Kingdoms of Gold

Bonus Chapter | Valentino

There were some days when Valentino wondered if the trouble he got himself into was worth the shit and giggles. This time, he wasn't sure.

He pulled his car to the side of the road in the middle of the woods. He'd seen the silver Honda Civic pull into the long, dirt drive way. The rickety house was an hour drive from his own. Rune was going to kill him. This was the kind of shit Alistar and Token pulled, not him. He didn't like to play hero, not after it got him sent away from his mother. That had been almost as bad as this.

"Shit, shit, shit." Valentino pulled the handgun from the glove compartment, making sure it was loaded. This one had been custom built. The silencer was the best on the market.

It was also the only gun he had on him.

And there was only half a round of bullets.

Fuck his life.

Valentino's footsteps were quiet as he sprinted through the forest, just outside the path. Four cars were parked in the drive way. He was so screwed. He could do close combat, but it wasn't his strength. Long distance is what Valentino specialized in. Guns were what he specialized in and he hadn't brought any. He might not have enough bullets.

Granted, he hadn't expected to be needing guns today. Token had sent him to the grocery store for more baby food.

That's all he was supposed to do, grab some baby food for Cyrus, maybe another teething toy or a bouquet for Token, and leave. 

But on his way to the car he passed a small girl. She was tiny, helpless. She had to have been a few years older than his son, four or five at most. Her hair was a mess on top her head. It was oily as if it hadn't been washed in weeks. Dirt smeared her face. Her clothes was torn. A woman was dragging her back to a car, hand tightly wrapped the girl's arm.

One look into her big, green eyes and he knew she needed help.

Valentino couldn't abandon her.

He'd go in, check the house. If the family was just poor or struggling, but seemed relatively healthy, then he'd leave. Maybe he'd come back and hide a stack of cash on their front porch. No child deserved to know what the hardships of poverty felt like.

If it wasn't safe, if the girl was being hurt in any way . . . May the afterlife have mercy on the parents because he wouldn't.

A tall shifter exited the house. He opened the trunk of one of the cars, pulling out a small duffle bag. He unzipped it enough to peer inside. Matted green paper peaked through. 

That was too much money for something legal to be happening. Or maybe, they were just needing to buy an enormous amount of baby formula. One tub was like half of his bank account and it didn't last long.

Valentino shook his head. Not possible. Even Cyrus had stopped drinking formula a while back, and he was much younger than the girl in there.

Valentino checked for snipers on the roof and through the windows before moving. It was a rookie mistake, leaving the house unguarded. He snuck up behind the man. He quickly wrapped his arm around the shifter's neck, pressing the gun to his forehead. 

"If you yell or try to break free, I'll shoot." Valentino's voice was laced with magic.

The man was heavy as Valentino dragged him into the brush. The man's eyes glazed over, as if dazed. The shifter was too weak to fight back against his magic. It worked easily on him.

Valentino set him against the tree, gun aimed at his forehead. The house was still in view. "Okay, let's make this quick. What's the money for?"

"The girl." Two words, short and precise.