The First Touch (57 page)

As
Autumn
closed the last steps to Mirth
,
she heard Serena screaming and
Autumn
looked back to see
Lyla
slicing her to death.
Autumn
snapped her fingers and Lyla
went flying across the stage her chest gushing blood. Next
Autumn
picked Serena up and landed her body safely in the chair next t
o her and closest to Ivan. While
Mirth lifted
h
is hand to strike and
she
caught it easily breaking every bone in his hand. He hissed and another wave of previously defeated men sprung up behind her in response.
Autumn
twisted her waist and sliced through fifteen or so vesse
ls and guards disemboweling
all of them. Then
Autumn
sliced Mirth’s head clean off.

The other Mirth stood perfectly still and watched as
Autumn
moved pawns around easily announcing check mate. Then she heard him whisper, “You said that I would win.”

Then another voice whispered, “I made a mistake, she remembers. I will fix the next one.”

Mirth hissed, “The next one?”
Autumn
crossed the room quickly and sliced his head off and set the bodies on fire with her hands. Then
she
turned to look behind the large wall hangings, only to be stopped by the sound of Ivan being beheaded by an invisible
Lyla
.
Autumn
turned to watch as
Drake
threw fire balls setting
Lyla
on fire and war broke out on stage.

Autumn
headed strait for Ivan only to be side tracked by three males trying to steal the weakened Serena, who had passed out in her chair.
Autumn
fought through the crowd until she landed a hand on the largest of the three and pulled his hood off.
Autumn
gasped, “It’s you.”

A
dirty faced Henry looked at her, obviously not aware of
whom
she was,
“
We do not want any trouble.”

Autumn
nodded understanding immediately, “I will come to check on her later.”

Henry seemed frighten now and taken aback by her words, “How will you know where to find her?”

Autumn
smiled tilting her head to the side, “Henry I wish I could explain right now but I can’t.” Henry seemed even more concerned, and
Autumn
noticed something then, Henry seemed younger somehow, and inexperienced, “Tell Flora I said hello. Wait never mind, she won’
t know me yet either will she? Ah well.”
Then
she
turned and left, throwing men left and right as she made her way back up the stage. Henry looked at
Autumn
as
if she were insane, watching h
er walk away his eyes wide, before
he turned and left with Serena. As
she
grew
closer to the stage she saw
Drake
being cornered by several of Mirth’s clan.
Autumn
slid her hand across the group and sent them flying.
Drake
looked up at her smiling face and found himself smiling as well.

Autumn
slid her hand out and helped his burning hand up. He seemed particularly interested in her lack of a burnt flesh and turned it over to examine it.
She
smiled at his curiosity, and then confided, “Mirth was not my match.”

Drake
smirked, “
I figured that when you cut his head off and then set his body on fire.
”

Autumn
nodded smiling brightly, “Yes, today was a good day.”

Then
Drake
nodded in agreement though his face soured, “I was not able to save Ivan.”
She
suddenly remembered her mate and rushed to where she had left the body.

It was gone, and
Autumn
closed her eyes and tried to find the body then was hit by a large male who had been aiming for another of Mirth’s men.
Autumn
pushed him back to his feet and then pressed her hand to Ivan’s chair. Then she felt Gregory’s breathe again and she awoke in her bed at home.

The Beginning
…
Again

She sat up and cursed and then said to
herself
, “I should own a gun.” Autumn watched as Jack jumped up on the edge of the bed and
Autumn
smiled and brushed his fur. Then she fished under the pillow next to her and wrote in her journal, every last detail that she could remember from her last life. Then she flipped through the book slowly, and began reading the journal entries. ‘Today was three weeks from the first time she met and kissed Ivan. Why so early?’

It had only been a week since she had her first dream about Ivan according to the journal. He told her that he had begun walking that street each evening searching for his kiss girl since he had the dream.
Autumn
was not going to make any more mistakes this time. Her mind cycled through the dream sequence over and over then it accrued to her what she was going to have to do. She packed every one of her files into two large duffle bags, and placed them next to the door.

Then she showered and dressed examined her self closely in a mirror completely dissatisfied
with her appearance, ta
k
ing
great care at
applying her
make-up
and
creams. Knowing that Ivan’s eye
sight was going to be so much
better
than her own
. She even felt a bit nervous, thinking about meeting Ivan again for the first time.
She
smiled; well at least she didn’t need to be scared of him now. Then she paused, and huffed, not for the same reasons as before anyways.

She
fe
d Jack an inordinate amount of cat food and said, “I am going to send someone to get you. I want you to be nice to him until he can bring you to me. Ok?” Jack meowed looking concerned. Then
Autumn
smiled, “I promise as soon as I can
I
will come and get you.”
she
petted Jack until he was purring loudly. Then
Autumn
tucked her small red book, her last note pad and her journal in her bag full of clothes. She had to move around her grooming supplies and a passport to fit it all but she was finally able to fit it all,
and then
she headed for the door. She dragged her bags to the elevator and left them with her favorite door man, for safe keeping until she was ready to go. Then
she
retrieved her mail and headed bac
k up to her floor. Next, she
put
on a brave smile
as she knocked on Sophia’s door.
Autumn
handed Sophia her mail and stepped inside after a short greeting.

Then
she
proceeded to tell her that she knew this really gorgeous guy from work who was going to be in town on Saturday night. Then
Autumn
asked if she could give him her phone number. Sophia hymned and hawed for a while, as
Autumn
expected that she would. That was until
Autumn
explained that he was a lover of classical music, and his ability to play several instruments
. Sophia finally agreed to give
her number
,
to pass along.

Then
Autumn
made an excuse that she also had a first date planned for that night. Sophia showed an appropriate amount of enthusiasm and commented pleasantly on
Autumn
’s
appearance,
she
left smiling brightly. On her way out
she
brushed past two thick men in the hall way, as she was leaving Sophia’s apartment.
Autumn
headed for the foyer where her door man was waiting for her to let her out and loaded her bags
in
to the taxi.
Autumn
smiled brightly at him and waved as she drove away.

Next
,
she
instructed her driver to take her to an upscale hotel near the coffee shop. Once she got there she checked in and put her duffle bags under the bed. Then she headed for the coffee shop. She got there nearly an hour earlier than she had plan
ned so she
headed inside and bought
a cup of coffee.
Then she
sat at the table near the front door waiting for her mate.

Twenty minutes later
,
the same two men from her apartment headed down the walk way instead.
Autumn
huffed, then stood and calmly walked to the bathroom. There she pulled
her hair down and flung it
around messing up her meticulous hair style from before. Then she put her knit cap
on over her now messy mop,
took off her jacket and turned it inside out and then walked over to another female in the bathroom. There she lied explained that her brothers debt collectors were going to ruff her up. The young woman was surprisingly helpful and she pulled the fire alarm on her way out
moment
s later.

Autumn
ran from the building with the rest of the patrons and nearly knocked over a table with the rush of people pushing
her to get out. T
he police and fire department were in front of the building. The two men left as soon as the sirens began wailing
,
luckily without spotting
her
. When
the lights and sirens left
, she
spotted Ivan walking up the sidewalk.
She smiled watching
him walking tall
,
making his way through the flow of stop and go traffic with ease. She quickly ducked back inside of the coffee shop and sat at the table near the window watching him.

He stopped in front of the coffee shop and watched as people pass
ed
by.
Autumn
tried not to make it too obvious that she was watching him. Inside though, she knew that he already knew that she was, so she figured the sooner that she approached the
better. Hopefully before she
spooked
him
and
he
ran. If he ran she knew that this was even less likely to go well.
She
took a deep breath and stood walking out on to the side walk standing next to him and asked politely, “Can you tell me what time it is?”

Ivan did no
t even look at her as he said; “
I am not wearing a watch.”

Autumn
smiled, “Yes you are.”

Ivan finally looked at her and said, “How do you know?”

“You’re dress
ed like a suit. They always wear
watches.”

Ivan did not respond t
o her comment he merely obliged glancing at his
hidden
watch
, “Six fifteen.”

She
looked around as if she were waiting for someone, then she said, “Thanks.” Ivan barely nodded and
Autumn
felt Ivan’s agitation growing. She responded uncharacteristically friendly for her in a last ditch hope of hooking him, “It’s the strangest thing, I keep having this dream, and it is always in front of this coffee shop.” Ivan raised his eye brow and
Autumn
waved her hand at him and said, “I know crazy right.” Then
she
huffed and leaned against the wall and pulled her note pad out and began writing Grayton a note.

Can you please stop by my apartment and get my cat Jack. I will pick him up as soon as I can. Also in room three thirty seven at the Hotel Rouge there are two duffle bags under the bed. They contain important files that are for the council’s eyes only. Please see to it that everyone takes a look at them. Thank you for your help. Oh and tell Serena that the second one is in the apartment next to mine. I have enclosed her phone number she is expecting a male to call her for a date tomorrow. I told her that we work together at the lab. Also that he likes classical music and that he plays several instruments. Another helpful tid bit is that her native language is Russian and she is the most comfortable speaking it.

Sadly she is not intended for anyone in the council; it will be another clan all together. But I fear she will take a no call, as rejection, so someone should call and get her kissed Saturday night. The third is a female she will be picked up by Mirth somehow, the most important piece of information is that she will become invisible once her change becomes complete. Only I and others with her ability will be able to see her unless you mark her body with paint or latex or something. Mirth will use the girl as his own personal toy, and she will be loyal to a fault unless, we pick her up before he does.