Stanley: Dalton’s Kiss Book 2 (Dalton's Kiss)

by Kathi S. Barton

  Now, here he sat, waiting for her to come home at some point so he could have a very long talk with her about scheduling and showing up on time. Of course, he didn’t have a job as she’d told him. Nor did he have a place to live. The landlord had kicked him out just yesterday when he’d been unable to come up with six months of past due rent.

  “Everyone is out to get me.” Josh didn’t really think that. He knew he was a fool and was lazy. That’s why he wanted to marry someone that would take care of him in the manner in which he wanted. Thinking he had that in Lizzy was what got him into trouble in the first place. Secondly, he thought she never had any intention of marrying him at all. Lizzy was just trying to make him part of the working class like she was.

  “I don’t want to get a job. Nor do I think if she has one, I should have to.” The house that he was sitting by, her house, was locked to him as well. He’d been here before, of course. However, there had never been staff running around. Nor had he been able to venture any further than the kitchen and living room when he was there for the evening. Now there was a man at the gate who demanded he have some sort of prior arrangements to see the lady of the house before he was able to breach the high electrified gate. Finding that out a little too late had his hand still burning from trying to scale it.

  “Mr. Hinkley, it’s time for you to move on. I’ve called the police and—” He asked him what he was doing that he’d have to call the police. “You’re trespassing, for starters. There is no way we’re going to allow you on the property until we hear differently from Miss Lizzy. Also, you should know that if you are to gain access—which I can’t see happening—but if you do, we’re going to shoot you. No warning shots either. Just pull out a gun and shoot you where your brain is supposed to be residing.”

  “Are you fucking me? You’d shoot a man when he’s trying to see the woman he’s marrying?” The guard, dressed in camouflage and a heavy-duty vest, told him she didn’t marry him, and it didn’t look like she was going to. “How the hell do you know? For all you know, she might be planning a bigger wedding than before.”

  “Well then, if that’s the case, I’m truly sorry. But until we all hear differently from her about keeping you off any property that she owns, then you’re just shit out of luck. I have my orders, and those are to keep you out of her home. Her home, not yours and hers.” Josh stood up, trying to make himself look larger than the man in front of him. “Mr. Hinkley, I’m only going to say this to you one time. You don’t want to fuck with me. I’m bigger, meaner, and a good deal smarter than you are. Now, move along before they have to come out and put your body in a bag to get you out of my hair.”

  He started walking back toward town. The police pulled up behind him and kept pace with him as he took his time walking. They even turned on the siren when he paused for too long. It was the lights that got him pissy. Why did they have to announce to the world that he wasn’t welcome someplace? Fuckers. Everyone was a fucker today. As he walked, Josh started thinking of all the names he was going to call Lizzy when she showed up. If she showed up.

  “Where the hell are you, damn it?” He didn’t expect an answer, but he surely would like to have one. She’d been gone now for a year, and he was no closer to talking her into marrying him than he’d been before. “I wonder if she’ll even consider me now. Probably not.”

  Laughing at his own little joke, he was nearly run over when the cop car went around him and sped off with all their sounds and lights. He didn’t know what was going on, but they sure were in a hurry. Josh started to pick up his pace but figured he’d have a heart attack out here, and no one would give a damn, so he walked on into the town to see what all the hoopla was about.

  ~*~

  “What the hell did you do to me?” Bancroft was confused and looked to Kelly when Lizzy smacked him in the chest and yelled at him. “You had to do something to me. I have all this extra shit going on, and I can’t fucking control it.”

  “Perhaps if you would calm down a moment, we can get to the bottom of his. What extra crapola do you have?” Bancroft was used to Kelly not cursing, but when Lizzy looked at her oddly, he felt the need to explain. But Kelly started talking again. “Why don’t you have a seat, and we’ll see what it is that has you upset. Please?”

  “What planet are you from? Crapola? Is that even a word?” Lizzy glanced at him, then looked back at Kelly. “I have this extra shit. Like I can fucking move through the walls of where I’m staying. The rock walls of the cave I’m sleeping in.”

  “I’m assuming you weren’t able to do that before. All right. Let me see if you can explain to us why you think my husband had anything to do with it.” Lizzy sat down, and she looked upset. “I can’t help you, Lizzy, if you don’t try and tell me what you mean. I’m better with information than I am at just having someone accuse me of something.”

  “I didn’t accuse you, but him.” Lizzy pointed at him. “He’s supposed to be this big assed vampire that everyone in the world has to talk to. Why? I have no idea. It’s like a lot of other shit I don’t understand.”

  “I can help you with some of it. Bancroft gave me a book you can read to see what things you might well be able to do. Now, what else can you do? I’m assuming from your tone that there is more than just teleporting through walls.” Lizzy asked Kelly if she was always this calm. “Most of the time, yes. Flying off the handle, like some people I know, doesn’t get you much in the way of information.”

  “You mean like me.” Kelly shrugged. Bancroft figured he could sit down now and not be smacked around again. He and Kelly had been coming into town for the pumpkin show being held at the grade school. “I went back to my place after leaving your house, and Hal was there. He said something about me glowing. I thought he meant he could see how p…ticked off I was and ignored him. But then later, when I was looking at one of the walls in the cave, I saw this spot of gold. I thought, what the heck, I can work on seeing how big this is. You know, having something to do through the long night. I frigging went into the wall and came out with a hunk of gold as big as my flipping head.”

  “Oh, what a wonderful find. You must be very happy with that. I don’t know the price of gold, but to—” Lizzy told her to keep on track. “Yes, of course. All right. You can go through a wall of stone and find gold rocks. What else? That couldn’t have been all of it. I mean, you seem very upset for just one thing.”

  Lizzy stood up and looked around. Putting out her hand, she had a ball of flame in her palm. Not only a flame but one that was white-hot and actually shaped like a ball. Tossing it up in the air, she touched it as it was coming down, and the thing separated into small sparkles of light that danced around the table they were sitting at.

  “That’s very lovely.” Kelly looked at him then. “What would you have done to her to have caused such a phenomenon to happen? I mean, who else would it have been? You remember when I first met you, you only had to walk into the door, and I was tossed back with some sort of magic stuff. Could you have given it to her too?”

  He was beginning to see the big picture here. Shaking his head, he looked at Lizzy, then back at Kelly when she said his name. Kelly asked him if he had it figured out.

  “I think so. You’re not going not like my answer any more than you did, thinking I did this to you.” Lizzy asked him what he was talking about. “The only other person in the house with us, the only other person that could have given you more magic, is more than likely your mate. Remy was with us when you came to the house.”

  “You think that Remy is her mate? Oh, how wonderful. Remy will be— I was going to say he’d be thrilled, but I don’t think he will be, will he?” Bancroft shook his head at his wife. “Yes, well, he’ll just have to get over it. He and Lizzy will make a fantastic couple. I think—”

  “I’m sitting right here. And if you think I’m going to be a mate to some other vampire, you’re more insane than the man who did this
to me. I’m not long for this world. I promise you, if he comes sniffing around, I’m going to stake him. No kidding, either.” Kelly told her she couldn’t hurt her mate. “Well, isn’t that just fucking great? Yes, I said fucking. I’m not going to dance around with my curse words just because you’re old fashioned.”

  Bancroft reached out for his friend. It was nearly nine-thirty now, and he figured he’d be finished with the paperwork that had to be filled out with his supposed non-payment of dues. He told him what he’d been discussing with Lizzy and how she was taking it.

  What the hell do you mean, you think she’s my mate? I don’t know if you realize this or not, but that’s not how that works. I find her, not you find her for me. He told him what she’d been doing since he’d met her yesterday. Remy was quiet for some minutes before he spoke again. I think you might be right. Banny, not only have I gotten a bit more magic since yesterday, but I’m also feeling less stressed. Where are you?

  He told him. However, I’m not sure you should be coming around. There are a lot of people here that will see her kicking your ass when you confirm she’s your mate. Remy laughed. It was the first time he’d heard him laugh in ages. She also told us she’s going to end her life. It’s not the first time she’s said that. I would normally think she was all talk, but she also told Kelly yesterday she promised that the women that were with her when she woke up would be found. Kelly is going to find them tomorrow. I think that is the only reason she’s not let the sun take her by now.

  I have to speak to her, Banny. If for no other reason than to confirm that we’re mates. I don’t need one right now either, but if she is my mate, and I’ve no reason to doubt that she’s not, then if she goes, so do I. Does she understand that? Banny pointed out that she knew next to nothing about being a vampire. Yes, I guess she’d be against it anyway. Don’t you think?

  They both laughed. Remy said he’d come to town. He did need to talk to her before the league took him away for non-payment of dues. He told him he’d see him in a few minutes. Bancroft looked at Lizzy when he realized he might have missed something she and Kelly were talking about.

  “You told him, didn’t you? You just had to go and start flapping your lips and tell on me. What the hell is wrong with you? Is it a vampire thing or something? That it’s impossible for you to keep something that doesn’t concern you at all to yourself?” She got up and started pacing. Bancroft realized she paced like she talked, hard and without mercy to anything that might be under her shoes. “I have so much shit going on right now that I don’t think I can handle one more thing. The idiot I was going to marry is trying his best to make sure I’m dead so he can collect on the insurance he took out on me. I’m also pretty sure he hired someone to kill me off after we were married. Then, the company I’ve been wanting to purchase for over a year is wanting to sell now. How the hell do I get to a meeting in the morning when I’m going to fry myself just thinking about it? I have a faerie too, one that simply talks all the time and asks more questions than anyone I’ve ever known before. However, he is nice to me. Other than the fact that it was his fault that I had to go and see the big bad vampire that can’t keep his mouth shut.”

  “Are you finished?” She turned and looked at Remy when he joined them. “I don’t want to interrupt you while you’re on a tirade. But there are a couple of things you should know. First of all, yes, you are my mate. I should have realized it the other day when I was here. Also, and this is very important, I won’t demand anything of you. Not now, not ever. I know better. I think too that if this other man that thinks he’s going to marry you shows up, I can just sit back and let you handle him. You’ve shown yourself capable of taking care of yourself, even against all odds. I do hope you know you were very lucky to have survived being changed.”

  “I don’t want to be a vampire.” Remy told her she’d have to get over that; it was done. “I can kill myself. I just wanted those women found.”

  “That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Kelly came and sat closer to him. He was glad for it. Lizzy looked deadly enough to take him on too. “Why do you care if those women are found or not? For that matter, you could have called the police and told them where they are and joined them. You wouldn’t have been found, however. But then, as I was able to find out, you don’t have any family anyway.”

  “You don’t know shit.” Remy sat down and asked her, politely, to sit with him. “I don’t want to sit with you. I want to go back to where I’ve been staying and let you get on with whatever you have going on.”

  “I don’t have anything going on just yet. I do have some things I need to take care of. Mostly vampire shit. But for now, I think the two of us should get to know each other before we come to blows. Tell me about this guy that thinks he’s going to marry you.” She asked him why he’d want to know. “Because I need to know if I need to make arrangements to have an alibi when I kill him. I’m a very possessive vampire, as most are, but with you, I think I can let you handle most of the dirty work while I bask in your beauty.”

  “Don’t be cute. It doesn’t suit you.” Bancroft saw a hint of a smile before she stiffened again. “I was changed against my will. I know nothing about your kind or what I’m supposed to do now that I’m a night creature. I’m depressed most of the time, terrified that I’m going to lose control and bite someone. I don’t want to bite a person. I can’t make myself think about it without being ill.”

  “You won’t be able to feed from anything but me from now on. I’m to understand that you’ve been feeding on rats and other rodents. That will no longer fill you. I’m sorry. Neither will I be able to feed from someone else.” She glared at him. “If you don’t believe me, ask Banny. He knows that rule. Also, and this is a biggy. If you were to meet the sun as you’ve been saying, I will as well. Now that we’ve met, if I don’t feed from you or can’t be near you, I will turn rogue and have to be put down. As in, I will turn wild and kill whatever I happen to be near, or be killed.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. What happens if I just get killed by some random shithead? Does that mean you’ll have to die too?” He said it did because he could not live without her love. “I don’t love you. I don’t know if I ever will. As a matter of fact, I don’t have any idea how to love someone. I’ve been alone for all my life, and I like it that way.”

  “I’ve been around a great deal longer than you have, and I also have been alone for most of it. My parents are both dead. They were killed when I was just a small boy. If not for Banny here, I would have been killed along with them.” She looked at him, then back at Remy when he spoke again. “Also, and this is just a theory on my part, but I have a feeling that because the two of us are mated, and you’re already so strong, you have more of my traits than you think. Such as, I’m betting you can stand the sun where you wouldn’t have been able to before.”

  “I can be out during the day?” He could hear the longing in her voice. It hurt him, seriously put a pang in his heart, that she’d missed something so profoundly as having the sun on her face. “That alone would make me want to be your mate. You have no idea how much I’ve missed having the sun on my body when I go running.”

  “I’m not positive about that one, but it’s easy enough to figure out. Also, you won’t have to feed so much now that you’re my mate. You’ve discovered you have more magic already, so that’s good.”

  They were still sitting there when Kelly pulled Bancroft up from the table and led him away. They’d either work it out or not. However, Bancroft had a feeling they were well on their way to getting their lives together. Bancroft hoped with all his heart that this would help them both. They needed each other more than he thought he did Kelly. And he needed her with every breath he took.

  Chapter 3

  Remy didn’t join her in her cave but sat outside when she went into it. He wasn’t pushing his luck with her. He thought she might well hurt him, rules or
not, simply because she was jumpy enough without him stirring her up again.

  They’d talked well into the night. He had wanted to stay out with her to see if she could indeed see the sun, but he could tell that she was afraid—not of the sun, but of her not being able to see it. Take one step at a time, he told himself. If he didn’t, he might find himself out in the sun with a long stake in his heart.

  Hal came out of the cave just as the sun was peeking through the trees. Remy lifted his head up to the bright lights and realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed such a thing. The sun was something he’d missed too when he’d first changed. Now he wanted to spend as much time as he could feeling it on his face.

  “She’s awake. Pacing. She does that very well, you know.” He told Hal he’d seen her doing it last night. “Yes. Well, I think should she stay here forever, she’d wear a nice long trench in the stone. I’m to ask you if you think she can come out.”

  “Yes. If nothing happens, she’ll be fine. If it does, I am here to help her save herself. Is she upset?” Hal said she was, but he thought it was more to do with the phone call she got when she woke. “Is everything all right?”

  “Don’t know. She seems to be upset about everything all the time. I don’t think it’s in her nature, but she has been tossed a great deal of late. Miss Kelly is coming to find the bodies this morning. I do hope my lady can be there with her. It will make her feel much better, I believe.” Remy said he thought it might too. “May I ask you a question, sir?”

  “Anytime, Hal. But don’t expect me to butter coat something for you. If you ask me, like I think Lizzy does, I’m going to give you the answer truthfully.” He nodded as if he’d been told that before. “What is it you want to know?”

  “The miss, she was powerful in her own right. Did you know that?” He said he had figured that out, yes. “We, the faeries and I, we think she was powerful even before she was changed into what she is now. Long before you came along, and the other vampire.”