by I. T. Lucas
“Hi, Tessa.”
“Are you very busy? I wanted to stop at your house and give you a good luck charm.”
“Oh, thanks. I was telling Julian how I needed one to make the fundraiser successful.”
“How is it going so far?”
“The first day it was nothing but crickets, the second we got a trickle of donations, mostly from clan members, and today it’s too early to tell.”
“It’s going to pick up. Those things take time.”
“That’s what Roni is telling me. I’m crossing my fingers.”
“The good luck charm is for the trip, not for the fundraiser. But I’ll get you another one for that.”
“Thanks. That’s so thoughtful of you. I’m almost done packing, but my mother and I need to be at Kian’s office in about an hour. So, hurry up.”
“I’m walking toward the door as we speak.”
“I’ll turn on the coffeemaker.”
In the kitchen, Ella found her mother scrubbing the counter. Again.
“You’re going to rub it down to nothing and we will have to order a new counter.”
Vivian gave her an evil look when she pulled the coffeemaker out. “Don’t make a mess. I want to leave the house clean.”
As if it was going to stay that way. Parker and Scarlet were supposed to stay with Merlin, but Ella doubted he would be spending the entire time there, and for sure he wouldn’t want to sleep there. Her brother was going to want some quiet time to himself, and he was going to make a mess in the kitchen.
“I promise to clean up. Tessa is coming over. What do you want me to serve her? Water?”
Vivian waved a hand at the fridge. “We have soft drinks.”
“We should leave them for Parker. Merlin is a fun guy, but he forgets to go grocery shopping. I’m glad we cooked enough to feed both of them while we are gone.”
Provided everything went according to plan, Vivian would come back home Wednesday night. Ella planned on spending the weekend with Julian, but nothing had been decided yet.
“Wonder invited Parker to come to stay with her and Anandur.”
“I didn’t know that. Should we take the food to her place?”
That could be a good solution. Their house was not a disaster zone like Merlin’s. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure they would be okay with hosting Scarlet.
Vivian shook her head. “Parker prefers staying at home by himself and hanging out with Merlin when he gets lonely.”
“What’s the matter? Is he over his crush on Wonder?”
Her mother snorted. “He’s not, but that’s exactly why he doesn’t want to spend so much time in her house. It’s stressful for him.”
That was true. Ella had forgotten how nerve-wracking crushes could be. She’d had one when she was Parker’s age, and it was on the UPS guy of all people. She remembered how excited she would get whenever they were expecting a delivery, but she also remembered how sweaty her palms would get whenever he smiled at her, cute twin dimples forming in his cheeks.
With perfect timing, Tessa rang the bell at the same time the coffeemaker finished brewing.
Opening the door, Ella glanced at the small package Tessa was holding. “What’s in there? Can I open it now?”
“Sure.” Tessa handed her the package.
“Come on in. Coffee is ready.”
“It smells clean in here,” Tessa said as she followed Ella to the kitchen. “Hi, Vivian. I wanted to come and wish you luck before you left for Washington.”
Her mother smiled. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful.”
Ella poured the coffee into three mugs and put them on the counter. “Didn’t you notice that the marble top is missing a quarter of an inch?”
Tessa examined the counter and then looked up with a puzzled expression on her face. “Did you do something to it?”
“My mother went into a cleaning frenzy over the weekend, which is what she always does when she’s stressed. This counter got scrubbed at least five times.”
“Don’t mess it up.” Vivian wagged her finger at them. “Besides, I did more than clean. We went grocery shopping, and then we cooked so Parker would have food while we were gone, and then we cleaned.”
“I stand corrected.” Ella leaned toward her mother and kissed her cheek. “I’m just teasing. You are right about cleaning being calming.”
“For me it’s arts and crafts,” Tessa said. “Making this thing gave me hours of calm.” She motioned to the package. “Open it.”
Ella tore through the wrapping paper and pulled out a dream catcher. “It’s so pretty. Do you think it will protect me from the dream walker?”
Tessa shrugged. “It’s worth a try.”
“It’s gorgeous. Thank you. Although right now I’m more concerned about him not showing up in my dreams. Do you think the dream catcher can help me lure him back? He didn’t come Saturday or Sunday night, and I’m starting to worry.”
Tessa arched a brow. “Why, do you think that something happened to him?”
“No, I’m worried that he is busy doing whatever he does for Navuh and that he won’t come to Washington. I don’t know what I’m scared of more. Mr. D trying to snatch me or not showing up at all.”
As the doorbell rang again, Ella and Vivian exchanged glances.
“Did you invite anyone else?” Vivian asked.
“I didn’t. Let me see who it is.”
Maybe it was Merlin with a good luck potion, or perhaps just a relaxing tonic. Both she and Vivian needed it.
“Ray, what a pleasant surprise.” Ella forced a smile.
If he thought to start something while Julian was away, she would promptly show him how wrong he was.
“I came to wish you luck, and I brought you invitations to a concert I’m giving next week.” He handed her an envelope. “I included tickets for your brother and Magnus as well. I hope you all can come.”
That was innocent enough.
“Thank you. I would love to come, and I’m sure my mother and Magnus would love to as well. But Parker, not so much.” She opened the door wider. “Please, come in. Would you like some coffee?”
“Thank you. I would love some.”
Half an hour later, Vivian started getting antsy. “We need to go. I don’t want to be late for the debriefing.”
Ray got the hint and rose to his feet. “Thank you for the coffee, and again, good luck. I’ll keep my fingers crossed when I’m not playing.”
Tessa hugged Vivian briefly and then crushed Ella to her chest. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
32
Kian
Hands tucked into his back pockets, Kian stood next to his office window and gazed at the village square below. It wasn’t as if he had nothing to do, but with the nervous energy coursing through him since morning, he had been too distracted to concentrate on work, and the foot-tall stack of files on his desk remained untouched.
In less than fifteen minutes, Vivian and Ella were scheduled to arrive for the debriefing, which gave him just enough time to grab a quick smoke. He wasn’t supposed to do that during his workdays. The deal Kian had made with himself was that he was only going to indulge while relaxing outside in his garden, but here and there he snuck one in.
Especially when he felt tense and frustrated like he was now.
Grabbing a pack of cigarillos and a lighter from his desk drawer, he headed out into the corridor and opened the door to the emergency escape stairs leading to the roof.
His not so secret hideout.
Bridget, whose office was a couple doors down from his, knew he was sneaking out there, but she was cool about it, keeping it to herself and refraining from making comments.
When Kian needed a few moments alone, the last thing he wanted was for people to know they could find him on the roof.
He lit up as soon as the roof door closed behind him.
Staying in the office while Turner led a mission that Kian would have loved to be a part of was frustrating as hell
.
Since when had he become a glorified pencil pusher?
He used to lead missions like that.
Catching Lokan was going to be the biggest coup the clan had ever scored against the Doomers, and he was going to miss out on that because Turner had declared him a security liability.
Fucking Turner.
Kian was still the American clan’s leader, and until bloody Turner had shown up and taken over operations, Kian had been in charge of defending the clan and heading missions.
So what if Turner was better at it? It didn’t make Kian a fucking liability or obsolete.
Taking a long puff, he blew out the smoke and looked up at the sky. He was damn good at it too. The rescue he’d headed in what was now the sanctuary had been a complicated operation, and he’d pulled it off without losing a single Guardian. And that had been despite several glitches.
The operation before that, however, was a different story.
Amanda’s so-called rescue had been a joke. Not his fault, though. How could he have known that his sister had not only fallen for the Doomer but had him wrapped around her little finger?
Fates, what an embarrassment that had been.
Perception had a way of warping reality into what was expected. Mistakenly interpreting Amanda’s scream as resulting from torture and not a climax, Kian had rushed headlong into danger. He would’ve never made such a mistake if it was any other female. But he’d found it inconceivable that Amanda could be having sex with a Doomer.
Back then he’d thought of them as worse than worms and couldn’t forgive her.
A lot had changed since then, and Dalhu as well as Robert had managed to overcome Kian’s centuries of deep-seated hatred that put every member of the Brotherhood in the same dirty basket.
Grudgingly, he had to concede that not all Doomers were pure evil, and as in any society, some were better than others.
Perhaps Turner was right, and Kian was too hotheaded and emotional to lead this particular mission. He'd been lucky with Dalhu because the guy had operated solo and had had no malevolent intentions toward Amanda.
It could easily have been a trap, one Kian had run headlong into without thinking.
True, capturing Navuh’s son didn’t carry the same emotional intensity as rushing to save his sister, who he’d thought was being tortured, but it was tantalizing enough to cause him to make a move just as stupid.
Turner, cold fish that he was, had no such problems. With him it was always mind first, heart second. Besides, the two organs differed disproportionately not only in influence but also in size. Turner’s brain was huge, and his heart was tiny.
With Kian, it worked the other way around. Not that his brain was small, just that his heart was so much bigger.
Stubbing the cigarillo out, he threw it into the metal trash can and headed back to his office.
When he got there, he found William waiting for him by the door. “I’m not late, am I?” he asked as he opened the door.
The guy pushed his glasses up his nose. “No, I’m early.”
He’d been wondering for years why William needed glasses and had learned the reason only recently. There was nothing wrong with William’s vision, but his eyes were sensitive to the computer glare and the glasses had a special filter for that. Still, William never took them off. He might have just forgotten to do so when he left the lab, which didn’t happen often, or maybe he thought of them as an accessory.
“Did you bring the trackers?”
“I have them here.” William followed him inside and pulled out a small box from one pocket and a second one from the other side. “The miniaturizing is amazing. Each of these boxes contains ten trackers.”
He joined Kian at the conference table and opened one.
“There is a tracker in there?” Kian lifted an earring that was just a small stud. “Where is it?” He turned the thing around.
“This is it. You’re not going to find anything. There is a tiny transmitter embedded in the gold.” William lifted a hairpin. “I like this one the most. No one would suspect a plain thing like this to be anything out of the ordinary. Ella and Vivian can put several in their hair.”
“Which reminds me that their passports were delivered earlier. Kian got up and walked over to his desk. “One for Mrs. Victoria MacBain and the other for Ms. Kelly Rubinstein.” He took the envelope out of the drawer and brought it over to the conference table.
“They should start practicing the fake names right away,” William said. “By the way, you didn’t say anything about getting them earpieces.”
“Unless you can get something as tiny and inconspicuous as these trackers, they can’t use them. If Lokan is setting a trap for them, he would be watching them closely. But that’s not a problem. Ella and Vivian will never be out of sight or earshot. Thirty Guardians should have no problem keeping a close eye and ear on our two ladies.”
33
Julian
Julian loaded a tortilla with steak strips and bell peppers. “This is really good.” He rolled it up.
“Not bad,” Liam said after biting into his taco. “I’m not crazy about Mexican, but as fast food goes there is nothing better. You can tell that the ingredients are fresh. They don’t pull it out of the freezer and stick it in the microwave.”
The Guardians had split up for dinner, checking out eateries surrounding the campus. There were many of them, which meant going solo, or in his case being paired with Liam. Which rankled, but Julian wasn’t technically a Guardian.
Still, Turner could have entrusted him with such a simple assignment as keeping his eyes open for Lokan.
Hacking into every available surveillance camera on campus and the area around it, William and Roni were scanning for the Doomer, but not every place was equipped with them, and Turner believed in boots and eyes on the ground.
“When are the ladies arriving?” the Guardian asked.
“I’m waiting to hear from her. She said she’s going to call me once they’re up in the air.”
When he’d called earlier, Ella said that Tessa and Ray were there, which had pissed him off big time. What had Ray been doing at Ella’s house? Had the sly bastard waited for Julian to be gone before making his move?
If he had, the guy was either an obtuse idiot or a sucker for pain.
Ella hadn’t shown any interest in him, and after his stupid comments, she’d barely acknowledged his presence. Once this was over and they got back, Julian was either going to get a new house or ask Ray to move. His bachelor days of living with roommates were over. He had a mate now, and she was the only one he was going to share a house with. Except, of course, for the children they would one day have, Fates willing.
Since Ella had told him about her decision to stay in the village and commute to college, he’d been thinking about it a lot, but he hadn’t said anything to her yet. Not only was it premature, but it also might fill her head with stuff that shouldn't be there while she was dealing with Lokan.
As his phone rang, Julian quickly wiped his sticky hands with a napkin and accepted the call.
“Hi, sweetheart. Are you in the air?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t wait to see you.”
“About that.” She sighed. “My mother and I were instructed by Kian not to interact with any of you. We are to act as if we don’t know any of the hotel guests.”
Julian’s heart sank. He’d been counting the minutes until he got to see Ella again, and now she was going to be within reach, but contact was disallowed.
“It’s probably Turner’s doing. The guy is paranoid.”
“I think he is right. If Mr. D finds a way to follow us, it will look suspicious if we mingle with the other guests at the hotel. We are not supposed to know anyone.”
Curiously, Lokan hadn’t visited Ella for the past two nights. Had he been busy setting the trap?
If he had, the guy was incredibly sneaky because none of the Guardians had reported noticing anything suspici
ous. Not only that, none of the cameras around campus, and there were many, had caught him hanging around.
Perhaps he was using a disguise? Or maybe in addition to his other talents he could also do what Sylvia did and manipulate electronics?
Except, if Julian believed in the Occam’s razor principle that the most straightforward and simple solution was most likely the correct one, then Ella’s hunch was right, and Lokan wasn’t coming.
Or, maybe he’d been busy and was going to arrive tomorrow, or on the day of the interview, and wing it. With his power of compulsion, Lokan didn’t need much of a setup.
“Julian? Are you there?”
“Yeah. Sorry for zoning out on you. I’ve been thinking about what you’ve said regarding Mr. D not coming. There is no trace of him.”
He glanced around the restaurant, checking that the clientele was still comprised of humans, and switched to a whisper just in case. “William and Roni have been running the camera feed from all around town through William’s facial recognition software, and they got nothing so far. He didn’t check into any of the hotels and hasn’t been to any restaurants with cameras. He either isn’t here, or he’s staying in a private house and ordering meals delivered to him.”
“That’s possible. I have a feeling that he is stationed in Washington, so it makes sense he has a permanent place here. You should tell Roni to check older feeds and see if he shows up in any of the restaurants. Friday, he told me that he’d been to the campus recently. There must be footage of him.”
“I’ll tell Turner.”
“You know, there could be another possibility. He could be using the same kind of glasses Eva gave my mother and me. If William is running the feed through his software, it’s not going to pick him up.”
“Why would he do that? Unless he suspects something, there is no reason for him to avoid detection.”
“Not necessarily. He might be doing it as a precaution. He is still an immortal who needs to hide the fact that he doesn't age. Besides, he might have other enemies. He is a warlord, after all.”