Some Were In Time (15 page)

"I expect you to finish what you started here after we're done playing with the Dragons," I told him as my eyes turned icy blue.

"I plan on it," he told me with a smirk that despite all the danger we were in made me want to throw him to the ground. God, I was wild about him.

"That was hot," Francis said with a giggle and a thumbs up.

"I thought so." I grinned at her and gave Hank a quick squeeze.

"Maybe you can give us some flirting lessons if we're still alive after tonight," Pat suggested timidly. "We've never had boyfriends before."

"Um, sure," I said, wondering how in the hell I could help them.

"Essie is a fabulous flirt," Dwayne told his girls. "She could hit on a dead man and he would get it up."

"Dwayne," Hank barked. "One more sentence about my mate and you won't have to worry about the Dragons."

"Roger that," Dwayne answered with a salute.

"Let’s go," Hank said. "Eyes open and squirt guns in front of you. It would be helpful if we kept at least one alive, but not necessary. Fight to kill because that is exactly what they will be doing."

Chapter 10

I imagined many different scenarios as we made our way to the back of the house. The one that greeted us stopped me dead in my tracks. On the near side of the pool twelve Dragons sat casually on cushions of hunter green and cream stripes that adorned the teak pool furniture. Behind them on the far side stood nine shifted wolves. Their scent was barely familiar as a shifter. The human side of the wolves was almost missing. Their eyes were an alarming shade of red that I'd never seen. All nine foamed at the mouth as they pawed the ground in agitation.

"What the hell?" I muttered as I froze and took in the horrifying scene.

Dwayne, Granny and his four Cows stood about a hundred feet to our left and gaped in confusion at the array of enemies before us.

"What's wrong with them?" I whispered to Hank.

"Don't know, but I'm sure we're about to find out," he muttered and stepped forward. "You're trespassing on private property," he said to the Dragons in a tone that belied the fury I felt building inside him.

"Is that so?" the Dragon in the front asked with a slick smile that made me uncomfortable, and my wolf claw at my insides for release.

They were a beautiful species—dark, mysterious and deadly. All of the Dragons I'd come upon thus far had black hair, sky-high cheekbones, full lips and gorgeous bodies. They stood over six feet tall and had eyes that appeared to switch from green to yellow with their moods. Right now they were a mixture of both.

"Yes, it
is
so," Hank shot back, equally as slick. "I'd suggest you leave on your own accord before you're forced. Violently."

"Now there's an irony," the Dragon said as he stood and casually stepped closer.

My body tensed and my fingers itched to wrap themselves around his very pretty neck. Hank, feeling my aggression, moved in front of me to stop me from throwing down the gauntlet first. He was correct. It was far wiser to let them make the initial move. I didn't for a second think we'd leave here without a battle, but stranger things had happened.

The other Dragons chuckled as the leader continued. It made me want to grind my teeth. Not helping matters—I could literally smell the fear from the Cows behind me.

"Yes, we were warned to leave by the staff. As you can see, that counsel fell on deaf ears," he purred and grinned, revealing a set of razor sharp fangs.

"And full stomachs," another added with a slimy smirk as he joined his comrade.

"I'm sorry," I said as I stepped out from behind Hank. "Could you clarify what you just implied?" I was fairly sure I understood, but desperately wanted to believe I was mistaken.

"You are quite daft for being so alluring," the Dragon said as he leered at me.

"Not daft at all," I shot back with a tight smile. "Just wanted to make sure you're as revolting as you seem before I remove your head."

He threw his head back and laughed. He patted his stomach and smacked his lips together. "They were delicious—screamed and fought the entire time we ate them. Quite a challenging meal."

Dwayne's cry of anguish was stupidly ignored by the Dragons as they kept their focus on Hank and me. I knew without looking the terrified Cows were backing away. Not good. It would be much easier for the Dragons to have them for dessert if they were far from us. Reaching down into the bag of Vampyre tricks I had no clue how to use, I willed the Cows to come closer. I felt them fight it, but it worked. They were now at our backs and shaking like leaves in a storm.

"You killed innocents," Hank ground out. "They had no part in your game."

"We were hungry," a third Dragon said sulkily as he and the rest rose and formed a semi-circle around their leader. "And they were rude."

The rabid looking wolves held their ground on the far side of the pool. staring with hatred at both the Dragons and us. Hell, were they in charge here?

"They were humans. They had no way to defend themselves," Dwayne hissed furiously. His skin was now iridescent and his eyes glowed. Granny held his arm as she struggled to keep from floating away. The Cows behind him looked close to fainting.

Again the Dragons ignored him as if he wasn't there. Were they stupid or did their arrogance make them careless?

"We've come for you," the Dragon said as he pointed at Hank and me. "There are some who wish to meet you before your untimely death. I really don't understand the curiosity about you two. You're just lowly wolves."

The laughter from the rest of the Dragons went all through me. My fangs dropped and my claws exploded from my fingertips. I held back the rest of my shift with great effort. I'd have a better chance in my Vampyre-laced human form than I would as a wolf.

"Actually, I'm in the mood for some steak," the one to the left of the talkative asshole added as he zeroed in on the Cows.

"Yes, that is very interesting. I thought we had eliminated the Were Cow species years ago. Looks like we missed a few," the head Dragon said with disgust. "Easily remedied."

"Actually, not so easy," Dwayne shouted in a voice which finally caught the attention of the Dragons.

Never in my life had I seen Dwayne look so frighteningly inhuman. His anger flew off of him in waves of purple crackling light. The beams were visible and clearly blistering as his daughters backed away, slapping out the small fires igniting their clothes. Granny stayed with him. She took in his magic and added a pink flame of her own to the violet electricity flowing out of Dwayne.

"You. Ate. My. Staff. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find humans who will work for Vampyres? Not to mention,
I liked them
," he bellowed so loudly we all winced.

He was literally on fire now and the Dragons had the wherewithal to finally look alarmed. However, it was too late…

"You remember Dwayne's party trick you never wanted to witness?" Hank whispered as he stealthily moved the Cows and me away from Dwayne and back toward the house.

"Oh shit," I gasped as I quickened my pace as much as I could without being obvious. "You're joking."

"Nope, I'm not. Duck and cover when they blow," he instructed under his breath.

"What in tarnation do you mean blow?" Francis choked out in a trembling voice.

Before we could answer Dwayne let out a sound so shrill I slapped my hands over my ears. The ground shifted beneath us and the six Dragons in the front sprinted towards my BFF in an effort to stop the noise. Bad move… or more accurately, last move.

Dwayne's voice rose to a pitch so high it shattered all the windows on the entire back of the mansion. Shards and chunks of glass rained down on us, glittering like deadly confetti in the mid-morning sun. The six Dragons closest to him inflated like ticks. The screaming was horrifying but I couldn't turn away. It was akin to watching the most ridiculous and gory horror flick ever imagined. Their skin turned a mottled purple and they blew up like bombs.

Guts and body parts flew like projectiles as we ducked and covered. The Cows forced Hank and I beneath them and took the brunt of the disgusting mess. My gag reflex kicked in with a vengeance and I was grateful my stomach was empty. Green gooey bile floated on top of the water in the pool and we were all covered in unidentifiable remains.

Dwayne and Granny had collapsed to the ground. The other four Cows surrounding them covered their passed out bodies. There were six Dragons left and they were pissed. They stood drenched in the goop that used to be their brothers. The shock had numbed them and they stood with mouths agape and eyes flaming. Tendrils of smoke wafted from each of their noses and dangerous fangs ripped from their gums.

"We have about thirty seconds before those psychos shift and cook us," I grunted as I pushed Francis and Pat off of me and went for my squirt gun. "Shoot. Now," I shouted as I aimed and fired into the open mouths of the Dragons.

It was either the shock of the catastrophe we had just witnessed or the bovines had bigger balls than I had thought. Without any prodding, pun intended… the Cows jumped to their feet and fired the solution directly into the kissers of the Dragons. Their aim was so accurate I paused to appreciate it. The gals could shoot—possibly better than me. In that glorious moment I decided to cut a deal with the girls. I would teach them how to flirt and they would give me their shooting secrets. My end of the bargain was probably impossible, but I would give it my all.

"Take that, you mother humper," Pat shrieked as she shot the disgusting fluid at the Dragons.

As we hit our bulls-eyes the Dragons coughed and gagged.

"What have you done?" a Dragon screamed as he spit the vile liquid from his mouth.

"I can't shift," another growled in fury as his arms flew wildly over his head.

The confusion and slippery debris had turned the monster movie into a macabre comedy as the Dragons collided into each other in their efforts to get to us and kill. Thankfully the battle would be in human form. I loved Junior so much at that moment it made my teeth hurt.

"You ready, baby?" Hank yelled over the chaos.

Sparks of color I'd never seen from him rolled off his huge frame. His power was massive and the Dragons took notice immediately. For a brief moment Hank even frightened me. He was like an avenging angel from Hell, but he was my angel, and I was going to fight right beside him.

"I'm ready."

I quickly glanced to my left to see if Dwayne and Granny would be available for back up. They were slowly rising to their feet with help from the Cows. They were disoriented and unstable on their feet. Hank and I were on our own.

"It's just you and me," I told him as I rolled my neck and prepared to rip off some Dragon head.

The enormous burst of green and yellow smoke took me by surprise. I couldn't even see my hand in front of me. I closed my eyes and tried to go by scent, but it was impossible—too many odors permeated the air. How the hell could we fight blind? More importantly, could the Dragons fight blind?

I reached for Hank but he was gone. My gut clenched and I dropped to the ground to see if the smoke was rising. If I could find feet I could find a Dragon. The whimpering of the Cows made me stop. They were going to be filet mignon for the enemy if they didn't shut up.

"Quiet," I hissed as I felt for them. "Don't lead them to us."

It seemed like an eternity, but it couldn't have been more than a minute or two before the smoke began to clear. I spotted Hank by the pool crouched low. Granny and Dwayne were huddled with their Cows and I was with the remaining girls. However, the Dragons were gone.

"Where in the hell did they go?" I got to my feet and cautiously walked toward Hank.

Could they render themselves invisible? Had the solution failed? Did they shift and fly to the roof?

"They're gone," Harley said as she sniffed the air. "I was really hoping to fart off those bastards."

"Are you sure?" Hank asked tersely as he scanned the area.

"Yes siree, they're gone," Pat added. "I really wanted to pinch a stinky off and aim at one of them bastard's mouths."

"Actually," I said with an inappropriate laugh as I tried to wipe some goop off, "I'm sorry you didn't get to do that too."

"Next time," Pat grunted. "Next time I'm gonna singe every hair on one of them goobers right off. Then when they're screaming I'm gonna drop a load on their head."

"Alrighty then," I gagged out, knowing the visual would stick. "We need to clean this mess up and… "

The growl from the far side of the pool halted my speech. The Dragons were gone, but the rabid looking Wolves were not. So much for getting out injury free…

"Shift," Hank shouted at the Wolves, who ignored him and paced in agitation.

"Were they with the Dragons or are they here on their own?" I asked Hank as I stood with him and stared at the Wolves on the far side of the pool.