Lane headed back to the library. She knew the why, now she needed to know the how. The puzzle in her head was almost complete. The means to fight the bastard that robbed her mother of her will, and then robbed her of her mother, had been revealed in her vision. All that was left was to find the weapon and teach daddy dearest a lesson he’d never forget.
Light peeked from the bottom of the library door, and she paused to listen. There was no sound or movement and she sent her senses out to make sure.
Nothing.
Caitlan must have left a light on, knowing she’d read the letter and not be able to sleep.
She slipped quietly through the door and settled in a chair at the study table. Years ago, she’d sit in this very spot with friends, laughing in whispers at old Grania chewing on her dentures. Later, she sat with Gareth, both pretending to study while their hands explored hidden delights under the table.
Opening the book again, she skimmed every page. The ornate lettering was hard to read at first, but she focused on her quarry, hoping her new Sidhe senses would give her a little help.
She had no idea how to channel that power or even control it a little. The thought was disconcerting at the least and downright terrifying at most. She joked about the dark side, but being a Dark Fae halfling, could she fall prey to the same temptations that corrupted her father? Was it so easy? Part of her nature? Or was Gareth correct in that she had the best of both now, being raised as a Raven?
Focusing her senses, she pulled from the well of power deep within and pictured the sword and all its parts. The sigils on the pommel and the Fae wording on the blade.
She flipped to the center of the book and the most colorful spread in the volume. The painted illustration showed a hollow, with a sword depicted piercing what looked to be an ancient Faerie mound. The blade was the right length and breadth, but everything else was wrong.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the gold light that emanated from her skin in the shower. Let it bathe her mind, color everything with its sheen.
In that moment, the individual pieces of the image broke apart, reforming to show a labyrinth of trees and flowering bushes leading to latticed grotto. There was no mound in sight, but a rose-covered building similar to a gazebo sat at the end of the path.
She opened her eyes, and what she saw in her mind was depicted on the page, and inside the glass house was the sword.
“That looks very much like the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens. With one exception. It’s completely enclosed and there are no doors.”
She jumped, puffing out a startled breath as she saw Gareth peering over her shoulder. “Don’t do that! Jeez.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” He chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Are you okay? I woke up and you were gone.”
She nodded. “I opened the letter.”
“I saw.”
Cocking her head, she eyed him from over her shoulder. “Did you read it? It’s okay if you did, I mean I left it there in the open.”
“No. Whatever it says is between you and your mom. You can tell me about it when you’re ready.”
His hand was on her shoulder and she pressed her cheek to it. “God, I love you.”
One finger caressed the curve of her face. “Back atcha, love.”
Lane breathed in his warm scent and then straightened. Refocusing, she tapped the book. “You said this looks familiar?”
Gareth inched the edge of the cover around to see better. “Yes. Like I said, the Rose Garden. But I don’t remember this being in the book last night. Is it a different volume?”
“Nope. I zinged it with some newfound power and the page sort of rearranged itself. Must have been a spell that needed a halfling to work.”
Gareth turned the book fully. “This is telling us one of three things. The sword is hidden here, or this is a Faerie mound or portal of some kind needed to find the sword, or it’s both.”
“Do you have your cell phone?” she asked.
Raising an eyebrow, he pulled his cell from his back pocket. “This isn’t Who Wants to be a Millionaire, you can’t phone a friend, Lane.”
With a smirk, she snatched the iPhone from his hand. “You’re cute, you know that?”
Snapping a picture of the image, she turned the camera horizontal to check. “Shit.”
“I tried to tell you. Real magic can’t be captured, even with today’s digital knowhow.” Gareth took the book from the table and tucked a placeholder into the crease marking the page. “The only technologies to even come close are Krilian Aura Photography, and the Ovilus for synthesizing EMF waves to speech.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. We’re the real deal, Gareth, yet you’re talking cold spots and microwave interference. This isn’t ghost hunting.”
He chuckled. “Sounds like I hit a major sore spot. Of course, we’re the real deal, but paranormal investigators aren’t wrong. Things that go bump in the night are very much a part of our world.” He slipped his arms around her waist from behind. “Although, I prefer our way of going bump in the night to theirs any day. Much more satisfying.”
“Keep your head in the game, horn ball. We can play bump uglies again later. Right now, I want to head to the Botanical Gardens and check out this Rockefeller Rose Garden. According to Google, it doesn’t open for a couple of hours yet, so until then we should research whatever we’ll need to take with us in case it turns out to be a portal. The last thing I want is to get caught in a supernatural vortex between Faerie and here, and not have the sword.”
“Vortex? I’m guessing you watch a lot of Dr. Who.” He kissed the top of her head and reached for his phone on the table in front of her to double check the website.
She smirked, leaning back into his chest. “Hey, no hating on the good doctor. She’s terrific.”
“She?” he questioned.
“Yup. You don’t have a problem with that, right?”
He chuckled behind her ear. “No, ma’am.” Pausing, he crouched over her shoulder to better look at the website on his cellphone. “You do realize the Botanical Gardens closes at six pm.”
“And?”
“We’ll need to break in after dark if we expect to get anything done.”
She nodded. “This time of year, it stays light until about seven thirty pm or so. If Caitlan called the Red Veil to fill the vampires in on what happened, they could help us big time once it gets dark. Until then, you and I can do a little recon to help set the stage.”
In that moment, he spun her around and she immediately went up on tip toe to peck his lips. “So, big boy. Fancy a stroll through the park with me? Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky with a little afternoon delight.”
Gareth smiled. “It’s a date, but right now I think we need a little sleep. Yawning during a seduction is not exactly a turn on, so shut eye first. Afternoon delight with a little recon, later.
“Fine. I hope you know I expect spooning, right?”
He swung his arm around her shoulders and steered Lane toward the doors and their waiting bed upstairs. “If it means you in my arms…deal.”
Chapter Fourteen
“What’s all this?” Lane asked as she climbed into the cab.
Gareth moved the wicker basket to the opposite side of the back passenger seat, and then held out a hand to help her settle.
“I scavenged the larder for a picnic lunch. A romantic gesture, even if I say so myself.” He clicked his cheek. “With the other initiates sequestered to safe houses around the city, the food just sat in the fridge. I thought why not pack it up and take it with us to the park?”
She closed the cab door. “Because this is a scouting assignment, not a date.”
“Ha. Says the woman whose first thought when we planned this outing was public lewdness and a possible misdemeanor charge.”
“Wow, Golden Boy. Way to suck the romance right out of an afternoon delight.”
He swept her blonde hair behind her ear, tracing t
he curve of her jaw. “Sorry, love, but you can’t call me that anymore.”
“Golden Boy?”
He nodded. “You’ve conveniently forgotten that magical shimmer that rose to a gorgeous flush once you reached—”
“Ssh! Gareth!”
The cab driver glanced at them from the rearview wearing an amused smirk. “Where to, Mac?”
“New York Botanical Gardens, please,” Gareth answered the man, trying not to chuckle.
The cab pulled into the street and began crosstown maneuvers to get to the West Side Highway northbound toward the Bronx.
“Great. Now the whole city knows I flush pink and gold in the heat of the moment.” Lane hid her face in her hands.
Smirking, Gareth closed the small plexiglass divider between the front and the back of the cab. “Thar she glows, like a true Sidhe halfling.”
“Funny. You make a Moby Dick analogy and I’m supposed think that’s cute.”
“It is cute, and so are you. Look on the bright side. If we don’t get to the Bronx soon, the whole city will know you make my Moby Dick swell to bursting just by sitting beside me. Takes an awful lot of sexy to do that.”
Gareth pressed a kiss to her temple, and she inhaled his clean, freshly showered scent, very much aware of his muscled thigh against her leg.
“I guess a picnic isn’t such a bad idea. I mean, who am I to turn down an alfresco meal? We need to eat anyway, right?”
With a hand on her thigh, he let his fingers steal closer to the juncture between her thighs. “We definitely need to eat.”
She turned to meet his blue eyes but didn’t stand a chance as his lips claimed hers. He took her mouth with skill and command, but his kiss tasted as though he was holding something back. As if savoring a secret.
When he broke their kiss, she sat back with an uneven breath. “Damn, Gareth. Forget the Bronx. We might have to ward the cab and every place in between.”
With a grin, he took her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “Not every place, Goldilocks. We’ll find a spot that’s just right. Not too hard. Not too soft.”
She winced.
“That bad?”
“Awful.”
He shook his head, but his teasing grin stayed widened. “C’mon. Admit it. That was cute. The whole fairy tale thing? Considering we’re Faeries?”
“I’ll give you five out of ten. With extra points for trying.”
“Extra points?” He reached over, pulling her onto his lap. “How about I show you just how much extra I can be.”
***
“Oh, man. You have got to be kidding me.” Lane threw up a hand, as Gareth came up behind carrying two ice cream cones.
“What?” he asked, licking the edge of one before handing the other to Lane.
“That.” She pointed to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, and the parade barricades and construction mesh blocking public access.
“Pardon our Appearance.” She read the sign on the gates featuring a sepia-tone image of the Rose Garden from 1916.
With a curse, she leaned against the curved bluestone wall from the overlook above the Rose Garden. “Well, at least we know what we’re up against.”
“That green blob must be the gazebo.” Gareth pointed with his ice cream toward the dull green tarpaulined dome peeking above the construction.
“The website didn’t mention renovations. What do we do now?” Lane asked, squinting to better survey the area.
This area of the Botanical Gardens wasn’t crowded, and now they knew why. Everywhere else, children walked in clusters as their teachers led class trips through the different exhibits. Others meandered the paved paths, but no one bothered with the cordoned off Rose Garden. There wasn’t much to see. At least not for another month when the exhibit was set to reopen.
“June.” Lane shook her head at the date posted on the sign. “We can’t wait that long. Eve is still alive, at least that much we know. Caitlan and I scried for her again before you and I took off. We couldn’t pinpoint her location, but we sensed her essence enough to satisfy she’s still breathing.”
Gareth took her hand. “C’mon.” He tugged her away from the bluestone wall and steered her down the steps. “We need to take a closer look. We might be able to sneak in around the back. If the crew working this renovation is like other state-run projects, chances are they’re milking the governmental cow. Wasted time and resources is the name of the game when taxpayers foot the bill, so we might have a shot.”
They circled the path, but voices and machinery were muffled through the solid fencing, and Gareth swore. “The one time I need systematized laziness on my side, and everyone suddenly develops a work ethic.”
“Did you honestly expect this to be easy? This isn’t Hollywood meets the Fae version of National Treasure. We are going to have to break a few rules to get that sword and defeat Leith.”
She stood with her hand half-raked through her hair. “You’re not the only one who hoped we could do this now and be done, but it looks as if Caitlan was right. We need to come back tonight, and we’re going to need the vampires for cover.”
Walking twenty or so paces across the main grass, he left the paved path behind and stood for a moment listening, before jogging back.
“There’s heavy traffic in that direction, so we can assume the highway is that way.” He pointed toward the area behind them.
She nodded. “The Bronx River Parkway. Why?”
“Okay, then.” He circled back toward the path again but this time he went in the opposite direction. “So, if the parkway is to the east, then the river running through the Gardens runs parallel.”
“The Bronx River. It has the same name because, yes, it runs parallel to the highway, but what has one got to with the other, and why does it matter? We need a plan, not a topography lesson.”
He jogged back, taking both her hands in his. “That’s what I’m driving at. If we can’t get into that gazebo in a straightforward manner, then we need to do so with stealth. This is a state park. Which means it has pretty tight security. The best way for us to sneak in is via the water. Flowing water carries magic. The Bronx River is all we’ve got. It’s polluted, but it will still amplify vampiric glamour and whatever wards we conjure enough to do the trick.”
Gareth’s enthusiasm exuded confidence and strength, and she pictured him striding in the Faerie Courts like a magical medieval knight. The image was such a turn on, it left butterflies winging through her stomach.
“Uhm, speaking of warding large ribbons of ground and water.” She rubbed her thumbs in sexy circles over his hands. “Aren’t you hungry?”
She raised an eyebrow and his lips pushed to the side in a sexy crooked half-smile. “After all that foreplay in the cab? I’m surprised you even have to ask.”
Without another word, he tossed her over his shoulder and jogged with her toward a cluster of secluded trees toward the back of the property.
“Gareth! Put me down!”
He let her down at the base of a large oak. “Pretty, huh?” Not waiting for her to reply, he turned and hiked a leg up onto a low branch.
“What the hell are you doing? Get down before you get us thrown out of here.”
He climbed toward a narrow spread between two branches. “I hid the picnic basket up here. I balanced the wicker perfectly between two branches, and the leaves kept it hidden from sight.”
“You do realize I wasn’t talking about actual lunch, right?” She held her arms up, taking the basket as he lowered it toward the ground.
Jumping from the branches, he landed with barely a sound on the balls of his feet like a sexy, modern day Robin Hood. “If you were, I’d have changed your mind with a single kiss.”
She rested the basket against the tree and then looked at him dryly. “And what makes you so sure you could change my mind? You’ve never seen me when I’m hangry. It’s scary.”
“Hangry,” he repeated. “As in so hungry you’ll rip someone a new one until they feed
you?”
“Pretty much.”
He strode toward her, walking her backwards until her back pressed against the tree. With both palms on the rough bark, he leaned in, letting the promise of a kiss hover above her lips.
“So, are you planning on feeding me or what?”
“Depends. I’ve seen you so starved you would have begged if I let you. But I’m such a nice guy, I didn’t make you wait too long for satisfaction.”
He traced the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue, pulling back when she opened for a kiss. “I think you want me to make you beg. I think you want a mouthwatering, torturous wait before I feed you inches.”
Her body hummed, and her panties were soaked at just his words. The thought of teasing torment, building until she clawed for release left her breathless.
She ached for him, yet he held himself in check, even as her chest heaved close enough to feel her heart pound.
“Fuck the risk.” She licked her lips, straining for his mouth. “I want you here and now, Gareth.”
He shook his head, leaving her panting as he moved to lift the lid to the picnic basket.
Food? He got her all hot and bothered and he’d rather eat a drumstick?
Rummaging underneath the Tupperware, he pulled out a nylon bag. “I told you this was a surprise.”
With a sexy half grin, he untied the drawstring top and pulled a tiny dildo from the bag. “What do you think, Goldilocks? Hmmm? Methinks this one is too small and too soft.”
He put it back in the bag with a wink before pulling another out with a flourish.
“Gareth, what the—” Lane’s eyes went wide at the giant horse cock dildo in his hand.
“Too scary? Even for a hangry girl like you?” He tsked. “Well, perhaps this one is too big and too hard.”
“Oh my God. You’re nuts! What if they searched the whole picnic basket at the entrance?”
He pressed a finger to his lips and reached into the bag for a third time. “Let’s see.” Pulling a third dildo out, he palmed the synthetic flesh before walking with it to where Lane stood flabbergasted. “I think this one is just right. Don’t you?”
His free hand reached for her breast as he pressed the realistic silicone into her palm. “This one is just the right length. The right girth. Smooth, yet fleshy and hard.”
Bewitch Me: The Red Veil Diaries: A Witchy/Fae Romance Page 11
