I don’t know how long I slept, but I woke hearing voices in my room. I felt strangely refreshed. As the voices continued talking, I kept my eyes closed, consciously keeping my breathing even.
“Okay, let’s go back two frames and get a screenshot of that dude’s face, I think he’s new,” it was Lorelei’s voice, “Okay zoom and, cheese.”
“Are you sure he’s not the same as this one?” Wyvern’s voice then a tapping sound.
“No, look at the eyebrows and this one is a little fatter,” she said. “Alright, I’m going to let it play.”
“Can I ask you something, Lorelei?” Wyvern said.
“You can ask,” her tone implied that it was doubtful whether she would answer.
“If I had given that money to Clara, would Dakota have reacted the same way?” he asked.
“You mean would Dakota have had a total mental breakdown…?” she said, obviously my freak-out had been big news around the household.
“More an emotional one,” he said.
“That’s not really the right question to ask,” Lorelei said, “If you gave it to Clara, the money would have still just ended up with my mom. But I know what you mean.”
When she did not elaborate, he asked, “What’s the right question?”
“The question you want to ask me is: why did Dakota lose her shit, when you gave our mother money?”
“Would you answer that one?” he asked.
“Sure,” Lorelei said, sounding a little distracted, “The answer is: pay attention, it’s obvious. The whole family knows what’s going on, but everyone pretends that they don’t so they don’t have to do anything about it. Deagan is an asshat, Clara is weak, Stacy is too young and everyone thinks I’m useless which amounts to the same thing.”
“But not Dakota?”
“Dakota is very useful, and everyone uses her. My sisters and I use her, you’re using her, my mother worst of all but my grandfather is a close second. The sad thing, is only my mother is oblivious to it, the rest of us know.” She pauses, “Okay, this dude is leaving, I’m going to turn the video to double-speed, that cool?”
“She’s supporting all of you with the work she does for your grandfather?” Wyvern asked.
“If only it was just that,” Lorelei said, laughing derisively. “But you know what; I don’t think Dakota would thank me for telling you her business.”
After they sat in silence for a minute, Wyvern asked, “Why does your family think you’re useless?”
“I’m a dud. I did not inherit an aspect. Half of my aunts and uncles think my mom cheated on my dad and I’m just a human that, coincidentally, looks a lot like Dakota.”
“They’re wrong,” he said.
“Thanks, but really, how would you know?” she scoffs, “I don’t.”
“I can read you; it’s one of my aspects. I can’t read your aspect because you don’t have one yet; but you have more power than some of your aunts and uncles, a little more than Dakota even,” he said.
“You’re just saying that,” she said, but I could hear the smile in her voice. “So you’ve only really known Dakota for, what, a couple days, and you’re coming on pretty strong…do you actually like my sister or are you just screwing with her head because you’re rich and you can?”
“You two really are related,” he said, “Are you going to tell me that if I hurt her you’re going to kill me?”
“Not yet,” she said, “But you just told me I’m going to be some kind of bad-ass soon so… you know.”
“I’ll be careful. But I don’t think she likes me enough for me to hurt her anyhow,” he said.
“Wow, is there a hook in my mouth? I don’t think you could have fished anymore with that statement,” she said. “She might like you; it’s hard to tell with her. I remember a time when Dakota used to laugh so hard she would almost pee her pants, like she would have to run to the bathroom still laughing. I don’t think she even remembers being that person…I mean, she’s funny and she’ll laugh, but… I don’t know how to explain it.”
“That if I take her out and she pees her pants then I will know she likes me,” he said.
“No, I mean… she used to be so happy; I don’t think she knows how to actually be happy anymore, because she’s faking happiness all the time. She pretends to be someone she’s not all day at school and everywhere else, hiding things from everyone just to protect other people. Also, Dakota basically spends all day stalking the man who killed our father…which is like taking daily misery pills.” She paused, “And there he is…”
“What?” Wyvern said, his voice almost a growl.
“Senator Hale,” she said, “I don’t know how she does this every day…”
“Senator Hale killed your father?” Wyvern voice was scary cold now.
“Wait—” Lorelei said, “I thought you must be helping her… I thought that’s what these surveillance tapes were about. Shit. But you’re obviously not. Look, please don’t repeat what I said. I’m not even supposed to know about her assignment.”
“He killed your father?” Wyvern asked yet again.
“Well, the official story was that a dragon broke into the office that my father shared with Senator Hale and killed both my father and Senator Hale’s daughter. But I know Dakota, if that was what actually happened that day, she would have spent all this time learning to hunt dragons.”
“She was there?” he asked as if he already knew the answer.
“Yes,” Lorelei said, “And, wow, you just have me going on and on. I’m going to stop now, if you want to know more you’re going to have to get it from Dakota. Look, it’s eleven and I haven’t even started my homework yet. I can probably watch Saturday and Sunday’s recordings after school tomorrow. I have all the clips with people in the office from Thursday and Friday copied and in this file here. Also, there are screen shots of all the peoples’ faces that came through and they’re labeled by the time-stamps of when they came on the screen.” She then made a long somewhat-fake-yawning sound. “Goodnight.”
“Thank you, Lorelei,” Wyvern said.
Once Lorelei was gone, I said, “I want it to be him. All the evidence points to that he’s involved, but…he was on Owabu until Sunday afternoon. I keep thinking I might be blaming Senator Hale in my head, because I want it to be him so badly, that he’s stealing girls.”
I opened my eyes as the bed sunk beside me.
Wyvern laid down, his body mirroring mine, his head propped up on his arm. “I also think Senator Hale had to have played a part in Honua’s disappearance. Honua broke into his office for a reason. Can I ask you a question about what you saw the day your father died?”
I swallowed. “Yes.”
“Who killed Senator Hale’s daughter?”
“Senator Hale did,” I said, “I’m pretty sure; she might have been already dead, but I think she was infected by the dragon who tried to take her. Her name was Lena.”
Wyvern’s thumb brushed across my cheek. “I can sleep on the floor,” he said, “If you still want nothing more to do with me.”
“I’m not sure, yet,” I said, closing my eyes.
“Alright, tell me when you decide,” he said.
“Where’s Mele?” I asked.
“Sleeping downstairs in the guest room,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay,” he said.
Even though I knew better, when his fingers wound through mine, I did not pull away, I tucked his hand under my face.
“I just wanted to tell you, those six other contracts I had been in,” he said, “I did not choose any of them. They were worked out between my family and their families in the couple months before I turned eighteen and inherited the Rex title from my half-brother. It was his last maneuver to have some control over me, trying to force me to marry a dracon whose family owed him in a big way. The girl who I stayed with for weeks was a friend who agreed to pretend that we were considering marriage so that I could get a break from having a new
contract every week. When I was crowned Rex, I told my half-brother that I was done.”
For some reason this explanation made me way happier than it should have. I was not really sure how to respond to what he said, without making it sound like it meant something to me, so I stayed silent.
“You care,” he said.
“No, I don’t,” I whispered.
“Then stop smiling,” he said.
“I’m not.” I so was, dang it.
I woke wrapped in Wyvern’s arms. I did not know if I had moved or he had, but I was tucked into him and he was wrapped around me. Our bare skin was touching in too many places to count, arms touching, ankles, his cheek on mine, and my body felt like a live wire of tingles.
I stayed there, trying not to move and wake him. I thought about what Lorelei had said to him. Lorelei was always way too smart and observant for anyone’s good. Sure, she was rude and annoying most of the time, but underneath all of it she cared more than anyone. I did not know that she had heard the rumors my jerk uncles and aunts were spreading about her; she had never said anything to me.
Maybe Lorelei was right, maybe I did not know how to be happy anymore. Yet what I felt right now, wrapped in Wyvern’s arms, felt dangerously close to what I imagined happiness felt like.
I knew it would not last. I knew that the way Wyvern was acting could be a result of my sharing a piece of my soul with him. Yet, I closed my eyes and let myself just feel that possibly-happiness feeling until I fell back to sleep.
Chapter Twenty One
The next time I woke, it was to the smell of bacon, eggs and syrup. My mouth immediately filled with saliva and my stomach gave a vicious reminder that all I had eaten since yesterday morning was chips and salsa.
Opening my eyes, I found a tray with three plates of food and something that suspiciously looked like coffee.
“Am I dead?” I asked with a hoarse voice while I still laid there.
“We need to talk,” Wyvern said. “Eat so you’ll be in a good mood.”
“Uh-oh,” I said, sitting up. “I know for a fact that we did not have bacon in our fridge…or anything but condiments.”
He sat beside the bed in my desk chair, his elbows on his knees and staring at me with an expression that, if it wasn’t Wyvern, I would call unsure. “I had already hired a cook for the house I bought, I just asked him to bring some food over and work here while I am staying at your place. It’s the least I can do for the hospitality your family has shown me.”
Feeling emotional yet again, I took a bite and focused on chewing. I was such a basket-case lately, crying more than not.
Wyvern must have interpreted my lack of response as my being unhappy because he continued. “I really could not live with myself if I let a fourteen year old work for me when she doesn’t have food—and Lorelei reviewed those security tapes for seven hours last night—”
“No. Thank you,” I said, “Like really, thank you. If your pity for me gets my sister’s fed, then—”
His hand was suddenly on my cheek. “I do not pity you,” His voice was very serious.
I looked up to find his gaze drilling into mine.
“I do not pity you. I’m not doing this out of pity. Tell me you understand that,” he said, sounding almost angry.
I swallowed.
“Tell me,” he insisted.
“I understand,” I said.
His hand stayed on my face for a second, his thumb brushed my cheek, then he dropped his hand and said, “Eat.”
I did, but because I was starving and not because he told me to. Shoveling food into my mouth, the silence dragged on between us.
When I had finished every last bite of the food and drank every sip of the coffee, Wyvern took the tray and placed it on my desk. He turned back to me and leaned in toward me. He said, “We need to have a conversation about Keanu Hale.”
I swallowed.
Oh, joy.
He continued, “Your sister let slip that your assignment is to stalk Senator Hale, that’s why you’ve been impersonating a human for years. The second time I saw you, you were with both of Senator Hale’s children at the beach. Keanu Hale kissed you and you defended him when I tested him. You also made it part of our agreement that I did not hurt or kill him for as long as I would agree to. I thought it was because you two were dating or heading there.” Wyvern pinned me with his stare. “What I need to know is if you’re protecting him because you have feelings for him, or if it’s because he’s your chance to get to Senator Hale.”
“What difference does it make?” I asked.
“All the difference,” he said. “From what I’ve heard, it still sounds to me like he’s responsible for Honua’s disappearance. He invited her to his house and he was one of three people who were there when she supposedly vanished. From what I’ve heard of his actions, he doesn’t seem like he’s trying to find her, even after he failed to protect her. The only thing that’s stopping me from seeking him out and making him give me answers is my promise to you. Now I think that you have been avoiding considering him as responsible for her disappearance as well as protecting him. I need to know why.”
“You want honesty? All of it?”
“Yes. From what I’ve learned about you, Dakota, I don’t think you would defend Keanu if he was guilty because you had feelings for him; but I am not certain if you would defend him if he was guilty, if he was your only chance to avenge your father’s death. I need to know where your head is at.”
I sighed. “I guess there was a little of both in my defending him. I’ve been pretending to have a crush on Keanu for years, telling everyone how great I thought he was, spending my afternoons trying to find new ways to flirt with him but not be obvious. But he is by far the most popular boy in our school and my assignment to infiltrate his or his sister’s life was way harder than everyone who planned it thought it should be. I guess I felt complimented and relieved when his attention turned to me. Also, he’s funny and charming and nice; I thought I might be developing real feelings for him.”
But strangely, I did not think that anymore. Sure, kissing and touching Keanu was really nice, but nice in the way that a good night’s sleep was nice. Touching Wyvern was like sky diving.
I continued, “And yes, he might be my only chance to get to Senator Hale. Everyone that my grandfather sent against Senator Hale either ultimately failed to get to him or died. My grandfather has been planning this assassination for five years and all I’m supposed to do is take photos of Senator Hale’s daily planner, but he keeps it on him at all times.”
It was so strange to be talking about this out loud. Even though it was what I lived my entire life around, I never talked about it.
“But the real reason I’ve been protecting him, is because I’ve been watching Keanu Hale for years and I don’t think he did it. If I thought he did, I wouldn’t protect him.”
He smiled. “You thought you might be developing feelings for him?”
“Don’t read too much into it,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Yes,” he said. “I trust you.”
I looked up sharply. Just like that, he trusted me? I was the great-granddaughter of the king of trickery. I just told him that I had been living a lie for five years. He had known me for a couple of days. And he trusted me?
“You know that what Lorelei said last night wasn’t true,” I said, “I’m not some victim with everyone using me. Actually, up until recently, I was managing things. You’ve just come in right as everything has been falling apart.”
“Came in while everything was falling apart or caused everything to fall apart?” he asked.
“You, disrupt my life? No, not at all…well, maybe a little bit,” I said, smiling and holding my thumb and pointer finger an inch apart in front of me. I held up a finger and said, “First, I was on this assignment, you see, to punish this psycho-killer vampire and you told the bouncer to kick me out.”
He grabbed the f
inger I was pointing at him. “I recognized you from the pictures Honua showed me; I heard the club was dangerous for under-aged girls. I was trying to protect you while not calling any more attention to you. You looked so…fragile.”
“You got me suspended,” I said.
“I’m sure it wasn’t all my doing,” Wyvern said with a smirk.
“You jerk,” I said while smiling and attempting to smack his shoulder but he caught my hand.
Now, he held both my arms and he did not let go of them either when I pulled. He just gave me a wicked grin.
“Second,” I said, “You show up at another assignment and ruined my chances of going back to Keanu’s house with him.”
“I don’t feel bad at all about that one,” he said, still smiling, roguishly.
“You should,” I said, pulling hard to free my arms, but he only moved out of the chair, leaning forward with one leg on the bed.
“Third,” I said, “You tricked me into a contract with you.”
“I definitely don’t feel bad about that one,” he said as he climbed entirely on the bed still restraining my hands between us. “Anything else?”
“You keep trying to push me around,” I said, my voice unsteady as he leaned closer to me.
“I only do it because you make it so much fun,” he said.
“You’re a bit of a jerk,” I said.
“You like it,” he said, he leaned in so close his lips brushed mine ever so gently.
“You’re going to kiss me,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he whispered back and then he closed that little bit of distance and his lips pushed into mine.
The tingle I had felt push through me before was nothing to the explosion of sensation that melted through my body as his lips met mine. The feeling was so overwhelming for a second, I stayed completely still, and then his lips moved against mine. Our lips were wet, soft and gentle as they moved over each others’, memorizing the feel of each other.
The moment my tongue slipped into his mouth our kiss turned from something gentle and tentative to something much deeper.
His hands let go of my arms to cup the back of my head instead.
Henchgirl (Dakota Kekoa Book 1) Page 28