The Hailey Holloway Complete Series

by K. C. Stewart

  “And if he doesn’t know?”

  “Details. We’ll figure it out. This is just a brainstorm remember, not the final plan,” he reminded her. They stayed up for another hour smoothing out details and reworking ideas. They were all pretty happy with the plan by the time midnight rolled around.

  “I’m beat. Ya’ll can keep talking but I’m going to bed.” Darby rose from the chair and put her mug in the sink.

  “Hey before you go.” Dacea walked over to the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her. “How are you holding up? We haven’t talked much since the other night.” Her breath shuddered as she hugged back.

  “I’m fine. Ok so not fine, but getting there. Maybe, eventually. Don’t get me wrong, it hurts to breathe sometimes but this helps.” She pulled back and placed a hand on Dacea’s cheek. “Keeping my mind busy with Silas helps a lot. Knowing this is one step towards taking him down and holding him accountable for all those he has wronged, helps. Goodnight Dacea. Take care of your Mate, she won’t be around forever.” Darby left him in the kitchen and went to her bedroom.

  “Ready for bed?” Hailey all but whispered.

  He ran a hand through his hair, but stopped when he realized the strands were long and not his own. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Go Go Gadget FIREBALL!” Hailey lunged forward on her left foot, tossing a ball of mostly smoke and embers over her shoulder towards the target. Sports were never her strong point; then again if softball was played with fire, maybe she would have tried harder. The ball barely made it to the target, a pillow on a stick, but did leave a scorched circle towards the bottom left corner.

  “Better. The fire could use a little more oomph though.”

  “And my arms could use a bucket of ice. Beggars can’t be choosers,” she muttered.

  “Why don’t you go for a run then we can be done,” he spoke sternly, and then added as an afterthought. “At least two miles Hailey, cheating won’t help you in the long run.”

  “Fine.” At least her arms would get a rest. Hailey could get through one mile; it was mile two that made her legs feel like she was sprinting through cement. Not to mention it was trail running. That meant hills, uneven terrain, and tree roots grasping her ankles. Glaring at the aforementioned root did nothing to intimidate, but it did make her feel better, and gave her something to curse at other than Dak.

  “Umpf!” Hailey fell onto the bed face first. Her muscles sank into the mattress, and not for the first time she wished that she had her own soft bed.

  “I should have taken the extra ten steps and went to the shower,” she told the mattress.

  “You need to work on your punches.” Dak had been critiquing her non-stop as she ran. Yes, her punches sucked and so did her kicks and blocks and anything else that had to do with facing someone hand to hand. The self-defense class she took in college was based mostly on kneeing the attacker in the groin and hightailing it out of there.

  “You need to shut your face before I stick my foot up your ass.”

  “Which would result in a foot up your own ass. You also need to work on your insults.” His amused voice had her making faces in the quilt.

  “You really should be stretching right now.”

  “Nope the bra came off, that means we are done. I do not have to move for the rest of the day, not that I think I could if I wanted to.” Her new signal for the end of a workout was disrobing. She had discovered over the past few days that it made Dak uncomfortable when she was naked, so it made for an easy exit out of dragon boot camp.

  Speaking of naked, Hailey needed a shower. She rolled into an upright position, as she started to stand her legs screamed at her to stay where she was. They were not happy with her at the moment.

  “Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of being able to defend myself if I’m always too sore to even move?” Baby steps, she told herself, the shower isn’t going anywhere. She shuffled slowly across the room to the bathroom.

  “Your body will adjust.”

  “Your body will adjust,” Hailey repeated his favorite sentence with a mocking voice. She got cranky when she was in pain.

  Dak’s smile radiated inside her, he knew that she wasn’t truly mad at him. Besides, he thought she was cute when she had her cranky pants on, which was weird. She still didn’t know what exactly they were to each other. Friends, most definitely. Family, the closest she had. But was there something more? Sometimes he acted like her big annoying brother who only wanted to torment her, other times he was like her jealous boyfriend, and then there were the times when he held her at arm’s length. Her head would begin to hurt if she thought about it too much. So she pushed the confusing thoughts from her mind and turned on the hot water. Hailey groaned as she stepped under the spray.

  “Oh glorious Kohler, Goddess of Bathroom Fixtures, I am your faithful servant, Hailey. Please bless me with your pulse spray so my dragon can beat me up again tomorrow. Amen.” She leaned her head back into the water and sighed with delight. Hailey had not known that shower heads were a gift sent from the gods until she moved into Darby’s cabin. That woman knew how to make a small shower luxurious.

  Thirty minutes passed before she finally felt enough like Jell-O to turn off the water. Hailey made quick work of the towel and combed through her hair. Next step was shuffling into her bedroom where her favorite pair of PJ bottoms awaited her.

  “Not the reindeer pants,” Dak groaned.

  “Why the hell not?” She slipped them on against his protests.

  “Well for one, it’s September.”

  “So?” Next up was the Rocket Club T-shirt she had from high school. It was thin and full of holes, but it was her favorite.

  “This is punishment for earlier, isn’t it?”

  “If it helps you sleep at night, then yes.” At only three in the afternoon, she slipped into bed for a well-deserved nap.

  *****

  Hailey came into consciousness in the middle of a coffee shop while playing Candy Crush. She distinctly remembered going to take a nap after a particularly long work out. She watched silently as her fingers swiped across her screen, fairly impressed with how well she was doing.

  “Uh, Dak?”

  “Yeah?” It always freaked her out when he spoke from her lips. His hand reached up and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear revealing a Bluetooth head set.

  Bluetooth: The sneaky way to talk to yourself, and have no one think you are strange.

  “Whatcha doin’?”

  “Trying to beat this bloody level.” Swipe, hesitation, swipe, oh crap, swipe, swipe, swipe, no more moves. He performed a rookie mistake in the last few moves. Going faster did not equal cleared jellies, just missed opportunities.

  “That’s all well and good, but why are we here and not in my comfy bed and wearing reindeer pants?”

  “Oh that. I was restless and didn’t feel like lying down. Figured you could nap while I got out for a bit. I’ve been trying to act as bait for Silas and his henchmen, but he isn’t biting.”

  “I am not a car that you can just take for a drive whenever you feel like it!” Crap, Hailey sounded just like her mother. “At least ask for permission first,” she grumbled.

  “You were completely out and wouldn’t wake up.” His shoulders shrugged. “I figured I’d ask for forgiveness rather than permission.” A grin spread across Dak’s lips as he took a sip of his latte. “So please forgive me Hailey for taking the car without your permission.”

  “Ass.”

  “Bitch.”

  “When did you start insulting back? That’s not how we play this game, Mister.”

  Before he had a chance to respond, a tingle of awareness hit them both. Dak straightened in his seat and looked around, spotting a Green dragon across the street. Eyes locked, he smiled and waved. Dak snarled. It sounded as threatening as a Golden Retriever puppy coming from her lips. The dragon crossed the street and entered the coffee shop.

  “Guess being bait worked. By t
he way, I’m pissed that you would use my body as bait but I’ll beat you up over it later.”

  “Not now, Hailey.” His words, her voice, so fucking weird.

  The dragon took the empty seat across from them and clasped his hands together on the small round table. He was utterly normal in his long sleeve, navy blue shirt and jeans. No one would notice a blonde haired, average sized man in a coffee shop sitting with an equally average, if not a tad nerdy, woman. She was screwed if he pulled anything.

  “Greetings, Silas sends his regards for not being here in person. Under the circumstances, I’m sure you understand why he decided to send me in his place. I am Paul by the way. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The dragon made no move to shake hands or whatever was customary when greeting another dragon. Instead he put a slimy smile on his face.

  “May I ask who I am speaking with today?”

  “You may, but I don’t plan on answering you.”

  “Shame, I was hoping to speak with Hailey.” Paul looked remorseful and shook his head slightly.

  “She is unavailable at the moment, can I take a message?” Hailey snorted. Dak was learning her mannerisms so well. They grow up so fast, she thought.

  “Since you offered,” Paul leaned in a little closer. “Silas would like to offer Hailey a deal. He will gladly give her the knife you seek.” A mischievous sparkle lit his eyes. “If she agrees to perform the spell your witch is cooking up, on his grounds; to be more specific, in his dungeon.”

  “No.” Dak glared at the man.

  “I believe the offer was for Hailey, not you Dacea.”

  “Why would I ever allow her to agree to that? So she is free of me, but I am at Silas’s mercy and she is stuck there as well. This was the best plan he could come up with? Your boss is slipping.”

  “Excuse me?” Hailey cut in, “did you just say you would never allow me to do something? Geez Dak, have a little faith in me that I wouldn’t completely throw you under the bus.”

  “Oh you misunderstand me. She would be free to go. Hailey could have her life back and would never hear from the Green dragons again.” Paul snuck a glance down her body. “Well, unless she wanted to hear from us. You, Dacea, are the only one Silas wants. He would give our fair Hailey the world if that was what she desired in return for you.”

  Dak sat back and crossed his arms. On him it would look intimidating; on her it looked only slightly perturbed. Every muscle in her body was flexed and tight. He was barely holding himself back from lunging across the table and throttling Paul. Hell, she was there herself.

  “I have a question for Silas, why exactly does he want me dead? I have made assumptions over the years but never felt like I was 100 percent right.” Paul studied Dak. It looked to Hailey like he was trying to figure out if this was a serious question.

  “It is quite clear, is it not? Silas is meant to rule over us all.” His eyes narrowed. “And you are in his way.”

  “Bullshit. I’m dead to everyone. No one but Silas knows I am even alive. No, I don’t believe I’m in his way, just his scapegoat.” Dak smirked and leaned back. “You know what I think? Silas just doesn’t have the balls it takes to conquer all the septs.”

  Paul’s lips pursed together. “Silas will rule us all and bring us to glory as a race. He has plans, none of which include you.”

  “Very well,” Dak brushed away Paul’s anger like a piece of lint on his shirt. “What would you like to do Hailey?” He bounced back to the previous conversation, giving her a case of conversation whiplash. “The dragon has a very appealing offer for you.” Dak’s eyes never left Paul’s as he spoke.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Giving you the opportunity to respond.”

  “But why? You don’t think I’d actually take the deal, do you?” After all they had been through she was offended he would even consider her loyalties were elsewhere.

  His face relaxed slightly and a small smile tilted his lips. “Didn’t you just yell at me for making decisions for you? Make up your mind, Woman.”

  Paul sat with his hands clasped on the table watching the exchange with interest.

  “Oh. Hah, my bad,” She laughed. “Sorry, he has me all worked up.”

  “No worries, Babe.” The stone cold mask was back on. “Paul, I regret to inform you that Hailey declines your boss’s offer, respectively of course.” Dak mirrored the other dragon’s posture and tilted his head.

  “That’s unfortunate.” His hand reached up to his ear as he mumbled a few words. Of course Silas was there in spirit and in Bluetooth ear piece. The man wouldn’t let a meet like this go on without him being informed every step of the way. “He is disappointed but fully understands your position Hailey. The offer stands if you choose to change your mind.”

  Dak unclasped his hands and shooed the man. “Go run along home to mommy now.”

  Paul smiled and tipped his head before pushing back from the table, the chair screeching across the tile floor. All eyes turned toward them, reminding Hailey of their very public location. Bells chimed above the door indicating Paul’s exit. A few patrons kept watching her but the volume crept back up, most already forgetting why they had been looking.

  They sat in silence until Dak said Paul was officially gone. She wasn’t sure if he ever got answer to his question. Why was his death so important to Silas?

  “Hailey, you might want to take over. I am not feeling the most stable at the moment.” His words were pressed through clenched teeth.

  “Sure thing.” Through Dak’s magic they switched controls of her body. She slipped into place, flexed her hands like she never left.

  Hailey took a deep breath when she stepped out of the coffee shop. The car was right out front which had her heart settling down. Last thing she wanted was to run into Paul again now that she was in the driver’s seat. Her phone buzzed in her hand. Hailey unlocked the door and got inside before checking it.

  “Uh…Dak?”

  “What?” he growled.

  “Silas sent you three extra moves in Candy Crush.”

  He roared in her head. Her ears would be ringing for hours.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was a quiet trip back to the cabin. Dak was silently fuming in the back corner of her mind. She decided that it was time for action, drastic measures, and pizza. Unsure of what kind of pizza Darby liked, she covered all her bases and ordered one with every meat product known to man, one with all veggies, and her favorite one with an obnoxious amount of cheese. Three large pizzas and a giant iced tea later, they were back on the road and only minutes from the cabin.

  It was hard to resist the temptation of breaking open one of the boxes and having a slice. The aroma of garlic and tomato sauce had her mouthwatering something fierce. She needed a distraction; unfortunately her mind kept going back to the same place, Silas’s offer.

  If Silas would have come to her weeks ago with the deal, she probably would have taken it. That was not something she could easily admit. Dak and Hailey had this weird bond between them now. It grew stronger every day, and wouldn’t be broken by something as senseless as a half-assed deal. When their bond broke it would be over something monumentally more stupid, and it would break her heart right along with it. The idiot who would be doing the breaking of all things Hailey still hadn’t spoken. His brooding was interrupting her own gloomy thoughts; it was very inconsiderate of him.

  “Could you keep it down?” she asked

  “Keep what down.” Annoyed, he barked, “I haven’t said a damn thing.”

  “True enough, but I can feel you moping over the events of this afternoon and it is getting in the way of my thinking.”

  “So what, I’m not allowed to feel now? And dragons don’t mope,” he added.

  “No it’s not that, but maybe you would like to voice to the rest of the class what you are sulking about?” Her question was met with silence. Apparently she would have to start off show and tell. “I’ll start and give you an example of how t
his works. I am angered that Silas would even consider that I would take his offer. What’s more, I am hurt that you would consider it as well. Nope, don’t try to talk now. This is my time to talk.” Hailey was on a roll. “You had a moment back there where you thought I might take it. It was short and fleeting, but it was there.”

  She pulled into the driveway and parked the car next to Darby’s. “Since we are being honest, I will tell you that if he would have offered a few weeks ago I might have taken it. Things are different now. I would rather live as we are for the rest of our lives than take anything Silas offered.”

  He sighed, letting his anger deflate, leaving him drained. “You’re right, I did. It was gone almost as fast as it came, but it doesn’t dispute the fact that I still speculated. The whole thing was just a slap at me and it hit its mark.”

  “And left a bruise apparently,” Hailey muttered.

  “I’ve been wondering if maybe it would be best for you to take the deal. He seemed sincere in saying you would not be harmed, Hailey. I know that’s what you wanted at the start of it all.” He paused and chuckled, “But then I get pissed at you for throwing all this away for freedom. It sounds absurd when I say it aloud.”

  Hailey considered her next words with care. The pizza boxes rested against her hip as she kicked the car door closed. She slurped on her tea and walked up the steps to the front door. Just before entering, Hailey stopped and spoke quietly.

  “I’m not the one who is throwing this all away for freedom.”

  *****

  “Mmmmm I smell pizza.” Lia opened the door and grabbed the boxes out of Hailey’s hands. “Get your ass in here; I need to hear about all the things I’ve missed.”

  Hailey smiled and followed her inside. “When did you get back?” A plate was handed to her.

  “About an hour ago.” The muse piled a slice of each kind of pizza on her plate and took a seat at the table.

  “All’s well in Musey Land?” Hailey asked, grabbing two slices of cheese for herself. She settled in at the table, completely set on ignoring Dak’s pleas for the carnivore pizza.