Forgotten Enemy (The Powers of Influence Book 1)

by C. B. Haight

  He looked up at her with a pained expression, and his deep voice replied, “I can’t leave you alone. Rederrick will come.” He added hopefully.

  Collett scooted over closer to Cynda and knelt beside her. She noticed that Cynda’s body didn’t even shake or shiver. She looked as if she slept. Her skin had a gray pallor, her lips a soft blue hue. She knew they needed to do something quickly.

  She looked to Cade for answers knowing she could not let Cynda die. Cade returned her gaze with so many emotions flowing in his eyes, fear, concern, anger. So many things came from that one set of beautiful golden eyes that she now knew were so captivating because they retained a wild animalistic quality. She could see it there now, hidden in the depths of them. Collett could see the animal within.

  “Cade please… Go.” Collett pleaded softly.

  With a sad but sure expression, Cade shook his head and began focusing his attention on helping Cynda.

  Bending over Cynda’s still and pale form, Collett focused all her attention and energy on Cynda’s needs as well. On instinct, Collett reached up and placing her hands upon Cynda’s soft pale cheeks, she closed her eyes, “Cynda you’ll be fine. You hear me? Come back. It is not time for you. You have to be fine. Rederrick needs you. We need you. Your heart holds too much warmth to be cold.” Her tone turned pleading as she continued, “Please! You have to find the courage to fight. Find the love you have for your family and don’t let go. Please don’t let go, fight Cynda.”

  Cynda’s cheeks felt as though they were warming to Collett, but it was probably just her desperate imagination.

  ****

  As Cade rubbed his hands quickly up and down Cynda’s arms trying to restore her warmth, he heard Collett’s words, and heard the love and desperation in her soft pleas. He felt an odd strength in them. He felt his own hope rise within. Cynda is going to make it, he thought, she’ll be fine.

  Collett quickly moved to remove Cynda’s soaked clothing, and an idea struck her. One she was afraid to ask, but knew it could very well save Cynda. “Cade can you change when you want?”

  He narrowed his eyes, his features showing a hurt expression, “This is hardly the time to be sating your curiosity.”

  Collett felt annoyed by his snotty tone, but ignored it, “I meant can you change, so you can warm Cynda with your fur coat you dolt.”

  “Oh... Well yeah I can do that,” he said sheepishly. Then he stood to change.

  Just as Cade stood though, Cynda moaned and fluttered open her eyes. She quickly shut them, Cade assumed, when the sun speared into her irises. The sharp light would be painful.

  He immediately dropped back to his knees upon hearing her soft whimper.

  “Collett?” Cynda croaked out quietly.

  “I’m here. It’s okay. We’re both here. Cade is going to get you warm, right?” she said, directing the last of it to Cade.

  He sprang up again, “One fur coat, coming up,” he replied feeling better. Then he made the change to an oversized wolf as quickly as his body could. Choosing this form instead of a hybrid to give Collett a small measure of comfort, he knew she must still be uncomfortable with all of it, and the wolf was slightly less intimidating.

  Laying his body over Cynda’s prone form at an angle and taking his weight to his hind legs so as not to hurt her further, Cade closed his eyes. The feeling of thankful relief rushed through his body. Cynda would be alright. It was truly amazing, a minor miracle. Even through his thick fur, he felt the slight rise of her body temperature. Lending himself as a heat blanket would help Cynda beat the hypothermia.

  Cynda began mumbling, “I could hear you Collett. You were so warm. I could hear you in the dark.”

  Cade noticed Collett didn’t seem to hear or understand Cynda’s incoherent mumblings. She simply continued to offer Cynda soft words of encouragement while stroking Cynda’s wet hair. Collett was shivering and yet, she was unconcerned with her own well-being.

  Cade’s sensitive ears picked up on every word. He was unsure of what they could mean right now, but he would bet his life savings, which for his long life was substantial, that it did mean something. Cade filed it away for further thought later.

  Collett brought Cade from his internal thoughts, with her next words of comfort to Cynda, “Shush; it will all be fine. Cade will keep you warm, and I am sure Rederrick is on his way by now,” she said looking into Cade’s eyes hopefully. He knew she needed his reassurance that help would come.

  He nodded his head with one jerk, giving Collett his answer. He knew Rederrick had trackers on all his vehicles, not to mention Rederrick’s access to satellite feedback. It was likely before the SUV even entered the river, he had already left.

  He looked at Collett, seeing the tears in her eyes, and the concern intertwined with guilt covering her features. He could see she blamed herself, and he understood they were going to have to be clever to convince Collett to let them help her.

  His ears pricked, and he heard a car speeding down River Road heading south toward them. He listened carefully and tipped his head to hear it coming better. He understood after a moment that explanations and blame would have to come later, because Rederrick was only a mile away and driving like a madman to get to them. Right now, they would all focus on one thing: Helping Cynda survive.

  Chapter Eight

  Having survived a frantic Rederrick at the wheel of a speeding car, then enduring his moody snaps and short concise questions, Collett figured out there was nothing more intimidating than a devoted husband worried about his wife. Not even Cade as a werewolf made her as nervous as Rederrick had. Granted, most of her nervousness came from the guilt.

  Cade stayed in his wolf shape opting to stay with Cynda, who lay across the back seat. Cynda had just begun shivering again before Rederrick showed up, which was a good sign. Cade continued to keep her warm with his higher body temperature and soft fur, leaving Collett to answer Rederrick’s questions.

  Now that Cynda was shivering, they knew she was coming out of it, not to mention she became somewhat coherent by this time as well. They returned to the house and called Cynda’s healer. When Collett insisted Cynda needed a doctor, Rederrick told her their friend was the best of his kind. He instructed Cade to see to Collett‘s needs, as he took Cynda to their room.

  That moment was the first time Collett realized her teeth were chattering from cold, or that she stood there in her soaked-through clothing. I probably look like a drowned rat, she thought.

  Cade led her upstairs, and explaining he did not want to raid through Cynda’s drawers. He handed Collett some of his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt to change into and instructed her to get dry.

  After a quick hot shower, she then donned the loose pants, which almost swallowed her whole. As it was, she had to roll them several times at the top just to keep from tripping over them. When she pulled on the t-shirt, she smelled the fresh clean scent of him. It was subtle, but powerful. The crisp smell of him invaded Collett’s senses. The man definitely smelled good she admitted to herself, and found it odd that his clothing and scent offered her a small measure of comfort.

  Taking a fortifying breath, she walked barefoot down the hall to check on Cynda. She softly tapped on the door to the master bedroom.

  Rederrick answered her knock with a worried expression. “She’s doing much better now,” he assured her. “She’s stopped shivering and is resting peacefully. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  Collett nodded solemnly.

  “Go on... get some warm tea in your body and then we’ll all have a talk later. We’ll get this figured out I promise.”

  Understanding that he wanted to get back to his wife, she turned to move down the hall. She only made it a few steps when she heard Rederrick say her name. Spinning on her heel, she faced him once more answering, “Yes?”

  “Thank you! Thank you for saving her.” Rederrick said it with emotion choking at him.

  Collett didn’t understand what he was talking about. If it hadn’t bee
n for her, Cynda would have never been in danger in the first place. Maybe he doesn’t understand that, she realized. She stood there stunned, staring at Rederrick. She began to work up the words to correct him. He shouldn’t be thanking her, but before she could, he backed into his room closing the door quietly.

  Moments later, upon Rederrick’s advice, Collett sat in one of four barstools, with a warm cup of herbal tea between her slender fingers, only sipping at it every now and again. Jenny had gotten her the tea and noticing she was in no mood for conversation, left her alone with her thoughts. The solitude suited her.

  As Collett waited for news about Cynda she thought over what she should do now. She knew she obviously needed to leave. There could be no more pretending, they’d found her again. Staying even the one extra night had almost gotten Cynda killed. For that matter, if she counted the danger to Cade, she had almost gotten two people killed.

  This is entirely my fault, she told herself. If only I had left sooner.

  As she stared into the depth of her cup, wishing she knew the answers, Collett ignored the small, silent tears running down her face. The guilt and confusion began to consume her.

  ****

  When Cade passed Jenny on the stairs, she told him where he could find Collett. He wanted to explain himself, wanted to tell her he was sorry for deceiving her. He mostly wanted to make sure she was unharmed. Really though, he could be honest with himself, he simply wanted to see her.

  Upon entering the kitchen, he saw her in her fragile state sitting alone. Witnessing the silent tears Collett shed, he felt a tug on his heart. She looked so lost and sad.

  He approached her loudly, so as not to scare her, but she remained lost within her own thoughts and didn’t notice. Laying his hand on her shoulder, Cade gave her the only comfort he could think of, friendship.

  She felt his hand on her shoulder, and started at the contact. She knew without looking who it was. She recognized his scent. It was the same scent covering the shirt she wore. He must have showered too, she thought, as Cade’s clean, crisp, winter scent wafted around her.

  Right at this moment, his touch didn’t make her nervous. Instead, it offered her comfort.

  “Cynda will be fine. I suspect she’ll have a new appreciation for the word “cold” now,” he said lightly, as if trying to reassure her. But his smart remark fell flat for both of them.

  She looked to him with sad, blue eyes, “It was you last night, wasn’t it?”

  He huffed out a breath and sat in the stool next to her. Folding his hands together and laying them on the counter, he stated simply, “Yeah, it was me.”

  He prepared himself for her reaction. For some reason he couldn’t fully understand, it would mean a great deal to him.

  “Why? Why would you... I just don’t understand? Why?” That one simple word she used, why, asked so many complicated questions.

  Some of them Cade wasn’t even sure he knew the answer to. He decided to start from the beginning, as he knew it anyway. “Well um… Rederrick knew something was wrong with you. He could tell you were afraid of something. He helps people pretty often, so he notices these things. He knew you might be in trouble. So he called me.”

  Collett stopped him abruptly, “Called you? You’re a werewolf on call to aid and protect the people? Is that it?”

  Her cutting tone made Cade’s lips twitch. He knew she needed a way to vent her confused frustration, and her sarcastic words reminded him of a comic book, although the situation was far from comical.

  “Something like that, I suppose.” Looking directly at Collett’s skeptical expression, Cade continued. “We work as a group, a small organization that helps people like you.”

  A steely glint came into her eyes, then her expression changed to confusion, “People like me?” she questioned icily.

  “Yeah, you know, people with, for lack of a better term, supernatural abilities. People pursued by The Faction or some other group because of their power.”

  “I am not sure I understand what you are talking about? I certainly can’t twist my body into a werewolf, scary enough to place on my top ten list of worst nightmares. I definitely can’t chant spells like some sort of witch. Which I am now positive, is exactly what Cynda was doing. And I know unquestionably that I can’t make my eyes turn to a soulless black, while I move a car into the river, like the man who came after me today,” Collett assured him with exasperation. “So tell me what you mean when you say, people like me. As far as I know I’m nothing like that.”

  Cade recognized her tone, and remembering Cynda’s statement about Collett’s ability to deal with this, decided he would need to tread lightly. “Um, maybe I should get a basic understanding here of what you know. Or better, what is after you, before we continue.”

  “To answer your first question, I have no idea. I’m sure that answers the second one as well. Besides, I don’t recall asking for your help. I don’t really want any help, thanks just the same. I’m not willing to risk any more lives. Even yours,” she replied with annoyance.

  “Had I not helped you last night, and I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t been there today as well, you would have found yourself cold and dead already. Is that what you really want?” he snapped, feeling angry and annoyed as well. Her stubborn, ungrateful attitude irritated him. He simply wanted to help. Why on earth would that bother her so much?

  His words came out too harshly, even to his own ears, but he felt frustrated. Could she truthfully not see that now, it wasn’t only about her? How could she not understand they were all involved just by association? Narrowing his eyes he said firmly, “You don’t get to decide where or when I get involved!”

  “You can’t help me if you can’t find me,” she fired back, “And you can bet I won’t be sticking around now.” Closing her mouth into a tight narrow slit, Collett stood to leave.

  As she passed Cade, she found herself stopped by a firm grip on her upper arm. With a sudden yank she was spun around to find herself facing a very angry, very determined Cade.

  “Honey, I could find you anywhere you go. Don’t try me!” he stated with a deep rumbly voice.

  Their eyes held; Collett couldn’t look away, and he grinned, but it felt cold. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. No, she thought, it was wild, like the wolf that he was.

  She was stunned silent, unsure how to respond, because Cade’s voice held more than anger. It held a note of desire as well. His amber-gold eyes held her gaze. They reaffirmed the promise of each of his words. Collett didn’t doubt his confident statement, not even for a heartbeat.

  “Besides, if I can find you, so can they, but you already knew that. I’ll bet this isn’t the first time they’ve found you,” he challenged.

  Her stunned silence, along with her frightened expression, gave him back a little of his control. So he reined in, trying his best to stay calm.

  Letting go of her arm, Cade tried in a patient tone to make her understand, “Collett, don’t you get it? By helping you, we are involved. They won’t take a hit like we’ve dealt them and leave us alone. Things aren’t that simple. They’ll want blood, our blood! These people don’t let things go. Otherwise, no one would fear them. They will not simply let these last two days pass! Instead, they’ll come back harder and stronger, wiping away any hint of the resistance against them.”

  Collett’s face lost all color, leaving her ivory skin looking like fragile porcelain.

  “Oh... no.” She muttered quietly. “This can’t happen…. What have I…? What have I done? How could I be so stupid, so blind?” Collett seemed on the verge of panic. Her free hand flew up to cover her lips, effectively stemming the tide of guilt-filled words from escaping her mouth, but not her heart. “What have I done?” She mumbled again. Her knees bent slightly as if they would give out at any moment, and her fingers moved up to her head now as if she felt dizzy. It seemed as if she even forgot to breathe as the horrible revelation settled heavily in her mind.

  Cade felt a twinge of guilt f
or putting these thoughts in her head right now. She didn’t need him to make this worse. She looked so vulnerable and broken, and he just wanted to help, not make things worse. Even so, she needed to understand.

  She stood there before him looking as if a slight breeze could easily blow her over. She was overwhelmed; he could see that. Then he realized, she wasn’t only overwhelmed, she looked horrified by the possibility that someone besides her could be hurt. She still didn’t even consider that she could be dead right now.

  Wrapping his arms around Collett in case her legs did give out, he ushered her back over to the seat she previously occupied. “Deep breaths Collett. Stay with me,” he coaxed. He promptly went over to the custom cabinets, and getting a glass down, he filled it with water. He took it to Collett, gently setting it between her slender fingers.

  Collett just stared at it. Looking at the glass of clear water as if it would save her, or wishing it would give her answers. “What have I done?” She softly repeated.

  “You haven’t done anything. We involved ourselves. We chose to involve ourselves.” Cade said in a firm voice meant to reassure her.

  Her panic subsiding, Collett did look up at Cade then, “You’re an idiot.” She said concisely.

  Cade glared at her. “Would you mind repeating that please? I’m not sure I heard you correctly.” Truthfully, he preferred her anger to her despair. So, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to try to pick yet another fight. With Collett, it seemed an easy thing to do.

  “You heard me. You’re an idiot. You really think you can handle this. You have no idea the powerful evil that wants me. You said it yourself, they’ll want blood. My blood! They don’t care who they’re killing in the process, as long as I die. You are right about one thing. You won’t be the only one they kill, unless I get away from here. I have to go. Don’t you see? I can’t stay here.”