"What do you want Mikhail?" Violet asked over the intercom, her voice cool.
"I come to offer my services." He replied his tone just as cool.
There was a surprised silence but the voice that came over the intercom remained cool.
"What is your price?" Violet asked, "Or are you still working for Jeremiah Mathers?"
Mikhail addressed the last question first.
"I am no longer employed by Jeremiah Mathers, I left his employ when I found that he was less than honest with me and as for my fee, I am waiving it."
There was another shocked silence.
"Violet," Mikhail said, "I know that you don't trust me but if you remember anything about me you will remember that I do not lie even if it is to my advantage to do so. Time is getting short and I know that you must find Justine before Jeremiah does..."
"What do you know of her?" Violet snapped cutting him off.
"I know who and what she is." Mikhail replied.
There was another pause before Violet spoke again.
"There is one thing that I do know," Violet said, "and that is nothing is free so what is it that you want?"
Mikhail sighed. This was going nowhere fast.
"I only want to help you and her, is that so difficult to believe?" he asked.
"Yes, it is." Violet replied, "But be that as it may, you may enter but understand something, if you come into my home and make one false move, your life will end. Do you understand?"
"Yes my queen." Mikhail replied addressing her formally. He was entering her home and she was due all of the respect that he had for her which was considerable. He also knew that once he entered her home, he would be at her mercy. All of his gifts would be neutralized, whether she knew that he knew that he didn't know and it really didn't matter. In her home, he would be like a human and dead within seconds if he made a move toward her or anyone under her protection.
The gate slowly swung open and he walked through it. Almost immediately, he felt the drain of his gifts as he walked toward the house. Once he left the house, they would return maybe stronger than before. One of the myths surrounding the queen was that if she deemed one worthy, she could accentuate the gifts already present or could grant a new one. He supposed that he would find out one way or another if the myth was true.
Mikhail walked up to the door and waited for it to be opened. After several minutes, he was inside and following a young man to Violet's study. Mikhail had no idea of what to expect, the last time he had seen Violet she was young and quite beautiful with brown eyes and dark hair that fell past her waist. He knew that the reigning queen was suppose to gradually begin to age when they decided that they were ready to step down and that once the new queen was born or in Justine's case activated, the aging process sped up. The process would be reversed when they went to the realm of the queens before.
He had no idea of when Violet decided to give up her reign or how long Justine had been on her radar so he prepared himself as best he could. The young man tapped on the door not opening it until he heard Violet speak.
"Enter."
The young man opened the door and stepped aside. When Mikhail was inside, the door closed softly.
********
Violet didn't trust Mikhail even though she knew that he may have been many things but a liar wasn't one of them. She had to be honest; the fact that he didn't want to be compensated for his services unnerved her. Mikhail was if nothing else was a mercenary selling his skills to the highest bidder but yet...
The tap on the door distracted her; she smoothed her hair, stood and pushed the wheelchair out of the way. It was one thing to appear elderly and quite another to appear invalid. She smoothed down her blouse and straightened her skirt before she gave permission to enter.
As she waited, she wondered if Mikhail was as handsome as she remembered. He had been the topic of many discussions and dreams of many young vampire females including her. In her mind's eye, she could still see him, tall, and blond- haired, blue eyed and devastatingly handsome and she wondered what he would think about her.
She turned to face him and gave him a small rueful smile. He was every bit as handsome as she remembered if not more so.
"Mikhail."
"My queen." he replied with a bow. "You are as lovely as ever." he added meaning it. The waist length white hair and wrinkles did nothing to diminish her beauty but seemed to accentuate it.
"I thank you for that." Violet replied. "Now, let's get down to business, why are you offering your services to us?"
Mikhail started at the beginning and ended at what brought him to her doorstep.
"Jeremiah knows who and what she is and if we don't find her and her mate first, he'll kill the male and mate with Justine."
"Why does this concern you? And what is your stake in this?" Violet asked.
"Violet," Mikhail said with a patience that he didn't feel, "we may have had our differences but I have always been your faithful servant as I intend to be for the next queen. You also know that I can't stand for someone to have an unfair advantage as Jeremiah Mathers does. I only wish to even the odds."
"Do you know where she is?" Violet asked.
"No, I don't but you stand a better chance of finding her with my help."
Violet walked around the room for several minutes before replying.
"And how do I know that your goal isn't the same as Jeremiah's?" she asked.
"You only have my spoken word for it." Mikhail replied, "But if you wish to enter my mind, I won't stop you as a matter of fact, I am volunteering."
Violet blinked. For Mikhail to make such an offer was no small thing.
"You would do this?" she asked warily.
"I made the offer didn't I?" Mikhail asked, "My mind is yours to explore at your will."
Mikhail dropped to his knees and waited for Violet to make her decision.
*******
Lana held on to the back of Amanda's shirt, her eyes wide with fear as Jeremiah stepped into the living room.
"Mama?" she asked as she gripped the shirt tighter in her fist.
Jeremiah looked at Amanda and then peeked around her to look at Lana.
"My aren't you the pretty one!" he said in an attempt to win her over. "Your daddy must love you very much to make sure that you get a good education."
Lana wasn't buying it and her fear only intensified when Jeremiah smiled at her. She swallowed hard, let go of her mother's shirt and went back to sit with the baby who had fallen asleep.
"May I sit down?" Jeremiah asked.
"Oh, sure." Amanda replied nervously. Some of Lana's nervousness had rubbed off on her and she found herself wishing that she hadn't let Jeremiah in.
"You know what?" she asked, "My husband will be home in the morning, could you come back then?"
"I'm sorry but I only work at night and I'm here already." Jeremiah replied with a false smile plastered on his face.
"I know and I'm so sorry but I would like for you to leave." Amanda said as her feeling of unease grew.
"Do you know where your ex husband is?" Jeremiah asked ignoring the request that he leave.
"What? No, I haven't seen Quinn for a few weeks." Amanda replied.
"Does he have a cell phone number?" Jeremiah asked.
"Yes but... I thought that you said that you had it."
"I said that I couldn't reach him." Jeremiah said.
He had tried to find a number for Quinn but only found a home number. He found it hard to believe that given the type of work that Quinn did that he didn't have a cell phone. It came to him that he must have had a prepaid cell phone, one that was untraceable and required no contact.
"Amanda, may I call you Amanda?" Jeremiah asked the now frightened woman. "I know that you have a way of reaching Quinn and if you wish me to leave, you'll give me that number."
