The fridge was well stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables. There were frozen meals in the freezer, as well as frozen steaks. With the ban on fires in the forest, they couldn’t have a barbeque. Vanessa threw together a salad and asked Seth his preference, “Cannelloni or green Thai curry?” She held up two frozen meals. “Or there’s a frozen pizza in there.”
“The curry, please.” He’d showered and shaved. His jaw was smooth. He smelled of male soap and shampoo. Something like the forests, but sharper with a citrus undertone.
Nice. She sniffed appreciatively before popping the curry in the microwave. The cannelloni was ready a few minutes later. She’d intended to cook her own meals at the cabin as part of relearning how to play. But now she was grateful she’d requested a few ready-meals just in case.
“Okay,” she said after the first couple of mouthfuls. “Tell me why you want me to leave.”
Because she was watching him so closely she saw the tiny hesitation in the smooth movement of fork to mouth as he picked up on her emphasis on ‘me’.
Seth wasn’t easily discomposed. He chewed and swallowed, then regarded her with a faint, a very faint, smile. “I guess I wasn’t being subtle. There are other hikers in the mountains and I haven’t chased them off, but I warned you away. They’re not in any danger,” he added as if she’d accused him of risking them.
“I know. I know you.” She ate some cannelloni to stop herself from grinning triumphantly to finally be the one who disconcerted Seth, rather than the other way around. The tomato sauce was rich with herbs and red wine. Yummy.
“You know me?” He sounded intrigued at the idea.
It was an audacious claim. It had been three years since she’d last seen him. She’d changed in that time. He could have, too. But looking into his hazel eyes, seeing the amusement in them, it felt easy and natural to be with him. “I know you’re a protector. Your instincts are to get those weaker than you to safety—and nearly everyone is weaker than you.”
He laughed under his breath. “I also jump buildings in a single bound.”
She smacked his forearm lightly. “I know you’re not a superhero. I’m just saying…”
“That you trust me.” The humor vanished from his eyes, leaving something far more disconcerting. Something intense and watchful. Something…hopeful?
“I do trust you.” She gave him the simple truth. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to trot off home without an explanation from you. I’ll judge whether I’m safe, here.”
“You don’t have to go home.” He scraped up the last of the curry. “I can understand you might want to get out of New York. There are other wild places.”
She hoped her fork didn’t hesitate, giving away her thoughts. He was right. There were other wild places. There were other mountains. But she was in the southern Rockies for a reason; one she didn’t plan on sharing with him. Part of it involved a secret that wasn’t hers to tell. “Do you want more salad?” He shook his head and she fished an olive out of the salad bowl.
“Three months ago I heard man’s name mentioned.” Seth leaned back in his chair. “Then I heard it again in a different case. When I heard it for the third time…”
She nodded. “Three times ceases to be a coincidence.”
“The man is well known in certain circles—not magical ones. Yet the cases involving him all centered on magic.”
“Huh.” She finished the cannelloni and ate the last olive in the salad bowl. The saltiness of it was satisfying after all the water she’d drunk today.
“The last case was a potential client walking into Stag and requesting assistance. Her boyfriend is missing and she wants him found.”
“Has she gone to the police?”
“They wouldn’t take her seriously. Before he vanished, he left a message on her phone telling her he needed a timeout on their relationship. As far as the mundane world knows, he’s a freelance journalist and has a habit of dropping out of sight. In fact, he’s a wizard who specializes in barrier spells. When he drops out of sight, he’s usually warding someone’s property. It can take a couple of weeks depending on the complexity of the ward and the person he’s keying it to.”
She cleared the table, unsurprised when Seth stood and helped. Their few dishes were washed, dried and put away in minutes while he talked.
“The girlfriend says the man I’m curious about tried to hire her boyfriend a fortnight before he vanished. The barrier wizard mentioned the job to her and that he turned it down because he had a summer cold and he wanted to stay home and have her coddle him.”
“They live together?”
“Near each other, on the outskirts of Chicago. She works as a vet nurse. That’s how they met, apparently. He brought his cat in for treatment.”
Vanessa dried her hands and investigated the freezer. “I’m listening,” she said when he stopped talking. “You have a choice of chocolate ice cream or chocolate ice cream for dessert?” She grabbed two. “It’s my favorite ice cream.” She gave him one and led the way to the long sofa by the fireplace. It was angled to face the amazing view.
In passing, he switched off the electric lighting, leaving them to see by moonlight. The stars shone diamond-bright over the mountains.
She curled up at one end of the sofa and felt the shift of the cushions as he sat.
“Good ice cream.” Chocolate cracked as he took a second bite. “The girlfriend is a witch. Her coven tried to locate Josh—her partner—and failed.”
“You said he’s a specialist in barrier spells. If he didn’t want to be found, especially by her…”
Seth nodded. “Which is why Stag refused her case. There was nothing to suggest that Josh wasn’t doing exactly what he’d said and having a timeout. But the mention of his would-be employer’s name interested me.”
She licked up a drip of ice cream as it melted onto her hand. She glanced up to see him watching her. Watching her mouth. Sensual feelings that had gone into cold storage following the kidnapping, abruptly roared to life. The fire wasn’t the only thing hot in the room. “Why the Rocky Mountains?” Her voice was husky. She was going to claim that resulted from the ice cream. “Are you after the missing guy or his would-be employer, Mr. X?”
“I’m after Josh for what he and his activities can tell me about Mr. X’s intentions.”
“Which are…?”
He shook his head. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be on this fishing trip.”
She understood that he meant fishing trip metaphorically rather than literally. “What do you suspect? You don’t want me here, but a barrier spell wouldn’t hurt me—or it wouldn’t hurt me any more than any other mundane. Unless you think Mr. X is a terrorist?”
“No, he’s not a terrorist.” He finished his ice cream. “I think Josh is in the southern Rockies because that’s where the witch coven’s spell was headed on their map before it fizzled. Or so Karen, the girlfriend, said. This area, and the San Juan Mountains, are a magical hotspot.” He paused. “You knew that?”
She stared out at the stars, aware that her face had betrayed her. “Yes.”
“So you didn’t choose this area at random,” he said, slow and thoughtful.
“I don’t have magic,” she reminded him.
“Which isn’t to say that you don’t have an interest in it.”
Right now, the intelligence she admired in him irritated her. Trying to keep a secret from a smart person was hard. “So far I haven’t heard any reason I should leave.”
He leaned back, accepting her challenge. “Of the two previous times I heard Mr. X’s name, the first was when he hired Stag for a job, and the agents involved messed up.”
She grimaced. Messed up was conveniently vague and she’d heard recently just how ruthless some Stag agents could be—quite apart from her personal experience of one agent’s treachery.
Seth noticed her expression. “They were disciplined for their breach of protocol. They were sent to retrieve an object, and ended up setting fire to
a woman’s barn. The fire spread to her house.”
“Millie Tremblay,” Vanessa said.
He nodded, and she realized he’d expected her to recognize the situation he’d described. She tucked her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “Your agents chased my friend, Sadie.”
“Yet they were the ones terrorized.” Seth smiled, ruefully, ruthlessly amused. “I know Marcus. He saved my life once.”
“Really?” Her head dropped back against the sofa. She stared at the wooden beams in the high ceiling. “The world of magic is so small.” Marcus was Sadie’s old boyfriend, and he’d come to her rescue after the incident with the burning barns. In the end, the barns had been the least of their troubles. But Sadie was safe now, and blissfully happy with Marcus.
Vanessa squinted at Seth. “I can see you and Marcus being friends.”
“I didn’t say we’re friends. I said he saved my life.”
She waved that aside, her brain ticking over fast; her energy restored by the hot shower, food and now a fascinating puzzle. “If your Mr. X hired the agents who came after Sadie, then you’re talking about Gerald Svenson.”
“I am.”
She sat up straight. “Then I’m not leaving. Mr. Gerald Svenson and his schemes interest me, too.”
“I thought they would.”
“So why tell me?” If he’d really wanted her gone, he should have stayed silent. Now, she had a personal interest in his mission.
He stretched, rolling his powerful shoulders and setting muscles rippling under his thin cotton t-shirt. “Because I know that you understand the value of delegating work. As a coordinator for the Old School, you let people use their skills. Following up on the missing barrier wizard to learn more about Svenson’s plans is my area of expertise. You can trust me to share relevant information with you.”
She wrenched her gaze away from the honed strength of the male body beside her. Had the timing of his stretch been calculated as a reminder of his power versus her weakness? If so, he’d miscalculated. Oh, the message got through and she agreed: he was strong, she was weak. However, instead of sending her running, leaving the field free for him to operate alone, she was struck by new determination.
If she ran now, she might run forever. So she wouldn’t run.
“I came to the mountains to test my courage, Seth. This wouldn’t be a huge test.” Just a necessary one. In adulthood, playing required courage. It required a person to see the dangers of life, but jump in anyway. She was here to rediscover that part of herself. If she denied it now, she might strangle it forever. And she’d be safe with Seth.
He frowned. “You also came to the mountains to be alone.”
“I—” She broke off, struck by an insight into the complicated man beside her.
Out on the trail he’d listened to her. She was struggling to accept herself, the new post-kidnapping Vanessa who no longer viewed strangers as potential friends and allies. Her kidnappers had taught her fear.
Seth had understood, and despite what he said, there was a chance that he wanted her to stay. His insistence on returning to the cabin before he explained his presence in the southern Rockies wasn’t to be rid of her, but to ensure that she could choose freely.
The cabin represented the ordinary world. Her rental car was parked outside it. There was a satellite phone. Here she could step easily back into her world.
Seth got up and moved to the window. His every movement had the smoothness of an athlete, or a fighter. He didn’t move with the stiffness of a townie after a long day’s hike.
As I will, Vanessa thought ruefully. But it was only a passing thought.
He stood with his back to the window, the stars his backdrop. In switching off the electric lighting earlier, he’d given her the privacy of darkness in which to wrestle with her emotions; in which to decide. The tone of his voice was reserved as he gave her all the information for her decision. “If you stay to take an active role in learning more of Svenson’s plans and Josh’s activities, you’ll have to work with me. I won’t let you hike these mountains alone. Unlike other mundanes, you know enough about magic to be in danger.”
In danger because she might recognize magical defenses and the scars magic left on the environment.
“I don’t usually work with a partner,” he added.
She joined him at the window, both of them turning to face the view. She kept her voice light. “I’ll tell you when you stuff up.”
“You’re staying?”
“Yes.”
He put a comradely arm around her shoulders. They stayed like that, watching the mountains and the stars. A coyote yipped. A shadow swooped from the east, swift and silent. A bat.
His arm tightened. “You’re falling asleep.”
She was leaning into him, no longer supporting her own weight. “Sorry.” She yawned.
“Go to bed while you can still climb the stairs.”
“All right,” she mumbled, and stretched on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Good night.” She wasn’t thinking of what she did till she felt the smooth warmth of his skin against her lips. “Um, sleep well.”
She fled upstairs.
Seth unrolled his sleeping bag. There were worse places to sleep than the clean cabin floor. No sounds came from the loft and he thought Vanessa already slept. The memory of her dozing against him pleased him. Words were one thing, but trusting a man enough to sleep in his arms spoke volumes.
She’d already trusted him with the truth of why she was in the mountains.
He thought of Scott Araya, her father. It had to be killing the man to let Vanessa hike the mountains alone. It was vulnerability upon vulnerability. That the man had let her do it suggested that he’d seen how lost his daughter was. He’d be worried.
There was a satellite phone in a kitchen cupboard. Seth had seen it while putting the dinner dishes away. Ordinary cell phone coverage didn’t exist here.
He didn’t have Scott Araya’s number, but Seth’s uncle did.
Casting a look up at the silent loft, Seth scooped up the satellite phone and walked outside. The wind was cold and dry, scented with pine and diesel fumes. He circled the cabin to the shed and shut off the generator. Then he phoned his uncle.
“What do you mean you stumbled over Vanessa Araya?” Uncle Callum demanded. There were no complaints about being woken up late at night. Callum was a night owl.
Or a vampire, according to his two ex-wives. Working for the Stag Agency took a toll on relationships; although Seth’s parents’ marriage was strong.
“I mean Vanessa has rented a cabin as a base and is hiking the Rio Grande National Forest.”
“Hell. That’s all we need. We already stuffed up with the girl once. Get her out of there.”
Seth turned his back to the wind, shoulders hunching. He should have grabbed a jacket. Then again, this was going to be a short conversation. “She won’t be in danger. I’m with her.”
His uncle’s silence was filled with messages Seth had no intention of interpreting.
“I phoned you to pass a message on to Scott Araya. Let him know I’m with Vanessa’s, she’s fine, and I’ll stick around and ensure she stays that way.”
Callum swore. “You think your presence will reassure Araya?”
“Just let him know Vanessa’s safe.” Seth disconnected the call. He looked at the stars. Some were satellites, not stars, but they shone all the same.
Wish upon a star?
He was too old, too experienced, for dreams. But when fate gave a man a break, a smart man took it.
He had a week with Vanessa before his next scheduled mission. Time enough for them to discover more than Svenson’s plans.
Chapter 3
“How badly am I slowing you down?” Vanessa dropped onto the ground beside the pack she’d shed. She guzzled some water. The day was hotter than yesterday, or else she was pushing herself harder, as if she could impress Seth with her city-level fitness. She’d have laughed at herself, if she wasn’t so
busy trying to hide her panting.
“You’re doing fine,” he said absently. He had his binoculars out and was scanning the valley.
The trail they were on barely rated the term “trail”. It was little more than a shadow in the grass, winding between pine trees and rocks. Those rocks! They’d had to cross a creek, jumping from rock to rock to avoid the discomfort of wet boots. She’d have broken an ankle or worse if Seth hadn’t grabbed her as she’d teetered in the middle of the stream.
The valley before them was vast. The lower slopes had aspen groves into which yet another creek vanished. Up here, the trees were wider spaced and hardier. Deer grazed fitfully in the distance. The small herd was on the alert. Vanessa didn’t see what freaked them, but all of a sudden they were running, fleet and graceful.
Not like me. I plod. She cast the pack beside her a resentful glance. It made her feel like a tortoise. Plod, plod, plod beneath my shell.
She had to apologize to Seth.
She put away her empty water bottle. At the next stream she’d fill it, and its innovative filtration system would make the water safe to drink. She’d noticed that Seth used purification tablets, instead.
And now I’m procrastinating.
“Seth, I’m sorry. Last night I made this—” She waved her hand at him and the valley beyond. “Your search for Josh and answers as to Svenson’s intentions—into my issue. As if it mattered that I have a chance to pretend to be useful.”
“You’re not pretending.” He lowered the binoculars and studied her.
“How is me slowing you to half-speed helpful?”
She was ashamed that she hadn’t realized yesterday—even after the trek back to the cabin—what a hindrance she’d be to him.
“Do you want to return to the cabin? To leave?”
“No.” She sighed sharply. “But maybe I should.”
He frowned at her, then turned away to drink briefly. When he looked back at her, he seemed to have reached a decision. “We need to keep moving if we’re to reach the site where I’d like to camp tonight.”
Fire Fall (Old School Book 4) Page 3
