Disappointment seared through Zach. He shouldn’t be surprised, of course. Why should Sienna trust him? He had followed her, then pursued her, and kept her in a motel room. To her, he was just one of the many people who were trying to get to her.
But why? Why were all these people after her? She was a stunning woman, but there were a lot of beautiful women on these streets. What was so special about her that everyone was pursuing her relentlessly, determined to get her back?
“I want to help her,” he repeated slowly. “I know nothing about her life, or why she ran away from where she was and wants to disappear. Nothing. But she is obviously scared, and that angers me.”
Shelby stared at him, squinting slightly. “Would you mind getting my glasses for me? They appear to have fallen off when I was attacked.”
Zach looked around and found the glasses on the floor next to the broken glass. They were horn rimmed, and one lens had a tiny spider web crack through it. He picked them up and handed them to the old man.
“A little crack,” said Shelby, examining them. “But they will do.” He put them on, then turned back to Zach. He studied him.
“Who are you?” he slowly asked. “If you are telling the truth that you want to help Sienna, I need to know everything. Then I will make up my mind if I think you are trustworthy.”
Zach took a deep breath. He could only tell this old man so much. The fact that he was a wolf shapeshifter and a member of a pack sworn to protect the city of Covenester from demons would have to be left out.
“I live in the city,” he said carefully. “I do odd jobs. Sometimes I investigate or try to find people. A woman called Julia came to see a friend of mine. She was concerned about Sienna. She said that she was an old friend of hers, and she was worried about her. She said that Sienna had run away from her current employer and was missing.”
Shelby nodded. “Some of that is true. Sienna does know Julia and lived in her establishment for years. But Julia is overstating it when she says that she is a friend of Sienna.”
Zach frowned. “That’s what Sienna said, although she was more forceful about it.”
“Julia said her only motivation to find Sienna was her worry and concern?”
Zach nodded, his frown deepening. “She seemed genuinely upset. She was crying. She appealed to me and my friend, saying that she was deeply worried about Sienna, and if I found her to bring her to her.”
Shelby sniffed. “Julia is a good actress,” he said drily. “Well, she has to be in her profession, doesn’t she? But there could be some truth to it. Julia did take Sienna in, all those years ago, and tried to help her. She may have genuine feelings for her…”
“But you don’t think that is the reason she is searching for her.” Zach’s voice was level.
Shelby sighed, shaking his head. “There is more to it. Tell me, did she talk about who Sienna’s...employer is?”
Zach noticed the emphasis on the word, and his frown deepened again. This was puzzling. Was the person who Sienna had run away from her employer or not? But if not, what was he to her then?
“No,” he replied slowly. “Julia said she didn’t know who the employer was.”
A bark of laughter escaped Shelby’s lips. “That is a downright lie,” he said. “That man is well known to her. He frequents her establishment. It was how Sienna met him.”
Zach nodded. He had thought initially that was probably the case. But Julia had been so evasive when he had questioned her about it. At the time he had thought that she was scared to identify him, but now it was slowly dawning on him there might be a darker reason she hadn’t wanted to talk about him.
“Sienna didn’t want to go with the man, did she?” he asked slowly, staring at the old man.
Shelby shook his head sadly. “No. Not at all. I only wish that I had known what they were planning. I would have hidden her here so that he couldn’t take her.”
Zach’s heart plummeted. He thought of Sienna. Her beauty, but also her vulnerability. She was literally running away from this man. He had taken her against her will. She wasn’t working for him; at least, not in the conventional sense. She was his prisoner.
He felt his fists clench in rage. The disgusting, evil brute. He understood everything now. Why Sienna was so frightened, and why she was so skittish and slow to trust. For a woman who had been subjected to such a life, everyone and everything must seem like a threat. No wonder she had run away from him at the diner.
“Julia was in on it,” he spat out, hatred coursing through his veins. “She handed Sienna over to him. And that is why she is looking for her now. She is trying to catch her to return her to him.”
Shelby’s eyes were huge behind his glasses. “Yes. I didn’t see it before, but it is true. It was a trap. Julia is trying to catch Sienna with honey instead of vinegar.”
“Pretend that she still loves her,” continued Zach through gritted teeth. “Seduce her with kindness. Julia was counting on the fact that Sienna would be desperate for a friend if I found her and willing to take the chance that Julia really did love her, deep down.” His loathing for the woman was threatening to overwhelm him.
He should have known, he thought darkly. His instincts about the woman hadn’t been great; he had sensed that she was lying, or at the very least not telling him everything. But she was an old friend of Thad’s, and his alpha leader had asked him to do this for her. He had trusted that Thad knew her well enough to discern that she was on the level.
And maybe Julia had been on the level, once upon a time. But Thad hadn’t seen her in years, and people change. Julia had been so defensive that they not judge her on what she did for a living, that just because she was a hooker it didn’t mean that she was a low life. She had played them both, appealing to their sense of decency and fairness. And it had worked.
Just as she had known it would.
“She was using me to get her back,” he said slowly, shaking his head. “And I would have done it. I would have just handed Sienna back to her and walked away, thinking I had done a good thing. Reuniting two friends.”
Shelby sighed. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You didn’t know, and why should you? At least you know the truth about Julia now.” He took a deep breath. “Please, whatever you do, don’t trust her. I know that we have only just met, and you have no reason to believe what I say…”
Zach stared at the frail old man, trembling in the chair with a large gash on his forehead. No, he didn’t know this Shelby Foster any more than he knew Julia—or Sienna, for that matter. He could be spinning a web of lies. But Zach’s instinct told him that Shelby was speaking the truth. And he had learnt to trust that instinct. It was only when he didn’t that things went wrong.
But he had to know more. If he was truly going to help Sienna—and she obviously needed his help, even more than he had first thought—then he needed to know what he was up against.
“Shelby,” he said. “You know who the man is that has done this to Sienna, don’t you?”
Shelby’s trembling intensified, and his ashen face grew paler again, if that was possible. He gulped painfully, but he nodded slowly.
“I need to know,” said Zach. “If I am going to help Sienna. Do you trust me that I want to help her?”
Shelby stared at him. He gulped again. “You helped her,” he slowly said. “She told me. She said that you could have taken her to him, but you didn’t. You really don’t work for him, do you?”
Zach shook his head. “As I said, I have no idea who he is.” He took a deep breath. “Who is he, Shelby?”
Shelby was silent for a moment. Then he gazed at Zach.
“He is a very powerful man,” he said. “He comes from a long line of powerful men.” He laughed bitterly. “If only the world knew what they were really like.”
“Shelby?” Zach stared at him. “What is his name?”
“Jack Fitzpatrick.” Shelby stared back at him, his eyes challenging. “Yes, the great Jack Fitzpatrick. The man who is run
ning for governor in the spring and will probably become president one day.”
Zach felt the words hit him like a punch in the stomach.
This was worse than he had dared to imagine. This was worse than anything.
***
Zach poured the boiling water into the teapot then placed the lid on top. He turned to Shelby expectantly.
“Turn it,” said the old man. “Three times. An old trick, to get the leaves moving. It makes a better brew.”
Zach did as he was instructed, smiling to himself. He wasn’t familiar with how to make tea in a teapot at all; coffee was more his thing. But Shelby had insisted that a good cup of tea was what he needed, and Zach was trying to oblige.
The old man had staggered forward slightly in the chair behind the counter after he had revealed who the man Sienna was running from really was, and Zach had been afraid that he would collapse entirely. He had asked if he could get Shelby anything to revitalise him; he had been expecting he would say a tot of brandy or a shot of whiskey. But instead, Shelby had requested that he make a pot of tea.
He had helped the old man to the back of the bookstore and sat him gently down. There were two china tea cups still on the table. Zach’s heart lurched. Had Sienna been drinking a cup when the attacker had come into the store?
Shelby had followed his gaze. “Yes, that was her cup. She always loved a good cup of tea, and after she came back this morning, I made a pot. She would always relax and talk more if she had a cup in her hand.”
Zach turned now, pouring the brown liquid into the cups through a strainer. He could see brown leaves swirling in the strainer where they had been caught. He placed the two cups on the table, one in front of Shelby, who took it gratefully.
“You can divine the future with the leaves,” he said suddenly, staring at Zach intently. “Tea leaf reading, it’s called. It used to be an art, but its dying out now, like a lot of things.”
Zach picked up his own cup and sipped it. He had only had tea made with a tea bag before, and he had to admit that brewing it in a pot made a difference. It was good; strong, and full of flavour.
“Do you read the leaves?” asked Zach.
Shelby laughed. “My wife used to,” he said. “But she died years ago.” He stared at Zach again. “Do you believe it’s possible?”
Zach nodded slowly. “I’ve never had it done,” he said. “But I think it could be possible. There’s a lot more to this world than we know about.”
Shelby took a sip of his tea, closing his eyes. “Ah, that’s good. Just what I needed.” He touched the bandage on his head. “Thank you for fixing me up. And for making the tea.”
Zach nodded. He stared intently at the old man. “Shelby, are you positive that the man is the Jack Fitzpatrick? Could it be another man with the same name?”
Shelby sighed. “I’m sure,” he said slowly. “There’s nothing that I don’t know about in this district. It’s well known that he frequents Julia’s place. And besides, Sienna has told me herself.”
Zach let out a breath, trying to think. “So, the great politician Jack Fitzpatrick is actually a whoremonger who takes women against their will?”
He didn’t know why he was so surprised. It wasn’t as if it was unheard of that politicians had a secret life. In fact, it was more common than anyone knew.
Still, he couldn’t help being surprised by this revelation. Jack Fitzpatrick was one of the most famous politicians in the country—enormously wealthy and powerful. As Shelby had said, his family was well known too. Jack Fitzpatrick’s father, Ross, had run for the presidency and been defeated by only the narrowest of margins. Politics was in the Fitzpatrick bloodline.
The Fitzpatrick’s were like the first family of politics. A dynasty. They were extremely well connected. The public loved them, and Jack and his brother Peter were often in the celebrity news. They did photospreads with their wives and families at Swiss chalets and attended all the hottest events around town.
Jack Fitzpatrick was a Covenester institution. A squeaky clean institution. If word got out what he was really like, it would be the end of his ambitions.
Zach shivered. Sienna was up against it—wealth, power, and influence.
“Yes,” said Shelby. “He is. And that isn’t the end of what he does, I’m sure. He is probably involved in a whole host of unsavoury things.”
Zach frowned. Jack Fitzpatrick was taking a huge risk. It would take only one person to spill the beans and his life as he knew it would be over. What motivated a man who seemingly had everything to gamble it all?
And where did Sienna fit into the picture?
“Shelby,” he began. “I know now what Sienna is up against, and I’m not surprised she is the way she is. But for me to help her, I need to know more about her.”
Shelby nodded but didn’t meet his eye. “What do you need to know?”
Zach studied the old man. As soon as he had said it, he could feel the resistance in Shelby. He didn’t want to talk about Sienna. Zach had already sensed how fiercely loyal he was to her, and for that he was grateful. Sienna needed all the friends that she could get.
The old man loved her, too. Zach could tell by the way his eyes softened when he spoke about her. But love and loyalty could be a prison, as well. Perhaps Shelby didn’t want to accept the reality of what Sienna did, or what she was.
“Everything,” he replied. “Tell me as much as you know.”
Shelby’s eyes filled with tears. “She is dearer to me than a daughter,” he said. “She used to come in here and we would chat. She never belonged in that place. She wanted to escape it, but she didn’t know where else to go.”
Zach nodded encouragingly.
The old man sighed. “She’s an orphan,” he said. “She never knew her real parents. She had trouble in foster homes. She said that she never belonged. She ran away from her last one when she was sixteen. And that was when she met Julia.”
Zach nodded again. He knew all this already. It seemed that Julia had spoken the truth about that part of Sienna’s life, at least.
“Julia mentioned that she was sick,” Zach carefully said. “That she suffered with fits and saw things. Is that true?”
Shelby sighed but nodded. “It is true. But I wouldn’t call it a sickness.”
“What would you call it?” Zach gazed at him.
Shelby looked down at the table for a moment then raised his head. “You said that you are open to things. Like the fact that you can read the future with tea leaves.”
Zach nodded, mystified. What did reading tea leaves have to do with Sienna?
Shelby smiled sadly. “Sienna is different. She is a part of this world, but she exists in a parallel world, as well. She thinks it makes her a freak. She hates herself because of it.”
“A parallel world?” Zach frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She is a seer.” Shelby closed his eyes. “There are many names for people like her. Prophet, soothsayer, sage. Wise woman. She probably would have been burnt at the stake if she had lived centuries ago.”
Zach’s heart started thudding. “You’re telling me she can see the future?”
Shelby opened his eyes. “Yes. She has visions. They come upon her violently, and she suffers greatly because of them. I keep telling her it is a gift, but she doesn’t believe me, of course. Why should she? It has brought her nothing but pain and misery.”
Zach’s heart kept beating wildly. All he could see was Sienna in that motel room, talking in her sleep. Telling him that he needed to keep running, and not howl. Telling him that someone was coming.
His blood ran cold. Had she been foretelling something from his future? He had tried to shrug it off, but now, it hit him with the force of a sledgehammer.
She had seen him as the wolf. And he was being pursued by something.
Shelby sighed. “This is why she is so valuable, you see. Jack Fitzpatrick keeps her under lock and key. So that she can tell him his future, and he can act accordingly.”
His face darkened. “So that he can fulfil his destiny.”
Chapter Eight
He leaned back in the leather chair, stretching it to its full capacity. He smiled. The day had turned out far better than he had anticipated. Sighing with satisfaction, he got up, walking to the window and staring out at the manicured lawns.
A bevy of gardeners were hard at work, pruning his beloved cherry blossom trees before planting them. The precious plants had been flown in from Japan just last week and were now ready to take pride of place in the front garden. He had selected their position carefully. They were already almost fully grown, after all, and they had to be placed for maximum impact. The trees would be one of the first things his very important guests would see as they walked up the driveway towards the house.
Impact, he thought, watching the gardeners hard at work. It was all about impact. These cherry blossoms were Somei Yoshino, a Japanese variety known for their exquisite pink pearlescent blossom. And while these beauties would only blossom for a short time, their impact was stunning. In Japan, there were festivals where people would come out to watch that one short week in the year when the blossoms came out and then fell to the earth.
He had once been to a cherry blossom festival in Japan. And as soon as he had seen the hundreds of people clamouring to view the blossoms before they fell, he knew that he had to have some.
Jack Fitzpatrick was used to getting what he wanted. Without delay and without compromise.
He smiled. The cherry blossoms were going into the ground. And he had just received the pleasurable news that his other precious pet had been returned to him. His smile broadened. Apparently, she had offered herself to his minion in exchange for not killing the bookseller.
She had come back of her own volition. Sort of.
He chuckled to himself. Sienna was so predictable, which was strange for a fortune teller. Surely, she could have just seen where he would look for her and go somewhere else? Apart from the fact that she must have known that he would eventually find out who she had been friends with in the Mission Street district from when she used to live there.
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