by I. T. Lucas
“I was just joking. It’s not like marriage is on the table or anything. We’ve just met. I promised to give him a week, and I still have three days to go.”
“What happens when the week is up?”
“Leon said that he has accumulated a lot of vacation days, and that we can spend two months here if we want. I might take him up on his offer.”
“Where is here?”
“It’s a cabin up in the mountains somewhere in Southern California. He told me the name of the area, but I forgot what it was. Most of the time, it’s just me and him and the trees, but Bowen came over one time with Leon’s cousin and her niece, so we are not totally isolated. We can have visitors if we want. It’s awesome up here.”
“You are not coming back, are you?”
“I’m not sure. It depends on how things work out here. Who is going to run things with Emmett gone?”
“I don’t know.” Margaret’s voice quivered. “If Safe Haven closes, I don’t know what I am going to do. I don’t have anywhere to go.” She sniffled. “My whole world has just fallen apart.”
“Don’t panic. The community is not going to disperse. Maybe things will change, but Safe Haven is not going to close its doors. Riley can take over, or even better, we can have a committee that will run the place like a democracy. The retreat brings in a lot of money, and Emmett wasn’t all that involved in running it. He was just the face on the brochure.” Ana chuckled. “We can still use his picture and hire an actor to play his part at the opening and closing of each session. We could dress him in a white robe and put a wig on him, and no one would know the difference.”
Margaret sniffled again. “No one can take Emmett’s place. He was the heart of the community, and without him, it will fall apart. Riley is a good manager, but she has no charisma, no charm, she’s not a leader.”
That was true.
Ana scrambled for more positive things to say. “Maybe you can be the community’s new heart.”
“Yeah, right. Even freaking Gustav would be better than me. I have the charisma of a drowned mouse.”
“Don’t say that. You are awesome, and you are a true believer in Emmett’s Way.”
“Am I? I don’t know what to believe in anymore.” She sighed. “Shirley is back with my purse, and I need to return the phone to Bowen. He’s taking me to the hospital in Eugene.”
“Call me after the doctor sees you. I want you to keep me in the loop.”
“I will. Goodbye, Ana.”
“I love you, Margaret. And I’m really sorry for not telling you the truth about why I was leaving.”
“I love you too.”
62
Leon
“Bowen wants to talk to you.” Anastasia handed Leon the phone. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”
“Thanks.” He walked out the door to the front porch.
Thankfully, Anastasia didn’t follow, allowing him privacy.
“Can you talk?” he asked Bowen.
“I’m driving. Margaret is in the back. She can’t hear me if I speak quietly.”
“So, what’s the real story? I bet Emmett did more than lock Eleanor in a room.”
“He drugged her, although the effect was very mild on her, and then he bit her,” Bowen whispered. “He’s an immortal, but he’s either nuts or has a blood fetish, which is also nuts. Eleanor said that he sucked her blood.”
“There is always a little blood when we bite, maybe he just licked the puncture wounds clean?”
“Eleanor would have known the difference. She's been bitten by an immortal male multiple times.”
“That’s true.” Leon pushed his fingers through his hair. “I find it hard to believe that what happened was voluntary. She was adamant about staying faithful to Greggory. Did Emmett force her?”
“According to Eleanor, he went straight for her neck. Other than holding her for the bite, he didn’t touch her, which is also weird. The sex should come first and then the bite, but the guy seemed interested only in the biting. He didn’t touch her other than to hold her for his bite.”
Or maybe he had some decency left after all, and he hadn’t stooped as low as forcing himself on a woman.
“He might be insane, or just confused about what his fangs are meant for.” Leon looked over his shoulder through the living room window, checking that Anastasia was still in the kitchen. “The Clan Mother has never mentioned any of the gods being bloodsuckers.”
“What if Annani didn’t tell us everything? She keeps many secrets and only reveals what she thinks we should know.”
“She would have told her children.” Leon rose to his feet and started pacing the length of the front porch. “If anyone knows the whole story about the gods, it would be Kian and his sisters. But Kian always jokes that the vampire myths have it wrong and that the bats should have been snakes. He wouldn’t have done that if he knew about bloodsuckers.”
“I’m not sure they know the whole story either. Maybe we should ask Wonder. She was there when the gods were still around.”
“Not a bad idea.” Leon stopped pacing and leaned against the wooden railing. “I’ll talk with Anandur and ask him to speak with her. Any news on where Emmett took Peter?”
“Roni and William are searching for his car.”
“He probably ditched it somewhere. That’s what I would have done.” Leon looked through the living room window again.
Anastasia was still in the kitchen chopping vegetables, but she must have felt him looking at her. Lifting her head, she smiled at him.
She was so damn beautiful that she took his breath away. Especially when she smiled.
When he blew her an air kiss, she blew one right back at him.
“Once he ditches his Corvette, Emmett will need another car,” Bowen said. “And since he is a compeller, he will use his ability to procure one instead of renting or buying it. But William and Roni are expecting that, and they are checking the security feed from gas stations and airports in a four-hour-drive radius from Safe Haven.”
“There are many small towns along the Oregon coast. He could have stolen a car from someone’s house, in which case they are not going to see it on any security camera's feed, and we will have no idea what car he’s driving.”
“True, and then we are screwed. Let’s hope that he didn’t. We have to catch him. We can’t allow him to pump Peter for information and escape with it.”
Pushing away from the railing, Leon walked over to the bench and sat down. “I’m less worried about that than Emmett killing Peter after he’s done interrogating him. With Roni and William monitoring the airports, we are going to catch him eventually. I just hope that we won’t be too late.”
“Yeah, same here.”
63
Peter
“You’re about to get your coffee.” Emmett drove into another Starbucks parking lot.
They had been on the road for over an hour since he’d stopped at the other one, and Peter had thought that Emmett had forgotten about his promise to get him coffee.
Having been ordered to keep silent, he couldn’t have even reminded the guy, but that was a minor inconvenience.
Peter was still reeling from what Emmett had revealed and what he planned to do with him. Regrettably, the guy had refused to answer any more questions, and he’d also figured out how to compel Peter without leaving any loopholes for him to jump through.
His chances of escape didn’t look good, but Peter was confident in his friends’ ability to track Emmett down and free him. The guy wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t sophisticated either, and he wasn’t technologically savvy, which was a huge advantage since he didn’t know what to be careful about. If he knew, he would have tried to avoid every place that had a security camera.
“I need to use the restroom, and I’m sure you need to as well.” Emmett pulled into the takeout line. “But I can’t take you inside. I will stop somewhere along the way.”
Peter wanted to roll his eyes, but his body r
efused to obey. Thankfully, the involuntary stuff still worked, so he could blink his eyes and breathe without getting explicit permission to do that.
“Venti cappuccino, right?” Emmett asked without expecting a response.
He ordered at the window, picked up their order, and then drove around to park in front of the coffee shop. “You will have to wait a few minutes longer to drink your coffee. I need to check my email.” He pulled out his laptop.
Did he expect a response from his leader so fast?
“It must be still too early over there.” Emmett closed his laptop and put it back in the duffle bag.
It was one-thirty-eight in the afternoon in Oregon, and given Emmett’s comment, his community was in a country that was just waking up. It was still night in Europe and Central Asia, so it must be somewhere further east. Was it in China? Japan? It was already mid-morning in Australia, and in Japan, the workday was just about to start, which left China.
Peter’s thoughts shifted to Mey and Jin. Perhaps there was a connection between them and Emmett’s community?
As Emmett eased into traffic on the highway, he looked at Peter and waved his hand at the coffee. “You can take your venti cappuccino now and drink it. But don’t make any other moves.”
He reached for his own cup of black coffee and took a sip. “Crappy coffee, but it’s an improvement over what they served in this country twenty years ago.” He looked at Peter as if expecting a comment. “Oh, yes, you can talk. Just don’t ask me questions about my people.”
“How long have you been living in the States?”
“Thirty-some years. What about you?”
“About a year.”
Emmett lifted a brow. “You have no foreign accent.”
“I’m good with languages.” He let his Scottish accent take over. “It’s a trait all immortals share. What about you?”
Emmett nodded. “I learn everything fast, but that’s because I’m smart.” He winked. “I’m special.”
Peter almost choked on his coffee. “And you are also very modest. I think you let the adoration from your cult members go to your head, forgetting that you compelled them to love you.”
“I did no such thing.” Emmett seemed genuinely offended. “I’m a charismatic leader, and I created a real haven for those humans. No compulsion was necessary. I only used it to hide who I was and what I needed.”
“Perhaps you were using compulsion unintentionally.”
Emmett shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. That chapter of my life is over.”
“You could start a new community somewhere else.” And not deliver Peter to his leader and force him to breed with the queen bee.
“If things don’t work out, I might.” He smiled at Peter. “But I have a feeling that they will. My people will forever be grateful to me for providing them with a solution that will save them from extinction. Instead of a second-class half-breed, I will be a hero. Who knows, maybe she will even take me to her bed.”
“Or she might kill you for betraying her. You said so yourself.”
“That’s why I sent the email, and I’m waiting for her response. I will know from the tone of it what to expect.”
“Are you sure about that? How well do you know her? You said that pure-bloods didn’t associate with the half-breeds. How many times have you even talked to your leader?”
He grimaced. “Twice.”
“And that’s enough? You are risking your life based on her reply, and she might be as sweet as honey to make sure that you deliver me to her, and then execute you.”
Emmett smirked. “She can’t use you without me compelling your cooperation.”
“Not true. If I’m challenged by one of your males, I will defend myself, and I will bite him. The only thing I can withhold is my sexual services, and even that won’t last long if your females are any good at seduction.”
64
Eleanor
Magnus put his phone away as he walked into the kitchen. “Robbie is starting to let the humans back in. We are ready to move out.”
“I need to get my and Peter’s things.” Eleanor rose to her feet.
He shook his head. “I forgot to tell you. When Peter called, he said that your room was empty, and when he asked about it, he was told that you left. Your stuff is gone, probably thrown in the trash.”
“Damn.” Her hand shook as she pushed her fingers through her hair. “He really intended to keep me. If Peter hadn’t come to my rescue, it would have been me in the car with Emmett.”
Magnus shook his head. “If Peter had waited for us to arrive instead of acting foolishly, Emmett would still be here, and we wouldn’t have to chase after him.”
She nodded. “Emmett probably got Peter to tell him that he’d called for reinforcements. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known that you were coming.”
“Precisely.”
“I need to get Peter’s things.”
“Elliot can do that. Do you remember Peter’s room number?”
“Forty-eight.”
As Elliot headed toward the guest rooms, Eleanor and Jay followed Magnus outside.
“Any news on Emmett’s car?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you later.” Magnus walked over to a woman in a white cardigan.
“We are heading out, Riley. There was also a small gas explosion in the cottage, but we took care of it as well. No one was inside, and no one got hurt. I will report my findings to the gas company, so you don’t need to bother with that. Everything is fixed and back to normal.”
“Thank you. I appreciate all you have done for us.”
“No problem. Take care.” He motioned for the Guardians and Eleanor to follow him to the fire truck.
Some of the humans cast curious looks at her, but most were just happy that it was over and they could go back inside and warm up.
It was cold, and only a few had their coats on.
Eleanor crossed her arms over her chest to hide her stiff nipples. Her coat was probably in one of the trash bins, but it wasn’t worth sifting through garbage to retrieve.
“Hop in.” Magnus motioned for her to get in the fire engine.
“I’ve never ridden in one before.” She sat on the bench next to Jay. “Can I borrow your phone? I want to call Leon. He needs to know what happened.”
“He’s already gotten an update from Bowen.” Magnus took the seat on Jay’s other side.
“Doesn’t he want to join the hunt?” She leaned over Jay to look at Magnus. “Or are we going after Emmett with the fire engine?”
“Hold on.” He pulled out his phone. “Yeah, what’s up, William?”
Eleanor leaned in again to listen over the engine’s noise.
“We’ve got him. Just as we suspected, Emmett exchanged cars with a guy, taking his Honda Odyssey minivan in exchange for the Corvette. It was all recorded on the gas station’s surveillance camera. Since the place was north of Safe Haven, we hacked into the traffic cameras going further north, and we’ve been monitoring them closely. Five minutes ago, we caught the mini van’s license plate on a traffic enforcement camera on the five freeway. He’s about forty-five minutes away from Portland. Roni is following the other cameras to make sure that he stays on the freeway, but I’m sure he’s heading to Portland. Turner knows the police chief, and he asked that they keep an eye out for the van, and Roni will keep checking the surveillance cameras in the area, so the moment Emmett stops somewhere to grab a bite to eat or take a piss, we will get him.”
“The police are going to be useless against Emmett,” Eleanor said.
Magnus lifted his hand to shush her. “Text me the van’s license plate number and color.”
“I will,” William said. “How far are you from Portland?”
“We’ve just left Safe Haven, so too far. Our best bet is to send Charlie and Ewan with the jet to Portland. They are in the airport in Eugene, but it will take us nearly an hour to get there. I want them moving right away. Can you arrange for a car to be waiting
for them at the airport?”
“It will be done.” William ended the call.
“Charlie and Ewan?” Eleanor cocked a brow. “That’s who you are sending to get Emmett?”
Magnus smiled. “Don’t worry. They can take him.”
“How? Charlie is not a Guardian, and neither of them is immune.”
“They have earpieces like these.” He pulled two out of his pocket. “As you know, compulsion works by voice commands, and these little beauties filter it out, translating whatever is being said into a machine voice.”
Eleanor let out a breath. “So they are going to muscle him down in public?”
“If need be, they can tranq him.”
“How come you left Ewan with Charlie?” Eleanor asked. “Did you anticipate this?”
“Not at all. We were short one firefighter outfit, and Yamanu convinced us that we didn’t need Ewan.”
“You didn’t,” Yamanu said. “I pull better illusions than any pyrotechnics can produce.”
“That you do.”
As Magnus got on the phone with Ewan, Eleanor leaned back and closed her eyes. She should call Greggory, tell him that she was alright and that she was coming home soon, but she wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.
What happened with Emmett had shaken her belief that Greggory could be her fated mate. Not that she’d admitted to believing in it in the first place, not even to herself, but secretly, she’d hoped that he was the one.
Except, her attraction to Emmett had disproved it. If Greggory was her true-love mate, she shouldn’t have felt anything for Emmett, not even a smidgen of attraction.
It was still possible that her hypothesis about the guy emitting some kind of potent pheromones that had messed with her hormones was true, but without proof, she needed to give her relationship with Greggory some serious thought and decide how to proceed.
An hour later, Eleanor was still thinking about that when Magnus's phone buzzed with an incoming message.
