Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 78

“I don’t know if we do anything different than what you would do,” Tia said. “Talk. Eat. Although, tonight, we have a slightly different focus than just a gathering of mothers and babies.”

“I see you left Grace at home.”

“At six months, she’s getting to be a handful. Let’s keep tonight for the new babies that just sleep, eat and dirty a diaper.”

She noted that Tia was keeping an eye on her mirrors.

“We have any tails?”

“No, not yet at least.”

Her car notified them of one check point, but they didn’t have to go that way. There were a few police cars in the area.

“Normal late afternoon traffic, so far,” Tia said.

“How’s work doing without Uri and me?”

Tia rolled her eyes.

“Sometimes I just want to shake some people. They think it’s the end of the world. Uri’s still consulting and guiding through emails, so it’s not like he’s totally out of the picture.”

Tia chuckled.

“Overall, we’re doing just fine, Nattie. You had your department working so well when you left, that no one has even noticed you’re gone.”

“My workers have. I get their emails. Some of it is so petty.”

“Don’t do too much, or Ursula will get mad. You’re on maternity leave. Enjoy it.”

“Enjoy it?” Natalia said, giving her a look. “Let’s me see. We’ve had beetles, intruders, vandals, house renovations, Uri getting hit in the head, and runs to Hell. Oh, I’m enjoying it.”

“Not to mention the garage cave-in.”

“Oh, I forgot that one.”

They both laughed.

Tia pulled up to the gate for Viperia and said the Viperian word for open. The gate opened almost as soon as she stopped. She pulled through.

“I’ve been past Mirren and Sophie’s place, but never inside,” Natalia said.

“They’re in a new section of development. All the homes are really looking good, now. At first I thought they were nuts because the neighborhood was a little run down. But they got a good deal and the neighborhood is really coming around.”

“I love it when old homes are renovated. They end up with so much character.”

Tia made a turn.

“Lots of people parking on the street. Laneways are much shorter here. Yeah, there’s Mina’s car all the way down here. Parking is such an issue.”

Tia drove the entire length of the block before turning around.

“Looks like this is as close as we’re going to get.”

Tia parallel parked into a spot as if she had eyes everywhere and no concern if she hit anything. However, she didn’t even tap the curb. When Natalia slid from her seat, she could see that Tia was evenly parked between the cars in front and behind her.

Natalia opened the back door to unstrapped Victoria from the car seat.

“I feel naked without her here,” she said while she placed her in the wrap around her body.

Tia smiled and nodded.

“I did that with Grazon until he got too heavy.”

Natalia shut the door.

“Stay close. Up this way,” Tia said, starting out at a fast walk.

Natalia took two steps before spinning.

“Victoria’s bag.”

She opened the car door and grabbed the bag. She hefted it up on a shoulder, shut the door and froze.

Tia was no longer in sight.

There were, however, three Viperian men heading her way. They were spread out with one on the sidewalk and two in the street. All their eyes were on her and they grinned when they realized she had seen them.

Natalia had a split second to make a decision. She didn’t want a fight, not with Victoria strapped in front of her. They blocked her way up the street or across. There was only one way to go. She bolted down the block.

At the end of the block, she turned and ran full out. She felt as if she was flying fast, high on adrenaline that was now flowing through her like one of Uri’s bites. In the middle of the block, she spied a brownstone building. She made another split second decision, digging out the flask from Victoria’s bag and dropping it. Then she dropped the bag while she dashed to the other side of the brownstone building. She jumped as high as she could, grabbing onto the bricks with her fingers. Her fingers found purchase between the bricks. She pushed with her feet and climbed with her hands. The edge of the roof came as a surprise that she had actually scaled the building. She swung over the top, onto the flat roof, stepping away from the edge.

She was panting hard. Victoria was wide eyed, staring at her, but she remained silent. Down below, she could hear the men catch up. They had to have seen her climb, she thought, looking around to see where she needed to go next to evade them.

‘Hey. Look.’

‘I bet it’s that pure tea. I hear they all drink it. Gives them superhuman powers.’

‘Yeah, see how fast she ran?’

Natalia peered over the edge to see one pick up the flask and open it. They all gave it a sniff.

‘Sort of smells like tea.’

‘It’s the pure stuff.’

One tried to grab it.

‘Me first.’

The man managed to swallow two sips before another grabbed the flask.

Natalia decided she couldn’t watch any more and that it was time to find a way down. She walked across the roof to the other side of the building.

How the heck did they do it, she thought?

She peered over the edge. It looked like a long way down, and she had Victoria. A fall would be a bad thing. She swung a leg over, held her breath, and let herself over the edge, holding on to the bricks. Her fingers felt strained, but they held while she walked herself down, using her feet as brakes against the building. She felt relief when her foot hit the ground until a hand touched her.

She jumped.

“It’s just me,” Char said.

“Sorry. You scared me.”

“Tia lost you, so we went out looking for you.” She looked up. “That was pretty good for an Undent if you don’t mind me saying.”

“I don’t mind. It’s amazing what one can do if you don’t think too hard about it.”

“So what happened?”

“Ran into some no goods. They’re on the other side of the building finding out about bad tea.”

“Oh, well, let’s go see what they found out.”

“I dropped Victoria’s bag over there, too. Would be nice to get it back.”

Char led the way.

“This wasn’t the bad stuff… the same as in the warehouse was it?”

“Yeah,” Natalia said.

“Oh, they’re not going to like what they find.”

Natalia smiled to herself. Char had an innocent way of stating the obvious.

Char took the last turn with caution. Natalia expected to find nothing, thinking the men would have moved on, but there were three bodies on the ground. One was quivering as if taking his last breath.

“Didn’t find what you were looking for, did you?” Char said, walking right up to the bodies.

The one quivering looked terrified. Then he choked and breathed his last. All three had red foam around their mouths.

“I didn’t know it worked that fast,” Char said. “I think I’ll have a chat with Moralis and learn more about this stuff.”

She kicked the flask away from the last man’s hand.

Natalia picked it up and emptied the remaining tea onto the grass.

“That’s the end of that.”

“Oh, my word, Nattie,” Tia said, running up with Mina. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were right behind me.”

“Sorry, I forgot Victoria’s bag. I thought I only took a moment to grab it, but… it was long enough.”

Natalia grabbed up the bag off the ground and slung it over her shoulder. She slid the flask in.

“What got them?” Mina said, looking somewhat confused.

“I had the last bit of bad tea in a flask. I threw it as a distraction. It worked rather well,” Natalia said.

“I’d say,” Mina said. “I’ll call for a clean up.”

“Damn. In broad daylight,” Tia said, looking upset.

“You could have used a knife,” Char said. “I thought you had them?”

“I do, but all I could think of was to get Victoria away,” she said.

“Mommy instinct kicked in, but fleeing isn’t always the answer,” Mina said, putting her phone away. “At least we’re in Viperia. Cleanup will be here pretty fast.”

“I thought she did awesome,” Char said. “She scaled a building and came down almost like a Viperian.”

“She’s as close to Viperian as one can get without Viperian parents,” Tia said.

Natalia felt weird, like they were friends who had suddenly ran into each other and were chatting about the weather, around three dead bodies. The situation felt rather surreal.

“You okay?” Tia said.

“Yes. Victoria was a very good girl. She never even cried.”

A car pulled up. Three women got out. They all walked up and looked at the bodies.

“Poison. Take care,” Mina said.

“Damn, Nattie. You’re as bad as Uri,” one said.

Natalia couldn’t remember her name.

“I-I…“

Tia nudged her.

“That was a compliment,” Tia said in a quiet voice.

“Oh.”

“We got this,” the woman said.

Tia took Natalia’s hand.

“Let’s go.”

The four of them headed up the block.

“We’ll see who Corean thinks they are. I took pictures,” Tia said.

“It would have been nice to question one,” Mina said.