“You will?” Kylee leveled eyes with him daring him to continue his train of thought.
“I will ask you to leave,” Volos stated his ultimatum with a chillingly cold glare to his eyes. “Blood will always win out.”
“V,” Jo exclaimed in surprise. “There is no need—”
“I’ll save you the fucking trouble, V. I’ll leave all by myself.” Kylee was never one to back down from a fight, and she would be fucked before she let this dragon with a king-cock complex make her feel bad for actually helping his clan.
“Kylee…” Jo shook his head. “He didn’t mean—”
“Let her go, Jo. It might be for the best.” V’s voice was flat as he stared at Kylee.
Kylee flipped him the bird as she turned and walked out of the room, her head held high as she fought the tears threatening to topple over her eyelashes.
“Volos, do you think—” Vern started to say.
“Vern, do what you’re good at and leave the rest to me. You have information to find, go find it.” Vern nodded at the abruptness of his eldest brother. He turned and left silently without any further conversation.
It was Jo and V standing off against each other in a room with a desk all askew and a chair smashed in the corner. V’s chest pumped as he took deep breaths. Clearly, having being pushed into a corner, he only knew one way to come out of and that was fighting.
“What are you thinking, V? Kicking Kylee out?” Jo shook his head.
“What were you thinking letting her put the clan in danger like that?” V spat back. He’d had enough of Jo’s disregard for the rules he had put in place. “You’re just as fucking bad as she is. Seriously, both of you are fuck-ups.” V knew he had lost control of himself, but he couldn’t stop. He was too far gone to cool down enough to see the logic.
“Is that what you think of me?” Jo asked earnestly. V’s silence answered him with a clarity Jo hadn’t seen in years. “Then I’m out, too.”
“Good! Go! We are better without you.”
Jo’s head nodded as he finally saw what his worth was to the clan and his brother. He turned and walked to the door, looking over his shoulder to say, “Good luck explaining this to your mate.” With those words, Jo walked out, packed up, and together with Kylee left the safety of the clan’s cave home.
As V turned to look at his shattered chair, his head hung low.
Payton was going to kill him.
Elyse sat on the park bench. It was where the lady on the phone had said she would meet her. Looking at her watch, Elyse saw she had two hours before she needed to be at work. The bubbles of nervous energy popped in her belly as she felt like she was sitting on the precipice of a life-altering moment.
“Elyse?”
She turned to see a woman with long blonde hair and kind eyes come and sit next to her. The woman wore a loose-fitting dress that was navy blue and pinched in at the waist with a white belt. She had matching shoes and wore her hair partly pulled back off her face. Doug guessed her age as late forties by the wrinkles at the corner of her eyes.
“You are the spitting image of your mother,” she said with a resigned sigh. “I’m Jenna, I used to work with your parents.”
“Hi, Jenna, I don’t remember you. Most people call me Doug.”
Jenna nodded. “Of course, that’s what we used to call your mom, too. It’s uncanny how similar you look like her.”
“My mom was called Doug, too?” Jenna nodded and Elyse grinned. “I wonder if that’s where I heard it to begin with? I’ve had trouble remembering them… my parents,” Elyse said.
“I’m not surprised. Especially if you inherited more of your mom’s genes than your dad’s.” Jenna nodded knowingly. “She had certain unique talents.”
“Talents?” Elyse replied with curiosity. “Like juggling?”
Jenna started chuckling. “No, dear child—” She stopped suddenly and sized up the small redheaded woman sitting beside her. “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“What your parents were? What you are,” she said with a lowered voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elyse said, the nerves growing at an exponential speed.
“Your parents were hunters,” Jenna said calmly.
“Like poachers?” Elyse was horrified at the thought her parents would take the life of a defenseless giraffe or rhinoceros.
“Oh dear God, no child,” Jenna replied. “They were dragon hunters… as are you.” Jenna watched Elyse’s mouth drop open with shock. “It’s time, Elyse. It’s time you stood up and took your rightful place amongst the hunters of the world. Your parents were two of the best we have ever seen. We hold high hopes for you being able to pick up where they left off.”
“You’re crazy. I’m sorry, I don’t have any clue what you are talking about, nor do I have the inclination to spend any further time with you to find out. I have a happy life, a job, a house, a cat. I don’t have time for the crazy train to stop at my station.” Elyse got up. “Have a nice life, I’ll take my leave.”
“What about when the phoenix return?” Jenna watched Elyse stop mid-step. “This time they won’t leave you alive, they will finish the job they started with your parents.”
Elyse’s head slowly turned back. “Phoenix?”
“Men and women who turn into birds, very large terrifying birds. I know that the only good phoenix is a dead phoenix.”
“They are real?”
Jenna patted the chair next to her. “Sit. Let me tell you what of the world we actually live in. I won’t hurt you. I’m here to save you.”
Elyse walked back and took a seat tentatively on the edge of the wooden bench. “You have fifteen minutes. Give me a summarized version. I have work to go to.”
Jenna nodded. “As you wish.” She moved slightly on the chair, so her body was facing Elyse. “Your parents were part of a very exclusive society of hunters. There are only a few hundred worldwide, and only a handful in the United Kingdom. Doug and Lou, your parents, were highly sought after. Their skills in locating and disposing of dragons were unmatched by any others. It was rumored that your mother took down a fully-grown dragon with nothing but her bare hands and her unique abilities.”
“The meetings?”
Jenna nodded again. “You were there. I remember seeing you, but you were oh so little, nothing like this ferocious woman I now see before me. You have the same fire in your eyes and flame-red hair that your mother had. The meetings, as you knew them to be, were hunting trips.”
Elyse’s head shook from side to side. “I would have remembered that, though. It was just a boring bunch of stuffed shirts and monotone drolling on and on about things a young girl had no interest in.”
“That’s because your mother made you see that.”
“Made me?”
“Your mother was one of the rarest of the hunters. Highly sought after by all who knew of her. She had an ability to get into the mind of her prey, control what they saw and thought, and even in extreme cases it was said she could make them forget who they were, making them as vulnerable as a newborn babe.”
“She could control minds?” Elyse repeated softly to herself. “All minds?”
Jenna nodded once more. “From what I knew, yes.”
“You’re saying my parents hunted mythical creatures that don’t exist, and my mother specifically could control the minds of anyone around her if she chose to… even going as far as to say when she was on hunting trips she made her daughter, her own flesh and blood, think they were at a boring conference?” Elyse looked up at Jenna, tears threatening to topple over her eyelashes and roll down her cheeks.
“Oh, dear child, this is not a bad thing. Your mother was an astounding woman. You should feel fortunate to be carrying her genes. I am so envious of you and how powerful you will become.”
“Envious? Of parents who lied to you your entire life. Then died at the hands of another non-existent beast?” Elyse’s head was swimming
, and she felt like she was drowning.
“Talons, not hands.” Jenna corrected her. All this time Jenna’s voice hadn’t changed. Her demeanor was still as calm and factual as it had been when she first met her. This was all business for her, nothing personal. “Phoenix have talons.”
Elyse’s eyebrows rose sharply. “I don’t care what they have, none of this is real. Dragons. Phoenix. Hunters. You’re out of your mind.” She got up and walked away with determination to put as much space as she could between her and this mad woman.
“Call me when you need us, and you will need us. They’re coming for you,” Jenna called out.
Elyse didn’t lose a beat as her work boots kept a strong rhythmical clip along the path. Her mind was a blur with what’s real and what’s not. She clearly remembered going to the conferences. There were massive halls filled with people, hours spent lying on the floor coloring in or reading her favorite books while her parents furthered their business knowledge and networked. However, if this woman was right, then this was all a fictional movie her mother had planted in her mind.
“Surely that can’t be correct,” she mumbled with a frown as she inserted the key into the bar’s front door. “I would know…” she heard the key in the lock disengage, “… wouldn’t I?”
The morning had slipped away under a clouded veil of confusion. Her regulars had asked what was wrong as she wasn’t her normal sarcastic self. She had simply shrugged and replied she hadn’t slept well, which wasn’t a complete lie, sleep had been evading her over the past few days.
“Kid.”
Elyse looked up to see Bill calling her name. She checked the bar and everyone was sufficiently looked after. She looked at them. “Don’t touch anything.” They collectively nodded and went back to watching the television blasting out the latest horse racing stakes. Coming out from behind the bar, she walked over to where Bill was eating a late lunch. “What’s up?”
“Sit,” he replied as he pushed out the chair with his foot under the table.
“But the bar? I’m working,” she protested.
“Sit.” She sat, so Bill smiled and continued, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” her eyes dropped as she mumbled.
“Elyse…”
Her eyes snapped to his as he used her full name. She had only heard him say her birth name twice before, and it set off alarms within her head. He was serious.
“I know you. I know something major’s happening. All these fools might not see anything more than a tired young woman and are buying the load of crap your selling. I, however, see you. I know what fear looks like in your eyes because I’ve seen it before. So, I ask you again, what’s happening?”
Elyse burst into tears—she simply couldn’t help it. Between having had no sleep, the nightmares that were plaguing her nights, and now this news of her parents, her world had closed in and she could no longer breathe.
“Shit,” Bill growled. “Don’t cry. I’ve only seen you cry once, and it broke my heart then.” He handed her a napkin. “What’s going on? Can I help?”
She shook her head as she caught the tears with his offering. “No one can. I don’t know who I am anymore.” She looked up at him, thankful at that moment that she never wore makeup. “I just want to sleep, but I can’t. They will get me.”
Bill got up, walked around the table, and pulled her into his large, strong arms. Holding her tight, he felt her body shake and hitch with an increasing pace. Her tears were real, and the fear rippling off her was causing Bill’s heart to fracture in two. He held her until her sobs lessened, and her breathing became more of a normal pattern.
Pulling back with his hands on her shoulders, he looked down at her. “Go home. Take the rest of the day off.” She protested with a firm shake of her head. Releasing one of her shoulders, he held up his hand. “It’s an order. Go home, Elyse. Sleep. Then tomorrow come in refreshed, and we will sort out a plan to solve whatever’s going on. Okay?” He raised an eyebrow.
Elyse knew he wouldn’t be able to help, but telling the man who had raised her for the past ten years that he couldn’t help was not something she was prepared to do. Instead, she smiled and nodded. “Okay, I’ll try to get some sleep.” She grabbed her bag and hung up her lanyard. “See you all tomorrow.”
Elyse greeted Mavis as she came out of the bar. Her cart was a few meters away, and she was just gathering some flower stems to fill her basket for potential sales. Elyse whispered some kind words and then made her way home.
“You shouldn’t have followed me. Now you’re just as fucked as I am,” Kylee said as she sat on the grass. She had found a place on a small cliff to sit. She could see where the dragons’ cave sat out on the horizon amongst the hundreds of rock formations that jutted up from the ocean’s surface.
“He was being a straight-up knob,” Jo growled as he sat beside her. “I wasn’t letting him treat you like that. Anyway, I walked out because of what he said about me.” Turning to look at Kylee with a grin pulling at the edge of his lips, he continued, “Trust you to think this is all about you. You, you, you. Entitled much?” He winked.
Kylee punched his arm. “You know it’s always all about me.” Poking her tongue out, she looked down to the parking lot. “And it just gets better.”
“What does?” Jo looked up to where Kylee was looking. “What’s he doing here?” Jo asked as he saw Ladon lumbering his large frame toward them.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Kylee replied as she plastered on a smile, betraying her feelings still stinging from the other night dealing with this dragon. “Hey, Lads, what brings you here?”
“What do you think?” He sat close to them, but still a little away. “I can’t say no to that woman, and she’s not even my mate. How am I ever going to cope, when and if, my mate ever wants to join with me?”
“Payton?” Jo said, and when Ladon nodded, he smiled. “She has a way with words, doesn’t she? So, I take it she knows?”
Ladon snorted with a shake of his head. “Everyone knows. And V is taking shots from every side.” Looking at the two of them, “You really walked?”
“I really walked.”
“He didn’t kick you out? You walked?” Ladon asked to be perfectly clear. “Payton wanted me to make sure what she was being told was true. Not just the defensive cries of a man whose balls she presently was considering mounting on the wall.”
“Didn’t think she would be happy.” Kylee mocked lightly. “But he is correct, I walked. After all, he said if push comes to shove and the safety of the clan is at risk…” She looked at Jo who nodded for her to continue, so she looked back at Ladon as she said, “If the safety of the clan were at risk, blood would always be thicker, and I would be asked to leave.”
Ladon’s eyes widened as he took a few beats to process what his brother had actually said. “You have got to be fucking with me.”
“I was there, I heard him, so did Wyvern,” Jo’s growl deepened. “Then his focus turned to me, saying my disrespect of his authority and inability to follow the rules was just as much of a threat to the clan. So, I offered to leave, and he accepted my offering.”
Ladon ran a hand through his hair, causing the strands to fall over his eyes. “This is all kinds of fucked-up. Just come back. Payton will have him sorted by now.”
“Not even if that dragon crawled over on his belly offering to lick my feet. I will never set foot back inside the dragon’s cave.”
Jo’s face scrunched up. “Warn me before I have to suffer that kind of visual.” Kylee looked at him as he added, “You have the ugliest feet I’ve ever seen.” The groan came out his mouth as Kylee’s closed fist connected with his arm once more that morning.
“I’m being serious, guys,” Ladon interjected.
Kylee’s head snapped around so fast it made Ladon recoil slightly. “And you think I’m not? Listen up, Ladon… I’ll slow it down for the dumb dragons in the back row.” Her eyes zeroed in on him with a laser-like precision. “I
will never go back. I am no longer, nor will I ever be, part of the dragon clan again. I have no blood connection. I have no soul mate connection. I am nothing to you guys, that has been made perfectly clear. I will keep your secrets, but that’s because I will purposely forget them.” Her head tilted slightly. “Are you hearing the song I’m singing, Ladon?”
“Loud and clear.” Ladon nodded then looked to Jo. “And you?”
“Obviously, I can’t walk away from my clan. Right now, however? I am going to look after a person who I feel is a part of my family. When she is settled and safe, I might return,” he said. “Might. I can protect without having to live there.”
“Seriously?” Elyse’s voice made all three of them jump. “First you invade my bar, now my favorite place to think?” The smile she flashed never reached her eyes. Sitting on the grass a few feet away from them, she placed her bag on the grass, wiggled down and laid back. Shutting her eyes from the sun, she said, “I rarely get out in the middle of the day. The sun is glorious.”
The three of them watched her as she settled in for a bit of daytime sunbathing.
It was Kylee who spoke first, “No work today?”
Her head turned. Keeping one eye shut, she looked at Kylee with the eye in the shade. “I quit.” She watched for the gasp and laughed when it came on cue. “Kidding. Boss gave me the day off. I’ve been having hassles sleeping. So, he sent me home.” Turning her head back to the sky, her eyes now both closed once more. “I just thought some vitamin D might help with the sleep.”
“Still having nightmares?” Kylee asked.
“Mmm…” She nodded. “The one last night was so intense I could barely move.”
“Physically?” Jo queried.
“It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.” Opening one eye to look at Jo, she continued, “Like hands, holding me down, barely allowing me to breathe. You ever felt that?”
“Being held down by hands? Sure. But mine normally involve women.” He chortled and dodged the incoming fist from Kylee. Looking over to her, he chuckled. “Missed meee… oomph!” This time the impact came from the other side. His head turned to see Doug grinning. She had jumped up and landed a blow to his arm.
Submerge (Apalala Clan Book 3) Page 9