Disclaimer: see chapters 2 and 4

A/N: This chapter is a bit devoid of Selene and Michael, but this allows the time lines to begin to line up again, yay. Anyway hope you like it.

Chapter 7: Suspicions Running High

The warriors returned to the mansion, defeated and disappointed. Felicite was still at Trevor's side as they entered the stronghold. Marcus was there to welcome them back. He knew about the defeat, Trevor having called him once they realized the lycans had moved. "Do we have any idea where it was they went?"

"No sire," Trevor answered defeated. Though his posture said respect, Trevor was looking the Elder in the eye.

"Well, we will have to start looking. Make contact with any informants this coven has made over the last few years, see if they know anything," he ordered.

"Yes," Trevor agreed.

The two were about to leave when Marcus continued. "You," he said, pointing at Felicite.

"Me sire?" she asked, never looking directly at him.

"Yes," he answered. "Do you know any of the informant we have around the city?"

"Yes sire," she answered.

"Head the team, under Trevor, that will be contacting and keeping relations with the humans," he said.

Her eyes lit up at this opportunity. "Thank you sire," she said, bowing low as she left Marcus and Trevor to begin her work.

"Thank you Marcus," Trevor said.

"You seem to trust her a great deal, and I trust your judgement. You are like a son to me," he explained.

"I know, and you are like a father to me. I would do anything for you," he replied.

"Of course," Marcus said. "Now go keep an eye on her. She seems capable, but I worry about her age. She is so young; you will need to back her up for anyone to respect her.

"Yes, my lord."

Marcus smiled at the man beside him. "I trust you to do what is necessary." Trevor nodded and left his lords side, following the same path his charge had taken just moments before.

"What did you talk to Marcus about after I left?" Felicite asked as Trevor entered Kahn's old office, which was now his own.

"What are you doing?"

"Avoiding my question?"

"No, I just want to know what you are doing?"

"I was looking through an old contacts list, to see which ones would be useful. Kahn had people trailing almost anyone you could imagine," she clarified.

"Oh, well you got started quick," he said standing next to her chair, which was really his. She got up and he sat down. She stole a chair from along the wall as she always did when she joined him in his office.

"So are you going to answer my question?" she asked still scanning the list of a good two hundred names.

"And what was that?" he asked in return. He has his eyes plastered to a map of the area.

"What did you and Marcus talk about once I left. I beat you here and I was walking slow enough a snail could have passed me," she said.

"So?"

"You would have caught up if you hadn't discussed something with him," she explained.

"Well, he was just saying…" he paused. This made Felicite a bit suspicious about his answer when it finally came. "That I should do better and that I better find something out of these informants." He was a master of the façade, no readable emotion on his never aging face but she knew he was not telling her something. He would not have been yelled at like that when he was so easily able to look the elder in the eye like he did. There was more to that relationship, and Felicite was going to find out.

Over a week had passed since her promotion to head of informant relations, as Trevor called it. Things were going well, as far as Felicite could tell, although they hadn't found anything yet. Selene and Michael and called and said that things were going great but would not tell her where they were, in order to protect themselves and her. They also did not inform her on being with the lycans. They figured they would when or if Felicite told them that the coven was getting close. They figured it would be better for Felicite to continue to look for them with 100 vigor, less suspicious that way.

Felicite found Serina in the main entranceway, after her now traditional dinner with Trevor. "Hey Serina," she greeted the young vampire princess.

"Hey, how have things been going?" she asked.

"Pretty good I think. We haven't found anything yet but I think we will soon," she comforted both her friend and herself.

"Sure," Serina agreed. "So, you free, had dinner."

"Yup, had dinner. Let's hang out, and talk," she suggested.

"'kay, let's go to my room," Serina said, turning and about to leave.

"I'll meet you up there in just a moment. I need to do one last thing before I meet you," she said, seeing on of the death dealers, Elena.

Serina went up the main staircase towards her room, while Felicite chased after Elena. "Hey Elena," Felicite called.

Elena turned and faced the young Vampire. She had little respect for her before they had lost Selene, and know she had even less. But yet again, Felicite was protected by an older more powerful vampire, forcing her to be nice. "Yes," she answered snidely.

Felicite was taken a back by her cocky attitude. "I just wanted to know if you have found anything new?" she asked.

"No, and when I do, I'll be sure to tell Trevor," she responded with a still nasty attitude.

"Okay," Felicite answered still a bit surprised by the bite in the death dealer voice. "I will see you later then, I guess." Felicite turned and left the haughty death dealer in her wake as she went grand staircase to meet her friend.

Yet when Elena turned around to continue to the tojo, she ran into the one person who could make her step back and cower. "Why did you speak to her like that?" Felicite heard Trevor ask, being as demeaning as Elena had been to Felicite. Felicite could not help but stop and listen to what he was saying.

"I, um, well," she stammer, through completely off guard being caught.

"You will treat her with the respect she deserves," he ordered.

"She is Twenty, years old for crying out loud. She should be under us, not the other way around. She is not worth respecting," Elena spat.

"Well, if you want any thing to go your way ever again, you will respect her," he threatened. "Now go and do your job and report to her when you have found something," he ordered, almost yelling. Elena cowered away, taking off in the direction of the tojo.

Felicite was at first a little stunned at the way he had defended her. But then it hit her what Elena had said. She was not worth respecting. No one in the death dealers wanted her there. It was Trevor that kept her where she was. That was why he was always with her, and if not right by her side, then he was not far away, always able to see her. He didn't care for her at all, just had a job to do. 'Marcus still wants information out of me, so it is Trevor's job to keep me safe, until I am no longer useful,' she thought. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she took off towards Serina's room, needing now more than ever to talk.

Serina was watching TV when Felicite came in, trying to hide the tears that not too long ago fell from her eyes. "Hey, what took you so long?" Serina asked.

"Nothing, I just had to talk to one of the death dealers about the lycan thing. I'm sorry," she apologized, trying to hide the waver in her voice.

It didn't work. "Hey, what happened? Have you been crying?" the girl asked, walking over to comfort her only good friend.

"No," she said her efforts of hiding her tears becoming more futile.

"Don't lie to me, tell me what happened," Serina prodded.

"I am nothing to anyone, but a way to get to Selene. They figure I know where she is and if they keep me long enough they will get what they want from me. Then I will be killed or my career ruined, both practically the same," she sobbed.

"What gave you that idea?"

"I heard Trevor yelling at Elena. She hates me, just like all the other death dealers, and I realized the only reason that they haven't tarred and feathered me is because of Trevor," she continued.

"So?" she pried. "What does Trevor defending you have to do with Selene?"

"He is only treating me as he is because he has too. Almost every dinner, he tries to get something on Selene out of me. Every time we train, or talk, in some underlying way he is trying to find Selene," she explained, getting more distraught.

"Well do you know?" Serina asked.

"You too? Is that why you found me, to get what I know?"

"No, I really did just need a friend who could understand me," she said.

"Then why would you ask?"

"Just curious, I am a little too nosey sometimes for my own good," she answered, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well to answer your question no," she said.

"Well just tell them that," Serina said, as if it were that simple.

"I have," Felicite countered. "I have told them may times, but obviously Trevor doesn't trust or care as much as he pretends to."

"I don't know the answer, but I would take a few days to think it over before addressing the subject," Serina advised.

Felicite smiled at her friend. "You are going to make a great elder one day," Felicite complemented.

"Thanks, but I hope Marcus takes a bit before deciding on a new council and puts me into internment," she said.

"Oh, hadn't thought of it that way. That will suck."

"Don't remind me," Serina said with a roll of her eyes. "Now let's do something fun, like watch a movie."

"Alright, but nothing to sappy, I just can not stand how emotional these directors make these characters."

"I know, but it is still sort of cute."

"Fine, but just not tonight," she pleaded.

"'kay," Serina agreed and ran over to the cabinet filled with movies and pulled out, Troy. "Does this work?"

"Yes, I love that one," she said, having watched it seen it for the first time just the other night. Serina put on the movie and that sat transfixed with the screen until it ended at 8 in the morning. At which point Felicite bid her friend good night and left for her own room.

By the time Felicite returned to her room, she was still a bit confused as what to think. She was unsure who to believe her gut, or her heart. But as she got ready for bed, the ringing of her cell that was in her pocket interrupted her thoughts. She let out a small laugh, since it tickled from being on vibrate and flipped it open, excited to see the caller ID flashing a familiar number. "Hey Selene," she answered.

But instead of the cool calm and collected person that she was use to being on the other end, Selene was crying and upset. "Everything is all screwed up," Selene sobbed.

"What happened, it was going so well, last time we talked?" Felicite asked, sitting on the bed in her pajamas. She talked with Selene for an hour, comforting her fears as best she could, finally going to sleep around 10 in the morning.

Thanks to those who have reviewed:

Shannon K: I have actually have had a few comments on how fast they are moving. I just thought they would only have pussy footed around for a little while, or at least that is how the book made it seem.

Ellethiel: Thanks again for the review. I