“The point is… that we have no definite answers or direction, and I for one can’t sit on my arse and wait around.” Kai looked at each man in the circle. “Can you?”
Charlie looked at him for a bit and then stood, “Alright then, what exactly does this plan have us doing?”
Kai walked with him over to the table with the globe and the darts.
“Well, I was thinking we’d sit the globe on the table, someone would spin it, and one of us would throw a dart at it. Then we will pull out a map for whatever location the dart lands and tack it to a wall and throw another dart. We can keep getting more detailed maps until we know a city.” He looked at his friends; they all looked as if they were trying not to laugh at him. “After we have a city, the man who throws the dart will go to that city and set up a tattoo shop.”
“What then?” Gabriel asked while obviously fighting back a laugh.
“Then, you do what you’ve been doing. Work the shop and wait for women to come in and show them the book of Dásreach Warrior Marks.” Kai clenched his fists. He knew the plan was a bit cracked, but it was all they had at this point.
“I think we need a test. Kai, it’s your idea, so you should be the first one to follow it through. If it’s successful then the rest of us can throw our darts.” Gabriel suggested.
“Yea, Kai should go first.” Sasha backed up his fellow Steward.
“Alright.” Kai opened the box of darts and took out one. “Charlie, will you spin the globe for me?”
“As long as you promise not to hit me with the dart.” Charlie grinned at him.
Even his best friend wasn’t holding back his opinion of the plan. Damn it. Kai thought his Beta was supposed to have his back no matter what. He growled at Charlie and walked about 15 feet back from the table. He closed his eyes and sent a prayer out to the Great Spirit. Please guide this dart and help me find my mate. The Thirteen need this.
“Go.” Charlie spun the globe and all of the men stepped back.
Kai inhaled a deep breath and let the dart fly straight at the globe. It hit with a loud crack as the dart penetrated the hard shell of the round ball. His heart sped up, where would this lead him? Would it actually work and help him to find his mate? He asked the Great Spirit for guidance, all he could do was trust that it would be given.
He looked at Charlie, “Where did it land?” His nerves were shot as he waited for his friend to answer.
“Well, the globe is pretty detailed, so it’s in the state of Ohio in the States.” Charlie called back to him.
“Ohio?” Jack laughed. “There’s nothing in Ohio, man.”
“There’s something in Ohio all right,” Kai looked at them all, “my mate.”
He walked to the table and pulled out the stack of United States maps. Pulling out the map for Ohio, he looked around for the best place to tack it to the wall.
“Give it here.” Malkum said as he grabbed it from Kai’s hand.
He stared at the Enforcer for a moment; he had no idea what the man was doing.
“I might not be able to use my ability to find our mates, but I can find the city for the tattoo shop. No need to poke holes in my walls.” Malkum spread the map flat on the table and moved his finger around on the surface.
Malkum’s eyes were closed and Kai prayed again to the Great Spirit, Please.
“Here.” Malkum poked the map towards the center.
Everyone crowed around and looked closer.
“Is there anything there?” Damon asked.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere isn’t it?” Gabriel chimed in.
Malkum gave both men a cool look. Maybe he had at least one of the Thirteen on board for his plan.
The Enforcer looked close at the map, “Delmar. It’s not too far from the capital of Columbus, so it might not be too bad.”
Chapter 1
A cold winter day in January.
Alvena Irene Anderson, known as Al to her friends, walked swiftly across the icy parking lot where Maureen dropped her off due to the ice and traffic. The wind whipped her sling bob styled hair into her eyes, and between it and the snow blowing across her vision she could hardly see. Fighting to keep balance with her carry-on bag while dragging her suitcase across the icy and uneven ground, she couldn’t stop to pull up her hood, which would have kept her hair back. Her suitcase bumping along behind her as she hurried towards the entrance to the Port Columbus International Airport made her thankful that she hadn’t packed her larger bag. Glancing at the time on her phone, she quickened her steps, since thanks to her boss she was late for her flight.
Her boss was a jerk. There was no getting around that fact, since as always he had found a way to keep her at work when he knew she had somewhere to be. Sigh. At least Maureen had waited and hadn’t straight out told her “I told you so.” She had planned on being at the airport two hours ago. With check-in and security, she was afraid she wouldn’t make it. Damn her boss for keeping her at work until 6 p.m. He tried to keep her longer, but she had finally told him that she had to leave and promised to check her email while she was gone to get him off her back. But to hell with that, this was her first real vacation in years and she was not ruining it because of the toad that was her boss.
She loved working only a short distance from her apartment, but working for a small mom and pop software company had its setbacks. Like a boss that constantly expected her to work 12 hour days, even when she had set up time off for appointments or vacation. He always pushed the envelope and sadly, she let him get away with it. If it wasn’t for the fact that she could walk to and from work and was paid well, she would have quit today. But, alas, she wanted to keep her job. She was comfortable there and it worked to her benefit. With what she was saving by not having to have a car, she would be able to travel to many of the romance book events that she and her friends in her online book club enjoyed. This trip to New Orleans was only the second event in which she would travel with two of her best gals, Nat from upstate New York and Rogue from Tennessee. It didn’t matter to Al that she had only met Nat and Rogue in person on one other trip to meet Jeaniene Frost, they had known each other for over two years. There were actually a total of fifteen gals that had struck up a friendship on Facebook. Al had only met a few of them on a couple of occasions when they were able to attend the same book signing events, but all of them were addicted to books, specifically romance novels, and they just clicked. She had a few friends, but none as special to her as the Book Worms.
Al thought back to when they all had first “met”… on Lara Adrian’s Facebook page. Commenting on posts on the page, all of the gals just migrated to each other. So many of the same thoughts and preferences when it came to books, they soon were overtaking Lara’s page. One day someone mentioned that maybe they should set up their own group or page, and by the next day Kat, one of the gals from Austria, had started Book Worms. Since then the gals had shared holidays and birthdays via the Internet and the post office, had worked together to attend book signings, and supported each other through posts on the group page and through personal message chat sessions.
Due to some bad friendships in the past, Al was hesitant when making friends and didn’t trust easily, but she had struck up some pretty close relationships with most of the gals. A couple of the others didn’t come on the group much, so she really didn’t know them. But, with the ones she did know, she would trust them with anything. It amazed Al how she had grown to care and depend on them. She didn’t have anyone else that she could share her fears and dreams with. There were a few people that she met on past jobs that lived near her in Ohio that she kept in contact with, like her friend Maureen who now ran the bookstore in Delmar, but they were fair weather friends at best. Maureen was her closest friend, the one she went out with on occasion and talked into giving her a ride like she had today to the airport. But, she didn’t know about Al’s past, her issues with men and sex, or that she had weird dreams. She and Maureen talked about books and the people that they kne
w from the job that they had worked together. Al only shared her most personal thoughts with the Book Worms, which was why she was so desperate to go on this trip. She just had to make that flight.
Al picked up her pace as she approached the road she had to cross to reach the doors to the airport.
Distracted by the thoughts in her own head, Al didn’t see the huge patch of ice she crossed over as she came to the departures area of the airport. As her foot slipped out from under her, her thought was, Crap! I’m not going to make it now. I’ll be in the ER.
However, at the last minute she felt a strong hand grab her arm and an arm come around her waist. The arm lifted her off of the ice and set her down on dry road just under the awning in front of the entrance doors. Feeling a shock of electricity that felt like it raced from the contact of that arm and hand throughout her whole body, she took in a deep breath and looked up into the bluest eyes that she had ever seen. The gorgeous hunk of muscle she felt under her hands, as she grabbed on to keep her balance, had to be almost seven feet tall and caused her to crane her head way back for her eyes to reach his face. But, man, was that crick in her neck going to be worth it. He gazed back into her eyes, his lips curving up in a smile. Al became mesmerized by the two dimples, one on each side of those delicious looking lips.
As Al began to smile back, she was pulled back to reality by the ringing of her alarm on her phone. She reached into her pocket and without taking her eyes from his face she moved the phone into her vision. When she quickly glanced at the display, she stiffened. Damn it! She was going to miss her flight.
Stepping from his arms, she reached down and grabbed the handle of the suitcase she hadn’t realized she had let go of and looked at her hero.
“Thanks for the save, but I’m late for my flight!”
“No problem, lass.” He responded in a strong Scottish brogue.
Holy heather fields, Batman! Why did she have to meet a man like him when she was running late? Al thought as she raced through the doors and to the Southwest Airlines ticket counter.
Thankfully she was quickly checked in and sent on her way to her gate. Al had checked online for the airport regulations and had made sure she had everything stowed away properly and was ready for the security check point, which helped her to make it through without incident. Ticket in hand she approached the gate attendant just in time to be boarded. Whew, what a close one. She thought as she boarded the plane and found an empty row of seats. If she was lucky no one would need to use the other two seats next to her.
***
After making contact with his boss, the man boarded the plane and sat towards the back so he could watch the woman he was sent to follow. She was sort of a pretty thing, but he knew that she wouldn’t be around long enough to get attached to, just until he could get her alone. It wasn’t smart to get attached to a job. He got paid good money to make people disappear. His boss called, gave him a name and location, and if he was lucky a picture, then he would remove the problem. Watching the innocent looking woman he couldn’t help but be curious about what she could have possibly done to become a problem. However, when you’re in a field like his, curiosity would get you killed.
He adjusted his black fatigue pants and sat back in his seat. Leaning his head back he closed his eyes. She wouldn’t be going anywhere and he hadn’t gotten much sleep in the two days since he had received the call, might as well get some while he could.
The man relaxed without the weight of a conscience and quickly fell asleep.
Chapter 2
Kai watched the female board the plane in front of him, his eyes glued to her shapely arse. She was everything he could ever want. When he had touched her outside the airport, the electricity had ricocheted back and forth between them. It was further proof that she was meant to be his. He couldn’t thank the Great Spirit enough for leading his hand when he had thrown the dart that had lead him to the small farming community of Delmar, Ohio.
*
Three days earlier.
The small town didn’t boast much, only a few small businesses that took advantage of small town tax breaks and the town’s location only 45 minutes outside of the capital city of Columbus, Ohio. Kai assumed that these businesses provided those who weren’t into farming a job, while bringing revenue to the town and traffic to the quaint shops on Main Street. The Dásreach were planning to have one of those shops as soon as Kai could find a place to rent, which was why he found himself walking the few downtown streets looking for a location for a new tattoo shop. The Dásreach needed to branch out from the popular, large cities where they already had shops. Especially since he and his brothers were running out of time. Kai’s gut twisted at the thought of them being the first Thirteen to fail to complete the requirements and become the next Council in centuries.
Kai had watched his brothers’ frustration grow and knew that he had to be the first to do what they discussed. Even so, he hadn’t been sure about coming here, but Malkum with his tracking ability had looked at a map of the state and told Kai he needed to come here to Delmar. Malkum’s ability didn’t allow for him to track their mates, unfortunately, it was believed the Great Spirit blocked him because mates were destined. And, Destiny seemed to have its own ideas about things. But, with only a year and a half left, the men had felt like they had to do something. Kai asked the Great Spirit for help and threw his dart. Then Malkum had searched for a place for the tattoo shop in Ohio. He never could understand Malkum’s ability to find people and objects the way he could, but he was grateful for the help and ability to do something. It wasn’t in Kai’s nature to sit back and wait for things to happen.
Even so, he had almost backed out of the idea of coming here, the town was in the middle of nowhere, but he felt that he had to be strong for his brothers. The others had enough doubts about the plan – about leaving so much to fate and the path of a dart – and after so many failures, Kai wasn’t surprised. He knew the Great Spirit had led him here, but he wasn’t sure if he would ever have any business in a tattoo shop located in such a small rural community. But he had to trust in the Great Spirit and the guidance of his spirit guardian. His dragon spirit guardian seemed to be burning his insides lately, his impatience at Kai quite evident. So Kai continued to walk in the below freezing temperatures looking for a possible storefront location.
With the icy temps there was no one else on the streets, so Kai used his weather ability to warm up the temps around him and to clear his path. Creating wind to blow snow and dropping the temps around the slush along his path helped to keep the elements off of his feet, but the cold still reached him. Even through his heavy leather boots his feet were freezing. Normally his dragon helped to keep him warm, but not on this frigid Ohio day, it seemed even a fire breathing dragon couldn’t fight the winter wonderland around him.
When he reached the point that he could no longer feel his toes, Kai saw a little bookshop and cafe that advertised hot drinks. He quickly crossed the street, opened the door to the sound of a tinkling bell and walked into the picture of a book lovers dream. Being the future leader of his people, Kai had read everything he could find that even remotely held a possibility of helping him be a better leader. So, he appreciated a good book, whether one to learn from or the few and far between that he read for enjoyment. Even so, his frozen toes and fingers demanded the promised hot drink. He walked to a counter with several coffee and drink machines behind it and a menu board on the wall. Waving a server over he ordered a black coffee.
Leaning back against the counter while he sipped the hot coffee and warmed his fingers on the cup, he kicked one booted foot back against the counter and glanced around the bookstore.
His glance landed on a woman over a foot shorter than himself talking to a lady at what appeared to be the checkout counter. She had one of those curvy bodies that all women seemed to hate and all men loved. The lights gleamed off of her short dark hair and his eyes snagged on her long neck. To have a woman like her and a neck to nibble on,
he thought. His cock hardened and he adjusted himself to alleviate the pressure. Strange. He had spent plenty of time with women in his younger years, thinking that was the answer to finding his mate, but it had been hollow and he had soon given it up and concentrated on his education and helping his brothers, Malkum and Charlie, run their New Orleans tattoo shop in the last several years. He hadn’t missed female companionship, so it was strange that he felt something stir now.
His breath caught in his throat as she turned to look at a display near where he was standing and gestured as she continued to talk to the bookstore employee. His dragon spirit guardian roared and banged inside his body. Her deep dark chocolate eyes dragged him down to her soul. Her luscious lips begged to be kissed. Lust flared and burned along his skin. They had always said it would be like this, but he hadn’t truly understood until this moment. She is the one. My mate. That quickly, he knew.
As his beautiful mate turned away from Kai, he stumbled forward, as if his body was following her movement without help from his brain. He stopped himself from rushing forward and looked around the shop. No one but the two store employees and the beauty at the counter in front of him were in the store. He placed his forgotten coffee on the counter behind him almost dumping the remaining liquid on the counter as he bungled the maneuver. Kai took in a deep breath. He needed to stay calm and find out what information he could. He glanced around and saw a large display on a table a few feet away from her. He walked to a table behind the display and stood with his back to the two women talking. Not sure how she would react to a stranger or to what he had to tell her, he kept hidden from view, for now. He picked up a book and flipped pages that he couldn’t see as his superior hearing, thanks to his dragon, allowed him to follow their conversation.
Finding the Dragon (Dásreach Council Book 1) Page 2