“Where’s Mr. Richardson? I spoke to him on the phone.”
Juliet nodded. “My co-worker is out in the field today. Besides, we thought you might be more comfortable meeting with a woman after what Mr. Richardson said he saw the other day at the bar. You apparently ran right into him while fleeing from a pair of gentlemen? I do hope everything is okay.”
Melanie’s stomach dropped. “That was him?”
“Indeed. I’m sorry to hear you were let go.”
Melanie scuffed her shoe along the pavement. “Thanks.” She hadn’t expected to be fired, but apparently enough patrons had complained. The regulars had no love for her; she never flirted with them, she never let them touch her, she stayed in her own little safety bubble. Thus, she was expendable.
“So,” said Juliet. “I hear your brother needs our help. How did you find out about us, if you don’t mind me asking? We’re not exactly listed in the Yellow Pages.”
Melanie cleared her throat. “I heard a lot of things when I worked in the bar. One night I overheard a man talking to his buddy about his sister-in-law, or someone like that, acting strange. I heard him say the doctors diagnosed her with sudden onset schizophrenia. He was really upset, saying there were no warning signs, that it was impossible, but the doctors refused to listen. Then he came across this group and his sister was cured. When he gave his friend the contact info, I took notes too. You see, my brother was diagnosed with narcolepsy—”
“But you don’t think your brother suffers from narcolepsy, do you?” Juliet cut in. She stopped walking to stare up at Melanie. Juliet couldn’t have been older than Melanie’s twenty-six years, but her eyes showed a woman hardened by experience. “You think your brother has something more, just like you think that man’s sister had something more than schizophrenia. Am I correct?”
Melanie hesitated.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” Juliet soothed. “I’m quite aware of there being more to this world than what meets the eye.”
“My brother doesn’t have narcolepsy. He has visions.”
Melanie waited a few seconds for it to sink in, but Juliet’s expression never changed.
“My brother used to get visions of what was going to happen in the future,” she continued. “You know, like who’d win a boxing match or a soccer game. Everything was fine in the beginning, but then he started getting visions of different people. People he didn’t know, people in pain, people about to die. He thought he was going insane. Too many people in his head, he always said. It only got worse, so he tries to block them out completely.”
“I understand. My organization has dealt with many individuals. Your brother’s ability should be no problem.”
“You mean you can get rid of it?”
Juliet smiled, but for some reason it had the opposite effect on Melanie. A shiver ran down her spine. “Trust me when I say that stripping powers is our specialty.”
Stripping?
“Now, I must ask,” Juliet said as they began walking again, “have you been experiencing any strange feelings? Specifically speaking, a tingle at the back of your neck?”
Melanie started. She chanced a quick glance out of the corner of her eye to see if the ringleader of this mysterious operation noticed. With how FBI-esque everyone seemed, she expected Juliet to catch every little detail, but her face remained impassive.
“No,” Melanie managed to croak. “Nothing.”
Juliet made a non-committal noise in the back of her throat. “And what about the man who was pursuing you the other night?”
“I thought you said that was Mr. Richardson.”
“You ran into Mr. Richardson, but he says there were two other men in the alley that night. One of whom helped him with his … honey situation. Do you know this man he’s talking about?”
Those midnight blue eyes locking with hers, her heart racing, her body throbbing. Oh yeah, she knew him.
“I’ve never met him before in my life,” she told Juliet a little breathlessly.
Another thoughtful sound came from Juliet. “Does the name Joel Kegler ring any bells?”
Joel. Joel Kegler.
The name suited him.
“I’ve never heard of him.”
Juliet studied her for a moment. “Very well. Let’s get inside somewhere; we have much to discuss, including your form of payment.”
Melanie followed after Juliet as she steered them toward a place to eat, glad for the distraction. She needed to push Joel from her thoughts. She’d never see him again. She didn’t want to see him again.
Chapter 3
Joel didn’t think he’d find himself back here for a long time.
He stared at the familiar wood for a few seconds more and then knocked.
Footsteps sounded behind the door before it pulled open. Merrick Haskell’s stunned face greeted him. “Joel?”
He tried not to let his imagination run away with him. He ignored Merrick’s rumpled black hair and clothes. This was Sydney’s Mirror Mate—her other half. Joel was happy for her. Merrick was a good guy.
“Hey,” said Joel. “I need your help.”
Merrick couldn’t have looked any more surprised if Joel had pulled out a top hat and started tap dancing.
“Who’s there, Merrick?”
Joel flinched inward as Sydney appeared, winding her arm through Merrick’s. She barely reached his shoulder. Her short height, coupled with her petite frame, made her look younger than her twenty-five years, but beneath that child-like exterior was a brilliant mind, one that pushed her through school faster than anyone thought possible. When her emerald eyes caught sight of Joel, her arm instantly dropped.
“Hey, Syd.” She should be at the clinic. He forced himself to smile. It didn’t seem as hard as it used to be. He clutched the plastic baggie in his pocket and a pair of crystal-blue eyes stared back at him in his mind’s eye. “Do you mind if I borrow Merrick?”
Sydney’s shock lasted about a second. “Uh, sure. I’ll just leave you two alone.” She disappeared behind the door and Merrick stepped back to let him in.
Joel was as familiar with Sydney’s home as he was his own, but he waited near the door for Merrick to lead him into the kitchen where he took a seat at Sydney’s round oak table. The one he knew she’d pleaded with her parents not to donate to Goodwill when they’d gotten a new one. He ran his finger over a chip in the wood that was his fault. He’d wanted to help Sydney clean up when she’d cooked for them on their fourth date so many years ago. He’d still been so nervous back then that he’d dropped the dish and taken part of the table with it. He’d felt awful, but Sydney believed chips and dents built character.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Merrick asked.
“Water is fine.”
He heard Merrick open and close a cabinet, followed by opening and closing another one.
“Second cabinet from the fridge,” Joel called absently.
The noise from the kitchen momentarily stopped, then he heard another cabinet whoosh open, followed by clinking glasses.
A few seconds later Merrick returned with two glasses of water.
“Still getting used to the place?” Joel asked as Merrick took the seat across from him.
Joel had meant the question to come across as idle chit-chat, but Merrick’s face was carefully neutral, as if he didn’t know whether or not Joel was trying to prove that he knew Sydney’s home better than Merrick.
Whatever. It didn’t matter what Merrick thought. Joel wasn’t trying to win Sydney back and he wasn’t here to show up Merrick either.
He pulled the plastic baggie from his pocket and pushed it across the table.
Merrick eyed the napkin inside. “What’s this?”
Joel shifted in his seat. He felt like some kind of creepy stalker. After that night when Fern had disappeared, he’d gone back inside the bar and snatched up the napkin she’d put down for him. It had been an insurance measure, but now it was Joel’s only lead. He’d scoured the Internet
looking for anything on a woman named Fern who lived in Orange County. When he got no leads there, he broadened his search to all of Southern California. No such luck. It had been six days since he’d seen her. He’d gone back to the bar only to find that she’d been fired. And her co-workers refused to give him any more information.
“I need you to read an impression off of that napkin,” Joel told Merrick.
Merrick watched him steadily. “Vander?”
That one name brought on a whole hurricane of emotions. Vander Donahughe. The Guild of Aletheia’s antithesis. Their archenemy. The man responsible for kidnapping Joel and breaking his arm nearly six months ago to conduct an experiment, the one who held Merrick prisoner for four months, the man who tried to take Cali, Felix’s Mirror Mate, and forced Felix to fight nearly to the death in an underground cage match.
Joel pushed down the anger. He’d spent the last six months keeping tabs on the Kratos Corporation—the conglomerate Vander owned and did his dirty work through—in an attempt to find anything incriminating that would bring them down. But so far there was nothing. Not to mention they kept beefing up their security, which meant Joel had to continuously hack their systems when he wasn’t busy doing his own IT work to make a living. A task that was getting harder by the day.
The only obvious change in the business was their steady financial decline. Vander was burning through their resources in an attempt to find his Mirror Mate. It kept Vander busy and out of their hair, but when the suited man from the alley began showing up at their usual haunts, too, their hackles instantly rose. Was Vander back in the game? Was this stranger a new goon looking for more supernaturals to steal and torment? If Fern was their next target, Joel owed it to her, as one supernatural to another, to get involved and keep her from Vander’s clutches. Vander had hurt enough people, and Joel wouldn’t be able to call himself a member of the Guild of Aletheia—the Guild of Truth— if he just sat by and let Vander harm more of their kind.
Plus there was his own underlying reason for seeking her out. He had to see if his drunken state had imagined the whole incident between them, that spark of awareness.
Could it be possible she was his Mirror Mate?
He’d always wanted one, always thought he’d rejoice the day he found her, but now, after Sydney, he didn’t know.
“I’m not sure,” he answered Merrick. “I take it you’ve heard about the suspicious men popping up?”
Merrick nodded then gestured to the napkin. “Did one of them touch that?”
Joel hesitated. “Not exactly.” He glanced down the hall but found no trace of Sydney hiding out in the shadows. “I’m looking for a woman. She’s the one who touched this napkin.”
Merrick’s ice-blue eyes widened fractionally.
“I met her nearly a week ago, but all I got was the name from her badge. It said ‘Fern,’ but when I searched for her on the Internet, I got no hits. None that were her anyway,” Joel said dejectedly. “She ran into one of the men we’ve been seeing around lately, and I want to make sure they aren’t after her.”
A small part of him wished for her to be some foreign exchange student working night shifts at a bar to pay for school with no super powers to link her to Vander, because, dammit, no one deserved to get involved in their world if they could help it. Hell, no one should have to deal with him right now. He was a jumbled mess.
Without another word, Merrick reached across the table and took the plastic bag. He pulled out the napkin and held it between his hands. He closed his eyes.
God knows how long something like this was supposed to take. He’d seen Merrick glean information off of a security control panel in five seconds. But this time Joel was asking him to find anything he could. What if Fern’s impression wasn’t strong enough? Or what if it faded over time?
A few seconds passed. “I think I know why you couldn’t find anything.”
Joel sat up straighter. “Why?”
“Her name’s not Fern,” said Merrick. “It’s Melanie. Melanie Fern Vyntra.”
Joel whispered her name to himself, testing out the syllables. “Did you find anything else?”
Merrick nodded. “She spends a lot of her time at the community center. She attends yoga classes there every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”
Joel leapt to his feet. “Today’s Friday. Thanks, Merrick, I owe you one.”
“Joel,” Merrick called after him.
Joel turned. Merrick held out the napkin for him, but he didn’t let go when Joel went to take it. Instead he said, “I felt the connection. I know what she is to you.” Something close to dread settled in his chest. So it was true. Or at least Merrick thought so. That didn’t mean it was fact. But why now? Couldn’t fate have waited until he was less emotionally fucked up to shove a woman at him? No matter how much he lied to everyone else, he couldn’t lie to himself: he wasn’t ready. He didn’t want this.
“I hope you find her.” Merrick continued, clearly unaware of Joel’s inner turmoil. “I won’t tell Sydney if you don’t want me to, but she’ll be devastated to know you kept this from her. She wants you to be happy, too, Joel. She still cares about you.”
Joel’s fingers tightened around the napkin. “I know. I’ll tell her in my own time. I just need to find Melanie first.” Everyone wanted him to be happy. Poor broken, fucking Joel, with his shattered heart. What was taking him so long to pick up the pieces? Sydney had moved on, why hadn’t he?
Well, now he had the perfect reason—only he didn’t want it. He really hoped his mind had been fucking with him.
Merrick offered a small smile. “I understand. Good luck.”
On the way to his car, Joel pulled out his phone and dialed.
“This had better be important,” Felix’s irritated voice answered a few seconds later.
“Her name is Melanie—that’s why I couldn’t find her,” Joel said without preamble. “I had the wrong name. I’m heading to the community center to see her right now.”
“Hang on there, Joel.” The sound of movement came from the other end of the phone, followed by Cali’s voice protesting in the background. “You don’t want to scare her. You can’t simply rush in there and proclaim she’s your destined soul mate. If she was using a fake name at work, it’s pretty safe to say she doesn’t want to be found by someone she saw at the bar.”
“Don’t worry,” Joel said as he got into his truck. “I won’t freak her out.”
“Joel.” The sternness in Felix’s voice gave him pause. “I’m serious. I know you mean well, but you can’t walk up to her and expect to become a couple instantly.” Joel’s hands fisted. Little did Felix know that wasn’t Joel’s first concern. At one point in his life it would have been, but that felt like a long time ago. Now his first concern was protecting himself, and that included his heart.
“I’m not going to profess my undying love or anything,” Joel bit out. “I’m going to check on her, make sure she’s safe.”
Felix remained quiet on the other end for a beat.
“In that case, you’ll probably want to approach her cautiously. If she’s anything like Cali was, she’ll try and flee. You’re going to have to gain her trust. Hell, she might not even know that powers exist. You have to move carefully. She could be freaking out about what she saw last Saturday. ”
“I’ll go slow. Any ideas on what I should say so she doesn’t think I stalked her?”
“To be perfectly honest, you probably won’t get that far. My money’s on that she’ll see you and run. Again.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Chapter 4
Joel’s here.
It was just as Juliet predicted.
Melanie didn’t like the idea of a man tracking her down. It triggered old memories of Alexander, her ex, the man who wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’d stalked her, so she’d been there, done that, got the restraining order to prove it. But Juliet had informed Melanie about Joel’s ability to Lock anything together and assured her that wasn�
��t fatal. Melanie was safe. Or so Juliet said, anyhow. Juliet didn’t know she had firsthand experience.
Melanie’s first task was to see if Joel even sought her out.
And he has. Juliet was right. He’d found Melanie at the community center.
Melanie inhaled deeply to try to calm her racing heart. Joel was sitting in the main lobby like a little kid waiting in a doctor’s office, holding an activity schedule upside down as he scanned the crowd. He wore a dark blue Superman shirt that brought out the color of his eyes. His shirt showcased his lean build—not too small but not overly bulky either. A swimmer’s physique. He looked to be around twenty-eight, his mop of hair as messy as before, and Melanie got the strangest urge to walk over and run her fingers through it. Instead, the introductory computer class let out, and the people flooding the lobby provided Melanie the perfect cover. She pulled the hood of her jacket up over her hair. She wanted to observe him a little more before he saw her. She wanted to get closer to him, to gauge his response to being startled. Would he attack? Flee? Was Juliet wrong and she was in danger?
As the mass of people started to thin, Melanie pulled back her hood and approached him from the side.
In the event that Joel showed, which he had, Juliet wanted her to talk to him. But what was she supposed to say? Juliet hadn’t exactly been clear about that. All Melanie knew was that if she helped Juliet gather intel about Joel and his guild, Juliet promised to help Nathan.
Joel was busy studying a group of girls at the far end of the lobby, his body leaning forward heavily.
Was he checking them out?
She cleared her throat loudly.
Joel jumped.
Serves him right. “Hi,” she said when he turned to her. “I thought you looked familiar.” Her voice hardened. “Why are you following me?”
Joel hastily got to his feet, hands out. “I’m not.” He winced. “Well, I am … but it’s not what you think. The thing is, I thought you might be scared—I mean, confused. You have nothing to fear from me though, I promise.”
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