The Hailey Holloway Complete Series

by K. C. Stewart

  “Is he still at the vineyard?” Lia asked from the couch

  “As far as I can tell. He was enjoying a bit of Torture Theater when we barged in.” Hailey mopped up the water. “He knew we were there. How is that possible, Darby?”

  “Not sure.” She blew out a candle. “He must have felt us somehow. It’s not like we were actually in the room.” Darby collected the rest of the candles and left the living room to put away her supplies.

  “No, but he still knew we were snooping. Do we jump on this or wait till he thinks we gave up?”

  “We jump,” Dak answered. “He will expect us to do the latter, regroup and replan. I say we strike now when he thinks he has the advantage.” He knew Silas. Right now the man was sipping a fine wine while planning death and destruction all for his own entertainment.

  Dacea was eager for another run in with Silas. This was going to work, he could feel it. The rightness of it all vibrated throughout him. It was the same feeling he had when Hailey wrapped herself around him in her dream. Now that he knew what she felt like, he wasn’t going to let her go. First thing Dacea was doing when he was free was snatching Hailey away and showing her what being Mates really meant.

  The vibrating turned into an itching, a need to touch her again, hold her. He didn’t want much, just something to hold him over till this was finished. Dacea would settle for being able to touch her hair once more. Her soft chestnut locks flowed like silk through his fingers in the dream. Would it feel the same in real life? Would her eyes sparkle with happiness as he held her? Would her pulse race beneath his kiss? He was going to drive himself crazy if he kept this up.

  That itch needed scratching, badly.

  Hailey cleared her throat. “Uh, Dak? Mind calming down whatever the hell you are doing in there?”

  “I’m not doing anything?” he lied.

  He had a boner in her head. Hailey took a deep breath. She had a head boner, and it was equal parts awkward and kinky.

  Breathe, repress, exhale, rinse and repeat.

  “Liar, liar pants on fire. Deflate this instant!”

  What little noise there was in the room was silenced. Lia stared at her with humor in her blue eyes. Darby stuck her head out from her bedroom quietly snickering. In that moment, Hailey and Dak felt a mutual humiliation.

  “Both of you shut it!” Hailey gave her best stink eye.

  “Didn’t say a word,” Lia held up her hands in defense. Darby mumbled something about coughing that sounded like laughing.

  “Well this is embarrassing, but worked quite well,” Dak injected.

  “Good for you. Let’s try not to let it happened again.” Hailey was as bright as a tomato. Sometimes she forgot people could hear her when she spoke to Dak. This was a lesson learned.

  “Let’s just all forget this ever happened and move on. Now what were we doing before the interruption?”

  “Deciding what to do next,” Darby spoke from the hallway.

  “Oh right.” Hailey felt the blood begin to drain from her face. “And what did we decided again?”

  Lia grinned, “Pack your bags ladies. It looks like we are going on a road trip.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The story poured out of her like beer on tap at happy hour. She began with witnessing the fight in the park, telling him everything about those first few weeks living with Dak. How much he annoyed her and how she wished he would just disappear. Then when Silas cornered her and she had to go on the run with Lia. She laughed when she told him about Darby and her gun, wept over the dead dragon in the driveway, all while cursing Silas in every other word.

  “Breathe, Babe,” Dak injected.

  She took two—and then a third—because she needed it to calm her racing heart. Every word that crossed her lips was silently picked up by the detective. He didn’t comment, or ask questions. Just let her talk until there were no words left.

  “Who is he?” was the first thing he asked.

  She paused long enough for Dak to say, “Tell him.”

  “Dacea.”

  All the air seemed to evaporate out of the detective. His shoulders hunched, head bowed forward, and a smile that spoke only of relief. When he looked back up at Hailey his eyes were those of the dragon but his rough tone changed into one of respect. “Let me speak with him. Please,” he added as an afterthought

  She was used to the feeling now of not owning her body. It actually came as a relief when she could just sit back and let Dak handle this mess. “Have fun!” she told him as her consciousness evaporated.

  The detective felt the shift from Hailey to Dacea. He sat up taller with a look of pure glee in his reptilian eyes.

  “Sir?”

  Dacea nodded. “Aye.”

  “It’s true… all that she said? Christ it’s good to have you back,” he laughed. “I spoke to the goddess and that witch of yours, but they wouldn’t say a word. I could feel you and your power the moment I walked into the station. My father served in your father’s guard, so I know the power your family holds and the way it speaks to my blood. I’ve heard rumors of your return but… shit, I thought you were dead. We all did.”

  “As you can see I’ve been a little indisposed.” Dacea lifted his widespread hands. “Silas holds the key to my freedom. My partners and I were on our way to retrieve it when your Officer Patrick pulled us over.” Dacea had his own thoughts on good Officer Patrick and his wondering eyes. “We had no idea that Hailey was considered a missing person. Had we known, it would have been resolved immediately.”

  Dane only nodded, shock still shinning in his eyes. “What do you need from me?”

  “Let’s start with getting out of here.”

  “May I make a suggestion?” At his nod, Dane presented an idea. “What if you stayed the rest of the night? It would give me enough time and witnesses to get the word out that Ms. Holloway is being escorted back with me to Philadelphia.”

  Dak interrupted, “Please, call her Hailey.”

  “Of course.” Dane tipped the top of his head toward Dacea. “I’m guessing it might get Silas off your trail for at least a few hours, if not days.”

  Dacea’s fingers tapped the table as he thought about it. Silas surely had to have a tail on them, even if was only a loose one. If they could get them headed back down south, it might buy them some time.

  He looked at Dane. Big man, he mused, muscular but large. He could probably handle two, possibly three, of Silas’s men. “Are you prepared to deal with them if Silas’s men choose to attack?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The idea hung in the air a moment longer. “Then let’s get started.”

  “I’ll need to put you both in a cell till morning,” he apologized. Dacea only nodded. “In the morning I will escort you to my car where you can slip away. I’ll lead anyone following you back towards Philadelphia.”

  “Good enough. I’ll need to speak with Darby and Lia. It would throw up flags if they did not follow you back.”

  “Understood. I can give you a few minutes with them but not much longer. The crew around here needs to believe it too.” Dane stood as Dacea did. “Sir?”

  “Yes?”

  “Welcome back.” Dane put his hard face back on and opened the door, escorting Dacea from one cell to another.

  *****

  Hailey’s cell mate was a lovely young woman with a cocaine addiction and a perfume of cheap vodka. Allegra, as she had been introduced, informed Hailey that if she ever wanted to strip for some extra cash there was a place down by the river where she dances and could get her hooked up. Hailey responded by asking if she knew her name was an allergy medication.

  Fromt here it was clear that they would not be in each other’s weddings.

  Allegra was sleeping off the previous night’s alcohol consumption. Hailey had her eyes trained on the stripper’s chest. Not that her breasts were anything to write home about, but every now and then the woman stopped breathing for long periods of time. They were already in enough tro
uble; she didn’t need to be accused of killing a stripper too.

  “Can you please stop looking at that woman’s chest?” Dak requested sounding as bored as Hailey was. “If you want to look at breasts stare at your own, if only for my own entertainment.”

  “You’re a boob man?”

  “No, I’m a man.”

  “What does that even mean?” she wondered. “You have to have a part that you like more than others. Or maybe something you check out first? Like legs or maybe ass.”

  “I can’t give you an answer to that since I’ve never seen your ass.”

  Hailey leaned back against the wall and laughed. “I wasn’t talking about me, Dipshit. I mean in general. What’s your thing?”

  “I stand by my previous statement,” he said playfully.

  Her lips quirked into a frown, she had to cut this off before she read too much into it. “Please don’t say stuff like that.”

  “Why not?”

  Get it out fast, she told herself. Just tear it off like a Band-Aid. “Because I know you don’t mean it.” It came out more like “beacusIknowyoudon’tmeanit” but there was no way she was repeating herself.

  “I see,” he said after a few moments. “I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you for understanding.” Hailey went back to watching Allegra breathe. She wondered if that was her given name or her stage name. Either way, whoever picked it should not be allowed to reproduce.

  “No, you misunderstood me.”

  Hailey pulled her eyes away and responded with, “Hmmm?”

  “I’m not sorry for what I said. I’m sorry that my intentions were not clear. It won’t happen again.”

  The cell was shriveling in size as the air was drawn from the small space. Hailey felt like a shrinky-dink in the oven. Everything was contorting into one hard ball of confusion. It was too hot to breathe, let alone think clearly enough to figure out what the hell Dak was talking about.

  There were so many emotions to lean on. Her good old stand-by, Hope, was there waving its banner titled “Never give up!” Then there was Bewilderment poking its head out from behind Hope. He held a picket sign with “I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE YELLING ABOUT!” written in fat black marker. A newcomer pushed through the growing crowd. Infatuation dropped her guitar as she was knocked on her ass, and Pity quickly had to step out of the way or get run over. Hailey met the newbie head on giving her a good once over. “You’ll do,” she told Anger.

  “Stop it,” she hissed to Dak as the new emotion settle into her. “Just stop the flirting and the acting. You’re not helping either one of us by pretending you give a shit about me. We both know you are just bidding your time till you get a body of your own and can talk without someone always listening in. I get it. It’s annoying having to keep everything inside, letting it build up till you feel like you could burst.” Her hands flew as she spoke. Expressing frustration in a language of their own.

  “But I deal with it. I deal with it because I have no choice in the matter. I make the best of it because that is all I can do. And hey! I actually thought there might be something here between us.”

  Dak tried to cut in but she was on a roll and just kept going. “Silly me, I actually thought that being Mates could be a good thing. I believed we were becoming a family in our own twisted way.”

  “We are…” Dak injected.

  “You push me away and then yank me back when you are lonely. I’m getting whiplash from your emotions. Pick one and stick with it.” She sighed. “For the love of gummy bears, just pick a side and stick with it. I can’t do this any longer.”

  “Hailey,” he sighed. She hated that tone; it spoke of a heartache that mirrored her own. But what was she to do? Go on living a lie with him, pretending things weren’t as they were?

  “What do you want from me?” she begged. “What more can I give you?” Mind, body, heart, it was all his already. She had nothing more to give.

  “I want to be free of here, only so I can hold you, touch you, and run my fingers through your hair. I am so desperate to get out because I want more than this. You deserve more than this,” he added

  She shook her head and gathered her knees to her chest. “How can I believe what you say? You were the one who kept telling me this whole Mate thing was stupid.”

  His voice softened, a private smile warming his words. “And when have you ever listened to me?”

  Her head fell onto her knees as she laughed. “Good point.”

  “So, when this is all done and I’m not living in your head, would you accompany me to dinner and a movie?”

  She raised her head and blinked. “Like a date?”

  “Yes, exactly like a date.”

  “Do I get to pick the movie?” Her body began to loosen, the heaviness of the last few weeks leaving her chest.

  “No.”

  “Why not? I have excellent taste in movies.”

  “You have an affinity towards juvenile titles. I am not going on our first date to a Disney movie,” he countered.

  “Just because you have a point doesn’t mean I’m letting this go.”

  “I would hope not.” He sounded lighter too, she noticed. “Did I make myself clear enough this time?”

  Not really, she mused. He still was dodging certain words and phrases. Strangely enough, she understood where he was even though he couldn’t say it. “You want to be my Mate.”

  “Yes,” his voice was a bit shaky but it still came out.

  “But not yet,” she added.

  “Yes,” relieved now, he signed out the word.

  “I get it. You want to try it before you buy it.” It was out before she could stop it. “That just came out a little more ‘brown chicken, brown cow’ than it meant to be,” she added over Dak’s laughing.

  “Sadly, I understood that.”

  “You are fucking weird,” came a half drunk voice.

  Hailey shot up out of her seat and found her stripper cell mate staring at her. “Could ya keep the talking to yourself to a minimum? I’m trying to sleep.” With that, Allegra rolled toward the wall giving Hailey a view of her back.

  “Well, I guess she told you.”

  Hailey snorted and burst out laughing.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Ms. Holloway?” Hailey followed the hard voice to a pair of female officers. The one who spoke was a good foot shorter than the other and had what appeared to be her “stern” face on.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m Officer… what’s my name again?” She dropped her voice and whispered to the other woman who looked bored.

  “Williams and I’m Pond.”

  “Officer Williams,” She continued, her voice echoing off the small cell walls. The bored officer rolled her eyes and smirked. “We are here to escort you to Philadelphia.” Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back in a severe low bun, which accentuated the hard look she was going for. But it was the stick that was shoved up her ass that really gave her the “Bitch Cop” vibe.

  “Okay,” Hailey drug the word out looking between the two women. This was the worst good cop, bad cop Hailey had ever seen. She was hesitant to go anywhere with them, but Dak only laughed and told her to go. Instead of the behind the back handcuff routine Officer Patrick showed her the night before, Hailey had the cuffs on in front. They were so loose she had trouble keeping them on.

  Hailey was flanked on either side as the door closed behind her. They walked through the station, which wasn’t busy, only one other person on duty that she could see and they were talking to the Detective.

  “Stay here, look sad or something,” Officer Pond whispered to her. Hailey had to lift her chin to be able to frown at the woman.

  “Who are you?” she asked in a whisper.

  “I guess that would be helpful, huh? I’m Melpomene, you can call me Mel. That’s Erato.” She nodded towards the bitchy Officer Williams. “We are Lia’s sisters.”

  “The Muses.”

  “You got it. She asked for a favor a
nd Erato volunteered. I can’t turn down a train wreck so I came too.” Erato was standing a few feet away with her arms folded across rather round chest. The muse glared at everything, even the stapler. Hailey had to wonder what the stapler did to deserve such treatment.

  “What do you mean by train wreck?”

  “Bad choice of words. I didn’t mean this plan was going to crash and burn, just that Erato thinks she can act but she can’t. She is good with the lovey dovey stuff, but not much else.” Mel laughed but sobered quickly when Erato scowled at her. “I happen to enjoy other people’s misfortunes. So there was no way I was missing this.”

  Sibling love, Hailey thought, was like none other. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Well, Erato and I are supposed to escort you to the unmarked car in the side lot. In the car beside ours will be our other sister Clio who is about your build. She will be playing the part of Dragon Girl, a.k.a you, and will go with Dane to Philadelphia while Lia and Darby drive you to New York. Oh, looks like the second act is about to start.”

  Hailey looked up to find Erato marching over to them. When she was well within Hailey’s bubble of personal space, the muse broke out in a smile transforming her face into a thing of beauty.

  “Isn’t this fun?” she giggled. “I haven’t had this much fun in forever. How are we doing, Hailey? Could you tell I was Bad Cop?”

  “That’s what you were? I thought you were just constipated.”

  Mel snorted and slapped a hand over her mouth. “That’s so perfect.”

  “That was rude!” whined Erato, “I see why Lia likes you so much. No respect, just like her.”

  “Here we go,” Mel groaned and leaned against the counter.

  “I remember when people respected their elders, and before that they respected their gods. Today, nobody respects anybody. Here I am trying to help you out of this unfortunate position you have found yourself in, and I get insulted for my efforts. See if I ever help you out again.” Her arms crossed once more as she huffed and pouted.

  “I think that was the cutest lecture I’ve ever gotten.”