Justine Ch. 11

"My, my, my," she crooned, "look at you, who hurt the big bad vampire who turns human women?" she asked as she took another step noting with satisfaction that Jeremiah had taken another step backwards. She did this until she was standing against the cell bars and his back was against the bars opposite her.

"I really should thank you for a few things." she said suddenly from behind him.

The guards laughed as Jeremiah jumped, tried to hurry away from the cell bars, tripped and fell flat on his face. Jeremiah couldn't hold in the moan of pain as he rolled onto his side. He let out a startled yelp as he came face to face with Pam.

"As I was saying," Pam said after Jeremiah recovered from his shock, "I should thank you for a few things the most important being that I learned a few things about myself. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I'm not angry because I am. I would love nothing more than to kill you as would my mate Darren but Justine says that you're off limits.... For now. Apparently, she has some big plans for you. Oh, and just a word of advice, if any of us ask you questions, answer them. Now isn't the time for you to decide to be brave."

Jeremiah watched as Pam vanished from where she lay on the floor next to him. He sat up and lay back down wondering just how long it would take him to will himself to die.

**************

Mikhail cuddled Zoe closer to him thankful that he had taken this "one last job." It was a hell of a way to find her but what mattered is that he did and his mercenary days were over. His one and only employer was the queen and he had already taken the necessary steps to have himself removed from the list of those for hire as well as move and change all of his accounts making sure that he added Zoë's name to them.

He wondered how long it would be before he was called before the new queen and if she would accept the offer of his services. He knew that while Quinn would have a say, the final say would come from Justine. He decided that there was no point in worrying about it, whatever was going to happen would happen. He kissed the top of Zoe's head, closed his eyes and drifted back into sleep.

**********

As Darren waited for Pam to come back from seeing Jeremiah, he tried to acclimate to the change in his position. Not only had his mate just walked into his life, he was no longer a servant in the usual capacity, he was part of what he called the queen's cabinet.

"So much change and in such a short time." he thought as he ran a bath for them. They had finally mated the day after the queen and her mate and so had Mikhail and Zoe. There was some unspoken rule about mating on the same day as the king and queen and it would have been the equivalent to another couple showing up at a wedding in wedding garb.

That night had been one of the longest of his life and as soon as it was proper he and Pam made love so many times that they lost count. They briefly wondered if there was a chance that there could be a child from their union but it was highly unlikely. No female mate in the house would become pregnant until after the queen did and no one could remember a queen giving birth while she was reigning queen.

He added rose scented oil to the water and settled in to wait. He had wanted to go with her when she went to see Jeremiah but she had declined saying that she wanted to talk to him alone.

"I have to do this; I want him to see that he didn't change me in the way that he wanted to."

That had been almost thirty minutes ago and if she wasn't back by the time he finished preparing their bath, he was going after her.

Pam was immensely proud not just of Justine but of herself. While she wouldn't have chosen to learn about herself in the way that it happened, it felt good to know that deep down she wasn't the clingy, insecure woman that had let Justine carry her. That she was really a strong confident woman that could and would help her friend buoyed her spirits. Watching Jeremiah cringe buoyed them even more. The only thing was she wished that she could have hurt him as he had hurt so many.

As she neared the quarters that she now shared with her new husband, she didn't like the term mate although she didn't know why, she pushed all thoughts of Jeremiah out of her mind; she had more pleasant things to think about.

*************************************************************************************************

Jeri/Josephine

Jeri woke first, looked over at David and frowned. His face wasn't relaxed as it usually was and he had been restless which was very unusual for him. She reached over, touched his blue/ gray hair that was the exact same color as his eyes and felt a surge of warmth toward him.

She let her hand wander down his face lingering on his lips and then moving down to his chin. In all of her time with him, she had never really thought about what she felt for him although he had told her on more than one occasion that he loved her. She believed him but the intensity of what he felt for her frightened her at times it bordered on obsession but she.....

She jumped when blue/gray eyes suddenly opened and a hand grabbed hers.

"Good evening love." David said as he brought his hands to his lips and kissed them. "Why are you awake? Did I not do my job sufficiently?" he teased.

"You did your job just fine." Jeri replied as she snuggled into him.

"So why are you awake?" he asked.

"David, are you alright?" she asked cautiously.

Instead of being irritated, he was touched. It wasn't that she hadn't ever showed concern for him before, she had, but it was the kind of concern that she would have shown anyone and that was what had always irritated him. He wanted her to be concerned about him because she really cared about him in a way that was different than in the way that she cared for others. He wanted her to love him and wanted to hear her say it, he could have compelled her to say it but he wouldn't, she had to say it voluntarily.

It was one thing to compel her to forget anything that she remembered of her past, to him that was self-preservation and his way of protecting her but another to make her say that she loved him. For all he knew, she was in danger and whoever had left her for dead could still be out there somewhere and if they saw her.... And then there was the possibility that she would see something or someone that would jar her memory.

He turned so that he faced her and held his breath. This touch was different from any of the others, even than the touches of making love. He cupped a cheek in his hand and waited. For what? He wasn't sure.

Jeri covered his hand with hers, turned her head so that her lips were pressed against the palm of his hand and kissed it. David held his breath and didn't move. The tenderness in that kiss was unmistakable just as her concern for him was, but would she verbalize it? He wondered.

"David?"

"Yes love?"

"I know that I've never said anything about how I feel about you and maybe you don't care but....."

David forced himself to remain calm but his heart was racing. He knew that under normal circumstances, she would have noticed but she was too nervous, concentrating on what she was going to say.

"You have been so good to me and I know that you love me... David, I love you too."

She had finally said it and he didn't know what to do first. He crushed her to him, told her that he loved her and ground against him at the same time. The feelings of anxiety were forgotten replaced by the joy if finally being accepted by his mate.

***********

Mikhail received the summons to meet with Justine and Quinn soon after the evening meal. He kissed Zoe, got dressed and walked to the room that Justine had chosen to be her and Quinn's office. When he got to the door of the office, he paused, took a deep breath and knocked.

After a few seconds, he was standing in before the new queen and her king. Buddy sat on the floor between them watching him as he walked in. Following protocol, he approached them with his hands arms held away from his body, hands open with the palms facing toward them. He dropped to one knee, bowed his head and waited.

"You may stand." Justine said softly hating the formality.

Mikhail stood up keeping his gaze down.

"This is bull shit!" Justine exclaimed. "Mikhail, you're not a servant so stop acting like it! Get up and sit down."

Mikhail hid a smile as he went to the nearest chair, he liked this queen and her fuck it attitude.

"Ok, now," Justine said, "here's the way this is going to work. In private drop the my queen king crap, I don't like it. Next, I want you to tell me why I should trust you. You were hired by Jeremiah Mathers to hunt me and then you end up helping me so what gives?"

Mikhail's mouth went dry. He had heard the story about what she had done to Jeremiah with just a touch of her tongue and he wondered what other gifts she had but now wasn't the time to wonder about such things.

Justine and Quinn both listened without interruption and then said nothing for a long time when he was finished.

"You switched teams out of the goodness of your heart?" Justine asked.

"I switched teams as you put it because the odds were against you." Mikhail replied, "As Violet can tell you, I hate unfairness but it appears that I need not have worried." he added. "The other thing is this, it didn't take me long to realize a few things, the fact that Jeremiah called me in and paid me good money to hunt a newborn told me something, he was afraid of you. Secondly, there was more going on than what he was saying. I didn't know what it was but I was in the process of trying to find out what it was when I began to realize who and what you were."

"Are you going to switch teams again?" Quinn asked.

"No."

"How do we know that? The scuttlebutt is that this isn't the first time that you've done it." Quinn said.

"Violet can also attest to another thing about me." Quinn replied, "I do not lie. If I tell you that I am at your service then I mean exactly that. I have already removed myself from the list of hunters and assassins. However, there is a more important reason for that decision, Zoe. I will not have her live the life of an assassin's mate and her place is here with you as is mine if you will have me."

"Jumped the gun on getting rid of your job didn't you?" Justine asked.

"You were to have been my easiest and last job." Mikhail replied. "I was going to retire anyway but even if you decline my services, my decision to retire stands. If you don't believe me, I make to you the same offer that I made to Violet. Look inside of me, examine my thoughts and motivations and if you find one deception, you can do with me as you will."

Unlike Violet, Justine took Mikhail up on his offer. There were a number of reasons for the decision but the main one was that she wanted the word to get out that everyone who offered their services would be closely scrutinized by her and Quinn. Already there was one amongst them who would be joining Jeremiah in his small cell in a few minutes. Even as she was examining Mikhail, the man, one of the day guards was caught planning Jeremiah's escape. As much as she hated it, the man had to die and she had to be the one to do it. She would make Jeremiah watch just to drive her point home.

She was no one to be fucked with.

Mikhail jumped when he felt Justine probe him. It wasn't unpleasant but if she chose to make it so.... Her examination of his thoughts seemed to last for hours before she pulled out and someone else- Quinn entered. His examination was rougher than Justine's was and painful. Mikhail bore the pain silently as Quinn pulled out a memory putting it back intact before looking at another one. He too it seemed had an innate ability to the use of his gifts, he was someone that he would do well not to cross. Then it was over.

"Alright Mikhail, you're in." Justine said, "We'll talk again later. Quinn and I have something to take care of."

*******

Jeremiah stood up and stretched before picking the flask of blood up from the floor. He made the usual show of hoping that it was poisoned by questioning the guard about it.

"Just shut the fuck up and drink it!" The guard snapped.

It was all that he could do not to laugh; the idiot really thought that he was going to escape. Every guard knew to let Jeremiah think that he was escaping.

Jeremiah drained the flask dry, his bruises and injuries were almost completely healed making movement easier. He handed the flask to the nearest guard and stretched again, he wanted to be ready. "Soon." he thought as he wondered which guard was going to help him.

The sounds of someone being dragged down the stairs filled the quiet basement.

"I'm innocent damn it! He compelled me!"

Minutes later, a man was shoved into a cell that hadn't been there before. Jeremiah didn't know the man personally and didn't care to. It wasn't until he realized that the man was accusing him of something that he began to pay attention to the man.

It had to be the vampire who had slipped a message inside one of the flasks of blood. The vampire had somehow gotten himself caught and was accusing Jeremiah of compelling him. Jeremiah had never laid eyes on the vampire before so how was he supposed to have compelled him even if he had his gifts? Jeremiah realized the vampire's error, he didn't know that Jeremiah's gifts didn't work here and he probably didn't realize that his didn't work anymore either.

There was another commotion when Justine, Quinn and Buddy appeared in front of the cells. The vampire in the next cell didn't even have the sense to be frightened. Jeremiah watched as the vampire boldly walked up to the bars of the cell and came face to face with the king who just looked him up and down with a smirk and then....

There was a loud crash and then the sound of bones crashing as the vampire crashed into the bars hard enough that they bent outwards.

Quinn looked over at Jeremiah, his eyes a hard green with cold green flames surrounding them, "meet your rescuer." he said. "This is and soon to be was Leonard Wise and contrary to his last name you can see that he really wasn't wise at all."

A hundred thoughts swirled through Jeremiah's head with the biggest one being that Quinn although a newborn was every bit as powerful as the Queen was and that he was in full control of his powers. Any chances of an accidental death were gone but what concerned him now was what was happening now.

Still not realizing that he no longer had his gifts, Leonard tried to vanish from the cell. Jeremiah watched with more sympathy than he had ever shown any of his victims. The vampire was going to die, that much was certain. Envy joined the growing list of emotions that Jeremiah felt which included anger and fear. He blinked rapidly when he looked up to see Quinn looking at him, his eyes still hard and unwavering.

A soft growl made Jeremiah look down and then back up. He hadn't seen the dog come into the cell and suddenly there he was, his teeth bared. When he started to move away, Buddy growled in warning stopping him in his tracks. Jeremiah's eyes widened

He watched in shock and then disgust as Buddy lifted a leg, pissed on his right leg from the knee down, and then repeated the gesture on the left. Jeremiah grimaced as the strong smell of urine assailed his nose. Tears of humiliation ran down his cheeks as he fully understood what was happening.

This was his life. There would be no permanent death for him and nothing he did would change that.

"Look over at your rescuer." Justine said softly.

Against his will, Jeremiah turned to face the vampire who was about to lose his life for his efforts. He listened as Justine explained the charges against him and the penalty for his betrayal.

"But he compelled me!" the man protested, his courage gone. He like everyone else heard about the queen and her gifts but he didn't believe it choosing to believe that no one was that powerful.

"Shhh." Justine said, "You're only making things worse and as much as it galls me to do this.... He didn't compel you. He has no gifts."

"But...."

"Your gifts are also gone; they were neutralized the moment you began to carry out your plan. That's why you couldn't vanish." she explained. "Do you understand the charges against you and the penalty?" she asked.

"I...."

"Do you understand the charges levied against you and the penalty?" Justine asked again.

"Yes." the vampire replied as he wondered what he had been thinking when he planned this. He had always been a skeptic and that skepticism was going to cost him his life.

Jeremiah watched unable to look away as the vampire seemed to dissolve starting with his feet. Screams of pain ricocheted throughout the basement as the vampire slowly disintegrated into nothing.

"That is what will happen to anyone who tries to help you in anyway." Justine said sickened at what she had to do even though it was necessary. She knew that now wasn't the time to show what would be construed as weakness. She tried to ignore the nausea and continued to address Jeremiah. "I've been giving serious thought to your sentence she said, "and I think that I have one that will do very nicely."

Jeremiah's heart pounded and to his shame, he couldn't control his fear. He felt every guard tense as they inhaled the sweet smell of his fear.

Quinn moved so that he was standing next to Justine and put his hand on her back drawing the nausea from her to him. Justine didn't say anything but he felt her gratitude as she focused fully on Jeremiah.

"We found your records which is a good and bad thing for you." Justine said smiling. "Good because I won't have to dig through your head to get it which disappoints me by the way and bad because I'm going to start looking for the women that you turned and sold. They will be presented with a choice of staying with those that bought them or coming here and spending time with you and here's the best part, they choose how that time is spent with one restriction, they can't kill you."

"You can't be serious!" Jeremiah protested, "Do you have....."

"Thousands." Justine cut in. "And it's too bad that your nephew isn't here because if he were... But at any rate, rest up because your first visitor is due in about an hour."

Justine smiled with satisfaction as Jeremiah paled at the thought of every woman that he and Malcolm had ever turned appearing before him....

"I didn't turn all of them!" he protested.

"True but then you killed the one who did and you were the one to handle the money end of it weren't you?"

"This isn't fair!" Jeremiah roared.

"Neither is what you did to thousands of women including the women that you killed. So shut the fuck up and take your sentence like a man!" Justine snapped.

Justine looked at a guard and nodded before walking away. The cell door swung open, two guards went into the cell and dragged Jeremiah out.

"Can't have you smelling like piss for the ladies can we?" a guard teased as she held open a door, stood to the side as Jeremiah was shoved into the shower.

As soon as he was inside, the shower turned on. Only because the dog piss was beginning to burn and smell did he use the soap. If he had known for sure that the burn and stink wasn't going to get worse, he would have tried to stay out of the falling jets of hot water.

When he came out, he came face to face with his first visitor.

*********

"Are you alright?" Quinn asked when they left the basement.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me out there." Justine replied, "I don't like that part of me very much."

Quinn hugged and then kissed her, truth be told he hadn't liked that part of her anymore than he liked that part of himself. He could only hope that the times those sides of them had to show was few and far in between but his gut was telling him otherwise. Some of the owners of the women who would choose to leave would put up a fight to keep what they considered to be theirs. They had some time to plan and they had to make sure that they were ready for the women that would choose to leave their owners. Zoe, Pam and a few other women were already working on that part of it.