Page 55 of Kristin

Chapter 19 – Zander

“Looks like your Mistressis enjoying herself.” Laura spun her computer screen toward me with the flick of her wrist, a large picture of the Mistress almost life-like in the center of the screen. Her dark blue eyes had been staring right at the camera, her lips in a seductive position.

“She’s notmyMistress.” I stated briskly as I looked away.

Laura shook her head, “TheMistress then. I was sayingyourMistress because you and your father are so hellbent on locating and destroying her.”

I glanced at the clock, “Don’t you have to get going?”

She closed her computer by putting her hands together as if closing a book and jumped to her feet. “You sure you don’t want to come?”

“No, but thanks. My father and I have a call scheduled for later. You have fun though and tell everyone I said hello.”

She blew me a kiss and dashed out the front door. After I heard her transport leave, I brought up my own computer screen. “Search Mistress in Philadelphia.”

Since she had first been spotted in the city outside the club, I had devoured everything that I could about her sightings. I had stared for hours at pictures of her, dissecting every inch of what I could see of her body, and the people with her—but mostly her. I had reread the articles until I practically knew them by heart. There were a few new ones, and I slowly savored the words as she appeared to be savoring her meal.

Of all the pictures that I had seen of her, there was one that I returned to over and over again. It had been taken outside of the club after her night of dancing. Some of her long hair had clung to the sides of her face in places, most likely from the heat inside the club, and her arms were thrown in the air with her head falling back on her shoulders. There was such a look of glee on her features, a look of freedom and I wondered if that was what she had truly felt at that moment.

Personally, I could never imagine feeling such a thing, or if I did, being able to express it. My entire life I had felt as if I were a prisoner in my own mind and body. I had been completely controlled by my father and his wishes.

I went back to looking at the pictures of her eating with her sentinels or friends or whatever the hell they were, and I searched each of the faces with her. I paused on one man who looked slightly familiar. Had our paths crossed previously? Was he working for my father, or had I met him in another capacity?

I scrolled back to one of the images of her kissing a man outside the hotel where she lived. It looked staged, not real. Maybe to someone who didn’t know any better it might appear to be real, but for some reason I knew better. It was like something inside of me knew the moment I looked at it, and I had come back to it several times wondering why I’d gotten that impression.

There were a few more pictures of her with the man, his face almost always serious and in one shot that was up-close, I paused. He looked concerned, as if he were waiting for something bad to happen. I’d seen that look before and then it dawned on me. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

I did recognize the man. He was with Alexander the night my father killed him. He had been beaten to within an inch of his life and dropped on the side of the road not far from where Alexander’s mate had lived at the time.

Was he protecting her as he had Alexander? That made sense. We had figured out that he could hide his own presence, and sometimes Alex’s. Now him and her together made perfect sense. How many times had she been outside of her guarded walls with him at her side while he covered her presence? I was willing to bet hundreds—if not thousands since Alex was killed.

I wondered briefly if my father was aware of that information. I was tempted to call him but thought better of it. Perhaps if he were more open with me about what he wanted me to do, I might have felt like sharing more with him.

I stared at one of the images for a long time, and then closed the computer down, stepping away from the table, and going to sit on the deck. I could have used a night out of this place. I was sick and tired of this stupid beach house, but this is where my father wanted me—for now. Hidden among a large group of our breed, slowly chipping away at them to come to our side of the upcoming war. Not that I was actually doing anything, I had people working for me that were doing that.

I frowned, what the hell was I really doing, and why was I doing it? I leaned my head back and closed my eyes trying to calm the frustration that churned inside my mind.

A picture began to form slowly, and deep in my gut, the frustration turned to anger. The feeling so intense that I didn’t understand it as I tried to look around inside the mental image. There were people scattered around the area—no room, it was a large room, or maybe an entryway. Yes, an entryway with a large chandelier hanging above their heads. Like usual, no one’s face was clear, but there were quite a few people present. A hand reached out for me, and I batted it away. Words were spoken loudly out of anger that were only odd vibrations in my skull. No matter what I did, I could not understand them.

Then ever so softly as the image began to fade, a woman’s voice drifted through my mind, the words were so full of pain. “Don’t go.” My eyes popped open in surprise. That was the first time I had ever been able to hear the words properly, and they had been clear as a bell.

Was I going someplace? Had I gone someplace? Was this past or future? Had that been Laura asking me to stay? I didn’t think so, but why couldn’t I figure this out? What was holding me back from seeing the faces, from hearing the rest of the words?

I tried to force the vision back, but I couldn’t grasp it again. The two words that I had heard echoed through my mind and I suddenly felt like I was going mad. I honestly thought that if I didn’t figure this out soon, I would lose my mind completely. I got to my feet, pacing back and forth as I wiped my face with my hands, rubbed them over my head in frustration.

I forced myself to breath slowly, to calm myself as I stared out into the night and listened to the waves crash along the shore. My eyes drifted to the stars above me, and I felt something on the edge of my consciousness. I tried to grab for it, tried to reel it in, but it vanished like all the rest of my visions.

One day I would figure it out. One day, I would know for sure who the woman was, would know if this was past or future. Until then, I’d keep waiting. Waiting for my father to tell me that he was ready for me. Ready to complete whatever destiny he thought I was here for.

I sighed as I continued to stare at the sky, and slowly began to count the stars.

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