Dragon Gate (27 page)

“Not a chance.”

“Five hundred thousand.”

“Well, that’s getting closer. I’ll think about it.”

“An even million.”

“You can spare a million dollars?”

“I’ll even offer to pay the wizards here at DGI to give you back your powers.”

Brand sighed. “I wish it were that easy. Unfortunately, as a second generation warrior, once the battery runs down, it can’t be recharged.”

“Are you sure?”

“That’s what they told me.”

“And you believed them? This is DGI we’re talking about.”

“Mike would know. He won’t talk to me, though.”

“My sandwich is getting cold. Let me eat; then I’ll ask him.”

“I was thinking I’d eat my sandwich on the way.”

Rayna sighed. “You drive a hard bargain.” She moved down the hall to Mike’s office and knocked.

“Come in,” Mike said.

She entered. Brand followed her. The office was Spartan with only a desk and Mike’s chair. Mike had a laptop opened on top of the desk, but that was it. No pictures, no plants, no personalized touches.

“Quick question, Mike,” Rayna said. “How much would it cost to restore Brand’s position as a Sekutar?”

“I’m very sorry, Ms. Noble, but that would be impossible.”

“Twenty million dollars,” Rayna said.

“You could offer twenty billion dollars, and the answer would be the same. His body won’t hold the magic again. After the trouble with the first generation, we intentionally set limits on the second batch. He gave the rest of his time to Kelly.” Mike looked at Brand. “Which was an admirable thing to do.”

“So you seriously can’t help?” Rayna asked.

Mike spread his hands.

“Fine. Are there any wizards we can hire to help us deal with the Marshall Clan?”

“We don’t hire out wizards to kill people.”

“You could simply incapacitate them or incarcerate them.”

Mike smiled. “I can’t even invite them. Your father’s orders were clear. I was to hire someone to protect you, but we couldn’t use anyone from DGI.”

“My father is dead,” Rayna said. “So is my brother. And I say it’s okay to use DGI wizards.”

“Your father is the one who paid us.”

“I’ll pay you.”

“I wish I could help, but it was a magically binding agreement. You’re welcome to stay here until Mr. Shade can guarantee your safety, but we can’t lift a finger against the Marshall Clan. We signed a contract. Sorry.”

“You’re an asshole,” Rayna said.

“That has nothing to do with this,” Mike said.

As they left Mike’s office, Brand said, “Told you.”

On the elevator ride down, Brand started. “Esther! . . . He’s at Max’s? Who’s Max? . . . Oh. Okay. Well, at least he’s gearing up for a battle. Go back and keep me posted.”

“What did she say?” Rayna asked. “Who’s Max?”

“Some illegal arms dealer. Evidently Jonathan saved him a bundle of money a few years back by proving the guy’s wife was cheating on him, which invalidated a prenup.”

“Charming.”

“Pays the bills.”

They cruised toward Boulder in Brand’s truck. “We’re gonna have to stop for gas before we get there,” Brand said.

“Can we stop at that Max’s place and buy some guns?”

“Right. Like the guy’s gonna sell to a couple of strangers. I don’t think so.”

“What kind of weapons do you have here?”

“Swords, daggers, katars, sais, a mace, and a baseball bat.”

“No guns?”

“Never needed guns before.”

“All I have in my purse is pepper spray.”

“Well, it’s something. Whoa! You scared the shit out of me, Esther! . . . I’m not sure where that is.” Brand glanced at Rayna. “You know where that incomplete castle is located?”

“Yes, I do. Same place I sent Kelly.”

“Then we’re in business.”

“Is Esther still here?”

“Nope. She went back to Jonathan.”

“All that bouncing back and forth, it’s a wonder he didn’t see her.”

“She can be sneaky.”

JONATHAN SHADE

I sat quietly with my hands zip-tied behind me and watched the Nobles prepare for battle. Lucas had Junior in the front room in my sight. He sent Wesley to the back door just in case they came in that way. Lucas took his position upstairs. He kept my MP5, Junior got my Glock, and Wesley got my Beretta. They each also had swords plus a bow and a quiver of arrows per person.

The odds of my surviving the coming battle seemed to be about fifty-fifty. Lucas didn’t have a reason to kill me, but just by being here, I was in danger. Fortunately the Marshall Clan didn’t have guns, but if they overran the place, I didn’t stand a chance with my hands bound. I tried to think of a way to improve my odds.

“Jonathan, can you hear me?”

It was Esther. Maybe I
had
seen her.

I turned my head to the side, and she stuck her head through the wall next to me. I gave her a grin. It was good to see her, though it would have been better had she made her presence known sooner.

“You got yourself into another mess,” she said.

I wanted to thank her for the breaking news update, but I couldn’t even whisper without one of Lucas’s sons hearing me, so I just gave her a dirty look.

“I wasn’t gone that long. I’ve been keeping tabs on you since you went to Max’s. I know you can’t answer and even nodding might be too much. These men seem a bit agitated.” She stepped through the wall and stood in front of me. “We’ll go with blinking. One blink for yes, two for no. Got it?”

I blinked once.

“Good. I thought you were going to stay in the basement, so I popped out to tell Brand and Rayna where you were.”

I stared at her.

“Sorry about that. If I’d known you’d get caught, I’d have stayed here to warn you.”

I stared at her some more.

“Lucas is upstairs?”

One blink.

“So these must be friends of his?”

Two blinks.

“Relatives?”

One blink.

“Sons.”

One blink.

“They got your guns.”

I didn’t bother to blink; I just glared at her.

“I’ll make sure Brand knows where to come and that the Nobles are here.”

I blinked twice.

“You don’t want him to know that?”

I tilted my head to the side.

“Oh, you don’t want him to come here at all.”

One blink.

“Yes, so you want him to come?”

Two blinks.

“He’s going to show up whether or not you want him to. Rayna is with him.”

I shook my head and looked away.

“I know,” she said. “But she wants to help.”

Junior kept staring out the window. Sweat stained his underarms and back. It wasn’t hot.

“Tell them to turn back,” I whispered.

“Shh!” Esther said.

Junior turned to look at me, Glock in hand. He had his finger on the trigger, which was dangerous. “You say something?”

“Yeah, can you give my gun back?”

“Funny.”

“Can you at least loosen the zip-tie? It’s cutting off my circulation.”

“Too bad. Now shut up.”

“Have you ever fired a Glock?”

“I said shut up.”

“Did you click off the safety?” I asked. Glocks don’t have a manual safety, but I was willing to bet this clown didn’t know that. “It would really suck to pull the trigger and have nothing happen.”

He examined the gun. “I don’t see a safety.”

“Wow. If you can’t even find it, how are you going to turn it off?”

“Damn it,” he said turning the gun every which way.

“If you loosen the zip-tie, I’ll show you how it works. Otherwise, you’re going to get yourself killed.”

Wesley walked into the room. “Why are you two talking?”

“Your brother doesn’t know how to use a Glock,” I said.

“You point and shoot. Nothing to it.”

“Where’s the safety on this thing?” Junior asked.

I tensed. What if Wesley knew his guns?

Wesley held up the Beretta. “Safety is right here on this one,” he said, pointing to it. “I can just thumb it off, and I’m good to go. Yours should be in the same place.”

“I don’t see one on mine.”

Wesley sighed. “Let me see it.”

“What are you doing?” Esther asked.

“Is it clear out back?” I whispered.

Esther stepped through the wall and returned. “Near as I can tell.”

I nodded, glanced at the Noble boys searching in vain for the safety switch, then rose to my feet, ran, and dived out the window. There was no glass since they hadn’t completed the building. I hit the ground hard, but rolled with it as well as I could. My elbow twisted a bit and my shoulder throbbed, but I was outside. Esther followed me.

“What the hell?”

“I can’t trust that they won’t kill me if they win the battle, so it’s best not to be here.” I crouched in some bushes. I took a quick look back at the building, but the Nobles weren’t following me. I knew they had to have seen me make my getaway, so why weren’t they trying to catch me?

“Why would they kill you?” Esther asked.

“I don’t know. Why would they bind me and take my weapons instead of ask me to help in the fight? Where are Brand and Rayna?”

“I’ll check.” She popped away.

My elbow still hurt, but it wasn’t too bad. I pushed myself to my feet and ran for the tree line. No shots rang out, so either the Nobles didn’t care about my exit or they knew better than to fire in case the Marshalls were close.

I maneuvered through the trees, keeping out of sight of the house, and headed toward the Mercedes at the bottom of the hill. If I ran into the Marshalls, all bets were off.

Esther returned. “They’re turning on the road that comes up here. The castle house thing is in sight.”

“Castle house thing? Really?”

She shrugged. “Fine. Building.”

“Whatever. Tell them to meet me at the bottom of the hill here. I have the Mercedes there, but I can’t drive with my hands tied behind me.”

“It’s all berries,” she said and disappeared.

I eased through the trees. Branches scraped my arms but didn’t break the skin. As I neared the bottom of the hill, I heard something breathing behind me. It sounded huge. I spun around.

A real live dragon broke through the trees.

“Holy shit,” I said.

The dragon stood twenty feet tall. The scales were gold, green, and brown. Its eyes were golden, and when it opened its mouth, it screeched like a pterodactyl in the
Jurassic Park
movies. The teeth were gigantic. If it had wings, they were folded back against its body. I couldn’t see all of it through the trees.

I hoped it didn’t want to breathe fire on me. I broke into a sprint and darted around trees, hoping to put some distance and some barriers between myself and the massive reptile.

It screeched again and huffed. I dropped and rolled, and a gout of flame shot over me, lighting a tree on fire.

The heat was intense.

“Screw that,” I said. I scrambled to the side and ran in a serpentine pattern around the trees.

The dragon pursued. I heard trees crashing to the ground as it barreled after me.

I careened down an embankment, and the Mercedes sat parked before me. But there was no sign of Brand and Rayna. I ran toward the car.

The dragon broke through more trees, and I heard it draw another deep breath.

I leaped and slid over the car. As I dropped to the ground, flames engulfed the Mercedes. As the vehicle had three-quarters of a tank of gas, it didn’t seem wise to remain where I was. I ran onto the road as, behind me, the vehicle exploded.

The shock wave threw me to the pavement. I rolled over, dazed. I tried to sit up, and the dragon broke out of the trees, scampering onto the road ten yards from me. It drew in another deep breath.

I heard screeching tires behind me. I tried to roll off the road; then I heard Rayna’s voice. “Clara, no!” she yelled.

The dragon reared back.

“Don’t you do it,” Rayna said.

The dragon wove back and forth then aimed skyward and let out a blast of flame that shot fifty feet into the air.

“Good girl,” Rayna said. She rushed past me to the dragon. “Good girl.” The dragon lowered its head, and Rayna patted its neck.

Brand climbed out of his truck and ran over to help me up. He used a pocketknife to cut the zip-tie, freeing my hands. I rubbed my wrists to get the blood flowing.

Brand looked over at the giant reptile. He shook his head and said, “Look at the fucking dragon.”