KING OF THE UNDERWORLD: Lucien and Scarlett (Earthbound Series Book 1)

by V L Peters

  "I'll relay your message Scarlett, but don't be surprised if he doesn't come at your whim." He informed me, "He’s not one to be told what to do. He's the one who calls the shots,"

  Shaking my head, I reply, "Not now he isn't. As I just told you …. What is going on is too important for us. There are others out there who are missing their own loved ones. People are going missing. How many have been taken since the last time I saw him………" I turned my head once again, looking out the window, "I'm not going to keep repeating myself Alex. Tell him or I will have to leave." I turned my head to look at him again, signing I hated leaving it up to him. I wasn't going to run after him. He had said he'd keep me updated; he'd broken that promise. It wasn't something I could continue to let happen. Standing from the seat, I walked past him to reach my bedroom door opening it as I told him "just tell him Alex. I'm sorry I'm putting you in this position," I apologised feeling guilty that I had to leave it to him, "but he needs to realise I'm not messing around. I don't care if he's too busy playing around with his girlfriend or anyone else. Either he comes to see me or I go to him before my family arrives or I'm gone and we will find, another way, to find my sister and who's taking humans and supernatural’s alike,"

  Alex shakes his head, "as I said I'll pass your message on but, I can't say whether it will convince him to see you," he stopped in the doorway entrance, turning slightly, so he was facing me "he's a hard man to figure out. I know he seems hard, unforgiving and yes he can be that way, but he's also fair, and those that are loyal to him are given that loyalty in return," he tells me as he walks out the door closing it behind him with a click.

  ◆◆◆

  SCARLETT

  The next morning

  The brilliant razes of the sun woke me up. The brightness hitting my face full-on, causing me to squint and turning my face away. I had waited until the late hours, thinking he might turn up or ask me to meet him in the office once again. He did not do either, to say I'm pissed off is an understatement. I'd gone to sleep that way, and it looked like I was wakening up the same. I punched the pillow in frustration, bloody fucking man, it was plain as the nose on my face he hadn't taken my warning seriously. I rolled over with a sign looking up at the ceiling. I ignored the dream I'd had last night; it wasn't something I wanted to ponder over. It had been different from my usual dreams; something was coming, and it had to do with the deep past. I knew I'd have to mention it to my family; it didn't look good whatever was headed our way, and whatever the warning was it looked, we'd have to start trusting each other to survive. It wasn't going to be comfortable is an understatement. It was going to be much harder than any of us would think it would be. Putting it to the back of my mind, I went over the conversation I had with my family last night, and after a lot of disagreement, we had decided that I give it one more try and, if need be, seek him out first thing in the morning. It wasn't something I particularly wanted to do, but it was down to me to find any information before I decided if I should leave. I alone had to make that final decision. Melissa was going to make sure that the portal would be stable enough for me to move from one area to another without any problems. It had to be strong enough that no one would be able to prevent it from working or me going through it. It would also have to have an extra barrier or shield to prevent that from happening. Spells weren't my specialty, oh I could wield one up when the occasion arose as we all could, but I wasn't a dab hand at them. Melissa, well, she was the expert. Plus, in doing so, we would be showing them that we weren't like normal witches. It wasn't something we had intended to do; it would be giving ourselves and our coven away. Showing everyone who we really were. With a sign I threw the covers off the bed, I couldn't lay here all day no matter how much I wanted to. I had to jump into the shower, dress, and go looking for his majesty. There wasn't time to waste, and if I ran into that nutty cow well, I thought with a sign, I would have to deal with it. There was more at stake. I had to leave the room before someone came knocking at the door. After having a quick shower and dressing into a pair of black jeans, a pale blue jumper, and black boots and with a quick comb out of my hair, I left the room with one thing on my mind. Finding out what the fuck was going on.

  Walking down one corridor after another, stopping to say Hi or give a small wave to the ones who had always been kind, polite, and civilized towards me since I had been here. While deliberately ignoring the hostile glazes and the nasty whispered muttering that was being thrown my way as I walked past. I didn't give a shit about them. No matter where you went in life at some point, you would meet a handful of assholes!! The few that had shown friendliness towards me, I gave the time of day with a hello, and a smile like I usually would do. I knew that it would be just a short matter of time before someone would notify Lucien that I was out of my room wandering around. It wasn't as if I was hiding. He had a security camera's everywhere. No matter where you turned, there was one right in your face. If on the off chance, no one bothered to tell him I was out of my prison, on my own wandering around his property like I hadn't a care in the world. He'd know I wasn't where I should be. He wouldn't be happy, which was what I was hoping for. I expected the very thought of me walking around his property would annoy him enough and cause him to come out of the hidey-hole he was hiding in.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  LUCIEN

  ‘’She’s got some balls,’’ Damien stated, sitting his massive frame in the chair next to mine as we watched Scarlett walk around the club as if she didn’t have a care in the world. ‘’I’ll give her that,’’ watching as she stopped to have a short brief chat with various persons from my workforce.

  The ones she spoke to show a liking to her while others showed the dishpan they had. At some point, I would deal with the ones who showed her disrespect. I wanted her to feel comfortable staying here. I took note that they were the ones, she didn’t bother with.

  ‘’She looks pissed off,’’ Damien stated his head to one side as he gazed at the monitor, not hiding the curiosity in his eyes. I had been waiting for him to comment on the having her stay, but so far, not a word had left his mouth, which was a surprise in itself. Considering he didn’t hold anything back if he had an opinion. He had told me his option on Aria, whether I had liked it or not. He was one of the few males I’d let speak to me the way he does. If it was someone else, they’d be six feet under. I scratched my cheeks, feeling the growth of hair that had grown over the last few days. I watched her on the TV monitors. Trying to realise why I was so fascinated with her. Fuck I couldn’t explain it, I hated witches, and I couldn’t stand the bitches and seeing that there hadn’t been any around for so long, we had thought they’d been wiped out. Finding that they hadn’t been, was a shock on its own. I had been avoiding her, my demon wasn’t happy. He also isn’t satisfied with the fact; I’d been spending time with Aria. He’d made that more than apparent. He had told me that he wanted to hurt her. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I hadn’t slept for the last few days, and shaving hadn’t even entered my mind. I had finally gotten rid of Aria, for how long I didn’t know. It wouldn’t surprise me if she turned up unannounced in the next few days as she had now started to do. I had informed my men, that the minute she stepped back on my property, I was to know. I couldn’t trust her.

  Intel had come in late last night. I would be passing it onto Scarlett as I had promised. After all, I was a businessman, if nothing else, and helped me in the long run even better. I had instructed Logan to look into our tapes of the night her sister had gone missing. She’d been seen entering with her friends and talking to different people over the time they been here. So far, nothing, not one speck of evidence. We didn’t know if she’d left on her own or with a male or female. It showed her friends leaving, but she hadn’t been in the group. It’s as if she just disappeared. He’s now looking over the other areas of the club. Where the public wasn’t allowed to enter without an invitation being granted. Some of my men had gone out questioning people in my territory. Asking if they kne
w of any naturals or even humans that had gone missing. I wasn’t happy with the news that had come back. More had disappeared than any of us realised. I had put out fillers asking for information from my informants. I was pissed off that so far nothing had come back. I had instructed Damien to send a couple of the men to other territories that weren’t under my control and to keep in the shadows. I didn’t want them to be seen, you could gain more information that way. Something was happening, and I didn’t like the feeling in my gut. I had sent out invitations to the other leaders of all territories. Two of my men Jasper and Rowan, had gone to the Fae's region. I didn’t expect them to be back anytime soon …. If they got back at all. They could be nasty bastards. The Fae wasn’t known for their hospitality. They were not all like the tiny little winged people, which was in the humans' fairy tales. Most were full size, six-foot, or more in height. They were striking to look at, so beautiful that it was hard to look away once you saw one in the flesh. Most had long white hair with piercing blue eyes. The ones I’d met many generations ago had been a mixture of the white or light blonde hair. They were very private, and it was rare that you even saw them. They didn’t like mixing with other naturals, let alone humans, and getting any information from them is nearly impossible. It would be completely unexpected if it happened, but we’d need them if what I expected was coming. I just hoped I was bloody wrong. I also sent Duncan and John into Nathan’s territory. Parker and Asher into Jacobs. We were still waiting to hear back from all parties.

  ‘’How the fuck have they managed to be under our noses the whole time?’’ he asked me, frowning he was clearly baffled, not taking his eyes off her, ‘’from what she has told us there could be fucking hundreds of the bastards. Not only that, when was the last time either of us run into a bloody witch? Its years. It must be at least a hundred years. Maybe more. There hasn’t been any inkling of having any in living existence for generations. Surely, we would have known?’’ he asked as he turned his head towards me.

  I was just as baffled as him. It didn’t make fucking sense and was pissing me off. That was one of the big mysteries. How had they managed to hide in plain sight? It was something I had every intention in finding out. ‘’I don’t know,’’ I replied, taking the last puff of my cigar before stamping it out in the ashtray, ‘’ She’s been truthful up to a certain point, but she’s also defiantly hiding something. I do not know, but I intend to find out,’’ I paused, thinking about the last witch I had seen. It hadn’t been pleasant. She’d been chased down and gutted. There hadn’t been anything left of her. ‘’I saw the last witch about a hundred and fifty years ago. She was from one of the last covens.’’ I told him never taking my eyes off the red-haired woman on the monitor. They had been evil cunts. Not one bit of emotion, running through their veins. They were all better off dead. This witch in front of me was ……. Different, I had no doubt that she was a witch and hadn’t tried to deny it. There was just something that just did not sit right with her confession, ‘’that witch from so long ago, her coven had council of the very last to exist. The old council had made sure there wasn’t any left alive. They had hunted them down and had caught them one by one and gutting them,’’

  I could hear Damien’s phone ringing in my subconscious, my eyes focusing once again on the woman on the monitors. She had stopped and was now speaking to Dora, who had been with me since she’d been a young girl and was only a handful of humans I’d trust. Her family had been with me for centuries, yes, I was that old. Her family had known about us way before we had stepped once again out of the darkness. The humans forgot about the monsters in the dark, and over time we had become the fairy tales of old. Finding out that we had been living amongst them for centuries had been a shock. War had broken out amongst humans and naturals; the weaker naturals had been killed or injured. In retaliation, many humans had been killed. It went on for years until a treaty was agreed upon. Two new separate councils had been formed, one for the Natural’s one for the Humans. On each sat 12 figures both had naturals and humans on each Council; it wasn’t ideal, but it worked.

  Dora’s great, great, great grandparents had been the first to work for me and carried on down the line. I’d know Dora even before she’d been born. I’d known her mother and father. I had watched while her mother had carried her throughout her pregnancy. Dora and her own children were part of my ……. Family. Yes, I had people that I classed as family, strange, I know. A fucking nasty piece of shit like me could call anyone that. It amazed anyone who happened to find that out and was something I kept close to my chest. If anyone found out that Lucien Sinclair cared about anyone in that manner. Their lives would be in danger, and that was one thing I couldn’t let happen.

  The conversation that Damien was having grabbed my attention away from Scarlett and my thoughts. He was talking to one of my men who had left to get some information, and from what I could judge from his face, he wasn’t pleased. It didn’t look right, in fact, I had a Shite feeling.

  ‘…. Are you fucking kidding me!!’’ cursing at the person on the other end of the phone, Damien listened growling as he heard what he was being told. Running his hand over his bald head, frustration written over his face. His eyes flashing red ‘’Make bloody sure you are not compromised, then get your asses to the pickup point. Ben and Tony will be waiting for you.’’ he tells him before hanging up, not giving them another chance to saying anything else. Chunking his phone onto the desk. I waited, knowing that once he’d calmed down, and he would tell me what was going on. I did not have to wait for long.

  He groaned, running his hand over his face muttering under his voice before turning his head towards me saying ‘’They think they were seen in Nathans territory,’’

  ‘’Think?’’ I replied frowning, this could cause all sorts of shitty problems, were they that stupid that they couldn’t make sure they wouldn’t be seen. These assholes they were meant to be some of my top trackers. Obviously, I was wrong ‘’that means shit. Either they were, or they haven’t seen it’s not hard is it, fucking hell. Bloody assholes. How are they not sure? Fucking bloody hell’’ my demon growled he knew as we all did what this could mean. Though we were friendly and helped each other in the past, it didn’t say we were best pals.

  Nathan was a bastard, a deadly one. Jacob was not far behind. In fact, all the leaders who ruled had to be. We had no choice; if we were not, at some point, you’d be challenged. By both laws, we had to stick to our own territories. If for some reason, you had to step into another’s, then you sent out a personal message to the Leader of the territory you needed to enter. The reason you needed to come had to be good enough to be granted permission. The laws that were in place …. They were there to make sure we followed the rules. All our laws were old, being put in place by the councils. Invites or permission from one of the other leaders was far and in between. They did not happen often. I had not done so since the last conflict.

  I’d sent my men out into their territory without asking for their permission, and in doing so, I was going against the very law that was meant to keep everyone safe, but sometimes needs must when the devil arrives. I was guilty of doing it on several occasions. I’ve no doubt that the other leaders of their own territory had done the same. Naturals and humans. Otherwise, we stayed in our own regions. Yes, some of my men were from Jacobs pack and Nathans coven, and I even had a few angels in my ranks, but that meant fuck all in the long run. I had so many people that worked for me I’d lost count. Most were naturals, but I did have a few humans. One that I felt had gained a place through some sort of loyalty. I didn’t trust easy, so those I kept by my side had somehow gained that trust, which was hard to do. If any of my men were caught, then it was the right of the man or woman who runs that territory to deal with them as they saw fit. We had all accepted that agreement when the first laws had been written.

  ‘'Somethings going down. There’s more patrols than the norm’’ Damien filled him in, as he poured two glasses of brandy passing on
e towards me before sipping his own, ‘’and from what I gathered from that conversation a more than a few of Nathan’s top men were among them,’’

  It wasn’t unusual for someone high up in the racks to be on patrol, I even went with my own men on the odd occasion. The fact that so many patrols were out the same time, and many were top racking men, is unusual. I agreed that something was happening, and I had this sinking feeling that when I found out what the fuck was going on, I wasn’t going to be happy.

  ‘’I’ll find out more once they get back,’’ Damien told me, throwing the rest of the brandy back a frown written across his face.

  Something was going on with him. What I didn’t know. I watched as he placed the glass back down on the desk before filling it up again. I knew something was playing on his mind, the way he’d slung that brandy back confirmed it. I knew before she had attacked Alison, he’d been uncomfortable with Aria being here. She kept arriving unannounced as if it was her right. If truth be told, it didn’t sit well with me either. She was like a bloody elastic band the way she was toing and throwing. She was even more demanding than she usually was and that was saying something. I knew she wanted me to bring her… Scarlett, my beautiful obsession into our games. That was not going to happen. I also knew he realised that I was keeping things from him. I had to keep things close to my chest for a while longer. I hadn’t told him about the fact that something was off about Aria. For months now, I’d been getting the feeling that she was up to no good and that I’d found out that those suspicions were correct. It was all fucked up. Then there was Scarlett, I couldn’t remember when I had defiantly decided to make her mine, but mine she was. For the first time in my long life, I hated even the thought of sharing her, which didn’t make sense. Fuck, I’d always been willing to share Aria, and she had been my only permeant lover over the years. Yes, it was well known we fucked other people and shared other women between us, but this witch for some god damn reason was different. My demon thought it was fantastic that I had begun to fill that way, me not so much. I was fighting against myself, and I would, at some point, have to give in. I was so fucked.