Jake flinched as though she physically slapped him. “You don’t get to talk to me that way.”
“No, but I do. She’s right, Jake. You need to work this out. You’re the one who called me about Drakkar tonight. Clearly you still aren’t ready to be objective.” Sheridan sat on the bed and pulled Nettie into her arms. “I’m sorry.”
Serenity closed her eyes and pulled back from her mother. “I need some time alone.”
“Sure, baby. Anything you want.”
Sheridan placed a kiss on her forehead and rose from the bed. Grabbing Jake by the arm, she pushed him into the hallway. When she motioned for Mina to follow, Serenity stopped her.
“Mina, I just wanted to thank you again. You don’t even know me and you offered to help me. I’m in debt to you.”
The vampire waved it off. “I’m just happy everything turned out fine. This could have ended so much worse. I’m glad you’re okay, Serenity.” She smiled once more before fading out of the room.
“Mom? Can you send Britt and Nick up?”
“I don’t know, Serenity. You really should get some rest.”
“I will, This is just really important,” she begged.
Sheridan gave her a look that said she didn’t like what Serenity was up to, but would go along with it. “As long as after they leave, you get some sleep.”
Nettie held up her hand. “Scout’s honor.”
Sheridan nodded and closed the door behind her. Once they were gone, Serenity pulled out a notebook from her end table. She flipped open the cover and quickly scribbled something on the lined pages. She tore the sheets out as her friends entered the room.
“Good you’re both here.” She slammed the notebook shut and returned it to the drawer next to the bed. “I need your help to help Drakkar.”
“Help him? But what does he need help with,” Britt asked.
“He’s going to do something stupid. And when he does, I want to get a team to help him pull it off.”
“You’re what?” Nick shut the door behind them. “That has got to be the most insane thing I’ve heard tonight.”
“Just hear me out and then you can leave if you don’t want to be part of it. Don’t you think we owe him that much?” Nettie twisted the comforter in her hand, nervous that they would back out.
“I’m in.” Britt spoke first without hesitation.
“Um, really? You?” Nick was flabbergasted. “I thought you couldn’t stand him?”
“I never said I hated him.” She shrugged. “Besides, when he’s not messing with her head, he’s good to Nettie. Not to mention he’s a complete hottie.”
“Britt!” Nick’s voice came out in a squeak.
“What? It’s true.” She turned her attention away from her on-again boyfriend. “What do you need from us?”
Serenity smiled and handed them each a page from her notebook. “There are names on these pages. People who will be instrumental in making his plan work. We need to make sure when he actually gets the package, he won’t be easily tracked.”
“That’s going to be extremely tough given they have the Wolf, don’t you think?” Nick scanned the page in his hand. “No. Way. Him? Nettie, there is no way he’s going to help Drakkar. They hate each other.”
“Nick, he will help. I can guarantee he will. Especially if you spin the aspect that he is next in line for the throne after the Prince. Helping Drakkar now could give him the opportunity later on for a position in the Royal guard.”
Britt was impressed. “Damn, that’s good. When did you come up with that one?”
“The moment I realized he wasn’t listening to a word we were saying last night. I knew then that he was going to do this anyway,” she confessed.
Nick was quiet as he digested the plan laid out on the loose leaf. “If this little plan of yours works, we’ll all be on the most wanted list, you know that right?”
Serenity’s gaze locked with his. “I’m willing to take that risk. The question is, as his best friend, are you going to take the same chance?”
His jaw ticked. “If I say no, you’re going to still go through with this, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely,” Nettie and Britt answered.
“Then you’re going to need someone to make sure it goes off without a hitch. Alright, I’m in. I’ll take care of getting these names on board. You get the car and the accommodations.”
“Done and done.” Serenity grinned.
“You work fast.”
“Not really. I have access to cars that can’t be tracked because of my mother. As for a place to stay, we will stop when we are as far as we can get before dawn. There are plenty of places to hide.”
As they started discussing more of the details, it didn’t take them long to realize there really was no turning back. They couldn’t let Drakkar down. If one of them was going down, all of them would follow.
Sunlight peeked through the trees covering Serenity’s bedroom window when they finally created a viable plan ready. Nick and Britt made their good-byes and left, taking with them the lists they created of names and supplies. They had their assignments and Nick would get the information out of Drakkar about when it was going down.
Nettie yawned, pulling her comforter up to her chin. Her last coherent thought was of the kiss Drakkar gave her in the hallway downstairs and the butterflies he stirred in her soul.
Drakkar rested his forehead against the oak front door to his home. Shoving the key into the lock, he wondered how exactly his life went so off course. Just a few short months ago he was blissfully unaware he was only just another of Absinthe’s schemes. Learning she only went through the motions of treating him like her son hurt like nothing he ever felt before.
He turned the key, opening the door to a dark foyer. She left him there alone. Ordinarily he’d be happy for the reprieve, but her servants were gone as well. He was completely alone for the first time in his life and he hated it.
He hated her.
He hated her for raising him. He hated her for keeping him a prisoner in his own home. He hated her for stealing him from his real parents. He hated her for all of the things he missed out on with them. He hated her for the physical and mental abuse he’d endured from her. He hated her for being the reason behind him erasing Serenity’s memory. He hated her for ruining the friendships he finally created.
Most of all, he hated Absinthe for destroying the only happiness he’d ever known in his life. He lost Serenity and there wasn’t a chance in hell he would ever get her back again.
Not after he did what he needed to do to save Giovanna from Absinthe’s psychotic game. Kidnapping his half-sister and handing her over to Absinthe was his only recourse. He wasn’t even sure Mikhail was going to help. When he left the demon, all he knew was that Mikhail would come up with something. Drakkar didn’t even know what that something would be.
So, he was back to square one, relying only on himself.
Drake tossed his keys in the bowl on the entryway table. The clink echoed through the halls, nailing home once again just how empty Absinthe left the cavernous house. He slammed the door shut just as the metal shutters descended over the windows. That surprised him. He didn’t think it was this close to dawn.
Drakkar’s stomach growled. The rumble in his gut alerted him to another important detail; he couldn’t remember the last time he ate.
Well, there was only one way to remedy that.
He headed down the hall to the kitchen, flipping on the lights. Drake opened cabinets. With each door, he became a little more frantic. Every one of them was empty. Every. Single. One.
He slammed the last one, collapsing back against the refrigerator. Why would she starve him? It made no sense. It didn’t make him anymore desperate to do her bidding.
Just as he was about to give up his search of the kitchen altogether, his phone rang. Drake pulled it from his pocket and swiped his finger across the screen.
“Hey, Drake. You okay?”
Drakkar sagged, sl
iding down the front of the fridge to sit on the floor. “I don’t know, Nick. I really don’t know.” He sounded tired even to his own ears.
“Well, remember if you need anything, you know who to call.”
That surprised him. He thought Nick would have written him off, especially after the way he treated him. But then again, the human started growing on him and he actually enjoyed the guy’s company, most days.
Drake stared up at the ceiling. “Um, are you still out?”
“Just dropped Britt off and I’m heading home. Whatcha need?”
His stomach growled again. “Can you stop and pick me up something to eat?”
Nick laughed. “What? Are you too lazy to throw something together? Man, do I have to feed it to you, too?”
Drake wanted to give him the snarky retort he was looking for, but he just didn’t have the energy to make one up. “No. She took it all.”
The human sobered. “You’re serious, aren’t you? Well damn. That’s just cold. Don’t worry, I got your back. Open up the garage in fifteen minutes.”
“Hey, Nick?”
“Yeah”
“Don’t mention this to anyone, please,” he practically begged.
“I won’t. But when I get there, I have a few questions about your plan and you’re going to answer them. Like it or not, I’m going to help you, but you have to trust me with the details.”
“But-”
“No buts, blood sucker.”
Drakkar sighed, resigning himself to the inevitable. “Okay. See you in a few.”
He ended the call and let the phone slip from his hand. It clattered on the tile floor, coming to rest next to the butcher block island. Drakkar bowed his head. The very thing he’d been trying to avoid was going to happen anyway. All of the people he cared about were once again in harm’s way.
Absinthe held all of the cards.
Fate really is a bitch.
~ ~ ~ ~
“You’re absolutely sure he said he was doing this tonight?” Serenity took a sip of her chai tea.
They’d been huddled around a table in the little café for about an hour waiting for Drakkar to finally show. It was evident he wasn’t coming. He stood them up.
And they all knew why.
“I can’t believe he’d ditch us and try to do this on his own. When I get my hands on him-” Nick mumbled so only Britt and Serenity heard him. “We had a deal.”
The waitress passed. All three of them smiled at her. Sooner or later, they were going to have to give up and try to find Drakkar on their own. Serenity knew exactly where to start.
“Call the rest of the crew and tell them it’s going down now.” She looked between her friends. “Places everyone. We’re about to commit the heist of the century.”
Drakkar crouched in the bushes at the edge of the lawn. Guilt gnawed at him for the way he’d ditched Serenity, Nick, and Britt. But it was all for the greater good. He couldn’t let them get involved. He couldn’t let them be branded as traitors like he certainly would.
They didn’t deserve that.
Nobody deserved that.
But there he was, about to pull off the one thing that was hands-down punishable by death. Kidnapping the new Princess.
The last car pulled away from the front of the house. Bonatelli and the Sorcerer, Zephyr climbed into the black Escalade and drove down the long driveway. Drake was careful to hide the car he’d stolen in the woods near the main road. There was no chance they’d see it buried behind the camouflage of branches. He’d put enough of them in place to create the illusion of continuity within the tree line. Anyone passing by wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Nor would they be able to see through his disguise right away.
All those months studying his father gave him an arsenal of knowledge. He knew the man’s habits like the back of his hand. The way the guy dressed was second nature to him. He was able to copy that look to ensure he’d be mistaken as the Prince from a distance. All of his mannerisms were engrained in his memory. He even went so far as to cut his hair in the same style as Jared’s. Drakkar would be able to slip into his father’s persona and fool everyone at least long enough to get away.
He was the spitting image of Bonatelli at the same age. When he looked in the mirror, Drakkar thought his reflection would disgust him. In reality, it got him a little choked up. A vision of what his life should have been flashed before his eyes. It was almost enough to make him rethink his plan.
Almost.
Drakkar hid the black duffel bag filled with clothes for him and Annabelle –plus diapers, bottles, and whatever formula he could find- behind an old maple tree. He’d collected the supplies during the last few days. Some were from the storage bins in the attic where Giovanna was held. The rest purchased at the supermarket before he arrived. Hopefully he thought of everything. It was going to be the two of them for a little while.
At least until he could contact Absinthe.
He did one last check of the image he presented and crossed the lawn. The motion light flipped on as soon as his foot hit the far side of the circular gravel driveway. Drakkar’s heart flew into his throat. He swallowed the fear, but the pounding in his chest bordered on painful.
Drake rubbed the area to ease it, willing his pulse to slow down. Everyone in the house would be able to sense his fear the second he crossed the threshold, if they hadn’t already. He swallowed, but both his mouth and throat were dry. His foot hit the bottom step and there was no turning back.
Climbing the staircase, he took a deep breath and repeated in his head, This will work this has to work.
Drakkar reached for the brass door handle with a shaking hand. As his fingers wrapped around the cold metal, he waited for the Goddess’ spell to throw him halfway across town. Remarkably, nothing happened.
The door handle turned easily under his hand. Drakkar pushed the door open expecting some sort of trap, but again, nothing happened. He walked into the bright, cheerful foyer decorated in neutral colors. It was nothing like the dark dreary reality within his own home.
“I could definitely get used to this.” Don’t get too comfortable, you have a job to do, Drakkar, he reminded himself.
Somewhere off to his left, he heard the blaring of a television. The laugh track of whatever show played was only drowned out by the person watching it. Drakkar followed the sound into the great open space in the kitchen-slash-family room. He hid in the shadow of the doorway watching the black and white images flash across the big flatscreen on the wall. Drakkar wasn’t sure what to make of it, he’d never seen the show before. After a few minutes he was completely amused and stifling his own laughter at the antics of the two women on the screen.
“Hey, I thought you left already. Whatcha doing back, bro?”
Drake froze. He forgot the wolf was in the house and he sure as hell didn’t realize he’d be lounging in front of the television. Before he could get up and come closer, Drakkar coughed, making his voice slightly raspy. “I forgot something upstairs. I’ll be gone in a few minutes and leave you to your obsession.”
Lance chuckled from the couch. “You know me and Lucy so well. Don’t worry Alex, Beth, and the Anna-Bear are completely safe while all of you are gone. No one’s getting in here who isn’t blood.”
Drakkar nodded. “You know I trust you with all of our lives. Have I said thank you lately?”
“Aw now stop getting all mushy on me. Hey, is that a new cologne or something?” Lance inhaled. “You smell a little different.”
Crap! Of course the wolf would smell the difference between he and Bonatelli. “Yeah, trying it out to see if Alex likes it,” Drakkar covered.
Lance wrinkled his nose. “You might want to rethink the choice. You smell like a teenager in a whore house.”
Drake nearly choked. “Noted. I better get going. Don’t want Z to get impatient.”
“Nothing’s worse than having your father-in-law get all grumptastic on your ass. It’s all good here.
Have fun with the suits.” Lance waved him off and returned his attention back to the television for the opening credits of yet another I Love Lucy episode.
Drakkar backed out of the kitchen into the foyer. The sound of a woman whining, Ricky, trailed behind him. He shook his head. How did his father allow that guy to protect his family? He couldn’t even figure out it wasn’t Jared talking to him. He was more interested in watching the idiot tube.
Then again . . . .
He placed his hand on the wooden banister and climbed the curved staircase to the second floor. He was amazed how effortlessly he was able to move through the house and still not be detected as an outsider. By now the Goddess should have sensed him, unless she wasn’t here. That had to be it. Even she was gone for the night.
Drake moved past the closed doors, listening at each one of them. Behind the first one on his left was the muffled conversation between two women who he assumed were Jared’s wife and the wolf’s woman. He paused a moment, absorbing the gentle, melodic tones of their voices. He touched his fingertips to the white-washed wood door. He wanted nothing more than to open it and introduce himself. He wanted to be a part of the family, more than anyone knew.
After tonight though, the chances of that were next to none.
Letting his hand fall to his side, he continued down the hall to the door on his right. He eased it open and peeked inside. There was a large oak and iron bed in the middle of a hunter green room softly lit by a couple of lamps created out of tree limbs. Obviously this wasn’t the baby’s room. The two bows with arrow-filled quivers hanging on the wall above the dresser told him exactly whose bedroom it was -the wolf and his bride’s. Not a room he wanted to be caught off guard in.
Drakkar stepped back and shut the door quietly. He resumed his search on that end of the house, coming up with nothing. Drake was almost going to give up when he heard a baby laugh at the other end of the hallway. Before he thought better of it, he slipped past the room where the women were chatting and ducked inside the baby’s room.
Drakkar ~ Beyond the Lie (A Dark Order of the Dragon Novel Book 3) Page 17