So while he did threaten to kill them off, the women, he knew that in this, they were important for him to get what he wanted. Then he’d have no trouble killing them all and being done with this whole thing.
“But where are the dragons?” He remembered the one that he’d trapped in the cave, and decided to go see to him now. “He should be about gone, and I can take what I need from him.”
His habit of talking to himself had started long ago. Mostly when he was thinking about his plans, he’d toss around ideas like they were pieces of paper. Not that he could read or write, but talking his way through them had been his way of getting where he was now. On top of the world, as far as he was concerned.
The cave was deep, and he wished, like he had the first time, that he’d remembered to bring himself a torch. A flashlight, he thought they were called now. A tiny little thing that could give off more light than a sun in a dark room. Laughing at the silliness of that, he trudged on.
When he’d been searching for over an hour, by his estimation, Butler believed that he’d made a couple of wrong turns when he finally realized the dragon was simply gone. Going to the mouth of the cave to start again, he knew that he was correct. Someone had taken his dragon. When he sat upon a large stone, one that he was going to use as a cutting surface, a light shown against the wall, startling him.
“Hello, dumbass.” He looked around and wondered who this man was talking to. “You, you moron. I’m talking to you. I had no idea that I could do this, so listen up, bud. I took Darmor to my home. He is resting well and feeling better all the time. No thanks to you.”
“You’ve no rights to him. He was my dragon.” The man laughed, and he thought of the other man, the husband of Raven of the Wood. “Who are you?”
“I am Kenton McCade, king of the dragons that you dared to harm.” Butler didn’t like this, but didn’t let the man know it. “Are you scared? You should be. Wetting your pants kind of scared. But I’m going to give you a little advice. None of us think you’re going to heed it, but here it is. Get out. Get far away from here now, because we’re coming for you, Butler, bastard son of Mildred the Whore.”
Then he was gone, and the little bit of light with him. Butler was afraid. The magic that had been used here, it would have given him so much more than he had now. Standing up, he hit his head on the boulder over his head and fell to the ground. Butler laid there…he had to think.
~~~
Vance sat at his kitchen table and tried to think. There were a lot of things that he could be doing right now, more than just the house he was having worked on, but he needed to get his head together. Having things in turmoil would get him hurt. And Vance thought that he’d been in pain enough for one or two lifetimes.
His mate was coming here. She’d just show up, he’d been told. Someone was guiding her, he knew that, but she could be one of millions of women out there. None of them, he thought, would want to be his mate. Not forever, as he was going to be living.
The checklist he had in front of him wasn’t written in any language that his family could read. Sanskrit had been a language that he’d picked up easily enough, out of necessity really, and he’d been using it since for his own personal use. Making lists was something that he did all the time, but only when he was home. Other times, like on the job, he never wrote a thing down. Nor did he email anyone, leave phone messages, or even make a grocery list. Vance was always careful.
The men that were working on his home were people that he trusted. Two men…in all his life, he’d trusted only two men other than his own brothers, and now their wives. When Samuel came and sat across from him, he laid his gun on the table between them.
“You gonna use that on me, buddy?” Vance shook his head. “You don’t plan on using it on yourself, do you? I can’t let you do that, Vance. We have a job to do, and I won’t have you fucking it up by putting a bullet in your head.”
“Won’t do me a bit of good. I’m an immortal.” Samuel nodded. Vance wasn’t sure if he believed him or not, but it didn’t matter. “I have a plan. When will you be done here?”
“Couple of days. Not too much more to do other than the security system. State of the art, nothing on the grid. You gonna take care of the paperwork?” He told him it was done. “You thinking you won’t come out on the good end of this plan? I mean, if you’re immortal, like you said, then you’ll be coming back.”
“Prison won’t be kind to me.” No, Samuel said, it would not be. “If we’re caught, you know what they’ll do to us. A firing squad won’t be in our future. They’ll hide us so deep and so well that even a vampire won’t find us.”
“Maybe not, but at least, with what you’ve done, a great many people might start looking for us. The papers, you thinking they might bury it too? Like the government did?” Vance said they’d not be able to. “What did you do?”
“My brother, he’s good with a computer. And my nephew too. They’ll make sure that it gets out there.” Samuel asked if they’d be hurt. “No, not them. Grady, he’ll bounce it enough that no one would ever have it come back on him.”
Bouncing off other networks. Spending just enough time at one site for another one to be found. It was a great deal like pool. Hitting the ball and having it go all over the place before you were able to calculate where it was going to fall. Or hoped it would fall.
“Some flunkies have been tracking the movements of us in the circle. Most of them don’t have a clue who they’re chasing, but they have orders to keep an eye on the ball. Yours are at the top of the list, then mine and the other two. You still don’t care about Sawyer?” Vance shook his head. “You still think he’s in on it then?”
“He is.” Samuel said nothing. Vance wouldn’t fill him in on the details, not even if asked. He knew that Sawyer was a part of it, and had been bugged like they were to put off suspicions that he wasn’t a part of the group. Why they’d done that, he didn’t know, but he would before this was finished.
Plus his friend would help him. Jeff was better at computers than anyone he knew. And the man had a way of connecting things that went well beyond even the government that he worked for. But no one, not even Samuel, would ever know about Jeff. He was his ace in the hole for everything.
“When you are finished up here, we’ll leave. My family is having a big to do that night, and I’ll be there. You pack light and I’ll meet you at the car.” Samuel said that he’d be there. “There will be no coming back from this. If you want out you tell me now, and no one will ever be the wiser.”
“They stuck these fuckers in my body without telling me. And the fact that I didn’t have any say or anything to do with it pisses me off.” Vance said nothing again. “I want them to pay, Vance. More than you do. They’ve set me up. Taken away my freedom even when I’m on rest and relax. That shit don’t fly with me.”
After he left, Vance continued to sit at his table. Making a mental note to mark that off his list, he wasn’t surprised when Sawyer entered the house and sat with him. He was a nosey Gus, as his mom would say, and hated when he didn’t have all the information that Vance did. But since Vance had figured it out, he knew why now.
“Having some work done on your house, Vance? I didn’t even know you had one until I saw it in the papers that you’d gotten yourself one.” Vance asked him what he was doing looking up houses for him. “I wasn’t. Just curious. What sort of shit you got going on here? Looks like you got yourself a new kitchen and shit. I don’t cook, do you?”
“I’m leaving. And I want you to forget my address. We’re not friends.” Sawyer nodded but didn’t move. Vance picked up his gun and aimlessly aimed at him. “You come back here, Sawyer, and that will be the last time you come here. Got it?”
“Yeah, got it. Why are you so testy all the time? I’m just trying to be friendly. You and Sam, you guys are the hardest people in the world to get to know.” Vance stood up and let himself go a little. He didn’t have his dragon, but he was a big man. “You trying to impres
s me, buddy? I don’t swing that way, just so you know.”
“You swing anyway the wind blows, and we both know it.” He leaned down to face the man, hatred seeming to boil off him at that moment. “Get out of my house, and don’t you fucking return.”
When he was gone, Vance wandered through the house. Things were about done. Even the furniture that he’d gotten had been inspected for any kind of devices, as well as the linens. Everything was going to be safe, for anyone that lived here.
He didn’t figure that he was going to return for long. It would take them a bit to sort things out from the fall out, and he hoped that by then, the woman would show up, he’d sign the house over to her, and the dragon would be called. Vance didn’t want his family to suffer for this, but there wasn’t going to be any hope for it. The guys in office, including the White House, were dirty. And making a great deal of money off him and his men.
The house, as of now, belonged to him. But if he were to disappear for more than thirty days, after he was gone the last time, it would go to Lewis. Lewis would get a certified letter in the mail telling him what to do, where to send the information, as well as how to contact Jeff. He had covered all his bases, and right now, it was a waiting game.
Three months ago he’d found out that he had trackers in his body. Five of them, as a matter of fact. And the reason for so many was because if he lost a limb or any part of his body, they’d still be able to keep track of where he was. Gruesome, but well planned out.
From then on, he’d been searching for the people that had put them there. Also tracking who else might have them. He’d concluded that he was in deeper shit than he’d first thought, and so were the men that worked with him. Since then, he’d lost three of them, to random acts of violence, and he was sure that Samuel was next. Then it would leave just him and Sawyer.
Joseph Sawyer had gotten under his radar. Not only had he accepted him on his team, but he knew things, like about his family, that Vance wished now he’d not told him. The man was reporting back to the president, as well as the vice president and a couple of others.
The reason he’d been able to figure that out was that he’d given different stories as to what he was going to do for a living after this to each of the men, and Sawyer’s was the only one that he’d found in his jacket. A thick file of every little thing there was to know about him and his family. What his mom did, what his brothers did for a living, and the net worth of each of them. It was scary, too, that on a weekly basis, that information changed with the stock market. When they made or lost money, it was reported to someone somewhere and put there. They were watching him better than his mom did, he thought.
You have a minute? He told Lewis that he was just going over his house again. Yeah, about that. Did you send someone to my house to check on security?
No. Is it a wiener looking kid that needs a shave? He said it was. His name is Sawyer. And he’s been warned. Do whatever you want with him because if I see him, he’s dead.
When Lewis laughed, Vance smiled. Whatever he’d said or done to the man, it seemed to have tickled him a bit. Vance was on his way to his brother’s house when Raven spoke to him. She too was laughing.
If this guy comes up missing, will anyone care? I doubt even his mother would. He told her about the trackers in his body. I’m not worried about those. But I think this guy just pissed himself. Poe met him at the door and spoke to him. The guy took off running from here like he’d been shot from a gun. Funniest thing I’ve seen in a while.
Vance was still laughing when he got into his truck. Making his way to Lewis’s home, he got a run down on the happenings of Sawyer. Seeing the man on the road as he drove over, he thought seriously about just running him down, but didn’t. That would have messed up his day. But it was funny to see him running away, screaming over his shoulder about birds that talked and cursed at you. Vance wished he had a video of that…it would have made for some good times while he was in prison.
His family was already at his mom’s when they pulled up. He had picked up Lewis and Raven, and they were still laughing about Sawyer. Mom came out of the house to greet them, as she always did, but he knew she had something on her mind. When the other two went inside, he looked down at the most important woman in his life. His mom was his world.
“You’re leaving soon, aren’t you?” He just kissed her on the forehead. “Vance, when are you going to come home for good? I miss you while you’re away. And since I haven’t any idea where you are, every time something comes on the news, I wonder if I’m going to get a call from someone.”
“There won’t be any calls from anyone if I’m hurt, Mom.” She asked him why not. “I don’t exist anymore. Not to any agency or group.” She stared at him for several moments, and he hugged her. “I promise you, I take as much care of myself as I can. I won’t come to you in a box.”
“That’s not very comforting, Vance. You know that, don’t you?” Vance told her it was the best he could do. “I love you, son. I wish you’d come home.”
“I will, as soon as this last thing is over with.” She nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “Mom, I can’t tell you anything, but I will promise you that as soon as this is over, I’ll be done.”
“Done how?” He didn’t answer her again. “I see. And when you’re done, will I only be able to visit you in prison, or will there be someplace else that they’ll take you?”
“If I play my cards right, I’ll be here. If not, there is no prison for me. They’ll bury me.” She nodded and held him tighter to her. “I love you, Mom. And when she gets here, please take care that my mate is safe. Until I return, or you’ll know what happened.”
“I promise you that, but you come back to me, and her. You come back here and tell me all about it.” Vance nodded. “Good. I suppose that’s the best I can hope for in this.”
Vance was going to make sure that his mom never knew what he’d been up to these last years. It was too much for him at times; it would break his mom’s heart even if she knew only about half of what he’d been doing. Going into the house for dinner, Vance was as happy as the rest of them that Raven had gotten her sight back. It was a day for celebrating, and he was glad to be there.
Chapter 12
Raven made her way to the barn, but was thinking of all the things that she had to take care of today. The doors were closed up; a spell would keep anyone from going in, but there was something off about it that had her pausing in mid step and waiting for Poe.
“I see a little bit of magic.” She told him that she could see it as well. “I can go into the barn from the top…I have put in an opening just for me. Check it out and let you know.”
His voice, usually at the top of the spectrum when he spoke, was low, like her own. When she told him to go but to be careful, he flew off her shoulder and to the top of the big barn. After waiting a few minutes, not only did the donkeys come out of the door, but the unicorn as well.
There is a disturbance, my lady, but nothing to worry over. Asking him what it was, he laughed. It seems that our goats have decided that they want to be parents as well. The magic that came from them being transported has given them a boost to have children. Come see them. They have a pair of kids.
Hurrying now, she entered the barn just as the donkeys joined them. The goats were in the back of the barn near the window when she found them. They were the most adorable things she’d ever seen. Asking for permission to hold them, she was delighted to see that there was one of each, a black one and a brown one as well as male and female. Raven asked the proud parents what they wanted to name them.
“All right then, Ann and Drew. I love those names, by the way.” She played with them a little more, amazed at how soft they were and that she could actually see them. When she was ready to go to the field to find some herbs she wanted in her gardens, she turned in time to see a man with a gun to Aisha’s head. Her temper nearly got the better of her when she paused to figure out what was going on. Leaping head first in
to this was going to get someone hurt.
When she said Aisha’s name, they both turned toward her, and she could see that it was the man from yesterday. Poe landed on the ground in front of her and told the man to let her go. Of course, he shot at her pet and Poe took off.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Sawyer said he wanted to know where Vance was. “How the hell should I know? I’m not his keeper. But you’ve fucked up badly now. That’s my mother-in-law you have there, and I’m going to kill you.”
“I tried reasoning with him, dear, but he just wasn’t having it. I told him, several times as a matter of fact, that my sons were going to hurt him badly, but he only hit me with that fool gun of his. I would have shot him myself, but he got the jump—” Sawyer told Aisha to shut up. “Listen up, young man. I will not be spoken to like that. You unhand me this minute or else.”
“Or else what? You’re an old woman, and she’s way over there. And that bird…I don’t know how you did that, but I’m not afraid now. Not that I was before, but he startled me. Yes, that’s it, I was startled.” Aisha laughed when she did. “This isn’t funny. Tell me where Vance and that other man are, and I’ll let you go.”
“You think that Vance is going to be happy that you’ve hurt his mother? If I don’t kill you, he most assuredly will. And not easily either.” Sawyer told her to shut up too. “My goodness, you are going to be so dead. You just wait. I’m betting by nightfall, you’re not only going to be pissing blood from a lot of holes in you, but in the morgue doing it too.”
“Vance left without me. We’re partners, and we’re going on a mission together.” Raven said nothing, but did search the man’s mind. She had asked last night if she could do that when he showed up again, and Vance told her to have at it. “I want you to tell me where he is, or there will be hell to pay.”
“You mean from your bosses? I guess when you’re in as deep as you are, you have to do all sorts of things, don’t you, Joey?” He asked her what she was talking about. “Gambling, for one thing. And the fact that you’ve mortgaged your parents’ home to pay some of your debt. What do you think they’re going to do when they find out? Surely not welcome you with open arms, will they?”
Lewis: The McCade Dragon –Erotic Paranormal Romance Page 14
