Stephen (25 page)

The room seemed to have become empty of anyone, it was so silent. He looked up at Summer to see her staring at him. He’d not meant to do anything more than just tell Velvet to stop, but his beast and his newly found magic had another idea.

“
You all right?” He nodded at Summer and her question. “Good. And since we have enough evidence now to commence with the trial, I was wondering if you could let her go.”

He was wondering the same thing when Clarice put her hand over his. The power still pouring from his hand dissipated, and he felt the binding around Velvet let go. She finished her cursing and sat down. He thought she looked confused. Well, so was he.

“
Sally Shunt, you are hereby s—”

“
No, no, no. I’m Velvet. Say it. I want to hear you say my name with you setting me free. Say it. Velvet December, you are hereby set free.” She laughed when Summer cocked a brow at her. “You know you hate to say it, but you have to. I’ve been tried once. You can try me all you want, but you can’t put me below the ground. I know my rights.”

“
You’re correct, we can’t. And that, thanks to you, is going to be one of the first things I change. I can’t sentence you to the same punishment. That’s why we’ve decided to have you beheaded.” Stephen watched Velvet and knew just when what Summer had said sank in. She stood up so quickly that two of the guards with her stepped back and drew their weapons.

“
You fucking bitch, you can’t do that. I’m not an animal that needs to be put down. You take that back right fucking now.” Summer nodded once and the guards took her arms into their hands. “You tell them to let me go. I’m going to hurt you when they do. I might even kill you, but you cannot let them take my head off.”

Stephen stood up when he was approached by one of the guards. He was handed the sword that he’d just recently had hung above the mantle in his office, the one that Jared had tried to kill him with all those weeks ago. Taking a step toward Velvet, he stopped when Samuel stood in front of him.

“
I’ll do it.” He shook his head. “No. I want to do this. And I asked Mom and she said that as your leader I can take this for you. I want to. You’re too invested in this and might hesitate. I’ll make it a clean cut.”

Stephen looked at Kennedy, then at his friend. There was love there along with the friendship they had, and he handed him the sword but kept his hand on the pommel. Samuel nodded once and took it from him. Stephen took Clarice into his arms and turned his back on Velvet. When her screams were abruptly cut off, he stood there holding Clarice until someone touched his shoulder.

“
It’s done.” No one said anything to them as he and Clarice left the room. It was time for them to move on, and they’d have a much better chance at it now that there was no longer a threat hanging over them. Over either of them.

~~~

“
So now what?”

Clar looked up when Stephen came into the dining room where she was working on something for Hawk. She laid her pen down and looked at him, trying to think about what he meant.

“
What are you asking me? If it’s about the house, I don’t care. I’d like the extra room, but I can make do here.” He sat in the chair, and she laughed at his expression. “You knew that I didn’t care a fig for things like that when you met me. I was living in a cave, remember?”

“
Yes I do, and if I also remember correctly, you had it organized as well.” She looked at the table that she’d been using. It was covered in neatly laid out files, and if he thought to look at them, he’d see they were in alphabetical order as well. Her pens were laid out straight as well as the stack of empty files, and the label maker was filled and ready to continue with what she’d been doing.

“
He called, you know. Hawk wanted to know if you were okay with what he’d asked you to do.” Clarice picked up the pen she’d been using and set it back down. She didn’t really know how to answer that. “I told him that I thought you were enjoying working with him.”

“
I am. I’m very…” She picked up the file she’d been working on and handed it to him. She knew the file like the back of her hand. “The man has been dead for nearly seventy years, and he’s upset that his family has no idea that he’d had a will and that if they’d simply listened to him, things would be the way he wanted them to be. He’s pissed at them. But it won’t be better. He didn’t leave any of them a thing, and had left his money to some charity that has been debunked for more years than I’ve been around. They divided the money up between them and used it to better themselves as well as their future families.”

“
And what are you going to do with the information?” She knew what she wanted to do with it, but she and Hawk had to talk about it first. She wanted to chuck the information she’d found and tell him to grow up. He was a tight-assed prick. “Clarice?”

“
Hawk will decide. I get to put my input in, but he decides.” She looked at him when he laughed. “You don’t think I should be doing this, do you?”

“
On the contrary, I think it’s wonderful. I do wish that you’d keep your ghosties out of my office when I’m working. It’s very distracting trying to close a business deal when one of them is screaming at me to make you mind.” She laughed. “But the real reason I’m here is because I’ve got an answer about the house we looked at.”

She held her breath. Clar really wanted the house, but was afraid it was too much for them. The house alone had more rooms than she knew she’d need. Then there was the yard and the wooded area behind the pool house. And then there was the… “Well?”

“
We can move in as soon as you want.” She screamed and went to him. Kissing him all over his face, he pulled her into his lap. “We’ll have to get more furniture, of course, and then there will be a staff to hire. You’ll also need to get a secretary, as I have suggested for you to do.”

“
I will. And I’ve been talking with Kasen and Nova. They said that they knew of a few people that we can hire right away.” Clar thought of Nova, Kasen’s wife, and was glad that they had gotten along so well. “Oh, and we’ll need to give us separate offices. I want mine done all in white.”

“
Of course you do.” He stood up with her in his arms and carried her to the stairs. “I was thinking we’d make love in celebration. And then we should go to our house and break it in as well. Perhaps if you’re up to it, we can see if making love in the barn is all it’s said to be.”

“
Stephen?” He stopped moving and looked down at her. “I love you. Very much.”

“
And I do you. But don’t interrupt me. I’m making a list of places we need to break in. There are the ten bedrooms that we should furnish too. As well as the lair. We could have those properly broken in even before the first guest arrives.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. Clar was as happy as she’d ever been, and knew that for as long as they lived—and that was going to be a very long time—he’d make her smile.

About the Author

Kathi Barton, author of the bestselling series Force of Nature, lives in Nashport, Ohio with her husband Paul. In addition to writing full time Kathi likes to spend time with her eight grandkids, three children and three children-in-laws. She writes to relax and have fun.

Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman brings them to life for her readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is paranormal romance with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi on line and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her fans.
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