Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4)

“I'm thinking we should introduce her to Mole,” Mina said.

“Mole?” Natalia said.

“Not his real name,” Tia said.

“That might be interesting,” Char said with a smile.

"Why am I getting shivers up the middle of my back?” Natalia said. “I don't exactly like how you're all grinning.”

“Well,” Mina said. “Mole does have a unique way of saying hello.”

“What does he do?”

“He likes to sidle up to you and hold your hand.”

“Does he wash his hands?”

There were a few chuckles.

"He's unusual looking,” Mina said.

“Is he Viperian?”

"Yes, but he doesn't look like the typical Viperian.”

“How does he look?”

“Well, he doesn't like people to be told. He wants a true reaction out of you. How you react will decide how well he'll work for you.”

“This sounds creepy,” Natalia said.

“Mole can be very creepy,” Char said. “But he’s brilliant.”

“He has that ability to crash a party and end up everyone's best friend,” Tia said.

“He can drop hints that people take as truths,” Char said. “He's deadly.”

“Be glad he works for the Council,” Tia said.

There were nods all around.

“When do you want to do this?” Mina said.

"What's Mole been up to?”

There were chuckles and giggles by everyone except Natalia.

“I don't know about this,” she said.

"He's living in A'ppollo,” Tia said, after controlling her giggles. “I'll give him a call and see what his schedule is like.”

Tia rose and left the room

Raphie fussed. Sophie exposed a breast for him.

"All this kid does is eat,” she said. “He's going to be a big boy.”

Tia came back in the room in a hurry.

“They want us to scatter, head for home. There's a big fire.”

Tia still had her phone to her ear.

“Nattie? Uri is heading this way to pick you up. I also have word that no one is to use the south gate to head home. You'll run into the firefighters.”

“Is this a diversion?” Sophie said.

“No word yet on that,” Tia said.

“Where's the fire?”

"Housing area just outside of Viperia near the south gate. Low income Undent housing that I'm aware of.”

"Why have us scatter?”

“They're not telling me,” Tia said.

Her call must have ended, and she put her phone away.

Everyone's phone buzzed.

“It's the Council putting out a general notice on the fire and the south gate,” Mina said, having looked at her phone first.

Natalia’s phone rang. She saw it was Uri.

“Yes?”

“Don't leave,” he said. “Stay put.”

The call ended.

Things weren't feeling right to Natalia.

“Safety in numbers,” Char said. “Do we still have our lookouts?”

Everyone turned toward the door.

Sophie rose, leaving Raphie on the floor.

Natalia rose, wrapping Victoria to her. She stepped over to the door and put on her shoes. She grabbed Victoria's bag and slipped it over her shoulder.

Mirren and a few other men were let in by Sophie.

Natalia stood in the middle of the living room. She could sense uneasiness from everyone.

“I'm the only one that needs to leave,” she said. “They only want me.”

No one paid her any attention.

She moved over to the front door which was wide open.

"We'll escort you to your cars,” Mirren said, talking to the group as a whole.

Natalia spied the limo up the street, slowly making it's way down. She almost went out the door, but something made her be cautious. Then, she could see why. There were no Viperian markings on the limo. All Viperian vehicles had a bioluminescent V place on all sides that only Viperians could see. Natalia could see those marks too. There were no such marks on this limo. She stepped away from the door.

“That's not Uri or our limo,” Natalia said to Mirren.

He glanced out, then waved to a few men.

"Don't stop it in the middle of the street, you'll just clog traffic more,” she said.

Mirren waved a hand and shouted out orders in Viperian.

The limo was allowed to drive on by, but there were a handful of men following discreetly along with it.

Natalia wondered if there were Undents inside since the limo's speed never changed despite Mirren’s shouted orders.

“Undents,’ Mirren said to one last man, confirming that he thought the same.

“Your parking around here sucks,” Natalia said.

Mirren nodded.

“There's a back alley that we're working on to allow at least one parking spot per house. It needs a lot of work. However, we need everyone on the block to chip in and be onboard with this.” Another car drove down the street. Natalia didn't recognize it. It stopped in front of the house. Moralis stepped out of the front passenger side and Uri stepped out of the back. He waved to her. “Thanks for coming, Nattie,” Sophie said from behind her. “Safe travels home.”

“Thanks, Sophie. Bye.”

Natalia kept an eye on the neighborhood while she trotted down the few steps.

Uri ushered her into the back seat.

She saw someone she didn't know driving.

No one spoke. The car drove off.

Three blocks later they passed the limo that had driven down the street. All the doors were open, but there was no one in sight.

“There's a new limo to add to our fleet,” the man driving said.

Moralis chuckled.

Natalia watched how they were going. She could tell they were heading toward the club. When the car pulled up to the building, she could see their limo waiting.

“Good. Bonnie's here. Thanks, Paul,” Uri said.

“No problem. Livened up the evening.”

“See you later, Uri,” Moralis said, heading toward his own car.

“Later, Moralis,” Uri said.

Bonnie stepped out and opened the door for them.

Once the limo began to move, Natalia asked her questions.

“Was this some sort of diversion to get to me?”

Uri shrugged.

“It was a very poor attempt at being annoying,” he said. “The decoy limo wasn't even marked Viperian.”

“I noticed.”

"You have a good head on your shoulders. I expected you would notice.”

“What about the fire.”

“It caused chaos at the south gate which is how the Undent limo got through. The fire station in that area has a number of Viperians on staff. Unfortunately, the firetrucks have the device installed on them to get through the Viperian gates. One must have passed, allowing the gate to be open with the command. In goes the Undent limo. Unfortunately, the fact that the fire trucks can open the gate is common knowledge within the Viperian community, especially those that live in the south section.”

“That was rather stupid to send an Undent limo. I would have noticed. And I did.”

"Viperian limos aren't that common and hard to get a hold of,” Uri said. “I think you would need an army to get our limo away from Bonnie. She has so many security devices installed on this that I can't even get in and drive it, let alone get a hold of the keys.”

“And never will," Bonnie said from the front.

Natalia smiled at the comment.

“So did you lose that flask?” he said, changing the subject.

“I have the flask, but it's empty now,” she said.

She told him the details of her arrival at Sophie's.

“You climbed a building?”

“Yeah, and back down.”

“You are amazing,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

“I'm beginning to think I'm Viperian,” she said

“I'm going to start checking for fangs.”

She chuckled.

It was well past rush hour traffic. Natalia kept finding herself watching out the windows, but not at the scenery. Uri seemed to be doing the same. She didn't notice anyone following.

The limo pulled up the laneway and to the front door.

Natalia felt her stomach growl.

"Did you get any dinner?” Uri said, helping her out of the limo.

“Just a snack,” Natalia said.

She watched the limo pull out of the laneway.

“Is Bonnie parking next door?”

"Yeah. The garage is too short to fit the limo, but the laneway is large enough. She can position it to where she is able to watch it on a security camera.”

Mag opened the door for them

"Cookies are already in the living room,” Mag said.

The evening progressed quietly. They went to bed having heard nothing more about the events of the evening. Their morning started quiet as well.

Natalia's phone rang during breakfast.

“Hello?”

"Hi, Nattie. It's Tia. You free in about an hour?”

"Yes. What's up?”

“Mole has some time this morning. We need to work within his time frame.”

"Okay. I'll be ready. Should I leave Victoria at home?”

“No, bring her.”

"Okay, see you in an hour.”

The call ended.

“Tia wants to take me somewhere this morning,” Natalia said to Uri.

He nodded.

They had already established that whatever she did with Tia or the Council wasn't a topic for conversation.

Natalia finished breakfast, then went upstairs to grab Victoria's bag.

“At least I don't have to check it to make sure I have enough diapers. We never used anything out of it last night.”

Victoria blinked and yawned.

Natalia still noted there were no fangs.

At precisely one hour later, Tia pulled up to the door. Natalia was already waiting.

“Morning, Tia,” she said while she strapped Victoria into the baby seat.

“Morning.”

Natalia slid into the front seat.

"We're disrupting your work quite a bit.”

Tia shrugged.

“Happens, especially working for the Council.”

There were no check points while Tia drove toward the inner city.

“Mole’s working from home today, so he’s going to meet you in the lobby of his building.” “What do I need to do?"

"Greet him and answer his questions.”

“Sounds easy.”

“Iti.”

Natalia suspected there was more to it.

Traffic proved to be heavy when they neared their destination. Tia finally pulled into a parking garage. She had to go up five levels before she found a spot.

“We'll go down to the lobby via the elevator, then I'll let him know you're here,” Tia said, leading the way.

The elevator from the parking garage opened into a hallway. Tia took a right and soon they were in the lobby of the apartment building.

“I'll go tell him that you're here,” Tia said, heading back to the elevators.

Natalia did a slow spin, taking in the decor. There were a number of sofas and chairs to lounge in. There were also quite a few plants and trees. The whole room was decorated in light tans and browns allowing the green of the foliage to stand out. The lobby roof was glass allowing light to filter in. The whole effect was pleasant.

Natalia felt someone take her hand. It was a warm hand. She looked over and down.

“You remind me of my brother,” she said, saying the first thing in her head.

Mole laughed. He had a child-like laugh. He also looked child-like, being only three feet tall. His face was pudgy as was the rest of him.

"He liked to sneak up on me, too,” she said.

His brilliant white teeth were large and even. He seemed to be smiling all the time as if he was showing them off. His hair was black and his eye green like the typical Viperian.

“So, you are the infamous wife of Uri,” he said.

“Uri is the infamous one. I'm the better half,” she said, causing him to laugh.

“Well put,” he said. “However, this is the infamous, Victoria.”

Natalia took a seat while Mole remained standing. Even so, she was still not eye to eye with him. She unwrapped Victoria so he could see her.

Mole released Natalia’s hand and reached out to touch Victoria's cheek. Victoria scrunched her nose and opened her eyes.

"Blue eyes,” Mole said, gazing at them as if they were wondrous jewels.

“She has my coloring,” Natalia said.

“I understand the genetics,” Mole said, sounding much more mature than he looked.

She figured he was often misunderstood

“Can I hold her?”

Natalia paused only a moment before handing her over. He knew how to take her and hold her. Victoria fussed a little.

“Victoria, sweetie. It's just me, little Mole. Mommy's right here.’

Victoria seemed to stare at him.

“Can I see a demonstration?” he said while still gazing at Victoria.

“Demonstration of what?"

Natalia was confused about what he was talking about.

“Knives,” he said.

The request caused her pause. Was this the rumor they wanted to spread? That she had knives? No one officially knew she carried knives.

She looked up at what was in front of her.

“I don't think your apartment manager would appreciate holes in the woodwork,” she said.

There was a tree across the lobby from her. The trunk was rather narrow. She decided to use the knife on her sleeve, and before Mole could respond to her, she threw the knife.

The tree hardly shivered when the knife hit the trunk. Two leaves floated down.

“I don't particularly like that tree,” he said. “It sheds a lot of leaves.”

The knife, barely visible, was exactly in the middle of the trunk.

Natalia rose and retrieved it.

She returned the knife into its sheath before she resumed her seat.

Mole handed her back Victoria.

"She's a beautiful baby.”

“Thank you.”

“I've heard lots about you,” Mole said. “All bad. Delightfully bad.”

She didn’t know how to take that.

“Sad that you seemed to have tamed Uri. It was always so much fun to hear about what he was doing. Especially when he was doing rescues at the Church.”

"Yes. According to my mother, I'm still a nun there.”

He chuckled.

“He's a brilliant man,” Mole said.

“I hear the same about you,” she said.

“Oh?”

He seemed a little surprised.

Natalia wondered how old he was. It was difficult to tell.

“Do you have children?” she said, hoping that wasn't a stupid question.

“Yes. I have three of them.”

She decided that explained why he knew how to hold Victoria.

"Youngest is five,” he said. “A girl. I have two older boys. Seven and twelve.”

"What do you do? Other than Council work.”

He seemed to be enjoying the chitchat, leaning against the sofa she was on.

“I'm a teacher. I do online tutoring. All Undents. Allows me to work from home.”

"And your specialty?”

“Mathematics, science, reading, writing. Anything a student needs help with.”

"You seem to have the patience needed,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows and nodded.

“If a kid needs my help, they're not too bright,” he said.

“Do you homeschool your own children?”

"Yes, I do. I preferred not to live in Viperia, and it's too long of a commute to take the children to school there.”

Natalia wondered what Viperian woman would find him desirable. It had to be his brilliance. It certainly wasn't his appearance.

"My wife works at an insurance company which is about six blocks from here. She loves that she can walk.”

“So, who is watching your children now?”

“I am,” he said, raising up his phone. “There are alerts if they leave the apartment. They should be doing their reading right now.”

“You're a busy man,” she said.

He smiled and straightened.

“I will let you go, Nattie. Thank you so much for talking with me. It's nice to have adult conversation with an intelligent adult.”

“I think I understand what you mean,” she said, remembering times with her mother.

Sometimes she couldn't wait for night to come, so she could meet up with her pack and talk with her girlfriends, who she always thought of as rational and much more intelligent than her mother. “Tia will be joining you shortly,” he said, leaving toward a different elevator that was tucked away in a comer.

As soon as he was gone, Tia came from the parking garage elevator.

"Ready?" Tia said.

Natalia nodded while she rose.

They took the elevator back to the fifth level. Natalia waited until they were in the car and out of the parking garage.

“So, he's going to spread a rumor that I carry knives?”

"Only to certain people,” Tia said. “And only if he liked you.”

"We seemed to have had a good conversation.”

"One never knows. You can have what you think is the most wonderful conversation with him and think he's your best buddy, only to find out he found you distasteful and will never talk with you again.”

“I take it he will be checking in with you to let you know?”

“Yes,” Tia said.

"Any news on the fire last night?”

"Diversion tactic to get that fake limo into Viperia. Such a shame. Innocent people lost their homes last night.”

"What about the foray to the bachelor house?”

“They found it abandoned. I'm sure Gussy's realized we're looking for him. However, that is a big problem for him. When you're Viperian and you have to hide, then you have to hide all your buddies, too.”

“A Council interrogation would reveal all they knew.”

“Exactly.”

Tia navigated around a check point.

“I don't feel like going through one of those,” she said.

"Well at least last night we got some reaction by having Uri and I go to Viperia.”

“Definitely.”

"Are we going out again tonight?”

“I think they want Uri to go to the club again. I'm not sure what the Council wants you to do. I'm sure they'll let me know shortly.”

Tia's phone pinged. She glanced at it and smiled.

“Mole. All it says is “I like her.". Tonight is the perfect night. He'll head out once his wife is home and locate the Viperian lowlife night life and spread our rumor.”

“If they're hiding, how's he going to find them?”

“He has good contacts. He's always been able to find them.”

“So why not send him out to find Gussy?”

“That's not what Mole does. He's not a rat or a tattler. If it ever got out that he did such a thing, he'd be a dead man. He only spreads rumors.”

“You would think people would figure it out that's what he does.”

“I've seen him in action. You really have to focus. He can drop a rumor and change subjects so fast you'll never remember where the rumor came from, but you'll remember the rumor.”

Tia pulled into the laneway.

“Uri's waiting for you. I'll let you know if I hear what you're supposed to be doing this evening.”