DURABLE (completed)

Death Comes For Us All

****NO EDITING****

Just as Aria and I disembarked from the taxi in front of what could only be described as a mini modern palace a breathtakingly handsome man opened the door and walked out. "Hello Tianna. Please come in. My name is Keith. Josiah sent me."

Every thought left my mind at the sight of the exquisitely beautiful man before me. Everything about him oozed of royalty. From the halo like hair, soft hazel eyes, clean shaven jawline, to his imposing height that made a mockery of my husband's stature.

In my daze I allowed him to take my hand and lead me into the house. The instant I stepped over the threshold I was met with such opulence that my breath caught in my throat. It made perfect sense. There was no way a man that exuded royalty would be surrounded by anything less.

The beautiful hotel I just left seemed cheap in comparison to the lavishness of this home. There was a chandelier in the hallway which I just knew was made of pure diamond. Millions of dollars' worth of artwork by Picasso and Rembrandt hung on every wall and the tiled floor had to have been imported from Italy. It all screamed multi-trillion dollar rich. Just who was this guy and how did Josiah know him?!

"Anna...Tianna." A velvety smooth voice called my name tugging my attention from the surroundings back to him. "I know this is a bit much for you but I need you to focus and tell me all you can about Nicolette, her parents, the car they drove away in, and the name of the doctor they were going to see."

At his words, an influx of anxiety and worry for Nikki churned through me. That's right; I wasn't here to look at art. I was here to get help saving my friend.

In as little time as possible I spilled everything I could think of that would help Nikki. Keith listened with ferocious intensity. The looks on his face vacillated between calmness and fury. As soon as I was finished he nodded and another man appeared out of nowhere and was by my side in a flash. I was so startled I almost dropped a sleeping Aria.

Keith frowned at the man and they exchanged a meaningful look that I didn't understand. "Okay my dear. Jackson will help you to get settled in." He paused and seemed to debate with himself for a moment before leveling a piercing gaze at me.

"Don't worry about Nikki, anymore. I will find her and bring her back to you." With that, he turned and exited like the room leaving like a king dismissing his subjects, his excuiste face causing my heart to take off once again. He was just too dashing.

I was only momentarily distracted when Jackson the man Keith had left in the room his throat to get my attention. I wasn't to sure but I could have sworn there was a mocking smirk on his face from my clear bedazzlement by his boss.

Obediently I followed Jackson to a room, with a quick bow he informed my that food would be sent up for my Aira momentarily and in the meantime clothes could be found in the closet.

As Jackson spoke something about him seemed familiar it wasn't his face but how he carried himself and deferred to Keith. I knew that behavior I just couldn't put my hand on where I knew it from.

*****

I had to walk away at the pace of a human even though the blood from my recent feed rushed through me making me want to bound through the streets. Outrage and a need for violence thumped in my veins. The silly little girl I helped to escape a few years ago had somehow gotten herself into a lot of trouble.

I remember the scared look on her face when she saw her parents at the train station in Chicago. Back then I hadn't been able to find out much about her other than what her parents did and who they worked for, P.O.A.H.

In the last five decades P.O.A.H. had been taking over the scientific field specifically anything involving genetics. They had gone as far as kidnapping vampires and werewolves. All in the name of protecting humans. It was getting out of control. Just recently a whole village in southern Italy was eliminated by assassins and after an exhaustive investigation it turned out that P.O.A.H was behind it.

Titian, one of the oldest vampires alive had warned us in last year's meeting that there was more afoot than just humans getting lucky but his admonition had been shot down.

I hated to admit it, but I had been one of the people that voted to ignore him. Now, from the story Tianna told me it was possible that Nikki was being turned into a vampire without her knowledge.

It took roughly 30 minutes to track down Nicolette and her parents. The family sedan was discovered wrecked on the highway. Mr. and Mrs. Winspere were laying among the mangled steel, their bodies drained of blood. The scene wreaked of foul play and Nikki was nowhere to be found.

It took another half hour to find the execution team and extract her whereabouts from them. By the time I got a location it was close to 11p.m. and my temper had risen to an all-time ungodly high. It was unclear who, but someone other than P.O.A.H knew about Nicolette and had swiped her from under their noses.

Whoever it was had been meticulous. My team had threatened and beaten the kidnappers mercilessly until it became clear that the only thing they knew was where the boss was holed up.

I waved my hands and the small army surrounding me prepared themselves for battle. There was no telling what we were walking into and it was better to be prepared.

Keith had been so caught up in making plans to rescue Nicolette that he failed to realize that Tianna had been eavesdropping and overheard the location. While no one was paying attention, she kissed Aria, handed her to the nanny, and snuck into one of the many vans, filled with soldiers and weapons, just before it pulled out the driveway.