by Deanna Chase
“But you said you were forced—” Then it hit me. “Allcot made you leave.” I knew the statement was true deep in my bones.
Tal’s hands tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Finally he said, “Yes.”
“Why?” I breathed, clutching my throat.
Tal sent me an incredulous look. “Why, Willow? Don’t be so naïve.”
“You’re not serious?” I gaped. “You’re saying he made you leave because of David? What? He was trying to get rid of the competition or something?”
He gave me a flat stare.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on. You don’t really believe Allcot cares that much who his son dates?”
Talisen shook his head and focused on the road.
“That’s ridiculous,” I said, unable to come to terms with what he was implying. If Allcot had asked him to leave, there must’ve been some other reason.
“If you say so.”
Now he was pissing me off. I turned my body toward him and fixed him with a stare of my own. “What exactly did he say to you?”
Tal didn’t answer at first, and just when I thought he was going to stay silent, he pulled over and turned to me. His eyes were ablaze with wild fury. “His exact words?”
I pressed back against the door but nodded anyway. I needed to know.
Tal barked out a laugh. “After almost twenty-four hours of interrogation by the Void, Allcot himself was waiting for me at my trashed apartment. There he was, sitting among the destruction in one of my kitchen chairs as if there wasn’t chaos surrounding him. And when I stepped through the door, he stood, staring me down as if he owned me. Then he said, ‘You’re a distraction. Ms. Rhoswen is safer when you’re not around. Leave. If you don’t want problems for her to surface, you’ll go back to your woods and investigate the murder of Beau Rhoswen.’”
My heart stopped as the breath left me. The words sounded exactly like something Allcot would say. But I couldn’t believe Tal had caved to his demands. “You should’ve told him to shove it. We already know what happened to Beau.”
Talisen frowned and closed his eyes momentarily. When he opened them, the anger was gone, replaced by wariness. “I did. But he made it clear he’d renegotiate the terms he’d secured regarding your testing with the Void. As in he’d tell them he didn’t care what they did to you as long as you were kept alive. It was pretty clear he was only interested in keeping Laveaux happy. He wasn’t about to let you and me keep dating. The easiest way to break us up was to force me to leave.”
I was frozen in the passenger seat. David would’ve never stood for such a thing. But then, if Tal hadn’t left and we’d stayed together, would David have fought with his father over me? When I was with another man? I couldn’t be sure. “So you went. To keep me safe.” My voice was small and dejected. I hated that Allcot had pulled Tal’s strings.
“Yes. To keep you safe. But I won’t lie and say I didn’t want to go. After everything that had happened, it was tempting to come back here where life was easier.” His eyes turned dark again. “Was being the operative word. Turns out there’s more to Beau’s death than we knew.”
Another gasp flew from my throat. “What did you find out?” The words were so low, I wasn’t sure Tal even heard me.
But then he reached over and took my hand. Squeezing my fingers, he said, “He knew Asher.”
My blood ran cold. My fingers involuntarily gripped Tal’s until they started to ache.
“Hunter told me Beau was on Asher’s payroll, but he was vague on the details. I’m not sure he was ready to share everything he knows. After years of undercover work, I understand it’s hard to trust anybody, but I swear on everything that’s good in this world that I won’t stop until we find the answers.”
I sat there, stunned. Speechless. Beau had been involved with Asher? How? Why? And if his power was like mine, there was no way he didn’t know Asher was a vampire. Why in the world would he have gotten mixed up with him? I wanted to scream the questions. Instead, my mind whirled in a storm of chaos. Had he known who Asher was? Had he known he was in danger? But the biggest question, the one that ate away at my heart, was why hadn’t he told me?
Beau had been my other half. The one person in the world I’d told everything. He was my twin, and as time went on, it became more and more apparent he had a whole other life I’d had no knowledge of.
There was no denying it. I was hurt… and angry. He’d gotten mixed up with Asher and he’d died because of it.
When we got about ten miles from Eureka, my phone beeped, indicating multiple messages. I glanced down, sifting through half a dozen texts from David. All of them from when we’d been out of range with no cell service.
Yesterday afternoon: Checking in. Let me know when you’re on your way back.
A few hours later: Any luck finding him yet?
Just before ten p.m. Pacific time: Wil? You didn’t forget to charge your phone again did you?
Midnight: It’s late. I’m worried now. Please give me a call.
Early this morning: No one has heard from you. Call back ASAP.
The most recent one: No longer willing to wait. I’m on my way.
“No. Dammit!”
Tal sent me a worried glance. “What is it?”
I shook my head and dialed David’s number. Straight to voice mail. I checked the time of his last text. Four hours ago. Oh no. Was he really on his way to Eureka? I’d barely been gone twenty-four hours. Of course, I hadn’t contacted him at all. And since I’d arrived I’d been kidnapped and caught up in a magical battle.
Grimacing, I texted: Where are you?
The response was almost instantaneous. In the air. We’re landing in twenty-five minutes. Where are you?
Oh, son of a… On our way to the airport.
Do you have Kavanagh?
Yes.
Wait for me there.
I stuffed the phone into my pocket and flopped back against the seat.
“Wil?” Tal prompted.
There was no way I could avoid telling him. He’d see for himself shortly. “David’s on his way here. He wants us to wait for him at the airport.”
Tal glanced at me once, a storm in his eyes, but he clenched his jaw and didn’t comment.
We rode in silence the rest of the way to the airport. When we pulled to a stop outside the hangar, he put the vehicle in park but made no move to get out.
I started to wonder if he was going to refuse to go back to New Orleans with me. I’d never known him to let anyone suffer before, but everything was so complicated now. There wasn’t even anything to say. I hadn’t asked David to come. In fact, I’d demanded he let me do this on my own. But if there was one thing I’d learned in the past months, it was that I had little to no influence on what the vampires of New Orleans did. Even if one of them claimed to be in love with me.
Sighing, I pushed the door open, but before I could climb out, Tal put a light hand on my wrist. “Wait.”
I stared at his hand before meeting his hooded eyes. “Why?”
He withdrew his hand and ran it through his mussed hair. The loss of his touch left me feeling empty, and I gently closed the door with a soft click.
He turned his gaze straight ahead, not meeting my eyes. “I need to know.”
“Know what?” I asked, totally confused.
He closed his eyes momentarily and took a deep breath. “Are you with Laveaux?”
My stomach dropped to my toes. Was he really sitting there asking if I was dating David? How was I supposed to answer that when I didn’t even know? David had been my companion for the past three months. He’d helped me through a rough time. Honestly, I had no idea how I would’ve survived the testing without him. But that hadn’t been romantic at all. No, through the testing, David had just been a good friend.
But he had kissed me. Twice. That didn’t mean I was with him, did it? We hadn’t even been out on a proper date. Unless you counted the times we had lunch together at m
y store. Could you call it a date if someone just showed up and ate with you? I didn’t think so.
“Never mind,” Tal said, blowing out a breath. “I think that’s all the answer I needed.”
He had his own door open when I grabbed his hand.
“No it isn’t,” I said.
He froze but didn’t look at me.
“Damn, Tal. I don’t know what you want me to say here.”
He snapped his head up, his expression tortured. “The truth, Willow. That’s all. I need to know what I’m walking into. I know I left. I know I hurt you. That doesn’t mean I stopped loving you.”
My breath got caught in my throat.
He glanced away, clearly regretting his outburst.
My eyes burned with tears as emotion churned inside me. He’d explained why he left. I understood it, could forgive him for it. I still struggled with being left in the dark, but on some level, I understood that too. If he’d told me, I would’ve battled Allcot and likely would’ve ended up making my own situation worse. Tal loved me. And it was clear by the emotion welling in my chest that I still loved him.
“David and I… Well, you know we’re friends. But we’re not together.”
“No?” The hope in his voice made me want to cringe with guilt.
“No. Not officially. But…” I didn’t want to tell him we’d kissed. That was too cruel. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him more. “The potential is there.”
Nodding slowly, he pulled his arm from my grip and then clasped my hand in his, entwining our fingers together.
“When were you with Meredith?”
His eyes widened with surprise. “Three years ago. For about a week.”
Relief claimed my battered heart. I knew I’d had no right to be so upset over her when I was still dancing around a relationship with David. But the heart wasn’t rational.
“Can you do something for me?”
“Of course.” I brushed my thumb over his knuckles. “Anything.”
“Before you decide anything with Laveaux, could you consider giving me another chance?”
Chapter 13
Tal’s words were what I’d longed to hear for the past three months. But as I stood there watching David’s plane land, trepidation took over. Nervous energy had me shifting from foot to foot. Before long, Link was pacing back and forth, no doubt feeding off my emotions. How was I going to sit in a plane for over four hours with both Tal and David?
I’d rather give a speech in front of a national audience, wearing that horrific giraffe-print dress Phoebe had made me try on that one time than suffer being trapped in a plane with the pair of them.
Before I knew it, David was out of the plane and striding toward me. He didn’t even acknowledge Tal as he engulfed me in his embrace and planted a kiss on my temple. “I was worried,” he said, though his words were gentle.
I stiffened and pushed him back, very uncomfortable with the PDA he was showing in front of Tal. To make matters worse, when he released me, he draped an arm around my shoulders and tucked me into him as if we truly were a couple. As if he were claiming me for Tal’s benefit.
“We were out of range,” I said, shrugging him off. I took two steps away from both of them. Link followed and sat right in front of me. That’s right. He was the only male in my life I’d allow to claim me. I met David’s eyes. “You should’ve waited for me to call you back.”
He raised his eyebrows. “And do what? Wait until I got the call that Asher has you or worse? You know I can’t do that.”
“She was with me,” Tal said, making no effort to mask the irritation in his tone.
David’s eyes narrowed. I knew he was wondering what we’d been doing. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him. Tal’s Void business was confidential. If he wanted Allcot to know, it was up to him to tell him.
They stood there, each sizing the other up.
I rolled my eyes. “Which plane are we going back on?”
The one David had flown in on was identical to the one waiting for me in the next hangar.
“This one.” David gestured to the one already on the tarmac. “As soon as they get it gassed up, we’ll be on our way.” David headed inside the hangar to converse with both pilots.
“Allcot has two Learjets?” Talisen asked.
I shrugged. “Guess so. In fact, I bet he has more than two. Or at least the corporation does.”
David reappeared. “They’ll be ready in a few minutes.” He placed his hand on my elbow and started steering me toward the plane.
Good Goddess, that irritated me, though I was acutely aware that if Talisen hadn’t been there, I’d have been perfectly fine with it. I pulled my arm away under the pretense of having to tie my shoe. I didn’t want him touching me after Talisen’s confession back in the Trooper. It just felt… wrong. Like I was cheating on someone. Though I wasn’t sure who.
I heard Tal let out a chuckle and then there was the click of the back door opening on the Trooper. “Laveaux, we brought your maker a present.”
David stilled and then slowly turned around. “Maker?”
Tal waved at the back of the SUV and then moved to join me. The fact Tal had used “maker” instead of “father” was deliberate. He was calling out the fact that David was vampire. It was a subtle slight on any relationship David and I might have.
David peered into the Trooper. “Who’s this?”
“She’s one of Asher’s people. Tal’s handing her over to Allcot,” I said, my voice flat. Who knew what Allcot would do to her to get answers? It would be ugly, and even though she would’ve surely killed me or handed me over to Asher, I couldn’t stomach her likely fate.
David nodded to one of the flight crew. “Put her on the plane. Do whatever it takes to restrain her. I don’t want any surprises midflight.”
The crewman nodded. “No problem, Mr. Laveaux.”
Once on the plane, Tal sat to my right and David took the seat directly across from me. We were in a cluster of four chairs that faced each other. I stared at Link, wishing I could just sit with him. Because this wasn’t going to be awkward. No, not at all.
Twenty minutes into the flight, I longed for some Mocha in Motion. I was already running on empty, and the metal from the plane was only making it worse. I closed my eyes, my eyelids and limbs heavy. It wasn’t long before I fell into blissful darkness.
I woke to Tal’s healing energy tingling down my spine. It was so familiar and welcome. I let out a small moan of appreciation and leaned into him, not wanting the sensation to end.
“Thanks,” I murmured as I opened my sleepy eyes and caught him smiling down at me.
“Better?”
“Yes.” I needed to fly with Talisen all the time. Dang. He was lucky. Because he was a healer, his resources didn’t get depleted the way mine did. Besides that he was also gifted in stone magic. As long as he had one or two on his person, he had all the energy he needed.
David cleared his throat, startling me. I sat straight up, having totally forgotten in my sleepy haze that he was there.
I glanced between him and Tal. To Tal’s credit, he wasn’t engaging in David’s subtle hostility. He was relaxed, one foot resting on his knee, with Link lying in front of him.
David, on the other hand, was leaning forward, piercing us both with his eyes. “What happened in Eureka?”
I glanced at Tal, letting him take the lead. It was his mission I’d interrupted, after all.
Tal met David’s gaze, unblinking, and said, “I’ll discuss that with Allcot.”
Oh, whoa. David was going to hate that.
David kept his expression blank, but by the stiffness in his frame, I knew he was fuming. And even though Tal had perked me up with his magic, I was still worn out from the tension in the plane by the time we landed. All I wanted to do was go home and rest in my enchanted oak and shut out the rest of the world.
But Harrison was in trouble and no way was I going anywhere until I was sure he was okay.
“Let’s go,” David barked and led the way to his silver Mercedes.
Tal and I glanced at each other. He smiled at me and everything inside me warmed. It was good to have him back.
***
“This way,” David said, leading us down the marbled hallway of Allcot’s Victorian mansion. We were in the heart of Mid-City where most of the vampires had rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. But since it was early afternoon, the neighborhood appeared deserted. All the other vamps were dead to the world, so to speak.
There was an eerie silence in the large mansion. I didn’t even know if Allcot was there. He had an office downtown where he spent most of his days. He was old enough that even before he’d turned into a daywalker, he hadn’t needed to sleep during the day. Of course, now that he could walk in the sun, there was no telling where he was.
Heavy drapes lined the windows, and ornate wall sconces lit the hall with a soft glow. All of it seemed so incredibly formal to me. I couldn’t imagine living in such a place.
“In here.” David opened the double doors at the end of the hallway. The place was bright with recessed lighting and was all white, sterile like a hospital.
Three hospital beds were lined up in the large room, each equipped with monitors and IV drips. I slowed my pace, shocked by the scene in front of me. Allcot had said the guards were weakening, but I hadn’t fully grasped the gravity of the situation. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I neared Harrison.
The tall, well-built, larger-than-life man I’d come to respect was now emaciated and lay lifeless in the bed. His features were ashen and gaunt as if he were wasting away to nothing.
“Oh no,” I said through my fingers, barely able to breathe.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” I heard Tal ask David. The concern in his voice told me he was just as shaken as I was.
I glanced back to him. He had a pad of paper out and was busy scribbling notes even though David hadn’t yet said a word. His features were pinched in concentration. Turning back to Harrison, I slipped my hand over his, wishing there was something I could do for him. Taking some of his energy and pushing it back into him was out of the question. He didn’t have anything else to give.