Second Chances (The Extinct Race Series) (5 page)

“Baby girl how about we compromise and you just add my name to the account and we can share it.
That money was going to be all yours anyway. I won’t spend it all in one place. Besides there should be enough with interest to last you more than a hundred years living like a king.”

“Crap that reminds me
, Mom and Dad, do you want your money back to?” Justine looked to her parents shamed she hadn’t thought of it before.

“No baby
, what was in the account for you, is yours, Ben has one that has just as much and we have our own with a little more than we need.” Monica told Justine.

“And Gabe same with us,
the money you have in your account is yours and the money we have put into Mary’s account is hers.” Gabe nodded his thanks and Mary choked on her wine.

“I don’t need that much now that Kaiden has offered me the position here.
Please I would like to give it back.” Mary coughed out.

“Mary my sweet friend
, you have kept the house in Wyoming yes? And you pay property taxes yes? So you will keep that money and pay those bills a year in advance if you must. We are both going to be grandparents one day so you can spoil their children with that money or leave it to them. I don’t want it back.” Rosa told her and had a firm expression on her face.

“Oh don’t you pull that tight lip expression with me Rosa
, we go a long way back and I know that look. Fine if you won’t take it back I will spoil you and Michael and our future grandkids.” Mary snickered, giving Rosa a look. Gabe and Michael both burst out laughing looking between Rosa and Mary. Both of them had the sternest looks on their faces.

“Score one for the human!”
Justine smiled and laughed when Mary looked at her and laughed.

“Well Sebastian and I have our own money too and Tia you also have a quite large account that I have all the information for.
But I would like to also join you girls for a little bit too and order some things for Sebastian and me.” Camilla looked to Zoe for permission.

“You all can come if you want.
I know we all need things, I was just, well I was just looking for a way to get those two alone.” Zoe pointed at Vivi with one hand and Tia with the other. Everyone laughed and Kaiden pulled her into his arms.

“Angel you don’t have to rush it
, we literally have forever if we are all safe.” Kaiden told her

“
Ya I keep forgetting that part. I am stuck at twenty two forever now and little Tia is sixteen forever.” Zoe slunk back into Kaiden’s chest.

“WHOA
, WHOA, WHOA! What are you talking about?” Vivi asked

“What do you mean?”
Zoe sat up

“What do you mean she is sixteen forever and you are twenty t
wo forever. My Father ages or at least he looks mid-forties early fifties.” Vivi started getting excited.

“Vivi how old are you?”
Justine asked

“Twenty four
, why?”

“Honey your father met his soul mate late in life.
He was forty eight in human years and your mother was forty three. He denied his fate for a long time and never sought her out. When he finally accepted her and once they consummated and changed into their Dragons, both of them already had gray in their hair. Look at me how old do I look?” Monica asked

“Thirty
, maybe?” Vivi responded

“I was thirty two when I found Brad and we changed.”

“So you mean if Christian and I went upstairs right now and you know? I would look like this forever? Vivi asked

“Yes” Everyone answered her

“Wow” her and Christian both whispered. Vivi grabbed a bottle of wine and poured herself a full glass and chugged it. She then poured another and filled Christian’s glass too. She chugged that one too and let out a little giggle when she was done. She looked over to Christian’s mortified face and giggled again. “Oh come on, they all know we are going to go upstairs now and you know, Family remember!” She blushed and her whole face flamed red as she looked over the table and all the knowing smiling faces. Vivi ducked her head grabbed Christian hand and ran up the stairs.

“Be gentle with her Christian!”
John called out. Everyone burst into laughter and when it died down they decided to move back to the fire and talk some more. Kaiden and Charles agreed that once the girls took off to their shopping trip the men would form a plan. The girls didn’t want to be left out of much, but the men wanted them all left out of the fighting plans. They would begin training tomorrow afternoon when the girls got back. About an hour had passed when Vivi and Charles came barreling down the stairs and ran outside. They all ran to the windows to see the naked behinds of Christian and Vivi and then there were two large red Dragons after a few minutes in the clearing in front out the house. A roar broke through the laughter and then the two Dragons took flight alone. It was their time to celebrate.

Chapter 5

The First Night

Once Vivi and Christian came back everyone was yawning and little Ben had already
fallen asleep in Justine’s arms. You could already tell he worshipped her. Gabe took him from her arms and both families went up to their floor for the night. Tia and John had taken a movie up to their floor a while ago and Camilla and John went up with them. Mateo and Charles had gone out to the barracks and Mary decided to join them. Marcus had gone up to his room right after dinner and they hadn’t heard from him since. Zoe was snuggled into Kaiden’s side on one of the big couches and she couldn’t stop the yawns from coming one after the other. Kaiden noticed and tapped her on the shoulder nodding toward the stairs. He was also ready for bed after such a long night.

They made their way up to the elevator and were stepping into their apartment when Kaiden remembered that he needed to call Mr. Steinman.
The office should be open about now. He pulled his cell phone out as they made their way to their bedroom. Marcus’s door was shut and the lights were off so they continued to their door. Kaiden helped Zoe get undressed and tucked her into bed. He kissed the top of her head. “I’m going to call Mr. Steinman and then I will join you in bed. I love you my Angel.” Zoe had already closed her eyed but she managed to mumble out “I love you too.”

Kaiden went the couch and dialed Mr. Steinman’s number at his office.

“This is Mr. Steinman how can I help you?”

“Mr. Steinman good to hear your voice
, this is Kaiden.”

“Oh it’s good to hear your voice
as well, how are you and the girls?”

“We are all very well
thank you, when I have the time I will fill you in on all the good details that have come to the surface. For now though I need your help. From now on I will pay you for all your troubles and everything.”

“Well Kaiden I suppose I can’t refuse your payment anymore now can
I?”

“No sir
, I would think it unfair especially for the work I am about to give you.”

“Alright then I will have my office send you a bill for all the hours you are about to have me work.”
Mr. Steinman said with a chuckle

“Mr. Steinman do you remember our eyes and the uniqueness about them?”

“Yes I do you all have flecks in them. You and Zoe have the white flecks and Justine had almost black flecks.”

“Very good
, now the job I have for you is to find a small girl. I need you to pull your resources and look worldwide. I don’t know the age of this girl, but she will be no younger than five and no older than ten years old. Pictures would help you a lot in this case. As her eyes will tell you she is the one we are looking for. She will have flecks exactly like Justine. I need to know if she was adopted or in foster care or if she was abandoned and any missing child posters. There will be a huge reward in this for you Mr. Steinman. This girl belongs with us and could be in grave danger.”

“Alright I can do that.
Can I ask what it is about the eyes?” Mr. Steinman was curious

“Our eyes, well it is a hereditary gene passed down from our families.
Also while you are looking at all those pictures, any pictures you find of children with eyes like ours, any color flecks, please copy the picture and text it to me or email it. This little girl is not the only one we are looking for.” Kaiden said

“I will get right on this and I will start with the US and then work out from there.”

“Thank you Mr. Steinman and when this is all said and done with and we find everyone we are looking for, how would you feel about a vacation to Ireland with your children? All expenses paid of course.” Kaiden asked

“I think we would all love that.
Maybe then you could fill me in on some questions I have.” Mr. Steinman was very curious and wanted some answers.

“I would only fly you out here if I was ready to give you those answers sir.
Now please, if anyone with eyes like ours, but with red flecks shows up, you don’t know us and you never helped us. If you hint that you know us, your life could be in danger. If that happens you need to call me as soon as you can.” Kaiden warned

“Right, I figured for every good there is a bad.
I know you are doing something good, I feel that inside of my gut. I don’t want to do anything to put my life or my kids in jeopardy, so if I call you from any number but this one or my cell, then you know I am in trouble and I would appreciate it if you get me help or take my kids somewhere safe.”

“I will do everything in my power to help you and your children.
You do not understand the debt that I owe you for locating my Zoe.”

“Good now let me get to work and I will ema
il you any pictures. I will call if I find any solid leads.”

“Talk to you soon then, I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Talk to you then Kaiden be safe and give my love to the girls.”

Kaiden hung up the phone and plugged it into the charger on his side of the bed.
He got undressed and climbed into bed beside Zoe. She was more in the middle of the bed than the edge where he had left her. So he slid close to her and pulled her into his side. Kaiden loved being wrapped around Zoe. Zoe sighed once they got into the right position and threw her leg over his side.

Marcus was sitting on the floor
in his closet going through his old journals. All his books and stuff were on the shelves in the bedroom as he remembered them. The boxes with the journals were on the top shelf of the closet where he and Elizabeth kept them. He liked sitting in the closet and reading them rather than the bed, because in here he could smell her perfume on her clothing. It made him feel like Elizabeth was here with him. He finished thumbing through his journal s and moved to the box he knew Elizabeth kept hers in. The one on top was new to him and he knew that this one must be the one she wrote in during her pregnancy. He thumbed through the parts that were the same as in his journals and went straight to the back. What he read had him in tears.

He knew that she had probably suffered once he had been taken
, and he remembered feeling a flicker of her mind right before he was taken into the truck. What he didn’t realize though, was that she was so close that she saw everything. That once he was inside she lost all feeling of him. He read the capture from her point of view and the fear she felt afterwards. According to this journal, six days after his capture she gave birth to Zoe. That everything went well with the birth. She had left the hospital that night and brought Zoe home. For four days she suffered the pain of denying her Dragon. For four days she fought not to turn and not to take flight. He guessed her Dragon won in the end as Elizabeth had described who and where she was leaving Zoe. From Zoe’s words she never came back.

Marcus cried and mourned his wife and soul mate.
It tore him to shreds and he felt wide open and raw. All he could do was curl up with her favorite shirt on the floor in the closet and weep for her. Several hours must have passed and the crying stopped. He heard Kaiden and Zoe come in and pause at his door. They must have thought him asleep and went on to their own room. Marcus picked himself up off the floor and went to the bathroom to wash his face off. He decided it was time he actually got a good night of sleep. He lay down in bed and pulled the covers over himself. But all he could do was think of everything while staring at the shelves. His eyes were getting heavy with sleep when he noticed a book that was not his. He assumed it must be something Elizabeth bought and he just didn’t notice it before. Or maybe it was Zoe’s and she just forgot it at the house. Whatever it is could wait until the morning. Marcus shifted onto his side and was soon fast asleep.

Once Mary and Mateo were done being shown the barracks and the small town they made their way back to the house.
Everyone must have been asleep already and the entire house was so quiet you could hear a mouse. Mary wasn’t tired yet though and she wanted to look around the house some more. She knew the kitchen already and was quite in love with everything that was inside of it. She decided to make a cup of sleepy time tea to see if that would help her get on a schedule.

“Mateo would you like to join me for a cup of sleepy time tea.
I am not tired at all and well it is night time and I should be asleep. So would you care to join me?”

“I would love to Mary.
Actually I could use the help getting to sleep too. I am still on Wyoming time.”

They made their way to the kitchen and Mary put a pot of water on the stove and prepped to mugs with the tea bags.
Mateo sat on a stool at the oversized island in the middle of the kitchen.

“Did you ever think life would bring you to this?”
Mateo asked her

“No I can’t say I ever thought there would be a happy ending.
I knew the job they asked me to do by taking Gabriel as my own. But after not hearing from them for so long I thought them dead and so did he. We lived day to day and then one day he was old enough to go search for Justine. He never called to check in and after a year I worried that they found him. I knew you had taught him well in the fighting area, but still I worried as a mother would.”

“Well
, I tell you that boy has real talent and discipline. He never lost his temper in sparring and knew what he was doing. He was and is my best student yet. You did very well in raising him and you are a damn good secret keeper, woman.” Mateo smiled at her

“Yes well when your life and that of a boy you love is on the line, well what more motivation do you need than that?”
She smirked

“I guess you are right
. Mary how old are you may I ask?”

“I look older than I really am for all the worry I have done over the last four years, but I am only thirty
four.”

“You do not look old Mary.
I never wanted to guess your age before because I thought you must have had Gabe in your teens. Now it makes sense. Why did you never marry?”

“I had Gabe
. I couldn’t risk his life with my selfishness. Even after he left I still held hope that the boy I raised would return to me.”

“Mary I think you are a beautiful woman and a self-less woman.
You are so very strong and you can cook a mean meal. Any man would be lucky to have you.”

Mary blushed and the tea pot screamed at just the right time in her opinion.
She grabbed the pot and poured the hot water into the two mugs she had placed on the counter. She handed one to Mateo and took the other into her hands. She blew on the top and took a sip. “Thank you Mateo, that means a lot to me coming from you.”

“What do you mean by that?”
He teased

“Well let me
be bold for a moment. I have always found you attractive, but I could never act on my school girl whims.” Mary confessed

“School girl whims huh?
Well how about we act as adults and get to know each other a bit better while we are here? I know I would love to get to know you better and spend time with you.”

“Really?
I think I would love that as well. For now though this tea is doing its magic and I am getting sleepy. Care to walk me to my room?” Mary felt bold as Mateo has never shown an interest, more so than his professional side, every time he came to the house.