“That’s an interesting question,” Jamie said, pausing to take a sip of his drink. “You asked what people without Talent do at the Order. One of the answers to that question is research. When someone of interest disappears, naturally you check their friends and family first. Research had a list of relatives and known associates, and you were on it.”
“You were working your way through a list?”
“Not exactly.” He paused, staring off into the distance. “Finding is a strange and sometimes unreliable Talent. This was different. Your name stuck out like it was written in gold leaf. It said, come find me.”
“And how did you, exactly?” I needed to know that, if I was ever going to live a normal life. There had to be a way to hide my trail from Talents who wanted to find me.
“We knew from Research what state you were in—from the GED you got last year.” He paused. “I’m surprised you managed to acquire that much of a paper trail.”
I put down my drink. The glass banged into the table, nearly spilling. “I thought I was safe.”
“I went to Tacoma, where it was issued, and then followed my heart.”
“But how?” I said, frustrated.
“Honestly? I had that piece of paper with your name on it, and it pulled me to that town and to your bar like you were a magnet. I’ve never had someone to find that drew me like you did. You called me like a lighthouse.”
I didn’t know whether to be flattered or dismayed. “I thought lighthouses steered you away from rocks.”
“Cat,” he said, leaning across the table and taking my hand in his. “The question of rocks has yet to be answered. But to me, you are lit up from inside like no beacon I’ve ever seen.”
His hand was warm and dry, and mine clammy within it. I didn’t know where to look. He had turned on the full force of his charm, and his eyes focused intensely on me. Overcome with embarrassment at his words, I couldn’t meet his gaze and instead found myself looking at his mouth. Although that mouth frequently quirked up at one corner, now his lips were pressed together, serious, and somehow more compelling for it.
I picked up my wine in my free hand and took a sip that turned into a swig.
Jamie let my hand slide free. “What do you want to do after dinner?”
I dropped my shoulders, deliberately ratcheting the tension down a notch. “If you’d asked me that earlier I would have said sleep. For days. But I think I spoiled it with that nap.”
“Do you want to go dancing?”
It could’ve been the wine warming my body and dulling my wits, or being in Vegas, but a reckless wave broke over me. I had never “been dancing”, only danced around my living room on my own.
“Absolutely.”
I followed Jamie to a different casino on the Strip, stunned by the crowds of people milling everywhere, the lights, and the music. We finally arrived at a huge club. As soon as we were inside, I began to regret my decision. The crowd pushed in on me and the music thumped away, bass echoing through my chest.
Jamie glanced at me. “It’s not completely what I had in mind. But we’ll make do.” He grabbed my hand again and tugged me onto the dance floor.
I bounced along, not really knowing what I was doing. Someone bumped into me and I was jostled in the crush of bodies. My throat closed, and my stomach turned to acid. My panic must have shown, because Jamie put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer.
“I don’t want to lose you in here,” he said, tickling my ear with his breath. He was big and hot and near and I became aware of his scent—one part sunshine, one part leather and two parts testosterone. Awareness of his proximity tingled all the way down the front of my body. I breathed in slowly, and every one of the hairs on my head stood up on its own. His hand relaxed away from my shoulder and we were close, so close, but not touching.
We moved, danced with each other alone in the crowd. The music was a sea in which we floated, the other dancers currents around us. We played a duet together in the water.
I don’t know how long we danced like that, inches away from each other and in sync yet not touching, but after a while Jamie reached for my hand and led me off the dance floor.
I didn’t want to speak, so I followed him to the bar where he ordered a drink and handed it to me. Sipping it broke the spell. I spluttered.
“Jesus, what is this?”
“I thought you were a bartender?”
I laughed, wiping my mouth and nose with the back of my hand. “You clearly didn’t see Reilly’s. The fanciest we ever got in there was Jack and Coke. What is this?”
“It’s called Sex in the Shower.”
“Holy crap.” I put the glass down and studied its bluish-purple depths. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“Maybe. But for all the right reasons.”
“There are right reasons?”
“You were pretty strung out today. I thought you needed to relax.”
“Sure,” I said, “but if I drink that I’ll be a little too relaxed.” And maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but I needed to stay in control.
“Have it your way. Do you want to dance some more?” He looked closely at me, examining my face in the dim light. “You’re exhausted, aren’t you?”
I nodded. Dancing had been delicious, but being in that field of I-don’t-know-what had taken the last bit of energy I had.
Walking back to the hotel room took a thousand years. It was hot and my feet hurt. The neon colors went past me in a blur. I must have been less tired than earlier, however, because when we made it back to our temporary home I realized there was only one bed in the room, even if it was a king size.
Jamie caught me looking at the bed and at him. “Hey,” he murmured, “I’m only here to protect you. I can sleep in the chair if you want.”
“It’s a big bed,” I said, turning away and into the bathroom. I cleaned my teeth and put on one of the T-shirts he’d bought me earlier, then slipped off my jeans, feeling naked. It seemed ridiculous to consider wearing them to bed, especially after he’d commented on it last night. I kept my back to the mirror while I changed, maintaining modesty while I was locked in the bathroom on my own. Like that was going to make me feel less embarrassed.
When I came out Jamie was in bed, lying far over to the side closest to the door, the sheet up to his chest, his eyes closed. “Good night,” he said, without opening them. I tried not to look at his bare shoulders above the covers but the curves and angles of them drew my gaze like a disaster waiting to happen.
Climbing into the other side of the bed, I turned the lights out. In the dark, I clenched my fists under the covers. Why did he have to be such a gentleman? Was I that undesirable? Obviously sleeping with him would be a terrible idea, and I didn’t intend to regardless of good conversation, a couple glasses of wine, and an incredibly hot evening on the dance floor. I still wished he had made a move on me. So I could say no.
I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up, my fists had unclenched and I was hot, suffocating under covers that lay heavy over my thighs and chest. When I tried to move them I discovered that a hairy masculine leg lay across my bare thighs, and an arm had been thrown gracelessly across my chest. The brush of his breath told me his face lay against my shoulder, mouth open.
It was a big bed and I wondered whether he had crawled over that far in his sleep or done it deliberately. I lay precisely still, surrounded by his warmth and the delicious smell of male skin.
Although not a blushing virgin, given the way I lived, I’d kept my love life simple, free of entanglements like the one currently wrapped around my body. Jamie represented a way to get free of my past; a way, I hoped, to get free of the Institute once and for all. Although it still wasn’t clear exactly how I would achieve that.
This business with Eric needed to be solved, and then I needed to walk away from this world again. I did not need a relationship dragging me back into the complicated morass of Talented politics. A one-night stand would only compl
icate things.
That being said, I hadn’t been to bed with anyone for a long time, or even been held, or kissed. Jamie smelled good, and his leg draped over mine made me think of pushing against him, stroking him, getting hot and sweaty and naked with him. I am only human, and there was a big sexy man in my bed, half-naked and wrapped around me.
Stretching a little, I arched my spine, guiltily enjoying the sensation of another body pressed against mine. My hand itched to touch his skin. Holding my breath, I listened, waiting for any indication he might be awake. His breathing continued, even and deep, and my hand stretched up to settle on his arm where it lay over my chest. My fingers ran lightly over his forearm, catching on the ridges of hair. I reached farther up, over the curve of his bicep to the back of his shoulder, and ran my hand back and forth, absorbing the feel of him for later. If this were all I had, I would store it up for a rough day.
I lay awake for a long time, and then I had one of those blink-sleeps where you close your eyes and then suddenly it’s morning. No arms and legs were tangled with mine, no warm body pressed against my hip. Last night felt like a pleasant erotic dream.
I hadn’t had a single dream that I remembered. No fire dreams. Nothing. I wasn’t going to dwell on why—gift horses and all of that.
The shower was running. I wondered if he’d woken up wrapped around me and fled. The water stopped and a few minutes later Jamie emerged, fully dressed, not meeting my eyes. Disappointed, I crawled out of the bed, mumbled, “Good morning,” and made my preparations for the day.
Jamie insisted we go to a Bavarian village-themed buffet in another casino that he’d read about. It was a short walk. We didn’t talk much over breakfast, and I was awash with sausage and potato pancakes and coffee when we were done.
I pushed back my chair. I might not have slept with him, but I was profoundly satiated with sleep and food and the mere fact of having cuddled up against a nearly naked man all night. I sighed in pleasure. Jamie looked at me in question and I smiled at him, embarrassment evaporating. He returned the smile with his usual easy charm.
We cut back toward our own hotel through the gaming floor. The twilight atmosphere and constant electronic jingling of the slot machines made the whole thing surreal, especially at breakfast time. The number of people seemed a little lower than last night, but only a little. I cast my gaze across the floor, tables and machines stretching off into the distance, and then I stopped.
“Jamie,” I breathed, grabbing his arm. “Over there. Oh God.” Terror glued my feet to the floor.
He followed my gaze and saw what I saw: standing across the other side of a whole section of gaming tables from us stood a familiar figure with a shock of near-white blond hair. His head was turned as he also surveyed the room. He must not have spotted us yet.
“Stop looking at him. Let’s get out of here, quietly, as if nothing was going on.” Jamie took my hand and walked casually away, back the way we had come.
“How did he know we were here?” I muttered, fighting to keep from breaking into a run. My ears rang with blood.
“Remember, he can do a lot of the same things I can do.”
“You said he followed our scents.”
“True. He would have lost us when we flew here, but it wouldn’t take a genius to work out where we were going. He probably picked us up at the crime scene, or maybe the motel.”
“Does that mean he’ll hunt us as long as we’re in Vegas?” I quickened my steps.
Jamie ducked into a hallway that led to some stores. “Most likely, yes. We have to keep one step ahead.”
The hallway evolved into a cobblestone street, lined with faux-Swiss-village stores. I sped up, trying not to stumble on the uneven street. Jamie kept pace with me. As I pushed forward, I accidentally elbowed a beefy tourist in shorts and a bucket hat.
“Excuse you,” he said loudly.
“Sorry,” I said, and glancing over my shoulder, froze. Ryder stood at the end of the street, his laser-beam eyes burning holes into me.
“Run,” I said, the panic bursting through, and broke from Jamie’s grasp. We sprinted up the street, weaving through the morning crowds, past an oom-pah band in their lederhosen. Jamie stayed at my side and I realized I was the one slowing us down. I was out of breath already.
A fat, red-faced fellow in a jaunty little felt hat seized my arms and I panicked. “Zika-zacka-zika-zacka-oi-oi-oi!” he chanted, and attempted to spin me into a dance. The tuba and accordion blurted away in the background. Jamie tapped him on the shoulder.
“I’m cutting in,” he said and pulled me away, and we ran again down the street. I stole glances over my shoulder, not seeing Ryder in the crowd.
“Do you think we lost him?” I panted, as we turned a corner. Jamie abruptly came to a halt and I looked up to see Ryder a hundred yards in front of us and walking purposefully in our direction. He was flanked now by two other men in anonymous dark suits and dark glasses.
We turned and ran back past the oom-pah band, careened down an alley, and came out on the gaming floor. To one side an elevator door started to close. I leaped for it, Jamie following. We made it in and the door closed on our heels.
Everybody in the elevator stared at us as we panted and sweated. Jamie stepped forward and pushed a button. I hoped he knew where we were going.
We stood for an eon, bathed in Muzak, and then the doors opened onto a mezzanine floor with more stores and restaurants. We walked out of the elevator. As it closed behind us, Jamie took my hand and we ran back in the correct direction.
“There’s a bridge over the Strip from here to our hotel,” he said.
I nodded, and sucked in a huge breath.
“Running on empty?”
“Running on breakfast,” I said, feeling incredibly nauseous. “I run most days, but not on a full stomach.” Jamie slowed to a fast walk and we continued through the stores. I scanned the crowds around me, seeing blond heads everywhere, seeing sinister men in the shadows, but none were our pursuers.
We came out of the casino into the bright desert sunlight, and crossed over the pedestrian bridge to our medieval Japanese castle. I resisted the urge to toss my cookies over the side of the bridge.
We arrived in a side hall of the reception area. Jamie looked at me. “You’re green,” he said. I nodded.
“See that coffee bar with the booths?” He pointed at a dark café. “Go wait for me there. I’ll bring the car around and call you when I’m out front.”
“Are you sure we lost him?”
“I’m pretty sure. I’ll be faster without you and then we can get away.” He pulled me close for a brief hug and was gone.
Surprised by his affection, I took a few moments to gather myself before heading to the back of the coffee bar. The lights were low in here, the tall wooden booths promising privacy. I tucked myself into a booth in the back corner of the café, and put my hand in my pocket, on my phone. My breathing gradually returned to normal, and I began to shiver as my sweat cooled in the aggressive air conditioning endemic to this desert city.
I sighed and sat back on the leather bench. A tall white-blond man slid in across from me.
“Hello, Catrina,” Ryder said.
Chapter Nine
I froze. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, his unnaturally white hair and pale blue eyes outlined by the matching thin blue line of his aura. He was a hunter and a soldier through and through, his aura as disciplined as the rest of his appearance.
Ryder spread his hands on the table in front of him. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that. I’m not the bad guy.”
“What do you want?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. I glanced up, trying to spot a fast escape route, but he’d catch me in the narrow spaces of this café.
“I’m trying to find your brother, same as you.”
It took everything I had to nod and wait.
“Have you heard from him?”
I stared down at the table. Maybe if I stayed quie
t, he would leave me alone.
“Look, Catrina, you have to understand, we want to help him.”
I glanced up, and apparently didn’t succeed in controlling my expression of disbelief, because he frowned at me.
“Your brother killed innocent people. He’s out of control. We can help him get back in control. Surely you’d prefer he came back into the fold. It’s that or the death penalty.”
I’d never gotten that far in my train of thought, because I intended to find Eric before Ryder or the cops did. Forcing myself to be rational, I said, “I think it would be hard to prove he did anything wrong in a court of law.”
“Do you want to take that risk?” He looked down at his hands, relaxed on the table. “More to the point, if he is out of control, he will most likely kill again, regardless of his intentions. Do you want that blood on your hands?”
I could see I wouldn’t get out of here without telling him something. The truth right now was pretty damn harmless, anyway. “I don’t know where Eric is.”
Ryder nodded. “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Have you heard from him?”
“No.” I paused. “What would you do with him, if you found him?”
He shifted a little in his seat, his aura darkened, and I realized it was tension being released. Despite his show of relaxation, he was desperate for my help. Good to know.
“We have some…experimental techniques for controlling Talent.”
“Why didn’t you try them already? Wouldn’t that have saved a lot of trouble?”
Ryder sighed. “You already know what we do at the Institute. You understand we’re in the business of training soldiers to protect this country. We need men like Eric to defend against the enemies of our way of life, and we trust our soldiers to use their Talents wisely. Of course, when someone goes rogue, that’s a different matter.”
So much patriotic rah-rah, when all he was saying was that the end justifies the means. I disagreed, absolutely and inherently. “I don’t understand what you want from me.”
Talent to Burn (Hidden Talent #1) Page 6