by Mason Sabre
“You never said,” she muttered before she could catch herself. Suddenly, sitting in the car with Cade grew too much ... the ceiling was coming down and the walls were closing in on her. Somewhere inside, her tiger gave a fierce territorial growl. “Sorry. It doesn’t matter," she said, righting herself. It was good ... this was good. Bring Natalie in. Yes.
Gemma's tiger reared her head, and she had to blink to stop her eyes from shifting. Cade grabbed her hand, and that touch … that moment of contact with him just made inside a whole lot worse. She wanted to snatch it away, but her mind and vision clouded.
“You don’t have to come,” he said.
“You don’t want me to?”
“No. I—”
She pulled her hand from his. She needed to back off from Cade and the world was handing her that. She had to take it ... she would take it. “We need to work,” she said, jumping out of the car before every pain-filled emotion could spill out on the both of them and take her to places she didn’t know how to deal with. "Come on."
She didn’t look back as she walked briskly to the house and knocked on the door. Her fists were clenched by her sides, her shoulders stiff. It didn’t matter that he was bringing Natalie in. It really didn’t, she tried to tell herself. She was just going to the estate. She could be useful.… Both sides of her brain tried to argue, clashing somewhere in the middle and making her head fuzzy.
“Gem—” Cade said as he reached her, and she was saved by the door opening. Emily stood there facing them, her face ashen. “Mrs Davies,” Cade said, his voice filled with compassion. “We’ve come to look at Jessica’s belongings. I have a warrant.”
She gave a soft, sad smile, her gaze going over both of them. “I know. Your father called Malcolm this morning.”
“Where is my dad?” Gemma asked.
“With Evie.” Gemma must have looked concerned because her mother added, “They have gone to run. We thought it might do her good to get her moving right away.” She stepped back to let them in. “Angela is resting. She knows you’re coming. I said I would show you to Jessica’s room.”
Gemma took her mother’s hand, leant up and gave her a hug. “Tell her I’m sorry,” she said. “We’ll be quick." She turned then and looked straight at Cade ... tiger to wolf. "After today, Natalie Castle will take my place on the case.”
“Natalie doesn’t—” he started.
“She’s your potential mate, Cade. She needs to be involved. This is her chance.”
She turned before he could say more and headed up to Jessica’s room, head held high, shoulders back and a stiff coat of armour oddly locked into place.
Fuck this. She would not cry.
Chapter 15
Cade
Cade was sure that everyone in that room could hear his heart crash down inside him and explode into hundreds of pieces shattered around his feet. He clenched his jaw to keep words spilling from his mouth begging Gemma not to do this. He kept his expression impassive even though his mind was wild with frustration, thoughts, pleas that he could never voice. Not here. Not in front of Emily. He could do nothing as Gemma headed toward Jessica’s room. Her words lanced through him, chilling him to the bone as they speared through his wolf’s wounded heart, making him curl up in a corner and whimper as if he were dying.
Until that moment, he had been going along with his father’s plan. He had been meandering, navigating his way through enemy lands and holding onto the hope that something would come along and help him—that some way he would find an answer, and he could release Natalie and claim what he really wanted. Gemma had just slammed the door on that and he found himself lost … walking too far along a path he had never intended to take. He’d always thought she would eventually come around. Maybe she was waiting for the right time, but in his heart and his mind, leaving with Gemma was the only thing he ever planned to do.
Gemma walked into Jessica’s room, ahead of Cade, pushing the door open and releasing the heavy aroma of too much perfume and too much nail varnish. It was pretty standard for any teenager’s room—stuck in the odd transition between girl to woman. Childish wallpaper hid behind posters of movie stars and her single bed was cluttered with soft toys and clothes. On the floor, under the main window, there was an array of women’s shoes, and then a couple of pairs of trainers that matched more of a child’s personality. Some parts of Jessica had still wanted to retain her childhood, while another part had desperately wanted to grow up and become a woman.
Cade followed her in and carefully shut the door behind him. He didn’t care right then if Emily or Angela could hear them. His wolf wanted only for Gemma to take back what she had said. “This is because I asked her to the estate?”
Gemma calmly opened and turned on the laptop on Jessica’s bed like she hadn't just torn him to pieces inside. He resisted the urge to go to her and scoop her up in his arms and never let go. No matter how much he held her, how often they made love, it was never enough for him. His wolf was insatiable for her tiger, and now he was howling, lost, confused … begging for that one thing in the world that made sense to him.
Those beautiful green eyes met his gaze, and it was difficult to miss the pain reflected in them. “It’s her job now. Not mine. If you have her bringing the files to me so I can sign them off—”
“You want Natalie to bring the files?”
A pause, then, “Yes.”
He stared at her hard for a moment, making her gaze waver and lock back onto the laptop as it loaded to life. But he could see the tremble in her fingers. He could see the tension in her shoulders.
She was lying.
In two long strides, he had reached the bed and was shoving the laptop to one side so that he could take its place in front of her. Her eyes grew wide with surprise, a shaky breath leaving her lips in a rush. Before she could react, he slid his hands along the sides of her neck, his thumbs sliding across her jaw and coming to rest just in front of her ears, the way they always did….
“Cade … please don’t—”
Her eyes betrayed the words that left her mouth, however. They screamed yes at him, shimmering with her tiger, alive and alert. It brought his wolf to the front with a violent lurch, and his mouth came down on hers hard, hungry. He kissed her deep, his tongue sweeping in as her lips parted in a small gasp. She opened up for him willingly, soft lips parting to allow him to delve into the sweet recesses of her mouth.
With a moan, she brought a hand up and snaked it around the nape of his neck, pulling him down to her and making him growl with satisfaction.
“Cade …” she groaned, wrenching her mouth away, but not letting go of him. She clung onto his shoulders with the same desperate need he felt inside. “We can't do this.”
He exhaled deeply, resting his forehead against hers. “I don’t want anyone else but you,” he whispered. “You’re my life. Don’t you understand that?”
The need to grab Gemma and run from there was so overwhelming he had to close his eyes for a minute so as not to give in to it. She pulled back enough so that she could trace delicate fingers across his beautiful features, brushing his hair back like they had so many times before. “This is why we can't do this. You are mine, too.”
“Then let’s leave—”
Gemma shook her head sadly. He knew what was next. He had heard it enough times. “If we leave, one of us will end up dead. Maybe both. I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist.”
He gritted his teeth in frustration. “It won’t happen.”
“You don’t know that.” It was Gemma who pressed her mouth back onto his. He sucked in a harsh breath and returned her kiss with brutal force. It was like taking a detour off the wrong path and finding himself on the right one, but knowing it would be cruelly snatched away again.
When she broke away again, she did so fully, panting as she pushed him back forcefully. She grabbed the file from where he had dropped it and jerked it open to the picture of Jessica’s lifeless body lying next to her de
ad baby. “This is what happens when you try, Cade. What if you found me like that one day?”
His face went hard, the mere thought enough to make him lose his mind. “I’d never let anyone near you.”
She gave him a weak smile. “You can’t fight the whole world.” Then, with a sigh she said, “I will tell my father tonight that Natalie is going to take my place.”
He froze at her words, his head trying hard to focus as his wolf demanded that he take control and make her submit to his will. But that would never work. “No, you won’t” he said roughly.
“It has—”
“I will tell him myself. My father offered Natalie a job in the DSA. I will give that to her and bring her in. You’re right. This is how it has to be.” He locked down the cages of his mind and his heart and pushed himself away from her. Her rapidly beating heart betrayed her. Good. He wanted that. He wanted her to feel the same pain she had given to him so she would realise she was wrong.
Cade surveyed the room, his limbs cold with defiance and his fur just under his skin, wishing to come out so he could shift and run and heal. Except, this wasn’t a wound he could heal from. The best he could hope for was limping through it and waiting for it to go away.
The laptop sang itself to life, the humming of the operating system as it opened up to the login screen. He left Gemma with that and went to the large closet and chest of drawers. The drawers held nothing other than expected—clothes, underwear, a drawer filled with make-up, bits of change and other things that were too small to have a home. Nothing of interest, though. As he went to open the closet, he noticed … a hidden door behind it. He hadn't seen it before because it was papered the same way the rest of the room was. Two finger-sized holes remained where there was supposed to be a handle. He grabbed the wardrobe and pulled, sliding it to the side, his muscles bunching in his arms and back as he moved.
“What are you doing?”
Cade didn’t turn to look at her. “There's something here,” he muttered.
When the wardrobe was out of the way, he tried to shove his little finger into the hole, but the hole was too small for him to get a grip. “Can you come and open this?” he asked. Gemma had long, slender fingers.
“A hidden door?” She asked as she sided up to him, and he had to move or break down the resolve he was trying to retain.
“I’m not sure. There is a hole just there. If you—”
Gemma pushed her pinkie into it, hooked and pulled. The door came open with a slight whoosh as the suction let go. It was just another closet. This one built into the wall. The size of a small bathroom. “I can't get into her laptop,” she said. “It’s password protected, and there isn’t anything around where she might have written it down.”
“You could ask Angela?”
“You don’t password your stuff and then go and give it to the only person you live with. The password will have been to keep Angela out. I’ll ask Tom.”
Tom was husband to Gemma’s best friend, Shelley. They were also proof that a person could leave Society by choice and still live a happy life. Tom was Human, Shelley was Fae, and she had paid her way out of her responsibilities. Her mother was just a pawn on the outer ring of the Unseelie Court—the Fae equivalent of Council. The lower council at that. In levels of ranking, Gemma and Cade were locked in at the top, and Shelley had been near enough to the bottom that it was easy enough for her to grab the door and leave. Still … it gave him some hope.
The secret closet was pretty much empty. It looked more like a place where Jessica would dump empty shoe boxes and packets to things she had bought. Cade opened a few of them, but all he found were receipts. “It’s like a shopper’s secret in here,” he said as he tossed one of the boxes back. It thumped down with an echo rather than a solid thunk, and he crouched down with a frown, hands running across the bottom. He could feel Gemma behind him—her body so close to his, yet not touching him—and did his best to ignore the calling of his wolf to turn around.
Under the boxes and the packets, and other bits of junk Jessica had tossed aside, Cade ran his hands along the base and found there was a ridge to it. He dove into his pocket and pulled out his keys, using the tip of one to jam into the edge and work it open. He handed Gemma some of the boxes and when it was clear enough, he lifted the wood away.
There was a small case in there, the kind one would take going on a small trip or as a carry-on when flying. Gemma backed up as Cade lifted it out and set it on the floor.
Finding it unlocked, he opened it to find a couple of sets of clothes, some basic cosmetics and a folder inside. As he drew the latter out to inspect it, Gemma bent down to rummage through the case.
Inside the file was an envelope filled with money—around five hundred at least.
“She was planning a trip?” she asked as she took the proffered envelope.
“Perhaps.” His brow furrowed in concentration as he riffled through the rest of the contents of the folder. “With her birth certificate and legal forms?” He handed her the papers.
She frowned. “She was leaving for good.” It was a statement, not a question. A person didn’t have that much money, clothes, and their legal documents if they were coming back. A few years back, when Cade and Gemma had attempted to leave together—and almost succeeding—her brother had secured forms in different names and entry to Exile.
“There is an appointment card. Francine Brown,” he murmured. It was for the clinic out of the Council area. The paid for medical department of the Human Council. It was what Others used when they hadn't signed up for Society. Expensive, but available if one could secure the funds. “Maybe that’s what the money was for?”
“A termination. Wasn’t it too far.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think she was having a termination.” He opened the card. There had been three appointments in the past. “I think she was getting check-ups. Look.” He handed her the card and then another small card with weight and blood pressure recorded. “This isn’t someone who is going to get the pregnancy terminated.”
“She was pregnant, and she was leaving,” Gemma said. “I guess Angela had no clue she was leaving, either.”
“The baby was a mix. I bet she was leaving because of that.”
“And the father?”
Gemma’s eyes met his, and he had to quash down the urge to throw all this to one side. It was just too reminiscent of what they had done. The fake names, the money, leaving, the packed case, the mixed baby …
“Anything you need to take, you can,” Angela said from the doorway, making them both snap their heads up in surprise.
“Thank you,” Gemma said. “We’d like to take her laptop if that’s okay. I can't get into it. I’ll make sure to get it back to you as soon as we’re done.”
She nodded weakly, as if she was tired. That kind of tired that no sleep would ever fix, only time would let ease a little.
“Was Jessica planning a trip?” Cade asked. “Somewhere with school? Friends? You? I mean, in the future.”
Emily had come up behind Angela and was gently rubbing her hands down Angela’s arms. “No,” she said. “Just this weekend, and that wasn’t even certain. Why?”
“Any savings?”
Angela snivelled and wiped at her eyes. “Some. I think. Maybe … no.”
“No?”
“She did have a little money she had saved doing work for the Council, but she used it for the deposit on her car. So no, now, she didn’t have any.”
Gemma and Cade exchanged quick looks. “Do you know where her car is? It isn’t here, and it wasn’t at—” He was going to say where they had found her but stopped himself. “I had Avery put out a search on it, but so far, nothing.”
Angela shook her head. “She went out in it yesterday.”
Cade shoved the papers back into the file, along with the money. If Angela was bothered about it or even realised, she didn’t say anything. He closed the hidden closet again, but left the case out, pushing it to t
he side. It didn’t need to be hidden now.
As Gemma followed Emily and Angela out of the room, and he heard words of comfort being offered to the sniffling woman out in the hallway, he took advantage of the moment to close his eyes and breathe in, trying to detect any other scent in her room.
He crouched near her bed, swearing when his wolf picked up Gemma’s scent and almost sent him reeling again. He locked his mental walls into place and focused on separating the scents he could pick up. There was nothing other than Angela and Jessica. He hadn't really expected to find anyone else, truth be told. If Jessica were seeing a boy, she’d not have ever tried to sneak him into her house. It was too risky. Her mother was pack master.
Whoever had fathered the child, it definitely hadn't happened in this house.
When he finally joined them downstairs, Angela was curled up on the sofa, and Emily and Gemma were talking quietly at the doorway. “We’re all done here,” he said as he approached them.
Emily nodded and gave him sad smile.
He held up the laptop. “Tell Angela we’ll return this as soon as we can.”
Gemma gave her mother a quick hug and turned to walk out of the house. As Cade went to follow, Emily grabbed his arm, holding him back. “Don’t make the same mistakes we did,” she whispered, standing on her toes to place an affectionate kiss on his cheek. “Don’t you dare give up.”
Chapter 16
Gemma
Gemma scrolled through her phone as she walked back to Cade’s car, waiting for him to join her. She hadn't missed the way her mother had grabbed him and held him back, but he’d never divulge whatever her mother had said to him. Maybe she had heard them in Jessica’s room. Emily was subtler than Malcolm.
Her hands shook as she thought back to the kiss they had just shared, making it hard for her to call her friend and seek the moment of solace in her head and her heart.
