Fleur Di Lis

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Nicki!"

A force akin to a brick wall collided with my body the moment I opened the penthouse suite door, knocking the wind clean out of me. The familiar fragrance of Versace perfume wafted up my nose from the sea of brunette that fit comfortably under my chin and, gripping the pair of shoulders that my wall belonged to, I leaned away to see a pair of bright blue eyes gleaming back at me on a beaming face.

"Michaela?" I frowned, baffled, lifting my head to take in the scene in front of me. Nate was standing in the middle of the salon looking like Adonis with a bourbon glass in his hand, whilst Luka sat in the orange chesterfield love-seat to his right, a bourbon glass balanced on his knee. Hearing me say his partner's name, Luka twisted his torso and threw a hand up in greeting, a cheeky smile on his face.

"Hey, Nicki."

"Hey, Luka," I echoed, a smile creeping up on my face. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We heard through the grapevine that a human was abducted," Michaela answered, letting me go long enough to allow me to enter the penthouse, with Kai and Bree following suit. "We thought it was you and we wanted to help."

"Correction," Luka piped up. "She thought it was you. I knew you were cool."

Michaela rolled her eyes. "So, if it's not you... Who's Bax got?"

"My partner. Rik," I elaborated, noting the puzzled expression on her face. Realization quickly replaced the puzzled expression on her face, mixed with an expression I was hoping to not get used to.  Sympathy.  He wasn't dead – yet.  And, if I had anything to do with it, he wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

Nobody will be.

"I'm so sorry," Michaela breathed.  "What happened?"

"I called Rik whilst I was at the white wolves' camp, and Bax picked up."

"You do realize that you're playing with fire just by using this hotel, right?" Michaela asked, turning to Nate. "This is literally a few blocks from where the Mona Lisa used to be, which means Bax can't be that far off."

"Apparently, the Fleur Di Lis still has influence in these parts," Nate said finally.  He seemed to be as surprised about his cousin's appearance as I was; he hadn't spoken a word until now.  "The receptionist spoke the mantra when she checked us in.  We're safe here.  Plus, I hear Devon owns the place now?"

Michaela let out a small gasp, her eyes bright.  The name rang a bell in my mind.  "Oh, my God! Devon? Wow, he must be at least... What... Ninety now?"

"Give or take," Nate shrugged. "I haven't seen him around here yet."

"No time like the present."

I turned to see that we had a visitor standing in the doorway. A well-dressed visitor, judging from the Levi's and the designer shirt he wore, which had the sleeves rolled up at the elbows. Though his skin was the colour of chocolate, he had the same bright blue eyes as Michaela and Nate, which made his appearance look almost ethereal.

Those magnificent eyes were focused on Michaela.

"Devon!" Michaela pounced on him the same way as she did to me, except that Devon managed to catch her with supernatural efficiency and ended up twirling her around the hallway like they were lovers who belonged in a soppy Disney movie.

Behind me, the sofa creaked as Luka raised to his feet.

Devon let out a soft chuckle and embraced the young vampire lovingly.  Then it dawned on me; I now knew why his name rang a bell; Nate's journal.  He'd been the one who had a crush on Michaela whilst he worked at their old bar; the Mona Lisa.