Tristan: The Manning Dragons ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  Ian came back and woke him from his nap. He’d thought that after sleeping for as long as he had, he’d be raring to go. But he was beginning to think that his rest had not been a good as he needed. Still, he did have enough to get him situated in a home that happened to be very close to the one he’d had before. It was perfect. Slayer could now keep an eye on Eric.

  “He has himself a minion, my lord. A young human man that seems to be doing all the footwork for him while Eric just sits around. Whilst I was there, he had a man with him. This person was appraising the items that you left behind, and offering money for your things. Do you suppose that he is planning to sell them all?” Slayer told him that he’d better not be. Those things were his. “I also believe that he is planning to leave the house. He was making arrangements while I was there that would put him on a boat for a far off land.”

  “Then I will have to take care of both those things now.” With a snap of his fingers, Slayer knew that all the things that he’d collected over the years were now nothing more than dust. He wished he could have been there, to see the face of the man who was willing to buy his things from Eric. “He must be wondering what has happened to it all about now.”

  They both had a grand laugh over the joke he’d played on Eric. The man was a fool if he thought that he could go far enough or deep enough for him not to be able to find him. Looking into the home, he noticed that not only were his things gone, but the man left in a hurry. He nearly fell over himself trying to get away from the house. That, too, gave them both a good laugh.

  Slayer knew that Eric was stupid. Beyond that, he also knew that the man was greedy. But in all the years since Eric had been doing the job, Slayer was sure that there had been several daughters born to take a Manning as her mate. And that, he knew, would be the end of all things that he knew.

  “Do you suppose that he is running because he has failed me? It could be what has awakened me.” Ian said that was a good reason for Eric’s behavior. “I would like for you to make me an appointment with the Mannings. Tell them that I am someone looking for a way to invest. I’m assuming that they are still doing that. Something that will get me close to one of them to take. I don’t care what you do, just make it happen.”

  “I can do that. They have nearly bought up the entire town that they live in now. Also, there is a new school that I’ve heard they have taken care of. They paid for a wing at the hospital, as well as fixed up other buildings that they are letting humans use for all sorts of things. Not even taking any of their things or profit for it. The rent is free.” Slayer asked if that was true. “Oh yes, my lord. The town that they are residing in, they have nothing but wonderful things to say about the Manning men. It sickens me to think that dragons have insinuated themselves into human lives.”

  Slayer nearly pointed out that neither of them was human, but he stopped himself at the last moment. They might not be human either, but they were not the dreadful dragons that still roamed the earth that he had come to love.

  “Once you have me an appointment with them, I would like for you to tell me what it is they have done to make the town so positive towards them. It could not be just a new school and a wing at the hospital. I have riled up towns against dragons that gave more things than the Manning men have done here. I shall do so again. There will be not a dragon left in this world when I have completed my task.”

  Slayer knew of the legend of dragons. They were the magic of all things. From the earth to the sky, they were the ones that kept the ground producing. In that, there was clean air for humans to be able to breathe. And without the mighty dragons, all would die, including the very humans that wished them all dead.

  But not him. He would live forever. Nothing, not even famine or fire, would kill him. He was a self-made man. Magic oozed from his skin. He could, with only a thought, ruin an ocean, killing all the creatures both above the water and below in its deepest depths.

  “However, the dragons would bring it all back if they’re allowed to live. With less effort than it had taken me to bring it to its death.” Ian asked him what he meant. “Nothing. Just rambling about things that I’ve heard. Go now, and tell me what it is you find out.”

  After he left him, Slayer sat in the middle of the room and reached out beyond the daily workings of humans. The Mannings weren’t his target this time either—he was looking for a source that he could steal from. If he was going to go to battle soon, he needed something that he could tap into, and since there were dragons about, he’d use what he could from them. That brought a smile to his face.

  “I shall kill them with their own magic.” As he sat there, trying to tap into what he knew they’d have by now, he was startled by the amount of magic that he found on just one of the dragons. “Christ, they’re very powerful. I wonder what they have done to get so strong.”

  Slayer knew that in his current state there wasn’t any way that he’d even be able to be in the same room with them, much less try and talk to them. They would see him for what he really was—the first slayer. And that would do him not a bit of good. They would, in their strength, harm him badly before he would be able to breach the doorway.

  Finding a way to take a little magic from them, Slayer was happy when the connection was finally made. But as he began to take what he needed, the point of something sharp and hard touched the back of his head.

  “Hello, Cunningham.”

  He knew that voice. Knew just who would dare try and deter him from his task. But when he turned around, the pain of her touching him took his breath away. Then nothing.

  ~*~

  Wynter waited for her name to be called. She had come to the courthouse earlier this morning, and had been waiting on Hudson since. He told her that he could get all charges dropped, and get her a nice tidy sum to do with whatever she wished. What she wished for was this to be finished.

  “You’re going to be just fine.” She smiled at Tristan. He’d been saying that to her since Hudson told her that he had a court date for her. “You’re going to be walking out of here a free woman. Then I’m going to take you home and ravage you.”

  “Good. I think I just might need it by then.” He laughed with her. “I’m as nervous about this as I have been in a long time. I keep telling my heart that this will be fine, but my head is all over the place, telling me I’m a total fuck up for doing this. I can’t even tell you how badly I slept last night, either.”

  He didn’t tell her that he knew. Tristan had tried to comfort her every time she woke up. But it made no sense to her why she was having such horrible dreams, and only just now did she remember them. It made him think that she could do some sort of channeling thing or something like that.

  “Winnie has captured a man by the name of Slayer. He’s the first of his kind.” Tristan asked her how she knew that. “When I was searching for him, I entered one of his thoughts, I could feel that in his mind. He also told Winnie. Wendell the Dragon Protector is what he called her.”

  “That’s her real name. Where is this man? Is it Cunningham?” She nodded. “And you were him, like you were your mother?”

  “Yes. He has a spy; he’s a brownie that is spying on a man by the name of Eric Howell. He’s his flunky. Anyway, Slayer has been asleep for a great many years. Four hundred years, as a matter of fact. He is having trouble with all the changes.” Tristan asked her what Winnie was doing with him. “Right now she has him sitting on a couch. I think they’re in a hotel, but not close to us.”

  “What was he doing to bring Winnie to him? And so you know, she knows when someone is trying to hurt a dragon.” She said that part she didn’t know. “Why? Is something blocking you?”

  “Something like that. His mind is in turmoil. He’s worried about everything that he’s worked for. I can’t nail down one thing.” Tristan said to let it go, and they’d go back when he was calmer. “I think Winnie is going to kill him. Something about him trying to drain Lincoln not long ago. Do you know what that means?”


  “Taking some of his magic is all I can think about. If he was doing that, then he is weak and looking for a good source of magic. Dragons, as you know, have a great deal of it.” She nodded, and stood up to pace the hall while she waited. “What else are you finding out? The brownie, do you know his name?”

  “Ian. Slayer is thinking that he wished Ian would come back soon so that he would distract Winnie so that Slayer can overpower her.” Wynter laughed. “I don’t think he’s right in the head, how about you?”

  “No. I’m assuming that this is going on right now, instead of the past. The reason I say that is because I just contacted Winnie and asked her. She said that she’ll be on the lookout for the brownie. I’ve also told the queen that Ian is now working for this guy.” Wynter nodded. “You’re getting really good at this. I’m beginning to think that the only way that I can channel anyone is to touch you. I’m not complaining, but I am glad that you have this ability.”

  “I guess I’m getting used to it as well. It’s like having eyes on.... Do you know someone by the name of Foster?” He said that she did as well. He was Grandpa Green. “Someone should find him a job. He’s wishing that he hadn’t been given life. He’s bored, and Foster is thinking that when the kids go back to school, he’s going to talk to someone about taking his life back. He doesn’t much care for sitting around being useless.”

  “I’ll do that. Anything else that I should take care of before I take off?”

  Wynter wasn’t sure that he was making fun of her or not, but didn’t get a chance to ask him. They were called into the courtroom, where she was going to talk about the night that the shooting at the mall happened. But she saw something before she was sworn in. With her hand up in the air to be put on the Bible, she stepped back to focus. Tristan asked her if she was all right. Hudson did as well.

  Wynter? She put her finger up to tell Tristan she needed a minute. Wynter didn’t know if what she was seeing was in fact right now. Wynter, you’re holding things up. Please, let’s get this finished. The judge is not amused.

  He’s here. Tristan asked her who was here. The man. The other shooter. He’s in this building. He’s looking for me.

  Tristan stood up, and he must have said something to Hudson, because he did as well. Everyone in the courtroom around her started jumping up and hiding. Wynter looked to the door and imagined it locked, so that no matter what happened to the door, it would not open. What she hadn’t thought of was bullets being fired through it. Standing in the middle of the room while others scrambled to get to cover, Wynter waited for the door to give way and for her to face the man who had haunted her dreams for a long time.

  “There you are, bitch. You got my girlfriend dead. You should have died like the rest of the assholes.” She snapped her fingers, not sure what was going to become of it. Then the man dropped his guns. Not knowing if she’d done it or not, Wynter was glad that he no longer had them. “You thinking that you can just disarm me and get away? Ain’t gonna happen. You have to die. No one was to live through our fun.”

  “I didn’t care. I didn’t know you, and you were killing people.” He asked her why she should care. “Because they said that I was with you. That I was with you and your girlfriend.”

  “I don’t think so. You’re nothing to us. Just another count to what we did that day. You just had to go and get her fucking dead.” Wynter asked him why he thought that it was her fault. “You were there helping out with the bodies. You should have just laid down and fucking died. But oh no, not you. Trying to get somebody to call the police so that we’d be finished before we were able to kill them all.”

  “You don’t think that killing a bunch of innocent people was enough? Why did you do it?” He said that he wanted to have some fun. “So, you took a fifteen-year-old girl with you to try and make a name for yourself.”

  “Yeah, ain’t I smart? As soon as I kill your ass, I’m going to tell everyone my name. That way, when they talk about the other gunman, they’ll know what to call me.” He pulled out another gun from the back of his pants. “You’re dead, bitch, and are going to be my hero when I high tail it out of here.”

  “No, I don’t think so.” Closing her eyes, she thought of something that would kill the man and save her from being injured too badly. To save all the lives that were still in the room. But before she could think of a single thing, her mind freezing up when he started firing again, the man simply disappeared.

  Sitting on the floor of the courtroom, Wynter put her head between her knees to catch her breath. It was making her lightheaded to think how close she’d come to becoming a dragon and killing the man. Wynter was sure that she would have killed a great deal more people by her sheer size.

  “Are you all right?” Nodding, she kept her head where it was. “I don’t want to alarm you, love, but there are several wounded people here that could use some help. If you can.”

  “Yes, I can.” Wynter stood up and nearly fell back on her ass again. “Okay, maybe not. Just give me a few more minutes. I don’t know what happened to him. Do you, Tristan?”

  “Winnie.”

  There was nothing more that he needed to say. If Winnie had the man, then there was no reason to think that he was coming back for her. Standing again, with Tristan’s help, she nodded that she was fine.

  There weren’t as many hurt as she’d thought there should be. If they hadn’t gotten an advance warning like they did, she knew that things could have been a great deal worse. Picking up people, helping them to stand, she was grateful for the immortality that she’d been given.

  “Mrs. Manning?” It took her getting a poke in the ribs for her to remember that was her. It was the judge. She asked him if he needed some help. “No, no. Thanks you to, I’m doing just fine. That first spray of bullets would have removed my head had you not warned us that he was coming through. Christ almighty, my wife will be singing your praises, I tell you. Thank you. I can’t...thank you seems too lame after what you did.”

  “I didn’t think about anyone but him and him getting what he deserved. I’m very happy that you got to cover, sir. I wish more people would have.” They looked around, and while there were no dead in this room, Wynter had heard that there were several dead down the hall and in front of the building. She worked with Tristan and Hudson to sort out the people. Few in the actual courtroom were hurt too badly.

  They were moving into the hallway when the police pulled up. Then the ambulances started to pull in, along with some vans from the coroner’s office. As the people hurt the worse were being loaded up, Judge McIntosh took her and Hudson aside. Tristan joined them too. For that she was forever grateful.

  “You’ve proven two things to me today. You had nothing to do with that mall shooting. I think I might have known that all along, but it took me awhile to figure out enough to get my head out of my ass.” She laughed with him, so happy that she wanted to dance. “No one with as much courage as you showed today would have harmed a soul there. I’ve read over the paperwork that Hudson gave me last night. So did my wife. She told me that if I was to convict you on anything, I should just find myself another bed to rest my head in. I think she was right. Not about the bed, but about convicting you. You’ll have your record cleaned up. I’ll do that personally. There were a few names that he gave me that will be dealt with as well. There could have been a great many more lives saved if just one of them would have helped you.”

  “Thank you so much. I think those people were just as afraid as I was. Don’t you?” He didn’t say anything. “And the second thing, sir?”

  “You restored my faith in humanity. It’s been slipping away bit by bit for a while now. The things that I’ve seen coming through my courtroom would make anyone feel that way. The way people treat one another—it just sickens my soul, I have to tell you. But you come in here today, facing up to what we all thought were crimes, and not only did you save a bunch of people again, but you kept right on doing what came naturally to you—helping the hurt and dead
. That, my girl, is the best gift you could have given this old man. I needed that more than I can explain to you right now.”

  “I’m glad that I could help you, sir. I think, in a way, you did the same for me. Making me believe in a system that I thought was royally fucked up.” She looked up at Tristan and smiled.

  “Yes, it is fucked up. There isn’t a way you could say it that would make it seem less terrible.”

  “You’re right about that.” The judge shook Tristan’s hand. “You have yourself a nice little bride here, Tristan. Don’t fuck this up.” He said that he wouldn’t.

  “I want to thank you as well, sir. Having my sister-in-law behind bars isn’t how I wanted to see my brother’s family begin.” The judge told Hudson to come by his office in a week and he’d have a judgment for them. “Thank you. I’ll do that. If you need anything, except for taking your job, then I’ll be more than glad to help out.”

  “You said you’d think on that.” Hudson said that he had, and he didn’t want it. “Well, I might have to have a write in vote put on the ballot for you. You kids have a nice day.”

  When the judge left them, laughing hard as he did, Wynter looked at Tristan. There was something bothering her, and she didn’t want to say it very loud. There were enough shifters in this place alone to have it spread all over the state. She asked him what about the body of the shooter.

  His body has been taken away. Winnie made sure that someone saw it. He’d been, as they saw it, shot in the head. She cocked a brow at him. Don’t ask me, love. It’s better if you didn’t know what she did to him. It might haunt me for a while. Not that he didn’t deserve it, you understand. All you have to think about is that he’s gone now.

  Wynter supposed that was a good answer. She didn’t want to know. Winnie winked at her from across the hall. She was sure that no one else could see her. Because as she stood there, blood on her hands and face, her wings were spread out behind her.