Training an Unruly Submissive

by Snow, Serenity

  Sienna stepped out into the bedroom where she’d left her own clothes and pulled them on quickly. Kallie joined her mate fully dressed moments later. Taking her hand, Sienna led her downstairs to the sitting room where the sheriff stood looking out the window into the dusk.

  “What did you find?” Kallie started to rush forward but Kami stepped in front of her. Sienna pulled her back.

  The sheriff turned and coldness practically rolled off him. His eyes were ice chips as they went to Sienna. “The box was empty, but I suspect you knew that.”

  “How could I have known?” Sienna demanded when Kallie would have spoken. “I told you Maggie never confided in me.”

  “You should be talking to Lima,” Kallie snapped. “She was my mother’s assistant. I’m sure she knows everything my mother did about the crystals and whatever else they brought back.”

  “She and Draden have alibis for the night your mother was killed.”

  Sienna gave him a disdainful snort. “So what? An alibi can be bought when you’ve got millions, and I don’t know what you’re so pissed off about. If Maggie did double-cross some buyers, it’s my mate’s life on the line and my ass.”

  He sighed. “I know that. I’m thinking about the carnage that could result. If these assholes get you and Kallie without getting the artifacts they’ll go through your friends until they get what they came for. Now, I want you to stop playing fucking games with me, or I’ll put the word out that Kallie has that goddamned spear and the wand.”

  Sienna screeched and a harsh snort from Kami joined it. “You’re a dead man if you do,” Sienna told him. “Lion spiders are the bomb, but I’m the shit here. I can kill you with my spit, so don’t push it.”

  He strode across the room until he was toe-to-toe with her. His eyes were dark and forbidding but Sienna didn’t back down. “If you step out of line with me, bitch, you’re going to regret it,” he snarled and pointed a finger at her. “I’m trying to keep this town safe from predators that Maggie brought here, so don’t fuck with me.”

  “Kami.”

  Kami pulled Kallie back.

  “Sia, don’t.”

  “Listen to your bitch,” he said in a low cold tone.

  Sienna took a step that put her almost nose to nose with him. “I meant what I said, now get the fuck out before I bleed your ass right here on the floor and feed you to the vultures.”

  “You think that won’t get you dead?”

  “Your family won’t be able to prove a thing, but mine is deadlier and they’ll back me.”

  “Starting right now.” Kami’s voice was cold. “You will die painfully, Donald.”

  “Time to go, sheriff,” Tas said from the doorway.

  He gave her a hard look. “I want your ass in my office first thing in the morning,” he said. “We’re going to settle this shit once and for all or I’m back here and I will tear both of these houses apart.” He backed away from her, keeping her in his sights with each step.

  “That prick has no idea what he’s up against if he comes after you,” Kami said coldly as she stepped away from Kallie.

  “I don’t understand why he’s acting like you betrayed him,” Kallie said, going to Sienna and rubbing her back. “You couldn’t know the box was empty.”

  “It all comes down to one thing,” Kami said. “Sienna spent a great deal of time with your mother in the last few months. She could have told Sienna everything.”

  “Did she?” Kallie asked carefully.

  “No.” Her tone was quiet. There was no blame in Kallie’s tone, no censure in her touch as she caressed her lower back. Her butterfly trusted her.

  Kallie sighed. “Sia, we have to go to the attic, and the basement in this house.”

  “I have a feeling the fucker is going to leak that line just to draw out the real criminals,” Kami muttered.

  “And if I lose you, he’s dead, but it’s not about the crystals at this point,” Sienna said. “It’s about finding out who wants them. We need to take this person or people down.”

  “I talked to Peta’s grandmother, and she said Maggie did have the spear twenty years ago. She thinks your mom used the spear to heal you of your allergy issues, Kallie.”

  “What about the wand?” Sienna asked.

  Kami shook her head. “Maggie never mentioned having it to her or Miranda. She did mention some other healing crystals she’d brought back. They’re minor healing crystals that would bring a nice price but nothing like the wand and spear,” she told them. “She said the spear was lost, but Maggie never mentioned anything about the wand.”

  “Lima probably saw the spear when mom had it years ago,” Kallie said softly. “And she probably saw the wand in Peru, and she’s determined to recover it and her research so she can sell them.”

  “I can’t see Maggie being so careless with Lima,” Kami said. “She must have suspected she was up to something.”

  Sienna snorted. “Hence her never telling anyone anything in case Lima asked us about it,” Sienna said. “But she was damn good at pretending to trust Lima because she never said a single word against her. They got along fine.”

  “The goddamned things must do more than heal more than allergies,” Kami murmured. “Hell, for millions it must make the owner immortal or something.”

  “Now that would be worth killing for,” Kallie said quietly.

  “Yeah,” Sienna agreed quietly as ideas took shape in her mind.

  “I’ll talk to the elder about allowing the dominants to prepare for an attack,” Kami told them. “We’ll need to cover the route coming into the house, and the house.”

  “An attack will happen away from the house if these people are smart,” Sienna said.

  “Are you supposing we’re dealing with women?” Kami asked with a smirk. “I mean look at the sheriff. A woman would have suggested to you that we go ahead and use Kallie as bait to get this shit over with before it escalates any further. She would have validated your feelings and then told you her plan. Men lay down the law first and talk things over—never.”

  Sienna shook her head, smiling, and heard a less than feminine grunt from Kallie. “I thought that was you guys with your BDSM—obey me or else sh—stuff.”

  Both of the older women rolled their eyes and grunted. “Anyway, it’s a good idea,” Sienna said. “But Lima is a woman, and she’s got the sheriff fooled good enough that she might escape. I don’t want to take any prisoners.”

  “So, what’s your plan?” Kallie asked.

  “Well, I’ll get the elders to release their wards on the house, and I’ll release mine.”

  “No!” Kallie exclaimed.

  “It’ll be done in the early hours of the morning,” Sienna told her.

  “They’ll probably put a ward breaker on the job and the necromancer will probably try to use your mother to get to you in case they can’t bring down the ward,” Kami said.

  “They haven’t recovered her body yet?” Kallie asked, cringing.

  “No, but you’ll be safe,” Sienna assured her, stroking her arm. “Once the wards are brought down, they’ll attack and we’ll be ready.”

  “What if they don’t attack?” Kallie asked. “What if they just wait to attack us on the way to the police station?”

  “Then, we’ll be ready then,” Kami told her with a devious smile. “Either way, baby girl, we’re drawing them out and taking them down.”

  “I want Lima and Draden executed,” Sienna said coldly.

  “Elders won’t authorize it.”

  “I know, so I’ll do it myself.”

  “I’ll take Draden.”

  Sienna smiled at Kami. “So, tonight, let’s kick back and relax. After we take out the threat, we’ll have time to look for the wand without feeling rushed.”

  “Or being distracted,” Kami added. “I’ll sleep in the original house tonight with MJ and the girls.” She smiled. “Call if you need me.”

  “Thanks, Kami.”

  Chapter Twenty

>   After locking up, Sienna led Kallie into the kitchen. “Let’s make something light.”

  She wrapped her arm around Sienna’s waist. “I’m surprised you didn’t ask her to stay.”

  “Why would I?” Sienna asked. “I know you don’t want her here.” She kissed the top of Kallie’s head. “Let’s make omelets.”

  They made omelets and enjoyed them at the kitchen table and Sienna loaded the dishwasher and made them a caramel sundae while Kallie watched. She took it to the table with a smile.

  “Open up.” Sienna held out a spoon of sweet cream, caramel, and chopped peanuts.”

  Kallie leaned forward and closed her lips around it. “Mmm.” Her eyes drifted closed as she savored the sweet confection.

  Sienna smiled and stroked her knuckles over Kallie’s throat. “I’m going to keep you safe,” she murmured.

  Kallie’s eyes opened slowly. “I’m counting on it because I’m not ready to leave you yet.” She reached across the table and stroked Sienna’s arm. “I love you.”

  Sienna fed her another bite. “I love you, too. That’s why I’m moving in with you.”

  “I hope so. I want you close to me all the time.”

  “No other place I want to be.” She leaned toward Kallie and kissed her softly. Kallie cupped her cheek.

  * * * *

  Sienna lay next to Kallie only three hours later. Her mate was restless and her sleep was fitful. She held her close, hoping to ease her fears. She was afraid herself, but she knew there was no use allowing the fear to swamp her tonight. That was for tomorrow when all bets would be off, and she would be gunning for the person behind her mate’s fears.

  Kallie turned and put her head on her breast and Sienna held her tight as her mind drifted over her last three weeks with Maggie. The trip from Peru, her actions after that. Maggie’s primary concern had been her daughter, so what would she have done?

  She would have created a diversion. A trip to Peru, secretive behavior, and decoy stones. That’s what Maggie had done. Lima had asked about the computer, was going on about the items Maggie had taken from the museum, so it was obvious she’d been wrong. Lima had likely only seen the minor healing crystals Maggie had brought back, and she’d assumed Maggie had found the wand.

  Lima had to have known Maggie had once had the spear in her possession, and she knew as well as everyone else in town that Maggie had a keen interest in crystal healing. If she had known about the spear of life she would have assumed Maggie had gone back to Peru for it, too.

  But Lima and Draden didn’t just take a notion to sell the items not after all these years. So what had changed?

  The scorpion or whoever was looking for the stones must have been tipped off—Maggie’s sister had been killed in New York. Maybe her killer had known about the spear and had killed her to get it. Having not obtained it, perhaps that person had been on the lookout or even decided to find Maggie. The person after the crystals must have contacted the museum and Lima or Draden struck up a deal.

  Since the other crystals hadn’t been found either, they must have been part of Maggie’s research or for the clinic. They could even have been for Tas or Peta for their spa.

  She eased from the bed, careful not to wake Kallie, and tugged a pair of sweatpants on over her panties before hurrying from the room. She headed to the Victorian. They needed to talk to Draden. There was a good chance Donald had someone watching him, but there was a better chance he didn’t.

  She stepped into the breezeway with her mind churning and was out into the hallway within seconds. Sienna stopped in the kitchen when she saw the light on and found Tas, Peta, and Kami having a late-night snack as they quietly talked.

  “Hey guys,” she greeted them.

  “I talked to the elders and they’ve agreed to the plan,” Kami said when Sienna stopped at the table.

  “Great, but we need to talk to Draden. Those scorpions didn’t just wonder into town. I mean Donald assumes based on what Draden and Lima said that Maggie is the reason they were here.”

  “But since we know differently you’re thinking what we were just talking about,” Peta, a frosty blonde said.

  “Someone called them.”

  “I shared my suspicions with my grandmother when Kami called Betty, and they both agree that Draden needed dealing with as do Lima,” Peta confessed. “So, the men were going to have a little chat with Draden and Lima.”

  Sienna grimaced. “I can’t trust they’ll tell me what they find out.”

  “My grandmother said she’d call.”

  “Betty called ten minutes ago. Lima can’t be found, but Draden is being tailed,” Kami said. “She said the men on him were going to stay with him until he was alone.”

  “Okay, so everything is set for tomorrow?”

  “We’re all set,” Tas agreed.

  “I better get back to Kal, she’s restless tonight.” She left them and hurried up to the attic. The room didn’t have a window, so she turned on the light.

  Sienna crossed the tiled floor thinking that the white walls were nothing like the sunny yellow of the old sewing room, but this one had the shelves she’d put up and the built-in sewing table where an envelope lay in plain sight. Her name was scribbled across it in small letters. Sienna picked it up and opened it.

  Sienna,

  I bet you suspected the truth by now. You’re right. I detected the threat to Kallie before I went to Peru. I planned the trip to cover the truth. You know what that is and by now I’m sure Kallie knows, too. I never intended to use her as a guardian for the spear for more than a few months while I thought of someplace safe to keep it. When I went to take it off of her I thought she’d lost it, and then I realized, the spear had become part of her.

  The spear of life heals illnesses in all insect breeds.

  I learned later that the spear had had healed the genetic mutation in Kallie because she was the perfect host. Kallie didn’t have the full healing capabilities of the butterfly, but once the crystal fully integrated into her body, it changed her. The first major illness or injury will complete the metamorphosis. She will become immortal like the energy of the crystals themselves. I didn’t know this would happen, so I did more research on the spear and learned why the Incan healers took such good care of it.

  I never had the wand. It was placed with its mutant host when the girl was five. My sister had it, but I don’t know who the girl is.

  I overheard Draden and Lima. They found out someone would pay five million for the spear. Lima knew I’d had the spear, but I let her and everyone else believe it was lost. I realized she didn’t believe me when she started to take a keen interest in my research. She found some of my notes on the wand and the spear. I was compiling some information for my talk with Kallie. I decided to go to Peru after that. I thought if I made look like I’d just found the wand Kallie might be safer. No one would suspect the truth about her.

  I left a text for you to explain everything. Don’t discard it. You’ll need it, and so will the host of the wand of fire and her mate. Read the text. I’ve spent the last nineteen years gathering the information.

  I did love Kallie even though I’m sure it doesn’t seem that way to her right now. I failed to prepare her but with the text you can help her as well as the guardian of the wand. I say this all in the past tense because if you’re reading this, then I am as dead as I knew I’d be.

  I didn’t tell anyone in the coven, and I didn’t want to risk telling you. Who would protect Kallie best if you were with me that night? The man you’re looking for had my sister killed, had me killed, and is probably trying to have Kallie killed. I don’t know his real name, but I do know he’s a black and gold scorpion who calls himself Mr. X.

  I know you’ll make Kallie happy. You were always so good with her it made your girlfriends jealous. I bet you never noticed or really cared. Tell her I truly was prepared to accept you as her mate.

  Maggie

  Sienna folded the note and found the aforementioned tex
t on top of a pile of fabric next to a note and three boxes. She picked up the note.

  Your hand-fasting gifts and the stones I brought back from Peru. Some are for the clinic, some are for Tas and Peta. Please pass them on, and don’t let Kallie have the presents until the hand-fasting.

  * * * *

  Kallie screamed as her mother’s hands closed around her throat.

  “I am going to kill you, Kallie!”

  She jerked awake still screaming. Her heart pounded hard and her hands shook. A sheen of perspiration had started on her skin, dampening her nightgown.

  “Goddess.” She exhaled a hard breath as she scrubbed her hands over her face.

  “Kallie.”

  The whisper of her name was a sinister sound that stopped her breath.

  “Kallie.”

  The tone was insistent and sounded right next to her, but the bed was empty. She quickly scanned the room and found a shadow on the window.

  “Come let me in, Kallie. Don’t you want to see your mother again?”

  The shadow at the window moved. Her breath escaped her shaky puffs as she drew her knees up. The malice scraping at her mind was like ants crawling on her skin. Every feeling she felt vanished and terror washed over her.

  “Kallie?”

  Her skin went cold and clammy and it was just like at the grocery store. Her empathic ability was temporarily gone.

  “I am coming for you, Kallie, and this time I will take you to hell with me!”

  The tangled sheets tented, and she watched them rise and expand as if someone had crawled into bed with her. She forced her legs to move, pushing one off the bed.

  “You’re not my mother,” she whispered and stopped her exit as the covers flattened. She reached out and jerked them back. The bed sheets were damp and stained with blood.

  A chill ran down her spine and Kallie climbed out of bed quickly. She took two steps and a hand closed around her shoulder.

  “You can’t leave without saying hello to your mother again.”