Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (78 page)

Connor
smiled. “Gladly
,
” he
glanced at an enraged mayor. “The mayor
’
s son
,
Mathew assaulted my wife before
the
school
year
ended.” He
wrapped
his
arm around her shoulder. “
I wanted to punish him
for harming her
, but she said not to.
Daddy
here,” Connor
pointed to the mayor who stood behind his
line of
men. “t
old his son to
‘
M
ake me look like the trash I was
.
’
Mathew took his advice and received a stun gun from a teacher at the school
graduation
.” Everyone of the press’s jaw dropped slightly. “Oh it gets much better. Mathew used the stun gun on me at the high school graduation
and in front of everyone there
. He kicke
d me while I was getting tasered
. The other part of it was that the teacher who gave him the weapon, took my wife hostage.” Sarah squeezed
his
hand
that rested on her shoulder
. “When I fought against the Taser I managed to incapacitate both Mathew and Mr. V.”

Connor
turned to look at the red faced bulldog.
He
spoke in a controlled voice as
he
looked down at
the balding man
.
“The teacher was imprisoned, but the mayor
here
used his authority to only let Mathew get a few hours of community service.
He uses his office to do many unlawful deeds.
”

“This is all an accusation without any proof!”
The mayor
yelled to the
reporters. Then he looked at Connor
with dangerous eyes. “The two of you are liars!”

Connor
ha
s
a fair amount of patients, but zero tolerance for
anyone calling
himself or his
mate a
liar
.
Connor
walked around the sofa
, leaving Sarah in her spot. He
stood before the four guards who finally moved in to intercept.
He
intentionally stopped and smiled whe
n the
four men
brandished the sidearm’
s that were
hidden
under their jackets. The one that stood before
Connor
held up his hand. “You don’t want to take another step
,
son
,
if you know what’s good for you.
Step away before you get hurt.
”

Still smiling Connor
spoke in a voice that could cut st
eel. Looking down at the guard he
said “This is my house
your trespassing in
. Plus the four of you are
all with
in my territory. I could drop all of you to the ground before your hands even went for your gun.”

The guard smiled back in a menacing way. “What can you do against the four of us?
Your only one person.
”

All of the objectives for his
plan were finally
met
. Before they arrived Connor
was able to do a quick scan of everyone’s minds
and got a generalization of how they think
and react to a variety of situations
. When he
first
told Sarah what he
had to do
, she became a little hesitant.

Knowing this would be the safest way
,
she finally agreed.

His
smile became a g
rin as Connor
grabbed the bottom of
his
long sleeved black shirt.
He
pulled off
his loose
shirt and tossed it behind to where Sarah still stood.
He
now
stood tall and the entire room became silent except for the still rolling camera. With
his overly muscled physique he
looked
down into the stunned leaders
eyes.
They all saw his chest
brand and it frightened them.
“This is what I can do.”

While the four guards w
ere instinctively backing away Connor
moved as fast as
he could when he
was still human.
With precision he
reached into the four men’s jackets and removed each of their side arms.
He
threw them backwards knowing where
he
told Jack to stay.
Not one sidearm hit the floor a
s Connor pulled
Tool from his
belt and used the
flat
hammer to bring the chin of the leader
to look
up
in
to his face. Connor
got in his face and
t
h
e
man
went pale white with real fear. “I don’t like guns. Especially when they are around those I love. Get out of this house now and I’ll return them to you before you leave.
Say another word and you’ll be in the hospital for months after I’m through with you.” He was still stunned. Connor
got nose to nose with him.

Connor
spoke coolly yet dangerously
“Get out
.
Now!”

Suddenly he and his four men scrambled safely outside. The mayor said
without any compassion “Those men were
well p
aid. Well they are all fired.” Connor
turned
his
sights on
the self-important man
. He backed into the wall saying “You can
’
t touch me boy. Unless you want the death penalty.”
He smiled at the idea.

Connor unceremoniously walked into the mayor’s personal
space while
his
knuckles were white as
he
held
Tool
.
He got nose to nose to him. He
quietly said “
Apologize
to my wife for calling her a liar!”

He grinned and
whispered “Never.”

His
patience
came to
its
end.

Connor
grabbed
the mayor
by
the
throat easily and lifted him up with
his
right hand only.
“I see where Math
ew gets his arrogance from.” The man’s expression
was more shocked that he was actually touched than
being
lifted clear off the ground
with a single hand
. “If you’re here to accuse me for Mathew’s disappearance, tough lu
ck. I didn’t even see him there
at the rescue efforts
.
I was too busy helping someone
else
so she could
get home to her grandparents
.
She was and still is more important than your missing son.
”
Connor
brought him down to face
level
and whispered so that only
t
he
mayor
could hear. “Get off my property. If you don’t, I have the right to
permanently
remove any trespasser. Plus you
brought weapons on my property;
that’s intent.”

“Well, well
, well
. What do we have going on in here?
Looks like we’re having a party.
”
Connor
turned to see a smiling Deputy Burrow’s in full uniform behind the camera crew.
He
released
his
hold after seeing that familiar face and the mayor crashed to the ground.

The county mayor chocked while holding his thr
oat. He
curled
in a fetal position as h
e finally spoke. “Officer, ar
r
est that man
for assault on the mayor.”

The press silently stepped back as
Connor’s
friend walked forward.
The deputy simply
smiled. “Sorry, but he
i
s within his rights to do as he did.” He leaned forward and said loud enough for everyone to hear. “
Can
you
even
see
what Mr. May looks like? I
f he wanted to Connor could have crushed your wind pipe along with those men
,
who are outside scared out of their wits
,
before you could even blink
. Count yourself lucky that he was merciful.
I know he doesn’t give many other chances.
” The deputy stood up
and showed he wasn’t going to help out the trespasser
.
He
spoke calmly and politely to Connor
.
“Would you like for me to arrest the mayor for entering a private residence
without legal authorization
?”

The mayor
’
s eyes went wide
,
knowing that he
stood
alone
.

Connor
said “I’ll settle for the reports you brought for these nice people
to see
.” He
could
almost
feel the atmosphere starting to shift.

The deputy had two copies of the initial report from Mathew’s attack
before the mayor erased them from the county server
.
Deputy Burrow also found a few delectable pieces of information that he told Connor about
and had them prepared for a situation such as this.
He handed each
stunned group a report. He smiled and said nicely “Will you please let everyone know how unlawful and unethical the mayor and his son have treated this nice family?
I hate when Politian’s sweep things under the rug while
hurting polite and decent folk
.
”

Jim was the first to speak. He sounded upbeat now that he could do an article against someone other than
Connor
. “There will be a new headliner for tomorrow
’
s paper. I can guarantee
you
that.” He smiled as he thumbed through the report like he just discovered
an entire
gold
vain
beneath his feet
. After thumbing through it he tapped his coworkers on the shoulder. “We have a better story
to write
than a missing fool.” He smiled at
Connor
and winked as he left with his men.
They
were both glad the spotlight had shifted and his boss couldn’t punish him.

The deputy walked over and t
alked with the reporters while Connor
knelt down.
The mayor
was still rubbing his throat when
Connor
said
for his ears only
“I’m only going to say this once. If either you or Mathew set a single step on my property
again
,
I will kill you.
If you approach my family, I’ll kill you.
You can bark all you want at me, but you had better beware of my teeth
if you
ever think to
come back
.
”
He
stood up and spoke normally to a stunned man. “Would you like to leave under your own power or would you like for me to carry you out? It doesn’t matter to me either way as long as you leave and never return.”

A few seconds passed. H
e sp
eech was
as shaky as it was for him to stand. “I still have some pride.” When he finally stood he slowly made way for the door.

Connor
walked over to J
ack. Jack smiled and he
felt
him wanting to say something telepathically
.
“T
hat worked wonderfully. I would hate to have you as an enemy…”

Connor
smiled as
he
took the guns from Jack and walked outside. With two in each hand
he
approached the four men.
The mayor was
crawling
into the backseat of the SUV.
Two
men
were sitting down in the grass while the other two were
standing, but only just. “Here you go boys.”
He
handed them
their
guns back.
He
decided to
offer
them some
healthy
advice. “Never underestimate an opponent who you’ve never met. And never rely on a gun in a crowded room. Next time bring a knife for close quarters.”