Jaden damn near did a happy dance. These idiots had confronted a leprechaun on his own fucking land, threatened his family. He bowed to Sean Dunne, according him the respect he deserved. “Allow me.”
Sean, never taking his eyes from the redcap, nodded.
“Da! More on the south side!” Leo came running, golden sparks trailing behind him.
“Where’s your brother?” Sean followed his middle child around the house and out of Jaden’s sight.
Jaden pointed toward the redcap. “I know you! Didn’t I feed from you?” He licked his lips. “God, I hope you bathed today. Last time you left a nasty aftertaste.”
The redcap’s hand went to his neck, his eyes wide. “NO!” The idiot turned and ran, hand still over his neck.
I haven’t had this much fun in weeks! Jaden pounced, bringing his prey to the ground and biting into the side of his neck with little finesse. After all, the redcap wasn’t going to survive what Jaden did to him.
When he was done, it looked like he’d be paying a little visit to Charles Malmayne’s house. It was time for Charles to die.
Duncan pulled Moira to her feet. “Come on.” He raced for the opposite side of the house, knowing the explosion had to be a diversion.
“Wait! What about Jaden?”
Duncan sidestepped her father. The fury on Sean Dunne’s face would frighten a lesser man. Duncan had faced leprechauns before, but he’d never been stupid enough to do it on their own land. What in hell was Charles thinking? He had to know this was a very bad idea. As Jaden would say, it was a move worthy of a Darwin Award.
He sped out the front door, knowing Moira could move much faster than he. “Jaden has the back. Unless I miss my guess, there will be more out front.”
She stopped struggling and joined him. “Ma!”
“I’m heading upstairs with Ruby. I’ll keep her safe.” The two women pounded up the stairs, much to Duncan’s relief. While the little human was feisty, she was no match for a redcap.
He barreled through the front door and skidded to a halt. There in front of him were three redcaps. They’d dropped their Seeming, much to his dismay.
“Oh, ew.” Moira wriggled her nose. “Those guys are hideous.”
The redcaps had thick, muscle-bound bodies and limbs both skinnier and longer than they should be. Their skin was the color of fresh toadstools and wrinkled like that of extremely old men. Gray beards partially hid their fang-filled mouths. Red eyes glared at them, filled with hate. Steely claws tipped the fingers of each hand, razor sharp and lethal. All of their teeth were sharp, their eyes too big for their faces and their noses long and pointy. On their feet were iron boots, and on their heads they wore caps dripping with fresh blood. They weren’t carrying their traditional pikes; instead, each redcap carried a gun.
Shit.
Duncan tried to push Moira behind him, without luck. She ducked and ran, heading around the porch. One of the redcaps took off after her, firing his gun. Duncan saw her weave her way across the ground, moving faster and faster until she was around the corner.
Duncan had to trust that Moira knew what she was doing. She knew this land almost as well as her father, and that bond would give her some power here.
He turned his attention to the two remaining redcaps. Both had lifted their guns. He had a split second to decide what he was going to do.
Do what a son of the Tuatha Dé does best. Fuck with their minds.
The echo of Jaden’s words gave him just what he needed to get moving. He dove into one of their minds, quickly reweaving what the redcap saw. Duncan now seemed to stand where his comrade did, while Duncan himself looked like the redcap’s ensorcelled partner.
As he’d hoped the redcap spun and fired on his buddy, hitting him in the head and killing him instantly. Duncan held on to the redcap’s mind, sensing its satisfaction at a job well done.
Well, shit. Their orders were to kill him. And the person he saw handing down those orders was his own uncle.
He snarled, gesturing for the redcap to follow him. They ran in the direction Moira had gone. The redcap’s orders as far as Moira was concerned were muddled. Part of the redcap wanted to kill her, to feast on her sweet blood. The other…
The other had Duncan seeing things through a filmy haze of rage. The urge to crush the redcap’s mind until nothing was left but a slobbering, mindless husk was nearly overwhelming. But he held on. If the other redcap had cornered Moira, he had plans. He’d use this redcap to destroy the other.
Then he’d crush the creature’s mind.
They turned the corner to find Moira fighting off the redcap. She was using her link to the earth to pull up rocks, hurling them at the redcap with devastating results. The redcap was bleeding from hundreds of cuts. Bruises peppered his body. One eye was swollen completely shut. Still the rocks came, pelting the redcap with all the force a major league baseball pitcher could put behind a throw.
Duncan could tell Moira was tiring. Sweat beaded her brow, and her aim seemed off. Duncan switched Moira and the other redcap in his redcap’s mind. It responded immediately, firing on the redcap menacing Moira.
The bruised redcap fell with a howl. The shot hadn’t been lethal. Duncan read the fantasy his redcap had of stripping Moira down and having her, and shuddered. He reached out and looped a fantasy through the remaining redcap’s mind. He grimaced at what the redcap considered nirvana, but he shoved the redcap there anyway and left him to rot. He would never move from that spot without being lifted. He would not eat, drink or sleep.
Duncan had sentenced him to death, and the redcap would never know how or why it had happened, not that Duncan really cared.
Moira joined him, the swirls of her skin dancing with rage. Green firelights danced around her. She was panting, strain showing in fine lines around her eyes and mouth. She rolled her shoulders. “Are there more?”
Duncan picked up the gun and aimed at the howling redcap’s head. “I hope not.” He pulled the trigger and ended the redcap’s life. “Let’s go.”
Jaden stalked around the corner of the house, his eyes glittering red and green, his claws dripping with blood. “Any more?”
“Other than the one contemplating his navel? No.”
Jaden eyed the bodies with satisfaction. “Good.” He stared up at the sky, a huge grin crossing his face. “Look up. Akane’s playing.”
Duncan looked up. “Dear gods. Is that a salamander?”
“Yup.” Jaden put an arm around each of them, pulling them close. “And that’s my partner beating the shit out of it.”
Duncan wasn’t surprised when Moira elbowed Jaden in the side. “I thought you and Akane only worked together occasionally?”
Jaden winced. “Yeah, well. Mostly I work alone, but when I partner up I usually prefer Akane. She’s all right, you know?”
“She’s mine.” Shane Dunne stepped off the corner of the porch, his gaze glued to the black and gold dragon fighting the salamander. Unlike popular myth, the dragon wasn’t much bigger than the woman had been, and most of that was wingspan. The salamander was roughly the size of a German shepherd, long and sleek and sinewy. Flames shot out of the salamander’s mouth, but the dragon was immune, darting in and out, toying with the salamander.
“Gods above. Is that a salamander?” Sean Dunne stood next to his son, staring up at the battle raging above them.
The salamander was tiring. Its flame bursts were coming further and further apart. Akane forced it down, closer to the ground, using her tail to whip its ass into complying. The salamander landed, exhausted. The creature panted, watching them warily through flame red eyes. Its flame dimmed until it looked more like a tall Komodo dragon with longer limbs. After another second it took on its Seeming. The German Shepherd wagged its tail and settled down on its haunches.
Akane landed next to it, turning back into the elegant female she’d been inside the Dunne house. She petted the salamander, smiling when it licked her hand. “I think I’ll keep it.” She winked at Jaden, earning th
e vampire glares from two sets of Dunne eyes.
Jaden stared at Shane and Moira. “What did I do now?”
Duncan began herding them all back toward the house. “I think we need to finish that chat we were all having.”
“You go on. I think it’s time I left.” Akane stepped in front of Shane, her hands on her hips. “Where is my car?”
Shane, for the first time, looked uneasy. “The barn?” He gave her a weak grin, backing away from her slowly. “What kind of car was it again?”
Steam literally began to pour from the dragon’s ears. “A Porsche Boxster.”
Shane swallowed hard. “What year?”
“Brand new.”
Ouch. That was going to sting the man’s wallet. Duncan was pretty sure Shane could afford to replace the dragon’s car, but he was dressed so modestly that he wasn’t certain if the man wanted Akane to know how rich he truly was. Dragons were known to covet either wealth or the rare and exotic, and until he got to know her better Akane’s preferences would remain a mystery. But from the car she drove and the clothes she wore, he was betting she preferred wealth. Duncan decided to give his bondmate’s brother a hand keeping his wealth a secret. “Allow me replace it.”
Akane gifted him with a sweet smile. “Thank you, Mr. Malmayne. At least there are some gentlemen left in the world.”
Duncan wasn’t buying that for a moment, but he’d let her get away with it for now. He bowed his head before the Blade. “You’re welcome.”
“Whew. I’m not sure how much corn I’d have to sell before I could replace a fancy car like that.” Shane stuck his hands into his back pockets and rocked on his heels. “How much does one of them go for, anyway? Ten, fifteen thousand?”
The dragoness looked ready to sic her new pet on Shane. Duncan stepped between them, gesturing toward the house once more. “We could use your help, m’lady.”
She blew her hair out of her eyes. “Sure. It’s not like I can go anywhere, can I, Rhubarb?”
Shane shook his head. “Nope. Not until we get you a rental. Unless you want me to drive you in the tractor?”
Akane spun on her heel and headed for the house, stomping the entire way. The “dog” followed her, obviously seeing her as its new master. The heels of her expensive boots kept sinking into the earth. She let out an annoyed screech and leapt for the porch. She turned the corner and they could hear the screen door slam shut behind her.
“You’re bad.” Jaden draped his arm around Shane’s shoulders. “I like that about you.”
Shane’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. “Thank you kindly.”
“We need to do something about the…” Duncan turned, but there was no sign that the redcaps had ever been there. Even the one gazing at his own navel was missing. “Hmm.”
Sean merely whistled and ambled up onto his porch. “Coming?”
“Remind me not to piss him off.” Jaden followed his new father-in-law up onto the porch.
Duncan took Moira’s hand and followed them. Jaden wasn’t fooling him one little bit. That amused nonchalance was hiding a terrible anger. He had the feeling his personal Gray Knight was going to disappear some time during the night, and in the morning Duncan would hear about a tragedy at Charles Malmayne’s house.
Why? Why had Charles done something so drastically stupid? It didn’t make sense! Why hit the Dunne house?
Duncan pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed home.
“Hello?”
Shit. Ian sounded breathless. “Is everyone safe?”
“We’ve held off an invasion of redcaps, my lord.”
Duncan swore. “Is anyone injured?”
“No, thank goodness. But the strangest thing happened. One moment they were almost through the door, and the next they were…well, gone. All we could hear were these horrible screams and—” the man gulped, “—wet, crunching sounds.”
Duncan blinked. “Was there anything left of them?”
“No, sir. But we did find a note on the front step.”
“What did the note say?”
“Whoever it was charged us fifty dollars for yard clean up, sir.”
“Anything else?”
“The bill was made out to Lord Jaden, my lord.”
What the hell? “Thank you, Ian. Keep an eye out on things. We think Charles may be behind the attacks.”
“Very good, sir. If I may say so, please be careful.”
“I will. And thank you.” Duncan hung up the phone. There could only be two explanations for this. The first, Charles had declared war on him, deciding to take him out when he least expected it. By hitting the Dunnes and his home he guaranteed that the redcaps would find him. The other possibility was that Charles was aware that Jaden had been in his house. It was possible that he also knew Jaden had found incriminating evidence of his collusion with the Black Court. Either way, he had to have known what Jaden would do once he recognized those redcaps. Jaden would make a beeline to Charles, intent on killing him.
Duncan stopped. He had to have known.
“Jaden!” He raced toward the house, but it was too late. He heard the roar of an engine, and Jaden was gone.
“What the hell is going on?” Moira watched Duncan’s face pale. “What?”
“He’s going to kill Charles.”
Duh. “I know. And?”
“Charles had to know what Jaden would do if we were threatened, Moira. He had to. That means he planned on it.”
Her entire body went cold. “It’s a trap.”
“Of one kind or another. Either he intends to capture Jaden, or he intends to be a martyr. Either way, the Malmaynes will demand Jaden’s head.”
“Despite evidence that Charles is using help from the Black Court.” Moira took a deep breath and turned in a circle, searching for something, anything that could help, but only one thought kept revolving through her mind. “We haven’t completed the Vows, Duncan.” She’d planned on doing that here, in front of family.
His eyes narrowed. “No. But he completed the blood bond. We’re his mates.” He ran around to the front of the house. The car was gone. “Son of a bitch!” Duncan’s Seeming exploded from him, silver lights dancing in a furious display. “We have to go after him.”
“How? We don’t have a car.” Moira took Duncan into her arms. “Contact him. Let him know we think this is a trap.”
“Jaden? Answer me, damn it. We think you’re heading into a trap.”
“I know. But I’ve been ordered by Robin to take care of the Malmayne problem. We’ll have to use the evidence of the redcap attack and what was found in the computer files to prove that he’s been working with the Black.”
“There is no evidence of the attack, Jaden.” Moira tightened her grip on Duncan. “My father buried it.”
“Well. That makes things a bit more difficult. Still, I was told to handle this any way I see fit, and I see fit to take his stupid ass out.”
“That might be just what he wants.” Duncan pulled away from Moira and strode toward the house. “If he becomes a martyr, you know what the clan will do?”
“They can’t touch me, Duncan, we both know that. Not if it’s a sanctioned Blade hit.”
“We both know that’s not entirely true.” Duncan stepped into the house and nodded toward Shane. “I need your help.”
Shane followed him back out. “What can I do for you?”
“Jaden’s in trouble. I can’t get to him because he took my car.”
Shane slapped him on the back. “No problem. Follow me.”
“Duncan? You still there?”
“He’s a little busy plotting something with my brother.” Moira followed behind the two men, curious to see how Shane could help.
“Which brother?”
The concern in his voice would have amused her if the situation wasn’t so dire. “Shane.”
“Shit. Stay away until it’s over, Moira. Promise me.”
When hell opened its first ice skating rink.
&nbs
p; Shane led the way to the shed, and Moira found herself chuckling. “Oh, boy. You’re letting us borrow Bumblebee?”
Shane threw open the shed doors, exposing the tarp-covered car. He pressed his finger to his lips. “Shh. Just don’t let Akane see it.”
Moira helped her brother uncover the bright yellow Corvette.
Duncan rubbed his hands together with child-like glee. “Happy birthday to me.”
“Uh, no. Still my baby, thank you.” Shane took the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Moira. “Get your own, Mr. Gentleman.”
Moira slid behind the wheel and started the Corvette. “Come on, Duncan.”
“Moira?”
She ignored Jaden, gesturing instead to Duncan. “Let’s go.”
“Moira, damn it, answer me.”
Duncan climbed into the passenger seat and put on his seat belt. “Let’s go.” He placed his hand on the dashboard and concentrated.
Moira blinked. The beautiful yellow Corvette now looked like some rusty junk ball choking its way out of the shed. Behind her she could hear Shane laughing like an idiot as she drove off, the dust kicking up behind them looking black and thick, enhanced by Duncan’s magic.
“Duncan. Use your head. You come after me and they’ll blame you. I’m sanctioned for this kill. You most certainly are not.”
Moira pulled out of the farm’s driveway and onto the road. “You think Shane will tell Akane what’s going on? She’s a witness to the attack. That might come in useful if the clan turns against Jaden.”
Duncan ran his hands through his hair, the gesture screaming his frustration. “I don’t know. I’m still not entirely sure why Charles is doing all this.”
There had to be something in the contract, something that all of them had missed. Moira hadn’t looked too deeply at the contract, and now she was kicking herself. “I doubt it’s revenge. It’s got to be something else.”
“What is so special about Leo Dunne? Why all the focus on him?”
“Other than the fact that his powers are almost pure Sidhe?” Moira shrugged. “I have no clue, but the entire clan keeps harping on that fact.”
“Fuck. Until we figure that part out we’re flying blind.”
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