Read Slave to a Vampire - Book 1 Catherine Page 13

Chapter 10

  After everything was finally cleared away, Catherine was ready to make her way through the mansion with the other slaves when she heard someone curse down the hall. As far as she knew the house had been empty. Curious and too exhausted to really consider what she was doing, she lifted her skirts and crept down the hall towards the room.

  “Those bastards think they can cheat me do they?” a man’s voice hissed, and Catherine froze.

  That voice, it sounded like Bastian but it was harsher…and he seemed to hiss. What man hissed when he spoke? Fear gripped her and she thought about returning to the others when something crashed into the door, slamming it open. Too shocked to move, she stood there as Bastian’s light blue eyes glared at her shaking form.

  “What do you want, girl? Why do you stand there and quiver? Are you frightened?”

  This was not the man she’d spoken with two months before. Her hands clutched at her skirts as she tried to form words or even lower her eyes, but she could do nothing but stare. He stalked towards her, boots heavy on the floor.

  “Well? Answer your Master!”

  “Yes,” she gasped, “I’m frightened.”

  “Of me?” he asked, almost sounding pleased with himself.

  Catherine began to respond, then stopped. She stared at him long and hard, focusing on his eyes, those eyes that had been so kind. Her heart rate slowed and she managed to loosen her hands. “No,” she said, surprising herself, but him even more.

  “No? You’re not terrified of me?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  He glared at her and then at what he had thrown through the door. “Those books, pick them up and bring them to me,” he commanded.

  Catherine bent down and cradled the books in her arms. They were heavy and leather bound, but she managed to grasp the three of them and followed Bastian back into the room. It looked to be a study, where he kept the records for the plantation. He pointed to the desk and she set them down. The top one fell open and she glanced at it and smiled.

  “Look familiar? Have you seen my books before,” he snapped.

  She quickly shook her head. “No, but I have seen ones similar. The man I used to write letters for. I took care of his books.” she glanced back down at the page.

  “Can you look at these numbers and tell me if they are correct?” he asked.

  She bit her lip and kept her eyes on the pages. After an hour of studying the numbers she replied to him, “Someone’s been skimming off the top of these shipments you have coming in. These numbers don’t add up like they should. It’s a small amount. If you weren’t really looking, you wouldn’t catch it.”

  Catherine waited for him to say something, but it was quiet. She finally lifted her head to see him staring at her intently. Her breath caught in her chest and she took a sudden step back.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to speak out of turn.”

  “You didn’t,” he said. “From now on when you come to the mansion you are to report to this room. Do you understand?”

  “What of my other duties?”

  “You no longer work under Maxine,” he said as his eyes zeroed in on her face. “You work directly for me. Understand?”

  Catherine curtsied. “Yes, Master Lavelle, of course.”

  “Good, now go back to your room. The sun is nearly up. You will also move out of your quarters tomorrow.”

  “Where to, Master Lavelle?” she asked, worrying where he would make her stay.

  “I will take care of that tomorrow. Good night, Catherine.”

  She curtsied again then rushed out the door. He had remembered her name after all this time. Behind her in the study she could hear his laughter following her out of the room. By the time she reached their shack, Maxine was already waiting there. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Master Lavelle was speaking with me.”

  Maxine’s eyes widened in surprise, but it was the look on Charlotte’s face that made her concerned.

  “Well then, I guess your lateness is acceptable. As I was telling the other girls, your door will remain unlocked from now on. I am giving you my trust, don’t break it! Good morning ladies, I shall see you at four.” She headed off towards the mansion as Catherine hurried inside and collapsed on her cot.

  “Were you really speaking with him?” Mary asked.

  “I was,” she said. “I was looking over his books and now I think I’m going to be working for him.”

  “What!” Charlotte snapped. “How did you manage that? What did you do for him?”

  “Nothing, I did nothing,” Catherine said growing irritated. “He remembered that I can read and write and he asked me to look through his books. I noticed some irregularities with the numbers, that’s all. I’m sure it doesn’t mean I’ll be spending time with him…so you still have your chance.” She curled up on her bed and closed her eyes. The others whispered behind her, but she ignored them as a pair of pale blue eyes floated before her in her dreams.