Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4)

Natalia could think of no rebuttal to Sherri“s words. She was rather shocked at her own feelings about the death of the four priests. She wasn't saddened by it or even horrified. She just didn't like the fact that Uri was the one to throw the knives.

“Do you want the towel back?” she said.

“No,” Sherri said with a shake of her head.

“Has the Church always been like this?”

"Wherever, whenever there are men in charge, there are infractions against women. The Church has been male dominant since the beginning of time. Therefore, to answer your question, yes. However, it has only been of late that we've been able to do something about it.”

Sherri took a sip of tea and shifted in her seat.

“Sorry, she kicked.”

“The baby?"

“Yes. Now, the Church has been very strong in their defense. We've been at a disadvantage which we've slowly been correcting.”

“You already know it's a girl?”

Sherri smiled.

Wess

“When will you be able to tell with me?”

"About the sixteenth week mark, but I would say due to how well you're doing, having been ill less than a week... I would guess you're carrying a girl. I recommend that you drink lots of sanguine tea.” “I do. I find that I crave it.”

Sherri smiled.

“Then I would say it's most likely a girl.”

“I'm only three weeks. That's hardly very far along.”

“Hardly, but your body knows it's pregnant.”

Natalia took a sip of tea.

"Other than being Viperian, what's the disadvantage with the Church?”

"What defines a Hollow.” Sherri paused. “We've been slowly changing what your people look for to determine what is a Hollow.”

“The priests were terrified by the mere word. Uri even scared me.”

“The word can strike terror in your people.”

“They look for the mark on the cheek.”

“What mark? Not a swirling red/brown henna mark that seems to be rising in popularity.”

Natalia felt confused. She, herself, despite hearing all the horror tales about Hollows, never knew how to identify one except if you were bitten.

"We've been changing what that mark is. What your people, what your government, what the Church looks for."

"So... s0 a Viperian could actually walk through the city without covering their tattoo... I mean their lineage mark?”

Sherri nodded.

"We're getting there. We're slowly making it known that a Hollow is marked with black circle tattoos under their right eye. Viperians have henna marks because of their... let's say religion.”

“But... but when... the first time I was in Viperia, there were five men from A'ppollo... They called it the Hollow City.”

“They didn't think Uri was a Hollow. They thought he was a Viperian hiding Hollows. Protecting them. So they were accusing him of being in the Hollow City. You don't find “Hollows” in Viperia. We've set up a Hollow city in another part of A'ppollo. Created quite a deadly place to be if you're the wrong person to be there.”

Natalia found herself speechless at the charade.

"We're trying to create a world where our people can live the same normal life as you. We don't all go around biting or killing everyone like you think. It's just that... with you being around Uri, you're going to see that.”

“Why?”

“You'll need a little history here. Uri started in business. He flew through the college courses, obtained his degree in two years, and was immediately hired by the bank. Now, with almost eight years of experience, he knows the banking industry inside and out. He's garnered a lot of respect for his business savvy.”

“That doesn't explain...

“In your world, he's the dedicated banker. Top of his field. But in our world, his other traits or talents began to reveal themselves. He was unbeatable at darts. His knife throwing skills were... he inherited that from his grandmother, Ura. He was named after her. He has no peers when it comes to throwing a knife. Ura had no peers either during her lifetime. And to augment her knife skills, she developed the perfect throwing knife.”

Sherri nodded toward the towel

"We always try to retrieve them to keep Uri's set intact. They're very difficult to make.”

She paused to sip her tea.

"How many does Uri have?” Natalia said.

“I think there are ten or twelve in a set. Very light weight. Easy to hide. Very sharp.”

“I've only seen one... before today.”

“The one up his sleeve is a throw away knife. If he loses it, then it's no big deal. The others are probably positioned in special places in his clothing. Always there. Always invisible. And thus we come to the talent that expressed itself after he was becoming the banker. If we had known of this talent, we would have kept him from becoming the banker, but there is no turning back now. We need him in the position he has obtained.”

“The other talent?”

“Uri likes to kill people.”

Natalia swallowed hard.

"He prefers the knife. Despite he has bitten you, he doesn't like to bite. He's never killed anyone with a bite. You'll always see someone else do that.”

Natalia nodded.

"A bite requires one to get up close. Uri prefers to keep his distance which a knife allows him to do. A bite also requires an emotion and some thought to inject the desired venom. For some of us, that takes a lot of practice. For others, it's second nature.”

“So you retrieve the knives because of their value or finger prints or both.”

Sherri smiled.

"Value. I'm sure there were never any finger prints on those knives. Uri wears a glove on his throwing hand. You probably didn't even notice it. It's custom made and matches his skin color.”

“I didn't notice.”

“Despite what you've seen, finding Viperians willing to kill via bites or knives, is rather difficult. We'd rather not have to kill anyone, but there are exceptions.”

“Like at the Church.”

“Precisely.”

“Is Grazie fated to be like Uri?"

“No.” Sherri smiled. “Grazie is too sweet. He excels at knife throwing, but he could never throw the knife at a person. However, he is a great teacher. Did Uri give you a knife for protection? Or did Grazie?"

Natalia had the feeling Sherri was fishing for a little information since the knife on her forearm was hidden by her sleeve.

“Grazie. Uri had him come over.”

“Excellent. Uri is a terrible teacher. I'm glad he didn't try to instruct you. Or just hand you a knife to use.”

The sound of laughter downstairs reached them.

“Sounds like Anna and Lisa are back. Don't worry about Lisa. We'll take care of her.”

Sherri rose.

Natalia grabbed the towel and followed her out of the room and down the stairs.

Lisa, looking much happier, was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"And her surgery is reversible so she can have children in the future?” Natalia said in a low voice “We've managed to get one of our surgeons into the hospital that the Church uses,” Sherri said with a chuckle. “She may have the scar of surgery, but she was never sterilized.”

“Thank you,” Natalia said.

“Go say your goodbyes and plan on coming over tomorrow. Get Uri home before he gets too bored sitting outside waiting.”

“Those are nice,” Natalia said, joining Anna and Lisa.

“Thanks. I feel so much better,” Lisa said.

“I have to head out, but I'll come over tomorrow. We have so much to catch up on.”

Lisa nodded.

Natalia gave her a hug and headed for the door. A maid let her out.

Uri was sitting in the car with the door ajar.

“Hope I wasn't too long,” she said, joining him.

“You were as long as you needed to be,” he said. “Lisa getting settled?”

"Yes."

"A friend of yours?”

"Yes, she was part of my pack. My group of girlfriends.”

“Nice you know her.”

"Here are your knives back.”

“Thanks.”

He put them down on the floor.

When they drove through the gates of Viperia back into the city, it started to rain.

“I'm going back tomorrow to visit.”

“Do you know how to drive?” he said.

“No. But even if I did, I don't know my way around. Which is funny and pathetic despite I've lived here all my life.”

“Things to work on,” he said. “The limo will drive you over. Men aren't allowed in Sherri's house. I don't need to go there. That way you can take your time.”

"Okay."

Natalia watched the view out the window.

“What's our limo driver's name? I've never heard you say it. We rarely ever see her.”

“Her name is Bonnie.”

“Does she stay at the house?”

"Yes. She stays with the limo. There's a guest house attached to the garage. That's where she stays, along with Mag, Zena, and Kate.”

Natalia realized she never even thought of where Mag and the others stayed.

“Is she related to you?”

“No. She doesn’t even work for me. She works for the Council.”

“A spy?”

Uri chuckled.

“You might say that. The Council likes to watch me.”

Natalia nodded, now knowing why.

The remainder of the drive was quiet. Uri pulled into the garage and hit the button to shut the door. “I think I'll use whats left of the afternoon on reading,” Natalia said.

"Good idea,” Uri said. “I have some myself.”

Natalia went up to her office and sat. She found herself staring at her books.

What was she going to talk to Lisa about?

Death? Sex? Knives? Biting?

“I'm getting too morbid. I have a job to tell her about. Getting ready for college. And the baby.” She flipped open a book feeling a little better.

“Finance. The wonderful world of finance. I'm even beginning to understand this.”

The numbers and theories were beginning to put images in her head. The summaries where the chapter contents were examined in a real-life situation seemed obvious to her now.

“I'm either getting really familiar with this stuff because of all the books I've read, or I'm really getting to know and understand this. Never thought Finance would be my field.”

She found she could get through a couple of chapters in no time. By the end of the afternoon, she only had the book that focused on the financial laws. The smell of dinner prompted her to rise and go downstairs.

Uri was coming in from the garage, but he wasn't warm or showing exertion

“Car okay?" she said.

“Needed to get gas.”

He was using the voice that told her he had gone somewhere else as well. She didn't press it. Dinner was raw.

“No guests,” she said.

"Sometimes you don't need guests to have a fine meal,” he said, digging into the meat.

Natalia found herself enjoying it, but didn't say so.

After dinner, Uri rose and took her hand. He led her upstairs.

"Viperian women aren't the only ones who find knives titillating,” he said while he began to take off her clothes.

“I could refuse you.”

"Okay, refuse me.”

He was kissing down her neck.

She wondered if he was going to bite her, but just the thought of it was enough to arouse her.

“I'll let it pass this one time,” she said, helping him take off his shirt.

She felt him smile as he breathed deep into her hair.