Not that it mattered now.
His presence was both a blessing and an irritation. She was relieved to know he was alive and well but peeved to learn he was alive and well and hadn’t bothered to contact her for the past eighteen months. What could he have possibly been doing during that time that kept him from reaching out? Not so much as a text message to say hi, how are you? For the longest time, Acadia had worried he’d been killed, and she’d been left to forever nurse a broken heart.
Her heart was still broken, of course. Didn’t matter if he waltzed right up and said all the right things, made all those promises she’d longed to hear. She wouldn’t forgive him that easily. Oh, no. That vampire was going to grovel at her feet. Even then she wasn’t sure she could revert to that naive female who’d so easily given him her heart only to have it shattered.
With a huff, Acadia continued up the stairs, dragging the heavy skirts of her dress behind her. She would seek sustenance later, perhaps once everyone had retired for the day.
Her feet were quiet on the carpet as she hurried toward her quarters.
The sound of clipped voices brought her up short. She paused only feet from Reidar and Winnie’s room as she peered around for options. It sounded like they were standing just inside the door, which meant if she walked by, they would see her.
“It’s your home, Reidar. Not mine. We’ve been over this. You promised me.” Winnie’s words were fueled by a fury Acadia could feel wafting out of the bedchambers.
“This is where I belong,” Reidar countered hotly. “You knew that when I brought you here.”
“Clearly I was blinded by my feelings for you. Time changes things, Reidar. I don’t feel comfortable here anymore. I want to go back to California, be near my family. If you love me, you’ll go with me.”
“Winnie…” Reidar sighed heavily. “I need some time.”
“Away from me?” she belted.
“Yes, actually. This isn’t… It’s not working the way I thought it would.”
Hearing Reidar’s heavy footfalls moving closer to the door, Acadia panicked, scurrying back the way she’d come. When she stopped at the end of the hall, she prayed no one saw her. As it was, she was too flustered to dematerialize, otherwise she would’ve been back in her room, where she belonged.
When Reidar’s voice carried down the hall, Acadia blocked it out, already feeling like an interloper for having heard their heated conversation. Her heart ached for the pair of them, but the truth was, she’d been expecting this to come. The day Reidar had brought Winnie to the mansion declaring she was his amsouelot, Acadia had known the truth. That was one of the burdens of feeding off of emotion. There were certain nuances she picked up on, and since her blood was in Reidar’s veins, she had a connection to the male.
But it wasn’t her place to intervene.
As it was, the angels allowed far more liberties than the Fae should’ve been granted based on the laws that governed their existence. The Fae were a fallen race, doomed to servitude because of the sins of her elders. Throughout her time with Obsidian and his brothers, Acadia had come to see herself as a member of the family, when in truth, she was as disposable as the heurosp.
So when it came to interfering with the relationships of those she served, Acadia kept her thoughts to herself. It was inevitable that Reidar would come to the realization that the human wasn’t the one he was destined to be with, but Acadia couldn’t be the one to relay that information.
Not to mention, she had had other things on her mind. Namely a frustrating vampire.
With a sigh, Acadia leaned back against the wall, breathing a bit easier when Reidar’s voice drifted in the opposite direction.
Her thoughts shifted back to Kaj.
Despite what he believed, she was not the female he was destined to be with. She couldn’t be. The Fae weren’t permitted to mate for eternity. It violated their very station in life for the simple fact that they provided nourishment to the angels who resided on Earth. Should she bond with a male, she could no longer perform her duties, and when that happened…
Acadia shook off the thought. She couldn’t go there.
Not now. Not ever.
Chapter Four
Orianna exhaled heavily, elbows resting on the cluttered counter as she watched two young men waltzing through the convenience store, eyes greedily ogling the shelves. Despite their eyeballing of the candy, she knew they had no intention of purchasing any of the sugar crap. Had it been early morning, perhaps. The fact that it was going on midnight and these two should’ve been at home asleep because they had school in the a.m. told Orianna they had something more exciting in mind.
She’d been at this long enough to know those underage kids were hoping to snatch up some redneck soda, a.k.a. brewski, or perhaps a pack of cancer sticks, neither of which she had any intention of selling them.
Their ghosting routine had her peering up at the round mirror mounted in the back corner of the store. The reflective glass showed one of the boys opening a refrigerator case, reaching inside and… Bingo. Looked like Coors Light was the name of the game.
Turning her attention back to Gwen rocking the cover of Shape, Orianna pretended to skim, then dutifully flipped the page as the boys started her way. A squeak on the tile announced their approach, not to mention their hesitation.
The least they could do was pretend they were old enough. Sheesh.
“What else for you boys?” she asked, standing tall and closing the magazine.
“This is it.” The six-pack made an appearance on the counter, and the boy who’d carried it forward suddenly had a nose itch, his eyes hitting the floor, head tucked down as though she couldn’t see the sweat dripping down his fuzzy sideburns.
“Cool.” She moved toward the register, raised a hand as though she was going to ring it up, and noticed their simultaneous sighs of relief.
Oh, yeah. Definitely underage.
Pausing before her finger pressed the register, she cocked her head to the side and smiled. “Got some ID?”
“Sure ’nuff,” the other one said, snatching his wallet from his back pocket and flipping it open like he was presenting a badge. Probably didn’t get a lot of dates, that one.
Orianna nodded her chin, motioning for him to bring it closer.
“Darwin Danvers.” She scanned the birthdate, the one proclaiming him to be not twenty-one but twenty-three. “Nice photo.”
When she peered back up, he shot her a wide grin. “Thanks.”
“Didn’t get that down at the DMV, huh?”
Double D’s grin slipped. “What?”
“It’s a fake. And a shitty one, at that,” she said, peering over at the other guy. “You wanna try?”
She earned a couple of grumbles before they headed to the door empty-handed. Clearly unimpressed, Double D’s friend punched him in the shoulder before they strolled out into the night.
“At least they were entertaining,” she muttered as she carried the wheat water back to its rightful home.
Truth was, she fucking hated this job, but she’d needed something to keep food in her belly and shelter over her head. While she’d expected to be back in Oklahoma by now, Orianna had found herself stuck here in Nowhere, Colorado, still in hide-and-seek mode. A couple of leads had led her up to Boulder, another right back to this hellhole, and still, no sign of Amber anywhere.
She’d been about to pack it up when she’d gotten word there was an underground gambling gig in town. Since she’d figured that dead asshole from the alley had been attempting to hassle her father for whatever money he probably owed them, Orianna hoped that would lead her where she needed to go. Unfortunately, while her source had known about it, he didn’t know where it was going down. According to him, they moved the party every couple of days to stay off the local PD radar. Always just out of reach. Something she was oddly familiar with.
The sound of an engine had her looking up into the two-pump parking lot.
Speak of the devil.
A redneck rig pulled up, parked in front of the doors. A guy sporting Wranglers and boots hopped down from the cab, and Orianna had to wonder what was the point in jacking up a truck that high. Seemed kind of pointless to her. How did you get anything in the bed of the truck when you needed a ladder just to get in the cab?
The door swung open, bells jingled, and Howdy Doody strolled in, offering a wink and a tilt of his hat.
“What’s up, Jed?” she greeted, leaning a hip on the counter and crossing her arms over her chest.
The wannabe cowboy smiled, his eyes instantly dropping to the low-cut shirt she wore.
“You find anything out?” she asked, the same as she had the last time she’d seen him, over at the club.
“I mighta.” He winked, then bent down all chill and shit, resting his forearms on the counter. “What’s in it for me?”
A punch in the snout, she thought, even as she said, “Depends on how good the intel is.”
“Oh, it’s good.”
Orianna rolled her eyes. “Where’s the gig?”
Jed stood tall, crossed his skinny arms over his chest. “Word is they’re settin’ up in an abandoned warehouse.”
“That right?” Did the fool not know there were at least two dozen abandoned warehouses in and around Telluride? “Probably need to be a bit more specific.”
“Down off Maple Street.” His grin widened, arms lowering as he pressed his palms to the counter.
She offered a smile, playing him up a bit. “And the guy I told you about? You see him around here?”
Jed shook his head. “Ain’t seen no guy fittin’ that description.”
“But you’ll keep an eye out, right? Let me know if you do?”
“Course.” Jed cocked one dark brow. “So … ’bout that payment.”
“You know the rules,” she told him, mirroring his stance. “Once I find the game, you’ll get paid.”
Jed huffed, dropped his arms. “Fuckin’ dick tease.”
Yeah, not even close. More like wishful thinking on his part. Jed was about as useful as a lamp on a deserted island. However, she figured at some point his lead might pan out, and until she’d exhausted all efforts, Orianna was willing to dangle the line in front of his face.
“I’ll check it out tomorrow night,” she told him. “I’ll hit you up if I find it.”
She could tell the nonchalant shrug was meant to make him look cool, but the frustration on his face was evident.
Orianna knew the feeling. She’d found herself crushing on some stranger, but she’d yet to find a hint of the ridiculously hot man she’d encountered in the alley back in August. And the good Lord knew she’d been trying to track him down, but like Amber, no one seemed to know anything about him.
Six hours later, Orianna stepped into her apartment and locked the door behind her. She flipped the security latch for good measure, then took a quick stroll through the space, ensuring she didn’t have any uninvited guests. She’d learned her lesson the hard way back when one of her landlords thought her desire to pay cash meant she was easy prey. The jackass had been waiting for her one night when she came home from work. He’d taken a bullet in the leg for his efforts, and she’d learned to always double-check before she got settled in.
Of course, there wasn’t much to peruse here. Five hundred square feet of nothing fancy was all her limited finances could afford her. The upside was the place was furnished, albeit sparsely and with shitty, secondhand furniture, but since beggars couldn’t be choosers, Orianna was dealing with it as best she could.
“It’s temporary,” she reminded herself for the millionth time.
This had been her routine for the past month. Eight hours on the night shift at the Quick-E Mart, come back here, chow down on a package of Cheez-Its, gulp a Mountain Dew, shower, and sleep. At least she didn’t feel like a homeless drifter, though she wasn’t far from it. The old man who owned the complex had agreed to let her pay on a weekly basis, and as long as she paid in cash, he didn’t hassle her. Nor did he offer to fix the stopped-up sink, but luckily Orianna was good with tools. She’d managed that one on her own, even rigged the shower head to do more than trickle and adjusted the refrigerator so it actually cooled.
She tossed her phone on the couch that doubled as a bed, then made a beeline for the bathroom. It took the water a solid fifteen minutes to reach lukewarm, so she made herself useful while she waited. After stripping down to panties and bra, she tossed her clothes in the basket she would cart to the laundromat in town at some point. She snagged the Cheez-Its and a Mountain Dew, kept with the legwork while she had breakfast and planned her next move. She would find that damn gambling ring if it was the last thing she did. And maybe, if there was a God, she’d find her alley savior while she was at it.
Perhaps it made her selfish, but the weight of hope hung heavily on the latter right now. Probably had a lot to do with the fact she’d neglected her future entirely during her hunt for Amber. From time to time, Orianna fantasized that one day she’d live her life for herself instead of everyone else. Most folks her age were getting fitted with a cap and gown, gearing up to celebrate life after college. Though she’d had big dreams of rooting for OU from the sidelines, proudly sporting her Sooners gear, and locking down the necessary credits for an accounting degree, she had barely made it across the stage for high school graduation. And the only numbers she’d been kicking it with were those on the odometer of the POS she’d borrowed from her mother to get her from one side of the country to the other. And back.
By the time the water had warmed, Orianna had finished her breakfast of champions, shrouded herself in the fog of despair, stripped off her underwear, and stepped into the bathtub. She yanked the clear curtain closed behind her, shut her eyes, and prayed the warmth would eliminate the cold ache that had settled into her bones for the past couple of months. She knew it had nothing to do with the weather, because Telluride was proving to be quite comfortable this time of year. She wasn’t sure she was looking forward to spending a winter in Colorado, but for now she had no complaints.
Nope, these cold chills weren’t related to the weather.
Initially, she’d thought she had the flu, but Orianna figured a lack of fever ruled that one out. Not to mention, not many illnesses came with a side order of loneliness and a heaping helping of isolation. Yet something was plaguing her. What, she had no idea, but she was hoping it would make itself scarce soon. Battling it was proving to be a distraction she couldn’t afford.
Orianna ran through her triple-S routine—shampoo, soap, and shave—then hopped out, dried off with a threadbare towel, tugged the oversized sleep shirt over her head, and headed back into the living room/bedroom. Everything in this place doubled as something else: couch equaled bed, end table was a nightstand, kitchen table also played the part of a desk. The rest was just decor, including the thirty-two-inch television that didn’t work.
She grabbed her phone, flopped down on the lumpy cushions, and made her daily call to her mother. Although it was four in the morning here, it was five in Oklahoma, so she knew Elizabeth would answer. She always answered.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Orianna?”
Her heart ached at the pain she heard in her mother’s voice, along with the drugged slur of her words.
“Yep, it’s me. How’re you feeling?”
“Good, honey. Just watching reruns of Friends. You know how much I love that show.”
Oh, she knew all right. Orianna had an intimate awareness of Ross and Rachel, although she’d never seen a single episode.
“Have you found Amber?”
“Not yet, Mom, but I’m still looking. I promise, I’ll bring her home as soon as I do.”
“And your father?”
“Still in the wind.” Then again, she wasn’t doing much to unearth Erik. Truth was, she didn’t give a shit about the old man.
“Are you being careful?”
Orianna smiled. “Of course I am.”
<
br /> Ever since that night in the alley when that asshole had held her at gunpoint, Orianna had been watching her back. She’d gotten lucky when the white knight had appeared out of nowhere and leveled the asshole. Ever since then, Orianna had been attempting to find the guy so she could thank him, but luck did not seem to be on her side these days. However, she had been dreaming about him, sometimes so vividly she was almost certain he was right there with her. So there was that.
“Orianna?”
“Sorry, Mom. I’m here.” Just daydreaming. Again.
“How’s the new job?”
“It’s great,” she lied.
“And your new apartment?”
New was a relative word, of course. “Fantastic. Feels just like home.”
“Well, honey, I wish you were home.”
“I know.” Except Orianna knew her mother didn’t want her to come back until she had Amber in tow. It was one of the many reasons she’d spent so many years searching. “You sure you’re all right? Don’t need anything?”
“I’m good,” Elizabeth said. “The nurse came by earlier, helped me with my shower. I’m feeling much better now.”
She took earlier to mean yesterday. “That’s great, Mom. I’m glad she stopped by.”
Elizabeth yawned, a sign she was pushing the envelope with her medication.
“Anyway, Mom, I’ll call you tomorrow, let you know if I find anything.”
“I love you, honey.”
“Love you, too.”
After she disconnected the call, Orianna fell over on the couch, stared up at the ceiling, and let her phone fall from her fingers. Now that her daily tasks had the appropriate checkmarks, she purposely blocked out everything—her mother, her job, her deadbeat father, missing sister, abandoned warehouses, handsome man from the alley—focusing on the soft rasps of her breaths. It took a good twenty minutes for the meditation to take hold, but finally her brain blanked, and she managed to relax.
Like it had every night for the past couple of months, her body began to warm the longer she lay there, a sexual longing pulling her under. And no sooner did the heat begin to stir down low than the images of the man from the alley flashed into her brain. No matter how hard she tried to shut him out, there he was, lingering, ratcheting up that desperate need to feel those strong hands on her chilled skin, anything to warm her.
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