Tholan: Mystic Protectors: An Angelic Paranormal Erotica

by Kathi S. Barton

  Neither of them moved. He was sure that someday in the near future someone would come looking for them and find them just the way they were. Sliding down to sit on the bench again, he held Parker while she slept. This, he knew, would be a memory that he’d never forget.

  Taking her up to bed, he lay beside her. He didn’t sleep—none of the protectors did—but he did watch her resting. Tholan hadn’t thought that he could have been more in love with Parker, but he knew in that moment that he loved her more every day. And he was sure that he would love her more tomorrow. Holding her hand in his, Tholan spent the night just watching and loving her.

  Chapter 8

  Butch Groves liked that he was a wanted man. It made him feel superior to all the men that he’d shared a cell with back in the day. The FBI was on the lookout for him. His picture was plastered all over the place. Hell, he’d even seen it on the front page of the paper when he’d done a smash and grab just now. Hanna handed him the things that she’d been able to get out of the jewelry store that they’d just robbed.

  “We keep this up and we’ll be on easy street before we know it.” He was kinda hoping that she’d given up on that idea of hers to leave the country. “I’d like a little house with a garden in the back. I don’t know what I’d grow—shit, I don’t even know how to cook—but it’d look pretty.”

  “What about Heather? We leave, and she might tell on us. She’s got herself a lot of shit on us. And I don’t believe for a minute that because she’s our kid that she won’t have plenty to say.” Hanna agreed with him. “I’ve been all over this town twice and there isn’t any sign of her. Not even in the old haunts that she used to run to. I’m just betting that she’s stole away on one of them big buses and left us high and dry.”

  “We’re better off without her anyway, to my way of thinking. She was getting to be a real stick in the mud about everything. How the hell did she think we kept her fed? Well, fed when we remembered. And some kind of roof over her head?” Hanna snorted. “We sure didn’t do it by having a job. Christ, to have her saying that we were bad people, that sure did hurt more than I thought it would.”

  “We are bad people, Hanna.” They both laughed about that. Hanna had been at this game longer than he’d been. Together they had perfected it. Smash and grabs were a big payoff but going into the houses and getting the bigger things, now that was a real joy to be had. “I’ll make me one more pass through the town, and if I don’t find her, then we’ll move on. Like you said, we really don’t need her anyway. And if she tells on us, then we’ll be out of reach of the cops by then.”

  “You think my idea is good?” He nodded at Hanna and smiled. “Oh, Butch, you’ve made me so happy. And without the kid, we’ll have so much more room in the house. Not a big one. I just want one that I can roam around in and have a nice day in. Nothing like that one we saw from the woods yesterday. Christ, that house looked like a president or something lived there. I wonder what sort of things they might have in there.”

  “Maybe we should do that one.” She looked at him with a frown. “One for the road. You know that a house that big, it’ll have big screen television out the ass. And all kinds of nick-knacks all over the place. Hell, one room alone would buy you a house as big as you wanted, I’m betting.”

  He could tell that she wanted to do it. The house, even from where they had been, seemed to glow with the need to be robbed. And the cars in the driveway, they looked as prime as anything he’d ever dreamed of having.

  By the time they were ready to roll up in their sleeping bags—the tent they’d taken had been a bust—Hanna was on board with him about taking a look at the house. She made him promise that as soon as they were finished they’d be hitting the road.

  “Yeah, I promise. Maybe we’ll take the pair of cars they had out front.” He’d noticed that they were gone when he went to peek on them after supper, but that didn’t bother him. They probably put them in that big old garage that was near the house. They were old as hell, and he’d bet even if they didn’t drive them to their next place, they’d fetch a nice pretty penny by selling them off. Setting down on the roll he was on, Butch thought again about how he was a wanted man.

  When he’d met up with Hanna, she’d just been released from prison. He’d never been in yet, having not really walked the straight and narrow, but having kept his stealing and shit down to where he’d not get a prison sentence with what he took.

  Almost as soon as they hooked up, three days after her release, they were hitting the banks around town and a few houses too. Then she got in the family way and he’d had to venture out on his own, just to make ends meet, so to speak. But she was only down for a little while, his Hanna was. As soon as she popped out the kid, she was up and hitting the banks right along with him again.

  Heather had slowed them down a bit. They’d have to make sure that they only did their hits when she was asleep. And it seemed to him that she knew when they were ready to go on a job. The kid would scream her head off, and one of them, usually Hanna, would have to stay behind and tend to her. Christ, he’d wished even back then that they’d rid themselves of her rather than carry her around all the damned time.

  Nobody knew about Heather. When her time had come, Butch had braved delivering his daughter all on his own. It had been nasty work, and whenever he thought about it, he’d get a little ill to his belly. But he’d done it and regretted not dropping her a few times on her head just so they could be a couple again.

  When Heather had turned five, they realized what an asset she’d become. Cute as a button, they’d been told, she’d open the doors to anything that she wanted. Butch decided to have her open a few doors for them, but that had only worked the one time. Then she’d go screaming her fool head off when they told her to do it again. Got some doors open, it did, but also the police called.

  Butch loved the sound that the hammer made when it hit a head. He’d been using an axe out in the woods to practice hitting someone hard enough to break through their noodle on the first try. The first time he’d done it, it had nearly taken him to his knees, the need to come had been so strong. After that, it was all he could do not to hit people when they were just walking down the sidewalk.

  “Hey, Butch?” He looked at Hanna, thinking that she was asleep. “You think that after we take care of the people in that house, we can live there for a couple of days? Just to see how the other part of the world lives. If you don’t wanna, I understand, but it would please me something wonderful to have that for a time.”

  “You know that I can’t deny you anything.” He kissed her then and laid back down. “We’ll have to make sure that we do this right the first time then. I mean, it’d be best if we caught them outside so that we won’t mess up your pretty floors.”

  “I think I can lure them out. It’ll be just like old times for us.” He laughed a little, then waited for an hour before he got up and went to the edge of the property to see the house again. He needed to make sure that there wasn’t anything roaming the property that would trip them up. Also, any kind of guards around.

  It wasn’t all lit up like a lot of the houses around this neighborhood. They were all mansions, and he would love to be able to hit them all. Maybe if Hanna liked the place well enough, they could do that before taking off. He looked around the woods then for any sign of someone smoking or having themselves a little get to. A little pot smoking party or something.

  People squatted on land all the time. Most of the time they’d just pitch a tent and stay a night or two. If they had a creek or something on the land, they’d get themselves a bath or some fish before taking to the road again. He and Hanna had been there for nearly a week now, and he thought it funny that they’d not seen a single person, not a deer or any other creature, since they’d been here. He knew that they were around. They’d rustle in the woods around them when they were in bed, and the places that they’d pass by would be full of deer shit. Even a couple of times they’d seen the remnants of somethin
g’s dinner. But never the animal that had done it.

  Making his way back to his bag, he thought of Heather. The kid had been getting pretty, but when she was cleaned up, like she liked to be, Heather was really pretty. He knew that people would pay good money for a kid like they had. He didn’t want to think about what they’d do to her, but so long as the money was good, Butch didn’t care. So long as they didn’t try to get a refund when they were finished with her.

  Just as he was going to zipper himself in, he saw something move just beyond their fire. It was low enough that no one from the house could see it, so he wondered if it was one of the other squatters on the land coming to borrow a cup of sugar.

  The woman came out of nowhere and smiled at him. “No, I don’t need any sugar. I had several tons delivered today, but thanks. I want to know why you’re still hanging around here. You have to have something better to do with your time than dirty up the land.”

  Butch was still trying to wrap his mind around the sugar comment when a man appeared beside her. They were huge, the two of them, and dressed in the cleanest clothes he’d ever seen. When he took a step toward them, just to see if they were real, they sprouted wings, like a fucking bug.

  “Why is it that when someone sees us, the first thing they think of is bugs?” The man looked at him. “We’re not bugs. We’re protectors.”

  “Protectors, huh? You here to protect me and my wife? I’ll have to tell you, I think we’ve been doing an all right job of that all on our own.” The man shook his head and didn’t speak again. Butch was sort of uncomfortable with them being there, and decided he’d had enough. “You two, you get on out of here. We’ve no business with you. And make sure that when you leave, you don’t come back either. I’ve got me some weapons here that will make you so you regret it for a long time.”

  “We’re here to warn you.” Butch asked the woman about what. “Your thoughts on Heather. She’s in a good place now, and we’re warning you to stay way. Or we’ll have to do something— Damn it, Valyn, why can’t I just kill them both, and we’d not have to worry about it? You saw what he was going to do—sell that little girl to someone that was going to kill her. Not that it’s going to happen, but we might be able to save some other kid from their clutches. Let me just hurt them badly enough that they lay out here and bleed to death. I’d feel better. And I know you would.”

  “Hey.” They both turned to him. “What the hell are you talking about, my thoughts? You been listening in on my conversations with my wife? That’s not right. And what do you know about Heather? You got her tied up someplace? If you do, then I’m calling the cops.”

  “Go ahead and do that. Please do that.” The woman was being really strange, and Butch found himself looking at the man. “I’ll even let you use my phone. Hell, I’ll even dial it for you.”

  “You and her, you married?” The man laughed and said that she was his sister. “Sister, huh? Well, she’s a might touched in the head if you ask me. I want you two to get out of here now. I want to get some sleep.”

  “So you can try and rob the house out there? Won’t do you any good to try. There is enough magic around the place that anyone that has ill-will in their hearts won’t be able to cross the magic. Also—and this is really important that you know and understand—the man and woman that live there, they won’t be as nice as we have been. Especially if you try and take Heather.” The man looked at the woman. “Well, as nice as I have been. Judith here, she’d just as soon rid the world of people like you. But I had to explain to her that would make for a very small world. There are a great many bad people like you two out in this realm.”

  “They got my daughter? That isn’t right. What right do they have in taking her? Or are they using her up? That’s going to cost them a good bit of money.” The man moved so fast that Butch didn’t see him. Then something was holding him up in the air and cutting off his wind. Clutching at his throat, Butch knew for sure that he was as good as dead. And he didn’t even know what he’d done.

  “Valyn, let him go. Valyn. Let him go.” The man didn’t look like he was going to do it; his face was hard, like it had been set in stone. The woman turned him, shaking him hard, and Butch dropped to the ground. He was trying his best to catch his breath, his head hurt, and his throat felt like he’d been strangled.

  Butch looked at the two people and decided that he’d had enough of them. Picking up his axe, he stood up and staggered slightly. As soon as he caught his breath, he was going to deal with them pronto.

  Pulling the axe up and over his head, he felt someone behind him. Without even thinking about it, showing these people that he meant business, Butch turned and swung at the same time. He wasn’t able to catch himself when he saw who was right behind him. Hanna caught the axe right in her head and nearly all the way to her chest.

  She stood there for several seconds, just looking at him with one busted eye and the other cockeyed. When her warm blood hit him in the face, Butch puked. Then she dropped, right on top of him, and the axe hit him in the chest.

  ~*~

  “I’m calling the police and an ambulance. Hang on.” Valyn had wanted the man to suffer, but not like this. He was sorry now for what he’d done. “Don’t die on me, Mr. Groves. Help is on the way.”

  Blood spurted from his mouth when he tried to talk. Valyn thought he was asking for the axe to be removed, but he couldn’t do that either. He had to keep the crime scene just as it was. But he had a feeling that it was too late for him, and for Hanna, his wife. When he tried to move his arms—to hold his wife, Valyn supposed—all that happened was that he coughed up more blood. He was a goner for sure, Valyn thought.

  The sirens were getting closer to them. It was too late for them to do anything for Hanna. The axe had hit her brain and severed her spine. She’d been dead before the axe came to a halt in her chest.

  It was the most wonderful sound that he could have hoped for, other than Jenny telling him that she loved him—Boss and Hell showed up just as the man was taking his last breaths. There was no hope for him going with Boss, but both men had to be there when the person hadn’t been the best of people. These two, as far as Valyn was concerned, weren’t the best of anything other than being bad people.

  Boss, the bigger of the two, was dressed all in white. His wings were as snowy looking as a new pillow that hadn’t been slept on. Valyn laughed at his own joke but sobered up quickly when Hell looked at him.

  Hell, what he’d been called all Valyn’s life, was tall but no less big, he supposed. He was dressed all in red, the wings on him as dark as the night, but he could see them well enough. And so could the dead, or in this case dying. Boss spoke to Hell as if they’d been at a picnic and they were having a glass of tea.

  “I have his child. She is in good hands. But I should like to have a conversation with you soon. It’s about one of your own.” Hell rolled his eyes and asked who it was now. “I cannot say his name, you know that. Not here.”

  “Hey.” They turned to look at Butch, who had drawn his last breath and was now among the dead. “What the fuck are you two talking about? Where am I? Where is my Hanna?”

  The waiting room was devoid of anything. The walls and the floor were as white as the wings that Boss had. Hell told him, after helping Butch to stand, where he was and where Hanna was.

  “So, as you can see, you two are going to live a long time now as workers for me.” Butch looked around, and for some reason Valyn thought he was looking for an angle. Something he could use to get out of this. “You can’t bargain with me, Butch. It’s much too late for that.”

  “It’s never too late to make a deal.” Valyn watched as the color, every drop of it, was bled out of Butch. Not just his body, but his clothing as well. Before he left here, like had been done to his wife before him, he’d be dressed all in black and would have a mark on his neck that called him a murderer. “How about you let me and my wife go, and we’ll not bother you again. Are you guys the owners of the house out the
re? If you are, then we can do some business. I won’t be robbing you.”

  Hell looked at Valyn, then at Butch. “You won’t be robbing anyone ever again, I’m afraid. You’re going to be much too busy for that to happen.” Butch asked him what he was going to be doing. “Do you have any idea who I am? Why I’m here?”

  “No. I don’t care much either, if you want to know the truth. And don’t forget, I asked you where my wife was.” Hell told him that she was dead and already busy at work. “Work? Hanna has never worked a day in her life. Where is she really?”

  With a snap of Hell’s fingers, Butch was gone. Hell thanked them both and told Boss that he could see him in the afternoon. When he too disappeared, Boss turned to him, looking as he always did, in jeans and a shirt that had some silly saying on it.

  “You did well, son.” Valyn told him that he’d wanted to kill the man. “But you did not. And because of your actions, inadvertently, they’re off the streets and where they belong.”

  “I didn’t cause their deaths, sir.” Boss shook his head and told him that he’d done more than that—he’d tried his best to save him. “He was going to die anyway. I just—I was more concerned with keeping the crime scene clean of Judith and I.”

  “And for that, I’m grateful too.” They were standing in the field that the two bodies were still lying next to. “They will find all manner of things that these two have taken from the homes they’ve robbed. The axe alone, with the nick in the blade, will be just what the police need to convict them on several deaths as well. Also, you should know that there are no records of Heather’s birth. It was a home—well, van delivery, and they never bothered with the paperwork. They were never married legally either.”

  “They were going to sell Heather to someone that would do to her what was done to Sally. They would have used her up then killed her, wouldn’t they?” Boss nodded, and Valyn turned to look at the couple that were being separated by a team of medics. “I feel redeemed.”