Excessive Force (Force of Nature Series) (10 page)

“More than you’ll ever know.”

The plan was set. Jolene would go to the services as planned, but she’d have all of them with her. They had it in their heads that if they went as a group and circled around her, so to speak, she’d be safer. Tristan had his own plan. One that would keep all of them as safe as he could make them.

“I need to speak to you please.”
Tristan nodded at Hope when she sat beside him. He made sure that he didn’t touch her in any way. Her mate was sitting across the room, and while he was part human, he could still do some serious damage to him if Tristan were to touch his mate.

“I’m at your service
, as I’ve always been.” Hope snorted at him. “You don’t believe me? I think that for as long as we’ve known each other you should know by now that I do not lie.”

“No
, but you can bend the hell out of it when it suits your needs.” He smiled but didn’t say anything. When she was right, she was right. “Her mother, Jolene’s, did Roberson kill her too?”

“He did. He wanted her magic
, I think. He had a grudge against me, I believe, as we did have a falling out at one point. And I think that when he ran across her that day, he had no idea who she was. He might not even now. But he does know who Jolene is and her relationship with my mate.” He told her that he’d been beneath the ground healing when she’d died. “I never felt her death. I should have, but I was injured so badly that my sleep was powerful. Roberson is the reason I wasn’t there to protect her either. I didn’t even know Jolene existed until I rose from the earth.”

“She’s been through a lot with that family. I only know some of it
, but CJ knew the older Turner well. She said that he was a great deal like her own father, and he I did know. Austin too. Webber was not a good man. Hell, he wasn’t anything but evil. CJ is a wonderful person, and so is your daughter.” Hope looked at Reid, then back at him as she continued. “I’ve watched that boy grow up. When he first came to this family, he was little more than a hood with a chip on his shoulder. Austin straightened him right out and gave him a good and much needed firm hand. Randy too, Reid’s younger brother. CJ plucked them right out of the streets they were living on and gave them more than they’d ever had before.”

“He is a good man. I can see that. And he’s struggling so hard with trying not to be a wolf with her.”
Tristan laughed. “I wonder, do you know if either of them know what they have?”

“I don’t think so. But they’re practically
brimming over with it.” She leaned back in her chair. “The book you gave me through your daughter. Did you know that she never looked in it? Didn’t even glance at any of the pages. She would have found out a great deal about her sire and mother if she had.”

Tristan nodded. “She’s never been one to snoop. If she wants the information
, you’ve my permission to give it to her.” Tristan looked at his lady queen from so long ago. “All of it, and nothing varnished over either.”

“I will. But in return I would like something from you.”
He told her anything before thinking and knew he’d regret it. “You’ll hang around until they have four children of their own.”

“That’s an easy one to do, my lady.”
He kissed the back of her hand and stood up, thinking he’d finally after all these years gotten the best of the queen. “You should know that she cannot have a child. Her body was damaged badly by Roberson when he tried to kill her.”

Hope stood up as well and nodded at the couple.
“You should know that I have a great many more powers than I did when I was younger, and she is now able to breed as many children as she wants. Don’t ever try to fool an old fool, Tristan. I may not be as old as you, but I’m a hell of a lot sneakier.”

Chapter
10

Ethan felt the magic near him before the knock came at the door. Whoever it was didn’t have a great deal of it and more than likely didn’t even know that they had it, but he did. When he looked in the peephole, he saw a maid standing there with a set of headphones attached to her ears as well as some wire that ran down her apron to her pocket. His first thought was that kids couldn’t go five seconds without some sort of noise, and then he realized she wasn’t a kid.

Opening the door
, she smiled at him and nodded. “Good morning, sir. I’ve come to clean the room. Or would you like for me to return later?”

He moved back out of her way and watched as she moved her large cleaning cart into the room.
Ethan knew that she was a wolf, but nothing he couldn’t handle. So when she went to the bathroom, he finished his coffee and dressed. Ten minutes later, she came out and went to his bed and stripped it clean.

“I’m leaving. I want you to leave an extra coffee packet when you leave
, as well as several towels. A set of sheets as well. I may need them later.” She nodded, and Ethan smiled. She really didn’t have any choice in the matter, as he’d put enough compulsion in his command that there was no way she’d be able to resist. As soon as he moved out of the hotel room and down the hall, his smile broadened. This morning he was going to a funeral and hopefully come back with the girl. The limo pulled up in front of the hotel just as he stepped out.

After giving the man the name of the cemetery
, he realized that he was running ahead of schedule. According to the driver, it would take them less than forty minutes to get there, and he had almost an hour and a half.

The driver suggested that he go to the funeral home if he wanted.
They would be coming from there and arriving at the graveside soon after. Ethan decided that he’d go to the cemetery and wait. That way he’d be able to hide from the girl and surprise her when it was safe enough to get her.

According to the
obituary, there was hardly any family left for the man. He had two sons, and it mentioned them both by name, and a daughter, which it did not. He was curious about that. Why not say her name too unless it was a mistake on the newspapers part? A town this backwards would more than likely make many mistakes in the newspaper and the townspeople would simply not notice it, as they were as hick-town as the editors. Ethan wanted to go back home as soon as possible. He’d felt dirty since he’d walked off the plane.

By the time they arrived at the cemetery
, he was excited. He was finally going to kill the girl and absorb all that she was. Actually, that wasn’t the only reason he was excited. He was also excited about seeing what her powers merged with his could give him. The girl didn’t stand a chance with him.

Finding a nice place about a hundred yards from where he’d been told the services were going to be
held, he was surprised to see several people milling about. Most of them had some magic surrounding them, but he knew that they weren’t who he was looking for. The younger men, he assumed, were the brothers and found that one was a half-wolf, the other human. Not all that smart either if the way they were dressed was any indication.

The taller and by far the heavier of the two was dressed in a pair of sweatpants.
The shirt he had on was several sizes too small for him and buttoned crookedly. It was all Ethan could do not to go over to the man and slap him around for not having the intelligence to dress properly.

T
he other man was little better. While he did have on a pair of pants, they, too, were ill fitting. The hem hit him about two inches above his ankle, and he had on white socks. His shoes, from what Ethan could tell, were sandals and not in very good shape at all. The shirt looked like he’d slept in it, and his hair was just short of being dreadlocks. The pair of them were about as nasty as he’d ever seen.

There were three other men there.
Two of them were in very expensive suits and ties, while the third man was sporting a clergyman’s collar. He held himself as far away from the first pair as was possible and still be in the same area. The well-dressed men stood off to the side and talked quietly. A few minutes later, a long limo pulled to a stop near them, and then another one right behind it. Ethan stood up and watched as it was emptied of its passengers.

The woman who got out first was beautiful.
Long dark hair, and she held the hand of a young man when he alighted behind her. Then three more women came from the car along with two more men. Christ, these were well-moneyed people, Ethan would bet his last nickel on it.

Several more people pulled up in cars and SUVs. By the time someone went to the second limo
, Ethan had surmised that he had been wrong about the dead man. He had friends in very high places.

When the girl stepped out of the second limo
, he nearly went to her. She had grown to be very lovely. And the way she was dressed also said that she, too, had more than the two scruffy men.

The dark dress she had on fit her body like it had been painted on her.
Her hair was down in a loose braid that hung nearly to her hips. Incredibly long legs looked like she worked out more than she ever sat, and when the man who slipped out of the limo behind her put his arm around her waist, she leaned against him. Ethan’s only thought was this was better than he’d ever thought.

He’d gotten more magic by buying off a boyfriend or girlfriend than he’d ever thought was possible.
Over the years he’d simply gone to the other partner, promised them a great deal of money, and then killed them later when he’d gotten what he wanted. Shit, he’d had the best of both worlds as far as he was concerned.

The
ill-dressed men walked toward her. When the man with her stepped in front of her, Ethan had to laugh. If she was even half of what she was back then, she didn’t need his help. But when the heavier of the two men drew back his hand to hit her, one of the first men stepped up behind him and grabbed his arm. He was on the ground before Ethan could take a breath.

“She’s lovely
, isn’t she?” Ethan turned slowly to look at the old man standing next to him. Ethan looked around, wondering how he’d managed to sneak up on him like that. When he saw a car a few yards away, he looked back at the man.

“All women are lovely until they open their mouths.
Unless it’s to do something productive with it like suck me off.” He was crude and he knew it, but instead of pissing the man off, he laughed.

“I’m sure the young buck
with her would tear you apart if he heard you talking about her like that. And from all accounts, she’s a nice girl too.” The old man seemed to be a little less friendly than he’d been before. Ethan started to tell him to fuck off when the old man continued, “Then again, I might do it myself.”

Ethan felt his skin crawl. It was one thing to say those things
, but to have someone standing this close threaten him made him take a step back. He started to tell the old man to go away when he had a deeper fear of the man. Ethan took another step back. Before he could figure out what he was feeling, someone screamed behind them.

Turning
, Ethan was surprised to see the heavier man lying on the ground and the woman standing over him. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he was pretty sure that the man was begging for her to back off. Ethan took a step toward them when the man beside him grabbed his arm.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.
Her magic will kill you, and I’m just not ready for you to kick the bucket right now.” The man faded out, and his laughter lingered long after Ethan turned back to the people at the graveside. Before he could think about what he was doing, he ducked behind the tree he was next to and stood there waiting.

He knew the voice
of the older man. Ethan wasn’t sure how he knew him, but he did. Somewhere in his long past, he and the other man had crossed paths, and Ethan had a feeling he was coming back for more. Moving toward the street in the opposite direction of the funeral, he made his way to the street. Hailing a cab was not his first choice, but the limo was long gone and he wasn’t walking all the way back to the hotel.

Even after he arrived at his room
, he was still shaking, and the harder he tried to remember the man, the more elusive he became. Finally, he sat down after pacing what seemed to be miles and miles of walking to nowhere. Ethan closed his eyes and let his mind wander over the man’s features.

Grey hair didn’t really help him.
Ethan rarely associated with anyone that had it, and since he’d been using black magic, his own hair had turned white. Gray-blue eyes didn’t help either. Ethan wasn’t sure if they were actually gray-blue or if the light was playing tricks on him. The sun had shown them as blue, but when he’d been in the shade for a few seconds, they’d looked dark gray.

The man was perhaps in his seventies. Maybe even his eighties.
He wasn’t tall, maybe about five foot five or a little shorter. There was nothing about him that rang a bell, and even less about him that made him memorable to anyone, including him. Ethan was now afraid. Very afraid.

~~~

Austin wanted to laugh. Jodie could see that from across the room. His face was tight with it, and the way he kept putting his fist into his mouth made her think that when he did let loose he was going to be in a great deal of pain. CJ glared at him before turning to her.

“Jodie, what did your
brother mean that you’d stolen his home from him? Surely he doesn’t think you should have turned the land and house over to him after you’d caught up with all the taxes and made sure the house was kept up.” Jodie watched as Reid and his brother walked in before she answered CJ.

“He does
, and so does Mike. They don’t think that as a woman I should have the brains to have a job, much less the means to pay bills.” She pulled away from Reid when he sat nearly atop her. “They are both lazy bastards and will now have to find other means of…. Will you please stop touching me?”

Jodie flushed when Austin burst out laughing. The poor man was going to pay for that if his mate’s look at him was any indication. But Reid was the touchiest man she’d ever met.

“No, I don’t think so.” Reid had said that like he’d taken great care in considering her request.
She was going to knock him on his ass as soon as she could. “You have the most amazing skin, did you know that?”

She growled.
He was making her so needy with the way he was constantly touching her, breathing on her and simply being around her. She tried once again, knowing it would be futile, to move away, only this time he picked her up and put her on his lap. When she shifted, he held her still, and she felt his thickening cock.

“Behave or the rest of the room will see just where I want to touch you.”
His voice whispered through her mind, and she looked at him.
“I want you. I need to mark you again after your brother touched you. And I will, but if you don’t let me have this now, we’re going to go upstairs right now and I’m going to say to hell with this meeting.”

She watched the other
s talk, thinking about what had happened at the cemetery. Mike had been so pissed that the police had shown up this morning and told him they had twenty-four hours to get out or they’d be physically removed that he’d hit her in the mouth as soon as she stood near the grave. Curt was just as pissed, but he’d tried to kill her by going for her throat. Reid had moved so fast that he’d even startled her.

Curt was lifted off the ground and held there for several seconds before she was able to get Reid to release him.
And even then he’d tossed him to the ground, where he’d hit his head on the headstone next to them. She’d thought him dead, but when he sat up and glared at her, she knew she couldn’t be so lucky. She thought that Austin was going to get hurt as well when he pulled her back out of the way and Mike had stupidly attacked him. The man had no brains was all she could think of. But she’d been so afraid for them all, she’d used some of her magic.

“Jodie?”
She looked at Nancy, as she had insisted she call her. “Are you all right, dear? You look done in.”

“I’m fine.”
Nancy wiggled her finger for her to follow her, and she got up after telling Reid where she was going. The kitchen, Jodie had discovered, was Nancy’s domain. “Really, I’m fine. I just get a little…stressed, I guess, when I talk to Mike and Curt.”

“
What do you think you’re doing?” Jodie took a step back when she saw the spoon in the woman’s hand. She’d heard about that thing, and she wasn’t going to be a victim of it if she could help it. “Are you trying your best to make me upset?”

“No
, ma’am.” Nancy told her to sit down, and she did. She didn’t think she’d used anything more than her “mom” voice, but Jodie was a little afraid. “I’m not trying to upset anyone. Well, except for Reid. But he’s the one that is driving me over the edge.”

Nancy sat down after giving her a large glass of juice. “Drink that. And while you do
, I’m going to tell you something.”

“I’m not going to be able to leave here
, am I?” Nancy shook her head. “It would be better for him if I did. I’m not what you’d call a nice person, and I’m certainly not a doctor’s mate material.”