Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 6

Moralis threw his darts with a little more concentration. Grazie stepped up and threw his in quick succession as if he wasn’t even aiming. The bullseye was crowded with all six darts.

Both Grazie and Moralis stepped up to the board.

“Mine is the closest,” Moralis said.

Natalia couldn’t tell from her position.

“Reaha. We need your decision,” Grazie said.

Reaha stepped up. She looked from different angles, then pointed at a dart.

“That one is closest.”

Grazie laughed.

“We need a new judge,” Moralis said with a frown.

“We do have another woman present. We can have Natalia look,” Reaha said.

Natalia thought she was teasing Moralis.

Moralis pooh-poohed the idea and headed for the bar. Grazie, looking happy, sat down across from her and Uri with his chair turned where he could watch the next game. Two other men stepped up and began to play the same game. They seemed to have the same skill at flicking the darts.

“That’s pretty good,” Natalia said.

Grazie shrugged.

“Grazie is the best darts player,” Uri said. “He hasn’t lost a game yet.”

“Not as an adult,” Grazie said.

“Tournaments aren’t any fun with you around,” Uri said, but he sounded like he was teasing Grazie.

“Oh, the bank doesn’t like sponsoring me?”

Natalia now could tell by his tone of voice that he was joking.

“Now this one is going to end up with sore wrists,” Grazie said.

She could see little difference between the current players and how Grazie threw his darts. They all seemed good. She found herself listening intently while Grazie discussed techniques.

Quite a few games were played. Most everyone watched them with avid attention. This seemed to be the highlight of the evening since no one left. Even Thomas and his group had joined the audience. She noticed everyone wanted to play or was chided to play, however, no one asked Uri to play. No one else challenged Grazie, either.

After one game ended, the waiter brought out more sanguine tea and pastries. Everyone seemed eager to get their refreshment. This also seemed to mark the end of the evening.

Natalia noted the clock on the wall.

“Wow. The evening went fast. It’s midnight.”

Uri didn’t answer while he sipped his drink.

Natalia looked at her own glass with trepidation, even though she hadn’t minded the taste before she found out what it was.

“Drink it,” Uri said.

His voice, again, sounded like a command even though it was barely above a whisper.

She did little sips of the drink while she ate a pastry. Again, she was surprised that she was hungry. There was a dark filling in the pastry, and she suspected it was sweetened meat.

After the tea and pastries, she noted that people were now leaving.

Uri tapped her glass. It was still half full.

“A few more sips or just chug it,” he said.

Natalia didn’t move, not liking the choices.

Uri leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Drink.”

The one word and how he said it sent a shiver down her back. She knew she wasn’t in control, and the freedom she had felt earlier was just a mirage. She picked up the glass and drained it.

It was now one am. The waiter was cleaning up the last of the glasses and plates when Uri rose. Natalia knew to rise with him, especially since he was still holding her hand. He led her out of the room. They followed Thomas out of the building to the waiting limo. When the limo pulled away from the curb, Thomas tapped the glass that was between them and the driver.

Uri moved closer to her, which was hard to do since he was already sitting against her.

The limo passed through gates, and she could tell they were now back in the larger city. Natalia watched the buildings pass by. It wasn’t long before things began to look familiar. The limo did a turn. She realized they were on the Strip.

Thomas lowered the window by him, and the limo slowed to cruise along the curb.

Natalia noted the hanging back of the sex workers, like the other night. She now knew it was because this limo came here too often, and everyone knew who was in here. Thomas snapped a finger and opened his door. He pulled in a young woman.

“Hey sweethear...” her voice dropped when she saw Uri.

She froze, looking too scared to move.

Thomas shut the door, and the limo drove off with a click of the door locks. The window rolled up.

“I thought you were going to cut back,” Uri said in a low voice.

“She’s sweet smelling,” Thomas said. “I might hang on to her.”

“The advice I told you didn’t come from me, Thomas.”

“You need me. One little girl isn’t going to hurt anything.”

He was almost sneering at Uri.

“We can certainly use your talents, but you negate your positive with a greater negative.”

Thomas did sneer, then focused on sniffing the woman who now looked as if she wanted to be somewhere else.

“You were a good friend, Thomas.”

“I’m still your friend, Uri. You have your girl. I have mine. And everything you need at the bank is done.”

Thomas waved his left arm as if emphasizing the point.

Uri moved his right with the familiar flick of the wrist that Natalia had watched all night. She hardly saw the knife, but one materialized in Thomas’s chest.

She swallowed hard.

“We don’t need you anymore, Thomas.”

Uri’s voice was rather cold.

Thomas stared at Uri, then looked down. He seemed rather shocked at the knife in his chest. He almost seemed fascinated by it. Then he fell forward, crumbling onto the floor, causing both Natalia and the woman to jump.

The limo pulled over.

“Get out and go home,” Uri said in a low dangerous sounding voice to the woman.

She seemed almost too terrified to move until the sound of the door unlocking beside her acted like a starter gun. She opened the door and ran. Uri had to rise to shut the door. When he sat back down, he pulled out his phone.

“I need a cleanup in the limo.”

The limo was now moving.

Natalia stared at the crumpled form of Thomas, thinking about who she was with. Uri might have shown her some sort of kindness and was treating her well, but Hollows were still dangerous. She found she thought of them as Hollows when they were dangerous. They were Viperians when they seemed like normal people.

Uri resumed his position beside her, holding her hand and leaning one leg against hers. She noted that Uri seemed to act as if Thomas’s dead body wasn’t there since he sat gazing out the window.

She looked out as well, wondering where they were going. The buildings outside the window weren’t residential homes and had an industrial look. She felt the limo turn and noted the gate it passed through. To one side was a warehouse with huge double doors. They opened just enough to allow the limo to enter the building. The doors shut behind them, then the limo doors unlocked. A single light in the building turned on.

The door opened, and Grazie stuck his head in.

“Good morning,” he said, sounding cheerful.

“Yes, a very good morning,” Uri said in a casual voice.

Grazie and another man pulled Thomas out of the limo. Natalia was distressed to see Thomas’s eyes were stuck open. He almost seemed to be staring at her while they carried him out.

Uri sat there looking unperturbed. Another man climbed in with a rag and spray bottle. He cleaned the floor of the limo. A few minutes after he finished, Grazie reached in and gave Uri the knife back.

“We’re all set. Have a good day.”

Uri nodded at him while he slipped the knife back up his sleeve. Grazie shut the door. The light in the building blinked off. The warehouse doors opened, allowing the limo to back out.

“You need to learn a few things,” Uri said in a quiet voice.

Natalia found herself speechless.

“A teddy bear is not a nice thing,” he continued. “Despite how it sounds to you.”

She found she could only nod.

“The tea I want you to drink, after about three days, will protect you from becoming a teddy bear.”

“What?”

She stared at him.

“A teddy bear is a slave, usually a woman. Pretty, and not a Viperian. A shell of a human.”

He paused a moment as if he was searching for the right words.

“If I were to bite you a couple of times tonight and each and every night for four nights, your body would be so overloaded with venom that you would become addicted to it. You would become co-dependent on the venom and a slave to the Viperians. You would obey anyone and do anything… and I mean anything... under the belief that they will bite you and make you feel wonderful.”

Natalia swallowed hard.

“The tea protects me?”

“Between my occasional bites and the tea, you will become immune to the venom. And you should stay away from Victor.”

“Who?”

“The man who approached you when I had left. He wants you. He would love to make you his teddy bear.”

She found she could only nod again.

Uri seemed to want to say more, but then remained silent, and gazed out the window.

Natalia looked out the window to find that they were heading toward the house he had taken her to the first night.

“We’re not going to Viperia?” she said, not sure where was safe.

“Things have changed,” he said with no further explanation.

The limo pulled up the laneway, stopping at the front door. Uri dragged her out. She felt like she was having a déjà vu as he led her through the house and up into the bedroom. However, she wasn’t wearing a dress that could be easily removed.

He stopped in the middle of the room, facing her. He started the familiar smelling of her hair and along her neck while he unfastened her blouse.

“This is a nice outfit,” he said, whispering in her ear. “The blue brings out your eyes.”

He chuckled softly.

“I’m sure it was driving Victor crazy. You’re beautiful.”

He slid the blouse off and draped it over a chair, then undid and removed her bra.

“You have assets that would drive any man crazy,” he said as he outlined a breast with a finger.

“Are you going to bite me?”

Uri licked her shoulder and started to remove his clothes.

“Depends,” he said.

He unfastened her pants.