Jorden: The McCade Dragon –Erotic Paranormal Romance
Read Jorden: The McCade Dragon –Erotic Paranormal Romance Online
Authors: Kathi S. Barton
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
World Castle Publishing, LLC
Pensacola, Florida
Copyright © Kathi S. Barton 2016
Hardback ISBN: 9781629895123
Paperback ISBN: 9781629895130
eBook ISBN: 9781629895147
First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, August 8, 2016
http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com
Licensing Notes
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
Cover: Karen Fuller
Editor: Maxine Bringenberg
Table of Contents
Jasmine Tyler moved along the boxes, her heart not into looking for a deal. She was exhausted, her body hurt in more places than she could think about, and she was lonely. With all the people around her she knew that was silly, but she missed her son and her grannie. It had been necessary to send them ahead. Ahead to what she wasn’t entirely sure, but they were safer there than they were with her at the moment.
While I cannot see them as yet, I know they will be safe.
Jasmine told the dragon that they’d better be.
I wish that you could talk to them. At least young Gavin. I think it would do you well to hear his voice. Him as well, I would bet. The boy loves you very much.
And I love him very much as well. But you know as well as I that I can’t chance contacting either of them.
He said that he knew, but it made it no less sad for him too.
I’ll be there soon, and when I am, I can get these earrings to the right person, gather him and Grannie up, and move on. And if you tell me again that I can’t do that, then I swear to you that I’ll cut my own ears off and be done with the lot of you.
So the dragon didn’t bother telling her again that it didn’t work that way. Twice now she’d told him that if he brought up again how this man and his family would keep her and her family safe, she would never speak to him again. And the three days that she didn’t say a single word had made her point for a little while. The dragon, or whatever manifestation he was to her, didn’t listen well, it seemed.
She was going to have to move again soon. Making her way to this family was costing her so much more than just being without her family. Jasmine could hardly do any business with the way things were going, and it was more than a little difficult to trust anyone enough to even see if they were really a buyer for her things or someone out to get her. She shivered when she thought of what had happened to her and Gavin to get her moving out of their home in the first place.
They’d been headed to the post office, her and him, and they were going to get some pizza to take back to the house with them to share with her grannie. Gavin was telling her what homework he’d done that day and she was teasing him about working on the weekend. The car that hit them in the rear had come out of nowhere.
Being rear-ended really hadn’t been that bad. Her truck was old and made before plastic was a big deal, and thankfully had no airbags or they might not have been able to get moving so quickly. For the most part they’d been all right, thankfully. But before she could get out of her truck to see what damage, if any, had been done to her truck, the man hit her again, then again. It was then that she realized he was pushing her into oncoming traffic. Screaming at Gavin to lay down on the floor, she floored the gas pedal and closed her eyes.
Still to this day she had no idea how she had managed to not only get through the traffic, which had been very heavy and fast, but also escape whoever had tried to kill them. But as soon as she got home, she realized two things at once.
First, the dragon had been right. They were upset about the earrings and were coming for her. And the worst part of it was, they were also going to harm her son and grandmother. Secondly, they had to get out now. Not just out of the house, but they had to leave almost everything behind and get the fuck out of dodge.
Less than two hours after they got home, her truck was loaded and coolers packed, then they were gone. Even as they were driving through her little town, she saw three large black SUVs pass her going in the opposite direction from the one she was driving…the way toward her home. There were no plates on the big vehicles, and since the windows were so dark, she had no idea who or how many people were in them. Probably a good thing, she realized later.
She tried to tell herself that they might have been headed in any direction other than her house. But two days after they left the only home they’d had, she’d seen on the news that it had been burned to the ground, as had the barn that stood next to it. Jasmine gathered them up once again and made another long trip before she felt she needed information from the dragon in her head.
What is it about these earrings that has men trying to kill me for them? And why can’t I take them out now that they’re in my ears? I don’t want to hear about how I’m going to this family, I want to know why I have to. Why me?
I can do that, my lady. There are six parts to me, a set of jewelry called a
demi parvure
. It simply means matching set of jewelry. Few know that it was forged by a dragon and his master. They decided, when things were too dangerous for a dragon to be roaming the earth, that it would be safer if he, this being a part of me as a dragon, should have his spark, his magic, put within a special piece of jewelry. But alas, the magic was too much for a single piece and was divided up into five pieces. The sixth was made later when a lady thought the necklace was too large for anyone to wear. Then a terrible tragedy was bestowed upon the master and the dragon, along with all of his estate being taken away. I know not what happened to his things; only that the spark that creates us was no longer together.
Jasmine asked him how long ago this was.
I have no way of knowing that, my lady. For as a spark and only a small part of the whole, I cannot understand the passing of time until I have been awakened. But the ring, it has been awakened and thus, myself as well. And now it is held in trust by Emma…I have told you about her. The rest, not including yours, was spread out all over the world at one time, but now are close, but since the other pieces haven’t been awakened yet, I know not where.
Her next question to him was, why her.
I know not, my lady. Until you touched the jewelry that has turned out to be my wings, I knew nothing of the holder.
So, you want me to believe that there is this set of jewelry out there that a bunch of women will touch and bring to life…or I guess, bring you to life. Then if that doesn’t sound creepy enough, these women have to make their way to this family of men, dragon men, and give it over to them and become their slave of sorts. And on top of that, they’re stuck with this stuff forever, even if they want no part of this plot. I’m sorry, but this is about as farfetched as it gets. Not to mention sort of like slave trade for me to believe in.
He asked her how she was hearing him if he was just a manifestation.
I don’t know. A tumor? Could be. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately.
You have, and I’m sorry to say that it isn’t over as yet. When those men went to your home and destroyed everything that you had, they did a search and found enough information to find you and your family.
She asked him what sort of information
. Pictures of you and your family. What Emma says is DNA on objects left behind. They can and will use every item in their possession to find you.
And then what? What is it they think they’re going to do to me
? He didn’t answer her.
Is my son in danger? My grannie?
Yes. You all are until you can get to the McCade family. And even then, they will not stop until they either get what they desire or they are caught by the authorities. I am sorry, my lady.
She wanted to cry. All she’d done was find a pretty pair of earrings that she wished she’d never seen now.
It would not have mattered when you saw them, my lady; somehow they would have come to you. You are the one that needs to be a part of the dragon with one of the McCade men.
I don’t want to be a part of any man. Don’t you see? I’ve lost enough shit in my life because of a man. Not all of it was his fault, but he lied to me. Over and over, and there is no reason to think that this man won’t too. He’ll take and take until I have nothing. I am nothing.
The dragon wisely said nothing.
I know; I’ll mail them to them.
You cannot remove them now that you wear them.
Stomping her foot, she paced in front of the pretty little hotel where she’d stopped to rest for the night.
These terrible men, they will not stop until they have what they want. You must understand this.
No, I don’t have to understand anything.
She turned when she heard Gavin call out to her. “I’m sorry, baby. What is it? Everything all right?”
“Yes. Why are you talking to yourself? Or it is that dragon again? Tell him that we’re doing the best we can and to cut you some slack.” She hugged him to her and felt tears fill her eyes. “We’re going to be all right, aren’t we, Mom? As soon as we get to this house, we’re going to be just fine, right?”
“I hope so, Gavin, I really do.”
Then five days after that, nearly two weeks ago now, she’d used every penny she had and put them both, her grandma and son, on a plane for Ohio. It wasn’t safe for them to travel together any longer.
She was just sorting through a box when she felt something, a kind of nervous panic, which had her snatching her hand back from the items in the box and looking around. Christ, would she ever feel safe again, she asked herself? Then the dragon spoke to her, his voice calm yet slightly tight sounding.
The man near the food truck. Do you see him?
Jasmine looked around, trying her best to look as if she were checking out the rest of the items.
He feels wrong.
As casually as she could, Jasmine made her way to where she could get a better look at the man. She could see him now; he stood out like a man in a tux among a room of cowboys. At the moment he was trying to figure out how to eat a hotdog without wearing most of it. Backing into the trees and away from the man, she watched him unobserved for several minutes. There wasn’t anything odd about him, nothing that she could say, “Hey, that’s it,” but she still knew there was something. She nearly told the dragon that he was looking for things that weren’t there when the man shifted on his feet and she saw the gun.
The need to flee made her feel like she was being watched. Looking around, trying to decide what to do now, she wanted to curl into a tight ball and just cry. She had no car, nothing to protect herself with, and not a great deal of money either. She was, in a word, fucked.
I can’t leave yet. Can I?
The dragon told her that she could not. Then he pointed out the man across the table from the auctioneer. He wasn’t watching the items but looking around, as if he were searching the people and not what to buy next. Jasmine went deeper into the woods and then stood behind a tree. When the two men came together, they scanned the area twice before splitting up and moving around. She knew they were looking for her.
What do I do now?
He told her not to move, not to run.
I can’t let them get to me. If they do, you said that they’d kill me for these earrings. And as much as I hate the earrings right now, I need to get to my son, damn it.
Do not move, my lady. They are looking for a young boy to be with you. They are thinking that you’d not leave him or your grandmother alone while they are out there. They know not that you have sent them both ahead.
She let out a long breath and tried to think about anything but wanting to run.
If you do, then all is lost. Just wait for me to tell you that you can go. But to the bus stop, not to the hotel.
She knew as surely as she was standing there listening to a dragon talk to her in her head that they’d already been to her hotel room and had figured out where she was. The newspaper. She’d gotten one and had circled the auction for today not far from where she’d been staying. It wasn’t as if she had any money to spend—she didn’t—but Jasmine was bored and needed to do something that didn’t involve her thinking about how much she missed her son. So walking to the place that was stated in the ad, she had been there for only a few minutes when she realized it wasn’t as fun as it used to be.
He is going to go by you in a few moments, and when he does, follow him, but not closely. I will tell you when to move to the bus stop.
She wanted to tell him to fuck off, there wasn’t any way she was going to follow that man, but the dragon spoke again before she could.
He will not expect you to be behind him. Nor will his partner. You must trust me on this. I will not allow you to be harmed.
As soon as she was given the signal to move, Jasmine moved out from behind the tree and right behind the man. She was close enough that she could see the tat on the back of his neck that looked like some sort of Japanese symbol; or Chinese, she wasn’t sure. There was also one that peeked out of the bottom of his sleeve. When he pulled the shirt up enough, she nearly stopped walking. Dragon told her to keep moving.
I’ve seen that before.
He told her to turn then, and to go to the bus stop. When she did, the bus pulled up just as the man turned to go back to where she’d been. Sitting down, she turned on her seat and watched as both men moved around the yard again.
He had a dragon tat on his arm. I’ve seen that before. The man that tried to shoot us the day that Gavin got hurt and I sent them away. He had one just like it.
They are all a part of a group of men out to harm you and all that help you. They have no wish to bring me to life, but to profit from controlling me. It is them that I am trying to save you from.
Jasmine asked the dragon who they were, and what the writing meant.
It’s Chinese, as you have guessed. It says
Sǐ
wáng de s
uǒyǒ
u lóng
. Its translation is, death to all dragons. I have not seen that for many years. More than you can imagine. It, like a great many things, comes and goes as the need arises. Today they need it to feel important. Who knows what it will be used for in the future.