The Hailey Holloway Complete Series

by K. C. Stewart

  “What happened?” she asked Dak.

  “That was his baby sister. Silas had about five hours with her before his father killed her.”

  She ran a finger down the crease over the child’s face. Hailey was horrified. What was so wrong with an innocent baby that he needed to kill her not even a day old?

  “He changed that day. Actually, you might have liked him at one time, but after Colleen was killed, Silas became someone else.” It sounded as if they were friends once. Her heart wept for all that was lost that day.

  “Hailey, we need to keep moving,” Dak reminded her.

  She replaced the picture and closed the lid. The space behind the bin held nothing so her only choice was to pull out another. Five bins later she found the corner of a safe. It took her removing three more to uncover the dial to unlock it. That was the moment when she realized she was screwed. So focused on getting in an out undetected, she neglected the part where she had to break open a safe.

  Standing surrounded by an ocean of blue bins, she placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “So this is where you reveal the big plan for getting us in the safe, right?”

  “I was counting on him having the same lock as before. Silas is very lazy when it comes to updating and changing with the times. But it looks as though he has finally taken my advice.” The three foot square safe had not only a combination dial lock, but also an electronic keypad. One could be only there as a prop or both were used. She had no way of knowing.

  So Hailey used the golden rule of her childhood: when in doubt, press buttons. She typed in her old ATM pin number, followed by the last four digits of her social security number, then finally her zip code. The light blinked red each time while Dak ranted on in her head about getting them killed. She ignored him and tried her birthday, month then day.

  A small click and the pressure on the handle released. “Hot damn!” she cried while doing a mental happy dance. Alarms began blaring in the hallway, cooling her mood immediately. Hailey turned and saw from the crack under the door, shadows of feet running past. That threw her into overdrive.

  Pull the handle down.

  Swing door open.

  Frown.

  “Dak?”

  “Just grab it and get out of here.”

  “But Dak it’s-”

  “I know,” he said frustrated “Just go.”

  *****

  “You’re late.”

  The man standing in the doorway paled a bit.

  “I’m sorry, Sir. We had a bit of difficulty passing the wards. We had to improvise.” He stood as a solider would, at attention ready for any command Silas could throw at him. Sometimes if it was a slow day, he would make his soldiers do trivial things like jump up and down for six hours. It always got interesting around hour four; most would start to cry around five.

  “Improvise how?” The alarms sounded on the monitors. His solider stayed where he was not even flicking his eyes toward the noise. He knew Silas would send him if needed. “Ignore that, answer me.”

  “We had to leave the body at the end of the driveway.”

  “Will it be seen?”

  “Not by the passing car, Sir. But they will see it, and if they don’t then they will run over it.”

  “Alright, that’s acceptable.” Silas turned his attention to Hailey as she ran from the closet. “Run little mouse,” he told the figure dashing across his monitors. It amused him to watch her scurry off the premises. Too bad he wasn’t even in the same house, let alone state to watch it in person.

  Silas reached for his wine. “Was there something else you needed?” he asked the solider.

  “No, Sir.” And yet he stayed where he stood. Silas had such good little minions.

  A streak of black darted through the soldier’s separated legs. A smile parted his lips. Right on time, he thought.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I have to feed me cat. You’re dismissed.” Without another word the soldier turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  *****

  The clouds had moved in while Hailey was running around Silas’s house. The pale blue of the morning was now cloaked with a dreary gray. Big puffy clouds stretched across the sky like cotton balls glued to a piece of construction paper. A light drizzle began to streak the windshield. Hailey counted the droplets. 36 before the wipers cleared the glass. She began to count again.

  Lia drove them from the neighborhood in a rush. Hailey could have told her not to bother, but she couldn’t muster up the nerve to talk. Instead of a knife, she had an envelope addressed to Dacea tucked away in the waist band of her pants. It crinkled when she moved, a constant reminder of her failure. Instead of reading Silas’s words on how much smarter he was than everyone else, she opted to count raindrops. It was slowing, only 21 this time.

  They were a good 20 minutes away when Lia pulled into a gas station. Hailey fell deeper into herself. The engine shut off and Lia turned toward Hailey. “So, did you get it?”

  “No.”

  “I kind figured since you didn’t come galloping out and waving it in the air.”

  Hailey began to deny she would ever do that, then stopped. Of course she would.

  “Well, since we are here, you need anything?”

  She shook her head no. Lia decided she needed something with chocolate and headed into the store. Hailey soaked up the peace of the car. In the quiet, she dove headfirst into herself, pulling all her emotions in with her. It was her version of a windshield wiper in the rain. By drawing her emotions inward and burying them deep inside, she wouldn’t get hurt. She could school her face easily enough; wipe away any expressions when her emotions were buried. But like the windshield wiper, just because the rain was wiped away, didn’t mean it had stopped raining.

  Hiding within herself was a ritual she had practiced since Josh died. When her parents found her curled up in his hospital bed with his still form, they had blamed her. Not that it was logical, grieving parents rarely are. Her mother had pried her away from him saying that she had no right to be sad. So she stopped crying for her dead brother.

  The corner of the envelope poked her with every breath. Her eyes opened, blinking away the memory and shoving it back inside. She pulled the envelope from her pants and smoothed out the folds.

  “Curious?” she asked the empty car.

  “A bit,” Dak responded.

  She read from the scroll handwriting, taking a moment to admire the penmanship. Silas was a dick, but he had some damn good handwriting.

  My Dear Friend Dacea,

  How silly you must feel right now. Would I really have kept something so precious to me in such a place? Like you, I keep all my treasures with me at all times. The question of the hour is, now what? I’m curious Dacea, what will you do next?

  Sincerely,

  Silas

  P.S. I hope you enjoy your present.

  Hailey folded the letter back up and slipped it in the envelope. There was nothing in her heart; she made herself an empty shell, unfeeling and repressing. Her emotionless state did not change the fact that she had failed Dak; he was now stuck with her for longer. Soon he would grow to resent and blame her for his misfortunes. She knew the pattern and had learned to accept it. Their few short days of happiness would have to last her a lifetime.

  “Hailey,” Dak’s rich voice filled her thoughts. “You have barely spoken since we left. Am I that bad to have around?”

  “What? No! I mean, it’s not that. I just thought-” The car door opened and Lia stepped in. She took in Hailey’s face and frowned.

  “Bad timing?”

  “Yup.”

  “Sorry. Gummy bears?” Lia held up a bag of Hariboro.

  “Please and thank you.” Their conversation would have to wait till later. She wasn’t even sure what was about to come out of her mouth. Hailey should really be thanking Lia for the interruption. Instead she ripped the bag apart and searched out her first victim. The car started and Lia pulled back into traffic.r />
  “I know I haven’t been easy to have around lately,” Dak started. He must not have gotten the memo that they were done talking. “And I changed your life so dramatically. But just keep it together for a little while longer and I promise we will find a way out of this.”

  Hailey bit the head off a clear gummy bear. He still wanted out of here like this was a jail sentence and he was up for parole. He kept telling her this was for the best. Maybe he was right. It was time for her to jump on the bandwagon and figure a way to set him free. When he left for good, she would smile and wave. Everyone always leaves, she told herself, get used to it.

  Hailey had forgotten her golden rule: the only person who cares about you, is you.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Darby is prepping for a finding spell,” Lia stated as they drove. “She was confident that we can find where Silas is staying.”

  “Fun times.”

  Lia rolled her eyes. “For you maybe since you are the one who gets to help.”

  “Boo to that.” She toed off her sneakers and tucked her legs underneath her on the seat.

  “Well I lie, Dak is the one who she actually needs but since you are one in the same…”

  “Hear that, Sparkles? You get to do a finding spell with Darby.”

  “Excuse me?” his gruff voice spoke.

  “You. Darby. Maaaaaagic.” She wiggled her fingers around.

  “I got that part. It was the other that I believe I heard incorrectly.”

  “Finding spell?”

  “Nope, try again.”

  “Sparkles?”

  “Bingo,” he deadpanned.

  “Awww you like it. I can tell.” Lia was laughing right along with Hailey.

  “You are a strange woman,” he said.

  “And you, my scaly friend, missed the point. Darby is prepping for a finding spell. You up for that? Doesn’t magic affect dragons differently?”

  “She will only be using my relationship with Silas to find him. She and Lennox had done it a few times. I assure you, it’s perfectly safe.”

  Hailey saluted toward the windshield. “Aye aye captain.”

  He laughed, filling her head with a deep rumbling. “Shut up and eat your gummy bears.”

  She would have but the bag was long gone.

  They drove the last hour with the radio on and the windows down. The mood had lightened considerably since the failed mission. Because of the finding spell, hope was rising once more. Hailey even convinced everyone that Dairy Queen was imperative to the spell.

  “What exactly is a Blizzard?” Dak had asked while in line.

  “I will ignore the fact that you just offended the Queen of Dairy and tell you. Think of it as a milkshake with obstacles.”

  “And what flavor obstacles do you get?” The next ten minutes consisted of them arguing over flavor. After much debate, for which the workers took entirely too much enjoyment of, they settled on Mint Oreo.

  “Best. Idea. Ever.” Lia stated when they were on the road to the cabin. She drove with a peanut buster parfait in one hand and a spoon in the other, somewhere in between was the steering wheel.

  They drove slow and ate fast because they had forgotten to get Darby anything. A silent pack was made never to speak of their trip to Dairy Queen. The bumpy road tossed the car all over. Miraculously, there was no spillage. With only feet to spare, they tossed the containers in the back seat, hiding all evidence.

  Even though they had only been at the cabin a few days, she was already feeling like it was home, and these two women and unformed mental dragon were her family. Hailey was smiling at her newfound revelation when the car began to slow.

  “What is that?” Lia asked as she stopped the car completely. Hailey focused on the mound in the middle of the driveway. It looked like a whole lotta lumpy nothing.

  As they opened their doors to investigate, the smell was what hit them first. The foul stench of death surrounded the area in a bubble of un-breathable air. She had the unfortunate pleasure of having a squirrel die in between the walls of her apartment a few months earlier. This was worse, much worse. The decaying flesh held a hint sweetness. That was the nastiest part, she thought as she covered her nose with her shirt. It was like candied death.

  Lia took the lead, the smell and sight of a dead body didn’t faze her. Hailey decided to stay back a good 15 feet while Lia bent down to get a better view.

  “This guy has been dead awhile, a week to week and a half is my guess.” Hailey took another step backwards. “Been worked over pretty well. Coloring around the wrists and ankles looks like chains by the bruising. Few broken ribs, nose, and possible collarbone. There are holes in each of the fingers, starting at the nail going straight through.” Lia picked up a mangled hand and took a closer look. “Maybe a drill. I can’t tell without equipment.” She dropped the hand and stood up.

  All of the blood had drained from Hailey’s body. At this point the corpse had more color than she did. Her eyes stayed on the body, unable to look any longer but unable to look away. She would be seeing this corpse in her sleep for years to come.

  “Hailey, you ok?” Lia walked over to her and reached out like she was going to shake her from her stupor. Only she was going to touch her with the hand that just inspected the corpse. Hailey stomach couldn’t handle that. She ran into the trees and dropped to her hands and knees expelling everything she had eaten that day, including the ice cream she worked so hard to get. The retching continued until she could only heave air from her stomach.

  A gentle mental push from Dak was all it took. She stepped aside and gladly let him take over. She knew where her strengths and weaknesses lay. If he could handle the situation with more grace than her, then more power to him.

  Dacea couldn’t watch much more and took over the situation. First step was taking control of Hailey; she didn’t fight it and let him take over without a struggle. He stood, brushing the dirt and dried leaves from his hands. Lia was back at the body inspecting it further. She looked up and nodded with approval when she noticed the change. He knelt down on the other side and took a better look himself.

  Definitely dragon, he thought while dreading the answer to his next question. Lia was already on it and pulling the eye lid up with her thumb. “Shit, amber. He’s one of mine.”

  “Do you know him?”

  “He’s so mangled, I can’t tell,” he answered honesty.

  “Hey Darby you might not want to come any closer,” Lia told the approaching woman. “It’s a not a pretty sight.”

  Dacea turned his head and over his shoulder he saw Darby biting a nail as she stood in the center of the driveway.

  “Lia, go get her inside. If she still wants to do this finding spell then she can’t be near this bad energy.” The muse stepped around him, she heard murmurs and finally the crunch of gravel under their feet heading back toward the cabin. He wasn’t lying, the energy could change the spell, but he mostly wanted to save her from seeing the body.

  “How you doing, Babe? Keeping it together?”

  “Barely. What comes next? Should we call the cops?”

  “No police. I need to burn it,” he said cautiously knowing she wouldn’t like what was to come.

  “Oh. Well, have fun with that.”

  “That also means I need to pick him up and move him to a place where I can burn him.”

  “I see.” He was worried about her. Your first body stays with you forever. “Just try not to get too much dead juice on me,” she finally added.

  “Deal.” He grabbed hold of the arms and prayed that nothing came off or tore as he drug it towards the side of the driveway. Bodies always weighed an obscene amount, this one was no different. He struggled in her small frame. It took a good ten minutes of pulling to get far enough into the forest for him liking. Dacea hiked it back to the cabin where he found the shovel leaning beside the basement door. Lennox had left it there weeks ago after planting a few trees. He grabbed the wooden handle, his breath faltering. Lennox’s
death hit him at the strangest times. The last person to touch his shovel had been his friend and he would never touch it again.

  He took a moment, one that wasn’t nearly long enough to mourn the loss of his friend. There was another who needed him now. So with shovel in hand, he continued the undertaking of honoring the other fallen dragon.

  As he walked back, Dacea vowed to find the dead dragon’s family and let them know he was put to rest properly. Knowing was better than wondering and allowing hope to live on.

  The grave didn’t need to be deep, just enough to contain the fire. He dug for a while, letting his frustration out with each movement. When he was satisfied with the depth, Dacea rolled the body into the grave.

  “You were one of mine and are here for that reason alone. I am sorry. I failed you. Know that I will do what I can to bring redemption to you and yours. Be at peace and find happiness in your next life.” He spit a small puff of fire into his palm. The flame rolled over his skin, igniting his hand. Dacea formed it into a ball and tossed the ball of fire into the grave.

  “That was beautiful,” she spoke softly in his mind. He was glad to have her near at this moment. He often fell back into that dark space in his head when he was alone after an experience such as this. Dacea had taken lives, brought death to those who wished harm to him and his. But never in sport, never like this.

  “It was not nearly enough, but all I had.”

  “Sometimes words are all we can give, even if they are too late.”

  They watched the body burn together. It took just over three hours. Full dark had settled in by the time Dacea was satisfied with how far burned it was. Only ash and a few pieces of bone remained. He picked up the shovel and began to fill in the grave. With each shovel of dirt the fire smoldered a little more, until eventually it died altogether.

  Darby would need to cleanse the grave of bad juju, as Hailey would say. Something that would have to wait until later, he was exhausted. Three hours of continuous guilt had him delving deeper into that shadow of his heart. Dacea was fully immersed in self-hatred and pity when he stepped into the clearing of the cabin.