Werecat Avenue (10 page)

“
I’m sorry to hear that
Kieran.”

“
This changes nothing; I
want to proceed with the plan. I want Cam located so I can talk
with her myself
and Cayden will replace me
at the Queen’s side. He is almost ready; we have been working
together continuously. I will contact you when we are ready to
proceed.”

“
Thank you for keeping me
updated. I will double my efforts to find Cam.

“
Bye Adrian.” Cayden waved
as the image disappeared.

*****

Queen Brianna stepped
outside into the garden. It was a sunny pleasant morning. She was
staying at a bed and breakfast in New Orleans Garden District. She
wore a flowing sundress with purple flowers. Her shimmering skin
seemed to sparkle in the morning sun. She sat down at a small table
and waited while her lady in waiting got her morning meal. She
decided after the last conversation with the Fae enforcer she
needed to be in New Orleans to take
care
of
things herself. She knew her husband
was hiding out somewhere in the city. She was willing to do
whatever it took to make sure she found Camilla before he
did.

“
My Queen I have brought
your morning meal.”

“
Thank you, Charity. Please
have a seat while I eat.” The queen looked at the meal of various
fruits on a plate and a steaming cup of Herbal tea. “This looks
nice, thanks to you.”

“
It is my pleasure to serve
my Queen
.” Charity was a Brownie; she wore
a plain yellow dress. She
had been a loyal
to the Queen for eighty years. When the Queen had chosen Charity it
was frowned upon. Fae
started
talking
saying a brownie wasn’t worthy to
serve a Queen. What all those looking down on
Charity didn’t know is that she was a secret childhood friend
to the Queen. She was the daughter of the Castle
cook. They would play for hours in the kitchen
while Charity’s mother cooked. They would hide when anyone came in
just in case; it was one of the Queens fondest memories.

“
You can call me Brianna.
We are in the human realm now.”

“
Are you
sure? If word got back
it would be
terrible for you. I could never forgive myself.”

“
I have never been ashamed
of our friendship, and I won’t start now.”

“
I know but it is best we
keep it a secret.”

“
You are my dearest friend,
if that’s what you want that’s what we’ll do.”

Brianna remembered all the times Charity was
of comfort to her after the death of her parents. Everyone at court
was more concerned about how it would affect him or her to worry
about a girl who was just orphaned and hurting. Charity and her
mother were there for her when no one else was. She owed everything
to them. To everyone else in the kingdom she was a cold strict
ruler, nothing else.

“
Brianna I would never
question your decisions but do you really think we need to be here
in the human realm to oversee the capture of the
traitor?”

“
I fear they will fall
under the spell of Camilla’s innocence. They don’t see the
traitorous woman I know her to be. I cannot allow her to take my
husband. We may not love each other but he is mine; if I allow this
to happen my authority will be undermined.”

“
Then I will help in every
way I can, I will ask around. Nobody ever sees me as a
threat.”

Brianna smiled and took Charity’s hand. “You
never disappoint me.”

“
I love you too my Queen.”
Charity giggled.

*****

Blake sat outside a house on Werecat Avenue
in the Paranormal Subdivision. He rented a car for this purpose. He
sensed a strong Fae presence in the modest home. There shouldn’t be
any Fae on this street; this is where all the Werecats lived.

It had taken him a while to
track the Fae
presence here. He heard
rumors that a Fae shifter lived here but the presence he felt was
much stronger than just one Fae. It felt more like a group of
them
. It was still
early and the house
was mostly
quiet. He felt one presence starting to move around.
Just then he saw a woman emerge and she was a
pregnant Fae. Bingo! He had a good feeling that was Camilla with
her bright red hair. Unexpectedly his car door opened, he saw a
fist coming toward his face, and everything
went black.

Monroe pushed the man into
the next seat after he was sure he was knocked out cold. It was a
good thing he took some of
Richard’s
clothes. A naked man driving a car might gather some suspicious
looks. Monroe wasn’t sure what this guy was doing lurking outside
his house but he would find out soon enough.

Nobody messes with my
family.
Monroe drove two hours deep into
the bayou until he reached a boat. He parked the car and dragged
the stranger
onto the boat. A short boat
ride later they reached a small house in the middle of the swamp.
He tied up the boat on the dock as the stranger began
waking up.

Monroe laughed as the man
began looking for his weapons. “I threw them all in the water so
don’t bother. Come with me.” Monroe led him into the
small house. An older woman came out from the
kitchen and gave them both a stern look
.
She had silver hair all tied up on top of her head; a few curls
fell into her face, and she looked very elegant. Not someone you
would ever think would live in the middle of a swamp. She was tall
and thin, and must have been stunning when she was
younger.

“
What is going on
here?”

“
He was watching Gretchen’s
house.”

“
Young man you better have
a good reason for watching my
Granddaughter’s house.”

Chapter 13

Kieran and Cayden sat in the hospital
waiting room. Kieran was pacing impatiently as Cayden watched the
T.V. mounted on the wall. A purple haired woman using Fae mist came
out and sat next to Cayden.

“
I am Cerise, come with me,
both of you.” She said looking at both brothers.

Cayden and Kieran followed Cerise out of the
lobby into an empty patient room.

“
Sit down.”

Cerise sat down at one of the chairs. Cayden
and Kieran remained standing nervously.

“
Okay boys, everything is
set. I need Cayden to change into a gown and I will take him to a
room where he will be admitted. We’ll sedate him and give him some
minor injuries. Cerise walked over to a cabinet in the room and
took out a hospital gown and put it on the exam table.

“
Change and I will be back
to take you to a room.”

Cerise left the room leaving Cayden and
Kieran alone.

“
Well this is it.” Kieran
said as he picked up the gown to hand to his brother.

“
Don’t worry I will be
fine, the queen is very pretty. I’m sure I can be happy with
her.”

“
Are you sure brother? We
can call the whole thing off.”

“
No! I want to do this.”
Cayden grabbed the gown and started undressing quickly and put on
the thin hospital gown.

“
I will contact you soon, I
promise.” Kieran said.

“
Goodbye brother.” Kieran
left the hospital room leaving Cayden all alone.

*****

It was later in the afternoon and Gretchen
was getting ready for work. She had the early shift, 6:00 p.m. to
1:00 a.m. She’d just gotten out of the shower and was dressed. She
started putting on her makeup when Cam came into the bathroom with
her. She sat on the toilet watching.

“
So, Cam how are you
settling in?”

“
Everything is great. Your
brother is so nice and helpful.”

“
Did he do anything, to
make you uncomfortable? I swear I will kill him if he
did.”

“
No really Gretchen, he’s
very kind to me. I need to confess something, I did something very
unbecoming that I need to tell you about.”

“
Oh, don’t look at me like
that I’m sure it’s not that bad. Whatever it is you can tell
me.”

“
I kissed him. I was
feeling lost and lonely, and I’m so sorry Gretchen. He must hate me
now I know it. What kind of man wants to be kissed by a big
pregnant woman?”

“
Whom are you talking
about?”

“
Richard! I’m such an
idiot.”

Gretchen stopped putting on her makeup and
looked at Cam in shock.

“
Cam, Richard likes you.
I’m sure he doesn’t think that. I’ll talk to him and it will be
okay, I promise.”

“
Thank you Gretchen. I’m so
embarrassed, please tell him how sorry I am, and I promise to never
to act like that again.”

“
It’s alright Cam, I’ll fix
this. Now go, I need to get ready.”

As Cam left the bathroom and was walking to
her room, she saw Richard come out of his room. She was so
humiliated after practically jumping him. How was she ever to face
him again? She quickly ran to her room and shut the door.

A little while later she heard the front
door shut as Gretchen shouted goodbye. She cracked the door and
looked out and found Monroe sitting there. He pushed his way in and
transformed to human form.

“
So, we need to talk about
our plan,” Monroe said as he stretched out naked on the bed. He was
a very good-looking Fae, but she had no romantic feelings for him
in the least. Most women would be putty in his hands with his
beautiful long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had a flirty
smile that she was sure he practiced regularly.

“
So talk.”

“
Do you know who the
mystery Fae is that she was with on her run the other
night?”

“
I don’t know yet but I
have a plan to find out. So leave so I can get ready to
go.”

Monroe jumped up from the bed and gave Cam
another smile before he turned back into a cat. Cam let him out of
her room and firmly shut the door. She opened her closet, looking
at her meager wardrobe. She would visit Gretchen at work and try to
find out who the mystery Fae was. She settled for a pair of Jeans
and a nice blue top. She put some makeup on and her only necklace
to dress it up a bit. She definitely needed to go shopping for more
maternity clothes.

*****

It was early in the evening; Gretchen just
finished getting set up. The first few customers started trickling
in as Laya arrived for her shift. She smiled brightly at seeing
Gretchen would be working with her tonight.

“
Hey stranger, finally tore
yourself away from Tanek long enough to work with the little
people.”

“
Well you are
little.”

“
Hey no picking on the
vertically challenged.”

“
Sorry, you know I love
you, shrimp.” Gretchen laughed as she put in her drink
order.

“
So how is it dating Tanek?
He is so sexy.”

“
It’s actually really
great, we’re taking thinks slow, he’s such a gentlemen and
understanding.”

Adrian walked into the club and spotted
Gretchen right away laughing with the other waitress. He couldn’t
get the image of her leaving with the vampire out of his head. He
wasn’t dating her, but he needed to change that as soon as he
could. He knew she was for him and he needed her. He sat down at
the same table from the other night, hoping it would be one of her
tables.

Gretchen just finished dropping off her
drink order when she spotted Adrian sitting in her section. She
felt her pulse speed up as she remembered their kiss and what it
felt like being with him. She was so confused, how could she have
these types of feelings for two men at the same time?

She approached the table and Adrian looked
up at her and smiled.

“
I missed you, my
beautiful.”

Gretchen felt a blush spread across her
face. He was damn sexy and she wanted to curl up in his lap. “What
can I get you to drink?” she asked nervously.

“
Please sit,
Gretchen.”

“
I don’t know, I have
tables.”

“
Just give me two
minutes.”

Gretchen put down her serving tray and
reluctantly sat down.

“
Thank you, I saw you leave
with the vampire. It upset me because I wanted it to be me you left
with.”

“
I’m sorry, it’s not
something I planned; it just happened.”

“
Is he the one who owns the
club?”

“
Yes, he’s my
boss.”

“
If you are willing to go
out with your boss, don’t you think you could try going out with me
too?”

Gretchen looked at Adrian and wanted to say
yes more than anything. Would dating two guys really be that bad?
She’d spent her life being so careful and safe.

“
Give me your number, you
can get back to work, and I’ll call you.”

“
Okay, I guess that would
be okay. I’ll be right back. Oh what did you want to
drink?”

“
Whatever beer you have on
tap is fine.”

Gretchen rushed away to get Adrian his beer.
She grabbed a business card and scribbled her number on the back to
give to Adrian. Laya saw the whole thing and came over to find out
what was going on.