Dragon Gate (12 page)

“No!”

“Hear me out, Richard.” My chest burned with pain, but I focused to dial it out of my mind. “From what I understand, your real beef is with Lucas. You tell your father that if he wants to go after Lucas, he has my blessing. But he will steer clear of everyone else. There will be no retribution on Graham, Rayna, Lucas’s wife or children. Do you understand?”

Richard laughed. “Your weakness will be your downfall. There’s nothing you can do to stop us. We have you outnumbered, and we have weapons you can’t even dream of.”

“Those weapons sure helped Adam, didn’t they?”

“And Jacob,” Brand said. “Don’t forget Jacob.”

“Good point. You’ve come at us twice now, and you’ve lost two brothers. I think your father will see reason, so you pass along my message.”

Richard spit in my face. “I shall tell him you’re a coward. You had an enemy cornered, and you allowed him to slip through your fingers. We will
never
stop. We will come at you again and again until you are dead.”

Staring into his eyes, I saw that he meant every word. His contempt for me flowed like water.

I sighed. “King of the broken records. If that’s how you want to play it,” I said, and without hesitation, I drove the arrow through his eye into his brain, killing him instantly.

His body crumpled to the ground.

Brand shook his head. “Like I said, you’re not the man I knew a few months ago.”

I turned to Brand, glanced at the blood seeping through my shirt that stained the inside lining of my jacket. I felt light headed. “I think I need to sit down.”

I leaned forward and vomited.

“Well,” Brand said, “don’t sit there.”

KELLY CHAN

I wandered around The Steam Room, keeping an eye on Graham’s office as I checked out the equipment and watched people working out. A well-muscled man exited the men’s room. He wore a tight-fitting polo shirt with
The Steam Room
emblazoned over his left breast. He moved toward Graham’s office, so I made sure to get there first and block his path.

“Excuse me,” he said reaching for the door.

I slapped his hand down. “Consider yourself excused. If you have something to say to Dr. Noble, you’ll talk to me first. Who are you?”

“I’m Alan. I work here.”

“What do you need, Alan?”

“I need to talk to Graham. Why else would I be going to his office?”

“You could be approaching for any number of reasons. I don’t like to repeat myself, Alan, so this is the last time I’ll ask. What do you need?”

“Get out of my way,” he said and tried to push me.

I caught his wrist, twisted, and planted him on the floor. I could have broken his wrist, but I figured that might be a bit excessive. After all, he probably was just an employee. “I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”

Alan grimaced but to his credit he didn’t scream. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asked.

“What makes you think anything is wrong with me?”

“That hurts. You’re gonna break my wrist!”

“Only if you ask nicely.”

“I just need to talk to Graham about my schedule for next week.”

“If you’d said that when I asked, you wouldn’t be in pain right now. Store that away in your little pea brain for future reference.”

“What?”

“If a woman asks you what you need, just tell her.”

Keeping Alan in place, I reached back and knocked on Graham’s door.

“Come in,” Graham called.

“You come out here,” I said.

A moment later, Graham opened the door and stepped out.

Graham grabbed my arm. “What the hell are you doing, Kelly? Alan is one of my employees. He’s not a threat.”

“He should have identified himself,” I said and let go of him.

Alan rubbed his wrist. “I did identify myself, you psycho bitch.”

“Are you flirting with me?”

Graham helped Alan to his feet. “I’m sorry, Alan. Are you all right?”

Alan glared at me, rubbed his wrist some more, then nodded. “I’ll live.”

“What do you need?”

“I just wanted to see if Julie can cover my shift next Saturday. My girlfriend is moving into my place that weekend, and I need to help her.”

“If Julie doesn’t mind, I don’t mind.”

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.” He gave a head bob in my direction. “You might want to put her on a leash.”

I grinned.

Graham sighed. When Alan moved off to help a customer, Graham shook his head. “What was that all about?”

“Nobody gets access to you unless I know they’re okay.”

“Does he look like one of the Marshall Clan to you?”

“No, but maybe they hired some help.”

“Pull anything like that again, and you and your friends are done. You feel me?”

“Perhaps I should meet the rest of your employees so I’ll know who is allowed to talk to you.”

“I’ll give you a little hint. If someone is wearing one of our shirts, odds are they work here. If you don’t trust them, come in with them. But don’t go hurting my people.”

“If someone is allowed to get that close, they could attack.”

“I’ve seen you in action. If you’re in the room, they’d fail.”

“True,” I said.

Again with the head shake. “I have about twenty minutes’ more work to do. Think you can get through that time without putting any of my employees or customers in the hospital?”

“I can’t make any promises. Twenty minutes is a long time.”

“How do you people ever get hired?”

“Our goal is to have zero repeat customers.”

“Mission accomplished. Wait here.”

“Aye, aye, captain.”

As soon as he went back into his office, Esther popped into view.

“Kelly!” she said. “Jonathan’s been shot.”

“What?”

“With an arrow!”

“Is he all right?”

“Brand told Rayna to take him to the hospital.”

“Okay, if she’s taking him instead of an ambulance, it’s not life threatening. As such, I’ll stay here with Graham. We’ll head to the hospital once he’s done working.”

Esther glanced at the office door. “He can’t stop now? What he’s doing is more important than Jonathan?”

“Calm down, Esther. It’s okay.”

“Says you!”

“We’ll be along shortly.”

Esther looked worried. “I don’t want Jonathan to die. You should be with us.”

“He’s not going to die. He’s been shot before. Even with gunshots, most of them aren’t fatal.”

“You don’t even care about him enough to interrupt that ignorant palooka?”

“We’ll be there soon. Go check on him, and if you need to update me, come back here.”

Esther gave me a disgusted look and popped away. She’s been hopelessly in love with Jonathan for as long as we’ve known her. Jonathan doesn’t see it, but he’s a guy. Still, I figured it would be best to let Graham finish up here before heading to the hospital. Waiting here or there wouldn’t make any difference. Jonathan would want me to stay on the job. That’s what we do.

CHAPTER TWELVE

RAYNA NOBLE

Rayna heard a commotion downstairs, so she set down the Jane Austen book she was reading. She raced down the hall to the stairs. When she reached the living room, she saw Brand placing an unconscious Jonathan on the sofa. Jonathan bled from a chest wound.

“Jenkins!” Brand yelled. “Call nine-one-one!”

“What happened?” Rayna asked.

“He got shot with an arrow. He passed out. We need to get him to the hospital. Where’s Jenkins?”

Rayna approached and knelt before Jonathan. She pulled his shirt open a bit to examine the wound. “This is deep.”

“He played it tough at first, but it caught up with him. He needs a doctor. Don’t poke around the wound. Apply pressure. We have to stop the bleeding. Esther! Tell Kelly we’re taking him to the hospital.”

Rayna frowned and looked at Brand. “Esther?”

“She’s a ghost. You can’t see her, but she helps us all the time. She’s part of the team.”

“Is she here now?” Rayna asked, looking around.

“No, she popped over to see Kelly. Where the hell is Jenkins? Did he make the call?”

“Jonathan won’t need a doctor,” Rayna said. “I can handle this. It’s just a flesh wound, and since it missed his heart, it’s something I can handle.”

Jenkins entered the room. “Did someone call for me?”

Rayna nodded. “Yes, bring me a pot of hot water and a towel.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jenkins left for the kitchen.

Rayna ripped Jonathan’s shirt to open it wider and prodded around the wound. Blood oozed from the injury.

“No offense,” Brand said, “but I really think we should get him to the hospital. I’m pretty sure he should have left the arrow alone since he seemed mostly okay until he pulled it out.”

“He might not have lost as much blood, but this is a serious injury no matter how you look at it.”

Jenkins returned with a pot of water and a towel. He handed them to Rayna.

“Thank you, Jenkins. Now can you bring me a large glass of cold water?”

Jenkins nodded and disappeared.

She dipped the towel into the pot of water then set about wiping the blood from Jonathan’s chest. She glanced over at Brand. “What you see next may disgust you.”

“Takes a lot to gross me out, darlin’.”

“If you say so,” she said. She turned back to Jonathan, leaned over him, and licked at his wound.

“What the hell are you doing?” Brand asked.

She pulled up some saliva and let it drip directly into the wound. Then she resumed licking and sucking at it. She spit blood into the pot of water then went right back to dribbling saliva and licking even more. The blood slowed.

She pinched the wound closed then shut her eyes and drew a deep breath through her nose. She let the air slowly escape from her lips. Another deep breath. Let it out.

Brand stared at her as if she were an alien Gray clad in pink spandex getting out of a flying saucer carrying a Stratocaster and Elvis sunglasses while dancing to the Macarena.

While she breathed, Jenkins returned with the glass of ice water. He set a coaster on the end table then placed the glass on top of it. He stepped back to watch.

Rayna kept up the deep breathing for a time then opened her eyes. Her irises shifted from deep green to a dark orange. When she drew the next breath and let it out, steam erupted from her lips.

Finally she turned back to Jonathan and blew flame onto his wound. The flesh sizzled. Jonathan flinched but she held him in place. She blew more fire then closed her eyes and sighed. Tendrils of smoke poured from her mouth. Now when she opened her eyes, they were green again. She reached for the water and took a mouthful. She swished it around inside her mouth then spit it into the pot.

The next drink she swallowed. She waited a moment then drained the glass quickly.

Brand stared in awe, and she went back to dripping saliva on the now blackened flesh.

“What is that strange bird doing?” Esther asked.

Brand spun toward her. “I didn’t see you pop in.”

“What’s she doing?”

“Hell if I know,” Brand said.

“Is that the ghost?” Rayna asked.

“Yeah.”

“Tell her Jonathan is going to be all right. His chest will hurt for a few days but he’s fine. We’ll want to let him sleep for a while, though.”

“She’s not deaf,” Brand said.

“How the hell did she heal him? He’s immune to magic!”

“Good point,” Brand said. “What kind of magic did you use there?”

Rayna laughed. “It’s not magic.”

“So you’re like your uncle, and you’re really not human?”

“We’re human but we’re . . . different.”

“No shit.”

“Does that bother you?”

Brand shook his head. “Can’t say as it does.”

“And the ghost?”

Brand looked at Esther. “That bother you?”

“Tell her that since she saved Jonathan, she’s pretty damn nifty if you ask me.”

“She thinks you’re cool,” Brand said.

“I’m going to tell Kelly that Jonathan is okay,” Esther said.

Brand nodded. “You do that.”

Jenkins sighed. “I hope I can get the blood out of the sofa.”

Rayna nodded. “Do your best. If it doesn’t come out, we’ll buy a new one.”

KELLY CHAN

Esther popped back to see me before Graham came out of the office. “You’re still here?” she asked.

“We’re almost ready to go. How is Jonathan?”

“He’s fine.”

“Fine?”

“Turns out the Noble family is hiding a big secret.”