25. In The Shadows.

Mariella had been negotiating with God all night; she had argued and sought other ways, but God was merciless. He had given Mariella the ability to see into the past much longer and had shown her the phone call Mimi had received at the beginning of her recovery. This was something that they did. They had a solution to help Mimi get rid of those triple shells but it would not be easy. Mimi had evolved a bit again. She was the kind of creature that her evolution was not yet done, so she had gotten now strong enough for this to happen.

Mariella and Damon knew Mimi had also known about her triple shells from the start but had not wanted to tell anyone. Mariella knew that this was going to be a test by fire for Damon and would affect the pack for a long time, but if they wanted Mimi not to be weak for the next 15-50 years, unable to do anything and most importantly a victim of repeated Damien shed sessions, this had to be done. Mariella sighed deeply and wondered how she was going to explain this to Damon and, more importantly, whether Damon could do it.

Mariella hadn't been in the pack for long, and Damon was himself for the first time in a millennium. Mimi's medical problems so far had been mild at first, but this latest one had gotten Mimi in such a terrible shape that Damon had been forced to cut Mimi's straps. Those triple shells had caused several of the tender shells to be broken too and that had led Mimi to be too sick to withstand any treatment so Damon had cut her straps, it took two weeks to get her back in her body again but her recovery was slow and she was not in top shape at all. 

Mariella knew there would be other problems in the future, and again, Damon would be forced to cut the straps. Her weight would get nowhere where it should. Those problems would be on and off all the time. She would have to be isolated, sick, and weak. But Mimi had recovered and was attending a trade show and road trip, so Mimi wasn't there all the time, which would be an advantage in preparation.

Mariella turned to Damon and sighed. She admired Damon's perfect facial features, cruel mouth, and long lashes. At that moment, Damon was asleep and looked young and innocent. Mariella found it hard to believe that behind this boy, this young and innocent man's exterior, this was a vampire over 1000 years old. Damon was perfect, for her at least, and he was so caring for Mimi too. He had slept next to Mimi's body for two nights before she had seduced him to unload. 

Damon became aware that Mariella was gazing at him. He woke up to see his lovely wife looking at him with that mysterious expression on her face. She had it from time to time. She was looking at him in that way of wanting to know all his secrets. Mariella's gaze had a heavy dose of sheer lust in it, too.

"'Mmmm, good morning darling," Damon said lazily.

"Morning to yourself. I have one thing to talk to you about, and before you say anything back, listen to me first, okay?" Mariella spoke softly to him.

"Why so serious, wife dear?" Damon asked and rolled onto his side and began to caress his wife, the intention being to seduce her and spend another day in bed.

Mariella said, "Seriously, now you listen and hear me out, and believe me when I say there is no other choice. I have been talking upstairs all night about it. This has to be done. They have the solution to help Mimi as they have now evidence of how bad those shells are, so they could come up with something but it ain't nice or easy."

Damon furrowed his brows and raised himself into a better position. It wouldn't be time for seduction just yet.

"Well then, start telling me before I lose my nerve and seduce you right here and now," Damon said in his velvety voice.

Mariella looked at Damon for a moment and began. " First of all, this has to be done, and you have to do this, and it has to be believable. Well, you know I like to talk, but I'll get straight to the point. You're going to have to give Mimi a shed session, and a bad one at that."

Damon furrowed his eyebrows and said, "You must have a damn good reason for that ridiculous suggestion. I told you that the shed sessions were always almost Damien. I have done none from start to finish, and bad ones at that. Except one teaching one, and it had its own story behind it. "

Mariella continued. " If you don't want Mimi to be sick for the next 15-50 years and constantly suffering from a shed session with Damien, then you make your shed session and make it bloody bad. Very believable."

"May I ask why?" Damon asked.

Mariella replied." Remember when I had my first heat? We got into heat and do you remember when you killed Mimi in the end? That shit broke the shells Damien had put in me. It's the same thing here. Mimi has evolved strong enough to have oomph for this to happen. Now there's no way we're going to get all of Mimi's shells off, but if your session is the real thing, 80% of the shells are gone, you know 80%."

Damon furrowed his brow. Technically, that made sense, but what would result from this?

Mariella continued, "The more real and the worse, the more brutal the session is, the stronger the reaction between Mimi's powers that we're looking for. You can't get it any other way. It's the only way. Then, the chaos, the will of Mimi and the alpha force almost make, after the nuclear reaction that breaks those shells. Understand. You'll know as soon as you're headed in the right direction. But you have to make it real. Mimi has to believe you're doing it for the pleasure of hating Mimi. Only then will it work."

Damon sighed, so he would have to destroy whatever was left between him and Mimi, but in all honesty, that was not much. 

Mariella's voice was sure as she had gotten information from upstairs, "The other 20% is easier to control and may not even come on, so maybe medical problems will only come up rarely, and even those may be mild. You know Mimi has triple shells. That last infection was Damon when one type of shell broke and released three things. One type of shell. And he had put them inside Mimi for decades, in every shed session almost. Mimi knows her shells, but she not telling us as she is not wanting to be a victim."

"Fine, sounds logical, but there's one minor problem, I can't do such horrible things to Mimi and still be believable." Damon mused.

"You have to, Damon, you have to. Do what you have to, but it has to be believable right from the start. Now we have a gala coming up where Mimi is going to give a speech. You're going to take Mimi there and threaten Mimosa. You're probably going to hurt Mimosa a little bit to make it real, but you just have to do it. I'll erase this memory of myself, even knowing the whole thing, because my reaction is genuine and neither Charles nor Adam suspect anything. This memory will come back. Don't worry."

Mariella looked at Damon, sighed, and carried on still. This part was tough to explain.

"One thing though is that you'll probably have to kill Mimi. It has to be that long. I know Damien knew how to do it slowly. You don't have to. You can do it so efficiently and brutally that Mimi's suffering won't be endless, but remember to be as creepy as you can be. You need to get those powers, Mimi's will, to break, Mimi's alpha power to fight you, Mimi's rage, react in such a way that she is not aware of that but her emotions and sensations causing her body to react. You know how she can make herself react in all the wrong ways. That is one thing that will be a big part of this. "

Mariella continued. " Now, here is an ability for you so you can sense the shells in Mimi; you will feel when the shells break, you must continue until the shells break no more. This will get rid of those delicate shells too. Damon, this is worth it. Just believe it. Both of you are immortal and forever is a long time."

Damon looked deep into Mariella's eyes. "I don't know, damn it, I have to try, but I don't know how my mind can take this. It could be, my dear, that after this, I will be in a terrible place, and I may not want to be around anyone. When you know how I've been treating Mimi now and she's my alpha. The fact I will probably lose Mimi because of this or at least something between us will change, is fucking hard. She will go to those two and not even try to be with me. Even though we haven't had a relationship yet, it's taking away hope, and it's an awful place to be because without hope. What's the point? I'm just saying this as a heads-up. If I could somehow justify this as a lesson, despite that, I have no reason to give her a deadly lesson. "

Damon added quietly as Mariella said, "I got you. Remember, always and forever. I'll get you fixed. You will get your relationship with Mimi. Remember, you are one powerful telepath, and you could probably dispel the whole thing from her mind. Now that the gala is the day after tomorrow. Here's some motivation. The road trip of a woman that she so graciously got accepted. No fairs, but Miss empties her safe deposit boxes, hides things in her wings, and leaves stuff onto bases too. And then move on. Everything is the lady's property, not the pack's, and she does with it exactly as she pleases whether it's a rare ruby or an experimental new explosive. Reddington made sure that no one could get those safety deposit boxes except Mimi. If it would motivate you a little more. She lied to your face, and she does not really respect you, so you have also a good time teaching her to be afraid of you, too. Not just Damien. You can teach her what happens when she is not truthful and not wanting to share. Go, I'll have this conversation and the information about that session out of my head in five minutes, so go get ready."

Damon got out of bed, got dressed, and prepared the plan, make the materials, and get the place ready. That helped with what Mariella had shown him. He had places still left. After all, his work was not stopped fully even though he did little gigs, but it could change too. 

Once again, the lady had slightly twisted the truth. There would be one he could use. He was getting quite ready, and in reality, Mimi could not die. She just would go into Charles's mind to rest and think things over. He let his rage come out to the surface. It would help him too. He directed Mariella to work with Adam and Charles, perhaps decorating an aquarium or learning to cook. Damon already had the place mapped out and set off to get everything ready. How it would all work out in the end, Damon wasn't sure.

I was on a good road trip with my safety deposit boxes and I had visited quite many bases to say hello and leave my stuff; I had safes there too. When Charles called to remind me that the gala was tomorrow, I sighed in my mind, but this was one of the must-do's. When you get a reputation, it brings sometimes these public events. Fortunately, I had a pretty good pile of safe deposit boxes still left to empty. I knew that at some point, I would have to go through all my bank vaults.

Reddington had left me over 20 of them in his will. Murdock killed Reddington at the same time we got into heat, and I don't know why. Murdock is a hitman, but he's been working with Reddington for a long time. Murdock is actually in my organization and one of my top men, but I had no chance to catch up with him on my journey, which would continue probably after this gala. 

I found out about the will, and that was one reason I went on the trip. Reddington has been in my life for decades and sometimes people get old and die off. I would miss him because he had been there for me right from the start when I and Magnum first met him and there was not much that he would not do for me. Yet another loss in my life, another headstone in the cemetery in my heart. 

Charles was covering the gala and my speech at it. He sent my speech to my phone so I could read it and learn it. I had, after all, a photographic memory, so I would remember it after just one reading. handy sometimes.

"Fine," I said curtly, gathered my gear, and started driving towards the house. He reminded me again about the dress code and everything else too, telling of course how much he misses me. I told him I would soon be home. My car was fully loaded already and I would have to empty it at some point, too.

Luckily, I had taken nearby deposit boxes, so there weren't such ridiculously long distances to travel.

I was thinking on the way there that these must be coming to an end because Damon has been talking for a while about how one day I won't be running the fleas, and someone else will be. Damon has also been giving out killing shots to everyone else, and he's been happy that I don't go to gigs as often anymore. But I am not that easy always. I have spent quite a while on bases going through stuff and making sure that Damon's little interferences would not cause too much trouble.

Sometimes I was actually ready to give up. I had been running fleas for over 50 years. It could be nearer almost 80 years now and it took its toll. Even if I was not in every day around, I might take a long time not to do anything. They were still on my mind and I felt sometimes almost guilty not doing my job. After all, this had been my little network. 

I still did flea work, but I did not do many missions except for the sniper gigs. Damon didn't want me to spend all his time flitting around by myself. And on top of that, with Damien being loose and in his own body and not knowing the bastard's plans, I'm told to be careful. Oh, if Damon knew about my bank vaults. I was the leader of my organization and even though I had lost people; I had my bodyguards with me if I wanted to go to the missions and sometimes I might do it. 

I arrived at the house at dusk. The New Jersey mansion was one of my favorite places, having bought and mostly decorated it myself. It wasn't as sheltered as some of our houses are because they have a girls' wing. No wing, but it was not a problem for me. Not at all. 

I never saw Mariella living in the wing, though, and I knew it was only a matter of time always when we moved into the house with a wing before the wings were opened up to the whole pack. Damon had invaded the wings, but it hadn't been made so official yet that the wings had to be opened. They had raided with Mariella a few wings here and there, but not too many. As they liked to fuck on the public side. 

I had lots of clothes and went inside the house, upstairs to one bedroom, where I had an enormous wardrobe full of unused dresses and party dresses. I did not tell anyone that I had arrived as I wanted to relax and get ready for tomorrow's minor event and maybe, after that, continue my road trips and see a few vaults, too.

I ran a hot bath and dipped into the warm water to relax and rest. I soaked in the bath for almost an hour. The tub was heated, so the water never got cold. Sitting in the car is hard on the muscles. I lazily thought that now and then, I could do a few snipes. They were fun to do in themselves. We have quite a list so I could do a few gigs actually after this. That is, if I can get those two in The Azores to mating season. That thought made me giggle.

I got up in the tub, wrapped myself in a luxuriously soft bathrobe, and grabbed a nightgown from the dresser. After my time drying off, I slipped into my nightgown, pulled on my dressing gown, and staggered upstairs to the kitchen for something to eat.

Charles, Mariella, and Adam were cooking or baking, but judging by the fervent looks on the men's faces, it wasn't going to be just cooking. I figured tomorrow was going to be a long day. The opening ceremony is already at noon, and the rest of the day, pretty much until evening, is socializing, eating small plates of food, and sipping champagne or wine.

Boring! I'm supposed to give a brief presentation, open the new wing of our hospital, and praise potential donors, so ass-kissing day. Not that our hospital isn't successful. It doesn't need donors, but when it's good PR, it's good. However, it's a bit of a drive to the hospital, and I could be on the road by 9 a.m. I decided to find one dress I could wear all day. The good thing about this was that Mariella would be with Damon, and I wouldn't have to worry about flank injuries.

I ate my evening meal in good spirits and remembered to wake up early enough to fuel myself for the day because no amount of food on such an occasion would fill my stomach.

There would be a buffet table, but I didn't want to risk eating there, with my diet being what it is and other herb sensitivities. I wonder who in the pack will come to the gala. I was in my thoughts when Charles elbowed me.

"Hey, where were you on the other side of the galaxy?" he asked playfully.

" No, I was just thinking about the gala tomorrow, thinking about the dress and all that," I replied.

Charles looked at me hotly. I smiled as Mariella began to nibble on Charles's ear.

Mariella said," This is almost my first party; I'm looking forward to it."

I looked at Mariella and thought in my mind that at least someone was excited about them.

"it's going to be great. There will be so many people to talk to." Mariella continued excitedly.

I thought a little sourly that as long as you're not confused all the time, you'll be fine. For me, they would be so fucking boring, but I'd have to choose a dress if I took a little of Charles inside me now and then so I wouldn't be hungry.

Mariella was hanging on Charles like a tick and nibbling and nipping.

Then she looked at me and said with a sweet smile, " One more thing: Damon wants us both to be redheads tomorrow, so be sure to get Mimi's hair color right."

"Of course," I said.

I was actually a little surprised that the mating pair would come into the gala too, as Damon himself had never really been happy with my ideas that Charles then made it happen. I hadn't decided which red hair I would wear, but it was no surprise that Lord and Master would dictate the hair color, too. I was a little surprised that Damon wasn't always hanging onto Mariella. Where's the whole Salvatore lurking?

I finished my evening meal and retired to my nest for a while to read and then to bed. I have to wake up at 6 am. I thought of boredom as I listed in my mind all the things I had to do in the morning. First thing before I went to bed, I would try to choose a dress. It was a unique thing that I got to choose my outfit, but I liked my autonomy in these things too. 

Oh yeah, red hair... I don't wear green, though it doesn't suit me. Made my skin look almost greenish and despite my red hair, it was not my color. I ended up with a dark crimson silk dress with a bit of a fuller hem and a good slit. The dress reached over my knees and would be comfortable to move around in. It would be heavy but comfortable on me, and it was one of my smaller dresses, as I was not in my best shape yet. 

Also, when hot, silk is cool, and in cold it is warm, so the temperature shouldn't be an issue either. I ended up with this dress because it was loose, so I could cram my belly full, and it wouldn't show in the dress. 

The hem would be easy to lift if I needed a little stuffing. And then the slit would allow for maybe a little bit of feeling. I'm wondering if I'm coming into heat because I'm in a pretty wild mood. Proper underwear was not too stuffy, so it would be easy to get some cream of love from Charles inside me during the festivities. 

I was happy with my choice and went to read a risqué sex story for a while before I realized I was beating myself in the nose with a book, at which point I decided to give up and resignedly set my phone alarm for 6 a.m., put the book on the table and turned off the lights.

It didn't take me more than a minute to fall asleep, and I could have sworn I hadn't been asleep for more than five minutes when the damn alarm was on.

I dragged myself into the morning shower and changed my hair color to red, almost just red, not orangey, but almost crimson. Blood Red was probably pretty close. After the shower, I put on my nightgown and dressing gown and dragged myself back into the kitchen to make myself some coffee and food.

Damon was there, as chipper as a finch at breakfast. I was not in so chipper mood as I tried to get my eyes open. 

"Oh, good morning, Mimi," he said.

I looked at my husband for a while and said very sourly, " Morning,"

Then concentrated on making my coffee and heating my food in the fast oven. It's nice to be such a special case, to have meat for breakfast, I mused as I passed by.

I'd love to eat eggs, bacon, hash browns, whatever, but when they come right through. I had a pretty expensive taste. The best thing I absorbed was Wagyu steak, so the morning started with almost a couple of kilos of very fatty beef, Coca-Cola, and coffee with a bit of other meat.

My stomach was stretched to hold almost 10 liters, so I could cram quite a bit of food in there. I didn't even notice when Mr. Cheerful Salvatore disappeared from the table and didn't even care. He did not feed me now. I guess he has some quickest with Mariella in his mind. 

I finally managed to eat my fill and thought, thank goodness I had a drive ahead of me, so there was time to sink soon. There would be coffee at the gala, though, so with the power of caffeine, I'd be fine even if the digestion might otherwise tire me out.

Then I went back to my room, put on my dress, and did my hair, make-up, and nails. I would drive to the party place alone and the others would follow. I got in my car and started driving towards the party venue. My dress was quite loose on me as I wasn't in my best condition, but it would do. 

My car was well equipped and, as I was planning to drive straight from the gala to the rest of the venue, I had my spare clothes with me. Neither Mimosa nor Shadow would attend the gala. Now that they are completely free and don't have to be inside us anymore, they wanted to hunt and scavenge, not perform at the party. We agreed they wouldn't have to.