The Hailey Holloway Complete Series

by K. C. Stewart

  She knew better than to type.

  She knew better than to hit send.

  She knew better than to go to the location that was text back to her.

  She knew, but she got in her car anyway.

  Hailey might be doing the stupidest thing of her life but she wasn't about to not tell anyone about it. If she went missing or turned up dead, someone was going to know who did it. Silas, Darby, Lia, Alex, even Francis would be a good choice. Hailey however, dialed the reason she was doing all of this in the first place.

  "Hello?"

  She was thrown for a moment. The voice did not match the number she dialed. Hailey took a look at her screen to make sure she did, in fact, dial Dak.

  "Dane?"

  "Hi Hailey. What can I do for you?"

  "Um, you can start by telling me why you are answering Dak's phone." What the hell was going on?

  "He is unavailable." Lies, she thought. Dak never handed his phone off to someone else to answer.

  "Well, can you give him a message? It might be safer to tell him it is from Silas or someone who he actually cares to hear from since he obviously handed his phone to you when he saw who was calling him." Asshole dragon.

  "Um...yes. I can do that."

  "Tell his Royal Grouchiness that I am about to meet with Katherine and wanted someone to know in case—"

  "That is not a good idea, Hailey," Dane interrupted.

  "No shit, Sherlock. However, my Mate has driven me to act on bad ideas just to gain his attention."

  She heard a shuffling and someone talking in the background. Hailey smiled knowing she was about to be chewed out by Dak.

  "Hailey you will not do this!" his deep voice roared into the phone.

  "Dak, so good to talk to you! I feel like it's been ages since we last spoke." Her tongue was sweet as honey. Dak responded with a growl. "Now I don't believe I was asking for your permission. This was a courtesy call in case I wind up dead with my heart ripped out."

  "Where are you? I will send someone to take you to Silas's."

  "Two things wrong with that sentence." Hailey counted on her fingers as she began to walk the last stretch to her car. "One. You will send SOMEONE. Not you, but one of your people will come to get me and take me to safety. Two. You will have them take me to Silas's. Not home, but to my brother's house."

  "Hailey..." he growled in warning.

  "You don't have any say in what I do or don't do anymore. You gave up that right when you gave up on me. I'll let you know when I'm back safe and sound and tucked in bed. Until then I will be going to see what I can do about this mess your Ex-Mate got us into. Bye, Dak." His distant yelling was silenced as she hung up. Hailey felt indestructible at the moment, especially as she denied Dak's call and the one that followed. She was probably walking into her funeral, but at least she was going with confidence.

  Chapter Twenty

  The magazine she was looking at held gossip of celebrities she didn't care about and recipes she couldn't make. It did however, put the hairdresser at ease. Katherine had been staring at the woman in the mirror as she worked. It was nothing bad, she just had caught Katherine's eye. The woman was straight according to the framed picture of a man and herself kissing that sat on her workstation. Katherine on the other hand, was not. She liked sex, it didn't matter who it was with. One of her greatest joys in life was taking a straight woman and giving her a taste of something more exotic than she was used to or showing a gay man what he was missing. Bedding the gay man was the harder of the two but both were fun.

  She had been considering taking on Sarah the hairdresser as her new pet project when a magazine was thrust in her hands. Yes, she mused with a hidden smile, she would be fun to corrupt. The bell above the door dinged removing her from her devious thoughts. Hailey had just walked in and was certainly confused as to the location.

  "Over here, Honey." Katherine waved her forward and pointed to the empty chair beside her.

  "A salon?" Hailey asked, her head still bobbling around as she looked over everything.

  "Is that a problem? Would you rather it have been an abandoned warehouse?"

  "No," she frowned. "Just not what I was expecting."

  "Good. I don't like to do what others expect." Katherine closed the magazine and tossed it on Sarah's workstation.

  "Alright, I'm here, what did you want to talk about?" Hailey was jittery like she always was. The girl reminded her of a hamster who had a double shot of espresso. Her leg bounced unconsciously off her toes. Swiftly but delicately, Katherine reached out a hand and rested it on her knee immediately calming the leg.

  "That's better," she said with a smile while removing her hand. "I just wanted to talk girl to girl, hence the salon. Tell me Hailey, how's your Mate?" She knew exactly how they were and it delighted her more than a French nude beach, but she wanted to see it for herself. The pain she caused others was always better in person than heresy.

  "Really? That's what you wanted to talk about." Hailey shook her head. "We are fine. Is that all? I've got shit to do that doesn't involve harpy whores."

  "Tsk tsk," she clucked her tongue, "Aren't your just a pretty little liar. I know you and Dacea are not fine. I know you had to move out just like I know he does not talk to you or come to see you at all." She slid a glance over at the girl and smiled brightly. She just loved being right.

  "Is that all this is? For you to shove shit in my face? I thought you might actually want to work out our differences but if you're just going gloat about your accomplishments, then I'm leaving." Hailey was out of her seat and ready to take off.

  "Calm down. I was just having a bit of fun. Sit back down."

  She hesitated and looked quickly at the door. The indecision was plainly written across her equally plain face. Seriously, what was Dacea thinking when he picked her? Blah, she thought.

  "Ok look," Katherine stated when it was clear the girl was going to wait for her two measly brain cells to collide resulting in a decision. "I brought you here today to ask what it is you want in exchange for disappearing. I want you gone and off the playing field and I'm willing to not kill you to get what I want."

  "I'm not going anywhere."

  "Sure you are. You are going to California..." she guessed, "Georgia? Montana? Fiji? England? Come on! There has to be somewhere you want to go?"

  "I'm good here. Nothing you offer will change that." Hailey crossed her arms over her chest. Katherine saw her feet shift and settle firmly on the ground. She sighed.

  "Fine, have it your way. Next time I see you, I will kill you. Be off now." She focused her attention back to her haircut. Sarah had been quiet and anxious during the whole thing. However, she was curious too. Her curiosity might just be in other aspects of her life as well. The bell ringed signaling Hailey's departure.

  Game on.

  "So Sarah, who is that dashing man with you in that photo?"

  *****

  Hailey had known better than to expect anything more than disappointment. Katherine had just wanted to play with her but Hailey's ideas of heroically fixing what was broken, between her and Dak and with the septs, had clouded her already questionable judgment.

  Silas had waited for her. He didn't say anything when she walked in the door but looked her over from head to toe with his ever assessing eyes and nodded. She was unharmed and home. It was all he cared about. They ate dinner and talked about her travels that day. He approved of her meeting with Casper and was proud of her for what she did. That, surprisingly enough, warmed her soul like a shot of whiskey.

  While they ate a call came in. Hailey was grabbing their coats before he even ended the call. By now she knew that look on his face. Someone else was dead. He frowned at her like he did every time she came along. Tough shit, she thought, and don't even try to talk me out of it. He didn't. Not this time. Maybe it was the look in her eye that warded her from his futile attempts at staying put.

  Lately the Council had preferred the city's back alleys rather than the subu
rbs or farmland that surround it. They had to get there fast and clean up before too much damage was done by the police and humans milling about. Blood stained brick and the Council Insignia became her normal day.

  She couldn't tell Silas how those alleys made her feel. He'd only try harder at keeping her home. Without anyone to vent to or unload her day on she found her heart becoming like those alleys; dark and dirty filled with the garbage people threw aside. Dak threw her away. When he finally saw her for who she was, he tossed her out his window like the cracked plastic soda cup that sat by her feet.

  "Hailey."

  "Yeah?" she asked as Silas came over to her. He had been dealing with identifying the dragon. They were now collecting the remains.

  "You should go home. This is no place for you."

  She disagreed with that. This place felt more like home each passing second. That cup, for instance, was like a second cousin. "Nope."

  "But why? You don't have to be here, to see this." He waved his hand behind him toward the body. "Let me and my people clean this up."

  Silas said it like they were a piece of trash and not a once living person. Some things would never change. He was protective of his people but also a rat bastard to them. "Nope." Hailey patted the upturned can she sat on. "I know I'm not much help but I still need to be here."

  "In case Dacea shows up?"

  "No." Maybe. God she hoped that wasn't why she was here. "I'm one of you aren't I?"

  "Yes."

  "Then let me stay."

  His lips pressed together and he nodded. When he turned she saw his mask had been set back in place. Only with her did he allow his true self to surface.

  Hailey wasn't sure where she fit in the grand scheme of things. The hardened shell that was being built back up used these alleys for its strength. She no longer had to look away from a body, the smell of blood didn't make her want to vomit, and they had no power over her anymore. So she would keep coming until Silas caved and gave her a job to do.

  Dark had settled in around them. When Silas was done, he took her home where a hot shower awaited her. He must have trusted her enough by this point to not run off because Francis was no longer in sight or lurking behind a door. It was a relief and a frustration because that meant he figured she was staying indefinitely.

  Was she?

  No, she told herself. Her new mantra of, "it's not over yet," echoed in her mind as she stood at the bottom of the steps wondering what she should do next. Hailey didn't want to go back to her room so she went into the living room instead with delusions of a movie. Silas however, only watched classics and movies with meanings, layered with metaphors, topped with ideas that she just didn't comprehend or care to understand. It's not that Hailey wasn't smart, she just wanted to be entertained and not quizzed when it came to movies.

  Her eyes blinked into focus and she looked at the time, an hour had passed in what felt like minutes as errant stray thoughts wondered her mind like a maze. It was happening more often lately as she climbed into herself letting her mind go while her body did no more than take up space. The what if's, I should have's, and if only's bogged her down. The only way to escape them was to sleep but even then it wasn't a guaranteed peace. In her dreams she could live out those what if's to their fullest extent and then live them again differently. Over and over the scenarios would change, giving her a fresh helping of guilt and heartache when she woke.

  Speaking of guilt and heartache, she still needed to tell Dak she was home. She composed a quick text and shot it his way. There was no reply. It didn't surprise her but still hurt. Her fingers hovered over the flat screen of her phone. There was more she wanted to say. Maybe a text was the way to go since getting him alone was turning out to be a more difficult task than she had previously imagined.

  It came from her heart. For once her mind was taking a back seat in the conversation. Admittedly, she had gushed open into the message and when there was nothing left to say she read over what she had wrote.

  You piss me off to a level far beyond that of anyone before you. So I'm not perfect. Neither are you. The difference is I love you in spite of your imperfections whereas you punish me for mine. I miss you. I miss you more than I care to at this point, but I also love you. It's that love that makes missing you bearable. If I wasn't so completely in love with your stubborn ass then I wouldn't have hung around after you were freed. God, Dak. Do you even know what you're angry about anymore? It's frustrating when I run. I know. It's frustrating for me too. But don't I always come back? After my head is cleared and put on straight again, don't I come back to you? We have this thing between us that will never die. It's a bond stronger than either of us have control over. That bond started as a promise before it was a dragon thing. And I know...Mate bonds are the strongest of their kind blah blah blah...but I think that is bullshit. I believe a promise is stronger. Love is a promise and one I take seriously. When I told you I loved you I meant it with every piece of me past, present, and future. I will not give up on you as you have on me. Why? Because I believe. I have faith that we are more than this fight. When you find that faith again, come find me. I'll be at the moat. Always yours whether you want me or not, Hailey.

  "Holy crap," she said when she put down her phone. Was she out of her mind? She couldn't send that. Could she? Hailey read the text again and again. She was so invested in the words that she hadn't heard the footsteps behind her.

  "You're back," a deep voice sounded from over her shoulder where she sat on the couch. Hailey jumped and fumbled her phone. It bounced off her fingertips and fell to the ground. It wasn't the fact that someone was standing behind her, it was that it was Dak standing behind her that had her stuttering. Like her composing the text had called to him and brought him to her. She picked up the phone noticing that the message had gotten deleted in the excitement.

  "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

  She turned toward him. Suddenly at a loss for the words that had come so easily only moments prior. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gulping in air wishing it was water.

  "It's ok," she finally managed to say. "I was just in my head. Didn't hear you come in."

  "Well, I only came to check that you got back ok," he wouldn't look at her, not fully. It was just over her head or at her shoulder that his gaze would settle. Now was her chance to tell him everything she had said in her message however, her mind was completely blank.

  "Dak..." she said pushing everything she felt into the word. All the words that had spilled from her heart only minutes ago piled on top of each other, twisted and morphed to form one word. It was sorrow, guilt, longing, regret, anger, frustration, and most of all, love.

  He turned. Never looking at her, never seeing the mess she had become since he pushed her from his life. He turned and so did she. Hailey couldn't watch him walk away from her. She closed her eyes trapping the tears where they were. They weren't held long, didn't need to be. She was alone within seconds, his presence fading with him.

  "I miss you," she wept and the front door closed. Her hand shot out to the end of the couch when her legs went soft.

  "Hailey?" Silas asked from the doorway behind her. "What did that bastard say this time?"

  Well if that didn't make her sound like a weak little girl, nothing would. She wiped under her eyes and stood solidly on her feet. Silas had closed the doors to the room and came around to her with a light touch on her arm.

  "Wasn't him. It was me." The fingers that wiped away the tears had come back streaked with black. Perfect. Her mascara was running. "I don't know why I chicken out every time I see him."

  "It's not like he makes it easy for you." Silas took over wiping the runny mascara from her face.

  "True."

  "I'm going over tomorrow. Why don't you come with? We can lock him in a room with you until you tell him what you need to."

  "Might take a while."

  His blue eyes smiled at her light and muted but with a sparkle all their own. "No worries. I
'll bring a book."

  She nodded, agreeing to go because apparently she was a masochist and kissed his check. "Goodnight, Big Brother."

  "Sweet dreams."

  Chapter Twenty-One

  In the past week Silas had found himself sitting outside Charlotte's apartment more and more often. The woman was intriguing, a puzzle that was missing just enough pieces to make him wonder what the picture was. Two more times he had broken in. Both times he had found the place just as it was before and the jacket had an ever changing array of scents. She looked human, acted human, even smelled human, but she had been rubbing up on everything but humans.

  Today he didn't sit outside her place, but inside her father's house. The whole reason Silas followed her after all was to use her as leverage against him for information. Well, that time had come. Wendell, the rat, had moved. Silas needed to know where to. His contacts had come up dry, but the Council had to know. They still met and with Wendell being the leader they were most likely meeting at his house.

  Silas thumbed through the folder containing the images of Charlotte. There was one he kept going back to. She was looking right at him with a glare of disgust that even he couldn't pull off.

  "Peter?"

  Silas closed the folder. Oh good, his meeting was here. Of course, the man had no idea that they were about to meet, or that he was late.

  "Peter?" he said again.

  Peter, the butler, was currently unconscious in the kitchen. He would not be able to answer for some time. Silas sat in the chair behind Lou's desk. It was an impressive high back brown leather chair with gold button accents. Silas clasped his hands together and rested them on top of the desk and waited. Eventually Lou would find him. He could have chosen the living room, or even the dining room but he wanted to show his status. As in, he was above Lou. By taking over his office, chair and desk, Silas was telling without words who was boss.