Hell Transporter (Between) (25 page)

“The man from the pool when Mona wore that…?” He didn’t finish but now we were both thinking about her in the damn bikini.

“That’s him. He asked about you the other night when I was out walking.”

He froze.

“You were out walking at night? Alone?”

Shoot, I hadn’t meant to tell him about that. Too late.

“I needed some air.” I glossed over the subject with a wave of my hand. “He asked where you were. Said he’d be happy to take your place.” The last few words came out in a small voice, as Aiden was already twitching with hostility and I wasn’t making things any better.

“I cannot believe this. I asked ye to do one thing—one thing!—and you’re out walking at night by yourself while there’s a beast on the loose who means to kill ye. Do ye listen to anything I say?” A string of Gaelic curse words burst from him before he took a deep breath and glared at me. “I’m going to the pool. Stay here. Think ye can manage that?” He grabbed the keys and slammed the door in my face.

The wallpaper should have curled and peeled from the obscenities I hurled at the walls over the next two hours while Aiden was out doing God-only-knew-what. I could not believe he’d walked out on me like that. So I’d seen Micah naked. So what? Mona’s assets had been on full display in that teeny bikini and he got all over me for being jealous.

He couldn’t really be threatened by Micah, could he? Micah’s no more than a pathetic worm who was beaten pretty severely by the ugly stick. How Stephanie found him attractive was beyond me.

No, his outrageous behavior was about possession. And while I liked that he was protective of me, I wasn’t about to let him think he owned me. I wasn’t some 18
th
century girl who was going to do whatever her master commanded. If he thought he could tell me what to do, he had another thing coming. Fuming, I banged around in the kitchen, hoping that making breakfast would distract me from the undertow of emotions threatening to pull me under.

The front door opened and closed so quietly that I almost missed it. Aiden stood against the door, eyes closed, looking like he’d aged twenty years in the space of one night. Exhaustion lined his face, and his shoulders slumped in defeat. Irritated as I was, the sight of him made me pause. He wasn’t okay.

“Did you…” I began, but my words trailed off when he shook his head. He spoke so softly I could barely hear him.

“Nae. The building was locked when I got there. I waited for someone to come out, but they must have already left.” He finally opened his eyes and the pain in them took my breath away.

“Aiden, what is it?” I dropped the dishtowel I’d been holding and moved toward him, afraid something had gone terribly wrong. Was he hurt? I scanned him quickly from head to toe, looking for evidence of an injury, but found nothing. My mind scrambled to unearth scenarios that could have left him looking so haunted. I came up empty.

“Lindsey, I owe you an apology.” His voice was haggard and his eyes blood shot.

Had he been crying? I discarded the idea as soon as I thought it. No, something else must be going on.

“I’ve spent the last two hours sitting, waiting, and thinking about what an arse I’ve been.”

I wasn’t expecting that.

“Oh,” was all I could think of to say. Silence lingered between us, stretching the space between heartbeats. The wall clock ticked loudly.

“Something inside me snapped when…” Even though he didn’t finish, I knew exactly what he meant: when I’d seen Micah naked. “I overreacted and blamed ye for something that wasn’t your fault. You were trying to help, trying to learn more about the transporter so we could stop him, and I made you out to be the villain himself.”

I shifted and stared at my feet, uncomfortable with the conversation. He was right, but I’d been so ticked off that I’d said some pretty hurtful things about him to the living room walls. Just because he hadn’t heard them didn’t mean I was any better than he was. My vicious tirade echoed in my head, condemning me. Still, he needed to know I wouldn’t stand being ordered around.

“It’s not just that,” I said, unable to look at him. “So I saw Micah without his clothes on. Fine, whatever. I don’t care. But you treated me like a child, like I have to do what you say and that’s not cool.” Sheesh, that sounded lame. I groaned inwardly. I’d told him off a thousand ways from Sunday and that’s what comes out? Unbelievable.

He lifted my chin to look in my eyes.

“You’re right. What I said was complete shite and I’m sorry for it. Can ye forgive me? Please?”

Part of me didn’t want to, part of me wanted to stay mad, but that part was getting smaller and smaller by the second. I offered him a half-smile.

“Don’t do it again, okay?”

A muscle tightened in his jaw as a wave of regret and thankfulness washed over his face. He nodded solemnly, then pulled me tight against his chest.

“We can’t fight him unless we work together,” I said into the warm wall against my cheek. “And you need to trust me, no matter what happens.”

He pulled away, but kept my hands cocooned in his own. “You’re right,” he said again.

“Besides, you have nothing to worry about with Micah. Do I need to show you all my mental snapshots so you know what you mean to me?”

A sad smile played on his lips and he shook his head. “Not now, but aye, I’d be glad to see them sometime.” Then he brought his mouth to mine and the stress of the last few hours melted away in the heat of his kiss.

Chapter 31

As I got ready for school, we discussed plans to catch Derek alone. I didn’t know his schedule, but we knew where Micah’s dorm room was, so we decided Aiden would shadow Micah around school and eventually, Derek would join up with him. Panic and excitement churned inside me at the thought of confronting Derek, of what Aiden would do to him, of being free of the hell transporter’s evil threats hanging over us.

Aiden drove us to school and dropped me off in the parking lot. I stifled a yawn and gave him a quick kiss before heading out. Walking to class with the frosted grass crunching under my feet, I couldn’t help but feel that everything had changed. Having a face and a name for my enemy made it that much more personal. Derek had attached himself to Micah in order to get to me, and the thought of him hanging out with Jen or Steph—and Ravi, I admitted to myself—made me seethe with anger. They could have been hurt and it would have been all my fault. Confrontation with Derek could not happen soon enough for me, but I knew we had to be smart about it and not let him suspect anything until we had him cornered. Of course, how exactly we were going to do that, I had no idea.

That is, not until after first period when Derek intercepted me on the way to my next class.

“Hey,” he said, moving out from behind the corner of the building as I passed. I’d been deep in thought and not paying attention to where I was going. The sight of him made my heart slam against my ribs and I let out a little squeak of fear that made him grin like Satan himself.

“What do you want?” I snapped to cover the shock of seeing him.

“I was just curious if you had fun at the cabin,” he said.

“What?” My mind reeled. Which cabin did he mean: the one back in Idaho or the ranch where the group of us had stayed? The hell transporter had shown his beastly self at both of them. Did this mean he knew I knew?

“Maybe next time your boyfriend won’t be around to save you, huh?”

It was him. He’d all but admitted it. My shocked response wasn’t feigned.

“How did you—?”

“Micah told me about the rattlesnake, said the Scot cut its head off. One of these days he might not be there. Who will save you then?” He stuck his tongue out between his teeth and flicked it back and forth in imitation of a snake. His warm breath in the cold air formed a sinister cloud of steam around the silver stud in his tongue. Bile surged in my throat, but I tamped it down as an idea came to life in my mind. Aiden had said he trusted me no matter what and I was going to put that to the test. Revulsion nearly knocked me over, but I grabbed hold of my courage with both hands like Aiden wielded his claymore and prepared to do battle with my enemy.

Tilting my chin down, I looked up at Derek through my lashes and gave him my most seductive smile.

“Are you volunteering for the job?” To seal the deal, I flicked my own tongue out at him like the snake that he was. He stood up straighter, suspicion oozing from every pore, but I could tell he was intrigued.

“Ready to trade in the skirt-wearing ogre, are you?”

I shrugged and adjusted my backpack on one shoulder, then let my eyes wander slowly up and down his body. “Let’s just say, I like to keep my options open.” I held my breath, uncertain for a moment whether I’d been convincing enough, whether he was going to buy it.

A smug smile crept across his face and I knew he’d taken the bait.

“Prove it,” he said and I met the challenge in his eyes unflinchingly. “Meet me at the pool on Friday. Midnight.”

“Won’t it be closed?”

“I have a key. Perks of being on the swim team. Never know when I’ll need to do some strokes.” He reached out a black-painted fingernail and slithered it down my arm, stopping dangerously close to my breast. “And wear a bikini. Thong would be nice.” Ignoring the screaming in my head that made me want to slam my fist into his face, I arched my back to press my breasts forward. His eyes grew wider.

“Why wait? Friday’s four days away.”

“It’s the first time we’ll have the pool to ourselves. And what I’m going to do to you shouldn’t have witnesses.”

“Friday it is, then. Looking forward to it,” I said over my shoulder as I sauntered off toward my next class. When I reached the building and knew he was no longer watching me, I ran for the bathroom and promptly lost my breakfast.

Chapter 32

The rest of the school day was like watching a foreign film without subtitles. The teachers’ mouths were moving, but nothing registered. I didn’t dare reach out to Aiden with my mind, since I knew Derek would be able to hear us—and potentially pull one of his mind manipulation tricks—so I drew doodles in my notebook and prayed for the day to end. When Aiden finally met me after my last class, I kept my face carefully devoid of emotion, just in case Derek was lingering somewhere I couldn’t see him. Aiden gave me a strange look, but didn’t say anything as he opened the car door for me.

When we’d driven far enough that I felt safe, I told him everything that had happened. His hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter when I recounted some of the things I’d said to Derek, but when he turned to me, his face shone with pride.

“‘Twas right brave of you, lass, not to mention quick thinking. Well done.” His praise warmed me like a shot of whisky and I couldn’t help but grin as we worked out the details of our plan for Friday’s ambush.

When we got to the cottage, we went for a horseback ride to clear our heads and distract ourselves from the upcoming confrontation. Stress was burning a hole in my stomach, what with seducing the hell transporter, finals looming, and the upcoming wedding.

I clapped my palm to my forehead. The wedding! I’d promised my mom I’d tell Aiden about the surprise and I’d completely spaced it.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I forgot something.”

“We can go back then.” He slowed the horse and turned her toward the stables. When Amber was secured in her stall again, he laced his fingers through mine and started on the path to his place. “What did you forget?”

“I’ll tell you when we get home.”

Curiosity lit up his face. “Aye?”

“Aye,” I responded, giving him a gentle shove with my shoulder. As we walked, I could tell he was trying to work out my secret, which made me that much more excited to tell him, but when we arrived at the house, I found out he had a surprise of his own.

When he opened the door, the rich scent of beef stew wafted out, warm and welcoming. My stomach growled in appreciation as I shrugged off my coat. A fire crackled in the hearth and I wondered how I’d missed the telltale sign of smoke coming out the chimney. I must have been too lost in my own thoughts.

“So did you truly forget something? Or did you just want off the horse?”

I ignored his question and instead took a deep breath, reveling in the homey atmosphere he’d set up before coming to retrieve me from school.

“You never told me you could cook,” I said.

“You never asked,” he responded with a cocky grin.

“Brat,” I said before tucking into a bowl of his delicious stew. He must have snuck back to the house while Micah was in class in order to have dinner ready for us. Between bites, I told him how incredible it tasted and he responded with a nod of acknowledgment, but he was clearly impatient to hear my secret.

“So now that you’ve some food in your belly, what did ye forget?”

Buttering a piece of bread, I tried for nonchalance and failed. “Oh, um, just that Mom wanted me to ask you something.”

“And you couldn’t have asked me earlier?” he said, a knowing smile toying with his lips. He wasn’t making this easy and he knew it.

“She wanted to know if you have any favorite songs you’d like played at the wedding.” I took a bite and refused to meet his eyes, aware that he could see right through me. His inquisitive stare heated my cheeks.