Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 89

A crash of thunder woke Natalia. It was raining hard against the window. Victoria was fussing in her crib.

“I’ll get her,” Uri said, rising before her.

He brought her over so she could nurse.

“So good to be home,” she said.

“Glad this is all over,” he said, cuddling in beside her.

Both their phones buzzed at the same time. Uri rolled over to look.

“Viperian broadcast. Ten am. Council meeting. All heads of households are required to attend. That pretty much means everyone will be there.”

“Everyone? Like when I was voted onto the Council?”

“Yeah. Everyone.”

“That’s huge.”

“Good thing it’s Sunday and not a workday.”

He rolled out of bed to go into the bathroom.

Natalia heard someone run up the stairs and tap on their door. She guessed it was Mag.

“We’re awake, Mag. We got the message.”

“Okay. Just making sure. That gives us an hour to get there,” Mag said.

“We’re getting up. I’m nursing.”

She heard Mag ran back down the stairs.

Uri came out and started dressing.

“I’ll take Victoria when she’s done so you can dress,” he said. “They didn’t really give us much time, did they?”

“No. I wonder what’s up? They can’t just want an update on Gussy. They wouldn’t require everyone to be there for that.”

“I already gave them an update,” Uri said. “When you were in the shower last night.”

Natalia sat up with Victoria still nursing.

“I can’t believe how stiff I am. My muscles are sore.”

“What do you want to wear? I can get it out,” he said.

“I want to be comfortable. One of the loose dresses. I’ll rely on you should we need any knives.”

He pulled out two.

“The blue one.”

Victoria fussed.

“Am I moving too much for you? I’m just stretching. Oh, my word, she is sucking hard.”

“Figured out she needs to get as much momma as she can.”

“She’s going to suck me dry. Are you done, child? Her belly is so full. There. Done.”

She handed her over to Uri who left to go into the nursery. Natalia groaned when she rose and went into the bathroom. By the time she dressed and went downstairs, she found everyone was waiting in the living room, except for Uri who was in the dining room with Victoria.

“Quick breakfast,” Mag said.

Natalia felt as if everyone was staring at her while she ate. Even Uri watched her since he was already finished.

“I can drink my tea on the way,” she said, rising from the table.

She felt as if her loose dress was even looser.

“This dress is starting to feel like a sack.”

“You’re looking pretty good,” Uri said, putting a free hand on her ass.

The limo was waiting outside with Kate’s car parked behind it.

“We’ll follow,” Mag said.

She and Zena were riding with Kate.

Natalia slid into the limo. Uri followed with Victoria. They fastened her into the car seat. She didn’t fuss at all.

“I didn’t even look when we got home yesterday to see what was cleaned up,” Natalia said, looking out the window when the limo pulled out.

“Neighbors are missing some bushes,” Uri said.

“And their lawn is gouged up a little,” she said, finding little else amiss.

“Hardly can tell,” he said.

“So what happened yesterday when we were busy?”

“Once we got back to the tower and you were gone, Moralis left. He had some things planned. There were community raids on more drug houses. Lots of media coverage. The Mayor was caught having an afternoon tea party with excessive police coverage that was taking away the coverage needed for the city. That’s going to really help Moralis’s campaign.”

The limo passed a billboard.

“Moralis Arnes for Mayor,” she said.

“Yep. People have been busy putting up the signs.”

“No traffic,” she said.

“Moralis got on the news and declared that the city needed to do a lock down. Everyone was encouraged to stay home to secure their residence and their neighbors. Looks like people followed what he said.”

“Was there any real damage to Viperia?”

“Only to a few gates. The hoards that were allowed into the city, did minimal damage. All cosmetic. Easily erased.”

“And grubbies at the farm got well fed.”

“They feasted.”

The limo pulled onto the main street heading to the west gate of Viperia. Traffic suddenly became bumper to bumper, but traffic still moved. The gates to Viperia were wide open and both lanes were admitting traffic.

The limo was waved into a privileged lot, along with Kate’s car. Bonnie came around with umbrellas for them. The rain was falling heavy, but they were out of the wind. Once out of the limo, Natalia wrapped Victoria onto her and followed Uri into the building.

Natalia remembered the auditorium like room that everyone filed into. It was the same one where she was voted onto the Council. The room was filling up fast.

‘Go sit up with the Council,’ Uri said with a gentle shove.

She saw him join Mag and the other ladies, who were grouping with Grazie and his children. Tia was already in her Council seat.

Natalia wove her way through the people and up to her seat. When she reached it, she was thinking she should have handed Victoria over to Uri, but now it was too late.

‘Morning, Nattie,’ Kareen said.

‘Morning. Kareen. Tia.’

The other Council members greeted her, and she greeted them back. She settled in her chair aware that it was already past ten, but that there were still people finding their seats. It wasn’t until ten-thirty, that Kareen rose.

‘Good morning. I hope all are well. We have gathered to recognize the people of our community.’

‘All people?’ someone said in a loud voice.

‘All people,’ Harold said while standing on top of a chair.

He was holding his daughter, Becky. His wife sat proudly beside him.

‘All people,’ Kareen said. ‘There have been questions about who is or who isn’t a Viperian. That is almost the same as saying who is or who isn’t part of our community. Devotion and loyalty are traits that must be considered.’

There was a small disruption by a group, but Kareen raised her hand, quieting them.

‘The question has been asked. What makes one a Viperian? The Council has met. We’ve found that it’s not an easy question to answer.’

‘Only Viperian’s have venom,’ the group of troublemakers called out.

Kareen waved a hand toward Natalia.

‘Natalia was born Undent. She now has venom. If only Viperians have venom, then she is Viperian.’

‘She’s blonde. Viperian’s only have black hair and green eyes.’

Over forty people stood.

Kareen waved a hand toward them.

‘They are in disagreement with you. They all have either gray or brown eyes. Some have brown hair. They all have venom.’

There was a moment of silence. Everyone sat.

‘Viperians come in all sizes and colors,’ Kareen said.

‘Here, here,’ Harold said.