Dragon Gate (32 page)

Kelly was still recovering. Brand and Esther were with her over at DGI. I wanted Esther with us because I needed Rayna to stay out of danger, and I couldn’t fight everyone on my own. Kelly didn’t keep any guns at her dojo. She could use guns, and she owned a Glock, but she didn’t like them. Maybe her tangle with one of the destroyers would change her mind on that front.

I thought it would be nice to have the dragon inside to help us, but the poor animal wouldn’t fit through the door, so unless I could get them to go around back, the dragon wasn’t going to be any help in the fight. That didn’t mean I didn’t have a use for Clara, though.

I went through Kelly’s weapons cabinets, selected a nice katana, a handful of shuriken, and a shield in case Thomas still had any archers. I strapped on a belt with a dagger on either side.

“So they called you and told you they were on their way?” I asked for the third time. “That doesn’t sound very bright. How did they find out where we are?”

“I don’t know but Wesley specifically mentioned Denver.”

“How could they know we were here? I gave Lucas a card, but that has my address on it. I suppose he could have found the dojo’s address online, but that still doesn’t tell me how they could know we were here.”

“He didn’t say. Look, why don’t we just leave? Go stay in a hotel room.”

I shook my head. “No. I want this over.” I grabbed a sword and whipped it around a bit, liking its balance.

“What about me?” Rayna asked.

“Don’t you want this to end?”

“Of course, but that’s not what I meant. Shouldn’t you give me some weapons?”

“You won’t be here for this fight.”

“I’m not leaving without you.”

“Yes, you are.”

I still had more to arrange to be ready for the coming battle. I dragged a few folding tables out of the back room and set them up. I placed a number of swords on each table along with daggers and more shuriken.

“I want to help,” Rayna said.

“Okay, are you any good with any of these weapons?”

“Well, no.”

“Okay, then. My job is to protect you.”

“You don’t have to stay here, though. I have more money than I can spend in a lifetime. Now that this is all too real, maybe we
can
run away together. We can go live in Switzerland or New Zealand or the Bahamas. Anywhere you want to go. We can bring Kelly, Brand, and Esther along if you like.”

“And you’d always be looking over your shoulder.”

“There are too many of them, Jonathan. And they have two destroyers!”

“I killed two destroyers already,” I said.

“You had a gun. Kelly tried to fight one destroyer, and look what happened to her. She’s twice the fighter you are.”

“More like three times the fighter, probably. After all, she doesn’t feel pain and she heals fast, provided she’s not extensively damaged.”

“And you think you can handle two destroyers plus Thomas and his sons?”

“It’s not like I have a choice.”

“But you do have a choice. We can avoid them for now. Let Kelly heal up, and she can help take them down. Handle them one at a time.”

“Hold that thought,” I said as I placed more weapons on the tables. I pulled out my phone. “I still have more preparations to make. We have maybe twenty minutes until they get here unless Wesley speeds. What I want you to do is get on Clara and fly to DGI.”

“Not without you.”

“I need to know you’re safe.”

“Then come with me.”

I shook my head and placed a phone call.

Brand answered on the second ring. “Calling for an update? Kelly’s in good spirits. She should be up and at ’em in a couple of days. Give her a week, and she’ll be good as new, though some of the scars might be with her for a while.”

“Good to know. I’m glad she’s feeling better. Can you send Esther to me?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Is Kelly awake? I’d like to talk to her if she’s up to it.”

“She’d love to talk to you. Hang on.” His voice grew distant. “It’s Jonathan. He wants to talk to you,” Brand said to Kelly.

A moment later, I heard Kelly’s voice. She still sounded weak and sleepy. “Hey, Jonathan, it’s good to hear from you.”

“And it’s great to hear your voice.”

“What can I do for you?”

“You can heal up and live a long and wonderful life.”

“That sounds good. How’s Rayna?”

“She’s being stubborn. Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I love you. I don’t say that very often, but this was too close, so I just wanted to tell you. You’re like an older sister to me, and I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me.”

“Are you in danger right now?”

I laughed. “I just wanted to say that, and I knew it would be easier over the phone.”

“Bullshit. You’re in trouble, aren’t you?”

“Not right now, but I promise I’ll get in trouble soon. Okay?”

“Soon as in tonight. You’re speaking like this might be the last time we talk. What’s going on?”

Kelly knew me too well. “Just getting ready for some on-the-job training. Nothing to worry about. You get some rest. I want you on your feet, kicking ass and taking names as soon as possible. Put Brand back on.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, Jonathan. If there’s trouble and it’s not there yet, get out of there. We can handle it next week.”

“Put Brand on.”

She sighed and two seconds later Brand said, “I’m on my way. Don’t get killed before I get there.”

“Just send Esther, Brand. You stay there with Kelly.”

“I can’t hear you, man. Bad connection.” He made a static sound and disconnected.

Brand probably couldn’t get here before the Marshalls, and since he was mortal now, I didn’t want him to be in this fight. The problem with a Sekutar is that they’re trained to fight straight on without worrying about taking some damage because unless they’re torn to shreds or decapitated, they’ll come back from damn near anything. Brand wasn’t trained to fight where he’d have to deal with pain or exhaustion. I knew he’d drive as fast as he could, so I hoped the Marshalls arrived and I had time to deal with them before he could get here.

Esther popped into sight. “You rang?” she said.

“I most certainly did. I’ll need you to be my lookout.”

Esther looked around. “There aren’t any enemies here.”

“They’re probably fifteen minutes out.”

“Then you have time to get away.”

I shook my head. “I want this done.”

Rayna interrupted. “Is that Esther? Is she telling you to get out of here too?”

I turned to Rayna. “You’re gorgeous when you’re pissed.”

“Why won’t you listen to any of us?”

“This isn’t up for discussion, Rayna. I have a plan. It should work.”

“Against two destroyers?”

“There are two more destroyers?” Esther asked. “Get out of here, Jonathan!”

“I’m not going anywhere, Esther. And yes, Rayna, the destroyers don’t worry me much. If my plan works, they won’t be a problem. If my plan doesn’t work, they’ll kill me quickly, and it will fall to Kelly to protect you. That’s why you need to get on Clara and get the hell out of here.”

She stared at me.

“Clara can carry us both,” she said.

“She’s right,” Esther said.

“Yes, but I have a job to do.”

Rayna raised her voice. “Esther, if you can hear me, can you please talk some sense into him?”

“She’s not deaf,” I said. “You can use an inside voice.”

“I’ll be right back,” Esther said. “I’m going to update Brand on your stupidity.”

Esther popped away.

I smiled at Rayna and reached out to touch her cheek. “This is what I do, Rayna. I’ve faced worse odds than these, and I’ve always pulled through.”

“Even your friends think you should wait for better odds and a better time.”

“And waste all the preparation I’ve done? Nonsense. But I do need you to get to safety. You are the one I’m fighting for, and that’s enough motivation for me to handle four destroyers and a thousand Thomas Marshalls.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“How often do your plans actually work?”

“So far?” I did the math in my head and counted on my fingers. “Four, five, six . . . okay, never. The plan is just the start. I roll with the punches and improvise with the best of them. But in order for me to win, I need to know you’re all right. So please, get on Clara and go to DGI. I’ll handle these idiots and I’ll join you before morning.”

“It’s already morning,” Rayna said.

“You know what I mean.”

She looked at the floor. I reached out and lifted her chin with a finger. I leaned forward and gave her a long, gentle kiss. “I’ll be all right. I promise.” I walked over to get her purse for her. I knew she’d want to have it with her. When I returned, I held it out.

She took the purse and hesitated, drawing a deep breath and letting it out. “Fine. I’ll go.” She slung the purse over her shoulder.

“Thank you.”

I walked her outside and around to the back. The dragon was sleeping but woke when we got close.

“Go,” I said.

She embraced me, held me tightly for a long moment, then pulled back and looked deeply into my eyes. “You’d better come back to me, Jonathan.”

“You’re the only person on my dance card.”

She embraced me again then kissed me hard. Tears welled in her eyes, but she wiped them away. She turned to the dragon. “Okay, Clara, let’s get out of here. You’re not safe here either.”

She climbed aboard and looked back at me. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

I gave her a thumbs-up.

Deep inside, though, I, too, hoped I knew what I was doing. This had better work.

RAYNA NOBLE

Rayna flew off into the night on Clara the dragon. They soared over the streets of north Denver, heading back toward Boulder. She hadn’t told Jonathan about the GPS tracking Wesley had activated on her phone because she had hoped he’d come with her but suspected he would insist on fighting everyone. Rayna wanted to keep him safe. If he’d agreed to go with her, she’d have told him about the phone, and they could have dumped it before they left the state.

The problem was that she couldn’t just dump the phone now because Jonathan was right. With Wesley’s help, they could easily hop online to get the address, then check Kelly’s dojo; it would be their first stop. She didn’t want them going to the dojo while Jonathan was still there.

She considered her options. She needed a place where Clara could even the odds a bit, someplace open enough that Rayna could see the Marshalls coming.

“Think you can kill a couple of destroyers for me?” Rayna asked.

Clara let out a screeching roar.

“How about the Marshalls?”

Another roar.

“So all I have to do is overcome a lifetime of conditioning and refuse to kneel and bow.”

Rayna’s heart pounded heavily. She wasn’t sure she could do that. “It’s to save Jonathan,” she said aloud.

After some consideration, she decided Folsom Field was the perfect place to take down the Marshall Clan. There were only a few of them remaining. Clara could handle the destroyers with her fire. Rayna wasn’t a fighter, so she’d have to trust the dragon to save her from the men too.

“We can do this,” she said. “I know we can do this.”

All she had to do was get to the football field at the college and wait for Wesley to lead the enemy to her via the GPS on her phone, and if her luck held out, she’d be able to finish this tonight.

She and Clara made good time. Soon they neared the football field. Clara circled the stadium and finally came in for a soft landing at the fifty-yard line. Rayna climbed down. She wanted to check the time, so she reached into her purse to get her phone.

“Shit!”

The phone wasn’t there.

JONATHAN SHADE

I stared at Rayna’s phone. She thought I’d been asleep when she took the call from Wesley, but the phone woke me too. I was simply playing possum. I’m not the most trusting soul on the planet these days. I’d been betrayed by friends and lovers before, so I liked to play things close to the vest.

When I went to get Rayna’s purse, I’d taken her phone while her view was blocked. Once I knew she was actually concerned for my safety, I knew I’d do whatever I needed to do to protect her, and if that meant letting her believe she was protecting me, that was fine. I knew she’d be far enough away by the time she realized what I’d done that she’d be out of harm’s way until all the violence was history.

Where the hell was Esther? She was supposed to come back to help me.

I heard a vehicle pull into the parking lot. That surprised me. I wouldn’t have expected Wesley to just park in front of the dojo. Common sense told me they’d want to park at least half a block away to have some semblance of surprise. Of course, had Esther been here, I’d have had plenty of advance warning regardless, but it seemed incredibly amateurish to simply pull in and park.