Violca's Dragon (18 page)

Kati and Eva share Scott’s room. The guys, having decided that they were going to take turns patrolling the area and would sleep in the living room, the girls all took different rooms. Kati sits in the chair near the window with a small light, finishing up her picture of a panther fighting a man. She started the picture last week and is just finishing up the details. The man’s body is covered in tattoos. Even his bald head has a tattoo. The tattoo is of a snake wrapped around his chest, around part of his neck, so the snake looks like it’s going to come out and bite you from the back of his skull.

Eva lies snoring softly in bed and Kati gets up quietly, putting her sketchpad away. Hearing a noise outside, she goes to the window and parts the blinds. Seeing a movement in the yard below, she finds Scott standing up after removing his pants. Her eyes caress his naked back, widening when she sees his butt. The moonlight shines on his body and she gasps when he glances up at her. Her cheeks heat as she drops the blinds, praying he didn’t see her. Taking several deep breaths, she parts the blinds again to see a black panther looking up at her window. The panther seems to bow its head at her before turning and quickly dashing off into the woods behind the house.

Kati watches, unable to look away. The moonlight shining on his black fur looks amazing, and Kati tries to put the image to memory to draw later. She wishes she were closer to take a better look at him in this form. For the last year, several of her drawings have been of a panther. Not that anyone has seen those drawings. For some reason they always felt too personal to share with anyone.

When Kati is no longer able to see him, she slowly makes her way to the bed. Curling up on her side, she holds the pillow tight. Breathing in Scott’s scent, she smiles to herself. Realizing she is developing crush on him, she bites her lip and holds her pillow tighter as she drifts into a deep sleep.

Chase and Scott spend the better part of the next afternoon checking out Violca’s house and the neighborhood, looking for anything out of place. A person, a smell, anything that will tell them if the demon and his minions are watching the place, but find nothing. Having decided that the best time to take the girls would be after the sun goes down, they go back to the house.

Since Scott will be the one to go with them, Chase suggests Kati go as well. Chase understands Scott’s need to be near her.

Telling the others the plan, he suggests everyone rest since it will be a long night. When he proposes Kati go, Brandon speaks up, “Why don’t I go instead?”

Chase shakes his head. “Kati knows where everything is so it will be faster. Plus that way you are here with Eryk to help protect everyone else.”

Nodding at his words, Chase turns to look at Eva. “If you want something particular make sure one of them knows, and we will pick it up.”

Eva nods and Chase sees the look on her face. He can tell she wants to say something but holds back. The rest of the day the house is surprisingly quiet despite the large number of people and the two younger girls.

Chase stands on the porch, watching as the sun starts to set. Feeling a small hand slide into his, he looks down to see Angyalka standing next to him. “Hey sweetie,” he says when she looks up at him.

Angyalka’s usual sparkling blue eyes appear almost solemn. “Don’t be sad Chase. Violca will be ok.”

Chase frowns at her. “What do you mean?”

Angyalka smiles up at him. “You will save her, don’t worry.” With those words she releases his hand and runs back into the house.

Shaking his head, he follows, wanting to ask her what she meant. Walking into the living room, he sees Kati coming down the stairs at the same time Scott comes out of the kitchen. When she almost runs into him, her cheeks turn several shades of red before she quickly turns and heads down the hall. Chase raises an eyebrow at his friend who just shrugs.

Wondering what that was about, Chase heads upstairs, deciding to take a shower then make a pot of coffee to help him stay awake for the long night ahead.

Violca spends most of the day bored. She is not used to spending the day with nothing to do. With so many adults in the house, she barely has to lift a finger. By the time the sun sets she is more than ready to go. She wants to go home, to sleep in her bed, but she knows that being here is the safest place to be.

She sees Scott standing in the doorway to the room she is using and smiles at him. “Time to go?” she asks.

“Yep, would you mind letting Kati know?”

Violca nods, getting up from the chair by the window. Kati is in the room with Eva. The door is open and she sees Kati drawing, curled up in the chair while Eva is on the bed reading.

Watching Kati’s pencil fly over the paper, she wonders what her sister is working on. Violca can always tell by the expression on Kati’s face what she is thinking or feeling. If she is working on something she finds difficult her brow scrunches up. If she is not happy with something she looks mad enough to spit. But her favorite is when Kati closes her eyes as if picturing something only she can see.

When she clears her throat, both Eva and Kati look up. Violca glances over at Kati. “Hey, it’s time to go.”

She then looks down at Eva, smiling and kissing her on the forehead. “I love you brat, stay safe.”

Eva’s blue eyes meet hers. “Love you, come back quickly okay?”

“Yes ma’am.” Violca feels better when Eva smiles back at her. Violca might have parental custody of all the girls, but she knows she never would have been able to manage this without the help of her friends and Eva and Kati. Their relationship isn’t traditional, but Violca would not have it any other way.

Heading downstairs with Kati, Violca sees Scott and Chase waiting for them. She feels Kati tighten up next to her. Looking at her sister, she sees her blushing. Looking back at Chase and Scott, she raises an eyebrow. Chase shrugs and Scott just smiles. “Remember in and out, we didn’t see anyone earlier, but we don’t want to take any chances.”

Scott pulls up to the house and stops Violca before she can open the door. “Wait in here while we check the inside of the house, just in case.”

Violca hands him the keys then watches Chase and Scott go inside. Once they are there, Violca looks at Kati. “Is everything okay? Did something happen I don’t know about?”

Kati’s blue eyes widen as she shakes her head. “No, no nothing happened. Why?”

Violca watches her for a minute, thinking she is hiding something. “Are you sure?”

“Why, why do you ask?”

Kati bites her lower lip and sighs. “Nothing, you just seem a little nervous.”

Before Kati can reply they see Scott in the doorway, waving them in. “If you need to talk about anything, Kati, please know I am here for you.”

Kati nods and they head to the house. Kati is going to pack up what she and Eva need, both clothes and a few things to keep them busy, while Violca packs up what she and the two younger girls need. When they get to the front door, Scott smiles. “All clear, ladies. Chase is in the backyard, and I am going to keep an eye out here. Get whatever you need for a few days, but try not to take too long.”

Both girls nod before walking down the hall to their separate rooms. Searching through her closet, Violca finds a small bag. She first heads to the bathroom to get a toothbrush and hairbrush and other toiletries. She grabs a few of the books by her nightstand before heading back into her closet to find some clothes.

Stepping out of the closet with a few shirts on her arm, she feels the air change around her. Violca looks up to see a man standing in front of her. He stands over six feet tall with a shaved head and shoulders that don’t look like they will fit through her doorway. Before she can scream, he is suddenly in front of her, chanting some words that she can’t make out. Her world is suddenly black as she feels her legs go out from under her.

Chase stands in the backyard, walking around, listening to the sounds of the night. He looks at his watch, it’s been a little over ten minutes. Looking back at the house, he wonders how he is going to be able get Violca to understand that, yes, he met her because of his job, but his feelings for her are only about her and have nothing to do with the mission.

Chase glances at his watch again, knowing that every minute they stay here is dangerous. Inhaling, Chase suddenly smells traces of magic tainted by sulfur. He hears Scott yell from the front and he runs to the sliding glass door. Entering, he sees Scott in the front door and they both run down the hall, Scott following Kati’s smell to her room, Chase running to Violca’s.

When he gets there, Chase sees a pile of clothes on the floor by the dresser, and the smell of sulfur and magic overwhelmingly coming from the corner of the room. Walking toward it, he inhales deeply the scent centered in one area. “Fuck, a portal,” he growls.

He hears a loud growl coming from Kati’s room before something loud crashes against the wall. Walking into the hall, he sees Scott coming out of the other room. “Demon portal,” Chase announces.

“Fuck,” Scott says between gritted teeth, and Chase can see his friend’s fist at his sides.

Knowing Scott as upset as he is, he nods. “Grab what Kati packed, I will get what Violca started to pack and a few things for Sari and Angyalka. They still need clothes, and then we need to figure out where he took them.”

They quickly throw a few things in the bag. Chase has Scott sit in the passenger seat, afraid that his friend won’t be able to drive home safely. His hands are holding the wheel so tight, his knuckles turn white as thinks about how to find the demon, Micah. Micah has a few different aliases, making it hard to track him. When they pull up to the house, he sees Angyalka on the porch.

Getting out of the SUV, he walks over to her, letting her jump into his arms. “What are you doing awake, little one?”

Yawning, she puts her head on Chase’s shoulders as she snuggles closer to him. “I couldn’t sleep, I forgot to tell you that Brandon can help you.”

Chase frowns, looking down at her. “What do you mean Brandon can help us, Angel?”

Angyalka pulls back. “To help save my sisters, silly.”

Brandon hears those last words as he walks down the stairs. “What do you mean save her sisters, where are Violca and Kati?”

Chase looks up, his eyes meeting Brandon’s. He can see the fierce look on Violca’s friend’s face and winces knowing Brandon will blame him. Not that he shouldn’t, Chase blames himself. He should have stayed in the room with Violca. He should have realized that the demon would have done something like that. “The house was empty when we got here. I didn’t realize that the Demon, Micah is strong enough to make portals, let alone ones that can pull others through.”

Chase watches Brandon’s reaction as his hand fists at his sides. Putting Angyalka down, he kisses the top of her head. “Hey Angel, why don’t you go back to bed while Brandon and I talk.”

Nodding, she starts to go upstairs. When she gets halfway up, she stops and runs down, running into Scott’s leg, looking up at him. “Kati will be okay, I promise,” she whispers, then runs to Brandon, hugging him tight.

When she releases him, Brandon looks down at her with a small smile on his lips. “Go back to bed, little trouble maker.” She nods and heads back up the stairs. Everyone is quiet until they hear the door to her bedroom close.

“Brandon, I’m sorry. I never should have left her alone in the room.” The words are barely louder than a whisper.

Brandon stands, his shoulders rigid, and Chase lets down his mental guard enough for Brandon to feel his pain. “Give me the information you have on this demon,” Brandon says.

Chase walks into the house and heads to the back room. The room is small and has a tiny desk that barely fits the laptop on it. Bending down, going through one of the boxes, he picks out a file. “Kassandra, a girl who works with us, was able to find several of his aliases and some information about him, but not much.”

Brandon nods, going through it, looking over the information on the file. “Can I use this computer?”

Chase nods and Brandon sits down. “This could take a little while, would you mind making me a pot of coffee?”

Chase raises an eyebrow, biting back a reply, and heads to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Knowing that Brandon won’t like him watching over his shoulder, he runs his fingers through his hair, sighing in frustration. Walking to the living room, he sees Scott standing on the porch through the screen door. Deciding to leave him alone, he paces in the living room, trying to be patient, fighting the urge to shift and look for her.

Violca moans. Her stomach feels queasy as she blinks open her eyes. Confused, she sits up in the strange bed and sees Kati in another bed, lying on her side. Getting up quickly, she goes to her sister, gently shaking her shoulder. “Kati, Kati, sweetie wake up.”

Violca sighs in relief when Kati’s hand comes up to her head. “Kati, are you okay?”

Kati’s eyes slowly blink open and she winces as she tries to sit up. “What happened?” she asks.

“I don’t know, the last thing I remember was grabbing some shirts from my closet. All of a sudden there was a guy there and…everything went black.”

Kati nods, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yeah there was a guy who just suddenly appeared in my room, too.”

Besides the two beds there is a table with two chairs, a dresser, and French doors. Kati slowly gets up, looking around. Everything in the room is high quality and looks very expensive. Red with gold strings runs through everything.

Both girls look at the French doors and Kati slowly stands up. They walk to the door together. Violca puts her hand on the gold handle, looking at Kati before shrugging, “It’s worth a shot?”

Opening the door, the girls step onto the balcony. The room faces a huge, immaculate yard surrounded by a tall brick wall. Walking to the edge of the banister, they look down to see two very big men below. “Shit,” Violca mumbles. One turns up and looks at her, his eyes red as he smirks, daring her to jump.

Stepping away from the banister, she bites her lower lip, her eyes meeting Kati, and she fights the urge to flip off the guy below her. Walking back into the room, Violca closes the door, not wanting the men below to hear anything they say.

“What do you think the odds are that there are people at that door too?” Kati asks, as she eyes the bedroom door.

Taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly, Violca squares her shoulders. “Only one way to find out.” She walks straight to the door, and grabbing the knob, she tugs. Realizing it’s locked, she kicks it hard, wincing as pain shoots through her toe.

“Guess it doesn’t matter unless you know how to pick a lock,” Violca says, with a grin when Kati makes a face. “Guess I should have encouraged you to hang out more with the wrong crowd at school.”

Kati laughs and Violca feels some of the tension ease from the room. Violca sits on the edge of the bed trying to think of possible escape routes. Kati pulls her from her thoughts. “What do you think they want with us?”

Playing with the edge of the comforter, Violca shrugs. “I am not sure. I don’t know how they expect us to find some Dragon Stone. I wouldn’t even know where to look.” Sighing, she runs her fingers through her hair then her hand slides to the part of her neck where she can still feel Chase’s bite and it tingles under her fingertips. “Mom said we are important and that we each have special gifts. I kind of thought she was doing her Mom ‘God made you special, you can do anything’ speech she used to give us, but maybe she meant something else.”

Kati shrugs, rubbing the back of her head again.

“Does your head still hurt?”

Kati nods and Violca pats the bed next to her. “Come here, I want to try something.”

Kati gets up, a skeptical look on her face. “You are not going to zap me like you did that guy, are you?”

“Maybe, now sit down and be quiet while I think,” Violca says with a smile, glad her sister’s spirit is up enough to tease her.

Motioning for her to turn, Violca runs her fingers over her sister’s scalp. In the beginning of the book, the girl’s gift was healing people and plants. It reminded her of when she first met AnnaBelle and the plants that she touched. Not sure what exactly to do, she concentrates on taking her sister’s pain and almost cries out when the back of her head starts to pound.

Kati jumps up, looking at her, her eyes wide in surprise. “My head doesn’t hurt anymore,” she whispers.

The pounding in Violca’s head slowly eases and she nods. “Good.”

“We always teased you about having a healing touch but it was never…” Kati’s voice trails off as she chews on her lower lip before she looks back at Violca. “What did you do?”

Violca shrugs. “I don’t know. The little bit of the book I read so far mentioned that the person they considered to be the first, could heal people, and plants would grow at her touch. It reminded me of when AnnaBelle and I first met, and a few plants I touched recently seemed to grow when I touched them, so I thought I would try.”

Kati smiles at her before taking her hand, squeezing it. “Well it’s pretty cool, thank you.”

Violca grins back, the moment ending when they hear someone outside the door. The nob turns slowly and in walks the man with the shoulder length, silver hair. He is again surrounded by men who are all muscular. Violca thinks they look like skin heads who were converted to be bodyguards. Most of them appear to have that same scorpion tattoo on their neck, except for one, whose neck looks to be part of a snake.

Hearing a small gasp, Violca looks to Kati to see her eyes focused on the man with the snake tattoo who is standing to the right of the silver haired man. Violca grabs her hand and squeezes it tight, turning her attention to the men in front of them.

The silver haired man, unlike his bodyguards, is wearing a suit that she would bet is tailored just for him. He carries himself like a man used to getting his way. She notices his eyes are a dark brown and a small smile plays on his lips. When he finally speaks, he does so with a hint of a French accent. “Violca, my dear, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you and your sister, Kati. My name is Micah. I was hoping to be able to meet you under different circumstances, but alas, some things are beyond our control, yes?”

Violca glares at him, feeling her sister’s hand tighten. “Why have you kidnapped us?”

Micah chuckles softly. “Why, to get you away from the dragons and panther shifters, of course. Your telepathic friend, I think, would have been more reasonable, but I could not be sure, so this seemed the best way to get you alone, chère.”

Violca hears the word telepathic friend, and she stores that bit of information for later. “If you want to talk to me, fine, then let my sister go. I will talk to you all you like.”

Micah’s eyes flash red before returning brown. “I don’t think so my dear, Violca. I know as long as I have your sister here you will be most cooperative. I have watched you with them and know you will do anything to protect them.” His smile becomes almost predatory as he steps closer to her and runs his finger down her cheek. Violca fights the urge to shudder as he stares at her mouth, his eyes going red again. “Family is important to you, as it should be. I will do my best to reunite you with the rest of yours sisters and keep you together.”

Violca gasps, but before she can say anything Kati gets up and slaps his arm away. “Do not touch my sister.”

Violca is almost frozen in place, surprised by her sister’s sudden protectiveness and bravery, until the man with the snake tattoo smacks Kati so hard she flies across the room. Violca’s anger rises and she feels that weird current building. Her hand goes up and the energy leaves, like a bolt of lightning, and shocks him. When he falls, she glimpses the head of a snake on the back of his skull before she runs to Kati.

“Are you okay?” Violca kneels at her sister’s side, seeing a bruise form on her cheek as she moans.

The man with the snake tattoo snarls and steps toward them, but Micah suddenly grabs him by the shoulder and flings him back behind him, growling, “I told you not to touch them.” Micah’s eyes are red and flashing as he smacks him across the face, causing him to fly out of the room.

Kati opens her eyes. Violca sighs in relief, wishing she knew how she managed to get that energy in her hand and how to control it. Would it be enough to get them out of this house? As if reading her mind, Micah, in a very calm, quiet voice says, “There are men everywhere, my dear, Violca, and your power is new and unpredictable. You cannot escape.” He looks behind her to her sister. “I am sorry, my dear, Kati, he never should have touched you. I will arrange some food for you both. You have my assurance, no one else will harm you while you are here.” He looks toward Violca. “But they will not let you leave, so if you try to escape I will separate you and your sister. I would rather not hurt her, but don’t tempt me.”