by Aimee Laine
“In here!” She shuffled to the door and out into the hall. “Sorry! I was just—still tending to business stuff.”
Max wrapped his arms around Lily’s thighs. Tony stood at her side, running a hand through his hair. He jerked up as he and Cael made eye contact. “What the hell … are you still—”
Cael held up both hands as his heart beat hard in his chest. You better appreciate this someday, Lil. “No harm, there, Tony. Name’s Cael Aldridge.” He stepped forward, one hand outstretched. “Just a simple misunderstanding on my part.”
Tony’s brows furrowed as his eyes darted from Lily and back to Cael, to Max and back to Cael, before landing on Lily again. “If you’re helping my wife find her sister, where is my daughter?”
Cael reached for his phone. “I don’t know anything about a daughter. My job was only to search for … someone else.” He pushed through the door, past Tony and started toward the stairs.
At the hand on his bicep, Cael spun around. He had Tony by a good three inches, twenty pounds and the ability to knock him flat with one push. He withheld.
“I want some answers, and I want them now.”
The sneer held tight to Cael’s lips, but he banked it as desperation emanated from Tony. “If you’ll give me a few minutes, I’ll make a couple calls. I work this side of the country, not the other.”
“Then why the hell did you break in my door if you’re not supposed to be following my wife?”
Cael forced himself not to clench his fists or to knock Tony to his ass. “Because I had a tip that Ms. Jenkins here arrived against her will, and since she’s my client, I have a duty to her.”
“Who tipped you?” An I-don’t-believe-a-word-you’re-saying expression claimed Tony’s face.
“No one you’d know.” With that, Cael yanked himself free and descended.
At the car, he leaned against the side, the ringing tune humming from his phone.
“Well, well, well … if it isn’t the prodigal son.” Charley laughed as she answered.
“Wyatt told you, huh?”
“Did you find her?”
“Yes.” Cael breathed in, salt water lending the air a freshness they didn’t get in Rune. “I need to tell you something …” He went into the story he’d told Lily and what Lily recounted to him. Charley’s responsive gasps grew louder and more forceful with each comment. “And this girl is missing. And there’s another kid involved here, and—”
“And you’re sure they really share the same mom? “Wyatt interrupted. “Maybe the one woman you found and Angela’s mother aren’t the same person?”
“Mimics pass the gene on only through the mother. If Leigh’s a shifter, she had to get it from her mom, who would have gotten it from her mom, et cetera,” Charley said.
“It gets worse,” Cael said. “Lily’s mimicking her sister so her husband can have his wife, and the kid can have his mom back.”
“Oh, god.” Another intake of breath. “Have you checked his birthday to make sure it doesn’t match? Because if it does, you know she’s going—”
“I know. And I’ll get to it. She’s got the pull, so someone’s a match for her—or it could just be the familiarity. A simpler sense of connection, perhaps. We’ll deal with that separately. Right now, we need to find the woman and the girl and return ‘em … if they’re still alive.”
“So you want to find Lily’s Mom, then?” Wyatt asked. “Is that so bad? I mean, Lily doesn’t have to tell the woman who she is—”
A soft click of a receiver preceded James’s voice. “It’s bad, Wyatt. You thought Montreal was going to give you information on human trafficking … well, Lily’s background is so far out of that league … only worse because her own mother gave her up.”
“Shit,” Wyatt said. “That’s why you guys were so secretive in Montreal.”
Cael agreed, though he didn’t say as much. “I do think having a chat with dear old mom is important. I don’t, however, think Lily should do it. She’s been through enough in her life not to go there.” And you should have seen the horror in her eyes when she realized the connection.
“You can do it, right, Cael?” Wyatt asked.
He’d mimicked plenty of women, though not all Mimics could switch genders. “Yeah, but I think we need someone more suited to manipulation of the female variety.”
“I didn’t think James could be a girl,” Wyatt said.
“He means Maggie,” James said with a chuckle.
“You think she’ll do it?” Cael asked. He kicked at a rock on the driveway. “I think she also needs to mimic the wife, because Lily’s cover is already breaking. The ends of her hair are already back to a pale blonde, more than I’ve seen before.”
“How are you holding up?” Charley asked.
Cael stared out at the water. “I don’t need to change until my birthday. You know that. Lily’s the only—”
“I meant how are you dealing with Lily in the arms of another man?”
Cael kept his growl to himself.
“So—” Wyatt’s voice broke through as a scuffling sound whispered in the background. “Maggie. She comes back with Chase Saturday. We can fly her out that night if she agrees. By Sunday, she’ll be the replacement. Can Lily hold out for two days?”
Cael blew out a breath. “She’ll have to. If she can’t, I’ll jump in temporarily, but you guys better convince Maggie because if I have to sleep in the same room as the guy, you’re all going to pay for my torture.” A small smile broke Cael’s constant scowl.
“If anyone can convince her she’s needed, it’ll be you, James,” Wyatt said.
Wonderful. The two on opposing ends of the life-is-about-me spectrum need to talk. The wind kicked up, blowing more salty sea air Cael’s way.
“No,” Charley said. “It’ll have to be Chase that convinces her. He asked her to stay. She did. He asked her to take him to the fun parks in Florida. She did. Everything she’s done in the last month has been for Chase. He’ll need to know what’s going on so he can both agree to let her go and convince her to do so.”
Cael turned toward the house. Lily can’t stay here, even if she wants to. I’ll have to convince her to let Max go, no matter what.
The front door opened to Lily standing in its midst. She waved him forward.
“Gotta go,” he said. “Let me know before Saturday if she doesn’t agree.”
“And in the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for the real Angela. And the girl. God help her if she’s fallen into—” Charley stopped.
“What?” James, Wyatt and Cael all said at the same time.
“No, no, let me—let me just think on this one for a while.”
Despite wanting to press, Cael knew Charley could be as silent as Roy if she tried.
“I’ll call later with an update.” He flipped the phone closed and walked toward the most beautiful woman in the world.
• • •
Lily wrung her hands as Cael’s long strides brought him to the house. Her position on the top step gave her the perfect view into his eyes when he came to a stop before her. She read anger, determination, love, confusion and in all of those, the friendship she’d always had.
In one step, she reached out, wrapped her arms around Cael’s neck and squeezed.
His hand tugged at her waist, bringing her against him.
“Thank you for whatever you’re doing. Tony’s agreed to hire you to search for Leigh.” She pulled back, patted his chest, and noted the muscles jumped again—as they had before when she’d made the same gesture.
“We need a photo of Angela, the latest they have on Leigh and any credit card receipts from any of the trips they—” His eyes darted upward.
Lily spun, Cael’s hand still on her waist. She twisted from him and walked toward Tony and Max who stood in the frame of the door. Guilt ran through her—the kind that came with the ability to take over another body and emotionally blend with them. Uh oh. She’d have to look up Tony’s birthday, make sure it d
idn’t fall on hers, or Thursday of the following week would prove even harder than it already set out to be.
Tony didn’t move from his spot, though Max hugged Lily’s legs again, sending spikes of internal, emotional happiness through her. She patted his back as she stared up at Tony.
Yeah, I could be Max’s mom. A shiver ran through her at the thought. She forced it to stop. “Cael here was just telling me that he’s working with a group in North Carolina who’re going to look for Leigh …”
Tony’s expression changed from full scowl to flat.
“… and he needs to ask some questions …”
“Where was she the last time you saw her, Anj?”
Lily pinched her lips together. “I—I don’t remember.”
“If you were in North Carolina, then maybe that’s where.” He twisted his watch toward himself. “My plane leaves in three hours. It was the last flight I could get.”
She blinked back confusion. “Okay, we’ll all—just—”
“No.” Tony’s lids closed. “I’m going. I need you to stay here.” He moved in close, his eyes reopening. “Max needs you, Anj. He needs his home. Someone has to find Leigh, and she’s my girl. She’s my baby. She’s probably freaking out that you’re not there. I never should have hired those idiots.”
“Who did you hire?” Cael asked.
Tony jerked back. “Ah …” He pinched the bridge of his nose as if in thought. “I have it in my office.”
Cael waved him forward. “After you. I’ll need those details.”
Lily shifted to the side, Max still with her, as the two men strode into the house. “Well, baby, we better go in—”
“I wanna swing.” His tiny voice carried up to her.
“Swing?”
He let go of her legs, grabbed her hand and tugged. Lily let him lead the way around the side of the house to a backyard with a giant jungle gym structure wrapped around a tree. A wooden ladder snaked its way up into the branches to a second-story level. At the top, a traditional treehouse rested on the strong arms of the branches—hand built, with crisp lines, planks and boards connected with giant bolts.
She wondered for a moment whether Tony had worked on it himself or if he’d hired someone. The string at the very top caught her eye, and she traced it to a small platform on a pole at the very back of the yard.
Max let go and ran straight for the swing as Lily considered what the tight-rope-looking line could be used for. Too high for clothes. Too high and unsafe to walk on. Too low to be electrical.
“Help, please?” Max positioned himself on the seat, his little hands curled around the ropes, and kicked out his short legs but went nowhere.
“You need a push?” She drew back on the same ropes he clung to and let go.
The swing arced forward as Tony and Cael came into view through a huge window on the back of the house. The door I didn’t get to. Tony’s office? Lily pushed again as Max returned to her.
Cael towered over Tony until they sat across from each other at a desk.
Push. Squeals from Max.
What does he think he’ll accomplish by going to North Carolina? Why would he want to leave after Angela’s been gone so long and just come back?
Push. A creak from the overhead connections of rope and wood beam.
Cael slammed a fist on the desk as Tony’s lips transferred words Lily couldn’t hear or read.
Giggles from Max. Push.
Tony pointed out through the window.
“Higher, mommy!”
Push.
Lily’s heart lurched. Mommy. She’d always wished for children. She could take over as Tony’s wife if he shared a birthday with her. That would give her Max. She’d have a family, though they’d never be her own.
Lily shook her head as she launched him forward again.
Why am I thinking like this? I have to find my … sister!
“Higher!”
Another peek up at Tony had her heart hammering. The thought of staying grew even stronger—the pull more urgent and desperate on her inner core.
“Wheeeee!” Max’s giggles filled the air.
Focus and maybe you can control this feeling.
“More!”
Lily gave her attention back to him and pushed again. “Maybe I can teach you how to swing, Max. Feet back. Feet forward.”
He did as she said in exactly the reverse order. More giddy laughter erupted. “I learn when I’m five.”
“Okay, when you’re five. Five is when you’re a big boy, right?”
“I five in—” One hand let go but grabbed for the ropes again. “I five in—” He let go again but regained his hold a second later.
Lily stopped the swing. “You’re five in what?”
Max slipped from the seat. “I five in—” He held out his hand and counted off the fingers until he got to seven. “Seven days!”
Seven? Lily’s heart lurched as she hiccupped air. “On May twenty-third?” She tried to keep the uncertainty out of her question.
His bright eyes shone back at her as he bobbed a ‘yes’ with his head. “My X’s is on the fridge.”
The ‘X’s’. A countdown. To his birthday. The feelings that are manifesting … oh, god, my body wants me to blend with Max as his mom. Not for Tony as his wife. Trembling coursed through Lily. She pivoted back to the window, though the men had disappeared.
The sliding glass door of the kitchen opened with Cael stepping out first. Max took off, launching himself into Tony’s arms.
Lily forced herself to stay slow, to move toward Cael one foot at a time. She wrapped her fingers around Cael’s forearm. “May I please speak with you?” It took every ounce of strength in her to walk away from Max. “Sorry, Tony, just a second. I think I remembered something, but before I get your hopes up, I want Cael to check it out.”
• • •
Cael followed Lily toward the side of the house. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“It’s Max. He’s got my birthday. Our birthday. I’m getting the … feelings for real.”
Cael ran a hand through his hair. Connections with kids came with far greater consequences and took more effort to break after they began. “Shit.”
“Exactly.”
He hadn’t realized his exclamation had been out loud. “It’s not a problem if you’re not around him on that day.” And you’re not going to be—no matter what happens.
“That’s what you say, but I can’t be anywhere near him, or I’ll blend as his mom because you know I won’t be able to stop it.”
An urge to shake her and tell her to stop worrying ran through him, though Lily would always do what worked best for others before herself. “You won’t, Lil. And we’ll find Angela.” Or so help me I will take you away from here and suffer your anger over not being able to help.
“But I can feel it, Cael. It’s all this maternal stuff. It’s running through me like wanting a baby or something. I’ve never—I’ve only had this emotion one other time.”
Cael wanted to say, ‘me, too!’, but Lily had him aching to calm her fears, to let her know he understood—even while he plotted how to not let it happen.
“The feelings almost hurt, they’re so strong.”
Why does she have to find a family in need and be able to blend with them? The one woman Mimic who’d do it, too, from the goodness of her heart. “What if … something bad … what if … would you want to replace her?” His chest constricted even as the words tumbled from his mouth.
Eyes closed, her head and shoulders drooped. “I don’t know. On one hand, kinda. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? To find a match to begin our lives human? To finish off our years in relative normalcy?”
She’ll do it, too. She’ll give up everything for a little boy she barely knows.
“You have to keep me away until we know, Cael. That won’t be fair to anyone of us if my body blends without my control.”
“I will,” Cael said. “Don’t worry, Lil. I will.”<
br />
“Angela?” Tony called from his spot on the deck. “I need to leave.”
Cael continued to stare at Lily while she gave Tony her attention.
“Right. Yeah. Um … okay.” She bumped Cael as she passed to Tony and took Max from him.
“I’m going for one week. Your PI over there has all my info. He’s told me to contact … ah …” Tony pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “A Charley Randall. I’ll see what he has to say about helping me.”
Cael bit back the smile.
“Just a week, Anj. The authorities are looking for her.”
Lily stepped to him and ran a hand down his cheek.
Watching her touch Tony burned Cael’s soul. His hands clenched into fists.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Go. It’s better if you do. I’ll stay here with … Max and—”
“I’ve called your mother, too.”
Cael stepped forward, prepared to grab Lily in case she fainted.
“She’s been worried sick and made me promise to tell her if—when you returned. I held off, but with me leaving … well … she’s on her way.”
“What?” Lily said as Cael thought the same.
“She’ll help you with Max since you’re still—” His hand circled around her head. “And then you can get back to your clients and regular … stuff.”
A visible ripple ran from top to bottom of Lily’s body. That she still stood surprised Cael, but to keep their covers, he had to stay away from her.
“She said she’d stay as long as you wanted her to,” Tony added, “or take Max for a while, and they could do their thing together. She’s really looking forward to seeing you, Anj.”
Meeting her mother for the first time since she’d been dropped off as extra baggage could break Lily’s emotional psyche.
“Gramma’s coming?” Max wiggled out of Lily’s arms and ran inside. “She can bake my cake!” His voice carried from inside on a squeal. Metal on metal clanged in the kitchen before footsteps pounded and Max came back out. “Spiderman!” His giant smile completed the overall kid-happiness picture.
Lily stepped across to Max, hiding the fumble in her step with an overcorrection and grip on the potted plant at the edge of the deck. She ruffled the boy’s hair though the blown out breath told Cael turmoil reigned within her.
