by Lisa Cardiff
“From what you just told me, she wasn’t necessarily leaving with them willingly, but you didn’t give her a chance to decide.”
“I don’t want to waste time second guessing every move. When can you get here?”
“I’ll be on the next flight. We will discuss this in person.”
“Don’t bother with commercial flights. Use the Foundation’s plane.”
“Okay, I’ll call the pilot and then alert the Board of my plans. We’ll go from there.”
“I’ve kept a few of the members appraised of the situation, but I’ll schedule a meeting when you arrive. Text me your flight information.” Thomas hung up before Peter could respond.
Peter slammed his phone down on his nightstand and rolled out of bed. Fifteen years of working with Thomas Flannigan still ate at his nerves. The guy was an arrogant ass who thought that he owned Peter. Thomas may be the head of the Galway office, but Peter was the head of the New York office, and the New York office was quickly eclipsing the Galway office due to the shift of money and power. Peter played along at times to get the information he needed, but Peter had his own goals and if they contradicted Thomas’ demands, so be it.
He shouldn’t have listened to Thomas and encouraged Avery to go to Ireland. He normally trusted his instincts, and they told him Avery’s trip was a terrible idea, but the Board felt that with Dierdre dying they didn’t have the time to continue mentoring her until Peter thought she was ready for the truth. He always played by the rules and that was what the Board wanted, so he facilitated it.
What a mess. Thomas always thought he was brilliant. With his own brand of dumb luck, Thomas had stumbled upon Dierdre and her daughter in Ireland when Dierdre had had too much to drink and was wallowing in her sorrows over Cian. He had brought Dierdre in and masterminded Avery’s fake death and relocation. Overnight, Thomas went from a lowly peon to a person of power in the Foundation.
Because the Foundation initially recruited Peter as Thomas’ assistant, Peter was privy to all Thomas’ secrets: his ruthless temper, his strengths, and fortunately, all his weaknesses. Thomas had spent the last twenty years skimming money from the Foundation’s coffers, quietly purchasing a chateau last year in the South of France located between St Tropez and Cannes with money siphoned from the Foundation.
It had taken years to facilitate a shift of the power from Thomas to Peter at the Foundation, but it was finally in motion. As usual, Thomas’ rash behavior jeopardized everything and Peter would have to clean up the mess again. He didn’t mind doing it. He always did what was necessary. After all, he was nothing if not practical, except when it came to Avery.
The minute he set his eyes on Avery five years ago, he knew controlling and manipulating her would not be simple. He wanted her. Despite or maybe because of the power she held over everything and everyone, including the Foundation, he wanted, no, needed her. It would be a challenge, but he was up to it. One day Avery was going to be his to control and possess. Thomas thought Peter would act as his discrete, loyal puppet, but he was wrong. Peter had his own goals and agenda, and being Thomas’ faithful servant wasn’t one of them.
Avery rebuffed him before, and he let her go without objection or complaint, but it was all about timing, and he didn’t want to risk pushing so hard that she felt uncomfortable enough to leave the Foundation. He’d find her now, and the last five years of playing Avery’s loyal mentor and friend would be worth every painful moment. He’d explain this mess with Thomas away, and use his charm to make Avery acknowledge that they belonged together and if that failed, then he would use any means he could, even force. Avery would go back to New York with him, and he would keep her there, away from the Fae and Thomas.
Getting rid of Thomas would be easy. Getting the Fae off her trail and out of her life permanently might be harder, but he never walked away from anything because it was too difficult.
After packing his suitcase, he heard the faint sounds of the city getting louder as it came to life. He loved living in New York. It was in his blood, and he dreaded going back to Galway, but he would do it. He looked out of his floor to ceiling windows, watching Central Park come alive with horse carriages, runners, and worker bees. Without warning, music blared from his IPod, interrupting his thoughts and signaling it was morning. Six o’clock. He needed to call Avery and get going. He had a damsel in distress to rescue.
“Kalen, where are you? I haven’t heard from you since you checked in yesterday?”
Kalen rolled his eyes at Aerin’s overly eager tone. He could hear her thoughts twisting in knots thinking of all the ways she could find fault in the way he conducted the mission so she could resume the lead rather than be stuck pushing paperwork behind the scene. “There’s nothing to worry about. I have Ashling. I’ll bring her into the compound sometime before the end of the day tomorrow.”
“Did you encounter any difficulties that I need to document or report to the Queen?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary considering the heavy involvement of the Foundation. They’ve been trailing me since I made contact with Ashling, but I think I lost them now.”
“I need more than that to go on when I report to the Queen. The Queen is not going to be satisfied with your vague answers. Tell me where you are.”
“Just transfer the call to the Queen’s personal quarters and I’ll handle her fucking questions. I don’t have the time to repeat the answers twice. I need to get back to the girl.”
“Are you serious? You left her alone.” Aerin let out a shrill laugh. “I’d be happy to transfer your call to her. Just don’t forget to tell the Queen you left the girl by herself.”
“Whatever, Aerin. Get the Queen on the line. I’m not interested in playing games right now.”
Working alone certainly would have its benefits, one being that he wouldn’t have to waste valuable time making meaningless reports to a Queen who thrived on petty manipulations and micromanagement.
A click then the Queen’s voice came over the line. “Kalen, so nice of you to remember to call me.”
“There were some complications. This is the first moment I could get away to call.”
“I heard. One would think you’d have better sense than to leave the girl alone.”
Kalen nearly laughed out loud. Of course, Aerin couldn’t wait for him to make his own report. She was hopelessly predictable. Aerin never understood why Cian didn’t want to be with her. If she wanted the answer to that question, all she needed to do was spend a few minutes on self-reflection.
“It was so kind of Aerin to fill you in on the details. I’ll have to thank her. She’s always thinking of ways to help others,” Kalen responded sardonically.
The Queen laughed. “You’re right. She’s not one to willingly let an opportunity slip by.”
Kalen cleared his throat. “Anyway, I should be able to bring the girl in sometime tomorrow. It looks like the walls to the Fae world will thin mid-afternoon into the early evening, and she will be able to cross over with me.”
“Good. Now tell me about these complications.”
“The Foundation made a menace of itself as usual, but I was able to get the girl away without any harm to her.”
“Do they know we have her?”
“I imagine they do. They got a good look at me outside her hotel room and again this morning at a coffee shop.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Yes, but it was unavoidable. I didn’t want to risk sifting out of the area. Making both of us disappear in front of witnesses didn’t seem like a good idea, and I didn’t want to scare the girl before I could gain some semblance of trust.”
“And does she trust you?”
“On some level she does, but not nearly as much as it would take to make my mission easy.”
“What have you shared with her? What are her expectations?”
“What do you mean?”
“She is going with you willingly. Why is that?”
“She
witnessed the Foundation kill Dierdre, and I was the alternative. Besides, I told her that I would take her to her dad. That seems to have alleviated some of her suspicions. Other than that, I don’t know what she believes.”
“You can read her mind. Don’t tell me you haven’t tried, or are you being a gentleman and respecting her privacy?”
“I can only get in if she lets me and even then, it’s a little foggy. She was easier to read in the beginning, but now she’s guarded. I’m not sure if she figured out she can block me or if it’s just a natural inclination given her situation.”
The Queen hesitated, and then said, “It’s probably a little of both. Is there anything else I need to know?”
Kalen groaned inwardly, running his fingers through his hair. “She can read me sometimes too.” He couldn’t believe he admitted this, but she had to know that the girl showed the potential to harness a lot of power.
“Unusual. That complicates things quite a bit, wouldn’t you say?”
“It does, but I can block her when needed. I think I could use it to our advantage.”
“For your sake I hope so. By the way, where are you holding the girl?”
Kalen hoped she would forget to ask. “At one of our safe houses outside of Tuam.”
“The condition of those places alone will probably scare the girl away.”
“You’re right and on that note. I need find some food for the girl and get back to the house.”
“Check in with me if anything changes. Hopefully, she hasn’t wandered off in your absence.”
The phone had disconnected before he had a chance to respond. Kalen slid his phone into his front pocket. He took a deep breath then said, “Me too.”
He didn’t know what possessed him to leave Avery alone. He didn’t think of her as Ashling any longer. The name didn’t suit her. He had originally felt Avery wasn’t the right name for her, but the more everyone said the name, Ashling, like she was a thing rather than a living, breathing person, the more he hated the name. Aerin always spat out the name as though it were a dirty word. It bothered him more than he cared to admit. A lot of things about being with Avery bothered him at the moment.
After kissing Avery at the safe house, he needed to get out of there and regain some perspective. He told himself he needed to give a quick status report, but more than needing to check in with the Queen, he needed to be alone. He couldn’t stomach going back to play house in that tiny cottage. Besides, Avery needed time alone to recover from the rollercoaster she had been on for the last forty-eight hours.
Running his fingers through his hair, he scanned the exterior of the house, hoping she wouldn’t use the time alone to escape. He knew he could find her if she left, but she was so naïve and oblivious to the dangers facing her that he cringed just thinking about those power hungry fools from the Foundation finding her. The whole situation made him restless and irritable, so instead of walking back into the house, he used his Fae power to sift into town. The whole sensation of weightlessness and freedom to sift through time and space and be somewhere new instantaneously soothed some of his anxiety.
In a state of total bewilderment and yearning, Avery pretended to ignore Kalen as he walked out of the house. Humiliation coursed through her as she looked at her disheveled clothing. Unable to control her reactions to him, it was as though he cast a spell over her every time he looked into her eyes. She had never been kissed with such dedicated focus, as if kissing her were the only thing that mattered to him, and she had surrendered to the moment twice now.
She decided she couldn’t stay here waiting for him to return. She knew from the taxi ride that the house was in a rural area and based on the lack of heat and the general disuse of this house, it was unlikely there was an operational phone line. She felt tired in her bones, but she couldn’t let herself take a nap now. If she fell asleep, there was no way she would wake up before Kalen returned. And by then, it would be too late to escape. This was her only chance to escape unseen.
Jumping off the sagging chair, she began a frantic search of the house for anything that might help her escape or give her a clue about what was happening. In the kitchen she found a pantry of canned food covered in dust and cobwebs. She picked up one of the cans, dusted off the top, and read the expiration date. It had expired years ago. That answered one question. This place hadn’t been used for a long time, and that meant the house wouldn’t have any clues.
Rifling through some of the drawers in the kitchen, she found a rusty can opener and a bent kitchen knife. Testing the blade of the knife across the tip of her finger, she watched it draw a prick of blood. It was her best option for a weapon. Wrapping it in an old napkin, she slid the knife into the back pocket of her pants and continued her search.
She found a yellowed phone attached to the wall in the far corner of the kitchen. She picked it up; dead, as she expected. Not bothering to hang it up, she left the phone dangling by the cord.
Both bedrooms were empty except for the dust bunnies curling up the side of the baseboards. Stepping into the dank bathroom, she flipped the light switch. Nothing happened.
Bending over the sink to wash her hands, she turned on the faucet, but she realized the water had been shut off too. “Just my luck,” she murmured.
Studying her reflection as it floated across a cracked and stained mirror, she saw a bone-weary woman staring back. Her face was dirty, and her hair was hopelessly tangled. With no water and no brush, it was unlikely she was going to remedy the situation anytime soon. She sighed loudly, pulling the rubber band out of her hair, vigorously running her fingers through it so she didn’t look like a homeless person. After removing some of the tangles, she quickly braided it and secured the end again with her rubber band. Mascara stained the skin under her eyes, making her look sick or bruised. There wasn’t much she could do about that without soap and water, but she lifted the bottom of her shirt and rubbed it lightly under her eyes. It didn’t improve her appearance much, but she did what she could do. There were worse things in life than being dirty and walking around with raccoon eyes, like listening to your mother being murdered, being shot at, being threatened and kidnapped, being chased through a foreign city, or sleeping under the Spanish Arch next to a stranger. She couldn’t think about that right now. She had to figure out how to get out of Ireland and whether the US embassy was nearby.
Back in the sitting room, the fire burned oblivious of her mounting panic. She scanned the room, not entirely focusing on anything. She didn’t know what she was looking for; she needed something to help her escape or buy her some time alone. In frustration, she kicked the pile of wood Kalen left stacked next to the fireplace.
“Crap,” she cursed then bent over to examine her throbbing toe. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the sunflower yellow cover of her cell phone partially hidden in the woodpile.
Nearly screaming with relief, she picked it up, turned it on, and waited patiently while the Apple icon hovered on the screen. The minute her apps filled the screen, she searched her email, voicemail, and texts. She had a voicemail from Peter and two texts from Grace. She listened to the message from Peter.
“Avery, I am so worried about you. I got a message from one of the board members saying Thomas Flannigan stole some ancient texts, and now he’s a rogue agent working against the Foundation. Please tell me that you have stayed away from him. The Board terminated him, and he went crazy, to put it mildly. I’m on my way to Galway right now to take care of things. Please call me as soon as you get this message. I’ll be in Galway at 7pm tonight. Don’t trust anyone. I can’t explain it fully on this voicemail. This is too crazy. I’m sorry I encouraged you to go to Galway. I miss you and be careful.”
When the message finished, Avery exhaled heavily, relief coursing through her. Thank God. Peter was coming to Galway. She could still trust her friends. Kalen had her so confused; she didn’t know what was up or down anymore. She smiled and pressed ’call back’ on the screen of
her phone. Her call went straight to voicemail. He must already be on a plane. Avery decided to leave him a message of her own.
“Peter, I’m so glad you called. I can’t wait to see you. I’m not in Galway anymore. I’m outside of Tuam, but I think I can make it into the Tuam town center tonight. Can you meet me there around 8:30 tonight? I’ll be outside the ruins of Temple Jarlath, the main entrance if there is one. I only remember a little bit about it, but I’ll be there. See you soon.”
Avery hugged the phone to her chest and then sent a text to Grace.
Peter’s here. I’m meeting him tonight. Stopped by the Galway Foundation office. Things aren’t right. Can’t explain now. Will call when I check into a new hotel.
Relieved, she had the sudden urge to twirl in circles in front of the fireplace. Soon she could take a hot shower, and if her luck held, she might even be on a flight to New York tomorrow. Grabbing the coat Kalen left for her, she ran out the back door rather than the front door to avoid crossing paths with him. Briefly, she pressed his coat to her nose, breathing in his clean, masculine scent, almost sad she might never see him again.
As she walked the perimeter of the property, she discovered the backyard was nearly enclosed with tall, dense shrubbery. She found a small opening and she crawled through it on all fours. Running wildly, she cut across agricultural land until she spotted a small road lined with a decaying wood fence. Cautiously climbing over it, she prayed it would hold her weight. She stared in both directions, uncertain which way to go. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she tried to bring up a map pinpointing her location, but her phone no longer had a signal. She shrugged and turned right.
After an hour of walking down a deserted road, she was almost too tired to continue. Her legs felt like rubber bands, her knees shook with the every step, and her phone still didn’t have a signal. When she first found the road she was convinced she would hit a highway or major road quickly. Dispondent, she looked for somewhere to rest. Spotting a copse of trees that would provide shelter both from the elements and the road, she scrambled over the fence. Three nights of restless sleep and the sheer magnitude of her situation had taken a toll on her. She was overtaxed and at her breaking point.