Dragon Gate Read online

  It had been nearly a year since I’d been down in the tunnels beneath DGI. If I’d been thinking, I’d have grabbed a flashlight from my car. I used my cell phone for illumination instead and moved into the long tunnel. I saw sconces on the walls, but they required magic to activate them. The tunnel itself was uneven and rocky. You’d think the wizards who created this place could have smoothed out the walls, but I liked the nod to nature. After all, those rocky walls could be helpful in a fight. You could easily kill someone with some of the jutting stones. I tend to appreciate that sort of thing.

  The last time I was here, Jonathan and I fought wizards and an ancient sorcerer who tried to open the Dragon Gate.

  We’d had help from Jonathan’s ex-friend Sharon that day. I didn’t think I’d ever see the gate again, but now I could see the soft red glow on the rocks.

  I let my phone go dark. The gate threw enough light on the walls that I could see well enough, though everything was tinted orange and red.

  The wards that normally held the gate closed were in place, but I could smell something that reminded me of a campfire. The gate itself didn’t give off any aroma. I pulled out my phone and used it as a light source again. When I aimed the light at the wall, I saw a huge area of stone burned black as the handle of my katana. I leaned close and sniffed.

  Sure enough, the smell of burned wood was strong there.

  I looked at the floor and saw a bunch of scuff marks as if something heavy had been dragged from right in front of the gate and down the hall. Had the light been better as I’d approached, I suspect I’d have seen the marks all along the floor. The bottom edge of the gate showed signs of scuffing too. Something had definitely come out recently.

  I knelt and ran my fingers over the scuffs on the floor. Whatever made those scuffs must have been extremely heavy because there were deep gouges in the stone. I followed the scuffs for a few yards, but they ended suddenly. Had someone picked up whatever had been dragged? Or perhaps used magic to levitate it? I had no clue.

  I looked back at the gate. Jonathan believed it was a dimensional portal to another world, which meant our enemies were indeed interdimensional visitors. The old Jonathan would have tossed off a few jokes about that bad Indiana Jones movie with the flying saucer. I would have rolled my eyes, but truth be told, I missed my friend.

  JONATHAN SHADE

  When I sat up in bed, my chest throbbed with a dull pain. I worked my shoulder around a bit, hoping to loosen things up. A bit of stretching seemed in order. I didn’t mind the pain. I’d certainly experienced far worse.

  I got up, and glanced out the window to make sure it hadn’t snowed. The sun was out, and there were few remnants of the night’s rain. I grabbed a shower, dressed, and grabbed my keys and wallet. Then I went down to the kitchen. Two women sat at the kitchen table, eating waffles and bacon. I’d never seen them before. They looked like twins, and if Tori Amos had been there, they could have been triplets. The women had to be in their early twenties, so I figured they were Lucas’s daughters.

  They turned to look at me as I entered. “Good morning,” Tori the first said. “You must be Jonathan.”

  “Guilty,” I said. “And you are?”

  “I’m Chantelle and this is Tess.”

  I nodded. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

  “Father didn’t tell us you were so handsome,” Tess said and giggled. Chantelle giggled too.

  The giggling ruined the compliment. I felt a hypothesis forming in my mind that giggling automatically lowers the IQ of all who hear it. I didn’t want to test that hypothesis. While the women had seemed attractive at first, that faded quickly as they kept up with the giggling.

  “Is there more bacon?” I asked.

  “In the refrigerator,” Tess said. “Would you like us to fix it for you? As you’re looking out for us, we’d be happy to do anything you like while we’re here.”

  “Anything,” Chantelle said, giving me a sultry look.

  The innuendo wasn’t lost on me, but remember, they had been giggling. “I think I can manage.”

  I opened the refrigerator. It was incredibly well stocked. My own refrigerator had a few condiments and a jar of sun tea. Maybe a green onion that needed to be tossed out. The Nobles had a variety of meats, vegetables, drinks, containers of leftovers, jars of stuff I couldn’t recognize but were no doubt expensive spreads, and all of it was neatly arranged.

  Jenkins entered the room while I searched for the bacon.

  “Can I help you, sir?”

  “Just looking for some bacon,” I said.

  “Allow me,” he said. “You’re moving things around, and I’ll never be able to find what I need.”

  I stepped back and he quickly arranged the meats. I’ll bet he was a whiz at Tetris. He removed a packet of bacon.

  “Thanks, Jenkins. Got some paper towels around here?”

  “Whatever for?”

  “So I can nuke the bacon.”

  “Good heavens, Mr. Shade. A microwave literally rearranges the molecules of food. In my kitchen, it’s used only for boiling water. Sit down. I’ll prepare breakfast for you. Would you care for eggs, toast, pancakes?”

  “Sure.”

  I took a seat at the table with the two redheads. They looked at each other and, yes, they giggled again. If I’d had Lucas’s phone number, I’d have called him and told him to come pick up his girls. Instead, I forced a smile, which elicited, you guessed it, still more tittering.

  “Where is everyone, Jenkins?” I asked to avoid having to talk to the girls.

  “Mr. Easton is guarding Rayna and Graham at The Steam Room. I’m not sure where Ms. Chan went, but she said she’d be back this afternoon. As you can see, Lucas sent his daughters over, but he kept his sons with him.”

  “We were thinking about taking a shower,” Chantelle said, placing her hand on my knee.

  “You could join us,” Tess said with a grin, and you know what they did.

  “Maybe next time,” I said.

  “We’ll hold you to that,” Tess said, and cue the broken record again.

  “We’d love to hold you,” Chantelle said.

  They rose, held hands, and left the kitchen, stopping to glance over at me before they went. “We love to share too.”

  I heard them giggling all the way down the hall.

  “Hey, Jenkins?”

  He turned to face me, frying pan in hand.

  I cocked a thumb toward where the girls had gone. “What the hell is wrong with those two?”

  “I daresay, sir, everything.”

  “So it’s not just me.”

  “One of them grabbed my privates this morning,” Jenkins said as he placed bacon in the pan. “She offered to do some rather odd things to my genitals.”

  “That’s just gross.”

  “I was mortified.” He didn’t look at me. He cracked eggs and added some milk to them before using a whisk to stir them up.

  “But tempted, right?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Well, you are here to serve.”

  Now he looked at me. “I’m beginning to see why Graham despises you, sir.”

  I shrugged. Kelly wanted me to try to joke around more, and I was trying, but clearly I’d lost my touch.

  “Just messing with you, Jenkins. How well do you know Lucas and his girls?”

  He went back to cooking. “Not well. Nor do I want to know them.”

  “So they don’t spend much time over here.”

  “I’ve been with the Noble household for five years now, sir. This is the first time I’ve met the daughters. I’ve met Lucas Noble and his two sons precisely once. He didn’t socialize with his family, though I understand he and Stephen had lunch each week.”

  “Have you noticed anything odd about Graham or Rayna in the time you’ve worked for them?”

  He turned the bacon. It smelled good. “Odd? Whatever do you mean?”

  “You know, weird. Strange behavior?”

  “Sir, the
Nobles are wealthy. As such, any strange behavior, as you put it, would be considered eccentric.”

  “Fine. Any eccentric behavior?”

  “Not in the way you mean, sir. Graham insists on having the crust removed from his bread. He gives the crust to a neighborhood boy to feed to the ducks in a nearby pond. Neither Graham nor Rayna ever seem to go out on dates with anyone these days. They spend a great deal of time together, but they are not incestuous, so you needn’t concern yourself about that.”

  “Good to know.”

  “While I’m not particularly fond of you, sir, I must say that I am pleased that you and your friends are looking out for the Nobles. This dreadful business with the Marshalls had me very worried, so I appreciate your work.”

  “You say that like you already know the Marshalls.”

  “I knew Jacob and Francis. They’ve been here before.”

  “When?”

  “Six months ago. They lived here for a few months. They spent a great deal of time trying to talk Graham into going home with them.”

  “Just Graham?”

  “They wanted Stephen as well, but Stephen only visited twice in the time I’ve been here. Graham and Rayna always went to his house.”

  “Where is his house?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I’ve never been.”

  “All right. Tell me about Jacob and Francis.”

  “They were nice gentlemen. Very old-fashioned. I liked them. They had a sense of propriety about them. They were wonderful guests until the day they left.” He shook his head. “That was a day I’ll never forget.”

  “What happened?”

  “It’s not my place to discuss that, sir. You might ask Rayna about it. Breakfast is ready.”

  He served up a plate of bacon, eggs, and an English muffin. I guess the pancakes would have taken more effort.

  “Thanks, Jenkins.”

  “Would you like orange juice with that?”

  “Is there any coffee?”

  “No, sir. The Nobles tend to stay away from caffeine with the exception of hot tea.”

  “Orange juice is fine.”

  He poured a glass for me and set it on the table. Then he leaned toward me. “Please don’t allow anything bad to happen to the Nobles. They aren’t merely my employers; they are more like my family.”

  I nodded and took a sip of the orange juice. It tasted good but had more pulp than I liked. Beggars, choosers, you know the drill. I wolfed down the food, which was terrific.

  When I rose to take the dishes to the sink to rinse them, my head spun, and I had to sit back down.

  “Whoa,” I said. “Head rush.”

  “I apologize for my deception, sir.”

  “Deshepshun?” I felt myself fading. The empty dishes slipped from my hands onto the table. One started to slide off, but Jenkins caught it.

  I blinked several times then slid from the chair. It toppled backward and I fell to the floor. The room tilted and started spinning. I tried to fight it. At first I thought he’d drugged me to keep me from leaving due to my injury.

  That notion vanished when I saw a group of men who looked like they belonged in a Robin Hood movie enter through the back door.

  “We have your gold in the wagon out back.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Is the warrior woman gone?”

  “Yes, she left an hour ago, and Mr. Shade won’t present a problem,” Jenkins said. “He’ll be unconscious in moments. If you kill him, please wait until I’m not in the room. I do so hate the sight of blood.”

  “We’re not going to kill him.”

  “He killed two of your sons,” Jenkins said, being helpful.

  I tried to raise a finger to say it was self-defense, but my world went black.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  RAYNA NOBLE

  Rayna loved being at The Steam Room. She had three private training sessions lined up, and she thought Brand would follow her to the other room, but he took a seat in the waiting area.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’ll keep an eye on things from here,” he said.

  “You could come into the training room.”

  “Does it drizzle this steam shit in there too?”

  “Of course. It takes the pain out of training and soothes the muscles. It’s incredibly healthy.”

  “I took a shower this morning,” Brand said. “I don’t want to take another one here while people work out.”

  “Suit yourself. So I should call you if I need you?”

  “Esther will keep tabs on you and let me know if I’m needed. I’ll keep an eye on your brother from here.”

  Rayna wished she could see the ghost. It was a bit unnerving to know a dead woman was keeping an eye on her. She looked around at the various people working out. The Steam Room was packed this morning. She loved it when they were busy. Sure, they made plenty of money from people paying for memberships and then never using them, but she much preferred people actually making use of the facilities.

  She entered the training area and began stretching to get ready for her first client. She and her brother had hired other personal trainers, but Rayna liked to have clients of her own. It made her feel more essential to the running of the business. Graham handled all the accounting and all the major aspects of keeping the business running. Rayna mostly appeared in the TV commercials, and she taught the occasional class, but her favorite part was working as personal trainer to individuals. That’s where she felt she made a difference in someone’s life, and that difference could be measured by their gains.

  While she waited, she considered her situation. She hoped Jonathan and his team could protect her. She hoped they could keep Graham safe too. Kelly could clearly handle the Marshall Clan all by herself, but she worried that Jonathan might get killed if Kelly wasn’t there for him. Rayna wondered why he chose to live such a dangerous life. There were so many safer occupations. In any case, the Marshalls weren’t going to be much of a problem for someone such as Kelly. She just hoped the Marshalls had been unable to bring the crates with them. As long as it was just them, she felt she was safe. If they’d been able to get the crates with the destroyers through the Dragon Gate, all bets were off.

  KELLY CHAN

  The drive back to Boulder took forever in spite of the fact that I didn’t pay attention to the speed limit. Then again, I was in Brand’s beater of a truck, so it was a miracle that it even managed to make the speed limit. I kept telling him to buy a new truck but he refused. He could certainly afford a new vehicle with all his ill-gotten gains, but he insisted that as long as his truck ran, he would drive it. I kept resisting the temptation to intentionally drive it off a cliff.

  When Highway 36 dumped me into Boulder, I considered heading straight for The Steam Room, but I knew Brand would have things under control there. I wanted to check on Jonathan, so I took a detour to the Nobles’ residence.

  I parked the truck beside Jonathan’s Firebird. The truck engine ticked when I shut it off. I found the sound annoying, but Brand liked it. Brand liked a lot of annoying things.

  When I opened the front door, I knew something was wrong. Jonathan may be the detective, but when I saw Tess’s head lying on the floor, even I knew I’d found a clue.

  “Jonathan?” I yelled.

  No answer.

  I glanced to the right and saw an incredible amount of blood pooling at the base of one of the staircases.

  “Jenkins?”

  Still no answer.

  I moved toward the blood. As I reached the stairs, I saw Tess’s headless body lying on the landing.

  I took the stairs two at a time and checked the rooms. All were empty. “Jonathan?” I called again.

  I took the other staircase down and found Chantelle’s body on that landing. Her head was missing.

  My next stop was the kitchen. There were dirty plates on the table. That didn’t seem like something Jenkins would leave. The back door stood open, so I s
tepped outside.

  Jenkins’s body was sprawled in the grass. His head was nowhere in sight.

  I searched the rest of the property and the remainder of the house. No sign of Jonathan. If they’d killed him, they must have taken his body with them.

  Now I regretted allowing them to live. If I’d killed them when I first ran into them, none of this would have happened. Shit, shit, triple shit.

  I phoned Brand.

  “Hey, baby,” he said. He knows I hate pet names, and baby was definitely not the thing to call me. I let it slide, as I did with many of the things Brand said and did. There were more important things to handle.

  “Lucas’s daughters are dead. So is Jenkins.”

  “How?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Is Jonathan with you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “He’s not here at the house either. I think the Marshalls took him.”

  “You think he’s alive?”

  “For their sake, he’d better be.”

  “Can you track them?”

  “I have nothing to go on, Brand. It’s not like they left a trail of breadcrumbs.”

  “In that case, you have two options. You can either come down to The Steam Room, or you can go guard Lucas.”

  “If I guard Lucas, I’ll have to tell him about his daughters. I’m getting paid to watch over Rayna and Graham. They’re both fine, right?”

  “Yeah. Any sign that Jonathan put up a fight?”

  “Zero.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Even injured, he’d have taken out a few of them, so there’d be signs of that. Blood or something.”

  “There’s a lot of blood, but it seems to belong to the bodies at hand. Goddamn it. I should have stayed here.”

  “Jonathan’s a big boy. If they captured him, they’ll have their hands full. If they killed him, I promise you we’ll kill all of them slowly.”

  “I’m going to assume he’s still alive,” I said. “He has to still be alive.”

  “You’d best prepare yourself. If they caught him off guard, he could be gone.”

  “They’d have left the body.”

  “Unless they wanted to use him as leverage against you.”