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Huston had his own plan where the warrior was concerned. He was going to use her just as his dad wanted, but he was going to be getting himself a little on the side too. Or a lot. Then when he was finished with her, which he doubted would be anytime too soon, he was going to sell her off to his buddies. To hell with fucking with those dragons right away. He didn’t need money badly enough to be killed over it.
The woman had been sexy as fuck standing there with her sword out. He’d felt his cock stretch out in his pants like she’d touched him when he’d thought of her last night. The thought of her sucking him off was almost more than he could think about, and when he had, he’d come so hard in his hand that he thought he’d broken something important. But as soon as he thought of her again, his cock had gotten hard once more, like it’d not just jizzed all over him.
The notes that he’d been stashing away when he found them were very helpful. Huston had been reading all kinds of things to do to get the king to release her to him. And he was pretty sure that he had a good plan, at least one that would benefit him. All he had to do was convince that big guy, without the dragons around, that he wanted her only for sex and not for the dragons.
It was a big lie, of course. He would eventually get around to the dragons. Just not yet. He wasn’t stupid enough to not want that sort of money. And there was going to be a lot of it too. Huston wanted to make her like him, trust him first, so that if they did try to burn him up again, she’d be there on his side to protect him. Huston wasn’t as naïve as his father.
“Like he’s going to be able to kidnap this woman, make her do what he wants, and ignore the fact that she has these dragons on her side. Not just her side, mind you, but she might even be able to call on a bunch of them.” Huston smacked at the snowman that was sitting in the front yard of his neighbor’s house. “Stupid holidays.”
He was bitter with his dad for not even wanting to put up a tree this year. Not that there’d be any gifts under it, nothing that his dad would go out and get for him. But it would have been nice to have a tree, damn it. Mom used to put one up even if she was sure there wasn’t going to be any pretty papered wrappings under it. His mom was the best.
“Yeah, so good that she left you behind, didn’t she?” That wasn’t really right. He’d been in jail when she’d left them. There wouldn’t have been any way for her to have taken him with her, and now that he was out, he didn’t have a clue where to find her. She was hiding from Dad, he knew that. His dad had a mean fist, but not against him anymore.
Huston had learned to defend himself while in jail. Not just from the bullies, but the would-be lovers too. He didn’t roll that way, yet it mattered little to them. But he’d gotten out with his cherry, as it was called, and he was careful now to make sure that he didn’t get caught and end up back there. Not getting caught was the way to go. And if he was unlucky enough to get his ass back in the jail, this time he wasn’t going to call his dad, nor was he going in empty handed. He knew how to make himself a knife now.
Dad had come down to the jail to see him. But he’d laughed at him and made fun of the fact that he’d been caught. Not even telling the police that it had been his dad’s fault had done him any good either. He’d been the one that had been caught with the goods, not his dad. The fucker was going to pay for that too, someday soon.
Huston had made no friends while he’d been serving time for robbery, and he had even fewer now that he was out again. His dad was to blame for most of that, too. He was forever picking fights with people that he had no intention of fighting with. Huston figured that it made him feel like a big man when they backed away from him. Whatever. Huston could and would fight if it was necessary, but to his way of thinking, there wasn’t much out there that was worth getting all banged up for.
As he sat up his station to wash up dishes, he thought of all the things he could be doing right now. Nothing, he thought with a grin. He’d be either sitting on the couch watching stolen cable with his dad, or sitting in his room looking at the four walls. Either one didn’t pay him.
“I need the salad plates run through first, then some of the silverware. We got backed up this morning when the dishwasher repair guy had to be called in.” Huston said he’d get right on them, and started loading the smaller plates onto the rack as his boss stood there. “What are your plans after you get off work tonight?”
“Go home, I guess. You got something else for me to do?” Roger said that he did, he’d talk to him later. “All right then.”
As much as he hated doing such a sloppy job, he did enjoy the way the dishes came out on the other end all shiny and clean. They were chipped and in bad shape for the most part, but he treated them like they were fine china. When his break came, he sat at the little table in the back and played around with the newspaper. He could read it, and he did so, front to back without missing a single thing. It helped him pass the time as well as keep him updated on his surroundings.
A burger and fries were set in front of him just as he was giving up on trying to figure out what the mayor had done now.
“I was told you were getting this.” He nodded but didn’t touch it yet. He wasn’t so stupid as to think he was getting something for nothing. “Go on, eat it. Roger said to give it to you. It was ordered and then not wanted.”
“Has it been out to the table?” Sharon said it hadn’t. “You expect me to believe that someone ordered this, and Roger said to give it over to me? What’s the catch?”
“Don’t know that there is one. He asked me if I wanted it. I don’t eat red meat. He asked James too, and he said no way. So, if you think he singled you out, he didn’t. We all got asked before you did.” He picked the burger up and knew that something was up. “I got you a cola too if you want it.”
“Sure.” The burger was still hot, and the French fries were steaming enough to burn his tongue, but he ate it all before she came back with his drink. It was the first meal, hot or cold, that he’d had, other than cereal, in a long time. That was another thing that had changed when his mom had left them…nobody could cook like she did.
Roger came in just about the time he was ready to go back to work. When he sat, Huston stood up. He was waiting on him to speak, but not that long. Huston wasn’t going to lose his job over a burger, no matter how good it tasted.
“Your dad tried to get in touch with an organization that I belong to.” He asked him what that had to do with him. “A great deal, as a matter of fact. You know of the dragons. I’m with the group Dragon Slayers.”
Huston sat down. He wasn’t sure what to think about this, but he figured that if his dad had inquired about them, then he might as well listen. Roger handed him a pamphlet.
“No thanks, I’m not interested in anything you might have there.” He pushed it back at him. Roger said he’d read it to him. “Don’t bother. I could read it if I wanted, but I don’t care. I don’t know what this is all about, but I got me some plans of my own concerning the woman. She’s gonna be mine.”
“You mean the faerie warrior? She will eat you up and spit you out again. She’s too much even for me, and I’ve been training to deal with people like her. Did you know that she’s an immortal? That you can’t kill her?” He said that he did know that. “All right. Do you know what you have to do to contain her? It’s not as easy as it might look.”
“What do you want with her? I’m assuming by the name of your club, you plan on killing off the dragons. She can’t do that. She told me.” Roger told him that she had killed one. “She was under attack. I’m guessing that was you guys. How did you get a dragon to help you? I mean, they know what you’re doing, right?”
“You ask a lot of questions for someone that doesn’t know a great deal.” He wasn’t sure where Roger had gotten that information, but Huston let it go. “She killed the dragon that was a part of my plan. And as for how we got him to cooperate, that’s none of your concern either.”
Huston stood up. He wasn’t sure
he was going to have a job after this, so he decided that he’d just tell the guy like he saw it. There was just too many people going after his woman, and he didn’t care for it.
“She’s out at the property that the Bensons live on. I’ve never been there myself, but I heard that it’s just about the nicest land around. And when they come into town for stuff, they’re all right to people. I just want the woman. They can have the dragons. They’re too nasty for me anyway.” He backed away, watching his boss. Huston had been out there, but he wasn’t going to tell him that. Nobody needed to know that he’d shit himself over them monsters. “Do I still have a job here? Or was the burger dinner my last?”
“You have a job, but I want you to think about this, Huston. As a single person, you don’t stand a chance in hell of getting that woman to come to you. But as a group, an organized one that has the weapons to deal with her, we can get her to do whatever you want. Even if that means fucking you.” He felt his face heat up but didn’t comment. “Just think about it. And yes, you have a job here. For as long as you want.”
After Roger left him, Huston went to his station. He stood there for several minutes, thinking about what he’d been told. She had messed with them a little, and she had told them that she’d not be able to kill the dragons. But as far as fucking him went, he wasn’t sure about that either, to be honest. She was a really pretty woman, but she was also hard, and he’d bet she liked sex the same way. Yeah, he might be better off with a group to get her, but he’d wait before telling Roger. No since in letting him think he just caved. Doing the dishes that were piled up, he started to whistle. Things were looking up for him, he thought. Finally.
Huston had been working at the little diner for about three years now. The job wasn’t that hard; it was long hours of standing on his feet, but it gave him money to buy things he wanted. Shoes and a coat. Sometimes he’d buy himself one of the microwave dinners. But eating that at home, or even storing them there, had been hard. His dad usually found them, or wanted one too when he was eating them.
At midnight, when he was ready to clock out, he’d come up with a plan for how to get some things for himself. If this group was organized, then they’d have some money. Money that he could sure use about now. Getting himself a place of his own, with his own things, wasn’t the first thing on his list when he’d started out, but it had moved up more and more when he thought of the shit going on at his house. This was something that he thought he deserved too.
Also, he wanted to be fed every day that he came to work. Not just burgers, but a steak and a baked potato once in a while. His list had been really long when he’d started naming things to himself that he wanted, but it was narrowed down now. There was no point in getting greedy, not like his dad would have been. And that was something on his list too. He didn’t want his dad to be any part of this deal. Not one thing. He was pretty sure that he’d muck it all up for him anyway.
Huston was surprised to find Roger out in the parking lot. After telling him to get into his car, Roger started the engine but didn’t move. He looked at Huston and asked him what he wanted to do.
“I’ll help you all out, but I have some things that I want too. Like some cash. I’m tired of going hungry and cold.” The engine sounded smooth, not at all like the piece of shit he had before. Roger’s smile made Huston think he wasn’t getting shit. “And I don’t want my dad in this. He’s greedy and an ass. It’s me or him.”
“I can work with that, and I have a grand here for you too. Can’t have our best man starved and cold, now can we?” He wasn’t sure if he was being pranked or not, but smiled when a thick envelope was handed to him. “You’ll get that once a week until we get her. Then the money will be ten times that much. Welcome to the Dragon Slayers, Huston.”
Chapter 5
Simeon watched the two of them as they worked in the yard. He’d gotten up this morning and found the house empty but for him and Akassa. After searching the house, he’d gone out to the porch to find Bryn working with Mark and his sword. The two of them were doing well, he thought. Akassa joined him, giving him a plate of food.
“Do you suppose she’s eaten?” Akassa said that there was a clean plate in the drainer, as well as a fork and a glass. “Good. To be honest with you, I was afraid that she didn’t eat. You know, being what she is, I just didn’t know.”
“She bathes too. Her towel was hung up over the hooks, and her dirty things were in the hamper. I’m not sure if she brushed her teeth, but she is clean.” Simeon glared at his counterpart, but ate instead of talking. “By the way, what she’s teaching Mark, she got permission from his parents before starting. I thought that was nice of her.”
“It’s sort of an art, isn’t it? I mean, the way she’s having him move with the sword. How he falls, even, isn’t as bad as I think I’d do. I’ve been watching them for a little while now, and all I can think about is music. That if what they were doing had music playing in the background, I’d go see it as a play.” They watched Mark fall again…well, be tripped, he supposed. “He doesn’t get angry with her either when she does that. I wonder if she told him that if he did, she’d stop. Or maybe she’d cut him to ribbons. Perhaps that’s what she’d say to us. A kid might be a little different.”
She looked in their direction, and he had a feeling that she knew they’d been watching her all along. Setting down his plate, he and Akassa walked the length of the yard to see what they could learn. But as soon as they were close enough, he heard her tell Mark that he needed to bond with his sword.
“What does that mean?” She told him that he and his sword weren’t one person. That he needed to make sure that it wasn’t just something to keep him safe, but that it knew what to do almost before he did. “Okay, I’m still not sure what that means.”
She looked at him, and he could see that she was trying hard to explain without making him feel bad. Simeon nodded at her and told her that if she told him, perhaps he could help her.
“He has to feed it. You and Akassa, you’re one person when need be, correct?” He nodded. “Okay, this sword was a gift to him, from the former king. The sword became…I guess you could call it neutral. It has no owner, nor does it feel like it’s part of a person. For all it knows it could be sitting on a shelf someplace. To bond with it, it’ll know your thoughts, your hurts, and your fear. And fear is a good thing. I’m afraid every time I draw my own. But with it, drawn or not, I feel better because we’re a single unit when we go to battle.”
“So, you’re saying that it has life?” She said sort of, but it was more than that. “Can you explain it? I’m sorry, but I’m trying my best to understand this. This is all new to me too.”
“A person’s sword is like an extension of them. Like the dragon is for you. When you need him, Akassa is there for you. The sword isn’t any different.” She asked for his sword, and Mark handed it to her with a smile. It occurred to him that Mark was smitten with Bryn, but he was trying to understand this right now. He’d deal with the young man later, if it came to that. “See the markings on this blade? They were made by a faerie. Also, it looks as if maybe the queen of the faeries has had her hand on it too. And a troll. That’s what the blade is made of, troll saliva.”
“Eww. Are you kidding me?” She shook her head at Mark. “You mean that some troll someplace spit on this thing?”
“No, it’s actually his spit. When he helped make this sword, he spit a long spittle of himself on an iron table and forged it from that.” Mark made a gagging sound that made them all laugh. “This is the finest sword you could ever hope to use. Not only is it made with troll spit, but there’s—”
“If you tell me that someone has peed on it, I’m never touching it again. That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard of.” Bryn laughed, and Simeon nearly fell back. It was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. “What else is on it? Something’s poop? Or maybe vomit? I thought it was just a sword that would be nice to have. I love that the king gave it to
me, but to have someone’s spit on it is one thing. A man’s poop is really gross.”
“Nothing like that. It has blood in it.” Instead of grossing the young boy out, it seemed to brighten him up a little. “The blood of the faerie queen is what made the markings. The brownie that gave the handle has put his initials here on the pummel. And since it’s in brownie language, not everyone would know that he was the greatest sword maker ever born. Also, you might believe this or not, most of the swords made today are made by a brownie. And the lines here, the ones that look like writing, are not only the names of the people that made it, but those who have used it. The king used this, as well as his wife. Each time a person bonds with it, their name, in the language of the faeries, is put here too. A part of the sword that will never go away, be broken, nor reformed with someone else’s marks.”
“Okay, that’s cool. And now, when I feed it, I’ll have my name on there too.” Bryn nodded. “How do I do that? Pee or spit?”
He giggled, and while he wasn’t sure what he was going to have to do to bond with the sword, Simeon knew that it was going to be something else. Pee or spit wasn’t anything that the sword would understand. He watched Bryn when she knelt to Mark’s level.
“Blood.” No one moved. And while he could understand the concept, he was a little freaked out by the thought of Mark bleeding on the sword. “All you need to do is nick your thumb or finger and rub it over the scroll work. Once you do that, the sword will belong to you and no one else. And it will conform to you. It will be a part of all that you are. Even as you grow, so will the sword. If you are hurt and cannot carry it for some reason, it will know and adjust to fit your needs.”
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