Where were you going today? I tried to follow but had other business to deal with.
A soft rapping on the door startled him. He looked up when it sounded again. Dacea's mind hadn't caught up yet. He was still lost in the vast amounts of crazy that were pouring off the page in front of him.
"Dak?" Hailey's asked through the wood, "can I come in?"
"Shit." He hastily folded the letter and tossed it with the others in his desk. "Yes. Come in!" he yelled.
*****
The ring glistened in the sunlight. She wiggled her fingers and watched it sparkle. When Hailey slid it on, everything settled inside of her. It was time, had been for a while. Every day for the past week she had been slipping the ring on and prayed for courage to let him see it. It never lasted though, and she would take it off and put it back onto the chain around her neck.
Today would be different. Today was the day.
She held a letter that had come as she was getting out of the car. Dak had already run off into the house and that left her to deal with it. Dane was hesitant to give it to her but she promised not to open it until she found Dak. The scrolly script held Dak's full name. It screamed of the Council. The news they had been waiting weeks for was finally here.
Hailey found him in his office with the door closed. It was strange but not completely unusual. Lately he had been closing himself off when it came to work. Whatever had him running off must have been wearing on him. But only the hard stuff would have him close the door to her. She knocked. Then again. Hailey was about to leave and come back later when she heard him yell for her to come in. Her heart knocked against her chest just as she had on the door.
"Well, here it goes," she murmured before opening the door.
He flicked his eyes up at her for a brief glance and with a gruff voice barked, "what is it?"
Well, he was just a bag of smiles at the moment, she thought sarcastically. This wasn’t the beach in her dreams anymore, this was real life and it sucked most of the time. Maybe, hopefully, the ring would serve as a happy distraction to whatever put him in a mood.
"Um, this came for you." Hailey knew that this was it. She could hand him the letter with the ring showing, or with her other hand and do it another time. Decisions, decisions. She walked across the room and hesitated for a moment before holding out the letter, the ruby ring shining brightly against her pale skin.
There. It was done. She couldn't take it back now. Inside her there was no room to even breathe. Everything was on hold. So she waited. Her hand shook slightly as it hung silently in the air for him to notice it. He took the letter, his fingers brushing slightly against hers. She smiled letting all the anxiety out with her breath. It was done. They were going to be-
"Thanks," he said dismissing her.
"Huh?" Hailey blinked. He hadn't even looked at her. Dak was absorbed in the letter. His eyes traveling over the lines from left to right like a typewriter on Red Bull. She deflated. Her shoulders slumped forward and the smile that had so brilliantly been displayed across her face slipped into a frown. That did not go as planned. That had not even been on her list of possible reactions. What the hell?
"What does it say?" she asked blandly not really caring at this point.
"Council responded." Still no eye contact. What was with him?
"Yeah, and?"
"Dearest Dacea and Hailey, after much debate on the subject of the mating between Dacea and Katherine, we have decided that as the Council, we cannot break the contract between the two. Our law states that two persons once mated cannot be unmated," Dak spat the last line out and threw the letter onto his desk. "This is bullshit."
"Well, yeah," she agreed, "but we knew they wouldn't consent to it." Hailey reached and picked up the letter to continue reading but Dak snagged it from her fingers.
"In respect to the above," he began to read again, "we require that the human, known as Hailey, leave the premises of Dacea's compound. You're relationship with Katherine is your own however, we do not condone adultery."
"What!" Hailey ripped the letter from his hands and read. "They want me to leave?"
"Apparently," he said dryly.
"You can always come live with me," Silas interrupted from the door. Hailey looked over her shoulder and found her brother, King of the Green dragons and hair gel, holding a letter of his own. He came into the room, giving her a peck on the check and sat in the chair across from Dak.
"I'm not leaving," she told them both while laying the letter back on the desk.
"Of course you aren't, Céile. You just try it and I'll cuff you to the wall like I did Silas," Dak finally looked at her. There was no love or even anger, just truth. He meant what he said and would track her down and lock her up if she left because of the Council.
With that, Hailey slumped into the chair beside Silas. Today sucked, she thought. Her eye caught the sparkle of her ring and she quickly slipped it off after a minor panic. Dak hadn't noticed it and they were all too worked up at the moment for it to be the right time to tell him. She slid it into her pocket, mentally promising to put it back on the chain once she left the room.
Silas had been watching her. His eyes narrowed on her face when she looked up. She had been caught in the act. They hadn't been siblings long but already they had their own silent communications. Hailey gave a half smile and a small shake of her head. "No," she told him silently, "not yet." He gave a small shrug and lifted an eyebrow telling her, "oh well."
Her boyfriend and brother had been adversaries up until a few weeks ago when they discovered Silas and Hailey were brother and sister. Their father had taken her only hours after being born and left her at a hospital where she was eventually adopted. The men had agreed to drop their hatred over each other in respect for her. Now they played nice, but she suspected they still wanted to rip the other's throats out.
"I need to speak with Dane," Dak stood grabbing the letter. "Silas let's talk on the way." He and Silas walked out of the office leaving Hailey alone. Dak, once more, ignoring her completely.
"I'll just be here then," she told the closing door. "Assholes."
Hailey got out of the chair and walked around the desk to where Dak had been sitting. She had fond memories of the chair. Her hand glided over the soft brown leather. It was worn from years of use and lighter in the spots where he sat. Darby had shipped it to them. She apparently had been holding onto it and found it in storage. Dak was thrilled when it came, said it was his lucky chair or some shit.
Her dragon had many superstitions. He kept them hidden most of the time but she had caught on to a few of them, the chair for one, Boo for another. The man thought Boo was Cat Sidhe, an Irish legend about an evil witch who could turn into a cat nine times in her lifespan and on the ninth, she would stay as a cat. Hailey debunked this legend by pointing out Boo was a boy.
The chair creaked under her weight. She began to aimlessly swivel the chair back and forth. The last time she sat there she had gotten lucky. He had come in and found her reading a book. Dak told her about his lucky chair and then proceeded to show her how lucky it could be.
The poor thing creaked ever since.
She laughed at the memory. The Council could say what they wanted. But he was right, she wasn't going anywhere. This was her home now, Dak was her home now. He made this whole fiasco worth wild.
As she twisted in the chair, Hailey reached for his tablet. The boys could come back any minute or be hours. Might as well do something useful, she thought. She tapped the email icon and began to scroll. Her dad had started to email her regularly. Her mom probably didn’t know about it or it would have ended even faster than it began. Hailey thought it was weird at first but found that she enjoyed their talks. He had never been the bad guy; he just had been put in a hard spot. They all had been. Josh's death had effected them all, but more so her mother. She had never recovered from his loss.
It was on her second swipe down her inbox that she realized Dak was still logged in. Hailey scrolled b
ack to the top to sign out when one name stood out to her. Katherine. There was an entire folder devoted to her.
She shouldn't.
It would be bad if she did.
He would think she didn't trust him.
He would…fuck it. She needed to know.
Hailey tapped the folder. There was a split second of guilt that all vanished when she saw the 27 emails from the harpy. Hailey wasn't sure who she was mad at more, Katherine for being a sneaky bitch or Dacea for keeping this from her. She was already in deep and figured she couldn't get in any more trouble than she already would be if she was caught. She picked one at random and read.
I hired a male escort today. I needed someone to do what you won't. He pleasured me for hours and when I was done with him I picked off each of his nails with my teeth. I pretended his screaming was actually Hailey begging for her life. One day, I'll get to do the real thing.
"Well that's fun. Moving on." She clicked on a few more. If she ever had doubts over the harpy's sanity before, they were solidified now. The woman was insane jumping from love, to hate, to 1000 ways to kill Hailey with a toothpick. She was about to log out but decided to read one more. It was like watching YouTube. One video rolled into another and soon three days had gone by. Hailey must be a masochist since she couldn't help but continue on reading.
Why don't you love me? I just want to talk to you. Is that too much to ask? You ignore my calls, my emails, even my letters. Please Dacea, please talk to me.
Pitiful, but that was about it. What came next was the part that hurt. She wanted to scream and throw the damn tablet through the window. All those emails and not one had a response. Even the ones detailing how Katherine would torture and kill Hailey had not gotten even a cease and desist from Dak. But this one, this pathetic attempt to gain his sympathy must have worked.
Tomorrow at Starbucks 10:30. -Dacea
He was going to meet Katherine and he had planned on never telling her.
"You fucking douche canoe!"
She was furious. Dak's response was like a slap to the face. She could almost feel the sting on her flush cheek.
Letters, Katherine had mentioned letters. Hailey began to open all the drawers of his desk, flipping through everything, not bothering to hide her tracks. He'd know she was up to something when he looked next, but that was if she let him live that long. The bastard thought he could keep her from this, protect her as he would say. But this wasn't protecting her, this was lying by omission.
She found them. Tucked all together like the precious words they were. Why would he keep them? What possible reason would there be for him to want to save all the emails and letters? There was no good reason, she thought. Hailey tried to find some semblance of sane thought but there was none. He had saved every contact from his ex-Mate like a fifteen-year-old girl and her first love.
Hailey sank into the creaky chair. Now what? she wondered bitterly. There was no way she would be able to sit still long enough for him to meet the harpy. Hailey would be restless and crazy the entire time. There were only two options at hand that she could see. Tell him she found the notes from Katherine and let him try to wiggle his way out of it. Or follow him to the meeting tomorrow and see what happens. Her conscious—the honorable bitch—told her to go through door number one. But there was something else in her that told her to go through door number two. It was the jealous side of her that wanted her to go. She hated letting it out of its cage but the emotion had already begun to consume her.
Tomorrow she would follow Dak.
Chapter Five
She pulled out her phone and read the email again. Katherine had impulsively read his response every few minutes. Dacea would be meeting with her. All of her messages had finally worked. She knew playing the heartbroken girl would do it. Dacea had a thing for saving pathetic women.
Just look at Hailey.
Over the last few weeks Katherine had gotten messages to him however she could. For the most part they had been planned and carefully written for the greatest impact but occasionally the hatred for the mate stealing whore would get so strong that she needed to get it off her chest. Venting wasn't something she did on a normal basis but it was refreshing. She hadn't been worried about what he thought on those ones, Dacea would come around eventually. He always did.
Picking up her brush, Katherine began to comb through her blonde strands. She had thought about kidnapping him, double dose of the stuff she had given Hailey would take him out long enough for her to get out of the city. Dacea was smart though and would come prepared for an attack like the good little Boy Scout he was. Instead she decided to play up his emotions and try to get him to come to her on his own free will. It would be hard, but she never turned down a challenge.
Her phone chirped with a new text message. Her new pet Wendell was always texting her, calling her, doting on her. She found his infatuation cute and slightly annoying. Katherine planned on using him when the time came. He was already doing her bidding for nothing more than being sucked off in the back of his car before the Council meetings. Such a trivial thing that gave her so much more. With the Council leader in her pocket, Dacea would never have their mating abolished.
She loved it when she won someone else's game.
*****
"I think we should wait until after we meet with Silver," Dacea said for the fifth time.
"What's the point? You know what he will say," Silas shot back.
Dacea had a permanent scowl etched on his face whenever they talked. Years of hatred couldn't be forgotten in a matter of weeks. So they put up with each other's shit even when they wanted to bash the other's heads against a desk. Now was no different. "We don't know."
Silas wished he could beat some sense into Dacea, the man needed it, but Hailey had been standing in the doorway for the past few minutes. Killing him now would not bode well on their road to sibling love and understanding. Silas kept waiting for her to join them but she just stayed where she was. During the last half hour something changed in her demeanor. The ring baring, walking ray of sunshine had gone cloudy. A storm was coming.
"Hailey, what do you think?" he asked making her step from her spot on the wall she had anchored herself to.
Dacea asked, "What?" and swung his head around the room. Idiot hadn't even noticed she was there. "Do you need something, Céile?" he asked once he saw her.
Once more for the record, Hailey was too good for that piece of shit dragon, Silas thought. The small sneer on her lip told him that, at the moment, she thought so too. One day, she would let Silas beat the life out of Dacea.
Alas, today was not that day.
"No, just came to see what you guys were doing." Hailey came to stand beside him. Silas draped and arm over her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Dacea's jealous eye flare was just a nice added bonus.
"Any progress?" she asked looking up at him.
"No. Your stubborn Mate wants to wait on announcing our rouge status."
"It's for the best," Dacea stated with a frown.
"Let's not begin again. The circling is making me dizzy."
"Fine. Go then, I'll let you know when the meeting is with Silver." The brush off was hastily made and he felt Hailey's shoulders stiffen.
"You can stay if you'd like. I was going to order Chinese for dinner." The look she gave Dacea was cute and not at all threatening like she had been going for. Silas felt it was his brotherly duty to teach her a more effective badass look.
"I appreciate the offer but I don't like Chinese food."
"What?" she gaped. "How is that possible?"
"I just don't."
"I don't think we can friends anymore," she said with total seriousness. Dacea laughed from his spot across the room. Her eyes tightened at the sound.
"I'm sure we will make it work. Besides, I didn't disown you because you don't like peanut butter. If we can get over a hump like that, we can get through anything."
She was skeptical but nodded. "I guess you're right,"
she paused then quirked up one side of her mouth, "Not even fried rice?"
Silas merely shook his head while she gave a defeated sigh. "I should be going. Be good." He swung her into his chest and gave her a hug.
A muffled, "Do I have too?" drifted up to him and he chuckled.
"Dacea, till next time." Silas let Hailey go. The tension in the room shot up as he began to leave. He had no idea what had happened in the last half hour but something was eating at Hailey. Dacea's voice floated down the hallway. He was cautious, finally catching on to her mood. "Trouble in paradise?" Silas thought out loud as he closed the front door.
While Dacea dealt with the other sept leaders, Silas had been tasked with learning all he could about their friends on the Council. On the agenda today was Silver Council member, Lou. He had been a member for 40 years, and one of the only dragons that had carried over when Silas took over a few years ago. The man was a hermit. Except for the meetings, he rarely went out in public. Silas however, knew his weakness. Lou had a daughter named Charlotte. She had no idea what she was or who her father was, which made for an excellent bargaining chip.
Silas had his driver pull over outside of Charlotte's apartment. Today he was just acquainting himself with the woman. He needed to learn everything about her, where she worked, where she played, who her friends were, who her enemies were. By the time he was done, Silas would know her favorite color, how she took her coffee and how many times she had seen The Notebook.
For now, he had a name and an apartment number.
"Check the building," Silas told his driver. He waited while the man got out and checked to see if Charlotte was home. The man was new and had never done anything more than drive but today Silas was feeling generous. Or lazy depending on how you looked at it. After the seemly end of Lucas, Silas felt it was time to do a bit of housecleaning.
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