"Hello Lou," Silas said when he walked by. The door was open and the surprise was evident in his hazel eyes to see the Overseer of Green in his office. Not as skilled with his facial expressions as most, the man did not wipe the look from his face but instead changed from surprise to horror. The realization dawned on him that Silas had gotten into his house and was probably there to kill him. That wasn't the plan but Silas wasn't about to correct him.
He was on the enemy side after all.
"Come. Sit. I am just here to talk." Silas motioned to the visitor's chair on the other side of the desk. Lou sat with his back straight and his eyes wide. He was a tall, slender man. Even in the chair, he towered over Silas's six foot two. His salt and pepper hair was windblown and speckled with water droplets of melted snow. "How are you, Lou?"
He cleared his throat after a garbled first response. "Well, thank you."
"Good. I hope when I leave you are still...well." Silas sat back enjoying the cushion of the seat and leaned the chair back. "I need something from you. Nothing big, just an address."
"Who's address?"
"Wendell's."
Lou set his head to vibrate and shook it back and forth rapidly. "I...I...I can't."
"Sure you can," Silas said cheerfully. "I just want to have a word with him."
"I have sworn not to tell."
He sighed. "You're going to make me do the hard pitch, aren't you?" Silas opened the folder and began to lay the pictures he had taken of Charlotte across the table: her walking on the street, getting a coffee at Starbucks, looking out her window. Then he added the ones taken from inside her apartment. "So, as you can see I know your daughter. You did a nice job at keeping her hidden. I commend you on that. However, she was all too easy to find when I started to dig."
Lou held one of the pictures in one hand and shuffled through the rest with the other. "Charlotte. You didn't talk to her did you?" His eyes blazed with alarm. Silas shook his head no. He was interested in Lou's reaction. Why was talking to the woman so upsetting? Many would be upset that he had harmed the loved one but Lou’s reaction wasn’t that. Not quite.
"Good. Don't. She's a killer." His words didn't match the emotion on his face. Lou loved her and from the way he feasted on the pictures, had not seen her for a while.
"Killer?"
"For hire. She doesn't know about me, only that her mother was an angel that abandoned her. Charlotte has had trouble adjusting and was already too far gone for me to help when I found her. She hates all supernaturals and would gladly have killed you had you talked to her."
"Interesting." His mouth pulled up at the corner as he looked at her red hair in the picture laid askew on the desk. That explained all the smells on her jacket. "Thank you for that bit of information but let's get back on point, shall we? What is Wendell's address?"
The photo dropped from his hand. His mouth hung open framed by thin, ragged lips. "I can't tell you."
"It's like this, Lou. I was going to threaten your lovely daughter here but I have a feeling she could hold her own in a fight. So instead I'll hire her to kill you."
"No..."
"It's poetic, isn't it? Your daughter hired to kill you, her father. A man she doesn't know but already hates just because of his species."
"Please..." he begged.
"The address?" his manicured brow arched. The sweat had begun to bead on Lou's forehead. He stared at the photographs on the table. Lou's eyes flickering over each picture. Silas was bored and got out his phone to speed the process along. "Let's see here," he scrolled through his phone, "Charlotte. Ah, yes. Here she is. Shall I call?"
*****
Katherine gripped the collar on her wool coat by her neck to close the gap that allowed the frozen air to touch her skin. She hated the cold. A warm, sunny beach was where she belonged. Not here in fucking Pennsylvania.
Her heels clicked hastily down the path. Wendell better have the heat on scorching or she was going home. No way was she getting naked in this freeze. Not that she wanted to get naked for the dragon at all. However, that was the deal. She had sex with him twice a week and he would do whatever the hell she wanted.
It wasn't all bad. He had an excellent house with a pool and a fabulous wine cellar. She kept finding treasures down there from ages ago. He had no problem uncorking his best vintages at the bat of her lashes. Flirting alone got her what she wanted most of the time, but not all of the time.
With the brass knocker she tapped the door incessantly until she heard the locks. Wendell, the balding frog-like man, was grinning ear to ear. She hadn't told him she was coming.
"Darling," she said stepping over the threshold and dropping her coat in a heavy pile on the floor. She was naked save for the boots she wore. The smooth black leather wrapped around her calves, over her knees, and stopped mid-thigh with a thin spike of a heel. "You have 20 minutes. Get to it."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dacea sat alone in his office. His attitude prevented anyone but Dane from visiting him, and even then it was only for a moment. Lately he snapped at most, glared at the rest and was all around unpleasant to be near. He wanted to blame Hailey for his behavior, even the Katherine and the Council at times, but in the end it was his problem. He was miserable and just wanted to be left alone. Hailey, his Mate, his breath, his reason for everything had haunted him. She was the creaky stair in the otherwise grand staircase. The cold chill on a white sand beach. She was there, always there, in his mind, in his heart.
On his desk.
She had left him a Christmas present the last time she was over. Dacea still hadn't opened it. The small box wrapped in blue paper with little dancing snowmen sat on the corner of his desk and mocked him. So many times he had begun to open it just to shove it away before the tape ripped.
He was worried that opening it would mean more than finding out what was in the box. What it meant? He had no idea. Although, Hailey had surprised him in the last few days. Dacea half expected her to be stowed away in another country by now but instead she was there every time he turned around. It was infuriating. He had given her an easy out and she didn't take it. Instead, she met with Katherine.
What the hell had she been thinking?
Of all people to see, she picked the one who wanted to eat her kidneys for dinner. After her call to tell him who she was meeting with, Dacea had paced the house. He called Silas and yelled at him, then sent Dane and his men to find her. They hadn't. When hours had passed and she hadn't called him again, Dacea went to Silas's to wait for her. In his mind she was already dead. Katherine had killed her the moment Hailey walked into where ever they were meeting. But Silas only pointed to the living room when he arrived and there she was, composing a text with such ferocity that he couldn't interrupt before she was done. When she did finally notice him she jumped and dropped her phone. He was so angry about her meeting with Katherine and so relieved that she was ok that he couldn't say much to her. Thinking she was dead did a number on his psyche and when she said his name he almost reached for her, almost held her in his arms and kissed her.
Almost.
Dacea had left before she could say anything else. He was in a place in his mind that was making it not safe to be around her. Had he stayed, he would have caved into his desires for her. And their cycle would have been reborn into a new version of love, fight, passion, anger and eventually to fear ending with her running away.
But there was a kernel of optimism inside him, just a small little seed that had been shriveled and dead. Each time he saw her it plumped, feeding on her like a man deprived of life's simplest pleasures. It was ready to sprout, if he let it.
Out of the corner of his eye he glared at the present. Once more he picked up the box and turned it in his hands. Small and light, whatever was inside was metal from the clinking he heard when he shook it.
"This is ridiculous. Just open the damn thing."
There was a hesitation before he popped the tape off the folded end. The tape had been acting
as a barrier to more than what was held inside. Dacea's eagerness at the sight of the black box was unexpected. He pushed the lid off and nestled inside were a pair of handcuffs. Beautifully designed and custom at that, he handled them with care. Not because they were fragile but because it was a gift that had an immense amount of thought put into it.
"Christ, Hailey. You're killing me."
His fingers traced over the carvings of the scales and flames. There was so much fine detail that he just kept spinning the cuffs in his hand wanting to make sure he didn't miss anything.
"Sir." Dane knocked on the door pushing it open. "This came for you." A letter was placed on his desk but he ignored it and the dragon that brought it to him. "So she did give them to you. I wasn't sure if she would."
"What?"
"The cuffs," he nodded to the rings of silver in Dacea's hands. "She had snuck out one day and I followed her to this jeweler. I caught her in the middle of designing them and was sworn to secrecy. They look great."
"Yes, she did very well," he said with hint of sorrow that he just couldn't cover.
"A Silver dragon delivered that letter. He said it was important." Dane turned but not before Dacea caught the smile on his face and left.
Abandoning the handcuffs, he picked up the letter and tore through the envelope. Casper's jagged script stated simply:
After an interesting conversation with Ms. Holloway I have decided to join your fight against the Council.
Casper
P.S. I praise you in your choice of Mate. She is a bold creature with a beautiful heart.
Meeting? What meeting? Dacea read the short letter again. At the post script he smiled. She was an unending surprise today.
So she went to see Casper to do what? Convince him to join Dacea's war? Then she met with Katherine. He wracked his brain but found no logical reason as to why she would do either of them. Temporary insanity was the reasoning he came up with. Hailey believed everyone had some good in them even if it was buried somewhere deep. Then there were the handcuffs, her appearance at every Red or Green dragon's home after a disaster, and simply the fact that she was still there. He was going to cave. Give in to his desires and take her back in his heart. She was on a role and he was only so strong.
"Knock, knock," Silas said tapping the door to get his attention. Dacea waved him in. He ran his fingers through his hair pulling hard has he went to center himself. "I have Wendell's address," Silas stated as he sat in one of the seats across from Dacea.
"And how did you come across that information?"
"Surprisingly enough, no blood was shed," Silas grinned. "What's that?" he asked nodding towards the handcuffs on his desk.
"Gift from Hailey."
He reached for them and turned them around in his hands. "Impressive."
"Very," Dacea agreed. "They are beautiful."
"Hey Hailey!" Silas yelled surprising Dacea. He narrowed his eyes on Silas then turned them toward the door when his Mate emerged from the hallway. Waves of chestnut were pushed back from her face over her shoulders. Her smile was like sunshine, warming the cold room with just a quick flash.
"Yeah?"
"He liked your present." The handcuffs were tossed onto the desk with a clink. Silas leaned back in his chair and draped an arm over the back with an all too smug look. Hailey blushed. It began on her chest and spread upwards until her neck and cheeks were a soft crimson.
"Thank you, Hailey," he gritted out. "It was very thoughtful of you."
"You're welcome." Her voice was soft but strong as she walked into the room. The broken quality she had been harboring lately wasn’t there anymore. She was confident again and it was damn sexy. As she walked toward him her eyes never left his and with each step he found himself warming under her gaze. He was going to cave. The rich brown of her eyes pulled at him. He stared so hard he could make out the tiny flecks of gold that always mesmerized him.
"Should I leave you two alone?" Silas commented from beside them.
Dacea coughed and tore himself from her face. "No, I want to know about Wendell's residence."
"He's been hiding in Manayunk."
"Really?" Hailey said. "I would have expected something a little different than that."
He shrugged. "Good place to hide. When do you want to check it out Dacea?"
"I'm free now." He also needed to get away from Hailey. Her side long glances were making him itch to touch her.
"Field trip!" Hailey smiled.
"No."
"What?" She turned her head at him disbelieving. "What do you mean no?"
There was no way he was allowing her to come with for two reasons. One, he wasn't sure what they would find when they got there and he didn't want her caught in any crossfire if it came to that. Two, he couldn't be near her for much longer without running his hands over her skin.
"Just as it sounds, Hailey. You are not coming with."
She studied him for a moment then said, "Yeah, that's not going to work for me. If you two are going, I'm going too."
"Like hell you are!" He had stood, leaning over his desk toward her. Hailey looked up at him with a smirk. Slowly, she stood and met him head on.
"Why? Tell me why I can't come."
His hands fisted on the desk. "My reasons are my own."
"Tell me."
Head to head neither was going to back down. Dacea's skin rippled with just the hint of scales. Hailey smirked. Her eyes sparkled with humor.
"Tell me, Dak.”
It slipped. Hearing the name he hated to love from her lips was like siren’s song pulling him under. "I want you safe."
She leaned in an inch and then another. She was so close that Dacea could smell the citrus on her skin. "What are you going to do to stop me, Dak?"
He watched her lips. It was impossible not to. When she said his name, her tongue did this flick that gave the sound a whole different meaning. She wasn't just challenging him; she was trying to seduce him.
"Just as I promised, I'll chain you to the wall. I have a new pair of handcuffs that need to be worn in."
"I don't believe you."
They stood only inches apart. She mirrored his stance with her hands flat on the desk leaning across it towards him. His eyes had a perfect view down her t-shirt. This one stated, "Be very, very quiet. I'm hunting dragons." Her bra underneath was hot pink. So bright that it was hard not to look.
His breathing was choked as he looked at her. Whatever her plan was, it was working. "Fine. Come along, but you're Silas's responsibility." Dacea pushed back from the desk and turned his back on her. He paced over to his liquor cabinet and poured a shot of whiskey. "Sláinte," he mumbled before throwing the liquid back.
When he turned, Silas was trying not to laugh. Dacea ignored him and said, "Let's get this over with," and walked past both of them to the hall.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Silas shook his head with laughter as she winked at him and followed Dacea out of the room. From her pocket she removed the ring that usually hung around her neck. Unsure of what finger dragons used, she slid it onto her left hand ring ringer. Silas tapped her shoulder. He had watched her and raised a flawlessly manicured brow wondering what she was planning. Hailey, feeling confident for the first time in weeks, mouthed, "It's time," to him with a smile that spoke not of the heartbreak she had endured but of the love that she couldn't deny any longer.
Dak walked briskly down the hallway as Hailey floated behind him. At the top of the stairs he glared over his shoulder at her. His eyes widened with surprise at her deliriously large smile. Hailey had been staring at his butt and imagining all the wicked things she planned on doing to make up for lost time.
Dane had the SUV pulled around front and warming for them. Much to Dak's annoyance they all piled it. It was entertaining to watch. She took the seat beside him while Silas took the one behind. Their legs were flush against each other. Small tendrils of smoke began to rise from his hands. Dak was trying so hard to control himself a
nd there she was pushing him to his limits and kicking him across them.
"Sorry," she said with little apology and moved a half an inch away. Small little huffs of breath came puffing from his nose. There was no verbal response but his body told her enough. For the next twenty minutes Hailey laughed and joked with Silas, always trying to pull Dak into the conversation. He smiled occasionally but for the most part glared out the window.
Her hand rested between them like she was a teenage girl sitting next to her crush on the couch hoping for just the simplest brush of skin. Her mind paid the littlest attention to the conversation, opting instead to focus on his body.
Had his hand moved or was that just a twitch?
No, that it moved.
Maybe.
She huffed out a breath when nothing happened and looked out the window. They had just reached Manayunk. She put her hand in her lap, giving up on the notion he would voluntarily touch her...or at least notice the ring she had been blatantly showing off.
The SUV slowed and stopped outside of a very friendly looking house. The thing she noticed first was that she didn't notice anything. It blended into the neighborhood, the chameleon of houses. It was a safe bet that no one knew there was a dragon living on the street.
Dak got out, followed by Silas. They both looked up and down the street assessing the situation. Dak had walked around to the back of the car as she looked around herself. Hailey didn't see any immediate threat and opened her door. There was a slap followed by a thud as her door was slammed closed. Dak had come around to her side and was waiting for her. He kept his palm on the door holding it shut as she pushed from the inside. Over and over she slammed her body against the door without any luck. When she gave up on pushing her way through she crossed her arms and gave a very impressive stink eye through the window.
"Let me out."
"No."
"Daaaak," she said drawing out his name in warning.
"No." His face was hard and unwavering. She pounded on the door with her fist. His eyes jumped to her hand where the ring had caught the light and added a little extra tinking sound to the heavy pounding.
The Hailey Holloway Complete Series Page 50
