THIS JOB SUCKS!

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

For a long time Whitney just stood there. She felt so lost. She wanted to go home. She took a deep breath and carried her bag downstairs. 

"Whitney?" Mrs. Myers came to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her, "Are you alright? You look pale."

Not wanting to worry Mrs. Myers with her fears, she just shrugged and looked past her at the chaos being dismantled from the living room.

Mrs. Myers frowned as she turned to watch the last of the boxes being carried out of her house. "When Ray decides something, it doesn't take long for it to go into effect." 

Whitney watched them for a moment. She wasn't sure she wanted to be back in town. "Mrs. M? Couldn't I just stay here? I won't be any trouble."

"Oh Whitney," Mrs. Myers slid her arm around Whitney's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I will be sorry to see you go but he is right. You will be safer in town with him rather than here with just me."

"What do you mean just you? What about all your staff?" Whitney asked. 

"My staff?" Mrs. Myers smiled indulgently, "I am afraid it is only my housekeeper and I who live here?"

"What about all those guys who've been following me every where I go? Aren't they your gardening staff?" Whitney felt suddenly confused.

"Oh dear no!" Mrs. Myers shook her head, "I have gardeners that come out once a week but they don't stay. All those men you refer to work for Mr. Ravilla."

"For him?"

"Yes, they're his body guards. Didn't you know?" Mrs. Myers shook her head at Whitney's dumbfounded expression. 

"Poor Whitney, you still don't understand what you've gotten into," she sighed. "Those men are here to keep Mr. Ravilla, as the head of the Council safe, but they also are here to ensure that nothing happens to you." 

"Why me?" Whitney was flattered but she didn't really understand why he would need to.

"We're assuming that you were targeted on purpose," she said gently.

Whitney shivered when the reality of it hit her. She still wanted to believe that Justin attacking her had been an accident, but if they believed that she had been singled out intentionally, that changed everything. 

 "You don't really think he's going to come after me again do you?" she asked disbelievingly. It took Mrs. Myers a moment to answer.

"I think that there is a real possibility. It will be much safer if you are in town where Mr. Ravilla can protect you."

"I don't get it, Justin is just one guy," Whitney shook her head.

Mrs. Myers turned and gazed intently at her. "This is more than just one guy. You need to be very careful, my dear, there are other things at work here that are very dangerous. There is a darkness coming."

"A darkness? Unkhabami said that too," Whitney complained, "I didn't understand what she was talking about either."

"Unkhabami was here?" Mrs. Myers asked urgently. "When?"

"The day of your party," she said confused, "she came to the office."

"Oh, dear, why didn't he tell me?" Mrs. Myers muttered to herself.

"Sorry, who is she?" Whitney was getting tired of being one step behind.

"She is the high priestess of the Paka Watu," she said absently looking around the room.

"Paka Watu?" Whitney prompted.

"Yes, were-cats, they're from Africa, she does roughly the same thing that I do." She explained hurriedly.  "Excuse me, Whitney. I need to speak to Rami." Without waiting for an answer she hurried off. 

"But, what does that mean?" she called after her.

"Were-cats, vampires, what next?" Whitney shook her head. Every known truth had gotten together and collectively jumped out the window. She had gone from having a normal life to living in a bad horror film. 

She walked toward the front door but was intercepted by Rami.

"I'll take that." He made a grab for her bag. She gasped and stepped back. Then regretted her reaction. "Sorry." She held her bag out by way of apology. Rami grinned at her. 

"Come along, children, Madraeus is waiting," Mrs. Myers called as she came up behind them.

"Thanks for everything Mrs. M," Whitney impulsively gave Mrs. Myers a hug.

"I'll come see you in a couple of days to see how you are getting on," Mrs. Myers said as she took her arm and walked her to the car. 

 Madraeus was standing by the car waiting. A light breeze ruffled his hair. 

"You didn't bother to get dressed?" he snarled.

"It's ten o'clock at night, why should I go through the effort of getting dressed just to get undressed again a few minutes later?" 

He stared at her for a moment then Swallowed. He turned to get into the front seat. 

"Shotgun!" His bodyguard, Thomas, grinned as he slid past Madraeus. He scowled and slammed the door shut. Then yanked the back door open and got in the back seat. Rami opened the other door for Whitney then slid in after her sandwiching her in the middle.

There wasn't a lot of room in the back seat especially once Rami got in. Whitney tried to scoot over to give him more room. Madraeus grunted and shifted away from her.

"I don't have cooties, vamp boy." She grumbled under her breath. 

Rami tried to cover his laugh but went into a coughing fit. Madraeus glared at both of them then reached over an whacked Rami on the back. Whitney leaned forward to avoid an elbow in the head.

"Ahem, Thank you." Rami grinned as tears sparkled in his eyes. Madraeus turned to the window and ignored them the rest of the ride back into town. Whitney sat back and crossed her arms trying not to notice either of them. Rami just grinned.

Half way back to town Whitney began to regret the pajamas. She had only thought about the effort it would take to change, she hadn't thought about walking from the car to the elevator. Now the fact that she was going to be in downtown Denver in her pajamas made her panic. Desperately she hoped that there would be no one in the parking garage. 

She need not have worried. As soon as she was out of the car she was surrounded. She couldn't see out of the wall of muscle much less anyone seeing through it to notice her pajamas. Madraeus led the way, four of Madraeus' bodyguards walked on either side of her and Rami brought of the rear. They all packed into the elevator and rode silently up to Madraeus' floor. As soon as they reached the lobby, the bodyguards disappeared. Whitney wasn't sure where they went but suddenly it was just Madraeus, Rami and Whitney.

"Well, goodnight," she couldn't wait to get behind her door and feel less conspicuous.