The Dragon’s Daughter (The Villains of Wolf Hollow #2)

Prologue

The door to my holding cell swings open.

“You have a visitor.”

Doug’s gruff voice has become depressingly familiar since my case was brought to trial. He’s not bad for a small town sheriff, a little rough around the edges and likes to give me shit for winding up here in the first place, but not a bad guy.

Shame I couldn’t say the same for myself.

I drag my ass off the filthy bench and duck through the open door. A beam of sunlight squeaks through the dark and dingy place of my current residence, offering a reprieve from the short-term imprisonment I find myself in.

Fifteen days in a shitty holding cell is fifteen days too long.

A couple of the other sheriffs look up as I pass, their shrewd gaze tracking my movements as if I’m one move away from snapping my cuffs and making a run for the door. It’s a stupid thought because even if I managed to make it out, where the fuck am I going to go?

One of the younger officers catches my eye. I jerk forward, doing a piss poor impression of making a lunge for his throat. The guy all but falls out of his chair, causing Doug to roll his eyes and the other uniforms to snicker.

“Keep the beast on a leash, Kaminski.” Flushing to the tips of his ears, the rookie scowls in my direction, “He shouldn’t be allowed out of his cell.”

“He’s got a visitor.” Doug offers him a shrug, but I catch the slight twitch of his lip, “Maybe next time you should treat his brother with a little bit more respect.”

A growl escapes my throat at the reminder. The dipshit takes another step back, his eyes narrowed but obedient as he sits down and returns to his files.

That’s right. Put your eyes back where they belong.

“You could try to be civil, you know.” Pulling another set of keys from the loop around his waist, Doug casts a glance over his shoulder, “Would go a long way to swaying the jury’s vote in your favour.”

I don’t say anything because there’s nothing to say.

The photos submitted into evidence speak for themselves. The blood I left behind with my fists. The bones I broke with a fucking smile on my face.

I don’t need a judge to tell me I’m guilty because I already know it. I’m guilty for a lot of shit over the years, and if this is the one that’s finally going to send me away then so be it.

“If we’re just going to stand here so you can give me another lecture, I think I’ll head back to my cell.”

Doug doesn’t flinch at my tone. I’ve never been known for having a great attitude and the last fifteen days have only made it worse.

I feel restless. Unsettled.

Angry.

The last one doesn’t come as a surprise, but still I bite back another sharp remark before Doug finally turns and opens the door. He’s made his position clear since day one, his tough love approach falling short of the father figure I never had growing up.

Sorry, Doug. Too little too fucking late.

He opens his mouth to start preaching and I quickly brush past him. My shoulders barely fit through the narrow doorframe and the tiny folding chairs waiting on the other side do nothing to offer comfort for a guy of my size.

My cuffs clang noisily on the metal table as I settle myself down. Doug follows closely behind, grabbing the chains from the middle of the table and attaching them to my wrists.

“You can take those off. He won’t be needing them for much longer.”

The feminine lilt catches my attention. My eyes dart to the corner of the room, taking in the figure lingering in the shadows.

“Ma’am, it’s not procedure to let-

“Take them off.”

The thin blade of a stiletto taps the dirty concrete. Twice.

Something hideously close to fear flashes through Doug’s stoic expression before he frees my wrists and leaves without another word.

Rubbing the sore skin, I unsubtly check out the woman attached to the aggressive footwear.

Blonde hair. Pouty lips. Gorgeous face.

Looks like a biker Barbie with the leather jacket and skintight pants she’s wearing. I would pay good money to see what her Ken doll looks like.

“My marriage proposals usually arrive by mail.” Tilting my head, I feel a smirk creep across my face, “Better luck next time.”

“Oh, Vector.”

The sultry purr fills the room. She sidles closer, letting the poor lighting illuminate her beauty all the more.

“You wouldn’t last a day married to me. Especially when you’ve been such a bad boy.”

A thick folder slaps down between us, the sudden noise making me flinch.

The woman smiles, all teeth and no sweetness as she drags one long fingernail across the personnel file lying between us. Unease slithers through my skin when I finally notice her eyes.

There’s something wrong with her eyes.

“You’ve been busy.” Playfulness tugs at her lips, matching the dip in her voice, “Just last week you made front page news.”

“Assault charges will do that.”

“Mm, especially in a town like Silverwood.” Blonde curls spill over her shoulder as her head tilts to the side, “Although this isn’t your first rodeo with the law, now is it?”

I stay silent, knowing there’s no way in hell I can afford a lawyer.

“Does the name Vincent Vin ring any bells?”

When I don’t answer, she sighs, as if my lack of participation is far more disappointing than expected.

“The world gets painted in black and white. Good and bad. And yet, when the lines of grey threaten to destroy the only life you’ve ever known, suddenly you get shoved into a role you never intended on performing.”

Her words ring true, but I meet her stare with nothing but contempt.

“What do you want?”

“I want to help you, Vector. I want to give you a chance to be the person everyone expects you to be.” A small smile tugs at her mouth, “The best part is I’ll pay you for it.”

I glare at her, hating the way my name rolls off her tongue.

“People like to think there are two sides to every story, but we know better.” Her lips press together while her eyes stay trained on my face, “When the hero shoves his loving wife down the stairs, he doesn’t become the villain.

That spot is saved for the son who does whatever it takes to protect his family. ”

Discomfort pricks at the back of my neck, “No charges were pressed.”

“Not that time. But what about Jerrell Thompson? The boy who beat your brother until he could barely walk. Did he deserve to wind up with...” She pauses, pulling another page out of the folder, “Two broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, extensive facial damage-

“You didn’t see what he did to Sky.” I snap my teeth, cutting her off, “You didn’t see the fucking blood he left all over the bar because that asshole felt like picking on someone who wouldn’t fight back.”

“Your brother isn’t a fighter, is he?”

“No. He’s...” The good to my bad, “Small. Fragile.”

She smiles as if her point has been made, “Not everyone wants to push back. That’s where people like us come in. We take back what was taken from us. Punish those who deserve to be punished.”

My eyes narrow, “I’m not out here playing some sick game of judge and executioner.”

“Aren’t you? Aren’t you choosing to hurt the people who hurt you? The men who dare to lay a hand on your family?”

“That’s personal.” Disdain drips into my voice, “I’m not a thug for hire.”

She waves off my comment, “What you need to think about is your life outside of a jail cell. Do you really want to throw away a promising future to rot within these four walls?”

Her words land in the empty space inside my chest.

There is no promising future for me. Hasn’t been since the day I set myself on this path.

“You need a purpose, Vector. And I just so happen to have one for you.” Her eyes flit over my t-shirt, lingering on the swell of my biceps, “An opportunity like this does not come around very often.”

An employment contract gets slid across the table. Legislation and numbers jump out at me, formalities and nondisclosure agreements woven meticulously throughout.

There’s a name at the bottom of the contract. A scrawled slant of handwriting that offers me this stranger’s name.

Calista Drache.

“Accommodations are included, of course, and you will be allocated time to visit your family on the weekends I do not require your services.” A red fingernail taps the fine print, “Your food budget takes into account your... passion project, shall we say.”

She means the steroids. The substance I’ve yet to learn how to live without.

“What about the assault charges?”

“All will be taken care of.” A click of her tongue draws my attention back to the woman across from me, “You will have two weeks to relocate to Wolf Hollow and get yourself settled. Any transportation will be covered by my dime.”

I nod slowly, casting my eyes over the hourly wage one more time.

“I’m good.” Pushing the contract back into her painted talons, I give her a mocking smile, “Find someone else to do your dirty work.”

She tilts her head, studying me silently. A beat passes before her lips start to curve, the pink stretch of her lips far too beautiful for such a malicious smile.

“Do you know what the most heartbreaking thing about jailtime is? What happens to the people on the outside.” She leans back in her chair, letting the flaps of her jacket fall flat against her chest.

Her bare chest.

I hadn’t noticed the outline of her tits before, but I sure as shit am noticing them now. Small and round with sharp nipples pressed against the fabric, this woman is wearing nothing but skin under her leather jacket.

“You see, Vector, there’s a new predator in Wolf Hollow and I need your help to catch him.” She chuckles softly, running a painted nail over the curve of her breast, “And I really don’t care who I have to hurt to secure that reality.”

It takes a moment for my brain to catch up.

“Did you know your brother is putting in extra hours at the tattoo shop, hoping to make enough money to post your bail?” Leather gets pushed to the side so I can see the red markings of irritated flesh, “Such a darling boy, your Skylar. And so talented too.”

My heart fucking stops when I recognize the swirl of ink dancing along the woman’s torso. Dark and twisted, the creature snarls back at me with a ferocity that can only come from the rage of a Vin brother.

“If you so much as touch him-

“You will get to watch from behind the bars of a prison cell.” Shaking her head, she lets out a sigh, “Wondering whether you did everything you could to protect him. Wondering whether the few morals you chose to save were worth breaking the only promise you’ve ever made.”

Green flames swirl around her pupils, the colour so bright and fierce it’s only a matter of time before it burns out of control.

“We’re the bad guys, Vector. Without us, there would be no one to keep the heroes in line.”

She had me. She had me before I even walked in the fucking room.

By the time Calista Drache leaves the visitor room, there’s a pit of dread growing in my stomach. A slight shake to my hands, a dryness to my throat, an inkling of fear bleeding through every vessel.

“I think I just signed a deal with the devil.”

My words sound hollow, coarse to even my own ears. Doug shuffles further into the room, his expression grimmer than I’ve ever seen it.

“Not the devil, son. That’s the Dragon’s daughter.”