Vital Found (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 2)

by Kaydence Snow

  “Oh!” Nina’s surprised exclamation cut Lucian off, and we all turned to her.

  She was sitting up on the couch, the loose gray hoodie covering her bald head askew as she stared at Dot on the chair opposite her. Nina’s wide dark eyes had a faraway look to them, and a tense silence settled over the room.

  Dot sat up straighter in her armchair, dropping her feet to the ground.

  “Dot.” Nina tilted her head to the side, a tiny twitch of her lips hinting at a smile. “Come.”

  Dot practically fell over the coffee table in her rush to sit next to her, launching herself into the spot next to Nina and grabbing her outstretched hand.

  We all held our breath, watching them intently. After only a fraction of a second, Nina smiled. “I feel him. I have a location,” she declared, and Dot burst into tears.

  The room exploded in a flurry of activity. Ethan called up Dot’s mom, letting her know the news. Lucian, Tyler, and Alec converged on Nina, firing a million questions and already starting to strategize. I wasn’t sure what Josh was doing—probably something no one else had thought to do.

  I went to Dot and just held her close in the second highly emotional hug we’d shared that day.

  “He’s alive,” she whispered into my shoulder, and I smiled.

  Twenty-Seven

  The formal sitting room off the foyer had not changed one bit since Josh had given me an amazing dress and I’d kissed him silly. It was still immaculately clean, the two velvet couches positioned perfectly on either side of the coffee table, the drapes hanging precisely, a fire roaring in the fireplace. Even the Christmas decorations had disappeared as fast as they’d arrived, leaving the room looking untouched.

  I sat on one of the soft couches, reading the latest edition of New Scientist and trying to take my mind off the fact that my father was alive and the man who knew his identity was in the house somewhere.

  While the room remained unchanged, so much else hadn’t. The day I’d first stepped into it with Josh, giddy about the gift and the kiss, I’d had no idea Alec was part of my Bond, no one knew I was a Vital, Beth and Zara were my closest friends, Charlie was safe and well and getting ready for the same gala we were.

  Now . . .

  We knew where he was, but we still couldn’t get him. The news that Nina could now track him had pushed everyone into action the previous night, but my assumption that we would be commandeering the jet within hours was grossly misguided.

  There were preparations to be made, approvals to be gained, strategy to finalize. Dot’s parents were almost manic in their attempts to get things moving, but Lucian insisted we do things properly.

  “We could get him killed if we march in there unprepared,” he’d explained. “We don’t know what we’re walking into, what we’re up against. We don’t know how big it is, how many Vitals they’re holding, who’s behind it. The more information we have, the better our chances of success.”

  Tyler and Alec agreed; it was important to do recon first. They copped some sarcastic remarks from Lucian, considering how they’d handled saving me from the senator, but they were all determined to do this right.

  Which left the rest of us sitting on our asses with nothing to do—and left me dying to ask Lucian who my father was. The man didn’t have a spare second to eat, let alone talk to me about shit that happened before I was even old enough to remember. Hopefully things would calm down enough for us to have a proper conversation soon; I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait.

  I’d spent the previous night in my usual room, in a giant, ridiculously comfortable bed, but I’d spent it alone. As much as I loved being around my guys, I needed the space. I needed to not worry about who was sleeping where, who might be feeling left out, and if I was being a good enough Vital.

  I’d grown up pretty much alone, and I was still getting used to being around so many people all the time.

  I was still alone by midmorning. Everyone was busy preparing to rescue Charlie, and Josh and Ethan had headed to Bradford Hills Institute to pack up my stuff. I’d considered going with them but decided in the end to let them do it for me. I wasn’t ready to walk into those rooms and look at the empty beds—reminders of the two friends I’d lost as fast as I’d made them.

  “Eve?” Lucian’s call came from somewhere in the house. I stretched, taking my time getting off the couch.

  “Eve?” His voice was closer this time, mingling with the sound of his loafers on the foyer’s marble floor. This time it held a panicked edge.

  I rushed to the door, catching him on his way to the kitchen. “Lucian?” He spun around, eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”

  “Evelyn.” He rushed over and placed both hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry I don’t have time to explain everything properly, but I need you to listen and do exactly as I say.”

  “OK . . .” I fiddled with the hem of my white sweater.

  Alec came bounding down the stairs, phone in hand. He ended a call as he reached the bottom. Tyler was hot on his heels, buttoning up a fresh blue shirt.

  “She’s on the way. She should beat him here,” Alec said.

  “Good.” Some of the anxiety drained out of Lucian’s face, but he kept his eyes trained on me. “This is what I was afraid of when visuals of you transferring Light to Alec were plastered all over national television. Now everyone knows what you are, and some people know who you are too. One of those people is on his way here now.”

  “What? Who?” My voice was high. “Why are you guys so freaked out? You’re freaking me out!”

  “Uncle, you’re scaring her.” Alec placed a hand on Lucian’s shoulder, and the older man released me.

  “Sorry, it’s just we have no time . . .” Lucian looked more rattled than I’d ever seen the distinguished man look. I wondered how much he’d slept in the past few days.

  “Eve, Lucian’s business associate Davis Damari is coming here,” Tyler said evenly as Lucian visibly pulled himself together, tucking his shirt into his slacks and smoothing his hair.

  “OK . . .” I frowned. Davis had popped up in my reading a few times—in the news and online when I was doing research about Variants—but I didn’t remember anything alarming.

  “He’s made up some flimsy excuse to invite himself over,” Lucian explained, a little more collected, “but he’s really only coming to see you for himself.”

  “What? Why?” Why would some super-rich hotshot business guy want anything to do with me?

  “Because he knows you’re Evelyn Maynard. He knows what you’re capable of.”

  “How?” Alarms started going off in my mind. Why did everyone seem to know more about me than I did?

  “I wish I’d made time to have this conversation with you sooner. Now it’s too late.” He sighed. “The most important things for you to know are that he’s dangerous and he’s trying to find out what we’re up to. He also has a mind-reading ability—”

  “Which is the only reason why we invited . . .” Alec cut in, then trailed off.

  “Who?” I was asking all the W questions, trying in vain to piece together the puzzle with whatever snippets of information I could drag out of them. I was so sick of being out of the loop.

  The doorbell rang. All three of them looked to the door.

  “It’s not him,” Tyler announced, moving to open it.

  Dana was the last person I expected to come through the door. She looked almost as irritated as me. As soon as we saw each other, we both crossed our arms.

  She was in black pants and combat boots—standard issue gear for Melior Group operatives—but once she took her thick coat off, the white top underneath looked as if it were painted on, showing off her voluptuous breasts and toned arms.

  Tyler took her coat and hung it up. “Thanks for coming, Dana.”

  “Just following orders,” she replied.

  Lucian inclined his chin. “We still appreciate it.”

  “What exactly do you want me to do?” She was having trouble keep
ing her eyes off Alec. He was standing eerily still, his hands in his pockets, and avoiding everyone’s eyes.

  “Davis is on his way, so just the standard,” Lucian answered. “He’s here for”—his eyes flicked to me—“other reasons, but we can’t have him picking up that we suspect he’s behind the Vital disappearances. It would unravel months of hard work.”

  “Got it.” Dana pulled her phone from her pocket, looking bored. From the way Lucian spoke to her, it sounded as if she did this all the time.

  But my brain was still processing the bombshell Lucian had dropped. Davis was behind the Vital disappearances?

  “Your mouth is hanging open,” Tyler whispered into my ear as his gentle hands rubbed my shoulders. I snapped my mouth shut.

  “Maybe we should just hide her?” Alec spoke for the first time since Dana had arrived. “Have Tyler take her out for a few hours and say she’s not here.”

  “He’ll just find an excuse to stay until they get back,” Lucian answered. “He won’t leave until he’s seen her with his own eyes. It’s better if we get it over with quickly, and then I’ll steer the conversation toward business. The sooner we can get him out of here, the better.”

  “I don’t want him anywhere near—”

  Whatever Alec had been about to say was cut off by the crunch of tires on gravel.

  A rush of panic and adrenaline made me fidget again, my eyes darting about the room. I needed to move—to do something—but Tyler’s grip on my shoulders tightened, and he leaned in, his heat at my back soothing.

  “Calm down, Eve,” he whispered. “You need to be calm and polite, and we’ll get you out of here in a few minutes. You can do this.”

  I breathed deep, focusing on the mindfulness techniques Tyler had taught me months ago. He released my shoulders and stood next to me.

  Lucian moved to the door, opening it wide and blocking my view. Pleasantries were exchanged, comments about how cold it was, and then three men entered the Zacarias mansion.

  Two of them were clearly security detail—dressed almost identically, with weapons strapped to their hips and beady eyes taking everything in. The third was Davis Damari. I recognized his broad shoulders and dark hair, peppered with gray, from the few images I’d seen online, but he was a little taller than I expected.

  Their coats were taken by a maid who appeared out of thin air and disappeared just as quickly while the men continued to chat. Davis greeted Alec with a polite head nod in place of a handshake and then shook Dana’s hand.

  “What a pleasure to see you again, Dana.” He smiled warmly but showed just a hint too much teeth for it to not look menacing.

  “Nice to see you again too, sir.” She smiled politely, her face pleasant but her posture at attention.

  “I can’t remember the last time we had a meeting without Dana present, Lucian.” Davis turned to him. “I must say, it’s a pleasure to have a break from the constant chattering in people’s heads. Although if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were keeping her around to keep something from me, old friend.”

  Those teeth again. To his credit, Lucian just chuckled, not looking even slightly nervous about Davis’s pointed teasing. As soon as we’d heard the car pull up, Lucian had drawn himself to his full height, and any hint of the panic he’d shown moments before had been wiped off his handsome face. He was giving nothing away.

  “You know my ability blocks yours anyway. Dana has been working closely with me lately on a special project.”

  The guys had mentioned their uncle’s ability when I first met him at the gala. While Dana was a blocker—neutralizing the ability of any Variant in her vicinity—Lucian was a shield. He was impervious to others’ abilities but could only protect himself, and it worked best against more passive abilities, like Tyler’s truth telling or Davis’s mind reading. I wondered what he’d been capable of when he had my mom, his Vital, around.

  “Oh?” Davis’s eyebrows rose. “Sounds intriguing. I don’t suppose you can tell your old friend what you’re working on?”

  “It’s classified.” Lucian smiled, an amused glint in his eyes, and stuffed his hands into his pockets casually. He looked so relaxed that even I almost started to believe these were just two old friends teasing each other. But Davis wasn’t quite as good at covering his true feelings; his eyes narrowed just a fraction.

  “Excuse my rudeness.” Davis turned toward me and Tyler. “I have yet to greet your right-hand man.” He sauntered over and shook Tyler’s hand before fixing his intense gaze on me. “And you must be Evelyn Maynard.” He smiled wide, looking at me in the same way I’d seen women look at shoes they loved but couldn’t afford—with longing and greed.

  I patted myself on the back for not flinching at his use of my full name, the name I’d spent my whole life hiding. Hearing it used so casually by someone who was making my skin crawl felt like a siren going off.

  Danger! Evacuate! Take cover!

  I breathed through it, taking inspiration from Alec’s unflappable uncle, and smiled back. “Yes, pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  I kept my hands loosely clasped. I didn’t think I could suppress a shudder if I had to touch him.

  “You have no idea how it warms my heart”—he pressed his hand over the organ in question, his eyebrows turning up in a decent imitation of sincerity—“to see you safe and well.”

  “Yes.” I cleared my throat. “It’s been a crazy couple of days.”

  “Couple of days?” He chuckled. “My dear, I was referring to the past dozen years. I am sorry to hear your mother is no longer with us. You look so much like her.”

  I kept my mouth shut, unnerved. How the hell did he know so much? Once again, I wished the guys had told me more, that I’d had time to interrogate them. I looked away from his intense stare but didn’t know what to say.

  “I don’t mean to upset you. I see now that you don’t know who I am. It’s not all that surprising that your mother kept it from you, I suppose. She did, after all, keep you from me.”

  I looked back into his face, frowning. He seemed to be insinuating he was the reason my mother and I had been on the run all those years. Was he threatening me?

  Except that didn’t sit right. His words weren’t menacing; they were griping. They were the kind of thing a person would say if they were bickering about custody.

  My breath hitched.

  The ground fell out from under me.

  I had my mother’s hair, her eye color, her build, but in front of me stood a man with the same shape eyes as me, the same full lips, a more masculine, bigger version of my nose.

  All sound disappeared as the implications fell into place. I retreated completely into my own mind, momentarily cut off from my senses, incapable of movement, as I processed the bombshell that had gone off inside me.

  I tuned back in in time to see Lucian leading Davis to Tyler’s study, turning the conversation to business. Tyler said something about getting them coffee and looked at me with concern.

  I looked back at him, letting my eyes go wide, letting the realization crash over my features. He pressed his lips together and shook his head before heading off toward the kitchen.

  Alec came to stand in front of me, worry and a question in his eyes.

  I had questions of my own. Now that my senses had returned, all I had were questions.

  What the fuck? I mouthed.

  He pressed a finger to his lips and took my hand in his, leading me up the stairs and past a scowling Dana. She was leaning on the wall next to the door to Tyler’s study, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Alec’s hand gripping mine.

  We made it up only one flight of stairs before I couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

  “He’s . . .” I pulled on Alec’s hand. I needed to stop, sit, think. “He’s my . . . that man is . . .”

  I needed to hear someone say it, but I couldn’t form the words myself. The word father was too unfamiliar to my lips; they didn’t know how to shape the letters.

  Alec gave
up on dragging me up another flight, instead nudging me a little farther down the hall. “He is your biological father, yes.” He kept his voice low, looking both angry and wary at the same time.

  “Did you know?” I yanked my hand out of his, my rising anger giving me added strength. Was this another thing they’d kept from me? Would the secrets never end?

  “No.” His answer was firm and definitive. “Lucian did, but it’s not something he shared with us until half an hour ago, when he heard Davis was on his way. We’ve suspected he may be behind the Vital kidnappings for some time—there’s a special task force in Melior Group dedicated to investigating the theory—but we haven’t been able to find anything concrete. He’s very good at keeping his dealings private. A little too good for it to not be suspicious. But that had absolutely nothing to do with you, as far as we knew. Now . . .”

  His voice had dropped so low I had to strain to hear him, hanging on every word. I believed him that he hadn’t known, but I had so many more questions. I needed answers, and almost as much, I needed comfort.

  I leaned forward and pressed my forehead to his chest, breathing in the clean male scent of him. He closed the remaining distance, wrapping one strong arm around my back and cupping the back of my head with the other.

  “He’ll be gone soon,” he whispered into my hair, pressing a kiss to the spot, “and then we’ll have a nice long chat with my uncle. You will have your answers. I promise.”

  When Alec set his mind to something—like stopping me from finding him for a year, or resisting the pull of the Bond, or keeping my identity a secret from his family—there was no stopping him. He was like the most solid tree in the forest. It was nice to have that force of will on my side for a change.

  After a while, we separated, and I slid down the wall to sit on the ground. Alec stayed with me, but when we heard movement downstairs, he went to make sure Davis was leaving.

  For a few minutes, the sound of several male voices drifted up to me. I caught my name a few times but didn’t have the energy to try to listen in. I couldn’t even be bothered to move, try to hide, when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.