by Jules River
Lyra told her they acquired the file they believed they needed and sent copies back so anyone available could look over the file. At the moment that would only be Steven. Todd was still away attending to a personal matter, and the others had work to do on their own tasks.
There was still much to be done, and the clock ticked on.
Chapter 17
Lyra, along with Mira and Faye, decided that the sorcerer’s remains could wait for now; it would be better for Lyra and Dunstin to return to the castle to decipher the research of the pages they had copied at the museum.
Faye and Cenric were looking into the book of spells; they were told it may have changed hands with someone who lived in Mexico, but that lead had yet to be confirmed.
Steven was able to come up with some more information. “Mira, I have found Mr. Ivanoff. He currently resides in Moscow, with his wife. It was rumored that he wanted the talisman for his son, who was killed during a drug deal, and here is the rest of the information I found.” He addressed Mira as he purposefully ignored Warin.
Mira and Warin looked over the information on Alexander Ivanoff, the Russian man who purchased the resurrection talisman from Mr. Manda in India. They also needed to find out how to best get it from him, especially since it looked like he was the ‘terribly bad man’ Mr. Manda had claimed him to be. The information they were able to get on Ivanoff was discouraging. He had strong ties with the Russian mafia, and had a reputation for being quite brutal. His only son, who was being groomed to take over the family business, was reported to have died in a drug deal gone bad. They could not get any information on why he would have any belief in the resurrection talisman.
“Wonderful, Steven. Thank you. What would we do without you?” Mira praised Steven and shared smiles with him, before she went on to speculate, “Well, that could mean he will not be receptive to selling the talisman, since it would seem to have sentimental value to him.” She sighed dejectedly, then she thought of an idea, “We should hire a third party to inquire about buying the talisman, that way if he refuses, and we have to find other…umm…means of getting the talisman, we would not be implicated in any way. If we have to borrow it from him, we will return it as soon as we are done with it.” She thought for a moment, growing fonder of her idea. Mira began looking through her contacts to find the right person to act as a go-between who could attempt to purchase the talisman; she definitely did not want negative repercussions falling on their heads. She also wanted to hire a private detective in Russia.
Faye sat across the room with Cenric; they searched for information on the correct book of spells on her laptop. Steven could not keep his gaze from repeatedly returning to her beautiful face. He was reminded of the first time he saw her; she had been so beautiful and vivacious. Eight years earlier he had started working for her father on a part-time basis as he finished university in Rome. She had been seventeen to his twenty-two, too young for him at the time, but that did not stop his instant attraction to Faye.
Shortly after their first meeting, she had gone off to college, and over the years she would come and go; his attraction for her had never faded, and if anything it grew. Once she turned twenty, Steven had started to drop subtle hints that he cared for her and eventually wanted to marry her, but Faye had placed him in the “friend” zone years before, and he struggled to get her to see him as a man. Steven could not help but realize that over the years, he had become somewhat resentful because of her lack of response to him. He was aware he could be condescending, quick-tempered, and at times a downright jerk when Faye ignored him.
Now when he saw Faye with that hulking barbarian, Cenric, it was driving him crazy. After all, Steven himself was tall at six feet. Even though his average build was not muscled, he was still handsome, and he always dressed well. Plenty of women had taken an interest in him over the years, and he did not usually lack confidence, but now he would have to compete with someone like Cenric. He was determined not to give her up so easily. Ever since their father had died, he had felt it his responsibility as an older male to look after the sisters, and especially Faye.
If only the warriors were out of the picture. He would just have to try harder to gain Faye’s affections.
***
When Lyra and Dunstin arrived back at the castle, Mira and Faye were at the door to greet them. It had been a while since all three of them had been there at the same time, with all the traveling they had been doing. As soon as they walked in, Mira, Faye, and Lyra stole off to the library for some coffee and much-needed sister time.
Lyra noticed the butterfly strip at Faye’s temple, and asked, “What happened to you? You had the first trip, so tell us everything.”
Faye braced herself for her sisters’ onslaught of questions; she had only given Mira a brief summary of events over the phone. She may have forgotten to mention she had been shot in the head, well, grazed by a bullet, anyway. So she told them how she remembered it happening, glossing over the details. “And that’s when I called you. I just did not want to worry you needlessly.” Then she quickly asked, “Tell us everything that happened with your trip, Mira.” Faye avoided their eyes as she tried to change the subject.
Mira and Lyra both gasped before they simultaneously grabbed her, to get a closer look at her head. Faye tried to shoo them away.
“Not so fast there, Slick. We need to be sure you’re OK. I mean, you should see a doctor to make sure there is nothing wrong with you,” Mira said with her worried, bossy-big-sister tone even more demanding than usual.
“I’m fine, it only grazed me. I am not going to see a doctor. End of discussion. Now stop stalling and tell us what happened on your trip,” Faye stated seriously. The twins gave each other a look that only twins understand.
“Yeah, she seems fine, it’s already healing anyway,” Lyra added her opinion.
Mira did not press and gave in, “Fine. Warin was kidnapped at the street market; when we showed up to rescue him, he was already free and about to interrogate his captors, as I already told you both over the phone. Now for what I left out: he killed one of the men with his bare hand while they were taking him. He was worried about them hurting me, and the guy tried to put a knife in him. They darted him twice, and he was only out for about an hour. I’m still in awe of how strong he is.”
“That’s crazy, did you say hand?” Lyra asked in amazement.
“Yes, he strangled the guy that came at him with a knife, fighting off two others at the same time until the driver shot him with a dart the second time.”
“Wow! What a beast!” Faye exclaimed, then continued somberly, “I’m going to assume the guy who died deserved it, after all he did attack Warin with a knife after he had already been tranquilized.”
“Yeah, me too,” Lyra said, as Mira nodded her head too.
After a moment, Mira told them, “There’s more…” as she blushed and looked away. “Ohhh.” Faye said, wide-eyed.
“Oh, is right. I kinda freaked out a little when they took him, and I had some regrets about what we might have missed together. So when we were back at the hotel, and I had cleaned him up and bandaged him.… Well, I just needed to be with him,” Mira said vaguely.
“Be with him, as in have sex with him, be with him? Or you just needed to be in the same room with him, be with him?” Lyra asked in all seriousness.
“Of course she means have sex with him! After all of that how could you even ask?! Sometimes, Lyra, I wonder about you.” Faye fussed at Lyra in exasperation.
“Oh. Well?” was all Lyra said as she looked at Mira expectantly.
Mira blushed again, “It was…well, it was…it was amazing. I have never experienced anything so wonderful,” she quickly looked at Lyra, “and yes, Lyra, it did hurt for a moment, but it was so worth it, with the right person at the right time. I can’t imagine doing that with anyone else.” Mira looked off with a dreamy smile on her face.
“That good, huh.” Lyra said in her usual bored tone. And both Mira and Faye cra
cked up.
“Yes, it was that good,” Mira said as she got her laughter under control. “So, am I the only one who has given in to her caveman?” Mira asked embarrassedly.
The twins looked at each other, then looked at Mira and nodded their heads “yes” vigorously, with innocent looks on their faces. Mira blushed even more.
Lyra said as she stood up, “I always thought Faye would be the hussy who would lose it first.” She winked at Mira and sprinted from the room, laughing. “You little brat!” Faye shrieked and took off after her, leaving Mira behind to get back to work.
Later, Mira glanced up from her computer to tell Warin and Steven, “Well the company I hired two days ago to contact Mr. Ivanoff about selling the talisman, via an untraceable email Lyra set up under a false company, just responded. It is as we suspected; Mr. Ivanoff is not interested in selling.” She took a dejected breath, “Looks like we need to pack our bags, Warin; Russia, here we come. I’ll notify the pilot and security first so everyone can prepare.”
***
Warin and Mira were on their way to Moscow with the same four-man security team they had used in India; they had developed a rapport after working together during Warin’s kidnapping in New Delhi, and felt comfortable with each other. It was late when they arrived at the hotel, and after the team secured their rooms, Warin and Mira went to bed.
Warin had taken her every night after that first time in India. He could not get enough of her, and she seemed more than content with making love to him nightly. They often talked long into the night, but his need for her unsettled him; he was beginning to feel she was his weakness. That night their lovemaking was different. Mira felt Warin had been pulling away from her emotionally, every time they were together. Tonight was worse than ever, she was not sure what she had done wrong. She laid awake late into the night, feeling vulnerable; finally, near dawn, she quietly cried herself to sleep.
Warin had turned from Mira after they had sex. He knew she was unsettled, and was torn up that he was the cause of her tears, yet he refused to be weak; he had let her become too important to him, and had lost focus. Warin was there to end the curse, to protect his brothers, and that was what he was going to do from here on out.
The next morning Mira slept later than she had intended. Mira silently crept from the bed, chose her clothes for the day, and locked herself in the bathroom to shower and dress. When she came out, it looked as if Warin had just woken up. She quickly looked away from his naked form when he got out of bed. She murmured “morning,” and went over to her laptop case. Warin quietly returned the greeting, then walked to the bathroom and shut the door.
Mira could not stand to stay there another moment, so she grabbed her phone and sent a quick text asking two of the security team to meet her in the hall to go out. She scribbled a note to Warin, which read: I have errands. Took half the security. Be back later. M
She put on her leather coat, stuffed her phone in her laptop case, grabbed it and left as Warin turned on the shower. Her phone started ringing by the time she reached the lobby. She saw it was Warin and ignored the call, silencing her phone before dropping it back into her bag.
Mira walked several blocks away from the hotel, before one of her security asked, “Ma’am, what is our destination? It’s really not safe for you to be out walking around. Would you like me hail a cab or help you find something?” He could tell something was bothering her; she was not her usual alert self and he had not seen her without Warin since he had met him.
Mira came out of her daze, “Oh, uh, no. I would like to find a quiet little café where I can have some coffee and work for a bit.” She looked around, taking in her surroundings for the first time that morning. “How far are we away from the hotel?”
“We are four and a half blocks from the hotel, ma’am. I have spent some time here before; I know of a place at the end of the block, just around the corner, if you’d like to go there, ma’am,” her security answered. She was pretty sure his name was Jake.
“Thank you. Jake, right?” he nodded affirmative. Mira said nicely, “That would be lovely,” and she gave him a small, thankful smile.
The café was warm, clean and quiet, just what she needed. She sat by herself at a small corner table near the back of the room, far from the front windows. Jake and Dale, her other guard, sat at the table in front of her, blocking her view of the outside. They all ordered coffee, and the men ate breakfast while she worked on her laptop. She placed her phone on the table, but still refused to answer it, as it vibrated off and on the entire time.
When Steven had located Ivanoff, Mira hired a detective to establish his routine; she checked her email for the latest update from the detective. She went over the schedule and viewed photos the detective supplied for the daily report. Mira was now quite familiar with what Ivanoff looked like as well as his routine for the past five days. She spent time marking on a digital map all of the places he had been too. The detective had found out Ivanoff had a few standing appointments each week. One was to his son’s grave, another with his poker buddies, and the last with his mistress. He saw the mistress twice a week. A photo of her was included as well; she was a beautiful young brunette, in her early to mid-twenties.
After two hours, Jake turned to her, “Excuse me, ma’am, Mr. Faust would like to talk to you.” He held his hand over his phone, and said, apologetically, “I noticed you didn’t answer anytime he called your phone, but he has called mine ten times already. I thought I should make sure there was not any trouble.” He handed her his phone with a grimace, “He sounds pretty pissed, ma’am.”
Mira sighed and said kindly, “That’s OK, Jake, thank you,” then took the phone and spoke into it with an icy edge in her voice. “Is something wrong?”
“Is something wrong?! I don’t know, Mira, where did you disappear to that your phone does not seem to work?” Warin seethed sarcastically before demanding, “Where are you?”
“I left you a note. I had things to do, I’m busy. I’ll be back shortly.” She hung up the phone and handed it back to Jake.
“It’s none of my business, but I sure hope you know what you’re doing, ma’am,” Jake told her as he shook his head with a grin. “He’s not quite as civilized as the rest of us, ma’am.”
“You’ve got that right, but he would never hurt me, if you’re worried about that,” at least that’s what she hoped. “You’re from Texas, aren’t you? East Texas is my guess.” Impressed, Jake answered, “Yes, ma’am, above Houston.”
“My grandparents on my mother’s side have a ranch south of San Antonio; my sisters and I would spend a month or two there every year growing up. It’s funny how Texas accents make a lasting impression on you. I just love Texas, it’s a world unto itself,” Mira mused nostalgically.
Jake chuckled, “That it is, ma’am that it is. Even with all my travels, it’s still the best place on earth.”
“Well, I guess we should get back, I have a beast to appease. I just need to make one quick call first.” Mira sighed, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. She called her detective and spoke to him in Russian. She found out where Ivanoff should be in the next two hours, and told him to text her if the schedule changed.
When she walked into the hotel room, Warin stopped pacing. Before she could close the door, he strode over to her, taking hold of her upper arms, and just when he was about to let her have it, Jake asked from the still-open door, “Is everything all right, Ms. Banks, ma’am?”
Warin made eye contact with Jake, and gave him a piss-off look before kicking the door closed and backed Mira up against it with a thump, capturing her mouth in a possessive, demanding kiss. He kissed her, caressed her, pushed hard against her, until she softened beneath him, moaning at his touch. On the other side of the door Jake was contemplating whether he should intervene, and was relieved to hear faint sounds of pleasure coming from within the room. He did not want to tangle with Warin. He had encountered only one or two men who caused him to question his ability
to defend himself, and Warin was one of them. Though Jake would protect and defend Mira with his life, he was really happy not to have Warin as an opponent.
Before Mira knew what was happening, she was half undressed and on the bed, with Warin shedding his shirt as he came down on top of her. She turned her head as he went to kiss her again, putting her hands on his chest to push him away. “Warin, stop.” She spoke softly, but firmly. Warin paused and met her eyes. She saw his need, and it melted her anger at him. She slid her hand up around his neck, and pulled him down and kissed him thoroughly. Passion took hold of them as they tore off their remaining clothing. They were rough, clumsy, and hurried as they raced to a climax.
Afterward, they lay side by side, trying to catch their breaths. Warin growled out, “Don’t ever leave without telling me where you’re going, and you answer my calls! Do you understand me, Mira?” His ominous tone had Mira’s anger rising again. She kept her eyes closed. “Mmmm,” was her only response. Then she got up and walked to the bathroom. “I’m going to get cleaned up, then I’m going to go watch Mr. Ivanoff for a bit and see if I can come up with a plan. You can come or not.” She shut the bathroom door a bit harder than necessary.
Warin still seethed. He had been extremely worried when the other security guys did not know where she was and when she would not answer her phone. He did not like how she could make him feel impotent to protect her. She would not leave like that again.
After they ate a late and largely silent lunch, they went to observe Ivanoff. They wanted to get a feel for the type of person he was and see if they could find or create an opportunity to get the talisman. The atmosphere between Mira and Warin was tense. Neither one of them were very happy with the other at the moment. The security team did their best to ignore the situation and give them privacy. Jake tried to smooth things over when it got too tense in the vehicle, asking questions or pointing out something to them about Ivanoff, anything to distract them before they caused an incident.
