Tristan: The Manning Dragons ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  The only one that had been cut was Blair, and that was still a mystery to them all. She’d been behind them, sitting in the chairs lined up there. They’d all lost so much that day that still, three months later, there were still times when Cindi wanted to crawl into a corner and cry.

  ~*~

  Xavier was putting away the groceries when his phone rang. Rarely did he answer it when he was there alone. It was his time, and he didn’t want it interrupted with someone trying to sell him life insurance. He was going to outlive the company, he was sure.

  After checking to see if he had everything he needed for the next several days, he went to his living room and sat in front of the large fireplace. He loved this room more than any other that was in the home. And having it lit as it was now, he was sure that he’d live out the rest of his days here without ever moving again.

  I have a favor to ask you. Xavier told Cooper no. You don’t even know what it is. For all you know, I might be having you go to some titty bar.

  Titty bar? How old are you? They both laughed. Really, I don’t want to move from where I am. I have food in the house, the fire is lit, and I’m cozy. Whatever you want cannot top that.

  I have a woman coming into town to see if the victim from the cave is her aunt. I need someone to meet her at the airport, then bring her to the Ivy. I guess she bought it to use while around. He groaned. I would do it myself, but I have to go and pick up the gifts for the staff, as well as I’m handing out food baskets around town. Unless you’d rather do either one of them?

  No thanks. When is she coming in? Xavier thought of something. Is this a ploy to see if she’s my mate? If so, I’m way ahead of you. I’ve already decided that I don’t want to meet her until after the holiday. That way, I won’t have to go out and buy a gift for a near stranger.

  I’m sure you’ll be just fine. This woman, her name is Cindi Janis. Her grandma is none other than Anna Janis. Remember her? Xavier had to smile. He certainly did know her. Anyway, one of the two women that we’ve found might be this girl’s aunt. She’s coming out to figure out if it’s her or not.

  Two women? I didn’t know that you’d found two of them. When was the second body found? Cooper told him what he’d found out. So whoever this is that’s murdering these women, they’ve been looking for sometime now. How did they connect the body that was found in West Virginia to this one here?

  Same hair color, as well as height. I don’t know what is going on, and neither can Winnie figure it out. But she’s working with different agencies to try and figure out what they have in common other than height and hair color. Xavier asked if they’d been able to locate any others. Not just yet, but Winnie has a feeling that there are more murdered women out there that might not have surfaced just yet. Scary really, when you think about it.

  It really was. To think of what sort of women this person was looking for, petite redheads, seemed really single minded to him. But then, for as long as he and his brothers had been around, it would stand to reason that they’d seen a great many oddities in their life.

  After telling his brother that he’d go and get the woman from the airport, he decided to go through some of the paperwork that had been left behind by the previous owner. No one had bought the house as yet, as they were waiting on the paperwork to be gone through. The owner had been a dragon slayer, but in the end, he’d only been another pawn. This time, Xavier thought they’d gotten the first dragon slayer ever made.

  The thing that he’d been searching for since beginning this project was what the map he’d been able to unearth meant. It had odd markings on it, mostly some red marks and words that made absolutely no sense to him or his brothers. Whatever it was, he was determined to figure it out.

  When supper time rolled around, Xavier was ready to eat. However, the stuff that he’d purchased today no longer held any appeal to him. It was like a stranger had gone to the store for him and bought things that he didn’t even like. Xavier had never even tasted hummus, much less known what to put it on. But there it was, right in front of fresh tomatoes and other veggies.

  Shaking his head at his folly, Xavier decided to go into town and have a nice meal. Alone. But almost as soon as he sat down, Foster joined him. He loved the elderly man, but really had thought that he’d like to have a meal alone.

  “I’ve been thinking.” Xavier asked him if he’d hurt himself. “Not this time. You ever going to let me live down that I didn’t know how to drive a car? I tell you what, boy, you’re meaner than a rattlesnake.”

  “Thank you. What is it you’ve been thinking about?” He told him about the women and where they’d been found. “I didn’t realize that they’d all been found in mountain ranges. What does that have to do with us, if that’s true?”

  “I’m thinking that whoever this person is that’s hunting them is not a human. I know that we didn’t smell anything on that last woman, but I have a feeling that she’s been around a shifter too. Perhaps she saw something that she shouldn’t have and it cost her her life.” He told him how Cooper had said that there were others, perhaps. “Oh. So I guess that my story on this isn’t quite right. I was just thinking it would be nice to have some information on her aunt when Cindi gets here. You know what I mean?”

  “I do, and that’s very nice of you. I’m going to go and pick her up in the morning. Did you want to go with me?” He said he’d love that. “Good. You sort of know her, and it might be easier on her if there was one person that she’s connected with. Did you hear that she bought the Ivy? So that she could have it as a base of operations while in town—not just for this time.”

  “She’s got herself some money then?” Xavier told him how they’d known Mrs. Janis when she’d been younger. “Any of you ever go out with her?”

  “No. She was married at the time, if I remember right. She had a good head on her shoulders when it came to making money. But, being a female, even a married one, it was hard for her to make any kind of inquiries when there were things she wanted to know or do. So, we’d help her out. So as payment, she’d turn a little work our way in the form of information about other deals that she couldn’t or didn’t want to take on. It made us a great deal of money over the years.” Foster asked about her husband. “I think that you might have called him a milksop. He was a pale sort of odd man. He didn’t enjoy the company of anyone other than himself. It’s said that he had made it his life’s work to make it so that children weren’t welcome in places such as libraries and grocery stores. Mr. Janis wasn’t a bastard or anything like that, but he did not care for children.”

  “What a strange thing to not like. I just don’t know what I’d do without kids around me all the time now.” Xavier’s dinner was sat in front of him before Foster got his. “You sure know how to treat a guest, Xavier.”

  “In the event you might not have noticed, I didn’t invite you to dinner, Foster. You barged in.” But now that he was there, Xavier was enjoying his company. “I heard that you and John are doing a good job on getting the paperwork all sorted out. He’s a good kid, don’t you think?”

  “I do. He’s been teaching me to sound out my letters so I can say the word. I think it was funny that once I would say the word like I thought it was spelled, I could remember the word like it really was. That boy had me reading the funny papers too. We get a kick out of them trading voices for the people in the strip.”

  “When we go and pick up Cindi at the airport, I’m to understand from Cooper that she has a staff with her. I think perhaps that I saw someone in the B&B on the way here that might have been doing a little cleaning up. I did see someone taking groceries in while I was coming here too.” Foster asked him if he’d thought about her being his mate. “Just a little. If it’s her then that’s fine by me. If not, I’m sure that she’s out there.”

  “Could be that she’s just waiting on the sidelines to see how you treat this Cindi person. Do you supposed that she’ll be as smart as the rest of the women in this family?” Xavier told h
im that he hoped so.” Really? I would have thought that you’d want someone nice and sweet. You’re not very personable, you know.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” They both laughed when Foster said that he’d been joking. “I’m not like the rest of them, I know that. I prefer my own company rather than that of everyone else. I’m not saying that I’m a hermit or anything like that, but quiet time means a great deal to me.”

  “I’m betting that if this here woman coming is your mate, you can kick that quiet time you like so much to the curb.”

  That’s what he’d been thinking too. Women were nothing if not very commanding of the need to clear the air with words. He, unlike his brothers, would rather just let things go than to make a big deal out of anything.

  After dinner, they both walked by the B&B to see what was going on. There were a few more people there than he’d seen going in, and they seemed to be airing out the house. Big fans in each of the windows couldn’t have been doing very much in keeping the house warm. But he didn’t live there, so he had no comment on the matter.

  “I’m betting Mrs. Sheppard is glad to be finished with that place. She told me that she’d made enough money so that she could retire someplace warm. Then what does she up and do? Buys her a home not a block from this one. Silly woman.” Xavier said that he’d always liked the old house. Before it had been switched to a business. “Yeah, the other two are going under too. The town sure isn’t want it used to be when I’d be peeking around. But they got a nice pool out of the deal, and some really nice flowers and trees along the main street.”

  It would all change again, Xavier thought. Every few decades the town would fall into disrepair and become downtrodden again. Then, as quickly as it was falling apart, it would have another influx of businesses come in and rev things up again. Schools would get a nice playground to have the kids playing in. There would be a nice tidy income from renting out the businesses that always seemed to be better than the business before.

  It was the way of the world, he’d come to realize. That while there were changes to things, they seldom were anything new. What goes around comes around, as he’d heard it put before.

  One of the workers from the house noticed them and came out to talk. Xavier, still wishing for his quiet, let Foster do all the talking. By the time they were ready to move on, Xavier was sure that not only did Foster know everything there was to know about the family moving in, but what she’d paid for the building and anything else he could have gotten from them.

  “Cindi has herself some brothers. Four of them. And Mrs. Janis, she’s still alive, he told me. Sitting in a nice nursing home with that head disease.” Xavier asked if it was Alzheimer’s. “Yes, that’s the one. She is in a bad way now, but she is living. Maybe you should make some time to go and see her. Might perk her up a bit.”

  “I doubt it, but I might do that.”

  Foster told him about several things that he’d learned in the few minutes that he’d been talking, and Xavier could only laugh. The man had a way about him that would somehow make you want to tell him your deepest secrets.

  Going into his house, Xavier was ready to call it a day. He’d gotten up earlier than he’d planned today, and had been going ever since. Getting ready for his annual meeting with several other boards that he was on, Xavier wanted to make sure that his notes were all finished up and any questions that he had were ready to be put out there. More than anything, Xavier hated to feel like he was unprepared for something. Even if it was just handed to him, he wanted to have everything neatly set up and all his questions ready beforehand. Not that he didn’t go to meetings unprepared, but he didn’t have to like it.

  Rolling into his bed at ten, he was nearly asleep when he remembered that he had a meeting with the school board at ten. He thought for sure that he could make both the airport and the meeting. After closing his eyes again, he smiled. Tomorrow was going to be as busy as ever, and he was somewhat looking forward to it. So that when it was all finished, he could come back here and enjoy the quiet time again.

  Before You Go…

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  Kathi Barton, winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement award as well as a best-selling author on Amazon and All Romance books, lives in Nashport, Ohio with her husband Paul. When not creating new worlds and romance, Kathi and her husband enjoy camping and going to auctions. She can also be seen at county fairs with her husband who is an artist and potter.

  Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman, brings her stories to life for her readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is paranormal romance with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi online and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her fans. aaronskiss@gmail.com.

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