Vengeance in Blood (Book 2): Tribulations Page 3

  Stopping, Kenneth turned around. “What don’t you like?”

  “It’s what he didn’t say,” she told him, trying to figure it out. “He gave me no information except the European League killed most of the drone vampires.”

  “Drone vampire, that’s good.” Kenneth smiled. “Well, you will figure it out.”

  “I want to go and see Tiffany,” Besseta told him, walking over.

  “Will she rip my head off?” Kenneth asked.

  Besseta smiled. “Hardly. She rarely kills—unless you burn books of course. If you look back in history when people burned books, the natural death rate and murders went up. That was Tiffany.”

  “I’ll make sure she knows I love books and have a nice collection,” Kenneth told her and started putting up pins.

  She walked up beside him and said with a smile, “She would like that.”

  “I can go with you, right?” he asked with just a touch of remorse.

  “Kenneth, not again, please. I was in Detroit and back in less than two hours. You can’t drive that fast,” she said, closing her eyes for a moment and hoping another dispute wasn’t getting underway. “But yes, I wouldn’t dream of going to see Tiffany without you.”

  “Really?” he asked with some excitement, and she nodded, thankful the dispute seemed to go away. “I can’t protect you if I’m not with you,” he said pointedly, putting up another pin.

  Well, so much for that thought, she thought, closing her eyes. “You said you understood,” she said.

  “Oh I do, but I don’t like you out there without me. I worry,” he admitted.

  Watching Kenneth as he checked notes and put up pins, she smiled. “That’s why I was so fast; I was worried about you,” she told him.

  Putting the pins in his hand down, he grabbed his pistol and said, “Well, let me go take care of Ted.”

  “I thought we were going to wait?” she asked, confused.

  “We did,” he said and headed for the door.

  “Hold on,” she said, stomping her little foot. He stopped and looked at her. “Do you think we can find out more from him?”

  “Oh yes,” Kenneth nodded. “Wait till you read what they plan to do with the masses.”

  “You questioned him without me here?” she asked in a low voice.

  “Hey, Bonnie and Clyde were asleep, so I was productive,” Kenneth told her, putting his gun up. “That reminds me; we need to build a garage at the dock. We don’t need someone to notice a collection of vehicles.”

  “Collection?” she asked.

  “Ah yes, we need to keep a collection here and spread some out around at your safe houses,” Kenneth told her and moved over to put up pins. “You, ah…um… trust Tiffany around a human?”

  “Yes, I trust Tiffany around you,” Besseta grinned, “as a vampire and as a girl.”

  “I was just curious,” Kenneth said.

  Seeing Kenneth drop his shoulders in relief, Besseta jumped up and sat on the desk. “I’m more worried about her being a girl than a vampire,” Besseta told him.

  He looked at her. “I’m more worried about her being a vampire with telekinesis.”

  “You will understand when you meet her,” she assured him.

  “Since she’s your friend, I’ll be more at ease,” he told her. “I know you don’t have any other vampire friends, but does she? Will we…um… find her with a few ‘hungry’ friends?” he hinted. When he saw Besseta thinking, Kenneth started getting worried again.

  Finally, Besseta spoke. “You know, I’ve never seen her with or around another vampire for any length of time other than me. That doesn’t count the few times I saw her at tributes.”

  Dropping the pins on the counter, he turned to her. “Just why in the hell do a group of vampires appoint themselves to a League and want others to pay tribute?”

  “We may be vampires but still have human tendencies. Power, Kenneth. That’s what they want is power.”

  “Okay,” he said, “why the sudden change in Ted? Don’t think I can do it?”

  With a long face, she shook her head. “No, I realized you were right, and I know you could.”

  “Damn right I can,” Kenneth mumbled.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “I’ve told you, baby, you don’t ask permission from me,” Kenneth said.

  “How many have you killed?”

  His hand paused above the map as he was about to place a pin. “Eight,” he told her then placed the pin.

  “They bother you, don’t they?” she asked, watching him carefully since she couldn’t hear his thoughts.

  “No,” he admitted. “It bothers me I couldn’t get them the legal way.”

  Reaching over, she grabbed his hand. “Baby, if you play by rules and your opponent doesn’t, you are destined to lose some of the game.”

  “Yeah, I’ve told myself that a time or two.”

  “Will you be ready to leave in the morning?” she asked.

  “We can leave now,” he offered, turning to look at her.

  “No,” she smiled. “I want you to go over what you asked Ted, then you and I have to make up for our dispute today,” she said with her smile turning wicked.

  “Whoa,” he said, stepping back from the desk. “You mean we have to head to the bedroom whenever we have an argument?”

  “I remember Momma always telling Papa that they couldn’t go to bed mad,” Besseta told him.

  “Will you be mad if we have an argument every day so we can run to the bedroom?”

  She laughed. “We don’t have to argue, and it doesn’t always have to be the bedroom,” she told him then looked over in the corner to see Bonnie and Clyde asleep. “I would like a room with a door though,” she added.

  “Can you carry me down to Ted’s cell? I think that would freak him out,” Kenneth grinned. Never seeing Besseta move, Kenneth found himself horizontal over the floor in her arms. “I need help; this is very arousing,” he said as they blew out the door.

  ***

  With bright light hitting his eyelids, Kenneth rolled over, cracked his eyes, and spotted the canopy of the bed lying on the floor. “Man, when she gets wild, she gets wild,” he croaked, grinning. Turning over, he saw the curtains were pulled back to reveal the rising sun. “Guess she wants me up,” he said, jumping out of bed, then groaned, feeling several new sore spots.

  Not seeing his slippers, Kenneth just ran to the bathroom. As he walked by the massive mirror, he stopped and looked at his naked body. It was still toned but now had quite a few bruises in various stages. A circular bruise was at the bottom of his ribs, then there were bruises on his arms, chest, back, and legs. Tilting his head, he spotted new bruises on both sides of his neck.

  “Yeah, she was excited,” he said and jumped in the shower. He hurried so he could put on some clothes so Besseta wouldn’t notice the bruises and considered finding a scarf as he dried off. Walking out, he found Besseta lying on the bed with a tray full of food and a big smile. Seeing his body, the smile fell off.

  “Hey!” he snapped with fire in his eyes, making her jump a foot in the air. Then the fire slowly faded. “Don’t you dare feel bad or guilty; that was incredible,” he said with a goofy grin.

  “Can I at least say I’m sorry?” she asked, seeing the goofy grin and not wanting that fire back in his eyes.

  “Hell no,” he snapped at her again but not in anger. “I have to tell you I’m sorry because you were right that you would break the bed,” he said shyly, looking at the broken canopy. “I’ll find another one,” he offered.

  “Forget the bed.” She jumped up. “I didn’t know a person could feel that way.”

  Drawing a sharp breath in surprise, Kenneth looked at her with a grin. “We had an argument,” he pointed out, “and we’re already in the bedroom,” he said, waving his arms around.

  “We are supposed to be leaving soon,” she reminded him but gave him a coy look. Running over, he jumped on the bed and saw the covers move, and Bonnie a
nd Clyde popped out from under them.

  “Damn, they’re already in here,” he said. Dejected, he moved over to the tray and started eating.

  “Speaking of the babies,” Besseta said as the dogs came over, demanding some love, “do we really have to leave them?” she asked with pleading eyes.

  “Besseta, they have to get used to staying here without us. Sometimes when we go out, we’re going to have to move fast, and I really would hate to have to leave them,” he explained.

  “Ahhh!” she groaned with wide eyes, grabbing the pugs and pulling them in a close hug. “I would sooner burn in Hell!” she shouted as Kenneth was about to eat a piece of bacon.

  The bacon was inches from Kenneth’s mouth as Besseta’s declaration rang in his mind. “Don’t know if I would go that far,” he admitted.

  “Well I would. We just couldn’t leave the babies,” she gasped, covering them in kisses.

  Watching the dogs returning the kisses, he offered, “That’s why I want to start leaving them here.” He could see it in Besseta’s eyes; she would lay waste, bringing fire and brimstone to any that would keep her from the babies.

  She looked up at him with sad eyes as the dogs kept kissing. “Every time?” she asked.

  “No, not every time,” he settled.

  “Don’t worry, babies, Momma and Daddy will only be gone a few days,” she said, giving kisses. The thought of putting them in a kennel never entered her mind, and Kenneth wasn’t about to suggest it after the last time.

  They gathered a few things and headed to the dock. “Did you put the food and water in the cell for the pet agent?” Kenneth asked.

  “Yes, I threw it on the floor and told him we would be back in two weeks, so make it last.”

  “That’s cold,” Kenneth mumbled. “Surprised you didn’t put it in a bowl,” he said, climbing in the boat.

  “Why would I do that?” she asked, jumping over. “The babies eat out of bowls.”

  Seeing she wasn’t making the connection and not wanting the dogs to start eating at the table, Kenneth just smiled as he started the engine. “You own any other property on this lake?” he asked before she wanted clarification.

  “Oh yes,” she said and pointed north. “I own seven hundred acres on the Canadian side as well. I was planning on building a house when I had this one built but didn’t.”

  Backing out, Kenneth smiled. “We need to, baby. That would make a great spot to pull a boat to and drive away. We should look at some more property on this side for the same reason, but the prices are stupid.”

  Throwing her arms up, she huffed, “There you go again about money.”

  He shook his head as they headed to shore. “What would you say if I wanted to buy a plane?” he asked.

  “Oh, that would be a good idea. Then we could get to places real fast together,” she said with a smile.

  “You didn’t even ask what they cost,” he whined.

  She turned around in shock. “We don’t have enough to buy one?”

  “We could buy a commercial airline company with what’s on that pallet in the vault alone,” he mumbled.

  “Oh,” she said, relieved. “Then why should I worry?”

  “I was just making a point,” he huffed.

  “Well, when we get back, let’s buy a plane,” she said. “How about a helicopter too?” Kenneth just pushed the throttle forward, and the boat shot across the lake. When he pulled into the shore dock, he was still mumbling to himself. “Well, why don’t we?” she asked.

  “Ah, I haven’t flown a chopper or plane in years, and I doubt you know how with how fast you can run,” he pointed out.

  “Well, it can’t be that hard for you to remember,” she said, standing up. Then she jumped from the center of the boat to the end of the pier thirty feet away. Landing on her toes, she bounced with excitement at the thought of her own plane.

  “It is much more complicated than a car,” he said, raising his voice because she was so far away, not realizing he didn’t have to.

  “I can learn, and you can refresh,” she shouted back to him.

  As he took a deep breath to start on money again, the sharp pain in his rib reminded him not to. Slowly letting the air out, he surmised, “That’s probably for the best,” and let the thoughts go. Walking down the pier, he stopped beside her. She was still bouncing on her toes. “We can look into it,” he offered, and she clapped, almost running to the car.

  “That would be neat,” she said as he pushed the button to unlock the doors.

  As he climbed in, he looked at her and couldn’t help but smile. Her auburn hair was framing her cherub face with the lose curls, making her look so innocent. “It would take more money than you realize,” he pointed out uselessly.

  At the mention of money, the smile fell off. “You and money,” she huffed and turned away. “What would you say if I told you that wasn’t even a tenth of what I have?”

  “I would pass out,” he stated emphatically. Besseta grabbed her door and opened it. “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “To drive because you’re about to pass out,” she told him with a straight face.

  His pulse jumped to an impossible level as he started the car. “We need to get going,” he told her.

  Finally smiling, she told him, “You don’t need to worry. When we get back, we can have a garage built and a house on the other side of the lake and look for a spot you like on this side.”

  Backing out, he never said a word and drove down the lane. He only spoke when he stopped the car to open the gate. “Then we are getting a remote for this gate,” he said, getting out. As he walked to open the gate, behind him, the car shifted back and forth, stopping before he turned around to walk back.

  He climbed in, put the car in gear, pulled through, and put it back in park. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he did a double take, whipping his head around and pushing his back to the door. “HOLY SHIT!” he shouted, looking at her sitting with the small dress shirt with bra and panties.

  “What’s wrong? You scared?” she grinned at him.

  Finally getting on the road, they crossed into Canada with Kenneth grinning like the Cheshire Cat at the checkpoint. The officer looked at him then over to Besseta and tried to hide his smile. “Enjoy your stay,” he said, handing over the passports.

  “Heheheh,” Kenneth grinned as he took the passports, making the officer chuckle.

  “You need to quit,” Besseta told him, smiling as they pulled away.

  Getting serious, he dropped his grin. “You do know it’s almost two thousand miles, right?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, we’ll drive straight through, get there tomorrow night, spend a day with her, then drive back.”

  “This is a Jag; we’ll be there in twenty hours,” he told her, pulling on the highway.

  “But you told me cops don’t like you driving faster than the numbers on the signs,” she reminded him.

  “They aren’t in a Jag,” he said with a grin.

  Not understanding, she asked, “So this is the fastest car then?”

  “Not by a long shot,” he told her. “But it’s the fastest you can get to drive with this kind of style without spending stupid amounts of money.”

  Besseta thought about that. “I like driving in style,” she admitted, letting the money comment slide.

  “How long do you think it would take you to get there running?”

  “About five or six hours I’m sure,” she replied. “I normally would have to feed when I got there and when I got home. I’m not sure now after…well, you know.”

  “Yes, your ‘upgrade,’” Kenneth laughed.

  Besseta put a frown on her face till she thought about that and smiled. “Yes, it was like an upgrade,” she laughed.

  Soon, they were driving along a highway lined with trees. “Besseta, if I ask about your family, will it make you sad?” Kenneth asked.

  “No,” she smiled.

  “Was your dad like a king or s
omething?”

  Besseta started laughing. “No, what on earth gave you that idea?”

  “Well, you’re very refined and pretty. I thought only ladies of station were that way,” he confessed.

  “I’ve had a long time to develop my persona,” she smiled. “Papa was a lower noble. We were just above commoners.”

  “So do the movies and books get what it was like?”

  She looked over at him and could see an intense interest in his face, which made her smile more. “Not really. It was dirty, and I mean dirty,” she said. “The movies never get much right. I laughed when I watched Braveheart. Papa fought with Wallace during the uprising.”

  “Are you kidding?” he asked excitedly.

  “No, Papa was rather fond of Wallace. He always said Wallace was a great fighter and very smart.”

  “Were the English really that bad?”

  The smile fell off, and her face turned to stone. “Yes,” she almost growled.

  Quickly changing the line of questioning, he asked, “How was it? I mean living day to day?”

  “Hard,” she said, and her face became long. “You learned to be hungry. We knew families that died because their cows died. They had nothing to carry them during the winter. When you woke up, you worked to get food in the ground or out of the ground. Animals always needed tending to.”

  “How did you learn to read and write? I know the families taught back then,” he asked.

  “Kenneth,” she said, shaking her head. “I was a vampire and almost a hundred before I learned to read and write. Momma and Papa couldn’t read. They taught you how to survive off the land, killing and skinning animals. Making your own clothes,” she told him. “I can tell you, shearing a sheep with a straight blade just so you could have something to wear really sucked.”

  “Whoa,” he mouthed. “So you didn’t live in a castle?” he asked.

  “No, our house had two rooms: a bedroom and a living area. The house had stone walls and a thatched roof. In the winter, it was so cold some days we would just stay in bed, only getting out to throw wood in the fireplace,” she said, looking away and remembering.

  “Two rooms? Where did you sleep?”