by Ciana Stone
Today Marcus or the entity controlling him had announced that he had business and required the use of her car. She didn’t argue. She merely fixed a big breakfast and laden it and his coffee with her special tincture.
“How long will you be gone?” she asked when he’d cleaned his plate and his coffee was almost gone. “Shall I have supper prepared?”
“I should be back by six.”
“Then I will have it ready. Would you like for me to fix you a thermos of coffee for the drive?”
“Yes.”
She nodded and rose. “I have several sizes.” She said as she opened a cupboard door and took out two containers. “Which do you prefer?”
“The large.”
“Large it is.” She filled the thermos and carried it to the table. “You know where I keep the car keys, right? On the table by the door?”
“Yes.” He stood, and she could tell by the way he reached for the table and the dilation of his pupils that he was not fully steady. That meant the herbs were at full potency.
“Who are you meeting with, Marcus?” She put her hand on his arm, willing her intent to him.
His brows drew together in a scowl then loosened. “Never met him before.”
“Oh, so where is this meeting taking place? An office?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. All I have is an address.” He recited it, and Sabine shrugged it away as if it were of no consequence.
“Well, drive safe, and I’ll see you at supper.”
He nodded and turned, staggered slightly but continued. She waited until she heard the front door close and the car engine start and then she followed, peering from the window until the car disappeared from view.
Even then she continued to watch, not trusting that he would not turn around and return. She waited a full ten minutes, then left the house. Her workshop was protected and private. It was also the place she kept a hidden supply of what were often referred to in certain circles as burner phones.
She had a cell phone and used it to speak with members of the Beaudreaux family, anyone that she didn’t mind the family knowing about. For private conversations, she kept a supply of disposable phones.
She opened one of the phones, activated it and dialed a number she knew by heart but had never used. Three rings later the call was answered.
“Hello?”
“Logan James, we must speak.”
“Where are you?”
She considered it for a moment then answered with her address. There was a brief pause before she heard him speak. “I can be there in an hour.”
“Not even your fastest car will deliver you that quickly.”
“No, but a helicopter will.”
“No. You must come alone.”
“Not a problem. I can fly it.”
“Then hurry.”
She ended the call and put the phone into her pocket. She’d destroy it once he got there, but until then she would keep it handy.
Sabine looked around her workshop. There were things here to occupy her until Logan arrived. Then she remembered that she’d not taken the time to clean the kitchen. She knew that the state of her kitchen was unimportant, particularly in light of what they need to discuss. When he came into her home, it would be tidy. She took pride in her home, however modest it would seem to a person of wealth.
It didn’t take long to complete the task. She prepared another pot of coffee and checked the time. Half an hour. Sabine went into her bedroom and looked at her reflection in the dressing mirror.
What would Logan James see when he looked at her?
A decade had passed since the last time they saw one another. She’d been twenty-seven at the time. Now she was approaching forty. When he looked at her, would he see a woman drawing close to middle age? Would he notice the random gray hairs scattered among the dark? Would he like what he saw?
There was not another man on earth who could make her insecure or self-conscious about her appearance. She’d always been confident. She wasn’t vain—she simply accepted that she was beautiful in the same way a person accepts that they have a certain color of hair or eyes or a lovely singing voice.
It never mattered what others thought. It only mattered what he thought.
She studied her reflection for a few moments then turned away from the mirror. When would she give up on that dream that one day he’d speak the words she wished to hear? Even if he did they couldn’t be together. His mother would see to that. Her love for Logan James could never be more than a fantasy And maybe it had never been meant to be anything more than her love for him. Maybe it had never been in the cards for him to love her in return.
That thought threatened the hold she had on reality, for her life was inexorably entwined with his. She had looked over him since she’d been a child. He was her reason for being. Without him she had no purpose. She might not be destined to be with him but she could not stop protecting him.
Shoving aside doubt, she went downstairs, walked out onto the front porch and sat down on the top step to wait.
Ten minutes later, she heard the sound of a helicopter overhead. Sabine walked out into the yard and looked up. Sure enough, a helicopter with the Legacy logo was hovering above the trees. It slowly descended and landed on one side of the driveway, just beyond the cover of trees that shielded the house.
She watched as the rotors slowed and the door opened. Logan stepped out, clamping his hat to his head. His gaze locked with hers as he covered the distance between them in long strides. Sabine had almost forgotten what a big man he was. He towered above her as he stopped not a foot away. Energy boiled off him, rolling in waves so strong it nearly staggered her.
Frustration, heartache, anger and lust, combined in a potent brew that slammed into her with the emotional equivalent of a runaway train.
“Logan James.”
She couldn’t stop the words from escaping her lips, couldn’t control the emotion contained in the words. Here he was, the one person she loved above all else in life, and she was afraid to touch him.
Logan had a tight rein on his emotions, had them under control until she said his name. God help him, he heard the feeling, felt it like a physical sensation. It unhinged him, stripped away all perceived control and laid him bare and wanting. There was nothing he could do but gather her to him and claim her lips.
He wasn’t a man given self-delusion and for the most part saw himself in the clear light of reality. It was not, therefore, conceit coloring his thoughts. At this moment he saw the truth and knew beyond all doubt that no matter what had happened in the past or the reasons for those actions, she loved him. He could feel it, taste it; it permeated his entire being with an assuredness that was unbreakable and enduring
How could he not have realized it before now? She’d told him as much. What had had him so blind to the truth?
She gently disengaged, looked up at him and smiled. “That is a conversation we must also have, but now danger surrounds us and only we can stop it.”
He never questioned that she’d known what was in his mind. Her words would have sounded silly and melodramatic coming from anyone else. From her, they sounded like a portend of doom and a chill slid down his back. “Tell me.”
“Come inside.” She took his hand and led him into the house. “Coffee?” she asked as they entered the kitchen.
“Sure. Thanks.”
“Cream and sugar?”
“Black is fine.”
She prepared two cups and gestured to the table. “Please sit.”
Logan sat, accepted the coffee and waited for her to sit. “Tell me.”
Sabine took a sip of her coffee, then placed both forearms on the table, lacing her fingers. “Recently a man approached me at a family gathering. Apparently, he’d overheard someone use my name. He pretended interest in me, asked me to go home with him. I said no. I sensed his dishonesty. He wanted something from me or someone important to me. I could not tell which. There were a lot of people and a lot of hig
h emotions that night. Anyway, he left but waited for me outside. I—” She paused, cut her eyes to one side and then returned her gaze to his. It was a gesture he remembered from her childhood. Sabine did that every time she was about to reveal she’d engaged in some act of mischief.
“I snuck up on him and he fainted. Well, maybe I scared him unconscious. Probably the latter. Anyway, I brought him home and—incarcerated him in a little place I have in the woods. A metal cage of sorts.”
“You caged him like an animal?”
She shrugged. “I needed to know what he really wanted. It took over a week before I could get inside his head but then I knew. He met Micky Andrews at a bar and Micky spilled his guts about what happened that night. This man, Marcus Bannon, took the information to Harris Garen and apparently Garen thinks he can use it against you.”
“Micky came to the ranch, looking for work—or a handout.”
“He came to get close to you. He’s working for Garen.”
That bit of information hardened Logan’s heart against Micky. Until now he’d been willing to help the man, set him up with a steady income, a place to stay and someone to watch over him. If what Sabine said was true and Micky was working for Garen, then Logan wouldn’t be so inclined to go out of his way to help.
“Are you certain?”
She cocked her head to one side and gave him a look that was all too familiar. It was the duh expression of her childhood. As a child, he’d not understood how Sabine knew the things she did or how she could find out people’s secrets. When he would question the authenticity of her words, ask if she spoke true, she would also respond with this look and “duh.”
“Okay,” he recanted. “Silly question. But back to this Bannon guy. You still have him locked up?”
“No. Someone released him.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know who but I do know what.”
“You wanna give that another go?”
“I don’t know the name of the person, but I know it was a woman and I know she is Umbra.”
Logan felt his spine straighten. He’d not heard that word in years. It was one that invoked fear. “Are you certain?”
“I am. She took the key where I left it hanging from a nail on a nearby tree, released him and then she took him. He belongs to the Umbra now.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because he came for me. He shot one of my wolves and threatened to torture and kill me.”
Logan was a bit confused. She didn’t appear harmed. “So what happened to him?”
“I used him. Fed him a mixture that loosened the Umbra’s control enough that he would give me bits of information. I told him if he helped me, I would help the Umbra.”
“And he believed it?”
“The Umbra did,” she corrected. “He left this morning to meet someone. He did not know who he was to meet; he only had an address.”
“Okay.” Logan was certain he was missing something. “But the reason you called is because they know where you are?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because of where Marcus is going.” She recited the address and this time the chill that washed over him was bone deep.
“That can’t be right.” Logan didn’t want to believe it. “That’s—”
“Your grandmother’s address,” Sabine interrupted.
“We need to tell my mother, the Council. If—”
“No.” Sabine reached across the table for his hand. “We can’t let them know we suspect anything. And we can’t hurl accusations without proof.”
“We can’t do this alone, Sabine. We’ll need help.”
“I know.”
“So if we can’t go to my mother, then who?”
“Mine.”
Not much could have surprised him more. He’d never heard anything about Sabine’s birth parents. Only that she was abandoned at birth, left on a doorstep. “You know who your mother is?”
“Yes. I met her when I was twelve. She came to me while I was at a summer camp.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Of course not. I didn’t tell anyone. She asked me not to.” She gave him a slight smile. “It was more of a surprise than I ever dreamed.”
“For her too, I imagine. If she found out what you are. I mean—hell, you know what I'm saying.”
“I do, and no, the surprise was mine.”
“How so?”
“Because I realized I wasn’t alone. There were others like me. Like her.”
“You mean she’s…?” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the question. While he’d been told the stories all his life, he still had trouble reconciling the tales with reality.
“A Watcher,” Sabine replied. “Yes. She and my father.”
Logan nodded, mentally wrapping his mind around the idea. All his life he’d wondered if what he’d seen that day had been something his mind had cooked up to try and explain what he’d witnessed. He thought maybe he’d dreamed it up because it was easier to accept. Now, it seemed that he hadn’t fabricated it at all.
What his mother had told him was true. The Watchers were not just fairytales. There really were such thing as Angels and he was sitting across the table from the child of one right now.
Chapter Nine
Sabine sat patiently, watching Logan. It didn’t take a psychic to figure out that he was trying to mentally digest what she’d told him. He was silent for a good five minutes before he focused on her.
“What about your father? Do you know who he is?”
“No.”
“Do you know where your mother is?”
“Yes.”
“You know you can’t stay here.”
“Why?”
“Marcus. He’ll return.”
“Yes, I imagine so.”
Logan got to his feet. “Sabine, you can’t stay here. It’s dangerous and it won’t accomplish anything for you to stay. You have to leave before he returns. I’ll take you to your mother or wherever you want to go.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere else. This is my home.”
“But it’s not safe here.”
“He can’t beat me, Logan James. I’m stronger than him.”
“No. You’re not fighting him. You’re leaving. You’ll come to the ranch. No one will come for you there. They wouldn’t dare.”
“Really? Is the past that easy to forget? They spilled your family’s blood once, why do you think they’d hesitate to do it again?”
“I’ll ask my Uncle Elijah for help.”
“No. We can’t involve him.”
“He’s the only one we can involve.” Logan hurried around the table and pulled her to her feet, keeping a tight grip on her hands. “We can trust him, Sabine. He has no ties to my mother’s family other than being her brother-in-law. And you know they don’t want to have much to do with him.”
“Only because your father’s family is Numina.”
“Say what?”
“Oh come on, Logan James, you can’t pretend you don’t know. Elijah inherited power from his parents just like your father did. Since he mated with a woman who also has special abilities, their children probably can shift as well.
“No. My family is not Numina. And what do you mean Shift?”
“But they are. And you know what I mean. You’ve been told the stories of people who can transform into animals or other people.”
“Yes, I heard the fairytales, but that’s all they are. The Numina and Umbra, those are just tales told to kids. I’m not a Shifter and neither are any of my siblings.”
“Well, maybe they didn’t inherit the ability or maybe your mother drugs them to prevent it.”
“I don’t want to argue this,” he said, clearly agitated. “I just know that Elijah is the one we go to. The one I can trust. I do trust.”
“All right.”
“So, we’ll go to his place.”
“Shouldn’t we ask first?”
“No need. Family always helps family.”
“Very well, then I need to gather some things.”
“Fine. Pack whatever you want, but do it now.”
“Okay.” She gave his hands a squeeze then left the room. Logan watched her leave then pulled out his phone and placed a call.
“Uncle Elijah? It’s Logan. I need your help… Yes, we’ll be there before dusk.” He slid the phone into his pocket and left the kitchen. He could hear Sabine moving around upstairs. After a moment, he climbed the stairs and looked into the door of her room.
She had an old suitcase on the bed and was placing clothing in it. She looked up from her task and their gazes locked. “You’ve always known,” she said. “I told you from the beginning.”
He knew what she meant. Here was the conversation they’d delayed. “Yes, but you were a child.”
“I wasn’t a child ten years ago.”
“No, you weren’t. But when I woke you were gone. I tried to find you. I spent months looking.”
“I wasn’t hiding, Logan James.” She returned to the task of packing.
“Then why couldn’t I find you?”
“Because the Council didn’t want you to.”
“I don’t understand.” He took a seat on the bed. “What did they have to do with it?”
“Everything.”
“That’s not any clearer.”
“I know.” She added lingerie, lacy bras and panties to the suitcase and damn it all, he couldn’t help but imagine her in those bits of lace.
She smiled as if she knew his thoughts. “I told you I met my mother.”
“Yes.”
“My birth parents are what your mother’s people call the Watchers.” She continued moving around the room, adding items to the suitcase.
“Okay. So?”
“So you know that makes me one as well, right?”
“Yeah, I kinda figured that one out when you were seven.”
Sabine stopped moving around the room. “The Council is scared of what would happen if we were to breed.”
“Excuse me?” He had not expected that.
“You heard me.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does if you understood who your father’s people are. Who you are.”
