by Dave Ferraro
Chapter Seven
“So, this is your new home,” Shanna said, her eyes sweeping over Quinn’s room as she walked aimlessly across the floor. “What do you think?”
Quinn nodded. “It’s nice.” He set a duffel bag down on the floor and rolled a large suitcase to a stop. Shanna eyed his luggage warily, recalling how she’d felt entering her sterile room a little less than two months prior. It was large and nice, but…it would take him some adjusting.
“It’ll feel more like home once you start unpacking,” Shanna told him. “I’m more than happy to help if you want.”
Quinn bit his lip. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to be alone right now. You know, to adjust.”
Shanna watched him for a moment, then nodded. “Of course. To adjust. I’ll just…I’m just two doors down if you need me. For anything. Just let me know.”
She reached the door and opened it silently, Quinn not replying, let alone acknowledging her presence. Sighing, she closed the door, wondering what else she could do for him. Maybe space was all she could offer at the moment.
“And how’s our latest recruit settling in?”
Shanna jumped and turned on the speaker with a scowl. “Jesus, you scared me. Everybody’s so sneaky around here.”
Hunter squinted down at her. “You seem rather worried about him.”
“I am worried,” Shanna admitted, hand over her chest. “Can you imagine…” She shook her head. “I just want to make the adjustment easier for him.”
“I wanted to talk to him about funeral arrangements,” Hunter said. “Do you think…?”
“Not a good time,” she told him. “I think we need to give him a little space this morning, maybe this afternoon. He needs to do some searching, I think.” She cocked her head. “What do you do with the authorities in cases like this?”
Hunter shrugged. “Well, we work for the government. It’s basically like the FBI coming in and taking over. We have official paperwork to turn in. The people who need to know will be informed of the actual events and causes of death.”
“What about his house? His relatives?”
“A cover story is being worked out as we speak.”
Shanna nodded and followed as Hunter began to walk along the hall. “Okay. It’s probably best not to overwhelm him when you talk to him about this stuff. Keep it simple.”
Hunter looked amused. “I have done this before.”
“I wasn’t implying…”
“No, it’s fine. I just find it interesting that you’re reacting the way you are. You can’t take this much interest into every new body that comes in here.”
“I know. I just feel…like I need to help him. His circumstances just struck me. And reminded me of how I ended up here, I guess.”
“But you’re okay?”
Shanna looked surprised. “Me?”
“You. If this is drudging up old memories, maybe it’s too painful.”
“I’ll be fine,” Shanna assured him, waving the question away.
Hunter stopped and Shanna looked at him questioningly. “There’s something else that we need to talk about.”
Shanna took in his serious expression and stiffened, suddenly nervous. “What is it?”
“There was a development while you were gone, regarding…the other man in your life.”
“Damien?” she breathed.
Hunter blinked. “No, not Damien. Cameron.”
Shanna scoffed. “Yeah, of course.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “What could have happened to Cameron? I just saw him yesterday.”
“His glamour failed.”
Watching his face for a moment, Shanna felt her heart skip a beat. “It…failed?”
Hunter nodded, eyes searching her’s. “So, you apparently knew about his glamour.”
“Yeah, he told me in Greece,” she murmured, stepping away from him. Her hand went up to her mouth. “He must be…oh, god, he must be really upset.” She turned back to him. “What can we do for him?”
“Nothing. Valor’s talked to Amelia and consulted with a few other sources. It’s very complicated magick and any more of it would surely kill him.” He shrugged. “I’m sure he could use you right about now.”
“Where is he?”
“With Valor, in conference room B.”
Without waiting to hear more, Shanna walked quickly downstairs, navigating the hallways until she came across the conference room. She knocked hastily on the door before she pushed open the door and slipped inside.
Felicia and Amelia sat next to Cameron, across from Valor, at a long table, Valor herself staring up at Shanna with steady dark eyes. As Shanna silently stepped into the room and took an empty seat beside Cameron, Valor rubbed her eyes wearily, pushing aside the short black hair that fell into her eyes on one side of her face.
“Hey, Shanna,” Cameron said under his breath.
Shanna reached over and hugged him, Cameron squeezing back tightly. As she pulled away, she noticed that he tried to keep the side of his face that was scarred away from her. But she couldn’t help but glimpse it from time to time as Valor spoke to them about options that included cosmetic surgery. One look at the scar brought tears to Shanna’s eyes, which she did her best to suppress throughout the conversation. She didn’t need to add to the blow that he’d obviously been dealt. Her mind wandered briefly back to her dinner with him the previous night. She imagined doing the same thing with him now, but with everyone staring their way, or throwing discreet glances to glimpse the scar. There would be no anonymity now. It would be very different.
Tuning out for most of the conversation as she wrapped her mind around this development, Shanna was startled when she heard Cameron speak, as it had been only the other three talking up to that point. She turned to Cameron and watched him, proud to see his head held high, his eyes dry. He was being really brave through it all.
“Thank you for pooling your resources to help me,” Cameron said. “I really appreciate it. And I’m sorry for concealing this. It was something that I was ashamed of that I didn’t think would affect our cause. I was wrong and I’m prepared to face any consequences for my actions.”
Valor let out a long sigh, considering him. “There won’t be any punishment this time. I’m empathetic to your plight and understand why you acted the way you did. But in the future, I expect complete disclosure on everything to do with this team, no matter how insignificant or embarrassing. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes,” Cameron replied.
“Good, then you can go. Let me know what course of action you decide on and we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you.”
They left the room, Amelia and Felicia well ahead of them, tuned in to the fact that they might need some space.
“You know that this team is going to see a lot of scars over the years,” Shanna said quietly as they walked along the hall. “And some people will die. Your scar is just the first and it doesn’t mean a thing. We all love you and we’ll be there for you, just like we will for everyone else who gets hurt in battle.”
“Yeah,” Cameron answered distractedly.
Shanna noticed his jaw clenching and unclenching and wondered if he wanted to talk to her in private or not at all. Maybe, like Quinn, he needed space to let this sink in. She didn’t say anything more to him as they walked back to their rooms. Outside of his door, Shanna turned to him, feeling awkward. “Do you want me to come in?”
Cameron opened his door and looked back at her. “Please.”
Shanna smiled and followed him. As soon as he closed the door behind them, he wrapped her in his arms and breathed in deeply. “You are so beautiful, Shanna.”
Returning his embrace, she leaned her cheek against his scar. “So are you, Cameron. A scar means nothing.”
He pulled away and looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? About what?”
Cameron swallowed hard. “That this happened. That you have to deal with this.”
Shanna rolled her eyes. “Cameron, come on. Our connection goes deeper than the surface.”
“Does it?” He frowned, then nodded. “Of course it does.”
Shanna brightened. “Say, maybe we can just forget about all of this for the rest of the day. We could hang out at the pool, or the game room.”
“You read my mind,” Cameron grinned back at her. “I was just thinking that we should celebrate.”
Shanna paused, forcing her smile to stay on her lips. “Celebrate what?”
“The new addition to our team, Silly.” Cameron lightly punched her shoulder.
“That’s…a really good idea,” Shanna admitted. “I didn’t even think…that would definitely be a nice warm welcome for him. It would be a nice distraction for him too, lift his spirits a little bit. Maybe once he talks to us a bit and realizes that he’s surrounded by a lot of people that have been through the sort of thing he’s been through, it will make him feel a little better.”
“He has to grieve, Shanna,” Cameron warned her. “It may help him in the long run, but just remember that this will take time for him.”
“I know. But anything we can do to dull the pain would be for the best, I think.” She threw her arms around him again. “You’re such a nice guy, thinking of doing something like that for him.” She kissed him, purposefully letting the kiss linger. “This is going to be great.”
Cameron caught her as she pulled away and drew her against him again, kissing her once more. “Do you trust me, Shanna?” he asked, looking her in the eyes meaningfully.
Shanna blinked at the intensity of his gaze. “Trust you? Of course I trust you. More than anyone.”
“More than anyone?”
She nodded.
Cameron smiled. “Good. Everything I do from here on out will be in the best interest of us. Building a better future for you and me.”
Shanna returned his smile a little uneasily, unsure of what he meant. And a little nervous that his words were laced with something sinister.