The Deal Changer (Book IV)

Chapter One - 2012

                                                                                   Chapter One

                                                                                          2012

SOMEONE IS HERE.

I stood in front of my kitchen sink, stacking my last clean plate into the sink when I sensed something different. It was a shock to my system, like someone throwing ice water onto my bare skin. I could feel them, a vampire. I've felt them since I had died in a car accident years ago and I was brought back by Matthew Foster; vampire, businessman, killer, and of course husband. Every time a vampire is around, I feel it. It's an icy chill that crawls up my arms and shivers down my body, similar to the feeling when you've watched a scary movie and the girl, the stupid girl, goes into the damn basement and you know a killer is down there. I also compare the feeling to tipping your chair a bit too far back and your heart skips and your body feel cold and almost zapped with electricity.

I felt that now.

My whole body gave a shiver and I took a deep breath to calm myself, just as I have been trained to over the years. It was strange to feel the chills now. I have been so used to ignoring them because I have always been surrounded by vampires, especially considered I'm married to one. But being away from Matthew for so many weeks must have made me sensitive to it again.

Buddy leapt to his feet when he saw my stiff body in the doorway and my eyes scanning the room. I wouldn't put it past Matthew to send someone to check on me, but I also know he knows to not do that to me by now after the many times I've chewed him out for it. Heck, I staked a few of his guards in the past because he didn't tell me they were following me. They just can't be Matthew's men, not when he knows I'd react this way.

"Buddy, here," I hissed, jabbing my finger towards the floor so he'd stand by me.

The first thing I did was go to the security system to see if any of the motion detectors had been triggered or maybe if I noticed something off. Buddy stayed at my heels, a low growl building in his furry chest as he sensed my unease. I jabbed at several buttons, my eyes scanning the screen quickly before stopping on something red and bold lit up at the driveway of my property.

Unarmed.

"Shit," I breathed and immediately stepped into the living room, reaching underneath of one of the sofas until I felt the hard, rough piece of wood stashed underneath.

There are several stakes stashed around my house, which was something my trainer and vampire, Gavin, suggested after one of our sessions. I gave myself a mental note to thank him if I'm not dead by morning. I also grabbed my cell phone, even though I knew calling Matthew would be worthless with him being in Berlin right now. Nevertheless, I pressed 1 on the speed dial and waited for him to answer, knowing he's going to feel my panic in a minute soon if I have to wrestle someone in my front yard.

"This is Matthew Foster. My apologies for being unable to answer your call currently. If you need to contact me, please call my new assistant, Shay. You may also leave your message at the sound and I will try to return your call."

A loud beep followed. "Get a shorter voicemail message! Also I think someone is in my house and now I know how unreliable you are at answer your cell phone. Now I know if I'm drowning in my own blood, I might as well call Shay to come and pick me up."

Buddy let out a bark, causing me to drop my phone, with his eyes focused on the front door.

I let out a little groan—which might have actually been a panicked whimper—and slowly walked towards the door with the stake firmly in my hand. If only my intruder would have come earlier when I was in jeans and a sweatshirt, not in a t-shirt. That's it, a t-shirt. I'm home alone, what do people expect me to sleep in, a silk nightgown? To make matters increasingly worse, it was snowing hard outside, causing the light from my front porch to bounce off of every snowflake and make me jump at the movements around me. I had no shoes on, no jacket, so let's just say I might have lost a toe from being outside.