The Golden Bell (15 page)

DJ looked aside and shuffled his feet. He
made a few indistinct signs.

Rain frowned and shook her head. “I don’t do
sign language.”

“He said he can’t change back,” Bracelet kid
said. “He has a hard time changing sometimes.”

A little slow, was he? Rain felt herself
warming to the kid and didn’t like it. “Fine. Do your sign language
thing, then. It’d better look sincere, though.”

DJ made a few quick signs to Carri.

Carri huffed and mumbled, “Okay, I’m
sorry.”

Relieved to have the whole business over,
Rain nodded her head and started hobbling back toward home, going
the long way around. She didn’t feel like trying to scramble over
the wall again.

The kids followed her.

“Whatcha doing?” Bracelet kid asked.

“Going home. You should, too. What’s your
name, anyway?”

“I’m Malix.” He grinned at her, showing off
his missing tooth. He nudged the unknown boy, another red head.
“This is Twix. He’s Carri’s older brother.”

Rain grinned. Twix, was it? Did his mama know
she’d named him after a candy bar?

“What’s your name?” Malix asked. He really
was a cute little thing, with black hair tumbling into his
eyes.

“Rain.” She would really rather the kids took
off. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“No,” Malix said innocently. “Do you have any
toys?”

She shook her head. “I’m too old for
toys.”

“You don’t look old,” Carrie said
suspiciously. “I bet you know how to make all kinds of toys.”

“Just the exploding kind,” Rain muttered.

“Really! That’s cool! I want to see,” Malix
cried.

“Me, too! Me, too!” the others chimed in. All
except for DJ, who was looking at her with interest.

Rain sighed. Unable to take the torture, she
grouched, “All right! I’ll show you one little thing, but then
you’ve got to find something else to do.”

Ahead of them, she could see a couple of
Haunt in uniform. By the purposeful way they strode toward her,
Rain guessed they were her security detail. They didn’t look happy,
but then they rarely did.

The kids quieted down as they saw where she
was looking. Rain couldn’t take her eyes off the Haunt and she
could feel her breathing accelerate.

Malix tugged on her sleeve. “DJ wants to know
why you smell afraid.”

Startled, she cut a look at the half-pint
werewolf. “I don’t.” It came out more harshly than she meant.

“Are you afraid of Haunt soldiers?” Malix
wanted to know.

“No,” Rain said curtly, but she could feel
the tension closing in on her as the soldiers flanked her.

“But DJ says…”

She cut Malix off. “Have you ever seen a
Gauss rifle? You use steel balls and magnets to fire them off. I
built one the other day while I was bored.”

The inevitable questions helped her to relax.
She wasn’t sure if it helped or not to see DJ edging protectively
toward her. Or maybe she had it wrong. Maybe he was afraid of the
bigger Haunt, too.

Suddenly, she began to sneeze.

“Bless you,” Malix said.

She sneezed again.

“Do you have a cold?” Carri wanted to
know.

“Allergies,” Rain said grimly, resigned to
the inevitable. “I hate taking my medicine.” Funny, though, she
hadn’t sneezed around DJ, and she’d been around him long enough for
his fur to affect her.

“What’s an allergy? Is it catching?”

Rain rolled her eyes at the questions and
hobbled faster. She couldn’t wait to unload this bunch.

Once in the suite she shared with Fallon, the
kids were fascinated by the pile of odds and ends on a corner
table. They especially liked the simple version of a Gauss Rifle, a
grooved wooden board with four gold plated, neodymium-iron-boron
magnets taped to it.

“Cool! What is it?” Carri asked.

“It’s a linear acceleration device for
studying high-energy physics.”

They were silent for a moment. Then Malix
piped up, “Can I play with it?”

She snorted with amusement. “Sure. Bring it
out to the garden. Carri and Twix, you bring the little table
there.” She didn’t think Fallon would care if they used the marble
topped end table. It wasn’t like they were going to damage it.

She handed a pouch of nickel-plated steel
balls to DJ and followed the kids out to the garden. She’d set up a
board for a target earlier, but hadn’t used it yet. Once the rifle
was set up, she explained its use. “Okay, we point the rifle at our
target, then put two steel balls against each magnet, right in the
groove. Good. Now we put a ball in the groove and give it a little
nudge and…” The kids cheered as the ball struck the magnet, causing
a chain reaction that sent the end marble shooting off the end,
striking the board with a satisfying “whack!”.

Rain grinned, surprised that she was having
fun. “Okay, now you try. Youngest to oldest.” Carri started out,
then Malix, DJ and Twix. They played for a whole fifteen minutes
before the game began to wane.

Rain found herself amused to be playing with
four little kids. She’d never enjoyed something like that before.
Maybe she was changing, scary thought!

When she finally told the kids it was time
for them to go home, they protested a little, but not too
badly.

“Can we come back tomorrow?” Malix
pleaded.

She considered and shrugged. “I guess. As
long as your parents know where you are. Now run along, and don’t
beat up on each other,” she said with a stern look at Carri.

“As long as he doesn’t tease me,” she said
pertly, and escaped before she could be reprimanded.

DJ was slow to leave. He didn’t seem to want
to abandon the Gauss rifle.

Rain eyed him. “You know, it’s easy to build
your own. Ask your mom and dad if it’s okay. I’ll give you a parts
list if you like.”

It was the first time she’d seen a werewolf
smile. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a pretty sight, even on a kid. She
made quick work of the list and sent him on his way.

Fallon found her in the garden later,
finishing up her nap. “I heard we had visitors.”

She grunted and sat up. Smothering a yawn,
she informed him, “I found this little redhead beating up a boy. I
took pity on him.”

“Hm. I heard about it second hand from
Malix.” He sat down and began massaging her foot, the one attached
to the good leg. “He says you’re pretty cool.”

“Huh.” What he was doing felt pretty
good.

He kissed the top of her foot. “His brother
gave their parents the parts list. He can’t wait to make his
own…Guess rifle, was it?”

“Gauss. Wait. You mean DJ and Malix are
brothers?”

“Yes, twins. His dad’s proud of him for not
hitting a girl, but he promised to give him pointers about making
her stop without hurting her. He also told him to stop teasing
girls.”

She smiled at that. “Who’s his father?”

“My cousin, Keilor.” He snuggled up behind
her on the wide wooden lawn chair. It was a tight fit, but not
claustrophobic. With his hand low on her belly, she lost the desire
complain.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Oh. So
they’re related to you…sort of.”

“Second cousins. They’re related to you, too,
through marriage. Nice of you to be kind to them.” His hand slid
lower.

“Wasn’t hard,” she said off-hand,
distracted.

“Still.” His finger began tracing little
circles just inside her waistband.

Losing track of the conversation was
inevitable, but she made a valiant effort to concentrate. “Kids are
okay, as long as they belong to someone else.”

His lips feathered over the back of her neck
and shoulder, making her melt. “Yes.” His hand slid lower, tangling
in the curls between her thighs. “If we had kids here now, I
couldn’t do this.” His finger started a slow circle that eased a
wordless sigh from her lips. A moment later, he began to lower her
pants.

“We can’t! My knee.”

He chuckled. “I see I need to work harder on
your education. Can you think of a position that won’t put pressure
on it?” To illustrate, he circled an arm around her waist and
pulled her bare butt against his front.

“Ah…” she croaked. He was fast taking care of
any reluctance she might have felt.

“Mm-hm. I’m afraid you’re still over dressed
for such a warm day, though.” He reached up and popped the clasp on
her harem style top. He played his hand around her breasts,
inhaling like a man deeply satisfied with life. “Ah, yes. As sweet
and tender as I remembered.” He squeezed a nipple, surprising a
squeal out of her. She shifted under his hands and he admonished
her. “Uh-huh. We have to be careful of that knee.”

The last thing on her mind was her knee as he
took his time playing with her silky breasts, gliding his hand over
her stomach. She was whimpering by the time he sat up and pulled
off his vest, then opened the front of his pants. He guided himself
to her slick opening from behind. “Open up, sweetheart. The doctor
wants in.”

She still hadn’t gotten used to how big he
was. Completely vulnerable, she panted as he eased inside, filling
her with delicious hardness. No wonder she hadn’t missed the Bell’s
seductive song, Fallon could make a sultana forget her harem.

He was slow but thorough, the man must have
been born with self-control. He took his time to tease her, driving
her past what she could bear, then easing her down. Nearly insane
with desire, she pleaded and begged until he gave in and finished
her off. By that time she wouldn’t have known she had a knee, much
less cared if it ached.

CHAPTER 9

It was sometime later, after dinner, dessert
and more of Fallon, in fact, that she realized that Haunt weren’t
so different, after all. It couldn’t have been more obvious that
her lover was proud of his heritage, and look how wonderful he was.
She wasn’t ready to see it, but she didn’t think she’d freak if she
saw Fallon change now. She’d try not to at least, because she
wasn’t a coward. The day would surely come when it would happen,
and she figured she could work up to it. Maybe she’d even practice
with Kial, watching him change and stuff until the thought of being
close to a Haunt didn’t put her in a cold sweat. Even hanging with
DJ had to help.

What she had with Fallon was worth
preserving.

One matter was left undone, however. The man
who’d started her terrors was still alive. As long as he was out
there, she’d never feel safe. The man was like a sword dangling by
a silk thread, poised over her head.

Azion had to die.

Rain sat in her suite late the next
afternoon. Brooding, she lifted her newly constructed short-range
Bell and considered it. This model looked like a large ball
bearing, etched with a few engravings. It chimed, but she’d
modified it to avoid the seductive song. She didn’t need to pass on
that little trait.

Losing her original wasn’t as bad as she’d
dreaded. She didn’t miss her own Bell’s song, having realized that
Fallon could give her so much more than it ever could. It had been
a beautiful creation, though, and special, and she missed it a
little because of that. This Bell was going to serve a higher or
lower, purpose. Rykarr had called it the ultimate assassin’s toy.
It hadn’t taken much thought to realize he’d been right.

Rain keyed the Bell and opened a portal to
Azion’s private rooms. She’d found a way to tune it so she didn’t
have be exactly where she wanted to open a portal and had walked by
his place yesterday. Happily, he was alone at his desk, his back to
her.

Allowing him a fighting chance, she said
coolly, “You look a lot different when you’re not covered in fuzz,
Graybeard.”

He spun around so fast, he nearly fell out of
his seat. “Rain! What the…” he trailed off, apparently realizing he
was better off with his mouth shut.

She smirked. “Hello, Azion. I thought I’d
show you what you wanted so badly. What do you think?” She rolled
the Bell between her palms, walked it through her fingers like a
Chinese exercise ball. “Nifty little toy, isn’t it?”

Azion stood up and moved closer to the
portal. “How are you doing this?” he looked around her room before
his gaze settled on her hands. “Is that the device that makes this
projection?”

“No projection, old man. See for
yourself.”

He hesitated. “Why are you doing this?”

She raised a brow, playing it cool. Inside,
she burned. “Let’s not waste our breath. You killed my father. You
were the gray Haunt.”

He considered her for a long moment. “It was
necessary, you know.”

Her answering smile was cold. She played the
Bell through her fingers.

The lure of the Bell must have been too much.
Azion gave her room one more penetrating look, then reached out to
touch the portal.

Rain closed her eyes against the flash. When
she opened them, all that remained of him was a pile of rust
colored dust. Her hand clenched on the Bell, closing the
connection.

Her room was neat and empty. There was no way
to trace Azion’s death to her.

She felt a little sick. She’d let the man
reach out to his own destiny, but knowing he was dead wasn’t the
sweet relief she’d hoped for. Abruptly, she got up and left the
room.

Fallon was in Jayems’s study, examining a
printout of Azion’s rooms. He’d been there most of the morning with
Jayems and Keilor, trying to find a workable capture plan. “The man
has more safeguards in place than the whole palace put together,”
he finally muttered, straightening. “You’d think he was king.”

“Or planned to be,” Keilor said, with a
glance at Jayems.

Jayems wasn’t saying much. Though physically
in the room, his mind was on his little girl and only heir, who was
slowly recovering from a nasty bout of poisoning. It had been a
close call. If her mother hadn’t figured it out, if they hadn’t
given her charcoal and pumped her stomach as fast as they had…if
the medics hadn’t been the best…