by P. G. Forte
“Gregg, look,” Liam began, but he cut him off with a shake of his head.
“Later,” he repeated, enjoying the flash of anguish and indecision in the young man’s eyes. This might turn out to be even more fun than he first thought.
* * *
Cara listened to the sound of Liam’s footsteps receding as he walked away from her, crossing the room, heading toward the door. Leaving her alone with Gregg.
She twisted her hands together in her lap, too frightened to look at him; trying hard not to cry. Gregg hated it when she cried. It would only make things worse. The door squeaked open, and then shut, and she flinched at the sound. She was on her own now, and if the expression in Gregg’s eyes earlier was anything to go by, she was in a world of trouble.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, although she knew it would do her no good.
“Well, and you should be,” Gregg replied, sounding a lot less angry than she’d expected. “I’m very disappointed.”
Disappointed? Was that all? Cara peeked up at him, surprised to find him looking faintly amused. Hope fluttered wildly for a second. “I know I shouldn’t have let him go out last night, Gregg. But, he said it was important. And I–”
“No.” Gregg shook his head, cutting her off with a wave of his hand. “I said later for that. Right now, there are a couple of things I need you to take care of for me.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay. L-like what?”
“First of all, I had some furniture delivered today. A bed and a couple of other things. They need to be set up right away. There’s room in the attic. I’ve decided that will work out okay. There’s a lot of space there. It needs to be cleaned and dusted and who knows what. But, it will do.”
“A-a bed?” Cara stared at him. Hope fell still again. She was being banished to the attic? It could be worse, she supposed. At least he wasn’t throwing her out altogether, or expecting her to figure things out for herself and sleep with whomever would have her. But all the same–
“Lauren’s going to be staying on with us for a few days longer. So, I want you to make sure she has everything she needs up there to be comfortable. You have until dinner to get things in order for her.”
Surprised again, Cara couldn’t help glancing at the massive four poster on the other side of the room. “She’s not saying here? With you?”
“With me?” Gregg cocked his head to the side. A slow, heated smile curved his lips as he looked at her. “Why no, pet. Why would you think that?”
“I- I just–” Cara stared. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved, or panicked.
“Why would I want Lauren here, when I have you?”
“I thought you’d be mad?” she whispered. “I thought–”
“You thought wrong.” Gregg said as he held out his hand. “Didn’t you?”
Cara nodded. She took hold of his hand and allowed him to pull her onto his lap. Allowed him to frame her face in his hands. Allowed him to kiss her.
It was a rough kiss, harsh, demanding, punishing. Nothing like Liam’s.
A deep longing for what she would never have again sheared through her and she shuddered. She fisted her hands on Gregg’s chest, choking a little from the pressure of his tongue in her mouth, all ready to push him away–
Then reality hit. Where did she think she was going to go, anyway? To Liam? Ha! Liam had left her for someone else. He’d left her to face Gregg on her own, to cover for him, to fend for herself. He’d left her flat.
So, he could go to hell, for all she cared.
She wasn’t stupid. And she wasn’t going to try and make it on the streets by herself. She was going to stay right where she was until her luck changed and she caught a break. So, she shoved her thoughts of Liam away, wrapped her arms around Gregg’s neck and kissed him back.
* * *
Liam was waiting for her when she finally left Gregg’s room. “Are you all right?” he demanded, grabbing hold of Cara’s arm, practically before the bedroom door had closed behind her. He’d been pacing the hallway, waiting and worrying, listening for the slightest sounds of distress. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Cara shook off his hand and stared in disdain. “What do you think?”
Liam blinked back his surprise at her tone. Only fifteen minutes ago she’d been stuttering in fear. Now, her voice was hard, cold, at odds with her swollen lips, her flushed face. But, perfectly in keeping with the fury sparking in her eyes. “I don’t know. You look okay, I guess.”
“Yeah? Well, it’s no thanks to you if I am.” Cara pushed past him and started down the stairs.
“You’re not in trouble, are you?” he persisted as he followed after her, but she made no answer. “Cara, come on. What else did you want me to do? I told Gregg it was all my fault. I told him not to blame you. I didn’t want to get you in trouble. You know that, don’t you?”
“You want me to tell you what I know, Liam?” she asked, coming to a sudden stop midway down the stairs, and spinning around to face him. “I know I wouldn’t have been in any trouble to begin with, if it weren’t for you.”
Liam nodded. “I know that. I’m sorry. But I didn’t know I was going to run into a life-or-death situation. And, like I told you last night, it was important.”
Cara’s eyes widened, she uttered a small, strangled shriek and pushed him, right in the chest. Liam sat down hard on the stairs, he stared at her in surprise as she snarled, “Important? Tell someone who cares, Liam. ‘Cause, I don’t give a shit.”
Then she whirled around, and headed down the stairs once more. “You can take your apologies and shove them.”
Liam sighed, but didn’t follow. They were back to this again, were they? Terrific. It would be so much easier on his emotions if he could just let her stay angry at him. He needed a good excuse to keep his distance from her, anyway. This thing between them was too dangerous, too volatile. But, even knowing that, he still didn’t want to give it up. He didn’t want to give her up.
But why was he thinking about that? Even though it would undoubtedly be easier for both of them, he couldn’t let her stay mad at him. He needed her on his side. He needed her to keep him sane, to keep him grounded. She wasn’t going to do that, if she was mad at him.
So, one way or another, whatever it took, he’d have to find some way to get himself back into her good graces yet again.
Chapter Twenty Three
Neither Cara nor Gregg appeared in the dining hall for the evening meal, and Liam couldn’t decide which had done more to destroy his appetite: that, or the tasteless food they’d been served. After the long night and tiring day he’d just put in, he should be starving, hungry enough to eat anything.
Maybe he was too tired to eat? Or maybe it was the tightness in his chest that was responsible for his condition; along with the roiling in his gut when he considered the absent pair, where they were, what they were doing.
Disgusted with the trend of his thoughts, he pushed his plate and the rest of his food away, and grabbed a chunk of brown bread from one of the baskets on the table. But nothing could stop him from thinking about it. Emotions, thick and hot, bitter as acid, flooded his system. Anger. Jealousy. Arousal. Need.
The lack of chatter wasn’t helping the situation, either, he thought, as he chewed moodily. Gregg had called for another ban on talking tonight, and the resultant silence left him with too much time to think.
Always, his thoughts returned to Cara; like hounds after a fox, sniffing and circling, as they followed her trail. When had the simple instinct to protect her slipped its lead and become a driving need to possess her, instead?
There were a lot of things he needed to do about the girl, fucking her wasn’t one of them.
What he needed to do was stop thinking about her… that was number one on the list. He also needed to cool things off between them, calm her anger toward him, and rescue her from Gregg.
And he needed to remember she was still a kid. No matter what she might say or do or how willi
ng she might appear to be, there could be nothing between them right now but friendship. Unfortunately, remembering that had never been easy, and it got harder with each day they spent under the same roof. Kissing her had only made things worse.
A movement in the doorway caught his eye and he glanced up as Lauren drifted slowly, clumsily into the room. She appeared subdued and preoccupied, as she seated herself on the empty chair beside him. As Liam moved aside to give her more room, he noticed her eyes were red-rimmed, their lids heavy. He felt a pang of remorse. Had she been crying over Nick?
Possible, but the unhealthy pallor to her skin, and the trembling of her hands as she reached for the serving bowls, suggested another explanation. Maybe she was sick? He tried to remember when he’d seen her last, but couldn’t. A couple of days, no more. But, the difference between her appearance now, and the pretty woman he’d first encountered, only a few weeks ago, was shocking.
What had happened to her in the interim? Acid churned in his gut again as the obvious answer popped into his head: Gregg.
Would he do the same to Cara, Liam couldn’t help but wonder, and then cursed himself for thinking of her again.
He bit back a sigh as Lauren’s hand spasmed, spilling rice along the table. Concerned, he reached for the spoon she was holding, to help her, but she flinched at his touch and trembled harder.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, forgetting the ban on speech.
In the shocked silence that followed his question, Liam was aware that everyone had stopped eating to stare at them. Lauren gaped at him for an instant, and then pushed away from the table, and ran from the room.
He caught up with her in the main lecture room. She was sobbing by then, and there was nothing to do but take her in his arms and wait for her tears to stop.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again. “Are you not feeling well? Is this about Nick?”
“Nick?” Lauren raised her head. Her face had gone white, and she was frowning. “What about Nick?” she whispered fiercely. “I had nothing to do with that. That was not my fault.”
Liam stared at her, puzzled. “I know. No one said it was.”
“It was a dream,” she insisted. “A horrible, terrible dream.”
“Oh, it was real enough,” Liam sighed, remembering the taste of fear, the heat as it seared the back of his neck, the sting of flying glass. Good thing for him, he’d been wearing a jacket the night before. Neither Nick nor Chay had been quite so lucky.
Tears filled Lauren’s eyes again. She shook her head. “No. No, I didn’t do that—I didn’t! That’s not what happened.”
Do what, Liam wondered, and then it hit him. Nick had been right. Lauren had never meant to wish him dead, after all.
“No, you didn’t,” he said as he gathered her close again, silently cursing Gregg for putting the thought in her head that she could meditate Nick out of her life. “Don’t worry about it. It had nothing to do with you.”
A sudden tingling of the burned skin along the back of his neck alerted him to the fact that they were no longer alone. He twisted his head, surprised to see Cara standing a few feet away, steadily glaring in his direction. “What’s up, Caramel?” he asked, trying not to return her frown. She was wearing a tight little T shirt over an incredibly short skirt that showed entirely too much of her impossibly long legs. The armful of rubber bracelets at her wrist might have been intended to conceal the bandage on her arm, but he knew it was there, and they only served to focus his attention.
He wasn’t sure which part of her outfit annoyed him more. She was asking for trouble, dressed like that. And, after yesterday’s little interlude in his bedroom, he couldn’t help wondering who she was dressed to impress tonight. “And what’s with the outfit? You gotta be cold dressed like that.”
Cara’s eyes flashed daggers. She said nothing, just gave a sharp nod toward the staircase.
Liam sighed. Right. They weren’t supposed to speak. Somehow, a Cara who obeyed the rules was the last thing he’d expected, and not something he liked very much.
“I have to go,” he whispered as he turned back to Lauren and eased her out of his arms. Behind him, Cara cleared her throat. He glanced at her again. She shook her head, pointed at them both, and held up two fingers. Annoyance flared within him. Was she putting on this silent act for Lauren’s benefit, or his? Or was she just determined to play the role of Gregg’s lapdog to the hilt? Either way, he didn’t like it. “What is it you’re not saying, Sunshine? You want both of us? Huh? Is that it?”
Cara’s eyes narrowed. He could tell it was killing her to keep quiet, but she did it. Her lips tightened and she nodded. Just once. Cold. Curt. Quiet.
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” he asked, smiling a challenge at her, daring her to break her silence – to break the rules – even if it was just to give him hell for doing the same. But she refused to play. She tossed her head and turned on her heel, and stalked from the room. They followed.
Liam tried hard not to stare at Cara’s butt as she preceded them up the stairs, but the skirt she was wearing was tight as hell. It pretty much begged him to consider what – if anything –she might be wearing beneath it. He would have asked her, too, just to annoy her, if it weren’t for the set of her shoulders, the stiffness in her spine. And the fact that they weren’t alone.
What the hell is she thinking, he wondered. He wanted to slide his hand around her waist and halt her progress. He wanted to pull her gently to his side, press a kiss against her head and demand she talk to him.
If she would only tell him what was wrong, there was a chance that he could fix things. At least he could try. But, maybe he really didn’t care about that, either? Maybe he just wanted her to smile at him again. Maybe he was just looking for an excuse to touch her.
At the second floor landing, she paused, pointing first at him and then at the door of Gregg’s room. Lauren moved to squeeze past her, but Cara stopped her with a touch on her arm, shook her head, and pointed her toward the third floor.
Liam shot a curious glance at the stairs. What was up there? He was about to ask, but he could feel the animosity between the two women as it charged the atmosphere around them, and he changed his mind. They were both wound as tight as they could get right now, and he sensed that Cara, in particular, was on the verge of losing it. If he teased her into speech and caused her to lose her composure in front of Lauren, she might never forgive him.
She turned to look at him then, eyebrows raised. It wasn’t hard to get the hint. He nodded, and headed toward the bedroom while the others continued on upstairs.
He paused for a moment in front of the door, with his hand on the knob. Liam didn’t know what Gregg had planned for him tonight, but he’d bet anything it had not been planned with his enjoyment in mind. He couldn’t let it get to him, though. Memories from the night before had been replaying in his mind all day, and he was more convinced than ever that Gregg was responsible for what happened to Nick.
Only problem was, no one else seemed to believe that, so, it was up to him to prove it. The only way he could do that, was by playing things smart. That meant not losing his cool, not showing his hand, not doing anything stupid. No matter what the provocation. Most of all, it meant not getting kicked out before he’d accomplished his mission.
He was doing this for Amy and Jack, he reminded himself. And for Nick, as well. He was doing it for Cara, too; even if she didn’t know it. He was doing it for them all.
And though it wouldn’t be easy, still it had to be done. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Let the games begin...
* * *
“Come in,” Gregg called, when the knock sounded on his bedroom door. As he turned away from the hypnotic dance of flames in the fireplace, he smiled in anticipation. He’d been looking forward to this. Liam was many things – a puzzle, a problem, a pawn. But, for tonight, he was something more. He was entertainment, and a means of discipline.
“You wanted to see me, sir?�
�� the young man asked rather humbly.
Gregg’s eyebrows rose slightly at the title—and the tone. They sounded odd coming from someone who’d shown such blatant disregard for his authority up until now. He’d expected a little more of an attitude from the boy. “Come in,” he repeated, gesturing at the leather chair across from him. “Sit down.”
He watched as Liam made his way across the darkened room. By rights, he should have sent him packing that morning. Either that, or slit his throat. He was a complication Gregg could not afford; his actions last night had disrupted everything.
In the grand scheme of things, one less empath would hardly matter. Gregg already had more than enough of those. But he did need a psychic. Badly. And soon. It didn’t require any particular talents to sense that his time here was growing short. His cult, his little family, was like a time bomb. Like a dark star, when the tension within it reached critical mass, it would implode. He needed to have all his pieces in place before that happened. He needed to put his plans into action soon, or abandon them, go to ground and wait for the next opportunity.
There was only one thing missing, and its continued absence was an unbearable annoyance. The mind, the soul, that would allow him to take full advantage of the crisis when it occurred, should have revealed itself to him months ago. It was slow in coming. Too slow.
He had been so certain that his sacrifice last night would have facilitated its arrival, but, thanks to Liam, his victim had cheated death. His plans had failed.
“So, Liam, tell me about last night. You were quite the hero, I understand. You must be very proud of yourself?”
Liam shrugged. “It was no big deal. I just did what I had to do.”
“I’m sure the officer’s family would disagree. It was quite a good deed.” And, like every good deed, it deserved to be punished. “But, all the same, you broke the rules.”
