Contingency (15 page)

Dwennon cleared his throat and said. “Well, that answers that.” I bent over and sheathed my dirk and then rejoined Soren.

“You are going to get yourself killed pulling those kind of stunts” he whispered loudly as I sat down. “But you looked bloody sexy doing it.” I blushed against my will.

Dwennon looked around the table at everyone. “We should all work together and put everything and everyone we have into finding the person responsible for this mess. I agree with Sage, this is building up to something huge, something that will make all these recent attacks look like child’s play. We need to stop whatever it is before it happens. I trust you all feel the same way.” Everyone nodded their assent and they all agreed to keep in close contact for the next week with any news.

Later that night as I lay in my bed thinking over everything that had happened that evening, I knew I’d have to come clean with Cerberus before they heard second hand that a Warper was in town. Everyone at dinner had agreed to keep my presence a secret so we would have a slight advantage, but I didn’t know any of them well enough to trust their word, so I planned on coming clean the next day. It was the right choice and it would take a load off my mind and chest to be able to be truthful with the only friends I had.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next day my nerves were bunched up and on edge, ready to lash out on some poor unsuspecting soul. I hadn’t sparred in several days and I could have used the distraction and release. I didn’t want to have to be the one to tell Elaine and the others that I had let the cat out of the bag and that I had lied to them. But I didn’t want to have to deal with the aftermath of them finding out through the grapevine either. If anything else, we could use the resources and contacts that the Cerberus would be able to offer. The light lunch I’d eaten soured in my stomach at the thought of seeing Aldwin after our last encounter.

Travis was pacing in front of Howell Home when I arrived. “We got your note, I hope everything went well last night.” His eyes searched my face for some clue as to why I’d called a meeting.

“I think it went well, but there are some things I need to discuss with everyone.” I walked up the steps and he swung the door open for me. We walked to the library together and I couldn’t shake the feeling he wanted to shake me to get some answers quicker, but his hands stayed clenched at his side and I almost felt bad for making him fret longer.

When we entered the library Elaine and Phoebe greeted me with a hug and Aldwin kissed my hand without meeting my eye. I quickly buried the deep disappointment I felt. Everyone took their places around the room and turned questioning eyes to me. I swallowed several times and nervously twirled my cuff bracelet around my wrist. I wasn’t used to addressing this group, my friends, and I hated the thought of disappointing them again.

“I’m just going to say what I came to say.” I said as I looked around the room pleading silently for them to understand. I cleared my throat and blurted it all out. “Soren knows I’m a Warper. The meeting last night was comprised of several preternatural leaders and I was in a position that I felt it best to reveal myself to them.” I cringed at Phoebe’s gasp and I’m pretty sure I heard Aldwin swear under his breath. I looked up at Elaine who only seemed stunned speechless and Travis who looked incredulous. “Before you all jump to conclusions about how horribly I’ve handled this, let me tell you what I learned last night.” I told them about the Merpeople, Shifters, and vampire killings throughout the city over the last three months. Even Aldwin seemed genuinely startled that the issue was more wide spread than anyone had realized. Elaine sucked in a breath when I mentioned the Merleaders making the trip to be present at the meeting the previous night. I told them my theory about all the killings leading up to something larger, a grand finale. No one argued with me.

Everyone seemed subdued when we discussed our next course of action. It seemed the logical thing to do was to join the preternaturals and try to find a link that would lead us to whoever was the mastermind behind the killings. Aldwin came over to me and asked if I would mind his company back to the townhouse. I smiled tiredly up at him, grateful for a chance to talk. He left to say tell Elaine that we were leaving and I caught a glimpse of a pale Phoebe staring at Travis. He seemed angry and withdrawn into himself. I wondered if it was because all our planning had been for nothing, or if it was because they had been unaware of how large the problem really was. Before I could mull it over any more Aldwin returned and we left to go back to the townhouse.

After riding in an awkward silence for what seemed like forever, I realized we had passed the street the townhouse was on. I looked over at Aldwin and he smiled at me shyly looking like an adorably naughty boy. “I wanted to take you somewhere today so you could just enjoy yourself and not have to worry about everything that is going on. I hope you don’t mind.” I shook my head, unable to speak for fear of turning into a blubbering mess.

“Sage, if you don’t want to go with me, I can take you back, I wouldn’t force you,” he said after a moment.

“No, I want to go. I just didn’t expect you to do anything so sweet for me after last night.” I felt embarrassingly emotional that he had been thoughtful enough to plan a short little getaway.

“Last night was
my
fault. I over reacted and I had no right to put my hands on you as I did, I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry seems ridiculously inadequate.”

I reached over and tenderly caressed the scarred side of his face. This man had no idea the hold he had over my heart. “Let’s forget last night and start fresh, okay?” My heart skipped a beat when he placed a gentle kiss into my palm.

I napped on Aldwin’s shoulder, which completely embarrassed me, but Aldwin just tucked me closer to his side and told me to relax until we arrived. When the carriage finally came to a stop, I stepped out and gasped in pleasure. We were on one of the most lovely beaches I had ever seen. It was absolutely secluded, and I could smell the salt water and hear the waves splash onto the beautiful sandy shore. I turned and nearly knocked Aldwin over as I hugged him tightly around his neck. “Thank you,” I whispered into his ear, my voice thick.

“The look on your face is all the thanks I need,” he grinned at my enthusiasm. Zachary handed a large basket and blanket down to Aldwin from the top of the carriage and clicked his tongue at the horses. “He’ll be back later to pick us up” Aldwin said waggling his brows. I laughed out loud. I felt amazingly free from the watchful eye of the world. I only made it a few steps before I took off my shoes and stockings and unpinned my hair.

We ate lunch on a blanket in the sand and threw crumbs to the birds. Aldwin rolled his pants legs up and we ran hand-in-hand along the beach, laughing like carefree children. He threw me over his shoulder and threatened to toss me into the ocean, laughing the whole time when I squealed and attempted to wiggle free.

At the end of the most wonderful day of my life, we laid in each others arms, kissing tenderly and trying our best to ignore the fact that we needed to return to town.

Aldwin helped me pin my wild hair in a loose bun at the base of my neck. I shoved my stockings into my pocket and put my boots back on. We held hands as we walked slowly back to the carriage and both of us refused to acknowledge the fact that we would not be enjoying another day like that for a very long time, if ever. I didn’t want to dwell on the negative, so I tucked away every single beautiful memory we had made that day into a corner of my heart. A corner that had never been touched.

I would need those memories to keep me sane during the chaos in the following days.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Soren and I fell into a pattern over the next few days. We attended every house party and gathering in the Charleston area, turning heads and setting tongues on fire with the spicy gossip of a supposed scandal. Soren played his part well, playing the jealous, forbidding lover by hovering over me everywhere I went and staring down any man who came within a ten foot radius. I almost believed him myself.

Unfortunately we hadn’t found out anything useful nor even come across the smallest whisper of an underworld plot brewing.

We were seated for dinner at yet another house party hosted by the Chief of Police and his wife, when Soren leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Our host has been drinking more than usual tonight and I’ve heard that he has been under a lot of pressure. I had his office at the station searched earlier this evening, but nothing was found.” I was surprised at how much Soren had effortlessly accomplished.

“Perhaps a little peak into his personal library and desk is warranted.” I replied, excitement starting to bubble at the thought of finally doing
something
. Soren’s eyes scanned mine, probably to see if he could talk me out of going with him. I narrowed my eyes, daring him to suggest it. His eyes dilated ever so slightly and his nostrils flared. I swallowed. He reminded me of a wild animal some idiot had just poked with a stick. Oh wait, the idiot would have been me.

“Please, Soren, I need to
do
something. I’m going insane.” He gazed at me just a second longer, his eyes back to vampire normal and nodded, an almost imperceptible movement. I smiled brilliantly at him, thanking him without speaking for not making me piss him off later by ignoring his wishes. We finished our dinner and followed the rest of the party back into the ballroom to wait for the perfect time to make an unnoticed escape and break into the Chief of Police’s personal study.

It wasn’t very much later when we slipped separately from the party and met in the foyer. We made our way back to the library and slid inside the dimly lit room. It would have been much cooler if we had both been wearing black leotards, face paint, and little black beanie hats. But our vampire-warper team was still pretty bad ass. We made our way over to the enormous desk and started our search. There was a file in the top drawer, so I withdrew it and began skimming the various documents it contained.

Soren opened and closed several drawers before finding the bottom one locked. I interrupted my illegal perusal to see if he would pull some high tech lock picking device out of his pocket. Much to my disappointment, vampires didn’t need to pick locks. Why pick a lock when you were strong enough to pull the drawer free, lock and all, without so much as flexing a muscle? I shook my head and Soren looked at me quizzically. I waved my hand at him and continued searching the file in my hand.

"Did you find anything?" I whispered to my partner in crime.

“Just a stack of unsolved murder cases. Unfortunately all these seem to be the exact thing we have been trying to prevent.” I looked up to see his jaw clenched in anger. His eyes were close to lighting the room with their golden glow. “They are all preternatural killings.” He murmured, confirming what I had already figured out. Soren shoved the files back into the draw and shut it as quietly as possible.

“How about you?” he asked. I shook my head in frustration.

“No, I haven’t...” I stopped suddenly when my eyes roamed over the sheet of paper in my hand. It couldn’t be. My God. “What is it, Sage?" Soren stepped closer and looked over my shoulder to read the paper I clutched in my shaking hand. “It seems that the President of the United States will be giving a speech here in Charleston in less than forty eight hours.” The paper was a correspondence between the White House and the Chief of Police concerning security.

I turned to Soren and met his eyes. “You know what this means, right?” I barely whispered.

He looked like he wanted to kick someone’s cat, but he nodded once and muttered, “Someone, probably a preternatural, is going to try to assassinate President Roosevelt in broad daylight in two days. That is, unless we do something to stop it.”

I frowned at the offending paper. Why hadn’t we heard of the President’s planned speech before tonight? I shoved the paper back into the folder just as Soren grabbed my arm and spun me in front of him.

“Do you trust me?” he whispered quickly into my ear. I could feel his body rigid and tense, and my own stiffened in response. I nodded my head in one quick movement before Soren propelled us into the air to land on a settee several feet away from the desk. Soren landed on his back and I landed on top of him. Before I could question what going on or process how Soren had moved so quick and gracefully, he had his hand buried into my hair and his mouth ravaging my shocked one.

I automatically stiffened in his arms and put my hands on his chest to push away when I heard the soft sound of the library door opening. Soren ran his hand up my back, encouraging me to relax and make our
tête-à-tête
believable. I relaxed my body, melting into the vampire underneath me. I felt Soren’s hand skim my side, leaving goose bumps in the wake of the trail of heat he produced with his experienced hand. I moaned as he slanted his mouth over mine to deepen the assault that he led on my lips.

I fisted my hand in the cloth at his neck to keep myself grounded, and Soren made a sound of approval in the back of his throat. A rational part of my brain heard a giggle and a curse as the library door was quickly shut, but most of my mind was a puddle of mush while Soren worked his voodoo on my body. I slowly surfaced from the beautiful haze I had found myself, only to find Soren’s bewitching eyes searching mine. I’m not sure how long I would have laid there with my emotions out of whack and my confusion coating the air if Soren hadn’t spoken up.