"They're skeptical, understandably. They don't want to raise hopes for those who don't want to fight. A new team will be assigned to retrieve Shines from the safe houses in Paradise. We are to ascertain the situation in Russia. If it is what it's rumored to be, they'll share the information with everyone."
Brenna's fingers clicked over the keys of the keyboard attached to her tablet, then turned it to face Camille. "We'll use the organization Go English with International Volunteers, or GEIV, as our ticket in. We'll have to doctor our credentials a bit and take a short course online, but altogether, we should only need about a month to get prepared. We only have four months until we have to check in for the month of teacher preparation in Izhevsk, the city Sophia's cousin said the Shine training facility is located, and we'll need to have our visas approved by the Russian government." She turned to Jeremy. "That is, if you can build us new identities fast enough to make that happen."
Jeremy nodded. "I can, but are you sure you'll all have the Russian language aced in that short amount of time?"
Sophia smiled. "Da, aside from more complicated serious conversations—" she waved, indicating their current discussion "—we have been exclusively speaking Russian among ourselves and those outside our group looking to alleviate their boredom."
Rachel smirked. "Plus we're going to teach English. From what I read in the Q&A on the Go English website, knowing Russian is not required as English is spoken exclusively in class."
Jeremy lifted an eyebrow. "As teaching English is only your cover for getting into the country, I'd like to know that you all," he glanced at Camille, "know not only how to speak the language, but also how to understand it, nyet?"
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Sure, Dad."
Camille met Jeremy's amused glance and shrugged. Turning back to Brenna, she bent over the tablet and scanned the website.
"Get us signed up for whatever courses we'll need," Camille ordered, squeezing Brenna's shoulder in thanks.
Jeremy crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her waist. She pressed back into him with a sigh, any stress she felt dissipating in his embrace. Rachel made gagging sounds behind them and Jeremy pressed a smiling kiss to Camille's temple.
Camille squeezed Jeremy’s hand, then pulled away and sauntered over to the couch.
She reached out to squeeze Rachel’s face and said in her best baby voice. "You’re so cute when you’re jealous."
Rachel scowled as Camille winked, then turned and pulled Jeremy out the door. Brenna and Sophia's laughter followed them out.
Jeremy directed her to the tower that opened outside the main castle's east gate. He pulled her up the spiral stairs to a wooden door that opened into the large second floor music room. He opened the door and froze. A Shine with strawberry blond hair and odd blue bangs sat at the old piano up on the ornately carved stage playing a soft piece that Camille found haunting and sad. She looked up when they came in and yanked her hands from the piano's keys.
Jeremy pulled Camille past the stage, across the room, and to a door that lead to the guest rooms’ hall. "Pardon us, Aura. We didn't mean to interrupt you."
The other Shine lifted an eyebrow. "You didn't interrupt anything."
Camille tugged on Jeremy's hand and studied the Shine they all looked to as the leader of their rebellion. "It was beautiful."
Aura smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Playing helps clear my mind." She looked down at her fingers resting on the keys. Her smile faded. "I suppose I should have thanked my mother for insisting I take lessons. I would never admit to her how much I enjoyed playing. Now I'll never get the chance."
Camille smiled grimly, remembering her own regrets at her parents' deaths. "Hind sight sucks."
Aura looked up, real amusement curling her lips. "Without a doubt."
"We'll leave you to your thinking," Jeremy said, pulling Camille through the door.
Camille couldn't get the usually sarcastic Shine's sad gaze out of her mind. Everyone knew Aura had been the Shine blamed for the incident that had destroyed Seattle's famed space needle and made rubble of the area surrounding it. She'd been sent to one of the dreaded Shine rehab facilities. Fear and some of the other Shine had helped break her out, but not before another Shine had lost her life. And now Dahlia was gone. Losing one team member weighed on Camille like a ship's heavy anchor. How must it feel to have the hope of the entire resistance set on your shoulders?
Jeremy pulled her into a large guest room with two queen beds set into opposite corners. A table and backless chairs sat in the center of the room, a fireplace filled the wall opposite the beds. Jeremy shut the door behind them, pulled Camille into his arms, and covered her mouth with his. When he pulled back, she was breathless and a little dazed.
He gave her a satisfied smile and kissed her nose, his arms loose around her waist. "One of my favorite looks."
Catching her breath, she raised both eyebrows in question. "What look?"
"You, dazed and breathless."
She rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself, Walker."
He laughed. "Your response to my kiss makes it so difficult." His smile disappeared. He moved his hands to cup her face. "I love you, Camille Leon."
She got lost in his gaze. "I love you, Jeremy Walker. More than my own life."
He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. "I'm afraid to let you go to Russia without me there to keep you safe."
She fisted her hands on his chest. "Don't be. I'll be fine. I'm no hero. If I see something I don't like, I'll hide my team and get them out of there in a hurry."
He shook his head. "You're one of the most heroic people I know. If one of your team is taken, you'll move heaven and hell to get her back." He gave her a hard look. "You'll call me if anything goes wrong."
Camille smiled. "That's a promise."
He pulled her into his chest. "Before you leave for Russia, I'd like to take you away for a weekend, just the two of us."
“Should we really take a chance of running into your fellow agents again?”
His lips feathered over her ear and down her neck. “We don’t have to worry about that where I’m taking you.”
Heat curled through Camille's stomach. She lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. "Say when and I'll be ready."
CHAPTER FIVE
Camille flipped through the folder Brenna handed her. "Everyone is good to go, then?"
"Affirmative, oh glorious team leader," Brenna said, never taking her eyes from the tablet in her hand. "All course completion certificates and resumes were received by Donna over at GEIV. Our background checks passed, all air tickets are purchased, and our contact sent me both the confirmation for our hotel in Moscow and the lease agreement for our flat in Izhevsk."
Camille ignored Jenni's amused glance. "Jeremy said he'd arrive sometime this week with our passports and approved visas."
Jenni sat beside her, peeling an orange, a worried frown on her face. "I hate that he doesn’t get to spend more than a week per month over there with you." She met Camille's gaze. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Camille ignored the twinge of disappointment. "He isn't happy about it, but the Bureau won't let him have that much time off right now. The anti-Shine movement has the entire country on edge."
Jenni nodded. "I just hate that you'll be over there with no back up. I mean, what if you run into trouble?"
Rachel glanced over from the television. "Don't get her started. She's gone over the plan, such as it is, a million times. We're as ready as we can be until we get over there. No sense borrowing trouble. We have two weeks left to watch all the decent T.V. we can." She scowled. "Don't rush the clownfest."
Camille opened her mouth to respond when a knock sounded at the door. Jeremy poked his head in, his gaze zeroing on Camille. Butterflies filled her stomach. She drank in the sight of him with hungry eyes. The last three weeks without him had been the longest of her life.
He smiled. "Hey you."
"Hey."
He dropped a stack of passports on the table. "They all have approved visas."
Brenna grabbed the top one and opened it. "Appreciate it, Jeremy."
Jenni pushed her wheel chair away from the table and reached for a duffel bag Rachel had been hiding with her feet.
Camille wrinkled her forehead. "Wait, is that mine?"
Jenni smiled and handed the bag to Jeremy. "Surprise."
"Something I should know about, handsome?"
He pulled her up out of her chair and wrapped strong arms around her waist. "Oh, you know. Just your average case of kidnap the beautiful woman for a few days."
"I could be on board with that." She wound her arms around his neck. "Where am I being kidnapped to?"
Camille shivered at the feel of her body pressed against his. His gaze heated, the smile slipping from his face. He covered her mouth with his, devouring her lips like he couldn't get enough. Rachel made gagging sounds behind them and he ended the kiss, leaving Camille breathless.
Jeremy shot Rachel a hard look, then smiled down at Camille. "It wouldn't be a kidnapping if you knew where you were going, now would it?"
Intrigued, Camille let Jeremy pull her to the open door.
"Your purse, tablet, and glasses are in the bag," Jenni said.
Camille glanced over her shoulder. "You guys are sneaky. Call if you need anything—" She glanced at Jeremy. "—but only if it’s important."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "We're all set to go, Cam. Go enjoy your boy toy. We'll be fine."
Camille ignored the other Shine. It wasn’t like that, but her friends didn’t know about her old fashioned values. With a wave, she pulled the door closed and followed Jeremy to his truck.
When they reached the highway and turned North, Camille’s curiosity increased. Jeremy just smiled at her questioning look.
"Proud of yourself, aren't you?"
He winked. "I have you, my beautiful Camille, all to myself for a few days."
She bit her lip, her skin going hot.
Jeremy caught and held her gaze. "I swear to honor your vow to your parents—" heat crawled up her neck. He winked easing her embarrassment. "—but I can't promise not to kiss you breathless and hold you in my arms all night."
Camille smiled and turned to press her overly warm face against the window. She tamped down the mix of excitement and impatience swirling inside her and watched the mountains looming in the distance grow larger.
“You might as well relax. It’s a little over five hours to our destination.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “You’re so mean.”
He knew she'd never been this far North and had no idea where he could possibly be taking her.
He traced a finger along her jaw. “Trust me?”
She relaxed back into her seat with a smile and started to sing along with the radio. Jeremy’s voice soon joined hers, making her laugh with his ridiculous made up lyrics. They stopped at a small town diner for lunch, then continued north, the mountains always to their west. Camille drowsed, eyes closed, when she felt their speed slow. When Jeremy turned his truck toward the mountains, she sat up and looked around.
“About an hour until we get there. You’ll want to be awake for this.”
Camille nodded. Trees soon replaced the desert landscape and the road began a curving journey into the mountains. She glanced over at Jeremy, but he only smiled and mimed zipping his lips.
Jeremy sped up the road like a race car driver, his truck hugging the curves. Camille's stomach churned each time the edge of the road came too close to a steep drop off. They were speeding around a long curve when the mountains opened up and a large sparkling lake of blue-green water appeared before them. Camille caught her breath. Lakes in Oklahoma were a murky dark brown at best or a white bathing suit ruining red clay colored at worst. She'd never realized lakes could be the color of a Caribbean ocean.
"Welcome to Lake Tahoe," Jeremy said. "It's located along the border of California and Nevada. We'll be staying on the Nevada side."
He drove down out of the mountains surrounding the lake and turned onto a road that wound along the lake's edge. They passed stately beachside homes with manicured lawns and huge windows. When the homes appeared closer together and the road more crowded, Camille looked a question at Jeremy.
"This is Glenbrook, one of the oldest populated areas around Lake Tahoe. It's about ten miles south of Incline Village, Nevada and about twelve miles north of South Lake Tahoe, California. Supposedly Mark Twain was said to have visited and admired its beauty."
Jeremy slowed and turned into a long drive bisected by a large gate connected to a high fence that disappeared into the trees surrounding the property. He entered a code into the keypad and it opened silently.
A dense wood lined the drive and opened to reveal a clearing with a beautiful two-story home of modern angles and rustic red wood siding. Pinkish-purple and white roses grew in thick bushes around the home's exterior.
"I wonder why there aren't any windows on the first floor?" Camille asked.
Jeremy pulled into the house's garage and shut the car off. "Safety, of course."
Camille opened her door and got out of the car. Jeremy pulled their luggage from the trunk and led her into the house. They walked through a mud room and up a set of stairs that opened onto the second floor. Camille's eyes widened. A large open concept kitchen, dining, and living room that she could only describe as rustic glamour, stopped her in her tracks.
Jeremy crossed to a set of double doors. "Look around, I'll put our bags in the master then give you the official tour."
Camille barely heard him, too enthralled by the home's beauty. She spun slowly, unable to take it all in. A mix of rustic beams, modern appliances and large, floor-to-ceiling windows, the house seemed plucked straight from her dreams. The leather couches and colorful throw pillows gave the place a warm, lived in feel that reminded Camille of her childhood home. She loved it.
She turned and caught Jeremy watching her, an odd look on his face. "It's beautiful. I couldn't have chosen better had I picked it out myself. If I ever have my own home—" she rolled her eyes, knowing the chance of that was slim for any Shine. "—I hope to have something very much like this."
Jeremy crossed the room and wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. "I'm glad you like it. I had it designed specifically with you in mind."
Her jaw dropped. She closed it, opened it, then closed it again.
He smiled. "You're speechless. I never would've thought it possible."
Camille balled her fist and thumped him on the chest. "How could you have had this done in two months with your busy schedule?"
He looked deep into her eyes. "I bought it after I lost you ten months ago."
Camille's eyes widened. "Oh."
Ten months ago, she'd been caught trying to free Jenni from a group of SSS fanatics who’d kidnapped her best friend. She hadn't known that the man she'd been on a picnic date with the day before was a federal agent working undercover to infiltrate the SSS. She'd been devastated to discover that he was one of her captors. During a rescue attempt gone terribly wrong, Jenni had been shot. Thinking her best friend dead, Camille had run.
Jeremy covered her fists where they were clenched on his chest. "Hey, come back to me. It's over. Jenni is alive and you're safe."
Camille blinked, struggling against the hold of her memories and the emotions they elicited. She relaxed her fists under his hands.
Inhaling slowly, she nodded. "I'm fine." Her gaze darted around the beautiful house. "You built this for me?"
He nodded. "The house was already here. I just modified it to what I thought you'd like and what I thought would keep you safe." He glanced around as if analyzing the safety. "I filled in the windows downstairs, put bullet proof glass in the windows up here, and installed a hidden safe room in the basement complete with cameras of the entire property, a generator and an alternate exit. The house can't be seen from the road and only minimally fro
m the water. The fence surrounding the property has sensors that will alert me if anyone comes onto the property from anyplace other than the front gates." He noticed the smile she couldn't keep hidden. "What?"
"It must have cost a pretty penny for all those snazzy safety measures," she said in a dry tone. "Especially since you had no way of knowing if you'd ever see me again."
His brows lowered. "After I was sure Jenni would live, I went to Michael and told him everything. I knew you'd have to have some way to access the money from the sale of your house. Though he sympathized with me, he wouldn't tell me anything without your approval." He gave her a sad grin." I begged him to text me when you contacted him, just so I'd know you were alright."
"Did he?"
Jeremy nodded. "I lived for those texts. When I received your e-mail—" he cleared a voice suddenly hoarse with emotion "—your distrust and hate nearly broke me. Then you called—" he swallowed and pulled her close. "I tracked the call, knew it'd come from somewhere near Amarillo. I called Michael while on the way to the airport before calling you back. I wanted—" he shook his head "—no, I needed his advice. I knew I wouldn't get another chance."
She lifted a hand to his cheek. "As you said, it's over. We're here and this house is perfect." She lifted up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his chin. "I love you."
He closed his eyes.
When he pulled back, his eyes sparkled with excitement. "Come on. I'll give you the tour then we’ll fix our first dinner on the deck."
Jeremy pulled her through the house, pointing out the updates he'd done and making her laugh as he promised to kiss her throughout every square inch so he wouldn't see any of it without remembering her. They cooked dinner together, tasting right out of the pan, splashing water in each other's face until they were laughing so hard they almost overcooked the blueberry compote for the pork chops.
Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1) Page 100