Werecat Avenue (3 page)

“
Gretchen, there you are!
My new pink table will be delivered Thursday.”

“
That's great.”

Laya and Gretchen shopped awhile longer.
Gretchen bought the wooden desk and a shelf Cam made and Laya found
an antique witch hat she thought would be a funny gag gift for her
mom. They continued shopping for the rest of the day, going from
shop to shop. By the end of the day, Gretchen was exhausted but had
almost everything she needed for her new place.

*****

Adrian sat in his living room waiting for
Queen Maryebella; she had requested a meeting. Meetings with the
royals were never good. They were always up to something. He wanted
to get the meeting over with so he could start his preliminary
hunt, to start looking around. Camille wasn't the typical Fae he
was sent to hunt down, she was less than a petty criminal in his
eyes, but a job was a job. The Fae glass started to fog up and he
saw an image.

“
I am Queen Maryebella of
the superior Unseelie Court of the Other Realm. Are you
Adrian?”

“
Yes, My Queen, how can a
lowly enforcer such as myself be of service?” Adrian hated being
humble but etiquette required it.

“
Yes, yes, now on to
business. Adrian, I understand you are in pursuit of a certain
fugitive that has escaped the Seelie prison.”

“
Yes, Queen Brianna has
charged Camille Maryweather for having sex with the
king.”

“
Well, that part is true,
but the real reason she is after her is because the young Fae in
question is with child.”

“
Why would that matter?”
asked Adrian, getting irritated at the politics already.

“
The Queen can't conceive,
so when she found out that the king impregnated the girl she had
her imprisoned and was planning on executing her.”

“
This is very fascinating
information, really, but how does this impact my job?”

“
My dear Adrian,” she
laughed. “You have been among humans too long, you have lost your
patience.”

The queen began disrobing while talking to
Adrian. She lay on her bed naked among her pillows. Many Fae felt
completely comfortable with nudity but Adrian, who spent most of
his adult life among humans, felt uncomfortable.

“
Back to what I was saying:
if the queen is proven infertile she will be dethroned. I am
offering the young pregnant Fae a home and refuge from an
unwarranted death.”

“
Not to offend, my Queen,
but why would you be so generous to a lowly Seelie
girl?”

“
Does it matter why? I am
offering to save her from certain death. All I am asking is you
locate her and inform me, nothing more.”

“
I will consider what you
have said and will get back to you.”

“
So be it, Adrian the
enforcer.”

“
Good tidings and generous
lovers my Queen.” Queen Maryebella nodded and then
disappeared.

The Fae glass was clear
once again. Damn Fae politics, nothing was easy with those people.
Of course, that was the problem: they weren't people. He was glad
that the whole
meeting
was over. He needed to talk to Queen Brianna before he did
anything, but how to proceed without making the queen
angry?

Chapter 3

King Kieran looked out the balcony of his
home in the French Quarter. He was enjoying watching the people
walk by. He had come a month ago looking for his beloved Camille.
He had bought the house six months ago, planning on running away
with her to start a life. He didn’t marry the queen for love and
they had never been able to conceive a child. The moment he saw his
beautiful Cam he was in love and the queen knew it, which was why
she had imprisoned Cam. He had paid some friends to help her escape
but had been unable to locate her since.

He had set up a meeting tonight to hire
someone to help him find her. It was risky to find someone to trust
that wouldn’t sell the information to the Queen. He heard a knock
at the door; it was time for his meeting.

“
Hello, you must be Blake,”
he said as he answered the door. “Come in.”

Blake entered the house, walked over to the
couch, and sat down. He was only 5’8 but he had the bulk to make up
for it. He had a menacing look about him but the King knew he was
the man to get the job done. Blake had naturally green hair but
choose to dye it black rather than expending energy to create mist
to camouflage it.

“
My King, You have a job
for me?”

“
Call me Kieran. This is
unofficial business, let’s be more casual shall we?”

“
As you wish Kin…Kieran,
how may I be of service?” Blake asked smugly.

“
What I need from you is
discretion, the Queen must never know.”

“
Luckily, I haven’t been to
the Other Realm in 600 years. I have no loyalty, I consider myself
independent. I take whatever job comes my way; I do my work collect
the fee and move on. It’s what I do”

“
Excellent. The love of my
life, Camille was charged and sent to prison. The Queen caught us
and didn’t like that I had fallen in love with her. I arranged for
Cam’s escape but haven’t been able to locate her since. I know she
is somewhere in this area. I just need you to find her for me so we
can start a life together.”

“
This is quite unusual; no
one has ever left a Queen for a common Fae.” Blake was smiling; he
knew this job was going to pay quite well.

“
There is nothing common
about Cam, she had my heart the moment I saw her at
court.”

“
I will contact you with a
price and what I will need, this won’t be cheap.”

“
I will pay anything to
find her and to stay under the radar.” Kieran was pacing the room
running his hands through his dark blue hair. Unlike many Fae
Kieran choose not to hide his hair with mist; to him there was no
reason to, humans knew of their existence. “Please find her,”
Kieran said as Blake left.

*****

Gretchen was sitting in a holistic medical
office. This was the address where Cam had said to meet her. It was
now 7:25; maybe she wasn’t going to show up. She sat there thinking
this wasn’t like any medical office she had ever been in. There was
a display case with many different herbs with medicinal properties.
They even had a special counter with Medical Marijuana. A woman in
scrubs came out with golden orange skin and black hair pulled back
in a ponytail.

“
Gretchen.” She called out.
Gretchen stood up.

“
Yes?”

“
Come with me.” Gretchen
followed the orange Fae into a medical exam room.

“
Have a seat someone will
be with you shortly.” It was a typical Exam room with a medical bed
and clear jars with various supplies. Gretchen sat down and waited
a few minutes. There was a knock at the door the door opened and
she saw Cam and her red hair braided down her back. She was in a
fitted shirt this time and she noticed she had a baby
bump.

“
Cam, I’m so glad you came.
You’re pregnant!”

“
Yes, that’s why I’m here,
for my appointment. They have many Fae working here who know how to
help me through my pregnancy. Why did you want to meet with me?”
Cam asked.

“
I felt like I needed to
help you, like we met for a reason.” Cam smiled and took Gretchen’s
hand.

“
You are very special,
Gretchen. You have a kind heart and your soul calls out to those in
need.”

“
Can you tell me why you
were in prison?”

“
It was the King, he feels
he’s in love with me, the Queen never cared who he slept with until
me, and she knew he loved me and was jealous so she threw me in
prison. He talked about running away together,” she answered all in
a rush.

“
How did you
escape?”

“
Kieran helped me escape,
with the help of some of his friends, I left the Other Realm and
came here; I have been on the run ever since. I know he wants me
but if he found me I’m not sure if I want to go with
him.”

“
I’m so sorry Cam. Where
are you staying?” Gretchen asked with concern in her voice. She
didn’t know why but she had this need to help this Fae.

“
I’m staying with some
friends of a friend for right now, I don’t know what will happen
when the baby comes. Things are pretty cramped.”

“
Why don’t you stay with
me? I know you don’t know me, but I want to help and a roommate
would be fun.”

“
I don’t know, I’ll think
about it. I do have one question.”

“
Shoot.”

“
Why doesn’t Fae mist work
on you?”

“
I don’t know, all of a
sudden I’m seeing Fae everywhere. This is a new thing for me. It’s
interesting people I’ve known for years suddenly look very
different.”

“
There are ways to find out
why, spells we can try, if you want to.”

“
I don’t know. What would
that involve? Gretchen asked.

“
It’s not as bad as it
sounds, most Fae magic involves nature, calling out to the spirits
and giving back in return. Think about it, I’ll call you.” Gretchen
gave Cam a hug before she left the office.

*****

Gretchen was at work thinking about Cam, she
felt so bad for her she wished there was more she could do. It was
a slow Monday night, a few tourists and locals but definitely a
slower pace than Saturday. She was getting a refill for her
favorite local, Charlie, when her boss walked up to her.

“
Hello, Gretchen how are
things tonight?” asked Tanek, her boss and owner of the club. He
was always extra friendly, maybe a little too friendly but it
didn’t bother her, he was sweet, for a vampire.

“
A little slow, but pretty
good.” She answered as she got her order together on her
tray.

“
Since it is so slow I was
wondering if you would like to join me for dinner?” He asked
seductively.

“
You mean you want me to be
dinner.” She asked making fangs with her fingers.

“
You always make me
laugh
luby.
I
will not eat you, I just want to spend some time with you, merely
as friends.”

“
I don’t know; you are my
boss. It might be weird.” Gretchen never thought about Tanek in
that way before but he was drop dead gorgeous. He had long blonde
hair he kept in a ponytail and piercing blue eyes. He was six feet
tall, which was towering next to her five foot five
inches.

“
You know to hell with it,
let me drop this off and we’ll go. Laya can cover my
tables.”

“
Excellent, I’ll meet you
in front,” Tanek said as he walked away with a smile on his face.
Gretchen delivered the drinks to the table with speed, and quickly
grabbed her purse, meeting Tanek in front of the club.

“
So where is your
car?”

“
My driver is bringing it
around, I never learned to drive, it took me a long time to just be
able to ride in a car, and they scared the crap out of
me.”

“
You’re kidding me! You’re
scared of cars?” Gretchen couldn’t help but laugh a
little.

“
Oh here is our ride.”
Tanek said as a Lincoln Town car pulled up. He opened the door for
her and got in after her.

*****

Adrian arrived at
Bite Me
just in time to
watch as Gretchen left with some vampire. He was crushed. He felt
an overwhelming desire to hurt the vampire. He felt like Gretchen
was his, he didn’t know why he felt so strongly; she was just a
woman. He walked into the club thinking maybe a good feeding would
help calm his mind. He sat down and a waitress approached
him.

“
Hi, my name is Laya, what
can I get you.”

“
Corona, with lime.” He
answered sharply.

“
Right away.” After she
left Adrian thought maybe she would be a good choice to feed from,
he was just not in the mood, he wanted Gretchen. He knew there was
something special about her. He noticed another Fae staring at him.
It was a female Brownie, with dark brown skin and short curly hair.
Her small stubby nose and short stature was common with
Brownies.

“
Hello there, I’m new in
the area, my name is Dorie.”

“
I’m Adrian, the Fae
enforcer.”

“
Is that the way you always
introduce yourself?”

“
Sorry. Not many Fae want
to socialize with me.” Adrian thought Dorie was pretty for a
Brownie but she still wasn’t Gretchen.

“
You are an energy Fae,
aren’t you? I’m guessing sexual energy.” Dorie asked with a knowing
smile.

“
How did you
know?”

“
I have a gift, I can sense
powers of Fae I encounter. Almost everyone has a gift, they just
don’t know how to tap into it.” Dorie was now seated next to
Adrian. “Can I read you? It will be fun.”

“
Sure, I guess.” As Dorie
took Adrian’s hand she closed her eyes and began
speaking.

“
You obviously are good at
locating people, but it’s like a second sense of where they will
be. You also have an unknown gift. You can sense those who are part
Fae and don’t know it. When you encounter them they feel like
home.” She put down his hand and smiled.