Shaking, he knew that she was saying his name. But at least for the moment, he could do nothing more than just make himself breathe in and out. When he turned to look at her again, he felt destroyed. His entire thought process was gone, because all his thoughts and beliefs had gone straight out the window.
Now, I want you to look at the building just a little to the right of the man. Once you do, then I want you to tell me again how there are no such things as dragons. He looked, his mind already ready for the lie—hoping for it actually—to be made when there sat a large silver dragon. When he spread his wings, knocking against the building to his right, Harold backed up, sure he was going to be fried with his hot breath. He’s not a fire breathing dragon, but an ice one. Mine, as a matter of fact. And being mine, I can have him breathe his ice over you and you’d be dead even before he disappeared again. You’re very lucky that you’ve caught me on a good day. But that, Mr. Bates, is the very thing that you don’t believe in. A dragon as big as…well, bigger than life.
A good day? He was still staring at the dragon; there had to be some sort of trickery going on. He wasn’t sure what it might be, but there wasn’t anything like dragons on this earth. What is that supposed to mean?
When he turned back to her, she was standing inches from him. Backing up quickly, his feet tangled up and he fell on his ass, but instead of taking the hand that she offered him, he stared up at her. The pictures that he had hadn’t done her justice at all.
The woman was beyond beautiful. Her skin was as smooth looking as a porcelain vase. Her eyes, the color of green, were so vivid, so intense, that he had to blink several times to bring them in focus. But it was the suit of armor that she wore that terrified him. So much so that he crab-walked back from her.
“You should come with me.” She asked him why she’d do that. “I need to get my job back and take care that people aren’t murdered in their sleep by something like you. I don’t know what you are, but you’re a danger to John Q. Public, and we both know that.”
“You really need to work on your bedside manner. And no, I’m not going anywhere with you. I have some rules for you that I know for a fact that you’re not going to follow. But I did promise my husband that I’d give them to you anyway. I want you to stay away from Jamie and his wife.” He asked who that was. “Nash. Stay away from them. Also, stop this foolishness of trying to take me in. It’s not going to happen. I’m smarter than you. And I have a great deal of magic on my side, not to mention the dragons. Go retire or whatever it is you need to do, but stay out of my life and those of my family.”
“If, as you say, these things are real, I believe that I need to have my job back so that I can capture them and put them in a lab.” She knelt to his level and he could see the anger in her eyes. Harold could almost taste it, it was that obvious to him. “You’re not going to be able to kill me, my dear. Women of your ilk, they don’t kill men as often as you’d think.”
She touched her fingers to his head. The pain was incredible. Screaming out with it, he saw the blade being drawn, the way it ran through him. Then he was lifted up, his body slicing along his torso like warm butter. When he was stuck to the building behind him, he knew as surely as he was hanging there that he was dead. Coughing before he could speak, he felt the spittle of blood run down his chin. Then...then nothing.
Harold rubbed his chest where the blade had been…it had been so real that he was sure that he had been cut. Wiping at his mouth, there wasn’t any blood there, not even a small drop. And the woman was gone. Not even the police were around the hotel now. The dragon and the wolf had also disappeared, and he was alone again. Standing, he thought of how ridiculous it had been for him to have believed her when he turned to go to the hotel again.
“Boo.” She was suddenly there, her face masked in the armor that she had on.
Screaming as he fell back, Harold reached for her and felt his hands grow cold from touching her. She had tricked him. He wasn’t sure how, but she had done this to him, and he was going to make her pay.
As his head was hitting the wall behind him, pain rattled through his entire body. And just before he fainted, the pain was that harsh, he heard her laughter, and knew that it had all been real, and he was only seeing a glimpse of what she was going to do to him.
~~~
Brandy wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. First of all, they were really friendly, but she just didn’t feel like she fit in with them. While they were loud and boisterous, she was quiet and reserved. When Franklin sat beside her, she took his offered hand like a lifeline. He kissed the back of it and asked her if she was all right.
“I don’t know. Should I be?” He laughed, and she felt it all over her body like a warmed blanket. “I don’t know them. And if one more of your sons calls me mom, I’m going to murder him in his sleep. What are they, a couple of hundred years older than me?”
“More than that, I’m afraid.” She asked him how old he was. “Let me think on that for a moment. I haven’t thought of my age in more years than I think you’ve been around.”
“You’re not funny.” He laughed. “But really, aren’t they very old? I mean, to be having a mother figure in their lives?”
“Jason is my oldest. He was born right after his mother and I came together. He was born in the year twelve hundred or so. The rest of them, they came along about a hundred years or less after him.” She looked at Jason, who was holding his wife like she was a piece of glass that he treasured more than he did himself. “When their mother was killed, it was all I could do not to join her. But the boys, men by then, I guess, needed me. So I hung around. Then when Kilian gave us this special gift, I wasn’t able to join her, so I was upset about that for a very long time. Until one of them pointed it out to me recently. Since then, especially since you’ve joined me, I’ve been thinking about life a lot differently. Happier, I guess you could say.”
“How long has your wife been gone?” He told her what her name had been. “Rena. That’s lovely. When did she pass away?”
“Just about the time that our youngest had come into his own. As a full-blooded vampire, he was about twenty-five or so. Not very old by comparison. He more than likely doesn’t even remember her. I know that I have a hard time with it at times.” Brandy told him she was sorry. “No need for it. But she didn’t pass away, like you think. Some humans, they tied her to the ground and let the sun take her. I had to stand by and watch her, knowing that if I were to try and save her, I’d be just as dead. But, like I said, my sons needed me, so I didn’t. Plus, they held me back. It was a horrific death for anyone, but to watch her, it tore me up for a long time.”
“But that won’t hurt you now? The sun I mean?” He said that it wouldn’t, then told her about how they’d stayed in the sun an entire day when they’d first been given this gift and had gotten sunburned. How they had eaten real food too, and had been sickened by it since they’d never had it before. “I bet that was a wonderful feeling for you all. To have the sun on your faces.”
“It was. It surely was.” He looked around the room as he continued. “I’ve been a very lucky man in my life. Good boys to care for me when I need it. A home and enough to eat. We’ve not had a great deal of use for money, not before nor much afterwards, but it’s been handy. And we do what we can with what we have to make things comfortable for us and the good people in the town. We’ve all been very lucky.”
“Says a man who has it all.” She tried to laugh with him, but she didn’t have two nickels to rub together. “I don’t know what to do, Franklin. I like you a great deal and I feel safe with you, but I haven’t any idea what to do about being with a vampire, much less a family of them.”
“What would you be doing right now if you didn’t have a care in the world?” She asked him if he meant money. “That too. I mean, if you could do something, something just for yourself, what would you be doing?”
“When I was ten, I wanted my passport so badly that I saved all my baby-sit
ting money for an entire year. I didn’t have the money to go anywhere, but my plans had been to run away and see the world.” She laughed. “I had no idea that having my passport would require so much from my parents. They told me that I wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere, so I might as well just forget it. They wouldn’t even help me out with a dream. I think that is why this trip I was on meant so much to me. No passport, of course, but traveling around was fun. And educational too.”
“You want to travel? I haven’t been anywhere in a long time, but I’d like to do that as well. See the world for the first time in your eyes.” She stared at him, sure he was kidding. “We can leave whenever you want. Today should you want. I know a few people, and we can get you a passport today if you decide where we’ll go first.”
“I don’t.... Are you serious? Just up and go?” He nodded at her, and she thought of all the things she didn’t have that would be required of one traveling. “I don’t know, Franklin. What about the house we’re supposed to look at tomorrow? And I’ve yet to get my things from my apartment sorted out.”
“We’ll buy what we need when we need it. Take only what we can carry and a credit card. Which reminds me. I had this fixed for you today.” Franklin handed her a fistful of credit cards, all of them with her name on them. Brandy Crosby. “I know that I’ve not asked you yet to marry me…I meant too, but you’re just so damned beautiful that I forget myself. Will you be my wife, Brandy? Make me happy and travel the world with me?”
“Yes. Yes, I will.” Giggling, something that she’d never done before now, she kissed Franklin when he kissed her. She loved him. Right then, it occurred to her that she loved him. “I love you, Franklin.”
“Hot damn.” She was embarrassed when he shouted to the room. The people all quieted down, and Franklin went down on one knee in front of her. “Brandy, will you please say it again and then tell me yes, you’ll marry me?”
“I love you, Franklin Crosby, and yes, I’ll marry you.” Everyone cheered then. It was the first time that she really enjoyed all the noise. And there was a great deal of it too.
By the time they were entering the big dining room, Brandy was giddy with happiness. Franklin told them that they were going to honeymoon by seeing the world, and that they’d be back when they ran out of places to see. Calls were made, and the family plane was put on hold for them to use for the next few days. After that, they’d be traveling first class.
“You’re happy?” She nodded at Jewel, and felt like she’d gained a good friend in her. “I’m so glad. Franklin has been so lonely lately, I think. And Jason said he’s ever seen him so happy before.”
“I am as well. I have been alone most of my life, even when I was living with my parents.” Jewel told her she was sorry. “Don’t be. Had they been nicer, I might not have gotten out on my own and.... Well, meeting up with the other vampires was terribly scary, but I got to meet all of you as well, and I think I’m going to see this as a win.”
“Good for you.”
As they passed around food, Chase and Emerald had their cook, Dustin, tell them about himself. He was a good man, Emerald had told them, and they welcomed him into their family just as they had her. This was, she thought, the strangest and the most romantic dinner she’d ever eaten. And she was happy too. Something that she never in her life thought she’d be.
Chapter 11
“I’m sorry sir, but I cannot allow you to stay here without a credit card and identification card. That is company policy.” Harold had decided that he’d get further along if he didn’t mention that he was an agent anymore. Plus, he had to stop using his cards and his driver’s license for things, like checking into a hotel. “I understand that you do have cash to pay for things, but we need a credit card number on file in the event that something happens, and we need to reimburse you for it.”
“Reimburse me for what? I only want to stay a couple of nights, then move on. I want a shower and food.” The man shook his head. “I’m getting mightily tired of being treated this way.”
“Sir, lower your voice or I’ll call in security.” He growled low, but the man must have had his hearing aids turned up all the way, because he told him there would be none of that either. “You cannot stay here without proper identification. If there is nothing else, then I have other clients to care for.”
He stood there for as long as he could, but there wasn’t any budging some people. Harold could stay in the little dive down the road for as long as he wanted and for nearly a third of the price. But he wanted clean sheets against his skin. Towels that were soft as could be obtained, and more than that, he wanted a breakfast that was wonderfully prepared and not out of a box or bag.
But it wasn’t to be. He was a wanted man. A man on the run. While it did have a strange sound to it, him being an agent and all, he wasn’t happy with the way things were going for him, nor happy at all with anyone.
As he made his way to the cheaper and probably much dirtier hotel, the woman spoke to him again. She’d been doing that all damned day, and he was getting sick of it. Telling her to stop had no effect on her either. Even threatening her, zip. Harold was sure she was going to have him up all night too.
There is a faerie following you. She said to tell you that if you want clean sheets, for you to go home. He didn’t answer her this time. Engaging with her only made her talk more. And, so you know, don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s rude, and usually you’re wrong.
How the hell would you know? Damn it, he thought, he had opened a can of words again with her. Leave me alone. I have better things to do than to be talking to you all the time.
Do you? I think not. So far, you’ve turned your nose up at the newspaper that was lying on the counter for anyone to read because you’d not read it first. Complained about the coffee that you were served, saying that it was too weak. You didn’t leave a tip, not one cent to the waitress you made cry. It wasn’t her fault that you ordered an over easy egg and the yolk wasn’t up to your standards. Runny is runny if you ask me. If those are productive to you, then it’s no wonder that you’re on the lam. He had made the little girl cry, and he’d enjoyed it too. You’re not a nice person. I’m positive that people have told you that before, but it bore pointing out again.
I’m not a bad person, but one that enjoys rules and having things done the right way. No one takes as much pride in what they do as I do. The world is in ruination if you ask me because of this way of thinking. She asked him if evading the police was one of his rules. I did nothing wrong, so I don’t feel that I was properly arrested.
Properly? I don’t know what you mean by that, but there was just cause in arresting you. You insulted that doctor. You hurt those—
We are not going to go into this again, are we? I swear, you’re like a never-ending record. Just going on and on all the time. I didn’t hurt anyone. I also didn’t insult that woman. She is a female, and there is no position that a woman can hold that she’d be any good at, unless it’s running a household. Emma, or whatever her name was, asked him if that included children. You mean raising them? Of course. That’s what they were put on this earth for.
You’re such a dick head. He said nothing. You do know that a woman raised you to be.... Wait, that’s not a good reference. Your mother should be shot for raising you like you are. You’re a bastard and a chauvinistic prick. Why on earth don’t you read a newspaper or even watch a movie that has color in it? You’d see that you’re so far behind in the times that you might have to have a backhoe to dig you out to this century.
Harold asked for a room that was clean, and the man behind the counter only stared at him. After telling him that he wanted a room that had a large shower and thick towels, he was asked if he wanted his breakfast served to him in bed too. Harold asked him if he was serious, excited to have something done for him in a proper way.
“No, I’m not serious. What would make you think I’d bring you breakfast in bed? Christ love a duck, I don’t even feed my wife
in bed, even if she don’t feel well.” He corrected his wording of the sentence. “Are you a teacher or something? If not, then shut the fuck up and go to your room.”
“No, as a matter of fact, I’m an FBI agent here on a job.” The man just snorted at him and handed him the key. “Aren’t you the least bit impressed that you have an agent staying in your hotel?”
“Nope. So long as the money is good, you can call yourself J. Edgar Hoover for all I care. Room three.” He took the key and thought about telling the man that J. Edgar Hoover had been an agent too, but decided that he’d not care. Or he more than likely thought that the man had invented the vacuum or some such thing.
As he made his way to the room, he looked around. There was a large ice machine under an awning. Several of the rooms had chairs out front of them, like they had nothing better to do with their time than to watch cars pull in and out of the lot. Opening the door, he nearly backed out when he turned on the light.
The carpet was purple. Not just like a light color that you might mistake for purple, but gleaming bright purple, with specs of glitter, it looked like, in it. He was almost afraid of what the rest of the room looked like when he stepped inside and looked around.
“Holy mother of God.” The spread on the bed was equally purple. No glitter this time, but the design on it, paisley he thought, was nauseating. As the black lines seemed to move over it, he sat down on the room’s chair.
The dresser was painted the same color, with small pebbles of glass on the top that were both black and the purple color. The walls were striped too, the alternating colors so close together that he thought for sure that a blind person would had to have hung the wallpaper. It would have been too much to see this stuff moving while carrying it to the wall.
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