Butler lay as still as he could. He was sure that the earth was going to open up and swallow the whole town soon. When the ground had shaken, he had been as terrified as he’d ever been.

He’d not seen anyone all day, and he wondered if there had been a big announcement that said to get out of town and he’d not heard about it. Getting up slowly, careful where he stepped, he went out of his little shack and into the darkening evening.

The sun had fully been up when he’d felt the earth move. He might have known more about what was going on, but he’d fallen over, and then a large piece of the boards that held his roof up fell down over him and hit him on the head. It didn’t help that he was nearly as weak as a kitten and his belly was seeping again. Nothing was going right for him.

He’d heard in town that the McCades were here. He’d not expected them to come here at all, much less before they got all the pieces. He was glad for it, really. It would save him the time and expense of going to find them. Getting here had been the hardest trip he’d made. No magic to speak of, no funds, not even a copper penny, and food was almost as hard to find as magic.

These people were going to be easy pickings because of their stupidity, and he was going to make them suffer when this was all done. But the town was all a twitter about them being here, and he couldn’t help but be envious of how they were being talked about. Like they were kings of the land and he was nothing more than a pauper down on his luck. Perhaps, he thought, that was the reason they were here, to see if the last piece was here. It was, but not in a way that they’d ever lay their hands on it.

“It is. If they cared to get close enough for me to kill them then I could take what they have and be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Then we’ll see how the townspeople bow down before me. Just before I remove their heads.” Which was saying a great deal; Butler had some pretty wild dreams about money. He laughed at his own funny and held his head. “Damn hovel. Once I’m in the castle, I’m going to rest for a month of Sundays.”

The shops were all closed up, and even the benches that some of them put their wares on had been put inside. He wondered if that was to keep him out, but he had no way of knowing since they all seemed to be gone. Even the houses that usually had a curl of smoke coming from the back yard for a grill out were silent as a tomb. He wondered about that when something else had occurred to him. There were no cars to be seen anywhere. They were usually lined up and down the street like stones on a walkway.

“Mayhap they’re all dead.” He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but then he realized that dead men didn’t lock their doors and bring in the products they were hawking. “Nay, just gone for the day. And not even an invite for me to join them.”

Every day he met someone else that was hostile toward him. Butler was amazed that they could hold a grudge for so long. He’d done this or that to their family. Or he’d stolen something in the last few days from them. He was not even given the chance to defend himself or his actions. The thing that really stuck in his craw was the fact that they hated him so much for whatever he’d done to their aunts, cousins, or whoever. Like he should be punished for trying to make himself a son that would be just like him. Pussies, that’s all they were. And he’d never had to resort to rape, as they accused him of. He was a man that was king, and everyone knew that a king had special privileges.

Butler would show them all when he was king again, and then they’d have to treat him better. He was going to tax them too, until they had nothing left and he had it all. After he took all their women to his bed and planted a child in every one of their bellies. It would be the first rule he made them adhere to. He was fucking king, after all.

“Stupid people.”

Taking a walk because he needed to keep moving in order to keep his bones from stiffening up, Butler thought of the McCades. He wondered what they’d say if he just headed to the hotel and tried to talk to them. Not that there were that many hotels around, but he wasn’t even sure where to begin with his search. Butler had to sit down only after a few yards—he’d never been so weak before.

Butler knew that he was going to need to find himself some magic soon. Right now he wasn’t sure that he could take on a small child, much less the McCades. The only thing going in his favor at this point was that they were just too stupid. And he knew they were because of how they were going about things. He would have done things differently had he had money like they seemed to have.

For instance, he would have dressed in the finest clothing. Silks and velvets that were so purple that they looked black. And he’d have his own crest designed too. He had never liked the one that had been on the castle door. It had been dragons, and there weren’t going to be any around when he was finished. Also, he’d have a feast every night with singing and dancing, and naked women for him to take when he wanted. Christ, all they seemed to do was work, work, work. Like there wasn’t anything else to occupy their time.

It hadn’t escaped his notice that the McCades all lived in fine houses, drove nice trucks, and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. Had he been them, he would have gotten the pieces as they had, but then killed off the women so they’d not be such a bother. And they were, too. Every woman had her place, and the McCade women hadn’t seemed to be put into theirs yet. Standing, he started limping to get moving again.

These women of the McCades went about like they were ruling the roost. They had their own money too, it seemed to him, and spent it on things that were only for themselves—he’d seen the boxes at their trash cans. And they didn’t cook. Not a one of them seemed to be at home making a meal for their mates, but had other people doing it. And the house where someone did cook, he did it for his wife. Like that was something special.

As he made his way to the orchard where he’d gotten a couple of apples yesterday, he saw a long line of cars down the road that led to the castle. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he decided to have him a looksee. Maybe it was a funeral, he hoped, and all the McCades had been killed for him.

Everyone there was dressed in their finery. There was a nice smell of food that made his belly growl a little too. But as hard as he tried to get close enough to see what was going on, he couldn’t get any closer.

There was a large tent in the front of the castle; he could just barely make out the poles that held it up and the colors of Prisane’s own crest at the top. Butler could see long tables of what he thought was food, but couldn’t be sure. Then there were the gifts. They were closer to him, and he could see the ridiculous ribbons on the boxes. A waste of money, as far as he was concerned.

“It all comes in a box or a bag anyway. Why waste the time and money to pretty things up that are not going to mean a hill of beans once they tear into it? And who could be having such a grand affair that I’d not heard about it? I’ve been about the town all week, and nothing was said.” He was nearly to the table of the gifts when he realized that they weren’t gifts at all, but empty boxes and torn papers. “Can’t even have a proper party. Whoever these fools are, they’re going to know what it’s like to see someone having a good time when I’m in charge.”

The orchard seemed less like a place that he wanted to get his meal from now. The food that he could smell, a roasting pig, was the most wonderful smell he’d ever encountered, and it seemed a great let down for him to have just an apple or so. Instead, he went back to his little place and sat on the rags he had for a bed.

“I have to get me something to use. Magic. You’d think in a place like this, there’d be something.” He had been in the fields in the early morning, looking for a faerie or two. Even the brownies, who were dumber than rocks, seemed to have gone into hiding. “I could go to the mountain, I suppose. Look there.”

But the thought of going there, climbing the mountain even for magic, seemed a task that was too much for him. He was exhausted most of the time, and he could barely move around the rest. Being without his magic was like having his teeth pulled out and a steak, a fine rare one, set before him.

Butler would have to do something, and the sooner the better. He needed those pieces they had, and he wasn’t going to get them without more magic than he had on him now. He’d forgotten how much he had come to depend on the magic and all that it had done for him. Like his body falling apart. His teeth, never in good shape in the first place, were hurting him all the time now.

Butler was even beginning to look older. There wasn’t enough to keep him alive, much less make him look like a young man who had had it all. He would again, soon too, but for now, he was living in a shack without heat or water, and he was hungry. All the time.

Resting for a little bit, he thought about the necklace and how it was supposed to be this all-powerful thing. He had, at one time, been able to rub the blue diamond in the middle and replenish himself for several days. Now all it gave him was a shiny stone and a sore thumb.

After napping for a few hours, he made himself walk to the mountain. Stopping by the orchard this time, he picked himself several apples, a few pears, and a fruit that looked like it had scabs all over it, with the ugliest hard stems out of the top of it. It was the most dreadful thing he’d ever seen, but he figured that as big as it was, he should be able to get some energy from it. The walk was made more difficult with his extra weight, and he thought about just sitting down again and resting.

“Can’t do it.” Butler had been talking to himself for all his life, and thought that he needed to pep himself up more instead of thinking of only bad things. Like how hurt he was, and how hungry he seemed to be all the time. “Can’t rest until this is done. I will win this. I will.”

Butler felt better for it each time he said it. Of course he had to stop and rest when he talked; he didn’t seem to have enough breath to walk and talk at the same time. Way up in the mountain, it was colder too. So that didn’t help his health nor his disposition one single drop.

The trek nearly killed him, but it was nearly sunrise when he finally got to an area where there were flowers still growing. He didn’t remember there being so many tangles on the ground when he’d come this way hunting for a woman to warm his bed. Not only were the trees overgrown with scrub brush under them, but brambles just reached out and scratched at his face. Even his bag of fruit had been battered and he’d lost almost all of it; the ugly thing had been the only item that remained in the bag—Butler thought it was because of the spikes at the top and it getting all tangled up in the plastic. It had better be worth it, he thought to himself.

He saw her a full minute before it registered that she was what he was looking for. The faerie, all shiny and flittering around the last of the blossoms around the flowers, was singing a tune that made him want to scream at her to shut up. Butler hated music of any kind, and especially hated singing. But for now he’d tolerate it, just to get up close enough to her that he could snatch her up.

Being as quiet as he could, he moved toward her, careful now to keep his eyes on anything else that might be with her. Faeries had a thing for keeping bears and the like with them when they were about. It was just so they’d not be caught in a snare or anything else that would trap them. Butler could not believe his luck as he reached out and grabbed her.

“You’re going to help me.” She shook her head and he nodded at her. “You are. Or I’ll pluck your wings off you and leave you on the ground to be eaten by bugs. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“You’ll do it anyway, Butler the Traitor.” He loved the title, and wondered where it had come from. But he’d not allow her to know that. Then they’d stop calling him such a mean sounding name. “What do you think I will do for you? Give you my magic? You may have it—I’ve not much of it.”

“You’ll give it to me anyway. And you’re going to call all the faeries here to you. I will use you all to get what is mine.” She told him she was alone. “No faerie is ever alone. I know that from when I was king here. You’ll call them to you and tell them to hurry. I have things to do, and you’re going to help me.”

She kept telling him she was alone. And no one else came when he made her scream by plucking her wing off. He didn’t want her to die, not until he was finished with her, but he was disappointed that she had no others around to feed his magic. Well, if she wouldn’t help him the way he wanted, he’d just have to kill her and take it all. He kind of liked that idea better anyway.

Holding her above his head by both hands, he said the words that would give him her all. Her screams were giving him a worse headache, but this was just what he wanted and needed. As soon as he tore her body in half, he felt her magic rain down over him.

It was heady to have so much after being deprived of magic for so long. The first thing that he wanted to do was make himself look better. Give himself a home, new clothing, and a fine feast. But he did none of those things. Not that he thought that what she’d given him would do all that; Butler was sure she’d held out on him toward the end anyway. But he needed to conserve his magic, so that when the time came for him to make the McCades pay, he’d be able to do it.

Butler found four more faeries while he was out. He could not believe his luck today, and was glad now that he’d made the trip. Even though it had cost him a great deal of energy and pain to get here, it was more than he’d hoped for in the way of magic. He’d have enough now, if he was very careful, to take down the McCades.

“I don’t need to kill them all. Just one of them and the rest will give me what I want. It’s not like they can make it work anyway. Not with me having the final piece.” He laughed as he sat in the forest that had been so good to him. “I’ll confront them on the morrow, and then by evening I’ll have all the magic I need to take back my homeland and rule the world. The dragon and all the riches will be mine to have.”

He was near giddy with the prospect of living in the newly remodeled castle. It would surely have all the comforts that he’d grown to love in the last years. Heat and cooling when necessary. A soft bed that would be big enough for him to not just sleep in, but to enjoy some fun with a few whores. They were all whores to him, women of the world, and he’d take his fill of them whenever he wished. Also, he’d hire himself a cook. One that could bake as well as the woman in the town where the McCades lived. He’d have himself pies and cakes whenever the mood struck him. Yes, Butler thought, I’m going to finally have what is coming to me.

Trying to eat the ugly fruit had made him sick. And it had hurt his teeth. Biting into the thing like an apple had been bitter and rough. He had cuts on his lips and tongue, and his chin, where the juice had run over the open sores, was burning like he’d been set on fire. Not having any idea where the thing had come from originally, he decided that he’d be better served to have the plants cut down and be done with them. The plant was good for neither man nor beast, and he thought it very obnoxious too.

Making a mental note to have only apples and oranges in his orchard, the only things that he had recognized while there, he would have them for every meal. Either in a pie or in wine, Butler thought with a laugh.

Walking back to the town in the darkness, he noticed that while there were people walking about, the store fronts were still not opened. It was kind of late, he supposed, but they should have at least opened for a couple of hours. How was he to steal him something good if they didn’t cooperate with his schedule? He was beginning to think that the castle had become not a residence as he’d first assumed, but a party house for the town. There was no one person who could afford such a grand place, and they used it for get togethers. That would soon stop too.

He slept in his shed but knew that this time tomorrow he’d be in his own home with his own things. It would have been easy for him to make himself a nice place for the one night, but he didn’t want to use his energy. Butler thought that was the first time in his life that he’d thought that. Magic had always been something that was plentiful for him, and easy to get when he needed it. As it was, he was lucky to have what he did, and didn’t want to use it needlessly. He would when he had it all, of course. There would be an endless supply of it, he knew it. And if there wasn’t, he’d order it to be so. Butler was never going to be without his magic ever again.

“Tomorrow, when I rise, I’ll find them at the hotel and finish this once and for all. I’m done with them and their ways.” Laughing, he rolled to his side and fell asleep. The walk had worn him out.

~~~

Vance watched Micky sleep. They’d made love all night long and well into the morning, and he knew that she was exhausted. He was as well, but he had a great deal on his mind and he just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going to be the one that messed things up for his family.

“You’re thinking too loudly.” Micky turned and looked at him, and he smiled with her. “I can almost taste how hard you’re thinking about things. What is it? You had something happen or someone said something to you at the party. What was it? And who am I going to have to murder for upsetting you?”

“No one. I promise.” He kissed her when she rolled over and on top of him. “I think you don’t really want to know. Otherwise, you’d not be naked on me and me as hard as a rock.”

“First of all, you’re always hard as a rock. It’s a wonder you can even think with all the blood in your groin. Secondly, I do want to know, but maybe we can talk later, after I’ve had my way with you.”

Vance helped her sit up. She could ride him anytime she wanted, and he’d not mind at all. But when she only sat over him, just staring down at his face, he asked her what was wrong. When she shook her head, he got worried.

“Have I grown a second head and don’t know it? Tell me. You’re seeing something there. I have food in my teeth?” She laughed, and his worry went down a great deal. “Tell me, love, and then I’ll tell you what I’ve been thinking about.”

“You’re different. I don’t know how yet, but there is something about you that I can’t quite put my finger on.” He then told her about his thoughts about his dragon. “You don’t think he’s there with you? Have you ever felt him?”

“No. I mean, yes. I’ve known that there was something within me that made me think it was the dragon, but now that I’m supposed to be able to call to it, I can’t.” She asked if he’d talked to his brothers. “Yes. I can speak to Warrior, which I wasn’t able to do before you came into my life. He said that he doesn’t know either, but that I don’t have a dragon now. But I was born with one.”

“That doesn’t make sense. If you don’t have a dragon, how are you guys supposed to call him forth? Not to mention, how do you deal with Butler? He’s coming, and I’m betting that he won’t exclude you simply because you don’t have one.” Vance told her that’s all he’d been able to think about. “I’m sorry. I wish you had told me. All I could think about was that you’d come to realize that I’m not for you.”

“Never that.” He took her to the bed, rolling her to her back as he settled over her. “It matters little to me if I ever have a dragon or not, so long as you’re beside me.”

“I love you as well. But I do worry about you.” He told her he was sorry. “No need for that. Just tell me when something is bothering you. I don’t want to have to rape your mind when you could just as easily let me know.”

“You can rape other parts of me if you want.” He slid into her, feeling her heat and tightness wrap around him. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you, how you make me feel. And what you make me want.”

“A child.” He lifted his head a little, not sure that he’d heard her right. “I want to have your child. Carry a baby that we both created. I know that this thing with Butler is going to end soon, and that we’ll come out of it victorious. But right now, all I can think about is having your baby and raising him or her to be person just like their daddy.”

“I love you so very much, Micky.” He made love to her then. Touching her skin, feeling her respond to him. Never once did he look at anything but her eyes, wanting to see every emotion that she was having.

“You’re going to make me come.” He grinned and told her he hoped so. “Come with me, Vance. Come with me and let me have your child.”

“I don’t know how this works with you.” Micky told him he was doing a very good job of it. “No, I mean, are you in heat? Do you have a time when you can have a child? I don’t know anything about your kind.”

“Come in me and we’ll have a child. I’m fertile when I want a child with my mate.” She cried out and he had to come, come with her. When she said his name, he came hard, filling her body with his seed. “Again. I need you again.”

This time he moved down her body to the very heat of her. She was wet, both from him and her need. Licking her from gate to clit, he tasted everything and needed more. Burying his mouth over her, Vance ate her like a feast, devoured her like he was never going to have a meal again.

Micky played with her breasts, tugging at her nipples as he watched her from his position between her thighs. She rolled her hips up to meet his mouth, lowered them when she’d had too much. Lifting her up, cupping her ass in his hands, he felt his cock fill tightly as she came three times in quick climaxes. He wanted to feel her again, taste her mouth, her breasts while he fucked her.

Vance moved up her body this time, tasting her delicious skin, licking her navel and tasting her there. Her ribs were like a fine steak. The underside of her breasts tasted of warm rolls, the yeast at their peak for him to eat. Every part of her was something that he enjoyed. Her nipples were suckled. The lobes of her ears were delightful to nibble on. When he touched his mouth to hers, all he could think about was she was his, all of her, and she wanted to have their child.

Fucking her now, hard and quickly, he thought of her large with their baby. The way it would suckle at her breasts. Watching her when she played with him or her in their yard. It mattered little to him the sex of the child. He wanted healthy and happy, and he knew that together, they could do that.

When he came this time, filling her with his love in addition to his seed, Vance knew that they’d done just what they had wanted. A child would come to them, and it would be a boy. Vance hadn’t any idea why he knew that, but he did. And he would be called Caelin Vance McCade.

When he woke up, not even realizing that he’d dozed off, he was alone in the bed. There was a note beside him on the pillow, and he read it while making his way to the bathroom to shower. Micky had gone into town with his sisters and would be back at dinner. Showering and then dressing, he asked her if she was having fun.

I am. Did you get some rest? Vance told her that he felt wonderful. I’m so glad. So do I, as a matter of fact. And had your mom not called me and asked me to go with them, I might have slept until you did.

You should have woken me. She said that he was sleeping so well, she didn’t want to. I feel like I’m rested. Things have been disturbing my sleep a little more than I thought they had. But I can honestly say, I don’t think I even dreamed last night. You wore me out. Anytime you want to make me sleep like that again, you don’t let anything stop you.

I won’t. But you promise me that you’ll talk to me next time and not hold it in. I know you probably did that a lot before, but not anymore. I don’t want to have to worry that you’re keeping something from me when I can help you too. All right? He told her that he loved her. And I love you too. I hope it’s all right, but I’ve been having so much fun picking out baby things. I’ve not said anything to anyone yet, but I’m making us a list. You and I, we’ll go shopping after we tell everyone that we’re expecting. I think that should be something we do.

You get whatever you want. We have the jet, and if that isn’t big enough, we’ll come back for it. I love it here. It’s all so fresh and clean. And I feel like I’ve come home. He smiled as he pulled on his socks. Not enough to live here all the time, I don’t think, but I’d very much like to come back here often. If Grady wouldn’t mind.

Are you kidding? They’re making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year for coming here. Also, I think there was a mention for Valentine’s Day, New Years, as well as all our birthdays. We’ll be here a lot between now and when our child is born. He thought about telling her that it was a boy, but didn’t have an explanation as to why he thought that. I’ll be home by dinner. We’re grilling out, I guess.

Vance found his brothers in the big living room. They were watching a football game on the biggest television he’d ever seen. When he joined them there, he was given a tall glass of tea and told there were snacks on the buffet. As he made his way there, he laughed.

“Snacks? This looks like a full meal here. Who ordered all this?” Grady said the cook had brought it all in and said for them to taste it. “And what, they’ll make it for us again? That sounds like we’re all going to need to have a gym membership if we stayed here very long.”

“So far, none of us have found anything that we didn’t want more of. And there are some things that I’ve wanted to horde for myself.” He joined him at the long table of hot and cold food. “There are drinks too. However, I’ve not had to get up to get more since I was given my first glass. Someone comes around and refills them about the time they’re empty. It’s the best football party I’ve ever been to.”

“You think they’re glad to be cooking for someone again? Did you try those puffy potato things? I don’t know what’s in them, but they’re delicious.” Grady didn’t either but loved them too. Grady also pointed out the chicken wings that looked like turkey legs, as well as the buffalo dip and chips.

Sitting down with his family, Vance had two plates of food. When Lewis tried to take some of it, he told him to get his own. The rest of them made a trip to the buffet then, and came back with enough food for them to share with him as well. Vance could get used to this, having a good time with his brothers and fantastic food to eat.

Halftime brought them more food, this time desserts. He was not going to be able to eat dinner at this rate, and tried to pace himself. And as soon as he heard what they were going to have, grilled steaks and shrimp with pasta, he decided that he’d had enough for now. But he did ask the maid that was in the room with them keeping the plates cleaned up if she’d put him back some of the cherry pie, his favorite.

“The cook is making several for dinner tonight, my lord.” He thanked her and was ready to tell her to just call him Vance when she spoke again. “Butler will be here on the morrow. I was to tell you when we heard.”

Then she was gone, like she’d only been in the room for that one purpose. Putting his plate down, he went back to the couch and sat down. Everything was soured now. He was too nervous again that he’d let his family down when Butler got there. There was still no word from Warrior, and he was beginning to think he was afraid to come back and tell him he had fucked up somehow.

The women showed up just as the game was ending. Vance tried his best to pay attention to the things going on around him, but he couldn’t. Instead of trying, he simply gave up and told them all what was wrong with him. And that Warrior was looking to see why he no longer had his dragon and something about the sword was the reason, but he was so despondent that he knew they would hate him. They were screwed, and he knew it was going to be his fault.

“You worry too much. We’ve made it this far.” He nodded at Dalton, who had always been the one, to him, who had the most level thoughts. “The set is with us. We have our mates and children on the way. The magic is here for us to use, and we’re going to finish this thing with Butler once and for all. I have to believe that because to even think of the alternative is depressing. We’re going to do this, Vance, all of us. And when we do, you’ll see that your lack of a dragon was what made it happen.”

Vance started to say that he didn’t know how that was going to work when Lewis stopped him from talking. “We’re a family. All of us have a part to play in this. Not just us, but the women that we love too. Like Dalton said, we’ll get through it, and we’ll be better men for it. As someone said before, no one has ever made it this far, so there are bound to be glitches. We’ll do this.”

“And if we don’t? What are we out? Nothing.” Vance nearly disagreed with Jorden, but didn’t. If they didn’t make this work, they would all die because the magic for them would be gone; Butler would make sure of that, Vance was positive, but he could see his brother’s point too. “We’re not out anything that we didn’t have before, yet we have gained so much. We’re just fine. And we’ll win. I know it.”

He certainly hoped so. And when they went into dinner a little while later, he did feel better. Still no word on his dragon, but he did have a lot more than he did before. Including a baby on the way.