“I’m in the air heading for Michigan as a matter of fact. I’ve had a change of plans since I saw you last night.”
“I thought you said you couldn’t get out of the meeting in Greece.”
Derian sighed loud enough for him to hear it. “I shouldn’t have, but this situation makes everything else take a backseat. Althea will meet with the man in my stead. As for Nilos, he’ll be taking a later flight. I sent him over to Cassandra’s house and her business. He grabbed some things for her stay at your place.”
Keegan heard the shower come on. He wanted to hang up on Derian and head in there with her. He knew he wouldn’t, hell knew he shouldn’t. She was affecting him in a way even he didn’t understand. She wasn’t exactly his type. Not to mention the little problem of immortality. Hers not his for once.
“Celt, have I lost you again? You’re the level headed one, my friend. If you can’t keep your mind out of your pants, we’re going to be in a shit-load of trouble here.”
Keegan shook his head and pushed his hair out of his eyes again. Bloody fucking hell. The Greek was right. This couldn’t happen again, not that anything had actually happened, thanks to Derian’s timing. There was too much at stake for Keegan to lose sight of what needed to be done. He couldn’t afford to spend all his time either in or wanting to get into Cassie’s drawers. “I’m here, Derian, I’m here. Did he find anything unusual at the house, then?”
“He said things seemed to be mostly in place, but he said something felt off. He wasn’t sure what. When you and Cassandra get a chance, I think you should both go over there some night before long and take a look around. Only Cassandra will know for sure what’s missing. Nilos’ll give you a full report when he gets there, which should be shortly.”
Keegan tucked the phone under his ear and grabbed his sweats off the floor. He yanked the unused condom off and threw it in the trash before sticking his leg in the pants. He willed his erection to behave, because gods knew he didn’t want Nilos to get the right idea, and said, “You said business, what kind of business?”
“Weren’t you listening to her last night? She said she owned a bookstore. Cassandra’s Bookworld, in fact. You really have to keep your mind off your dick from now on, Celt, because you need to be on the top of your game. Nilos’ visit to the bookstore is where the weird shit starts to happen.”
“The weird shit starts? Derian, what part of this isn’t the weird shit?”
“Point taken, but get a load of this. Everything seemed business as usual. When Nilos asked where the owner was because he had business with her, the manager, Kerry’s her name, said she was on vacation and showed him a postcard from the Caribbean.”
“The hell you say.”
“Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to keep people from looking for Cassandra.”
The doorbell rang and he crossed the room to knock on the bathroom door. “Cassie, Nilos is here. Come to the front room when you’re ready.
Returning his attention to Derian, he said, “There’s something wrong with that. Did Nilos ask her when Cassie went on vacation?”
“Not that I know of, but perhaps he should have.”
The doorbell rang a second time just as the bathroom door opened. Cassie came out once again dressed in his clothes, rubbing her wet hair with a towel looking embarrassed and unsure and he felt like shite. The last thing he’d wanted was to embarrass her. Dammit.
He grabbed the robe she’d worn the night before and pulled it on as he went to the front door, Cassie following him. He yanked the door open and instantly wanted to shut it in the Cajun’s smiling face. Keegan wondered what she thought of the man. Even he recognized that Nilos was a walking hunk. Like all Aeterni he was over six feet and in his case he was taller than Keegan’s own six-four by a couple of inches.
“Where yat?” Nilos held up one of the two suitcases he was carrying. He looked at Keegan’s hand holding the cell and said, “Hey, boss, good directions. I made it.” His southern accent was still just as strong as it’d been two centuries before when he’d lived in New Orleans. Even if every now and then he insisted on sprinkling in the Cajun he learned from his mother, the accent was well-bred aristocrat.
Derian chuckled in Keegan’s ear. “The man’s uncanny. If I believed in them, I’d swear he was a god.”
Keegan shook his head and said, “Your boss said good.” Then back in the phone, Keegan said, “Listen Derian I’m goin’ to let you go. Have a good flight and call when you have information.”
“Would that be opposed to calling to talk to you about your sex life, Celt?”
“Sod off.” Keegan ended the call and stuffed the phone in the pocket of his robe. He glared at Nilos’ knowing smile. The man had the whitest teeth which were even whiter against his olive complexion. He was half Greek and Derian was right, he did look like depictions of the Greek gods.
Nilos walked around Keegan and held his hand out to Cass. “Cassandra. Mais yeah, Gaderian was right, you be une belle jeune fille. My name is Nilos Kostos”
She took his hand and looked as stunned as every other woman Keegan had ever seen when they looked at Nilos. “Cass, please call me Cass,” she said with a smile.
“Welcome to our world, Cass.”
Nilos dropped her hand and turned toward Keegan. “Heel, Celt, I see what’s going on here. No worries. It’s been too long for you, I’m happy to keep my distance even though our newest member puts us old boys to shame.”
Keegan refused to rise to the bait the man was tossing out. Instead he nodded to the cases as he walked over to the sofa with Cassie. “What do you have?”
Pulling her close as they sat down, Keegan put his arm around her. Leaning against him, she asked, “Why do you have my suitcases?”
Nilos put the cases on the floor beside the sofa. “Derian sent me to check out your house and business. While I was at your home, I grabbed a few things for you. Derian said you didn’t have any shoes, so I brought the sneakers you had in your closet and some jeans and sweaters. Hopefully I grabbed the right underwear.” His eyes went wide, and he held up his hands chuckling. “Mais non, Celt, don’ go looking at me like that, I didn’t do anything kinky with them.”
Cass elbowed Keegan in the side but didn’t move away from the arm he had around her. Had he made a sound he wasn’t aware of to put them both on alert like that? Apparently being around Cassie made him lose his ability to keep his thoughts to himself. He’d have to remember that and be more careful in the future.
“Thank you, Nilos,” she said. “I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. Was my house all right?”
Nilos shook his head and shrugged. His long black hair hung in waves to the middle of his back and moved like a curtain around his shoulders. “Mebbe, sugar, I don’t know. The boss wants you and Keegan to go check it out late one night first chance you get. It looked to me like things may not have been right. There were places where it looked like something had been moved. You know, dust around a spot, but nothing there.” He looked worried. “I’m not calling you a bad housekeeper or anything, sugar.”
“Don’t worry, I am a bad housekeeper. I hate dusting, especially around things, so, yeah I know what you mean,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Before she could ask, Keegan did it for her. “Do you suppose her kidnapper was in there?”
Nilos nodded. “That would be my guess. I would think the things missing were personal.”
Cass gasped and shifted closer to him, but didn’t say anything. He knew how she felt, violation of her personal space was as bad as a physical threat. He pulled her even closer, part of him glad she hadn’t moved away. “Derian said the bookstore was business as usual.”
“It is? Why?” She looked from Keegan to Nilos.
“Your manager thinks you had to leave suddenly to go with a relative on vacation.”
“That’s just stupid. Why would she think that? And why would any vacation be sudden?”
“There
was a postcard to that effect hanging on the wall, sugar.”
“I didn’t send a postcard.”
“Didn’t think you did, considering where you were taking that supposed vacation.” Nilos pulled his phone out of his pocket. After a few seconds of swiping the screen, he held it out so she could see. Cass took the phone from him and held it so she and Keegan could see the picture Nilos had taken. The front of the postcard showed a beach and palm trees, nothing that really indicated where it was she was supposed to be staying. Although he supposed it could be the Caribbean like Derian had said.
“Swipe forward to see a picture of the back.”
Cass swiped her finger across the screen. The back was covered in handwriting they couldn’t read on the small screen until she enlarged the message.
Keegan could just make out the last words. Even large, it was hard to decipher. Whoever had written it, had done so in a hurry. “I might be gone a couple of weeks. I’d appreciate it if you would keep the business open,” he read aloud.
“I didn’t write this. It resembles a sloppy version of my handwriting, but I didn’t write this. I don’t have any relatives, and I certainly wouldn’t just up and leave my business to go on vacation for any reason. My grandparents were my only relatives.”
“Did your manager know this, then?” Keegan asked taking the phone and handing it back to Nilos.
“Yes, I don’t know why she would’ve thought—”
“Why not, it seems reasonable enough. When I asked, she thought mebbe you heard from someone you didn’t know, or perhaps had forgotten. Mebbe your mama or papa had gotten in touch with you.”
Cassie shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense, she knows me better than that. We’ve been friends since high school.”
An idea came to Keegan, it might come to nothing if an Aeterni wasn’t involved. But if this was about an Aeterni experimenting on Daughters, then the idea was feasible indeed.
Looking at Nilos, he asked, “Did her assistant say anything about someone suspicious comin’ around the shop, before or after Cassie disappeared?”
Nilos raised an eyebrow at his calling her Cassie, but didn’t say anything. Keegan had begun thinking of her that way ever since she’d first told them her name. It seemed to fit her better than any other version as far as he was concerned.
“No and I asked.” Nilos brushed at the leg of his trousers before he continued, “But it didn’t occur to me to question what she said about Cass’ family. I didn’t know she would be familiar with them. Perhaps one of us should return with Jasmine.”
Keegan nodded. “When do you need to get back to Derian?”
“He has my flight booked for tomorrow afternoon, guess I’m going to Michigan. Mebbe you want me to pick up Jasmine and take her to the bookstore?”
Keegan nodded. “That would be helpful. I’d go myself, but I don’t want to leave Cassie alone at the moment and I certainly don’t want to take her to her bookstore. We’ll check out her house tomorrow night like Derian suggested, but we’ll keep a low profile to do that.”
Nilos shook his head. “Mais non you can’t go tomorrow night. Boss-man, he made an appointment for you two to see Dr. Blood.”
“Shite. Now? Couldn’t it wait for a day or two?”
“Who’s Dr. Blood?” Cassie asked.
“Dr. Bell is an Aeterni hematologist. He works with the daughters, with and without abilities, and mortal sons of the Aeterni. He’s made it his life’s work to understand how Aeterni and mortals work, and how they co-exist. He also treats mortal conditions,” Keegan said.
“Oh. So, what? Do you want him to look at my blood?” she asked Nilos.
“Mais yeah, chère, that be Derian’s idea. No one knows more about mortals, Aeterni and the Daughters than Doc Bell.”
“It’s a good idea, but he’s in Maine,” Keegan said.
Nilos nodded. “You have a three p.m. appointment with him tomorrow.”
“Why not today? Gaderian could have just jetted us over there on his way to Michigan this mornin’.” He didn’t try to hide his annoyance at the Greek’s arrogance. Derian frequently forgot he was no longer a noble with servants running around bowing to his every whim.
“Doc’s seeing mortals today, couldn’t fit you in,” Nilos answered choosing to ignore Keegan’s obvious sarcasm.
“Hell, he tried? Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Of course he tried. Didn’t expect anything less of him did you? You’ve known him longer than I have.”
“Fine, I’ll charter a flight today.”
“Already taken care of, mon ami. Your pilot will be ready for you at ten in the morning.”
“My own jet? Not surprised even if that’s overkill. I’ll call Jasmine and let her know you’re coming. Unless, of course, Derian’s already done that.”
Nilos chuckled. “No, I don’t think even Derian thought of that one.”
“Who’s Jasmine?” Cass asked before Keegan could comment that it was bloody well time the Greek missed something.
“Like you, she’s a Daughter. As you’re already more than aware, some Aeterni daughters, but not all, have paranormal skills. There are some each generation that have the ability to read minds or manipulate them. An even smaller number can do both. These women are very valuable to the Circle. They’re assigned to specific members as assistants. Jasmine’s mine,” Keegan answered.
“Why do you need an assistant who can manipulate minds?”
Keegan sighed. “As I already told you, Cassie, I’m Drakōn. I need her because I travel on Circle business with a sword.”
“O-kay. I didn’t realize that meant you carried a weapon. A ‘let me duel with you’ sword?”
“No, a ‘let me chop off your head’ sword.” He looked her straight in the eye, knowing bloody well how she’d take that bit of information.
She scooted away from him. “I know you said sometimes the guy’s given a death sentence, but I just didn’t realize.” She took a deep breath before continuing, “You chop off heads?”
Keegan sighed. Yup, that was exactly how he thought she was going to take the oh so “I’m such a good guy” news. “I told you I kill them sometimes, darlin’. How did you think I did it, then? When an Aeterni goes rogue and justice needs to be dispensed, I do it. As I said before, it doesn’t always mean death, but on occasion, I have to remove an Aeterni who’s become a danger to us and to mortals alike. Removin’ his head is the only way.”
“Cutting off his head just seems so brutal. I guess I just didn’t put two and two together and figure out that you killed them. I thought the Circle did it. You know, like the guillotine.”
Nilos snorted. “I assure you, chère, the guillotine was very brutal. Keegan’s way is much more merciful.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Keegan swung his leg over the seat of the dirt bike and kicked up the stand. He’d changed into jeans, a black turtleneck sweater and boots. Under his leather jacket, he’d strapped on the shoulder belt that held his sword and scabbard diagonally across his back. Even though he was best with the sword, he’d also strapped his knife and Glock to his belt. He wasn’t taking chances with this guy. He had no idea what he was going to find when he got to the old cabin, but he was prepared for anything.
The day was warm after the cleansing rain the night before. The sun shone through the leafless trees and bathed the clearing around his home in bright light. He put on his sunglasses and kicked the starter. The bike roared to life. Slowly releasing the brake and giving it gas he was off. He could have sworn he felt Cassie’s eyes on him. He wanted to see if she was indeed standing on his porch, but fought the urge and pointed the bike across his driveway and directly into the woods to the east. Dirt shot from behind the motorcycle as Keegan sped over the overgrown path. It’d been years since he’d taken this trail or had the bike out.
In the 1850’s he’d moved to the States having spent too many years in Ireland. A move he had to make or be discovered, so he’d pass
ed the running of the brewery onto an Aeterni friend of his. After fifteen years, they’d chosen another Aeterni to run it. It wasn’t until five years ago that Keegan decided it was time to return to Ireland and take over the reins full time. The brewery had remained his and over the centuries he’d overseen the operations from a distance, but he hadn’t realized how much time was involved with the day to day management. Especially since he’d long since decided he preferred living in the States.
Now that he’d made the decision to take it back, he was usually in daily contact through email and made regular visits every two months. He’d have to find time to check his computer once he got back home to see if he’d heard anything from his new brewmaster.
But for now, his immediate problem was finding out what had happened to one very beautiful Daughter. As the wind slammed into his face, he could have sworn he felt Cassie’s breath caressing him as she kissed him, making him hard and wanting. Well, he’d just have to stay that way, because there was no way he was getting back in bed with the woman.
What the hell had he been thinking? He was a crazy blackguard, he should’ve been doing anything but trying to screw the lady he was supposed to be protecting. Dammit, not only was he thinking with parts farther south than his brain, he was giving in to his lust without taking his partner into consideration. She had so much to understand of her new life and his coming on to her like a randy teenager was not the way to teach her. Thankfully Derian had called when he did. It’d saved him from making an irreversible mistake.
A nasty thought pressed its way into his brain now that he was no longer in her disruptive presence. Did she really have so much to learn?
There were too many things they didn’t know about Cassie. Was it possible none of her story was true? Yes she was now an Aeterni, no one denied that. But what if she weren’t an unwilling party? What if she were somehow involved in this? But what would she gain by such deception? What good would it do her? There was no denying her fear was real, he’d seen enough terror in his life to know it when he saw it.
Forever Love (Circle of Ghadan Book 1) Page 7