As the old cabin came into view, Keegan knew he had to stay away from Cassandra until an Oracle had a chance to scan her. No more kisses, no more touches, and absolutely no sex.
Having sex with Cassie was just plain bad on so many levels. Even if she felt like heaven.
He shook his head. They needed to know more, he had to step back and do his job as protector of the Aeterni race. It was time they learn just exactly who Cassandra Lily Marston was.
Once he reached the clearing, he turned off the bike, kicked down the stand and swung his leg over the seat. The cabin was boarded up, but didn’t look or feel right. No one had lived there since the 50’s when old Jeb died, but the building didn’t feel as though it’d been abandoned for more than sixty years.
***
The cream colored arm chair arranged in front of the fireplace in Keegan’s bedroom was surprisingly comfortable. Cass felt much more herself now that she was in her own faded jeans, over-sized sweater and worn-in black and white high-tops. But nothing could erase the mortification she felt from begging Keegan to make love to her. Her face burned hot with the memory. Well, thanks to him, nothing happened, and she’d see that nothing did in the future either.
Even if Keegan Fitzgerald was the hottest, most desirable man she’d ever met. The tattoo she’d caught a glimpse of on his left shoulder blade was beyond sexy. Again a sword pierced an ouroboros, the hilt reminded her of an elaborate design from a D&D game. The triple circle was placed in the center of the ouroboros, giving it a place of importance as far as she could tell. She normally didn’t like tattoos, but the intricate beauty of the one on his shoulder made her want to look at it closer and trace her fingers over the snake’s skin.
She jerked her thoughts back to the present and straightened. Thinking about him wasn’t going to accomplish anything good. Looking around, she noticed a leather-bound book and lamp on the table between the two overstuffed chairs. Her love of books and history made her more curious than she should be and she couldn’t resist picking it up and carefully turning pages she couldn’t read in a million years. The leather was old and well-cared for, but she didn’t recognize the language. She turned the fine vellum pages and her attention was caught by the beautiful illustrations of medieval men and women that interspersed the obviously handprinted pages bordered in bright ornate designs.
Gently closing the book and running her hand over the fine brown leather, she placed the book back on the table. Looking around the room, realization finally hit. This man, this handsome, young man was thousands of years old. He’d probably purchased the book when it was new. Now, it was an incredibly well-preserved antique and would fetch a fortune at an auction house. Anywhere else it would be kept in a sealed glass case, protected from light and the elements. Here, it was read and loved just as a book should be. Having been raised with a deep appreciation for all books, new and old, she felt a thrill of excitement just having been able to see, let alone touch such a treasure.
Standing, she looked at the paintings she’d noticed the night before. Paintings she’d never seen before. Most of them were signed by artists whose works she’d walked through art museums to enjoy. She had no doubt these were paintings given or sold to Keegan centuries before, most likely while the artists were still alive. Seen by no one but Keegan and those who knew him.
She stood before one the painting that held a prominent place across from the bed, easily seen by anyone lying there. The woman was dressed in the elegant style of the early 1900’s. There was no mistaking the artist who’d captured the beautiful redheaded woman swinging a bonnet in her right hand while her left hand was crooked through the arm of the gentleman walking with her. The woman smiled as she stared up into the eyes of Keegan Fitzgerald who appeared equally charmed as he looked down at her. They were walking through a park and Cass wondered if Keegan had known Renoir, or if the painter had just seen them and captured the scene as his beautiful paintings always did.
She lifted her hand and stopped just short of touching the face that looked exactly as it did today. The painting had so very obviously been painted around the turn of the century either just before or just after 1900. Renoir had captured one single instant in the life of a man who had and would continue to pass through the centuries. For him, all the events and changes were but a moment in time. A century would feel like a month. Mortals would appear and disappear, never to be more than a memory, if he remembered them.
For the beautiful redhead in the painting, that day could have been a significant part of her life. Now she was nothing more than a woman in a painting captured by an incredibly famous artist. The vibrant woman was no more than dust in the ground, dead for decades, while Keegan was preserved for all time.
Her hand dropped as she walked to the Victorian dresser and looked in the large round mirror. She looked the same today as she had six days ago when the man grabbed her. And she’d look the same thousands of years from now as well.
Thousands of years? Where would the world be then? Keegan was born in 450 BC. That made him two thousand four hundred sixty-plus years old. If she lived that long, it’d be the 4450’s.
“Oh, my God.” Cass’ breath caught in her throat. Would the earth even exist? Would they have had to move to another planet by then? Would man have finally found a way to save the planet? When was the sun supposed to supernova?
Would the world be as shockingly different for her as today was from the world Keegan had been born into?
Cass started breathing faster, and for the first time in her life, she thought she was going to have a panic attack. She bent over, trying to breathe when she heard a knock on the bedroom door. She tried to answer, but she couldn’t find the breath.
“Cassandra, are you—”
Nilos took her gently by the shoulders and swung her around. He was much taller than Keegan, and she didn’t even come to his chest, but he was holding her, rubbing her back, soothing her as he would a child. There was nothing in the embrace except the desire to comfort.
“Come on, chère, breathe. In...out...breathe.”
Finally she was able take a deep pull of air into her deprived lungs.
“Ah, c’est bon, ‘tite ange. Good, good.”
They stood like that for another couple of minutes before she pulled back. Nilos let her go except for one hand on her shoulder, steadying her. Looking way up into his dark blue eyes, she was confused. They were compassionate, but they were also amused. “You found that funny?”
Nilos shook his head making sure she was standing on her own before he released her shoulder. “Mais non, chère, I don’t find it funny, but I’m guessing you finally accepted what’s happened to you.”
“Yes. If I live as long as Keegan, it’ll be the 45th century.”
Nilos smiled. “Cass Marston in the 45th Century.” He lowered his voice and it took on a robot sound as he continued, “Bee-dee-bee-dee-bee, Hi Cass.”
She stared at him, what was he talking about?
He took in her confusion and smiled wider. “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Gil Gerard? No, you were probably too young. It was a TV show in the 80’s.”
“I was born in the 80’s.”
Nilos nodded. “I forget how time passes in the mortal world. Don’t worry about how long you’ll be here, we’ll all still be standing right beside you, just as we are now.” His voice was soft and firm with conviction. She also noticed he’d dropped the Cajun inflections leaving only the gentle southern accent. “We’re family, Cass, and family stands together.”
Before she could answer, they heard the roar of a motorcycle approaching the house. “Keegan’s back, chère, let’s go see what he’s found.”
“Nilos.”
He paused and looked at her lifting one beautiful eyebrow in query. Criminy, the man was incredibly good looking and the only way she could describe his clothes was that he was expensively pressed and dressed, but she much preferred Keegan’s more earthy looks. Nothing could compare to Keegan’s come-he
re chocolate eyes and sexy-as-sin voice.
“Thank you. I’d prefer it if Keegan doesn’t know I broke down. He’s trying so hard to make me understand all this, I don’t want him to think I’m—”
“No worries, sugar, he understands. Mebbe better than the rest of us.”
“Why?”
“Not my story to tell, ‘tite.” He held out his hand. “Come, I don’t want him catching me in here with you. I’d like to keep my head, thank you very much, and I know he left with a very long, very sharp sword.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cass followed Nilos out of the bedroom, her smile disappearing as Keegan staggered through the front door. He reeked of smoke and burnt wood, his cheeks and chin covered with blistered and red burns. How deep had the burns been for them to still be visible?
Nilos rushed forward, grabbing Keegan as he fell to his knees. “Damn, Celt, what the hell did you do, burn the cabin down?”
“Not me, Cajun, someone else.” Keegan’s voice was deep and gravely from smoke. He coughed rough and hard as Nilos helped him to the couch. “I called the fire department to let them know I saw smoke in the woods. Hopefully they’ll get it out before the whole bloody mountain burns up. Christ, I’m just glad it’s spring.”
Sitting next to him, Cass saw his hands were in worse shape than his face. His jeans were black with soot and a number of holes were burnt through at the thighs. There the skin appeared to be healed. Apparently, the burns hadn’t been as bad as his face and hands.
Incredulous, she asked, “He set the cabin on fire?”
Keegan eased his coat off with their help and removed the shoulder belt. She took it from him and laid it on the coffee table, the sword’s intricately carved bone hilt was a perfect representation of a Celtic long sword. Cass knew without asking, it was thousands of years old. Not a replica, most likely Keegan’s original sword, or close to it.
“The bastard apparently thought it was time to burn the cabin, and with me in it, the timin’ was just all too perfect to pass up.”
“Did he know you were in it?” Nilos asked sitting in the chair across from Keegan.
Keegan coughed again, this time without the harsh rasp. He was healing more all the time. Soon, there’d be no sign he’d been caught in a burning building. Cass didn’t know if she’d ever get used to that, but she was going to have to because it was who she was now.
“Kind of hard to miss my bike outside. Besides, he thought it’d be fun to trap me in the back room.”
“The back room? There’s no way out of the back room. I know, I tried when I still had a candle to see by. I did find a light switch, but it didn’t work even though I would swear there was electricity whenever I was taken into the lab.”
Keegan reached out and touched her face, the burns on his hands only angry red welts, same with the ones on his cheeks and chin. “There was electricity when I was there, in both rooms.”
“Why would he purposely keep me in the dark?”
“To take away your ability to see, to not know day from night. He used it to control you. It made you dependent on him when he was there. If he came in with the one thing you needed, light, then you would see him as a savior.”
“I didn’t see him as a savior, ever, but I was grateful when he brought a battery operated lantern with him when he fed me.”
“Generous of him,” Nilos said with a frown.
Keegan smiled his roguish dimpled smile that melted her heart more every time she saw it. “I didn’t say he was successful at it, I only said that was most likely what he was aiming for. Sensory deprivation has been a time-honored means of controlling someone.” He reached over and took her hand. Cass carefully wrapped hers around his, conscious of the still healing burns.
“How did you get out?” Nilos asked.
Keegan ran his free hand through his hair which didn’t look as though it’d been singed by the fire, despite the burns on his cheeks and chin. “As soon as I smelled smoke, the lights went out. I always carry a penlight in my coat pocket, never know when it’ll come in handy. Anyway, I remembered seeing towels in the room, so I grabbed one, soaked it in the sink and wrapped it around my hair.”
He smiled reassuringly at Cass, but she didn’t feel reassured. She’d dragged these men into a very dangerous situation, one that could easily get anyone of them killed. She didn’t want to be responsible for anyone’s death.
Keegan looked at Nilos as he continued, “Once I knew I wouldn’t be setting my hair on fire or as much of my face as I could cover, I kicked down the damn door, and ran for the front door, which the bastard had locked as well. Fortunately, I’d built the cabin and knew where the windows were. I thought they might kick down easier than the solid oak door I’d put on the thing. I moved over to the windows and managed to get one of them uncovered.” He shook his head. “I fell out right in front of my bike. A little singed, but still breathing.”
He’d been much more than a little singed and he hadn’t kept his face covered or his cheeks wouldn’t have burnt, but Cass decided not to call him on it.
“Did you see the guy?” Nilos asked.
Keegan scratched his red cheek. “No, but frankly, I was trying to put myself out, and get as much of the smoke cleared out of my lungs as I could so I could get on my bike and head back here. I’m glad he wasn’t around because as much as I would’ve loved to’ve taken his head for trying to burn me alive, I was in no shape to deal with him.” He looked at Cass and shook his head. “Burnin’ is the only other way to kill us, by the way.”
Cass’ breath locked in her throat. Why hadn’t she realized that? Whoever had set the cabin on fire was trying to kill Keegan, not just put him out of commission for a while. She had to get away before she got someone killed.
Keegan’s eyes darkened and he studied her. Could he tell what she was thinking?
“Cassie luv, I’m fine, stop frettin’. We know what we’re doing, no one’s going to die.”
How did he know what she was thinking?
He shook his head. “Not psychic, darlin’, you’re eyes are darting around looking for escape. You don’t need to escape us, we’re trained to handle just this kind of situation.”
“Are you sure?” She knew he was right, but it didn’t make her feel better.
“Absolutely.” Keegan rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand and took a deep breath before continuing, “We have a problem, though. He has to be wonderin’ why I suddenly showed up at the cabin. I haven’t been there in decades, and showing up now had to look bloody suspicious.”
Nilos rubbed the back of his neck. “Damn, can you protect Cass here until you leave tomorrow, or are you going to need one of the safe houses?”
Keegan shook his head. “We should be safe enough here for the time being. I just wish Tomas was here. Extra eyes couldn’t hurt.”
“Who’s Tomas?” Cass asked fascinated by the way Keegan’s hands and face were healing. If she’d had any doubts at all about the world she’d become a part of, they were now completely gone.
“My bodyguard. He’s taken a few days off to visit family.”
Before Cass could ask about an immortal’s family, Nilos nodded. “If staying here is what you think is best. You’re the warrior, I’ll leave it to your judgment. Now did you find anything, or were you almost barbecued for nothing?”
Keegan pulled her ring from his jeans pocket. “I found this on the floor in a corner of the back room. It seemed out of place in the cabin. It’s not mine and I’m sure old Jeb didn’t have any need for an engagement ring.”
Cass reached for the small diamond ring, pleasure rushing through her as it rested in the palm of her hand. “This is mine. It belonged to my grandmother, I thought I’d never see it again.”
Keegan reached over and touched the ring with his forefinger. She stared at the back of his completely healed hand, the skin smooth and unblemished. Certainly the burns had hurt, there was no way they couldn’t, but it hadn’t been for long. It occurr
ed to her that not only would a year in time be fleeting from this moment on, but so would pain.
She glanced at Keegan. Would love also be fleeting?
“How did it wind up on the floor?” Keegan’s voice was once again the sexy timbre, all signs of smoke and fire damage gone from it as well as his face and hands. All that was left was the soot, smell and torn clothing. A shower and change of clothes and no one would ever know he’d come close to burning alive.
Cass shook her head and forced herself to look at the ring. “My kidnapper yanked it off me when I first woke up. He demanded to know who I was engaged to. When I told him no one, he called me a liar and left the cabin.”
“Damn, that just confirms the stalker theory Derian and I were talking about. It makes him more dangerous and he’ll be very determined to get you back if he finds out you’re alive.”
“Derian needs to know about this, Keegan. I’ll call him as soon as we’re done here. You’re right, it puts a new spin on things,” Nilos said.
She rubbed the index finger of her left hand. “I don’t know why he thought I was engaged. I mean, it just looks like a diamond ring and I wore it on my forefinger. My grandmother was heavier than I am and it was the only finger it fit on without having it resized.”
Keegan took the ring and gently slid it on the finger she’d been rubbing. “Then that’s where it belongs, Cassie.”
No one had called her Cassie since her grandfather died. The way Keegan said her name was pretty darn close to a caress with his accent. She could drown not only in his sleepy dark eyes, but in his body as well. What he did to her, she didn’t know could even be done. She had no idea sex could be so incredible, so sensual, so overwhelming that she wanted to spend months in bed with him. What would it have been like if they’d gone all the way?
Hadn’t she already covered that? Darn it she was going to stick to her resolve not to have sex with Keegan no matter what.
Forever Love (Circle of Ghadan Book 1) Page 8