Her Secret (8 page)

“You’re sure?”

“Sure enough to assure you that your dream
isn’t in danger of coming true. Now let’s head back. I’m
freezing.”

* * * *

When we returned to Danial’s house, Theo was
waiting for me, his expression stony.

“What is it?”

“Manir has been seen north of here. Danial
wants someone to investigate and take him out if he’s there.”

“Does it have to be you who goes?”

“I want to go, Sar. He was going to take you
that night. I owe him for that.”

“Will you kill him, Theo?” Elle asked
bluntly.

Theo went to a crouch beside her. “Elle, he
tried to hurt your mom, and your half-brother. He’ll try again,
unless someone stops him. The best way to do that is to kill
him.”

“Please kill him,” Elle said seriously. “I
don’t want him to hurt Mom or me.”

He hugged her to him. “He won’t be hurting
anyone ever again. I’ll make sure of that.”

So much for his big vow never to leave me
alone again
. “Should I stay here tonight then? I feel fine, but
I haven’t seen Danial yet to test out how well, um....I am.”

“No.” Picking up Elle, he rose to his feet.
“Brian is going to take you home, and stay there with you. Should
anything happen, anything at all, he has instructions to call
Terian and for Terian to teleport you to Danial’s home.”

“Let me down,” Elle said, squirming. “I see
some tracks over there that look like bobcat.”

Elle ran off. Theo and I walked after her
slowly.

“I wish she would let me hold her longer,”
Theo said regretfully.

“She’s not a baby anymore,” I said, putting
my hand on his shoulder. “But you know she loves you.”

“I know. Most of the time that’s enough. But
I still think about what I missed out on sometimes.”

I squeezed his shoulder with my hand, but
didn’t speak. There was nothing to say.

We walked along, taking our time getting
back, and enjoyed perfect autumn scenery. The oak trees alone
retained their leaves, their spreading branches white in places
from the stubborn patches of snow.

Brian was waiting for me in one of the
Expeditions when we returned.

“Let me grab my bag,” I said to him.

“Got it already,” he answered.

I turned to Theo. “Are you leaving now?”

“Are you?” he said quickly.

My eyes narrowed. “Are you going to give me a
hard time if I don’t?”

“No,” he responded. “But I’d prefer you saw
Danial with me present.”

I changed topics. “Is anyone going with
you?”

“No, I’m going alone. This isn’t an assault,
Sar. It’s an assassination.”

No shit
. “Be careful,” I said, hugging
him. “Come back to me when it’s done.”

“I’ll come back to you,” he said softly.
“Stephen gave me some names. We have an appointment next week with
a counselor.”

“Good,” I said, mustering a smile.

“Get going,” Theo said, giving me a quick
kiss. “Brian’s waiting.”

I wanted to see Danial, but maybe it was
better to give the meds another day to work. “Bye.” I walked over,
and got into Brian’s truck. “Are you sure you’re all set?”

“Yes,” Brian said, starting the SUV. “I’ve
got my bags packed, and Demi knows your number for any
emergencies.”

I hadn’t talked to Brian much since the night
he’d almost died trying to save me. I felt awkward with a capital
A, especially about his poor wife. “How’s she doing?”

“Better, now she’s living here with me,”
Brian replied quietly. “Devlin didn’t mistreat her, but Demi
understood what his plan was and her part in it.”

I sat quietly as he drove, trying to think of
something to say back and failing.

“Want to listen to music?” Brian said after a
few minutes, breaking the silence.

“Sure,” I said, relieved.

He turned on the radio. I turned the dial as
he drove, finally finding a station that was playing light love
songs. The very end of J. Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” was
playing.

I knew I should turn it off. Instead, like a
drug addict that sees another high in sight, my hand moved to the
dial and turned it up.

“You like this song?” Brian asked, glancing
at me.

I didn’t answer him, lost in the music as I
sung the end quietly. “—but it’s time to face the truth: I will
never be with you.”

“You have a good voice,” Brian said when it
ended. “Devlin taught you well.”

I didn’t reply.

“He’ll be happy to know you’re missing
him.”

Chapter
Four

I turned to him,
gaping. “What?”

“You heard me,” Brian said simply. “I meant
no offense.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“It’s been obvious for most of the past two
years that he was obsessed with you. It’s equally obvious that
you’re now obsessed with him. I can guess what happened when he
rescued you.”

I went beet red, pointedly looking away from
him as I switched off the stereo. “Don’t talk to me anymore about
this.”

“Okay,” Brian said, and fell silent.

We passed the rest of the way home without
words, my anger building with every mile. I’d taken the high road:
not called Devlin or contacted him. That meant I could long for him
all I wanted secretly without judgment from my guards.

When we arrived at my house, I quickly got
out and hurried to the door. Brian got there first and blocked me
from entering. “I need to check it first. Wait here.”

A moment later, he was back. “All set.”

I glared at him angrily. “I need to walk the
dogs as soon as I’ve eaten.”

“I’ll go with you. Let me call in first, and
tell them we got here safely.” He flipped open his phone and began
dialing.

I went about making a sandwich, trying to
ignore him. Then I gave a big sigh and let my irritation go. It was
too much effort to stay angry, and it wasn’t important anyway.

“Do you want a sandwich?” I called to
Brian.

“Sure,” he called back. “Lots of meat,
please.”

As I assembled the easy meal of sandwiches,
pickles, chips, and sodas, I sang the song’s refrain over several
times. Turning with the plates, I stopped in mid-note, startled by
Brian. He was right behind me, his phone to his ear.

“I almost tripped over you,” I chastised.

Brian looked up at me, then back down,
nodding. “Yes.”

“Tell Danial you’ll call him back, or lose
your meal.”

“I’ve got to go eat,” he said into the
receiver. “If anything happens, I’ll report it.” He closed his
phone with a click, then joined me at the table. “Thanks for making
this. You didn’t have to.”

“It’s no big deal making two instead of
one.”

“Look, I can scent your irritation. Please
forget what I said earlier. It wasn’t my place.”

Damn right it wasn’t
. “I was just
surprised.”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“You don’t like Devlin, do you? The
hostage-taking aside, of course.”

“Like doesn’t come into my work
relations.”

“Okay, why work for him in the first
place?”

Brian sighed. “I should have checked into his
background better before going to work for him. I was in love with
Demi, and I wanted to protect her. He was the biggest name in the
U.S. to work for then, the most feared with the best pay. At first,
it was great.” He ate another bite of sandwich, and then continued.
“Demi was safe at his estate, and I was around most of the time,
when I wasn’t off driving for him. She and I were both happy,
pretty much right up until the time he first asked me to apply for
a job here, and told me the reason he was asking.”

“Is that what you did for him? You were a
driver?” He’d shown too much compassion for Erin the night Manir
attacked to be a professional bodyguard.

“Pretty much. I didn’t have enough experience
for anything beyond that.” His smile faded. “Devlin wanted me to
get some, though,” he added grimly.

“Doesn’t he have enough other people working
for him that are willing to get their hands bloody?” I asked
sarcastically.

“He has mostly grizzly weres working for him,
because that’s his emblem. But he has others, too, and no, they’re
not afraid to get their hands dirty.”

The way he said “others” made me think these
weren’t humans or weres. “What others?”

Brian looked away. “He has a demon working
for him. A full one, not half like Terian. That evil feeling is
present all the time around him. And he has a sorceress, too,” he
continued. “She can be worse than the demon, when she gets her mind
to it.”

“Worse than a demon how?”

Brian didn’t answer, just met my eyes for a
moment and dropped them again.

Oiy
. “Which is his second in command?”
I asked, curious.

“Neither,” Brian said, visibly
uncomfortable.

“Then who is?”

“I’m not going to talk about him,” Brian said
flatly. “You can count yourself lucky if you never meet him.”

Okay, moving on immediately. “So Demi is okay
now?”

“She’s settling in. Everyone’s been really
friendly, which helps. The sorceress, Leri, was the only woman at
Devlin’s estate, and she wasn’t.”

“That couldn’t be accident, so what’s the
reason? Does Devlin not trust women as guards?”

“Devlin likes women, but he prefers them in
his bed, as you know.” I flushed to my toes, and he continued.
“It’s because of the demon and his witch. Leri’s very jealous of
other women. Vince, one of the other werebears, once said that
Titus put up with Leri only because she was the only woman who
would tolerate his evil nature.”

I cleared the dishes. “So none stay because
they’re either scared of him or her?”

“Pretty much, Sarelle.”

“Brian, why don’t you call me Sar?” I said,
loading the dishwasher. “We’ve fought off attacks and you saved my
life. It’s odd to hear you keep saying my full name. ”

“Devlin said if I ever called you Sar in
front of him, he’d have my pelt,” Brian replied. “It’s habit
now.”

His tone made the double meaning obvious. “He
thinks what happened with Theo and I could happen with you and me?”
I said neutrally.

Brian shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to him
that I’m happily married to Demi, or that we’ve always treated each
other professionally. He said I’d better always think of you as
Sarelle, or else.”

Had Devlin said that out of defensiveness of
Danial, or out of his own jealousy? I’d probably never know. I
flipped on the dishwasher, and turned to him. “Ready to walk?”

“Sure.”

Ghost and Darkness were a little leery of
Brian, keeping their distance from him on the walk, while managing
to stay between him and me. Though the woods were beautiful with
dazzling fresh snow crystals, I didn’t notice, too wrapped up in
thoughts of Devlin.

About seven, I dropped exhausted into the
nearest armchair. I’d spent hours cleaning and then putting away
the many Halloween decorations. Brian was napping in the basement
bedroom in preparation for night guard duty.

The phone rang at seven. Instead of Theo, it
was my mother-in-law, Brennan’s mother, calling from Wyoming.

We made polite conversation for a few
moments, then she said out of the blue, “We’d like to see you, and
Theo, too.”

She’d been accepting of my new marriage since
her time in therapy, but this was a whole new level. “You’re
sure?”

“We want to see you,” she said hesitantly.
“He’s part of your life now. It’s good you have someone again.
Maybe next summer?”

Why not go?
Theo and I could use a
summer vacation, and we could hopefully take Elle with us. “I’ll
ask him when he gets home from work.”

We talked for a while longer, and then I hung
up, promising to tell her the moment I made travel plans.

Danial called a few minutes later. “How are
you feeling?” he asked immediately.

“I feel fine. Nothing seems different.”

“Good,” he said, relieved.

“Any word from Theo?”

“No, but there won’t be for hours, maybe not
until tomorrow evening. It’ll take him some time just to get where
he’s going, and more to discover the best means of getting Manir.
Don’t worry.”

“There’s more isn’t there? Theo plans on
torturing him, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. He blames him for you being taken and
for what he thinks happened to you later. Manir is going to pay for
all of it, for as long as Theo can make it last, anyway.”

I didn’t comment, both sickened and oddly
satisfied.

“Brian is there, watching over you?” Danial
continued.

“Yes. Everything has been quiet.”

“Good. Get some rest.”

“I’m sorry that things didn’t work out,” I
said quickly.

Danial was quiet for so long that I thought
maybe we’d gotten disconnected. “Danial?”

“I’m sorry, too,” he said sadly. “I’m looking
forward to seeing you Saturday.”

“Me, too. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sar,” he said softly. “I love
you.”

Depressed, I hung up the phone. With
irritation, I suddenly remembered I’d forgotten to get the mail.
Getting it myself was right out, too. If my life was a novel, this
would be the part where I got grabbed by Manir, who had somehow
found out where I lived.

I went downstairs and got Brian up.

“Sorry for sleeping so long. I covered for
Terian yesterday night and had just got to bed when Theo got me up
to come with—”

“Why did Terian need you to cover for him?” I
interrupted.

“He said he had a date.”

I almost fell over in surprise. “He had a
date?”

Brian laughed. “You act like the man’s a
hermit.”

I gave him a look that said that description
wasn’t far off. “Do you know who it was?”

“No,” he said. “But he said he could trust
her. I think they’ve been seeing each other for a while now.”