"Well, now we know who did it," Dacea stated as he looked at the insignia of the Council burned into the grass. It was the shape of a dragon with its wings spread wide and the head turned on its profile. Surrounding it were two comma like shapes. They started as ice, blended into water, then fire and finally smoke, each sept represented.
"Like there was ever any doubt," Silas answered.
*****
Hailey watched Dak and Silas go through the houses. She tried not to look at the charred bodies of the families but her eyes kept wandering to them. She had overheard the firefighters saying that it was poisoning that killed the dragons and the fire that killed the women.
Mac didn't say much beside her. He was wearing Dak's coat and was swimming in its size. The kid had a told her he was out in the stables giving an apple to each of the horses for Christmas when two cars pulled up. Everyone was still asleep and he was supposed to be in bed, so he stayed where he was and watched because he didn't want his parents to be mad. The men went inside and came out with his Dad, uncle and cousin tied up. She gathered the house was on fire at that point by the way his voice cracked. Mac's eyes streamed an endless river of tears. He could hear the women screaming as they burned in the house and his father struggling to get free. After a minute he had covered his ears so he didn't have to listen and hid until Hailey and Dak showed up.
Hailey held him in her lap and began to talk. It started out as nothing more than a distraction for him but it turned out to be a distraction for her too as she told the story of how she and Dak met. He fell asleep somewhere around breaking into Silas's river house.
At one point in her storytelling she caught Dak's eyes on her. His usually guarded face was open to the world for a moment. It spoke of loss and sorrow. And as his eyes flickered to Mac asleep in her arms, she knew what loss he was mourning. Hailey felt it too. They were meant to have a brood of kids. However, she didn't give into the sadness since she believed it wasn't over for them.
In the blink of an eye his face was back to its passive state. He walked over to the car and opened the door to slide in beside her in the backseat. He looked at Mac and ran a gentle hand over his hair.
"How's the lad?"
"How would you be if you watched your entire family killed on Christmas morning?"
He nodded and removed his hand from the boy's head. "Did he tell you anything?"
"Yes, everything that he saw and remembers. Not now though, ok?" She didn't want him to have to live through it again.
He nodded. "It's my fault."
His admission stunned her. "That's not true."
"Isn't it? I announced just this morning that we were rogue. Had I waited, maybe we could have saved them."
Dak wouldn't look at her. He kept his eyes on the child's face. "Even so, someone would have died. War means death. There is no getting around that fact."
He seemed to take in her words. "We contacted his grandparents. They will be here soon." His voice was distant as he spoke this time.
Hailey rested her cheek on Mac's head and rocked him slightly. She felt his loss, knew his loss. His life would never be the same because of a few stupid dragons who were grasping for control that they didn't possess.
"He'll be cared for," Dak spoke into the hollowness of the car.
"I know. The men who did this--"
"Don't worry about that. Silas and I have it handled." His face gave Hailey the impression that the conversation was over. For him maybe, but not her.
"You know this was Katherine."
"Hailey," he said in a tired warning.
"What? That..." Hailey didn't want to swear with Mac so close so she said the only word she could think of that described Katherine. "That harpy is the reason for all of this. For Mac, for those houses, for us." The last word hung heavy in the air between them. She met his eyes full on with a blaze of anger that she hadn't allowed herself to feel until now. This was Katherine's fault. All of it. It was her from the start by jamming a needle in Hailey's neck and now a boy of four had to bury his family. Dak's eyes got a little harder as he looked at her. She was getting tired of that look.
What the hell? she thought. They were alone, sort of, and she wanted to talk to him about his stupidity. "We need to-"
"What's a harpy?" Mac asked in a yawn.
"Crap," Hailey sighed. Of course he would wake up for that. "Sorry buddy, I didn't mean to wake you."
"I think his grandparents just pulled up," Dak said already getting out of the car without a backwards glance. Both Hailey and Mac looked out the open door to the older couple weeping over the dead bodies.
"Where's Mac?" the woman screeched when she noticed one missing. "Where's my Mac?"
"That's our cue, Dude," Hailey told him.
Together they got out of the car but the boy still clung to her. His Grandfather saw them first. He pulled at his wife's shoulders all while telling her Mac was alright. The woman looked up at them with blotchy red cheeks and began to sob again. Her arms stretched out and when Mac saw who it was, he leaped from one body to the other.
Hailey smiled and cried as she watched. Their reunion was bitter sweet and she felt for all of them. Dak had come up beside her at some point and stood close enough that his arm brushed against hers. There was nothing in the world she wanted more than to be in his arms at that moment. The thudding of her heart drowned out all the other noises. All she was aware of was his proximity to her. Cautiously, she reached out her fingers and brushed them against the back of his hand. Hailey wanted to hold his hand, to touch him and she knew he did too. They needed each other's strength right now regardless of their differences. As she reached out her fingers to take his, he turned walking away. Her stomach sank when she hit empty air.
Was her quest a dead end? If she couldn't give him comfort in a time like this, would he ever accept it again? The thought left her cold.
Chapter Nineteen
"Francis, I really can't take any more bad news," she said into the phone. "So please, I'm begging you, tell me that I just won a puppy and a trip to Hawaii."
"There is someone here to see you," his hard, toneless voice stated.
"You're no fun, Francis. I like the other Francis better, he at least plays along." Hailey was already out of her room and headed for the living room where her guest would be. She had no idea who it was but as long as they didn't tell her another Red or Green dragon was dead, she didn't much care. The past few days had been attack after attack. They were barely done cleaning up after one when they heard of another. For the most part she went with Silas to help however she could. Every now and then they would run into Dak but it was never the right time or place to talk. Not to mention he avoided her as much as possible.
She didn't know what to do anymore. The gap between them only grew larger as the days passed by. Would there be anything left to salvage when she did finally corner him?
Francis waited for her at the bottom of the stairs. Because it annoyed him, she walked really slowly. The twitch under his left eye was one she began to know as her twitch. She couldn't help but laugh each time she saw it.
"Who is it?" she asked when she finally moseyed her way to the bottom.
"Hailey will you get your butt in here?" Lia yelled from the living room.
"Never mind," she told her guard and walked past him to greet Lia. The muse sat on the arm of the couch with Hailey's nook. Her blonde hair and golden tan was especially vibrant today. Then again, anything that has seen sun for more than five minutes looked that way at the end of December.
"You have some dirty books on here. I never took you as a smut slut."
Horrified, Hailey nabbed the ereader out of Lia's hands and held it to her pulsing scarlet chest. "Don't judge."
"I wasn't," she laughed. "In fact, I want to borrow a few."
"Right, like you need to read smut with Alex in your bed."
"It makes him jealous," Lia grinned deviously. "Besides don't you have a dragon warming your bed?"
Hailey squeezed past Lia and the coffee table and sank into the couch. At times she just wished she could be absorbed into its cushions. This was one of those times.
"You know I don't."
"Still being a stubborn ass, huh?" Lia slid off the arm and joined Hailey on the couch.
"I wouldn't know. I have to talk to him to be able to tell if he's being stubborn. Have you seen him?"
She shook her head. "Sorry, but no. We tried to stop over yesterday but apparently he is too busy for visitors." Lia rolled her eyes. "I'll smack some sense into him when I see him next."
"Good luck with that."
"I'll be sneaky. No worries."
That got Hailey to smile. "So where is Alex?" she asked glancing around in case he was hiding in a corner somewhere.
"Pfft," she waved her hand, "He took off the moment we got in the door. Silas...something something...video game...something something...I'll be around...something something. To be honest I tuned him out at the first something."
"Boys and their toys?"
"Oh no, a video game is not a toy, it is a 'graphic representation of awesome,' or so I'm told," she stated with air quotes.
Hailey grinned. Lia was a good distraction and a perfect person to vent to. She didn't judge but would tell it how it was. She could always count on an honest answer from Lia, even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"Get it out," the muse said. "I can see those gears turning in that noggin of yours."
She leaned her head back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do. I thought I wanted to figure things out with Dak but he is avoiding being alone with me at all costs and it makes me wonder if this whole thing is pointless."
"Do you love him?"
Hailey turned her head toward Lia. "Yes."
"Do you want him?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you second guessing yourself?" She pulled her knee up onto the couch and shifted to face Hailey. "If I were you, I'd pull that ring you have hidden under your shirt out and put it on. He will notice it and it will be your chance to talk to him."
She hadn't removed the ring from around her neck. It always hung on her chest as a little reminder of Dak. She pulled it by the chain out from under her shirt and ran her fingers over the facets. "I don't know, Lia. I feel like I should talk to him before I do something like that."
Her hand touched Hailey's arm and she looked up from the ring. "You want this, right?" Hailey paused but found herself nodding. She did want Dak and everything he came with. "Then get off your ass and take it."
"How?" Such a simple question with infinite possibilities. The problem was picking the correct one.
"I can't tell you that." Lia sat back on the couch. "You'll know it when it comes to you."
"That's not much help," Hailey stated blandly.
"Hey, I'm not going to do this for you. It will only mean something to him if it comes from you."
She knew that, but at the moment her mind was completely void of all ideas. At this point she wouldn't be able to think of something as simple as what to eat for lunch. Why was it at any other time her mind was a marquee of random thoughts and ideas, a constant scrolling of mindless dribble, but the moment she needed one of those ideas the power would go out and she was left with nothing?
"Come on Hailey, there has to be something you can do?" Lia prompted. "What does he need right now?"
"For Silver or Blue to join him," she mumbled absently while her brain ran through possibilities of chaining herself to his desk until he talked to her, or tying him to the bed while he slept.
"Well, there ya go then!"
"Huh?" Hailey shook her mind from the dirty fantasies that had begun to sprout up at the thought of Dak tied to the bed.
"Convince one of them to join you." Lia smiled brilliantly. "He would have to talk to you then if only to thank you."
"I...uh..." Hailey stammered.
"You should call one of them now and meet this afternoon. Get it over with so you can't back out." Lia gave her a knowing look. "Go on. Hailey, I'm not leaving till you call."
She stared dumbfounded at the phone that was pressed into her palm. How had she gotten to this point? Lia was right though, if she did it now then she wouldn't back out later. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, Hailey blindly dialed Casper's number with Lia's words of encouragement.
*****
"I appreciate you agreeing to see me again," Hailey told the Silver dragon as they settled into the sitting room at the Inn. The entire way there she had a mental debate over turning around. This was out of character for her, but she needed to get Dak's attention and if convincing the King of Silver to join them was it, then she would step out of her comfort zone and do it. Hailey watched as Shawn, the manager of the Inn, lifted the door stop, allowing the door to glide softly to a close.
"My curiosity was peaked," Casper said with a smile once they were alone. He settled into the arm chair across from her. "You are lucky you called when you did. I am leaving later this evening."
His hair was just as light as it had been days earlier, only this time he didn't have it slicked back. Altogether he was much more casual this time around with his jeans and bare feet. Like at their first meeting, he was putting her at ease with his easy going manner. "Where are you going?" she asked, glad for the small talk.
"Home." At her flat look he added, "Norway."
"Wow." She hadn't expected that, Canada maybe but not Norway.
"We all started in Europe. Most have migrated to America but my sept tends to be more nomadic than the others. We don't need the community that the others do." His head tilted slightly to the side as he studied her. "Why are you here Ms. Holloway?"
The small talk ended up being smaller than she had hoped. Hailey pushed down the anxiety bubble that was growing in her stomach and reminded herself why she was there...for Dak. "To ask why you won't join us."
"Why should I join a cause that is fighting over false pretenses?"
That wasn't an answer. "Do you always answer a question with a question?"
"Do you?" Casper asked with a tilt of his lips.
"Touché." He had her there. "What false pretenses?"
"You and Dacea are fighting for your chance to Mate but yet, you are not even together. Why should I take my people rogue when it is all just a lie?"
Shit. He had seen through their act. Not that it had gone well to begin with. Hell, he was right. What they were asking for wasn't fair to his dragons. And yet, she still felt the urge to try and convince him otherwise. This wasn't the end, it couldn't be.
He was looking at her not with his mind made up but with true curiosity as to why he should fight for them.
"It's not over. We just had a bump."
"Bumps turn into ditches quite fast."
"Tell me about it," she muttered with a sigh and sat back into the couch. Without knowing it, Hailey had worked her way to the very edge of the cushion.
Casper rested is chin on his thumb with his index finger lightly taping his cheek as he thought. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that you love Dacea if you are here fighting his war."
Well, that was an easy question, she mused as the warmth of for her love sparked and flickered in her chest. "I do," she answered honestly.
He nodded. "And from what I witnessed the other day, he loves you. So why the bump?"
Was Casper at the same meeting she had been at? Dacea had been anything but loving toward her. Hell, halfway home he had to stop the car just to get away from her. "Because looks can be deceiving. He hasn't spoken to me in weeks. He can barely look at me when we do happen to be in the same place. To be honest, I don't blame you for not joining the rogues. This is probably a huge waste of time." She shook her head. "I don't even know why he is still on this crusade when he has given up on us. But I haven't." Hailey's eyes had been unfocused as she talked but she looked at Casper now. "So I guess that's why I'm here. That infuriating dragon is my Mate and I will
stand by him even if he doesn't want me anymore."
His face held nothing more than a general interest but his eyes sparkled with a smile. "I see. Well, I wish you luck Hailey. You are a brave woman to come here and a strange one at that."
He had stood and Hailey followed suit. "Thank you, I think." He held out his hand for which she shook. It seemed as though this had been a pointless visit but his smile gave her hope. Even if he didn't change his mind, at least she had tried. That had to count for something.
Hailey pulled her phone from her coat pocket as she walked out the front door to her car. She had a text from an unknown number. Any message was unusual since only four people had her number and one she lived with, another wasn't talking to her.
Care to meet? –Katherine
"What now?" Hailey's feet had stopped moving as she stared at the screen. It took her a full minute before her mind caught up to what her eyes were reading. Katherine wanted to meet with her? "What kind of idiot do you take me for?" She began to walk again, her car just at the end of the small parking lot. How had she even gotten Hailey's number? Silas had given her specific instructions as to who she could call on it. He, as she quickly found out, was more controlling and paranoid than Dak was.
Maybe it was her failure to convince Casper to go rogue but part of her wanted to see the harpy for no other reason than to spit in her face. Meeting with Katherine however, was a death sentence. A trap. There was no logical reason for them to meet.
Unless...
Could this be her chance to end all this drama and bullshit? Dak would not only thank her but he would gravel at her feet if she got Katherine to back off. Her phone vibrated in her hand as a new message was received.
I just want to talk.
"Ha!" Hailey laughed. Katherine was the least trustworthy person she knew. Everything that spewed from between her lips was a lie. She knew better than to respond but dammit she liked the idea of telling her how much of a bitch she was.
The Hailey Holloway Complete Series Page 48