Chapter Sixteen – George

Clan Lachlan. So this was what it was all about? George was trying to piece it all together as they drove to the large house the Lachlans used as their headquarters. It was from here that they ran various low-profile businesses.

George still could not fit the final pieces together. He could understand why they took the Heartsfire Blade, it had weakened his clan’s standing with the other clans. But what did this have to do with Poppy and Charlie? They had been living on a mountain for the last three years, so why go after them now? And who told them where they were? Poppy said she had no contact with anyone other than the store owner once every couple of weeks.

Yet this was why she had run. This was why she had gone off-grid, to hide Charlie.

Percival had said Clan Lachlan was looking to go to war. But they were not strong enough, unless they had backing from a lot of the other clans, or were operating like Kyle, and gaining control in other ways.

If they ever got their hands on Charlie, they would use him as leverage with George.

“Call Alfie and tell him to take Charlie somewhere safe,” George suddenly said to Poppy.

Her face was white as she dialed the number. “You think they will go to the house?” Poppy asked as her phone rang and rang.

“Possibly. Like you said, we have the element of surprise, but once that’s gone, who knows what will happen,” George said.

“Hi, Alfie,” Poppy said. “This is Poppy. I have a message from George, he said to take Charlie somewhere safe.” She glanced at George. “Who is this?”

George’s heart leaped in his chest. They were too late; they had his son. Well, whoever they were, they had better have thick dragon hide. Because this dragon was going to rip them to shreds.

“I think you know who this is,” Zavier’s voice said. Poppy had put her phone on speaker, and he turned the car around to head for the mansion. “I knew you would attend that party, George. You always have to do the right thing, don’t you?”

“This is between you and me, Zavier,” George said, accelerating off in the direction of his home.

“Well, I would call it more of a family matter. I’m afraid Alfie took a bit of a beating, by the way. He didn’t have his big, bad savior to defend him this time,” Zavier said. “My father will be pleased to have him back, and finish what he started.”

George closed his eyes briefly, fighting to control his dragon. “What do you want?”

“You dead,” Zavier said. “It’s as simple as that.”

“Why?

“All will be revealed when you get here,” Zavier answered and the line went dead.

“What did he mean?” Poppy asked. “About Alfie?”

“Alfie is from the Lachlan Clan. They originated in Scotland, before spreading their wings. When I was younger, much younger, I was visiting with them, when Zavier’s father took it upon himself to beat up Alfie, for sport.”

“Is Alfie a dragon too?” Poppy asked.

“No. He is the son of one of the clan’s mates. From before she met her dragon. The clan took them in, but Zavier’s father, Clonal, was a cruel clan leader. Didn’t tolerate them well, and when he had too much to drink, he would beat them.”

“And you stepped in?” Poppy asked.

“Yes. I asked that Alfie be gifted to me, in return for the goodwill of the Heartsfire Clan.”

“And he agreed?”

“Reluctantly. But we were strong, so much stronger then.”

“And so they decided to make you weak?” Poppy nodded. “By taking the Blade.”

“It seems Clan Lachlan knows how to hold a grudge for a very long time,” George said. “Clonal had a stroke, and Zavier leads them now. He wasn’t the firstborn, but he was the cruelest of Clonal’s sons. My guess is he was given the chance to lead by promising to bring down the other clans.”

“Poor Alfie,” Poppy said. She didn’t have to say any more; her fear for Charlie and what might happen was not something either of them needed to put into words.

***

When they reached the mansion, the gates stood open, and George guided the car along the road leading to the house, parking next to two other vehicles. He turned off the ignition and said to Poppy, “Your priority is to get Charlie out of the house. You have run before, you can do it again.” He dug in his wallet and took out a business card. “This is my lawyer, he will see to it that you have money.”

“But what if they get to him too?” Poppy asked.

“They won’t. He is part of the Heartsfire Clan and will die before he gives you up.”

“This is ridiculous,” Poppy said. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She took a deep breath, put the card into her bra, and nodded. “Let’s do this.”

“Get Charlie out, the rest is up to me,” he said again.

She nodded.

“Promise me,” George said, putting his hand on hers.

“Damn it. I promise,” she ground out.

George leaned over and kissed her cheek. “After this is over, you are going to go over our security measures and work out how the hell they got in.”

She smiled. “I will. I think an electric fence set to kill might do it.”

George smiled at the irony. “I like that idea.” He also knew that chances were, someone was going to die tonight, but he did not plan for it to be him.

They got out and walked side by side up to the front door, where they were met by two men whose eyes glowed green as George approached. “Settle down, boys,” George said. “We’re here to see your boss, and if you burn us to a crisp, my guess is he will not be happy.”

They stood back and let George and Poppy pass. He noted the front door was broken off its hinges, and he didn’t have to guess where Zavier was, he simply needed to follow the trail of broken furniture. Somewhere in the house there was the sound of banging, as if they were trying to knock down a wall.

“Ahh, you made good time in the traffic,” Zavier Lachlan said, getting up from the sofa. “Kyle told me you had left. You had a little fun with him, didn’t you?”

“He’s in on this too?” George asked.

“No! I am not sharing power with anyone. But he made a good red herring, didn’t he? Did you like the snippets of information I sent your way?”

“That was you?” George asked.

“All me. He was only too happy to help. He likes his plans and schemes, but he doesn’t think big enough.”

George scanned the room, looking for Alfie and Charlie. There was no sign of either. As the banging continued, George had a glimmer of hope.

“Where is my son?” Poppy said, moving forward to confront Zavier.

“Safe,” Zavier said with a smile.

“Let us see him,” George said.

“Not until we have made our deal.” Zavier offered them a seat. “Please. Let’s get comfortable.”

“Just tell me what you want, Zavier,” George said.

“Money.” Zavier’s answer was blunt.

“How much?” George asked.

“All of it,” Zavier said, spreading his hands out and smiling.

“It’s yours,” George said.

“I know.” Zavier pulled out a piece of paper from a briefcase on the table and handed it to George, who took it and read it quickly.

“Last will and testament,” George said.

“Yes. This is really simple. You sign this, and I kill you. Your son inherits your business…” He passed a piece of paper to Poppy. “This one is for you.”

She looked down at it and then at George, shock on her face. “You want me to sign this? To leave Charlie in the hands of his uncle?”

“Yes. See we don’t need you. We just need Charlie, and these two pieces of paper.” Zavier pointed at them and then grinned. “Oh, Poppy, I could not believe my luck when you had sex with George. What a little slut you are, and all for your brother.”

Poppy crumpled the paper in her hand. “I am not signing this.”

“You will, because that is what keeps Charlie alive.” Zavier grinned. “Imagine my surprise and happiness when Brax told me you were pregnant.”

“How did he know?” Poppy asked.

“After you found out he was working for me, I ordered him to keep a close eye on you. We weren’t sure you would try to steal the blade back and return it to George. You’re that kind of a gal, aren’t you? You like to play by the rules. That’s why we had to come up with the whole ruse about Brax being in danger. I thought he played his part well, you should be proud.”

Poppy shook her head, and tears misted her eyes. “He’s no brother of mine.”

“Now, now, don’t let things end on a sour note, not when Uncle Brax is going to be Charlie’s guardian. We’ve watched him grow up. You did a fine job, hidden away on the mountain. We would have come for him sooner, but George began to build an empire, and so I waited.”

“You watched us?” Poppy said.

“Sort of, Brax checked in every now and again, but we tracked you with the chip in your dear old mom’s ring. You were so attached to it, even though everyone knew Braxton was your mom’s favorite.”

Poppy lunged at Zavier, but George caught a hold of her and pulled her back. “Don’t let him goad you.”

“You’re so right, George.” Zavier handed a pen to him. “Sign.”

“No,” George said.

“What’s it going to take?” Zavier asked. “Oh, I know. Brax.”

A man came in the room behind them, and Poppy turned, horrified to see her brother there. “Brax, why are you doing this?”

“Because I can.” He pulled out a dagger from his belt and held it up. “The Heartsfire Blade. This is where it all began. With one small trinket.”

“George, sign or we start chopping pieces off your mate.” Zavier put the pen under George’s nose. “She’s going to die anyway, but you can choose if it’s quick or slow.”

“George.” Poppy threw herself into his arms and whispered. “I choose you as my family.” Then she pulled back and said, “I always wanted to see your dragon before I died.”

Then she lunged at her brother, punching him in the face, and knocking him to the floor. George took advantage of the situation, and let his pent-up dragon loose. The mansion rocked as he smashed into the ceiling, and he hoped Poppy was unhurt as he thrashed his tail, taking out two of the guards.

Zavier threw his head back and roared, and his dragon erupted, crashing into George as a fight to the death began.

Knowing he had to get Zavier out of the house, George clawed at his chest, pushing him backwards through the already broken window. He sprawled back onto the lawn, but was up on his feet in no time. The two dragons slashed at each other, fire erupting from their mouths to inflict further damage on each other.

They were well matched, hitting each other blow for blow, teeth biting, claws slashing. Then, from behind Zavier, came a slash of bright steel. The dragon turned in rage, And George saw Poppy run underneath him, and angle the Heartsfire Blade upward to where Zavier’s fiery heart beat in his chest. With both hands on the hilt, she plunged it upward. The dragon reared up into the air, and then fell backwards, the life leaving him as blood spurted from the wound.

Panic filled George and he shifted back to his human form, searching for Poppy, praying she had not been squashed under the bulk of Zavier’s dragon.

“Poppy,” he called.

“Here,” she said, coming towards him, dragon blood staining her dress. “I ruined the dress.”

He flung his arms around her, and pulled her close, kissing her head, then her cheeks, and then her lips. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Never,” she said. “You are my family now. You, me, Charlie, and Alfie. If they are alive.” Her voice was choked as she spoke the last words.

“Let’s go get them,” George said. He took her hand and led her through the wreckage of the house. All of Zavier’s men had gone, including Brax. George didn’t care: he would round them up later, and make sure they paid for their crimes. The clans did not take kindly to this behavior, and Clan Lachlan would be severely punished.

“Where are they?” Poppy asked as they headed into the kitchen.

“In the safe room,” George said. He opened the door that led down to the basement, and went down the stairs, Poppy following. When they reached the bottom, he could see signs of where Zavier’s men had been trying to knock the wall down. They had no chance, since the safe room had metal walls and its own ventilation system. “I never thought we would use it. The people who lived in the mansion before I bought it were paranoid about being kidnapped. So they had a safe room built in the basement.”

“And they are safe inside?” Poppy asked.

“Let’s see. Alfie! Charlie! It’s safe now. You can come out.” Nothing happened.

“Charlie bear?” Poppy called. Then to George she asked, “Can they hear us?”

“Yes,” George said. “Charlie, can you open the door. You have to press the big green button. Can you do that?”

“Alfie said not to open it for anyone,” Charlie said, his voice faint.

“You can open it for us,” Poppy said.

There was a moment of silence and then the door popped open, and Charlie’s scared face poked out. “Alfie is asleep.”

George pushed inside, while Poppy picked Charlie up and hugged him. “Is he OK?”

“He’s still breathing.” George picked Alfie up and they all went upstairs, got into the car, and drove to the hospital. Alfie was part of their family, and more important than the wrecked house, or anything in it.

“I tried to protect the boy,” Alfie whispered to Poppy, who cradled his head open the back seat.

“You did. He’s safe, and Zavier is dead,” Poppy said quietly.

“Someone tapped into the keypad at the gate,” Alfie said. “I tried to stop them.”

“Who had access?” Poppy asked.

“No one,” George said. “They would have to tamper with the system in the house.”

“Lucy,” Poppy said. “Lucy went down to get coffee.”

“Lucy?” George asked.

“The woman you sent with the clothes.”

“Damn it.” He hit the steering wheel. “She is from the Lachlan Clan. I trusted her.”

“It’s done now,” Poppy said. “Let’s be thankful we’re all alive.”

George only hoped that Alfie would make it through this. The house could be repaired, but if Alfie died, because of him…

Poppy placed her hand on George’s shoulder. “He’ll be OK.”

And he believed her. As he believed in her. She was his mate. His own Heartsfire.

She had given him a son and heir, a reason to live.

When they got to the hospital, he carried Alfie inside, where the nurses soon swarmed around them and got him on a gurney. Then began a long wait, while doctors examined Alfie, ran tests, took x-rays, and finally told them they could see the old man.

“How are you?” Poppy asked.

“Couple of broken ribs. Internal bleeding, but nothing they can’t patch up.” Alfie held his hand out to Charlie. “We fought them off, didn’t we, Charlie?”

“We did!” Charlie exclaimed. “I hit them with the mop.”

“That’s my boy,” George said.

“Where are we going to live now?” Charlie asked.

“The house can be mended,” Poppy said. “And in the meantime, maybe you two could come and stay at our place. When you are well enough, Alfie.”

“Yes!” Charlie said, jumping up and down.

“As long as we’re together.” George pulled Poppy and Charlie into his arms. Where they were going to stay, forever.