Dragon Hunts (8 page)

Declan’s eyes cut at me. “You and Bobby will stay here until we get you new IDs and passports. It will only take a few days. Then we’ll be leaving for London until this matter is resolved.”

“London?” I echoed. “Why London?”

“We have a safe house there.”

Why, of course.

“Besides, they have a private school that’s good for Bobby’s situation. They guarantee discretion and security.” Declan turned to my son. “Would you like to go to London, Bobby?”

“Do I get to ride in an airplane?”

“Of course.”

“Then, yes. I’ve never got to ride in an airplane before.”

“You’ll love it.”

I unconsciously frowned at my son. Such a little conspirator. As I stood near the pristine kitchen island, I learnt that my fate had been decided by Declan. I still wasn’t sure about this whole thing, but my little boy looked so content. Maybe I was being unfair, subjecting him to hardship by taking him on the run while a man like Declan was more than happy to shelter and love us.

Maybe I should have a little faith in Declan and let him handle this problem in the manner he saw fit.

Maybe I should have a little faith in
us
.

Declan examined my reaction. “What do you think, Jessie? You haven’t said a word to me since the motel.”

I wanted to say that I didn’t want to see Declan’s beautiful face being mutilated by my ex. But my boy looked so joyous. He’d be sleeping in a clean place, well fed, protected and secure. “I honestly don’t know what to say,” I confided.

Declan looked pissed again. He must think I had no faith in him. Guilt seized me in its fervent grip.

Declan started to say something when Braden cut in. “We have a problem.” Declan’s gaze went straight to the security monitor. A bunch of suit-clad men were approaching the front and back gates. I recognised one of them.

Lorenzo.

My heart dropped to my guts. “We have to call the police. Call nine-one-one.”

Unexpectedly, Declan smiled. “No need. This is the showdown I’ve been waiting for.”

“Are you mad?” I dropped my purse and bags. I snatched his arm and shook him. “This is no joke, Declan. You have to call the police.” My eyes scanned the kitchen. I saw a cordless phone by the sink. I would have used my own cell phone, but I had discarded it when we were on the run so Declan couldn’t track us.

“Calm down, Jessie.” Declan grabbed my arm. “You and Bobby need to get into the panic room. Braden!”

Braden herded Bobby in front of him as Declan dragged me through the long hallway and into a master bedroom. He pushed a keypad near the closet. Suddenly, one side of the wall moved, sliding aside, revealing a thick steel door. It looked like a bank’s vault door with a sophisticated, wheeled lock mechanism and LCD display. Declan punched some numbers on its keypad. Unceremoniously, he shoved me and my son inside.

The inside was quite spacious, as big as a walk-in closet. One side of the wall was plastered with half a dozen monitors, displaying simultaneous live feeds from around the house.

“You stay here,” Declan said to me. “Wait until everything is settled.”

“But—”

Declan slammed the door in my face.

“God damn it,” I screamed, kicking the door. It was no use, of course. But I felt like kicking and screaming anyway. How could Declan be so foolish? I knew he wanted to play the knight in shining armour, but what he had chosen to do was incredibly stupid. Did Declan even own a gun? How would he defend himself against a monster like Lorenzo? Braden and Curran were also in the house. Those sweet, innocent young men. Scary Joe’s minions would turn them into pulp.

“Mommy?”

I whirled around. Bobby was standing next to the monitors. He chewed his lip, looking serious.

“Look!” He pointed.

On the screens, I saw Declan and his brothers retreat into what looked like a home office. Braden left the door wide open, as if he was inviting Lorenzo and his goons in. On the other screen, I saw Scary Joe abandon his attempt to break the door in when he found out it was unlocked. Lorenzo and his men swarmed in.

My heart pounded so fast that I felt light-headed. On one side of the monitor, I saw a phone. I quickly yanked it off the wall and pressed nine-one-one. I got a dial tone, but it suddenly died. My eyes skated to the screen. In Declan’s office, he looked up at the camera and shook his head slightly. Declan had killed the outside connection.

What the hell?

How can he be so reckless? That damn idiot! Stupid! Son of a…

I stomped my feet in desperation, not knowing what to do. I couldn’t stomach the idea of Declan and his brothers being massacred by my deranged ex right before our eyes.

Lorenzo’s men stormed from room to room until they found Declan and his brothers in the study. They were all armed to the teeth. Declan sat behind his desk, cool composure never leaving his face. Braden leaned against the window behind Declan’s chair, taking a long drag from his cigarette. Curran sat on a chair by the desk, steepling his fingers, looking terminally bored.

I pulled my hair. Screaming would be useless. What the hell did they think they were doing?

Lorenzo barged into the study. He looked even more repulsive than the last time I’d seen him. Dressed in a black ensemble, I noticed he’d gained considerable weight. His face was ruddy, glistening with sweat. He looked downright scary. In the past, if I’d seen Lorenzo in that kind of mood, I’d sought refuge in the bedroom and prayed he wouldn’t hurt me too badly. He always did.

Lorenzo and Declan were trading words. We couldn’t hear what they were saying. I scanned the bottom of the screens. Each had a series of buttons. I eyed them closely until I found what looked like a volume button. I pushed it experimentally. Lorenzo’s angry voice filled the panic room.

“Are you saying you’re fucking my gal?” Lorenzo whipped out his gun.

“Indeed I am. I must say she’s one hell of an incredible woman,” Declan replied smoothly. His voice carried no trace of fear. “I couldn’t get enough of bedding her.”

I covered Bobby’s ears so he wouldn’t hear what they were saying.

Lorenzo spewed a string of curses. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Who do you think you are, barging into our house uninvited?” Declan rose from his seat. Curran did, too. Braden crushed his cigarette in an ashtray. “Eliza Vanger is mine. I want you to stay away from her and her son.”

Lorenzo was taken aback. “Do you believe this prick?” He sought confirmation from his men. Scary Joe and his goons grinned. “I’m gonna kill you,” Lorenzo told Declan. “I’m gonna fucking kill you twice.”

Declan exhaled a long-suffering breath. “Well, I guess there is no other way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I blinked as blurred movements filled the monitors. Braden and Curran leapt with inhuman agility, taking down Scary Joe and his goons one by one. One second I saw Braden glide into the middle of the commotion and the next, I saw that Scary Joe was airborne, hurled across the room. Shots being fired and deafening bangs boomed from the speakers. Curran took down the others. I wouldn’t have guessed the two possessed such awesome martial arts skills. When they stopped, all eight of Lorenzo’s goons were on the floor, either unconscious or bleeding badly.

Bleeding?

I blinked again.

Braden and Curran stood with outstretched arms. Their hands didn’t look right. They were elongated, with sharp talons protruding from where their fingers should have been. My jaw dropped.

What the hell…

It took Lorenzo long seconds to realise his men had been taken down. His expression changed. His beady eyes narrowed. He swore and aimed the gun at Declan. Before he could pull the trigger, Braden, with one smooth swoop, knocked the gun from his hand. It fell and discharged accidentally. The bullet ricocheted and hit one of Scary Joe’s goons in the knee. The man howled.

Fear filled Lorenzo’s eyes. Something that I’d never seen before. Lorenzo’s gaze was transfixed on Declan. His mouth was fixed in a frozen scream.

A small smile hovered at the corner of Declan’s lips. He stretched out his arms. His body slowly changed. His clothes ripped. A pair of black, leathery wings suddenly burst from his back. His arms elongated and sharp talons emerged from his fingers.

“What the fuck are you?” Lorenzo shouted.

“I’m your deepest, darkest, nightmare, asshat.”

Declan leapt onto his desk and completed the transformation. His body mass grew until his head almost touched the ceilings. Spiky tail sprouted. Fangs flashed. Gleaming, onyx scales covered his entire body. He morphed into a great big serpent with wings and claws.

He jumped on Lorenzo and hurled my ex across the room. Lorenzo’s back smashed against the bookshelf. He slumped on the floor. Declan pounced on him and swatted him again.

I turned Bobby away so he didn’t have to see all this.

Whimpering pleas full of pain came from the speakers.

“It’s fun, isn’t it? Beating a helpless person like you did to Eliza?” Declan’s barely human voice reverberated in the panic room. “It made you feel like a big man, didn’t it? Did you ever pick on someone your own size?”

I heard more crashes and swishes and horrible noises I didn’t want to guess at. I shuddered. Lorenzo screamed like a little girl, pleading with Declan to stop. When Declan finally granted him mercy, it felt like hours had passed by.

Bobby pushed my hands away.

“Don’t look, Bobby!”

He looked anyway. I did, too. I couldn’t see Lorenzo anywhere. All I saw was a scene as if tornadoes had visited Declan’s study room. The desk was shredded to pieces. Chairs were upside down. Bookshelves had been ripped from the walls.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Declan wasn’t human. His brothers weren’t, either. Now I understood why they hadn’t been afraid of Lorenzo. Braden and Curran left the study room, dragging the goons’ bodies with them.

Declan vanished from the study room. He reappeared in the master bedroom, naked. He went to the closet and grabbed a pair of pants. Heavy footsteps whispered on the carpeted floor. I heard the metallic creaks of the panic room door being opened.

I slumped on the floor. Declan emerged before us, bare-chested. Blood spattered his arms.

“I’m sorry you had to see that. It had to be done,” he said.

I forced my voice out, but it came as a barely audible croak. I gulped hard and tried again. “What…what are you?”

“Dragons!” Bobby answered. “You’re so cool, Declan.”

“I know.” He winked at me. “Guess I have a lot explaining to do, huh?”

Epilogue

One month later

“Do you know why I called you here, Ms Knapp?” Declan’s voice was sharp. Displeased. Blue eyes zeroed in on me. Golden brows knotted. He swivelled behind his desk. He flicked his wrist towards the folder I had just given him.

I sat on a chair across his desk, playing my part as the slutty secretary. Declan liked role-playing. Especially boss-secretary fantasies. When he’d confided that he’d harboured this fantasy since he’d first seen me, I hadn’t been able to refuse the request of my new, young husband.

Yes, I married Declan Cairne two weeks ago in London. The ceremony was simple but beautiful. It was attended by Braden and Curran, the Cairnes’s close family and friends—all in all, fewer than fifty people in a beautiful, old little church. Braden acted as Declan’s best man, and Bobby, my perfect little gentleman, delivered me to Declan at the altar. We spent our honeymoon in London and sightseeing across Europe. Well, it wasn’t exclusively a honeymoon since Declan brought Bobby along to every place we visited. It felt like a little family vacation. Our
new
family’s vacation. After we got married, Declan filed papers to adopt Bobby as his own. Now my little man was officially a Cairne. The two were practically inseparable. Declan adored Bobby, and my son was hungry for fatherly love.

After the Los Angeles incident, I initially had a hard time believing supernatural beings existed and lived among us. It took me almost a week to get past the freaking out stage. But Declan was persistently convincing until I finally came to the realisation that Declan was the only man for me. Human or dragon, it didn’t matter.

That night, Braden had taken care of the aftermath. He and Curran had dragged the bloodied, unconscious Lorenzo and his goons to their cars and drove them to the ER parking lot. We didn’t hear anything from Lorenzo afterwards. I assumed Lorenzo and his men hadn’t been so gravely injured that it needed police involvement. If Lorenzo reported the incident to the authorities, I bet no one would believe that dragons had done that kind of damage to him. I could safely say that my ex was mortally afraid of Declan and realised he had to let me and Bobby go. Or he would face the consequence and the frightening wrath of Declan and his brothers.

We went back to New York after our honeymoon and moved into the summer house in Alpine. Bobby was enroled in a private school and I was enjoying my new life as Mrs Cairne. Declan had just gone back to work for the last couple of days, when he’d suddenly come home before lunch time, hungry for afternoon nookie. Since Bobby was at school, we had the house to ourselves.