Tribulation Road: A Red Hot Treats Story (3 page)

“Shit,
Jim, you’ve been working here almost two years and this is the first vacation
you’ve ever taken. Why don’t you get where you’re going, settle yourself in,
and keep me posted. We can do without you for a couple weeks.”

“Thanks,
Rick.”

“Just
get your business squared.”

Jaegar
disconnected and his bond with the world he’d created for himself snapped. He’d
walked away once from the Keeper life and it pulled him back in. He wouldn’t do
it a second time. Pulling onto the highway, he pressed down on the gas. His
time in the real world had been a number of things, but none of them had made
him feel at home. He was heading back to the people he fit with and the woman
he planned on re-staking his claim on. He’d broken something good and he’d have
to grovel, beg, humiliate, and prove himself over and over to get her back.
If
she’s available.
The thought stung. He’d kept tabs on the Noble. She hadn’t
seen anyone seriously. At least, that’s what Richard said. Though, when it came
to anything non-hunting, the dude was usually oblivious. He blew past the town
limits and dialed the number he knew by heart.

“You’d
better be dying.”

Even
after all this time, her voice brought a smile to his face. “I hate to
disappoint you, but no.”

“The
only reason I’m not hanging up is because I know this has to be important.
Speak,
Jaegar
.” She spat his name out like a curse.  

Her
tone made his chest ache. “I had a visitor tonight. Tall, pale, and fanged.”

“You
think they’d just leave you alone because you decided to become a civilian?”

“No,
Bri, I didn’t.”

“You
don’t have the right to call me that,” she snapped.

He
sighed. “He told me you were in danger and Noble was about to take a blow it
couldn’t recover from.”

“And
you believed him?” she scoffed. “You’ve been out of the game too long.”

“You
didn’t see him. Are you going to put everyone at risk because you loathe me?”

“Fuck
you, Jaegar. Unlike some people, I know where my loyalty lies and I do my duty
every time. I’ll sound the alarm. You want me to thank you for the heads up?
Thanks for getting back in the game two years too late.”

Her
fire singed him, but he lapped up the pain because he craved emotion of any
kind from her. After he’d left, she’d cut off all contact, refusing to talk to
him. His mouth went dry. “I’m coming, Brigh.”

“Don’t
bother.”

The
dial tone buzzed in his ear, but she couldn’t hide the hitch in her voice. She
still felt something. He clung to the small truth as he traveled the dark
roads.

CHAPTER
TWO

B
righ’s heart
banged against her ribs as she called her father. “Dad?”

“Everything
go okay with Richard?” he asked, all business, as usual. He wasn’t a cold man,
just driven and proud.

“Yes,
I’m headed back now. Jaegar just called.”

Silence
fell across the line. The slight from Jaegar wounded her father’s male ego and
he’d never fully recovered. “Dad, are you still there?”

“Yes.
What did he want?” His voice sounded strained.

She
envisioned his jaw twitching, the way it always did when he was biting his
tongue. “To warn us. A vamp tracked him down and told him Noble would fall.”
She left the threat against herself out. It was par for the course.

“They’ve
been saying that for years. Why would now be any different? Has it been so long,
he jumps at the slightest thing?” His voice oozed disapproval and disdain.

Her
heart ached for the mess left behind where love and respect once sat. “Yes, but
he says this was different,” she insisted.

“And
after all this time, you’re inclined to believe him?”

“He
was the best, we both know it.”

“On
the outside, yes. His insides were weak. His heart…” She could hear the thump
of her father pounding on his chest. “Was not in the right place. We placed our
trust in him and he let us down, betrayed us, and turned his back.”

“He
didn’t sell secrets, Dad. He chose to live his life the way he wanted. He’s not
the first and he won’t be the last.”

“After
what he did, you take up for him? Like he didn’t leave you at the altar in
front of our kinsmen?”

The
words hit her like a slap to the face. “Everything I do and have done is for
the Keepers. I do this now because I think something doesn’t smell right. What
will it hurt us to be on high alert and raise the alarm?”

He
sighed. If you looked up the word stubborn in the dictionary, you’d see her
father’s face. Flaws aside, he always put the greater good ahead of his needs
and emotions. It’s the only reason they hadn’t tracked Jaegar down, dragged him
back, and doled out punishment he’d never forget. Noble tended to do things
old-school medieval, which was only fitting since that’s when they Knights of
Nobility had been officially founded. “Fine, I will sound the alarm. I do not
like the thought of you alone if they’re seeking our ruin. You’re important.”

“I
know, Dad.”

“It’s
time for you to choose. You’ve left this off too long.”

If
she weren’t driving, she would’ve closed her eyes. The bars of the jail were
tightening around her. The time had come. “I hear you, Dad.”

“No.
I want this done. We marry you on the night of Samhain. It was foretold you
would be the mother of the new era of Howells.”

“Dad,
that’s Sunday,” she whispered.

“So,
you have three days to choose.”

Her
gut twisted. He wasn’t going to let this go. From the minute she’d been born
and the years rolled by with no other females, her future had been set in
stone. The prophecy had hovered above the heads of women born to Noble for
centuries.
“I understand, sir.” The words were a
noxious concoction she was forced to chew and swallow.

“Good. Hurry home. I don’t
like having you out there with so much uncertainty in the air. I can feel the
tides changing.”

They disconnected and she
shifted in her seat, wishing she could slow down time and stretch out her last
moments of freedom. She’d been raised to live and die for the cause. Not
because she was a thoughtless soldier, but because she believed in it. People
deserved to have someone out there protecting them from the evil that stalked
while they remained unaware. A world without Noble fell prey to the darkness
always lurking just out on the outskirts. They’d seen it time and time again in
history. Every time Noble disbanded, a plague of darkness crept over the world.
It’s why they took their jobs, their legacy, and their numbers so seriously.
They’d taken a lot of hits this century.

When a person turned
twenty-one, they were given the option to continue and swear their allegiance,
or leave. More had been choosing the latter. She couldn’t blame them. It was a
hard life. You lived in the shadows, lied to almost everyone you met, and constantly
sacrificed for the elusive
greater good.
Some days the mantra was a
record you wanted to smash to smithereens.

 
Damn you, Jag. You ruined
everything.

Facing the ancient words
written down in their archaic book of history hadn’t been nearly as scary when
she had her best friend by her side. Born a few months after him, they were reared
up together. When they turned thirteen, the boy who used to turn everything
into a competition started making her blush. The memory of butterflies in her
belly almost made her forget his betrayal.

She knew he had
reservations about dedicating his life to something that was pretty much a
thankless necessity, but she’d never thought he’d turn his back on her, on
them. Her vision blurred and her throat grew tight. She shoved away the
emotions, locking them in the vault along with her other inner demons chomping
at the bit as they waited for a chance to escape. Feelings were the enemy. They
made you hesitate, distracted you at every turn. She liked to deal with them,
or rather,
not deal
with them with a healthy dose of sarcasm, alcohol,
and work. The minute someone stopped laughing in this business, they went crazy
or left the game altogether.

The wind picked up
outside, rocking the small sedan. Goose bumps broke out over her flesh. She
scanned the road and found nothing amiss. Still, the sensation of being watched
prickled across her skin like a warning.
She
hit the accelerator and gunned it. It was back roads of the Midwest. She’d take
her chances with the local police if her scanner failed her. A few tears and a
sob story and she’d be on her way with stern wag of the finger.

A loud boom of thunder
cracked in the near distance. Thick, gray clouds rolled in and blotted out the
sun. Lightning lit up the sky, damn near blinding her.
This is not normal.
It
was coming in too fast and too fierce from nowhere. Lightning struck the ground
three feet from the narrow road to her right. She jerked the wheel. The smell
of burning ozone crept in through her vents. Her muscles tensed. Another crack
ripped the air. This one sounded like it was on top of her. She reached across
the car and opened the glove box, struggling to get the wooden, satin-lined box
the size of her fist.

The wind increased.

She tugged the wheel to
keep the wind from taking her off the road. The box fell onto the seat next to
her. The sky unleashed hell. Rain battered her vehicle, hitting the exterior so
hard she thought it might be hail. Her fingers fumbled with the latch. It gave
with a loud
pop.
She yanked the black thong with the blessed silver
metal be-spelled and filled with protective items before being sealed shut. She
slipped it over her head. Lighting danced around her car—flickering streaks of
light, as if angry that they’d missed their opportunity. Her heart missed a
beat. She gripped the wheel tight to keep her shaking hands steady. Her
knuckles protested the tight grip.

A flash lit the sky. A tree
toppled. Brigh slammed on the breaks, hydroplaning. Steering into the skid, she
imagined a white bubble of protection forming around her and her car. You
didn’t fight fire with water. You fought fire with fire. While the KOS didn’t
dabble in black magic intent on harm, they yielded white without hesitation.
Edging around the fallen tree, she ran through her options. Like a cat, she
only had so many lives, and eventually her response time would fail her. There
was no way on the deserted road to pull over and everything in her screamed,
Get
home now!

Furious with her lack of
options, she slapped her palm against the wheel, relishing the sting. It meant
she was still alive. Above her, the storm raged on with no signs of slowing.
How
could they pin this to me so specifically? They’d have to have a personal item.
The puzzle piece clicked into place.

She navigated the car off
the highway and slammed the shifter into the park.
Where is it, where is it?
She crawled into the back and scanned the seats, running her hands over the
seams and between the cushions. Coming up blank, she dangled off the edge of
the seat, peering under the passenger side and the driver’s. Still empty-handed,
she growled. She pushed the back door open and stepped into the rain. The water
chilled her to the bone and lashed at her skin like tiny razor blades. She
bowed her head and walked to the back.

The license plate was
clear. She knelt down and swayed. The wind roared in anger. She fought to keep
from falling on her ass. She ran her hand under the bumper and jumped when she
brushed something hard and slick. She grabbed it and yanked. The black bag mocked
her.
A fucking mojo hand.
The voodoo curse was normally cast from a
distance with its intended victim in mind.
But the assholes couldn’t get a
piece of me to make it specific, so they pinned it on my car.

She reached into the inner
pocket of her navy blue jacket and pulled out her knife. She sliced through the
bag with a sharp silver blade and let the water wash away the things inside,
rendering it ineffective. As if she’d hit a switch, the rain let up and the
clouds began to disperse. She wiped her wet hair out of her face. This was no
beginner spell caster. Not with the power he or she had called down. What
worried her more was how close they’d gotten to her
. How could they know
where I’d be? How did they slip under not just my radar, but Richard’s as well?
Her stomach turned. She rose to her feet and froze when she saw a woman in
black standing a few feet away. The evil coming off her in waves curdled her
stomach. Her long black hair billowed behind her in the wind.

Brigh gripped her knife
tight and struck a defensive pose.
“I don’t know what you are, but I’ve
had a shitty day and I’m not in the mood. You can try me, but in the end, I
guarantee you’ll be on the losing team.”

The wraith smiled and
shimmered away.

I am so fucked.
She
spun on her heels and ran to the car, climbing in and pulling away. The sky
cleared and the rain dissipated, but the sinking sensation remained. She called
her father. The phone continued to ring and went to voicemail. She disconnected
and redialed. The three beeps in her ears made her stomach drop.
What the
hell is going on?
She called her mother and received the same response. Panicked,
she called Richard. The phone continued to ring and eventually went to
voicemail. She called a handful of people and got the same response.
Did
someone cut down the local cell tower?
Swallowing her pride, she called the
one person she didn’t want to talk to.