by Moxie North
Chapter 7
“Your vitals are looking good,” the nurse smiled at him.
Kellan smiled weakly in response, but it was just to be polite. He’d been asleep when she came in to check on him. He was feeling stronger, but still exhausted.
“Well, now I think you’re just doing it for the attention.” Beau walked through the door with a big smile and eyes filled with relief. His eyes shot to Kellan’s bodyguard and a moment of surprise passed over his face then his eyes flashed silver. It must be some Kindred greeting Kellan didn’t understand.
“Hey, man. Sorry, yeah I just really needed the vacation,” Kellan retorted dryly.
The nurse left and Beau took the seat beside his bed. “How are you?” he asked seriously.
“I feel fucked, man. Physically, I feel like I was hit by a train. Mentally, it’s like I’m in a fog. You know I didn’t do this, right?” he pleaded with his friend. He was feeling as weak as he could get and needed to know that his friend was on his side.
“Kellan, I know you better than anyone. I wouldn’t think you did this for a second. My dad, the rest of the Clan, they aren’t as quick to assume someone is innocent. Especially a human.”
“Then I’m screwed, aren’t I?”
Zion grunted and both men looked at him. He didn’t add anything else, so they went back to their conversation.
“Listen, I’ve been trying to convince my dad to be reasonable. You’ve worked for us for years. Why now? Why would you bother? Is there anything you can remember?”
Kellan sighed and rubbed his hands over his face as though it would shake a memory loose. “Everything is hazy. I can remember forgetting things. But I thought I was just busy and not paying attention. But it wasn’t just small things. There are chunks of time I can’t account for. Did Marlie have her birthday party? I should remember that.”
Beau frowned. “Of course. There was a party, there was cake. I even brought over a few bottles of champagne from the family cellar. You were there.”
Kellan shook his head. “I’ve got nothing. No memory of that.”
“Shit, if you can’t remember how the money got stolen, they’re never going to believe it’s not you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Listen, I’m working on this. If you remember anything, call me, text me, send a messenger pigeon if you have to. I’ll try to keep the Clan off your back while you recover.”
“Thanks, Beau. You’re a good friend.”
Beau stood up and stopped before exiting. Eden was standing at the doorway, her arms folded over her chest.
“Beau,” she said in greeting, though her eyes were on Kellan.
Kellan couldn’t look away. She’d come back.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Beau said, nodding to the bodyguard.
When he left, Eden took up a spot at the end of the bed. Kellan wished she’d move closer to him. It made him feel better. He also felt a weird strength surge in his chest when he saw her. It was the only moment of feeling like his old self that he’d had since waking up.
“You look better,” Eden said as she gripped the end of the bed. It looked like she was angry and restraining herself. Kellan shot a look at Zion. He was watching Eden with a frown on his face.
“I’m feeling awake. I don’t know if I’m better yet.”
“Can I ask you a few questions?”
“Sure,” he replied. “Not sure if I’ll have answers. My memory is a bit blank in spots.”
Eden didn’t remark on that. “Do you do drugs?”
“What? No! I’ve never done drugs. I’ll have a beer now and again, but that’s the extent of my mood-altering substances.”
“Do you have any enemies?”
“Not that I know of. My life isn’t that interesting. I work, I hang out with Beau. My life is shockingly boring.”
Eden sighed and glanced over at Zion. Kellan caught her eyes flashing silver at her partner and the big man grunted in response.
Turning back to him, she leaned over the end of the bed. “Kellan, we’ve been looking into things and we think that you’ve been poisoned.”
“Poisoned? The doctors didn’t mention anything like that.”
“That’s because they don’t know what to look for. There was a government-funded experiment in mind-control drugs and we think your symptoms match the chemical they were working on.”
“Why would the government poison me? I’m basically an accountant.”
“The government didn’t. The program was shuttered. But some of the drugs wound up missing. They work like an amnesiac. You can still walk, talk, and function, but with no memory of what you’ve been doing.”
“But why? The money?” Kellan was pissed someone almost killed him over money. It wasn’t even money you could hold. He imagined thieves always wanting to roll around in the illicitly gained money. This was just zeros and ones on a computer.
“Can’t think of a better reason. Money is usually a good motivator. The only other reason would be power.”
“I have no power,” Kellan sputtered.
“You don’t manage millions of dollars for the Odal Clan?” Eden reminded him.
“Sure, but it’s not like the Clans are poor. Everyone knows that. Wolves run so much of the financial market, it’s not like they wouldn’t be sitting on piles of money.”
That was true for most of the world. Each Kindred had a set of innate skills that they played to their advantage. Wolves were good at money. It was just the way it was.
“If it wasn’t just money, maybe it was a power grab,” Eden offered. “Leverage.”
“Leverage? Of what?”
“How much information do you have about Odal’s finances?”
Kellan frowned. He did know about all of it. It wasn’t just what he worked on. He worked with the whole finance team to manage all of the accounts. It was a full-time job with a full staff to keep Clan Odal’s properties, payrolls, and investments running.
“I know just about everything. But I’m not the only one that does,” he said frustrated. “Why the hell would someone pick me?”
“Anyone else human?” Eden asked softly.
Kellan didn’t have to think about it. He was the only human. A big obvious target.
“Fuck me,” he breathed. “I’m screwed. Why would anyone believe that a human wouldn’t be the obvious person to steal from the Clan? The Clan members don’t need to steal, they’re taken care of. But I’m paid well. I like my job. I have no reason to take anything.”
“That’s why we need to figure out who did this to you. I don’t believe for a second that you almost killed yourself to cover up the crime.”
Kellan was surprised at how fiercely she said those words. His bodyguard was taking her job seriously.
“I need you to run down your schedule with me. Your normal schedule. Everything down to when you do your laundry.”
Kellan thought that was an incredibly personal demand, but he liked her attention on him so he started talking.
Eden took notes on her phone. He told her about his mornings, coffee, and work. Which days he left work and went to the gym. When he picked up his laundry and grocery shopped. All the mundane activities that made up his life. Compared to Eden’s, it probably seemed horribly boring.
“Anything else?” she asked looking up.
Kellan shrugged. “My life isn’t that interesting.”
“I’m going to go track down some more leads. Do me a favor and don’t let them discharge you until I’m here. Even if you have to make up a pain or something. I don’t want the Clan rushing to judgment on you.”
A bottomless pit felt like it opened inside of Kellan’s stomach. He didn’t want her to leave. He’d just gotten her back. It wasn’t normal for him to get a crush on a woman he’d just met. There was the reasonable excuse that he was trapped in a hospital room and falling for his nurse was too cliché. Falling for your bodyguard? That was almost comical.
“Ed
en…” he started and stopped when her body jerked at her name. He watched as she closed her eyes and took in a breath. Then those beautiful green eyes opened and flashed silver at him.
Kellan thought he might have heard Zion cough, but he was holding his breath and could only hear his own heartbeat in his ears.
“Yes?”
Clearing his throat, he shot a glance to Zion, then back to her. “Could you stay? Not that you’re not doing a great job, Zion,” he quickly added
Eden and Zion exchanged a look and Zion nodded. He pushed away from the wall, stretched, and rolled his neck with an audible crack.
He left and Kellan felt a settling in his bones. Eden took the chair by his bed and he resisted reaching out a hand to her. It was a strange feeling. The space between them felt like it was crackling with energy. He wanted to reach out and see if he could feel it against his fingers.
Chapter 8
“Why did you want me to stay?” Eden asked softly.
“I like you here. I feel… better when you’re here. You have the most beautiful eyes, by the way. I’m sure you hear it a lot, but really, they’re amazing.”
“They’re plain old green eyes,” she said with a shrug.
Kellan shook his head. “No, they’re dark green around the outside, then the green gets lighter towards the center. Almost a blue-green. It’s very interesting.”
Eden tilted her head towards him. “Kellan, were you seeing anyone? A girlfriend?”
Kellan shook his head. “No, just me. I’ve been on a few dates in the last year. Mostly set up by Beau, he’s worried I’m becoming a hermit.”
Taking a moment to watch the expressions change on her face, Kellan admired Eden’s beauty. Her creamy smooth skin accentuated her dark lashes framing her bright green eyes. There was the barest hint of makeup, he wondered if she always wore makeup while she worked. She was tall, trim and fit, he could see her strength even as she sat in the chair by his bed. There was something about her, though, her eyes were what kept pulling him back. There was a truth there he didn’t yet understand. “Are—are you seeing anyone?”
Eden raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t date. Too busy. I’m usually working or on the road with a client. I’m not in one place long enough to date.”
“Don’t you live here?”
“Home base is Seattle.”
“Why on earth would they bring you in from Seattle? I’m sure there are plenty of security firms in New York. ”
Eden paused before saying. “Because KSI is the best. We don’t fail. Ritch didn’t want you disappearing on him. Our team would never let that happen.”
Kellan felt a sense of dread. He shouldn’t have been surprised; Ritch didn’t skimp when it came to things that he thought mattered. “Ouch, that hurts. He clearly doesn’t doubt that I’m guilty.”
He could see that Eden chose her next words carefully. “He has thousands of Kindred looking at him for leadership. I don’t know anything about him personally. But if he were to appear to be favoring his son’s friend, who just so happens to be human, they might not be so inclined to keep him as the Clan leader. He can always be voted out. Politics at its finest.”
“Better appear to only be on the side of the Clan regardless of whether I’m guilty or not,” Kellan said with a groan. He’d never thought for a minute that Ritch would put him before Clan. He knew how the Kindred worked. It was something people warned him about before he took his job.
“Exactly. Which means we have to make sure that you’re given a fair trial.”
“Trial?”
“The Clan can’t punish a human. But I’m sure Ritch has already talked to the authorities. They might be able to charge you before you leave the hospital.”
Kellan felt sick. “You think I’ll be going to jail? For something I didn’t even do?”
“I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said, her expression turned hard and her eyes appeared brighter like she was angry.
He couldn’t believe that she would take an interest in him just because he was a sad human. “Why do you care?”
Kellan said it before he could think about how it sounded. He didn’t expect her to say she thought his weak and sickly ass was attractive and she couldn’t resist him. But he hoped that she could see through everything to his innocence. It was important she didn’t think that he could do what they said he did.
Eden paused and her lips pursed before she finally said. “Because I believe in justice. I don’t think justice would be served by you being falsely accused. It doesn’t add up.”
Kellan closed his eyes for a few seconds as he tried to get his bearings. He was usually pretty good at talking to women. He smiled, complimented, laughed. He liked talking to women, they were always interesting, and he loved learning about them. Maybe he was still under the influence of whatever that poison had been, but something about Eden and her need to help him stirred something inside him. It felt as though she was emotionally invested in him. Which also made him think he was hallucinating.
Eden had that almost indescribable allure, he could take one look at her and see she attracted most males she came into contact with. But he could also see most of those men never had a chance. They saw her beauty, but they never really saw her. If they bothered to get to know her, they would probably be turned off by her strength. Kellan wasn’t stupid enough to find that unattractive. It was hot and made him think of what kind of man she would want. Obviously not someone she could push around. No, that man would have to be strong too. An equal who loved her for who she really was.
Kellan glanced away. He was thinking about love and relationships with a woman that was so far out of his league it was almost laughable. What he should be thinking about was how to avoid jail time.
“What can I do to help?” he asked, turning his gaze back to her.
“Remember?”
Kellan let out a weak laugh. Rubbing his hands over his face in frustration like he could open his eyes and his situation would change. He felt like the dark abyss that contained the answers was pulling away from him instead of clearing.
“Maybe if I talk about something else, it will make it easier. I’m trying, I really am. It’s just not there.”
Eden nodded. “Tell me about you. Maybe it will shake something loose.”
Kellan was surprised. He figured she’d want to talk about the weather or something generic. “I… well… like my personal life?”
“Sure, what do you do for fun?”
Kellan had to think. “I hang out with Beau. We go to football games. Parties that he has to attend. I’m his plus-one most of the time.”
“I bet his dad loves that,” Eden scoffed.
A smirk formed on his lips. He couldn’t hide his feelings from Eden. “His father would prefer he take one of the eligible ladies in the Clan for sure. But he doesn’t think he’s ready to settle down.”
Eden cleared her throat. “Kindred don’t get to choose when they find their mates.”
“So I’ve heard,” he admitted. There were secrets around Kindred and their mates. It was all very personal and kept on a need-to-know basis. He had never even given it a second thought himself. Now he couldn’t help but wonder what it would take for Eden to find her mate.
“So, you’re basically a couple of playboys?”
Kellan shook his head. “Beau is the playboy. He likes to have fun. Not that he doesn’t work, he does, but he plays more. When I’m not with him, I keep to a schedule. I happen to like to read. I work out almost daily. Not because I’m vain,” he quickly added. “I like feeling healthy. Makes my mind clear when I can purge my stresses and it helps me sleep.”
“What else?” Eden prodded.
“Not much, mom and dad live in Connecticut. My brother lives in DC. He works for a lobby group.”
Eden frowned. “Which lobby?”
“Coalition for the protection of indigenous fish species…” Kellan said dryly. “He has a thing for fish.”
“Dad is a bank president. He commutes from home, stays in the city when he needs to. Mom is a therapist.”
“A therapist, that must have been an interesting childhood.”
“Luckily, she mostly handles couples therapy. No weird experiments on me as a toddler or anything. I visit at least once a month. I occasionally have lunch with my father downtown.”
Kellan watched Eden, not sure what else she was hunting for.
“Sounds like a happy life?”
Kellan paused. “Sure, it was just… life. My parents get along. My brother and I are good. It’s just all very… normal. What about you?”
Eden looked uncomfortable. “Me?”
“Sure, tell me about yourself. Couldn’t hurt my memory. Tell me about you.”
“Youngest of five. Four older brothers. Parents mated for forty years.”
Kellan’s eyes were locked onto her, trying to read her emotions. “Only girl and the youngest, that must have been… tough.”
Eden had a small smirk on her face. “Maybe in a human family. I probably would have been treated like a delicate princess. Kindred families are different. My brothers wanted me to be tough enough to take care of myself. No matter the game or the adventure they never left me out. It was always assumed I would be there, and if I needed help they would show me how to climb a tree or hit a ball on my own. I knew they would be there if I fell. But I never did. I had to prove myself to them.”
“That must have been great.”
Eden’s eyes were distant like she was imagining all of them together. “I have lots of nieces and nephews. My brothers are prolific breeders. But they’re all amazing. I have a new niece I haven’t met yet.”
