by Aliyah Burke
“Do you need to get any luggage?”
“No, ma’am. This is all I have. Just need to grab a taxi.”
“I’ll stay with you until you do.”
“Thank you.”
“Just doing our job.” True to her word, the lady didn’t leave her side until she closed the door of the cab.
“The Hilton, please.” She leant back as the driver pulled out and merged into the busy airport traffic. Lord, her nerves were shot. She closed her eyes and willed the stress to drain from her. Didn’t quite work, but when he parked before the hotel, she felt marginally better.
After paying him, she thanked him as she climbed out. Gripping her handle, she walked into the lobby and up to the front desk to get a room. Hopefully—it wasn’t anything she’d set up ahead of time. Thankfully they had space and she was soon soaking in the tub with a glass of wine beside her.
The men were not the usual ones she’d seen since her grandmother had passed. They were Caucasian and Hispanic instead of black—perhaps her cousins had hired other men. All she knew was she was exhausted, and needed a few days of not racing across the globe.
Suddenly nervous, she rose and wrapped up in her robe before taking her glass of wine with her to stand in front of the large window that offered her a lovely view of Seattle. This was a nice city—maybe she could lose herself in it. At least for a little while.
She called down to the front desk for a paper and some food. While she waited for those to be delivered, she changed into one of her few outfits and briskly ran a towel over her head, drying her new short haircut. She’d just done it and the dye job in the hotel.
Staring at her reflection, she touched the shorn locks and sighed heavily. Her hair had been long and one of her vanity points. So she’d chopped it off in order to help her escape detection. She patted the style. Textured short layers with a long neckline, short sideburns and a slightly diagonal fringe. It had red streaks through it, which kind of reminded her of flames. Different, that was for sure.
“It’ll grow on me,” she told herself. “I just have to figure out why they want this thing so bad.”
Taylor lifted the pendant and stared at it. Delicate. Intricate. And gold, but for the life of her she couldn’t pinpoint why they wanted it so bad. “They can’t truly think this will bring them treasure beyond their wildest dreams.” Meeting her own gaze she shook her head. “Remember who we’re talking about. They may believe that.”
Whatever it was, it was enough for them to try to kill her for it. And that had eradicated any thought she’d once had of giving it to them. To be honest, she wasn’t sure they wouldn’t still kill her after they had it.
Her musings were broken by a knock on the door. “Room service.”
She opened the door and paid for the food. Ignoring the table, she spread out on the bed, food to her left as she opened the paper to the classifieds. As she finished off the last of her dessert, she had several options circled for both apartments and jobs. Given the time of day, she would call in the morning. Placing the tray outside the door, she looked up and down the quiet hall. Then back in her room, she locked the door and engaged the chain.
Curtains drawn and lights off, she went to bed. The sleep helped her immensely and when she woke at six, she felt so much better. She had the place for one more night, yet she still took her bag with her as she headed down to get a spot of breakfast. After she’d finished and had paid her bill, she had the bellhop secure her a cab to take care of her business for the day.
The taxi took her through the neighbourhoods of the circled apartments—she wanted a look at the surrounding areas before she even tried for one. When she’d paid the driver and stepped out before the first job location, she had one apartment picked out. Sure, she’d not even seen the inside, but she needed a place to stay where she felt safe. If the actual rental was subpar she wouldn’t take it, but the other places she wouldn’t stay based on location. Avoiding her cousins because they wanted to kill her was defeated if she was killed trying to get back to her place.
Spying a pay phone, she went to it to call the landlord and set up a meeting to view the apartment. Then she called the job and set up a time to come for an interview. After all that, she walked to one of the numerous coffee shops on the street corners and sat outside while she waited for time to pass.
* * * *
Taylor got the apartment and took the job at the small diner. That night, she ate dinner in her new place. It wasn’t furnished and she ate out of the takeout containers, but she’d had a bed delivered and had got some new sheets for the bed. Other things would come in time. In the meantime, she would tuck her head in and blend in best she could. That worked wonders until the night she came home from a double shift and found someone on the steps waiting for her.
Cale Mattox stood when she approached. His blue eyes pierced her and he arched an eyebrow. “Good thing I’m a forgiving type of man. Care to tell me why the TSA guy detained me?”
“How did you find me?” If he did, would the others?
“I asked first.” Some of her panic must have shown on her face for he immediately held up his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you, Taylor. I promise.”
Funny how she believed him. It didn’t make sense, but she got a warm, safe feeling from him. Not one that had her looking for the nearest exit. “Can we talk inside?”
His smile was sin. Pure, raw, sexual sin. “Anything you want.”
Chapter Two
Cale watched the woman who’d allowed him into her apartment, no matter how reluctantly. He’d known she was suspicious of him but to actually have him detained, okay, he’d not thought she had it in her.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Whatever you’re having,” he said. Pivoting around in a circle, he took in the apartment. Not much to speak of. Bare necessities but clean.
A bottle of Coke appeared before him and after he took it from her, she waved him into the small living room where she sat in an overstuffed chair that had definitely seen better days. He took the couch where he could see her and the door.
“Care to tell me what that was all about?” He opened his drink and took a nice long swig.
“Did Jeremy send you?”
He blinked a few times. “Who’s Jeremy?”
Her sigh was telling. “I’m sorry about earlier. My cousin has sent men after me. He wants the pendant from my grandmother. He and the others are under the foolish belief it will bring them all the treasure they could ever want.”
“Why didn’t you just give it to them instead of having them chase you around?”
She fiddled with her bottle. “I had planned on it. Even though Grandma wanted me to have it. I went to their office and overheard them talking, debating about killing me after they got it.” She shook her head. “So why give it to them if they’re going to kill me? I may as well keep it myself.”
Protective instincts raged within him. How could someone do such a thing? He wanted to know Jeremy so he could kick the man’s worthless ass.
“When I saw you continually looking at them, I thought you were part of their group.” A gentle half smile. “Sorry.”
Cale leant back and rolled the bottle in his fingers. Those men hadn’t been after her pendant. At least, not for the reasons she was thinking.
“And you’ve been running from them since France?”
“Those two are new. I’ve not seen them before, so from them? Yes. Much longer from my cousins.”
“And you settle in Seattle, in this place.”
“A while ago, I wouldn’t have set foot in a place like this. I figure now, it’s the best for me to be.”
“Your grandmother was wealthy?” He sat forward and rested his arms upon his quads.
“Extremely. Which is why I don’t understand why they want this so much. They got so much more in the will than I did. But I got this and they got pissed.”
His palms itched and he fought the need to rub them on his t
highs. “Can I see it?”
She rose and moved to sit on the coffee table before him, where she drew the pendant from her shirt. The gold shone against her mocha skin and he took a breath before touching it. Sparks exploded out, showering the room in a rainbow of colour.
She fell back and scrambled from him. Eyes wide with fear and awe. “What the hell just happened?”
The lights danced around the room before choosing to land on her head and shoulders. As quickly as they’d arrived, they faded. His heart pounded out of control and from the way she had her hand on her chest, hers was acting the same way.
He knew what had just happened. She was his. The one made for him. Lian had told them all about it.
“One day you will find the one who is your other half. I can’t tell you how you will know, just trust that you will. Embrace them. Cherish them. Protect them at all costs. For when the time comes, you will need their love to survive the tests you will face.”
He was barely the legal drinking age and now he had a mate to protect. Need moved through him, but he ignored it, focusing on her face instead. Her brown eyes watched him as she struggled to sit up. He moved over her and offered a hand.
“No thanks. I’ll get myself up.”
“Are you injured?”
“Surprisingly, no. That was one hell of a shock.” She pushed back up onto the chair she’d first occupied.
He wanted to touch the pendant again but had a feeling she wouldn’t go for it. Not given what had just happened. “Let me check your neck. Make sure there’s no marks.”
Her laugh was a mix of humour and uncertainty. “No thanks. I’ll look in the mirror.”
Cale had to try. “I’d still like to see that pendant.”
Her gaze narrowed slightly, but she leant forward and drew it off, over her head. With obvious care, she placed it on the table before him. Quarter-sized, it lay there against a glossy magazine. He stared at the symbol and racked his brain, trying to remember where he’d seen it before. With care, he lifted it and turned it to the back. It was a labyrinth, he knew that, but where he’d seen one exactly like this, he couldn’t quite recall.
Currents ran through his fingers and up his arm as he touched it. Taylor never took her gaze from his hand. As if she thought he might try to run off with the necklace. He didn’t relinquish it when she reached for the chain. He wanted to see what would happen.
She hesitated but then she took the chain in her fingers. That rainbow of colour surrounded her like an aura, pulsing with life. The pulses moving through him increased as well. If she noticed it, she didn’t say a word, just took the necklace back and slipped it over her head, tucking the pendant once again behind her shirt.
“Do you know what the symbol is?” He picked up his drink to give him something to do with his hands.
“I remember my grandmother saying something about angels.” A furrow appeared on her brow. “Seraphim, perhaps.”
This time he knew she was lying. She knew exactly what it meant, she merely wasn’t going to inform him. Not that he blamed her. She didn’t trust him yet. That would change.
He nodded and sat back, ignoring every beat of his heart that told him to go to her. She was his now. And it was his right to claim her. Power shifted within him and he rolled his shoulders to calm down. It didn’t do much, but he wasn’t about to take her like an animal.
“Your cousins, then.” He brought the conversation back to something he felt she would be more open to discussing. “Do you know where they are now?”
“Probably back at the mansion. Partying and having my grandmother turning over in her grave.”
“Where’s the mansion at?”
“South Carolina.”
“You don’t have a southern accent.”
“I do, just tends to stick out, especially in a place like this. I work hard to hide it.” A small shrug and she curled her feet beneath her and touched the chain.
It calmed her—the way she relaxed made it obvious. He didn’t know what would calm him—his heart still hadn’t slowed since that powerful shock between them. At times he could still see the rainbow of colours around her and it revved him up again. His tattoo shifted along his skin as his power answered his heightened stress.
Her phone rang, causing her to jump. “Excuse me.”
Cale did his best not to eavesdrop while she spoke, but his hearing was just too good. Work had called her in—apparently someone last minute had reported as being sick.
“I’m sorry. I have to get ready for work. Also sorry about the misunderstanding before.” She walked to the door.
Every fibre of his being told him not to leave her. She was in danger, even more than she could begin to fathom.
“I could wait and walk you to work,” he offered.
“Give me five.” She vanished down the hall and he heard the decisive closing of a door.
Whatever he’d activated by touching the pendant—the artefact he’d been tasked with finding—had only amplified the signal she would have put out naturally the closer the time came for him to find her. Problem was, not only he could see it. So he’d bet anything those two men were part of The New Order.
“I found my mate.” He sent the message to his siblings. And the congratulations rolled in.
“When do we get to meet her?” Aminta Tran asked.
“Soon. Members of The New Order are after her. And that’s not all. She has my artefact.”
Tension could be felt through their connection. He was the first to have seen his, which meant the prophecy had begun to reach its zenith. Prior to his finding Taylor and the artefact, they had existed in a haze of almost ignorance, believing that so long as none of them had discovered it, they could train and pretend that perhaps the prophecy wasn’t falling on them.
“Bring her to the vineyard, Cale,” Lian issued the order.
“As soon as we can be there, we will.”
“Be safe, brother,” Billy Kwan sent the sentiment.
“I’m ready if you are.”
Taylor’s voice pulled him roughly from contact. Wincing from the unexpected slivers of pain, he turned.
Jeans and a T-shirt, which told him whatever her job was, it didn’t require business dress. She carried a black purse over one shoulder, nothing fancy, just plain and unadorned.
“Okay.”
They walked down together and he tried to angle her towards his vehicle, but she shook her head.
“I walk. It’s not far.”
Senses alert, he fell into step with her. She was right—barely two blocks farther and she paused outside a restaurant.
“You work here?”
“I do. Thanks for the escort.” She walked inside and disappeared without a look back.
Cale stood there for a moment before realising he’d look foolish just staring into the building after her. So he went to a nearby bench and sat where he could see those entering and leaving. She may have thought that was the end of their association, but she was wrong. When she finished her shift, he would explain it all on the way to the vineyard.
* * * *
Taylor hefted the last bin of dishes into the sink to spray them off. As she worked, her mind drifted back to the handsome Cale Mattox.
That was some shock I got from touching him. Her entire body had lit up like a Christmas tree and she’d almost orgasmed right then. It had been hard not to let him touch her again, but she didn’t think she’d be able to control herself a second time. So she’d opted to put herself back on the chair. Not have his assistance.
Even now, her body thrummed with mere anticipation of the next time he touched her. Oh, grow up! she reprimanded herself. I left him outside this place. I’m not seeing him again. Not that it wouldn’t be nice, but she truly needed to be logical about this kind of thing. She had enough trouble with men in her life right now.
If he wants to kill me though, maybe he could do it through sex. She grinned at the thought. Little death, hell. I’d want a big one.
“Hey, Taylor.”
“Gene. This is the last bit.” She shut off the sprayer and moved the dishes to the rack where they would be sterilised.
“Thanks so much for coming in. I’m so glad you were available.”
“No problem. Can always use the extra money.”
“There’s a guy out there waiting for you. Says he’s a friend of yours.”
Fear lanced through her, but she swiftly got it under control. “What’s he look like?”
“Tall, muscled. White. Wearing a Grateful Dead shirt.”
Her knees wobbled. Cale. What is he doing here? “Tell him I’ll be out in a few.”
“Never seen you bring a friend by.”
She loved the concern she heard in Gene’s voice. “He’s from out of town.” Glancing at her boss, she gave him a smile. “Thanks for looking out, Gene.”
“Hey, you’re one of my best workers.” A shoulder shrug. “And I actually like you.”
She laughed, well aware of how Gene sometimes came across as a blowhard. The two of them got along just fine, which was how she liked it. He was someone she could count as a friend.
Once the dishes had been pulled out to dry overnight, she finished wiping down the final counter, surveyed her job then grabbed her things. Pushing through the kitchen door, she spied him immediately. He sat by the door, leaning against the wall and appearing relaxed.
She wasn’t buying it for a moment. In the low light, she swore she saw multi-coloured sparks coming off him. It was as if she could see his restlessness.
Gene worked on his till and looked up at her when Cale rose. “All good, darlin’?”
“Set for the next shift, Gene.”
“You two have a good night.”
Cale walked to her side and smiled down at her. “We will,” he stated confidently.
Outside, she turned to him and crossed her arms. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
“Funny, that’s basically what you said when you showed up at my door.” She suddenly wasn’t feeling so confident. It was dark and her body was telling her it was time to get out of there.
