Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (79 page)

The head guard finally got up off the ground. He said as he re-holstered his weapon “I’ll remember that. By the way, how did you take our guns?”

“When you make your prey afraid, their reflexes are
momentarily
stunted.
Use that hesitation to disarm them.
It’s child’s play for me.
”

He actually walked up to
and shook
Connor’s
hand. “Thank you for not hurting myself or my men
.”
From the look he gave
Connor
and the
other men
t
he
y
had a long history with
each other
. They looked like old war heroes, but they had to find a job and the only one they could find came in the form of protection.

The four men left the property after saying their words of thanks.

The only two v
ehicles that didn’t belong
were the deputy’s c
ruiser and the news reporters. Connor
sighed
and
walked back inside.

The moment
he
stepped through the front door the camera turned in
his
direction. The blond woman asked “Where did you get that tattoo at?”

He
didn’
t want to talk anymore because he
was tired of annoying people
asking questions that should be left alone
. He
looked at Sarah and she at
him. She gave him
a heart
felt smile and
he
pushed into her mind.
“How would you like to
exact
your revenge
, Princess
?”

She looked at the reporters back and a feral grin crept in. She said in her velvety voice “Excuse me?” The reporters turned as one to her. “Can you leave? You interrupted my
husband
while he was eating and you saw what happened
when he gets upset
.
You have everything you need.” She looked at the
female
reporter specifically and her tone changed to
icy
steel. “Leave us alone
,
if you know what’s good for you.”

Taking the hint they left. Jack perfectly placed the magnets because the camera passed exactly between them
on their way out
.

As they left Deputy Burrow
’
s and the rest of
his
family let out a sigh of relief.
Connor
yelled the
‘
A
ll clear
!
’
down the hallway. Instantly his
best friend and little s
ister came outside and joined them
. The deputy spoke when everyone was quiet. “Connor
,
I have to say you’ve got some
pretty big
stones for that little stunt
you pulled
. What will happen if the news people edit the film
and turn it around
and say
that you attacked the
m
ayor?”

He
smiled and
said. “Stand in the doorway.” Connor
walked up to
his
relieved mate as she handed
him
back
his
shirt.
The
shirt
slipped back
on as the deputy shrugged and stepped into the entryway.
He
s
aid evenly “Try to use your radio
and call someone
.”

His brow furrowed
, but he reached up and clicked the walkie-talkie that hung over his
collar bone
. All he received was a loud static sound as he held the button. “What’s going on?”

Connor
stepped forward and pulled the wall paper back and pulled out one of the magnets. When
he
handed it to him, one of
the
p
e
ns
in his uniform’s breast pocket
popped off the shirt and landed on the top of the magnet. “That’s why I’m not worried about those cameras.”

His grin widened. “You actually wiped their tapes? Boy, that was some
good
thinking. How did you know what to do?”

Kara spoke up and grinned. “Brother knows a lot about science. One day he accidently dropped a magnet on my dance recital tape. It was completely
ruined
of course
.
He didn’t get supper that night.
”

He handed back the magnet and smiled.

Connor
said “Thanks again for covering for me.”

“That’s what friends are for, Connor.” He shook
Connor’s
hand and left the six of
them
to do
their
thing
.

As Connor
shut the
front
door
he
sank to the ground knowing that
they
could
finally
speak in peace.
He put his head against his
right kne
e when a familiar hand rubbing
his
shoulder.
E
merald
green eyes
were
looking at
him
with pride. She spoke in her soft vo
ice and it was so soothing to him
. “That was some plan. I about fainted when you pulled their weapons. How did you know th
ings would work out that way?” S
he smiled.

He
chuckled to
him
self.
He
then noticed everyone walking toward
them
and sat down on the floor to listen. “The only way to deal with a pompous person like the mayor is to show him a little reality
from nature
.
Never mess with an angry wolf when you’re nothing but an overweight
,
miniature schnauzer.” Mark chuckled at the comparison and Kara grinned approvingly. “
I guessed he might bring some muscle along. I knew
that
Mathew was a complainer and would tell his father
who and
what I
’m
like.”
Sarah
rested her hand on his
thigh. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get him to apologize to you
,
Princess.”

She shook her head and suddenly Jillian laughed.
He turned his
head as she said “The look on his face was all worth it when you
picked him up.
He looked like a deer frozen in the headlights
.
” She smiled at him
. “He needed to learn some humility
and he gained a lot today
.”

Mark asked “What do we do now?
He will be licking his wounds
for awhile
, but I’ve known people like him over the centuries and they will come back.
”

Connor
closed
his
eyes and thought for a moment in complete silence. “From now on we’ll only train on Sundays after we get back from work.”
Mark
tilted his head
, but knew that his words of revenge weren’t disregarded
.
There wasn’t any worry at the moment so there
wasn’t anything to say. Then his
gaze
drifted to his
side.
“Sara
h
is going to start teaching school in two weeks
anyway
and I have a lot of work to do on our cottage because winter will be here soon.
There is a lot
of reinforcements that need to b
e made.
I can’t afford for my house to collapse under heavy snowfall.
Also
I
think we should w
atch our movements when were out in
public. You never know what might happen
or who has a camera
.
The last thing we need is for someone to hide
nearby
and catch us doing something extraordinary.
”

The six of them
stayed at Jillian’s for a few more hours
and waited patiently for something important
.
They
waited until the news came on
at five
. When the blonde reporter appeared on the screen she apologized to the
all the
viewers because
her
big story had a
technical
malfunction
, but they did
reveal
what the Mayor and Mathew ha
ve
been doing against Connor
and
his
family. Also she did some
more
digging
into certain transactions
and found
out
that the Mayor has been siphoning money from the taxpaye
rs and putting it all in an off
shore account.

The final clip
of the night
came in the form that made the entire family laugh. The grinning Deputy Burrow was the arresting officer as he drug t
he Mayor from his home. P
oetic justice
had been served this day
and it looked to have made Deputy Burrow’s entire
year
because his smirk couldn’t be wiped away for anything.

Jack said
happily
“That’s the end of him!”

They
all said goodbye
once the report ended
and went
thei
r separate ways
,
finally feeling relief from getting the news off of
their trail
and putting it all on the mayor.

After a large meal Connor
went to sleep in
the
comfort
of Sarah’s soft embrace
.

Little and Big

Five months have passed since the altercation with the Mayor and the media. And
much
has happened during that
period of
time. It
i
s now December twelfth and
Sarah
was sitting alone on the
comfortable
sofa
,
looking at the
dancing
flames in the fireplace.
Light and warmth saturated the room. She
was
patiently
waiting for someone
who should have arrived hours ago
.
Since it i
s
well into
winter
and snow blanketed everything
, Connor’s survival business was put on hold until spring.
Many people don’t like camping when it’s too cold out
and that mean
t spending more alone time with the man she
love
s
.
So far t
he ground outside was covered in
about
three feet of
snow as she
recounted
what has happened
simply from sheer boredom
.

Two weeks after revealing the true nature of the mayor
and being arrested
, he was fired from office and the search for his son
Mathew
was cancelled
not long after
.
He was also
added another sentence
for money laundering and abusing his power for p
ersonal gain. His trial didn’t
go
to
o well for him and he was sentenced to thirty years in prison in county jail
; without any chance for parole
.
Plus his
monetary
accounts were
seized
and put where it belonged once again.

W
eeks later
,
after
they
decided to train on
ly on
Sunday
evenings
, Kara wanted to learn
how
to fly. Sarah
smiled
to
her
self
,
remembering that incident.