Dragon Gate (7 page)

Graham seemed certain the Marshall Clan would come for everyone who had even limited involvement in what Thomas must have seen as a grand betrayal and murder. Be honest, she thought, he had to see it as the destruction of everything he’d ever believed or done. Betrayal that deep would require action.

Her father had certainly been involved. Graham too. The men usually handled things. However, Lucas was the mastermind. Rayna knew her mother went along because she wanted to be with her husband, and Rayna had come along because she had nothing else. After all, she was just a little girl.

She couldn’t stay behind. All that waited for her there was a marriage to a cold man who cared for little beyond his duty. At least here she could have a life. Here she could help people. Staying behind would change nothing.

Almost
nothing.

She would either be married and living alone in a castle with no one for company, save the servants, or she’d already be dead.

Like Mother.

Like Father.

She bowed her head. Tears threatened to flow. At first she fought them, but then she looked out at the parking lot. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen. She was alone so she let the tears go. Soon she found herself with her face buried in her hands. Her body shook as she sobbed. Everything would change now. How could it not? She didn’t want to die. Especially now that she’d found a place for herself.

She cried until she could cry no more. She sniffed and opened the glove box, hoping to find a package of tissues. The glove box held only a car registration, proof of insurance, a little stick of metal with the letter
X
at the end of it, and an owner’s manual about the Firebird. She closed the box then opened the center console between the seats.

Altoids and some CDs.

Men never seemed to have tissues, and she’d used the last one in her purse this afternoon.

She let the console lid drop into place and wiped the tears from her cheeks with her palms.

Mother and Father were gone. The Marshall Clan would go after Graham next. Then Rayna. Then they’d finally close in on Lucas and his family. Move in, clear a circle, move to the center, clear that circle. Don’t stop until everyone is dead.

Rayna considered what would be expected of her. Could she bring herself to drop to her knees and bow her head? It wasn’t proper to even consider going against tradition. Family and honor. Nothing else mattered.

Right?

She looked out the window and saw Jonathan approaching the car. He was here to protect her. Was that even permitted?

Looking at it from old-world eyes, that would be a no. But she wasn’t in the old world. The rules for this world should apply.

She knew Graham still held on to the old ways, so he would send Jonathan and Kelly away tonight. Then she and Graham would face whatever came their way as brother and sister, the last survivors of Stephen Noble’s lineage. It would all end there unless she could get him to see things her way. That would be a first.

JONATHAN SHADE

When I slid into the driver’s seat, Esther let herself drop through the ceiling.

“All clear,” she said, “but the Sheba’s been crying. If I had tear ducts, I’d be a mess right now too. I wanted to comfort her, but well, you know. Sometimes I hate being dead.”

I gave Esther a nod then glanced at Rayna. Her mascara was smeared, and the tracks of her tears were still visible on her cheeks. I felt bad for her. I knew only too well what it was like to lose parents.

“I’m sorry about your mother,” I said. “I wish we could have been here to save her.”

“She was dead before you came to our house,” Rayna said, her head down.

She was right, of course. Elizabeth Noble was probably already dead when Mike Endar came to see me.

“I’ll take you home.”

As we left, several police cars turned in to the parking lot.

“What more can you tell me about the Marshall Clan?” I asked.

“Not much. You should probably talk to Graham about it.”

“I will.”

She sighed. “Just so you know, I fully expect my brother to tell you to go back to Denver. He’s going to see this as a family matter, and you are not family. The odds of him listening to me are slim to none. Oh well. It will all be over soon anyway.”

Her tone of voice told me more than she realized. It was the tone of someone who had given up. I’d had plenty of personal experience with that. She was resigned to the fact that she was going to die and there was nothing anyone could do to change the outcome.

“We’ll see about that,” I said.

oOo

Back at the mansion, I sat with Rayna in the drawing room. I didn’t try to convince her to let us help. She made it clear that she wanted us there, but in her view, it was up to Graham. I hoped Kelly had talked some sense into him. We could help. I knew we could.

Esther moved about the room, running her ghostly hands over expensive furnishings. From the look on her face, I knew she wished she could actually touch them, but without that sensory input, she quickly grew bored.

“Would you like something to drink?” Rayna asked. “I can have Jenkins bring some tea.”

“I’m good,” I said. I don’t wear a watch, so I pulled out my cell phone to check the time: 10:35.

“I’d like some tea,” Rayna said. She reached over and pulled on a fabric rope, and deep in the house, I could hear a bell chime.

A few moments later, the butler entered the room. “What can I do for you, Miss Noble?”

“Please bring us a pitcher of green tea. Perhaps some crackers too.”

“Yes, Miss Noble.”

Esther drifted over to me. “She’s single and attractive, Jonathan.”

I met Esther’s eyes.

“And she’s rich,” Esther said. “You could marry her, and I could have a big mansion to haunt.”

I knew Esther was trying to bring some levity to the room. She had a thing for me but was trying to keep it on the down low since she was dead and there was no future there. Back when the typewriter had been complete, she’d been bound to it, so if I went on a date, I could leave the typewriter at the office and Esther wouldn’t have to see anything. Now that the typewriter was in pieces and she could pop to any of them, she tended to show up when I was with a woman, and I knew it hurt her. So I knew she wasn’t being serious about Rayna.

Besides, Rayna was a client.

The front door opened. Graham and Kelly entered and found us in the drawing room.

“How did it go?” Rayna asked.

“Mother’s dead,” Graham said.

“We know. We found her body. You forgot your phone again. I tried to call you.”

Graham crossed the room, sat down beside his sister, and took her hands in his. “I’m sorry.”

“We knew it was likely,” she said, and I knew she was speaking about her mother, not the phone.

Kelly stood next to my chair and touched my shoulder. “We met some people I’d like to kill,” she said. “They looked like refugees from a Renaissance festival.”

Graham turned around. “You won’t be killing anyone.”

“Maybe not tonight,” Kelly said.

Jenkins entered the room with a large tray that held a pitcher of tea, two cups, and an assortment of crackers. He stopped when he saw everyone. “I’ll bring more teacups.” He set down the tray and backed out of the room.

Graham glared at me. “You two need to go now. This is a family matter, and you aren’t wanted.”

“There were thirteen men,” Kelly said. “You need us.”

“We’ve been over this. The answer is no.”

“Thirteen men,” I said. “You really want to face off with them alone? You really want them to kill Rayna too?”

“How dare you!” Graham said. He rose and approached me with clenched fists.

I stood toe to toe with him. “You need us.” Sometimes if you say something enough, it will get through someone’s head.

He struggled with himself for a moment. I knew he wanted to hit me, but the look in my eyes told him it wouldn’t be a wise decision. Graham was in good physical shape, but he knew that he was out of his league if he wanted to get into a fight.

“We can protect you,” I said. “Both of you.”

“We don’t want protection.”

“Nobody wants it. Most people just want quiet, peaceful lives.”

“Boring,” Kelly said.

“But when the shit hits the fan, you need people like us on your side. Or would you rather watch some asshole lop off your sister’s head?”

He stared at me. He tried to look tough again, but I wasn’t buying it. He obviously realized that because he turned away and backed off. “This isn’t how we do things.”

“It’s your call, sport.”

Graham glared at me for a long moment. Finally he turned to Rayna. “Do you want bodyguards?”

Rayna hesitated.

“Be honest,” Graham said.

She nodded. “I like my life here, and I don’t want to die.”

“It’s a violation of the Creed.”

“We violated the Creed when we came here.”

“Be that as it may—”

“I want to live, Graham. If Jonathan and Kelly can keep us alive, I say we let them.”

“They won’t be able to protect us.”

“You don’t know that. If Mr. Endar thinks they’re qualified to handle a threat like this, I think we should give them a chance. Would you prefer death?”

“We’re going to die regardless.”

“Then there’s no harm in allowing them to stay. Maybe they can give us a few more days to live and breathe. Who knows? They might be able to save us.”

Graham glanced over at Kelly. “Ms. Chan seemed to think she could take on the entire Clan by herself.”

Kelly gave a half grin.

“It can’t hurt to let them do their jobs,” Rayna said. “Please let them. If not for you, then do it for me.”

“You’re sure about this?”

She nodded.

Graham sighed. “Very well.” He slowly turned back to face me. “We shall allow you to accompany us in public. You’ll need to sign nondisclosure agreements in case you learn anything about our businesses. You will also give us privacy when we request it.”

“Provided that privacy doesn’t endanger your lives.”

“We are in control of our lives, Mr. Shade.”

“Let’s get this straight, Dr. Noble. Until the threat is eliminated, you’ll do as we say. We’ll do what we can to not cause problems for you, but for your own safety, you’ll need to follow our directions.”

“I don’t—”

“That’s not up for debate. We can’t protect you if you decide to do something stupid. You are not to go anywhere in public without one of us.”

He looked at the ceiling for a moment then exhaled. “Very well but if you cause too many problems, I’ll fire you.”

“It’s your life, pal.”

Jenkins returned with more cups. “Shall I prepare guest rooms?”

“Three of them,” Kelly said.

“Three?”

“We have one more guard to bring in tomorrow.”

Graham frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but after glancing at Rayna, he said, “As you wish.”

I sat down and Jenkins brought me a cup of tea. Danger aside, I could get used to this.

CHAPTER SEVEN

JONATHAN SHADE

That night, I lay in a king-sized bed wrapped in silk sheets. When I closed my eyes, I found myself drifting in and out of consciousness. My head spun with memories of intense training with various masters around the world interspersed with images of the shadowy demons that haunted the ether. Part of my training had included learning to release my spirit into the realm of those demons via remote viewing. Now it felt like every night, I fought to keep myself attached to my body because those demons were always there, waiting for me. If I ever slipped out again, I knew they’d tear my soul to shreds.

I’d faced them and escaped once, but I knew that was a one-time dance. They hadn’t expected me to come at them the way I had. Now they knew better. As I’d done every night for the past few months, I reinforced the walls that kept my soul trapped in my body. Maybe I worried about it too much, but I had a feeling that if I didn’t build that wall strong enough, the demons could reach into me while I slept, and that would be the final song of the show. No encore.

The rest of my training had been mental and physical. I was in the best shape of my life, but facing off against thirteen men seemed a bit much. Kelly and Brand could do it, but they felt no pain and didn’t get tired. I hoped Rayna’s life wouldn’t depend on my being as solid as my magically engineered Sekutar friends. I might be fast, and I might be strong, but I was still only human, and I felt like I wasn’t up to the task. I’d lost Naomi and I wasn’t able to save Miranda. I didn’t want to lose anyone else. To be fair, Miranda was probably dead before I ever met her. In that regard, perhaps she didn’t count as someone I’d lost. But that wasn’t how it felt.

I tossed and turned, trying to get my thoughts to stop churning. My job was to protect Rayna, and one way or another, I would keep her safe. Failure was not an option because I knew I couldn’t take another loss at this point in my life.

Sleep finally took me, and when I awoke four hours later, bits of a dream where I’d been unable to save Rayna from her assassins flittered across my mind then thankfully drifted away.

I crawled out of bed, stretched, then approached the window. The blinds were drawn, so I parted them with two fingers to peek out. The sun started to pull itself above the horizon, shooting orange streaks through the clouds. Movement in the yard caught my attention, and I yanked down on the blinds to get a better look.

Graham Noble clad in a blue jogging suit darted across the yard toward the gate.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. Fortunately, I saw Kelly slip out of the trees to follow him.

Good. I ran my hands through my hair and grabbed my jeans from the chair as I looked for my shoes. I wanted to catch up to them, so I threw on my clothes and bolted out the door.

Esther smiled at me when I entered the hall. “I love your hair.”

I patted my head and could tell I had a serious case of bedhead going. I shrugged. “Nice. Can you keep an eye on Rayna for me?” I asked.

“Only if you gave her a typewriter key. What’s going on?”

“Graham evidently thinks it’s all right for him to go for a morning run on his own.”