Theodore: Xavier’s Hatchlings ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “The Feds are coming here. Since I have so many officers dead, they’ve been notified.” Theo told him that was a good idea. “I just don’t understand this, Theo. Those boys just killed several officers and looked like they might well have killed more had we not taken action and fired back. It’s going to be hard on Officer Meadow too. He’s the one that killed the younger boy. He kept telling me while they checked his wounds that he has a son that age. I’ve sent him on to the hospital. He’d not even realized that he’d been shot too.”

  “I’m thinking you should have every officer here write out what happened. Not only that, but I’d take any recordings you have of this and put them in a locked safe in the bank or someplace. Take a witness with you as you remove the recordings and take them to the bank. Chains of evidence will be your friend in all this.” Nodding, Amos asked him if there was more. “Yes. By all means, make sure that no one talks about this to the press, their spouses, or anyone. This gets out, and there will be hell to pay. You know that.”

  The ambulances arrived to take the boys out of the station house. Austin was too quiet, and Theo suggested that Amos have someone without a gun, travel and stay with him. Amos agreed he’d do that. Theo said to make sure that they took pictures of the places where the bodies had been too, for no reason other than to make sure they recorded everything.

  Theo was finally able to leave the station house. His brothers were going to be at his home when they arrived. Not just for support, but to be there to fend off reporters as well as calls. Theo just wanted to hold the two people he’d come to love very much and shut out the world.

  He knew he’d not be able to do that. People would want answers. They’d want details. More than anything, they’d want to know what the fuck would make two kids kill and be killed like they were. While he had answers to those questions, he didn’t think they would go over well. Theo thought the blame lay squarely on the parents. Who the hell took young kids to a firing range to show them how to fire a gun? He supposed that would come out in the end as well.

  Pem was making arrangements to feed everyone after Theo let his family know what was going on. Bubble told him he’d keep a very close eye on his mistress after Theo told him that his family was coming. He’d been with her the entire time, but he was still shocked to hear that both little boys had planned this.

  “The older lady will need a faerie soon, your lordship. I should have thought of it sooner.” He said he’d not thought of it either. “I’ll find her someone that can be calming. Especially now, she doesn’t need a flitter bitter around her.”

  “I don’t know what a flitter bitter is, but I’m sure you’re right.” Bubble smiled. “You take care of my family, Bubble, and I’ll be greatly indebted to you.”

  “‘Tis my pleasure, sir.”

  When Bubble left him, Finn pulled him into his arms and hugged him tightly. It was something he’d not known he needed until just then. Theo felt his eyes fill with tears as his brother told him that he had him. That he loved him. It was perhaps the best news he’d had all day.

  Chapter 4

  Pem sat on the couch and thought about everything that had happened today. She couldn’t block it out any longer. She had to think this through, or it was going to drive her crazy. It was already depressing the fuck out of her. Looking up when she heard her name, she smiled at Cindi. Her mother-in-law was one of a kind and the only other woman she depended on other than her grandma.

  “I have a bit of news for you. You can tell me to go the hell away, and I’ll do it. It’s not terribly important, but just things that I believe that you should know.” Pem leaned back on the couch and regarded Cindi. “Are you all right? You don’t seem as stressed as I thought you’d be. And to be honest with you, I think you’re not nearly as depressed about this as I was afraid. Are you all right?”

  “I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but you have the greatest sons that have ever been born.” Cindi thanked her. “Theo and his brothers have been pampering me since I got home. Not one of them has left me alone, either. Not until I came in here. You and Xavier should be very proud of yourselves.”

  “One can only hope we do a good job when raising our children. When they leave home, you hope you’ve taught them well enough, but let them have enough confidence in themselves, so they make good sound decisions too.” Cindi smiled at her. “Thank you for that. You have no idea how wonderful you’ve made me feel just now.”

  “I was being honest. And on that note, I’d like for you to be honest with me, even if you think it will hurt me. I love your sons, all of them. But I’m about to put my foot up one of their asses if they don’t back the fuck off and stop handling me. So, tell me what it is I need to know. Not what you think I should know. All right?” She nodded and smiled at her. “What’s going on?”

  “Your cousins are with us. They’re here now to tell you what happened the day they were killed. After this, I’m going to send them to the white room. I should explain to you what that is. It’s a place where there is no color, no people. Not a sound is heard—not their breathing, foot falls, or anything else. They can walk for miles and not get out of the white of it all. It’s a place I send the dead to when they cause trouble.” Pem asked her if they were causing trouble there as well. “Yes.”

  It was enough, she supposed. They’d be sent on, but for now, she could ask them about why they’d done such a thing. Why had they decided that killing others in a police station would have gotten them anything but dead?

  “Before I talk to them—and I do want to—would you please tell me what the cops found when they went to their home? I’ve asked, and I keep getting fobbed off.” Cindi said she’d be honest with her on that as well. “I would hope you’d be honest with me even if it is bad.”

  “It’s bad. The boys, from what we can tell, thought they’d live through what happened. There were stashes of money throughout the house, mostly in their rooms. Also, there were several insurance policies they’d taken out. The police have told Cooper it was the most well laid out plan they’d ever witnessed. Them being as young as they were, he said he feared for the world in general for their expertise as they got older. They had planned this action since they found out their grandfather had died. One of them got ahold of the plans for the police station the night before they left, so they knew the layout of the building.” Cindi asked her if she was sure she wanted to hear more. Telling her to go on, Pem had a terrible feeling she wasn’t going to like what she said to her next. “They assumed—I don’t know why—but they assumed that your grandma would have her gun with her. Stanley was going to take her gun and kill MaryBeth. Then he was going to leave the rest of the murders in the room to David. Using the gun, he would get into the station house and was going to go down to the bullpen and kill every person he came in contact with. Neither of them figured they’d be killed as, they’ve told me, they were kids, and no one would want to hurt them.”

  She looked in the direction Cindi did. Pem had no idea what kind of person it took to see the dead, but her respect for her had gone up a few notches. When she looked at her again, Pem got up and went to sit with her. Taking her hand into hers, she looked at the other woman.

  “I want to hear it all. But I have a couple of questions. They just popped into my head.” Cindi said she’d answer them if she could. “Where are their bodies? Are they going to be buried here or back home where they lived? Also, I’d very much like to do something for the families of the victims. Something to help them along with this. I know that nothing will take the pain away, but I need to help them.”

  “Each officer has had their funeral paid for. The families will also receive a one-time payment of two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars. It will be funneled through the police department as an on-duty insurance policy. The houses they lived in are being paid off to help the families. The injured officers will not receive a bill from the hospital, and
their families are given hotel rooms to be close to their loved ones while they stay in the hospital. They will get their full pay while they’re off, as well as a bonus. I’m not sure how much that is going to be. The details are still being worked out.” Pem asked her if they could afford that. “Yes. We’ve been around for a great many years, Pem. We’re also mated to dragons. The story behind them being able to cry gems is very true.”

  She thought about the generosity of this family and wondered if they had had to do this before. Help a group of people out what had been devasted by someone with a chip on their shoulders. Looking in the direction she thought the boys were, Pem told Cindi she was ready for the rest.

  “They’ve killed before. The two of them. Not with guns, but with knives. I’ve helped in finding the two little boys they killed, and I’ve also had Carson look into the four children that were bullied by them that had moved to another school. This wasn’t something they did on the spur of the moment. They planned everything. They were, as you might have guessed, monsters.” She asked Cindi if Austin or Caroline knew. “Not about the deaths, but they did about the other children being bullied. The entire family had been blocked from every restaurant and every other business in town before they left. It’s the reason they’re broke, paying off people their children have hurt. And there are a great many of them.”

  She sat there, thinking of that when she told Cindi she was ready to see the boys. Ready or not, she supposed, Pem wanted to see what they had to say for themselves. Before she was able to see them, Theo came in and sat across from her. Cindi said he was there for support, not to take over.

  As soon as they came into focus, she had to turn away for a second. They were dead, bloodied too. After taking a deep breath, she looked at the two of them. Both of them were smiling and looking like they were happy. The little fuckers were proud of themselves, she thought.

  “You killed those men. Five men for no reason at all.” Theo said it was seven now. One of them died on the operating table that morning, and Amos had had a stroke that they were blaming on the boys. “Did you hear that? You’ve killed seven people for no fucking reason other than you could.”

  “Yeah? You would have been one of them too if you’d not talked the old bitch into leaving her gun at home. Christ, you’re as bad a fuck up as Dad always says you are.” She looked at Theo when he didn’t so much as move. “What do you want, Pembroke? We are looking for a way to have some fun here. But this bitch behind you is keeping us under lock and key. That won’t work for us. We’re kids and need to have some fun, even if she won’t fix it so we can be alive. Did they tell you that we have a list of people we’re going to take care of? It’s huge, and you’re on the top of it.”

  “Why?” He shrugged. David just laughed. The two of them looked like they’d been on the set of a horror movie and hadn’t changed out of their gory clothing. “You don’t have a reason to want me dead? Well, I guess it sucks for you that you’re going to miss that opportunity. You couldn’t have killed me anyway. I’m not ever going to die. However, you two are—”

  “Everyone dies, dumbass.” She looked at David. Such a strong voice for someone that hadn’t even begun to shave yet. “You will die, and we’re going to be here waiting on you too. Such plans we have for you. Dad and Mom? Them too. They hated you. Did you know that? Because you think you’re so special when you’re nothing but a lazy bitch that can’t even hold down a job. You’re nothing at all like us.”

  “You have that right. I’m alive, while you two aren’t. By the way, have you heard of the white room?” She saw Theo smile, then he laughed. The look on the boys’ faces told her they’d heard of it. “That’s where you’re headed. Right now, as a matter of fact. No mommy. No daddy around. Not even the two of you together anymore. Mom, would you please send these two monsters on their way?”

  They didn’t just disappear as she thought they would, but actually left behind a cloud of smoke. She looked at Cindi, thanking her for what she’d done for her. Then she looked at Theo. He was still smiling at her even as Cindi left the two of them alone in the room.

  “Did you know?” He shook his head. “Take me someplace with your dragon, Theo. Then make love to me. I need to know that we’re real. That we’re forever. Take me anywhere your dragon wishes.”

  Taking her by her hand, he took them into the yard. Before she could ask him again to take her, he was his large dragon. Getting into his hand, she held onto him again as he took them to the skies. Whatever happened now, she thought, was something that both of them needed.

  ~*~

  Theo took her to a place he knew better than his own home. The cave he’d been born in. The place where his family had stashed away a great deal of their fortune. He shifted to his other self even as he landed on the soft grass in front of the opening.

  Putting his hand on the large stone, he used his magic to move it to the side. Once they were in the cave, he could also light it up with more magic. Today, he wanted to show Pem everything. Then he was going to do as she asked. Make love to her.

  “This is wonderful.” He let her look around, touching things that hadn’t felt the touch of anyone but his family in centuries. “There is so much here. I guess when you’re around forever, you can stockpile a lot of stuff.”

  “Mostly, it’s my parents’ things in here. And my uncles’. I was told once that I also had a Great Uncle Xavier—my dad was named for him. He lost his wife and children during the great purge. The night they were changed, my dad and his brothers, Great Uncle Xavier, ended his own life because his pain was so great for his loss. He left them what he had accumulated. It’s here as well.” He watched her pick through some of the gems. There was old money there as well. “Whatever you want from here, we can take it to the house. I guess someplace in here are some furniture pieces as well.”

  Pem turned and looked at him. She didn’t move, so he stayed where he was as well. “You’ve seen so much. I would imagine that your father has as well. To be around for so long, I can’t imagine how much he would have gone through. How much has changed over the centuries.”

  “Being the youngest, my dad didn’t remember much about his mom. She was murdered by the same people that had killed a lot of other dragons. And you have to remember that before he was changed, his family had been nothing but dragons. Great ones, but they couldn’t hide like their sons became able to.” He took a few steps toward her. “Dad would tell us how they’d had to learn to walk. Eat with utensils. Even to dress in the clothing of humans. It was as if they were starting over. Learning everything they had to know in order to blend in with the others.”

  “Are you going to make love to me, Theo?” He said that he was. “I’m not afraid of you. I think that I was. Before you showed me your dragon, I think that I was for a little while. Now I know not only that you won’t hurt me, but that you’ll keep me safe as well. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  “I love you, as well. Take off your clothing, Pem. I want to see you here, among the gems and stones of my kind. I want to see every inch of you.” She was naked before he finished speaking. With a wave of his hand, a bed appeared, covered in warm blankets and silky sheets. “I’ve thought about bringing you here since I met you. Now all I can think about is making love to you here.”

  She looked at the bed and moved toward it. He followed her, stripping off his own clothing by hand. If he were to take her now, he knew that not only would he hurt her, but he’d not last long enough for her to have any sort of enjoyment before he did.

  Once she was on the bed, he stood over her. Pulling her legs to the edge, she sat up enough to look at him. Watching her face, seeing her eyes darken, made what he was going to do to her all the more amazing. Licking her, tasting her creaminess made him moan loudly.

  “Please. I need to come. Right now.” He suckled her clit into his mouth, nipping at the swollen bud. When she screamed, the primal part of him
wanted to make her scream again.

  She tasted of honey and cream. Her body wrapped around his, her legs tight around his shoulders, Theo feasted on her. Every time she came, screaming her releases, his mouth would fill with her juices. Sliding his fingers into her sheath, Theo paused when she tightened around him so much he couldn’t move in and out of her.

  Theo lost count of how many times she came for him. Her body was limp until she came, and he thought it the most wonderful thing he’d seen. Crawling up her body, he nipped at her skin. Swirling his tongue in her navel, his nip at her hips. She was so responsive that he felt like a very lucky man. To have her here, beneath him, Theo knew that forever, he would think of her just this way.

  Theo removed the last of his clothing. Taking her nipple into his mouth, he suckled hard on the tip. Her hands pulled him closer as he took more of her breast into his mouth. Christ, he could die right now and consider himself a happy man. Death by sex had never been something he believed in until this very moment.

  Poised at her entrance, his cock aching now, he told her that he loved her. Filling her, pushing his cock deep within her, Theo came hard enough that he felt his eyes roll to the back of his head. But he was far from finished. His need to come with her, to be one with her, had him taking her as slowly as he could.

  Pem touched him everywhere she could reach. His back, his shoulders. When she wrapped her legs around his, holding herself for him, her nails dug deeply into his back. Some part of him knew he was taking her too hard, that he was hurting her. But as soon as she stiffened beneath him, Theo felt his dragon roar at him, moving over him in a way that he was sure he’d enjoyed their mate as much as Theo had.

  Dropping on top of her, Theo had to concentrate on breathing. In and out, he told his lungs. In and out. When Pem giggled, he lifted his head up just enough to rest it on her forehead before asking what she’d done to him. The little laugh had him rolling to his side.