Page 13 of Savage

“I’m not worried. Are they the type that likes to make a scene?” He said that if it was to embarrass him, then yes, they were all for it. “I just don’t understand people anymore. I’m sure that you guys have had a lot more dealings with them, but they’re so into things going their way, aren’t they? I never noticed that before.”

They arrived at the hotel right on time. Taking a limo would put them all in the same car and make it so that they wouldn’t have any choice but to ride with them. If they would even get into the car with them. Kaida didn’t think they’d give up the opportunity to embarrass Kingston as much as they could, Tucker. And she was going to bring home the fact that his name was Tucker, not Savage, too. She finally had everyone in town calling him that, and she couldn’t have been more happy.

Kingston went into the hotel to get his parents, and she looked at Tucker. He looked wonderful in a suit, and she loved the way that his eyes matched the color of not just her dress but his tie as well. The diamond sparkled over them both and made it all the more romantic, with them being stuck in the limo alone.

“Do you think that they’ll come with us?” Tucker said they’d go for just the reason she thought so that they could embarrass the lot of them. “Then we’ll have to strike first. What is the one thing that you remember about them that was wrong? You know, like they did something in the public thatwould embarrass them to no end?”

When he smiled at her, she knew that what he had was juicy. When Kingston came back out alone, she thought that the three of them could have a lovely dinner and maybe even invite the other two to join them. It would be like having her family around. Then she saw them coming out of the hotel.

Sofia was dressed from head to toe in black. A somber black that made William and her look like they were attending a funeral rather than a dinner with their son and his friends. She had no doubt that they weren’t ever going to be on friendly terms with the elderly couple, but it made her plans for the evening all the more special. It was going to be fun, too.

“I don’t know why you two are here.” Tucker told her that it was his limo. “It is not. Why must you tell lies all the time, Savage?”

“My name is Tucker Savage. You can call me that or nothing at all.” William asked him why he was being so uppity all of a sudden. “How would you know how I act all the time? Since you got here, that’s the first time I’ve seen you since I was being tried for the murder of my family. Oh yes, I remember you being there, egging the council on to have me killed. And all this time, you knew that Margo had done the deed. Even when Cassian and Brenin’s family were killed, you said nothing. What does it feel like to be so wronged? I can tell you, it’s not a feeling that ever fades away.”

“You would bring that up when we’re mourning the death of poor Margo. I can’t believe that you did that to her.” Kaida said she’d done it. “Really? And why should I believe that? You’re nothing but a human that should have been murdered before you were born.”

“You mean aborted. Well, lucky me I must have better parents than Kingston has. And that would mean you. But I drew first blood with Margo, and that was our deal. When I turned her over to her brothers, knowing that they’d be kinder to her than she’d ever been to anyone else, I was surprised to find out that she’d spoken to the two of you—or would that be threatened to two of you with death if you didn’t bring her along with you on this trip.” Sofia huffed. “Also, I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but the parents of Cassian and his brother left them a great deal of money too. They’re getting it in the next couple of weeks.”

“We’ll see about that. Being that we’re the last of the true Savages then I think it should come to us. We’re the ones that have kept the two of them in line.” Tucker laughed, and she turned an evil eye at him. “Your parent should have dropped you so that you were never born. Christ, when I think of how lovely Lillian was and how you turned out. Even going so far as taking a human as a mate. What is the dragon world coming to?”

“A great deal better once you’re out of it.” She couldn’t read minds and not let them know she was doing it. She had Tucker do it and tell her what was on their mind. When he paused for a moment, she looked at him. He smiled but it was tight and didn’t reach his eyes.

“Don’t eat anything that I don’t hand you.”She asked if they were going to poison her. “Yes. At least, that’s their plan. I’ve already warned Kings. He said that he’d not planned on eating anything anyway. I think that I can get on board with that. After we take care of them, the three of us can go out and have all the food we want. After they’re gone. Do you have a plan?”

“I don’t, not really. Just to do what the council asked us to do and get them to confess. I think they will. They already think that they’re untouchable. Do you suppose they had a hand in killing the other couples with Margo? I wouldn’t put it past them.”He said that he’d not either.“They’re what gives dragons a bad name if you ask me. Just pure evil.”

She was happy that they’d spoken to the council before coming here. They apparently had been trying to prove a few murders on them for some time now. Helping Margo would be hard to prove unless they confessed to helping her. But she had no doubt that they’d do more than that.

They were pulling up in front of the restaurant when William looked at her. “You think you’re so wonderful that you have a bit of magic, don’t you?” Kaida told him that she thought it was wonderful to have a man who loved her very much. “He’ll tire of you like all the others around. You’ll see. You’ll have him a couple of human children, and then he’ll kick you to the curb. I give it six months. You’llsee.”

The man’s head snapped back, and she didn’t know what had happened. Not until she noticed that Kingston was nursing his hand. He had punched his father in the face, and she thought that it had been a long time coming. Looking at her, he took her hand into his and kissed it. Smiling at her, he told her that he had wanted to be her knight in shining armor for a long time.

~*~

Kings, a new nickname that Tucker had given him, watched his parents’ every move. When the breadsticks came, he snatched them from the waiter and handed them to Kaida and Tucker after taking one for himself. If she’d not been looking right at his parents, she might well have missed the look of anger on their faces. When asked if they wanted more, Kings told the waiter that would be wonderful and could he please hand it all to him. The man looked confused but complied with the second batch of bread was brought to the table.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kings asked his mom what she meant. “Do you think that I’m incapable of sharing the bread with you and the others?”

“No. I just think that you’d do more than share with us. It’s not that I don’t think that you’re incapable of sharing, but I don’t want any poison that you might have on you getting into my or the others’ system.” Her face paled a great deal and before she could recover, Kings asked her if she’d been the one to poison any of the other Savages with Margo’s help. “No answer? Well, that’s all right. I know that you killed them off with her help. Or you might well have coned her into thinking it was all her idea so that you could stay out of trouble when she was caught. Believe it or not, I know a great deal more about you than you do me.”

“Like what? Something that the little twit told you about? You’re going to believe a human over your own parents? I’m ashamed of you.” He laughed, drawing the attention of those around him, and Kaida loved it. “Stop that braying right now. You’re making a spectacle of yourself.”

That made him laugh all the harder. He must have seen a couple of people smiling at him and decided that she didn’t care what people thought about him laughing aloud. It was nice to be able to feel good around his parents for a change. She’d bet anything that Kings would laugh the night away at their expense. When the waiter came to take their order, she noticed that neither Kings nor Tucker had ordered anything but the salad bar. She decided that he was going to do the same.

“What are you doing?” Kings asked his father what he meant. “Ordering from the salad bar. Don’t you think you’d like a thick steak and a baked potato? That’s what I’m having.”

“Yes, you go ahead, but I doubt very much that you’d poison an entire restaurant full of people just to get at us. At least that’s what I’m hoping.” She noticed that his mother was playing with her charm. Apparently, so did Kings. “You keep playing with that mother, and you might get a bit of the poison on yourself.”

Her hand moved away from the charm so quickly that she knew that was where it was. Snatching it from her neck and breaking the chain with it, Kaida held it by the chain and looked at the council that suddenly appeared in the room. Not saying a word, the older couple were gone and so was the charm. Whatever it was, she was glad that they did what Tucker had said and ordered nothing but what they could touch themselves.

After they were gone, they reordered what they wanted. The salad bar was nice. Dragons liked a good bit of greens as much as they loved meat, she’d been told. Ordering the largest steaks they had on their menu, Kaida decided that it was as good a time as any to celebrate. Telling the waiter to bring them their best champagne, they toasted their night and enjoyed the rest of the evening, making plans for the rest of their lives.

The other two cousins joined them just as their meal came to them. Ordering for them, she was glad to see that everyone was in better spirits. She knew that she was. When Kings heard from David about his parents’ home coming up for sale, he was glad to be able to buy it as well and have it torn down. There were just too many bad memories of the place for him to want to have it renovated into something nice, he told them. Starting from scratch was the best way to go, she thought.

~*~

On the way home, Kings noticed that Kaida was asleep. She’d had a rough few days and he was glad to see that she was getting the rest that she needed. He looked at Tucker when he spoke.

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