by Helen Scott
Thad rang the doorbell, which made Cin laugh since he couldn’t find it at first. Clearly, this wasn’t how they usually entered each other’s homes. She wasn’t sure why Thad was being so formal, but she found it adorable. A petite curvaceous woman answered the door. Her long brown hair fell in soft waves around her face. Bright green eyes met Cin’s own.
“I’m so pleased to meet ye.” The edge of a Celtic accent pricked at Cin’s ears. “Come in, come in!”
As they walked past her, she playfully smacked Thad on the shoulder. “Ringin’ the doorbell now, are we?” They both laughed and embraced. “Ye know, I dinnae think I’ve ever heard it before.” She smiled widely at Cin. “Come, let’s get a drink while the lads chat.”
“Sure thing.” Cin’s American accent sounded overly rounded and drawl-like in her ears when compared to Ellie’s accent.
Thad watched as Cin walked around to the kitchen with Ellie. Their height difference was amusing; Ellie barely came up to Cin’s chest. Although, Cin was wearing heels as well, so it wasn’t a fair comparison. They seemed to be getting along just fine, so it was time for him to bite the bullet and go talk to his brother.
He rounded the corner from the hallway into the library where his brother was waiting. Alec had pulled out two glasses, and held up a bottle, offering Thad a glass of scotch. He nodded. He was going to need it for what he was about to say.
Thad had always been jealous of his younger brother. Women had been falling all over each other for centuries trying to get his attention. He always looked suave, with his tousled dark hair and bright blue eyes, highlighted by whatever was considered fashionable in terms of dress.
His own too-blond curls and weird eyes, well, they didn’t work for him in terms of attracting women. But they had attracted Cin, his brain reminded him. By the gods, did they attract her, and she was like a drug to him. Now that he’d had a taste, he didn’t want to let her out of his sight again. At least, not for a while. She was special. He knew that in his bones.
“So, what’s going on, Brother?”
“I need to talk to you about something serious,” Thad said, accepting the glass that Alec held out to him.
“Let me get the door.” Alec wandered off to shut the door as Thad sat in one of the overstuffed armchairs. “What’s on your mind?”
Thad took a mouthful of the scotch and luxuriated in the rich taste for a moment.
“Do you remember when Gran died?”
“Yeah . . .” Concern etched his features.
“And how before she told us all something about out futures?”
Alec nodded and sipped his drink.
“Do you remember what she told you?”
“Of course. Well, I had forgotten about it until I met Ellie.” Alec sighed. “Gran told me not to say anything to anyone about what she had foreseen for me, but when I met Ellie, I remembered what she had told me. I suppose it doesn’t matter now, since we’re together.” Alec paused. Thad hadn’t expected his little brother to clam up like this. He suspected Alec was worried that saying something about the prophesy would destroy it.
“She’d said my soulmate would have eyes of blue fire and wings that didn’t offer flight. So, yeah.”
“She told me about my soulmate too.”
Alec raised an eyebrow as he sipped at his drink.
“I don’t know if I should say anything. It might be enough to just know that your prophesy came true.”
“You don’t have to tell me, man. It’s your thing. You decide what you want to say or not say.”
Thad took a deep breath and held it for a second, and then his mouth started moving before he felt like he’d even decided to tell Alec.
“She said when I found my soulmate, my eyes would change. That the woman would be nothing like I expected, and would provide our family with strength that we would need going forward.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“Totally. Scared the pants off me when she first told me.”
“So why are you asking now?”
“Cin and I slept together, and when I saw myself in the mirror afterward, my irises were bright blue. My pupils were still white, and after a moment, the color faded, but for a while, they were blue!” He couldn’t stop the excitement in his voice at the end. He had been trying not to think about it too much since it happened. Trying not to think about what it might mean. Trying not to get his hopes up.
“Holy shit, man, that’s amazing! Congratulations!”
“But they faded!”
“Maybe you’re still holding back, or maybe she is, but it’s a hell of an indication!”
“So you think she’s it?”
“Why not, man? It’s not like your eyes change color every time you have sex, is it?”
“No.”
“So then yeah, I think she’s it. And you better sing your ass off for her,” Alec said, grinning from ear to ear.
“I don’t know if I can do that. What if I’m wrong?”
“What if you’re right?”
The question hung there, tantalizing Thad. Alec had lost Ellie at one point, and when he spoke with Aphrodite about it, she said that the person who was meant to be their soulmate would be repulsed by their siren’s song. If he was wrong, though, and sang for Cin, then she would be under his thrall for the rest of her life, or until one of them died.
“It’s a hell of a risk to take.”
“Just promise me you’ll think about it.”
“I promise.” Thad smiled at his brother as they stood. “And thanks. Really.”
“Any time, any time.” Alec patted Thad on the back. They weren’t best friends, but they could always depend on each other.
Ellie and Cin’s voices flowed down the hall like music to his ears as they sat drinking coffee and chatting. He had never thought that the prophecy of his soulmate would come true, especially since Zeus had banned them from forming long-term relationships when they were teenagers.
“Hey, love.” Alec bent over and kissed Ellie. It was sweet but also made Thad uncomfortable. There was heat there too; he could see it between them, like at any point they might catch fire.
“Hey.” Thad looked down at Cin, wishing desperately that he knew what to do, and that he could kiss her openly like that. But for now, he squeezed her shoulder. “You guys having fun?”
“Ellie was telling me all about the wedding planning and stuff.”
“Nice.” Thad felt awkward now.
“Did you guys figure out whatever it was that you wanted to?”
“Kinda. I’m still working on it.”
“Cool.” Thad could tell that Cin hated being left out of whatever was troubling him, but he wasn’t ready to lay something like this on the table.
“Listen . . .” he started, unsure what he was going to say. He knew he had to say something.
“Guys? Anyone naked?” Dem’s voice rang through from the hall.
“We’re in the kitchen,” Alec shouted back. “And everyone is naked!”
“Wait, really? Who’s everyone?” Dem’s voice said as it drew closer.
He came through the doorway with his hands covering his eyes. Dem parted his fingers slightly as he peeked through them.
“Man, I’m glad you weren’t serious.”
“Me too,” Thad said.
“Hey, I’ve been looking for you,” Dem said to Thad.
“What’s up?”
“So I couldn’t help myself with those messages. I did some research on what our hacker sent us. Randall Fields. Eclipse. That kind of stuff. We should chat.”
Thad could sense Cin’s body go rigid with tension as he stood behind her.
“You’re welcome to stay and talk here. We can leave the room, if you want,” Alec said as Ellie watched Dem with fascination. Dem had always been coldest to her. It was nothing personal, just how he was with women. Although, now that Thad thought of it, he hadn’t been as bad with Cin. It may have had something to do with Ellie’s grandfather, their f
riend, dying in front of him. Whatever the reason, Dem had kept it to himself.
Dem pulled out the chair on the other side of Cin, and Alec went to put on some coffee, or brain food as he called it.
“What’s happening?”
“I feel like we underestimated who took Aster. They are huge, and I mean like way, way huge. They have a finger in almost every pot they can. Eclipse is owned by its CEO Randall Fields, who is the youngest CEO to own a company of that size in history. They could cause us all some serious problems if they wanted to. I’m talking messing with businesses, credit scores, the works.”
“I feel sick,” Cin said, looking terrified.
“We’ll figure it out.” Thad rubbed between her shoulder blades.
“So, I reached out to a couple of my contacts who are conspiracy junkies, and they had some interesting things to share.” He paused, taking a sip of the steaming cup of coffee Alec had set in front of him. “Eclipse is potentially part of a secret society, or cabal, if you will, with Randall Fields being the primary member. The kicker is Eclipse is only one member. The group’s goal is a mystery to everyone I talked to, but the working theory is that it has something to do with magic and the acquisition of power. Now what form that power takes, well, your guess is as good as mine.”
“What does that mean in terms of going after Aster?”
“It means if they have her at the main facility, which is one of the largest buildings in Boston, then we won’t be able to get to her. You have to have an employee badge just to get past reception and—”
“That’s definitely not the building I saw in my vision.”
“What vision?” Alec piped up.
“I saw a farmhouse burning as we rescued Aster.” He felt a little guilty at leaving out the part where Aster had actually talked to him, but he also didn’t want to freak everyone out. Besides, the vision he’d had after that was what worried him more. Aster dying and Cin losing herself. No, that was definitely not allowed to happen. He’d rather have a farmhouse burn to the ground than lose both of them.
“I don’t know what kinds of other property they own, but I can look into it,” Dem said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“What if we gave you a license plate number?” Cin’s voice was rough with worry.
“Who does it belong to?”
“Well, that’s the question. Thad did some crazy magic, and we were able to see the car that took Aster. Turns out it’s taken more than just Aster.” Cin visibly took a calming breath, which made Thad’s heart clench for her. “We were figuring we could trace the plate somehow and figure out who the car belonged to. Maybe we can get at them that way.”
“What if we can access the car’s GPS and find out what its regular stops are?” Thad mused aloud. He knew if they went that route, they’d be breaking a ton of federal laws, but that wasn’t anything they weren’t used to. It wasn’t like the government knew they existed.
“That could work,” Dem said, staring at his coffee, deep in thought.
“We could get the VIN from the DMV with the plate number, get the details on the car that way,” Alec chimed in.
This was why Thad loved his brothers. Once they latched on to an idea, they fed off each other’s ideas. “If we have the VIN, we could hack the maker’s database and get the GPS info there, assuming they are still using the GPS that came standard in the car.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Dem nodded.
“I can give a visual confirmation once we have a narrowed list of possible locations.” Thad was so rarely able to use his gift like this. It was a refreshing change. He just hated the circumstances.
“You guys know all of that is illegal, right?” Cin said quietly. “I don’t want to be the reason you end up in prison.”
“Trust us. We’ve done this a few times before,” Thad said.
“What?” Cin’s eyes widened.
“We track stuff and people down for a living, people who don’t always exist in the government’s eyes, so we have a business associate who has access to all kinds of databases.”
“You sound like the mafia or something!”
“Nope. Although we have had to tangle with them a couple times.”
“You just look like normal dudes.”
“That’s kind of the point. Plus, we’ve been doing this for so long that a lot of the contacts and back doors into databases we have were put in as the thing was being constructed. We aren’t criminals; we just keep the general population safe from the dangerous magical side of stuff.” Dem’s explanation was not what Thad had expected to hear. It was a roundabout way of letting Cin know what they did, but telling her any more would definitely be dangerous.
“We aren’t the bad guys, I promise,” Thad said, trying to soothe her.
“Cin, I wouldnae have said yes to this fool if they were up to no good,” Ellie added, reaching across the table and giving Cin’s hand a squeeze.
“Okay. Just be careful with whatever you do,” Cin said, her hand reaching for Thad’s under the table.
He gave an encouraging squeeze of his own. They would track down this car, no matter what. He was not about to let anything happen to Aster.
Chapter 21
“Robin!” The sound of Mr. Fields yelling her name stopped her mid-code. She was preparing to send one last plea for help to Aster’s sister. She didn’t know what to say, but she was out of time.
“Coming, Mr. Fields!” she shouted back as she grabbed her notepad and pen and hurried to his office as quickly as her pencil skirt and stilettos would allow her. When she had seen this outfit laid out for her last night, she’d wondered if Mr. Fields was trying to illustrate how difficult he could make her life. Her ankle wobbled right before she entered his office, and she almost had a heart attack.
“What can I help you with, Mr. Fields?” Robin said, slowly walking into his office.
Every time he had seen her in this outfit, he’d given an appreciative smile, as though he was congratulating himself.
“You are coming with us to The Farm. Your banshee side showed itself the other day, and I need to make sure nothing happens while we are with The Surgeon. Your primary focus will be myself and the seer. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” The reminder of the scream made her want to run and hide. She hated when that side of her biology showed itself. After passing out in front of the guard, she’d woken up in their medical area and Mr. Fields had been talking with the doctor they kept on staff. She shuddered at the thought of what they were discussing.
“Your bag has already been packed and is in the car. Gather whatever you will need to continue your work at The Farm.”
“Are we leaving now, sir?”
“Yes.” Mr. Fields stood and started packing his own work up. Robin kicked herself. She had debated too long about what to say, and now she wouldn’t be able to say anything. There was no way she could get that last message out now. She couldn’t deal with what Mr. Fields would do if she wasn’t ready by the time he was.
Robin threw her laptop in a bag, along with her favorite mouse and her secret pair of glasses. The paperwork she needed was already together, so once she had that in hand, she was ready to go. She automatically grabbed the water bottle she’d been using and went to wait by the elevator just like she was going to her room for the evening.
The sound of Mr. Fields’ shoes brought her out of trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening, since apparently The Surgeon didn’t care about the bloodwork results.
“That stays,” Mr. Fields said, pointing to her water bottle.
“Yes, Mr. Fields,” she said, putting down her bag and walking as quickly as possible back to her office. As she put the water bottle down, the idea of taking her modified flash drive with her popped into her head.
She’d never been out to the medical facility before, and there might be a way to hack the system there. She could get all kinds of new info, and maybe even get a back door to the outside world that was eas
ier to use. She snatched the flash drive that she had prepared forever ago to be undetectable when inserted, and stuffed it in her bra.
“Hurry up, Robin.”
“Coming, Mr. Fields,” she said as she rounded the corner, coming face to face with him. His eyes flashed as he took in her slightly disheveled blouse.
She straightened her dress and grabbed her bags.
“Sorry for the delay, sir.”
He nodded at her, and they took the elevator to the underground garage.
The limo was waiting for them. She expected to ride up front with the driver, but when she went to that door, Mr. Fields corrected her, so now she was sitting in the back with him. The vehicle was even more amazing inside than she expected. The rich cream-colored leather was supple and soft under her hands as she arranged herself in the seat diagonal to Mr. Fields. She couldn’t sit opposite him or next to him. That would just be too weird, and it was weird enough being in a limo and leaving the office building she’d inhabited for the last few years.
“Comfortable?” His voice was more relaxed now than she’d ever heard it before. Almost like leaving the building gave him a chance to be more himself.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Here, have some champagne with me.”
“Um . . .” She really didn’t want to drink, but she also didn’t think she could say no to the man who controlled her whole life.
“Just relax. I don’t expect anything from you right now. Enjoy the ride.” He pulled two champagne flutes out of the center armrest, along with a small bottle of champagne. She had yet to formulate a response by the time the bottle had been opened and poured and the glass handed to her.
Robin sipped tentatively as the bubbles ran up the sides of the glass, popping just below her nose. The sweet dry taste was refreshing and made her instantly crave more.
“Do you like it?” Mr. Fields asked with one eyebrow cocked.
“It’s lovely.”
“You could be treated like this all the time, you know.”
