Rivals (20 page)

Daniel sputtered under the pressure on his larynx. “I told her you appreciated a humble woman over a vain one.”

Ethan started to release. “You shouldn’t have told her anything.”

“I told her you thought about her all the time.”

Ethan released his shirt. “Why did you speak to her at all? I just wanted to see if she was okay. Now she thinks I don’t want to see her.”

“She thinks you’re resisting your feelings for her,” Daniel said. “Which you are!”

Ethan sat back down and belted up. Heaton continued to drive.

“Why don’t you just go back there?” Daniel ranted. “You want to be with her, so be with her.”

“I’m not going to go back there to be with her, unless I can be
with
her. She has to make me an offer of love. She already knows how I feel. If I stay and we do nothing but bicker and dance around our feelings, what’s the point? I don’t need a woman to grant my every desire, but I at least want one that wants me around.”

“I’m telling you, she does,” Daniel exclaimed.

“If I walked into that prison tomorrow, would she smile and come rushing to greet me?” Ethan asked, knowing full well that nothing was ever that easily interpreted with Cori.

Daniel exchanged another look with Heaton.

“Will you stop doing that?” Ethan yelled. “Just tell me.”

“Honestly,” Daniel said, “I think she would still be a little offish to you, but only because her pride hasn’t been hurt enough to warrant showing all her cards.”

“What does that even mean?” Ethan asked.

“It means she’s stubborn as a mule,” Heaton added.

Daniel nodded.

“I know that! What do I do about it?”

“You can’t push a mule,” Heaton offered.

Ethan slammed his fist into the ceiling of the van.

“Easy on the wheels,” Heaton begged.

“I’ve been not pushing for a long time. I’m sick of being patient.”

“That’s why I didn’t want you to go see her,” Daniel said. “If you went to see her you would have thrown yourself at her. She might have accepted you. She might have been scared off. I don’t know crap about you two together, but the two of you apart is hurting her. Just give it a little while longer.”

“You want me to hurt her a little longer?”

“Yes, and then I want you to go back to her with a smile and just enough flirtation to get her thinking about you, but not enough to get her on the defensive.”

“This sounds so conniving.”

“If you love her like you claim, then you hunt her down like you did that fem-wolf. Only you don’t jump off the building. She does.” Daniel paused to collect his metaphor. “And you aren’t you, you’re the pool.”

Ethan chuckled at him. “You want me to bait her with my manly wiles—“

“Do men have wiles?” Heaton asked.

“Shut up,” Ethan continued. “You want me to bait her, force her to make the leap of faith, and then I catch her?” Ethan thought about that plan. He liked it. He just wasn’t confident that she would make the leap. One way or another he was taking a leap too.

36

Cori skidded to a stop in front of a glass-fronted square cell. “Cleos? Cleos!” Cleos sat within the cell reading under the glow of blue light.

Cori jumped around in front of the cell, continuing to yell, while he sat calmly within. She waved a piece of paper frantically before him. Finally, she gave up and slammed her fist on the glass.

He looked up. He furrowed his brow and came to a two-sided box built into the glass enclosure. He pressed the button. “Hello, Cori.”

“I took my test today!” she said unnecessarily, speaking into the box on her side.

“Oh, yes, that little endeavor. I really thought you would have quit trying for that after Ethan left.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Oh, never mind. I overthink things. I didn’t think you were fully healed up,” Cleos said.

“Actually, I feel really good. Non-existent prisons get the best health care. No, I took the written test today.”

“How did it go? Clearly horrible.”

“What?” She perched her hands on her sides.

Cleos smiled. “I take it you passed.”

“I got a ninety-two.” Cori flattened the paper to the glass.

Cleos examined the paper test with the big red 92 and smiled.

“I needed an eighty-six to pass, and they said only the best wardens have gotten into the ninetieth percentile. I told Danato, and he was surprised. Actually, insultingly surprised. I’m wondering if I didn’t score higher than him; he seemed a little perturbed.”

Cleos nodded, taking in her ranting, overlapping sentences.

“I just wanted to come down here and thank you because I wouldn’t have begun to know what to study if it weren’t for you. I know this cage isn’t what I promised you, but I guess it will do, right?”

Cleos nodded. “It’s alright. Better than I expected of Danato. When do you take your physical exam?”

“Three weeks. Apparently the board only comes in the summer months, not that I blame them. I’m terrified though. I don’t really know what to do to prepare.”

“Sleep, eat, and exercise.”

“I don’t suppose you have any words of advice?” she asked.

“None that you’ll listen to,” Cleos said.

“What do you mean? I listen to you.”

“Cori,” Cleos stepped closer to the glass. “Do you remember why you started this journey?”

“I didn’t want to be somebody who needed to be taken care of. I wanted to be my own rock. I… why are you asking me this?” She didn’t understand why he wasn’t jumping up and down with joy. Or at the very least congratulating her.

“I have insight into your mind. Parts that you don’t even pay attention too. I’m not sure completing your test is what you want.”

“Why…?” Cori shook her head, trying to formulate a question. “Danato worked so hard to get me this opportunity. How will it look if I quit? How could anyone take me seriously after I made such a big deal about getting this job? I didn’t think I could do it, but I got the elementals back in their cages, even when the military couldn’t. Cleos, I’ve earned this.”

“Yes, you have. I don’t know your long-term future for certain, but from what I see in you, you may want to ask yourself what the wardenship will give you. If you figure that out before you compete, you might be happier in the long run.”

“Okay.” She slid her paper achievement off the glass wall and headed out. “I’m going to go show this to someone who actually gives a crap.”

“Cori!” Cleos pressed closer to the glass. She looked back. “Cut your hair!”

“Why?”

“It’s an unwanted appendage when it comes to fighting dragons.”

37

Danato abruptly halted as he passed the downstairs bathroom. The door was half open and Cori stood in front of the mirror with scissors to her neck. “What are you doing?”

He barged in, prepared to stop a suicide attempt. He saw the tentative cut she had made lying against her chin. Six inches or so of flaxen hair lay in the sink, threatening to clog the drain. Cori looked at him with teary eyes. “What are you doing?” he asked softly.

“Cleos said that hair and dragons don’t mix.”

Danato’s head tilted back as he added that concern to his own list of worries about her upcoming test. He didn’t like that Cori had spoken with Cleos, but he did have a valid point. “Yes, I didn’t think of that. Any excessive length will provide an opportunity for him to snag you.”

“It’s just hair,” she said, losing a tear.

Danato nodded.

“It will grow back,” she said.

Danato nodded again. He understood that he wasn’t the one that needed convincing.

“Then why does it feel like a hysterectomy?”

Danato chuckled and hugged her from behind. “Because you think your femininity is dependent on it.” He pulled her hair away from her face, looking at her reflection. “It’s not.”

“You cut it.” She shoved the scissors at him.

He flinched away from them. “How is that a good idea?”

“If it looks horrible I will have someone to blame.” Danato laughed and took the scissors. He didn’t have any experience cutting hair, but he went at her golden locks with the precision of a surgeon, one little lock at a time.

38

Cori ran through the halls of the prison, trying to maintain some semblance of calm. After a quick corner that sent her sliding into the adjacent wall, she stopped running and caught her breath.

She combed back her short bob-cut hair with her fingers. She checked her shirt for anything resembling that morning’s breakfast. She even checked the zipper on her pants. Passing by an observation window, she checked her teeth for—once again—anything resembling breakfast. This also prompted her to check her breath.

She strolled into the truck dock slightly out of breath and rubbing her shoulder. Several of the loading attendants lounged by the door. They glanced at her with knowing smiles. She checked her watch, before smoothing down her hair again.

“Either you’re early, or he’s late,” the oldest man said.

“Men,” she scoffed, shrugging her shoulders. She was about to leave rather than be gawked at by the attendants, but she heard the semi-trailer pull in. She checked her watch again and tried to wait casually against the back wall while the vehicle was positioned before letting anything or anyone off.

The attendants headed to the dock and opened the garage door. A gust of cold air filled the room from the gaps left between the truck and the dock door. The truck door rose without their assistance. Ethan stood on the other side looking tired and unshaven.

His tight black stocking cap and leather jacket were probably just as cliché as Vince’s long black trench coat had been, but it didn’t seem to stop her from admiring the view. She smiled at his calm command as he strutted across the dock.

She took a step away from the wall to greet him. She pulled her lips down into a simpler smile so she wasn’t grinning like a clown when he first saw her. She tipped her chin for a casual nod when she thought she was in close enough view. He glanced at her and gave a return head nod, after which he walked right on by, to the exit.

Cori’s brow dipped and her mouth dropped. All hopes and fantasies of rushing into each other’s arms faded away. She had officially become the casual head-nod friend. Not even the friendly “Hi” friend, just a nod.

If she were mature and reserved, she would have quietly taken her abuse. If she were a little less socially stunted by her experiences in life, she might have assumed that he simply hadn’t recognized her in her new haircut. If she were being logical, she would have announced her presence.

Unfortunately, her last bit of social grace went out the window when she saw the wet mop by the doorway.

Ethan headed away from the delivery dock. He planned to check in with Danato, but as soon as he could get away, he wanted to hunt down Cori and tell her how much he’d missed her.

With this one thought in his mind, he passed by a waiting attendant without so much as, a “Hello.” He headed to the nearest exit.

With visions of surprising Cori with flowers from her own greenhouse, he felt the painful whiplash of a heavy, wet mop hitting the back of his head. With mop tendrils noodle-whipping his face, he turned to see his attacker.

The attendant he had passed just seconds earlier was enraged, standing at the end of the hall. Who knew a lack of courtesy could cause such incivility?

Cori stood at one end of the hall like an angry bull, just short of snorting and stamping. Ethan faced off on the other end, looking baffled by the assault.

“Hello?” Cori said propping her hands on her hips.

Ethan’s face melted into shock. “Cori?” He laughed. “Is that you?”

Cori dropped her hands along with her shoulders. “Yes, I guess you’ve already forgotten me.”

“No.” Ethan removed the mop and jogged back to her. “I didn’t recognize you.” He looked her over. “You cut your hair.”

He reached to touch her hair, but she pulled away.

“I guess that shows how much you look at my face.” She took a step back, crossing her arms.

“It
shows
how preoccupied I was when I got here,” Ethan assured her. “You look good.” He stepped closer to her.

“Not too good, though.” Her voice turned solemn as she remembered her conversation with his friend Daniel.

“What?”

“Danato is waiting for you.” She brushed passed him.

“Oh, how I missed this,” he said, following behind her.

39

After a quick meet and greet in the office, Danato, Ethan, and Cori headed back to the house for a meal of Danato’s welcome-back chili.

“How many have you caught?” Danato asked as he added yet another dash of salt to his bowl of chili.

“Only a dozen so far. It’s harder than I thought,” Ethan said, sipping on his wine. He had already scarfed down his first bowl, and intended on having another, but he was enjoying the sit-down part of the meal so much he wanted to draw it out a little. 

“Dangerous too.” Danato grabbed for the salt again. Cori snagged it from his grasp and gave him a hard stare. He seemed a little put off, but he didn’t say anything more about it.

“Don’t start; things are just as dangerous here.” Ethan shook his head, not bothering to ask about the salt. “What about things around here?” He glanced at Cori. She had been working on the same bowl of chili for a half hour, even after fetching Danato a second bowl. “I heard you passed your written test.”

Cori looked up and nodded. She went back to her chili.

Danato leaned in to catch her eye, but she didn’t look at him. He looked back at Ethan with a raised brow. “She did very well. Surprisingly well.”

“Stop saying ‘surprisingly’,” Cori scolded Danato.

“Yes, I’m sorry, that sounds uncomplimentary. I was pleased to see she exceeded my expectations of her. How’s that?”

Cori shrugged. “Better.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t mention it the minute you got off the truck. She was very eager to tell you.” Cori stood and picked up Danato’s half-empty bowl. “Or did you not want to brag about that particular accomplishment?” he asked her as she moved into the kitchen to top off the bowl even though he hadn’t finished the first second helping.

“I guess not,” she said.

“How’s Belus?” Ethan asked. “I heard he got pretty banged up too when the elementals got out.”

“Yes, he did. Nothing more bruised than his ego, but that’s just Belus. I was more than happy to have Cori save my prison.”

Cori returned with his chili and pulled a yellow bottle from her back pocket. Ethan couldn’t see the label, but it appeared to be a no-salt seasoning. She showed it to Danato before setting it down on the table by his bowl. He smiled at it.

Cori grabbed her half-eaten bowl and turned to leave. Danato grabbed her hand before she left. She looked at him. He winked at her and squeezed her hand before releasing her to put her dish in the sink.

Ethan gave Danato a questioning one-eyebrow lift when he brought his attention back to the conversation. He felt like the odd man out. He wondered if Cori had felt that way after her time away.

“Cori,” Danato explained as he started to season
his food, “has been taking good care of me.”

Ethan couldn’t help but smile. He caught Cori’s eye as she started packing up the leftover chili. “I wasn’t aware that the great and powerful Danato needed taking care of.”

“Well, if she hadn’t been in cahoots with my medical staff, she wouldn’t have either.” Cori didn’t look up at him, but a half-cocked grin spread across her face as she put the lid on her Tupperware. “It’s only fair, since she’s the cause of my high blood pressure to begin with.” Cori’s grin widened as she put her leftovers in the fridge. “Where was I? Oh, yes, why didn’t you tell Ethan about your test score the minute he got off the truck?”

Cori shrugged, grabbing a towel to wipe down the table with. “I would have, but he was
preoccupied
.” She said the last word slowly as she wiped her spot off.

Ethan glanced at Danato. “Yes, I was preoccupied with the joy of seeing my friend again, but sadly I forgot what a pain in the ass she is.” He sipped his wine.

Danato looked between them. “How’s that?”

“I didn’t recognize her,” he explained.

“Oh.” Danato sat back in his chair. “I see. Well, that is understandable.”

“I was right in front of him,” Cori argued to Danato.

“You’ve had long hair since I’ve known you. You look different, and no, that doesn’t mean you don’t look good.”

“I don’t really have expectations for you in that area, anyway, do I?”

Ethan glanced at Danato to see if he understood that. “What does that mean?”

“It means you told your friend Daniel that I’m a wallflower.”

Ethan stood, nearly spilling his wine on the way up. Danato reached over and took his glass from his hand, leaving him free to point an accusing finger at her. “That conversation was grossly misinterpreted and I wasn’t happy that he even spoke with you, let alone repeated my drunken babblings to you. If you wish to discuss my opinions of your beauty, I would be happy to save time for that later, but let’s get back to the anger that you’re harboring for me for this afternoon. I didn’t recognize you, and you didn’t say or do anything to induce that recognition.”

“I did say hello.”

Ethan scoffed. “After you were already raging mad!” Danato stood and placed his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. He wasn’t insistent with his pressure. It was just a reminder to him that Danato wouldn’t allow their argument to reach physical violence. Ethan hated that Danato even thought he would hurt Cori, but on this particular occasion he at least appreciated being reminded that Danato was still in the room with them. “You should have said my name! You should have waved! You shouldn’t have just let me walk away!”

Ethan panted, feeling the conclusion of his long-winded argument come to a close. Cori stared back at him, looking a little blown away. He wasn’t sure if she was thinking the same thing he was. His last comment could have easily referred to their last encounter before he left. He probably meant it that way too.

Everyone stood around the table, taking in the awkwardness of his outburst. An embarrassing dessert, following an acrimonious main course.

Cori cleared her throat. “You’re absolutely right,” she said, slightly hoarse despite her precursory harrumph. “I should have spoken up.” Cori reached over and picked up his dirty bowl. “You guys can keep talking. I’m going to start the dishes.” She reached for the bottle of wine and poured a little more wine into each of their glasses.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Danato said and sat again. 

She headed into the kitchen and started running water for the dishes. With her back to them, Ethan and Danato were free to
converse.

Ethan sat back down and rolled his eyes at Danato before taking a sip of his wine. Danato motioned for Ethan to go to her.

He shrugged back to him. He pointed at Cori and twirled his finger next to his head.
Crazy.

Danato shook his head. He pointed at himself, swirled his finger at the surrounding house, and vaguely pointed to the prison. He pressed on his shoulders.
She has a lot on her shoulders.