Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (2 page)

Troy came out of his stupor. “You can’t be serious.” He then
glanced at Connor. “Dad, this is sick. You know that, right?”

Connor lowered his eyes and sighed. “He’s not joking Troy,”
he said before looking at his stepson. “Dennis and I met when I was twelve.
We’ve been friends ever since.”

“And you just happened to let your friend fuck your wife?”
Troy asked hotly.

“You watch your mouth,” Connor snapped.

“Don’t ever disrespect her,” Dennis growled simultaneously.
He and Connor looked at each other for a moment as Troy moved towards the far
corner of the room. When the boy looked like he was ready to listen, Dennis
continued. “I loved her first. Belle and I dated for a year before she found
out what I was.”

Troy folded his arms tight across his chest. He was beginning
to feel sick. “She wouldn’t have believed you,” he said forcing his hands not
to shake.

“She didn’t have a choice,” Dennis said quietly. He looked
at Troy and took a slow breath. “She came to my club to surprise me during the
full moon.” Dennis could still remember the look of utter horror on Belle’s
face as he transformed. “She was the one that was surprised. Almost everyone
there was ready to attack her.”

Troy closed his eyes as he thought of his mother’s fear of
dogs. “Why doesn’t she remember you now? I mean, she told me that she had
gotten drunk one night and a month later she found out she was carrying me.”

Connor took a slow breath as he sat behind his desk, “Your
mother had a break down. She wouldn’t move, or talk or deal with anyone around
her. We knew someone that was able to repress her memories of Dennis enough
that she could function. That was how we found out she was pregnant with you.”

Golden eyes narrowed as he looked at his step-father. “So
you made her think you two had a fight, and to get even with you she had a one
night stand.”

Dennis growled. “It was the best way to protect you.” He
wanted to make sure Troy knew exactly what happened. “If she would have known
that she was pregnant, and if she remembered what I was, what you could be, she
would have aborted you.”

Troy’s jaw tightened as he looked at Dennis. “So what did
you do? Pass her off to Dad?”

Golden eyes looked at Troy with a barely suppressed rage.
“Don’t test me, boy.”

“Don’t treat my mother like some whore,” Troy growled.

Dennis crossed the room and stood toe to toe with him. With
as angry as Troy was made him, Dennis had to be impressed that Troy stood his
ground. “You have no idea what I feel for her. No clue what it’s like knowing
that with as happy as you tried to make her, a boy you helped raise was the one
to give her a family.” Dennis leaned over to Troy’s ear and fought a growl at
the scent of the female Mage that was all over him. “The last thing I would do
is treat her like a whore. She would have been my mate if she hadn’t broken.”
He pulled back enough to look into Troy’s livid eyes. “And the next time you
say that I did treat her as such, I will beat an apology out of you.”

“You’ll try,” Troy replied.

Connor tried to move between the two. “Violence isn’t really
the answer,” he said quickly. When Troy backed up a step, Connor turned to
Troy. “Son, we’re trying to look out for you. Don’t stand here and fight with
Dennis. Not when he’s the only one that can help you.”

Troy’s eyes narrowed as he looked into Connor’s. “Help me
with what?” he asked.

“You’re turning,” Connor answered. When Troy started to
frown, he continued. “The flashes of temper, the way you can’t seem to control
your strength.”

“That happens to people all of the time,” Troy reasoned.

Connor looked at him with a disapproving gaze. “You broke
Jack’s wrist without a thought. Things like that don’t happen.”

Troy did not hide a smirk. “When a drunk speaks badly about
a woman, things like that happen all the time Dad,” he said reasonably.

Dennis rubbed the back of his neck. The promise he made
Madison echoing in his mind. “What if you hurt
that
woman?” he asked darkly. When Troy looked at him, he took the
opening, “I smell one on you. What if you grab her too hard? You could break a
limb. What if you bite her?”

It was like someone threw cold water on him. Troy could
remember sinking his teeth into Madison multiple times. “What would happen?” he
asked quietly.

“If you broke the skin, she would be infected,” The violet
eyed woman answered from across the room. “You would have to exchange blood
with her for her to turn, or she would die.”

Connor looked at Troy with alarmed eyes. “Did you bite her
Troy?” he asked.

Troy ran both hands through his hair. He could not catch his
breath. He bit the hell out of Madison, but he never broke the skin. His eyes
turned to the small woman. “What if I didn’t?” he asked walking over to where
she sat.

Dennis rolled his eyes behind Troy’s back. He wasn’t lucky
enough for Madison to bleed out. No, as some sort of Karmic joke, his son
impregnated and marked one of the most dangerous Mages in the country.

“She’s marked.” Leigh answered. When Troy frowned she
smirked. “Until you give up all rights to her, no other male Wolf will touch
her.” She saw the pleased look in Troy’s eyes and shook her head. “Don’t look
so smug. Until you give her up, she’s going to want no one but you. And the
longer you wait, the more she’s going to need to have you around.”

Dennis could see that Troy was thinking about Madison. His
jaw tightened as his son interrogated Leigh. There was little to no hope that
he would let Madison go. The longer he kept her secret, the angrier Troy would
be once everything was out in the open.

Troy put his head in his hands. While part of him sang at
the thought of Madison wanting no one but him, he could not force her to live
that way. He looked at into Leigh’s eyes and released a breath. “I can’t keep
her,” he said shaking his head. “She’ll be in too much danger.”

Again, Dennis found his eyes rolling. While Madison Maxwell
was a lot of things, Damsel in Distress she was not.

Far from it.

She’s more of the Evil Queen.

And now she was having his grandchildren.

Dennis could skin Troy alive for that alone.

Four Years Later

Brown eyes stayed focused on her target. For the past three
hours those two little mongrels had
played,
eaten and
played some more.

It was time for the little hellions to be put down.

“Gotcha!”
Madison shouted as she jumped out of the tree she had been hiding in. Just as
her feet touched the ground, she snatched up her twin sons. As they laughed and
squealed, she hoisted Aiden under her arm as she tightened her grip on Kayin’s
ankle. “What do you two have to say for yourselves?” she asked.

Two pairs of golden eyes looked at her. “We helped Uncle
Donald,” Kayin answered squirming in his mother's grip.

Aiden nodded. “We cleaned the floor.”

Madison fought a smile. They helped clean the floor alright.
“You boys made a bigger mess for us to clean up,” she said standing straight.
She could not help but smile as Kayin started to walk on his hands while she
held his ankle. If she did not know any better, she would swear that he was
part bat.

“Are we in trouble?” Aiden asked sweetly.

She couldn’t be angry with them. Maybe that was the reason
why they got into so much trouble. “No,” she sighed, “but you have to say sorry
to Uncle Donald. He busted up his ankle pretty good.”

Both boys started to wiggle to get out of Madison’s grip. As
she sat them down, she noted two figures coming across the lawn. “Looks like
Grandfather’s coming to get you two,” she said as she lowered both boys to the
ground.

“Grandfather!”
Aiden
cheered. He hugged his mother’s leg before running over to Victor. Kayin was
soon to follow.

Madison watched them with distant eyes. Her boys were
getting bigger and wilder each day. When she came home and saw Donald barely
conscious in the hallway, she didn’t have to ask if the boys had been trying to
help. They always seemed to be getting in the most trouble when they wanted to
help.

It reminded her of when she was little
and
it made her think of Troy.

Madison wondered if he was as helpful as the twins when he
was little. She also wondered if there were any other traits of his that either
of the boys showed. A soft smile crossed her face as Aiden latched on to
Victor’s waist. There was no doubt in her mind that he would be the momma’s
boy.

Madison smiled happily as she saw the second figure lift
Kayin and toss him in the air. She had not seen him in years. “Casper?” she
called out.

Casper Solomon, the younger Prince of the Vampires, smiled
as he played with the boy in his arms. “Hey Pixie,” he greeted. He looked at
his father and smirked as the little one in his arms tried to climb up to his
shoulders. “She did
good
, Dad. These boys are cute.”

Victor ran his fingers through Aiden’s messy brown hair.
“Yes, she did very well,” he mused. “But they are rather energetic.”

Madison smiled as she looked at her foster father. “What brings
you two by?” she asked. She held her hand out and as expected, Aiden ran over
to her.

Casper snorted, “We got word from Don. He said something
about hellions and baby oil.”

Kayin ran his small hands through Casper’s thick blonde
hair. “
What’s hellions
?” he asked innocently.

Victor frowned as he took the toddler off of his son’s
shoulders. “A word that young gentlemen do not say,” he answered before giving
Casper a cutting glare. He then turned his eyes to Madison. “Aside from what
Donald has told us, I wanted to see how you are faring.”

It was one of Victor’s typical visits. Madison lowered her
eyes as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m fine, really, Father,” she
said before looking up into his face.

Victor ran his hands through Kayin’s hair as he placed the
boy on the ground. “Will you and your brother see about getting Uncle Casper
some cookies and milk?” he suggested.

“Oreos!”
Aiden
cheered. He gave Madison’s leg a hug before running towards the house.

Madison smiled as Kayin gave her a quick kiss and took off
after his brother. “Don’t eat them all,” she called after them.

Casper reached out and tugged on a lock of her hair. “They
won’t,” he promised before running after the boys.

“That goes for you too,” she replied.

Victor looked at Madison as she wrapped her arms around her
body. “Will you continue to lie to me?” he asked simply. When she gave him a
quizzical look, he shrugged. “You looked at my nose. Not into my eyes.”

Madison mused. “I’m trying to lie to myself,” she said
lowly. “One of those
fake
it till you make it deals.”

Without another word, Victor pulled her into his arms. “When
are you going to let Dennis tell him the truth?”

Her eyes closed tightly, turning her face into his shirt. At
first, she didn’t want Troy to know about her magic. He didn’t know anything
about his heritage or Mages in general. Then it became a matter of her
reputation. The boys would love her no matter what, but once Troy discovered
that she was the infamous Necromancer, there would be no stopping his departure.
After the twin’s second birthday, Madison’s fear of her reputation became
overshadowed by the entirely possible thought that Troy would hate her simply
for keeping him away from his children.

Victor pressed his lips to her forehead as he saw images of
custody battles and a young man with angry golden eyes taking her children in
Madison’s mind. “You do know that I would never let that happen, correct?” he
asked simply.

Madison shook her head. “You can only stop but so much,” she
said with a resigned sigh. She gave him a puzzled look when he chuckled.
“What?”

Victor gently caressed her cheek. “There was a time you used
to think I was Superman.”

Madison smiled and shook her head. She wrapped her arms
around one of Victor’s and started towards her home. “Superman was a pussy,”
she corrected. “I thought you were Batman.”

Victor frowned. “Batman did not have any powers.”

She shrugged. “But he was rich and had so many different
toys to play with. He didn’t want for anything.” She looked at her overly large
house. “And you always use your head.”

Victor watched as she released his arm and seemed to fold in
on
herself
. “Madison,” he said quietly.

“You don’t do things out of anger. I’ve noticed that.”
Madison tucked her hair behind her ears and rubbed her eyes. “No matter how
angry I’ve made you, you never acted like you didn’t want me around. You never
threw me out. Hell, you bought me a house after I refused to stay with Crispin
and Dylan.”