Second Chances (The Extinct Race Series) (6 page)

“
Of course I will, after you my lady.” Mateo stood and scooted in his stool. He took the mug from her hands and his from the counter setting them in the sink. He placed his hand on her lower back and walked next to her. They took the stairs to the landing area and then took the hallway on the left to the back stairs. They made it to the second floor landing and he opened the door to the suite. There were four bedrooms in this suite with a small sitting area in the middle. The room was done in rich burgundy and browns and the drapes over the large windows were just a bit softer burgundy than the couches. Vivi and Christian’s room was to the left of the sitting area with one other bedroom and Mateo and Mary’s rooms were to the right. Their doors happened to be in exactly the same spot across from each other.

Mateo kissed her on the cheek as he opened the door to her room.
She smiled shyly at him and walked in saying good night as she closed the door on him. Mary went to her bathroom to change into her sleep wear and wash her face. She had a smile on her face she could not wipe off. She was going to have to tell Rosa about this one for sure. Mary finished her night time routine and climbed into the bed. She sighed with comfort as she placed her head on the pillow. She had never slept in a bed more comfortable than this.

Mateo still stood in the hall
as he listened until he heard her climb into bed. He so wanted to open the door and crawl in bed with that woman. He had never wanted a woman more so than he did her. Every time he went to her house to train Gabe he would notice her. She was a beautiful woman who didn’t even know she was beautiful. She was such a strong soul too. He sighed to himself knowing she shared the attraction he felt towards her. He opened the door to his own room and stepped inside. He went into the bathroom and took a cool shower. He did his night time routine of sit ups and pushups and then took another shower to rinse the sweat off. He dried off and threw some loose pants on and crawled into the bed. He laid there and just thought about the woman across the hall. Mateo fell asleep thinking of Mary and couldn’t wait to get to know her better.

In the morning they were all slowly and sleepily making their way to the table.
Mary had awoken early and she and the girls had cooked up a huge breakfast. They even made enough for the men in the barracks and Mary sent a girl to tell them. The men that lived in the barracks grabbed a plate of food and took it to the table outside. When they were done they said their thanks and went on about their day.

Zoe and Kaiden were sitting at the table inside with Gabe and Justine.
Ben was also with them and he was digging into a stack of pancakes. Monica and Brad made their way down the stairs, followed by Michael and Rosa. Camilla and Sebastian were the next ones down along with Vivi and Christian. Tia and John came down soon after and mumbled their hellos. Everyone was enjoying breakfast and waking up when Marcus came into the room. He had a book tucked under his arm and looked pretty determined. His eyes were also rimmed in red like he had fallen asleep after a good cry.

“Good Morning
.” Marcus said to everyone. Everyone mumble back and response, but no one was looking at him like Zoe was. She knew something was wrong.

“Zoe is
this book yours? Did the lawyer you mention give this to you?” Marcus held the book up to her. It appeared to be a nursery rhyme book she had never seen.

“No I have never seen that book before.
Is it even in English? I can’t pronounce those words.” Zoe confirmed his suspicion

“No it is not in English
, it appears to be Russian. Does anyone here read or understand Russian? There is a letter inside and I would very much like to know what it says, as it is addressed to Elizabeth or Myself.”

“I do
, I was the book keeper and record keeper for our Sect. I know several languages.” Rosa said

Marcus opened the book and handed Rosa the letter.
Rosa also asked for the book and looked the book over first. She then opened the letter and began to read aloud.

“Dear Mr. or Mrs. Devonshire.
Your son was brought to us and I just wanted to express my sincere thanks and appreciation. My husband and I have been trying for years to have a child and I could not thank you enough. He is such a sweet boy with a head full of blond hair and the bluest eyes you could ever think of. This is also one smart baby. He is now eight months old and is already walking and saying a few words. I just wanted to again thank you for sharing this joy with us. It is signed by Mariska and Anatoly Pavelov.” Rosa looked up at Marcus with confusion plainly written on her face. Marcus just stared into space. Rosa noticed another page. “There is another page here. Let me read it.” She glanced over it and looked up in horror. Marcus looked at her and nodded for her to continue.

“This next page
, well it is from a Nurse. Dear Mr. Devonshire. Your wife came into the hospital tonight and gave birth to twins. But I am unsure that she knows this. She knew she was having a girl and the girl was born with no complications what so ever. Once the girl was out she held her and didn’t even bother paying attention to the rest. A boy was born about fifteen minutes after the girl and then the after birth. I think your wife thought that the boy was the after birth and never knew she had twins. She told us to get rid of it. The doctor assumed she meant the boy. I think after all these years that she was confused and meant the afterbirth and not the boy. But the doctor had written up the adoption papers and your wife signed them and then was gone with the baby girl. The boy was sent to Russian and I have remained in contact with them until recently. It is 1995 and I haven’t heard from them in two years. I am worried and I am sorry you had to find out like this.” Rosa looked between Zoe’s shocked face and Marcus’s distraught one. “There is no name here of the nurse, just the names of the adoptive parents.”

Chapter 6

Twins

“This is amazing!”
Rosa exclaimed “There has never ever been Pearl Twins EVER! This explains so much in my eyes. Zoe can turn in a heartbeat where the rest of us have to concentrate. You guys said she heard her father right? Marcus can you hear her?”

“Only when she talks directly to me.”
Marcus stood now staring at Zoe

“Zoe
tell me, what your father is thinking.”

“This can’t be true
, can’t be, I would have known, I would have heard another heartbeat.” Zoe said aloud

“You see?
We need to find this twin and like NOW! Zoe and her twin together will be the most powerful Pearls in history. If he has found his soul mate and they are together the four of you ruling together will be remarkable.” Rosa was excited at this news.

“I have a brother?
A twin?” Zoe looked to her father in wonder.

“Someone has great plans for the four of you.
You my baby girl are special beyond anything any of us know.” Marcus smiled, but the hurt still shown in his eyes.

“Daddy I don’t think she knew.
If she did there would have been two of everything. There would have been boy clothes along with the girl clothes. She would never have said get rid of it if she knew. Please believe that.” Zoe was now hugging her father and pleading with him.

“Oh baby girl I believe that she didn’t know.
I am just worried about her soul now. I believe they can see us and that when we die we all go to the same place and we watch over our children and their children. My heart is breaking again for the truth that we did not know.” Marcus wiped a tear away.

“Names!
What were those Names!?!” Kaiden was yelling over everyone.

“
Mariska and Anatoly Pavelov.” Rosa replied

“Yes
, yes find them like today! I will double the money and have a jet waiting. Yes, yes I will take care of everything.” Kaiden hung up on Mr. Steinman and walked over to Zoe and Marcus. “Angel you need to get going, the designer will be there shortly. There is the truck outside and a driver waiting for you all. As soon as I have information I will come get you both and we will be off.” He kissed her and scooted them both out the door. Zoe grabbed her father’s hand, refusing to let him go at that moment. The girls also followed them out.

Kaiden sat down at the table once they were out the door and put his head in his hands.
Gabe sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Charles walked in with a laptop in his hands and looked around the room. “What did I miss?” he asked

“Well turns out the pot just got thicker and Zoe is a twin.
Her mother didn’t even know she was carrying twins and the boy was given up. A family in Russia got him and we need to find him like yesterday. Rosa says twins have never been born to a Dragon and that the two of them together could be unstoppable, especially if he found his mate.” Gabe told Charles

“Wow” Charles whispered

“It gets better. The nurse was in constant contact with them up until 1995. That’s when she must have placed the book and the letter in the house. What is even more surprising is that the Blood half-bloods never saw her, or the book. They were watching the house after all.” Kaiden said

“Names?”
Charles asked setting the laptop in the table.

Kaiden told him the names and he punched them in a search.
What popped up was a news report from 1995, it said that the parents died in a car accident and there is no mention of a small boy. “Either he is dead with nothing, no body, or he is missing.” Charles sighed “we do have some hope though, because obviously Aldrich doesn’t have him. We would know if he had the boy because he would have never kept Marcus alive so long.”

“Your right
, so now we need a team to go to Russia before all the half-bloods go back out to searching. I give it a week before he sends them out again. We did kill a good fifteen to twenty men.” Kaiden said

Two hours went by when Marcus walked back into the house.
He looked more determined than Kaiden had ever seen him before. He sat down in one of the chairs around the fire and waited for Kaiden to speak.

“Haven’t heard anything yet, but the jet is waiting and we will leave for Russia as soon as the girls are back.
I want you and Zoe to come. Zoe will be able to hear him and talk to him once we are within a couple miles of him, if not farther, and with them being twins. And well, I think you deserve to see your son before he is thrown into all this mess. Camilla and Sebastian will come as well as Gabe and Justine. And Justine is coming for her sanity as well as Zoe’s. Those two are close and they lean on each other a lot. Plus I would hate to leave everyone else here with Justine and no Gabe.” Kaiden explained

Marcus chuckled and nodded “thank you Kaiden.
If you hadn’t of had the foresight to my daughters happiness and brought all of my things here, I don’t think we would have ever known.”

“I didn’t even think of that.”
Kaiden replied

They boys sat there for another hour before Kaiden ran upstairs and packed bags for him and Zoe.
He came back downstairs with two duffle bags and winter coats. He also had a pair of boots in both hands. He set them by the door off to the side and Gabe ran up the stairs. Marcus followed and they both returned with duffle bags and similar cold weather gear. Camilla and Sebastian were upstairs enjoying their quiet time before they headed out. They were still waiting on a phone call and the girls to get back. Kaiden did not want to rush Zoe and her enjoying her “girl time”. Thirty minutes later the girls came through the door with serious looks on their faces. It didn’t look like they enjoyed the shopping as they should have. Zoe looked at Kaiden and then at the bags behind the door once Vivi closed it behind herself.

“Oh you are so not leaving without me on this one.
That is my brother, my TWIN!” She yelled

“I know Angel I didn’t plan on leaving you.
You are coming, so is your father, Justine and Gabe. As well as Camilla and Sebastian for security.” Kaiden soothed her rubbing her arms gently.

“Good cause I would have thrown a fit like you have never seen and Justine was going to help
me do it.” She smiled an evil looking smile at him. Kaiden could only shake his head to hide the laugh that wanted to escape his mouth.

“Innocent over her
, Baby did you remember my toothbrush?” Justine asked with a knowing smile on her face.

“Yes my love I remembered everything and even packed you some long johns.
It is very cold where we are going.” Gabe smiled proudly at her.

“Good so what are we waiting for then?” Justine asked

“We are waiting for a phone call and hopefully some more information than what we got from the letters and the internet search we did.” Kaiden said

“What did you find out?”
Zoe asked

“Well in 1995 there was a horrible car accident and his adoptive parents were killed in it.
There was no mention of the boy and we know that Aldrich doesn’t have him or he wouldn’t have never kept you father alive so long. So the best we can come up with is that he is in hiding somewhere, or lost in the system there.” Gabe answered

“Well my father definitely did not know there was a twin
, so we are safe on that factor. And the Russia Sect was wiped out in 1994. I only know that because he bragged about killing the king there and how easy it was to ambush them with all the snow.” Vivi told them. “So we are pretty safe to assume you will not run into any of my brothers there. They all have no reason to be there. The informants also haven’t been heard from in years, so he assumes all is dead there and a lost cause.” Vivi shrugged and sat down next to Christian in one of the chairs.

“Well then that sounds both interesting and worrisome.”
Charles said

“Yeah
, either there are survivors there and they have killed the informants or it really is all dead ends there. Either way we need to find out.” Gabe said

The phone ringing startled everyone and Kaiden fumbled to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Steinman here the name you are looking for is Zachary Monroe Pavelov. But in 1996 it was changed to Zachary Monroe Slavkov and from what the records show he is in a very small town about 5 hours outside of Moscow.”

“Thank you sir
, any information on the other case I have you working on?”

“Nothing at this time.
Zachary was easy to find because his adoptive parents were killed so that unsealed the paperwork. Then someone did a legal name change for him. So I looked up the person who signed off on it and looked into their bank records. In 1996 there was a large deposit, very unlike the rest of the deposits made throughout the life time of the account. So someone with money paid for his safety.” Mr. Steinman explained.

“Thank you very much
, I will speak with you soon and I will have some money deposited to your account as soon as I can.”

“Thank you Kaiden and good luck.”

Kaiden hung up the phone and looked to Zoe and Marcus. “His name is Zachary Monroe Slavkov and was last listed in a small town five hours outside of Moscow.”

“Zoe Mechelle and Zachary Monroe.
I wonder if the nurse had some influence there.” Marcus mused aloud

“Sounds like it to me.
Let’s go bring my brother home where he belongs.” Zoe smiled and went to grab her bag and jacket.

“Someone paid for his name to be changed and looks like his safety as well.”
Kaiden blurted

“Sound like we are going to meet some more family members as well as her twin.”
Gabe said

“Let’s go get our family
!” Justine yelled

“Tia would you mind getting
your mom and dad and let them know that we are ready and will wait for them in the truck?” Kaiden asked

“Sure.”
Tia tore off up the stairs.

Kaiden and Gabe grabbed the bags and ushered the girls into the waiting Tahoe and put the bags into the back.
Camilla and Sebastian were not long and were sitting before Gabe closed the trunk. Gabe got in and Zoe noticed Micah in the driver seat. He took them down the mountain and right to the edge of the jet. Kevin was in the jet awaiting them and once they were all inside he went to the pilot’s cockpit.

Kevin’s voice came over the loud speaker and said “Good afternoon my King and Queen and fellow Dragons
, today we are set for Russia we are heading towards the Ural Mountain area I have contacted a very small and private airfield near there. They have also gotten you some transportation once we reach the ground. I will try to make this trip as fast as possible, so please sit down, get comfortable and buckle up we will take off immediately.” Everyone took their seats and they could hear Micah throwing their bags into the storage compartment below the plane. The lid closed and two loud thumps on the side of the plane sounded. Kevin started the jet and they lurched forward.

Kevin was correct in his getting them there as fast as possible.
Zoe took a nap and Kaiden was shaking her awake because they had landed. They all stepped off the plane and into an open field. The snow they all assumed would be here was not and it was a hot and muggy day. They quickly grabbed their bags and went into the small building that must be the airport. Camilla and Sebastian went in and got the information they needed. There were two jeeps parked nearby and Sebastian had the keys. They were about a three hour drive from the last know location of Zachary. They threw their bags into the back and all jumped into a jeep. Marcus rode with Camilla and Sebastian. Gabe drove the other jeep with Justine in the passenger seat and Kaiden and Zoe in the back.

The drive was a smooth one until they started on the country roads.
It seemed that not much happened on this side of the country. They passed a lot of farms and small clusters of houses here and there. About an hour had passed from the last cluster of homes when Zoe began to feel something. She felt a pull and a really strong one. “STOP!” she yelled. The jeeps both came to a halting stop and she stood. “Do you feel that?”

“I don’t feel anything Angel.”
Kaiden said

“Daddy?”
Zoe looked over to her father.

“Sorry baby girl, I don’t.
But if you feel it, go with it. Gabe let her drive. She will be able to find him faster than we will.” Marcus said

Gabe got out of the driver seat and let Zoe in.
She normally hated driving, but today she didn’t hesitate. She went up to the next makeshift intersection and turned right. The feeling was getting stronger and stronger and she made her way in that direction. Zoe had the gas pedal floored and was just going on pure instinct. The pull was getting stronger and Kaiden spoke in her head.

I feel it now there are Dragons here and not just one.
Maybe five or so.