Dragon Gate (26 page)

Listening to the footsteps above me, I knew there were at least three people inside now. I didn’t hear any telltale signs of claws clicking on the floor, so it was unlikely they had any of the animals with them.

It made sense to wait to see if anyone else was coming in, so I remained quiet and ready. After ten minutes, there were no more footsteps and no sound of a door opening or closing.

My heart thundered in my chest, so I concentrated and drew in several deep breaths to get things under control. I wanted the adrenaline, but I didn’t want any panic. Could I take out three guys? It depended on position, of course. It also depended on the element of surprise.

I crept up the stairs, keeping to the sides and edges to minimize creaking. When I reached the door, I put my ear to the wood and strained to hear any movement or voices.

Too bad Esther wasn’t with me. She could tell me who was there, where they were, whether they were armed, and if they were approaching. I should have brought her along, but I knew she wanted to be there for Kelly, and if I’d taken her, Brand would have known I wasn’t just going for food.

Well, no time like the present. I twisted the doorknob and heard the soft click. Gently I inched it open and peeked through the crack. Nobody in sight. I pushed the door open a bit more and stuck my head out to peer around it.

The coast was clear.

I stepped into the kitchen, quietly closed the door behind myself, and using caution and stealth, moved to the doorway to sneak a peek.

Two of the Marshalls sat Indian-style on the floor. Their eyes were closed. Were they meditating? That left at least one guy unaccounted for.

The two men in sight had swords lying on the floor beside them in easy reach. Through the front window, I couldn’t see anyone outside. That didn’t mean they weren’t there, of course. They didn’t have cars. I didn’t see a wagon or horses or anything either.

Finally, I heard a noise upstairs, a soft thump. There was no telling what caused it, but I figured it had to be the third man.

Thoughts raced through my head. Should I try to capture these guys? Should I simply kill them? They certainly showed no mercy to Graham or his parents. They sent the destroyers after Rayna and nearly killed Kelly. Last month I’d have simply killed them. Today I wondered what Rayna would think of me if I did.

Indecision can get you killed.

I didn’t want to die.

I also didn’t want to just shoot them in the back. Stupid? Maybe. Survival mattered but being able to sleep at night mattered too. I had no qualms about killing someone who was trying to kill me, but I preferred to do it face-to-face.

Decision made, I stepped into sight.

“Hey, you dickless wonders, am I interrupting a spiritual experience?”

Neither man moved a muscle.

“You guys alive?”

Still nothing.

With the submachine gun set to semiautomatic, I cautiously approached the men, tossing a glance toward the stairs in case thug number three came down.

This could easily be a trap, but I didn’t feel I had much choice. I shoved the muzzle into the back of the first guy and pushed him forward. He bent a bit at the waist then tipped to the side and lay still. Now I got a better look at the other guy. His throat had been cut, and the front of his tunic was stained with blood.

Both of them were dead.

I spun to face the stairs. “Come on down,” I called. “It’s your turn to play on
The Price Is Right.
”

“I trust you’re armed,” a familiar voice called.

“Damn straight.”

“Is that Jonathan Shade?”

“Who’s up there?”

“Just me,” the voice said. “Lucas. I’m coming down. I’m armed, but only with a dagger.”

“Put it away before you come down.”

“I’ll do no such thing. The rest of the Marshall Clan could be back any moment. But I promise not to kill you.”

He had a dagger; I had a submachine gun. As he’d have to come down the stairs, turn the corner, and run at me, I figured I still had the upper hand. That said, it’s best to never underestimate someone with a knife even if you have a gun.

“Come down slowly.”

“That I can do.” I saw the feet first, sheathed in expensive shoes, then the legs clad in slacks. Lucas bent down to peer over the banister at me.

“Lucas,” I said but didn’t lower my weapon.

“In the flesh.”

“Why are you here?”

“Stupid question, Jonathan.” He descended the remainder of the stairs but kept the bloody dagger in his right hand.

“That’s far enough.”

“We’re on the same side. We’re here for the same reason. To kill all of the surviving Marshalls. I’d have done it sooner, but that Detective Kramer took too much of my time yesterday.”

“So you want revenge for Chantelle and Tess.”

“That’s secondary. I want to protect myself and my sons.”

“I forgot, women don’t mean much in your culture.”

“They mean a lot to me, but they aren’t my first priority. Are you here alone?”

I nodded.

“Why didn’t you bring your Sekutar friends? Surely they’d have been happy to dispatch some of the Marshalls.”

“They’re looking after Rayna.”

“I heard about Graham. Shame, that.” He moved to the window and peeked out. “The others should be back any time.”

“Just so you know, they may have destroyers with them.”

“Four bolons were brought through the Dragon Gate. I’m not particularly concerned about them, though.”

“You should be.”

He laughed. “I have something out there that eats bolons for breakfast. You’ll want to stay with me for the rest of this, Jonathan. She might see you as food too.”

“What’s out there?”

Lucas smiled. “My dragon, of course.”

“You have Smaug here?”

“Her name is Clara, actually, and unlike your Smaug, she’s real. She’ll eat any bolons they have with them. If we’re lucky, she might eat a few of the men too.”

“One can hope,” I said. I couldn’t bring myself to trust him. He didn’t seem concerned that I still held the MP5 aimed at him.

“You knocked Robert over,” Lucas said nodding toward the fallen Marshall. “I took the time to set him and Francis up special for Thomas. Think you can prop him back up?”

It occurred to me that I’d heard at least three distinct sets of footsteps when Lucas entered, but if these guys were dead, that meant—

A blade touched my neck. “Don’t twitch,” a man whispered.

Another man stepped into sight and took the MP5 from me.

“Jonathan Shade,” Lucas said, “I’d like you to meet my sons, Lucas Junior and Wesley.”

“Should I kill him, Dad?” Wesley asked. Wesley was the guy with the knife at my throat.

“That won’t be necessary. He’s here to kill the Marshalls too.”

“But you don’t want me to give him back this gun, right?” Junior asked.

“Of course not. You’ll want to search him too. I’m willing to bet he has at least one handgun on his person.”

As it happened, I had two: my Beretta and the Glock. Junior took them both. Lucas’s sons looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old. That meant they were probably born here in Colorado and not in the other dimension. I wondered if Thomas would care where they were from. Probably not. If he hated Lucas, he’d want to kill everyone in the family regardless of birthplace.

“You can have a seat on the floor, Jonathan. I’m happy to give you a front-row seat to the coming carnage. No offense but since you couldn’t protect Graham, I’d rather you sat this one out.”

Wesley led me to the wall and let me sit down.

“Want me to tie him up?” Wesley asked.

Lucas laughed. “I think he’ll behave.”

“You sure?”

“If it makes you feel better, zip-tie him.”

“That would make me feel a lot better,” Wesley said.

Lucas nodded and addressed me. “Jonathan, I don’t really have anything against you, so if you behave, we won’t hurt you. Once this is over, just wait thirty minutes before you leave. That was one of Rayna’s cars you parked off the road, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I’ll leave your weapons in the backseat. Fair enough?”

“It’s your call.”

“Indeed it is. And now it’s time for you to be quiet until this is over. Got it?”

I gave him a thumbs-up. Then Wesley pulled my hands behind my back. I clenched my fists as he secured my wrists with a zip-tie. When he was done, I unclenched. The slight give wasn’t going to help me get free, but it did mean he hadn’t cut off my circulation as much.

“He’s not getting loose,” Wesley said.

“Excellent.” Lucas nodded to his sons. “Okay, boys, let’s get ready to kill some assholes.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

RAYNA NOBLE

Brand was not a happy camper when the food arrived. Rayna frowned at his colorful language, but the Hispanic man who handed the bag of sandwiches simply shrugged.

“I got the order right,” Phil said.

“I don’t give a flying fuck about the order, you two-bit little shit stain!”

“Got it,” Phil said. “If you ever do give a flying fuck, let me know so I can film it and upload it to my YouTube channel.”

“You dare to talk back to me?” Brand said, his face red.

“Word on the street is you’re not a Sekutar anymore, so yes, I do dare to talk back to you. Enjoy your meal.”

Phil returned to the elevator, and right before the doors shut, he gave Brand a wave.

“That little bastard!”

“He brought you food, so that’s something,” Rayna said.

“Not Phil.
Shade.
He went up to Boulder to deal with the Marshalls without us.”

“Evidently.”

“He could get himself killed.”

Rayna grabbed the bag from Brand and dug out her beef and cheddar.

Brand stared at her, incredulous. “Really? You don’t even care?”

Rayna tossed the bag to him. “Of course I care, but I can’t do anything about it. I can do something about my hunger. Jonathan made his decision. He’s protecting us. All of us.”

“Did you put him up to this?” Brand asked.

“No. I told him to back down and take care of Kelly. I could go back to Boulder and end this by letting them kill me. I was prepared to do that. In fact, I’m still prepared to do that if it would save Jonathan. He seems to think he can handle the Marshalls all by himself.”

“So you manipulated him?”

Rayna couldn’t believe Brand said that to her. “Of course not! I don’t want him to die!”

“But you let him go.”

“I had no idea he was going to go up there alone like that. I thought he was on a food run, same as you. But I do understand
why
he went. With Kelly out of commission and with you so weak that even I could take you down, he felt he was on his own. And with me willing to die so everyone else would be fine, he decided to take my choice off the table. You’re right. I don’t want to die. I hope Jonathan succeeds. If not, I hope he can escape with his life.”

“I need to go after him.”

“Okay, genius, where did he go?”

“Boulder.”

“Yeah. Where in Boulder?”

Brand opened his mouth then closed it. After a moment, he grinned. “Kelly will know.”

“She’s sleeping.”

“I’ll wake her up.”

“You think Ophelia will allow that?”

“Fine.” Brand clenched a fist and looked ready to punch a wall, but then he stopped and gave Rayna a knowing smile. “Oh, Esther!” he called.

Rayna couldn’t see Esther, but knew the ghost must have appeared because Brand stared at an empty space in the hall and carried on a conversation. It was unnerving.

“Can you check on Jonathan?”

Brand stared at the empty space.

“Yes, right now.”

More staring.

“Because I want to know where he is. Oh, and Esther, don’t let him see you.”

Still more staring.

“Well, pop in behind him if you can.”

Brand turned to Rayna. “She’s going to check it out.”

“So eat your sandwich and wait.”

Brand spun toward the empty spot. “Back already? Where is he? . . . That doesn’t help me. You’re sure he didn’t see you? . . . Okay, keep tabs on him. Let me know where he goes. As soon as he stops, I want you to come back here and tell me.”

“You’ll be at least an hour behind him,” Rayna said.

“I’ll catch up. I’m heading toward Boulder.”

“Then I’m going with you.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Jonathan will kill me if I take you into danger, and unfortunately, now he could actually do it.”

“I’ll pay you one hundred thousand dollars if you take me along.”