Cassie grabbed her purse and dug around until she pulled the black pen out. She stared at it for a moment and then soundly kissed it. “And to think I hated your sorry ass. Hey, Cato? Can you get me another one with the neck thingy on it?”
Cato whimpered from the back seat. “Ah, hell. Stop. You’re killing me.”
Cassie looked up at Severus. His beautiful, hazel eyes were shining in the glow of the dashboard and he was smiling at her. “Hey, guys? While we’re on the subject of killing, would one of you explain how Monica could fire a gun directly at someone’s chest…and miss?”
Chapter 28
Severus heard Cato sliding up in the back seat and clearing his throat. Cassie glanced to Cato and one eyebrow rose. He could picture Cato shrugging since Cassie immediately shot those amber eyes back in his direction.
“Well? I know it was pretty damn crazy down in that basement, but I know what I saw. I don’t think it’s possible for a human to move that fast, Severus. But, you did.”
Severus started to open his mouth and immediately shot a vow of dedication to Dii when Cato’s phone started ringing. Cassie rolled her eyes to the roof and flopped back against her seat.
“Hey, Trejani. Yes. He’s right here. His phone died. Okay. Hold up.”
Severus took the phone hovering over his right shoulder and put it to his ear. “Trejani. Yes, we’re on our way back now. She’s with us. Yes. It’s a perfect time. We’ll be there shortly. Okay.” Severus handed the phone back to Cato and glanced over to Cassie. “Drusus and Lina are at the penthouse and expecting us.” Severus reached down and clasped Cassie’s hand. “You want answers, sweetness? You’ll soon have them.”
* * * *
Cassie walked from the kitchen to the living room and immediately halted. All eyes were on her and they were looking a little expectant. “Well, okay then. I guess I better spill before you all have an aneurysm. I called Mr. Sturdivant and he said for us to forward the information Cato has to him. He’ll get it to the FBI as an anonymous source. Our information, as it is, won’t hold up in court, but it will give the FBI the starting points on acquiring it legally.” Cassie glanced over at Cato, who was talking quietly on the phone. She threw a wink and immediately laughed. She’d never seen Cato blush before. This was new. “Sturdivant got on to me for not letting him know what was happening. I promised not to act like Sherlock Holmes again, so I’m back on his good side, now.”
Cassie walked over to one of the plush chairs artfully arranged in Drusus’s living room and sank into the softness. She wondered why Severus started grinning when she kicked her sandals off.
“God! I love this chair. Hey, Lina. Think Drusus will notice if I swipe this thing?” Cassie grinned when Lina lost the “I’m still scared for you” look and relaxed against Drusus’s shoulder.
“Damn, Cassie. I’ve always wanted to be as calm and cool as you when the shit hits the fan. I turn into a bowl of Jell-O.”
Cassie snorted, “Trust me. My insides were mush the second I woke up and realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. That bitch scared the holy hell out of me. I’m just a badass on the outside and total goo on the inside. You know, like Cato over there.”
Cato slid his phone closed and mock-glared at Cassie. “Hey, now. There’s not an ounce of ‘goo’ to be found. Ask Severus.”
Severus put his palms out. “Not even going to go there. I barely mentioned your hair one time and I thought you were going to take my head off. Your inner ‘gooeyness’ is safe with me.”
Cato punched Severus on the shoulder and grinned back at Cassie. “Speaking of goo, Dawson got picked up by the Feds and he’s squealing on his boss. Ludo…uh…hung around and heard him confess the same thing he told me and Severus. He found out that Rachel Wynn was picked up by the cops, but her brother is still out in the wind. He can’t get far since they froze his passport and funds. Little rich boy won’t know what to do without his cash.”
Cassie glanced over at Drusus. He’d been quiet since they’d barged in on him and Lina, and she could sense him studying her. His head was cocked to the side and his eyes were narrowed.
“You got something to say there, Trejani?”
Drusus’s eyes widened, then he barked out a laugh.
“Cassie. I can see why my Legati is infatuated with you.” His eyes turned serious and he grabbed Lina’s hand. “We are about to test my Avelina’s theory that you are as levelheaded and calm as she believes.” He turned and gave Lina a nod.
Lina got up from the couch and came over to kneel in front of her. She grabbed both of Cassie’s hands and smiled up at her. “You asked Severus a question in the car before Drusus called. Do you want to know why Severus didn’t get shot?”
Cassie glanced up when Severus leaned forward on the couch, his forearms braced on his thighs. His hazel eyes glittered. She sensed an underlying expectation, almost a plea.
Cassie looked back down at Lina and took a deep breath. “Yes. I want to know. But I have to say something first.” She looked over to Severus and smiled. “Whatever it was that happened, or whatever weird, freaky, thing you’re about to tell me, I can tell you right now that it won’t bother me. I’ll accept it and be glad for it. I would rather him be strange than dead.” Cassie felt her stomach flutter at the intense look in Severus’s eyes. The emotion almost took her breath away. Lina squeezed her fingers and Cassie ripped her gaze away from him. She watched closely as Lina took a deep breath and proceeded.
“So…Severus, Drusus, and Cato are not human…well, only half-human…”
* * * *
Cassie accepted the water bottle from Severus and took a deep gulp. She was glad for the little pat on her shoulder since it effectively stopped the spin-the-Cassie game going on in her brain. Hell, even the damn drama fairy was puking over in the corner of her gray matter. She’d be worthless for a while, thank goodness.
Cassie twisted the bottle in her hands and looked up at three sets of wide eyes staring back at her. They all knew her well enough just to shut the hell up and wait for her to either make a mad dash to the door, or start laughing like a loon. It was still a toss-up.
Of course, Drusus was chilling in the corner of the couch with an extremely calm demeanor, as befitted the next emperor of a faraway planet. Her image of him as royalty from an obscure area of Greece had been completely shot. He was so hard to read, but she guessed that was appropriate for someone who had close to 700,000 aliens to find mates for and was responsible for all the Insedi nightclubs, dating sites, and escort services scattered across the U.S. Never mind his recent encounter that effectively stagnated a war with a neighboring planet. Christ! She thought her job was hard. What a joke.
She was glad they told her that Insedi could only read each other’s minds. If they got a look-see at hers right now, all they’d hear were half-finished sentences and mutterings. She couldn’t stop on one thought long enough to form an opinion of her own sanity, much less theirs. She closed her eyes and heaved out a tight breath. “Can you give me a minute? I’ll be right back.”
Cassie stood up, graced them all with a smile, and then walked outside onto the balcony. She inhaled the fresh air and hung her arms on the high railing. She hoped they didn’t think she was about to fling herself over the side. She just needed a minute to screw her head back on and she’d be good to go.
She stared up at the billions of twinkling lights in the blackened sky and wondered where Insedivertus was. Lina had asked her to go with them when they left tonight. “Simple,” she’d said. “Just step into a wormhole and you’re instantly there.” Hell, it was going to take longer just to drive across Texas to the damn wormhole. Totally mind-boggling. Even though the spy ring at the law firm had been busted, Wynn was still loose and Severus didn’t want to risk any more drama. He wanted her far away while the FBI rounded up every player. To him, far enough meant three galaxies over and hang a right.
She suddenly felt small and insignificant as she thought about another planet out there with
beings going about their day-to-day activities just like the people of Earth were doing right now. Shit, make that two other planets with life-forms. Maybe there were more. Each one with good guys, bad guys, and every style of chaos one could imagine. Cassie shut that train of thought down before her head started spinning again.
She felt her throat tighten at the thought of all those women that had died because of the guy that had captured Lina. She glanced down at her water bottle and cringed at how easily that could have happened here. Just the thought that the nut job had taken Lina back to his planet still made her knees weak. She could understand now why Severus had given her some lame story about an ex-girlfriend stalking Drusus. She would have laughed them right to the police department if they’d tried to explain back then.
Cassie looked over her shoulder and saw Severus pacing in front of the fireplace while Cato nodded at whatever he was saying. Lina was curled up with Drusus and she looked so sad. She probably thought she’d just lost her best friend. Cassie caught the glint of Drusus’s mating necklace when Lina idly twirled it in her fingers. Wow. That little tidbit had given her some hard pause. Her best friend was mated to the top dude of their planet. She was a princess. That suited her just fine. She’d always thought of Lina as a fairy godmother, so princess just fit perfectly in her new perceptions.
She glanced over at Severus and ran her gaze across the silver necklace circling his neck and disappearing behind the material of his shirt. She was his potential mate, if what Lina described applied to her as well. Severus’s necklace was warm to the touch but it didn’t glow. She wondered if he wanted to take that last step and make her truly his. She wouldn’t mind since she knew she was completely besotted with him. She wasn’t going to fool herself any longer. She knew the minute he stepped in that basement and was willing to take a bullet for her that what she felt was complete and utter love for the crazy son of a bitch. Now she was extremely thankful for his alien ability to disappear into the mist.
Cassie turned around and stared at all the tiny car lights meandering around downtown Austin. They looked like a bunch of glowing ants on a mission. That made her pause. She wondered if ants were completely clueless to this whole other world surrounding them as they went about their business. There were giant aliens walking on their earth and they could get smashed to pieces if they ended up on the wrong trail or were unfortunate enough to stumble across a kid playing with a magnifying glass. Hmmm, what was so different between being a clueless ant or a clueless Earthling? Just because you couldn’t see it didn’t mean it wasn’t real. Cassie straightened and took another deep breath. What the hell. Why not? She’d been accused of a lot of things in her short life, but she’d never once been told she didn’t have an open mind.
Cassie walked back into the living room and almost laughed as everyone, except Drusus of course, stiffened. “Chillax. I’m not going to start throwing things and screaming ‘get thee back, demon.’ I’d like to think my mind is a little stronger than that.” She laughed when Cato flung his big body backward into a chair and started cracking up.
“Gods damn it, female. Please tell me you have a sister.”
“Sorry, big guy. She’s taken.” She heard Lina giggle-snort.
Cassie sank back into the chair she was definitely going to five-finger-discount off of Drusus. “Look it. I’ve given it some thought and I completely believe everything you told me. For one, why the hell would you even want to lie about something that intricate? What purpose would it serve? I’ve known Lina long enough to know she would never try to punk me on this level. Secondly, I actually saw Severus disappear and Cato poof out of nothing to pull a best-of-WrestleMania move on the psycho bitch. So, there you have it. I’m a believer, so what’s next?”
Severus eased himself down onto the couch and stared at her for a moment. She wanted to run across the room and fling herself into his arms and tell him that everything would be okay. She stayed put and let him work it out on his own. She saw his neck muscles tighten as he swallowed.
“You’re really okay with this? You’re not mad that it was kept from you? Trust me. I’m not trying to change your mind. It’s just that…”
Lina finished his thought. “What you mean is she didn’t react like I did. Right, Severus?”
When Severus nodded, Cassie turned to Lina. “What did you do?”
Lina looked up at Drusus and grinned. “I basically told them I thought they were insane and when they disappeared, I beat feet to the door.”
Drusus leaned down and kissed Lina softly on the lips. “But, I caught you. Didn’t I, sweetness?”
Lina caressed Drusus’s face. “Yes, you did, my love.” She gave him a quick peck on the check then turned back to Cassie. “Now you’ve taken all the fun out of telling you.”
Cassie frowned. “What?”
Lina rolled her eyes. “You were supposed to call me a nut and then I was going to disappear on you. I’ve been practicing for a solid week and getting pretty good, if I say so myself.”
Cassie sat back in the chair. “Well, go ahead and do it then. If I need to call you a nut first, just let me know.” Cassie saw Cato grin and heard him mutter something before Severus punched him on the arm.
Lina stood up. “Okay. Don’t laugh if I screw it up.”
Drusus stood up next to her and caressed her hair. “You’ll do fine, baby. Go ahead.”
Even though Cassie had seen Severus disappear, she hadn’t witnessed the slower transformation that Lina was now performing. Lina’s familiar features began to obscure and fade, her form dissipating like sand on a windy beach. Cassie’s jaw dropped open. Drusus began turning to mist as Lina gradually disappeared. He stayed as a murky haze, similar to a fog covering a cool pond on a summer morning. She watched breathlessly as Lina began to restructure and Drusus’s form merged with hers. The combined mist performed a languid twirl and dance around the room. It slowed and shimmered in front of the fireplace. Cassie refused to blink as shadowy hands began to push forward through the haze, heads took shape, and two bodies emerged wrapped in each other’s arms while sharing a sensual kiss. It was breathtaking. Cassie glanced back to Severus to catch him staring directly at her. His eyes were mesmerizing, holding her still as he drank her down with his gaze. She shivered and smiled at him. The moment was broken when Lina’s soft voice drifted across the room.
“Oh, baby. We have to do that again. Very soon.”
Drusus’s mouth was inches from Lina’s. He bent forward, ever so slightly, and sucked his mate’s bottom lip into his mouth then released it slowly. His words were low and husky. “I plan to do this for eternity.”
Cassie felt tears well up behind her eyes. She wanted that. A love so binding that it would take centuries to pass before it ever became close to normal. She felt the entirety of her carefully guarded, sixteen-inch-thick wall fall away as she drank in the sunlight that was Severus. Even the drama fairy stood to the side and clapped. Cassie lifted herself from the chair and stepped toward him. He questioned her with his beautiful, hazel eyes.
“I’m ready, Severus. I love you. Take me with you.”
Chapter 29
Severus looked down at Cassie’s sleeping face for what felt like the millionth time in the last ten minutes. She was so damn cute. He brushed his fingers along her jawline and she didn’t even flinch. She’d fallen asleep on his lap several hours ago and he didn’t want to wake her, but he had no choice. “Baby. Wake up. We’re here.” When she didn’t budge, he looked up at Drusus and whispered, “We’ll be right there. Just give us a few more minutes.”
Drusus nodded then looked over at Lina in the passenger seat. “Don’t make a move, Avelina. I’m coming around to get you.”
Lina rolled her eyes and waited for Drusus to walk over to her door and open it. “You never let me get out of the car. You afraid I’m going to trip and kill myself?”
Drusus laughed and snatched her up into his arms. “No. I just like taking you out of the car.” Lina giggled and
Drusus bent to look back inside. I’ll meet you by the second rock turn.” He closed the door upon Severus’s nod.
Severus brushed Cassie’s hair away from her face. She loved him. She’d said it in front of everyone and he’d sat there like a complete idiot, nodding with his mouth hanging open. She’d smiled at him and was immediately whisked away by Lina to pack. They hadn’t been alone since. He’d wanted to tell her he loved her several times now, but she’d beaten him to it. He’d known long before he ever placed his mating necklace around his neck. Would she even believe him if he said it now? He knew he wasn’t good at this. He was sure he was going to screw this up and she’d leave him. Maybe she just thought she loved him. Perhaps it was the excitement over the last several days and she was confused. He felt his breath quickening and willed himself to get a grip. His reprieve came when Cassie opened her eyes, blinked a few times, then smiled shyly at him. His insides turned to mush and he was thankful he was already sitting down.
“Hey there, sweetness. We’re here. You ready to go on an adventure?”
Cassie sat up and stretched. “Definitely. Wow. It’s daylight already. How long was I asleep?”
Severus grabbed her hand and scooted out of the door. “Several hours. Come on. Drusus and Lina are waiting for us.”
She climbed out of the car and looked around. “It’s pretty desolate here. Is it okay to leave the Jeep?”
Severus turned her toward him and smiled. “It’s perfectly safe here. We’re in the middle of nowhere and Drusus owns this land as far as you can see. It’s closed to the public. Come now. We have a two-mile hike to the vortex.
Cassie looked down at her feet then raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay. But if my feet start to scream in these new boots, then you have to carry me the rest of the way.”
Severus tweaked her on the nose. “It would be my pleasure.” He helped put her backpack on and turned so she could adjust his.
Fueled by Lust: Severus (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 22
