Do Or Die (Surreal Blue Rogue Agent 1) (9 page)

He
lowered her to the bed. “Do you hurt?” His hands glided down the length of her
body, slipping beneath her sheer hospital gown. “Anywhere?”

Audrianna
flexed, bucking her hips upward, her body like a bow. “No.”

“I
know I should let you rest and take it easy. But I thought I’d lost you
forever. Good God.” Viktor passed his hand over her bare womanhood and cupped
her there. “I want to stick it in.”

Bam!
The
door swung open, slamming into the side of the wall. Xin stood in the doorway,
glancing from Viktor’s tight-lipped, accusing glare to the Audrianna’s
compromised state on the bed.

“Viktor,”
Xin greeted him with a curt nod. “Mrs. Viktor.” He did not look at Audrianna’s
guilty expression.

Audrianna,
unutterably embarrassed, covered her face with the pillow. In a muffled voice
she replied, “Daddy.”

His
eyes locked on Viktor, he spoke sternly, “A word with my charge.” Xin stood in
the doorway, waiting.

Incensed,
Viktor turned and walked pass Xin, who summarily kicked the door closed behind
him.

Clear
blue skies in the distance met Viktor as he walked onto the third-floor balcony
of the hospital, which faced the yard’s entrance nearly one hundred feet away.
To his left was a small reception area. The desk was a semi-circular structure
painted a mild lemon yellow. The worn, marginally chipped counter top was
varnished cherry wood. An old computer and overly used red and blue ledgers
covered the desk. There were two uniformed nurses at the reception. One nurse
read the daily papers while the other rapped specifics over the phone curtly. The
atmosphere felt uneventful, a far cry from the drama that had unfolded hours
earlier.

Viktor
walked a few steps away from the reception area to his left and kept to the
balcony overseeing the spacious, well-kept green lawn that extended fifty feet
towards the highway.

The
calm, scenic view that greeted him did nothing to soothe his turbulent
thoughts.

How
could I have let this happen?

Viktor
reviewed in his head all the protocols he had created to protect himself and
his family from intruders such as Dr. Eli. Notwithstanding his obvious proclivity
to attract crazies who wish to test their might against his, Audrianna was a
different story. Obviously someone had sicced Dr. Eli onto his wife. Someone
who was aware of her status, but who? No one else knew of the power she
possessed but him, and Grigori.

Grigori
was a loyal busybody who had served the Maxcks’ family for generations. It was
impossible to think of him as a traitor. No. Viktor’s features grew into a mask
of heated displeasure.

His
familiars were mechanically loyal to him. The only other default option was
that someone had done their own research and zeroed in on Audrianna. Audrianna
herself could not have spoken of the phenomenon to anyone. The only other
person to have been revealed to the truth was dead.  

 Leaning
against the railing, arms crossed, he decided on a series of further measures
that would protect his wife. He smiled without mirth. They would probably anger
her as well…but Viktor wasn’t afraid of becoming necessarily rough with her in
order to secure her own protection.

Lost
in his deep musings, he appeared not to have noticed Xin’s approach to his
side.

“Don’t
you believe you are allowing the acquisition of self-blame go too far?” Viktor
sighed roughly, reaching into his pants pockets to remove his smartphone. He
entered the code to gain access. He then sent the private information he had used
to bargain with Xin for his help earlier.

Xin’s
phone in his pocket made a corresponding sound, indicating it had received
Viktor’s text. Viktor then placed his phone back into his pocket.

“Hmmph,”
Xin bent his head. With a sideways glance he mused, “’First remove the log from
your own eye.’”  Xin looked away, his eyes distant. “She killed my brother and
father, this I cannot let stand. You’ve brought this on yourself. You’ve
willfully made a date with the hangman, and you opted to bring your own noose.”
He paused, turning towards the entrance. “Do not drag me into the same pit as
you.”

Xin
walked off, leaving Viktor observing the view before him. He stood outside,
pondering the day’s events. It was the wretched, piercing scream that jarred
his awareness, causing him to sprint to his wife’s side. Viktor barged into the
room to find his wife screaming at her reflection in a compact case. Her
personal assistant Elyzabel was jumping up and down in her six-inch heels in
excitement, pointing excitedly at Audrianna with a look of shock and dismay on
her face.

“Look
at you! Look at you!”

Audrianna
was caressing her bald scalp, close to tears. Viktor walked up to her in the
bed, grabbed both her shoulders and silenced her with a deep, long, searing
kiss. Audrianna’s distress-filled cry died as she was sucked in deeper and
deeper into the maelstrom of passion that caused her insides to melt.  She
reached out, intending to hug him closer to her body, when he drew back,
releasing her from the devastating kiss.

“Now
that I have your attention,” he whispered against her ear. The small breath
tickled her skin, and she shivered.  “Where would you like to go for a small trip?
Paris, Milan, the mansion off the bay in South Carolina?” Viktor slowly pulled
away.

He
kept his eyes trained on hers and the meaning there conveyed an image of
intense yearning that Audrianna could not mistake. “You decide.” He bowed his
head. Bringing her open palm against his mouth he flicked the tip of his tongue
there. His eyes remained on hers. He gave Elyzabel a look of warning before
exiting the room, leaving Audrianna with a besotted expression on her face.

Audrianna
balled both hands up to her chest and grinned. “I love my man.” She clapped her
hands a few times gleefully and then reached for the smart phone on the side table,
which Elyzabel had handed her before the big commotion about her hair.

Elyzabel,
a voluptuous woman of Hispanic decent, looked immediately contrite. “Sorry for
getting all worked up about your head and things. It was just a shock to see
all of it gone, so…” Elyzabel shrugged her shoulders.

“Eh,
it’s okay.” Audrianna sighed and looked spaced out. “I think I’m over most of
it already anyway.”

“I’ll
bet you are.” Elyzabel reached over and squeezed her arm, grinning from ear to
ear knowingly. Elyzabel had light caramel-colored skin, with pink lips,
straight short hair, and clear, honey-colored eyes always ready to dance in
merriment. She wore a loose fitting, bright, flowery blouse that featured a
curved neckline and slits from shoulder to elbow on both arms. Snug fitting
blue jeans that hugged her curves and lacy six inch heels topped off the
ensemble.

“At
least your man is suave.” Elyzabel brought up some text on her cell phone. She
handed her cell to Audrianna. “Here, read this.”

Audrianna
took the phone, and as she read the text on the screen she laughed aloud. “Kelly
sent this?”

Elyzabel
nodded. “And is wasn’t until after we ‘got together’ that he told me you were
in the hospital and needed clothes and shit.”

Audrianna
read the text out loud, swallowing hard. “Come over sexy body and suck some crotch-but
he not easy?” 

Elyzabel
frowned, shaking her head. “I thought that since Payne was raised ‘alright’
that he wouldn’t be so vulgar.”

Audrianna
opened a radio application on her phone to listen to the local morning disc
jockeys and placed the cell on the bedside table. “All of them are like that,”
Audrianna referred to Payne’s other brothers and sister, shaking her head with
a small smile, .

Elyzabel
looked at her with a mischievous smile on her face. “Was Llewellyn like that?”

Audrianna
settled down on the pillow, folding her arms. She screwed her mouth up into a
small moue, her mind away on other things. Elyzabel laughed at her expression
and got up and started unpacking clothes that Audrianna could wear and some
toiletries, placing them on one of the other vacant beds.

She
listened quietly to the two disc jockeys on the radio.

“You
don’t find it is just dark-”

“
Every
morning now. Normally you could tell when the sky is cloudy, but I just feel
every morning it’s just dark.”

“Just
dark-cold and dark…” Audrianna reached for the phone and placed it on mute.

She hugged
herself and rubbed the sides of her arms, eager to dispel the unnerving feeling
that crept into her body with thoughts of her ex.

A
chilly, unannounced breeze swept through the room, and the curtains billowed. She
looked towards the window over the green, distant hill tops. A waning howl from
an unknown animal could be heard in the distance. She rubbed her arms up and
down. She felt restless, and anxious all at once.  A small tap on her shoulder
from behind made her jump.

“What
do you think of, my dear?” A soft whisper in her ear made her smile and turn
towards the calming voice. Her priest, Father Arie John, chaplain-in-residence at
their local New York estate church, looked upon her fondly.

Audrianna
reached over to caress his strong hand on her shoulder, and squeezed. “Father
John, it is so… comforting to have you here.”
And a surprise,
Audrianna
thought silently.

“Still.”
Viktor came upon them both from behind. “There was no need for him to rush over
to pay you any attention. She is well and in good spirits,
dear
Father.”

Audrianna
rolled her eyes heavenward.  She often grew tired of the cat-and-mouse game
played between these two. Viktor made no bones about disliking the young priest
who often assisted Audrianna on her excursions in visiting charitable institutions
abroad. And Arie felt no need to ignore her husband’s distaste of him.     

Arie
kept his eyes on Audrianna. “I merely wished to be soundly reassured in her
countenance, good Viktor. In that, a face-to-face meeting is always best.”

Arie
sat down in the chair beside her that Lincoln had occupied. He held her hand
gently. “Now, how are you feeling?”

“Umm.”
Audrianna glanced surreptitiously over at her husband, whose body exuded waves
of menace towards the young man. “I can’t say that I hurt anywhere.”

Arie
was about twenty-seven years old with dark hair, not nearly as black as
Viktor’s. It was short in a neat style cut above the ears. His eyes were light
blue. His nose was smooth, long and straight, but not protruding. He had
handsome, rugged features, and a grin that made women lament the Catholic
Church.

“Who
told you about what happened?” Viktor demanded. Folding his arms, he stood
looking down at Arie right beside the priest.

Arie
looked up, sighing. “Lincoln told me. I had been calling you, but I am afraid
my calls got sent to voicemail.” He turned to Audrianna. “I am truly sorry if I
have disturbed your recovery.” He bent over her, bracing each side of the bed
with his arms. “Lincoln was kind enough to send the private jet to pick me up.
You look worn out.”

“Not
at all, I feel fine.” Audrianna raised her shoulders up and down as though to
prove she was well.

“You
heard it from v’e monkey’s mouth yourself, she is fine-you may leave,” Viktor
said.

“Emph,
umph!” Elyzabel hit her chest repeatedly with her hand and stifled a short
laugh by placing the other hand over her mouth. She waited patiently for her cue
to help Audrianna get dressed and ready to leave the hospital.

Arie
shot up to his full height, which had an advantage over Viktor by two inches. “I
only wish to comfort her in her time of need.”

Viktor
looked dumbfounded, and then his eyes lit up like burning coal. “I am the only
man to comfort Audrianna in her time of need.”

“Arie,
I am really okay. There was no need for you to come here at all. Please, go now
and I will see you next week at prayer service at Immaculate Conception.”

“Praise
be you, you are so brave. Yes, I see you there.” He bent down and kissed her forehead
lightly.

“Pray,
may I see you outside a moment, Father?” Viktor managed through clenched teeth.

They
departed the room and Elyzabel tried hard to contain her laughter. “Talk about
a cock fight.”

Audrianna
couldn’t help herself, she laughed along with Elyzabel.

“That
poor, poor woman. Such a brave face.”

Viktor
opened his mouth to speak-

“You
do realize that the poor woman is feigning joviality?”   

“Father
Arie-”

“I
hope you do not intend to…” Arie raised one eyebrow significantly at Viktor. “
Stress
her out, too soon.”

The
priest gave Viktor such a look it was impossible not to deduce  what particular
type of stress Arie was implying.

“Look
here.” Viktor could hardly contain his fury. “Audrianna is my wife, you will
cease to be so familiar with her as to lay your hands on her shoulder or your
lips on her,” Viktor struggled to grasp the right word. “ANYWHERE! Have I made
myself clear?”