Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4)

Victoria looked out the door, wondering what she was going to do.

“That bathroom is a mess,’ she heard her father say.

There was no reply from Mag.

Victoria turned back to Tail.

“Kitty?’ she said in a desperate whisper.

Tail suddenly jerked with a sharp intake of breath. Her sides moved up and down rapidly. Her mouth was slightly agape while she panted.

Victoria heard someone go down the stairs.

Tail raised her head, looking dazed. Slowly, she rose and climbed into Victoria's lap as if she was looking for comfort.

“How are you doing with Tail?" Natalia said, coming up behind her. “Oh, how sweet. She's in your lap.’

Victoria stared at the small warm body curled up on her. She could feel each breath. The heat that emanated from the soft body was comforting.

“Tail,’ she whispered. “My Tail."

"You should see this. The kitten is on Victorias lap,” Natalia said.

Victoria was glad when her mother left. She gently touched the kitten which snugged against her. “I'll take care of you, Tail. I will never bite you again.’

As carefully as she could, she cradled the kitten in her arms while she rose. She walked past her parents who hardly seemed to notice her since they were talking down the stairs at Mag using the language she didn't know. Once in her bedroom, she kicked aside all the toys holding open the door, then closed it.

She smiled.

The railing had been removed from her bed. It was easy to climb up, still carrying the kitten. She curled up around Tail who seemed to be sleeping.

“I'm sorry I bit you. You scared me.’

Meerup.

"You make funny noises."

Victoria thought it sounded like a high-pitched burp.

"Where's Victoria?” Natalia said. “She was just here in the bathroom a moment ago.”

"Her door is closed,” Uri said, looking perturbed at it. “She closed her door.”

"If that cat is gone from the bathroom, then I'll clean it. I'm not going to be around it while it's vicious,” Mag said from the bottom of the stairs.

“It's not vicious, Mag,” Natalia said. “It's just a baby.”

She stepped up to Victoria's door to quietly crack it open to take a look.

“What?” Uri said.

"See for yourself.”

Uri stepped to the door to peer in.

After a moment of letting him look, she quietly closed the door.

"She's taking a nap with the kitty,” she said.

"Wow. I didn't expect that,” he said.

He spun back to look down the stairs.

“Mag, the bathroom is clear. Please, pretty please, can you clean it?”

“I have to get ready to go to the Festival. Get Zena to do it.”

“I'll pick up the toilet paper,” Natalia said with a roll of her eyes. “We will have to let Victoria know that the kitty needs her door open to use the litter box.”

“Let them be for now,” Uri said.

Natalia went into the guest bathroom. It hardly took her anytime to pick up all the toilet paper since it was in large clumps. With all the paper picked up, the room was tidy. The kitten hadn't kicked any cat litter out of its pan. No water was spilled. The food, however, was all gone. She was happy to see a large plastic container full of cat food with which to fill the bowl.

“All in order.”

Natalia rolled her eyes.

“Mag and her fear of small furry creatures.”

She was reminded of the tayras, a weasel used to clean up beetles. Mag had been terrified of them. Both Uri and Mag were gone when she trotted down the stairs. Uri was in his office.

“I think it's nap time for us,” she said. “Even though I have tomorrow off, I have the feeling I am going to have to monitor Victoria and the kitty since Mag is terrified of it.”

“I think she’s okay with it,” Uri said.

"Who? Mag or Victoria?”

Uri didn’t answer her, seeming to be absorbed in a letter he was holding. He frowned.

“Your audit notice?”

"Yeah. It's getting difficult to launder the money we have. I have no problem moving a few thousand here and there, but that will take forever. I was hoping to wash a few million through the blood meal factory, but not if it's going to be audited.”

"What do they want to see?”

“The books. They want to see all the transactions for the last six months. Also, they want to know where the funds came from for the properties in Hell.”

“Are we going to have a problem with that?”

“The blood meal factory is still clean. I haven't altered anything to hide money. I did a lot of cash with the properties in Hell, but everyone is hiding the true cost of the properties, so the papers I have show only a fraction of what I actually paid.”

"So we're good,” she said.

“Yeah, for now. I really was hoping to use the blood meal factory for laundering, but not if it keeps getting audited. I can only hide small amounts. There's a whole shit load of money hiding in someone's wall.”

Natalia had since learned that when Victoria's room had been renovated, Uri had created a hidden space in the wall where almost eighty million in cash was hiding.

“How much is left?” she said.

He rolled his eyes.

"We've hardly used a few hundred thousand.”

"Oh. We'll have to think of other ways. We're not hurting for cash,” she said.

“Still, I'd like to move that money. If the house burns down, we lose it all.”

"Well, I'm going to have a nap. You can fuss about the money.”

She trotted back up the stairs to the master bedroom. Since she knew no one would bother her, she took a leisurely shower to get it out of the way. She was able to stand on the balcony off her office to dry her hair. It was getting long, hanging past the middle of her back. To an Undent, it was strawberry blond. To a Viperian it glowed with many colors, except for the last six inches. That was her hair length when she first met Uri and had yet to start eating the Viperian diet, which caused her to glow.

Most Viperian women let their hair grow long. While there were exceptions, such as Mina’s sister, Char, who cut hers short, Natalia felt comfortable keeping it long. Uri liked it long and didn't even want her to cut the length that didn't glow.

“A little more versatility with it long,” she said to herself. “And I fit in.”

She had to smile at that. Most Viperians had black hair and green eyes. She was blond with blue eyes.

“Then there's Victoria. The first blond haired blue-eyed Viperian.”

She thought how that had caused quite a stir being the first blond Viperian.

“The ever changing Viperian look.”

She looked out over the yard. Since they had bought the neighbor's house last year, there were no prying eyes. She was able to stand on the balcony naked.

“Normal Viperian behavior,” she said.

There were new bushes blocking the view of the street as well as new fencing. The fencing had two uses. The first was to keep the Undents out. The second was to keep young Viperian children in. Uri told her it would work for about five years at best.

“I didn't start escaping my parents until I was ten. I can't imagine a five-year-old Viperian child.” She stepped back inside.

"On second thought, yes, I can.”

She retreated to the quiet of the bedroom. There was still silence from Victoria's room. She expected her to nap until dinner since she had been up early and never had a morning nap. Natalia woke, feeling Uri slide in beside her.

“Dinner?”

"Yes, time to get up,” he said, snuggling against her.

“Is Victoria up?”

"Yes, she's in the bathroom with her kitty watching it eat its dinner.”

“Good. Nice to see this is working out.”

"Give it a week before you say that,” he said.

She rose and saw he was already just wearing shorts.

“Ready to go already?”

"We're going right after dinner. I want to have a chat with Moralis.”

“I better dress,” she said stressing the word “dress’ with a twist of sarcasm.

She slid on the skimpy skirt and the sash across the breasts before pulling over a loose dress. “How is Tail doing?’ Natalia said when she stepped out into the hall

Victoria was holding the wand toy. Behind her was Tail who was following her and holding onto the other end of the wand toy.

“She had a good dinner," Victoria said.

“Now it's our dinner time.’

“Do you want help going down front ways?’ Uri said

“Nope,’ Victoria said.

Natalia could see her focus while she held onto the lower part of the railing to step down. It was a slow process, but she managed to make it all the way down. Natalia felt some pride in her daughter's independence even though she was so young.

"I already feel like she's growing up too fast.”

“She's doing just what she should be doing,” Uri said. “I would rather she be ahead of the game now. You might have started kindergarten at the age of five. Victoria will be well past that by the time she is four, and that's if we don't push her.”

"So, that's another reason you send her to a Viperian school, I see.”

“Exactly.”

Dinner was raw which was now one of Natalia's favorites. Zena served them.

“Is Mag already prepping for tonight?’ Natalia said, changing to Viperian.

She had been told to now limit how much English she spoke in front of Victoria.

“Her date already picked her up.’

“Already?’

“Clothes come off at dusk, but the party has already started.”

“Dancing,’ Uri said. “I was never any good at that.’

Victoria giggled. Uri sliced up her meat into bite size pieces.

“Giggle, eat your dinner or I will," he said, pretending to be stern.

“No. Mine," Victoria said with her own stern voice.

However, she continued to smile.

"You should use the fork," Natalia said, watching her.

Victoria smile broadened while she held her fork in one hand, but used the other to pick up a piece of meat and shove it into her mouth.

“Almost,’ Uri said.

"You know better,’ Natalia said.

Victoria just giggled.

Dinner was fast. When they left, Victoria was playing hide and seek with Tail. However, Tail always seemed to find her which sent Victoria into giggles.

“Looks like Zena will have an easy night,’ Natalia said while Uri pulled her out to the garage. Bonnie held the door open for them. She was again dressed in boots and a long coat.

“How's Trevor?’ Natalia said before she got in.

“Passenger seat. We're giving him a ride.’

'Did you get any sleep?’

Bonnie smiled and shook her head.

Natalia thought she looked a little too happy for the lack of sleep.

When they reached the warehouse, Moralis was already waving cars through. He was dressed in only shorts.

“Evening,’ Moralis said.

“Evening,’ Uri said.

“Francie will be here soon. Nattie can walk around pretty safe until dusk so we can talk,” Moralis said. “What are you two talking about? More trouble?"

“Blood meal,” Moralis said. Just updates about the business.’

“Hum. Yeah."

“Here's the cash card in case you want to buy anything,’ Uri said.

A car pulled through.

“That's Francie, her mother, and two of her sisters."

The four women joined them long enough to pull Natalia away.

“Bye,’ Natalia said with hardly a wave.

They are always talking business,’ Francie said.

“Well, they are business partners,” Natalia said. “So what goes on during the daylight hours? I thought this party was only dusk to dawn?"

“Because it's so nice with plenty of space, the younger crowd is holding dance competitions. Security guards were checking people with an UV light before they were allowed to enter the area. “No Undents,” Francie said.

"You better glow to enter,” Natalia said.

“Exactly.’

Francie's sisters peeled off from their group to join others. A few moments later, her mother joined a gathering of older ladies.

It's easy to see who owns what,’ Francie said when they passed Nattie Ave.

'Yep. It seems like it. I wonder later on when properties change hands if they will change the street names.’

Francie shrugged.

Vendors were just setting up. The intersection with the misters didn’t have any people engaged in sex. There seemed to be a steady stream of people heading in the same direction. Francie was following the flow.

The place they came to would have been a parking lot, but there were no cars. The large open area was roped off. There was a raised stage where someone with a microphone was calling numbers. in the middle of the lot were dancers.

“Wow,’ Natalia said while she watched the twirling couples.

The dancing was fast with lots of foot work.

“Not my thing,’ Francie said

“Nor mine, Natalia said.

All the rooftops were full of watchers. She and Francie settled on a small knoll.

“Is Stacia babysitting?’

Stacia was Moralis's and Francie’s maid.

“Not tonight. She's here somewhere. A few of the Viperian neighbors grouped resources. Last night Stacie was sitting four children, but three are older so she only had Tazia to really watch. Tonight is one of the other neighbor's maids.

“Nice to share. We're alternating through ours.’

“One five thousand dollar premium is enough.’

“Five thousand? I didn't realize it was so much. Uri didn't say.’

Natalia knew that all of their staff would receive their premium pay in cash. Still, it was daunting to think it was costing them twenty thousand just for a sitter for four nights.

“I'd hire an Undent sitter if I could, but those who have tried usually end up with a dead or injured sitter.’

“I can see that,’ Natalia said.

Suddenly, all the dancers stopped for a split second. The next fraction of a second everyone was running.

“Don’t move,’ Francie said with concern.

“What's happening?’

People surged around them. Francie kept hold of her arm while they tried to stay on the knoll, but the mass of people forced them off.

Then Natalia felt Francie’s grip slip. Natalia found herself in a moving mass of people. She couldn't go left or right but was forced to move with the group.

Once they reached the main thoroughfare, the mass split, going in one direction or the other. Natalia tried to go toward their properties, but wasn't able to make the turn. Slowly, she worked her way to the edge and into a doorway. As soon as she did, a man stepped up to stand between her and the rest of the people.

The man didn't speak to her. He almost stood there as if he was a guard. It was a few moments later, while she caught her breath that she recognized his scent. He was the one who had marked her last night. She recognized the fine chain around his neck. It was the type of chain the Council used to track people. This was a tracked man. That meant he had knives.

Even though they stood there for only a few minutes, it felt like an hour. Natalia found she was speechless because she didn't know what was going on. Whatever it was, it had to be bad to send Viperians running.

Then all of a sudden the man standing in front of her was gone. She caught sight of Uri and Moralis coming down the street at a fast pace.

Uri," she said, raising a hand.

Both men zeroed in on her.

“Where's Francie?’

“We were separated. What's going on?’ Natalia said

“We have a slicer,” Morals said.

“They're headed in this direction and moving fast,’ Uri said.

“Head up to the roof, Nattie,’ Moralis said.

“Stay there until I find you," Uri said with force.

He gave her a leg up, and she climbed the brick face to the roof. There were other people already up there. She turned to watch Uri and Moralis run into the crowd.

She had no idea what or who a slicer was.

A moment later she smelled the man’s scent, but couldn't see him. Then Bonnie and Trevor joined her. The scent was gone again.

“What's a slicer?” Natalia said.

“A fight,” Trevor said.

“Like last night?’

“No,’ Bonnie said, watching over the edge with keen interest. “They're armed with knives. Not for throwing. Only slashing. That means someone is really going to get hurt. Slicer fights can escalate into the crowd which is why everyone is trying to leave the area. It can get bloody. No one will step in even if it means someone is going to die.’

“What the hell is Moralis and Uri going to do?"

Try and keep people safe.’

“Uri doesn’t have any of his knives.’

“If someone thinks he needs a knife, they will hand him one. Slicer fights aren't just two men who suddenly get pissed off at each other. They're planned. Legal and planned assassinations.’

Natalia looked at Bonnie as if she was crazy.

“Legal?’

“Only on Festival nights."

“Usually, they wait until the second night,’ Trevor said. “It's not surprising there is one.

“This is a bad one,’ Bonnie said, straightening from bending over the edge.

Down the street came a jumbled group of men. There were more than just two people fighting. Natalia saw the blood first before she smelled it.

“Do you know who?"

"Yeah. The four brothers of Beade against Wier and Jaskson’s brothers and father. Beade is in there as well. Someone took offense to the fight last night. Tessa isn't going to be happy.’

“She's coming,’ Trevor said. “With her sisters.’

“This is bad,” Bonnie said. “Once a woman enters the fight, someone is going to die.’