Dana

by Kathi S. Barton

  Chapter 6

  Dana was working on the log piece when he felt someone in the room with him. He didn’t so much as look around, letting Dragon do it for him. He told him that it was the man that wanted his mate. Laying down his tools, he turned to look at the man. “You’re trespassing, Melville. And I thought you were told not to come on this property again.” Melville just waved him off. “I have a feeling that you’re going to get yourself killed. And soon. Is there anyone that I can contact for you?” “I want the sister. Since you’ve claimed the one I want, you must hand over the sister. It’s only fair, don’t you think?” Dana said nothing. “You’re not being reasonable, you know that, don’t you? I mean, for all you know she could be my son’s mate, and then I would have her anyway.” “What are you?” He didn’t use compulsion this time, but he would if he didn’t get any answers. “You’re not at all what we thought. Immortal? Yes. You have been around for I would say.... You’re about a couple hundred years old. Give or take a decade. A monster? Yes, we’ve discovered that as well. What are you?” “I’m one hundred and forty-two years old, as a matter of fact, but that is neither here nor there. I want the woman. I need her for my.... What difference does it make? I just need her.” Dana wasn’t finished with his questions yet, and asked him what he was again. “At one time I was a great human.” “I highly doubt that you were anything that even was mildly great. Perhaps you’ve changed your memory to suit yourself. I’d say you were a trash picker. You know what that is, don’t you? Someone that has to go to the dump daily to find a bit of this or that. And you have a child, too. Mel isn’t yours. How on earth did you manage that?” Dragon spoke again. He has stolen the child that he claims. While the mother lay dying, he cut her throat and took the child before its first breath. He is surely disappointed in the child that is now a man, but he loves what the child can give to him despite his disabilities. “So you’ll even stoop so low as to take a child that doesn’t belong to you and kill the dying mother while at it.” The man looked shocked, but Dragon wasn’t through feeding him information. “You’ve done a lot of nasty things over the years, haven’t you, Melville? And the title that you so freely throw about, it’s about as real as the name that you now use. Isn’t that right, Robert of the widow? Your poor mother. Did she ever find out that you killed her husband? Or that you made it so that she’d fall down the stairs and abort your poor brother? How about the fact that you’ve—?” “Enough. Lies, all of it. Where did you get such lies about me? I demand that you tell me right now. This isn’t very nice of you to throw them at me as if they’re true.” He tried to laugh it off, but all he did was make himself look guiltier. “What is it you hope to gain, young man? I’m sure that you’ve done some things that you’re not proud of either. Had I known that we were going to throw accusations at each other, I might have been better prepared.” “Perhaps I do have skeletons in my closet. But the difference is, I’ve made myself a better man. You, over the years, have not. What is it you think to do with my sister-inlaw? Drain her? That won’t work, you know. You cannot drain a dragon like her.” He asked what he meant. “She’s a very special dragon, as is my mate. You cannot capture her and make her into your own little bank without consequences. Like the dragon council. Did you know that they have special cells for men just like you?” “You lie.” He said that he didn’t. “Then you exaggerate. Which is the same thing, you know. Where is she? I have demanded that you bring her to me, and I want it done now. I don’t want to be here any more than you wish for me to be. Just bring the girl and I’ll be on my way.” “I have sent her away.” Melville actually stomped his foot at him. “You’re such a child. And by the way, I’m much older than I look, and thousands of years older than you are. I have powers that will make your little bit of black magic look like a small child’s science project. And if you continue to piss me off, I’ll show you just how much I have.” “What sort of powers do you have? None, I tell you. So? You have a bit of information on me. That means nothing. It’s all lies anyway. You have it that I might have killed my father. He is long since turned to dust, and there’s no proof of the deed anyway. My title? I’m sure there are millions of people doing the same thing as I and getting better results. Maybe you have done the same, for all I know. You might be the trash picker you accused me of being, since you have so many details about the job. As for the child? Some would say that I saved his life with I took him from his druggie mother. Others, like you, say that I don’t deserve him. What do you think would have become of him if I didn’t take him? If I took him.” Dana wanted to show him his dragon, but knew that would be a mistake. He was covered in diamonds, his body harder than most that he knew. So he only snapped his fingers and watched as Melville dropped to the floor, his body pinned there by nothing more than magic. Dana moved to kneel over the man. “No magic? Right now I could strip you of your flesh and have a meal of it. I could take out your eyes without a single drop of blood marring my office. There are many things that I could do to you, Melville, all of which you’d not be able to do a damned thing about. Shall I show you?” He blinked several times, his mouth no longer working either. When he heard his name said softly, he turned and looked at his beautiful mate. “Hello, my love. Melville here was telling me that I have no magic to speak of, and that Ilie all the time. What shall I do with him?” “Carmine called me. She said for you to let him go. His son needs him.” Dana stood up and so did Melville. He might not care for the man, but he wouldn’t keep him from his son. “Go now before I tell him to finish the job.” Melville disappeared and she came to him. Asking her what had happened to the son, she just looked up at him and smiled. It was a ruse. “You little devil, you. Why did I not see what a minx you are?” She said that Carmine had called, but she had said that he needed to be let go. “Did she say why?” “No. She said that she’d not been able to see that. Only that he had to be free for some reason. And it was important.” Dana trusted Carmine because she hadn’t been wrong about anything as yet. “The school thing is today. I’m sort of nervous for them both. But Sebastian is very excited, and so is Carmine.” “Good. I have to get my animal today too, then?” She told him they were here. “Before I do this, tell me why I need one. I mean, Dragon speaks to me now. And he can do some pretty amazing things for me.” “Yes, but can he go and search things for you? Sebastian, for what he is, can run a computer. He’s very strong too. Like move a wall of concrete should I be trapped. It’s happened to us before when we were planting the gems.” He nodded. “You want to pick the one that calls to you. And she will. Just let her come to you and you’ll be paired with her.” “What is it that she’ll do for me other than walls? And I’m not kidding you, I’ve been trapped before and my dragon couldn’t be brought out because of the iron shackles that were around me.” She said that she’d be able to take the iron off him. “Okay. All right then. Let’s get this done. The safer we can both be, the better I’ll feel.” They assembled in the room with them. There were a varied and odd sort of group. There were things here that he’d not seen in a long while, nor had he ever seen in all his life. But they all seemed to know which one not only called to him, but seemed to need him to take her. The succubus. “I am unlike the others, my lord. I will, because of what I am, need to be a part of your body. And that of your mate. Men will...I am too magical to be left in the world of men.” Dana nodded; he could see that. She was indeed very beautiful. “Not just my beauty, my lord, but what I am as well. Do you know the story of a succubus?” “You are said to have sex with sleeping men. I have no reason to believe that one way or the other, but I want you to know, you’re never to touch me.” She nodded and bowed before him. It was then that he noticed that the others were gone. “You are my counterpart then.” “Yes, my lord.” He told her to call him Dana. “I cannot. That would be familiar, and I cannot be that with you.” She looked at Sapphire, then back at him. “I am a succubus. My name is Ferne. That is all, the only name I have ever had.” “How do you come to my body then
? And you said that you’d be with us both. How does that work?” She came to him and he could feel her magic; it was like he was being bathed in it. Then almost as suddenly as he could smell her, he couldn’t any longer. “Ferne, did you do that?” “Nay, my lord. You have my scent now, and then it was gone for you. You will only need it again to find me should something happen.” He nodded, and when she smiled at him, he smiled back. “Put out your hands, please? I shall show you what I do to come to you.” He did as was asked and her long sharp nails ran over his palm, as they did Sapphire’s. Blood welled up then it was gone, as was Ferne. But he felt her on his belly and lifted his shirt. She was there, climbing up his belly to his chest like a person would a rock wall. Her nails were sticking in him, but they weren’t as painful as he’d thought them to be. When she turned and looked at him, as if she were asking him if he was finished, he put his shirt down and looked at Sapphire. “She’s on my back. I’m assuming that’s where she was headed on you.” Dana was slightly freaked out and told Sapphire that. “Don’t be. I’m glad that you have someone to help you. And me, I suppose. Succubi are very strong.” “I never thought that this would be in my realm of things happening to me today.” She laughed with him. “Not to mention, I have this being on my back that moves around. I hope she’s still when I’m working. I can’t handle any more distractions.” He showed her what he was working on before he had a visitor. Then he told her what Melville had wanted. The man was going to be in serious trouble if he didn’t chill out and behave himself. The knowledge that he’d killed that woman over the child wasn’t going to sit well with a great many people. “Melville wants your sister. I told him that she was gone, that I had sent her away. But he said something that got me to thinking. What if her mate is here? And that by keeping them like they are, they’ll not meet.” Sapphire told him that if he was here, then it was meant to be that he’d wait on her too. “I hope so. I’d hate to be responsible for someone not feeling like I do having you around.” “There won’t be a meeting if she’s hurt badly. And who did he have in mind? I’m sure it’s that son of his.” Dana nodded and laughed. “I will not allow her to be mated to that man’s son.” “It’s not his son.” He explained to her what Dragon had told him. “I was going to see if I could find out something about the mother and the boy. For all we know, she might have died anyway, but maybe not. If he cut her throat and she wasn’t a druggie, but say a diabetic that might have been having a problem, then we can get him on murder. I’ll have Dragon or even Ferne try and find out what they can about her death. Right now, I want her to be a druggie, but also, I’d like to see him arrested for his crimes. Not that killing a druggie is better. But if she wasn’t, that means that family is out there wondering what happened to their baby boy.” “We’d need to know where it happened and about the time frame.” Dragon told him and then Dana told Sapphire. “All right. I’ll ask your sister to look. Kendrick seems to have an uncanny ability to get to the bottom of things quickly. Oh, and my projects have been approved. I’m going to go and tell Denny now. He’ll be so happy. Not that we weren’t going to do them anyway, but this way I don’t have to tell him I’m sorry when he figures it out.” When she left him, after a very consuming kiss and a promise to be careful, he went back to work. He loved this project and was excited to see it finished. Looking at the log of clay that he’d built up around a wire mesh, he decided that he’d done the best he could and now it had to dry. If he tinkered with it too much, it would never look right. Done was done, and he had to walk away from it. Once it was dry, he would cut it in half lengthwise and then let it dry some more. When it was ready, he’d make a plaster mold of both sides separately by putting the clay directly in boxes and pouring plaster around it. A few days after that, when the plaster was as dry as it could be, he’d pour in the pewter and fill in all the nooks and crannies to make sure that it was just the way he wanted it. Pouring out the extra pewter, he would let it set. That would take only a few hours, but he was going to give it a few days. Just to be sure that some of the thicker parts, such as the grain of the wood, was perfect. To remove the pewter from the mold, he’d have to break the plaster away. Then clean it all from the mold. Before he was to make the mold of pewter, however, he’d make a rubber negative of the mold. By pouring rubber, a lot like the soles of shoes is made of, in the plaster molds, he’d have a copy of the work so that he could make another mold of plaster when he needed it. That way, he could make another log if he wanted to make more of them for another project. He looked around the small room that he was working in to keep the dust to a minimum, and was pleased that things were going so well here. While that all set up, he started forming the little creatures that would be a part of the piece when he was finished cleaning it. Looking at the little faerie that he was working on, he thought about the shape of the gems he was going to use to make her wings. Excitement drew him in as he worked until his back hurt. ~~~ Sapphire saw the younger man before he did her. He looked so sad that she wasn’t sure that she could yell at him for being where he was unwelcome. She might not know his name, but she could smell Melville all over him. And when he looked up, she saw the black eye and busted lip that he had. “What happened to you? You’re bleeding badly on your forehead. Come with me so I can fix you up.” She grabbed him by the arm and took him into the nursery they were working on for spring planting. “Who hit you? Your father? So help me, I’ll tear him apart if he did this to you. No one needs to be hitting their children, I don’t—” The man, she could see that now, grabbed her hand and held it. She smiled down at him when he did to her. Backing away from him, she let him explain when he requested to do so. “I got this from work. Not my dad. But he’s not going to be happy with me when I tell him about being fired. We need...I need the job for money.” She asked him what he’d done at work to get himself fired. “I’m dyslexic. Letters are hard enough, but numbers really mess things up. I work...worked in a warehouse. And when I put an entire truck of stuff away in the wrong places, the guy that had to move them all beat me up. I think he was madder at me then the boss was.” “What’s his name?” He said he wasn’t telling her, she was just too scary. “Probably a good thing. But I am going to clean you up a bit. I don’t think you need stitches, but I can tape your lip closed. Here you go, just sit still.” He did just what she asked him to do while she cleaned the wounds. While she was doing that, she found out the name of the three people that had beaten him up. Three men against one wasn’t going to cut it with her, and she was going to make sure that they learned the error of their ways. They had waited outside when he left to do this to him, calling him names while they were at it. She wasn’t surprised to figure out that the name calling hurt the boy more than the beating did. She also found out that he was the most gentle, loving person that she’d ever encountered. Despite the man who had raised him. “I have a job for you if you want it.” He told her who he was. “I know who you are. Not your name, but who you’re related to. I don’t care for Melville, not at all, but you’re not like him. And the job offer still stands. If you can work with Mr. Crocket.” “Denny? Yes, I’ve worked for him before. When he had some people trash up his house, me and him, we painted all the dirty words off his house before his wife came home from the store. Did you know that he doesn’t have much money?” She said that he did now. “He’s a nice man. But yes, I can work with him. He...he kinda gets what’s wrong with me and writes it all down so I can figure it out. It helps me.” “Well, he’s going to start working for me when we get the greenhouse up and running. But first it needs to be cleaned up. And if you want the job, you’ll work with his boys in the nursery here. We’re going to grow plants for the gardens that we’re putting in.” He said that he’d like that too. “You’ll have to let him explain it to you. He has a list of people that want to help out. Mel, you go and talk to him about it, and if he wants to hire you, then you’ll report to him. But I won’t have you trying to get my sisters for your dad.” “No, I won’t. He’s kinda set on that
. But he’ll be leaving soon anyway, or he’ll lose his job. If he hasn’t already. Dad was supposed to return last Monday, but he didn’t. Told them he was sick or something like that.” Mel seemed torn about something and looked at her. “You’re very pretty. And I bet your sisters are too. Don’t let him have you guys, Miss Sapphire. If he gets you he’ll ruin you. I’ve seen his handy work before. It’s why I moved here, to get away from him for a bit.” When she sent him to find Denny, she looked at what needed to be done in the office. There was a lot of mess, that was for sure. And very little in the way of electrical outlets. That was going to have to be taken care of first and foremost. Instead of waiting on someone to come and do it, Sapphire used a bit of her own magic to make the office not just cleaned up, but also manageable for a computer and all the office equipment that she’d need. She needed just one place that she could go to while here that wasn’t torn apart, molded, or rotten. The greenhouse was a total mess but for the greenhouse itself. By lunch time Sapphire hadn’t heard from Denny nor Mel. Figuring that they were getting along all right, she went to find them to see about lunch. It hadn’t occurred to her until then that both of them might not have the funds for such a treat. When she found them, Sapphire paused when she heard the two of them talking. “You do this up right, Mel, and I might have you working right under me as my right-hand man. I never was very good at fixing things like this.” Mel said something about it being easy for him, and that made Denny laugh. “Yes, but don’t you be calling yourself a retard. I don’t care if you think it’s funny that a man like you can fix things. You’re not that. You got something wrong in your head, that’s all. Don’t make you a dummy.” “All right, Denny. Turn on the water and let’s see if I fixed it or not.”