Justine Ch 09

Violet paced the length of her room several times before finally stopping to look out into the courtyard that she couldn't enjoy in the daylight. The indoor garden was going to be her gift to the incoming queen but it looked like she was going to be the one to enjoy it instead. She warned herself not to fall into melancholy; it would suit no purpose other than to make her extended time here more painful. Of course, there was always the chance that Justine would prevail; she had already overcome obstacles that she wasn't sure that she could have overcome herself.

From the beginning, she wanted to help Justine but the rules prohibited it, Justine as every queen before her had to prove herself and she was beginning to look like the strongest queen yet. Violet looked wistfully at the dress that she had chosen to wear for her reunion with Edward and started to put it away. She picked it up, looked at it and laid it back on the bed. To put it away was the equivalent of saying that she had no faith in Justine and that wasn't true.

She wondered what the previous queens were thinking as they watched the events as they unfolded. Were they in support of Justine and her king or were they hoping that she would fail? If she failed, it would be the first time in known history that it happened and she- Violet would have to remain until another queen rose.

Violet walked away from the window after saying a silent prayer that Justine was successful and not just because she was tired, she wanted her Edward back. She missed making love with him and although she as queen could have taken lovers, she never did. She wanted to go before her king and be able to tell him that she remained loyal to him in every way in his absence.

She really hadn't given too much thought about the physical part of their relationship until Justine appeared. It was something that she pushed to the back of her mind... they were so close to being together again, so damned close.

Her thoughts turned toward Mikhail. While she still didn't trust him, she didn't think that she had much choice in allowing him to help. At least she knew where he was and he hadn't lied about hating unfairness. On more than one occasion much to the chagrin of his employer, he had temporarily switched sides to even the odds. A part of her wanted to go see what was happening, all she had to do was.... "no." she murmured, she would sit and wait just as all those before her had.

*******

Jeremiah glared at Amanda when the baby started crying yet again.

"Shut that brat up!" he snapped as he released Amanda from the compulsion to sit still and to remain quiet.

"Stop yelling at her!" Amanda replied angrily her nerves frayed.

"Just shut her up!" Jeremiah snapped as he turned away.

"I want Lana to come with me; she probably needs to use the bathroom."

"No, she stays." Jeremiah replied.

"Lana, come with mommy." Amanda said ignoring Jeremiah.

When Lana didn't move or give any indication that she heard her, Amanda tried again. "Lana, come with me."

Amanda looked at Jeremiah and then back at Lana. Lana had been quiet but Amanda assumed that it was because of fear but now she wasn't so sure. She looked alright but a little dazed and pale. "Lana? Honey?"

Jeremiah watched as Amanda tried to elicit a response from the girl and then turned away. A part of him hated what he was doing but he had managed to convince himself that he had no choice.

"What did you do to her you son of a bitch?" Amanda whispered, "What did you give her?"

"I gave her nothing." Jeremiah replied not bothering to turn around to answer her.

"Then why won't she talk or move? What in the fuck did you do to my baby?" Amanda asked her voice shrill with anxiety.

"I told you...."

Jeremiah bellowed in pain as a heavy object of some kind smashed into the back of his head. Out of reflex, anger and pain he flew across the room faster than Amanda thought possible and grabbed her by both arms. Amanda let out a scream that she hoped would attract the neighbors and that someone would think to call the police and Adam.

"You bitch!" Jeremiah swore as he slapped Amanda across the face unaware that his true face was showing.

"Oh my god!" Amanda whispered as she looked into Jeremiah's face that was filled with anger, his eyes were dark and flashing ominously. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed in a voice no longer filled with anger but fear when she saw the fangs slowly descend. "Oh my....."

"Shut the fuck up!" Jeremiah commanded, "and you too!" he said glaring at the squalling baby. "Sit down and don't you dare move from that spot!" he said pointing to the empty spot next to Lana trying hard to ignore thin trickle of blood that was making it's way down Amanda's chin.

The scent of it combined with her fear made his stomach rumble with hunger and his loins burn with desire. The combination of blood and fear had always been the ultimate aphrodisiac for him, which was why he never broke in the merchandise himself. On more than one occasion, he had to give a vampire their money back and find a replacement because he had a hard time controlling himself. Moreover, if he touched this human woman, he would kill her and then all bets were definitely off.

He stomped out of the living room and went to the kitchen, found a washcloth, wet it and carried it back to Amanda.

"Wash your face." he said as he threw the wet cloth at her.

His stomach still rumbled but he was in better control now that the scent of blood had diminished. One thing was clear, this had to end soon or the woman and the two children would become dinner.

"Where in the fuck are you?" he asked aloud and then he froze, someone other than Mikhail was here.

*******

Justine, Quinn and Mikhail tensed when they heard Jeremiah's bellow of pain and anger. Quinn ran for the door but Mikhail stopped him.

"Get your damned hands off of me!" Quinn said as he struggled to break free of Mikhail's grip.

Mikhail ignored him and held him fast.

"They're fine!" he assured Quinn, "its Jeremiah that's hurt!"

"He'll kill them!" Quinn replied as he doubled his efforts to break free of Jeremiah's grip.

"If he does it will be because we've acted rashly." Mikhail said, "Now calm yourself and let's come up with a plan."

Justine walked over to Quinn, she understood how he must have felt but Mikhail was right.

"Quinn, he's right." she said, "We have to think this through."

Quinn looked at Justine and nodded.

"Let me go." he said to Mikhail, "I'm calm."

Mikhail slowly released Quinn ready to grab him again in case he decided to make a run for the house.

Several minutes later they came up with the only plan that they could come up with, Quinn had to be the one to go into the house. Zoe objected but couldn't come up with a better idea although she was tempted to tell Justine that the humans inside were collateral damage. She kept her mouth shut because she already knew what the response would be from both her and Quinn- an unequivocal no.

Justine tried to assure Zoe that she would be with Quinn and as soon as he was in the door, he would invite them in but Zoe was far from reassured.

"Too much can go wrong!" Zoe argued, "Quinn could be dead before he got the first word out."

"There is something that you're not aware of." Mikhail said, "We have a slight advantage in that Jeremiah cannot sense the q.... Justine. If she is with Quinn then he won't be able to sense him either."

"And what happens if he does? He grabs Justine and takes off for parts unknown until he mates with her!" Zoe exclaimed.

"There is that possibility but....."

"Everyone just shut the hell up!" Quinn roared, "Time is running out! Does anyone even know when the bastard last fed? And correct me if I'm wrong but isn't fear a turn on for you guys?"

The group fell silent, Quinn they realized was right. If Jeremiah hadn't fed and if the humans were afraid which was a given, then the situation was even more dangerous than they thought.

"Now, Justine and I are going up to the house." Quinn said taking charge, "You." he said pointing at Mikhail will come in through the front after us, "You and you" he said pointing at Pam and Zoe "will take the back and the roof, I don't care which of you does what but I don't want this bastard to get away, got it?"

Justine felt a little tingle in her nipples and between her legs but ignored it, there were other things to think about. As the others went to their post, she took Quinn's hand and held him back for just a moment.

"What?" he asked impatiently.

"They need a moment to get situated." Justine said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I also want your promise that you won't try to take Jeremiah, leave him to me and Mikhail....."

As soon as she said it, Justine knew that she said the wrong thing. She was thinking about his safety and the fact that he was human but he interpreted her statement as saying that he needed to be protected which was true but....

Quinn pushed her back, kissed her and headed toward the house not caring if the others were ready or not. By the time he reached the bottom step, Justine was beside him holding his hand.

********

Jeremiah's stomach rumbled loudly. He looked over at Amanda and the girls and then quickly looked away. Although his true face was no longer visible, he could still see and smell the fear that radiated from Amanda. The girls had fallen asleep because of the mild compulsion that he used but Amanda he wanted awake. If he had put her to sleep, the scent of fear would be gone and he had decided that if he couldn't feed...

He could only imagine what Malcolm would be saying right now.

"Uncle you didn't think this through, leave now while you have a chance!" or there would have been the "I told you so." And Malcolm would have been right as he was about most things like this. It occurred to Jeremiah that had he listened to Malcolm, he wouldn't be sitting here hungry and in need of physical release. It also occurred to him that as much as he liked to think that he was the brains of the operation, he wasn't and never had been... Malcolm was and had only let him think that he was in control. It seemed that his late nephew wasn't a pussy after all and had been much smarter than he had been given credit for.

"Put the child down." Jeremiah commanded.

Amanda in her fear had worried her lip until it bled again and Jeremiah could no longer resist. The scent of Amanda's blood combined with the scent of her fear filled his nostrils. He inhaled deeply as once again his true self reappeared. He moaned softly when he heard Amanda's heart racing in fear, his cock throbbed as he thought about tasting her blood that would be all the sweeter because of her fear

He stood up making sure that she saw his erection. He wanted her to see what would be deep inside of her as he drank her fear-sweetened blood.

Amanda's eyes widened as she saw how far out Jeremiah's slacks protruded out in the front. Her lips began to move in silent prayer as she looked up at his face and saw not an ounce of humanity or compassion in his eyes and the fully descended fangs.

Her mind tried to reject what she was seeing. Vampires weren't real. Vampires were things of legend but yet here approaching her was one of those mythical creatures. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out, then she thought that if she offered herself to him that he would leave the girls alive, she didn't care about what happened to her. Then she thought about Adam who had taken her and Lana in and loved them both, she silently told him how much she loved him and how sorry she was that she had let this monster into their home. Lastly, she said another silent "I love you" to her girls.

Jeremiah stood in front of her, reached down and roughly yanked her up from the sofa. He moved his face close to hers and smiled when she tried to pull away, all thoughts of offering herself to her gone.

"You smell.... Delicious" he said and licked the side of her face, relishing the sweet taste of her fear. He tailed his lips to the throbbing pulse in her neck and opened his mouth exposing his fangs as he ground against her.

"I am very much in need." he whispered almost apologetically.

He gently kissed her neck, prepared to bite and he froze.

Mikhail and the others had moved closer to the house.

********

Quinn stood at the door, looked at Justine who nodded at him and banged on the door. He waited a moment and then banged on the door again.

"Come on you son of a bitch!" he muttered, "open the damned door!"

*******

Jeremiah dropped Amanda as if she was a hot potato, his need temporarily forgotten. He knew who was at the door. Quinn O'Dell but was the new queen with him?

"Finally!" Jeremiah said through the door, "I was about to have dinner and dessert all at once."

"Where are they?" Quinn asked.

"Well, the little ones are asleep and your ex-wife looks as if she's about to have a mental breakdown." Jeremiah replied.

"Let them go and I'll come with you." Quinn replied.

Justine tugged at his hand in an attempt to remind him that this wasn't the plan.

"Hmmm, are you offering to step aside so that I can be king?" Jeremiah asked.

"King?" Quinn asked, "What in the fuck are you talking about?"

Jeremiah hesitated, and then realized that if Quinn didn't know what he was, then more than likely neither did Justine. Which meant that she didn't know that she was the new queen and that was to his advantage. Inadvertently, Quinn had just provided him with a loophole if he could only exploit it before Mikhail or one of the others interfered.

"Please excuse me," Jeremiah said smoothly, "Every man wants to be king of his castle and to have a lovely queen at his side does he not?"

"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked again as his brain tried to process what he knew to be a trick.

"There is a way that we can all walk away from this alive." Jeremiah replied, "All you have to do is give me what is mine and that happens to be the very lovely Justine."

********

Zoe looked down at Mikhail from her place on the roof. He looked back at her and shook his head no. They couldn't interfere unless Quinn and Justine's life was in danger. The ball was now in Quinn's court.

******

"Just think about it Quinn," Jeremiah continued, "You, your daughter, her sister and your ex wife get to live if you hand the q... Justine over to me." Jeremiah silently cursed his near fatal error. He had completely forgotten about Amanda who he thought was back on the sofa with the girls.

*******

Quinn closed his eyes and listened to Jeremiah talk. He had heard that tone before from his father who was a retired used car salesman. Suddenly, he understood and much to Justine's horror, he agreed to the deal. She gave his hand a hard yank that made him grunt with pain.

"Trust me." he mouthed to her.

"NO!" she mouthed back and looked around for Buddy.

"Open up." Quinn said.

*********

Amanda lay on the floor dazed and sure that she had lost her mind. She looked at the sleeping girls and then at Jeremiah who had his back toward her. It seemed that he had forgotten all about her. She swallowed the anger that she had let this creature into her home and tried to think of a plan. Keeping an eye on Jeremiah, Amanda slipped into the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife that she could find without actually looking and slipped back into the living room.

She had no sooner sat down when Jeremiah turned, glanced at her and turned back toward the door dismissing her. She felt ashamed that she really thought that Quinn would leave them in danger. While it was true that he had his issues, he never physically endangered them by bringing his gambling and drug buddies home with him. She felt shame at the fact that Lana had more faith in her father than she did. She gripped the knife tightly in her fist, she had no idea of where she was supposed to stab him but if it bought Quinn some time then she would just go for it.

It then struck her that Quinn was as defenseless against the vampire as she was and that he could die as well. That would leave Adam to care for the girls provided they survived. A sob caught in her throat as she visualized her girls' dead and Adam all alone. She gently touched each girl, said a prayer and waited.

*******

Violet felt nauseated with anxiety, there were only a few hours until morning and then things would be at a stalemate until the evening. Once again, the urge to look into the silver tray almost overwhelmed her and once again, she just barely managed to resist. She didn't want to be known as the first queen to have cheated by watching events as they unfolded.

"Damn it!" she swore as she left her room and went to the room where Edward lay in state. She would sit and talk with him confident that he could hear every word that she was saying. She kissed his cold cheek and began to tell him of the events of the day. By the time she was finished, she was considerably calmer. She decided to stay where she was until she received word, she wasn't sure that she could resist looking into the silver tray.

*******

"Are you going to let me in or what?" Quinn asked impatiently.

"Is the .... Is Justine with you?" Jeremiah asked.

"She's nearby, all I have to do is call her and she'll be here in less than five minutes but before I make that call I want to see Amanda and the girls."

"Call first." Jeremiah said.

"Look, we can do this until the sun comes up-which by the way won't affect me so what are we going to do? I'm not calling Justine until you meet my demands." Quinn said firmly.

"I'll kill one of them... your girl." Jeremiah countered.

"You could." Quinn replied calmly, "but you won't because if you do, between Justine, myself and Violet...."

Quinn stopped, why did he just mention Violet's name? He had never addressed her by her first name because he didn't know what it was. She had been introduced to him as Mrs. Rhodes so why...

"How do you know Violet?" Jeremiah snapped.

"Open the damned door!" Quinn demanded.

*********

At the mention of Violet's name, Jeremiah knew that it was over even if Quinn didn't know or understand why he used Violet's name in the same sentence as Justine. The question was what was he going to do? He knew that Mikhail was here but who was with him? He sniffed the air and tried to track the scents of the others. There were more other than Quinn but he didn't consider them a serious threat. The two others were... Female! He realized. His hopes rose even more when he realized that that one of them was a newborn and that the other wasn't very old. He could escape because Mikhail would be his only serious obstacle.

The next question was where he could go where he wouldn't be found. The answer wasn't a pleasant one but at least he would still be alive. He could go to ground he thought... "Yes" he murmured under his breath and then frowned. If he did that, he would come back penniless, the queen would take control of all of his accounts and his homes and even if she didn't who knew what currency he would come back to? If he went to his office long enough to grab the cash in his office safe, the issue remained the same, he would be essentially homeless and penniless.

"To die or not to die?" he asked himself. If he chose to run and that was exactly what he would be doing, could he go back to being poor and having no place to live? He wondered. The memories of his stomach clenching in pain as he and his family hid in the root cellar came back and then there was the question of how long he had to stay hidden before he could come out. "Centuries." he murmured, and for what? Just so he could say that he was alive? Even if he went to ground for centuries and came back, he would never be able to be in the public eye of the vampire world. Meaning that he could never accumulate the wealth that he had now without coming under the radar of the queen whomever she happened to be.