by I. T. Lucas
Julian had been right about the two little pills knocking Jacki out. She hadn’t stirred once, not when they put her in the limo, not when Ewan had carried her into the clan’s aircraft, and not when Gregor had carried her out and into the van.
The upside of Jacki passing the entire trip sleeping had been that no one needed to pretend to be human, and Vivian had told Jin about her and Ella’s adventures and how they had ended up with the clan.
Listening to her tell the story, Arwel couldn’t help thinking that Ella and her mother were very gracious about forgiving Lokan for what he had planned for them.
Jin had been appalled, calling him a self-centered jerk with little regard for others. She was convinced that Lokan’s selfish interest was the only reason he’d helped Kian get her and her friends out of the program. He wanted to find out what his brother was up to, and Jin was the only one who could do that for him.
Arwel had to agree. Kian and Lokan cooperated because it benefitted them both, not because they liked each other, and not because they were cousins.
“It’s easy to get used to luxury,” Vivian said. “Magnus and I have been pretending to be rich for a couple of weeks, and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it.” She sighed. “I miss my home, though. It was hard to get on the plane and leave my kids behind again. But I owe Kian, and he needs Magnus and me to go on keeping up appearances.”
Michael opened the front door. “Do you need help carrying things inside?”
“We’ve got it covered.” Ewan got out of the van.
Without verbally agreeing on it, everyone knew that it was Duncan’s turn to carry Jacki again, while the others took care of the luggage.
“Welcome to Chateau Kri.” The Guardian spread her arms and turned in a circle. “What do you think?”
“It’s impressive.” Jin looked at the high ceiling with the exposed wooden beams crisscrossing it. “Are those real?”
Kri shook her head. “It’s not structural, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s just a decoration, but the wood is real.” She smiled and offered Jin her hand. “I’m Kri.” She waved her hand at Michael. “And this is my mate, Michael.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jin appraised Kri from top to bottom and up again. “You are the perfect customer for the fashion line my sister and I want to launch. Have you ever considered modeling?”
Kri’s jaw dropped, and then she started laughing. “Do I look like a model to you?”
“Why not? You are tall and pretty. Our fashion line is going to be for tall women who can’t find flattering stuff in department stores.”
Kri shrugged her leather jacket off and flexed her biceps. “Do you still think I can model for you?”
“Sure. You’ll be perfect for the sports line.” Jin didn’t sound as sure as she pretended to be, but it was a good save.
“In that case, count me in.” Kri smiled happily. “I mean, as much as I can. I work full time as a Guardian, and I volunteer many hours a week teaching girls self-defense.”
Jin put her hand over her heart and tipped an invisible hat to Kri. “That’s so incredibly admirable.”
The Guardian waved a dismissive hand. “It’s nothing. I’m good at just one thing, so I make the most of it.” She glanced at Duncan, who was still standing with Jacki in his arms. “Let me show you to her bedroom. Follow me.” She started walking toward the stairs and then stopped and turned around. “In fact, you can all come, and I’ll show you your rooms.”
As they all headed for the grand staircase, William walked in. “Hello, everyone. How was your trip?” He looked at Jacki and then lifted his head to Duncan. “Has she been asleep the entire time?”
“Yes,” Arwel answered for the Guardian. “Are you done securing the property?”
“I installed the disrupters and they are already working, so everyone can talk freely without fear of being overheard.” He looked at Jacki again. “As much as it’s possible with our guest.”
“Come on,” Kri beckoned. “You can go over the security protocol later. Let’s get everyone settled first.”
When they got to the second-floor hallway, Kri opened the door to what looked like a little girl’s room. “You can put Jacki on the bed. Don’t blame me for the decor because it was like that when we got here. I tried to make it look more grown up with the bedding.”
“Jacki won’t mind.” Jin walked over to the bed and folded the comforter. “Put her down, Duncan. I’ll tuck her in.”
Reluctantly, he let go of his cargo.
“Let’s keep moving,” Kri said once Jin was done taking Jacki’s shoes off and covering her with the blanket. “The master bedroom is next.”
The Guardian opened the double doors to a big room with a massive king-sized bed. “This is where the three of you are going to stay.” She waved at the men.
Jin frowned. “Shouldn’t Vivian and Magnus take the master?”
Kri opened the French doors, showing everyone the balcony, and then closed them. “This is the stakeout room. And since it should be accessible at all times, I figured that it would be best for the bachelors to stay in it.” She winked at Vivian.
That made sense, but only if there weren’t enough bedrooms in the house. They could leave the master unoccupied and use it only for observation.
“How many bedrooms are there?” Arwel asked.
“Six,” Vivian said.
The house looked larger. Arwel made a quick calculation in his head. There were three couples and five bachelors. The three Guardians would have to stay in the master bedroom.
Apparently, Gregor had just arrived at the same conclusion. “We can’t all sleep in one bed.”
“Two in the bed, and one on the couch.” Kri chuckled. “Unless one of you prefers to sleep in the bathtub to sharing a bed with a friend. Or, you can run tomorrow to a store and buy an inflatable mattress.” She kept on walking. “This is Vivian and Magnus’s room. Luckily for us, all the secondary bedrooms have queen-sized beds.”
“Lucky indeed.” Vivian stepped inside. “This is lovely. And the bedding looks very nice. Thank you, Kri.”
“You are welcome.”
“When did you and Michael have time to do all this prep work?” Jin asked. “Arwel told me that you got the keys yesterday evening.”
“There wasn’t that much to be done, and we hustled. We got bedding, towels, food, and some pantry stuff. Whatever is missing, we can get tomorrow.”
As Kri assigned the fifth bedroom to Jin and him, Arwel looked out into the corridor, where William was patiently waiting for the tour to be over.
“What about you? Where are you sleeping?”
“The maid’s room downstairs. I’ve set up my command post in the home office, and the maid’s room is the closest to it.”
23
Jin
Jin sat on her friend’s bed and put her hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Jacki, wake up. It’s been five and a half hours since you took the sleeping pills.” When that didn’t help, she added, “It’s dinner time.”
Jacki’s eyes popped open. “I’m starving.”
“I thought so. The last meal you had was breakfast.”
Throwing off the comforter, Jacki looked at the room. “Someone likes pink.”
“This must have been the daughter’s room.”
“I don’t really mind. I need to use the bathroom.”
“It’s over there.” Jin pointed.
Five minutes later, Jacki was ready, and they headed out.
“This is one hell of a place. It’s like a freaking palace.” Jacki put her hand on the curving banister. “I’ve never been in a house like this. This alone was worth the headache.” She rubbed her temple. “I don’t know how people can take sleeping pills every night. I feel so groggy.”
Jin wrapped her arm around Jacki’s shoulders. “Did you have nice dreams?”
“If I did, I don’t remember. Why are you smiling like that?”
Jin leaned to whisper in her ear. “Three hunk
y guys were fighting over the right to carry you from place to place, and William is here too. So, from Goldilocks and the three burly bears, the cast expanded to four.”
Jacki grimaced. “Yay me. Can you get me a fly swatter? Or better yet, a bear spray?”
“Wait until you see them and then ask me. Come on, I promised Vivian that we will help her make dinner.”
“Who is Vivian?”
“Ella’s mother. She’s very nice.”
“Oh, right. She donated some of the clothes for Wendy.”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“Where is everyone?” Jacki asked as they passed the family room.
“The three bears are upstairs, setting up the stakeout room. They brought an old-fashioned, non-electronic scope.”
“Much good it is going to do them at night.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what they are going to do about that. Maybe they just want to collect the license plate numbers. Anyway, Arwel and William are in the home office, where William’s set up shop. And Kri and Michel are in the home gym.”
“Are they nice?”
“I didn’t get to talk to Michael much, but Kri is awesome.” Jin smiled. “She is as tall as I am, but her shoulders are twice as big as mine. The girl is a serious bodybuilder.”
In the kitchen, they found Vivian standing next to a big pot of pasta sauce.
“Hello, Jacki.” She smiled. “I’m Vivian. Ella’s mom.”
Jacki walked up to the petite woman. “You look more like her sister than her mom.”
“Thank you. I was eighteen when I had Ella.”
“Still, good for you. You must be taking good care of yourself.”
“I try.” Vivian looked at the pot and grimaced. “I don’t know how to cook for so many people. Can you taste this and tell me if it’s any good?” She handed Jacki the stirring spoon.
Scooping some on her finger, Jacki tasted the sauce. “It needs some spicing up. I’ll tell you what. I’ll take over the pasta and you two chop vegetables for the salad.”
“Thank you.” Looking grateful, Vivian took the mittens off and handed them to Jacki.
Turned out that Jacki knew her way around a kitchen. Bossing them around like a military chef, she managed to produce a big meal with something for everyone.
“Where did you learn to cook like that?” Jin asked as they carried the stuff to the dining room.
“Did you forget that I was a foster kid? Usually, the foster parents took in as many kids as they could get because it was good money. We all had our chores, and that included kitchen duty. I’ve always cooked for many people.”
“Thank you for saving the day,” Vivian said. “I’m going to call everyone to the table.”
She started walking away.
“Don’t go. I’ll do that,” Jacki said. “Yo! Everyone! Dinner is ready!”
Vivian clapped her hands over her ears. “Did you also serve as a drill sergeant in the military?”
Jacki chuckled. “My skills were honed at the foster homes.”
“How many have you been in?” Jin asked.
“A few. It’s a common thing to switch homes.” Jacki’s expression closed up, indicating that the topic was no longer open for discussion.
Grabbing a serving tray, she headed to the dining room. Exchanging glances, Vivian and Jin each grabbed something and followed her out of the kitchen.
William, Magnus, and Arwel were already there, with Gregor and Ewan arriving a moment later. Kri and Michael were the last.
“Where is Duncan?” Jin asked.
“It’s his turn on watch.” Gregor walked up to Jacki. “I’m Gregor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Yeah, same here.” She offered him her hand.
He lifted it up to his lips and kissed the back of it.
Jacki pulled it out of his grasp. “Let’s do the introductions while we eat. I don’t want the food to get cold. Who is bringing a plate for the guy upstairs?”
“I’ll do it.” Ewan, who looked disappointed at missing his chance to kiss Jacki’s hand, lifted a plate and started loading it with food. “I’ll need two. One will not be enough for Duncan.”
Jacki shook her head. “Take him this one, and once you are done eating, switch places with him so he can eat his second serving with everyone.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ewan saluted.
As Jin watched Jacki take over and boss everyone around, it occurred to her that she didn’t know her friend as well as she thought she did. This was a whole new facet of her that she hadn’t seen before.
Jacki was assertive, but in the program, she had never demonstrated any aspirations towards leadership and had been happy to hang back and watch the others. It seemed, though, that she was a natural at it.
Who knew?
24
Arwel
“That was excellent.” Ewan put his fork down and looked at Jacki. “Thank you to all the cooks.”
“You’re welcome. Are you going to switch places with Duncan now?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank you.” Jacki rewarded him with a smile. “And because you are so nice, I’ll bring you coffee and dessert upstairs.”
Ewan looked as if he’d just won the lottery. “That would be much appreciated.”
Watching the guys compete for Jacki’s attention was better than any reality show on the dumb box. So far, the Guardians and William were all acting quite gentlemanly, but that was because she wasn’t showing interest in any of them. Once she picked a favorite, the competition could get vicious.
The question was, why wasn’t she responding to any of them?
All four men were good-looking, each in his own way. William could still lose some weight and get in shape, but what he lacked in big muscles he compensated for with big brains.
Jacki wasn’t into women either. If she were, Amanda and Carol would have gotten some reaction from her, but they hadn’t. So that wasn’t the issue either.
Perhaps she just wasn’t sexual, and what a waste that would be.
Jacki was a knockout, the typical all-American girl, with long blond hair, blue eyes, and a tall, curvy figure that was just right.
Duncan walked into the dining room and sat in the chair that Ewan had vacated. “I saw someone leave the mansion in a fancy-ass car. I got excited, thinking I was going to spot Kalugal, but it was someone else.” He turned to Jacki and flashed her his most charming smile. “Hi, I’m Duncan.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smiled but didn’t put her utensils down. Probably to forestall any ideas he might have about kissing her hand. “I don’t get how you could see inside the car. Was the light on?”
“It was a Ferrari convertible. I could see the driver perfectly.” Duncan started loading a plate. “That’s one hell of an expensive car. I wonder if Kalugal lets his men borrow his toys, because I doubt that anyone else has one.”
“Maybe they are all loaded,” Gregor said. “And since they don’t have housing expenses, they can afford fancy-ass cars.”
“We don’t pay rent either.” Duncan scooped up spaghetti on his fork. “Do any of us drive a three-hundred-thousand-dollar car?”
As Arwel nudged his foot under the table, the guy arched a brow. “What?”
Idiot. He shouldn’t be talking about having no rent expense. Jacki might ask how come, and then they would have to make up a story.
“We could if we wanted to.” Gregor crossed his arms over his chest.
Jacki frowned. “How much are you guys getting paid that you can afford a luxury like that?”
“Not that much,” Arwel jumped in before the guys could blurt out more incriminating details. “Gregor is talking hypothetically.”
“Did you write down the license plate?” William asked.
“Naturally.”
“Text it to me. I want to check something.”
Duncan pulled out his phone. “It’s done.”
“If I ever buy a fancy car, it’s going to be a Lambo
rghini. Those are damn sexy.” Duncan looked at Jacki, but she didn’t react.
Apparently, fancy cars were not her thing.
While the other Guardians kept the discussion going about which car was best, William got busy texting.
“What is it?” Arwel asked.
“I have a hunch that I want Roni to check up on. I’m having him run the license plate through a program we designed. It’s comparing the footage from the parking lots of restaurants, cafés, and bars in the area. Once he gets a match. I want him to look at the feed from inside the place that the car is parked next to.”
Several moments and texts later, William grinned. “Bingo. Just as I thought. It was him.”
Arwel leaned forward. “Kalugal?”
“The program found the car parked in the valet parking lot of Dorothea’s, and Roni identified Kalugal on the feed coming from inside the restaurant.”
“Did one of his men drive over to pick him up?” Vivian asked.
“No. He was the dude behind the wheel. Apparently, he doesn’t leave the house without shrouding himself, and that was what Duncan saw. Except, his shroud only works on brains, it doesn’t work on equipment.”
Magnus waved a hand. “Then we should take snapshots of everyone leaving that house.”
“That won’t be enough,” William said. “Apparently, his shroud extends over a large area. It can’t fool the camera, but it can fool the observers, unless they are too far away from him to be affected. Because we are within Kalugal’s range of mind manipulation, we will see what he wants us to see even when looking at a snapshot. The effect will be lost when he gets far enough, but by then we would have lost his trail anyway. The only thing that will work is sending the picture to Roni right away, and him telling us who’s really in the car. Besides, at night, we won’t be able to see the driver inside the vehicle, and Roni will need to locate him for us like he did just now.
Jacki rubbed her temples. “This is all so complicated and bizarre that following your logic brought my headache back. Perhaps I should be the one watching the gate. He can’t fool me because I am immune to his tricks.”