I am Reighland, such a small and horrified man, watching as Sarah walks towards me.
I (Reighland) find the gun, and shoot it at the hellspawn, to no effect.
I (Reighland) throw the empty gun at her, then run down the dock to the boat.
As Sarah(Me) walks, her clothes catch fire and burn away from her skin.
Her eyes glow bright yellow, like my (Rachel) tattoo, and her skin turns red.
I (Reighland) am too busy trying to get me (Kady) into the boat and does not notice as Sarah suddenly materializes next to us.
Sarah(Me) moves her arms as if giving me (Kady) a hug, and now I am sliding away from the speedboat, sliding across the dock as if an invisible rope has me (Kady).
Brett sees me (Kady) and races toward us, gathers us up in his arms and runs to a shack at the end of the dock.
He opens the door, ducks inside, and locks the door.
“Get down, Kady!” he yells.
“Brett, no! Mom!” Kady wails.
I float above them, now, watching.
“Mom knows what she’s doing, Kady!” he says to her, through his bitter tears.
“I love you, Mom,” he whispers.
“Mom, nooo!” Kady cries as Brett shoves her head down beneath him, trying to protect her from what he knows is coming.
—————
Sarah advances on the terrified, small man.
Reighland frantically tries to launch the boat and fumbles with the bow line.
He manages to get it free of the cleat, then he slips and falls hard, banging his head against the piling.
Blood runs into his right eye, and he wipes it with his hand, smearing it across his face.
“No! You bitch! No!” he screams, and he pisses his pants.
“Now, you bastard, you lousy son-of-a-bitch! This time you won’t escape!” yells Sarah, her voice booming from the flaming mouth of the righteous apparition she has become.
“No! Nooooo!” yells Jonathon Reighland.
He sees what Sarah has become, sees his Death in her face, and tries to turn to escape.
He covers his face with his hands and is blinded by the intensity of the light shining from her.
Then, as she hugs him to her naked breast, he falls to his knees, his skin melting and burning.
He screams in agony as his eyeballs pop, blowing out over his face, and his brains fry in his skull.
His flesh blackens and curls, his lips turn to ash, and his final screams are cut off in his throat, as he withers and dies.
Sarah stands over the corpse of Jonathon Reighland, destroyed by her wrath.
She stands over the damned thing that was Jonathon Reighland, and we hear her utter her final words.
“Ted, darling, I am coming!” she says, her face etched in an ecstasy of destruction.
Then, like a bomb detonating, Sarah disappears in a flash of white light, as the soulless remnants of Reighland are spread out in bloody ashes.
—————
The dock blows up.
The Mandarin gunships are firing at “Ocaba Bien”, the rockets blowing up the luxurious scenery, riddling the fine marble columns with tracer rounds.
The glass elevator explodes and shatters, the shards whickering through the air, lethally.
—————
I am alone, but my family is within me.
We are Melded, as One Being.
We see the puny helicopters, the empty men trying to destroy the magnificence sprung from the mind of a kind, gentle soul – Walter Reighland.
A man whose brothers abused and ultimately killed him, who usurped his empire, perverted his marvelous dreams, and who whored out his wonderful inventions to people bereft of the vision and morality he held.
—————
It’s as easy as swatting flies.
When we did the Melding at the compound, I couldn’t clearly recall what had happened later.
Because it’s too terrible for description.
Because it feels SO wondrous, almost like I am a god.
Like WE are gods.
The helicopters, the poor, worthless pilots and hapless men that have tried to kill us; the same ones that tried to kill Brett and Kady; the ones who killed Ted Ghent.
They simply vanish.
—————
I stand still on the beach of “Ocaba Bien”, my family within me.
We do what the Melding has allowed us to do.
We search them out.
—————
We find them.
We find the other Mandarin agents.
We know who they are…
The evil men Derek and his Alpha Team will be fighting.
The ones with whom Captain Spalding and the Black Dogs are at war.
The President, and his cowardly cronies selling out secrets of our country to men who want to enslave the world.
—————
Everywhere, we peer, and discover, and promise them that we will be coming.
The men and women we find, we touch, we put our fingers on their hearts, making them fear the coming reprisals.
—————
We are coming.
We will find them.
And, we will be victorious.
—————
My stepfather and mother, joined with me, in spirit and soul, smile, knowing the vengeance that is coming.
—————
My stepbrothers, Stephan, Karl and Drake, love me in the Melding, in a way far more intimate than anything we have physically shared.
—————
I see our future.
My future.
I smile, and cry, with joy and sadness.
It is beautiful.
—————
I know that Bone will always love me, and forever will be my soulmate.
But, his path is not mine.
He has his own mission, a life of adventure and action, and I can’t go there.
—————
Karl’s path is to travel, now truly a solitary man.
He is the one who searches.
His love and soul-mate has been and always will be the sea.
He will go to her.
—————
My future is with Stephan, and that is something I now realize I always knew, deep in my heart, something I could always feel.
His love for me was there whenever we were together.
I felt it in the feeling of security, the emotional strength in his unrelenting, unconditional love for me.
He waited, patiently, until silly Rachel grew into the woman of his dreams until she realized what he always knew, that they were meant to be.
—————
As for our enemies, the Mandarin Connection, and the other evils in the world - they should cower in wretched fear.
—————
For, We are coming.
—————
They are going to be Boned.
EPILOGUE – Part One
“The OCTAVIUS technology is too dangerous, Mein Herr, and should be retired,” said Dr. Wernher Hartmann.
“Would you have our enemies be the ones who would wield it then?” asked Nicolai.
The two men sat on a bench, in Gorky Park.
They watched the families and especially the children as they laughed and played and ran.
Balloons hung in the air, as an occasional child lost its tiny grip on temporary happiness.
Wernher watched a red balloon float away into the blue sky.
“Nein. It should be eliminated, is what I am meaning. The human race is not able to handle it responsibly, I am afraid. Not for quite some time,” he added.
“What do we do about the OCTAVIUS principals, then?” asked Nicolai.
Dr. Wernher Hartmann looked at him.
—————
Hartmann remembered the time history had asked him to intervene, and he had found himself lacking.
&n
bsp; It had cost him his family, then.
To do the right thing, now?
He feared it would cost him his soul.
He thought of the boy, so long ago.
He remembered his promise.
He remembered his shame.
He sat there, wondering if he could kill Nicolai, and then himself.
What would that solve, really?
Two more graves out of billions?
The problem would no longer be his, to be sure.
But, was it even his now?
—————
Where there is life, there is hope – a wise man had once written.
But, he was perhaps not as worldly as himself.
Ach, all these questions.
I am tired, he thought.
—————
He sat and looked at Nicolai, and smelled the air, and felt the sun.
Some birds flew by, and there was always that sound of children laughing, near them, in the park.
Life is good – a wise man had once said.
—————
“This is a problem too large for any one man, mein Herr,” he finally said.
“But, surely you can assist us with the extraditions, or terminations?” asked Nicolai.
Dr. Wernher Hartmann made a decision.
“Nicolai, mein freund, this is something that is now beyond me,” he said.
“What do you mean?” asked Nicolai.
Dr. Wernher Hartmann rose and shook Nicolai’s hand.
Then, he walked over to where his Hayabusa stood on its stand, waiting for him.
He carefully removed his helmet, and place his gloves on the tank.
He twisted the throttle, made sure the bike was in neutral as he squeezed the clutch, and pressed the ignition button.
The motorcycle roared to life, and he twisted the throttle, revving it to the red line.
Then, he put on his gloves.
He checked that the .500 Magnum and his Walther .22 were secure, and glanced into each saddlebag, making sure the contents were there.
He smiled when he saw Barbara’s wedding ring, zip-tied to the trigger guard of his .500 Magnum.
In all the excitement, no one had noticed that she had given it to him.
She had asked a favor of him.
He grinned, remembering how she’d whispered it, and then kissed his cheek.
“Danke, Vater!” she said to Matthias Jaeger’s father.
He thought about her request, and about everything that had happened.
At least he could do that one small thing.
Wernher thoughts turned to Ted and Sarah Ghent.
Sarah’s sacrifice and relentless courage reminded him of the boy, that he had so long ago saved from the knife of Dr. Josef Mengele, for some reason.
He put the ‘Busa into gear, and shot off down the highway, on one wheel.
—————
EPILOGUE – Part Two
Harlon Calloway smiled in light of his recent victory.
Surviving to fight again was a victory, wasn’t it?
The pieces of his long campaign toward domination were finally falling into place.
Now that he had rid himself of those meddling politicians, he could be assured that his goals could be more easily achieved.
He knew that he was now the de facto head of the Mandarin Connection.
And, even though he knew that the Alpha Team, and possibly even the Jaegers, were coming, at least he was finally rid of Jonathon.
He wasn’t afraid of them, and he wasn’t afraid of their reach.
He laughed, relishing the oncoming war.
THE END OF BONED3
THE MANDARIN CONNECTION SERIES
By Stephanie Brother
Just for YOU, dear readers, I am including SPECIAL BONUS EXCERPTS from all of the previous Mandarin Connection books!
Enjoy!
Steph
SPECIAL BONUS EXCERPT ONE:
Billionaire Stepbrother - Addiction - The Complete Series
Kady and Brett Were in Love – Unfortunately, So Were Their Parents!
Kady watched as her mother married the father of her soul mate, all the while wishing it were she and the muscled and athletic man standing with her at the altar taking their own vows.
She knew that Brett secretly felt the same for her – she was sure of it!
On the rare times they had seen each other before this fateful day, Kady couldn’t help her taboo lust for Brett's hard, lean body.
She ached to drown in his beautiful blue eyes, and feel his passion as he possessed her voluptuous curves.
But now, he was going to be forever unavailable to her!
Her need fought against her strong will...and her emotions were winning over against sound judgment!
She looked over at Brett, who stood staring at her, and the tears began streaming down her face!
She suddenly bolted from the altar, and ran out of the church!
Their dreams of happiness were being crushed forever!
OR WERE THEY?
When Brett's sudden business success propels him to the upper echelons of the rich and famous, things take a decidedly unusual turn.
When she and Brett are thrust into a web of lies and deceit, Kady finds her heart won't let her abandon her forbidden desires.
Will their love be dashed upon the rocks of unforgiving tradition?
Can she and her man emerge victorious?
Follow the passionate, romantic and VERY HOT adventures of these two different couples, as their worlds are suddenly turned upside down, and as they struggle to come to terms with what is right, wrong, forbidden or even possible!
Billionaire Stepbrother - Addiction - The Complete Series is a stepbrother romance novella with no cliffhangers, and a very satisfying happy ending.
Book 1 of the Mandarin Connection series by Stephanie Brother
----------------------------------------------------
Kady was on the rebound, having weathered a disastrous relationship with a fellow classmate named Jeff, who was one of the Varsity golf team players.
She had caught him cheating on her with another member of the Varsity golf team, whose name was Juan Rodriguez.
She was more amused than disgusted or surprised.
She always had a pretty good gaydar, and it surprised her that Jeff had been so attentive to her needs.
She chalked it up to experience, and decided she just wanted a night to decompress.
On a whim, she called Brett, since he was in the same vicinity.
His new offices were located in a trendy area of the city, near the riverfront.
There were many fine eating and drinking establishments along the river walk.
Perhaps she’d get lucky, and find a nice young man to tickle her fancy…or fuck her righteously.
She chuckled a bit at that thought.
She’d been pretty plain vanilla in her last couple of relationships, always holding herself back a tiny bit.
She wasn’t really sure why, and it never occurred to her that she was aching for Brett to be her lover.
Kady walked around the shops, killing time while waiting for Brett to arrive.
They had agreed to an Italian joint that had great pizza and cold beer.
She couldn’t drink, of course, but there would be plenty of college aged guys who might find a bit of Dutch courage, and ask her to go home with them.
Kady found she was unusually aroused by the thought, but did not even connect her state with Brett’s arrival.
Boned 3 (Mandarin Connection Book 6) Page 18