Phillip: Lanning's Leap - Paranormal Erotic Romance (13 page)

He told him he didn’t much care for it any more either. “It’s all bad news. I mean we can make a difference, and we do, but nothing is ever just a happy ending. There is always tragedy. I’m all for just not going to work either. I’m…I’m seriously over it all, Misha.”

Misha nodded but stared out the window before he spoke. Phillip had a feeling it was because he was trying hard not to be excited about closing up shop.

“We have money. More than we can spend. But that was never it. It’s that, like you said, we made a difference. But there is only so much a person, a family, can take that is all bad news.”

Phillip agreed with him by nodding his head. “What is it you want to do, Misha? Have you talked to the rest of them?” He said that he’d not, that he just wanted to talk to him. “And what do you think they’ll say? Rider has been bitching for some time now that we’re not doing anything that the locals couldn’t be doing. Andrew just said the other day he wanted to take a vacation, and we got five calls in a row right after. Thomas is gone more than he is here. Carter wants to work with Murph at the police station, and I want to have a family. One that I can be there for all the time. Hell, I think I might even enjoy being a stay at home dad.”

“I’ve been thinking that too. Hannah has it in her head that she wants to work with your wife when she opens her place up. Mom has really been having so much fun with her gardening clubs and those book of the month things. She doesn’t work for us much anymore, but I think she’d be thrilled not to have to fill in either.” Misha laid his head back against the seat and closed his eyes before continuing. “I have to tell you, Phillip, I feel better already about this. Knowing that someone feels the same as I do about shutting down.”

“Good. When?” Misha laughed, and said they should talk to the others first. “Yeah, so when? I need to get my life in gear. My wife just found out that I have lots of money, and it occurred to me, I have lots of money. I’d like to go someplace on a plane that does not involve me having to dig through mud and mire for once. And I’d like to lay on a fucking beach with the water flowing over me and not have to look for bodies that might wash up on the shore. I want a life. My own life.”

“You really want this? I mean, you’re not just saying that to make me feel better.” He told him he wasn’t. He really wanted this too. “Okay, let’s go and see how the others take it. And even if they want to try and make it work, I think that I’m done. I can’t…I just can’t do this anymore.”

~~~

The building was much larger than she’d imagined. Actually, she’d had no idea what to think when they pulled up in front of it, but this one was the smallest of the four and it was still five stories tall. Charlie tried not to be overwhelmed by everything that Phillip had told her before she left this morning.

“You’ll have plenty of storage space. Did you see the bigger building out back?” She turned to tell Maribel that she wasn’t helping her, but the woman winked. “I was kidding. There are bay areas for unloading, but no more buildings. And on the second floor, I’m to understand there is quite a large open space that has long tables in it. Everything in the building stays, by the way.”

“What am I going to do with all this space?” Maribel told her to fill it with lovely things. “But that would be so…do you have any idea how many little bars of soap I can store here? Millions upon millions. I would never use them all. They’d go…why are you nodding your head?”

“You do know that you’re going to do much better here than at the other home, right? I mean, you can hire a great many people to come in and help fill the orders. Someone to take the orders, as well as someone to take them away when you’re finished with them. Also, there is a great deal of space on this floor where you can sell your leftovers as well as a few things that you might not be able to put into a basket. And I want to work here too. So does Hannah. We want to do this too.” Charlie thought of the beautiful blanket that Ruby Luna had given her and asked Maribel why she wanted to work for her. “Why? Well, we’re hoping for some discounts, and we want to be with you. It’s going to be fun. And Murph is nearly across the street. We can have lunch together all the time.”

“And I can pop in when I want to and bring my mom and sister.” Charlie nodded at Linyah who had just
popped
in earlier. “Mom said that she’d use your business for all her functions, and there are a great many of them.”

“I’m just a small business owner. I’m not equipped to handle large functions.” Linyah just patted her on the back as she made her way to the stairs. Charlie looked at Hannah, who was smiling from ear to ear. “This place is simply too big. I mean, he could put anything in here other than just my little business.”

“He might, but he sees potential in you and he loves you. Besides, I think you’re thinking much too small. You need to think on the grander scale of things.” Charlie heard her name and went up the stairs to see what Linyah and Murph had found. She knew that the other two were right behind her.

They’d climbed to the topmost floor, and she could see all of the city from any window. The windows weren’t broken this high up. The big desk that sat in the middle of the room was covered in dust and grime, and there was enough dirt on the floor alone that she was sure she could fill a large pit with it. When Murph bent and lifted a corner of what had been a rug, she could see the hardwood floors beneath that looked to be as old as the building. Rubbing her hand over the desk top, she could see that it was made of oak and maybe cherry. She looked at the women in the room, and felt for the first time in a very long time that she was a part of something.

“This is…I have no idea what to say to you guys. ‘I love you’ seems so weak.” When Hannah started crying, she did as well. “I’m sorry. But…with you guys, I feel like I can do this. More than do this, I think I can make it work.”

“Of course you can. And we’re going to help you.” Maribel looked around the room before continuing. “After we get this place cleaned up. I know a wonderful group of women who are just starting out as a cleaning crew. I think it will take more than them, but they can get a start. And someone to come in and fix the windows. I know just the firm for that too.

As Maribel walked to the other side of the room, Charlie looked at Murph. “She’s going to take over, isn’t she?”

“Nah, but she will have this place spotless in less time than you or I could. She has a knack for getting things done.” Murph sat on the desk, unmindful of her clothing. “There’s some things that Phillip asked me to talk to you about. The people living in Carter’s house could use a hand up.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea. But I want you to help me out with that. I want some background checks done on them. I know that right now I’m thinking small, but there might be a point where I’m making some good money, and I don’t want anyone here that I don’t trust.” Murph said she would do that, and told her that Carter had already done the checks. “Also…I know this is a lot, but I have a house with my things in it. Not a lot…the place was mostly furnished when I rented it, but the barn things are mine. I’ll need help getting it boxed up and brought here. I’ll also need a storage unit until this place is usable.”

“I can do that.” Murph stood up. “You’ll need a new name. Grant Me Anything
won’t work now. And more supplies. I can hook you up with that too.”

“You’ll be my partner.” Murph started to shake her head. “Yes. All of you will be. If we’re partners, we’ll work together for a common goal rather than all of us going in different directions to help me. Partners, or I say no to this place and doing the business.”

“All right.” Murph put out her hand, and before Charlie could take it, she spoke again. “So you know, touching me will give you a part of me. I don’t know how much, as you seem to have a lot now. But you’re going to get something.”

“Right now, your friendship is more than enough.” As soon as their hands touched, Charlie knew what she’d meant. It was like touching a live wire with wet feet, and she was pretty sure they both felt it.

Chapter 12

The morning of the Great War, as Sonya had dubbed it, dawned beautiful and warm. Sonya thought it was a good omen. The flowers in the field where she was meeting Leila were full of tiny buds; the birds, gone quiet now, were still perched in their trees, waiting and watching for something to happen after having their morning disturbed. She looked at her few men and smiled. They were going to win this war and she’d be queen, as she should have been. When Leila showed up, Sonya asked her how she felt about this.

“How do I feel? I think this is a foolish thing that you’re doing. I have no idea why anyone…what were you thinking, Sonya, or were you? I mean, really. Why are you doing this? I mean now? Why are you doing this now?” Sonya asked her what she meant. “You have been around as long as I have, Sonya. So I know that you’ve not just started this planning to do this. Why right now?”

“I have always felt that I should have been queen when Sina retired and they put that upstart of a woman in my place. She has no right to sit upon the throne any more than you do. She is unmated as well as emotional. Why, did you not hear that she’d allowed herself to be kidnapped? That humans had to come and save her? What sort of queen does that?” Leila pointed out that she was the daughter to Sina, a queen of all queens still. “And that should make her a queen? No. She’s just too stupid to be queen, while I’m very brilliant.”

“Ah.” Sonya wasn’t sure what that meant but didn’t comment. She needed Leila and her army of men. She looked back at them lined up in tight lines and their armor. There were hundreds of them. “What is the plan? I’m assuming that we’re not going to stand here until they simply come out and give themselves up, are we?”

That was what Sonya had planned. To her way of thinking, once they saw what a great army they had, the queen would come sobbing out of the castle and simply beg for her life. She was slightly embarrassed that she had nothing more to offer the Doran.

“I’m going to storm the castle.” But that was going to be hard. First of all, it was still miles from them, and in order to walk that far…it would take the wind out of her army. They had magic, not fighting skills.

“I think you should have thought this through better. Why don’t we all go home and we can do this when you’re more organized?” Sonya felt her temper snap, but before she could do or say anything, Leila spoke again. “Do it and I’ll end your very life right here. I’ve no time for foolishness.”

A great white horse could be seen coming toward them. It was a winged one, she could see now, a Pegasus.
Oh, to have gotten a few of them
, Sonya thought just as the rider and horse landed with a soft thud before them. It was Kendra, the queen, and before she could dismount, the rest of the royals were there too. Even the Lannings were there, their huge leopards just suddenly appearing.

Sonya had a sudden thought. This was a bad idea. A fucking horrifically bad idea. And she was afraid it was too late to do anything about it. As the former king and queen stood with the cats, Kendra walked toward her and Leila. Before she could do more than think about lifting up her sword, she was disarmed and lifted several inches from the ground. Magic held her as tightly as her belt did around her waist even as Kendra’s fingers dug deep in her throat. The only difference was her belt wouldn’t kill her. This woman, in all her fury, could and would.

“I should simply end you now and be done with your ass.” Sonya swallowed twice before she found her tongue. But Kendra spoke again. “What did you hope to gain by this display? You were never going to take my castle. And you know as well as I do the rules of magic. Just what do you think you’re going to be able to do now that you’re here?”

“I have an army.” Kendra looked behind her, and Sonya knew that she could see them all. “I will win against you. You are lazy and without the army that I lead. Put me down and I’ll make your death quick.” Sonya had no intentions of making her death anything but long and painful, but the queen had no way of knowing that.

“Oh really? And just how did you plan to accomplish this, Sonya? Making my death, slow or quick, would be impossible for you. As for you having your own army, have you seen what I have with me?” Sonya had and started to laugh. “Hold your tongue. I have the great army behind you, the one in front of you, and should you look to my sky, you’ll see them there as well.”

The shadow fell over her, and she glanced up. It was all she could do with Kendra holding her this way. But she saw them. It was more than enough to tell her that the dragons, long since dormant, had been woken and were now flying over her and her men. Then it occurred to what she’d said about the army behind her.

“That is my army. The one that I brought with…. What do you mean you have them at my back? There are no men at my back that I do not own.” Leila cleared her throat and she looked at her. “You said you’d fight with me. That you’d help me take the castle from this upstart. You cannot back away now.”

“Actually, all I said was that I’d come here with my people. I never said I’d fight with you. It was never my intention to do more than what my grandson asked me to do. He said to come with you and I have.”

Sonya felt her anger soar out of control. Laughter…she could hear it echoing in her head as well as all around her. When she lifted her hand to touch Kendra’s arm to jerk free she was thrown back, her body flying far before it hit something solid behind her. The big cat stood before her and growled loudly.

Her body was hurting. The pain of it, and it was everywhere, was making her breathing painful. She couldn’t lift her arms. Her fingers even felt like someone had crushed them with a stone. The leopard who had thrown her here never moved, his body at the ready to pounce. His fur, his beautiful fur, stood on end as he showed her his teeth.

Then Kendra was at his side, her fingers dusting gently over his fur. The smile that she gave her told Sonya that she was going to die and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. But she was going to try.

“Take my men as prisoners, but I will serve you.”

Kendra turned, and they watched as the eleven men she’d brought with her laid down their arms when told to. Then as they knelt low with their necks outstretched, their heads were removed by a single blow to each from the army that Leila had brought with her. Sonya looked at Kendra when she spoke.

“You have caused an upheaval against my castle. You brought those men, men who trusted you, to their deaths by them coming here and laying their lives on the line for you. Because of what you did today, because of the way you acted out, you too will be beheaded.” Sonya told her that it was unfair, that she deserved better than them. “And why do you think that?”

“Because I am a great woman. Please. I made a mistake.” Kendra reached out and touched her finger to her arm. Almost as soon as she realized she’d been healed, Sonya was jerked from the rock wall behind her and thrown to the ground. The man standing over her, clothed all in black, held his sword to his chest, waiting for some sort of sign. “I’m a good person. I just thought I could do a better job than you. I still believe that, but I won’t try to kill you anymore. Let me go and I’ll even go to the castle now and advise you on matters that I see you lacking in.”

“You still do not understand, do you?” Sonya asked her what was to understand. “You are going to die, Sonya. Today, this very hour. Do you have any idea why you’re going to be killed? Do you still believe that you can bargain for your life when you were going to give me no such quarter?”

“Yes. But you have it all wrong. Because you think that I’ll come back and try this again. I won’t. This was doomed for failure from the start. I should have planned better. Had more men. I just thought that with my powerful magic that I could take you and the family. I even researched how to do it. Beheading royalty is not as simple as it looks.” When Kendra laughed, Sonya looked up at her with a smile. “You like that I have done some work on this?”

“No. I don’t really care, but if you thought your magic would work against me and my family, you should have done more research. You know the rules with magic as well as anyone, Sonya. You cannot use it against another person without causing great harm to yourself.” Sonya asked her what she meant. “Go ahead and use your considerable power against me. I will allow you one time to show the world here just what happens to magic in my kingdom. Or anywhere for that matter. It’s the way of the land.”

Sonya felt empowered. Standing up with the help of the man who would have beheaded her, she tried to think of her strongest spell. This was going to be great. Her mind kept rolling around the fact that Kendra was so stupid that she’d let her, Sonya, take her down. When the magic came to her, she nodded once and looked at the upstart.

The power tingled along her arms, and her body felt gifted, stronger than it ever had. When she decided that killing the woman would be her best bet, Sonya unleashed her magic and shoved it as hard as she could at Kendra.

Nothing seemed to be happening. And when Kendra took a step toward her, Sonya thought that she’d lied to her. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but she was pissed. Then the burning in her arms began.

“You see, you can’t use your magic on us. None of the family, and most certainly against those that have done nothing to you. It comes back on you tenfold. In your research, did you come across that?” She had, but never thought it applied to what she was doing. It was for a greater cause. Her being queen would negate that little rule. Sonya felt the earth move under her feet when she realized what Kendra was saying was true. “You feel it, don’t you, Sonya? The magic, the power of it. Imagine what it was that you so carelessly tried to use on me. Now multiply it times ten, then ten, then ten again. You’ll see that you never had a chance to harm any of us. Even had you gotten into the castle, you would have been powerless against us.”

“Make it stop.” All of her insides were burning. Not just her skin now, but her stomach, her muscles, as well as her brain. “Please, it hurts.”

The muscles in her legs could no longer hold her up, and Sonya fell to the ground. As she watched, looking at her bare feet, she could see them shrivel, the burning skin falling off in great pieces. Bones that had been burned dry broke and blew away in the slight wind. On her hands, too, each finger dropped off, falling into her lap and burning hotly through her dress. She was burning from the inside out, and the pain was excruciating.

“I will not help you, Sonya. To do so would make me seem weak. And wasn’t that one of the things you told everyone I was? I must show that I’m a good leader so that no one will try this again. You will be an example to them all.”

Kendra started away just as Sonya felt her head explode in pain. Before her vision was gone, she saw the great leopard coming toward her, his huge head just at her face.

“Kill me.” He didn’t, of course, and she suffered all the more for him being so close, watching her as if she were a grand play on the stage. Just as the pain took her under, Sonya wondered what she’d been thinking. Better planning would have kept her alive.

~~~

Kendra hadn’t moved since she’d come back to the castle. Nildale was worried for his little girl. This had been harder on her than anything she’d ever done before. He moved into her private garden and sat on the seat across from her. If she noticed him, she didn’t say anything. Several swans walked around the small pond that had been put in for her recently, a gift from her mother and him.

“I need a mate.” He didn’t know what to say to her statement, so said nothing. When she continued, he knew that she’d been thinking of this for a long time, not just over this day. “I need someone that I can crawl into his arms and let him hold me while I sob out my hurt and pain.”

“I would hold you should you allow me to.” She looked at him, and he felt his heart break for her. Tears stained her cheeks, and her nose was pink from her sorrow. “She left you no choice, love. You know that, don’t you?”

“It doesn’t make it any better to deal with. I didn’t care for her either, but she was a person, just like us. A nasty one, but a person all the same.” Nildale nodded and wiped his handkerchief over his own nose and eyes. “I would ask a favor of you and Mom. It’s a big one, so wait before you answer me.”

“You know that we’d do anything that you wish. Anything.” She nodded and smiled at him. It was painful as a father to watch his child hurt and know that there was nothing at all he could do about it. As she got up to go to the swan now in the water, he kept a careful eye on her. “What is it you wish, child?”

“I would like a vacation. Not here…I’ve been here for so long that I’ve…in the other world. Where Linyah and Nic go. There are places I’d like to see. Parks with trees as big as castles. Oceans that have animals in them that are as big a ship. I want to ride a coaster, have sand between my toes. I want to walk along a beach, barefoot and without guards or others scurrying to see what my needs are. Trying to anticipate them before I say anything.” She let out a long breath as she continued. “I’d like to sleep under the stars, eat what Max has called fire foods, a hot dog on a stick burnt over an open flame. I’d like to wear shorts and jeans. T-shirts and flip-floppers. I want to be free of all, of everything, for a time.”

“And you wish for us to keep the castle for you.” When she turned to him and smiled, Nildale thought he’d do just about anything for her to do that more often. He knew that she’d not been happy for some time. The rift that had been between her sister and her had been recently mended, but he could see that it hadn’t been enough. “We can do that for you. I would ask that you do not go alone to these places. You are the queen, and I’d like for you to be safe.”