Black Orchid (Svatura)

by Abigail Owen

  But not before Maddox completed his own plans for her.

  Chapter 13

  Adelaide had no idea what she should do. She didn’t know this man from Adam, or Eve, for that matter. Not that she’d recognize most anyone at the moment. Stranger danger was screaming inside her head.

  But at the same time, he’d saved her life and then had managed to calm her down. That’d been the closest she’d ever come to releasing the monster inside her, and he’d stopped it. And without using any special powers. It could be handy to keep him around, especially while she was trying to learn to control her own abilities.

  Initially, while she’d been waiting for him to bury her would-be killer, Adelaide had thought that her time here had just come to an end too soon. No way would her family let her stay here with assassins coming for her. But she couldn’t go back home. She was still just as much a threat to her family, despite any danger she might be in at the moment. And she’d rather sacrifice herself than them.

  But with Nate here…

  No. That was a crazy idea. Still, she had no idea whom to trust these days. She’d tried to poke around in Nate’s mind with her telepathy, but she was still having some trouble. Unless it was a really loud thought or it was directed at her, she couldn’t hear it.

  Seriously. Really dumb idea.

  She crossed her arms. “Well, I thank you for saving my life, and I guess it was nice to meet you. But I think maybe you should be on your way.”

  Adelaide stood to walk into the house. Nate reached out and snagged her arm. She jerked out of his grasp and skittered back a few steps, her heart hammering.

  Nate held up his hands and didn’t come closer. But he didn’t give up either. “Uh-uh, Princess. I answered all your questions. Now you tell me what that was about earlier.”

  Adelaide’s chin took on a stubborn tilt. “My house, my land, my rules.”

  Nate stepped closer. She glared at him but didn’t retreat again, even as she vaguely wondered what he’d do with her if he caught her. As fast as he could move, she’d never get away anyway, so no use trying.

  “Sweetheart, I’m not leaving until I know what’s going on here.”

  Adelaide licked her lips. “Why?” she demanded. “You’re staying out of the war. You did your good deed. What do you care about me?”

  And why did she suddenly feel a small spark of hope that this total stranger, no matter how good-looking under all that scruff, would say that he did care about her?

  Nate gave her a lopsided grin, and her stomach dipped in response. “Let’s just say I have an overdeveloped damsel-in-distress calling. And you clearly fall into that category.”

  Adelaide folded her arms across her chest as she held back her ridiculous disappointment that his was apparently just a general concern. “What makes you say that?”

  Nate actually laughed aloud. “Seriously?” He pointed at the spot where he’d buried the guy. “He might not be the only one coming for you. Besides, no way am I leaving you alone if you might go nuclear at any moment.”

  “I’ll deal with any potential future assassins. I promise I’m far from helpless. And I’m not sure what you mean by nuclear, but I’m not going there. So you’re off the hook.” She watched him closely, waiting for the shrug of indifference, waiting for him to leave.

  But he didn’t do either. Instead, he took a step closer. “You don’t want to talk about it to a total stranger? Okay. I get that. But let me ask you this. Was today the worst it’s been? Whatever had you shaking on the ground?”

  She hesitated. “Yes. Facing death apparently makes it kick in hard.”

  “And having me there helped?”

  Adelaide chewed on her lower lip and thought about how wise it would be to let him know that he had any power over her whatsoever. But he already seemed to know.

  “Yes. You helped.”

  “Has it been getting worse?” He took a small step closer. Clearly, he was trying to not spook her.

  “Only when someone shows up in the middle of nowhere and tries to kill me.”

  Nate chuckled, and the sound made her want to smile. Another step nearer. “What if I could help you?”

  “I told you. I can handle any more people who come along. And as for the other, as long as I’m not upset, I’m fine.”

  “Still, I make a good defensive system. And what if I helped you learn to control… errr… whatever it is you can’t control?”

  Adelaide shook her head. “It’s not possible. There’s only one person who could help with that, and she won’t—”

  “Won’t what?” Another step, crowding into her space. She could see the faint ring of gold around the pupil of his eye, making the deep brown seem even deeper.

  Adelaide just shook her head.

  But Nate’s offer did align with her earlier thoughts. He could protect her. Buy her more time out here. And maybe with him there to help her if she got out of control, she could practice her other skills. She suspected her terror of unleashing the beast inside was what was holding her back from getting a good handle on her other gifts.

  But how could she really trust him? She didn’t even know him.

  And then a thought struck. If he does anything threatening, the dragon will come out no matter how good his arms feel around me. That kid had it on the verge. So really, I’m pretty safe.

  Making up her mind, she tipped her chin up and laid it out for him. “Okay… I’ve lost most of my memory and with it any control over my powers. I could use your… er… help as I practice them.”

  Nate nodded slowly, though she could see his curiosity. “Help how?”

  Adelaide looked at the sun lowering in the sky and realized they’d been out here talking for a while. “Let’s go inside, eat something, and I’ll tell you what I can. Then you can decide.”

  “All right.”

  Slightly relieved to escape his nearness – and he had gotten close – Adelaide went and grabbed the glasses of water she’d brought out earlier. Then she turned and walked back to the house, conscious of Nate beside her every step of the way. He followed her inside quietly and then sat at the small table in the kitchen and watched as she started to get them more to drink. She’d get food after they were done talking. Adelaide appreciated the time it gave her to think over what and how much to tell him. But she could feel his gaze following her around the small space every second. And she could feel the warm blush that moved up over her neck and face in response.

  Finally she sat down across from him and put the glasses in front of both of them. Adelaide took a sip of water and debated where to start.

  “You said I could help. How?” he finally asked.

  Adelaide blew out a breath. “Basically… exactly what you did today. If I start shaking like that, help me calm down, get back in control.”

  “And protect you from killers,” he added with a grin.

  Adelaide rolled her eyes.

  “What happens if I can’t help you gain control?”

  Adelaide glanced away. “You don’t want to know,” she muttered. She looked back and shrugged apologetically. “And I can’t really tell you. Let’s just say it’s pretty bad, and you’d better hope you’re as fast as you say you are, because there’s nowhere you could hide that would save you from what I am.”

  Adelaide relaxed a tad when the warning in her words, the message that she wasn’t exactly defenseless, seemed to register. He tipped his chair so that it balanced on the back legs and he raised his eyebrows.

  “You said powers earlier. More than one?”

  Adelaide took another sip of her drink. “I am a falcon metamorph, so I’d like to work on that. And also on my telepathy.”

  Nate’s dropped his chair back to all fours with a thump. “The falcon I’m good with but not the telepathy.”

  Warning bells went off in Adelaide’s mind. She swirled the water in her cup. “Why? Do you have something to hide?”

  “I’ve tangled with telepaths, and I don’t like anyone
digging around in my head or messing with my emotions.”

  Adelaide sat back and shivered at the sudden anger behind his words, the look he leveled on her. Almost as if he blamed her. She couldn’t really fault him if he’d had issues before. She’d found that having four other telepaths around – Lila, Ellie, Griffin, and Selene – meant that none of her thoughts were all that private. Annoying to say the least and sometimes downright invasive.

  “Okay. No telepathy with you.”

  Nate looked around and lifted his hand to stage whisper, “I hate to tell you this, sweetness, but there’s no one else here at the moment.”

  “Are you sure about that?” she whispered back. She almost smiled at his frown of uncertainty. “Actually, my family comes here every few days to check in and drop off supplies,” she continued. “And they can’t know you’re here.”

  Heavens, they’d go ballistic if they had any idea what she was thinking of doing. But Adelaide was here to take charge of her life, and Nate could help her do that. She was sure of it.

  “You can’t stay in the house other than to sleep, which you can do on the couch there.” She nodded toward the sitting room. “And when you get a mental flash from me to hide, the only telepathy I’ll use with you, make yourself scarce immediately. Got it?”

  Nate leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head, seemingly casually, but she could see the tautness in his shoulders

  “So let me get this straight. You’d like me to stay here to help calm you down when you start to shake and run far and fast if you really lose it. Disappear when your family shows up. Sleep on that tiny couch. Stay outside all day. And trust that, other than warnings about your family, you won’t turn that creepy telepathic gift my way. That about right?”

  Adelaide winced as she stood up and took her glass to the sink. “Yes.” Turning, she leaned against the counter and pointed at herself. “Damsel in distress here, remember? And you offered.”

  Nate tipped his head and then gave her a megawatt grin with enough charm in it to make her knees knock. Though, like before, she noticed it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Have fun stormin’ the castle,” Nate muttered to himself.

  “What?”

  “It’s a quote. From The Princess Bride,” he said.

  At Adelaide’s look of blank incomprehension he tacked on, “It’s a movie from the 1980s.”

  “I don’t have memories from that time period,” she said, as she turned back to the sink.

  “Huh. Never mind. All right, Princess. You’ve got yourself a man.”

  She looked over her shoulder to gauge his sincerity. And hope blossomed in her heart for the first time in ages.

  “My name isn’t Princess, or sweetheart, or sweetness. It’s Adelaide.” She sniffed. “And, while I’m setting some rules around here, you need to bathe. And shave.”

  Nate shrugged. “Point me to the bathroom. Adelaide.”

  She did.

  “I’ll just go get my pack. It’s outside.” And he left the house.

  It already felt emptier with him out of it. Adelaide sighed and wondered if she would regret this impetuous decision. Probably. She ran her hands through her hair, surprised for the umpteenth time at how short it was now. She wasn’t sure when she’d cut it.

  “What are you doing?” she muttered to herself. But no obvious answer was going to come.

  Adelaide caught a flash, and she quickly turned a suspicious eye toward the stairway. With another sigh, she ran a hand around the back of her neck. Was she caught already?

  Closing her eyes to help herself concentrate, she shot Nate a thought. “Don’t come in yet. I’ve got company sooner than expected.”

  She hoped he got the message.

  Chapter 14

  Nate grabbed his discarded backpack and then glanced back at the house. As far as he could tell, Adelaide wasn’t watching, so he took the opportunity to check on Dave. Using his speed, he made it up to the grave to find that Dave had already left. Nate frowned. He’d have to talk to his henchman. Dave was supposed to have waited for the cover of darkness.

  Suddenly he froze when he caught Adelaide’s mental command. “Got it,” he thought back, wondering if she could actually hear him. He took the opportunity the extra time provided him to quickly tap the disturbed earth back into place in case Adelaide come up here.

  He grabbed his gear and quickly moved behind the cover of a tree. As he stood there, a faint sound, barely a rustle, caught his attention. He would’ve written it off as a small rodent in the underbrush, but some sixth sense made Nate look up… directly into Greasy Dave’s black stare. Silently he made his way to where Dave stood.

  “What the hell are you still doing here?” he hissed.

  “What?” Dave shrugged. “You didn’t think we were going to trust that you were just getting this done on your own, did you?”

  Nate fought back the urge to slam Dave’s grinning mug into the trunk of the tree. Instead, he just flexed his muscles a bit. A not-so-subtle hint about his super strength, but Dave’s frown said he got it.

  “She’s just asked me to help her regain her powers. I’ve established trust and a reason to stick around a good long while.”

  “Ah, so she has lost her powers.” Dave gave a satisfied nod. “But you won’t, of course.”

  “Won’t what?”

  “Help her regain those powers.”

  Nate frowned. “Do I look like an idiot? Of course I won’t.”

  “Good. You’d better get back in there. She’s waiting for you.”

  “No, she has company. But you’d better clear out. I have no idea who’s in there with her.

  Dave nodded and turned to walk away. Nate turned back to watch the house.

  “Oh… and Nate?”

  Nate glanced over his shoulder to find Dave staring at him intently. “What?”

  “I’ll be watching.”

  *****

  With a resigned sigh, Adelaide called out to the man she’d seen. “Okay, Oren, you can come down here.”

  A ghost-like figure appeared at the top of her stairs and then, in a heartbeat, hovered directly before her.

  She’d met Oren at the castle. He was Selene’s right- hand man and a bit of a father figure. He’d been kind and considerate to Adelaide on the few occasions they’d met. Every time she saw him, Adelaide was a little surprised. At over fifteen hundred years old, he only looked to be in his sixties. While their kind could live up to two thousand years, she’d venture to say many didn’t make it that long for one reason or another. It was rare to meet one of his years.

  Despite the fact that she liked Oren, Adelaide shivered. The wolf shifter also had the rare ability of astral projection. He could project an image of himself, appearing as a pale specter. And it was unsettling.

  Adelaide crossed her arms. “What’re you doing here, Oren?”

  “I am sorry if I surprised you. I was just checking in on you.”

  Adelaide waited for him to ask about Nate. Depending on how long he’d been there, he easily could’ve seen something. But he didn’t say more. Then Adelaide registered what he’d said, and she crossed her arms. “Charlotte was here only yesterday. I’m fine.”

  “We can’t be too careful. If Maddox discovered that you were here alone, who knows what he would do to you?”

  “How often have you been checking in?”

  “Ah. Just now and then. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

  Adelaide’s lips thinned. “How considerate. Could you please ask Charlotte to come get me? I have some things that need to be said to my family, apparently.”

  Oren gave her a polite half-bow. “Of course.” His form wavered and slowly disappeared.

  “Nate, I’ll be gone for a little bit. Don’t come in yet,” she sent him the thought and prayed that he got it.

  Only a few minutes later, Charlotte appeared before her. “Now, honey, don’t be too angry with them. Selene just wanted to make sure you were safe.”

  Adelaide
held out her hand by way of reply. With a nod of resignation, Charlotte took it, and then, before she could even blink, Adelaide was standing in Selene’s chambers. Griffin, still a wolf, stood over to the side with Ramsey, Lila, and Lila and Adelaide’s parents. The sound of the door opening drew Adelaide’s head around. Ellie and Alex joined them in the room.

  My, my. They assembled everyone fast, didn’t they?

  Adelaide was tempted to light right into them, but something in her mother’s wary expression stopped her, that and the fact that anger with her family was such a foreign emotion to her. She’d never hurt them. Ever. But she was upset enough to do so now, with sharp words and selfish reasons.

  God, have I become some sort of monster? Is that why they took my memory? Is that why my mother is afraid? She took a deep, calming breath. Whatever she’d become, she could overcome it. Right?

  “How long has Oren been watching over me?” She thought she’d asked calmly enough, but Lila flinched.

  “Since you’ve been there,” Selene answered.

  Adelaide nodded. “I understand that you’re concerned, but he scared me half to death. If you feel the need to check in more frequently, please have the courtesy to set it up with me ahead of time. You risk triggering the dragon. And you don’t have to spy.”

  Adelaide felt a twinge of guilt at that lie. She did her best to keep her thoughts blocked from all the prying minds in the room, pushing any image of Nate from her head. When did she start lying to her family? But, still, they wouldn’t tell her everything about her memory gaps either. That was a form of lying too, right? Omission.

  “We didn’t want to intrude,” Selene said.

  “Hmmm… Well, I would like your promise that you’ll intrude when I’m expecting you. If you feel the need for that to be more often, let’s discuss it.”

  Selene nodded. “Fair enough.”

  Adelaide looked expectantly at Charlotte, point made and ready to return home.

  “It’s actually a good thing you came right now,” Selene said, pulling Adelaide’s gaze back. “We had a bit of a development that you should be aware of. I was just about to share it with everyone else.”