Chapter 15

Kitty.

Thirty minutes in a hotel room with Squatch changed my entire outlook. I thrive on the chaos of the club, and the attention the men give me, but it was nice to step away from it and eat a nice meal.

Squatch insisted he had to walk me back to Blaze when I finished, even though I make the trip back by myself after I service customers at least twice, most nights.

I took the shift off once I was inside, and headed to the dressing room to brush my teeth and touch up my hair and makeup. I changed shoes while I was at it, since I was due to walk the floor for thirty minutes before changing for my next set on the main stage.

But I smelled him before I made it around the stage. My heart turned to granite in my chest, and I turned my back to him before he saw me. I altered my walk and went right back to the dressing room, forcing my body not to go into panic mode. If I smelled terrified, one of the bikers would grab me and demand I tell them why. I grabbed my keys, wallet, and phone, but realized I’d never get out the door without a million questions.

No one else was in this section of the dressing room, so I took fifteen seconds to breathe and think before I pulled money, driver’s license, carry license, and credit card from my wallet, took the case off my phone, put everything in the case, and snapped it back on the phone. I took my car key off my key ring and palmed it in my left hand. My phone went under my left armpit. I put everything down, threw a loose shift on over my torso, and hid the phone and key again.

Another deep breath to calm my nerves, and I considered my options. I took an earring off, tossed it on the floor under my makeup area, and walked out of the dressing room to the back door. Dementor was still manning it, and I focused on the fact I only had one earring in and told him, “I ate dinner next door, and I’m missing an earring.” Both were true statements. I wanted to tack on an “I need to find it,” or “I’ll be right back,” but I was afraid it’d come off as a lie.

My two true statements were enough, though. Dementor nodded, opened the door, and I stepped out.

As soon as the door closed, I ran. Faster than human, but there wasn’t anyone to see me. My stomach was in my throat as I made my way to the parking garage.

Once I was in the car and driving, I dialed the number Brooke had given me to call in an emergency. It didn’t go through the first time, and I tried again. The instructions were to open my mind to her as I dialed, and I probably hadn’t done that the first time. I tried it again, and a male voice answered.

“Kitty. I have someone en route to meet you. Go south, like you’re going to the botanical gardens. Get off on twenty-first street.” He was silent a few seconds. “Can you remove your battery from your phone?”

Having people answering the phone who could read your mind certainly simplified things.

“I have a sleeve in my glove compartment that blocks the signal.”

“Do that. Keep your mind open to Brooke. She can sense you. When you’re closer, she’ll contact you telepathically with instructions.”

“Please thank her for me.”

“She can hear you. Drive safely. Follow all traffic laws. Do not draw attention to yourself.”

He disconnected, and I leaned sideways to get the sleeve from the glove compartment.

My brother Blake probably wasn’t here alone. Most likely, there’d been someone in the parking lot, waiting for me to try to escape. Thank goodness they didn’t seem to realize employees parked in the hotel’s parking garage, next door. Also, we exited onto a different road. No one was following me, so I thought I was probably okay, but I needed to get farther away before they realized I was gone.

On the one hand, my heart hurt because I would’ve liked nothing more than to spend a day with my brother.

On the other hand, I knew he was there to capture me and take me back to the ambush, and I knew I’d never get away again. I made my way south of the city, got off onto twenty-first street, and headed towards the botanical gardens. A voice sounded in my head, and my heart stopped beating a few seconds until I realized it was Brooke.

Go straight on this road another half mile. You’ll turn left at the next big intersection, and there will be a paint store on your right. Leave your key in the car and get into the back passenger-side seat of the black SUV. One of my men will take your car to Atlanta and leave it there. Perhaps that will throw your brother off and get him out of the city until we can figure out what to do.

I did as she instructed and was surprised to see her sitting on the other side of the back seat.

“I happened to be near,” she told me in her no-nonsense voice, “and this was easier, in person rather than going through a proxy vampire. I have a coterie house in the country club, and this is where we’ll go now. I can keep you safe there until we can get you out of the country.”

“I have a life here. I don’t want to have to pack up and leave.”

“Your options are to purchase an identity in another country, or to find a way to force your family to leave you alone if you stay. I’m not certain the latter is possible.”

I knew she was right, and I had to force myself not to break down in tears at the thought of never seeing Squatch again.

We pulled into a driveway in less than five minutes, up a winding concrete drive though a woodland area, and finally slid into a fancy garage. I followed Brooke into the house, through a kitchen, into a living room, and to a wall under a fancy staircase that soared upwards. She held her hand to what appeared to be a random spot on the wall, and a panel moved down and sideways to reveal a brightly lit staircase leading down. I followed her to what had to be a sublevel below the basement, and we came out in a large great room with five sofas, a fireplace, and LED screens built into the walls to look like windows.

“Have a seat wherever you like,” Brooke told me. “I can sense that you’ve recently fed. I’ve given my chef instruction to provide steaks and bacon in three hours. Someone is coming with peach juice for you.”

I’d had peach juice the first time Brooke fed from me, and it’d hit the spot. Fast carbs after blood loss, maybe. She always offered it when I visited her, and I’d come to associate it with our budding friendship.

Or perhaps I was imagining the friends thing. I needed to be clear about what I could offer for her help this time.

“I can pay you for helping me. Probably not enough, but I have some money now. More than I did before.”

I hadn’t had much the first time she’d helped me.

The sofa she sat on was undersized, which meant she didn’t look so tiny. “I’ve explained to you before why I wish to help you.”

Because someone helped her escape a bad situation once, and she liked to return the favor every so often. If I was ever in a situation to help someone, she expected I would do so as well.

“So let me say thank you once again,” I told her. “Also, I’d like to offer myself as sustenance. I can tell you’ve recently fed, but when you’re hungry again.”

“It is a joy to drink from a rare aureus tiger, but this is my price for the unlimited, safe use of my lands to run. There was no price to set you up in a new life before, and there won’t be now, either.”

“I understand, Ma’am. I’m offering because I want to nourish you. I like you. In another time, perhaps we could be friends.”

“You know not what you say, and yet, I can see the honesty in your words.” She looked to the door, to a man guarding it, and looked back to me. “I haven’t made a new friend in centuries. The short-lived can so rarely see past this body, to the person inside.”

“How can they not feel your power and age, Ma’am?” I wanted to rub the goosebumps down on my arms when I was around her. How could anyone possibly see her as a mere child?

A woman came out of a hallway, stopped, gave a nod that was almost a bow to Brooke, and then turned to me. “I have a guest room ready for you. If you’ll follow me, please?”

Brooke’s voice sounded in my head. Let me know when you’re dressed and ready to talk some more, and I’ll have you brought to me.

And then she was gone. I had no idea if she disappeared, or if she was really fast. I’d felt the air moving, so it’s possible vampires can move faster than the eye can track them.

I followed the woman to a bedroom suite, set up a little like a hotel room, with a seating area and a bed, and the bathroom near the back.

“You’ll find clothes in the closet, as well as some shoes. I can’t judge shoe size, so there are different sizes and you’ll need to try them on.

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

She gave a nod and closed the door, so I was inside and she was in the hall. She was a gazelle — natural prey to my tiger, but she hadn’t been even a tiny bit afraid of me. I walked to the closet and found two styles of jeans, and several feminine t-shirts in slightly different styles in a wide range of colors. There was also underwear, bras, and socks, all in the right size, and five sizes of Vans, from six to eight. I generally wore a seven or a seven-and-a-half, so I grabbed both and tried them on. The seven fit perfectly, and I put the larger size back into the box with the paper in the shoe, so it was just like I’d found it.

I chose jeans and a baby-pink shirt, a matching baby-pink bra and panty set, and took everything to the bathroom, where I found expensive soap and shampoo, and a wide variety of foundations, eyeshadow, and contour colors. Brooke’s people were really good at making you feel welcome and cared for. I’d experienced this when I’d stayed with her before, but it’d been outside of town somewhere. I still didn’t know where I’d stayed.

She’d let me see where I went today. Would I remember later? I didn’t know and wasn’t inclined to ask.

I showered and washed my hair, blasted it dry with an impressive blow dryer, dressed, and then did the best I could with the makeup provided. I put shoes and socks on, and stayed seated on the sofa in my room to think my thoughts toward Brooke. It seemed too easy, that this was what one did to speak telepathically, and yet, it seemed to work.

I’m showered and dressed.

Excellent. Step outside your door. Someone will be along shortly to bring you to me.

I stepped into the hallway and looked around, trying to find a landmark so I could figure out which door was mine. There were none, so I counted them down from the end of the hallway. The third on the left. A man walked to me and my tiger bristled. He was a snake. A constrictor. The tiger could sense his power and the size of his snake. Huge. Most vampires surround themselves with a single animal, but Brooke seemed to have a diverse group of the animal kingdom around her.

We walked through several hallways, and I quickly realized part of the defense of this place was in the layout, because I would never remember how to get from my room to Brooke’s again. When my guide finally stopped, the door looked like all the others, but the room I was shown into was clearly Brooke’s office — it looked just like her office at the house she’d taken me to when I first came to town. The seat of her chair was child sized, but the base tall enough to reach her large, imposing desk.

“I keep an office at all of my homes. I’m most frequently here, though, with my people.” She levitated down from the chair and walked around her desk to sit in a child-sized armchair. Her knees bent, and her feet touched the floor. I’d seen her seated on a normal sized sofa with her legs straight out in front of her. What must it be like to go through such a long life in a child’s body?

I took the larger armchair across from her when she motioned to it.

“If we’re to be friends, you should feel comfortable sitting without needing an invitation,” she told me. “I sensed your thoughts while you walked through the hallways. I wasn’t looking, but you were still open to me. My security team is made up of mostly leopards and pumas. I have an agreement with the Amakhosi — he sends me big cats who need a place to land. The rest of my people are...” She shrugged and smiled. “We’re kind of like the island of misfit toys, here. The snake you saw is a now-extinct species, and I’m impressed that your cat understood his size without being told. The gazelle is unique to her species, and her story is not mine to tell. Our driver last night is a Tasmanian Devil who has trouble with control, and I help him hold onto his humanity. I have a juvenile giant honey badger in another of my homes. He’s a handful, and a lot to control, but I can sense the goodness in his heart despite the species he was born into.”

As before with Brooke, it seemed I understood her intent without her having to spell it out. “You’re saying you can find a job for me in your household, if I don’t want to go back out into the world?”

“Yes, but I can sense you aren’t a fan of that idea. You’ve escaped one caged existence, and you understandably want to live in the wide-open world. I have other options I can provide. If you wish for a different option, we can brainstorm it and see if it’s possible.”

She took a breath. Vampires only have to breathe to talk, and I got the idea she didn’t speak very often.

“You’re correct. I frequently use telepathy with my people, but you’re more comfortable with verbal communication, and I don’t mind. Option one is a new identity in Australia, where my counterpart in Sydney can get you a job in a strip club. He owns the establishment, and you’ll live on site. This arrangement will keep you safe even if your family finds you again, though it will mean you won’t have the freedom to explore the city.”

She took another breath. “Option two is a new identity in Fairbanks, Alaska, where you’ll work for a butcher. My people can teach you what you need to know. My counterpart there used to live in Chattanooga, and I trust him to see to your safety while in his territory. Option three would be to live with him as part of his flock. He’ll provide you with room and board, and will pay for you to go to college, if you wish. You’ll only provide sex if you choose to, but I believe he can give you the same type of experiences your wolf has been giving you, though only every once in a while, since he rotates through his flock.”

My face and ears went hot at the reminder she could see what I’d done with Squatch, and she said, “I apologize. That was insensitive of me.” Sometimes, her voice is that of a child, other times, she sounds like an adult. Tonight, she was the adult.

“No. Don’t apologize. Don’t pretend with me. You can see it, and it isn’t your fault. I get it.”

I didn’t want any of those options. I wanted to keep the life I’d begun to build here. I wanted options with Squatch. Maybe we’d end in another two or three months, but what if we didn’t?

“Option four would be to live here with me, behind my protective walls and gates, though as I’ve already said, I don’t believe that’s a long-term solution for you. You need your freedom.” She sighed. “I do not know if I can make this fifth option in your head work, but I can see it’s your heart’s desire, so I’m willing to help you try. Plus, I’ll miss you if I have to send you away.”

“We’d have to negotiate something with my father, and I’m not certain he’ll ever agree to leave me be.”

“There’s more to it than that, but we’ll get to that in a moment. As it happens, I’ve been regularly feeding from Sasquatch. He’s been coming to me for years, providing his lifeblood near the full moon, when his life force is the strongest.”

My first instinct was something close to jealousy, and that isn’t something tigers are used to feeling. It felt as if he should’ve told me, but I was due to feed Brooke soon, and I hadn’t told him, either.

“He came to me as part of my treaty with the local RTMC chapter,” Brooke told me, her voice lilting up in a sing-song child’s voice, “so they can have autonomy in my territory. He made an arrangement with his President, so another of the bikers will be sent to me this month. Mad Dog asked me if I preferred bear or turtle, and I told him I love the taste of bear.”

She looked away and then looked back to me. “I have something I’d like to tell you, but it feels as if doing so will break a confidence, even though I looked in Squatch’s head for the answer, and didn’t ask him.” She pulled one of her legs up under her. “I’ll tell Sasquatch what I’ve told you, and if he has a problem with it, I’ll need to make you forget. If you’d rather I wait until I’m certain I can tell you, let me know. I made a promise not to mess with your memories beyond making you forget where the home was you stayed at when I first took you in, and I do not wish to break my promise to you.”

“Tell me, please. I’ve grown to trust you.” She seemed displeased, and I smiled. “I know you said not to, but I also know you can see in my thoughts to understand why.”

“Sasquatch chose not to come to me again because he figured out you must be one of the rare tigers of legend, and he was trying to protect you. He knew I’d see his thoughts and he didn’t want to risk giving away the fact a rare, possibly valuable tiger was living in my city.”

Hot tears filled my eyes, and I tried to keep them at bay but my emotions were too much. Squatch had tried to protect me, and I didn’t even know. Other than the old ones, not many know that rare tigers exist. For the most part, it’s something one has to remember.

“Mad Dog figured it out and explained it to him.” Back to the adult voice. “The club’s president has made it a point to learn all he can about a wide variety of subjects.”

The child vampire leaned forward a little, and one of her twisted curls flipped over her shoulder and bounced. “I find myself in an odd position. Sasquatch called asking for me, leaning on the personal relationship we’ve formed when I’ve fed from him. He asked me to look for you in my territory. He feels enough of his seed is in you that I can use the blood-connection I have with him to find you.” She leaned back. “He isn’t wrong about that. If I’d never fed from you, I’d still be able to find you, using my connection to him. His essence is strong within you.”

“Is there a way for me to keep my life here, with him?”

“I don’t know. This brings us to the complication I mentioned earlier. I have a working relationship with the Amakhosi, and he is over all cats in North America. If he would step in, he could order your family to leave you alone.”

She put her hand to her blond hair, just above her ear, and pushed it to her back again, so it wasn’t around her face. “Unfortunately, knowing him as I do, I don’t believe he’ll act as we’d prefer. He’s a total misogynist when it comes to ruling his lions. I see no reason for him to side with you instead of your father, particularly since the genetics would provide for a potentially healthy line of golden tigers. However, it’s possible you can come at him from another angle. You’ve met Ember?”

I nodded. “Dementor’s girlfriend.”

“She’s close to the Dragon King, who’s close to the Amakhosi.” She shook her head. “Now that you’re thinking of her, I can see that you’re more acquaintances than friends, so she may not be able to help. However, Dementor and Sasquatch are close, so it’s possible we can work it from that end.” She took another breath. “As I was saying earlier, Sasquatch has asked me to find you. This puts me in an untenable position. I have not responded to him yet, but when I do, I don’t wish to lie to him. If you’ll be taking one of the easy options, I can tell him you are safe but can no longer live under this identity and must leave. If you’re going to try to get help from His Majesty the Amakhosi, then we should enlist Sasquatch’s help.”

“Your people still have my phone.”

“You can’t safely use it. Your family will look into your new identity, now that they know it, and will use every possible means to track you to your next identity.”

A door opened and the gazelle walked in with a box containing the same kind of phone mine had been. “Purchased through one of our corporate accounts,” the gazelle told me. “You’ll appear to be an employee. Please do not log onto your email or any social media site. Also, do not check voicemail for your other phone. You can’t in any way be Natalie James or Kitty again.”

I accepted the phone from the gazelle with a nod, and she turned and left.

“She isn’t aware of the Amakhosi option. If we pull it off, you’ll be able to pick up with your old phone. For now, you are Rita Butler, but it’s a temporary name placeholder until a new identity is purchased for you — depending on where you choose to go, should you need to leave.”

“I can call Squatch from this phone without putting me or him at risk?”

“No. I need to call him. If his people stop looking for you, your family might abduct one of his brothers and torture the information out of them. It isn’t likely they’ll give you up, but let’s not put the bikers into a position to be harmed by your family.” She lifted her phone, spent a few seconds finding Squatch’s number, and connected the call with speakerphone.

He answered with, “Thank goodness, Brooke, I need your help. Me, not my brothers. I can’t offer a favor from them, but I can offer one from me. Multiple favors from me.”

“We can’t have this conversation over the phone. Come to the coterie house. Make sure you aren’t followed. Do not bring your phone. Do not arrive via motorcycle.”

She disconnected before he had time to respond.