Justine Ch. 13

He listened without interrupting as David explained the situation.

"I'm sorry to hear about everything that's happened and of course you have my help but under one condition."

"Anything!" David said the relief evident in his voice.

"When this is over, we get together so that our mates can meet."

"Absolutely! Maurice, I cannot thank you enough!"

"You're welcome but here is the thing, my mate is expecting our second child and has been having a rough time of it. I won't leave her unless I am positive that she will be alright in my absence but I can send someone. Do you remember Gremlin?"

"I know of his race." David replied.

"I'll talk to him to see if he or any of his relatives can assist you and I will be there as soon as possible."

"Thank you a million times over!" David said.

"I'll call you back." Maurice said and hung up.

"Where are you headed to this time?" Regina asked from the doorway.

Maurice looked up at her, smiled and held out a hand to her pulling her into his lap when she reached him. He explained the situation to her and waited for her response. It still amazed him that she had adapted to the major change in her life so quickly especially given what had happened a few years before.

"Have you called Gremlin yet?" she asked.

"Not yet, I was about to when you came in." Maurice replied. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he rubbed her back.

"I think better." She replied. "I think that the worst is over." She said as she kissed his cheek. "Let me take Jon so that you can make your phone calls."

Regina stood up and took Jon who was very pleased to see her from Maurice and headed toward the door.

"Regina?" Maurice called after her.

"Yes?"

"Thank you and I love you."

"You're welcome and I love you too." She replied. "And if you want to go, I think that you should. Annie and the others can stay with me and the kids will have a ball playing together." She added.

"Are you sure?" Maurice asked.

"I'm sure and as much as I would love to go with you I think that I need to stay home. Just be safe alright?"

"I promise." He replied. As he watched her walk out with Jon, he wondered if she felt well enough to make love before he left.

"Yes!" she called back.

Maurice called Gremlin and explained the situation. It was ten minutes before Gremlin came back with an answer.

"We will be there in two hours' time; I want to give my mate a proper goodbye."

He called Regina's brothers Edward and Daniel to see if they wanted to go. After talking with their mates they also agreed to go and would be at the house in two hours with mates and children in tow.

The last phone call he made was to David, "We'll be there before morning."

He found Regina in the kitchen sipping on tea and munching on saltines.

"What's the word?" she asked.

"We're going." He replied taking Jon from Regina's lap. "Everyone will be here in a couple of hours which gives us plenty of time to say goodbye. Regina... are you sure that you're alright with me going?"

"I'm sure," Regina replied, "and to be honest, as much as I love you, your hovering is driving me a little crazy. And from what you said it doesn't sound too dangerous."

"It isn't." Maurice agreed, "He only wants help in finding her. He can handle things after that. I don't expect to be gone longer than the night after next."

A minute later, a housekeeper appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Did you need something?" she asked.

"Yes Leticia," Maurice replied, "Could you please care for Jon for a short time?"

"Certainly." The girl replied as she took Jon from him.

When she was gone, Maurice stood up and held his hand out to Regina. When she was standing, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"I don't have to go." He murmured against her lips.

"Yes you do." Regina replied. "I'm fine and I promise to call if I need you but just come home safe."

"You have my word." Maurice said as he led Regina to the nearest bedroom.

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Jeremiah froze at the sounds of Napoleon's screams and was glad that the woman wasn't one that he had found for him. From the sounds of it, he thought that Napoleon would need the cot more than he would. His blood curdled at the gut wrenching screams that he heard coming from a room at the end of the basement. He wondered what the woman was doing to Napoleon and then decided that maybe he didn't want to know. Instead, he thanked god that it wasn't him that was screaming this time.

It seemed as if the screams had gone on forever before they became heart breaking sobs and eventually even those went silent. Three hours later they brought Napoleon back to the cell and he wasn't moving of his own volition. They were going to throw him into the cell and onto the floor but Jeremiah stopped them.

"Please, let me take him."

The guards looked at each other, shrugged and threw Napoleon into Jeremiah's arms and walked away. Jeremiah helped Napoleon to the cot and eased him onto it and then looked for wounds and bruises frowning when he saw none.

"What did she do to you?" he asked.

"She did nothing that I haven't done to her for the past twenty-five years." Napoleon replied licking his dry lips.

"But you aren't marked." Jeremiah said confused.

"The welts on the surface are healed but not the ones beneath the skin." Napoleon explained. "She whipped over those...Jeremiah, she is only one. How will you survive thousands without going insane?"

"I don't think that I will be given that luxury." Jeremiah replied.

"You poor son of a bitch." Napoleon said as he fell into a fitful sleep.

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Josephine

"Come on love." Freddie said, "You have to feed."

He held out a cup of fresh blood. The woman that they had taken it from lay motionless on the sofa. At first Josephine thought that the woman was someone that Eppi and Freddie paid to feed from but it hadn't taken her long to realize that one of them, most likely Freddie had compelled the woman to follow him to the basement. It was obvious that the woman hadn't expected to die and when Josephine realized what was happening she tried to stop it. There was no need for the woman to die unless they were trying to prove a point. Now they expected her to drink the blood of the murdered woman.

"I don't want it." Josephine said, "You didn't have to kill her."

"Don't make me have to pour this down your fucking throat!" Freddie snarled showing yet another facet of his personality. He ignored the fact that Josephine was right; there was no need for the woman to die but he hadn't been the one to kill her, Eppi was. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. The woman was already dead.

"Are you trying to frighten me?" Josephine asked, "Is that why you killed that woman?"

"No." Freddie replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "but I am going to give you a choice, you either drink this like a good girl or I'll go for a walk and give you some alone time with Eppi so which is it?"

"Bastard!" Josephine snapped as she snatched the cup from Freddie, drained it and then threw it at him hitting him right between the eyes.

"Bitch!" he yelled and raised his hand to hit her.

"Go on, do it." She taunted. "Mark me so that David can see it."

Freddie lowered his hand realizing that she was right. They had to return her unmarked or they definitely wouldn't live to spend the twenty million American dollars that they were going to ransom her for. That also meant that the threats to leave her alone with Eppi were useless. Somehow, and he didn't know how she did it, their hostage now had the upper hand.

Freddie also realized belatedly that she was different from all of the other hostages that they had ever taken. They had been so afraid that they promised them the sun, moon and stars including their bodies if they would only be released. The offers were always declined for the reason that their latest hostage just cited, he and Eppi would be dead even if it was years from the time of the offense. Eppi knew this but yet he had still touched her. It didn't make sense.

"You really aren't scared are you?" Freddie asked.

Josephine's look gave him his answer and made his gut clench at the same time.

"He will find me." She said her voice strong in her conviction, "And when he does it won't be pretty so I'm going to suggest the same thing to you that I did your partner. Make your call, tell him what you want and let me go. I'll even give you a twenty-four hour head start before we come looking for you."

Freddie almost laughed but stopped when he realized that she was serious and her offer might be worth considering.

"Aren't you going to promise that you'll never look for us?" he sneered. "And for the sake of argument, let's say that I agree to your offer, what guarantee do I have that you're not lying? And I want seventy-two hours head start."

"I don't make promises that I can't keep." Josephine said, "Am I lying about the money? That's for you to decide but you have my word on the head start. I agree to the seventy –two hour head start.

Freddie was surprised by how quickly she agreed to the head start and how she didn't make an offer of money. She had the demeanor of someone who was confident that things were going to turn out well for her.

"Why are you giving in so easily?" he asked.

"I want to go home to my mate." Josephine replied. "I have more important things to do than to sit with a liar, murderer and kidnapper. So what are you going to do?" she asked impatiently.

Freddie looked back at Eppi who was watching reruns of his favorite sit-com, 'keeping up appearances'

"Oh Hyacinth!" he would exclaim and then burst into loud laughter.

Freddie was tempted to make the decision alone but he and Eppi always made any major decisions together. And since Eppi had been the one to find the woman, it was only fair that he have a say in what happened. As he turned away, Freddie missed the flash of anger in Josephine's black dark violet flame-rimmed eyes.

She watched Freddie walk toward Eppi, turn around and give her a curious look. She returned the stare and knew that there had to be a way to get around the wards, she only had to find it. Eppi. He was the weakest of the pair. Even if he didn't know how the wards worked, he might know something that could help. She sat back and relaxed against the wall to wait until she could talk to Eppi alone.

**********

David continued his physical and telepathic search for Josephine. After walking for another hour, he stopped. There were only two ways that he wouldn't be able to reach her. One of them was if she was dead and he knew that she wasn't, he would have felt it. That left only one other option, wards or shields of some kind. If that were the case, she could be anywhere in the city including within touching distance and he wouldn't know it.

He wondered just how much good having Maurice and the others would do. He knew of Gremlin's race. They were legendary but not even they would be able to find someone who was being warded. The help that he needed was more technical than physical. He had to find out who had the capability to ward like this and why they hadn't called with a demand for ransom. It was clear that this was a kidnapping but one of opportunity and not planned. The next question was who had her?

On a hunch, David called a business associate whose wife had been kidnapped several years before. She had been returned physically unharmed after a five-million dollar ransom had been paid. David talked with the woman's mate for several minutes before hanging up. The vampire's mate had been held for several days before the call came and that was the only time that he had spoken to her. When the ransom was paid he received a phone call telling him where his mate was.

David's question was why the vampire didn't have someone at the drop off site.

"I did but no one saw or sensed anything. The drop off point was warded as was the place where she was being held which was why I couldn't sense her. The only thing that I knew was that she wasn't dead. David, has Jeri been kidnapped?"

"Yes, did your mate remember anything about her captors?"

"There were two of them. One called himself Freddie and the other was Eppi. Freddie initially pretended to be her friend but he was the one in charge and not the other one as she had initially thought."

"Did they harm her in anyway?" David asked.

"Not physically but as you know, Bren isn't the emotionally strongest of mates. She had nightmares for weeks and before you ask, both of the abductors were vampire. She also thought that they were related in some way."

"Thank you for talking with me." David said and hung up and immediately called Maurice.

"I know why I can't reach Josephine! She's been kidnapped. They have her in a warded area. Yes... but don't come. The help I need is technical... I need to know who is strong enough to ward like this. There can't be many of us. I know that you can and so can I but to a much smaller degree. That house keeper of yours, the one who liked to do research, is she still with you? She did? Congratulate her for me. Do you think that she could do some research for me?"

David gave Maurice all of the information that he had, "call me if she discovers anything. Yes...Thank you."

He hung up and continued walking as he called everyone helping to look for Josephine and sent them home. There was nothing any of them could do. He continued walking after the last phone call was made. Now that he knew what was happening, he was calm and focused. The vampires who took Josephine would die for taking what wasn't theirs to take.

************

Jeremiah sat on the floor watching Napoleon sleep. Whenever Napoleon moved, he moaned and then cried out in pain. In his sleep he muttered apologies and then begged the forgiveness of the woman that he had tormented for the past twenty-five years. Jeremiah watched as Napoleon reached between his legs and then screamed in agony even though he was still asleep. That told Jeremiah one thing, Napoleon had abused the woman sexually as well. Still it was only one woman and not thousands. Even if she tormented him daily it would be better than what he had to face.

Napoleon opened his eyes and looked at Jeremiah.

"Holy mother of god." He moaned as he tried to sit up.

"How are you feeling? Jeremiah asked.

"I feel like shit! And I have an eternity of this!" he said and then realized what he was saying.

"My apologies... will they allow me to shower?"

"Whenever they choose to let you." Jeremiah said as he stood up and stretched. "Will you be seeing the woman again?"

"Not until this evening when we leave." Napoleon replied. "The one called Zoe is making sure that all of my assets with the exception of the club are transferred into Josephine's name. They are taking everything."

Jeremiah looked at Napoleon.

"Justine meant every word that she said to you. If you try to escape, you will be brought here. Stay with the woman and count yourself fortunate that you are getting off as lightly as you are."

"You know," A voice said from outside of the cell, "it amazes me that you give such good counsel but confuses me as to why you didn't listen when it was offered to you." Justine said.

"My Queen." Napoleon said as he dropped to his knees.

"You really should listen to him." Justine said. "If you try to escape you will be joining him in his cell." The door of the cell swung open and Justine stepped aside. "The shower and clean clothes are through that door; your owner will be here in thirty minutes."

Napoleon shot Jeremiah a sympathetic glance before he practically ran to the shower. He knew what would happen if he kept Josephine waiting.

"Sit down." Josephine said to Jeremiah when they were alone.

"I'll st..."

Jeremiah found himself flying through the air and landing hard on the cot. He sat up and looked at Justine who was now sitting in a chair with Buddy at her side. He wondered where Quinn was and breathed a little easier. Being alone with Justine was bad enough but the two of them together was almost overwhelming. His relief was short lived however, a moment later Quinn was sitting at Josephine's side.

"Hi sweetheart, sorry I'm late." He greeted her with a smile and a kiss as he sat down beside her in a chair that hadn't been there previously.

"No problem," she replied, "I just got her a few minutes ago myself."

She turned her attention back to Jeremiah. "I want to go over that night again and don't worry, I won't almost kill you again." she assured him. This time instead of just letting him talk, she interrupted him with questions.

"Was she alive when Malcolm took her away?"

"Just barely but yes, she was alive." He replied.

"Did Malcolm tell you that she was dead when he left her or did he just leave her there?" Justine asked.

"I...I don't know, I didn't ask." Jeremiah confessed.

"So it is possible that she is alive somewhere...did Malcolm say anything about where he took her?" Josephine asked.

"No, he just said that it was taken care of and I let it go at that....Justine if I may..."

"No you may not, you have a visitor." She said cutting him off, "and to you I am to be addressed by my title. Is that clear?"

"Yes my queen." Jeremiah whispered hating the fact that he had to address her by title.

"Good, your guest is here." Josephine said as she and Quinn stood.

Jeremiah looked up to see a petite, red-haired woman looking at him.

"Hello lover." She crooned in a voice whose sweetness contradicted the coldness in her blue eyes. "Remember me?"

"We'll leave you to it." Quinn said as he and Justine passed her, "Just remember that you can't kill him." He added only because he felt the woman's hatred and rage.

"I understand and thank you my king, my queen." She said with a bow of her head.

As they left the basement, they heard Jeremiah whimper and then the deceptively gentle voice of the woman that said her name was Maeve.

"Come lover, I've been dreaming of this moment for a very long time." There was a blood curdling scream followed by a "shh...we've just started."

*********

Napoleon's gut clenched when he heard the scream. It was that scream more than anything that convinced him that he had indeed been lucky and that he had to learn to adjust to his new life.

"It's time to go." A soft voice said. It was the voice of Josephine as it was before he broke her. The angry woman that had whipped him and did things to his cock that he didn't think were possible was concealed under a cool demeanor. During those hours with her, he had learned something, he hadn't broken her at all but merely subdued that part of her and now it was coming back to life. He had no illusions as to what his life would be like, he would suffer especially at the beginning but in time he hoped that she would level out as he had. But even if it didn't, he was in far better shape than Jeremiah was; his life was going to be and was a living hell.

As if in agreement, Jeremiah screamed again.

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Josephine

Joshua Archer aka Freddie left Josephine sitting in the corner and went to confer with his cousin Frank aka Eppi about the offer. His gut was screaming at him to accept it but he had to let Eppi have his say and besides, he didn't want to give up the money. They would be set for life with this one last, unexpected kidnapping.

Eppi listened to the offer while watching Josephine watching them. It hadn't escaped him that somehow they had lost control of the situation. He didn't like it and he didn't like the way in which she was looking at them. Suddenly, he wanted to be rid of her.