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  The Guilty Innocent

  Book 2 of The Knights of Darkness Chronicles

  D.N. Simmons

  Table of Contents

  A Sneak Peek

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  A Sneak Peek

  I continued to watch their table the entire time as Elise translated, I could see the fear in Nikolai's eyes as he stared at the coldness of Dmitri's gaze. Nikolai set the briefcase on the table and opened it, a smile spreading across his face as he nodded approvingly. He then closed the briefcase. Dmitri finished his coffee and rising from his seat, said something else to Nikolai as he prepared to leave. I didn't want him to get away, I looked towards Sergio, who seemed to know my intentions and he rose from his chair followed by Devin and then myself. Before we could get close to them, Elise called out to us, we turned to look at her. A second later, I heard an eruption of screams, people became hysterical, pushing past us and each other as they rushed towards the exit. Sergio leaped high into the air over four tables and landed in front of Dmitri, grabbing hold of his coat. Dmitri swung the leather briefcase, attempting to hit Sergio in the face, but Devin snatched the case from his hands. I looked back towards Nikolai and found him slumped over the table. Blood began to seep from the bullet wound in his head, forming a puddle. I never heard a gunshot, Dmitri must have used a silencer and of course someone saw the assassination and started this chaos. Dmitri struggled in Sergio's vice-like grip. He pulled his gun from his inside pocket but Elise caught his hand and began to crush the bones. I could hear the crunching sound of his bones breaking! Dmitri cried out from what must have been agonizing pain and dropped his gun, which convinced Elise to ease up on his injured hand.

  Elise began to speak to him softly in Russian, he shook his head stubbornly, proving that he was not going to be a team player. Sergio grabbed his chin in a powerful grip, forcing his eyes to meet Elise's. Devin stood beside them, still holding the briefcase. Elise spoke to the man again and this time when he tried to refuse, Sergio's grip tightened as if he were trying to crush the man's jaw. Dmitri cried out and began to speak rapidly in Russian to Elise. I supposed he was telling her he'd cooperate. She spoke again to him, this time, it appeared he was answering whatever questions she was asking. I began to hear police sirens approaching, I looked towards the door and saw another man dressed in all black, wearing a matching face mask. He entered through the door holding an automatic machine gun. I dropped to the floor and yelled for the others to do the same. Instantly they were on the floor as the gunman sprayed the restaurant with bullets. Dmitri was shot through and through, blood splattered the floor around him as his lifeless body danced erratically as the bullets entered him. The sight of Dmitri being slaughtered scared the shit out of me, I was too scared to move! I didn't want to get shot trying to flee. The man aimed the gun towards the floor, trying to kill us as well. Sergio positioned himself in front of the rest of us as we began crawling towards the kitchen.

  Chapter One

  Introduction

  I could feel the delicate warmth of the sun's rays on my eyelids. Could it be seven o'clock already? I thought groggily to myself. I hoped not. I was not yet ready to get out of bed. This is definitely what one would describe as, “hugging the bed” and goodness knows I was holding on for dear life. I could feel myself beginning to drift back to sleep and just when I started to feel the blissful unconsciousness of sleep returning. I hear the loud annoying sound of my alarm clock. Note to self: Buy a different alarm clock, one that wakes you up to the sound of music. “Okay, okay, I'm up!” I said aloud, as I tossed the warm comforter aside and climbed out of my bed. I walked into my beautiful, recently decorated bathroom, thanks to Darian and the kindness of my landlord, I was able to change that god-awful yellow wallpaper, the same wallpaper that is still in the kitchen. Annette adores that wallpaper, but I think it's just ghastly, daisies and other garden essentials on the walls, are not to my taste. I now have dark blue and white tiled walls, sparkling white pedestal sink, toilet and tub, and dark blue tiled flooring. I simply adore it! I do! I love blue, blue is my favorite color. I read in a magazine once, that persons with certain characteristics always have a favorite color. Blue was described as the color for calm and sensible people, as the magazine article went on to explain. Red, is the color for passionate people, and pink was described as the color for fashion lovers. So blue is mine...well, blue and black that is.

  Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Natasha Hemingway, I'm an ordinary person, but recently I am learning to adapt to an extraordinary life. Discovering that I have these special abilities, well, my best friend and roommate, Annette believes my abilities to be special, a “gift from god”. I'm what some people might call a psychic, and I'm also clairvoyant, though that skill needs a lot more fine tuning. I see visions of future events whenever I fall asleep. At first, I thought my visions to be erratic dreams. I was unaware that I had formed connections with certain people by touching something personal of theirs and had no idea how to control them. However, thanks to the supernatural and expert help from Darian, I am now able to manage the visions better. Oh man, I'm completely jumping the gun here. Better start from the beginning.

  It was four months ago when I realized I had these abilities. My friend Annette and I were out partying and decided to take a cab home. We were involved in a deadly two car accident when our cab was rear-ended. We survived, but our driver and the driver of the other car did not. The strange thing about that accident was that I saw it happen before it actually happened through the eyes of the driver who rear-ended our cab. See, I knew he was the same man I had bumped into as we were leaving the night club. He was drunk and I took his car keys and had Annette give them to the bartender. That stupid bartender had returned the keys to that highly intoxicated man! And now two people are dead because of two irresponsible idiots (I hope that phrase isn't redundant)!

  While I was recovering in the hospital, I discovered that I had been taking medication for what I thought was to prevent migraine headaches, but in actuality, it was a dream suppressant. I had been taking this medication for years, not knowing the truth. My friend convinced me to use my abilities for the greater good, so I no longer take the medication. However, you'd be surprised how many morbid dreams I can have in one night. I've seen all sorts of things, such as murders, sexual orgies, just ghastly things! I'm sure you can imagine just how rare my abilities are, but trust me, they can be a pain in the ass at times. And as if my plate wasn't full enough, I now have two vampires courting me. If you think like my friend, Annette, then two kind, sexy, and gorgeous vampires courting you is a good thing. A once in a life time thing you should not pass up.

  Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying all of the attention they're giving me, let me tell ya! I mean, what woman would not relish being spoiled by two rich studs, even if they are undead. I'll admit, it's still taking me some time to get use to the supernatural living among us. It's been about two and a half years since the supernatural race was revealed. Up until that time, vampires and shape-shifters were only creatures in movies and myths. At the time of the discovery, they were teachers, doctors, lawyers...well let me clarify that. A lot of them were those things before the “Exposure”. And even now, most of them still cloaked their true identities out of fear of being discovered. For a doctor to reveal that he or she was a supernatural would be a career suicide. Many people would not want a supernatural examining them, not to mention operating on them. I suppose this could be blamed on human nature to be suspi
cious and unwilling to trust anyone different than themselves. It's my speculation that many humans feared that they would be accidently (or purposely) turned or eaten for dinner.

  Even though the humans and supernaturals must co-exist, thanks to the new laws, I've noticed many humans can only accept the supernaturals as attractions. Such as going to their hangouts to look at the sexy, exotic vampires. Many of them want to feel the animal magnetism of the shape-shifters. Not me! I was never one to want to be up close and personal with the supernaturals, but in the past four months, certain events have thrust me into their world. Hell, who am I to say anything, if people knew about my abilities, they would toss me in the lot with the rest of the supernaturals. Well, I see I've strayed again, let me get back to the point, where was I...oh yes! About four months ago I met Xavier and Darian, well I met Xavier first. He was visiting my friend Annette while we were both in the hospital recovering from the car accident. Annette works for them, she used to be a stripper, but she was promoted at that time, to assistant day manager. While Xavier was visiting her, I came to her room to check on her. She introduced us and I was immediately attracted to him, but I hit the brakes fast when I found out he was “one of them,” so to speak. However, Xavier was not what I expected, hell, I didn't know what I expected, but I knew that I did not expect Xavier to be so sexy, funny, kind, romantic, and patient. He made me consider “dating” him-a supernatural. Then while helping two S.U.I.T. (Supernatural Unit Investigation Team) detectives solve a series of mysterious murders. I met Darian, the master vampire of Chicago and owner of Desires Unleashed, the nightclub Annette works at. With my abilities we discovered that there were two killers, a vampire and a werewolf, and the detectives were having trouble tracking them. I myself had accidently made contact with one of the killers, which allowed me to peek into their lives and thus, give the S.U.I.T. detectives solid clues on how to track them down. In one of my visions, I saw Darian, he was fighting on our side. This same vision also revealed to me that one of the detectives I was working with was also a were wolf... well wolf, that is. Warren (that is his name) told me that shape-shifters only refer to themselves as the animals they change into. Makes sense to me...I suppose. It does help separate the fact from the myth. Since my vision proved that Darian would be aiding us, we decided to fulfill the prophecy and asked him for his help. He was an absolute jerk when I first met him. He did not want to help us and I found him to be completely self-absorbed, rude and uncaring.

  His uncooperative attitude had angered me so much so that I slapped him. I know what you are thinking, I thought the same... had I gone mad!? One just doesn't slap a master vampire and live to tell about it. But here I am, alive and well. Here's the thing, after I slapped him he became immediately enamored with me and decided to help us after all. Vampires seem to become entranced with a person easily as I've learned from my brief experience. With Darian's and my help, Warren and his partner Matthew were able to solve the case. Believe me when I tell you, it's been a wacky four months for me! Allow me to continue, in addition to all that I have previously mentioned, both Darian and Xavier revealed to me that they are lovers and wanted to include me in their relationship. I know what you are all thinking, well that's if you think like my friend Annette. I'd have it made if I accepted them, two beautiful, rich men at my side, at my beck and call, right? Well, I can't lie...well, actually I can lie, I just choose not to at this point. I have thought about it, about the way their bodies would feel against mine as we lay in bed together. Damn, just thinking about the possibility makes me blush.

  But as I've said before, I am enjoying the way they are pampering me. Let me give you some examples. For Christmas, Xavier brought me a beautiful pair of diamond drop earrings, I loved them instantly. Then Darian, not to be outdone, paid the rent for our apartment for the entire year! I did not know what to say to such extravagant gifts, and neither guy would take “no” for an answer. What's a girl to do? It's very hard to say “no” to men like them, not that I've ever met men like them before. I haven't been very successful in the romance department and I wanted to get them something special. I had the most difficult time finding Christmas presents for two people who already have everything, so the best thing I could do was give them both Anisi's products for Him as gifts. Both seemed pleasantly surprised which pleased me as well.

  These two guys are so very alluring and charming. Sometimes, Darian can surprise me with his completely jaded and aloof personality. I understand that he's immortal, and I think once someone knows they can't die, they become detached, this is just my own opinion. In a way, I want to revive Darian, don't get me wrong, he's a pretty vibrant person, I just think his spirit needs some CPR. I want to help him see the human side of himself again. Xavier, on the other hand is fun, enthusiastic and somewhat mischievous. However, it is Darian that I have to watch myself around most of all. Darian has a way of being completely seductive in everything he does. I think it's a skill that some supernaturals develop over time. Though, I have no idea of Darian's age, I'm willing to bet he's over a century, so I'm quite certain that he has perfected his skills of seduction. Which is why I have not bedded either one of them. I want to make certain that they're interested in me as a person and not just a body for their threesome. What can I say? I'm an old-fashioned kind of girl.

  I thought they would get tired of waiting, like so many men do. But then I remembered, they are vampires...immortal, what's four months to their eternity? I'll give in before they'd give up. My guess is that's what they have been doing, breaking down my protective barriers that I had to build in order to prevent myself from being hurt again. They've taken me to dinners and on shopping sprees, which at first, I participated with some trepidation. I learned long ago, that to accept a gift from some men, is to make a secret promise, and I didn't want that to be the situation. Darian and Xavier must have sense my apprehension, because they sat me down one day and expressed to me their feelings. Each explained to me that they truly cared for me and wanted only my happiness. I was convinced on my birthday when both out did themselves! Darian gave me a gift that I could not refuse-a Cobra SX32! The car of my dreams! Six cylinder engine, automatic transmission, power everything...and that's just the basics! Three CD/DVD changer, moonroof, navigational system and temperature controlled leather seats! Needless to say, I loved that car as he knew I would. When I first laid eyes on it, the first words I could utter were: “I can't drive this...” then shamelessly, I finished the sentence saying: “...Without the keys!” I know, I know, it would seem that I have no will power. But I do, honestly, I do. It's just easier to get around town, in your own set of wheels. ..right?

  Xavier's gift was just as lovely. Thanks to him, I'll always have trouble relinquishing my bed. He brought me a beautiful redwood bedroom set. Being the gentleman that he is, I supposed he paid close attention to all of the instances where he noticed me massaging the back of my neck and shoulders, thanks to all of the restless nights I suffered from sleeping on a lumpy mattress. Xavier picks up on little things like that, which makes him a total romantic. I loved my new bedroom set complete with dresser, armoire, side tables, foot and head board, not to mention the queen-size, super comfortable mattress and box springs. Well, with all of the lavish pampering, I was close to breaking in that new bed had Annette not stopped me. I would have jumped into the bed with them before I was actually ready, having been caught in the moment. Good ol' Annette, looking out for me as always.

  Looking at the body care products on my bathroom counter, I noticed that I was almost out of my Anisi Original for Her, I'll need to place another order soon, I've got to have my Anisi, it's my one true indulgence. These products are pricey, even for me, but worth every penny! After my shower, I scanned over the many new outfits (my guys brought me) hanging unorganized in my closet. Boy, if mom saw that I had three of my suits hanging on wire hangers, she'd go mad.

  I needed more room, a lot of my clothes where pressed too close together and I literally had to pry ba
ck and forth to look for something to wear. Thanks to Annette's strict diet, I've lost an additional twenty pounds in the past few months. So now, I'm down to a size six and able to fit those stylishly designed clothes I fantasized about wearing not less than five months ago.

  After fishing through my clothes, I'd decided to go with a light grey pants suit for today, something that accents my rediscovered womanly curves. Now I'm not much for heels, but I will wear them. I like to alternate my shoes. Sometimes I'll wear sneakers and then I might wear a pair of heels, boots or flat-soled shoes. I combed out my curls, letting my curly, dark brown ends rest on my shoulders. I have natural light green eyes, at one time, I thought about trying hazel colored contacts, just for a change, but decided I like the natural me better. Well, I gave myself the once over. Pleased and confident about the way I looked, I grabbed my coat, purse and keys and headed over to Annette's bedroom to tell her I was leaving. I peeked into her room, she was not there. The sheets on her bed were all rumpled as if she had slept there, but I didn't remember hearing Annette come home last night nor did I hear her leave earlier this morning. Hmm, she may still be out with some hot stud from the club. Annette's not the type of female that desires a serious relationship with men. She's only interested in their companionship for maybe one night. Annette had confided in me that she had experienced a few bad relationships in which the men she dated tried to control and dominate her. Some even physically abused her, especially if she fought them... and fought them she did. So now, she is no longer interested in any man on that level. I can't blame her really.

  I closed her door, making a mental note to call later to find out if Annette made it home alright. Arriving to work on time, my supervisor, Darla gives me a friendly greeting. I'm pretty fortunate to have one of those managers that understands that happy employees create an easygoing working environment where people love to do their jobs. I have worked at places in the past where management was never friendly and harassed their employees all day long. Checking my email, (the new department protocol), I see that my assignment for today is to take some pictures of a political conference...oh so boring. I arrive at the conference twenty minutes later. Turns out, this conference is about whether or not they should integrate shape-shifter children into the public schools. I don't see the big deal-well, I can see why people might be afraid to let in the unknown and unusual into their lives. I was like that myself, then I met Warren, Xavier and Darian. I now have a better understanding of their lifestyles. I have asked them all sorts of questions and discovered that they weren't much different from humans. In my opinion, more adult education regarding the supernatural culture is really what is most needed. They need to understand that shape-shifter children do not gain their supernatural abilities until they reach their age of maturity. Warren told me that shape-shifters mature between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two.