by K. B. Draper
“I don’t see why that’s any of your business,” Lydia scowled.
Kanyon gave her a one shoulder shrug. “It’s not. I’m just curious who you’re whoring yourself out to.”
“Why do you have to stir things up like that?” Daylen demanded when Lydia stormed out of the room.
“She annoys me.”
Daylen rolled her eyes.
Junior appeared in the foyer a few minutes later. “Ladies, this is quite a surprise.”
Daylen stepped forward to greet him. “Mr. Defalco, we’re sorry to bother you so early in the morning. We were actually going to try and speak to your father, but I understand he’s not available.”
“Early morning conference call. That happens sometimes since he does a lot of business overseas.”
“Follow me. I’ll entertain you until he becomes available.” He headed in the same direction as Senior had the day before. Daylen gave an I don’t like this look to Kanyon before following Junior down the hall. Junior headed to the same bar counter his father had and began mixing himself a drink. “Can I get you ladies anything?”
“We’re good, but thank you,” Daylen answered. “So, do you live here?”
“Part-time. I have a condo in the city, but sometimes I stay in the guest house out back.”
Junior gestured to the chairs as he walked over with his drink. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”
Kanyon spoke up. “Do you mind if I use your restroom first? Morning coffee is running through me.”
Junior eyed her distrustfully and Daylen felt the annoyance roll off him. “Of course. It’s just down the hall, on the right.”
“Thanks.” Kanyon exited and headed down the hall, but quickly found her away around to the staircase Daylen described.
“So,” Junior said smoothly, “how’d we go from actress to what, a private investigator hunting down missing trinkets?”
“It’s a family business. Do you know about the Blood Ring?”
“Of course. It’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Why your companion has been following me and my father? You think we had something to do with the theft?”
“Did you?”
Junior slowly rolled his wrist, watching the ice and liquid swirl in his glass. “It’d be quite the treasure to have, wouldn’t it? Especially if the myth is true. Could you imagine the power one would have if they possessed it?”
“I’ll ask again. Do you possess it?”
“Let’s say, hypothetically, I did have it or at least know where it is. What exactly would you do to get it back? How far would you go?” Junior was lighter skinned, fit, fair-haired, and fully clothed, a stark contrast to his father, but she saw the resemblance now in his overtly sexual suggestion.
Daylen thought sending Kanyon to look for the ring was safer than leaving her alone to distract their host, knowing Kanyon would’ve only instigated another fight. She was now regretting the plan, thoroughly wishing Kanyon was here to kick Junior’s pompous ass. “Absolutely nothing. I’d just call the cops and let them handle it,” she reacted bluntly. “Do I need to call the cops?” Daylen pushed.
He swirled the glass again before he took another sip, savored it, then focused cold eyes on Daylen. “Yeah,” he scoffed. “I’m sorry, but that’s the wrong answer.” He nodded at someone behind her and Daylen felt a wave of hatred and pleasure a second before she felt a searing white-hot shock to the back of her neck. Everything went black.
Kanyon froze as she reached for the doorknob to the room where Daylen believed the ring to be, a quick burning sensation hit the back of her neck then faded. Daylen. Kanyon darted back down the hall, down the stairs, and back into the room. She saw Lydia leaning over a seemingly unconscious Daylen. “What the hell did you do to her?” Kanyon pushed Lydia aside and knelt by Daylen.
Junior came back from the counter with another drink in his hand. “We were talking, then she just … stopped talking,” he offered on a grin.
Kanyon picked up Daylen’s limp form and rested her in her lap, holding her head against her chest. “Wake up,” she ordered as she slapped Daylen lightly on the cheek. She had not liked the plan of splitting up. She was afraid Daylen’s shields weren’t strong enough to hold. “What happened to her?”
“Same thing that’s going to happen to you,” Junior replied smugly as he cheered his glass toward her.
“I swear I’m going to freaking wipe that stupid grin off your …” her words got cut short as a pain shot through her neck, “face,” she finished.
As Kanyon’s eyes began to open, Daylen let out a relieved breath. “Thank God. Kanyon. Kanyon, wake up,” Daylen whispered.
Kanyon woke slowly, her mind foggy, but she heard Daylen calling her name. She fought through the haze, shaking her head to clear it, and saw Daylen sitting in front of her. She tried to reach out, but her hands were unable to move. She looked down to see her wrists and legs bound to the chair. She frantically scanned the room.
“I don’t know where they are. They were gone when I woke up a few minutes ago,” Daylen said.
Kanyon’s focus came back to Daylen, who was also bound at the wrists and ankles. “What the hell happened?” she asked as she tried fruitlessly to free herself from the restraints.
“I don’t know exactly. I remember talking to Junior then everything went black. What about you?”
“I don’t know either. I came back in and you were on the floor. I tried to wake you, but like you, everything just went black.” Kanyon pulled again on her bindings. “Don’t happen to have any special Seeker “untie ropes with your mind” tricks, do you?”
“No.”
“Can you summon sharp utensils?”
“No.”
“Mentally call a hungry beaver?”
“No, and no to your next ridiculous question too.” Daylen jerked at her restraints again.
“Fine. But for your information, I was going to ask if you want to fly off and spend a week sipping umbrella drinks on some remote Caribbean beach, but whatever.” Kanyon shrugged. “Never mind.”
Daylen’s heart enjoyed the possibilities of that little hypothetical getaway before her brain reminded her she was currently tied to a chair in The Defalco House of Porn Horror. “Can we focus on trying to get out of here, please?”
Kanyon closed her eyes, twisted her ankles in their restraints, and clicked her heels together three times, in a “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home” fashion.
Daylen watched Kanyon in befuddlement. “Did you just try to click your heels together?”
Kanyon shrugged. “Maybe.”
“You’re unbelievable. We’ve been tied to chairs by a couple of maniacs who are likely going to kill us, and your grand plan is trying to click your heels together and magically transport us back to Kansas?” Irritated, Daylen began to hunt for a more reasonable form of escape.
“Hey, I’m new to this whole Guardian gig. You never know, it might come with special powers. I mean you’ve got the whole read their aura, get visions, voodoo thing going on–” her words suddenly died off, realizing her mistake a moment too late.
Daylen whipped her head back around. “What did you just say?”
“Visions, voodoo thing going on?” Kanyon answered, knowing there was a good possibility that wasn’t the part of her sentence Daylen was interested in.
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about. You said Guardian gig. What Guardian gig?”
“Figure of speech? And I wish you wouldn’t glare at me like that, it makes me uneasy.”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I meant to put on my non-intimidating eye glare.” She narrowed her eyes even more. “Better?”
“Not at all. Listen, can we fight about this later, after I figure out a way to get us out of here?”
“Multi-task,” Daylen deadpanned. “Talk. Now.”
“Fine! I’ve been having these dreams, I guess you’d say. They started the night you stayed over. This … well, I don’t know what she is,
ghost, angel, guide, or something … This woman, Isadora, kind of told me I was chosen to be your Guardian. I don’t know what it all means.” Uneasy with her confession, Kanyon struggled against her bindings again. There was no give at her wrists, but this time her feet didn’t feel as tight.
“And why are you just now telling me this?”
“Ummm, because I just now slipped up and you just now called me out on it,” Kanyon replied honestly.
“I told you about the Seeker thing.”
“Because I forced you!”
Daylen glared at her.
“Okay, fine. I don’t know. Maybe because I didn’t want you to think I was crazy or that I killed too many brain cells when I was drinking. Or that I was still drinking.” She paused. “But mostly, I guess, I couldn’t believe ...” She fought at her bindings again.
“Believe it was real?”
“No, believe they’d choose a fuck up like me to protect you.” Kanyon met her eyes then quickly diverted them, uncomfortable under Daylen’s gaze. Kanyon yanked again at her bindings. “Case in point.”
At Kanyon’s confession, Daylen’s eyes fluttered, suddenly seeing Kanyon as she had so many times on the set. She saw the warrior again. Although it was acting before, there had always been a fierceness about Kanyon, a calculated determination, a fire in her eyes. Maybe that was why Kanyon was so believable in the role of a warrior, she was one. She thought of Kanyon on the balcony that first night and over the last few weeks. Kanyon had been there for her despite the physical and professional harm that could’ve come to her. She acted and protected her unselfishly and without hesitation. She smiled with realization. “I know exactly why they chose you.”
Kanyon stopped struggling, feeling the warm heat rise in her. “You knew about this Guardian thing?”
Daylen nodded.
“Then why have you been so adamant about pushing me away?”
“I thought I was protecting you. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“Or you don’t trust me.” Kanyon looked away again and back at her bindings.
“That wasn’t it, Kanyon.”
“I don’t blame you. I really haven’t given you much reason to.”
“Kanyon, that’s not it. I trust you. Look at me, please.”
Kanyon raised her head. “You don’t trust me about Lexi,” she challenged. You trust me with your life, but not your heart.
Daylen diverted her gaze. That was the one thing she hadn’t come to grips with yet. “Kanyon, I’m sor–”
“Sorry, ladies, if I’m interrupting,” Lydia said as she entered the room.
Daylen watched Kanyon’s face go from pain to fierceness. “Not a problem, we were just debating something. Maybe you can help.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Lydia offered, acting as if her two guests weren’t being held hostage.
“We were trying to decide how you got so stupid. Daylen thinks it’s probably just unfortunate genetics, but I told her I think you actually had a doctor liposuction your brain and inject it in those, you-aren’t-fooling-anyone fake boobs.”
Lydia’s Stepford wife smile dropped.
“Ahh, Kanyon. This is my first hostage situation and all, but I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to torment your captors. They’re supposed to torment you,” Daylen offered.
Kanyon watched Lydia walk over and pick up a knife from the countertop. “Geez, thanks for giving her ideas,” Kanyon quipped as she watched Lydia walk toward her, admiring the sharp point of the torture utensil. “Whoa, whoa, whoa … Hold it right there, Lizzie Borden. Is that a Ginsu?” Lydia stopped, eyeing Kanyon and then the knife with confusion. Kanyon leaned forward and squinted as if she was trying to see the tiny writing on the blade. “Yea sorry, that’s a freakin’ QVC knockoff. You’ll be lucky to give me a paper cut with that cheap-ass butter cutter.”
“Lydia, put the knife away,” Junior ordered as he entered the room.
Lydia shot Kanyon an evil smirk, but turned to put the knife back on the bar.
“Good little bimbo,” Kanyon taunted then turned to Junior. “Man, you’re so lucky. It’s hard to find dumb, obedient women these days.”
“So very true.” Junior chuckled. “Okay, so what should we do now?” Junior asked, circling their chairs like a predator taunting their prey before killing it.
“Apparently, someone didn’t read their Villain’s Guide to Devilish Plots. If you had, then you’d know this is the time, while you have your two heroines seemingly demobilized, that you confess your evil plan. In that confession, you’ll tell me something that I can use to throw you off and make you come closer, where I’ve already undone my bindings. I then overpower you, save the girl–”
“Excuse me, save the girl?” Daylen interrupted.
“Fine. We each save ourselves,” Kanyon said exasperated, “then we escape.” Finished, she looked at Daylen. “Better?”
“Better would’ve been, I saved you.”
“This really is no time for a sidekick complex.”
Junior chuckled. “You two are quite amusing, but I think you’ve been watching too many movies, or should I say playing in too many movies?” He strolled over to Kanyon, leaned in close, and ran his hand down her cheek. “Amusing and exquisite with those remarkable, dark blue eyes. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a woman with eyes that color.” He studied Kanyon for another moment then moved to Daylen. He took her face in his hand. “You’re quite the magnificent creature yourself.” He leaned in, inhaling the scent of her hair. “I have a weakness for blondes.”
“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Kanyon growled.
“Well, isn’t this interesting? I believe someone has a real-life thing for their on-screen love interest. It’s going to be so fun,” he twirled a strand of Daylen’s hair between his fingertips, “enjoying her, torturing you, and then killing you both.”
Kanyon yanked against her bindings so hard they cut into her wrists and blood began to soak the ropes.
Junior ran his fingertips down Daylen’s cheek. “A whole lot of fun.”
Kanyon steadied herself and decided on a new tactic. Well, partially new tactic, she was still going with the make him a eunuch ending. “Lydia, your little boyfriend says he has a thing for blondes. How does that dark head of yours feel about that?” Kanyon asked, hoping with a little goading that Lydia would go all jealous female on him. “It’s sad that he doesn’t love you, especially after all you’ve done for him, stealing the ring so you could prove your love to him.” She heard Lydia moving toward them.
“Shut up! Johnny loves me and he knows I love him. It was his father that needed the proof, but Johnny wasn’t going to let him put the ring on me so we stole it before he could.”
At Lydia’s confession, Junior dropped his head and shook it slowly. “Seriously?” he murmured.
“Welcome to the biggest movie cliché ever, Lydia. Duh. He used you to get the ring. He doesn’t care about you,” Kanyon continued.
Lydia’s voice wavered. “Johnny, tell her. Tell her she’s wrong. Tell her you love me.”
Junior raised his head, exasperated. “Well, here’s the deal.” He walked toward Lydia. “She’s right. I don’t give a shit about you. I mean you’re a good lay and all, but I do prefer blondes.”
Lydia closed the distance and began to beat his chest with her fists. “You’re lying. You love me. I did all this for you!”
Junior caught both of her wrists in his hands and pushed her away. “And I truly appreciate it, but you’ve really served your purpose at this point.”
“You can’t do this to me.” Lydia sobbed.
“Sorry I’m late. Am I interrupting something?” Defalco, Sr. said from the doorway behind them.
Kanyon saw the panic overcome Lydia then watched as her survival instinct kicked in. “Thank God you’re here, he’s gone mad.” Lydia’s voice vibrated in fear as she threw herself at Senior.
“Hush now, love. It’s all going to be okay.” He ran a hand affection
ately down her hair. “I’m going to take care of everything.”
“Shhewww, that’s good to know. Can you start by taking care of these bindings? Junior apparently doesn’t know that tying guests to chairs isn’t good etiquette. Typically, I’d blame bad manners on bad parenting–”
Junior grabbed Kanyon by the face. “Don’t insult my father.” Kanyon didn’t need the threatening cheek squeeze, she’d already figured out that Senior and Junior were close, being they shared bodyguards, license plate numbering, and women, apparently. And one woman in particular, had been a simple, dumb pawn. Kanyon could see their sick game clearly now. Senior had pretended to be jealous and Junior had pretended to be the sacrificing, rebelling Romeo who was going to save her. All she had to do was get the ring and they’d ride off into the sunset. Blah, blah, blah.
Senior walked over. “It’s really a shame we’re going to have to kill all these beautiful women.”
“All?” Lydia asked nervously.
Senior turned an evil grin on Lydia. “All.” He pulled the ring from his pocket.
“Lydia, run!” Kanyon warned.
Daylen couldn’t see Lydia, but she heard her feet scrambling backward. “Kanyon, we can’t let them–”
“I know, I know.” Kanyon fought even harder against her bindings. “Come on Daddy-whore-bucks, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to fucking hurt her!” Kanyon yelled, trying to get their attention.
When Daylen nearly toppled her chair, Junior grabbed it. “I’m sorry, did you want to watch? There you go, front row seats.” He spun Daylen’s chair around in time for her to see Senior step over to Lydia and grab her hand.
“Daylen don’t watch, turn away,” Kanyon yelled as she tried to stand and move with the chair still attached.
Junior pulled a gun from the back of his waistband and aimed it at Kanyon’s head. “Isn’t this ironic? I have two heroes in my living room and they can’t save the day.” Kanyon sat the chair back down. “Good girl. Now, let’s see if this ring has the power they claim it does.”
Senior forced Lydia’s hand open as she screamed, tears and mascara pouring from her eyes, causing long black tear tracks down her face. He slid the ring on her finger then dropped her hand and stood back.
