Lethal Engagement (An Unbounded Novella) (14 page)

“Lucinda got past the reporters then.”

“Actually, there aren’t any. The Secret Service threatened to throw them in jail, so they finally left. But she came in through the garden anyway.”

We were silent as Keene finished his stitches and began bandaging my arm. Already the effect of the painkiller was fading. “You got a pill or two I can take?” I asked Keene.

He smiled. “Not so tough now, eh?”

I rolled my eyes. “Contrary to what Ritter or Jace believe, there’s no glory in suffering unnecessarily.”

“The pills are here, but I’ll grab a bottle of water from the bar in your sitting room.” Keene gathered the supplies back into our industrial-sized first aid kit.

Patrick put his arm around me and helped me sit up. He kept holding me as Keene opened the door, but let his arm fall as Keene disappeared. “I love doing that,” Patrick said with a chuckle.

“Doing what?”

“Touching you.” He laughed again. “Every time I do, Keene bristles.”

“He does not.”

“He hides it well, but he does. I know I shouldn’t enjoy torturing him, but I hate how suspicious he is of Luce, so it’s kind of innocent payback. You don’t mind, do you?”

I snorted. “I didn’t even notice.”

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but if you don’t like him that way, you’d better let him know.” Patrick’s smile showed he knew that I
did
like Keene that way.

After the kiss in Keene’s bedroom this morning, Patrick was probably right. What I didn’t know was if it would be enough to help Keene overcome his fear of blowing me up. Because we couldn’t have much of a relationship if he refused to investigate his gift. If he wasn’t willing to use it in our battle against the Emporium.

Then again, maybe he
would
blow me up if he gave in to me. It was a risk I was willing to take.

“Anyway,” I said, returning to something Patrick said earlier, “he has a point about Luce. She wasn’t there when this bloodbath would have gone down today. She skipped out. Now maybe that was because she was afraid of the media, but she wouldn’t have been the focus of attention. It’s almost like she knew something was going to happen.”

“No way. Luce loves me.”

But the quick way he said it told me he’d already considered it, or maybe Keene had forced it down his throat on the drive back.

“She wasn’t there, Patrick. Do you believe in coincidence?”

His jaw jutted forward now, no trace of his usual smile. “I do because I know Luce. She’s been a good sport about all of this. Despite her apparent relief at having you here, it’s not easy for her to let another woman be my fiancée. To watch me kiss you on national TV.”

“We still have to be careful and keep an eye on her. And on anyone else here. That reminds me. What’s this about a secretary? Who’s that?”

Now the wide smile was back. “Uh, yeah. Well, I did have a secretary at one point, but now I do everything on the Internet or through email. I have one of those neural headsets and with that I can take care of every communication in less than an hour—and there are a lot of them. Takes me less time than it did to tell my secretary what to do.”

“That’s believable. I’ve seen Stella at work.” I rested my head against the cabinets behind me. “Who’d have figured that the most popular man in America right now does all his own appointments?”

“Most wanted man, you mean, and I’m not talking about those women.” Patrick stood as we heard footsteps approaching.

“Those Hunters do seem out to get you.”

Keene entered with a bottle of water, giving it to me with four pills. “Bottom’s up. This should hold you for a bit.” He leaned against the wall and stared down at me as I swallowed.

“We need to find out who’s behind this,” I said.

Keene folded his arms, looking thoughtful. “These aren’t the actions of typical Hunters, so I’d say they’re new ones, but I’d go so far to bet that they’re being funded by the Emporium. That rifle you brought back with you isn’t something even Hunters would have access to. Only the government or the Emporium would be able to get their hands on something like that in the first place, much less have them smuggled into the US.”

“So you’re saying the Emporium might want me dead, even though I’m working to get mortals to accept all Unbounded.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I think their goal is to breed distrust and chaos until they come out on top and supposedly rescue the world. Cort’s having Stella track the weapons Jace recovered. They’re also going to send the Hunters back to Ava so she and Erin can look into their minds, but the Emporium has been at this a long time, and if they’re using new Hunters, they may have covered their tracks. Until we hear from them, we need to sit tight and make sure no one gets to Patrick, even if we have to cancel his appearances.” Keene was looking at me, but I knew he was speaking to Patrick.

“No!” Patrick protested. “I’ve got a schedule. Public opinion swings on a dime. I need to stay on this.”

“Keene’s right,” I told Patrick. “So stop glaring at us and help us find the inside person.”

“What if there is no inside person?”

“The Hunters always know where you’ll be,” I said.

“Uh, excuse me, but the press knows too. It’s not a stretch to think this could all be coming from strangers who are watching my movements.” Patrick paced two steps toward the door and back again, his strides jerky, his face worried.

“That girl got into the White House,” Keene reminded him.

Patrick rolled his eyes. “A lot of people work there. No one got in here.”

“Not yet,” Keene said.

I was tired of both them and the conversation that was getting us nowhere. “I guess I’d better change.” I’d prefer a nice hot shower, but it was simpler to wait until later tonight when the arm would be mostly healed.

Patrick hurried to help me rise, drawing his arm around me protectively. He winked when Keene couldn’t see, and I pushed away from him. “Thanks, I’m okay.” Both men followed me into my connecting bedroom. The bedroom door was closed to the sitting room, so at least I didn’t have to worry about Lucinda or anyone else barging in.

“Wait,” I said to Patrick as he started to the door. “Does Lucinda know what happened? Or that I was shot?”

He shook his head. “She’s already nervous enough. I haven’t told her anything.”

“Good.” I exchanged a glance with Keene, who now wore a hint of a smile on his lips.

Yes, it’d be a lot easier finding out whether or not she was in on the sniper attempt if she wasn’t told what had happened. Anything she might drop would help us nail her.

Patrick continued blithely to the door, unheeding of our exchanged looks. Keene waited until he was gone to say, “What if it is her?”

“Things aren’t always what they seem. You know that.” I walked into the closet and scanned the array of clothing Lucinda had finished hanging for me. I wanted jeans and a short-sleeved shirt that would be easy to pull over the bandage. I should use a sling to aid the healing process, but a jacket with a pocket would have to do to both cover the bandage and support my arm.

I felt for the pocket of my suit to remove my phone with my good hand, but the phone wasn’t the only thing there. Nestled next to the phone was what felt like a piece of rubbery plastic. Withdrawing both items, I blinked curiously at the slice of fake bacon. I shook my head, a smile coming to my face. My little friend at the school must have left me a present.

Keene’s chuckle made me look up. His grin was wide and knowing, and suddenly I remembered him bending over to pluck something out of the toy basket at the school. “You stole this from the school?” I asked as his laugh deepened.

“I wouldn’t call it stealing exactly. More like borrowing. I’ll send them a better set, if it makes you feel better.”

I laughed with him, and the laughter eased all the ugliness of snipers ready to shoot school children dead on their own playground. Keene must have put the bacon in my pocket before I’d gone after the snipers. How, I wasn’t sure. Maybe when we’d been whispering together in the hallway. It was sweet and silly and romantic. I loved him for it.

Loved him?
My thoughts froze there and couldn’t move on. After that horrible last day with Trevor, I’d believed I wouldn’t love any man again. Opening your heart that way made you too vulnerable. But that was before I’d known I was Unbounded, that I had a destiny to help save humanity. That there were men like Cort and Jace and Dimitri and Ritter and Patrick who risked their lives and their own happiness to save people they didn’t know.

“Thanks,” I managed.
Still holding the bacon and my phone, I awkwardly started unbuttoning my suit jacket.

“Need help?” Keene’s smile became teasing.

“Actually, yes.” There was no way I was going to be able to buckle those jeans or put on my shirt alone. I pulled a white blouse from the rack and tossed it at him.

“Okay then.” Did he suddenly sound nervous?

Unbounded generally didn’t think much of dressing in front of their comrades. Centuries of life and continuous ops where we had to sleep, eat, and dress in close quarters made nakedness lose its power. But I had only Changed four months ago, and while Keene had grown up inside the Emporium, three and a half decades did not equal centuries of experience. My heartbeat amplified as he stepped closer.

“Let your arms drop to your side and backwards a bit. Can your bad arm do that?”

Not comfortably, but I did it anyway. He eased my ruined jacket over my wound and the knives strapped to my wrists and let it slip to the floor. I wasn’t sure whether I should be relieved or offended that he kept his gaze averted from the lacy, hot pink bra that I’d worn more in protest to the boring blah blue of that suit than because of its usefulness. Then he leaned closer, his chin brushing my cheek as he put the blouse behind me and lifted the short sleeves over my extended arms, pulling the material together in front. My heart banged against my chest. He began buttoning the blouse, and now his eyes were forced to graze the swell of my breasts. My heart pounded more furiously. Leaving the last three buttons undone, his gaze slid slowly up to meet mine, like silk over my bare skin. Heat rushed between us. Numbers appeared in my head, more brilliant for the energy escaping from him.

“So, what about the skirt?” His voice sounded like gravel, as his eyes dipped to rest on my parted lips.

I stepped away from him, removing the now-empty holster from the back of my skirt and placing it on a shelf. Next, my empty sheath on my right thigh joined it—the bigger knife left behind in the Hunter I’d hit on the roof. With a deft twist, I undid the button on the skirt with my good hand, letting it fall to the ground. Stepping out of it, I placed my phone and the bacon next to the sheath and reached for my chosen jeans, which, fortunately, were more modern than the blouse, and comfortable despite their huge price tag.

I pulled them up with a little shimmy that brought more heat to my face, but I couldn’t do the button or zipper. Or put back on the holster and find a new gun from the duffel bag of weapons that sat on one of the shelves. Keene’s arms slipped around me and deftly finished the job, filling the holster with one of his own guns. For the briefest second I leaned back into his chest, feeling warm and content and safe.

“Are you angry about this morning?” he said, so softly that it felt like a caress.

I turned to face him, his arms still loosely around me. A laugh bubbled in my throat. “Even with thousands of years ahead of us, there’s not enough time to waste being angry.”

His smile warmed me. For a moment I thought we were going to have a repeat of the kiss, and I was more than willing, but my big mouth got in the way. “We should practice together using your ability,” I said.

His arms dropped. “Let’s talk to Cort first.”

“We don’t need Cort.”

“I don’t want to hurt you!” His voice was almost vicious.

I rolled my eyes. “So much of our ability is instinct. You need to trust yourself. Trust us together.” I plucked my phone and the bacon from the shelf, shoving the phone into my pocket, but keeping the toy hidden in my hand. I stepped closer to him, into his personal space so he would have no doubt what I meant. “We
are
good together, don’t you think?”

The green of his eyes was dark with emotion. “Oh, yeah.” His lips came closer to mine, brushing them once, softly.

“Trust yourself.” I slid the bacon into his jacket pocket. Two could play the game. “You would never hurt me.”

“I—”

Whatever Keene was going to say was lost as the door to my bedroom banged open. “Come quick!” Patrick shouted. “It’s Luce. I think she’s dying!”

IN MY SITTING ROOM, LUCINDA
was lying on one of the couches, her face flushed. Her breath came in shallow, rancid gasps, and vomit stains marred her gray pantsuit. Her hands clutched against her stomach as she moaned. The black Secret Service agent who’d been so protective this morning knelt in front of her, fumbling for her pulse. No other agents were in sight.

Keene took one look and hurried back into my bedroom. “I’ll get the first aid kit.”

“What happened?” I asked, rushing to Lucinda.