Induction, T.K. Eldridge [read aloud books txt] 📗
- Author: T.K. Eldridge
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A throaty chuckle spilled into the room, full of honeyed promises and sultry dreams. I couldn’t stop the shiver as Margot spoke. “Oh, I know your grandfather very well.”
Sid let out a rude snort, “That’s what she said.”
I couldn’t stop the laughter at that point and pushed to my feet. “Well, where is the old bastard?”
“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be joining us soon enough,” Margot said. I felt a tickle of warning then, and it took me a second to figure out that it was coming from my bracelet. I glanced at Sid and her fingers were wrapped around her pendant. The faintest of nods from my sister told me that she’d been warned of impending danger as well.
I started toward the doorway. “Let me guess, he’s in his office? I’ll just pop down there and say hi.”
“I think not,” Margot said. My bracelet flared with heat and if I hadn’t lifted my hand to grip my sleeve, I would’ve walked face-first into the barrier. As it was, my knuckles grazed it and I skidded to a stop. I lifted my fingers to brush the air in front of me and met a solid, invisible wall.
Behind me, I heard Sid. “Oh, no you don’t,” and then a thud. “No one messes with my brother, but me.”
The barrier dissolved and I turned to see Sid pulling binding cuffs off her belt and slapping them on an unconscious Margot’s wrists.
“What did you hit her with?” I asked.
Sid reached out for a little statuette on the table next to her. “This, but I made sure I wasn’t going to kill her with it.”
“Good job. Let’s hide her behind that couch so if anyone comes in, the room looks empty. I’ve got some cable ties we can put on her ankles.”
We got Margot settled behind the couch, even using one of the wide fabric curtain ties as a gag. I gripped Sid’s shoulders and spoke to the button camera. “I’m going to see if I can find James, and I want Sid to go find Keith and make sure he’s okay. Our protection warned us of danger, and mine is still a little warm, so all is not clear yet. Something is definitely going on here.”
Sid nodded at me. “My pendant is still warm, too. I’ll head towards the kitchen along the back. You check the office and if he’s not there, check the front half and we’ll meet in the kitchen. Stay safe.”
“You, too,” I told her, and we left the room and split up in the hallway.
I kept a spell in the back of my mind in case I needed it as I made my way through the house. Things looked quite a bit different from the last time we were here. A lot of the heavier furniture had been replaced with more delicate pieces. Two of the rooms I passed had been painted and given new drapes. The antique Persian rug that had decorated the hall outside James’ office was gone and a flowered circle carpet lay there instead. I was about to cross it when the bracelet flared again, and I pulled my foot back. “Something’s up with this carpet. I’m going to edge around it to try and get into the office,” I whispered so the crew listening to our button mics could hear me.
I slid my back along the wall and reached for the doorknob. A twist, a push and the door was open, but I was going to have to jump to get past the rug and into the room. I took a few steps back, ran towards the doorway and jumped. My hands grabbed for the door frame and I spun myself around so I ended up with my back against the inside wall as my feet hit the floor. At first glance, the room was empty.
“Well shit, all that and he’s not here.” A few steps into the room and I heard a low growl. The bracelet hadn’t stopped being warm, so I knew I was still in trouble. Slowly I turned toward the growl and saw my grandfather in wolf form. “Hey, Grandpa. Want to shift back so we can talk?”
He growled again, ears back, with his lip curling to show his teeth. His eyes looked strange. Usually, when a shifter is in animal form, you can still see the human intelligence and clarity in their eyes. If I hadn’t seen my grandfather shifted before, I would not have assumed this was a shifter. His eyes looked wrong. I said as much, my voice kept soft, and hoped like hell the mic picked it up.
“James Boudreau, I need you to shift back,” I said. This time, I put some commanding tone into my voice.
He snapped and snarled, stiff-legged in his approach. I stood my ground until he lunged. I snapped a fist out and hit the side of his muzzle, knocking him to the side. He stumbled and it gave me enough time to turn and race towards the French doors to the back patio. I slammed into the door hard enough to snap the top lock off but the bottom lock held. As I stepped back to kick the door, the weight of the wolf hit me, and drove me to my knees. Teeth sank into my shoulder and I screamed, rolling to the side so I could punch at the muzzle beside my face. He wouldn’t let go, just ground his jaw and I screamed again. The pain was scrambling my brain but I wasn’t going to go down like this. I choked out a spell and slapped my palm against the wolf’s head. He yelped and released me, shaking his head as the spell made him feel like bees were buzzing inside and outside his skull. I stumbled to my feet and hit the window, the blood loss making me dizzy. The door to the patio beside me crashed open and Grampa Walsh grabbed me and pulled me out while Dad ran past him inside. I heard another snarl, a gunshot – then silence. I gave Grampa a weak smile as blackness wrapped around me and I was out.
Sid
I checked the rooms as I made my way to the kitchen. I noticed a lot of changes in the décor – changes Margot must’ve made in her time here. When I got to the kitchen, only Keith was there. He sat at the table by the side windows, a cup of coffee in front of him and a plate with some small pastries arranged on it. Nothing looked like it had been touched and he kept watching the two doorways and the windows.
When I came in, he got to his feet and smiled. “Glad to see you’re up and about.”
“Yeah, where’s the cook?”
“She left to do the shopping. Are we done here?”
“Soon as Sin finds James, we’re done. Have you spoken to anyone?”
“No, I didn’t want to compromise anything,” he said.
“Good idea. Okay, let’s go back and keep an eye on Margot. I don’t trust her, even if she is cuffed.”
We hurried back to the room and I checked on Margot. She was awake and furious, which made me feel relieved for a couple of reasons. One, I hadn’t killed her and two, she was not happy. Her not being happy had just become one of my life goals.
“Aww, Margot. Having a rough day?” I asked.
She yelled into the gag and I chuckled. “Looks like it. You just stay right there, and someone will be by to take care of you soon enough.”
I looked up at Keith. “Did you see where the bodyguards went?”
“Yeah, they were outside until a couple of ours got them cuffed and into the van.”
“Good. I was expecting them to come barging in and make things interesting.” Keith dragged a chair over to sit where he could watch Margot and the doorway. I had just picked up another bottle of water when I heard the gunshot. The bottle hit the floor and I was racing to the doorway, Keith behind me. I yelled back “Stay with her,” and ran towards the office. My pendant flared hot when I stepped one foot on the circular rug, so I leaped backward and landed on my butt on the floor. I grabbed a delicate wooden chair and used it to flip the rug up and over onto itself. A small marble made its way into my hand and I peered around the doorway. The patio doors were cracked and open, blood was all over one door and the floor, but it was my father that caught my attention. He stood over the body of his father where it lay curled in the middle of the floor.
“Dad?” I said and he turned, gun raised for a moment before he saw it was me, then he lowered it and slid it into his holster.
“I had to,” he said. “He was killing Sin.”
“Sin?”
“He’ll be okay. He’s outside with the Commander.”
I walked around the body on the floor and hugged my Dad. He turned and hugged me tightly, burying his face in my hair.
“Dad, I love you.”
“I love you, too, Siddie. Are you okay? Hurt at all?” He stepped back, hands still on my upper arms as he looked me over.
“I’m fine, Dad. Margot is still in the parlor with Keith. She’s got dampener cuffs, cable ties, and a gag on. I still don’t trust her, though. Can we get her secured?”
“Yeah. Let’s get her out of here and then I need to call this in.”
It had been a busy few days, but things were finally settling down. The SPD had handled the scene at the manor and James Sinclair Boudreau had been buried in the family crypt two days later with no ceremony. No one wanted to celebrate the life of a man who had done so many bad things to his own family. The will was simple and clear. It all went to Dad but for a couple of small monetary behests. Twenty thousand to Brian, a hundred thousand to each of the house staff, and one million to the Academy’s scholarship fund. Brian heard about James’ death and took off for California before we’d even had the body interred. We doubted we’d ever hear from Brian again, now that the money had dried up with James’ death.
Dad and Mom had moved into Boudreau Manor and offered us each a wing at the house of our own. Sin and I told them we’d consider it once they were done remodeling the whole place. Turned out that Margot had scattered charms and spells all through the house. The rug in front of the office door would make whoever walked on it amenable to any suggestions she spoke. Good thing Sin and I had both avoided it, or she could have talked herself out of our custody.
Mom was back to her old self once more and she and Dad were taking an extended vacation down through Mexico. It started with a cruise that they were leaving for tonight, so dinner was a celebration and bon voyage at Grandma Fortin’s house.
Mom’s favorite lasagna, garlic knots, and salad were the featured menu, followed by Dad’s favorite, German Chocolate cake. Other than our folks and us, Grampa Walsh, Auntie Sett, and Grandma were present. Jolie was under house arrest at Abraham Ricker’s shop. The old apothecary had wanted to try and turn Jolie’s skills back towards the good. It seems she had been dating a member of the League
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