by Tina Folsom
“That’s Pearce. He’s one of us,” Hamish said quickly, easing her concerns.
“Hey, she’s awake, huh?” Pearce said as he approached. “That’s great news.” Then he handed the file to Hamish. “From the county courthouse.”
“Thanks,” Hamish replied. “And did Manus bring Tessa’s things?”
“My things?”
Pearce nodded. “Manus went to your apartment and packed some clothes and personal items for you.” He looked at Hamish. “We put them in your quarters. We figured…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but instead dug into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. “We brought your cell phone. Your father called several times. He’s worried.”
“Did you speak to him?” she asked, surprised.
“No. We hacked into your voicemail.” He shrugged. “Sorry, but we needed to know whether there was anything we had to take care of while you were out…”
She nodded slowly and reached for the phone. When she felt Pearce’s fingers brush hers as she took it from him, she jerked back, not wanting to climax in front of a stranger.
A frown crossed Pearce’s face, then he suddenly chuckled. “Oh, I see. You told her, huh?” He tossed Hamish a sideways glance, then smiled at Tessa. “Just so you know, that uh… thing that happens when you’re shimmering golden… it only happens if the person who touches you is the same as the person who gave you their virta.”
Heat shot into her cheeks. She felt exposed, bare. “Uh…”
“It’s okay, Tessa,” Hamish said. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
She avoided his eyes and instead looked at the cell phone in her hand. “Is it okay if I call my father? He’ll be worried.”
“Go ahead,” Hamish said. “Don’t tell him about the drug overdose. Just say that you needed time to think.”
Tessa nodded and dialed.
36
“Dad?”
While Tessa was talking to her father, Hamish waved to Pearce, and they moved a few feet away. Hamish opened the file. He kept his voice low as he asked his fellow guardian, “Have you had a look at this yet?”
Pearce shook his head. “No. I just grabbed it and came back as fast as I could. Took me long enough—the filing system at the courthouse is antiquated.”
“Hmm.”
Hamish was already perusing the pages: an application by Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, character references, financial statements, Tessa’s birth certificate. He leafed through the file, until he came across a note from a social worker. He stabbed his finger at it.
“This is it,” he said excitedly and exchanged a look with Pearce, who blew out a breath.
“Shit! How did you know?”
“A hunch.” Then he reread the few lines the social worker had written. “… leaving behind identical twin girls aged thirteen months. Closest relatives unable to care for the girls… After initially being interested in adopting both girls, Philip and Diane Wallace decided to take only one. Sibling to remain in foster care until suitable adoptive parents can be found.” Then a reference number below it, written in different ink—it had been added later.
“That’s how the demons did it,” Pearce said.
A gasp from Tessa made Hamish rush to the gurney. Tessa’s eyes were wide with shock. She was holding the cell phone to her ear, tears brimming in her eyes.
Had something happened to her parents?
“Tessa, what’s wrong?” Hamish asked.
She stared at him, then said into the phone, “Dad, I need to… I just have to let all this sink in.” A short pause, then she added, “Yes, I love you, too.” She disconnected the call and let the phone drop into her lap. When she raised her lids to look at Hamish, there was both hope and disbelief in her eyes. “My dad. He told me I have a sister.”
Hamish nodded. “An identical twin.” He lifted the file he was still holding. “I just found out myself. That’s how the demons were able to stage the photo and make it look like it’s you.”
“Hamish, what if they hurt her?”
“We’re gonna find her. I promise you.” And once they found her, they could clear Tessa’s name. He marched to the wall and pressed a button to call for Leila.
When he turned around, Tessa was already hopping off the gurney, ripping the sensors off her chest.
“What are you doing?” Hamish asked, approaching her.
“We have to search for her. I need to make sure she’s safe.”
“We’ll take care of that. Don’t worry. Once we find her, we’ll be able to prove it wasn’t you in the picture.”
Tessa froze. “That’s why you think I want to find her?”
“Well, why—”
She shook her head. “She’s my sister, my flesh and blood. And because of me they did this to her. I’m responsible. I need to know she’s safe.”
Hamish stared at her. Cinead and his emissarius had been right. Tessa was good through and through. Her first concern wasn’t for her campaign and how to make the allegations against her go away, but for her sister, a woman she didn’t even know, but was connected to by blood.
At that moment, he wished nothing more than to take Tessa into his arms, because his love for her had just doubled, if that was even possible. But even though the golden shimmer was already fading, her reaction to his touch would still be that of instant arousal and subsequent climax. Not something he wanted to share in front of Pearce.
“I’ll do everything I can to find your sister,” he promised, locking eyes with her. “But you have to do something for me.”
She nodded without hesitation.
“Leila will be here in a moment. She’ll check you out, make sure you’re a hundred percent. She’ll bring you to my quarters. Make yourself at home there. Take a shower, get changed, rest. I’ll be back as soon as we’ve put together a plan of action.”
“But I need to help.”
“You’re helping me as long as I know you’re safe and well. Please, I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”
The double doors opened at that moment, and Leila entered.
“That’s Leila. You can trust her.” Then he motioned to Pearce. “Let’s go.”
Minutes later they were all assembled in the command center: Manus, Logan, Pearce, and Enya. Sean and Jay were out on assignments.
Aiden was the last to arrive. “Sorry, guys, had to lock up the witch again.”
Hamish raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by again? Did he get out?”
“No. Of course not. Leila bandaged him up, and then we had something to eat and talked. Interesting guy. I think he’s genuine.”
“We’ll discuss him later.” Hamish looked at his colleagues. “First things first. We have a lead, and we need to act quickly.”
With as few words as possible, Hamish conveyed to his friends what he’d learned from Tessa and her adoption file.
“Why didn’t we see this?” Enya asked, shaking her head. “It’s so obvious now.”
“We weren’t looking for it,” Hamish said. “It doesn’t matter now. What’s more important is that we find Tessa’s twin—both to make sure she wasn’t harmed, and, first and foremost, to clear Tessa’s name and ensure she still has a chance in the mayor’s race.”
Logan grunted. “They’re ripping her to shreds in the papers because she hasn’t made a statement yet. She’s gotta say something to keep them at bay.”
Hamish nodded. It reminded him of something. “We’ll get her campaign manager on this. But first of all we have to make sure she’s alright. Poppy left just before the demon entered Tessa’s apartment. Tessa is worried that he might have hurt her. Enya, check on Poppy. Try her apartment first. If she’s not there, try the hospitals to see where her mother was admitted and find her that way.”
“Why don’t we just call her?” Enya asked.
“I want to make sure first that she’s not being held by one of Zoltan’s demons. Once we know she’s safe, Tessa will call her and ask her to put out a statement to buy her some tim
e.”
“Fine.”
Hamish tipped his chin in Pearce’s direction. “Go back to the county courthouse and look for the adoption file on Tessa’s twin. There’s a reference number in Tessa’s file. I think it may lead you to her. Once you have that, we’ll know who adopted her and what her name is. We can find her with that information.” He pointed to Manus. “Take Manus with you. You can split up the work.”
“And the rest of us?” Logan asked, pointing to Aiden and himself.
“I need to shadow Gunn,” Hamish said. “Even though we now know for certain that the demons were behind the duct falling on the stage, they’d still need to have somebody helping them. My money is on Gunn. He has the most to gain by Tessa’s death.”
“Agreed,” Logan said, “but I’ll watch Gunn. You’re not ready to leave the compound and—”
“I’m more than ready.”
Logan took a step toward him. “From what Pearce told us, you poured so much virta into Tessa that you nearly collapsed. That was less than twelve hours ago. You haven’t fully replenished your powers yet.”
“That’s bullshit,” Hamish protested.
“If you go out there now and run into a demon, he’s gonna have you by the balls,” Logan countered. “And what are we gonna tell Tessa then, huh? Do you want her to mourn you?”
Hamish sucked in a sharp breath. “Shit!” His colleague was right. He needed a few more hours at the compound to restore his virta and become as strong as before. He sighed. “Fine, you take Gunn. Aiden, you’ll stay at the command center as backup. If any of them need help, you’ll jump in. In the meantime, keep an eye on the witch.”
Everybody nodded in agreement, their assignments clear. As all except Aiden left the command center, Hamish rubbed his neck. Suddenly he felt the effect of the stress of the last few hours. He was drained. When he looked in Aiden’s direction, he caught his friend’s eyes on him.
“Why don’t you see if Tessa needs anything? I’m sure she doesn’t want to be alone right now.”
“You sure you don’t need me to stay?” he asked even though he wanted nothing more than to be with Tessa.
Aiden pointed to the door. “Go! I don’t need a babysitter. Tessa needs you more. I’ll call you as soon as any of them report in with news, deal?”
“Thanks, bro.”
37
Tessa leaned back in the large soaker tub and allowed the warm water to soothe her. Against all odds, she was alive. And safe in an invisible building. Yet too many things were going through her mind. She had a sister. A twin. Why had her parents kept this from her? And why hadn’t they adopted them both? They would have had the means. She could have had a sibling to grow up with, a best friend, somebody she could have shared all her secrets with, the good and the bad.
But she shouldn’t dwell on what could have been. She had to look to the future. Hamish had promised her that he would find her twin. And she trusted him that he would make good on his promise.
Footsteps made her sit up in the bath. She hadn’t heard a door opening. “Who is it?” she called out, noticing how on edge she still sounded.
Hamish walked into the bathroom. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m sorry. I’m not used to opening the door to my quarters.”
She relaxed back beneath the foam. “You shouldn’t have to apologize. I’m just jumpy. I didn’t expect you back so quickly.”
“That’s cause I haven’t left.”
“But I thought—”
“The team’s grounded me for the next few hours, so to speak.”
“Why?”
“Because of the amount of virta I poured into you.”
She suddenly realized what he was trying to say. “It’s weakened you, hasn’t it?”
He nodded. “I’ll have fully recovered in a few hours, nothing to worry about. In the meantime the others are starting the search for your sister. And Enya is checking on Poppy. We should have a lead on your sister in a few hours; as for Poppy, we might know much earlier if she’s alright. Hopefully, she’s at home.”
Relieved, Tessa nodded. “Thank you. For everything… you’re doing so much. And I feel I’m not doing anything.” Leila had told her to just rest.
Hamish smiled. “There is something you can do for me if you want to.”
“Yes?” she asked eagerly.
“Make room in that bathtub and let me join you.”
Instinctively she looked at her skin. The golden shimmer had almost completely dissipated. Only a faint residue was still visible.
She heard Hamish chuckle and caught him gazing at her.
“I’ll just have to work a little harder to make you climax, now that the glow is almost gone.” He grinned. “That is, if you want that… We didn’t get a chance to talk after we made love.”
The memory of how fiercely he’d taken her made her insides ignite like kindling in a furnace. “No, we got interrupted…”
“Maybe we should talk now.”
When she nodded, Hamish began to undress. There was nothing hurried about his movements; he was all confident male. He knew that she wouldn’t say no to him. She could see it in his eyes, which stayed locked on her while he shed his clothes. Yes, she wanted him, now even more than before. Whether it was his virta that drew her to him, or the fact that she’d just escaped certain death, she wanted nothing more than to surrender to the immortal warrior who was now walking toward her, naked and self-assured.
Tessa scooted forward in the large tub, making space for him, and he slid into the water behind her, his legs spread to either side of her. When she finally felt his arms wrap around her and pull her against his chest, she sighed contentedly.
His breath blew against her ear like a caress. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Her heartbeat accelerated. Whenever somebody started like this, it was rarely good news. She felt her chest constrict. “Yes?” she choked out.
Hamish pressed a kiss to her temple. Was he trying to sweeten the blow of whatever bad news he had?
“Things between you and me have been happening so fast, and it’s all so new, but I want you to hear me out.”
Still not knowing where he was going with this, she swallowed hard and managed to nod.
“I’ve told you that I’m an immortal, but what I haven’t told you is that I’m at an age where the members of our race reach a certain stage in their lives. We call it rasen. Mating season. That’s when we find a partner for life. For eternity. After Olivia betrayed me, I vowed never to get emotionally involved with another human woman.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. So this was where he would tell her that because she was human, what was between them was just a fling. Just sex. Nothing else.
“I know that forever is a difficult concept for anybody. Many marriages in the human world end in divorce. We don’t have divorce in our race. When we mate, it’s for eternity. The kind of love that lasts longer than a lifetime doesn’t come around very often. That’s why we have to grab it with both hands when we see it. I felt it once. And I was betrayed. It’s made me afraid…”
She felt tears rise to her eyes. “You don’t have to say any more. I understand,” she said softly.
“You do?”
She nodded, trying to be brave. “You don’t want anything serious, because you can’t trust women anymore.”
“Tessa…”
“I’m okay with that. I think I’ve known from the moment you first kissed me that this would only be temporary.” She sniffled. “You don’t have to feel bad. I enjoyed sleeping with you, and I don’t mind if that’s all this is.”
“Liar,” he murmured at her ear.
“There’s no need to make fun of me. So what if I’m attracted to you?”
“Just attracted?”
She sensed him pull her closer, his arms now almost like a vice. She shrugged. “And grateful that you saved my life.”
“So you’re not falling in love with me?”
“Don’t w
orry, I’m not gonna be one of those pesky conquests you can’t get rid of when it’s over.”
He shifted behind her, turning her slightly so she had to look at him. “You mean there’s no hope that you might one day return my feelings?”
She shot up, making water splash over the sides of the tub. “What?”
Hamish reached for her, sliding his hand behind her nape. “Tessa, don’t you understand what I’ve been trying to explain to you? I don’t want a fling. I don’t want just sex. I love you. I know this happened fast, but that’s how it is in our race. We just know when it hits us.”
Her chin dropped. She was hallucinating. Everything began to spin around her. Maybe she’d fallen asleep in the tub. Maybe Hamish wasn’t even here.
“I know it’s a lot to lay on you, particularly after what you’ve been through,” Hamish continued. “But I wanted you to know how I feel. I don’t expect an answer from you now. I’ll wait for as long as it takes.” He pinned her with his eyes. “Just tell me that I’ve got a chance to win your heart.”
Her throat felt as dry as sandpaper. Was this reality? Had he really said that he loved her? That this immortal man wanted her?
“Oh, Hamish…”
The temptation to tell him how she felt was immense, but she had to remain realistic. Even if he loved her and even if she loved him back, how could there ever be a happy future when she would grow old and wither away, while he lived on? She closed her eyes, but couldn’t hold back the tears.
Hamish took her head in both hands. “Tessa, what did I do wrong? Please, whatever I did or said, tell me how I can make it right.”
She lifted her lids, looking at him through her tears. “No matter how we feel about each other, how can we ever be together? Have you forgotten that I’m not like you? I’m not immortal, Hamish. I don’t have eternity. Only you do.”
A sob dislodged from her chest, but it didn’t get a chance to escape, because Hamish’s lips were on her, kissing her tenderly. All too quickly he released her and pressed his forehead to hers.