Cole quietly snuck out of Skinny Mo and Big Bertha's wedding reception when no one was looking. Now that things had calmed down and they were no longer on the run, he knew Zara would be worried about Betsy Lou, the name she had lovingly given her Ford Focus. His intent had been to retrieve her car from The Bellagio parking garage and return to the reception without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, his plan had been blown all to hell by a sexy, damsel in distress with silky red hair and a body made for Sin.
What is it with me and redheads who are always in trouble? he thought, making his way toward the beautiful woman struggling to get away from the two goons who were currently trying to pull her into their van.
“Let me go you imbeciles,” he heard the vixen say.
“Quit being a pain in the ass Sarah and get in the damn van,” the large, blonde haired man said as he tightened his grip on her arm.
“Hey, you heard the lady. Let her go,” Cole said in an effort to distract the goons.
“Mind your own damn business,” the other guy retorted, who was stocky with brown hair and had no neck.
I don’t have time for this crap, Cole thought as he picked up his pace. In a few more minutes, they would have Sarah in the van, and there would be nothing he could do. Well, he could shift, but that was a last resort given his last debacle in Vegas.
Cole couldn’t help but smile when Sarah managed to knee one of her captors in the balls. When he let go of her arm, she twisted her body and used the heel of her stiletto to stomp on no-neck’s foot. When he howled out in pain and loosened his grip, Cole was within arm’s reach. He quickly kicked the idiot holding his family jewels in the side, while his not so damsel in distress showed no-neck her right hook.
Damn she’s feisty were his last thoughts before the two men shifted into hellhounds.
“What the hell?” he yelled to no one in particular.
“Don’t hurt them. They’re under the spell of Dark Magic,” Sarah yelled.
“Lady, I don’t give a rat’s ass what kind of spell they’re under. If they bite me, I’m biting back,” Cole countered.
“Look, I don’t know who you are, and I didn’t ask for your help. Just leave me be, and I’ll handle this.”
“Have you been smoking something, or are you naturally crazy?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but neither.”
“Good. Then that means you’re not oblivious to the fact that these hellhounds want to eat us alive.”
“Are you deaf or dumb?” Sarah snapped.
“Neither. Just practical and a little grouchy according to my best friend,” Cole replied, keeping one eye on the hellhounds. He needed to figure a way out of this mess and fast. Zara was going to kill him for not showing up to the ceremony.
“Read my lips,” Sarah said before she was abruptly interrupted.
“That’s a little difficult right now, so why don’t you just speak your peace. But make it quick,” Cole countered, continuing to watch the hellhounds every movement.
“Fine. They’re under the spell of Dark Magic. If you will just leave, I’ll take care of this and no one will be the wiser. I don’t want them hurt.”
“Wait! You had no problem kicking one in his manhood and knocking the crap out of the other one, yet you don’t want to hurt them. What am I missing?”
Sighing in frustration, Sarah said, “They’re not really human. I know you won’t believe me, but their true forms are cocker spaniels. I used to play with them when I was a kid. The one on your left is named Jax, but I fondly refer to him as big-booty-baby. The one on your right is Max, but I like to call him Maxamillion.”
“You’re right. I don’t believe you. What I see are two vicious hellhounds who want to rip us apart.”
“How many times do I have to say this? That’s the Dark Magic spell they’re under.”
“Spells. Bells. Their canine teeth tell me they’re hungry and we’re about to be lunch. So zip it and help me figure a way out of this mess.”
“Men. You can’t live with them and you can’t shoot’em,” Sarah replied in an angered voice. “If I had my way, I’d be done with all of you.”
“Sarah. That’s your name right?” Cole asked. “How about we try less bitching and more action?”
“What did you just say to me?”
“I said let’s try less bitching and more action. In case you haven’t noticed, our friends are closing in on us. They’re going to attack soon.”
Tired of arguing with the fiery redhead and unable to shift, Cole did the only thing he could. He opened up his connection with Zara and asked for help. He knew it was passed midnight and they had said the spell because he could feel the excess Magic still swirling in the air, almost calling to him. But he’d resisted its call to help a crazy woman.
“Z, I don’t have time to explain so just listen. I’m cornered in The Bellagio parking garage by two hellhounds who are one step away from ripping us apart. I need your help and fast.”
“Why don’t you just shift and burn the damn dogs to a crisp?”
“You don’t think that crossed my mind? Besides, I promised the crazy woman that I wouldn’t hurt them.”
“What crazy woman?”
“Z, we don’t have time for this. I’ll explain more when you get here.”
“Fine, have it your way,” Zara said breaking their connection.
“What’s wrong?” Stefano asked.
“Cole’s in trouble and needs our help. We need to get to The Bellagio parking garage.”
“Well, don’t just stand there. Everyone pile into the Love Machine,” Fabio said.
“Dad, as much as I loathe… I mean love that contraption, it will take us forever to get down the strip in it. Given the situation, I think a little more Magic might be in order,” Zelda said.
“Do we want to risk exposing Magic again?” Stefano asked.
“You have a point there. Maybe Zara, Zoe and I should go. The three of us would only leave a small ripple of Magic.”
“No,” Mac quickly said in a voice that brokered no argument. “Wherever you and our babies go, I go.”
“Believe it or not, we can handle this,” Zelda countered.
“We don’t have time to argue. Cole said the hellhounds were close to attacking him and some woman,” Zara exclaimed.
Tired, hungry and needing a nap, Zelda finally conceded and said, “Okay, we’ll all go. Are you happy now?”
When everyone nodded, she quickly said a spell that transported all of them to the parking garage.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that,” Zara said, swaying toward Stefano.
“Don’t worry. I’ll always be right here to catch you,” Stefano whispered in her ear.
“I’m counting on it,” Zara whispered back before kissing him softly on the lips.
“I hate to interrupt your tender moment, but we have a situation here,” Cole said, sarcastically.
“Keep it up Colrath and we’ll leave your butt here to fend for yourself,” Zara countered.
“You really have a knack for pissing people off,” Sarah said, matter of fact.
“I’ll remember that the next time I’m trying to save a damsel in distress.”
“Hey, I’m no damsel and I definitely wasn’t in distress. Just a little pre-occupied.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Princess,” Cole smirked.
“Don’t. Ever. Call. Me. That. Again,” Sarah said through gritted teeth. Her father had given her the nickname Princess after her mother passed away. Initially, she had loved and treasured the endearment until she turned sixteen and realized she had become his willing captive. That’s when things changed between them. She did everything in her power to escape and he did everything to keep her a prisoner in his castle or rather mausoleum, as she had fondly referred to it over the years.
“Dad, that’s a lot of Dark Magic swirling around those hellhounds. Have any suggestions on how to disentangle the two without hurting the puppies?” Zelda asked.
“Give me a minute,” Fabio replied.
“Cole doesn’t’ have a minute from the hungry looks those hellhounds are throwing his way,” Zelda said.
Zoe wasn’t sure what possessed her, but she suddenly started chanting,
Ole’ Dark Magic hear our plea,
Flee into the light and ye shall be free,
If you’re unwilling to embrace the light,
Then know we’re prepared to fight this night,
It’s time to go back from whence you came,
Far away I banish you to shame,
Release these innocents in the Goddess’ name,
May all your attempts to harm be in vain
At first, it looked as though the spell wouldn’t work, but when Zelda and Zara joined her a few minutes later, the Magic in the air shifted. The cloud of Dark Magic dissipated and the hellhounds shifted into cocker spaniels just as Sarah had said they would.
Stunned into silence, Cole simply looked back and forth between the puppies and Sarah knowing the gang would give him shit about this for years to come, especially Zara. He could hear them now, laughing at how two little puppies kept his big, bad dragon at bay and forced him to call for help. Guess he’d be checking his man card at the door tonight.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could go for a chili cheeseburger and some bacon Gouda fries,” Zelda said, rubbing her stomach.
“How can you be hungry again?” Fabio asked, shaking his head at the amount of food his oldest daughter was putting away. The way she was eating, the babies were going to come out full-grown and ready for college. He made a mental note that when they got back home, he needed to come up with a plan to help her eat better.
“Daddy-O, when you’re caring two puppies, then you can bitch about what I’m eating. Besides, fighting Dark Magic always makes me hungry.”
“There’s not much that doesn’t make you hungry these days,” Zara mumbled under her breath.
“Watch it little sis. You never know when my hormones might go astray and I accidentally smite you on your bony ass.”
“Hey, my ass isn’t bony. It fills out my jeans in all the right places. If you don’t believe me, just ask hot stuff over there,” Zara said, pointing at Stefano.
“Like he’d be unbiased,” Zelda smirked.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But what I do know is that if you keep eating like that, your ass is going to be bigger than a house by the time my niece and nephew are born,” Zara said with a smug smile.
“Enough about our asses. What’s up with Cole and the chick in the sexy witch costume?”
“I don’t know. I figure they’ll either kill one another or end up doing the nasty. Personally, I’m rooting for the latter because my best friend seriously needs to get laid.”
“Yeah, he is a little uptight, but what do you expect from a fire-breathing dragon. Let’s just hope they don’t wait too long to do the horizontal mambo because your best friend looks like he’s ready to set some shit on fire, which would not only expose Magic, but also piss Baba Yo Momma off.
Shivering, Zara said, “She’s one scary witch. Yet, her taste in clothes is something to be desired. What’s up with the 80s outfits anyway? She does realize it’s the twenty-first century, right?”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Zelda yelled.
“What? I just asked if Baba Love knew we were in the twenty-first century.”
Shooing Zara’s comment away, Zelda said, “I’m not talking about Baba Love. I’m talking about our sister who is over there playing with the cocker spaniels like they’ve known one another for years.”
“You don’t think they’re hers? You know… ”
“Familiars. That I do. You get a red dragon, she gets cute puppies that shift into fierce hellhounds and I get Larry, Mo and Curly who have a gambling habit and eat all my damn food. Fate is a cruel bitch and I’m about to zap her bony ass.”
“What is it with you and bony asses lately? Do you have some type of fetish I should know about?”
“Don’t test my patience, Zara.”
“Hmm. I didn’t realize you had any,” Zara smirked, as she walked toward Cole, who was still arguing with the mysterious woman in the witch costume.
“It’s obvious whoever is after you knows where you are, Sarah. Face it. You’re no longer safe in Vegas. We can help you.”
“I don’t need your help. I’ve been doing just fine on my own.”
“Really? Because it sure as hell didn’t look that way to me when those two goons were trying to force you into their van.”
“They got the drop on me. I can assure you that I’ll be more careful in the future.”
“Pardon me if I don’t believe you.”
“That’s your problem, not mine,” Sarah snapped. She was tired of men telling her what to do. She’d rather hide from her father on her own. She just needed to pack a few clothes, grab her emergency stash of money and then she’d be on her way.
“What’s your plan, then?” Cole asked, anger evident in his tone.
“I’m not going to tell you. We barely know one another.”
“Hey guys, I hate to interrupt, but we need to get on the road. Our job is done here and I’d like to spend some quality time with my sisters before we have to part ways,” Zara said in a calm voice.
Cole turned and looked at the only woman he had ever considered family. Torn between the one he grew up with and the one who needed his help, whether she wanted to admit it or not, he rubbed the back of his neck and said, “I’m not going. She needs my help, but is being too stubborn to accept it.”
“What do you mean, you’re not going?” Zara yelled, losing all composure. It had been a long night and all she wanted was some food and a hot bath. But more importantly, she wanted to know that everyone in her family was safe and that wouldn’t happen if Cole stayed with this woman.
“Hello. I’m Sarah. Thanks for all of your help tonight, but as I’ve told Cole, I can take care of myself. He doesn’t need to stay with me and I’m not going with you.”
“You need help. Let us help you Sarah,” Cole pleaded. “I can’t in all good consciousness leave you out here knowing that someone who practices in Dark Magic is after you.”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two and my puppies really don’t give a rat’s ass right now because they’re hungry. So, here’s what we’re going to do. Colrath, you’re going to nicely ask Sarah to come with us and Sarah, you’re going to nicely accept his invitation or I’m going to smite both of your asses. I’m pregnant. I’m hormonal. I’m hungry and I’m ready for bed. It’s been a long day and according to Daddy-O, I need my beauty rest,” Zelda said in a deadly voiced that would have put the fear in the Goddess.
“Fine,” Sarah said begrudgingly.
“Finally, a voice of reason,” Cole said with a satisfied smirk.
“Colrath, keep it up and you’ll end up on my shit list, which is not a good place to be. Now that that’s settled, let’s get some food people. We’ll come back for Zara’s car later,” Zelda demanded.