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“Saul?” He turned at the sound of the voice. It was familiar, but he couldn’t place the face. “It’s Joel. You’re sick. Let me take you to the hospital.”
“I’m sure you will too. And on the way, you’ll put a bullet in my head.” He laughed and nearly knocked himself off his feet with it. “I’m just fucking fine. Unless you have a lot of money for me, or a gun, then I want you to get out of my way. You’ve done enough for me, I’m thinking.”
“Did you know that you’re bleeding?” He didn’t but told his brother that it was none of his concern. “All right. If that’s what you want. But you should know that the police are watching you. So, if you really are looking for a gun, then you’re not going to have any luck with that. There isn’t anyone around you that would sell you a stick of gum for the way you’re being watched.”
Joel left him. The only way Saul knew that was because his laughter was floating away. That’s what all the sounds sounded like now, floating. The cars driving by him sounded the loudest, and people talking, that sounded far away. He didn’t know what they were saying, but he could hear them.
Turning back the way he’d come, he paused at a pole, thinking it was a street sign, and called out to the cops. One of them would surely help him return to his home so he could rest.
“I need some help. I’m all turned around. If one of you pricks would point me in the direction of the abandoned hotel down out of town, I’d surely appreciate it.” The snickering told him it was Allen. His scent, whatever it was, hit him too. “Why aren’t you out taking care of the good citizens of your little podunk town?”
“Why aren’t you in prison?” Saul told him that he had been, and wasn’t returning. “You think not? Well, I’d rethink that if I were you. Mercy has found a great many crimes that you’ve not been tried for. Come on, let me get you in the car and I’ll take you to your hotel.”
Saul could have sobbed with relief when he sat in the warm car. He was cold too, he realized, and wondered at not just the time, but the date. New Mexico had been blazing hot compared to this hell hole.
“You can’t stay here; you know that, don’t you? First of all, there isn’t any running water and electric.” Saul told him that there was water. “All right, but no electric. I’ll let it pass for tonight, but you’re going to have to find you someplace safer to live after that. The place isn’t open for business, in the event that slipped your notice.”
“No shit. Was it the broken out windows that gave you the first clue, or was it the parking lot full of grass and trees?” Saul looked in his direction, not able to see him clearly but not wanting him to know how bad it was. “Just let me out and I’ll deal with things tomorrow. If all you have to do is help men who have no place to go, then you’re being overpaid if you ask me.”
Getting out of the cruiser was harder than he thought it should have been. His feet felt like they were asleep, and he could hardly make them work now. Allen asked him if he was all right and he flipped him off. Saul went into his hotel room, kicked off his shoes, and rubbed his feet until he was sure they were raw.
~*~
Joel looked at Miley when she came into the room. She’d graduated to a walker now, and he couldn’t have been more proud of her. But as they all did, he cautioned her about doing too much too fast.
“I promise you, I’m only doing what I’m told I can do. That first day, I swear that I thought for sure that someone had pulled my legs out and replaced them with lead weights. I’m careful now.” When she sat down, it was everything he could do not to help her adjust herself in the chair. She was doing better than they could have hoped for in this, and he wanted to be strong for her. “Did you know that walking will make my whole body stronger? I don’t mean because I can get out more—I mean, walking helps with my heart and my lungs. The first place I’m going to go after I can walk well is into a store that didn’t cater to my kind, and demand that they put in things for the handicapped. Ramps aren’t that much, are they?”
“No. And from what I’ve read up on it, there is some kind of funding out there for it. Are you thinking of becoming an attorney?” She smiled at him, and his heart did a double beat. He loved this kid. “You’d be good at it if how you argue with me about bedtime is any indication.”
“Oh, Dad.” They were laughing when Mercy joined them. Just last night he’d noticed that she was showing. He’d not pointed it out to her, of course—he wasn’t one that wished for death at this stage of his life. “I was telling Dad here that when I’m able to walk, I’m going to demand ramps be put in every shop.”
“That’s good.” Miley looked at him and he shrugged. He knew that Mercy had been investigating something important, but he’d not asked about it. She was really into it last time he checked in on her. “I have a problem. Not a huge one, but enough that I’m concerned. I found out that Dante had a son. I need to find him. He’s one of the others’ mates.”
Neither he nor Miley said anything. It was blurted out there, and he’d not had time to digest it past her having a problem. She seemed to never have anything that she couldn’t work out. Before he could ask her to start over, Miley spoke.
“Is that what was in those books you’re reading? By the way, those are beautiful. I’m betting it took a long time to put one of those together.” Mercy told Miley it was in the books, and the books weren’t hard at all if you knew what you were doing. “In class once, they showed how paper used to be made. It looked like a long process. And there are a lot of pages in your books.”
“The paper vendor would have a great many screens to make them on. Plus, he’d have his family helping in drying them out, adding the right kind of herbs to make it so they’d not rot.” Mercy smiled at Miley. “Thank you. You got me just distracted enough that I don’t feel so overwhelmed.”
“This man, I’m assuming that he’s an immortal like you are?” She said that he was more than likely born one. “I see. Not really, but it’s not really important to the story. Why do you think he’s one of the others’ mates?”
“Dante wrote it in the books. It was in Latin so as not to have passersby see what it says. The queen also paid a woman by the name of Mary to watch over him. She must have been told not to tell anyone about him either. As far as I know, no one knew but the two of them.” Joel asked her why it was important. “He would be our king. Even though there is no longer a castle there, he would still own the land and the stone there. It would be worth a fortune nowadays. And I looked it up—I’m still listed as the owner of it all until such time that someone of Dante’s blood can claim it from me. I never understood that part. She didn’t have children as far as we knew, and she died the day we were made.”
“Okay. And him being mated to one of the birds, why would that matter? I’m assuming that at some point he’d have to come around, correct?” She said she didn’t know, but that the mate would be queen too. “You have people out looking for him?”
“I do. I hired someone that used to search for people long ago. He has a bit of magic. People who use him, they never believe that he uses the earth to find their loved ones, but it pays well for him and he does a good job. A couple of times he’s been called in to find the body or this person who has gone missing for a long time. He’s really good.” He asked if he was a bird. “No, he’s a dragon. I was wondering if when Duncan—that’s the king’s name, Duncan—comes around, he’ll know anything about what is in the books.”
“Why does it matter? I’m sorry, did you say he’s a dragon? There are really dragons in the world?” Mercy said yes, there were still a few and she was still working on that. “Because you’ve not read all the books. That’s why you’re saying that.”
There were dragons, his mind kept screaming at him. There were dragons around and.... His mate, she knew some. He’d have to get her to let him see one sometime. Maybe. He’d have to think on that.
“Yes, I’m only into the first book. I had been further along, but now I know to look for things in the margins and in curled pages. One of the notes I found was so close to the binding that I nearly missed it. I have to search the pages very carefully so as not to miss anything.” He didn’t want to sound like a doofus, so just waited for her to explain. “Why don’t you ask me what you’re thinking? Then I won’t have to think you’re thinking that I’m a doofus—whatever that is.”
“I was going to ask you if you thought that I could help. Or Miley. I don’t think either o
f us speak or read Latin, and bravo for you for knowing such an old language, but we can look if you need us to.” She asked him why he thought he’d be a doofus. “Because you are so much smarter than I am, and I didn’t want to have to point it out to you when it’s so obvious.”
“You’re a nutball. And I’m not smarter than you on a great many things. I am jaded, Joel. I have been for a long time. Just having the two of you around has made all of us smarter. Thanks to the way you can think and look outside the box.” He thanked her, as did Miley. “No reason for thanks. Just don’t call yourself a doofus again. Whatever the hell that is.”
