173
We’d been living in Hartwell for six months now and Mary-Joe was a miracle from above. The kids loved her, she was great with Abigail and she always had a hot meal ready with a side plate of cookies or some dessert she’d whipped up.
I had a cottage built for her a few yards from the house, exactly the way she wanted it, so she wouldn’t have to travel from town. It worked out better for all of us. She said what she thought and meant, she didn’t lie and she took no nonsense from the boys.
“Mary-Joe can you watch the kids tonight?” I asked her one afternoon.
“Sure, are you going on a date?” she asked me.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said.
“Nothing wrong with going out and meeting new people,” she said.
“I meet people all the time,” I said.
“I’m not talking about the cashier at the grocery store,” she said.
“You forgot about the nurse that sells me blood bags for Milo and Mr. Nickerton at the post office …”
“Fine, grow old and die alone,” she said as I laughed.
“I won’t be alone, you’ll be here,” I said as she threw the dish towel at me.
“I’ll call you when dinner’s ready,” she said. That was her way of dismissing me out of her kitchen.
It was nearing dusk and I watched Wynter and Milo as they played outside with Echo. They were both very resilient and with time they had stopped asking after Megan, Ava and Felix. Elio and Marlo had visited twice and Basil had visited three times.
Every night I took care of the boys while Mary-Joe bathed Abigail and got her dressed for bed. Once the boys were tucked into their beds I’d take over with Abigail until she fell asleep. I’d sit and wonder if Megan was looking down at us, happy with the way I was raising them.
After the kids were sound asleep I walked down the porch and let Abeloth separate from me. I climbed onto his back and he took off into the night. I closed my eyes and relished the wind that blew through my hair, the flap of his wings and the determination that flowed through both of us.
It took Abeloth about forty-five minutes to fly back to Florida and he landed on the outskirts of Orlando where the Elders headquarters were located. I had waited six months for this day and I was never going to let them get away with my family’s murders.
“Can I help you?” a man asked as he emerged from the shadows near the front door of the warehouse.
“I don’t have an appointment but I need to report something to the Elders,” I said.
“Name?” he asked me.
“Ryder Grey, formerly of Aurora, Illinois,” I said.
“Wait here,” he said and his eyes flashed yellow as his dragon reached out to the Elders.
I was relaxed, confident and I smiled as he watched me. His eyes flashed yellow again and then he opened the big steel front door. “Follow me,” he said and we walked inside.
Their headquarters looked basically the same as the Illinois headquarters, gold and gilded art everywhere. I despised the colour gold. He left me in the foyer that served as a waiting room and closed the doors behind him with a loud bang.
“Good evening young man,” Elder Jackson said.
“Good evening Elder, I apologize for my abrupt arrival but I do need to report something to all three of you,” I said.
“Follow me young man,” he said and turned towards the door from which he had just entered.
He led me through to their casual sitting room where the Elder Neil and Elder Charles stood near the fireplace with a tumbler each. They smiled when they saw me and I saw no recognition in their eyes. Marlo had done a really good job with that spell.
“So what is this dire report that you have to make?” Elder Neil asked me.
“Your lives are in danger,” I said.
“What?” Elder Charles said in shock.
“There’s an ousted Sire that wants your blood and he means business,” I said as they walked closer to me and I released the two knives from my wrist holsters.
“Who?” Elder Jackson asked.
“Me.”
I plunged the two knives into Elder Charles’s neck as he stood the closest to me. His blood sprayed over me and I pulled the knives out again and turned towards Elder Jackson. Their eyes were wide and their mouths open as if to scream or say something.
Elder Jackson died next as I cut his carotid artery in one swooping motion and almost decapitated his head from his body. Elder Neil backed away from us slowly as I let Elder Jackson’s body slump to the floor.
“Why?” he asked me as he looked at his friends in horror.
“It doesn’t matter why, you’ll remember once you’re back in the realm of the dead and that gives me more satisfaction to know that it’ll haunt you forever,” I said.
“I don’t understand,” Elder Neil said.
“You don’t have to,” I said as I stuck the knife deep in his heart.
He gasped and grabbed my hand as if to try and pull the knife out. “Typhon will not let this go unpunished,” he said in between garbled breaths.
“He will,” I said as I plunged the other knife into his neck at a downward angle and watched him bleed out.
I wiped the knives on my black t-shirt and put them back into their wrist holsters. It took me about twenty seconds to find their office and pulled open the locked filing cabinet. I looked through all their files and removed the ones labelled ‘Grey’.
I wasn’t taking any chances of someone finding something. I stopped when I saw the name ‘Oaks’ and pulled out that file as well. I didn’t have much time left. I left the office and made my way back to the sitting room and heard the click of the gun too late as the shot fired into my back.
I had my gun out in a split second and shot the warrior between the eyes. It was the same man that had shown me to the foyer. He fell backwards in a puff of blood with his eyes still open. “We need to leave,” Abeloth said as I made my way outside.
“Get me home,” I said as Abeloth separated from me and I could feel the blood running down my back as I climbed on top of him.
I felt a sense of freedom as Abeloth flew us home. I didn’t even feel the pain of the bullet wound as he soared through the darkness. Not everybody responsible was dead, but the Florida Elders were a start, even if it wasn’t my destiny to kill the King, someday he’d pay.
Abeloth landed near the garage and headed towards the pond. I had to get the bullet out before Abeloth could merge with me again and kick-start the healing process. I was in the kitchen rummaging through the first aid kit when I felt his small hand on my arm.
“Daddy?”
“Wynter, you need to help me.”
“Okay Daddy,” he said.
“Grab my knife and then you have to dig the bullet out of my back, do you understand?” I asked him.
“Yes Daddy,” he said.
I lifted him onto the counter and took my t-shirt off. He had my knife in his hands and without thinking twice he stuck the tip into the wound and started prying it out. I winced twice as he scraped the bullet and then felt relief as he got it out. I stepped outside onto the porch and Abeloth merged and I felt the wound close.
“Did I get it right?” Wynter asked once I was back in the kitchen.
“You did a great job kiddo,” I said.
“Why were you shot?” he asked me.
“I killed the people responsible for killing Mommy and Uncle Felix and everyone else,” I said.
“You shouldn’t have,” he said.
“I had to Wynter, it was my revenge to take,” I said.
“We wanted to do it when we grew up,” he said.
“You shouldn’t be thinking of killing people,” I said.
“I don’t but Echo does,” he said.
“Now Echo can sleep easy because I’ve already taken care of it,” I said.
“Not all of them, Echo says one day we’ll kill the man that took Mommy from us,” he said.
“Wynter …”
“But I don’t want to because when I do you’ll die,” he said.
“I’m not going anywhere, I promise. We’re going to lead a very boring, normal life,” I said to him.
“I don’t want you to die Daddy,” he said and I grabbed him in a hug.
I felt Abeloth push forward and take control of me. I was pushed to the back and I could feel him reach out to Echo. The moment Echo responded Abeloth took charge and made him submit. Echo was a powerful dragon but still too young to fight against Abeloth.
“Wynter, you’ll forget we ever had this conversation. Echo’s memories will be stored away and you’ll only remember that the men responsible are already dead. You’ll forget that you ever knew this,” Abeloth said through me.
Abeloth gave control back to me and I saw Wynter’s eyes return to normal. I hugged him again because this little guy was so special, so understanding and loving that I just needed to feel it all. He needed my guidance and protection not his other half filled with bloodlust. He was too young for that.
“I love you Wynter, always remember that,” I said.
“I love you too Daddy, always will,” he said.
“Come on, time for you to get back to bed,” Mary-Joe said from behind us.
“Goodnight Daddy,” Wynter said and ran up the stairs.
“How much of all that did you hear?” I asked her.
“My loyalties are to you and these children Ryder. You don’t ever have to worry about me saying anything. You did the right thing though, Wynter’s a good boy and he needs security and happiness more than anything else right now,” she said and grabbed a rag.
“I was going to clean that up,” I said as she started wiping the blood spattered counter.
“Leave your shirt by the washing machine, I’ll get that blood out,” she said.
“Thank you Mary-Joe, for loving my kids, for being a part of our family and for understanding,” I said.
“It’s not like I’m going anywhere, might as well adopt you lot,” she said with a smile.
“You better not, we love you Mary-Joe,” I said.
“And I love you guys too, so go shower while I clean up in here and start a fresh pot of coffee,” she said and dismissed me with a wave of her hand.
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