by Terry Spear
Rourke was quiet and then said, “Thank you.”
In that small bit of thanks, she heard a world of appreciation for what she’d said. That made her wish she’d said it earlier. She wasn’t in a habit of doling out praise for any little thing, which would make the praise not worth giving or receiving. Still, she should have said something before this.
She’d make it up to Rourke and show her appreciation to him somehow later, when assassins weren’t out to get her. She frowned. If Cyn was behind this, was it because Hunter’s sister was alive when his own was dead? But if he had been that close to his sister, Meara couldn’t understand why he hadn’t bitten and changed her. As a human, she would grow old and die, and he’d lose her eventually while he’d live on for eons. Something wasn’t right.
Goose flesh erupted on her arms, and she felt another chill race through her.
“I’ll talk to you later. I’ve got to tell Finn what you’ve learned. Thanks again.” She ended the call, but before she could lift the phone over the tub and set it on the floor away from the bubbles, the phone slipped from her soapy hand and landed in the bathwater.
Frantically, she grabbed for it, searching for the phone at the bottom of the tub. She grasped it, fished it out, and tried to turn it on. No sign of life. “Damn it all, anyway.” She dropped the dead phone on her pants outside the tub.
“Finn!” she called out, trying to get out of the tub. Oh, oh, oh. Her muscles reacted with twinges of pain in her hip and thigh when she tried to stand, reminding her that she was still sore and bruised.
She was reaching for a towel, her skin dripping with water and soap bubbles, when Finn and Paul barged into the bathroom with guns drawn. She gave a startled squeak, not expecting to see Paul with Finn, or that Finn would come that quickly. As she drew the sunny yellow towel around her, she said, “I’m all right. I just think I might know who was involved in that fiasco of a last mission of yours.”
“Who?” Finn asked, holstering his gun, while Paul took in way too much of her towel-clad but mostly naked body.
“The guy Hunter wouldn’t let me date when he was going on the mission. Although the card that was left behind with Allan doesn’t seem to represent Cyn’s behavior in the least.”
“Sin?” both Finn and Paul said at once.
“Do you know him?” she asked, climbing out of the tub and the much-too-cool water as Finn quickly grabbed her arm to steady her.
“No,” Finn said with a snort. “I just wondered how he ever came up with the name ‘Sin,’ and how anyone let him get near you. For that matter, how the hell do you know about the tarot card?”
“Cyn. C-Y-N, Cyn, short for Cynric, which he said comes from his Anglo-Saxon roots. He said it means powerful.”
Finn narrowed his eyes at her.
“Well, I thought he was referring to…” She gave a slight cough. “You know, the way he gave me this wickedly sinful look, like… well…” She couldn’t help the blush warming her cheeks and sliding all the way down her skin. “But then he explained his name was Anglo-Saxon in origin and…” She shrugged.
Finn’s expression was still rigid as ice, and Paul was staring at her just as hard.
“Who told you about the card?” Finn asked.
“Rourke, the reporter, newly turned. You met him at the morgue.”
“How the hell did he know?”
“Well, hell, Finn, it seems everyone in the pack knew about that but me. Chris told him.” She glowered at Finn.
“And you know what it means?”
“Of course.” Rourke had told her, but she wasn’t letting Finn know that she hadn’t had a clue before that.
Finn gave her an elusive smile. “When I learned the meaning of the Knight of Swords, someone came immediately to mind.”
“Let me guess.” She looked at the sparkly ceiling and then eyed Finn with annoyance. “You?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “What did he look like?”
“Let me get dressed, and I’ll describe him the best I can.”
Finn and Paul didn’t budge from the bathroom as Finn asked, “Did Hunter see him?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t he want you seeing the man?” Finn asked, frowning again at her.
She gave him the same annoyed look back, not caring for his harsh tone. “He didn’t like his name, or what he said it meant, if you have to know.”
The way Finn was scowling at her, she could tell he didn’t like Cyn, either. Although she thought there was a deeper reason for Hunter not liking Cyn, but he wouldn’t disclose it.
“If you’ll both leave, I’ll get dressed, and then I’ll tell you more.”
“Tell me what, Meara?”
“He was a Navy SEAL, one of you guys. His sister was one of the hostages that died on the island during your last mission.”
Finn stared at her in disbelief, but she figured he was coming to his own conclusions about what that might mean. Paul was looking just as stunned.
“Go,” she said, motioning to the door with her free hand. “I’ll tell you what else I know after I get dressed.”
Finn gave her a stiff nod, fearing the worst—Bjornolf had been right. Meara was the one the assassin had been targeting, and now they might just have the reason.
He ushered Paul toward the door, already pulling his phone out and punching in a button. “Hunter?” he said, closing the bathroom door behind him. “What do you know about the guy Meara wanted to date named Cynric Iverson, Cyn for short. Yeah, besides that you didn’t like his damn name or what he said it stood for.”
“He called me and wanted to be on our team before I asked Allan to join us, and I said no to Iverson.”
“So what was the problem?”
“He wanted Meara, and he wasn’t good enough for her. But I suspected he was just using her to make points with me, thinking that if she fell in love with him and vouched for him, I’d let him join my team. He didn’t have the training that we needed to get the mission done. Hell, if this has to do with him, I’ll kill the son of a bitch.” Hunter didn’t say anything for a couple of heartbeats as Finn wondered how close Cyn had gotten with Meara before Hunter put an end to it.
“Did you know that Cyn’s sister was one of the hostages that died during our last mission?”
More silence, then Hunter asked, “Who told you that?”
“Rourke, your resident reporter, newly turned.”
Hunter let out his breath. “How the hell did he learn of it?”
“He’s a reporter,” Finn said, guessing Rourke was used to doing investigations.
“Hell. Then if Cyn is the one behind this, it’s damned personal.”
“Yeah, that’s just what I thought,” Finn agreed, not liking the scenario one bit.
“How’s Meara holding up?”
“She’s doing fine. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”
“I’m coming home,” Hunter abruptly said.
At first, Finn thought Hunter didn’t trust him to protect her, maybe even thinking that the incident with Bjornolf at the inn proved that. But then Anna’s warning that she’d tell Hunter what Finn had been up to with Meara flashed through Finn’s mind. “Don’t believe everything Anna has to say.”
A significant pause followed. Then Hunter said, “What has Anna got to do with anything?”
Finn was totally thrown off kilter by Hunter’s question, certain that Anna had already talked to Hunter about Finn’s relationship with Meara. “Didn’t Anna call you?”
“No,” Hunter said tersely.
Finn rubbed the stubble on his chin. Shit.
“What was Anna going to tell me?” Hunter asked in none too friendly a manner.
“Nothing. Why are you coming home then?”
Hun
ter said, “Bjornolf just called me.”
“Hell.”
Hunter waited for Finn to say something more, but when he didn’t, Hunter said, “So is there something you want to get off your chest with me?”
“No. What the hell did he call you about?” Finn really hadn’t expected Bjornolf to stoop so low as to inform Hunter of Finn’s business with Meara, but well, hell. Finn knew the bastard was more than a little interested in Meara.
“He thinks Meara is the focus of this operation. That she’s the one the assassins are targeting. And if this is true about Cyn’s sister dying during our mission, I believe Bjornolf is right. Which is why I’m coming home.”
Finn’s mouth dropped open. Hell, chalk it up to feeling damned guilty about his handling of the situation between him and Meara when Hunter’s plan to return home didn’t have a thing to do with that.
“Yeah, so what did you think Bjornolf was calling me about? The same thing you thought Anna might be reporting back to me about?” Hunter asked, his tone stony.
“Hell, Hunter, she’s a grown woman.”
“You’d damn well better be talking about Anna, Finn. Meara is my sister. And grown or not, the same rules don’t apply.”
Finn wasn’t sure why, maybe because of the respect and admiration he’d always felt for Hunter, but at that moment, he felt like a schoolboy who was in serious shit and standing before a stern-faced, pissed-off principal.
A prolonged silence lapsed between them. Then Hunter said, “I’m boarding the flight now. I take it you want to talk to me about joining the family. If not, just let this be a warning.”
The phone clicked off and Finn found himself listening to dead air space.
Damn it all. Finn would have taken Meara for a mate in a heartbeat if he’d been wired differently. She was fun and courageous and a treasure for any male who could win her hand. Even if she was very much like the Knight of Swords. Maybe that was what he liked so much about her.
When he was all in the planning, considering every possible action and reaction like a chess player contemplating his next move, Meara would have lunged forward and played the move without regard to what could happen. In a way, he wished he was more impulsive like that. Actually, he had to admit he had been more spontaneous in dealing with Meara. He realized that she was rubbing off on him—which he found wasn’t a bad thing.
But if they became mated, she’d throw a conniption as soon as he told her he was going on a dangerous mission. He didn’t need the aggravation, and he wasn’t willing to give up that lifestyle yet.
He glanced up to see Paul watching him, looking like he knew just what had happened and truly sympathized with Finn. Paul threw up his hands and said, “I didn’t call Hunter, either. I wouldn’t have. Maybe threatened to a few more times to make you come to your senses. But I wouldn’t have actually done it, knowing how angry Hunter could get.” He tried to look like he felt Finn’s pain, but somehow the effect wasn’t quite sincere. “So what happens now?”
“We keep Meara safe and catch the bad guys while we’re at it.” Finn’s personal life wasn’t the issue at the moment. Or shouldn’t be anyway.
“What about you and Hunter?” Paul persisted. “What are you going to do when he gets here?”
Finn let out his breath. “We’ll work out our differences. We always do.”
“And Meara?”
Finn didn’t have a ready answer for that. The problem was that he liked Meara too damned much. The thought that any other male would have her didn’t set well with him. But more than that? He just didn’t want to give her up.
Paul stared at him in disbelief, and then the corners of his mouth rose. “My God, you’ve fallen for her. Hard.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be you when Hunter returns. But I have to admit I’m glad it’s you that fell for her and not someone who wasn’t one of the team.”
Now what was Finn supposed to do? Tell Meara that Hunter knew about them or suspected something had gone on between them? Or just drop the subject and keep this on a strictly professional basis for the rest of the mission like he should have done from the start? When this was over, Meara could shop for her perfect mate again. Finn would stay far away from the temptation that was Meara and the whole Oregon coast where he might run into her anytime and want to take up where they had left off. “Might” wasn’t the word for it. He knew if he saw her again after having a taste of her, he could never go back to the way they’d been.
Anna shoved the back door open, her face red with annoyance, and fisted her hands on her hips. “Hunter just called me. He said you thought I’d phoned him about something that was going on between you and Meara. And he wanted to know what that was all about. Care to explain?”
“I’m going to check the perimeter of the house for a while,” Paul said, smiling at Finn. He took off by way of the back deck, leaving Finn to dig himself out of the deepening quicksand he found himself in.
“Yeah, well, it was a misunderstanding,” Finn said, hating to have to explain himself further to anyone else.
“We both figured that, but I don’t like having to lie to Hunter to protect your ass, even though you and Meara are a big boy and girl. Hunter is still her brother.”
“He reminded me of that. All right?”
Anna shook her head. “Fine, but the game plans have been changed, and now Hunter’s setting the rules. I told you I should have stayed with Meara. Now that’s just what’s going to happen. And you get outdoor patrol.”
Finn heard movement behind him and turned to see Meara walking down the hall toward them. Her eyes were wide, and her sexy mouth was parted in surprise, her cheeks lightly flushed. He wondered how much of the conversation she’d heard before she’d let them know she was joining them.
“I have to hear what Meara has to say about the ‘date’ she nearly had with Cyn,” he said to Anna without taking his eyes off Meara.
“A date with sin? That should be an interesting tale.” Anna shook her head. “Hunter said I should talk with her and pass the info along.”
Finn stood firm. He was the one who’d come to warn Hunter and his sister about the danger, and Paul, too, and had arranged for Anna to be here to help watch their backs. He wasn’t giving up protecting Meara for anything or anyone.
“Hunter learned about us, didn’t he?” Meara asked softly.
As reluctant as Finn was to admit it, he did. “Yeah.”
She shot an accusing glance in Anna’s direction, but Finn quickly said, “By my admission, Meara. No one else told Hunter.”
“Oh, well, terrific. So you went and told him all the sordid details?” Meara said, her tone of voice caustic.
Anna’s eyes grew big.
“Well, just fine. Do as Hunter ordered,” Meara snapped at Finn, her eyes fiery with indignation. “I’ll talk to Anna, and she can relay what little I know to whomever she’s working for.”
“Hell, Meara, I…” Finn ran his hands over his head in frustration. “It was a mistake.”
“A mistake?” she asked shrilly. “Oh yeah, how well I know. That’s how it always ends up—one big mistake. Do me a favor and don’t make it any worse than it already is, okay?” She strode past him, her delectable scent piquing his hormones, and he wondered how any woman could smell as mouthwatering as she did, making him want her as much as he did, when she was ready to bite his head off.
She entered the kitchen and started heating water in the teakettle.
“Fine.” He hadn’t wanted a mate. He had told her he wasn’t into romance or anything of the sort. He wasn’t ready to give up his work.
He stormed out of the house. This was the kind of job he knew how to do well. Going after the bad guys and protecting the innocents.
Dealing with relationships? He totally sucked at that.
“Hey, if it’s any co
nsolation,” Paul said, joining him out front, “you’re the first SEAL on the team that Meara’s ever shown any real interest in. If you ever decide to settle down, I’m sure she’d go for you.”
The way she’d looked at Finn in the house with that hurt expression once she’d learned he’d told Hunter what was going on between them—not in so many words, but Hunter had to have known what had happened—Finn imagined she’d just as soon feed this SEAL to the sharks than do anything as foolish as consider him for her mate.
Yep, on the list of prospective mates back at her cabin, his name would definitely have been crossed off with big letters stating “NO WAY in hell!” written beside it.
***
“Are you all right?” Anna asked Meara as they sat down at the kitchen table over steaming mugs of mandarin-orange-flavored tea.
Meara frowned. “Sure.”
“Finn didn’t do it on purpose, by the way. He didn’t talk to Hunter about the two of you. I imagine it was more of a case of feeling guilty about your relationship and letting it slip with Hunter when Finn hadn’t meant to.”
Meara still couldn’t help feeling perturbed about it. She’d thought they could keep what had happened between them secret from Hunter so he wouldn’t throw a fit. Deep down, she didn’t want Finn to lose his longtime friendship with Hunter over the situation. “I thought you wanted to talk about Cyn,” she said curtly, not mad at Anna, but she couldn’t quash her annoyance with Finn for letting the situation slip.
Anna took a deep breath. “I’ve known Finn for six months now and worked really closely with him on a few missions, and I’ve never seen him so wrapped up in a woman. Kind of nice to see. I was beginning to think he was a eunuch.”
“Finn?”
Anna smiled. “Yeah, really. Because of the kind of work he does and not wanting to worry about a bad guy grabbing someone he cares for, Finn just hasn’t bothered with relationships. So when I saw him with you and the way he was acting all smitten, I figured something more was going on.”