In front of me, I watched her from behind as she did something to her uniform. Her police hat came off and out of it tumbled the most luscious long dark hair.
When she turned to face me, I realized what her ‘magic’ was. She’d unbuttoned her top three buttons, showing just a hint of a bra, and put some lipstick on. She was breathtakingly beautiful and more than a little naughty looking. I blushed. I could never get away with something like that.
I arched my brows.
“I told you,” she offered a wry smile. “The two guys are idiots. Show them a bit of cleavage, and they’ll let you do anything. I’ve been smuggling people out this way for weeks.”
I could see the two men in the distance. They’d noticed us now, but instead of appearing friendly, I saw one of them bark something into his walkie-talkie.
I put my hand on Officer Julep’s shoulder to stop her going any further. “I don’t like this. Something feels off.”
“You’re right. They usually wave at me when they see me.”
The man with the walkie-talkie shouted something to the second guard, and both of them whipped out their shotguns and pointed them directly at us. Officer Julep turned her horse around and motioned me to do the same. I didn’t need telling twice. In a second we were off, galloping back into town. The guards had no chance of catching up with us, but we both knew something had changed. The only explanation for why the guards were going to shoot us is that they had heard of my escape. Luca must have finally gotten the word out. I’d compromised the police and put Officer Julep’s life in danger. At the police station, she told me to head back inside.
“It’s not safe for me here now,” she said, turning her horse around. “You’ll have to tell the chief what happened. You’ve got a bit of a head start, and he’ll be able to hide you. Between you, you’ll have to come up with some reason why I was at the border and more importantly why I fled.”
I jumped down from my horse and tied it up. Officer Julep remained on hers.
“What about you?” I asked the worry evident in my voice.
“I’ll find a way out of town. I have resources. It’s been too long since I went back to Ling anyway. Please tell the chief I’m sorry, and it was great working with him.”
A sudden thought struck me. She was heading for Ling which meant that she might be able to cross the border back into Silverwood at the southwest as I had planned to do. “If you can manage it, can you get a message to someone for me?”
“Sure thing. Just write it down fast. The guards will be here soon.”
I pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down the address Cynder had given me on it. As an afterthought, I sent a quick message to Seraphia via the talk stone. Seconds later an address was displayed. I copied it down quickly onto the paper and passed it to Officer Julep.
“Please go to the first address and tell them that if they need to, they can go to the second address. Tell them that Seraphia owns the house and will keep our secret. Tell a man called Cynder.”
“Got it! It’s been a pleasure Your Majesty.”
She grabbed the paper and then took off before I had time to thank her.
I turned and ran through the reception of the police headquarters not bothering to stop for the guard. I jumped the turnstile and hammered on the elevator call button.
Copper was surprised to see me as I burst into his office.
“What happened?”
I told him the full story, not bothering to pause for a breath. It was important that we think of an excuse before Luca’s men came to interrogate Copper. If they thought for a second that he was helping me, he’d be killed, and my own safety would be in jeopardy.
As if on cue, there was a hammering of knuckles on his door. Thank goodness, I’d thought to close it behind me.
In a panic, I dropped to the floor behind his desk just as the door opened.
“What is the meaning of this?” I heard Copper say. I was amazed at how calm and composed he sounded under the circumstances. I was even more surprised when I heard the voice of who it was that had come through the door.
“Why was I woken up by my men on the northeastern gate telling me that one of your officers was trying to get through with another person?” Luca drawled.
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry for your trouble, but I have no idea to what you refer. I’ve been here working all night. As far as I’m aware, all my officers are doing the job you set for them.”
“I didn’t ask for any of them to go to the northeastern border as well you know.” He sounded angry. “My men there tell me that this has been going on a while. An officer by the name of Julep has been helping people leave town.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t help you,” replied Copper smoothly. “Officer Julep has been assigned to finding Magi just like most of my other staff.”
“It seems to me that she has been doing the opposite.”
Copper scratched his nose. “I wonder why your men were letting her pass through if that is the case.”
Luca’s tone became harsher. “My men have been dealt with, and now I want to deal with your officer.”
“I’ll send her to you when she reports for work if you like.”
I grinned. Julep wasn’t going to be turning up for work and with Luca’s men at the northast border of the city disposed of, it meant she had a clear free run to get back to Ling.
“Why are you at your desk?” questioned Luca. “It’s a funny time to be working. It’s not even dawn yet.”
“I’ve been here all night,” replied Copper truthfully. It had been late when I first turned up. “You’ve given me so much work to do finding Magi that I thought I’d stay behind and catch up.”
I heard Luca shuffling his feet. I held my breath. If Luca didn’t believe Copper, we were all in trouble. I heard his footsteps walk toward the door.
“Just send me the girl when she turns up for work,” he warned before slamming the door behind him. I let out a long breath and waited where I was for a couple of minutes just in case he decided to come back.
“What now?” asked Chief Inspector Copper, helping me up from behind his desk.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “What do you think will happen when Officer Julep doesn’t show up?”
Copper sighed. “Beth Julep is one of my best officers. She’ll already be in Ling by now, or close to it. Luca will never find her. She’s way too smart for him. I’ll have to come up with some story to keep Luca off my back. My biggest concern right now is you. In a couple of hours, this station will be full of people. Many I would trust with my life, but some I’m not sure about.”
“I’ll leave!” I stated. I had no idea where I was going to go, but I didn’t want to put Copper in danger.
“You’ll do no such thing. Come with me.”
I followed him to a nondescript door. Unlike all the other doors in the place, this one didn’t have a sign on it. Copper brought out a bunch of keys and fitted one into the lock. Beyond the doors was a room filled with files. Shelves and shelves of them, all stacked neatly.
“These are our solved cases. By law, we have to keep the files on each case for three years. No one comes in here as I’m the one who signs off on each case. I’m the only one with a key and...” He pulled a key from his keychain “now so do you. I’ll bring a bed up and make sure food comes to you. It’s not a palace, but you can stay here as long as you need. It used to be an interview room before we got overwhelmed by files, so you’ll find a small bathroom near the back.”
I flung my arms around him. If anyone could keep me safe in the capital, it was Jason.
“Are you sure I’m not putting you in danger?”
Copper shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. You will need to keep quiet during the day though. If anyone suspects, we could all be in trouble. I’ll lock you in now and come back tonight to let you out.”
I grinned and stepped into the room. Copper locked the door behind me. Ten minutes later h
e gave me a shock by opening the door, but it was only to bring me food for the day.
“People are starting to come in to work now. I’ll bring you up a bed tonight.” He kissed my cheek and then was gone.
Being quiet was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I could hear all kinds of noise from the large operations room outside. Phones rang, people spoke, and I tiptoed around the room trying to come up with a way out of the mess I was in.
By the time Jason came back, I’d made a decision.
“How was it?” he asked as he opened the door. The smell of a warm meal wafted in.
“A bit boring,” I replied, taking the plate of meat and veggies from him gratefully. “But I’ve made up my mind about what we talked about earlier. If I can’t find a TV station down south, I’ll have to find one up here. I need you to find smaller news stations and newspapers. Ones that Pittser will think are too small to bother with. I’m going to tell them the truth.”
Copper shook his head thoughtfully. “Do you really think that will work? If we find a small publication that is willing to take the risk, who’s to say that anyone will even see it?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t spend the rest of my life locked in what is essentially a cupboard.”
Copper rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I hear you. I’m not sure if it will work, but I’ll look into it.”
I placed my plate on the desk and gave him another hug. Copper was turning into quite an ally. What I didn’t see as he hugged me back was the arrival of someone to the empty operations room. Someone who was watching us intently.
A Safe Place
“Hey. Get your hands off her!”
Copper and I jumped apart, startled by this newcomer. A man with long black hair and sickly pale skin strode forcefully across the operations room floor and stopped right in front of us.
Copper reached for his gun. The stranger broke into a grin. It was a smile I knew well, even on the face of a stranger.
“Cynder?”
“The one and only.” He scooped me up and spun me around.
“Wait. What’s going on?” asked Copper looking perplexed. “Who is this?”
Cynder waved his wand over his face making his features rearrange themselves back into the face I knew and loved.
“Woah!” exclaimed Copper in surprise.
“I see what you mean about recognizing you after using that spell now,” I said, grinning back at him. “You looked nothing like you, but once I saw that smile, I knew it couldn’t be anyone else.”
Copper clapped him on the back. “Well, you had me fooled. How did you get back here? Luca has got half his men out looking for you, and I’m pretty sure he’ll have closed the northeast roadblock after yesterday.”
“I came in from the south. It’s a long story,” he said, his expression sober.
I looked at him in confusion. “But how did you know I was here?”
If he figured it out, it made sense that Luca or his men would sooner rather than later.
“I didn’t figure it out at all. I’ve been hiding out in the capital for a few days searching for you. I’ve been casing Luca’s house trying to find a way past all those guards. I’d almost given up when I happened to meet a young police officer, Officer Julep. I helped her get out of town. Before she left, I told her who I was, and she told me that you were here.”
“She’s safe?” Copper interjected. “She got out ok?” I could tell he thought a great deal of her. I suspected it was just the way he was with all his officers rather than something more. He really was the papa bear in the office.
“Yes. She said she was heading to Ling. She got out safely.”
I saw Copper’s expression soften. I felt better too. I’d asked her to put herself in danger by going down south and getting a message to Cynder. Now she wouldn’t have to as she’d already done it. She was free to go straight home to Ling. Luca had no jurisdiction there.
“I’m glad you are here,” Copper said, looking straight at Cynder. I need to get a bed brought up here from the basement. We just had a shipment of new beds for the cells. I know they aren’t the most comfortable of beds, but they are brand new, never been slept in.”
The two men left me alone in the filing room returning ten minutes later with a small metal bed with a new mattress. It was placed in the cupboard.
Copper spoke. “Listen, I’m going to have to leave you both here. I got no sleep last night, and I’m beat.” He looked tired too. Black circles under his eyes testified to that. “I’d prefer it if you stayed close to the cold case room just in case Luca drops by unexpectedly. “I’ll be back at eight tomorrow morning.”
He shook Cynder’s hand and kissed my cheek.
“It looks like we are alone,” Cynder noticed.
And we were. For the first time in forever, we were finally alone.
I‘d never been more tired in my whole life, but at that moment, my exhaustion wasn’t enough to stop me from falling into his arms. He kissed me as a mother would a long lost child, peppering me with kisses all over my face until he reached my lips where his kisses turned into something more.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he said, pulling back slightly. “I’m so sorry!” I saw tears in his eyes now that matched the ones that were falling down my cheeks.
I responded by kissing him again, taking away his apologies and words that weren’t needed. The exhilaration of not being caught at any second made that kiss a desperate need to connect filled with all the words we hadn’t said to each other and a passion I’d not known before. I’d never felt so completely consumed with the moment, knowing it might end and yet not caring at the same time. This moment was the only thing that had kept me going through the time at Luca’s mansion and the only thing that mattered. When it was over, I stared into tear-filled eyes. The eyes of a man defeated.
“I shouldn’t have left without you,” Cynder said. “I tried to come back, but it was impossible. I’ve been doing everything to find a way back to you.”
I placed my finger over his lips.
“I’m here, and I’m with you. That’s all that matters.”
The smile he gave me didn’t extend to his eyes, but it was a smile, nonetheless.
“I have a plan to get us out of this. I need to show the world I’m still alive and then we need to start to fight back.”
Cynder sat down on the nearest desk nearly knocking the plate of food that Copper had brought to me on the floor. I nodded my head to say that he could have it. I’d already eaten half. He picked up the fork. “What’s the plan because I’ve been thinking of a way to stop all this for days and I’m drawing a blank.”
He speared a piece of broccoli and popped it into his mouth.
I told him the same thing I’d mentioned to Copper earlier.
“Jason said he’d help me find some smaller television agencies or newspapers—ones that would go out of their way to help me.”
“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” remarked Cynder, putting down the fork. “We can’t trust anyone. You know that.”
I trust Jason, and I trust his judgment. There must be a news agency out there somewhere that isn’t in Pittser’s pocket.”
Cynder shook his head, his brow furrowing. “I’m sure most of the news agencies are on your side, but that doesn’t mean they’ll help you. I’m guessing that Luca is using both bribery and fear tactics to keep the propaganda going. The smaller newspapers and TV stations would be fools to go up against him. He’ll have them shut down or worse within days.”
“Ok, it’s a stupid idea,” I concluded, “But we have to do something. We can’t fight him; he’s too powerful.”
Cynder finished the meal. I took the plate from him and took it into the cold case cupboard. Leaving it out would mean people would know we were here. Cynder followed. I locked the door behind us.
“Welcome home,” I said outstretching my arms.
Cynder grinned.
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
/> “Cynder?” I whispered.
“Hmm?”
I hesitated before speaking. What exactly was it I wanted to say to him? To tell him I missed him seemed pathetic, and yet what else was it I needed him to know? I turned to face him. It was so dark in the room, I couldn’t see him, but I could feel his breath on my neck. In that instant, I knew words weren’t enough. I kissed him lightly on his lips. It had been way too long since we’d kissed.
“Charm...I...” he said, pulling back. I followed him and kissed him again. This time he responded, kissing me back. Months of pent-up desire left me breathless as he teased my lips with his tongue before slowly kissing down to my neck, giving me goosebumps. I wanted him so desperately that I barely controlled myself as he delicately moved his lips down to the top of my dress. I nuzzled closer to him, taking the back of his head in my hands and running my fingers through his hair.
I moved my leg, running it up and down his. He pulled his shirt off, exposing his bare chest. It felt warm to my touch, bringing sensations I’d only dreamed about. How could touching someone provoke such an amazing feeling? I’d touched him before, held his hand, ran my fingers over his face, but this was something else, something much more intimate, and I wanted more.
“Charm!” Cynder breathed heavily as my hand found its way to the waistband of his trousers. “Stop!”
“Stop? Why?” I whispered. I’d waited so long for this, and I knew he had too. Why was he stopping me now? An image of another woman came to me. Was he about to tell me that all the time he’d been gone, he’d been with someone else? Dread descended on me. I pulled right back and turned the small bedside lamp on. If he was going to end things with me, I wanted to see his face while he did it.
He sat up on the bed and took my hand. “I want you, Charm. I can’t even begin to tell you just how hard it was to stop you just then.”
“So why did you?” I asked, genuinely confused. This didn’t sound like a breakup or a confession, so what exactly was it?
“You are a queen.”
“Yes? So?”
“Your first time can’t be in this small room. I can’t be with you this way because we are fighting for our lives. I want your first time to be special.”
Charmed Page 9
