Enduring Retribution e-book (3 page)

Tristan turned back to his computer. That’s when Aaron noticed what Tristan had on his computer screen. It looked like his Lizzy as a cartoon.

“What are you up to there?” Aaron got up to have a closer look. “That looks just like my daughter.”

“It is. Only in the game her name is Princess Elizabeth. There is her brother, Lord Maxwell, too.” Suddenly, a caricature of Mac was on the screen. “I couldn’t use their real names together so Mac decided on Maxwell.”

They both watched as the children working together picked up the books and set them back on the shelf in a large study. The colors were brilliant and the children looked like they were enjoying themselves.

“I thought this would be a great way to teach children to plan and work together. There are problems to solve at every level that need to be thought out before they can move to the next level.” When the room was cleaned up, bright balloons fell from the ceiling.

Aaron watched until the next problem popped up before he thought to ask, “But they aren’t vamps, right? They’re just regular children.”

While he was sure that most people didn’t believe in their kind, the few that did might find a way to put the two things together. Tristan assured him that they were just your plain old humans. Aaron loved what Tristan was doing and decided to talk to Pete about investing in some electronics like the ones needed to play the games that his kids played.

~~~

Bailey woke up about an hour after she’d been put to sleep in the van. She was lying on a bed in what looked to be a hotel room, a very big and expensive hotel room. She didn’t give away that she was awake, but reached into the room and the one beyond and found that there was a woman, probably the one from the restaurant, and two men, the wolves, again, probably from the same place. She moved slowly just to make sure they hadn’t done anything to her. When she found herself to be fine, she sat up on the edge of the bed and looked around. Her bag was lying on the floor next to the bed, so as she stood, she grabbed it and made her way to the bathroom.

She rummaged through the bag until she found her tooth brush, hair brush, and a tie to hold her hair back. She noticed that while her full magazines and clips to her guns where in there, the weapons, the two Glocks, were not. Also missing were the switchblades, taster, and the six cans of OC spray. She reached behind her to her lower back and felt the empty holster for the fourth hand gun, but found the one on her inner thigh was still strapped to her leg beneath her short skirt. This was a smaller version of the Glock, but just as deadly. Oh well, six shots were better than none any day of the week in her line of work.

Bailey Morrison was a bounty hunter, a damned good one too. She worked for anyone who could afford her price and had an excellent record. She seldom talked with clients, the transactions were conducted through the Internet, and money was wired to a dummy account.

She owned her own firm, Fine Printings, Inc., a front of course, and it had worked for them all over the world. Her protector, Griff, a Celtic being called a Cynogriffon , worked with her as well, receiving and setting up any jobs that she did. She used to work with her brother Tyler until his death six months ago when Salvatore Madison had killed him in cold blood.

Tyler had been so happy just before he was killed, Bailey remembered. He had met the man of his dreams, someone he had thought to share his life with, he’d told her weeks before. Bailey hadn’t had a chance to meet this mystery man, but was so happy for Tyler. When he had called her one night just a week before he was killed, saying that Salvatore wasn’t what he seemed and that he was afraid for his life, she rushed home from Germany to protect him and to see what was wrong. He was dead before she could get to him, shot in the head execution style. The note Salvatore left for her said that he had served his purpose as a play thing and if Bailey wanted to have her back stroked by a master, try to find him. Salvatore had been difficult to corner until, about a month ago, she had finally thought to break through Tyler’s secure work account. That was where she found all the information he had collected just before his death. She had enough evidence on just one of his murders that proved there needed to be a sanctioned hit on the man and she had contacted the Courts of Magick, her biggest client, to plead for one.

Tyler had found out that not only was he a murderer and a thief, but had been stealing for decades from various beings and humans. He had been acting as a translator for years, representing larger corporations to get inside information and then to kill one or both of the people who had hired him. He had recently been connected to the death of a man who had owned a large gaming company who had decided to branch out into other countries. The business man and his agent from France had been murdered, but the deaths had been made to look like a murder/suicide. It wasn’t until Bailey arrived that they saw things differently. She had other information on similar deaths with the same details and MOs and had changed their minds. There had been a manhunt established right away, and because one of the men was a were, she was hired to find and terminate the bastard through the firm that she did most of her work for. She almost told them she’d do it for free, but hey, a girl had needs.

Bailey walked into the living room suite ten minutes later, refreshed but no less pissed off-looking. She had startled the younger of the two men, as he had been napping on the couch that barely held his large body and her opening the door with a slam against the wall had jerked him upright, but he remained where he was.

“Do you normally come into a room like that, or is it just for our benefit? Because I have to tell you, I’m not impressed. Childish behavior never has done so. I’m Pete Marshall, by the way.”

Bailey looked over at the pretty woman. She was aware of Pete’s magic. Bailey would have had to be stupid not to have. The sigil on the woman’s face and arms also gave a good indication that she wasn’t human.

“Just for you. I love to startle those that piss me off.” Bailey moved further into the room.

“There’s a little matter of my weapons not being where I last saw them, like on my person.

Would you mind returning them? I have another appointment to keep in a few hours and I’d like to have a bath, and a clean pair of underwear.”

“Your guns are over there in the safe next to the couch. You can have them when you answer a few questions. Have a seat. I was just going to order some dinner and would be glad to order you some as well.” Bailey stood.

The wolf on the couch shifted into a sitting position and the one near the other chair stood up as well. Bailey could have given Pete any detail she wanted about the room and the occupants without a single problem.

“No, not hungry, but I want you to open the safe. I saved your life, so to my way of thinking, you owe me, and I really have to go.” Bailey braced herself as Pete stood. “So if you could hustle your ass over here and get it open, I’ll be on my way.”

“I was thinking of having a cheeseburger and fries. The guys are having steak, rare with all the trimmings. Of course the cherry pie won’t be as good…”

Pete stopped talking when Bailey slid the chamber slide on the gun, her entire body tensed and poised for action. Bailey felt the anger and terror that quickly. One of the wolves started toward Bailey, but she stopped him with a look. Guns had that effect on people and she was sure he could smell the silver.

“Now,” Bailey started again. “I’ve tried asking you nicely twice, so now we do this my way.

Open the safe right now and I won’t have to shoot any of you. Wolf boy?” The wolf on the couch looked up at her, a started expression on his face. “Yeah, I know what you are. Stand over there next to the wall with your back against it with your hands over your head and fingers linked behind your neck. Now you, hands up and fingers laced. Walk over to your brother and stand facing him with your right leg between his. That’s it, all nice and cozy. Now if either of you move, one shot will kill you both. And I carry nothing but silver shot with silver casings and a liquid silver chaser, so no funny stuff. Now, Ms. Marshall, lets you and I lighten the load of this safe, shall we? And there will be no touching this time.”

~CHAPTER THREE~

“I want this safe open. I want to get my weapons and leave.” Bailey’s gun was still pointed at Pete’s head, and she was getting really tired of being threatened. Pete had contacted Aaron as soon as they had arrived at the hotel and had been told to bring the girl home with them. Fat chance of that happening now.

“I want to talk to you.” Pete tried for bravado when in actuality, she was terrified. “I want to know why you killed Salvatore and why no one in that restaurant can remember you being there.

It’s been all over the news about his murder. I want answers, and I want them now. Then once I’m satisfied, you may have your guns and leave, but I can’t let you leave before that. Salvatore was a were, and as a part of a pack, it is my responsibility to ensure his was a justified death.”

Pete could feel the woman’s anger. And her frustration. Well, Pete had enough of that as well. She wanted to be at home, not fighting some Amazon who was armed like Armageddon was coming and she was the sole protector.

“I’ve told you ten times now. I don’t know what you are talking about. I was walking down the street and you offered me a ride. Had I known you were such a lunatic, I would have declined.” Pete felt the gun press harder into her scalp. “Now you’ve robbed me of my things and won’t return them. I have no problem shooting one of the men over there if that’s what it will take to make you open this fucking safe.”

“I know that you have great abilities with your mind. You held all of those people in that restaurant away from what you were doing until you left. I couldn’t even penetrate your mind to find you and I’m pretty good at it.”
Well,
Pete thought,
I thought I was good at it. “
I know you used one of the guns in your bag. I could smell the fire residue all over it when I picked it up.

You’re carrying no ID, so you are either hiding from something, or someone. There are changes of clothes in there and a locker key. Oh, by the way, we picked up the other bag you had there.

Tricky how you put your things in different lockers all over the city. But once Shawn had your scent, it was easy to track down the rest of your things. I have all of those as well.”

Pete watched her. She gave nothing away by sight or sound. Nor did the gun at her head waver. When Pete felt the touch in her mind, she knew it was the woman, and she let her.

“You’re fucking nuts, you know that? Fine. Keep the shit. I’m making enough off this hit that I can replace what you’ve taken anyway.”

Pete felt the gun leave her head and was relieved beyond imagining. But she couldn’t let the woman go. Her master had told her to bring her home. Leaping off the couch, Pete flew at the woman and knocked her to the floor. The gun skittered across the carpet, Pete was astride the fallen woman’s back in seconds. She held her there with a mental body hold.

“Now, here is how this is going to work. You are coming with us. We are leaving this hotel and you are not going to give me a hard time about it. Are you even capable of not giving someone a hard time? Doubtful, I think.” Pete felt a moment of fear when the woman beneath her moved. “You and I are going to go to the airport with Eon and Shawn, climb aboard the nice jet, and fly back to the States tonight. If you have somewhere to go, one last thing you have to do before we leave, then I suggest that you tell me right now. Otherwise, you are going to have to leave it for another time. I have your passport, well, all of them actually, and all your other information, Caitlynne Bailey, or whatever your name du jour is, and I will turn you over to the police if you make any sudden moves. Understand?”

“I want you to understand that as soon as I can, I’m going to fuck you up.” And Pete believed her too, but hoped she wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so.

Pete lifted Bailey’s head by her hair and slammed it down on the floor hard enough for her to feel her teeth rattle. She didn’t so much as whimper.

“I didn’t ask you what you think you’re going to do to me. I asked you if you understood me. Now, do you? Do you understand how this is going to work?”

“Fuck you!” And with that, the woman flipped Pete off her back and slammed her against the wall with what felt like a freight train. Before Pete could gather herself together, she was at her throat and had her held a good six or seven inches from the floor. It was then that Dominic touched her.

“Pete, what is it, what’s going on?” S
he could hear the panic in his voice and knew that he was reacting to her pain and the anger running through her.

“Little busy right now, honey. Let me contact you later. Little problem with room service.”

S
he clamped her mind shut.

“I know I can’t kill you,” the woman breathed in her ear. “I can feel that, but I can put you in a world of hurt.” She mentally push at her and tossed Pete across the room again and slammed her against the other wall. Pete looked to the two guards and saw that they’d be no help to her as the woman had somehow rendered them both unconscious and they lay in a heap on the floor.

Pete knew she was so fucked.

Okay, enough was enough and Pete had had it. She summoned the power from the earth and threw it at Bailey. She had thought she’d move, and Pete had anticipated that too, just not where the woman had gone. The power hit her with enough force to knock her from the third story balcony door and to the street below.

Pete rushed to the broken door in time to see her hit, and hit hard, below her, blood pooling onto the pavement around her. Shit. Just her luck the stupid girl was standing in front of the door at that moment. Otherwise she would have simply hit the wall.

Pete did the only thing she could do; she reached for her master, and hoped that she hadn’t killed the stupid woman.

“Aaron, is Tucker there? I need him in France, like ten minutes ago,”
she pleaded. Pain was starting to show itself to her in great big hurts.
“I’ve had…the woman is stronger than I thought
and she just kicked my ass. But I think I hurt her. Badly. She needs blood now.”