by Gary Jonas
I wondered if Graham and Rayna felt that way about the people they helped here in The Steam Room or even at the hospice. I understood why Jonathan reacted the way he did to Lucas, but I saw things differently. If something that seemed bad could be used for good, it was fine with me. Change was often worth it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JONATHAN SHADE
Esther kept tabs on Rayna while Brand and I walked the estate. Lucas’s kids hadn’t arrived yet, but we expected them within the hour. The temperature topped out in the low forties, so I wore my leather jacket. Brand wore a long-sleeved shirt, but he didn’t feel the cold.
I pointed out where the security cameras were and how I wanted him to adjust them to give better coverage of the grounds. Brand nodded and kept saying it would be no problem. He might have to make a run to the hardware store for a particular mount, but he had a few cameras in his truck and plenty of tools. Evidently Kelly had already mentioned most of this to him.
“Is that all?” he asked as we finished our assessment.
“Yeah. Why? You think I missed something?”
He shook his head. “I want to talk to you about something else.”
“You and Kelly having issues again?”
“I want to know how you managed to beat me yesterday.”
“Luck.”
“Bullshit. You’re faster. And I can see in your eyes, you’re meaner. You’re not the guy I knew a few months ago.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Don’t shit a shitter, Shade.”
“Say that ten times fast.”
“How did you do it?”
I sighed. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I want a rematch.”
“Fine, we can set something up after we deal with the Marshall Clan.”
“I was thinking right here, right now.” He took up a fighting stance.
“We’re working,” I said and turned away. I started back toward the house, but Brand grabbed me.
I expected it, of course, so when I spun around, I was ready for his attack. I blocked the first and second punches, but the third came a lot closer. I let his left fist flow past then trapped his biceps with my right arm, and before he could react, I cupped his chin with my left palm and threw him to the ground.
“We don’t have time for this, Brand.”
He pulled his legs to his chest and did a nice kip-up to his feet.
“I do hope we’re not interrupting anything,” a man said.
Brand and I spun to see two men standing on the security wall at the edge of the property. One held a bow with the arrow already nocked and aimed at us. The other held a sword. Both appeared to be in their early to mid twenties.
“As a matter of fact, you are interrupting,” Brand said.
The older of the two, the guy with the sword, dropped to the ground and stepped toward us. The archer kept him covered. “My apologies, good sirs. I’m here to see Rayna Noble, the mistress of the house.”
“You call this a house?” Brand asked gesturing at the mansion. “That’s like calling the Titanic a rowboat.”
“I don’t understand what you just said, so I’ll repeat that I’m here for Rayna.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“My name is Richard Marshall.”
“And I should care about that why?” I asked as I unzipped my jacket halfway. I wanted easy access to the Beretta seated in my shoulder holster.
“Because in my realm, you should kneel before me.”
“Good thing this isn’t your realm.”
“Do not stand between me and Rayna. I’m not here for you.”
“Oh, but I’m here for you,” I said.
“I will give you one last opportunity to step aside.”
“Or what?”
He shrugged. “Adam?”
The archer loosed an arrow.
The arrow plunged into my chest. It drove me back a step as the pain registered. I grunted with the impact, glad it missed my heart. As I reached for my gun, Brand sprang into action.
He rushed forward, plowing into the swordsman. The archer shot two arrows into Brand’s neck.
By then, I had my gun out. It hurt to raise my arm, but like a football player, I knew I had to play through the pain. I fired twice, center mass. Adam dropped the bow and fell backward off the stone wall. I heard the thump on the ground on the other side of the wall.
Brand had Richard pinned to the wall.
“You all right, Shade?” Brand asked.
“I’ll live.”
I approached Richard.
“We’re going to kill you all,” Richard said.
“Is that a fact?” Brand asked.
“One you can depend on.”
Brand laughed. “I like him,” he said. “He’s got spunk.”
“There’s nothing you can do to stop us. We will keep coming until you are all dead.”
“And here I thought you weren’t here for us,” Brand said, reaching for Richard’s sword.
“Let him keep it,” I said.
Brand looked at me as if I were crazy. “You serious?”
I nodded. “I’ve got this.”
“You’ve got an arrow in your chest,” Brand said.
“You have two in your neck. What’s your point?”
“I don’t feel pain.”
“Let go of him, Brand. Really. I’ve got this.”
He sighed. “If you say so.”
Brand let go of Richard and stepped to the side, getting a bit of distance. I stood a few paces away from Richard, gun in hand. Adrenaline pumped through me, and I barely noticed the arrow or the pain. “Reach for that sword, and I’ll shoot you dead.”
Esther popped into sight to my left. “We heard the shots. Is everyth— You’ve been shot!”
“Go back inside, Esther.”
Richard looked around then shook his head, confused. “Esther?”
“Go back to Rayna, Esther. Go now.”
She hesitated then popped away.
I looked into Richard’s eyes. “You assholes need to back off. Crawl back into whatever hole you crawled out of and leave Rayna and Graham alone.”
“We will never leave them alone.”
“Do you want to live, Richard?”
He swallowed. “It is my honor and privilege to slay Rayna today. You should not have involved yourself.”
“Bit late for that.” I reached up and yanked the arrow out of my chest. It hurt like a motherfucker, but I made sure not to wince or show any reaction to the pain. I held the arrow up, examined the bloody tip, then turned my gaze back to Richard. “I’m going to give you one opportunity to get out of here alive.”
“My mission is not yet fulfilled.”
“Nor will it be fulfilled. If you agree to leave now and give your father a message, I’ll allow you to leave here in one piece.” I kept the arrow up, so he’d stare at the blood dripping down the shaft.
“No!”
“Hear me out, Richard.” My chest burned with pain, but I focused to dial it out of my mind. “From what I understand, your real beef is with Lucas. You tell your father that if he wants to go after Lucas, he has my blessing. But he will steer clear of everyone else. There will be no retribution on Graham, Rayna, Lucas’s wife or children. Do you understand?”
Richard laughed. “Your weakness will be your downfall. There’s nothing you can do to stop us. We have you outnumbered, and we have weapons you can’t even dream of.”
“Those weapons sure helped Adam, didn’t they?”
“And Jacob,” Brand said. “Don’t forget Jacob.”
“Good point. You’ve come at us twice now, and you’ve lost two brothers. I think your father will see reason, so you pass along my message.”
Richard spit in my face. “I shall tell him you’re a coward. You had an enemy cornered, and you allowed him to slip through your fingers. We will never stop. We will come at you again and again until you are dead.”
Staring into his
eyes, I saw that he meant every word. His contempt for me flowed like water.
I sighed. “King of the broken records. If that’s how you want to play it,” I said, and without hesitation, I drove the arrow through his eye into his brain, killing him instantly.
His body crumpled to the ground.
Brand shook his head. “Like I said, you’re not the man I knew a few months ago.”
I turned to Brand, glanced at the blood seeping through my shirt that stained the inside lining of my jacket. I felt light headed. “I think I need to sit down.”
I leaned forward and vomited.
“Well,” Brand said, “don’t sit there.”
KELLY CHAN
I wandered around The Steam Room, keeping an eye on Graham’s office as I checked out the equipment and watched people working out. A well-muscled man exited the men’s room. He wore a tight-fitting polo shirt with The Steam Room emblazoned over his left breast. He moved toward Graham’s office, so I made sure to get there first and block his path.
“Excuse me,” he said reaching for the door.
I slapped his hand down. “Consider yourself excused. If you have something to say to Dr. Noble, you’ll talk to me first. Who are you?”
“I’m Alan. I work here.”
“What do you need, Alan?”
“I need to talk to Graham. Why else would I be going to his office?”
“You could be approaching for any number of reasons. I don’t like to repeat myself, Alan, so this is the last time I’ll ask. What do you need?”
“Get out of my way,” he said and tried to push me.
I caught his wrist, twisted, and planted him on the floor. I could have broken his wrist, but I figured that might be a bit excessive. After all, he probably was just an employee. “I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”
Alan grimaced but to his credit he didn’t scream. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asked.
“What makes you think anything is wrong with me?”
“That hurts. You’re gonna break my wrist!”
“Only if you ask nicely.”
“I just need to talk to Graham about my schedule for next week.”
“If you’d said that when I asked, you wouldn’t be in pain right now. Store that away in your little pea brain for future reference.”
“What?”
“If a woman asks you what you need, just tell her.”
Keeping Alan in place, I reached back and knocked on Graham’s door.
“Come in,” Graham called.
“You come out here,” I said.
A moment later, Graham opened the door and stepped out.
Graham grabbed my arm. “What the hell are you doing, Kelly? Alan is one of my employees. He’s not a threat.”
“He should have identified himself,” I said and let go of him.
Alan rubbed his wrist. “I did identify myself, you psycho bitch.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
Graham helped Alan to his feet. “I’m sorry, Alan. Are you all right?”
Alan glared at me, rubbed his wrist some more, then nodded. “I’ll live.”
“What do you need?”
“I just wanted to see if Julie can cover my shift next Saturday. My girlfriend is moving into my place that weekend, and I need to help her.”
“If Julie doesn’t mind, I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.” He gave a head bob in my direction. “You might want to put her on a leash.”
I grinned.
Graham sighed. When Alan moved off to help a customer, Graham shook his head. “What was that all about?”
“Nobody gets access to you unless I know they’re okay.”
“Does he look like one of the Marshall Clan to you?”
“No, but maybe they hired some help.”
“Pull anything like that again, and you and your friends are done. You feel me?”
“Perhaps I should meet the rest of your employees so I’ll know who is allowed to talk to you.”
“I’ll give you a little hint. If someone is wearing one of our shirts, odds are they work here. If you don’t trust them, come in with them. But don’t go hurting my people.”
“If someone is allowed to get that close, they could attack.”
“I’ve seen you in action. If you’re in the room, they’d fail.”
“True,” I said.
Again with the head shake. “I have about twenty minutes’ more work to do. Think you can get through that time without putting any of my employees or customers in the hospital?”
“I can’t make any promises. Twenty minutes is a long time.”
“How do you people ever get hired?”
“Our goal is to have zero repeat customers.”
“Mission accomplished. Wait here.”
“Aye, aye, captain.”
As soon as he went back into his office, Esther popped into view.
“Kelly!” she said. “Jonathan’s been shot.”
“What?”
“With an arrow!”
“Is he all right?”
“Brand told Rayna to take him to the hospital.”
“Okay, if she’s taking him instead of an ambulance, it’s not life threatening. As such, I’ll stay here with Graham. We’ll head to the hospital once he’s done working.”
Esther glanced at the office door. “He can’t stop now? What he’s doing is more important than Jonathan?”
“Calm down, Esther. It’s okay.”
“Says you!”
“We’ll be along shortly.”
Esther looked worried. “I don’t want Jonathan to die. You should be with us.”
“He’s not going to die. He’s been shot before. Even with gunshots, most of them aren’t fatal.”
“You don’t even care about him enough to interrupt that ignorant palooka?”
“We’ll be there soon. Go check on him, and if you need to update me, come back here.”
Esther gave me a disgusted look and popped away. She’s been hopelessly in love with Jonathan for as long as we’ve known her. Jonathan doesn’t see it, but he’s a guy. Still, I figured it would be best to let Graham finish up here before heading to the hospital. Waiting here or there wouldn’t make any difference. Jonathan would want me to stay on the job. That’s what we do.
CHAPTER TWELVE
RAYNA NOBLE
Rayna heard a commotion downstairs, so she set down the Jane Austen book she was reading. She raced down the hall to the stairs. When she reached the living room, she saw Brand placing an unconscious Jonathan on the sofa. Jonathan bled from a chest wound.
“Jenkins!” Brand yelled. “Call nine-one-one!”
“What happened?” Rayna asked.
“He got shot with an arrow. He passed out. We need to get him to the hospital. Where’s Jenkins?”
Rayna approached and knelt before Jonathan. She pulled his shirt open a bit to examine the wound. “This is deep.”
“He played it tough at first, but it caught up with him. He needs a doctor. Don’t poke around the wound. Apply pressure. We have to stop the bleeding. Esther! Tell Kelly we’re taking him to the hospital.”
Rayna frowned and looked at Brand. “Esther?”
“She’s a ghost. You can’t see her, but she helps us all the time. She’s part of the team.”
“Is she here now?” Rayna asked, looking around.
“No, she popped over to see Kelly. Where the hell is Jenkins? Did he make the call?”
“Jonathan won’t need a doctor,” Rayna said. “I can handle this. It’s just a flesh wound, and since it missed his heart, it’s something I can handle.”
Jenkins entered the room. “Did someone call for me?”
Rayna nodded. “Yes, bring me a pot of hot water and a towel.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jenkins left for the kitchen.
Rayna ripped Jonathan’s shirt to open it wider and prodded around the wound. Blood oozed from the
injury.
“No offense,” Brand said, “but I really think we should get him to the hospital. I’m pretty sure he should have left the arrow alone since he seemed mostly okay until he pulled it out.”
“He might not have lost as much blood, but this is a serious injury no matter how you look at it.”
Jenkins returned with a pot of water and a towel. He handed them to Rayna.
“Thank you, Jenkins. Now can you bring me a large glass of cold water?”
Jenkins nodded and disappeared.
She dipped the towel into the pot of water then set about wiping the blood from Jonathan’s chest. She glanced over at Brand. “What you see next may disgust you.”
“Takes a lot to gross me out, darlin’.”
“If you say so,” she said. She turned back to Jonathan, leaned over him, and licked at his wound.
“What the hell are you doing?” Brand asked.
She pulled up some saliva and let it drip directly into the wound. Then she resumed licking and sucking at it. She spit blood into the pot of water then went right back to dribbling saliva and licking even more. The blood slowed.
She pinched the wound closed then shut her eyes and drew a deep breath through her nose. She let the air slowly escape from her lips. Another deep breath. Let it out.
Brand stared at her as if she were an alien Gray clad in pink spandex getting out of a flying saucer carrying a Stratocaster and Elvis sunglasses while dancing to the Macarena.
While she breathed, Jenkins returned with the glass of ice water. He set a coaster on the end table then placed the glass on top of it. He stepped back to watch.
Rayna kept up the deep breathing for a time then opened her eyes. Her irises shifted from deep green to a dark orange. When she drew the next breath and let it out, steam erupted from her lips.
Finally she turned back to Jonathan and blew flame onto his wound. The flesh sizzled. Jonathan flinched but she held him in place. She blew more fire then closed her eyes and sighed. Tendrils of smoke poured from her mouth. Now when she opened her eyes, they were green again. She reached for the water and took a mouthful. She swished it around inside her mouth then spit it into the pot.
The next drink she swallowed. She waited a moment then drained the glass quickly.
Brand stared in awe, and she went back to dripping saliva on the now blackened flesh.
