore looking elsewhere to feed.” She hums, inhaling the air wholly from side to side. “Ah, I’ve forgot how pleasurable it is to feel the flesh of a warm blood,” the female vigore says, clearly referring to me. “I’m not surprised you have lost your mind, Adrien. She’s quite the little pleaser, isn’t she?”

  I’m powerless to take in air, burning with shame.

  Adrien’s face begins to form angry lines as he lowers his head to the table. I feel bad because I don’t know how to block her. Sara grins slightly, now fulfilled that I’m embarrassed. To her it’s payback for earlier, when I threw hot tea all over her.

  “Look,” Ben growls. “Why do you vigore always have to be such jackasses. Let’s just get on with this. The city is going to shit right now, so we need to work together.”

  The female vigore laughs at Ben, while pushing herself up from the chair. She turns to me with a huge confident grin, revealing her gleaming white teeth. She’s dressed in black jeans, biker boots, and a short brown leather jacket. She looks around my age, with pale blue eyes and white skin.

  “Adrien, you really need to keep a lead on your little whore.” She scowls right at me. “I’ve killed people for thinking less. How can you possibly not like me?” Great, she knows my subconscious is calling her a bitch.

  Fearfully, I back up against the wall, counting back from a hundred, silently.

  Adrien flits behind her as the male vigore ejects up from his seat. But she knows Adrien is coming and twirls with speed on the spot so her nose is nearly touching his chin. He rasps out a breath as his irises blacken. He’s fighting with the idea of punishing her, and letting his vampire loose. He rumbles with his eyes shut, trying to keep control.

  She sniggers. “You should never attack a vigore with virtually no shield. You need to calm down, Mr Knight,” she says. “You may have strength and speed, but it is of no use to you when I can detect your every move.”

  “Elizabeth,” Adrien says more confidently. “This is Leanna, and this is Gerrard.” He smiles, like he’s now got a hold of his senses. “They seem to forget who they have to answer to.”

  “Much better Adrien,” Gerrard says in a low tone. “Now you just have to teach this young beauty.” He eyeballs me.

  I faintly curve my lips and blow out as the vigore return to their seats.

  Adrien remains on his feet at the end of the table. “We have a common problem that needs dealing with,” he states assertively. “It seems an acquaintance of mine has been turned by one of your vigore. A vigore who has dishonoured the sange pentru, and tried to hurt someone very important to me.”

  Gerrard huffs out. “You really think you can put the blame on us. You should look closer to home. Your ranks are failing, executive.”

  “The symbol of the voax has been produced,” Adrien declares, waiting for a response.

  “It is not the voax,” Leanna says in a cutting tone.

  “And I agree,” Adrien replies.

  “Everything has a price,” Leanna says. “And it seems one of your own is the threat. If you followed your judgements instead of your dick, then we wouldn’t have a problem here, would we?”

  Why in god’s name am I still here? It’s bad enough they’ve probably seen every detail of my relationship with Adrien. But now I’m responsible for this mess because Adrien has neglected his duty.

  “I will warn you once, Leanna.” Adrien glares right at her. “Do not question my authority. I can make things very difficult for you,” he warns. “You know what happens to those who cross me.”

  Leanna suddenly shoots up from her chair. Sara retaliates by flitting all the way around the table. She grabs Leanna’s bicep, hard. I’ve never seen Sara use this ability before, and it’s knocked me for six. I watch them both displaying catty eyes, but Sara wins, and Leanna is thrust back down into her seat.

  “Now, I want answers.” Adrien prods on the glass.

  “Okay,” Gerrard drones. “We’ve had a few vigore disappear off the grid, and six of our kind, assassinated. We’ve tried to home in on them, but only found one. The only reason we did find him was because his shield was broken.”

  “His throat was slit, beyond repair,” Leanna adds. “He told us a sang was paying handsomely for services.”

  “Who?” Dom arches over the table.

  “Well, that’s for you to find out. And when you do, we’ll be first in the queue to make them pay for this.” Gerrard angers. “Six vigore bodies we’ve had to burn, all with the same ammo. Whoever it is, has a concrete shield. My father is outraged. I’ve had to talk him out of breaking the treaty.”

  “So Mr Knight, seems like the problem and the blame is with you,” Leanna sighs. “I hate to think of what your Selene would say if she finds out you have a defector in your midst. A sang who risks our identity being exposed, running around killing willy-nilly, trying to start a damn blood war.”

  Adrien paces irately before the window. He’s so tense and I can see doubt in his eyes, like he doesn’t know who to trust anymore. He stops and slams his hands down on the table so it cracks loudly, fracturing like ice across a lake. I jolt back in alarm catching a breath, as Sara and Ben sink a little in their seats, anxious of Adrien’s raging capabilities.

  “Selene does not need to know about this,” Adrien says. “And the treaty will remain intact. Your father is our ally, not our enemy.”

  “One of your own is out there breaking all our codes. How long do you think it will be before she finds out?” Gerrard snaps. “The once great knight is falling fast,” he taunts. “The once feared, has been tamed like a kitten by some girl.”

  “She won’t find o
ut.” Adrien eyeballs Gerrard. “This ends now. I will seek out this individual, and his or her retribution will be swift.” He gazes at me and calms somewhat. “Leanna, Gerrard, you will go and find out everything you can. Even if it means you going underground to get it,” he instructs. “Keep your lines open. I want constant contact.”

  “You want us out there searching the gutters, because of your fuck-up?” Gerrard laughs. “I don’t work for you.”

  A dark haze sweeps by me creating a ferocious backdraft, and a chair lands inches from my feet. Adrien roars, pinning Gerrard up by the collar of his black jacket.

  “You will do this. If I find out you’ve not followed my orders, I will personally see you pay, very fuckin painfully.” He shoves a wary Gerrard back.

  I don’t want to be here anymore. He’s scaring me. All this has got me thinking that there is a hell of a lot more I don’t know about Adrien Knight. Dark things that he doesn’t want to tell me. He’s lost is damn mind, and there is still no sign of Nathan. With shaky hands, I feel my way down the wall, closer to the door panel.

  “Sara, you will take Elizabeth, now,” he snaps, as I rush into the bedroom.

  I lock myself in the bathroom, sobbing in confusion. I jog to the end wall, as far from the door as possible. My feet stride in panic, back and forth. Shit! I slam my shoulders against the tiles and slide down to the floor. Rain cascades across the windows and the wind roars outside. Every noise makes me twitch with nerves. I wipe my raw eyes, embracing my knees tightly.

  The silver doorknob jiggles. I hold my breath and squeeze my legs firmer.

  “Elizabeth,” Adrien calls through the wood. “Elizabeth. Jesus. Open the door.”

  I place my palms on the cool floor. It’s not like I can pretend I’m not here, but it doesn’t make facing him any easier. I brush my wet jaw with my wrist and stand up, unsteadily.

  “Please, I’m sorry if I frightened you,” he utters. “I’d never do such a thing deliberately.”