Joseph: Bentley Legacy (9 page)

He held her to him as he panted. His body, his cock was still deep inside of her, but she knew that he was spent. She was too. All she wanted to do was crawl back in the bed with him and sleep the day away. But when he lifted his head, she knew that wasn’t going to be possible.

“Micah said for us to get our asses downstairs.” Chris asked him if he knew what they’d been doing. “More than likely. He’s newly mated too. I, however, would like to just stay here, buried deep inside of you until the world realizes that we’re not going to participate anymore.”

“I think that’s a wonderful plan. Let’s just do it your way.” He laughed, and Chris smiled back at him. “I love you. I’m so glad that we did this. I feel amazing.”

“I’m glad we did as well. But we might have to grovel to Micah. He’s our new leader now, and he’s taking his job a little too seriously. Grandda retired last month, and Micah has been spouting rules at us that we’re breaking right and left.” He reached for a towel and handed it to her. “I think he might calm down a little, but he wants to do a good job.”

“I don’t know the rules yet, but if he gives me a hard time, I’ll change him into a toad.” Joey asked her if she could really do that. “I have no idea, but it would be a good threat, don’t you think?”

Joey helped her dry off and she did the same for him. As they moved into their bedroom, she noticed that the bed had been made as well as the tray was gone. Someone had been in here while they’d been…she looked at Joey.

“It’s not what you think.” She nodded at him, wondering what he meant. “No one came in here. I don’t know what does it, but whenever I leave a room, no matter how messy I make it, when I come back to it, everything is neat and tidy. Even a towel on the floor is picked up and replaced with a clean dry one. It’s a little freaky to get used to. I meant to ask Carol about it, but to be honest, she sort of scares me a little.”

“Me too.” There was fresh clothing in her drawers too. Not only her things from the apartment, but new things as well. Sexy little things that she’d never have bought for herself, but was really excited to wear. When she pulled out a pair of jeans, again not hers, she noticed that they’d been laundered as well as folded the way she usually did her pants. She asked Joey if he had the same things.

“My suits are still in the closet where I had them, but there are more shirts. And there are some with…Mom and I talked about this ranch and a name for it last night, just as a joke. Now I have shirts with the name on them. Several of them, as a matter of fact.”

Chris went to her closet. There were a variety of shirts in her size with the name Second Chances on them, with pictures of Elwood. Pulling one over her head, tears filling her eyes, she looked at Joey.

“This is the best thing…I love it. And Elwood is…I’m so…I don’t know what to say. Second Chances is going to be…oh, Joey.” He held her while she cried. She was so happy she didn’t want to go downstairs at all, but to hide up here with the wonderful feelings she was having right now. “Tell them to go away. I want to just be held by you.”

“There are horses coming today.” That had her lifting her head. “I thought you’d still be resting when they arrived, but you are never going to do things the way people expect, are you?”

As if he’d deemed it, there was a noise in the yard and they both went to the window. Three large semis were there, and each of them were pulling an animal trailer. She grabbed his hand and they ran down the stairs. This was much better than anything she’d been planning today.

Micah stood up when they entered the kitchen. “Don’t know what you want, but right now, I need this. And so does Joey.” He looked like he was going to say more, but she moved out of the kitchen and into the yard. Micah followed them.

The first truck had two horses in it. She helped them unload by staying out of the way. Joey made fun of her because she had wanted to knock the big man out of the way that was pulling down the ramp and do it herself. He was just taking too long. But when they were unloaded and put into the barn, she walked to the next one. Joey was right beside her.

“She’s not well.” Chris had no idea why but she could feel the young mare’s pain. “Her foal died last spring and she didn’t take it well. They’ve been doing nothing for her since she has turned on them. I want you to know that Heath is on his way here in the event that she needs to be dealt with.”

“You mean put her down.” He nodded. “No. We can’t do that to her. She needs a chance with us.”

The trailer was left for last as they moved to the third one. It had two small horses in it, as well as a donkey. Chris looked at Joey, who shrugged. They had not been told he was coming apparently.

“Wouldn’t leave the other horse.” The driver started into the trailer and moved back when the horse, a gray one, reared up at him. “She’s a bit mad at me still, I guess. I had to…I didn’t hurt her none, but she’s mad because it took us so long to make a deal about the donkey. She wasn’t going nowhere without him.”

Chris wanted to go in and bring them both out, but the driver, a big burly man, said he’d do it. For all his size, Chris was impressed with how gentle he was when he spoke to the horse.

“Come on now, you want to make a good first impression, don’t ya? Come out on of there and let the pretty lady get a look at you. She won’t be taking away your friend.” The horse snorted at him. “You can be mad at me all you want, but this here woman is going to give you what you want. More’n them others would.”

“What did they do to her?” The driver glanced at Joey before looking at her. “I need to know so we don’t make the same mistakes.”

“They bred her too young is what they did. Messed her up in her innards. Poor thing…she’s not got what it takes no more to do more than fight ya. I’m thinking they meant to put her down, but that notice that came out that you were helping them horses out had me going back there and making them a deal.” Chris looked at Joey, who seemed just as surprised as she was about the notice. “Cost me a might more than I could do, but I wasn’t going to have her put down, not this beauty.”

“I’ll pay you back, every cent. For the donkey too.” The man nodded at Joey when he spoke, and Chris wondered how much it had been. But then the donkey moved up to her and put his head under her hand.

The horse watched her. When she started moving toward her, the driver warned her not to make any sudden moves. But when she put her hand out, waiting for the small head to touch it, she felt tears fill her eyes when she realized how terrified the little thing was. As soon as her head touched her hand, Chris felt it all.

“She’s depressed. Very much so. The donkey made her eat and kept her from dying when he stopped eating too. She calls him Baby.” The other pony, a white one, came forward as well, and she realized they were twins. “This one is going to have a foal, and she’s afraid. But she won’t leave her sister.”

As they were helped out of the trailer, the last one was opened. Chris saw Heath getting out of his car just as the trailer rocked. The horse was beating the sides of it with not just her hooves, but her head as well. Chris didn’t go inside, but she could still feel the poor thing.

“She’s…she’s hurting. Not just her body, but her head too. There’s something there.” Heath asked her what it was. “I don’t know. It’s…I think she has a tumor.”

“Yeah, I thought so. Got her paperwork last night and was surprised that nobody checked on that. Olivia, that’s her name, was the daughter of a couple of prime flesh, but she never came around. I’d bet she was born with that thing and now it’s more than likely too late for her.” Chris hated to admit it, but she thought so too. “You’re going to have to make the decision, sweetie. I can do the job, but not without you giving me the okay.”

In the end Joey had to sign off on the paperwork. Olivia never came out of the trailer, and Heath had to go inside and do it there. When it was over, Chris went into the house. Reggie met her at the living room door with the babies. Chris took them both and sat down on the couch and cried for an hour.

Chapter 9

“I don’t understand what you’re telling me. There is plenty of money in that account, and the charge card is a company credit card. There should be no problems with that.” The clerk at the hotel desk only stared at him. Jackson was ready to scream, but he was trying his best to hold his temper. “Look, why don’t you call my firm? I have the number right here.”

“We did call them, Mr. Hill. They told us that as of now, this credit card is no longer being honored on their end. Perhaps you should call them.” When she walked away from him, Jackson started to tell her to get her ass back here, he wasn’t finished with this. But the appearance of Myra made him move away. He nearly tripped over his luggage.

“You did this, didn’t you?” Myra laughed and sat down on the couch. Jackson had no choice but to sit by her. Today she was dressed all in purple, including her hair. And it wasn’t just purple, but a neon sort of color that made him think of black lights and spinning balls. “Why is my checking account drained, as well as my company card no longer useful?”

“You’ve been fired, I’m afraid.” He told her she was lying. “I don’t lie, and you have been. There was a little problem with your billing. You should know better than to cheat a system that relies on you to be honest. They caught you with your pants down, so to speak.”

“So, I padded the time I spent with clients. They all do that.” She shook her head. “Yes they do. I bet your buddy Chris does it as well.”

“Actually, she under bills her clients. The firm knows that, and they don’t mind a few hours off here and there. But apparently it was noticed that some of the times that you had billed Mr. Pinkerton, he was dead.” Jackson tried to remember if he’d even known that he was dead. “He died over a month ago. You’ve been billing him over twenty hours a week since then. I don’t think you have that much power that you can speak to the dead and then bill them.”

“So. It’s not like his estate can’t afford it.” She only nodded. “What else is going on? They don’t fire you for one little overbilling.”

“Chris quit, did she tell you that? Gave her notice just the other day. The place was heartbroken about it. But her reasons for leaving might not have gone over well with the partners. I don’t think that she cared for you telling her clients that you and she were an item. And then there was the added fact that she’s getting married to a fine lawyer.” Myra leaned back and Jackson wanted to strangle her. “You do and I will not just get your powers, but I will not let you go easily.”

He had to take several deep calming breaths before he could speak. Things were not just going sour right now, but he had expenses that he couldn’t fix. The hotel was kicking him out…had kicked him out by packing up for him. The money that he’d been using, his money, was now gone, and his account was overdrawn by not just a few dollars, but thousands the woman had told him this morning when he’d called to have a wire transfer. And now Myra was telling him that he’d lost his fucking job too.

“Okay. That explains the credit card, but not my account. I have well over six grand in there. Did they take that as well?” He was still reeling about Chris. The nerve of her getting him into trouble with his job. He didn’t like it, but that was no reason for her to bite him in the ass about it. It was then that he remembered Myra telling him something about him owing her money. “How much did you take?”

“All of it. And it wasn’t nearly enough. I usually charge ten thousand for the murder of one of my creatures. Did you know that they’re mine? I mean, I created them, and when someone uses them I get a settlement from that. But when they’re killed…well, I take what I can. Same as you.” She waved her hand over her outfit and it changed from the purple to a blinding green. He was stunned to see her hair had changed as well. “You need to make some arrangements to pay the rest, or I’ll have to think you’re not going to pay. And that simply won’t do.”

He had some money in an offshore account. Not a great deal, but enough for him to get a start once this thing with Chris was finished. Jackson didn’t have high standards of living, but the money was not going to last very long if he owed Myra another four grand for a thing that hadn’t done its job in the first place. Jackson needed to get this over with so he could move on with his other plans.

“As you well know, I don’t have it. And as of right now I’m penniless, as well as without a place to stay while I’m here. I can pay you some of what I owe you when I deal with Chris.” Myra laughed, and he looked at her. “You still think that she’s stronger than me, don’t you? Well, she’s not. Not only does her power lay dormant, but she has no base in the first place. Angel had it all.”

“You do what you think you should. If she kills you, please remember that I told you so.” She stood up then, and he looked around to see if anyone had noticed that she was now dressed in a formal gown of the most hideous shade of yellow he’d ever seen. “I have a dinner to attend. I’m going to have fun and think of you while I’m enjoying myself. You might want to make sure that all your ducks are in a row, Jackson. I don’t think you’ll have many opportunities once you make your way to Chris’s house.”

Then she just disappeared. Jackson sat there for another ten minutes. If asked, he couldn’t have said what he’d been thinking about for his life, but he did get up when the clerk at the counter said his name.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t allow loitering. I’m afraid you’ll have to move on.” He started to ask her where the hell he was supposed to go but only picked up his bags. The first thing he was going to have to do was find a bank, then transfer some of his cash to his account. Hopefully he could do this without Myra taking it as soon as it hit. This thing was not turning out the way he’d hoped.

Calling the firm had gotten him nowhere. He was informed that his last check would go to covering the added expense of the court costs from the Pinkerton estate. Then he was asked how he was going to have his things shipped to his home.

“You mean the stuff in my desk?” The woman at the other end told him that was correct. “Why can’t I just come by when I get home and pick it up? I can’t really afford the shipping right at this moment.”

“Oh no, sir. You are no longer allowed on the premises. Security knows to make sure that you cannot enter the building as well. We’ll have to ship it to you. How would you like to pay for that? We’d prefer that you used a major credit card please, and things will not go out until we’re assured of getting the money.” He hung up on her.

There was no talking to some people. They had a script and they never deviated from it, no matter what. He called her kind cattle. Some day he was going to have the power to change those kind of beings into just what they were. A herd of cattle. His phone ringing startled him to stop walking.

“Hello, Jackson. Are you having a bit of trouble?” Chris. He should have known that Myra would run to her to let her know what was going on. “I understand that you’ve been let go from the firm. I guess you really didn’t like the job anyway, did you?”

“I like you even less. Were you in on this with her? With Myra? If so, I’m going to make it my life to ruin you. And that new husband of yours. Does he know what you are, Chris? Have you shared your life with him and all of the truth? You told me that you had, but I just don’t believe he’d be that understanding.” She laughed. “You won’t think this is so funny when I have your sister’s magic. I’m going to make you pay.”

“I don’t think so, but you’re more than welcome to come here and try. Oh, but you don’t have a car or money. Would you like for me to send you a car? I could you know, just send you a limo to pick you up.” Jackson would rather die, and he told her that. “Too bad. But I have made some arrangements for you. There’s a cute little bed and breakfast right near where you’re standing. Do you see it? It’s called the Bustle. I’m not sure why, but there you have it.”

“And what is this place really? A falling down building that will land on my head once I enter it? Why the hell would you think that I’d trust you after yesterday?” He’d been sick for nearly three hours. Every time he thought of what she’d done to him, he was throwing up all over again.

“It’s really a B&B, Jackson. Look it up on your phone while you can.” He moved to the side of the street that the building was on and went to the Internet. He rarely used this thing for looking things up on, but he was desperate to find a place he could stay. “I just asked Joey and he said that it’s called that because the woman who owned it before it was converted used to sell bustles. I guess there are some of her designs in every room.”

Jackson was surprised when it came up on his phone. “Why are you being nice to me? Is it because you think I’m going to go easy on you? I’m not. I want what is mine, Chris, and you’d do well to remember who is stronger here.” Her laughter rattled over the phone, and he waited for her to finish. “What do I have to do to stay here? And this had better not be another one of your jokes.”

Jackson had thought about her ability to have him see what he had yesterday. He had no idea why she’d do this to him, but he had a feeling that Myra was involved. She could make those things happen a lot easier than Chris could have. Not to mention, there was no way she could have done it without being close to him. Jackson could work his magic at a distance, but not much more than about ten feet. He was hoping that would improve as well.

“I’m working on being nice. Not to you, but you’re down on your luck and I’m going to help you. With this. You can stay in the place for a week, but after that, you’re on your own. Oh, and don’t bother with the overseas account. Myra has donated it to a very good cause. She said to tell you thanks.” The line was dead before he could tell her what he thought of her or Myra.

Jackson stood outside for twenty minutes. He was afraid to go in if he was honest with himself. For all he knew, Myra could have it so that once he entered, his powers would be gone and he’d never be able to leave. Things were not going the way he’d hoped they would since coming here. But he needed a place to rest. A place he could plan for his confrontation with Myra and Chris.

As soon as he was in his room, he went around testing his magic on it. Not a lot but enough to let him know that this place was real. He wasn’t sure he would ever eat again, but he was comfortable for now. Leaning back on the massive headboard, Jackson thought of the rules he’d learned to live by the hard way.

The number one rule was not to harm another witch. You could kill them so long as their power was stronger than yours, but you couldn’t maim or harm them for self-gain. He had wondered if what Myra had done to him yesterday counted, and was pretty sure that making one sick wasn’t really maiming anyone. That was a weird rule, but it had served him well over the last few years in that he followed it to the letter.

Secondly, and most important of all the rules he’d learned, was to never use magic on yourself. Ever. He’d done that only one time, and had vowed that no matter what, he’d never do it again.

The day had been shitty. Not just shitty now that he thought about it, but really in the whole down in the dump kind of day where you wished yourself dead. Jackson had had no job, no money, and he was struggling to make it to the end of the week with what little food he’d had left. All he’d wanted was a hot pizza. He didn’t even care if it was just cheese, just a hot one with steam rolling off the top of it. So in a fit of what he thought of now as stupidity, he’d made someone bring him one.

It had arrived within minutes of his request. The man seemed to be slightly confused when he handed him a bottle of water in form of payment, but he had his food and he slammed the door in his face before he could ask any questions. Jackson sat the hot box on the table and gathered up what he thought he’d need to enjoy the first hot meal he’d had in days.

“I should have known better.” Speaking aloud made him wince at the sound, but he thought more of the disaster. And there were more descriptive words for what had happened, but he was okay with disaster for now.

His plate was in his hand, and there was another bottle of water there for his own drink. Napkins had been placed just so, and even though they were from various restaurants he’d been to over the last months, it mattered little to the grand dinner he was about to have.

Then he opened the box.

He was never really sure how he’d sat in the chair. He was just suddenly seated. The dinner that he’d been looking forward to stared back at him. Literally. The face that was made of the hot cheese sort of melted together, and the eyes, if that was what there were, seemed to blink in and out of focus.

“This is wrong. You know that, right?” He nodded at the cheesy face. “Yeah, I thought you did. But you did it anyway, didn’t you?”

“I’m hungry.” On some level he knew that he was having a conversation with an inanimate object, but he thought his mind had gone out for a break by this point. “I just wanted to have something good for a change.”

“So you thought ‘I have some power, I’ll just conjure myself some dinner. To eat by myself. For my own entertainment.’” Jackson remembered nodding. “No. You can’t do that. You were told this, and yet here you are about to eat a part of me. Would you like a little of my chin? How about my cheek? There’s a nice piece of basil at my mouth there. Would you like to nibble on that? Or my eyes? Do you want to eat my eyes, Jackson?”

The plate in his hand had shattered on the floor. The thing, the pizza man, just kept taunting him, offering up parts of himself for Jackson to eat. Instead, Jackson closed up the box and put the pie, along with his stack of napkins, in front of the apartment across from him. He didn’t even look to see if it had been taken in after a brief knock on the door. Jackson had never eaten a piece of pizza or anything that even resembled one since then.