Trying Times (The Valens Legacy Book 14) Read online

  Smiling, Estrella gave Adam another hug. Letting him go, she put an arm around Sean, who was now standing up.

  "Adam, this is my husband Sean. Sean, this is my baby brother Adam."

  Sean smiled and shook hands with Adam. "Nice meeting you, Adam. Thanks for filling in for me. I'm sure it wasn't an easy job."

  "Umm," Adam looked a little uncomfortable and glanced over Sean's shoulder towards Roxy and the others. "No, it wasn't. But to be honest, I'm glad I did it, death threats notwithstanding."

  Sean laughed. "Oh, I don't think you have to worry about any death threats anymore. I mean you're family now; isn't that right, Rox?" Sean said, looking back at her.

  "I can still break his legs, though!" Roxy said with a wink.

  "So," Estrella interrupted, "introduce me to your wife! I'm dying to meet her!"

  Beaming, Adam waved Ryla over, who was giving Sean some guarded looks.

  "Sis, this is my mate Ryla. Ryla, this is my sister Estrella, and her husband Sean."

  Estrella smiled and gave Ryla a hug, and Ryla smiled in return.

  "We've already met," Sean said to Adam after the two women had separated.

  "Oh?" Adam asked, looking at Ryla a little suspiciously.

  "We didn't get along very well," Sean said with a rueful grin, "but I'm honestly very happy for both of you."

  "Hey, it's the only reason I'm not complaining about all the times Roxy kicked me in the shins," Adam said, grinning. "Or even the times she threatened to shoot me. She introduced me to Ryla, and that made it all worthwhile."

  Sean couldn't help but notice Ryla smile at that and cuddle up against Adam. That right there was an amazing sight. Sean would never have figured Ryla to be the kind of woman to latch onto a man like that. But then, from what he'd heard from Keairra, Adam's mother, everyone was shocked at Adam professing love for a woman. Apparently he was the original definition of the word 'Playa'.

  "Why did you hook them up, Rox?" Sean asked looking at Roxy.

  "Two reasons. The first was if I hadn't hooked him up with somebody, everyone would think he was sleeping with us, and we didn't want that at all," Roxy growled.

  "And the second reason?"

  "Oh!" Roxy gave him a mischievous look, "I don't like either one of them, and I figured inflicting them on one another just might work out. Seeing them fall in love with each other has been the best revenge I can think of."

  "And just how is that revenge?" Ryla suddenly demanded.

  "Easy," Roxy said, and grinned back evilly. "Now, you both owe me!"

  Ryla paled at that, but Adam just laughed.

  "Now I know why she's your first wife," Estrella snickered.

  Sean just shook his head, smiling.

  "Well, we can go over all the details about what I've missed in the meeting later," Sean told them. "Right now I'm going to finish eating—if my wives leave me anything, that is," he said, grinning. "After that I need to check on finances."

  Sitting back down, Sean went back to eating as Adam and Ryla found a place to sit. Conversation around the table started back up, and several more folks came in, welcomed him back, and sat down to join in for breakfast. Ruthelma came in with Jonathon, her lycan tiger boyfriend. Sean thought it was nice to see they were still together.

  He smelled her before he saw her, and that was probably because she came up behind him, put her fingers on his neck, and slowly ran them up the back of his head and through his hair, making Sean sigh happily.

  "I missed you, Master Sean," Deidre whispered in his ear.

  "And I missed you," Sean said with a smile. "Have you eaten yet?"

  "Not yet, Master Sean."

  Turning slightly in his chair, Sean put his arm around Deidre and pulled her into his lap, making her blink in surprise.

  "Eat," Sean said and rested his chin on her left shoulder contentedly.

  "Who is...?" Estrella asked.

  "Oh! Sorry," Sean said looking over at her. "Estrella, this is Deidre, my accountant..."

  "And sex slave," Deidre interjected.

  "...right." Sean chuckled. "And sex slave." Sean kissed Deidre on the neck. "We can go over financials after you've eaten," Sean said and gave her a hug, his right arm still around her.

  "Of course, Master Sean!" Deidre said and wiggled a little in his lap, teasing him as she started eating the food on his plate.

  "Well," Roxy said, standing up and leaning over Deidre to give Sean a kiss, "I think we need to get cleaned up and head into town now to get our shopping done."

  "Sure, Rox," Sean said. After kissing her, he leaned over and gave Estrella a kiss and a hug with his left arm.

  Cali came over and kissed him while hugging both him and Deidre, then Daelyn came over for a kiss, too.

  After they left, Roberta, Peg, and Jolene each came by and gave him a kiss.

  "Are you three going out?" Sean asked, surprised.

  "Nope," Peg said with a grin, "but we all know it's gonna be hours before we see you again!"

  "Yup," Jolene said and winked. "Financials are always such a deep and repetitive affair!"

  "Sweaty, too!" Deidre said and leered back at the three of them, making them all chuckle.

  Sean noticed his mother was blushing, just a little, as the others at the table studiously ignored the conversation.

  "Shall we?" Sean asked and licked Deidre's ear, making her shiver in his lap. Sean had learned, for dark elves at least, ears were very much an erogenous zone.

  "Yes, Master," Deidre said, almost panting.

  Keeping his arm around her, Sean stood up and pushed the chair back.

  "Let's go check those reports," Sean said, grinning.

  Sean was halfway to the office when he suddenly heard the sound of gunfire.

  "What the hell?" he said and, setting Deidre down, he ran for the front door as the alert signal went off. Pulling the front door open, he saw a large mob of people running up the driveway and towards the house. The sentry at the gate was down, but Sean couldn't tell if he was alive or dead.

  "Sean! Catch!"

  Turning, Sean saw his pistol flying at him, still in the holster, as Roxy went streaking by in her hybrid form heading for the back door.

  "Where are all the rifles?" he yelled at her back.

  "In the armory!"

  Swearing, Sean looked out the door again. Calling up his frameworks, he threw up a shield, then cast mass sleep at the leading edge of the crowd.

  He was shocked as the entire front end of the crowd went down! They were all human! They didn't have any protection, and there weren't even any magic users! But as the front went down en masse, the people behind them just kept charging, stepping on the ones he'd slept in many cases, which of course woke them right back up.

  He thought about shifting into his hybrid form and running out there. He could easily knock down dozens of them without killing them. But there were hundreds of them, they were armed with some sort of semi-automatic rifle, and he wasn't about to take them on all alone! Even if the First wasn't around to tell him it was a stupid idea, it wasn't hard to figure out that, short of killing them, this wasn't going to end quickly or easily.

  He looked for leaders as they got closer; maybe if he took them out, that would slow them down. He hit them with another mass sleep spell then, and returned fire, aiming at their knees.

  "Everyone, grab the kids and go out the back door!" he yelled; the last thing he wanted was for his children, his mother, Deidre, or the twins to get shot!

  Tossing the empty gun aside, he threw out a jet of flame, sweeping it back and forth before the ones heading towards the doorway. That slowed them down, as they all tried to dodge or back away, causing several to trip, and the ones behind them to pile up.

  "All fighters to the front!" someone called over the intercoms. "We're being attacked from the front!"

  Pastor Cross picked himself up from the ground; one of those evil bastards had done something and they'd all gone down in the front, but God had protected th
em from being killed by whatever vile magic had been used. Obviously they'd been caught unprepared, as there had only been the one guard down by the gate, and they'd dealt with him easily.

  Pastor Cross saw the next group go down, but this time they all knew better, and half stopped to shake them awake as the other half continued to stream forward, taking shots now at the man standing in the doorway.

  "Can't anybody shoot?" Pastor Cross yelled as the man still standing, started dropping people with the pistol he was holding. He suddenly dropped it and did something with his hands, causing a huge jet of Satanic fire to sprout from his palms.

  The leading edge of his people balked at the fire; Pastor Cross could feel the heat of it even back here. But he knew better now than to be afraid of such tricks.

  "Fear not!" Pastor Cross screamed. "Your faith will protect you!"

  Pushing the people in front of him, the ones closest to him heeded his words and ran into the jets of flame. Almost immediately their clothing caught fire, and they lit up like human torches as their hair melted, and their skin turned black. Screaming in agony, they fell to the ground.

  "Fear not! For God is on our side!" someone yelled and, dodging the flames, they got close enough that the man standing in the doorway kicked them in the head as they came up the stairs before him, the body flying back a good ten feet to lie unmoving when it hit the dirt.

  Pastor Cross looked to either side and saw that most of his people were now running around the house to either side, bypassing the demon in the doorway.

  "This way!" he called and led them around the side of the house.

  Sean was shocked when several of the folks in the front line ran into this flame-jet and consequently fell to the ground, on fire and grievously wounded. He tried aiming it lower so they wouldn't go up like human torches, but at that point someone yelled something, and the mob started to go around the house.

  Sean watched the mob as it streamed to either side. Most of the people in it were his mother's age, he would guess, mid-thirties to late forties or fifties. Many of them had a crazed look to them, but there were more than a few young ones, including several women. As he watched, one tripped and went down, shooting the guy in front of her and taking him out as well.

  It was insane! Looking back the way they'd come, there were a number of people who were down from gunshot wounds, at least three times as many as he'd shot. They were like animals, just wild, crazed animals!

  He wanted to run around back, but he knew the moment he did, they'd come this way again, and he had to protect the house! His children might still be inside!

  Roxy came running back towards the house with Cali in tow, both of them carrying their sniper rifles as their people ran around them, looking to engage the enemy. Some had rifles, but most were armed with whatever had been handy when Oak made the announcement over the intercoms that the enemy was out front.

  Deidre, Louise, and the twins—with Estrella bringing up the rear—ran by them, each of them carrying a child or two.

  "I'll be back after they're safe!" Estrella yelled, and Roxy nodded. When she and Cali got to the roof, Roxy put an arm around Cali, squeezed tight, and launched herself up into the air with a hard jump, so the two of them landed on the roof.

  "Thanks! But not so tight next time!" Cali gasped as they both dropped prone, loaded their rifles, and looked for targets. Everyone who'd been out front was now racing around the sides of the compound looking for ways in, but they were running into stiff resistance, as all the lycans were now up and attacking the enemy with whatever they had handy, or even their bare hands.

  Pulling out her cellphone, she called Oak and put it on speaker.

  "Yes, Rox?"

  "Cali and I are on the roof of the main house. I think Sean's still holding the front door. They're circling the grounds; our people are engaging them."

  "Ruth tells me they're human."

  "What!"

  "Ruth tells me they're human," Oak repeated.

  "Not that, I mean what the hell are humans doing attacking us?"

  "No idea. Should I call the police?"

  "Find my dad and let him make that call." Roxy thought a moment. "Damn, tell everyone to try not to kill them unless they have no choice."

  "You sure about that?"

  "Oak, this whole thing is gonna blow up bad, I just know it. If we slaughter them, it won't look good for us!"

  "Okay, I'll pass the word!"

  "And send some people into the house to protect Sean!"

  "Already on it!"

  #

  "Yo, Zach, check it out," Neil said as their car slowly drove down the street.

  "Damn bastards, taking away our jobs!" Kristen grumbled.

  "Oh, please. Like you've ever worked a day in your life!" Neil laughed as they watched the group of what looked like young men and women washing cars outside the building. There were two large garage doors that were open, and inside they could see about a dozen more people waxing and buffing cars, or vacuuming them out and washing the seats.

  "I count eighteen," Zach said.

  "Same here," Neil agreed.

  "Do you think we need the whole group?" Kristen asked. "Or should I send some back?"

  "And let them miss out on the fun? Hells no!" Zach said. "We go in there, unload everything on 'em, then drop the guns and run, got that?"

  "Whadda we gotta drop the guns for?" Neil asked.

  "'Cause the police are gonna come running. Everyone within a mile is going to hear this. Besides, we got what, three hundred guns from those religious idiots? There's only forty-six of us! We can afford to lose 'em."

  "I was hoping to send them to our friends in Sacramento," Neil grumbled.

  "Let 'em get their own."

  "I just wish we didn't have to waste all this silver," Kristen said. "I mean, that's like twenty dollars a bullet!"

  "They're werewolves, Kristen," Zach snarled at her. "Anything less than silver won't hurt them! Just like in the stories!"

  "Sorry, Zach," Kristen said contritely, quickly backing down.

  "Now, pull up across the street from the place, and once everyone's parked, we'll get out on the curb side so they can't see us. We'll get our stuff ready, then let them have it. Just like we planned. Okay?"

  "Okay!" Neil, Kristen, and Chuck, the driver, all replied.

  Demon was pretty happy. Things between him and Alex had been going smoothly for months now. Oh, they'd had a few arguments here and there, but Alex had gone as far as taking him to his parent's house to meet his folks.

  That had been a bit of a surprise to Demon. He'd never met anybody's parents before! Then again, he'd been worried about how Alex's parents would feel about their son being with another guy.

  Apparently they hadn't cared at all. Neither had any of his brothers or sisters, of which he had several.

  Now if only he could find out where the hell Alex was getting those damn biscuits from! Everyone thought Alex got away with as much as he did because he was Demon's boyfriend, but the truth was, Alex had no fear. Not of him, not of anyone. Plus he didn't care who or what you were; to Alex, people were people and that was it.

  And he had those biscuits. All the werewolves in the shop, the building, and pretty much all the ones back at the ranch would do damn near anything for one, though they were mostly for the folks down here at the shop. Everybody who worked for him got one a day. Do Alex a favor or go above and beyond at work, you got a second.

  Piss Alex off, and you got none. Even Demon had gone to bed without getting one after one of their rare fights. Of course you could go to the park and play fetch…Demon still couldn't figure out if that was Alex getting one up on them, or if he just had this thing for throwing a ball for dogs—or wolves, in this case.

  At this point everyone in the whole building had gone and done it at least once!

  Demon heard it then, the sound of gunfire, and it was loud!

  "Help!" someone yelled outside. Looking up from the wax job he'd been in
specting, Demon saw there were people running towards them, several of whom had stopped and were trying to hose down the wash team with bullets.

  "Take cover!" Demon bellowed at the top of his lungs. Ripping the buffer out of Trent's hands, he flung it as hard as he could at one of the people trying to cut Bess down with an AK-74. Running over to the wax rack where they kept all the cans of wax, he grabbed them and flung them with all his might at the attackers, as the buffer took out the goth-looking chick trying to kill Bess. The wax cans weren't light, they were ten pounds each and, shifting into his hybrid form, Demon was letting them fly just as hard as he could at target after target.

  The windows blew in as a second group starting shooting from the street, but his boys had all made it to their lockers by now, where they kept their weapons, and were returning fire.

  "Alex's hit! Alex is hit!" Woz started screaming.

  Looking over at Woz, Demon's face would have turned white if it wasn't covered in fur. Woz was covered in blood.

  Letting the others deal with the attackers, Demon ran over to Alex, who'd been shot twice in the gut and once in the thigh.

  "Alex! Hold on! We'll get an ambulance!" Demon said, looking around for the first aid kit. Woz had ripped off his shirt and was trying to stop the bleeding.

  "You just set this up so you could bite me, didn't you?" Alex gasped weakly.

  "No, Hon. I swear! If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have looked for an excuse!" Demon looked up at Woz. "How bad is it?" He had a sinking feeling, but he needed to ask someone.

  "He's not gonna make it, Demon. You're gonna have to bite him."

  "What!" Alex coughed. "Don't you dare!"

  "You're dying, Alex! Unless you want to be dead, you need to get infected, and now!" Woz said, panicking.

  Alex coughed again. "I know that, but I sure as hell don't want to look like him!" Alex tried to grin and point at Demon. "Is Shia here?"

  "Shia?" Woz asked looking around.

  "Shia! Get down here, NOW!" Demon yelled as loud as he could.