by A. P. Jensen
Her head jerked up when Cain walked through the door with a plate of toast, eggs and oatmeal. Her teeth clenched together so hard, her jaw ached. Cain set the plate and bowl on the table and looked her over.
“How do you feel?”
She unlocked her jaw. “What if you walked in on me changing?”
“I bathed you the other night.”
Her hand wanted to clench into a fist but it hurt too much. “I was unconscious and you’re a freaking perv.”
“I didn’t look. I washed the blood off.”
“I don’t want you walking through walls,” she snapped.
He shrugged. “It’s the easiest way for you to accept that what I’m saying is the truth. The sooner you believe, the better for both of us.”
“I want the pills,” she said, wincing as she sat at the table.
He handed her the pills and she grabbed the glass herself and shot him a triumphant look. He sat in the chair across from her and watched her devour her breakfast. Neither spoke and he knew her mind was processing everything. He could see for himself that she was healing quickly, faster than a normal human. What the hell was she?
When Raven finished her meal, she went to the control by the light switch and pressed a button that raised the curtains around the room. Sunlight streamed in and it reassured her that she wasn’t in an alternate universe. She was in Las Vegas, NV, and she could see the same red mountains in the distance and could estimate where she lived from the window. Her shot up apartment… She turned back to Cain and found him watching her closely.
“What do we do now?”
“We wait.”
Wait. Not her favorite word. She tapped her foot restlessly and regarded him. “Why do you say the police won’t come looking for me?”
“I made a call. The Council has people that clean up this kind of stuff.”
“Stuff?” she said in disbelief.
“Yeah. That’s their job. They can make your neighbors forget they saw or heard anything. The police wouldn’t be alerted at all.”
She sank into an armchair because her legs were suddenly weak. “Why is this happening? What would anyone want with me?”
“You tell me.”
She shot him an aggravated glance. “I told you, the most exciting thing I do is clean penthouses. I’m boring as hell.”
He didn’t look convinced, which irritated her.
“Look, Cain, I can’t walk through walls or erase people’s memories. I don’t have any magic voodoo up my sleeve. Why would your grandpa think I’m worth protecting?”
“No idea. All he sees are glimpses of the future. He knew the Battalion was closing in on you, that they had your address and if they managed to capture you, it could change the tide.”
“The tide of what?”
“Humanity.”
She blew a raspberry and for the first time, chuckled. “Humanity? That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“No.”
She sobered. “You kill anyone?”
“At least five. One of them was the guy that shot you.”
She let out a puff of breath. “I want to say that automatically makes you a bad guy but sometimes it’s either kill or be killed, right?”
He didn’t answer and she moved her arm experimentally.
“So you’re a retriever for the Council. What does this Council do exactly?”
“Keeps track of others with power.”
“Of course they do,” she muttered and asked, “What did Manny say about me taking a shower? I need one.”
Cain peered at her wound. “I’d say another day at least.”
Gritting her teeth, she tugged restlessly on her clothes and glanced outside. She knew it was around forty degrees but here she was dressed in summer pajamas. She knew he got her a tank top for the sling and she didn’t want to feel thankful. She felt so out of place.
“I need my clothes. Good thing I didn’t take my uniform home.”
Cain raised a brow. “Now I have a question. You say you cleaned this room on Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah.”
“We talked?”
She sneered. “Like I said, no one pays attention to me. You weren’t nice. I asked you to swipe your room key and you got snippy.”
He frowned. “I don’t remember this at all.”
“Not like someone like you would normally look twice at a housekeeper anyway.”
“What are the chances you would clean my room and I would show up in your apartment?” he said thoughtfully.
She showed a lot of teeth when she smiled. “Exactly. Too much coincidence. It’s actually a good thing I met you before or I would have shot you out of my apartment.”
“And you might be dead right now.”
She didn’t respond. She got up and paced because she needed to move, to think. Her body was unusually stiff and her mind was slowly sifting through the information Cain provided.
“You think I have something these Battalion people want?” Raven asked, unable to move past that. She was a housekeeper for God’s sake. She didn’t gamble, steal or have magical powers of any kind so… what would a mafia-like organization that would kill want with her?
“You must. They wouldn’t bother you otherwise. My grandpa wouldn’t have seen you in his vision if you weren’t important either.”
“And you’re gonna protect me from the evil guys?”
“That’s the plan.”
“What if I said I don’t need you to protect me?”
He looked pointedly at her sling and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m supposed to shadow and protect and that’s what I’ll do. Now that I know how badly the Battalion wants you, I can’t walk away.”
“Aren’t you dreamy?” Raven said sarcastically. “My own white knight in ironed Armani.”
“How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess.” Men that looked like him, that dressed like him always wore Armani. She didn’t want to know how much his shirt cost. She suspected just one of his shirts could pay for three months’ rent. She eyed him. “What else can you do?”
A brow rose. “Excuse me?”
“Walking through walls can’t be the only thing you can do,” she said, widening her eyes innocently.
“I have a knack for tracking, when I shoot I don’t miss, I’m pretty fast and I can move through walls.”
“Sounds like a great assassin.” A muscle ticked in his jaw and she raised a brow. “Are you?”
“I do what I have to.”
She jiggled her foot, shifted against the cushions and suppressed a gasp of pain. Cain shot up from his seat and grabbed a pillow from the bed. He gently inserted it between Raven and the arm of the chair to support her shoulder. She frowned when he went back to his seat.
“So you’re a nurse-assassin.”
He bowed his head in acknowledgement and didn’t answer.
“So this Council protects people with power, you said?” A nod. “And what can these people do?”
“Wipe memories, predict the future, sense when people are going postal, fly…Some people have really crazy gifts.”
She could scoff at some weirdo on the street saying this but having Cain, a privileged, obviously educated and dangerous man being so matter of fact about all of this was suddenly making it real and she felt her heartbeat speeding up.
“They’re kind of like super powers, you know?”
“Super powers. Flying, walking through walls…”
Her vision blurred and that fast, that unexpectedly she leaned forward and put her head between her legs so she wouldn’t faint. She heard her breathing coming out of her in wheezing gasps that would have embarrassed her but she was way beyond that. Cain crouched in front of her. He was talking but she couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in her ears. Cain draped a cold washcloth over her neck, causing her to shoot up in surprise and cry out because of her shoulder. She glared at him and he shrugged.
“You’re getting hysterical. I told y
ou, I don’t like it. Next time I might dump you in the shower.”
She tossed the sopping washcloth on her plate and scowled at her now wet top. “These are the only clothes I have, you ass!”
“No. There’re more. Manny took care of it.”
She looked up. “What?”
“Manny, your doctor, is gay and he knows about women’s clothes and shit. He bought you a bunch of stuff. They’re in the drawers and closet. I think he even bought makeup.”
She swelled with indignation. “I don’t need you buying me shit, rich boy!”
“You can’t go back to your apartment.”
“I have my own money! I can buy my own damn clothes.”
“I don’t want you leaving this room,” he snapped, finally losing patience.
“This is America! I can do whatever the fuck I want, Armani Man.”
“No. You can’t.”
She cocked her head. “What did you say to me?”
“I said you can’t do whatever you want. Not anymore. You’re not going anywhere without my say so.”
She sputtered as he rose and started to clean up the dishes. When he walked through the door her mouth dropped and she surged up from her seat. She walked over and touched the door just to make sure it was solid. She turned the knob and stepped onto the landing. She was a bit distracted by the room again. It was beautiful. Light streamed in from the floor to ceiling windows and the glass stairs sparkled. Cain disappeared as he pushed a cart out of the room and came back, looking up at her.
“Manny said you’re not supposed to strain yourself.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what Manny said. You can’t keep me here. That’s illegal.”
“And where do you want to go?”
She opened and closed her mouth and felt herself flush when she realized she didn’t need to go anywhere. The immediate thing she needed was clothes, which he provided. As if he could read her mind (were there people that could do that?) he cocked a brow.
“You need to shut up and rest. Go to sleep.”
“I’m tired of sleeping.”
She knew she sounded the slightest bit like a brat but she didn’t care. She had a damn gunshot wound for God’s sake and her life had turned upside down. She made her way down the stairs and Cain shook his head and she could almost hear his silent cursing. When she got to the bottom, she walked over to the couch because her legs trembled.
“TV?” Cain said placidly.
He tossed a remote beside her and since she was sitting right in front of the TV, she turned it on. Cable was a luxury she recently discovered once she got her job at Decadent. She flipped through the channels but nothing could hold her attention like Cain who sat nearby with his thin laptop on his lap, legs stretched out in front of him.
When the doorbell rang, she jolted. Cain got up, shoved a gun into an ankle holster and shot her a hard look. What the hell did he think she was going to do? She heard voices echo down the short hallway. A minute later, Cain reappeared with Marie. He came towards Raven with a steely look and she went rigid with panic. Employees weren’t allowed to stay at the casino and if Marie reported her -
“Ma’am, do you want me to start with the bedrooms?” Marie asked with a polite smile.
Raven blinked and her mouth dropped open. Cain looked between them with a frown on his face.
“Ma’am?” Marie prodded.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Cain answered.
Marie shot Raven a curious glance as she went up the stairs to Cain’s bedroom.
“Cat got your tongue?” Cain murmured as he took his seat across from her again.
“She’s my coworker,” Raven hissed.
Cain’s eyes moved up to the bedroom and back to her. “She didn’t recognize you.”
“No shit,” Raven growled and inwardly fumed. She should be grateful that Marie obviously had short-term memory loss but what if she did need help?
“I’m sure all the housekeepers don’t know each other,” Cain said as he went back to work on his laptop.
Raven glared at him. “Her name is Marie and she can’t even remember me, just like you. Does that sound like a valuable talent to you?”
Cain shrugged. “I remember you now.”
“Lucky me.”
Marie worked around them while Raven pretended to watch TV. Marie looked over every now and then and Raven waited for a glimmer of recognition but there was absolutely nothing. If anything, Raven thought she saw envy in Marie’s eyes.
“Can I do anything else for you?” Marie asked timidly.
Raven opened her mouth. If she needed to be rescued, her savior was standing right in front of her, but she knew her problem was way beyond the police… unless the police knew that there were people running around with super powers and Cain hadn’t hurt her. On the contrary, he was catering to her every whim.
“No. Thank you,” Cain said.
He handed Marie a fifty-dollar bill. She lit up and sent Cain a sultry smile. Raven’s brows shot up as Cain walked Marie out of the penthouse and locked the door. When he came back to the living room, she gawked at him.
“You tipped her a fifty,” Raven said incredulously.
“Too little?”
“You didn’t tip me the other day.”
“The room wasn’t dirty.”
“So you think,” she muttered.
“You want me to tip you now?”
“No, asshole.”
Cain laughed and went back to typing on his laptop. She kept shooting glances at him but she didn’t know what else to say. The Battalion who shot and tried to capture her attacked her. Why? She’d never done anything more exciting than getting a job at Decadent. She moved often, not long enough to connect with anyone and worked in sleazy places, not staying anywhere. She didn’t know anyone. She had no friends or family. No matter how hard she tried, there was something about her that stopped people from making a connection with her so she stopped trying. She moved back to Vegas on a whim since she knew she could afford it and she could drive to California and its beaches on her days off. This time, her move paid off when she got the job at the casino and now… it was all falling apart spectacularly. She’d been shot and had a rich bodyguard who could walk through walls.
“Hungry?”
She realized she was starving. Cain beckoned from the kitchen so she got up and sat on one of the stools at the island. He handed her a Caesar Salad and a fork. She handled the fork awkwardly with her bruised left hand and stabbed her lettuce.
“You think if I walk out of here those Battalion guys will try to kill me?”
“Kill or capture you,” he said and dug into his own salad.
She swung her fork. “How are you going to figure out what they want with me? You can’t stay with me forever.”
He shot her an unreadable look. “That’s up to you.”
She glared at him. “I’m not hiding anything.”
“There has to be a reason they want you.”
She dropped her fork and leaned forward. She felt a twinge and knew the pills were wearing off. “I don’t know who either of my parents are. I was raised in foster homes. I have no friends or family and I’ve lived in over thirty states. This is the first legit job I’ve ever had so if you’re looking for a resume you’re not going to find one. I’ve never been arrested or got a ticket. I don’t have any debt and I pay for everything in cash. I can’t charm anyone with my voice or turn things into gold. If you think I know what the Battalion or you want with me, think again.”
He said nothing, just ate his salad and watched her steadily, which pissed her off. He was so cool and detached. He killed and did what this Council told him to do. At times, she thought he was heartless but then he brought her meals, made sure she had clean clothes and tipped Marie. He was a big puzzle that she wasn’t sure she wanted to understand.
“For the most part, no one pays attention to me which makes all of this ludicrous.”
“You never knew your parents
?” Cain asked thoughtfully.
She shook her head and he contemplated that.
“We usually take care of our own. Those with power go to public or private schools, but when normal kids go to college, we go into training to sharpen our talents and work for the Council. I wonder if your parents were one of us and got killed or something.”
“Or maybe they didn’t want a kid,” Raven said in a flat voice.
He shot her a stern look. “Like I said, we take care of our own. If someone was having trouble, the Council would have stepped in. We don’t want one of our kids being picked up by the Battalion or worse.”
“Exactly how many of you super people are walking amongst us?”
His look told her he didn’t appreciate her sarcasm.
“Couple thousand in the U.S.”
“Not too many.”
“No. That’s why I said, they try to keep track of us.”
They ate in thoughtful silence and she eyed him. He caught her stare and held it.
“Power goes from parent to child?”
“Yeah.”
“So your grandpa’s on the Council. That must mean he’s pretty powerful, especially since he can see the future and crap.”
His fierce expression eased. “Yes. He can see the most, but he’s getting older.”
“And your parents? What can they do?”
“Both of my parents are on the Council too. Dad can walk through walls. Mom is a retriever/tracker.”
“A combination of their power. That’s kinda cool.”
He shrugged. “The only thing is that you don’t get to choose what you want to be. Your power dictates that.”
“So if you wanted to run a flower shop, they wouldn’t let you?”
He let out that bark of a laugh, which meant he didn’t do it often. He shook his head.