Bound by Secrets (Cauld Ane Series)

by Tracey Jane Jackson

  Sam frowned. “What things?”

  Payton gave her an exasperated look.

  “What?” Sam asked.

  “This is not something you should be dealing with.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’re…well…you’re Kade’s mate.”

  “So?”

  “He’s our king, Sam.”

  Sam laughed. “So?”

  “So, that makes you our queen.”

  “Oh, crap. Right. I keep forgetting about that.”

  Kade had made significant changes over the years to immerse the Cauld Ane into the human world. The only time he was ever to be referred to as “His Majesty” was during official Cauld Ane gatherings where no humans were present. Since he and his siblings held titles of human nobility, people could refer to the brothers as “my lord,” and Fiona as “my lady,” but that was the highest form of address he would accept. At the office, they were to call him Kade or Dr. Gunnach. They rarely had human employees, but on occasion, humans from other companies would visit, and Kade wanted them to appear like everyone else. It took a while to get used to the new rules, but now he was seen as more of a peer, rather than a peer of the realm.

  Payton’s early childhood instruction was never far from her thoughts, however, and even if she addressed Kade informally, she’d always consider him her king.

  Payton sighed. “Sorry.”

  “Whatever. It doesn’t change anything. I’m still your friend, Payton. You can talk to me about anything.”

  Payton sat next to her and frowned. “I appreciate that, but I can’t bring matters of the heart to my queen.”

  “Who made that stupid rule?”

  “I don’t know. We just don’t do that. Fiona didn’t discuss things with her mother, and I’m not going to start burdening you with my problems just because we were friends first.”

  Samantha’s mouth fell open and then she started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  Sam squeezed Payton’s hand. “It just hit me that I’m this small-town girl who moved to Scotland for a job and ended up being bound to a virtually immortal king. A king, Payton! If I wasn’t living it, I’d think it was ludicrous.”

  Payton giggled. “I suppose that would seem strange.”

  “Very. But the bottom line is that we’re friends, and if what I understand to be true is true, in less than six months you and I will be sisters. So, will you please put aside tradition and talk to me? If I have to make a new law or rule or whatever, I’ll speak to my king and make it so.” She started laughing again. “King. Sorry, he’s just so not kingly to me.”

  “He’s not?”

  “No. He’s…well, he’s Kade. Gorgeous and wonderful and normal all rolled into one.”

  Payton smiled.

  “Spill.”

  Payton sank further into the couch. “Between us.”

  “Of course.”

  “I’m in love with the idiot.”

  “Oh, honey, that’s great.”

  Payton shook her head. “No, it’s not. If he really is my mate, then why is he seeing another woman? He loses his mind if I even talk to another man, but it’s okay for him to spend all this time with this mystery woman? He’ll not bind me and think that’s going to continue.”

  Sam nodded. “I can see the dilemma.”

  “He also left me,” she whispered.

  “When?”

  “When we first met. Our family arrived in the village and he and I spoke for several hours. I really liked him. Even then. But he left within the week. For five years. Mates don’t do that.”

  “That must have been hard,” Sam commiserated.

  “The bottom line is that we’re expected to go willingly into our mate’s arms, let them bind us, and then be the dutiful Stepford wife at all times. Well, I can’t do it.” She shuddered. “The thought of sex is difficult enough, but him sleeping with someone else is worse.”

  Sam frowned. “Why is the thought of sex difficult?”

  “Because it’s for procreation, Sam, and my thoughts when it comes to him are wicked.”

  “Wicked? How?”

  Payton squeezed her eyes shut. “When I’m close to Brodie, I feel fluttery. I can’t think straight. I saw him once with his shirt off and…well…never mind.”

  “Payton,” Sam said gently. “All of those feelings are normal. Especially when you’re in love with someone. And for the record, sex is for a lot more than procreation. If it weren’t, God wouldn’t have made it so fun.”

  “There you are,” Fiona said as she sailed into the room, cutting off their conversation. She held her phone out. “Brodie would like to talk to you, Payton. You’re not picking up your phone.”

  Payton rolled her eyes and took the phone. “Hi, Brodie.”

  “Are you all right?” he asked. “I can feel your stress.”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Are you ignoring me?”

  “No, I’m not ignoring you. We’re trying to plan the wedding. Is something wrong?”

  Brodie sighed. “No.”

  “Okay, good.”

  “Payton,” he snapped in exasperation. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then I want you to keep your cell phone close and answer when I call.”

  Payton sneered. “Aye, my liege. Whatever you say.”

  “If you don’t, I’ll come there and bring you home…or send Niall.”

  “Don’t you dare.”

  Brodie knew that threat would hit close to home. The incident five years ago had strained Niall’s relationship with Brodie, and Niall had admitted to Payton that he sometimes missed the camaraderie with Brodie. But ultimately, Niall said that if he had to make a choice between the two of them, he’d choose her, and Brodie knew it.

  “What?” Brodie chuckled. “You don’t want to come home with me?”

  “No.”

  “Then answer your bloody phone!” His humor was officially gone.

  “Fine.”

  “Do you hear me?” he pressed.

  “Yes.”

  “I mean it, Payton,” he rasped. “It’s my job to protect you. I need to know you’re safe.”

  “Okay. I’m hanging up now,” she said and handed the phone back to Fiona. “I am not bonding with that man!”

  “Uh-oh, what happened?” Fiona asked.

  “He said if I didn’t carry my phone with me at all times, he was going to get on a plane and come and get me.”

  She left out the part about Niall.

  “He felt your stress,” Fiona said. “When he couldn’t get you on the phone, he thought the worst.”

  “He told me.” Payton took a deep breath. “But I don’t have the brain capacity to deal with him right now.”

  “You calling him ‘my liege’ only irks him, you know.”

  “Him being bossy irks me.” Payton pressed her lips into a thin line. “Kade doesn’t even lord over me the way Brodie does and he’s my king!” She raised her hands in surrender. “I’d like to be done talking about Brodie Gunnach. Aren’t there some bridesmaids’ dresses we need to look at?”

  Sam smiled. “Tomorrow. I have an appointment for a wedding dress fitting and I think we could combine the visit.”

  “Perfect,” Fiona said.

  “You need to fill me in on what happened with your big fancy wedding Kade was going to pay for, Fi.”

  “Ha!” Payton exclaimed. “Angus was not happy.”

  Fiona sighed. “I know.”

  “How come?” Sam asked.

  “Because I demanded Kade pay,” Fiona explained. “I overstepped.”

  Sam waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh, Fi. He didn’t care.”

  “But Angus did.” Fiona smiled. “It all worked out in the end. We were bound, and although the conversion was uncomfortable, you were right about it being easier on me than you.”

  “Good. I have to admit, I downplayed the pain a bit. Kade was entirely freaked out by
the whole ordeal, so I didn’t want to be too honest.”

  “I think he figured it out, Sam. He was more on edge than normal,” Fiona said.

  Sam grimaced. “I know. What did you find out about your gifts?”

  “I have taken on Angus’s healing, which is amazing, and apparently, something that happens with all mates.”

  Sam raised an eyebrow. “Really? So, I’ll be able to heal, too?”

  Fiona nodded. “You should be able to. According to the book, the longer you’re bound, the more gifts you share. My personal gift seems to be telekinesis, but Angus hasn’t taken it on, yet. I’m assuming more will show up as time goes by.”

  “Very cool,” Sam said. “With that good news, I think we should have some fun tonight.”

  “What do you suggest?” Payton asked.

  “I say we pick Pepper up from work and head on over to the Tin Ear Saloon for drinks.”

  “What’s the Tin Ear Saloon?” Fiona asked.

  “The best karaoke in town.”

  “I can’t sing!” Fiona exclaimed.

  Sam laughed. “But Pepper can, and we can drink while she entertains us.”

  Payton clapped her hands. “Love it.”

  Sam took out her phone. “Now I just have to talk Pepper into it.”

  * * *

  The night at the Tin Ear wrapped up just before midnight when Pepper insisted she needed to get up early the next morning. Pepper Brooks was a stunning woman with long blonde hair and a curvy figure. She could also sing the paint off the wall. Payton liked her immediately. Partly because she wasn’t a big hugger, which meant Payton was saved from dealing with an assault of potential visions she wouldn’t be able to interpret.

  Once Pepper climbed into her car and left the club, Fiona squeezed Sam’s arm with a hiss. “Something’s off.”

  “What do you mean?” Samantha whispered and closed her eyes. “Kade wants us to go back inside.”

  “So does Angus,” Fiona said.

  Before they could make their way to the door, an eerily familiar voice sounded in the dark.

  “Well, well, well.”

  Shannon Fraser, followed by Alexander Baird, both ex-employees of Gunnach Pharmaceutical, came out of the shadows, along with someone Payton thought for sure would the last person she’d see.

  Payton gasped. “Baldvin.”

  “Who?” Sam asked.

  “My brother-in-law.”

  Payton shuddered. She couldn’t imagine her sister being party to this, but she couldn’t be sure. They were sisters after all, and Annis had been at boarding school most of Payton’s teen life. Annis had never been warm, and they had very different personalities and interests, but she’d become even more distant since mating with Baldvin.

  Baldvin and Alex had guns aimed at the women.

  “Alex?” Sam said.

  “I’m truly sorry, Sam,” he said. “I liked you. But Kade has to learn.”

  “Enough!” Shannon snapped. “You’re difficult to corner, Samantha.”

  Sam stood a little taller. “What do you want, Shannon?”

  “I thought that would be obvious.”

  “Enlighten me, Shannon,” Sam suggested. “Because even you aren’t stupid enough to think you had a snowball’s chance in hell with Kade.”

  Shannon sneered. “I thought you and I might be friends, Samantha. I’m disappointed.”

  “And I’m disappointed you haven’t bowed before your queen.”

  Payton couldn’t stop another quiet gasp. Samantha was amazing.

  “Consider us revolutionaries taking a stand against a dictatorship,” Shannon said.

  “And what were your plans for the chemicals, Shannon? A lot of innocent people could have been killed.”

  An anonymous party had purchased several black market chemicals and made it look as though someone within Gunnach Pharmaceuticals paid for them. Colton Drake, Cole to his friends, used to work for the FBI, but had been hired by Kade shortly after the chemicals had been discovered. Cole was good at his job, and human, so he could deal with issues that the Cauld Ane couldn’t, particularly when Red Fang was used, or the temperatures went higher than sixty-eight Fahrenheit. Red Fang was a flower native to Iceland, and its thorn could paralyze the Cauld Ane. Either by pricking the skin, or it could be ground into a powder and used in food and drink. Although the effects weren’t permanent, they were enough to incapacitate someone long enough to kill them without a fight.

  “Are humans really ever innocent?” Shannon let out a sigh of irritation. “Besides, only a few would have ultimately died. We had an iron-clad plan until you arrived. You were an unforeseen problem.”

  Sam snorted. “I think the real problem here is that my mate has been entirely too nice to you.”

  Baldvin approached Payton and before she could react, she felt the sting of a needle in her neck. She fell to the ground, conscious but paralyzed.

  Fiona let out a curse. “You’re a real bitch, Shannon.”

  “What is it, Fi?” Sam asked.

  “Red Fang.”

  Payton lay where she fell and heard the plodding of feet and then a shot rang out. Tears leaked down her face as Brodie gathered her in her arms and Angus administered the antidote. Pain shot through her as the antidote began to reverse the affects of the drug, and she couldn’t stop a whimper from escaping.

  “I’ve got you, love. Just hold onto me.” Brodie drew her closer and Payton wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. He kissed her temple and whispered to her, switching between Icelandic and Gaelic. He promised everything would be all right and that he would never leave her side again.

  That night had been a turning point of sorts for them. The attack on Kade had been orchestrated by his and Brodie’s mother, and the family was left reeling with the news. Payton still had to deal with the fact that Brodie wasn’t being entirely honest with her about Heather, but she loved him and was tired of trying to ignore him. It took entirely too much energy.

  Kade and Samantha’s wedding was one of celebration on more than one account. Connall discovered Pepper was his mate, and she returned to Scotland with them. Within just a few months, they were bound and Pepper became pregnant. Payton grew more and more excited that she’d be part of this family. Could she truly be this lucky?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  PRESENT DAY

  PAYTON SAT AT her desk and tried to make sense of the numbers swimming in front of her. Her job had changed significantly in the past few months, and she now worked exclusively for Kade. She loved the job more than she could have imagined, but she was stretched to capacity on occasion.

  Brodie was in Kade’s office with his brothers and Alasdair, and she had a feeling something bad was going down. Connall avoided the city as much as he could, only making the trip in when it was absolutely necessary. And with Pepper pregnant, he was even more reluctant.

  “Payton?”

  Payton glanced up to find Samantha and Pepper standing in the doorway. “Hi, guys.”

  “Are you busy?” Sam asked.

  “Always.”

  “We’ll leave you to it, then.”

  “No, don’t. Come in. I’m a little distracted right now.” Payton smiled and waved her hand at Sam. “I thought you were knee-deep in research.”

  “I am,” Samantha said as she flopped in the chair across from Payton. “But I’m at a standstill right now.”

  “Anything interesting?”

  “Nothing much,” Pepper quipped as she made her way to the window, laying her hand protectively on her expanding belly. “She’s just decided to cure cancer. I, on the other hand, am being forced to live the life of a kept woman.”

  Pepper’s baby boy was due sooner than she could prepare for, as the gestation period for the Cauld Ane was only six months. Pepper was showing quite a bit, which made Connall both beam with pride and watch her closer than ever, his over-protectiveness on overdrive.

  “You know, Pepper”—Samantha cocked her head—
“a normal woman would love to spend her life being waited on by a gorgeous man while hanging out with her horse every day.”

  Pepper shrugged. “Whatever.”

  “Anyway.” Sam rolled her eyes. “We don’t get sick, and I want to know why. I’m doing a comparison of Cauld Ane blood with human blood to see if I can find a way to manufacture a drug using Cauld Ane antibodies to maybe ward off or cure human diseases. Cancer, for example. I’m just starting all of this, but I’m making sure each step is checked and double-checked, hence the reason we’re here now. I did a work-up, and it’s with one of my techs.”

  “Wow, that would be amazing,” Payton said. “Outside of the recognition for Gunnach Pharmaceuticals, it would certainly help a lot of people.”

  “That’s the hope,” Samantha said.

  “Do you know what’s going on with our men, Payton?” Pepper asked.

  Payton shook her head. “Kade just asked me to block his calendar for the rest of the day. Everyone seems so serious, though. Kade hasn’t left his office in well over an hour. It’s not like him.”

  “I know it’s not,” Sam said. “He should eat.”

  “I sent sandwiches in twenty minutes ago,” Payton said, checking her watch. “He’s also stocked with power bars and such, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

  “Thank you.” Sam smiled. “I just wish I knew what they were meeting about. Kade’s doing a damn good job of blocking me. I’m only catching part of his conversation.” She closed her eyes. “Something about Jet.”

  Payton closed the spreadsheet on her laptop and frowned. “Jet’s with Kinnon.”

  “Jet was with Kinnon.” Sam sighed. “I think. Dang it! I can’t get a grasp on the whole story.”

  Pepper looked as though she were going to throw up.

  “Pepper, are you okay?” Payton asked. “You should sit down.”

  “No, I’m okay. I think. Maybe.” Pepper wrung her hands in front of her and nodded. “I’d be better if my husband hadn’t also figured out how to block me.”

  The ends of Pepper’s hair began to darken and Samantha grabbed her hands. “Don’t let your irritation take over, Pep. Deep breaths.”

  Pepper’s hair changed color when she used her fire gifts, and it was a useful warning sign to the others that something was going to happen if they didn’t step in. One of the side effects of being a firestarter was the irrational anger that came with it, and, in Pepper’s case, this was currently heightened with the hormones of pregnancy. She was still learning to calm herself down before it was too late. Her hair lightened again and Sam stared at her. “Okay now?”