Chapter 3

Dean was driving, so I said:

“I thought I would get a driver.” He replied:

“You have one.”

“You’re my driver?” A warlock as a personal chauffer. I could get used to that.

“Until you get used to things, I’ll be everything you need.” I wanted to ask him, if he would really be everything I need, but I so didn’t want to go there. So instead I asked:

“So, where will I live?”

“In a mansion. About an hour drive. And by the way, it is surrounded by a forest that you now own. More than enough place for you to hunt and run.” I smiled. That’s the best news that I’ve gotten today.

“So… I own everything?”

“Yes.” Now I was all nervous. We drove through smallish city, which I liked. I’m not a fan of big cities. Then the forest. Even from a car it looked absolutely amazing! Big, old forest just for me. It took us way too long to finally get to the mansion. But it was worth the wait. Imagine big old house, build with bricks with big windows, basically it reminded me of Bruce Wayne house. It was surrounded by a fence and there were two guards at the gate. That strike me as an odd thing, but I was overwhelmed. Dean parked the car and I almost flew out of it. I had a smile so big, I just couldn’t contain it! I looked at Dean:

“Are you sure, that this is mine?” He smiled, even thou just a little.

“Yes. Everything you see is yours.” I almost hoped inside. What lay behind the door was this huge parlour in golden colors. A woman waited for me.

“Hello miss Victoria. I’m your servant.” I stopped looking around me, and took a better look at her. She was kind of cute, as tall as me, that is 5.3 but she was a lot gentler looking. I mean where I had something to show, she was just skinny. I’m not saying I’m fat, I’m just curvy.

“I have a servant?” She nodded.

“Yes. My name is Nivea.” She bowed her head and I just stood there, looking kind of lost. At that moment Dean came in.

“Nivea, I’ll show her the room, you go ahead and prepare us a dinner. It was a long flight and drive, and we are both tired.” I just nodded and Nivea rushed away. Dean was carrying one of the suitcases and went in front of me.

“Just follow me.” So I did. We went to the stairs and right down the very long corridor. There were pictures hanged, some beautiful and others quite grotesque. Something caught my attention. I smelled blood and not just any blood, a vampire blood. I also smelled some of my kind, not only werewolf a few other shifters as well.

“Dean, why do I smell vampires and shifters?” He didn’t stop.

“I called a few guards. You’re never too careful.” I was confused again.

“But why do you need to be careful? Dean I’m sick of all these riddles you keep saying!” Now he stopped and looked at me.

“First of all, who are they? Who will tell me what to do? And what’s with all this security? Am I in danger? Is there some threat that I do not know? Just tell me, I’m a big girl!” I was screaming at him, at this point. She sighed, open the door, he was standing in front and went in. I followed.

“I don’t know who they are. She told me, I would be in charge in USA after she left. But while I was in England something happened. I was called by someone very powerful, since my memory is all but a blur of that time. All I remember is that he had her necklace, with a drop of her blood and that he said he’ll be the boss after Lilith is gone.” He shivered.

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. But he outranks me like a lot. I only have a necklace with her mark, as do you.” As he said that my fingers found the black mark. I knew that whoever wore the same mark as I did, was a friend. Apparently there were a few ranks that I didn’t even know about.

“And for some reason, I remember one part of conversation as clearly as I could. I think that it is etched in my brain.” I sat down to the nearest chair as he went towards me.

“Protect the wolf. If she dies or is harmed in any way, you shall die with her.” He took my hand.

“I don’t want to die, so I’ll keep you alive for any cost.” I was dead serious as I said:

“Fine. But who wants to kill me? And why now? Without them, I’m nothing. Just a werewolf with a few improvements.” He shook his head.

“I don’t know. But tomorrow I’ll visit a friend, who may shed some light on the things around here. So I’ll be gone for a day or two. You don’t need to worry, about anything, because I got eyes on you all the time, even when you don’t know. So you’ll be safe.” I wanted to say, that I don’t need protection, but I just stayed quiet. He turned around and whispered:

“Dinner is in half an hour. Freshen up. I’ll send Nivea up, so she’ll help you.” I whispered back at him:

“Like I need any help.” When he disappeared I look around and some of my good will returned. It was a room so big I could almost had horse races inside. A bed was not king size but double that. I remembered Lilith’s own bed was as big, and how Lily said, that this is an orgy sized bed. I guess she was right. There were four doors. One lead out into the hallway, where I came from. Doors on the left side lead to another room, so I locked it and put the key on the table. On the right side one lead to these huge closet. I mean, this was made for a princess with a dress for everyday. It was kind of sad looking, all empty and that. The last door led to my own bathroom. I had a bath that was big enough for 6 grown humans to bathe in. There was also a shower, another closet with towels, a sink so beautifully made I dared not to touch it, and a porcelain throne, which some may consider a toilet, but truly the name it’s not suitable. Because I know a throne when I see one. I returned to my own bluish room. Color was soothing blue near the bed, but when I was lying on the bed, looking away it seemed more aggressive blue near the doors. Well, I was absolutely in love with my room. I opened my suitcase, found some old pants a shirt, which was too big for me and went to take a shower. After the shower I felt amazing. i was just dressing when Nivea walked in.

“Dinner is waiting miss Victoria.” I smiled.

“I’m coming.” As soon as I walked out of the door I stopped and asked her:

“Where is the dining room?” She went in front of me, very politely.

“Follow me please.” And that I did.

“Dinner will be in the smaller dining room. The big one is only used at formal occasions.” She said small dining room and yet there was place for ten people. The table was made from some dark wood that smelled like home and chairs were so comfortable I could sleep right there. There were a lot of windows there and since the sun was already starting to set the room bathed in golden light. She offered me a seat and disappeared. When she brought the food, Dean appeared. I waited until both of us had our food in front of us, before I asked:

“When are you leaving?”

“First thing in the morning. I ordered a cell phone for you, Nivea knows where it is and my number is already in there. So if anything comes up, give me a call. I should be back in two days, hopefully sooner. You’ll have Nivea by day, and one of the guards will be here by night.”

“Which one?” He shrugged.

“I don’t know, they’ll be on some sort of rotation. But as soon as I get back I’ll introduce you to your permanent night guard.”

“Why can’t I just meet him?” I asked innocently enough.

“He doesn’t know who he’ll guard. So he’ll need a prep time.” I laughed.

“Am I that difficult?” He looked me straight in my eyes. D****t he has such beautiful green eyes:

“Yes. Because you think you don’t need a bodyguard and that you are strong enough to fight battles that you might not win. That makes you a very difficult person to protect.” I shrugged. That was true enough. After that I enjoyed my almost rare steak, which was so delicious.

“I think the cook knows I’m a werewolf.” Now it was Deans turn to laugh.

“Well, we do have a fair share of shifters working and they all have their own demands.” That I liked. Maybe I’ll even find someone to run with during the full moon next week. I finished first, so I just went to bed.

“Good night Dean and please be careful. I might still find some usefulness in you.” And up I went. Of course I got lost as soon as I was out of there. Lucky Nivea showed up and lead me to my room. I only undressed and fell to bed. I was asleep I in the matter of seconds.

First thing that I noticed, as I was waking up, was my ceiling. I felt like I was under the sea and I was watching the sun on the surface. Just as I was thinking were Lily was I remembered. With a heavy sight I left the bed and dragged myself to the little make up table that was somewhere in my room. On my way I slipped and fell. I started letting out some sound that did not sound normal. Nivea was with me in a matter of seconds.

“Miss are you all right?” I tried to wake up completely.

“Yes, I’m just clumsy. Don’t worry. You better direct me to make up table, and order me breakfast.” She helped me get up

“Actually it’s time for lunch. Would you rather have breakfast or lunch?” That woke me up.

“I slept that long? You should have woken me!”

“I’m really sorry, but Dean said to let you sleep in. I mean when he came to said goodbye you didn’t even stir, you were so deep in sleep.” That was odd.

“Order me lunch.” I said only to get her out of the room. I looked at the mirror, but there was no message for me. So I left one for her.

“Lily…” As I said her name, my face changed in the mirror. Most unusual.

“I miss you so much. Hope you’re doing better. Love you!” I putted the mirror back down and started looking for something to dress in. Someone was up early since all of my clothes were already neatly folded in my closet. I changed into jeans and t-shirt. I mean I am the mistress of the house so I can dress as I want to. I think.

“Your lunch is ready Miss.” Since Nivea walks quite loudly I was able to hear her from far away, so this time she didn’t scared me half to dead.

“That was quickly.” She just smiled. As I followed her to the dining room she told me:

“In two hours a seamstress will be coming. She needs to take all the measurement, since she’ll be designing a lot of clothes for you. There is a big meeting coming up next month and you’ll have to attend in your best attire. In the morning when I was unpacking your suitcases I noticed that you don’t have any formal gowns and that most of your clothes are comfortable or sporty. Which is fine for personal use, but sometimes we get unannounced visitors and you’ll need entirely new attire. So I took the privilege and called special seamstress that can get you anything and very fast. She is very expensive, but that is not the problem here.” I didn’t know how to respond, so I just said:

“Good.” And awkward silence it was. After lunch we waited for that damn seamstress as if she were a goddess. I was getting quite impatient until she finally showed up, whole hour too late.

I was looking outside my window, so I didn’t notice her arrival until Nivea greeted her. Because I didn’t want to look nervous I smelled. As soon as I discovered what her smell meant I wanted to jump out of the window, run and never come back. I was almost too afraid to turn around and see if my nose was working correctly. But somehow I managed to convince myself and turned around. My nose was correct, because there it was. Real live elf was speaking with Nivea. I moaned so loud that they both looked at me.