Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4)

Uri licked a finger and put her bracelet back on. Then, he led her back up to bed, but he just wanted to cuddle. Natalia was half asleep when a thought brought her to full wakefulness. She sat up. “What?” Uri said.

He sounded like he was almost asleep, too.

“The smell on the Abbess. It was more than just kite,” she said when the full realization hit her. “What was it?”

“It was the same foul smell of Hell."

"Hell? Damn, the perfect spot to make and sell kite. Are you sure?”

“One way to find out,” she said.

“Go back to Hell,” he said.

Natalia listened to him breath, expecting him to say more, but he was silent a long time.

“When?” she said.

He pulled her down. She turned, so they were face to face.

“To go and not be detected takes some planning,” he said. “I would like to do a full search of Hell to see what's going on.”

“You think there's more?”

"Yeah."

"Something Moralis brought up?”

"Yeah."

“You're back to one word answers again,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “Give me time to think. It's not going to be right away.”

"Okay."

“Plus, we'll need some help,” he said.

"Who?"

“The stealthiest of stealth and someone not loyal to Sherri,” he said.

“Who?”

“Sophie.”

“I thought she was loyal to the bank?”

“Loyalty to the bank is not the same as loyalty to Sherri or the Council.”

“You're going to take me too, right?”

“You know the smell.”

He cuddled against her.

"Go to sleep. Let me think,” he whispered in her ear.

She didn't think she could sleep, but he was breathing in her ear. The next thing she knew he rolled out of bed and whipped the covers off of her.

"We need to have our chats earlier in the evening,” Natalia said with a yawn over breakfast. "You're the one who wakes up in the middle of the night,” he said.

“Weird dreams. I'm pregnant,” she said.

Both she and Uri were being vague about things while Mag was around or even in the kitchen. “You ready to go sleepy head?” he said rising.

Natalia chugged her tea and rose.

“I got too much homework already,” she said, deciding that lots of complaining would mask any deviation in her behavior.

The delay in coming in from the garage and taking longer than normal to change were enough to key Mag in to check on her.

As soon as the limo pulled out of the garage, Uri was on his phone.

"Hey, Morals. Let's go over what I missed at the last two meetings. Can you join us for lunch?” There was a pause as he listened.

"Okay, sounds good.”

Natalia didn’t even question anything.

"What homework do you have?” he said.

"Everything. As soon as I complete an assignment, another one pops up.”

"Wise to spread yourself across all the classes and not focus too long on one,” he said. “Otherwise, you'll get reminders from the school that assignments are late, despite there is no time limit.” "Everyone just wants me to finish it as fast as possible.”

“Exactly.”

"Did you do it this way?”

“I was doing both at the same time, but I wasn't working like you are.”

“Both?”

"Some classes I took online. The rest I took by attending the classroom lectures.”

"You were busy.”

"Highly. My mother made sure of that to keep me out of trouble. I was a trouble maker.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” she said with a laugh.

He poked her in the ribs, then rubbed his cheek against hers.

The morning progressed as normal. She saw no sign of Ravi, but saw Caidy a number of times, which indicated that Ravi was in the office. Things seemed to be back to normal. Unfortunately, the conference room was now too quiet. She found she missed Francie's company. Her only background noise was Caidy passing, muffled voices from the direction of Ravi's office, and the ding of the elevator. Although about mid-morning, she heard a door. She took a peak and caught sight of the same man and woman going into the utility closet.

At eleven-thirty, Uri stopped at the conference room.

“Lunch,” he said.

She was quick to follow. The elevator picked up Moralis on the twelfth floor. He joined them in the limo.

"What was his excuse?” Uri said once the limo pulled away from the curb.

“A touch of the flu,” Moralis said.

"He's talking of taking some more time off. We should have Nattie talk with Sittel and find out how he’s doing,” Uri said, looking at her.

“I do have her phone number,” she said.

“I didn’t know you knew her,” Moralis said.

“I'm friends with all his wives.”

“I heard about the cocktail party. You won them over that quick? I heard they are pretty particular who they talk to.”

“The cocktail party was the second time I saw Nancy and Beah. Then I crashed the Ladies Garden Society tea party. That's where I met Sittel.”

“Make that call tonight,” Morals said, then he laughed. “You crashed the tea party?”

“Sounds more devilish than it was,” she said.

The limo pulled up to Coopers.

“I'll go back to the Cobb salad. No extra meat,” she said once they sat at their table.

"So what are you thinking?” Moralis said.

“Dinner party. Your place,” Uri said.

Natalia was now confused. This didn’t have anything to do with what Uri had said or what she thought they were going to talk about.

“I'll have to get Francie out of the way.”

“Francie?” she said.

“Different Francie,” Uri said.

"My wife,” Moralis said. “She hates any limelight, hassles, you name it. I'll tell her I need a boys night, and she can go visit her mother.”

“When is she going to give you a kid?" Uri said.

“She's planning.”

"Always planning,” Uri said with a raise of eyebrows.

"Hey, I don't care. I already have a son, and I see him regularly. I like having Francie around. I don't push the issue.”

“When can we do this?"

“Let me check with Francie and her schedule.”

“The sooner the better.”

“Can't be Friday. Will have to be a Saturday.”

The waiter brought their meal and all conversation stopped. Although halfway through her salad, what they were talking about finally dawned on her.

“So a dinner party puts us in one spot for a long time,” she said in a whisper.

“You're thinking of bringing...” Moralis nodded in her direction.

"Hound dog,” Uri said. “Plus I would bring my wife to a dinner party.”

"Sorry, wasn't thinking. You're right. Way too much on my mind right now.”

They finished lunch with little other conversation and headed back to the bank.

Natalia was tired at the end of the day. She had to move a lot of boxes, and they were heavy. Her satchel was already packed, and she was heading toward Uri's office when he stepped out. He waited for her, and they went to the elevator together.

“Can I call Sittel on the way home?” she said before they stepped out of the bank.

“No. Wait until we get home.”

"Okay."

The ride home was quiet. The limo pulled up the laneway and into the garage. Uri opened the door. “Your car is a problem,” she said when she slid out.

"Oh, yeah, I did pull up further than usual. Easier to go around the back,” he said, leading her. They made it to the bedroom without seeing Mag. Uri shut the bedroom door. She started changing when he beckoned to her with a finger. He led her into the closet. There was a tie rack. He put a hand on the wall nearby. The tie rack moved, revealing a very small room. He pulled her in and slid back the tie rack.

“This is a quiet room,” he said. “No one can hear us in here, even if they were standing in the closet with their ear to the door.”

She nodded.

“Make your call now to Sittel.”

He had her phone and handed it to her. She figured he must have slipped it out of her satchel. Natalia dialed the number.

"Hi, Sittel. This is Nattie. How are you doing?”

She put the phone on speaker.

"Oh, hi, Nattie. I'm doing well. And you?"

“I'm well. Busy with school and work. I was just wanting to call and say how much I enjoyed the Botanical Gardens.”

"Oh, you're so welcome.”

“I was also a little concerned. I had heard Ravi was out with the flu. How is he doing?”

Sittel laughed over the phone.

“No. No. I know new expecting mothers can get a little overboard with illnesses, but rest assured, he didn't have the flu and he’s quite fine. He just needed a little wife attention.”

“That's good. I know I get so paranoid about germs,” she said, deciding to use the excuse that Sittel so nicely provided her.

“I think he works too hard. He needed some time off. Nancy, Beah, and I get so busy with things, and we forget he needs some of our attention, too.”

She laughed.

“His eye starts roaming, and he thinks he needs a new wife. We have to kindly inform him he’s getting old, and he should just focus on what he has.”

"Good advice for any man,” Natalia said.

"Oh, so true,” she laughed.

“I look forward to the next garden party.”

"Yes, Sittel said. “Perhaps we can get together sooner. I don't always go to the business socials, but if I know you will be there, then I will.”

"Yes, that would be nice. Well, I should let you go. I know it's dinner time.”

"You take care, dear. Bye."

"Goodbye, Sittel.”

She ended the call.

Uri chuckled.

“So the wives are aware of his wandering eye. Good to know," he said.

Uri opened the door a crack and listened before opening it all the way. He closed it behind them. Then he took his tie off and put it on the rack. She left the closet and finished changing.

They trotted down to dinner hand-in-hand. She brought her tablet and repeated what she had done the night before. She never even noticed Mag clear the table or Uri leaving. It was ten o'clock when he put his arms around her.

"Bed, sleepy head.”

When they reached the bedroom, Uri's phone rang.

"Yes?"

He started to head for the quiet room, but then he stopped.

"Okay."

He ended the call

They were in bed snuggling before he said anything.

“Saturday dinner party.”

“Dressy?”

“No. Casual. Jeans. Six-thirty.”

“We haven't really socialized much,” she said. “As a couple, I mean.”

“No, not really. We're getting there,” he said.

He ran his hands along her body.

“You haven't bit me in a while.”

“I don't need to bite you. I just have to touch you, and the passion is there for both of us.”

"Just the thought of biting does it for me,” she said.

“We're not going to get any sleep tonight.”

"No."

Natalia had no idea when they finally fell asleep. She was surprised that she was the first to wake. "How do you know to get up without an alarm?” she said.

“Internal clock,” he said, stretching. “We have five more minutes.”

“Tonight is my Wednesday meeting.”

“Tia taking you as usual?”

"Yes."

She rose and headed into the bathroom.

Moments later Uri joined her and they showered. Soon they were downstairs eating breakfast. She had her tablet and was reading one of her text books while she ate.

“Drink your tea. We have to go,” he said, startling her.

“Sorry. I get too engrossed.”

It was raining hard when the limo pulled out of the garage. Police cars were at the end of the block with their lights flashing. Natalia could hear the faint voice of the car talking, stating that police was on their block.

"What's going on?” she said.

She felt the vibration from Bonnie responding. Uri translated.

“Break in this morning. It was foiled before anything was taken.”

"Viperian related?”

“No, but Viperian foiled. We have a neighborhood watch that prowls the neighborhood. Last night it was actually Bonnie. She tripped them up.”

“Does Bonnie ever sleep?”

He just chuckled and rubbed her cheek with his.

She watched out the window. When they passed businesses, she could now see the Viperian signs as much as any one could see signs in a heavy rain.

When they pulled up to the bank, they had to use umbrellas.

“This has been the wettest year I've ever seen,” she said.

“Definitely,” he said while they hurried to the building.

Natalia's day was a repeat of the day before, except Moralis didn’t join them for lunch. At five, Tia showed up at the door.

“Ready?”

"Yes."

“Glad to see you have an umbrella.” Tia had an umbrella with her, too.

“I'm thinking flippers and a snorkel pretty soon with how much it's rained.”

“Be thankful it's not snow.”

Natalia heard Tia’s car talking, and she ignored it, actually looking the opposite way when the car said a police car was passing them

At the gates of Viperia, Natalia noted the sign had changed.

“There's now a curfew? Between midnight and four am.”

“There's been a few unruly drunks who have caused some problems. If they're drunk, they're supposed to call someone to come take them home.”

“I hadn't heard. Uri hasn't been at the last two club nights,” she said.

“I'm sure Moralis has brought him up to speed,” Tia said.

She pulled into the parking lot.

Natalia waited while Tia peeled off her skin. She, herself, liked to wait until she was in for the night and left it on

“Ready,” Tia said, getting out of the car.

Natalia was getting the hang of Wednesday night meetings. The Council members chatted with everyone. It was as if they were gathering their intel from all their spies, at least that was how Natalia felt. She had to repeat her experience at the garden party to all the Council members.

Lisa wasn't there.

“It's her birthday,” Natalia said with disappointment to Anna. “I had hoped to see her.”

“She's doing an orientation for the University,” Anna said.

Natalia felt sad, thinking she and Lisa needed to do a day of shopping and lunch.

Damn, I have a limo at my finger tips, she thought, why not use it.

She kept her disappointment to herself. She also kept the dinner party to herself.

At nine, as usual, the meeting broke up and Tia took her home. Uri, as usual, was waiting for her. "How was your day?” he said

“As usual.”

Thursday and Friday were as usual as well, except she had the evenings to herself to study. She wanted to toss her knife more but she didn't want Mag to see or even Uri.

On Saturday, she studied all day until Uri interrupted.

“Time to get ready for dinner,” he said.

“I'm going as I am,” she said.

She had already anticipated the dinner party and had on a nice shirt with her necklace.

“I just have to change shirts,” he said.

Fifteen minutes later they were heading to the garage.

She saw Bonnie getting in the limo.

“We're not driving ourselves?”

“No. I was told not to.”

"By who?"

“Moralis,” he said, mouthing the words.

The limo pulled out of the garage.

"At least it's not raining,” she said.

After a forty minute drive, the limo pulled up to a pretty two story house. The porch light was on and there were lights in a number of windows. Uri got out first and gave her a hand. When they approached the front door, it opened.

“Evening,” Moralis said. “So glad you could make it.”

He shut the door behind them, then led them into the dining room. It wasn't set for dinner. There was no smell of any dinner either.

“Take off your coats and set them here,” he said. “One of my maids will come in after we're gone and move the coats every once in a while.”

Uri took her coat, then licked a finger and removed her bracelet. He slid it into her coat pocket. He tugged at the chain on his neck, and it pulled apart. He put it in his coat pocket, then put the coats on the table.

"Come on back. The others are getting ready,” Moralis said.

Natalia followed him through the house and down into the basement. There were no lights on down here. When she stepped off the last step, she saw the others.

“You're the last ones. Thanks for coming in the limo. It allows us to watch Bonnie. It looks like she’s parking about two blocks down around the park,” Moralis said. “There's more room to park the limo down there.”

Natalia scanned the people in the room with surprise especially since she hadn't been expecting to see Tia, Mina, Mirren, or Grazie. She had only known about Sophie. Everyone nodded at her.

“Nice to meet you,” Mirren said, stepping over. “I hear you're carrying my first granddaughter.” “Yes,” she said, feeling a little tongue tied.

“I'm very proud to hear Uri has found his match.”

“First grandbaby, actually,” Uri said with a grin.

Mirren patted Uri on the back, looking pleased.

“Family reunions later. Here, put these on,” Moralis said, handing black clothing to both her and Uri "Just slide over what your wearing.”

The fabric was very thin, light and slick. It made no sound when rubbed together. It was also stretchy and fit tight.

Morals next handed out hats to her and Uri.

"Anything that glows must be covered,” he said for her benefit. “There are straps. Make sure they are fastened. We want no hats accidentally coming off.”

She realized that no one glowed. Everyone had their mark and their hair covered.

"Wow," Tia said, stepping over and touching Natalia's arm. “I've never seen one go down the arm.” Natalia looked down. It was faint, but there was a glow from a mark swirling down her right arm. "A sign of luck,” Mirren said.

"Sign of good genetics,” Sophie said.

Natalia didn’t know if it was good or bad, she just had the thought of how much liquid skin she was going to need to use. She pulled the black shirt over her head, glad that it was long sleeved. With care she tucked all her hair under the hat. Uri handed her black gloves.

“There will be no talking, grunting or whispering in any language,” Moralis said.

Everyone nodded.

“Let me go over hand signals which are to be used to direct people or warn them.”

Natalia paid close attention when Moralis went through the signals. He went through them twice. "We'll be following the buddy system. Uri, of course, you're with Nattie. No one is to abandon their buddy.”

Natalia noted that every twosome was a male/female pair.

“There is no moon tonight, which is good. With all the damn rain we“ve been having, tonight of all nights, we have clear skies.”

“Grazie and I are lead,” Sophie said. “Don’t go into any area until we've cleared it and signaled.” “Uri and Nattie will be the hound dogs and nothing else,” Morals said.

“Mirren and I will handle anything to do with kite if we find the factory,” Mina said.

“I'll be filming should we see the people involved,” Moralis said. “Tia is backup if any one needs assistance. Tia as well as Mina knows the area very well.”

Moralis paused.

So does Uri,” he added with an evil grin.

“We're ready,” Sophie said. “Lead on.”