Jorden: The McCade Dragon –Erotic Paranormal Romance (7 page)

“I would like to go to college.” She nodded and sat down when Gavin spoke. “I’m not sure what I want to be, there are so many things that I love doing, but I do want to finish up my education and go to college. One that will help me. If you don’t mind.”

“No. You know that you and I are on the same page about your education. Whatever you want to do, you know that I’m going to support you in any way I can. Is this because you want to go abroad? I have the funds for that now, if that’s what you’re thinking. But before you answer that, I have a question or two for you.” He told her that he figured as much. “Good. Are you doing this because you don’t want to be a part of the family, or do you really want to go? And before you answer that one, I know that you think we’re going to discard you like yesterday’s empty boxes.”

“Did Jorden tell you that?” She grinned at him and told him Gavin just had. “Okay, tricky Mom, but I’m right and I think you know that too. You have Jorden now, and while I really like him, even love him a lot, I know that I can never be his son, and when you have some of his kids, I’m not going to fit in.”

“Really? And how do you figure that? You mean because you aren’t a McCade? I have news for you, buddy. He’s already asked me if he can adopt you and give you his name.” That perked him up, but Gavin was ever cautious, just as she was. “What would you think of having a little brother or sister? We’ve not talked about it, Jorden and I, but I’d never do anything like that, have more family, unless it was what we all wanted. I can’t do that to us.”

“He loves you.” Jasmine told Gavin that she loved him as well. “I like him, probably even love him if you want to know the truth. He’s a nice person and his family is awesome. He doesn’t talk to me like I’m some kid he wants to impress, and when he doesn’t know something or even when he knows a lot more than me, he doesn’t dance on my head and call me names.”

“No, he’d never do what your father did to you, and I’m glad that you recognize that in him. Aisha said she wanted you to call her Grandma. You’d be her first, she told me.” The pain of her own grannie, laying in a grave unmarked as yet, hurt her. “You don’t have to, but I think Dalton said you call him Uncle once in a while.”

All the McCade men had told her what a great kid he was. How polite he was, and helpful. They’d told her what a great job she’d done raising a good man, and had asked her, each of them, if she would let him call them Uncle. She told them it was up to Gavin.

“Vance is really great; he’s sort of scary quiet, but I like him. Lewis is funny, and can make almost anything that you want to eat. Even if he has to make things up, he does a great job at it. He and Aunt Emma have these cook-off things, did you know that? She’ll make something for him to try, and he has to guess what’s in it and how much of each ingredient. The fresh herbs that she has in her garden are throwing him off. But now he wants me to help him put an herb garden in too.” Jasmine didn’t cook, hated it even, and Gavin knew it. “Abby cooks for us here. I told her that you could order all kinds of food to be brought to us, but you didn’t like to clean up or make it.”

Jasmine pinched him. “That wasn’t nice.” He laughed and she did as well. “Well, okay, my next question for you. And this is a biggie, all right? Are you so ready to give all of this family up so soon after we got them? I’m thinking you don’t want to, but are unsure of them. I am too, if you want the truth, but I think of all the people we’ve known in our life, these guys are the real deal.”

He looked at her then, his face sad and his eyes looking older than her. She loved this boy, more than she did anything in the world, and told him that every day. When he laid his head on her breast, just holding her, she ran her fingers through his hair as she’d done when he was a baby.

“I’m afraid.” She said she was as well. “We only had each other for so long, and then one morning, I woke up and we were on a plane, and then Grannie died. I don’t think I could do that again, Mom…lose someone that I love like that. Nor do I want to ever leave you behind because it was safer for me.”

“I don’t want you hurt, Gavin. You understand why I did that.” He said that he did, but it didn’t make it any less painful. “I won’t send you away again unless it’s life or death. I promise you. There is little to nothing I can do about death, honey, but know that I’m going to do everything in my power to keep living for you.”

Jorden joined them a few minutes later. He didn’t crowd onto the couch where they were, but sat in the big chair beside them. She loved him for that. Giving her and Gavin time to be with each other. When popcorn and drinks were brought in to them, he joined them then, sitting on the floor while they found something to watch on the big screen television.

“Why do you have such a monster of a house, Jorden?” He laughed at Gavin’s question, and leaned back as the commercial was muted. “I mean, this is an awesome house—Mom could sell these things in here for a lot of cash—but it’s huge. Even for you.”

“I bought it off of Emma for an unbelievably great price. This was her father’s home. She told me that she could never live here—they were estranged, you see—but she wanted someone to move in and love it for her. Make it into a home, not a house.” Gavin nodded as if he understood, then shook his head. “Not a good enough reason?”

“No. There’s more, I think. You seem like a polished new stuff sort of person, not old dusty like my mom.” She pinched him again, this time harder, then told him he was right. “You know what I mean…you like the old things. I do too, but I don’t think any of these things are what you’d buy for yourself. I mean, even keep around if you didn’t want to. Right?”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t have bought this for myself. But I love it. And while I do miss a few modern things, like a filing cabinet that fits legal papers, a phone that is younger than me, I do love the way these things are built, the quality that went into making each piece. I do have plans of modernizing some of the things here. We need better lines coming in for Internet. Now that you’re here, you can help me get that fixed up. I also want to fix up the pool. It’s a nice one, but I’d very much like to have a heated one to use year round, wouldn’t you?” He looked around when she did. “Perhaps the fates knew that I’d find me an old dusty wife and son, and decided that I’d be perfect here.”

“That’s a sappy answer. And the next person that calls me old and dusty is going to eat whatever I cook tomorrow night for dinner.” Gavin promised her he’d never call her that again, and rolled his eyes at them when Jasmine kissed Jorden.

“You can keep your old and dusty, Dad, but I want a room that I can decorate on my own. If you don’t mind.” He stood up then. “I would also like to work on getting a computer for my room. I’ll work it off if it costs too much.”

When he was gone, just getting up and leaving them there, Jasmine looked at Jorden. He looked like someone had punched him in the head and was still trying to recover from it. When she said his name for the second time, he finally looked at her.

“He called me Dad.” She nodded. “I mean, just said it like he’s done it his whole life.
Dad, I want a room of my own
. I don’t think I’ve heard a more beautiful sentence than that. Except for when you say you love me.”

“The next thing you know, he’s going to be asking you to borrow your car keys and telling you that he’s knocked some girl up and needs you to help him.” Jorden grinned. “I was kidding. He’d better never knock some girl up or I’ll kill him.”

“You need a car.” She asked him where that came from. “I just realized it. You need a car, and Gavin does need a new room. Whatever he wants. We’ll have to wait a bit to actually go to some stores, I think, but we can have him start looking online for what he wants. And a computer first and foremost. He told me the other day that he is a little behind on taking some classes.”

“His being behind might mean that he’s only four lessons ahead, not ten. And you’re not going to spoil him because he called you Dad, are you?” He shook his head, but told her verbally that he was planning on it. “The two of you are going to be the death of me, you know that, don’t you?”

“Nope, we’re going to make things fun. Can you sell the things in his room? Whatever he doesn’t want?
Wait
.” He stood up suddenly and started pacing. “There is an old building in town. I got it with the studio. Change it into a shop. Fill it with antiques that you find and deals that you buy in boxes of junk. It would be perfect for you. And you’d be close enough to me that when the urge hit you, you could come on over and come with me.”

“Just like that, you want me to open a junk antique store. How do you know if I could even make a go at it? I might not know anything about antiques.” He just cocked a brow at her. “You’re nuts, you know that, right? Who would buy things in a shop that I run?”

“I can think of a lot of people off the top of my head. Mrs. Dunlap…I don’t remember what she got off of you, something that smashed your hand, but she would. And Mr. Rosen. You’ve not met him, but he is opening this little bed and breakfast that has older things in it. I bet he could use a few pieces. Then there is the restaurant that Lewis wants to open someday. You could help him get deals on things like tables and chairs and stuff like that.”

“Slow down a bit there. In the event that you’ve forgotten, I have a murderer after me.” He pulled her from the couch and kissed her. “So we’re not worried about him?”

“Oh we are, but we can’t let him rule our lives. If he wants to come for you, let him. I think we can take the bastard.” He kissed her again. “Also, we’re getting married. How about next weekend? I think Emma can have a cake ready for us, and Gavin can give you away. I love it.”

She was still standing there ten minutes after he left her, saying something about plans and an open bar. When Abby came in to ask her if she needed anything else, a thousand things popped into her head. But she only shook her head. Jorden McCade had just asked her…no, he’d told her she was going to marry him. And Jasmine was thrilled to death.

Chapter 6

Jorden was just applying the gesso to the canvas when he looked up. The man sitting in his chair startled not only him, but also his dragon. As he was getting ready to call the police, dragon told him to wait.

“May I help you?” The man didn’t speak but looked around the room. “I’m sorry. How did you get in here?”

“I picked the lock. You need more security in here. Your home is much better, but it’s the pack that roams around that is going to save you.” Jorden reached for Dalton. “I don’t think you want to call anyone else in if that is in fact what you’re doing. I would hate to have someone get hurt over nothing. My men have instructions not to let us be disturbed.”

I think I might need you here. And some men. This man claims to have some men here that would hurt anyone that came to help me.
Dalton laughed.
He said he picked the lock of this building and that I need more security.

I told you that the other day. That your stupid flimsy lock wasn’t going to keep a ten-year-old out. But I’m on my way. And so you know, these people could not be more obvious. There are three big black SUVs right outside your building that nearly scream, ‘come and see what I’m up to.’
Dalton laughed again.
Vance is with me, so be prepared for some blood.

“Did you hear me, young man? You don’t need to call anyone in here. I only want to talk to you about a deal I think we can strike up. And if you call people in, I might not be ready to talk.”

Jorden just shook his head as he sat on the corner of his work table. “Well, that’s too fucking bad. I don’t know who you are, nor do I think I want to.” The man reached into his suit pocket, but paused when Gavin seemed to come out of nowhere and put the gun to his head. Jorden wasn’t sure if he was glad or terrified to see the young man do that for them. “Secure or not, you should do better at figuring shit out before you invade someone’s space.”

“Very good. I have to admit, I didn’t think of the boy.” The man put his hands out but didn’t move. Gavin glanced at him, and Jorden walked to him and took the gun. Gavin faded back into the room he’d been in without a word. “It was the boy, wasn’t it? I have been keeping tabs on all of you over the last few days. He’s been with you a great deal. I should have expected he’d continue to be so. Where is his mom? She’s the one that they’d be hunting for.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. However, now that we’ve established that I’m not nearly as stupid as you thought and that my son is here a lot, who are you and what are you doing here?” The man asked if he could reach into his pocket. “If it’s a gun, you’ll never get it out.”

“No. It’s a picture. One that I’m sure you’ve seen before.” Jorden told him to use his left hand and the man nodded. When he had it out and handed it to him, Jorden heard a commotion down in the lower level and wondered if Dalton was all right. “That is the jewelry that your family needs, right? I’m right, aren’t I?”

While he is no threat to you at the moment, continue as you have been but do not trust him. I know not what he is about, but I know that he means you no harm. At the moment.
Jorden asked the dragon how the man knew about Jasmine.
I think he will explain. If not, I will find the information for you. I do not think, however, that he will be happy with me in his mind.

Jorden glanced at the picture but said nothing. It did look like the ring that Emma wore, as well as the earrings that Jasmine now had on, but there was something decidedly off about it. Putting the picture down on the table next to him, he waited for the man to speak. But when the doors opened behind him and there stood not just Dalton, but Vance as well, Jorden had to admit, he did feel better.

“This man just showed up with some goons down there. Did they give you any trouble?” Vance only laughed and Dalton said he thought he might have broken a nail. “I’m guessing not then.”

Vance sat next to him and picked up the picture, saying nothing. Dalton went to the room where Gavin was and returned with him. When Vance put the photo back down, he looked at the man. Whatever was going on, his brother knew more than Jorden did. When he turned to him, Jorden was slightly afraid. Not of his brother but of what he might know.

“This is an artist’s rendition of what the pieces look like. They might have gotten some vague information about what they might look like, the colors the dragon might be wearing. Someone, not sure who, has made hard copies of them and then took this picture, trying to pawn it off as the real jewelry that he has seen. Whoever it is, and I’m working on that, doesn’t have the ability to see the pieces; nor, in this case, do they have any clue where they are. The green of the wings, it’s nothing like the green of the actual piece, if I remember correctly. And if you look hard enough, you can see small differences in the pieces that were made on spec.” The wings weren’t green on the ring at all, but blue, and Vance knew that as well as Jorden did. Vance looked at the man as he continued. “Not very nice of you to go around showing off this fake, Richard. I thought we talked about this.”

“Wilburn is coming here, I told you that. When he gets here, he’s not going to be nice about getting information that he wants. And so you know, I just broke in here without much in the way of effort.” Vance said nothing, but he did take the gun from him. Jorden wasn’t surprised when he laid it on the table by the picture. “You’re not going to hurt me again, are you, Vance? I told you that I’d tell you the truth from now on. I just wanted to see if your brother here would sell me the pieces that he has.”

The man, Richard, was human, and while Vance wasn’t, Jorden was pretty sure that he could kill the man without much effort even if he had been human too. When Vance stood up, Richard cringed. Jorden was pretty sure that Vance had no idea how much the little man was afraid of him.

“You said that you’d call me in when you knew what was going on. I’ve not heard anything from you.” Vance looked at Jorden, then back at Richard as the man continued. “I’m your partner. You and I have a deal, don’t we?”

“Richard here is the brother to the man who started the group known as the Death to all Dragons clan. They really weren’t much, just a bunch of men that gathered together once in a while and talked about taking down a dragon. Then they found out about us and the jewelry, and his brother, Wilburn, got it in his head that he would benefit more from the pieces than we would. But as far as I know, he hasn’t been all that successful in keeping any of it. Wilburn Glass is his name. His group is well-funded…stupid, but well-funded, and they want to get the pieces before they all come together.” Jorden had about a million questions run through his mind, but Vance continued before he could think of an order for them. “Wilburn had the ring first. Well, not first, but he had it right before Bart stole it from him and took it to Emma to be appraised. It’s how she ended up with it after the bombing.”

Instead of answering his questions, Vance was making more. Like where had the ring been before this? Why would a well-funded but stupid group be looking for it as well? And most importantly, how did Vance know all of this?

“When Gentry took the ring from my brother, there was a shit storm of backlash that has been hard for Wilburn to hide. Nine of his men have disappeared, and with them, one of my informants. I told you this was going to happen. But you didn’t listen to me.” Jorden looked at Vance when he told the man to shut up. “I need for you to bring me into what you know, Mr. McCade. This is most unfair of you when I have given you so much.”

“And what is it you think you’ve helped me with? All I’ve gotten from you is information that I already had. The only reason that you’re not dead yet is because I still have use for you. Now sit there and shut the fuck up before I take your tongue out and strangle you with it.” Vance looked at him again, and Jorden had the most profound feeling that he wasn’t making an idle threat to Richard. Then he grinned at him, and for reasons that he couldn’t explain, he thought that his brother looked slightly deranged for a moment. “As I was saying. After Bart robbed Wilburn, he contacted Baldwin, Emma’s grandfather, but we only just recently found out it was to threaten him about it. Until then we thought the two of them were working together, but as it turned out, the robbery was all Bart’s doing, and lucky for us, Emma was there to intercede on the family’s behalf.”

“I don’t think I understand.” Vance nodded and told him he’d explain later. “And this man, he’s here why? To try and get you to let him.... He planned to hold me until you did what he wanted.”

“Pretty much. But what he didn’t count on, and I need to talk with him about this, is that young Gavin was here and that he knows how to use a gun.” So would Jorden. He’d not even known that the kid still had it. “But in this, it worked to our advantage. Richard is going to go home now, stay where he is supposed to, and not bother us again. I’m sure that he understands that to do so would get him as dead as the men he came here with.”

Two men seemed to come out of the woodwork, dressed like Vance was most of the time, dark pants and shirts. Boots that looked as if they would kill as well as protect, and muscles that seemed almost fake; but Jorden knew that they were not. When Richard was taken away, Jorden watched Dalton leave as well with Gavin. He told him he’d be at the station with him.

“You have a lot of questions.” Jorden nodded at Vance. “I’m sure you do. And I’ll answer what I know. I’ve been meaning to talk to all of you about what I know, but I can start with you. I’ve been looking into the jewelry since Emma came to us.”

“I got that part. But where I would like to start with is Richard, and why he thought that coming to get me would make you heel to him.” Vance sat in the now vacant chair and said nothing. “Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to beat you to shit to get it out of you?”

“I don’t think you’d want to tangle with me. I’ve been under some stress lately, and I don’t want to have to hurt you. And I think you and I both know that I would.” Jorden nodded. “When Emma came to us, I had already been working with someone on Gentry, her father. Not on the jewelry at that time, but drug deals, prostitution, as well as a long laundry list of shit he was claiming not to have anything to do with. There was speculation that he really was a good guy, as he was projecting, but there was a lot of shit going on within his organization that wasn’t right. When Emma told me a few things about her brother, I went on that angle. That’s when I found out about the robbery, as well as the man Bart had robbed. Her father really was a bad guy turned good, and the other stuff, the things that were illegal, that was all Bart.”

“Glass…you’re saying that Bart robbed Glass and took the ring. And when he took it to Emma to have it appraised, like she told us he did, he had no idea what he had.” Vance nodded. “And these dots, I’m assuming that you’ve either connected them or are in the process of connecting them that will tell you where the other pieces are or where they might be. You have another picture, don’t you? And this picture that he had, you talked to Jasmine about the brooch in it, didn’t you?”

“Yes. You and I, along with the rest of the family, can see them for what they are. Not in the picture that Richard had, but this one.” He pulled out a photo that was nearly the same as the one that Richard had, but not quite. “This is a picture of a drawing. It was found among some things at an estate sale about five years ago. You and I see a color photo with all the pieces laid out on a white background. Others, ones that have no magic, they see a drawing with just some cheap pieces of jewelry. It’s rumored, and I have no way of knowing this for sure, that someone who is pure of heart, whatever the fuck that means, can see some of the designs but not all of it, not the magic part of it.”

“How is that even possible?” Vance said he had no idea, but he wondered if the dragon knew. It took him several seconds to understand why he’d not just asked him. “You can’t talk to him. I never…I guess I just assumed that since I could, anyone could. All right, I can ask. You think he might know something that can help us?”

“I don’t have any idea. As you said, I can’t talk to him. But you and Kenton can. And I think you’d be easier to get answers from because Kenton is…well, he’s bossy, and would want more answers than I can give him. Or, he’d want to get into this with me and that might get him killed. These men are dangerous.” Jorden nodded, picked up the photo that Vance had given him, and reached for the dragon. “Thank you. I need to see what I can find without worrying about what might befall the rest of the family.”

I have seen that before, my lord. Not like this, but in a frame hanging on a wall.
Jorden told his brother what the dragon said
. Long ago. Very long ago, the pieces were all together for a time. A man, long back in your lineage, he had paintings done with his five sisters wearing such pieces. But they fell on hard times. The family lost a great deal then, and the paintings, along with other items, were lost to him. Including his sisters, sadly.

“There are six pieces. Not five.” Jorden asked the dragon that when Vance mentioned it. “Which of the pieces wasn’t painted?”

There were only five then. The necklace was a larger piece and was broken down when the lady who wore it said that it was too much for her. I had forgotten that until now. So with the
permission of the dragon, it was broken into two pieces. A pair of torques were formed from one piece, then later made into a single one for the wearer. The necklace was made from the other piece, which is still large but manageable, I suppose.
Both of them had to be together, the torques, in order for the magic to work, so it was worked so that they could forever be as one.
Jorden asked him if he’d been the dragon.
Yes, in a small way. Each time one of the intended mates wears it and is…well, unable to connect, that is a good way to say it. But when one of them is unable in some way to go to the McCade dragons, then the dragon dies but for a spark of him. That is what I am now, just a spark that grows with each piece that is brought together.