Page 16 of Lahaina Noon (Modern Legends of Dragons & Shadows #1)
Chapter 16
“ I knew it!” she ranted, stomping back and forth across the trail by their bench. “I just knew it was too good to be true.” She walked by, and Vaughn reached out to grab her hand. She shook him off and kept up her pacing. “Of course, it’s me. Gorgeous man who looks like sex incarnate takes an interest in me. Oh, and he’s not just hot, he’s kind, thoughtful, funny, appreciates my stupid jokes and is crazy smart. Let’s not forget he’s a DRAGON!” she shouted. “He thinks I’m smart, my friends like him. Hell, my son worships the ground he walks on.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I was just offered the opportunity of a lifetime with a role I can kick ass at, an amazing office at a major company, a chance to travel, and my new boss fucks like a god, and I’m a damsel in some romance novel.”
She whirled around and stared him down. “And now, you tell me some fucking shadow king who thinks he’s the Angel of Death wants me dead because some dude thousands of years ago picked me at random to be some sort of… what? A hero of prophecy to end a race of soul-selling shadow assholes? Is that what you are telling me, Va ughn Drake? Is that what the fuck, you are telling me right now?” she seethed.
He could see her shaking in her anger, and it was glorious. He decided it was best not to tell her how much he was turned on right now. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate it. “Well,” he said cautiously, “I wouldn’t have summarized it quite like that, but yeah, I guess that pretty much sums it up.” He paused, then grinned at her, “You think I fuck like a god?”
Bridget stared at him, speechless.
He batted his eyes at her, and she couldn’t hold on to her anger anymore.
She laughed until she had to sit down in the grass and cried.
He sat next to her, putting his arms around her quaking shoulders. “I’m so sorry, my love,” he said, “I didn’t want to tell you, but you needed to know. I promised you I wouldn’t hurt you, and here you are, hurting. I’m so, so, sorry, dear Bridget. I know it’s scary, but I won’t let anything happen to you. You are mine!” he growled.
She lifted her face and dashed away her tears. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m not hurt, Vaughn,” she murmured into his neck, “I’m fucking pissed.”
There didn’t seem to be much to say to that.
“Why?” she sniffed.
“Why what?”
“Why me? I get that this prophecy said so, but what’s so special about me? I’m nobody. I’m just a woman from Texas with a teenage son, a mortgage, and three cats. What could I possibly do?” she whispered, despair seeming to swamp her .
“Bridget, don’t say that. You are so much more. I don’t understand how someone as beautiful and vibrant as you doesn’t know how special you truly are.” He gave her a light shake.
She gave him a watery smile, “I bet you say that to all the women of prophecy.”
“Wielder.”
“Wield what?” She looked at him in puzzlement.
“Wielder of Prophecy. That’s what you are. Bridget, you aren’t just a person at random. You are descended from a long line of Wielders. You didn’t know because no one ever trained you. But your power is manifesting. That’s why you’ve been getting shocked and zapped. You can wield energy and when the Shadows get near, it starts responding. You need to learn how to control it. And that’s why the Shadow is coming after you harder now. They know that you are developing what you need to take them down.”
Bridget held up her hands and looked at them. “Magic wielder.” she tried out the words. She turned her hands over and wiggled her fingers. A slight current ran through them. “Holy cow!” she whispered and looked up at Vaughn.
He smiled. “Gabe is going to love that.”
Vaughn and Bridget sat there for a few minutes in the grass, watching pigeons inch closer to their discarded sandwiches. They ignored the stares of people who walked by with two beautiful Golden Retrievers on leashes. One of the dogs strained on his leash towards them, but a low-pitched growl from Vaughn’s chest sent him running the other way, dragging his owner along behind him.
Bridget laughed, “My hero, defender of damsels from shaggy dogs. ”
“You forgot the part where I’m amazing in bed,” he said with a straight face.
Bridget laughed again, “I never should have admitted that. You aren’t going to let that go, are you?” She looked up at him.
He smiled down at her and shook his head. He placed a kiss gently on her lips, then stood. He held out a hand and helped her to her feet. “Let’s go back to my place so I can change, then I’ll take you home and we can grab Gabriel and some of your belongings. You’ll be safer at my house tonight. We still need to ward your house.”
Bridget stared at him for a minute, opened her mouth then closed it. She was about to lay into him for being a high-handed alpha male when she saw a shadow drawing up behind him. She froze in place and noticed Vaughn’s body tense as well.
He whirled to face the shadow as it widened into a man-shaped form. Vaughn whispered, “Stay behind me.”
Bridget nodded; she didn’t want to go anywhere near it.
Out of the shadow, stepped a man. He was dressed nicely and looked like a suburban dad, nondescript and fairly forgettable. His green polo shirt was neat and wrinkle-free and tucked into a pair of pressed khakis. He wore tan loafers that reminded her of her junior high math teacher. If they hadn’t seen him step out of the shadows, he could have been any random guy they passed on the street.
He was like some weird Ned Flanders demon. Half Simpson’s character, half Hellspawn. She almost expected him to greet them with a “Howdy-doo!” or some other neighborly welcome. He smiled like he didn’t have a care in the world except for how green his lawn was. He finally opened his mouth. Here it was, the words of evil incarnate, something vile and foul, no doubt!
She braced herself when he said, “Well, hey y’all!” cheerfully with all the sweetness of a piece of bubble gum. She peered around Vaughn’s back, checking to see if the shadow was still there. It was. Was this guy for real? How could no one else see the shadow behind him? She then remembered Vaughn said most people couldn’t.
“Well, I sure do apologize for sneaking up behind y’all like that,” he continued, “I normally like to give a little notice I’m popping by.” He laughed as if this was a normal occurrence, and he’d stopped over for a quick beer with friends.
“What do you want?” sneered Vaughn.
“Whoa, fella, hold your horses,” the man laughed, “That’s no way to treat a friend!” He smiled at them and tried to peer over Vaughn’s shoulder at Bridget.
She ducked her head so he couldn’t make out her face. She listened as Ned continued to speak.
“I’m just looking for a friend now, y’hear? She’s a sweet little gal, the widow of a dear friend of mine. I’d heard he passed on some time back, but I just hadn’t been able to get out this way to pay my respects. His name was Brian Ridgeway, wife was Bridget.”
Bridget fought to stay quiet as all the blood in her body turned to ice. How did he know about Brian? She squeezed her eyes closed and dug down deep, trying to remember if she’d ever seen him before. He was so generic-looking; it was hard to remember if she’d ever met him. Maybe in passing? She couldn’t recall. She hoped it wasn’t true, and Brian hadn’t really been friends with a demon intent on killing her. She felt the rumble rip through Vaughn as if he could sense her fear and despair.
“What do you want with Bridget?” Vaughn demanded.
She could feel him restraining himself by the tension in his back. He was barely holding on when she knew he wanted to rip this guy to shreds. It’s too public, she realized. It’s the middle of the day in a public area. If Vaughn attacks, someone could see, and that would be a problem. She looked around her wondering if there was any means of escape or somewhere they could hide. She realized that it was futile; he controlled shadows. He could find them anywhere out here.
She had an idea. She stepped around Vaughn, gathering her courage and put on a syrupy smile. “Well, bless your sweet heart!” she crooned to Ned in her most exaggerated Southern style. “What’d you say y’alls name was? I’m Syliva, and this here’s Donald. We know that sweet little Bridget you’re talking about, but I sure don’t remember seein’ y’all before,” she continued.
Ned looked at her with confusion and then smiled back. “Much obliged, Ms. Sylvia. See, I knew Brian through our work together at the Base years back. Y’know Carswell?” He named a joint reserve base not far from here.
“Oh, sure thing, sugah,” she continued, feeling Vaughn’s gaze on her face, “Just a shame they shut that place down.”
Ned nodded knowingly. “Well, me and Brian, we used to grab a cold one after work sometimes and he would show me pictures of his bride-to-be. He invited me to their wedding even. Such a sweet couple! Quite a stunner that Bridget gal.” He winked, getting into his story. “ Well, I transferred out after that and hadn’t seen him since. Heard he’d passed away and wanted to pay my respects to the missus.”
Bridget knew this creep hadn’t been at their wedding, and Brian hadn’t worked on the base until after they were married. “Well, golly mister, I’m sure sorry you just missed her. She was here not even five minutes ago. She was walking her dog with her cousin. They went that way down the trail.” She pointed in the direction of the dog walkers, hoping they’d had enough time to get out of the park. “I’m sure if you hurry, you can catch them!” she urged.
Ned squinted at her, trying to decide if he believed her, then nodded his thanks and turned to go.
“Wait a minute, mister,” she called, “Didn’t catch your name! If you don’t find her, I’d sure like to let her know who called looking for her!”
The man gave an oily grin and told her, “Bob, ma’am. Bob Smith.” He turned and strolled down the trail as if he had no cares at all.
Bridget waited until he’d rounded the path out of view and let out a shaky breath. She looked up at Vaughn and couldn’t read the emotion on his face.
She expected a scolding, but he surprised her by wrapping her in his arms and whispering, “My little warrior.” before kissing the top of her head. “That was brilliant,” he said with pride. Then he shook her, “Don’t ever do that again!”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “I think I’d like to go pack now,” she said meekly.