Khan (Bowen Boys, #2)(28)
“I wasn’t trying to cause trouble. I was…it seemed the thing to do. I didn’t even know I could do that.” She put her hands on her lap. “You could have told me to stop.”
“Yeah, but what fun would that be?” Dylan got up and pulled things from the refrigerator. “I want to stay today, but then I have to go back tonight. I have exams to grade and a few guys I have to beat at poker tomorrow night. I need to win back some of the gas money it took me to get here.” He didn’t need the money any more than the rest of them did. Caitlynne had seen to that. She’d paid off all their outstanding loans and had given each of them a nice tidy nest egg as well. He hadn’t touched his and probably never would, but it was nice to have there just in case. As he fried up bacon, he spoke to them both. “I can teach you as much as I can today, if you don’t mind. I figure with this guy whose trying to kill you, it would be nice to have a little extra on your side.” He turned to her as she pulled out the plates.
“That won’t help us much, I’m afraid. The man who is after me is human. I guess he’s like me.”
Dylan stopped putting more bacon in the pan and looked at her.
“You knew that, didn’t you? I’m sorry you wasted your gas money, but—”
“Monica, he’s a species just like us. Human is a species, and you’re nothing close to being human any longer. You might not be able to shift, but you aren’t human any longer.” Dylan looked at his brother. “Tell her. Tell her she’s not human.”
“What is she then if not that? I don’t understand what you mean.” Khan sounded pissy again, and he looked between them. Dylan nearly burst out laughing, but Khan was holding a large skillet.
“She’s as much a panther as you. You didn’t convert her yet, but she has enough panther blood in her system that if she were to carry, the baby would be full-blooded.” Monica looked at Khan. “I’m not lying to you, bro. She’s as near panther as you can get without the entire shift fun.”
Monica changed the subject, but not before she whispered in his mind. “Do behave, will you? This is hard enough on both of us.” “What do you mean Tony is a species? I understand the concept of him being a species, but I thought that I could only hear paranormals.”
“No. You know no boundaries.” He asked them to wait a moment, and he left the room to get the pretty maid. He made sure he touched her skin. When they entered the kitchen, Dylan introduced them to her. “This is Molly. Molly works here not because she likes the work, but she steals food from the pantry each night to take home to her family. What she doesn’t know is that everyone in the house that works here knows and replaces it for her. They don’t want her to lose her job.” He got that bit of information from the man who had let him in this morning, but he hadn’t known who Molly was.
Molly sat down and looked around the room. “Don’t tell Miss Caitlynne. She’ll fire me for sure.”
“We won’t, but you have to help us with something.” He looked at Monica. “Read her mind.” He could tell she was trying, but from the look on her face, she got nothing. Dylan told her to touch her skin. “But not her hands. I don’t know why, but for some reason, that doesn’t work.”
Monica touched her arm and then stepped back. “Her husband left her about nine months ago for another woman. Molly is not just struggling to make ends meet, but she’s also trying her best to get her little sister into med school so she doesn’t have to wait tables for the rest of her life.”
Molly nodded, but didn’t move. “He took everything when he left us for her. Everything including the microwave. Jane and I have been trying to make it stick for us, but school is expensive, and her books cost more than a car. I don’t…you won’t tell Miss Caitlynne, will you? You promised if I helped you, I wouldn’t get fired.”
“And you won’t either.” Both Dylan and Khan reached for their wallets at the same time and were just about to pull them out when Monica continued. “Caitlynne has a fund set up for people who want to better themselves. I bet if you had a talk with her, you and your sister, she can help you in ways you wouldn’t believe. Of course you’ll have to come clean about the food, but I bet you she won’t mind a wit and will tell you to take more.”
Dylan looked over at Khan, who looked like he’d just won the lottery. “My mate. She’s going to be amazing at family dinners.”
Dylan thought he might be right. After sending Molly to find the mistress of the house, Dylan worked with Monica a little more. She was going to be fine once he had more time and she wasn’t so stressed about Tony. And Dylan knew that if they didn’t find him, he would, and kill him slowly.
When Monica left to get dressed, Dylan looked at Khan. “He hurt her. He hurt her more than she’s shared with any of you. He shouldn’t be allowed to breathe.”
Khan looked at him with both surprise and wonderment. Before he could ask him what he meant, Dylan raised his hand. He wouldn’t share that information unless she let him or it was to save her life.
“I’ll take care of him. With what she has shared, it’s enough to bring all of us on his ass. If I find him before the police do ,and I plan on that happening…he’s going to suffer in ways you can’t believe.”