by Austin, RB
He handed the bag over then followed the ebhed’s gaze to Kate. He could see the shock on her face. His stomach swirled. She was nervous. “Kate this is Jeeves. Jeeves, Kate will be staying with us for a while. I’d like a room prepared for her. Also, I’d like to speak to Martha.”
Jeeves’s expression showed no surprise, and since he was an ebhed, Lucas couldn’t get any readings off of him. Jeeves had been around the Sept most of his life. Probably nothing could shock the elderly male anymore. “Very good, adohn.” He tilted his head at Kate. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss.”
Kate was still frowning. “Hey.” She took another step away from Lucas. He resisted the urge to reach out and bring her back to his side.
He’d held her during her panic attack. Her gaze had stayed glued to his and hadn’t changed once. So, fabric did offer protection from her ability.
His heart had soared when she clutched his hand. At the time, he was quite sure, she had no idea she’d done it. Then she’d proved him right by immediately breaking contact when her panic subsided. But her subconscious had chosen him to save her and right now, he was good with that. It’d be the same inside the HQ. No one would hurt her.
Jeeves stepped out of the doorway, holding it for Lucas and Kate to walk through. Kate’s gaze was everywhere. Except for a bit of widening, there was nothing else in her expression to tell him what she was thinking. He tried to see it from her perspective.
Large, wide rooms. Marble floors. Light colored walls. Huge paintings with gold swirled frames that he’d rarely noticed until Emma moved in, apparently a few were original Van Goghs. Vases of flowers on most every table. A large couch in the center of the room with a view of the stairs that led to the bedrooms and conference room. A small peek at the dining room behind an arched doorway. A hallway at the end of the room that led to the basement stairs.
The HQ was smaller than the kings’ castles Lucas had been in centuries ago. But by the present day standards, it was big. He glanced at Kate again. And perhaps bigger than any house she’d been in?
She stepped a few feet from the doorway, gaze on Jeeves sweeping ahead of them. The ebhed headed upstairs, more than likely setting the suitcase in Lucas’s room. Next he’d get in touch with Martha, then, no doubt, alert Cade he was home and that he wasn’t alone. Although Michael or Andrew would’ve seen this from the cameras when they first drove through at the gate and had probably already alerted the boss. Lucas walked forward, planning to follow Jeeves, hoping to get Kate into a room in his wing before anything started. When she didn’t follow he turned.
“What’s wrong?” Had her earlier panic returned? He stepped closer. Ready to be available if she needed him.
“I changed my mind.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Icy winds rushed through his body. Fear. He reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away, but didn’t respond either. He squeezed. Her gaze darted around the room, pausing briefly on each exit.
“Please, Kate.” Finally her gaze stopped on him. “I promise no one will hurt you. I won’t let them.”
She slowly shook her head.
He hung his head. “Where do you want me to take you?” His gaze locked on the floor. “Or would you prefer I call a cab?” Kate wouldn’t want him to know where she was going. But he’d give her money and she’d accept it. Along with warmer clothes. He wouldn’t let her refuse this time. Emma might have something that fit better. He’d replace Cade’s bahshrett’s clothes later. Kate needed something now. He’d prepare food for her, too. In Philadelphia she’d gobbled up food like she didn’t know where her next meal was coming from.
Screw his promise to Cade. And his sacred duty. Lucas didn’t want her to go, but if she left before the Sept One leader came down she could at least retain her memories.
Lucas wanted Kate to remember him, just as he’d never forget her. And maybe, just maybe, if she ever were in trouble she’d call him. He’d write down his number, put it in a new backpack she could take with her.
“You don’t want me to go?”
His head jerked up. “No!”
She winced. He was squeezing her hand. “I’m sorry.” He released her. “Please. Stay. If at any time you want to go, I’ll take you. Whenever and wherever. But just—”
“Lucas.”
He stilled. Kate’s gaze moved over his shoulder, she gasped. Lucas took her hand again, made sure to hold it loosely, before he turned to greet the Sept One leader.
“Cade. How are you?” In truth, Lucas didn’t need to ask. He could feel the shrouded waves of anger. Lucas stepped to the side, blocking Cade’s view of Kate entirely.
His boss’s eyes narrowed. “Who is this?”
“This is Kate.” Lucas didn’t move. “Kate meet Cade, my boss.”
Cade’s eyes flared blue. Yep, he was pissed.
Kate extracted her hand from Lucas’s and moved out from behind him. He stiffened, wanting to throw her back, but that was ridiculous. Cade wouldn’t harm a Follower. He might be angry, but his anger was at Lucas, not at Kate. He glanced over. Her chin was raised in that stubborn determination he both loved and hated.
He paused. Love?
“Hello,” she said.
Lucas recognized the tone as the one she used with her customers. It betrayed none of her true emotions.
Cade eyed her, then his gaze swung back to Lucas. “What is she doing here?”
“I’ve been offered a job,” Kate answered.
Cade’s eyes widened, though at Kate answering him or by what she said, Lucas didn’t know. Then suddenly Cade’s head whipped toward the balcony. “Emma, get back in your room,” he ordered, voice booming.
At Cade’s words, Emma had frozen on the first step. When her gaze moved to Cade, love. Ugh, he could’ve waited ten more years to feel that again. Emma glanced at Lucas and a weight suddenly lifted off his chest, happiness. Her face softened. She smiled.
“Lucas.” She started down the steps. “You’re back. I know Gabe wil—Oof.” Her words were cut off by Cade’s arm that had swung out to stop her ascent.
“I told you to get back in your room,” Cade thundered.
Emma’s eyes narrowed. The emotions hitting Lucas were a jumble speedball right at his stomach. Pissed. Sadness. Determination. Worry. Doubt. And a few others that flashed so fast he couldn’t catch them. Fuck, he could barely catch his breath. If he’d taken more than blood from that Follower before they left Philadelphia, this wouldn’t be happening. He’d forgotten it could be like this. Come to think of it, he’d never received this much from Kate. Why was that?
“Are you all right?” Kate asked. Her words had been low. Emma hadn’t heard her, but Cade did. He pivoted. Emma used the moment to slide underneath Cade’s arm. She only made it two steps before the leader wrapped his arm around her waist, halting her.
She opened her mouth and Lucas didn’t need the roar in his ears to tell him she was about to lit into her bahshrett. The expression on her face, the rush of blood in her cheeks said it all. Then Cade pulled her closer, whispered in her ear.
Lucas could’ve listened if he wanted. He didn’t. He whirled to Kate. “Do you still want to go?” Because dammit he’d get her out before Cade could erase her memory.
He stiffened. Cade would have access to her innermost thoughts. Her secrets. The ones she didn’t want to tell anyone. The ones she had the right to keep.
The Behn light in his eyes flared and he heard Kate’s quick inhale before he turned and thrust her behind him. At the noise, Cade had turned from Emma. When his gaze settled on Lucas, his eyes widened. Without taking his gaze from Lucas, he grasped Emma’s waist and moved her behind him.
“Lucas.” Cade’s voice was low, calm. “What’s wrong?”
“You will not use your ability on her,” he said, voice low, gravelly. When
had his fangs descended?
Cade’s gaze shifted from Lucas to Kate who was still behind him, back to Lucas. When the leader didn’t respond, a low growl sprung from Lucas. Cade’s eyes narrowed, flared. “Do not threaten me with Emma near.”
“Then promise me. Give me your word, you won’t read Kate’s mind.”
Kate gasped and Lucas reached behind to take her hand.
“Okay. This is fun, but you guys are scaring Kate. And since she’s now the third female in this testosterone-filled household, I’m going to take her upstairs before you scare her away.” Emma went to duck underneath Cade’s arm, but he growled, eyes flaring and staying blue this time as he blocked her. If Emma were Behn, her eyes would’ve glowed as well. Instead her hands flew to her hips and her gaze narrowed. “Move your hand, Caveman.”
Cade flinched but didn’t release her. “Emma,” he pleaded. “Don’t do this. You don’t know who she is. She could hurt—”
“Lucas?”
“Yes, Emma.” He willed his fangs to recede and the blue light in his eyes to disappear.
“Will Kate harm me?”
“Never,” he answered, flashing a quick glance over his shoulder.
Kate cleared her throat. “It’s time for me to go,” she whispered, voice cracking.
His chest tightened painfully. Kate’s panic was almost paralyzing him. “No. Just stay. This is a minor thing.” Cade’s low growl reached his ears. He ignored him. “I won’t let him harm you.”
“I do not harm Followers, Lucas,” Cade’s voice thundered, outraged.
Kate flinched.
Lucas’s eyes flared. “Stop it. You’re scaring her. Now I’m taking her to her room. Let us pass. And stay out of her head.”
The Sept One boss stiffened and Lucas felt flickers of rage wafting to him. Then Emma’s hand was on Cade’s. She whispered something in his ear. The roar in Lucas’s head from Cade’s anger prevented him from hearing it. Emma led Cade by the hand back up the stairs. They took a left at the top. Cade paused at the railing, his gaze bored into Lucas. “Meet me in the conference room in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll be there in thirty,” Lucas responded.
Cade’s eyes flashed blue, his muscles tensed, but Emma pulled him down the hall. With one last glare at Lucas, Cade followed his bahshrett.
Lucas didn’t move until Cade’s door shut quietly. Then he turned to Kate.
Head shaking, she backed away. Lucas didn’t let her hands go and she didn’t pull away from his grasp.
“Read my mind?” she asked hoarsely.
“I won’t let him do that to you.”
She laughed. It was a high-pitched, unnatural sound. “I’m not sure you’d have a choice in that.”
Lucas reached to cup her cheeks. He froze inches from her face. “Sorry.” He gently gripped her jacketed shoulders instead. “Look at me, Kate. Know I’m serious. I will protect you from anyone outside and inside this house. Anytime you’re here, you’ll not do anything you don’t want to do. If that means I have to fight my achs, I will. Cade won’t read your mind.” And he wouldn’t allow his boss to erase it either, but Lucas didn’t need to mention that at the moment.
“Why?” she eventually asked, after torturous minutes of silence while he waited for her to demand he take her away from here. And he would if that’s what she wanted.
He opened his mouth. Closed it.
“Because I want to help you,” he said at last.
Sadness flashed, then stayed on her face. He waited for the lump in his throat to come.
“What is it?” He so badly wanted to touch her.
“You don’t know me, Lucas.”
He frowned. “I do, I—”
“You gave your word I wouldn’t hurt Emma without even knowing who I am and what I’m capable of.”
He shook his head. “Kate, I—”
“No one’s ever done that for me before.” She ducked her head, hair falling forward.
Lucas stood in front of her, hands around her shoulders, wanting so much to bring her into his arms. He cleared his throat. “Can I show you your room?”
She didn’t answer right away and his heart thudded. Worry. What was she worried about? Cade? Him? Money? He opened his mouth to ask, to fix it, when she answered.
“Yes.”
A sigh left him. He clasped her hand, felt hers tighten around his, and led her to the stairs. Her heart was pounding. He didn’t slow. Didn’t stop to comfort her. Once inside her room, she’d be okay. Surrounded by the protection the four walls would give her. She did let out a little breath when Lucas guided her to the right, at the top of the stairs, away from Cade.
He glanced behind him once, saw her taking in the many doors, paintings on the walls, lush carpet.
“This is the wing of the house that I share with my ach, Gabe.”
“Ach?”
“It means brother in our language. I’ll introduce you to him later. But don’t worry he’s nothing like Cade. In fact all nheqebas, females,” he explained, “tend to get along with him.”
He frowned. Would Kate? Of course she would. Gabe could flirt a rabbit into bedding a snake. Maybe he wouldn’t introduce them just yet.
“Ow. Lucas your hand.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to squeeze.”
“It’s okay.” She studied his face. “What’s the matter?”
“I just hope you like it here.”
Her head cocked. “Well, this is supposed to be my job, right? How many people actually like their job?”
“Oh, right.” She was here to make money. Not because she wanted to be with him. He continued down the hallway, pointing out the joined rooms he and Gabe shared before stopping in front of a closed door on the left. “That one over there is my room.” He pointed to the door at the end of the hall. “This one will be yours.” He opened it, stepped aside to let her in first.
The room was decorated in browns and blues and contained a king size bed, dresser, and a chair. Kate didn’t speak, just walked in the room, ran her gloved hand over the bed, before heading to the window. She pushed aside the heavy blue curtain and after a moment lifted a hand to the heavy-duty metal locking mechanism on the window.
“It’s for protection,” Lucas said. And would only open through a switch in the ebhed control room.
She let go of the curtain and turned to face him. Her expression was unreadable. He cleared his throat. Wished he had a better room for her, but the other empty room down the hall was the same except in reds and golds. He thought she’d appreciate these colors better, plus that room was closer to Gabe’s.
“The bathroom is down the hall on the other side of the stairs. I can show it to you. Although I have one in my room, so if that makes you more comfortable, you can use that one.” She didn’t blink and her face remained blank. “I’ll leave the room while you do, of course. And there’s a lock on my door and the bathroom door so you wouldn’t have to worry about anyone busting in.” He paused. “Is this okay? Are you hungry? Cold? Want a shower? Some privacy? Tired?”
Expressions flickered across her face. He didn’t catch anything. Only felt the Artic winds rushing through him. Because that was the strongest emotion running through her? Perhaps her psychometry was the reason he could never get a true reading on her.
“When will I start work?”
Of course, they should discuss things. This was a business arrangement after all. Lucas pointed to the chair. “May I?”
Her lips quirked.
His heart skipped a beat.
“Isn’t this your house?”
“This is your room, your space, for however long you’re here.” When he didn’t move, she motioned to the chair. He sat. Her gaze darted around the room and she eventually sat cross-legged
on the bed, facing him. There was enough space for three executive sized desks between them. He picked up his chair, moved it closer to the bed, sat back down.
“I’ll introduce you to Martha,” Lucas started. “She’s Jeeves’s wife and in charge of the household. She’ll give you instructions on what to clean. You’ll be paid fifteen hundred a week.”
Kate froze. “Fifteen hundred a week? For cleaning?”
Lucas paused, studied her expression, waiting for emotions to rise in him. Got nothing. “Is that not enough? Were you expecting more? Eighteen hundred or two thousand?”
“Jesus, no, what the hell are you expecting me to do for fifteen hundred a week?”
He frowned. “Cleaning and possibly some work in the kitchen. I’m not sure what Martha will want you to do.”
Her face tightened. “And you’re sure that payment doesn’t include services to you?”
His frown deepened. Why was she angry? Did they not discuss her job duties already? Sure it may not have been in detail, but what was there to add after cleaning and cooking? “Martha may ask you to clean this side of the HQ. If you feel uncomfortable cleaning my room, I can speak to her—”
Kate scrambled from the bed. “I’m not talking about cleaning your room. I’m talking about you expecting me to give you a hand cleaning your pipes. Or choking the chicken. Hiding the sausage? A bit extra if I allow you to toss my salad?”
Lucas blanched, coming to his feet as well. “Kate, the job does not include giving me sexual favors. I never expected, and will never require you to service me. The job is for cleaning only. Maybe some cooking.”
Her hands flashed to her hips. “No one pays someone fifteen hundred a week for just cleaning.”
