by Jane Cousins
“There is nothing wrong with my brother. You need to release him.”
“Mr Yanez, please, calm down.” Nell’s tone was soothing. “Your brother’s violent outburst is not something we can ignore.”
“Then release him into my custody. I will ensure he is safe.”
Nell shook her head. “You have a concussion, four broken ribs and have just had surgery. Despite your rapid healing ability, you need to focus on your own well being. Once Doctor Bennett has finished assessing Matias, we can discuss what our next steps will be.”
Nico’s head shot around fast to scope out Quinn. “What sort of doctor are you?”
“I’m a psychiatrist, Mr Yanez.”
“What do you intend to do to him?” Brown eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“Nothing more than talk to him.”
“We need to go Mr Yanez, Chief Hughes is waiting to take your statement.” Nell reminded, nodding to the orderly.
Nico continued to look at Quinn intensely. “Just don’t hurt him. He was knocked unconscious... awoke disorientated, that’s all that happened.”
Quinn stepped back to allow the wheelchair by. Something in Nico’s eyes, concern for his brother? Worry? Fear? Damn, and now she found herself wanting to uncover their secrets, help if she could.
But at what personal cost? Matias Yanez had already proven he was dangerous to her. A potential trigger to the dreaded insanity that stalked the Seer Bloodline.
Grrr, and she was out here delaying the inevitable. Procrastinating. How would Matias react when he saw her? He’d witnessed… experienced the anomaly. Seen the image of them being all too intimate together. Making passionate love together.
Would he use that information to manipulate her? Hmm, perhaps he’d been manipulating her all along. She had no idea what Matias’s powers were, his abilities. Perhaps he had planted that image in her mind.
Though to what end she couldn’t fathom. It wasn’t like he was a ladies’ man. Not with that surly attitude. And the rumour mill certainly never even hinted at such a thing. The brothers, particularly the younger Yanez, kept pretty much to themselves.
And she recalled clearly, for the briefest of moments after they’d touched, the clear shock on his face. He’d seen the image of them... together, and been just as surprised.
No, somehow the root of the anomaly lay with her. And if her newest patient was somehow a trigger to the rocky bleak road to insanity, well then, all she needed to do was keep her bare digits to herself.
Grrr, smoothing down the borrowed white coat and adjusting her leather fingerless gloves, Quinn pulled back her shoulders and lifted her chin. She highly doubted being strapped... trapped, was going to sweeten the surly man’s attitude. Time to beard the beast in his lair.
* * *
Matias fought the urge to strain against the padded straps. He needed to be patient, Nico had promised to get him out.
By the holy Saint Medard. Saint of the storms at sea. Nico’s whispered words raced through his head. Their parents dead. Ten years gone. His inability to remember. Copper. So many words, so much information. He still wasn’t sure why he was in a hospital. Nico had said something about the car, the ocean... a creature?
He’d been hurt. Glancing down, he glared at the large square bandage plastered to his bare chest. It looked as if someone... something had tried to claw his heart from his chest. And given the shallower, faded raked scratches covering his arms and the old wound on his shoulder, it didn’t appear to be the first time.
Damn, his head ached. He’d been knocked unconscious after fighting off what ever had attacked the car. Couldn’t remember. The car being wrecked. The creature. None of it.
Nico’s hurriedly whispered information whirled around his head. There had been no time for questions before the orderly came to claim his brother but at least he had some idea of where... when he was. No reason to cry out for his parents. No reason to think he was trapped in some hideous nightmare, surrounded by strangers, when that was now his reality.
Fuck, he needed to get out of here. Find Nico. Find his sister. Find his parents’ killer.
No, Nico said they owned and ran a bar now. Had they avenged their parents’ murder? Found Copper? They must have, why else would they have settled down, started a business. But on land? Why weren’t they at sea? Searching for sunken ships? Just as their father, and his father had done, fulfilling the family legacy.
It was all too confusing and his head hurt.
The door swung open, relief swept through him, his brother was back, no, a woman, doctor... angel in a white coat. An incredibly beautiful woman. Creamy skin, flashing silver blue eyes, a warm, wide, sensual mouth, and a potentially killer body beneath the white coat, if the trim shapely ankles were any indicator.
If he wasn’t strapped to the bed, Matias would have kicked himself. She might be gorgeous, with hair made of moonlight, but his instant attraction to the woman was both unwanted and irrelevant. He had one goal and one goal only, to get out of these restraints and find his brother. “Let me out of these things.” He waggled a trapped hand in the air for emphasis.
“Mr Yanez, I’m Doctor Quinn Bennett. I’m a psychiatrist affiliated with the hospital.”
“I don’t need a head shrink. I just need to get out of here.”
The woman approached the bed, careful to stop a good three feet away. “Oh, I’m more than just a psychiatrist. Here’s my card.” With deft speed, the blonde dropped a business card in to his outstretched hand.
Awkwardly, Matias read the card. Doctor Quinn Bennett. Psychiatrist. Memory Clarification. Seer. “I don’t need a bloody psychic. The future’s not my problem.” He waved both trapped hands in the air this time.
“That’s a misnomer. Seers don’t see the future. You’re confusing Seers with Prophets. According to the original Greek translation, Seer means vision. Or one who can provide clarity and truth but not of the future... of the here... of the then.”
His brother had been crystal clear, don’t get friendly or interact with the locals. No chit chat. No polite inanities. If possible, to avoid speaking at all. If he did have to talk, be gruff, be barely civil. He hadn’t had time to question those instructions but Nico had been insistent that a lot was riding on him acting the asshole. “I don’t care who you claim to be, Doctor...?”
“Bennett.”
“Bennett.” Matias gritted out dutifully.
“It’s right there on the business card if you need a reminder.”
Matias clenched his fist, crumpling the card into a small ball. “Look, I don’t need some mystical quack rummaging around in my head.”
Quinn fought the urge to frown. This was not going at all the way she’d assumed. Okay, yes the man was surly. But where was the recognition? Had she been avoiding Matias Yanez all this time for no reason?
Sure, the man was attractive. Even strapped to a bed, with nothing but a sheet covering his lower half and a whopping great bandage plastered to his chest. Hmm, and what was up with the faded scar marks on his shoulder? Old adversary? The man clearly routinely courted danger, trouble.
And the last thing she needed in her carefully ordered life was someone who might upset the balance.
Still, a small part of her was a little put out. He didn’t remember her at all? Her, or the very hot scene... memory, vision, anomaly of them making love? Maybe the man had so many women in his life they all just blurred together. Asshole.
Quinn fought the urge to turn and leave. Wait, what was going on with her? She was a professional, time she started acting like one. So the hot, semi-naked man strapped to the hospital bed didn’t remember her, she would not be ruled by her ego.
Matias watched the cool blonde’s silvery blue eyes flash with fire. His simmering attraction ratcheted up a notch. Fuck, his timing stank. Strapped to a bed. Wearing nothing but a sheet. Head and chest throbbing. Common sense screamed he was being foolish but that didn’t stop his cock from stirring to life. Damn, something about f
ighting with this woman. Cracking that haughty, professional facade.
“Let’s get a couple of things straight here. I am not a mystical quack. I don’t rummage, I assess. And if you ever want to see blue sky again, you need to start talking to me.”
“I don’t belong here.” Matias grit out from between clenched teeth.
“Then prove it.” Quinn shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of Nell’s coat. “You don’t need to tell me all your carefully hoarded secrets, but you do need to share with me why you attacked the medical staff here.”
“I... I what?” Matias wanted to rub his aching skull.
“You attacked the doctor who was tending to your injuries. Knocked him unconscious. You then proceeded to stab one of the nurses with a scalpel.”
“Fuck. Are they okay? How badly are they hurt?” Shit, could his day get any more out of control? He’d lost his memories and was now attacking random strangers. Was this his life now?
“The nurse will be fine. And Carl, your doctor, has a very thick skull. He’ll be up and playing golf again in no time.”
“I don’t remember.” Matias frowned. “I was hurt... there were people... strangers standing over me... I guess I just reacted.” Bloody hell. No wonder he was strapped to a bed. Crazy and dangerous. Maybe he really did belong here.
Quinn clenched her hands into fists as she witnessed the pain flare in Matias’s dark toffee coloured eyes. She tamped down the urge to comfort him. To soothe away his hurt. To touch him... good Goddess, what was wrong with her?
Maybe she really was further down the bleak slippery path to insanity than she secretly feared. Touching him? This man especially, it was surely a sign of encroaching madness.
What if she suffered another anomaly? What if she got trapped in that dream world? Never came back to her senses? Her mental well-being was seriously threatened by this man, and that’s why it was vitally important she finish assessing him and get back to her carefully scheduled life.
“You were yelling something about your parents... when you woke up, are they-?”
Matias was wary. Nico had been very clear about him keeping his mouth shut. Warning him not to discuss anything personal. That it might complicate things later. But there was something about this doctor... this woman.
Fuck, he wanted to spill his guts to her. Tell her about his memory loss. His parents’ murder. How threatening and unfamiliar the world around him appeared. For some reason he found himself opening his mouth and telling her the truth. “They’re dead.” His voice flat and devoid of emotion more telling than he would have liked.
Quinn sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment so her patient wouldn’t see the deep sympathy she felt for him well up.
In that moment Matias’s low level arousal levels shot off the chart. Something about that look on her face... that sigh, the way she pursed her lips, she was, no, it couldn’t be. How could this woman be familiar? He couldn’t even recall the name of the town Nico said they now lived in. “Do... do I know you from somewhere?”
Quinn’s eyes shot open. “No. No, we’ve never met before today.” Damn, and now she was breaking her personal code on lying to patients. “I’m sorry about your parents. What about what happened this afternoon? The car accident? I’m given to understand that something attacked you?”
Matias shook his head, unable to hide his frustration. “I don’t remember.” Fuck. He might as well get that statement tattooed across his forehead.
“Memories can be lost or fragmented following a traumatic event.”
Matias resisted the urge to snort out loud. The angel in the white coat was preaching to the choir.
“And often with time and rest can come back of their own accord.”
No, according to Nico, his short term memories were lost completely if he slept or lost consciousness. What had happened out there today? Had Nico truly not seen anything? Or was he holding back information until they were alone and Matias had full comprehension of all the salient facts regarding his existence?
Shit, his life was a soapie telenovela.
Problem was, he didn’t know whether he was the hero, the villain, or the psycho patient about to be incarcerated. “Yeah, yeah, car accident, dead parents, really sorry about the violent outburst and happy to pay for any damage I caused and everyone’s medical bills. So... what’s the verdict? Am I getting out of here before dinner time? I’m not a huge fan of lime jello.”
And there went all the sympathy Quinn had been feeling. “You have no history of violence.” The town phone lines would have run red hot if that were the case. And it was not a crime to be a gruff asshole. “Considering the circumstances. And your expression of remorse.” He’d been genuinely shocked by his actions. “I’ll be releasing you into the custody of your brother.”
Thank Saint Medard. Matias almost relaxed and expressed his gratitude but at the last moment remembered the role he had to play. Gritting his teeth instead, nodding his head sharply.
Huh, asshole was like a king, deigning to acknowledge the actions of a lowly villager. “I’ll go get the paperwork organised. Look, Mr Yanez, you’ve obviously experienced some kind of trauma, so if you ever want to talk-”
“I told you already. I don’t need some mystical head shrink tinkering with my id. I don’t need to get in touch with my inner child. Babble about my personal feelings or angst about this world or the next.”
Quinn lifted her chin, her right eyebrow rising for a split second, eyes flashing silver as she contemplated him. “I was going to say that my patient roster is booked solid but if you needed a recommendation I would provide you with one.” Swivelling on her heels she strode for the door. At the last moment she took a deep breath and halted, looking back. “I’ll start that paperwork. We won’t be seeing each other again.” Not if she had anything to say about it. “Good day.” She refrained from tacking on the word asshole, because she was a professional.
Of course it wasn’t completely professional to high tail it out of the room because a patient pissed you off... or that despite their arrogant behaviour you found yourself unwillingly attracted to him.
Goddess. She might as well just board the cray-cray train and take a seat in first-class.
But just because she was physically attracted to Matias Yanez, it didn’t mean she had to do anything about it. Well, except up her already strict avoidance guidelines. She would just treat Matias like that time she’d given up sugar for a month. Be rigid. Be controlled.
Let’s just pray she wouldn’t be snapping at everyone and climbing the walls... or Matias Yanez, by week two. Damn, and now she needed some chocolate.
Chapter Seven
Matias was running along the beach. Steady rain drumming against his skull as the choppy ocean dashed wave after wave onto the shore. He badly wanted to turn off the mini MP3 player and rip off the headphones. Make it stop. Turn off reality. But he forced himself to keep listening, even as he forced himself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The exercise helped. Heart pumping. Breathing heavily. Doing something, even as mind numbing as running, felt better than doing nothing. Or, what he really wanted to do. Stand and scream at the Gods. His family? All but Nico, gone? Ten years ago, when it felt like only a matter of minutes had passed?
That day. That fucking awful day on the Merry Maverick. The threatening heavy storm clouds racing across the sky. The loud voices. Papa insistent. Mama trying to play peacemaker. Copper standing next to him, scared. But not because of either the approaching storm or the loud argument. His little sister had been more focused on the narrow tablet she’d just fished out of the artefact tanks.
Matias lost his focus for a moment, tripping and falling to his knees heavily in the soft wet sand. The tablet... that weird black tablet. How could he have forgotten it? Copper had been fascinated by it... and at the same time... frightened of it. Of an old tablet? She’d been showing it to him... hadn’t she? And... No, he couldn’t remember what she’d said.
Crap, it seems he had more than the last ten years of his life missing. That moment with Copper, that had occurred before the zero point. Before all his memories disappeared into a black hole. Before the screams. Before the blood. Before the big void snapped down shut on his life.
He had thought Copper had turned so pale... suddenly look so afraid, because she had sensed, like him, that the storm and the yelling didn’t bode well. But no, her reaction had been because of the tablet she’d been studying.
How the fuck had he forgotten that?
He had such clarity of that last day... as if all the events had just happened mere moments ago. But now... now he couldn’t even trust those memories. Getting to his feet slowly, he grimaced down at the wet sand caking his lower legs and knees. He needed a shower and some answers regarding that old tablet. Did he still have it somewhere?
Turning, he raced back down the rain sodden beach. Was this a clue as to what had happened that day? This sudden recollection. Or was it some side effect of his memory condition? He didn’t want to think he did this every day, got his hopes up, only to have them dashed.
Back at his apartment, he forced himself to shower and shave first. Getting all his precious files dirty and wet would not help his cause. Dressed in record time. He slammed open the first sea chest. Speed reading through his written account of that last day. Damn, or was it good? There was no mention of the tablet Copper had taken such an interest in.
Next he searched through the boat inventory. No antique... obsidian... obsidian tablet. Fuck, had he even taken more than a cursory look at the thing after bringing it up from the wreck of the Maria Rosa? There must have been writing on it. Maybe it held a clue. Or maybe it was missing because Copper still had it.
He was tempted to ring Nico. His number was listed on the first page of a journal titled - very important personal information, that was kept by his bed. But what could he say to his brother? Other than, hey, I have a hazy memory of some tablet that scared the hell out of Copper.
Nico hadn’t been there. There was no record of it being found. Fuck, maybe he was imagining it. Scrabbling for tenuous hope when there was none.
