The Royal Flush (Knights of the Darkness Chronicles(Book Three)) (33 page)

Natasha walked back over to Elise, who was giggling coyly.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“I’m just laughing at you,” Elise said.

“Well, it’s kind of funny, because when other people beg for my food, it annoys me. But when one of you guys asks for my food, I know it’s because you can’t help but do that, and it doesn’t bother me at all. Actually, I think it’s kind of cute and definitely amusing.”

Elise nodded.

Natasha looked at Elise’s stomach longingly. “I want children,” she said wistfully.

“I can tell. Are you going to have any?” Elise asked as she rubbed her stomach.

“I just want to pick the right person to father my baby. I would love for it to be Xavier or Darian, but they can’t reproduce.” Natasha grimaced. “Oh God, I just made them sound like some sort of science project.”

“Natasha, you’re a lucky woman,” Elise said.

“Yeah,” Carmen interj
ected. “You have two loving, tender, rich, powerful, gorgeous men loving you

Oh did I mention that they were filthy stinking rich?”

“Yes you did.” Natasha playfully tapped Carmen on her thigh. “I know I’m fortunate. I love them so much.” Natasha’s express
ion grew serious. “Last night when Xavier was... ,” her voice drifted off.

Elise placed her hand gently on Natasha’s thigh in a comforting gesture. “I know honey. I know.”

“I want a family one day. I only hope they will understand and want one, too,” Natasha said.

“Do not worry, they will understand.” Elise patted Natasha’s knee then drew back. She looked at her, and smiled. “So, who would be your choice for… you know… anyone I know?”

Natasha faked an expression of being appalled. “Such crudeness, and from a French Duchess, no less! For shame!” She laughed.

“Who’s being crude?” Elise placed her hand over her heart, “certainly not I,” she said with a mischievous grin.

Natasha gave her a sly look.

“Oookay.” She chuckled, before growing serious. “To answer your coy question, I have someone in mind. Of course he doesn’t know it yet, and I am hoping that he won’t turn me down.”

“Who?” Carmen asked, giving herself away to the fact that she was listening in on their conversation.

Elise looked at Carmen and shook her head, smirking.

“I can’t help it!” Carmen said in her defense.

“Yeah, curiosity killed the cat,” Natasha teased.

“Yeah, but satisfaction brought her back,” Carmen said with a yelp of excitement and a snap of her finger. A few of the others in the room laughed, including Elise and Natasha.

“Well, I suppose that there is no place in this house where I can reveal the name without
everyone
knowing anyway... So… I want to ask Matthew,” Natasha said. “This doesn’t leave this room!” She pointed at the others, who nodded, swearing to secrecy.

Elise’s mouth dropped open, her eyebrows raised. Daniel popped his head inside of the den and looked at Natasha with a shocked expression.

“That is a name I wasn’t expecting to hear,” Elise said. She thought about Matthew and what she knew of him, she smiled. “I don’t think that he would mind you asking. As a matter of fact, he seems the type of man who would be honored.”

“I hope so,” Natasha said.

She had decided a month ago that she when she was ready to have a baby, she wanted the donor to be Matthew. She also wanted to surprise her two lovers with the revelation. She fantasized about their reactions for a few minutes, then something very important came to her mind. She turned to Elise.

“I knew there was something I had wanted to tell you before I got distracted. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you this earlier. I had another dream about Rachel and Nicole; they were fed only a little today. The food was pushed through a tiny slot at the bottom of the door. They are very weak and in pain.”

The room grew silent and everyone stared at Natasha, making her feel a little bit unsettled.

“Man, I hate being the bearer of bad news,” Natasha said nervously.

“No, no, do not worry. I’m glad that you told us. It’s something that we all wanted to know. I’ll call Xander and tell him,” Elise said, as she reached for the telephone on the end table, dialing Xander’s cell. She waited patiently for him to answer which he did after the third ring.

“Hello?” he asked, his crisp British accent adding certain elegance to the word.

Elise proceeded to tell him about Natasha’s vision.

“I see. Thank you for informing me. We will keep in touch,” Xander said.

“Please do,” Elise said before she ended her call.

“I’m glad to know they’re unharmed. Looks like that vampire may keep to his word,” Natasha stated, and then she remembered something she had wanted to ask before the others flew to Montana. “Elise, what’s the difference between the
Lunar
and the full moon? Xander made a lot of references to the
Lunar
and I want to know what it is.”

Elise’s eyebrows arched. “I’m actually surprised that you didn’t ask this of Warren.”

“Well, just kind of dawned on me, call me slow. But can you explain it to me?”

“I can. As you know, a full moon is present when the sun isn’t or is setting. We don’t change into our animal forms at that point, but our bodies are physically preparing for the change to come. We can feel it. The
Lunar
is the actual moment when the full moon is at its peak, which forces us to change forms.”

“Ah. Okay, I get it now.” Natasha nodded. “So that means you’ll all be out frolicking in the woods tonight?”

“I’m afraid so. But you needn’t be worried. Sebastian, Matthew, Madeleine and I will be here with you. Madeleine and I can’t change forms during our pregnancy. You’re safe here.”

“Oh that‘s right! That makes me feel a lot better,” Natasha said, half joking, half serious.

“Completely safe,” Elise assured. They continued to talk about a series of topics, anything that could help keep their spirits up.

***

Tatiana and the others discussed the information Xander had gathered with his conversation with Elise.

“So we were right in thinking that this band of mortals were waiting for a
Lunar
night to hunt our members,” Tatiana stated.

“It would seem so, my darling. Problem is we will all be under the
Lunar’s
spell tonight. We will all be in full form, this will limit us somewhat. We need to go over our strategy one more time,” Xander said.

“I agree.” Sergio wiped his eyes as he sat up straight on the sofa. He looked at the cushions and smiled. “This is one fucking comfortable sofa.”

“No argument here,” Justin said. “What time is it?”

Nagesa looked at his watch, “3:45pm”

“So we’ve had about six hours of sleep.” Devin yawned. “Oh man, I would kill for another cat nap,” he said as he rose from the sofa, stretching his muscles.

“Okay, we’ve got to get right down to business. We’re all going to be in full animal form, how are we going to synchronize our attack?” Sergio asked the others.

“We have to take into account that Darian will have to visit his Master before we can do anything. Depending on how long that visit will take determines how much time we have before the
Lunar.
When we change forms, we’ll have to hunt our enemies down in groups,” Xander said. Everyone nodded.

“Fine with me, how many members per team?” Adrian asked.

“We’re going against twelve... well eleven people, possibly more if they have guards who are fully armed with weapons that can kill us within an instant. We’ll be on their territory and we’re unfamiliar with the area,” Warren added.

Xander nodded. “The good news is, they’ll be in teams, separated from one another from what Darian has told us. If we get there in time we may be able to stop them before they began their hunt.”

“Why would they do that?” Devin asked. “You’d think they’d stick together because it’ll be dangerous the other way.”

“Because, you know as well as I know that hunting multiple prey in smaller packs is a more efficient strategy,” Sergio said before whacking Devin on the back of his head.

“Ow, what was that for?!” Devin asked as he rubbed the tender area.

“Wanna another one?” Sergio threatened playfully, hand poised overhead.

“No! Geez!” Devin inched away from Sergio to the end of the sofa. Sergio chuckled as he lowered his arm. “I was just asking because hunting a starving shifter in a small group isn’t an easy feat, might even lead to their deaths.”

“It would be what they deserved,” Sergio commented.

“They have done this before, so who knows what kind of layout they have on their territory. We’ll need to be mindful of traps,” Xander pointed out.

“Going back to them being in separate teams… yes, it’s an efficient strategy, and even though a starving shape-shifter is dangerous and unpredictable, they are also weakened. They won’t be at the top of their game. So as far as these ‘hunters’ are concerned, they have the upper hand,” Tatiana said.

“Just so we’re clear and not speculating any more, we spilt up into teams and hunt them as they hunt Rachel, Gary and Nicole. If they don’t know that we are on the land, it’ll be easier to take them down with the element of surprise. Is that the plan?” Warren asked.

Xander nodded. “That is the plan.”

“What about the vampires, they will have the total advantage, should they hunt alone, or with one of our teams?” Warren asked.

“I think it’ll be wise for us to have one vampire on each of our teams. We’re not hunting humans with regular weapons. We’ll have to stick together and watch each other’s backs,” Adrian said as his stomach began to rumble.

“I’m with you on that. Plus I agree with what your stomach said, too,” Justin said with a chuckle joined by the others.

Everyone grew quiet when Xander spoke. “Then it is decided, when they awake we will tell them what we have discussed. Let us pick our teams.” Each person looked at the other.

“Xander and I should be the team leaders,” Sergio said.

Everyone appeared to be considering the arrangement for a few seconds.

“I have no problem with that,” Warren said.

Everyone else agreed.

“Should we have both team leaders stand side by side, then each one take a turn picking a member,” Justin suggested.

“Naw, man, because then it always comes down to the last one to be picked and that person has to feel like the weakest member,” Devin replied shaking his head.

“Hmph, you must have been picked last a few times,” Justin teased with a chuckle

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“All I’m saying is you sound like you’re speaking from experience.” Justin laughed.

“I hope they pick you last.” Devin flipped him the bird playfully, which caused Justin to laugh all the harder.

“Are you two through?” Adrian flashed Justin a look that told him enough games.

“I’m sorry,” Justin and Devin said in perfect unison.

Sergio looked at the both of them, shaking his head. “The two of you are just creepy right now.”

“Well, let us continue,” Xander said, bringing everyone’s attention back to the matter at hand. He flashed Devin and Justin a look before moving on. They remained quiet as he began to list the teams. “I will name the teams based on the abilities of each individual within my wolf Pack. Sergio you may pick which team to combine your Pride with since you are aware of their abilities.” Sergio nodded. Xander set up the initial team members from the wolf Pack.

“Adrian and Nagesa will be on one team,” Xander said. Both Adrian and Nagesa nodded in agreement. “Warren and Justin will be on the other. Tatiana and I will team up.”

“Devin will be on the team with Adrian and Nagesa. Miranda will be on the team with Xander and Tatiana and I will Join Warren and Justin,” Sergio said.

“Excellent choices,” Nagesa said with a slight smile on his lips. Adrian chuckled.

“I’m hungry,” Devin whined. “Can we eat before we go?”

“I do not see any reason why we cannot,” Xander said.

“I’ll buzz the attendants,” Tatiana said as she pressed the call button on the wall. A few seconds later, one of the human servants walked into the room.

“How may I service you?” he asked.

“If it is not too much trouble, we would like to order dinner,” Tatiana requested. “If you need help, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh no ma’am, that will not be necessary. What is it that you would like to eat?” the servant asked as he waited with his pen and paper.

“I’ll take the liberty of ordering, I think that I have a pretty good idea what is on everyone’s mind.” Tatiana gave the servant their order and looked at the others. “Does that sound satisfying?” she asked, with a sweet smile.

“I can taste the melted butter on my potatoes already,” Warren said.

Tatiana giggled, turning to face the servant. “That will be all. Oh! I almost forgot. For everyone, iced tea and...” she looked at Sergio, “...milk?”