Josie's POV (Continued)
Horns blared, feet moved and people muttered curses as I shoved my way through them.
Where was I going? I didn't have the slightest clue. But I'll be damned if it wasn't as far away from Vladimir Sedof and Grayson Callahan as possible. How many lies could they tell me? Why I'm I not visible to anyone except for what they can get out of me? Seriously, do I have pawn written in my fate somewhere? Always forever to be used. Arthur and his wife took me in in exchange for inheritance. Vladimir wants to use me as a weapon in a revenge plot. And Grayson? What the hell is Grayson's deal? Because whatever else may be happening, his actions are anything but altruistic and I am damn tired of being played. I love him! Half my entire life, I have loved him! Even when he didn't see me as anything but a friend. I'd done my best to be there, to be supportive. Even if he didn't love me back, I tJosie's POV(Continued)“Miss Woods is in room forty-five. Turn left here, and you will find a bank of elevators. Stop on the third floor. Room forty-five is the third door to your right." The receptionist in the Skyline hotel recited in a cautious tone. I wondered why she was using that tone of voice with me."Thank you." I replied numbly, turning to follow her instructions."Um, miss? Are you okay? Do you need a doctor or something?" She asked in a neutral voice, her green eyes roving all over my appearance. I had a good guess as to why she asked that question.My eyes threatened to cloud with tears, but with supreme effort, I held it back."No. Thank you, but that will not be necessary." I turned away and hurried to the bank of elevators. Thankfully, there was no one waiting to use the elevator as well. I got in and pressed on the third button. The floors only went to nine. Behind the gold pa
Josie's POV(Continued)"Um. Maybe we should go to the hospital?" Char suggested carefully."No doctor can fix this. No amount of drugs can erase this goddamn surreal reality. Jo. Josie. Joanne. Who am I? I used to be Josie. I was fine, damnit! I might have not been very happy, but I knew my place. Jo was just a nickname. And then that bastard shows up, and now I don't even have my name! Now I'm supposed to be Joanne. But ever since I got here, I just keep crying and screaming and getting confused. They tell me only what they want me to know. Won't explain anything else! One video call. Just one and it lasted ten minutes and I don't have a home to go back to. No family to call mine and I'm supposed to be fine with it. But I dealt with that as best as I could. I tried to rationalize, to move on. But then Grayson shows up and he dangles the idea of redemption in my face. All I had
Josie's POV(Continued)I emerged from the shower feeling like a pruned lobster. When the scalding hot water was pouring over me, I'd been in bliss, but when I finally forced myself to leave the sanctuary of cascading waters, my skin was red all over. But my head was clear and I felt almost nothing, so mission accomplished. Waiting for me outside the cubicle was a green dress. It didn't look too bad, nor was it plain. I picked it up and stared at Char's offering with bewilderment. The dress was....short to put it mildly. There was no pant or jean to go along with it. This backless monstrosity would leave my thighs and knees in full view of everyone. Okay, where had my conservative friend gone? I should have known something was wrong the second she suggested we go clubbing. A place where we would naturally stand out as sore thumbs."Char! Where's the rest of the dress?" I yelled at the front d
Josie's POV(Continued)Her wide smile dimmed at my less than pleasant welcome. "What's up Joanne? Aren't you happy to see me?" Most definitely not. She was the very last person I expected to see here."Jo. Please call me Jo." I corrected in as calm a voice as I could. "Did Vladimir send you here?" My eyes narrowed on her. "I'm pretty sure I made it clear to that asshole that I wanted to be left alone."Her face shuttered, her brown irises hardening in response to my hostility. "Wao, might wanna ease up on the welcome Jo. Any warmer and people will think we're besties." I flushed bright red, my anger fleeing in the face of her reprimand."Hi. My name is Charlotte Woods." Char held her hand out politely.Lilya took it with a cautious smile. "Hi, I'm Lilya. Lilya Sedof. You're not going to bite my head off for crashing your party as well, are you?""No, the more the merrier actually
vladimir's POV The hunter has to go.He was a complication I didn’t need and an unwanted distraction for my wildcat. If he hadn’t stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, there would have been no need for Joanne to find out about the blood bind. She would have no reason to distrust me or run. She fought me, questioned my actions, but not once did it occur to her to make a run for it. Until him.No, the hunter had to go. His influence on my wildcat was too great. I’m the only one allowed to have such power over her.The little hunter’s actions were a bit unexpected to be honest. According to reports, his interest lay somewhere else. Specifically, in a little delicate flower called Anna Braille. Yet, he’d been all over my wildcat. It was almost as if the hunter was trying to stake a claim on Joanne and warn me off. Judging by how she had lapped up every possessive action, it was obvious my wildcat would lo
Vladimir's POV(Continued) The figure had been following me for two blocks now. Rather than have one of my warriors come pick me up, I had chosen to walk off my aggression.My mind was not blissfully empty, but it's chaotic state made it hard for any singular thought to ring loudest.I stopped in the middle of the next alley I came upon. It was not too dark out, a little past three in the morning, but the alley, a small narrow space between a skyscraper and a twenty storey building was pitch black.Most of the humans knew better than to traispase around the dark at a time like this. I am the king of all predators, so I was most certainly not being stalked. Someone does want my attention though. And I knew exactly who, and why. "You are no wimp, are you? Step out here and state your business or I will leave and I won't grant you another audience." I announced after three seconds of waiting for him to ap
Skyline Hotel, Variku, Tartu.Saturday, 3rd of august, 2024.Josie's POVDance Monkey blared from somewhere in the room, disrupting my sleep."Ugh." I groaned, trying to evade the harsh glare that was boring a hole through my eyes. Neither sound nor glare would quit, so I rolled over to make them quit.It took a while to identify the disturbing sound as my phone's ringtone. Rubbing the crust from my eyes, I stared blearily at the my notifications. I had one missed call and a message from Lilya. It took a while to see clearly, but once I did, sleep fled from me. 'Your driver is waiting outside. Meeting’s at 9. don’t be late.' "Char? I called through a yawn. It felt like I hadn’t slept in ages.A part of me wanted to go back to sleep, hide in the cocoon Char and I have been in for the last two days. But then today’s the day! I finally get answers to everything. "Char!" I called more insistently. "Hmm?" She groaned, turning over in sleep, her hand flinging out to push over a tray of h
Josie's POV(Continued)"Wha-" I began but my shocked rambling was cut off by the slim hunter who turned an unimpressed glare on the angry bear that was Kora."That's enough now Miss Puhvel. You are treading heavily on the side of recklessness. The result of such actions will be dire for you, so I suggest you get a hold of your emotions." The man announced calmly."Oh, and what the fuck are you going to do if I don't stop?" Kora sneered. "This is my territory. No one will tell me what to do in it and no one will take it from me." The wind howled louder, slapping my face with brutal intensity.Someone whimpered. I'm ashamed to find that the someone was me.“You will cease this behavior right now!” Ivan growled as he rose to his feet. Kora turned her fierce-some snarl on him, but he merely used his extra three inches on her to get a hold of her shoulders. He clamped his hands on her and forced h