Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1 (2 page)

I woke up between Trace and Erick; both were cuddling me, having apparently gotten over the giggles last night enough to sleep next to me.  I took their hands from my stomach and got out of bed.  It wasn’t easy trying to climb between two bodies and a third but I managed.

I shuffled into the bathroom and turned on the shower, stripping quickly.  I was just a tad later than I should have been, but well, it was a damn good thing I ran my own company and I could be late, though I disliked being late for work.

I stretched and froze when something caught my eye in the mirror.  I looked over at the mirror and then down at my arm.  Holy fuck!  It was a tattoo.  I shrieked in horror.  When the hell did I get a tattoo?  Did I do something before coming home last night?  No way.  I remembered very clearly that I had come home and I hadn’t even had anything stronger than one glass of wine, and that had been early on.  There was no way I could have gotten a tattoo, even if I had been sleep walking. 

The guys came running into the bathroom, blinking at me, half-sleepy, half-aroused.  Why would they…?  Oh.  I was standing naked. 

I grabbed a towel and wrapped up, not that I was shy around any of them.  I’ve had them on more than one occasion but I wasn’t in the mood.  I wanted to know what the hell was going on because I was damn sure that it had something to do with last night.

“Todd, what the hell is this?”  I pointed to my right arm.  A one inch hand print with a dagger running through the hand was tattooed on my arm in black.  I touched the spot and found it smooth, as if it had always been there.

“Let me take a closer look,” he said as he walked up to me, blinking sleep out of his eyes.  “You’re not going to like this.” 

I hissed a breath and said, “Tell me.”

“This tattoo is to indicate that you’re my enforcer.”  He looked at me with something close to desire, something, at this moment, was not what I wanted nor needed; I wanted to know what the fuck happened to me. 

I looked away from him, but only for a moment, and asked, “What does that mean?”

“To you, it means that you won’t be able to get away from this life.  To me, it means that you will be my helper in the event that vampires misbehave.  If they do and I see fit to punish them and that punishment is death, you’re it.”

I stared gaped mouth and took a step back from him.  I didn’t mind helping him now and then, but to be stuck with this job forever? No way.  I shook my head.  “No, I will not.  I will not be your assassin.”

“Kat,” Todd said in that tone that said I was being difficult. 

“Don’t ‘Kat’ me, Todd.  I didn’t choose this and I really,
really
, don’t want this.  I will help as much as I can to allow you a simpler integration but I will not be the vampires’ boogeyman.”

“I don’t expect that, Kat.  All I want is for you to be what you are destined to be.”  Whatever the hell that meant.  He tried to come closer to me but I moved back.  I didn’t want to be touched by him or anyone at the moment.

Well, now I was grumpy and not just cranky.  I could feel my top lip lift up in a sneer.  “Just leave, Todd.  I’ll figure it out, hopefully in time to save your ass.”  I waved my hand dismissively at him.  Todd turned on his heel and left the bathroom without another word. 

“You shouldn’t have been so hard on him, Kat.  He’s only trying to help,” Trace said. 

I sighed and looked at Trace.  He was looking at me with pain contorting his face.  I wanted to say something to help him but I couldn’t.  I had kicked Todd out and it was my fault.  I looked at Erick and saw the same unhappy expression on his face.  Boy, I really mucked this up, didn’t I?

“Can you guys get out?  I need to finish my shower.”  Hurt flashed across their faces but they turned and stepped out of the bathroom.  Thank fuck they were gone.  I dropped the towel and stepped into the hot flow of water. 

I was still trepidatious about going into a bathroom after what happened a few months earlier.  When I had been on my way out of the bathroom, after a nice shower and after I had killed Antreas, I was stabbed through the chest and my throat was slit, or I thought it was. 

It was Sadant’s ghost that did me in.  It felt real, like I was dying but it was only a really good parlor trick.  I came to on the floor of the hotel bathroom, looking up at Todd, Trace, and Erick.  I was so glad to see them and that they could see me.  The first question out of my mouth was, “Can you see me?” 

They had laughed, mostly in confusion, and nodded, reassuring me with that simple head bob.  Erick, the ever gentleman, said, “Of course we can see you, Katja.  Are you well?”  I had blinked up at him and nodded.  Erick had then helped me off the floor and I told them what had happened.  They weren’t as shocked as I had been but then again they hadn’t had their throats slit.

We moved out of the hotel in time for the summer season and I got apartments for all those that I had raised.  Those that I raised were split into pairs:  Beatrice and Ardeness, Sandra and Mark, Charles and Nadja.  Trace, Erick, Todd, and I share my apartment.  That is until today, now it’s just Trace, Erick and me, since I kicked Todd out. 

><                            ><

I finished my shower and changed into clean clothes.  I was going back to work, finally.  It wasn’t like they needed me there, the real-estate firm did well on its own but I enjoyed selling houses and now I was looking for one for myself.  The apartment wasn’t meant to hold all four of us.  The apartments may be really nice and cater to the rich but it was much too small for us to be comfortable.  The flats are laid out in the same general manner: a small foyer, living room, kitchen, and a good sized bedroom with a luxury bathroom.

I walked out of the bathroom and found Trace and Erick sitting on the bed and waiting for me.  I heaved a sigh.  “What do you want now?”

“We don’t want anything, Kat.  We just want to make sure that you’re okay with this.”

“Of course I’m not okay with this, Trace.  I didn’t expect to be tied to Todd in this manner.  Yeah, it was okay when it was just as a consultant or something but to be required to do this, I don’t think I can handle it.  Besides, I have to go to work.  I don’t have time to talk about this.  Take showers, have a nice day.  I’ll see you guys when I get home.  Invite Todd over, I’ll bring dinner.”  I waved as I walked out of the bedroom. 

I left the apartment, walked through the lobby, and waited for the valet to arrive with my car.  The car arrived, a brand new black Mercedes C63 AMG.  I’d always wanted a Mercedes and never had the opportunity to have one. 

I got in and took a deep breath of New Car scent and then drove to my work center.  It’s a decent one story standalone building with three offices.  My firm isn’t large but we happened to be one of the premier real-estate firms in the county.

I walked into the warm building and said hello to Starla Jennins, my partner.  I had made her full partner a few months back, after The Incident.  That’s how I think of that time, The Incident.  That is, when I think about it, which is almost never.

“Hey, Kat.  Glad you’re back.  We have quite a few people waiting for houses to be shown.  They would have been taken care of but our top seller just got married and won’t be back to work for another week.  Sorry, Kat.  Here’s the list, if you can take care of this half, I’ll take care of the other half.” 

From that point on my day was busier than I had been in the past year.  I guess people wanted houses. 

><                            ><

I showed people houses and most made an offer immediately.  I stopped to eat a sandwich at a McDonald’s drive-thru and went about showing more houses.  I finally finished at seven-thirty that night and walked into the office dead on my feet.  Starla was in the same predicament. 

“See you tomorrow, Starla.  I have a dinner date.”  She wiggled her eyebrows at me, causing me to groan in response.

I made a call to a great Italian diner and ordered enough food for all my guys and myself.  I grabbed my purse, left the office parking lot, and drove the twenty minutes to the restaurant to grab the food.

Laden with food, I didn’t even see the guy who bumped into me.  I almost fell backwards but caught myself in time not to spill all the food.  I glared at the guy and found that it was Todd.  Great.  “Todd, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I called your office and found that you were getting food.” He looked at the bags of food and asked, “So, does this mean you forgive me?”

“I don’t know yet.  I really haven’t had time to process everything.  I’ve been too busy.  Come on, help me.”  I gave him half the bags and we loaded them into his truck.  I didn’t want my new car smell to be overrun with Italian smells, not that the scents weren’t mouthwatering.  I was pretty sure they wouldn’t go with the new car scent of my car though.

Todd didn’t say anything after loading the food into his truck, only stood there for a moment.  “Oh, come on,” I huffed and waved my hand. 

Todd followed me back to the apartment building.  Damn it, I was so busy that I had forgotten to look for a house for myself.  I shook my head as I handed the valet my keys and waited for Todd to do the same.  We took the food bags upstairs and walked in on a fight.  I dropped the bags and got in between Trace and Erick.  “What the hell is wrong?” I yelled.  They just looked at me.  “Explain.  Now.”

“It was nothing, Kat.  Just a misunderstanding,” Trace said with a shrug. 

“That’s not what it looked like to me, Trace.  What started this?”

“Katja, please, it was nothing to concern yourself with.  We just had a disagreement.  It’s over.  Let’s eat.”  Erick’s words barely sunk in.  I was looking at them like I didn’t know who they were.  This was a very different scene from the one I had left this morning.  I wonder what had happened, well, other than me kicking Todd out but he was standing right next to me.  I shrugged.  There was nothing I could do or say to make them explain right now so I grabbed food and went into the kitchen to start dishing out dinner.  It was the most normal thing for me.

We made light conversation until dinner was done, then came the hard part: did I allow Todd to stay with us or give him a room here at the apartment that was separate from us?  I knew I couldn’t just let him go.  He needed a place to stay. 

After we killed Antreas, Todd resigned from the police department when he figured that he may be breaking a number of laws and sold his house.  He’d been staying here at the apartment and it hadn’t been a problem, until now.  I wasn’t even sure if it was a problem.

><                            ><

“I should be going,” Todd announced after he put his dishes in the dishwasher. 

Okay, so really, I couldn’t let him go, even if I was having a problem with this new status thingy.  “Todd, please don’t go.”  What?!  I ignored the exclamation that went through my brain and walked up to him.  “Stay.”  I put my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me, barely a breath away from my mouth. 

“I don’t want to cause a problem,” he whispered against my lips.

“It’s my problem, not yours,” I whispered back. 

I closed the short distance and gave him the kiss he deserved.  He clutched me in his arms and held me tightly against his slender body, going all out on the kiss. 

We separated and he held me.  It took me a moment to realize that he wasn’t just hugging me to hug me but was crying.  I made soothing noises and stroked his head, running my fingers through his short honey hair.  What happened to make him cry?  He’s never been one to show his emotions.  Trace and Erick came up to us and wrapped their arms around us in a hug. 

Todd calmed down a few minutes later.  “What happened?” 

“Everything, nothing, I can’t explain it right now.”  Todd kissed my cheek and dropped his hands. 

“Todd, what the hell is going on?”  I didn’t understand his reaction at all. 

“Kat, it’s nothing to concern yourself with at the moment.” 

I might have overreacted a bit when I yelled, “Why do you guys keep saying that to me?  What am I, some sort of wimp?”  Three sets of eyes looked at me in wide-eyed astonishment.  “Well, someone tell me what the fuck is going on.  You keep saying not yet or it’s nothing.  Like hell this is nothing.  I’m not too damn tired that I can’t see.”

“Kat, come sit down.  I guess if you want to know, I’ll tell you.”  Good.  He should tell me but…I could tell I wasn’t going to like this one damn bit.  They pulled me to the couch and guided me onto the cushion.  I pursed my lips waiting for an explanation that they didn’t want to give.

Todd kneeled down beside me and held my hand.  “Todd, I don’t need to be coddled.  I can take what you have to say.”  At least I was pretty sure I could.

“My parents were killed in the first wave of attacks,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion, sort of like when you read a newspaper article for soup or something. 

“Oh, Todd, I’m so sorry.”  I ran my hand along his cheek.  I had known his parents very well.  When we were married, I used to go to their house frequently for dinners and idle chitchat.  It finally sunk in, the rest of the sentence clicked in my head.  Attack?  “What’s this about an attack?  And this being just the first wave?”

“I’ve been under attack since I took over this…this, whatever it is.  They knew just where to hit.  Why do you think I came to the Italian restaurant?  It wasn’t just because I wanted to reconcile, though that was a big part of it.”