by A. P. Jensen
“It’s going to be fine,” Cain said.
“For you,” she muttered.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for.”
“This is what you’ve been waiting for. I haven’t been waiting for shit. Why couldn’t I have a cool power like controlling the weather or lighting candles? Being the perfect assassin wasn’t on my wish list, Santa.”
“It is what it is.”
“I hate that saying.”
“Too bad.”
She watched as Cain pulled out his cell.
“Can you put it on speaker?” When Cain hesitated she narrowed her eyes. “After what happened with Angel, don’t you think I deserve to listen?”
His eyes narrowed. “You don’t trust me?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, but this is about me. I want to hear what they’re going to do with me.”
Cain dialed on his phone and hit the speaker button. The call was answered halfway through the first ring.
“Problems? We heard the casino got torched.”
A male voice with a no nonsense attitude answered. Cain watched Raven as he spoke.
“It was the Battalion. They took Raven but she managed to escape. We’re at the Bellagio now.”
“Is she hurt?”
Raven’s brows rose in surprise.
“Angel cut her but she’s alright.”
A long pause. “Angel’s in Las Vegas?”
Cain’s free hand clenched into a fist but his voice didn’t change. “Apparently. Grandpa was right. He’s been trying to capture Raven for a long time.”
“Did you find out what her power is?”
“Yeah, she’s an Unmemorable.”
Raven twisted her hands together in her lap as they waited for the man on the other end to answer.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Angel drank her blood as a test.”
“And it worked?”
Raven frowned because the man sounded… excited.
“Yes,” Cain said grimly.
“Son of a bitch. Hold on.”
The line went dead as they were put on mute. Cain did the same and raised a brow at Raven.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“My dad, Bernt.”
“Bernt? What kind of name is that?”
“It’s a name. What does it matter?”
“He’s on the Council too?”
“Yeah.”
“What does he do?”
“He coordinates the… logistics.”
“So he’s the general?”
“More or less.”
“And your grandpa is his father?”
“Yes.”
“Got it. So you had the pleasure of meeting Angel? Horrible name, by the way, since he’s such a sadistic bastard.”
“Oh, we know him alright.”
“He has a personal agenda-”
Bernt came back on the line. “Cain?”
Cain unmuted the phone. “Yeah?”
“We’ll be there soon.”
The line went dead. Cain pocketed the phone and she goggled at him.
“That’s it?”
Cain shrugged. “They’re cryptic.”
“All the time? Geez, no, ‘Hey son, how’s your life’ or anything?” she said, offended on his behalf.
Cain laughed. “My dad’s not like that.”
“What about your mom?”
Cain hesitated and for the first time she saw him uncomfortable. Cain knew more about her than any other soul on the planet. Now that she was taking all of this seriously, she decided he should spill too.
“My mom’s complicated.”
She propped her chin on her fists. “Go on.”
He didn’t look happy with this line of questioning but she didn’t care. He had no problem asking her questions about her life, or lack of one. He could damn well spill his dirty family secrets and distract her in the process.
“My mom’s a bitter woman.”
“About what?”
Cain ran a hand through his hair. “She was seduced by a man from the Battalion before I was born.”
Raven’s mouth made an O. “Was she married to your father at the time?”
“Yeah.”
Oh shit. Fraternizing with the enemy? “Did she spill Council secrets?”
“No. She slept with the wrong man.”
Raven shrugged. “That happens a lot, doesn’t it?”
Cain opened his mouth to reply but his phone rang. “Yeah? Yes. You met her already. Two days ago. Of course you don’t remember her, she’s an Unmemorable, fool. I don’t have time. I’ll talk to you later, Lo.”
Raven let out a hollow laugh. “So he found out I was an Unmemorable. Is it going to be on the news?”
“Of course not.”
“Joke. Not a good one. So you don’t even know if there’s more Unmemorables, right?”
“No. There are legends though, and you’re here in front of me. Once in a while, events happen that we can’t figure out and the Unmemorables are blamed. We can’t prove otherwise if someone blames them.”
She was outraged. “So people will blame me for things just so they can clear their name? That’s bullshit.’”
“That happened in the past. I doubt it will anymore, especially when people hear there’s a real Unmemorable around. Plus, people know Unmemorables have amazing fight skills.”
“How do you know that if you’ve never met an Unmemorable?” she challenged.
“Part of the legend and it looks like it’s true.”
She grumbled under her breath and had a flashback of stabbing the guards yesterday in the throat, shoulders and upper thigh. She blew out a breath and wiped away the beads of sweat on her forehead.
“And everybody in your world knows about Unmemorables?”
A nod.
“Great,” she drawled. “So why is your dad coming? To check me out?”
“I guess.”
“You don’t question them, do you?” Raven observed.
“I never had reason to.”
“You risked your life to come and protect me. You don’t question why?” She couldn’t imagine taking orders from someone without questioning them up, down and sideways.
“My power is meant for this purpose.”
“To do the will of the Council,” she summarized, not liking this at all.
His face hardened. “I trust the Council.”
“Enough to die for them.”
“Yes.”
She got to her feet and paced with her arms crossed over her middle. “This is crazy.”
She wasn’t about to die for this “Council”, a bunch of people she didn’t know and probably didn’t care about her. They didn’t know who she was or what her life was like. Just because she had a power didn’t mean they could use her as they saw fit. She wanted her own life, her own path but there was a huge problem- Angel knew what she was and though she spent less than an hour with him, she had no doubt he would find her again and next time, she wouldn’t be so lucky.
CHAPTER TEN
“I need to run,” she murmured.
Cain was in front of her so fast, she blinked.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
“Uh, like, jogging,” she said and mimicked someone going on a run. “Psycho.”
“Oh. Well, there’s a gym downstairs. I wouldn’t mind working out either.”
Half an hour later, Raven jumped awkwardly onto a treadmill and punched a bunch of buttons before she found a pace that suited her. Cain was somewhere behind her, probably doing something macho like lifting weights. Around her, people grunted and gasped for breath as they worked out in expensive exercise clothes and ear buds hooked up to iPods. Raven ignored the blaring TVs and pumping music and just ran.
She relocated more times than she could count. Was that wanderlust or her Unmemorable power subconsciously keeping her safe? She was destined to be alone from the beginning and she was content for the most part. Of course
, there were times when she wanted company, which resulted in her getting stood up because the men couldn’t remember asking her out. That was such bullshit. She wondered about her parents but forced herself to push that aside. In the past she figured her mom was raised in a religious family, delivered the baby herself and left her in the park to die. Dramatic, she knew but what was she supposed to think? Now that she knew what she was, did the mother of an Unmemorable forget the child as soon as they were born? Had her mom taken her to the park and forgot about her? She pushed that thought away because it was too complicated.
Raven turned her mind to other things. Okay, Angel had her blood and Cain had her hair so they could remember her. She couldn’t do anything about Angel but she could do something about Cain… Her heart clenched and she mentally berated herself. Cain was doing his job. That’s what she was to him- a job and when the Council told him to do something else he would go because he did what he was told. Plus, his father and grandpa were on the Council. Family. She didn’t have one and didn’t understand that bond, but she’d seen it in other people and she knew the saying “blood is thicker than water” pertained to that relationship. Cain had no loyalties to her. She had her reservations about the Council, but she would stay put until she met them and found out what they would do with the novelty they discovered. Angel was still out there and she had no idea how to navigate this world. She needed all the information she could get.
She thought of Angel’s bribes. She didn’t want money and didn’t have any ambition to be queen of the world. The only thing Angel cast her way that held any appeal was meeting another Unmemorable… if they existed. If her dad was an asshole that didn’t give a shit about her then she didn’t want to meet him. But if she could find someone with the same power who could teach her the ropes, it was worth hanging around.
The cut on her forearm was a dull ache and she shook her head. One injury healed and was replaced with another. The gunshot wound was completely healed, thank God. Was that another Unmemorable advantage? In one week, her life had turned upside down and she felt as if she was walking through a minefield. She couldn’t go back to the way her life had been, not with the Battalion lurking around every corner.
A couple walked in front of her treadmill, holding hands and it distracted her enough to lose her rhythm. She quickly corrected herself. She thought of her relationship with Cain. She honestly believed he cared for her, but she wasn’t good at reading people- men especially. She was grossly unprepared for an alpha male like him and she didn’t know what to think of him. He wasn’t put off by her attitude or background and he’d done his best to keep her safe, although she’d gone against his orders twice and gotten hurt because of it. He was confident and arrogant and wore his wealth like a second skin but he wasn’t a snob. He remembered to tip Marie and he held her last night… She took a deep breath and tossed her head, sending drops of sweat over her controls. She grabbed the towel draped on the machine and ran it over her face as she pushed her body on.
Cain trusted his family and the Council. Raven trusted Cain, so did that mean she should trust the Council as well? No. She was attracted to him, no doubt and now that his family was coming, their time together could be coming to an end. The thought of having Cain reassigned made her heart pound and it wasn’t from running. Cain was the only man that remembered her and as she thought of the way his eyes moved over her the night they went out to the nightclub, her body ached. She’d gone her whole life without touch, without understanding or anyone to talk to and she’d found all of that in Cain.
She pressed the red stop button and the treadmill immediately slowed. She wiped down the machine and turned to look for Cain. He was on the floor doing pushups and there were admiring sidelong looks from men and women. As if Cain sensed her stare, he looked up and did two more pushups before he got easily to his feet and came over to her. She looked him over as he approached. Cain was all she could want in a man. He was strong, loyal, and honest and although he was an alpha male, he didn’t smother her. He wasn’t traditionally handsome, but his brand of rugged sex appeal drew her more than an attractive face.
“You finished?” he asked, wiping his face with a towel.
When she didn’t say anything, he focused on her with narrow eyes.
“Do you like me?” Raven blurted.
He didn’t seem perturbed by her strange question.
“Yeah.”
“You think I’m attractive?”
His eyes moved over her skin slick with sweat. “Yeah.”
“I trust you.”
His gaze whipped back to hers. “I know.”
“Since I am what I am, there hasn’t been anybody in my life. You’re the first person who’s ever seen the real me,” she said and refused to feel embarrassed by admitting it.
“I know.”
“I don’t know if there’s going to be anyone else that remembers me, so will you sleep with me?”
Cain took a step back as if she punched him in the gut. His eyes flew wide and for the first time, Raven saw him truly off balance.
“You what?” he said hoarsely.
Raven’s face flamed and her confidence took a nosedive. Maybe the kiss in the club had been part of the job. “Never mind.”
She started towards the gym door, but Cain pulled her to a halt and turned her around. She felt as if his eyes could probe inside of her and discern her thoughts. She tried to jerk her arm away but his hold was solid.
“Where did all this come from?” he demanded.
“Just forget it, okay?” she hissed.
“No, we’re not going to forget it.”
“I want to go back to the room.”
Cain dragged her out of the gym and back to the elevators. She sensed a maelstrom of emotion in him and wished she’d kept her mouth shut. His hand flexed on her arm and she wasn’t sure what that meant. When they were in the room, he pulled her braid out of his pocket and wrapped it back around his wrist. She walked into the bathroom and locked it behind her.
“We’re going to talk about this.”
Raven shrieked and threw the unwrapped bar of soap at him. It caught him on the ear. He staggered back and glared.
“A closed door signifies privacy.”
“A closed door doesn’t mean shit to me. You’re not going to ask me to sleep with you and not explain where that came from.”
She was going to die from an embarrassment overload. “What is there to explain? Do you question every woman you sleep with and ask her what her motives are?”
“No, but you’re different.”
That simple statement hurt her more than she could’ve thought. That a man who could walk through walls would classify her as different from other women with power wounded her deeply. She leaned back against the bathroom counter and hugged herself.
“You want me to fill out an application?” she said scathingly.
“No, I-.”
“You’re not interested. Fine. Whatever. We don’t have to talk about it. Get out.”
“I want to know why,” he said through clenched teeth.
Her mouth sagged a little as she stared at him. “Do you know I’m almost a thirty year old virgin?”
He flushed a little and took an uneasy step back. She came after him, jabbing him in his six-pack.
“Men can’t remember me and you’re asking me why I asked you to sleep with me? I want to have a normal experience for once. Doesn’t everyone want to try sex? Why should I be any different?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and looked totally out of his comfort zone.
“I thought you were interested but if you’re not, that’s fine. Forget I ever said it.”
“I don’t want to take advantage of you,” he said, shifting from foot to foot. “You were kidnapped yesterday and now that you know you’re an Unmemorable, you’re feeling a bit off.”
“Don’t tell me how I feel!” Raven shouted, voice deafening in the bathroom. “Do you know what it’s like wal
king through a world where no one can remember your name? Where you have no future and someone wants to use you for the very power you wish you didn’t have?”
“No. I don’t know.”
“Exactly! I realize I don’t have control over anything and I want a day where I’m not wondering about Angel or if my mom had a choice about forgetting me. I don’t want to think about this underground war or what people want from me. The night at the club, I thought you wanted me. I don’t know a lot about men. I heard they screw women they don’t like but I thought you and I…” She threw up her hands. “Never mind. Whatever. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“You didn’t think I’d mind,” he said in a strange voice.
“Can you get out? I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one day. I want to take a shower.”
“That can wait.”
Cain picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. He reached into a bag on the vanity and pulled out a condom before he walked into the bedroom. Raven hissed and clawed his sweaty shirt as he walked across the room. Cain sat in an armchair and settled her on his lap. She felt exposed, embarrassed and turned on as she straddled him and pointed a finger in his face.
“I’m not a charity case, I don’t want a damn pity fuck. I honestly thought-.”
Cain grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her. This wasn’t like the seductive, drugging kiss he’d given her at the nightclub. This was a fierce, hungry kiss that told her in no uncertain terms that he wanted her. She kissed him back hungrily and wrapped her arms around his neck. Excitement, anticipation and nervousness raced through her system. He put his hands on her hips and rocked her against him and she was instantly drenched. Her thin workout clothes rode up and she moaned because she felt like he was practically in her already. She pulled away and looked him straight in the eye. She felt almost desperate and she didn’t want to play games.
“If you want me, do me now,” she snapped.