Riston cleared his throat. “Can I say something?”
“No.”
“Of course,” Amber interjected. “Ignore her.”
“I don’t want to be penciled in at six, Karri. I’m not going to lie and tell you that I haven’t thought about it a lot but I want to spend time with you.” He lifted my chin to face him. His blue eyes locked on me. “Can you understand that I’d like to get to know you just as much as I’d like to get to know you.”
Amber sighed. “Oh, he’s good. If you don’t want him. I’ll ... uhh ... I tried to say take him, but sorry Riston, that just creeps me out.”
“But blondes with green eyes, boyishly handsome faces and daughters do it for you.”
“Right,” Amber said fast. “Oh, I mean no. No. I’m a fan of bald men. Yeah. Who look old, very old. No kids.”
“Yeah, right.” I looked at Riston and touched his face gently. “Spending a day with me is like joining the circus. Go play with nice, safe girls, who don’t attract chaos.”
Thinking of men in peril, my mind went to the operatives. “Hey, Amber. Can you think of a group of beefy men that pal around together more than most do? They’ll live close to one another. No more than a couple of blocks. Should one be outside of that immediate area, he’ll have a fast sports car of some sorts, possibly a liking for the ladies and your quintessential bad boy. He’ll be the one who butts heads most with the guy in charge.”
She looked as though she were thinking about it. She grinned. “All I can think of is Riston and his buddies.”
I shook my head. “Uhh, okay. I can see this isn’t working. The alpha or team leader will not only be big but naturally ooze something that makes others want to seriously consider taking his advice. He’ll have someone he trusts beyond a shadow of a doubt as his right-hand man. Doesn’t have to be family but most often is. The rest of the mix will vary. One thing will be clear. Everyone who knows them will understand that one doesn’t come without the other. They’ll also be all about protecting each others friends and family. If one suffers they all suffer.” I tipped my head. “I’d kill for an apple right now. The banana didn’t do it for me. Anyone else hungry?”
“Does she change topics like this all the time?” Riston asked.
Amber nodded. “You have no idea.”
“I’m out of ideas. If I find them then my big day of work is chopped in half, allowing me to move Riston up to around three.” I laughed and poked his abs gently. They didn’t move. “Geesh, is all of you that hard? Wait, I already know the answer to that. It’s a great big yes.”
His eyes widened as a huge smile splayed over his face. “Amber’s right, you have no stopping point. It’s great.”
“Really?”
“Mmmhmm.”
I grinned and ran my hand over his. “Whew, glad you passed all that. I really wanted you to spend the day with you and would have hated to kick you out.”
His jaw dropped. “That was a test?”
“Yeah. Karri doesn’t bother dealing with assholes if she can help it. Had you seized the six o’clock offer, you too could have ended up kicked in the head,” Amber said, snickering. “I’ve seen it happen many a times. It’s never pretty.”
Riston exhaled deeply. “Damn, I am a happy man right now.”
“Why is that?”
Running his hand through the ponytail coming out of the back of my cap, he stared down at me with an expression I didn’t recognize. “For a minute I thought you offered every guy a time to be with you every time you....” He looked away.
Cupping his face, I brought his attention back to me. “No, Riston. Contrary to popular belief I’m picky and not so fun and fancy-free when it comes to certain things. And if you dare ask me how many men I’ve given the test to and that have passed I’m going to say two. I agree. I think that’s all you can handle.”
Amber snorted and I buried my head in Riston’s chest laughing. As I peeked out at her, I found her smiling so wide that I thought her face might break. “Tell him what PJ told you about the temple. The bathing in the shrine’s pools thing was the best part. Oh, umm, anyway.” Amber stood straight and glanced at Riston nervously. “So, Karri, why can’t you find these guys? You seem to know everything about other ones.”
“Because the cord between the powers and the unit here was severed. I don’t know which side did it. But somehow, they started to fall off the radar slowly about thirty-five years ago. I can only find bits and pieces about them. And when I try to concentrate on them I get a migraine. I can’t explain it. I think my head would rather not lend a hand in this one.”
Waving my hand out, the counter tops filled with boxes of files, several laptops and all of the necessary equipment that would have me up and running.”
The second I did it, I froze. “Oh shit, Riston I told you that I could....”
“Shh,” he took the cap off my head, letting my hair flow free and smiled softly, “It’s fine.”
My heart beat wildly in my chest as I stared up at him. I couldn’t help but touch his temples, lift his glasses and smooth the line on the bridge of his nose. I knew then that he had the power to hurt me. He was a man I could fall for and that was bad considering I had only one mate. Closing my eyes, I took in his manly scent and sighed.
Amber gasped, drawing me out of my Riston induced stupor. “Cool. Did you only have to click your fingers to get the information too?”
I whipped my head around and stared at her with wide eyes. “No!”
She took a step back.
“I have hunted in the worst areas to find leads on them. The powers seemed to have conveniently lost what they had. I’m beginning to think they put it into the wrong hands on purpose. I have tracked operatives that were strays so to speak to figure out if they were this team. I thought I’d found two of them. One, I’m still unsure about. But the other was not a member of the unit here.”
Amber began leafing through files. “Christ, you have all of their specs. Hey, the powers keep notes on likes and dislikes?”
I laughed. “No. That’s just something I used to see dad and RJ do.”
Riston tightened his hold on me. I twisted in his arms and faced Amber.
“Your dad and RJ let you learn how to do this stuff? My God.” She cast a nasty look towards Riston. “Don’t you agree Riston James Wallace?”
I smiled. “Your middle name is James?”
Riston nodded as he kept his eyes on Amber. A knowing smile passed between them and Amber squealed, startling me. As she began to jump up and down I reached out, worried that she’d over do it. It was childish but for Amber, it seemed appropriate at the moment. Besides, who was I to question her maturity when I played dress up on a regular basis, in my front yard no less. Sanity wasn’t my strong suit. No news flash there.
“Amber?”
“I knew it!” she cried out, shaking her hips and doing an odd little dance combo. “I knew it.” She stopped and gave a warning look. “Oh, you’ve got a date with an ass kickin’ from me. But for now, I’m going to keep having Karri moments.”
“Huh?”
She grabbed me and began to dance around to no music. “It’s a themed party moment if I ever felt one, Karri. Quick, snap your fingers. It’s time to celebrate.”
“Celebrate what? Have you finally lost it?”
Riston laughed. I looked at him for guidance. He provided none. “No clue.”
Amber snorted. “Yeah, right.” She looked at me and seemed to get hold of herself. “So, where were we? Oh, right. Your dad and RJ teaching you military stuff.”
“No,” I said fast. “Dad and RJ never taught me any of this. At least not one on one. I would work my way slowly to the edge of the door while playing with some toy or another. I just liked to listen to them and pretend I could help. Keep in mind, I was most likely dressed like a bumble bee or something. But, hey, I was going to help my daddy, Damnit.”
“They never noticed?” Amber asked, staring at Riston.
&nb
sp; I snorted. “Oh, they noticed. At least RJ did. Half the time I’d fall asleep because they’d be up until the wee hours of the night. My mom never once interfered. She stayed far away from their discussions. It made her sick to her stomach to know that dad put his life on the line everyday with the world’s most deadly creatures. Owen tells me that I got the eccentric behavior from her but the rest of me is my dad through and through. He said that my mother wasn’t capable of killing anything--that she came from a long line of straight light angels and that she physically couldn’t harm anything, not unless it was dire. He also said that was a good thing, that dad’s darkness, his lycan and dark angel blood was so powerful that if they hadn’t found each other he’d have been on the end of RJ’s gun.”
I laughed. “He was right. My mom wouldn’t even kill spiders. She’d put a jar over them and leave them for my dad to dispose of. In fact, I know first hand that she won’t, umm, wouldn’t defend herself even demons drop out of the sky right in front of her.”
“Kars,” Riston whispered, holding me tight to him. “Don’t blame her for something she couldn’t control.”
“Don’t lecture me like a child, Riston. Those years are done. Remember that.” Surprised that I snapped at him like that, I ran my hand over the top of his and snuggled back against his warmth. “Sorry.”
He put his chin on my shoulder and rocked our bodies lightly. Amber smiled wide as I just gave into the safe feeling he gave me.
“Karri, you can do all of this, yet you can’t find RJ?” Amber glanced over my shoulder at Riston.
“No. And I don’t do this to him,” I said, motioning to all the research. “RJ’s life isn’t on the line. At least I don’t think it is. He could be dead. I really don’t know. Hell, he’s probably playing golf in his checker pants with the rest of his country club buddies. I know a few men who opted to grow old. He might be one of them. If he did then I’m betting on the ugly pants thing. He had this horrible brown shirt that he wore a lot. He’d defiantly have ugly pants as an old man. What do men that age do anyway?”
Amber laughed hard as she stared at Riston. “I don’t know. Any guess, Rison?”
“Checkered pants?” he asked, sounding shocked. “Ugly brown shirt?”
Covering her mouth for a moment, Amber calmed her giggles down and took a deep breath in. “Hey, what if he didn’t opt to grow old?”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I waved my hand and a file appeared in it. I opened it and rubbed my eyes, knowing that I was fighting a losing battle with tears.
Amber touched my arm as her forehead creased. “What’s wrong, Karri?”
“Nothing.” I lied.
She stood there a moment before her blue eyes widened. “Oh gawd, it’s because I asked what you would do if RJ didn’t age.”
I bit my lower lip, doing my best to keep it from trembling. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“Why?” she asked, running her hand down my arm until she bumped into Riston’s. “What if he was still young, still the way you remember him and....”
“And what, Amber?”
“Karri?”
I shook my head. “No, don’t Karri me. Think about it, Amber. If he is then do you know what that means?”
She shook her head.
“It means that he didn’t go off and grow old. It means that he dumped me with William and never looked back. That he had all the time in the world to check in on me but never did. It means that my father was right, RJ could sense when I needed him but ignored it. When I called out to him, when I need him most, when I was so scared of William that I couldn’t control what was happening to me, he chose not to come.”
“Kars, that’s not....” Riston pulled me tight to him and I pushed his arms off me.
I needed air. I twisted away from him and took a deep breath. “I screamed his name but he didn’t come. Even years later, he still didn’t show. It’s easy to think of some guy pushing sixty getting the shaft of having a twenty something year old mate and wanting nothing to do with her to the point he was willing to give up his gifts. It’s a whole other story when you’re talking about a man who will forever be locked in his thirties turning his back on me.”
“Karri, stop. You don’t mean that.”
“You were the one who said I should hate him. You said I live in a fairy tale with a romantic view on life. The veil can’t withstand finding out he just didn’t give a shit, Amber. Even my skin isn’t that thick.” I laughed. “I will understand if I find out that he really does blame me for what happened. Trust me, I, of all people, can understand hate. It makes people do funny things.”
Amber shook her head slightly as a tear fell down her face. “Karri, this doesn’t sound like you. You have the biggest heart and have never blamed any one for anything. Why now? Why Riston ... umm, I mean RJ?”
“Because I sensed him hesitate, Amber.” The minute I said it out loud it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from me.
“Huh?”
I let out a soft laugh as I ran my hand through my hair, letting it spill over my shoulder in waves. “The day he took me to my guardians, I sensed him hesitate when he handed me over. I thought I was talking to him. I thought I was telling him that dad wanted his sister to take me but when I realized that my lips weren’t moving and that his weren’t either I couldn’t think straight. I didn’t understand then that it was possible for me to communicate with him by using my mind.”
Amber sighed. “You were six and scared. You’d just seen your parents be slaughtered so I would think the guy,” she put a lot of emphasis on that, “would take some time to explain things to you.”
“Picture Jean-Paul trying to explain something to Hilary.”
The sneer that Amber tossed in my direction told me that was a bad example. “Okay, picture Riston trying to deal with losing his best friends, having to take over a team of immortals that may or may not have been set up by the people they fight for and having an insta-kid. One that he knows or suspects is supposed to be his wife someday. What do you think he’d do?” I nudged him. “Sorry, you get to be the example since you’re in the room.”
Amber’s jaw tightened as she leveled her blue gaze on him. “My guess is dump the kid off a far from him as he could get her and then be damned surprised when she showed up, a grown woman. One that he would no doubt think of as his idea of the perfect woman. Tall, long blonde hair, brown eyes, a body to die for and a sparkling personality.”
Laughter erupted from me as I stood there. “Well, when you find her, send her my way. I’d like to kick her ass and bring her down with the rest of us.”
“I’m also betting that he’d be sweating what would happen next. Would she accept him into her life, only to use him and discard him like she’s done to so many others, would she blame him for everything that happened or would he be lucky enough to have her love him?”
“Done with the hypothetical, Dr. Amber? You’re starting to freak me out.”
“Maybe, so what would you do if you had RJ standing before you right this minute?” she asked, touching my chin lightly.
“Honestly, I’d just ask him where Jack and Victoria O’Higgins are buried and walk away.”
“You wouldn’t tell him who you are?”
Riston rubbed my arms lightly and I couldn’t help but shiver. “No. I wouldn’t.”
“But you’d be giving up your chance at having a family.”
I tapped Riston’s hands and he let go of me. I glanced nervously over at Riston and then Amber. “Let’s go out back and talk about this. I’d rather not have this discussion in front of....”
“Oh, he can just stand there and hear it all, damnit. I don’t care what he thinks or how he feels,” she snapped, taking me by surprise. “Don’t you dare come to his rescue either. Riston is a big boy and I am positive that he will not think you’re crazy, Karri.”
“Still, its personal, Amber. He’s seen and heard more about me in a few short days than anyone else I know.
I’m not normally like this and I don’t like the idea that I’m sharing so much with someone I know so little about.”
Amber glanced at Riston. “Karri, tell me something about those lycans you’re always talking about. Do they really have excellent hearing like you said?”
“Yes.”
She took my arm and headed for the back porch. “Great, let’s talk about it outback. Riston can just keep his ass right there.”
“Umm, Riston? I didn’t realize she would become scary sorry about....”
“Don’t you dare apologize to him, Karri O’Higgins.”
Amber ushered me out and onto the back porch. “Hear me out, Karri. PJ came. She answered your call for him.”
“Are you doing drugs?”
“No, shut up and focus.” She motioned in the air with her hand like it would clear every thing up for me. “I can only imagine what kind of shape you were in when you called out for help and I don’t even want to think about what the scene must have looked like when William was trying to ... yeah. What if PJ came to keep RJ from seeing all of it.”
I stilled, thinking about what Amber was suggesting. “What? You think she thought he wouldn’t know how to help?”
“No, I think the woman was smart enough to know that her brother would go crazy the minute he saw what he’d left you with and that there might be no bringing him back, Karri.”
“Her brother?” The vampire had suggested that but I’d ignored him. What in the hell made Amber suggest it too? “Amber?”
“It makes sense, Karri. You told me that you were able to hide her pain from her family when she passed away. Wouldn’t it hold true that she could feel your call and block your pain from him?”
“I guess.” I thought more about what she was suggesting. As off the wall as it sounded, it was a very real possibility.
“You said it yourself, Karri. You said that RJ would have killed an endless line of demons if any of them tried to touch you. Do you think he’d have left you with something as hideous as William and not looked back?”
“Umm, do I point out the obvious that he did or do I shut-up and smile pretty here?”
Wicked Lucidity Page 24