Mason (9 page)
Emma held her mother while she cried, and
Mason tried to think how this would work. When Emma touched his mind, he felt
like he was in deep trouble when she told him that she’d feel better as well.
I don’t trust that he shouldn’t be able to
get inside. And if he does, then he will hurt us. There is no doubt about it
now
.
He told her that he agreed.
Mason, I know that you’re afraid to hurt Dirk…that
maybe I’ll be pissed at you or something, but right now if he were here, I’d
tear his fucking throat out
.
Mason said he would move in with them. But
instead of going to the house where she’d grown up, they decided that they
should move into the house that belonged to Emma. Katie wasn’t even sure that
Dirk was aware of the house, and they might be safer. Mason figured that a
smaller house might be easier for him to protect.
Mason nearly fell over when they pulled up in
front of the “little” house.
~~~
Dirk sat at the table and watched the news. Why
they were making a big deal out of this was beyond him. His father was hurt, so
what? It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford the best care to get better. And had
he just done what Dirk has asked him to do, then things would have been better
for him. Dirk thought about the conversation he’d had with his dad just before
he left to find something stronger to hit him with.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this to
yourself. I just want what is mine. What is your problem with that?” He’d hit him
in the head with the bat he’d brought with him. “Dad, don’t ignore me. I just
want you to hand over your wallet with the cards in it, and I’ll go back to the
house and wait for you to bring me some cash. Everything will be just fine
then.”
The bat had broken when he’d hit him again.
It might not have had his father not parked so close to the curb. His father
was being very inconvenient, and the sooner he just gave him what he wanted,
things would go back to normal. Well, as normal as they could be now that he no
longer trusted them.
The timer dinged on the microwave and he got
up to see to his meal. It was his third such meal in the last twenty minutes,
and he was getting pissed about how very little there was in the container. There
was no point in going out to talk to the woman who was in the house before him.
Dirk had discovered that she had died at some point, and now he had no one to
fix this for him.
The house he was in wasn’t his own. Not only
was it much smaller than his home, but this one had no servants. But he needed
a place to stay and there was an open garage door that led into the house. The
woman that was in the kitchen when he came in had startled him or he wouldn’t
have had to hit her to quiet her. His head was pounding, and she should have
known better than to do that.
The meal was done, but it looked odd. He read
the name on the front again, and this didn’t look like any chicken Alfredo that
he’d ever eaten. Dirk thought about calling the manufacturer again but wasn’t
willing to wait on hold again. The last time it had been five minutes, and he
had better things to do with his time. And no matter how much he looked, there
wasn’t a special number for the wealthy to use written anywhere on the box, nor
was there a number to press for it on their tree. He ate most of this one and
tossed it away like he had the other meals that weren’t up to par.
Dirk wasn’t happy with the way things were
going. Not having any way to get around other than walking was making him sore
and cranky. Then there was the fact that he couldn’t party either. He’d had to
roll a man last night for enough drugs to get him just a little high, and then
had gone back and killed him for it being inferior stuff. His parents and his
sister had a lot to answer for when they got him back home. Not to mention the
messes that were piling up because of the way he’d been treated. Dirk looked up
at the television again when he heard his name. Finding the remote, he turned
it up.
“…last night, leaving one man dead and two
more injured. Dirk McBride is considered to be armed and dangerous at this hour,
and the police would like for you to call the number on the screen rather than approach
him. To repeat, Dirk McBride is wanted for questioning in the death of Pavel
Dillinger, as well as the robbery of the
Gas and Go
on Fourth Street
that left two men fighting for their lives. We’ll keep you updated on more
information as we get it.”
Dirk wrote the number down. There were some
things that they were missing, and he wanted to call them and straighten them
out. First of all, he didn’t kill Dillinger, whoever that might be. And if it
was the drug guy he’d rolled then went back to kill, it wasn’t his fault. If
you were going to try and sell him crappy shit, then you had to pay the
consequences. As for the
Gas and Go
? He’d only beat them up because they
refused to give him the combination to the safe. He no more believed the sign
that said it was on a timer than he did the man begging him for his life
because he was getting married. Who the fuck cared if you were going to shackle
yourself to a woman or whatever? Dirk McBride came first in all things.
“Fucking bastards.” He got up to pace. “I’m
not the bad guy in this. It’s Mason Douglas. He thought he’d be such a big man
and have my parents who love me teach me a lesson. I don’t even know what the
lesson is, but I’m out of my home, no money to spend, and my best shirt is
ruined because my dad is a stubborn old fool.”
The news played on in the background and he
paused when he heard his nemesis’ name. “Mason Douglas and his brother Jace are
still looking for donations to help with the family that was burned out of
their home last week. Linens as well as simple cleaning supplies are needed, as
well as beds. The family lost everything in the fire, including their little
puppy, Bigalow.” The newscaster turned to the man sitting next to her as she
continued. “I heard just before coming on air this evening that someone donated
a puppy to the two little girls. That was the sweetest thing, don’t you think?”
Dirk picked up the chair and threw it at the
television. There were people like him out of a place to live, and no one gave
a shit about him. Who the fuck cared about a family that didn’t have the sense to
put out a fire when it started, compared to him and his losses?
As he made his way through the house,
destroying what he could lift, he decided that he was going to take matters
into his own hands and go and take care of the problem. And the problem was
Mason. The man had caused him enough trouble, and it was time for him to be put
back in his place…his sister too if she put up any kind of fuss. Dirk was the
son of Landon and Katie McBride, and he was going to make them all sit up and
take better care to remember that.
It took him three hours of searching the house
for money before he found any. There was a purse in the kitchen when he’d
arrived, but it was empty of even a wallet. Going from room to room looking for
anything had made him even madder, and by the time he’d found the woman’s
stash, he nearly screamed in frustration when he realized how little she had
for him. Four hundred dollars would barely pay for him a nice pair of pants and
a shirt, much less get him out to his parents’ house.
The car in the garage taunted him. Dirk have
never learned how to drive a clutch, and considered it way beneath him to do so.
Besides, there had always been a ride for him when he wasn’t able to drive
himself. The limo had been his to use whenever he wished, up until about a year
ago when his dad had forbade him to take his friends in it. Then there was the
woman that had been found in the trunk that had really pissed his father off.
“Big deal.” His dad had told him it had cost
a great deal of money to compensate the family for what he and his friends had
done to her, and Dirk had argued it was nothing compared to what they’d done to
the other woman. Dirk had been slapped for that, and he had never forgiven his
father for that either. It wasn’t like they’d killed them.
“You raped those women. Drugged them and
raped them. What the hell were you thinking? or were you?” It had been a trick
question, Dirk had known it, but he’d been too hung over and stoned to think. “Dirk?
Answer me.”
“Just fucking pay them off and let me get
some sleep. Why the fuck do you care what I do so long as I’m happy?” His dad
had walked away then and Dirk laughed. “You might want to keep the checkbook
open, Dad. I’m betting you get a few more calls about last night too.”
He supposed his dad had paid them off because
he never heard another thing about it. His life had been perfect before Mason. He’d
had what he wanted when he wanted it and how he needed it. Now it was all going
in the wrong direction, and he wasn’t going to stand for it any longer.
Emma wasn’t sure what was going on in Mason’s
mind, but she could tell that it was either pissed or overwhelmed. She tried her
best to see this through his eyes, and thought it was a great deal of both. This
was a house made for someone who had grown up this way, not someone who was
just getting into it.
“Would you like to see our room?” He looked
ready to bolt, and she put her hand over his heart. “Mason, this is our house,
but if you don’t like it we can sell it and move anywhere you think is better.”
“This has been in your family for a while
now, hasn’t it?” She nodded and told him it didn’t matter. “I don’t want you to
have to sell it, but…it’s a big adjustment for me. I mean, a fucking huge
adjustment.”
“I know.” One of the servants came into the
living room where they were and told them that there was a phone call for
Master Mason. Before he went with Sally, Mason leaned down to her ear.
“Can you please have them stop calling me
Master Mason? I feel like I should be looking for another person every time
someone does that to me.” She giggled and he smiled at her. “I think I could
get used to this, but it might take me a while. I expected…well, smaller. And a
good deal less people in it to run it.”
She was still laughing when he left her with
a quick kiss. Her mom came into the room just as she was ready to ask one of
the girls who were helping out try and get the televisions that had been
delivered today hung up. Emma was scared when she looked at the girl who
approached her.
“There’s a man at the door. He told me to
tell you that he cannot come in until you invite him.” Emma moved toward her
and stopped when the girl, Vicki she thought her name was, continued. “I know
that you’re aware of what we are now, so I wanted to let you know that this man
is a vampire. He says he’s a friend of your father’s.”
“Go and tell Mason that I need him. Also, there’s
a man in the back of the house, his name is Randy. Go and get him now.” As she
came out of the living room to the hall, not only was Mason there but Zach as
well. The man at the door only stood there and smiled at them.
“My name is Monroe Hobbs. I’ve been a friend
of your dad, Landon, for a good long time. Your mother knows me, though I don’t
know if she’s aware that I’m not human.” He looked at Mason and then at her
again. “Your mate. A good man. Mason and his family have also been in my sights
for some time now.”
“Sights how?” Zach asked a very good question
and Emma thought she’d like to know as well. “I know that your kind thinks our
blood is better than human blood, but if you think we’re letting you in so you
can slaughter us, then you have to think again. You’re not coming in.”
“Hello, Monroe.” He bowed low when her mom
came into the room. “You got my message then?”
“I did. I’ve come to see if I could offer
some help.” Emma watched her mom go to the door to let him in. “I’m sorry, my
lady, but the owner of this house must let me in. Or I’ll just have to stay
here and talk to them.”
Her mom looked at her, then at Mason. “He’s
not human, I’m sure you’re aware of that. I wasn’t until a few weeks ago when Landon
told me. He said that if he was ever on his death bed and not from the cancer,
to make sure that I let Monroe know. Then he told me that he could protect me
better than anyone. He told me this before you came into our lives.”
Emma went to the door and Monroe stopped her
from opening it. “He’s your mate, my lady, and he will have to let me in. I’m
aware that you are newly mated, but he is a master of his leap and he will need
to welcome me.”
Mason stood there without moving. She wanted
to tell him if Monroe could help her dad, then he had better let the man in.
But he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at him before speaking.
“What do you mean about us?” Monroe laughed
and Mason took a step toward him. “I’m not fucking around here. My friend and
future father-in-law is hurt, and if you want to help us, then answer the
damned question.”
“All right. There was a time when I owned the
land on which you are living. Your parents—I am sorry for their deaths—came to
me when I was ill and gave me something that few would give a vampire. I gave
them the land in exchange for them keeping my…home…safe. After their deaths, I
went to your aunt, a lovely woman, and told her of the deal. She, of course,
knew about it and has honored me since.” Monroe seemed to think something was
funny and grinned hugely. “You’re a great deal like your father, by the way. He
was very stubborn as well until he realized that I had no intentions of harming
his family. I will not harm yours either, Mason. You can trust me on that.”
“My aunt said to ask you the date. I’m not
sure what she means, but she said that only you would know, as you were there.”
Monroe nodded and gave him the date. “That’s my birthdate.”
“It is. And you should know that helping your
mother bring you into the world was the greatest pleasure I’ve had in all my
life. Your father was very…grateful that I was there to assist.”
“She was dying.” Monroe nodded as he turned to
Emma. “You saved her life, and that’s what made his dad trust you.”
“You, my dear, are a great deal like your
father as well. He was never one to sit idly by while things were going on
around him. I should like to help him if you’d allow it.” Mason told him he
could enter, and Monroe came into the house. “Now. I’m to understand that he is
grave? That they do not…shall we go?”
Monroe told them that he would meet them
there. Her mom was standing in the hallway when she came down the stairs again.
She looked…Emma thought she looked lost. Touching her fingers to her arm, her
mom turned and looked at her.
“Your father…he was going to die. I just
couldn’t…I don’t want to live without him, Emma. Not after all this time.” Emma
felt her heart twist in her chest and her mom cried. “He’s my world, after you
children. He can be contrary as all get out when he wants, but he’s mine and I
just…calling in Monroe was something that I promised your dad I would do. He
thought…for years he’s thought that Dirk was going to hurt us, but I…never in
all my life would I have thought it was true. My son is a monster.”
Emma couldn’t even disagree with her. She’d
seen the files that Mason had. And she’d been in the court room with her
brother when he’d been arrested a few times. He was right, the McBride name had
saved him and the money had gone a long way to buying things off. It wasn’t
until recently that she figured out that her brother wasn’t sane. There was
something very wrong with him.
They rode over in Zach’s car. It was a little
tight, but Mason had said that taking the limo to the hospital would just
announce to Dirk where they were. So Zach had driven them. Emma laughed every
time she looked at the way Mason had been stuffed in the front seat, and how he
kept grumbling about a bigger ride.
“Hey, it’s paid for, and I don’t have to pay
much in the way of insurance anymore.” Zach winked at her in the mirror and
smiled. “It’s big enough for me and a girl should we have a need to get
friendly.”
Emma burst out laughing when her mom hit Zach
in the back of the head. She wasn’t sure if he’d forgotten she was back there
or he was so used to being with his brothers that it never occurred to him to
be a little discreet when talking about his sex-capades. If his red face was
any indication, he’d forgotten her.
“Young man, I’m sure that whoever this young
woman is would not appreciate you bantering her about as if she meant so little
to you.” He told her she was right. “Good. Now, you should go and buy her some
flowers if all you did was have your…friendly taken care of.”
Emma was still laughing at Zach when they
entered the parking garage. Monroe was there waiting for them. To say she was
scared would have been an understatement. But she was also aware that this man
might be her father’s only hope. She wondered what he was going to do, and
decided that she didn’t really want to know. So long as Dad was all right, then
whatever it was, she was okay with it.
~~~
Mason wanted to tell the vampire to back off,
but Aunt Georgie said that he was a good man and true to his word. It didn’t
make him feel much better, but it did help. As they entered the private room
that Landon was in, Mason had to hold onto the bed when he looked at his
friend.
His head was wrapped in gauze, but it was
blood stained. His face was covered in not just the oxygen mask that was
helping him breath, but a tube in his mouth that looked as if it too had blood
in it. But what you could see of his face made Mason realize how old Landon was
and how he’d suffered. Bruises and the dark thread of the stitches that they’d
used to put him back together were a startling contrast to his pale skin.
His arm was tied to a board to hold the two
IV’s that were keeping the pain meds flowing. Landon’s other arm was wrapped in
a cast, as was his leg. It was lifted high off the bed in what could only be
described as a crane and winch, but it was the monitors that had him standing
back.
Several were beeping loudly. There was one
that showed his heart beating, and on occasion it would show his blood
pressure. Mason knew very little about such things, but he thought that a rate
of sixty over thirty-five was bad, and his heart was only beating at twenty-two
a minute. The nurse came in just as Monroe was moving to the bed. It took
Monroe only a second to move her out of the room.
Before Monroe did anything, he looked at
Katie. “He’s close to dying, love. Soon, as a matter of fact. What I can do for
him…I might be too late.”
“Do what you can.” He nodded and looked at Mason
again. There was a question there, and Mason was sure he was asking him
permission to do this. Also, Mason thought he was telling him that this might
end worse than they all thought. When he nodded, Monroe nodded back and turned to
the bed. As soon as he tore into his own wrist, Katie staggered. Zach caught
her just as she would have fallen and sat her in the chair. Mason held onto Emma,
as she too seemed a little wobbly on her feet.
It was over in a matter of minutes. There wasn’t
any improvement in Landon’s health so far as Mason could see on the monitors,
but Monroe sat down on the other chair and looked at him. He looked drained, and
Mason felt sorry for him.
“You’ve not fed. You came right here.” He
nodded and told him he’d be fine. “You won’t be and you know it. Why would you
do something as irresponsible as that?”
“I told you that he was my friend.” Mason
nodded. “You would do the same should he ask you and you know it. I came as
soon as I got the message.”
“You’re going to need to feed.” Monroe asked
him if he was volunteering and Mason told him he was. “Like you said, he’s my
friend as well, and as you have helped him, I would be honored should you allow
me to help you.”
“I cannot do that, young Mason. Should you
wish to sever our relationship at any time, it cannot ever happen. I will know
you as no one else would. We would forever be bonded.” Mason moved toward the
man, holding onto Emma’s hand as he did so. When he let her go, it was to take
off his jacket and bare his arm to him. Monroe stood up and pulled his arm to
him to read the tat that Mason seldom thought about anymore.
“You’re marked. I had no idea that you could
hold ink once you shifted.” Mason nodded and told him that all of his brothers
had a tattoo, and they had no idea why they remained. “You’re very special
then. And this, what does it mean to you?”
He was talking about the tattoo. Mason looked
at it and read aloud the words that he’d put there. “‘Love is composed of a
single soul inhabiting two bodies.’ Aristotle.
My mother used to tell me
this all the time. That someday I’d meet my other half, and she’d help me
conquer my other self. I had no idea what she meant until I met Emma.”
“You love her.” Mason nodded, only just realizing
it himself. “Good, then you can understand why I will take your blood so freely
offered. It is given with love, and the understanding that you care deeply and
love hard for the same man and his family that I do.”
“I do.” Monroe took his wrist to his mouth
and licked his pulse before biting him. There was no pain in it, and Mason had
expected at least some. When he was finished, Monroe staggered back much like
Katie had. Mason caught him before he fell and helped him to the chair.
“You’re stronger than I thought, young
cougar.” Mason had no idea what that meant but nodded. “When you have children,
I will come to you then. I should like to see them and to see if they carry the
same strength as their father. I think they’ll carry more of you than even I
can imagine.”
Before he could ask him what the hell he was
talking about, the monitors behind him started to scream at them. The heart
machine told that Landon’s heart had stopped and was begging for someone to
come and fix him. His blood pressure had dropped as well until it was a
straight line. Katie started sobbing, holding onto Zach as she did. Mason felt
his own tears fall down his checks as he held onto Emma, watching the man he’d
come to love and respect die.