Close-up: Take 1 of the Kanyon and Daylen Series

by K. B. Draper

  Lydia immediately fell to her knees and tried to pull it off, but it wouldn’t budge. She scrambled toward Senior’s feet. “Take it off. Take it off. Please take it off.” She clawed at his pant leg, trying to climb to her feet. That’s when Kanyon saw the blood begin to run from her nose.

  “Daylen, look at me. Please, look at me,” Kanyon begged as Lydia began to frantically wipe the blood from her face. It wasn’t until Lydia began to choke on the blood in her throat that Daylen looked at Kanyon. “That’s right, look at me. Right here, nowhere else. You have your shields up?” At Daylen’s nod, Kanyon tried to give her a comforting smile. “We’re going to get out of this.” Daylen squeezed her eyes shut when she heard Lydia begin to gasp for breath. Kanyon tried to talk over Lydia’s desperation. “Stay strong. You have to keep your shields up. You have to stay with me. I’m right here.”

  When the room went quiet, Kanyon looked away from Daylen and toward Lydia who now laid motionless, face down in a pool of blood. Senior knelt, picked up Lydia’s limp hand, and slid the ring easily off her finger. He turned to his son. “Hum, I guess she wasn’t faithful to me.” They both laughed as he tossed the ring to his son.

  Catching it, Junior held it up, examining it in the light. “So simple, yet so powerful.” He held it out in front of Kanyon and Daylen. “What do you ladies think? Impressive, huh? Can you imagine what some jealous drug lord, or paranoid dictator will pay for such a weapon? I’m thinking ten, maybe twenty million dollars?”

  Kanyon sneered. “With that big of a payday maybe you two can afford two women versus having to share. I have to say, that’s kind of sick. I mean it’s kind of like sleeping with eac–”

  Junior’s fist connected with Kanyon’s face. He immediately grabbed her jaw again, forcing her to turn back to him. He leaned in close, “Where’s that charming wit now?”

  Kanyon jerked her head from his grasp, spat out the blood pooling in her mouth, then turned cold avenging eyes back on him. She let the anger slip into a nonchalant smile. “Funny thing, I just ran out, but don’t worry I ordered more off Amazon. It should be here any minute.”

  He stood again and shook his head amusingly. “You’re quite engaging. I really hate that we got off on the wrong foot and now I’m going to have to kill you. Or should I say,” he turned and pointed the gun at Daylen, “have her kill you.” He walked over, keeping his gun aimed at Daylen’s head. “You up for killing your girlfriend today, Daylen?” he asked, smiling at the fear in her eyes. He grabbed the back of Daylen’s chair and dragged it over, placing her directly in front of Kanyon, so close they were within reach of each other.

  Kanyon gave Daylen a reassuring smile as she reached out with her fingers, lightly brushing Daylen’s knuckles. Daylen looked down and mimicked Kanyon’s movements. At their touch, Kanyon felt a surge of heat and power. She closed her eyes to absorb it. She heard a calm, deep-toned voice whisper in her ear as images began to flash rapidly in her mind.

  Kanyon’s eyes jolted open and Daylen saw a ferocity in them like she’d never seen before. “Kanyon?” Kanyon focused on her, and Daylen swore she saw bolts of lightning striking in the pupils of her eyes. “Kanyon?”

  Kanyon turned silently and locked her gaze on Junior. “You all done with your little intimate moment?” Junior asked, his gun lifted to Daylen’s temple and the ring fisted in his other hand. “Good, then we’ll get this party started.” He held the ring over Daylen’s hand. “Take it.”

  Daylen closed her hand in a tight fist. “No!”

  “Ah, why not? Don’t you think your little girlfriend has been faithful?” He laughed sardonically. “Course we both already know she isn’t, don’t we?” He asked as he stroked her hair with his gun. “That’s right, I saw her at the club making out with that other hot TV chick. What’s her name again?”

  “She’s not my girlfriend. We’re not involved like that. We’re just friends, so the ring won’t work. This is pointless.” Daylen fought to keep the desperation from her voice.

  “Pointless? I don’t think so. But we do have the ultimate test now, don’t we? Let’s give it a try just for fun.”

  “I’m not going to play your sick game.” Daylen clinched her fists even tighter.

  He pressed the barrel of his gun against her temple. “I think you are.”

  “Daylen,” Kanyon said forcefully, “it’s fine. Do what he says.”

  “Kanyon, I …”

  “It’s fine,” she said softly. “Take the ring.”

  Daylen opened her hand reluctantly, not taking her eyes from Kanyon’s.

  He placed the ring into her palm. “Good girl. Now put it on her finger.”

  Daylen’s hand closed around the ring as tears slid down her face. “Kanyon, I can’t do this. You and …” She couldn’t even say Lexi’s name as the images of Lexi and Kanyon at the bar played in her mind.

  Kanyon gave her a soft smile. “Trust me,” she encouraged as she reached her hand as far as her restraints would allow.

  Daylen shook her head defiantly.

  Junior, impatient now, nudged Daylen’s head with the barrel of his gun. “Oh my God, just do it already.” Daylen didn’t move. “Fine.” He switched the gun to Kanyon’s temple. “Maybe this will help. You can either put the ring on her finger and take your chances or you can watch her brains get splattered all over the wall.”

  “Daylen, put the ring on my finger!” Kanyon ordered. “You have to trust me.”

  Daylen looked at Junior, he pushed the gun harder against Kanyon’s temple. “You have two seconds or splat city,” he urged.

  Daylen met Kanyon’s unwavering eyes and had to blink away the tears as she began to slide the ring on Kanyon’s finger. “Kanyon, I–”

  Kanyon stopped her with a smile. “I know,” she said softly then thrust her hand forward forcing the ring onto her finger.

  Daylen screamed and tried to grasp at the ring, but Kanyon balled her hand into a fist. The room fell silent as they all watched for signs of blood, betrayal, and death. Kanyon closed her eyes just before her head swayed and fell forward.

  “No! No! Kanyon!” Daylen screamed and fought against her restraints.

  Junior chuckled. “Surprise, surprise, babe! Your girlfriend is a lying slut. But hey, the good news is at least she’ll never cheat on you again.” He dropped the gun to his side and smiled to his father. “I’m definitely thinking twenty million. I mean, how many crime lords and heads of drug cartels have been taken down by some lying, cheating whore? They’re going to be fighting over that thing.”

  Tears were clouding Daylen’s vision and she blinked fiercely to clear them. She needed to get to Kanyon, needed to touch her. She reached out in blind desperation. “Kanyon. Please no, Kanyon …”

  Kanyon heard the deep sorrow in Daylen’s words, felt her desperate fingertips. She twisted her wrist, caught Daylen’s hand, and gave it a light squeeze.

  Daylen’s breath seized at Kanyon’s touch.

  Kanyon raised her head, smirked, then whispered, “Sorry about this,” and kicked Daylen’s chair over.

  Junior spun when Daylen and her chair crashed backward and was instantly met with a charging Kanyon.

  Kanyon, legs freed, lowered her right shoulder, along with the still attached chair and struck Junior full in the chest just as he raised the gun and fired. They both hit the floor hard causing the arm rest to crack just enough that Kanyon was able to pull her right hand free. She delivered two quick strikes to Junior’s head, knocking him out. A bullet struck the wall just to the right of Kanyon’s head. She flipped the chair up as she spun, sitting in it only long enough to lean in the other direction, the momentum taking her ankles over ass behind the bar. Two more shots followed her movements.

  She righted herself only to flinch as another bullet impaled the bar. No biggie, just a movie-ending gunfight. The good guys always make it out alive, she reassured herself as her free hand felt blindly for the knife that Lydia had left on the bar. Of course, the last hero I pl
ayed ended up with fifty arrows in her back. She felt the handle and smiled. But everyone likes a good comeback scene … Feeling triumphant, she pulled the knife down … that involves a stupidly large olive spork. “Shit!” She thrust the prongs into the binding which still held her other hand to the chair, pried, and a couple of back and forths later, she was free.

  “If you come out now, I’m sure we could discuss an alternative ending to this little scenario. One that is mutually desirable for both of us,” Senior offered.

  “Let’s sayyyy, I come out, kick your ass, then you go to jail, where you spend the rest of your life playing butt puppets with a guy named Chester?” Two more shots slammed into the bar. “Guess not.” She quickly moved the length of the counter, snagging a bottle of whiskey as she passed, hoping it was the really expensive stuff just for spite. She crouched at the other end of the bar and found a cocktail napkin on a lower shelf.

  “I’m going to give you until the count of three to come out or I’ll start aiming at your friend.”

  Kanyon crammed the napkin into the mouth of the bottle as she calmed her breathing. “I seriously can’t believe you chose this moment to finally show up. I mean really, Marky Mark, you couldn’t have dropped in earlier over a nice calm cup of coffee and introduced yourself?”

  “One!” Senior started.

  Kanyon snapped her fingers frantically as she lowered her voice to a low mocking male tone. “Hello. I’m Marcus, your supernatural butt kicking guide. It’s nice to meet you, Kanyon. Here, I brought you a pound cake.” She huffed in frustration. “But no, you just decide to flash me a bunch of images, like a Bruce Lee highlight reel and then mind whisper oh by the way, you can start fires with your fingers.” She examined her fingertips, which looked very non-matchstick-y. “This better freaking work or I’m going to kick your non-corporeal ass.”

  “Two,” Senior taunted.

  “Fu–” She cut off her own words. Forcing herself to exhale slowly, she cleared her mind of everything but the energy and heat that had shot through her at Daylen’s touch. She felt her body surge with the contained electricity, pulsing sparks of lightning. Gripping the part of the napkin sticking out of the bottle, she tried to harness what was racing through her and direct it to her fingertips.

  When she felt the white-hot heat in her hands, her eyes shot open in disbelief. “Holy sh–” Her words dying with the flames.

  “Kanyon!” Daylen yelled. “Run. Get out of here!”

  “Ahhhh, surely you’re not going to make me say three? I’d really hate to have to kill such a lovely specimen when there are much more fun things I could do with her. Especially, when she sounds like such a …” he put an extra layer of perv on his next words, “selfless, giving little thing.”

  Anger, desperation, and the need to protect caused the heat in Kanyon to surge, igniting the napkin with a burst of flames. She ran a quick hand through the flames to make sure they were real. Feeling heat, she grinned, and stood. “Three, jack-hole,” she mocked as she launched the bottle at Senior.

  The bottle broke at his feet and burst into a ball of fire. Kanyon leapt the bar and dove through the flames, pushing Senior back as she delivered a spinning back kick to his chest, knocking him breathless to the floor. “Stay,” she demanded as she gave him a quick jab to his temple. Unconscious, Senior released his hold on the gun. She flicked it into the fire with a quick swipe of her foot before she jumped through the spreading flames to Daylen, who was still secured to her knocked over chair.

  “Hey,” Kanyon said casually as if she hadn’t just been tied up, had the ring of death slid on her finger, been shot at or lit the house, that was currently burning down around them, on fire with her bare hands.

  “Hey,” Daylen replied with the evidence of dried tears still prevalent on her cheeks.

  “Ready to get out of here?” Kanyon lifted her and the chair back to an upright position.

  “Definitely.” Daylen watched the spreading fire.

  “Me too.” She began untying Daylen’s legs.

  “Quick question?”

  Kanyon stiffened slightly, wanting to avoid the “Hey, why didn’t you bleed to death when I put the ring of death on your finger?” conversation for a bit longer.

  “Why, exactly, did you have to knock me over?”

  Relieved, Kanyon gave a quick head nod to the nearest wall then went back to untying Daylen’s other leg. Daylen saw a bullet hole in the wall at the exact height and angle of where her head would’ve been if she’d remained upright. “But how’d you know that was going to happen before …?”

  Kanyon freed the restraints from Daylen’s wrists. “We’ll talk about it later. Drag out Junior and I’ll get Daddy Pornbucks. We need to get out of here.” A flame flicked close to Kanyon’s leg. “And I’m thinking now would be good.”

  They sat on the hood of Kanyon’s car with a semi- conscious Senior and Junior tied up at their feet, silently watching the flames lick at the house. The fire crackled loudly then spit up a burst of towering flames. “Think the fire just found his porn collection,” Kanyon cracked.

  Daylen leaned back, pulling a knee up to her chest, casually watching the destruction.

  Kanyon lowered her head and noticed she was absently running her thumb across the tips of her fingers. She stopped and examined them one at a time. The heat was gone and there was no indication the flames had ever been there.

  In Kanyon’s silence, Daylen glanced over and saw the attention she was giving her hand. Jolting upright, she reached for Kanyon’s bruised and bloody wrists pulling them closer so she could do her own examination. “You burn yourself too?” She twisted Kanyon’s hand to check the other side and froze when she saw the Blood Ring still on Kanyon’s finger.

  Kanyon took her hands back. “I didn’t burn anything.” She slid the ring off and looked at it closely for the first time. She peered into the red stone that had somehow caused Lydia’s death before holding it out to Daylen.

  Daylen let the ring rest in her palm as she gazed down at it. “I thought …”

  Kanyon tilted her head slightly as she raised her hand to Daylen’s chin and turned it to face her. “I know,” she started, but heard sirens and the rush of tires on the pavement. “We can add it to our talk-about-later list.”

  A car door slammed behind them. “What the hell have you two done? Jesus H. Christ!” Lt. Boston’s voice boomed from behind them.

  Kanyon dropped her hand from Daylen’s face. “I think I’ll let you handle this. I’m just a wannabe,” she said with a wink then started to slide off the hood.

  Daylen grabbed her arm and pulled her back down beside her. “Nice try. We’re partners, we’re in this together. If we’re going to do this, we have to have each other’s backs in good, bad …” she watched as Lt. Boston stormed toward them, “and in very angry Lieutenant times.”

  “Let’s review. I say ‘stay away from the Defalcos’ and you guys take that as set their freaking house on fire? Do I speak opposite talk? Are we living in Do-the-exact-opposite-of-what-Lt. Boston-tells-you-to-do Land?”

  “No, but that sounds like a cool place to vacation. Are there direct flights from LAX? Do they have T-shirts with,” she ran a finger across her shirt as if reading from it, “Welcome to Do-the-exact–”

  Daylen caught Kanyon’s wrist, cutting off her taunt the mad cop routine. “Probably not the best time for … well, you.”

  “Fine.” Kanyon rolled her eyes. “But just remember, you wanted me here, Miss Good Times, Bad Times.”

  Lt. Boston took two more steps toward them as she pointed at the burning house. “What the hell happened?”

  “She did it.” Daylen pointed at Kanyon.

  Kanyon’s mouth dropped open. “What the …? What happened to in this together, have each other’s backs?”

  “I’m still mad at you,” Daylen stated.

  “Mad? Over what? I just …” she pointed at the house, then noticed the all too interested look on Lt. Boston’s face, “ran
g the doorbell and their house burst into flames. How could anyone,” she shot the Lieutenant a pointed look, “be mad because of that?”

  “Seriously? That’s what you’re going with? You were here … what, delivering Avon door to door and the house went up in flames?”

  “Would that work for you?” Kanyon asked curiously.

  “No.”

  “What, you’re more of a Mary Kay girl?” She got a raised eyebrow in response. “Fine. You figured us out. We’re here for one of those naughty girlie parties. You know, where you can get all shapes and sizes of–”

  Daylen forced Kanyon’s hands out of the air and back into her lap before the descriptions went R-rated.

  “Please stop helping,” Daylen pleaded.

  “Please tell me why you’re mad and decided to throw me under,” she flicked a nod at Lt. Boston, “the short and cranky bus?”

  Daylen rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, wait. This isn’t about the bar and Lexi?”

  Daylen stiffened.

  “Seriously. Did you forget the ring?” Kanyon held up her hand and wiggled the finger that had worn the Blood Ring. “No bloody death, remember?”

  Oh, she remembered, she definitely remembered the no bloody death part, and she wouldn’t let her thoughts start translating that little fact just yet. “I was talking about you kicking my chair over, you dork.”

  “Oh that, you mean when I saved your life? Yes, I can see where that would be quite irritating.”

  Lt. Boston cleared her throat. “Excuse me. I’m sorry, but can you two save this cute little lover’s spat for later? And maybe tell me why there is,” she looked over her shoulder, “why there’s now five fire trucks putting out a fire at Defalco’s house, and why the once occupants of said home are now tied up at my feet?” She gave Junior a nonchalant kick in the thigh. “You know, if it’s not too much trouble?”

  “This is so going on our to-be-talked-about-later list,” Kanyon murmured.

  Daylen threw Kanyon a playful wink then turned to Lt. Boston and held out the ring.