Justine Ch. 07

"It's obvious isn't it? I'm here for the same reason you are, "I'm looking for Justine but I think for very different reasons."

That statement just confirmed what Jeremiah already knew, Mikhail knew who Justine was but it didn't give him a clue as to what he planned to do with the information.

"Was she here?" Jeremiah asked.

"She was and not long ago." Mikhail replied as he stepped back from Jeremiah not because of fear but because he couldn't stand the stink of greed that came from him.

"I would like to renegotiate the terms of our agreement." Jeremiah said.

"There is no agreement." Mikhail replied, "You violated our agreement not once but twice."

"I can pay you double what I've paid you already and more later." Jeremiah replied.

Mikhail looked at Jeremiah and vanished without answering him.

********

Jeremiah stared at the spot where Mikhail had just been.

"Son of a bitch!" He swore. He now had less than twenty-four hours in which to find Justine and Quinn. In order to take Quinn's place at her side as king, they had to have mated by no later than 10 pm the following night and it was now eleven pm.

As he paced through the apartment, he realized that there was one thing that he hadn't done; he hadn't checked into Quinn O'Dell. Once again, he missed Malcolm. Looking into Quinn O'Dell would have been a detail that he would have thought of and handled it without being told to.

He took out his cell phone and made a call.

"Find out everything that you can about Quinn O'Dell; call me back in an hour."

********

Bones showed Justine and Quinn to a spare bedroom, "mi casa es su casa!" he exclaimed as he led them into the spacious bedroom and took his leave but not before giving Quinn an envious look.

Buddy went into the bathroom and then went back into the bedroom sniffing every corner before declaring the room safe. Like his mistress, he felt so much better and stronger since he had fed on human blood, he was anticipating the time when the both of them would be fully into their power and was looking forward to a long and hopefully peaceful reign.

The time was approaching when he would need to start edging her toward the currant queen but other things needed to happen first one of which was disposing of Jeremiah Mathers. He lay on the floor in front of the door and closed his eyes. He appeared to be falling asleep but he was fully alert, he could hear every voice and sound in the house and... He didn't trust the human called Bones.

*********

Without really thinking about it, Quinn began to strip. It had been quite awhile since soap and hot water touched his body and he was looking forward to it. He was down to his briefs when he felt eyes on him.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry!" he said as he grabbed his jeans and held them in front of him. "I was thinking about a hot shower and, sorry."

Justine watched Quinn undress and wished that he would go slower, she cursed silently when he realized that she was watching him and went to cover himself. Her gums itched as her fangs began to descend as she heard the too fast beating of his heart and the swish, swish of his blood as it rushed through his veins. She found herself wondering what he would taste like and licked her lips at the thought of it.

She felt her entire body warm much as it had when she was changed but this was different, this was desire. She wanted Quinn O'Dell, she had to have him and there a new sense of urgency that the sooner they made love the better off they would all be.

******

Quinn watched as Justine seemed to be debating with herself. He stood rooted to the floor with his jeans in front of him. He tried to slow his heart beat and to control his breathing as he watched Justine's eyes go from the warm brown that they normally were to a darker brown and then to black.

Instead of being frightened, his heart raced even faster and his already hardened cock got even harder. Suddenly, Justine was standing in front of him. He could feel her breath on his chest as she took her time inhaling his musky scent.

"You smell good," she said softly as she stuck out her tongue and licked his chest, "and you taste good."

Justine took the jeans from Quinn's hands and threw them across the room not looking to see where they landed. What little part of her mind that was human was telling her to stop, that she didn't know this man well enough to sleep with but the queen part of her recognized and accepted Quinn as hers.

Justine looked up at Quinn, put her hands on his hips and pulled him into him into her. Quinn let out a soft moan when his cock pressed against her clothed belly, the hot shower forgotten. All he wanted was to make love with the woman/ vampire standing in front of him. He wanted her naked and on the bed with her legs opened as wide as they could go. He wanted to smell and taste her as she had just done him.

All that he wanted to do to and with her swirled through his mind like a cyclone. This, he realized, is what he had been waiting for, what he had been missing. What he felt for Amanda was pale in comparison to what he felt for Justine, a woman that he barely knew.

He reached out, cupped a breast in each hand, and gave them a gentle squeeze while looking into Justine's eyes. He wanted to say something but no words came as he kneaded her large breasts in his hands wishing that her clothes were gone. As if he willed it, her clothes lay in a heap on the floor and Quinn got his first look at his bride.

"Justine." he breathed as he bent down to kiss her.

*********

Bones was so intent on making his guests comfortable that he didn't notice that one of his guards was watching them. At first, the guard wasn't sure if it was the right woman because she looked different from the picture, he had but then he saw the dog and the man.

He took out his cell phone and called Jeremiah directly.

"You girl is here, him and a dog are with her.... In an upstairs bedroom...."

A soft growl caught his attention and he turned around to see Buddy who seemed much bigger than earlier staring at him.

Moment's later, the bloodied body of the guard was dragged and left in the wooded part of the property and Buddy was back in the bedroom issuing a warning.

********

Quinn had just eased Justine onto the bed and was about to take his first taste of her when they heard Buddy's warning. Quinn's first thought was that Bones had betrayed them but that thought was put to rest by Justine, "it wasn't him,"

Seconds later, they heard Bone's indignant yell, "Who in the fuck are you and get off of my porch!"

A gunshot rang out telling Justine that whoever the intruders were, they were human and that they had to have been nearby in order to have found them so quickly. Without thinking about it, she grabbed Quinn close to her and teleported to the only place that she could think of at the spur of the moment, Pam's apartment.

Quinn was only slightly green this time. He was quickly adapting to teleporting and was quickly learning not to argue with Justine and Buddy. He was about to say something about clothes when Buddy appeared in the living room with both of their bags.

"We can't stay here long." Justine said as she quickly dressed. "And I'm running out of places for us to hide."

"Why are we hiding?" Quinn asked, "We have to make a stand at some point so why don't we choose the place and time?"

"Because I don't know who all of the players are yet." Justine replied.

"So let's find out, you mentioned something about Jeremiah Mathers... Start with him." Quinn suggested. "There's something else, we need to find out why he wants you so badly."

Justine's cell phone rang before she could reply. 'Private' flashed across the screen giving her the choice as to whether she answered it or not.

"What?" she asked.

"Justine, this is Zoe Carpenter."

"What do you want?" Justine asked.

"To help you if you'd let us."

"Why would you want to do that? For all I know you're working with Jeremiah Mathers and that hunter he's hired." Justine said tersely.

"We could be but we're not and I think that you know that."

"I know no such thing! Where have you been all of this time huh? Are you helping Jeremiah turn human women and then selling them?"

"No, I'm not." Zoe replied calmly, "I was one of those turned, I told you that. I can see that we are going nowhere and that you don't trust me but I have someone here that you do trust."

There was a few seconds of silence before a voice came on the line.

"Justine?"

********

Jeremiah thought about the information that he had just received. He didn't like involving families in his business it was too messy and too much could go wrong. He looked at the photographs of Quinn's ex-wife and child noting how beautiful they were.

Quinn had been a very lucky man who had let his addictions control and then destroy his life. Jeremiah had a rather unsettling thought, he and Quinn weren't' very different. He could still walk away from this, move his offices and start over but... He couldn't, he wouldn't. He would always wonder what would have happened if he didn't try. In many ways, he realized that Quinn though human was the better being, he was able to put his demons to rest before they killed him. True, he lost his wife and child but what did he get in return? A queen. It just wasn't right! What would a human male know about being a king?

Jeremiah looked at the clock and then at the photo on his desk and came to a decision.

*********

Mikhail stood in front of the home of Violet Rose Rhodes for a long time before deciding to formally announce his presence. He knew that she knew he was there but was waiting for him to state his intent. As he waited, Mikhail thought about his life as a hunter and of all that he had killed for pay. Many of them were the dregs of their race, killing and raping humans indiscriminately thus becoming a danger to their race as well. Those he deemed as a necessary to kill but he had never ever killed a woman with the exception of one and it still made him ill to think about it.

That it was to protect a child, a human one at that didn't matter. The woman had been the child's mother and in a drug induced haze was going to drop the child off the top of their apartment building after she had beaten her. The woman was standing on the ledge of the building holding the child by her feet and muttering something about teaching the child how to fly. Horrified, Mikhail watched as the child was thrown from the building and he had a choice to make, the child or the mother who was tottering on the edge of the building.

He chose the child.

That child was now an adult with children and a family of her own. She was a fifth grade school teacher living in Baltimore, Maryland. He knew this because he monitored her out of guilt and a sense of responsibility. He always knew when the small family was in financial trouble and found a way of helping them without it leading back to him. Sometimes there would be a bank error in their favor or tickets to the movies would somehow be won. Her children would also be cared for as long as they were good, upstanding citizens of society, it helped to soothe his guilt just a little.

He tried to remember the last time he had seen Violet Rhodes and found it hard to believe that it was just before human hunters tried to kill her husband Edward. Although civil to each other, he and Violet had never really gotten along and for that reason he stayed away from her but here he was standing in front of her home prepared to offer his assistance.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the button on the intercom and waited.

*******

Amanda, Lana and the baby were cuddled on the couch together watching Cinderella for what had to be the hundredth time when the doorbell rang. Amanda looked at the clock and frowned before going to the door, it was past eight-thirty and too late for anyone to be at the door.

"Stay there." she told Lana as she made her way to the door.

She peeked through the peephole and saw a well-dressed man on the other side of the door.

"Can I help you?" She called through the door.

"Yes ma'am, I'm looking for Quinn O'Dell."

"He doesn't live here." Amanda replied.

"I know that ma'am but he has you listed as a contact person and well, we've been unable to reach him. Could you help me with that?"

"Who are you?" Amanda asked.

"My name is Jeremiah Mathers. Your husband, made you and your daughter beneficiaries of his life insurance and he forgot to sign a few papers."

"We're not married anymore..."

"My apologies, he did tell me that but he still wanted you and the child to be taken care of in the event of his death, could I please come in and show you where he needs to sign? It won't take long."

Amanda's gut screamed "no" but the fact that Quinn would think of her and Amanda even though they weren't together made her less cautious and the man on the other side of the door did not look dangerous.

*******

Jeremiah waited until dark to approach the house and then he vanished from his car to the front door. He had his story all worked out and knew just what buttons to push. Money was a problem, especially money for education; he did his homework on Amanda and Adam Lewis and knew that they were struggling. When she hesitated, he played his ace in the hole.

"I forgot to mention that Quinn also has an account separate from the life insurance policies. He is very aware of the rising cost of education and wanted to help with that. Your daughter attends...."

"Saint Mary's." Amanda volunteered.

"Yes that's the one!" Jeremiah agreed amiably, "At any rate, he wants to help with the tuition payments and for that to happen I will need your signature."

Amanda couldn't believe it! She and Adam had been trying to figure out a way to keep Lana in the small private Catholic school and with Quinn's help, they could.

******

Lana, never one to listen stood behind her mother as she talked to a man. Even though she couldn't see him, she didn't like him. He scared her. Trusting that her mother wouldn't do what she had warned her against, Lana didn't say anything.

It wasn't until she heard the doorknob turn that she realized that her mother was going to let the man in.

"Mama don't!" she screamed but it was too late, Jeremiah Mathers was in their home and he wasn't leaving until he found Quinn.