“We must work on your table manners, young lady,” he said, grimacing as he wiped his face. Her big blue eyes twinkled and his grimace turned into a grin. Resistance was futile.
A tug of something—I didn’t want to call it affection—warmed my heart at the sight of them smiling so happily at each other. I reminded myself of Laurent’s condition, still weak and disoriented two weeks after coming out of his twelve week stasis. Appetite gone, I pushed my plate away and spoke to Az.
“I’m sorry. Do you mind looking after Mia for a bit, while I go back to bed?”
His brows rose before dipping into a frown. “You are unwell? Liang can escort you to the infirmary.”
He stood and I put my hand out to stop him. “It’s nothing. I didn’t sleep much last night and am more tired than I realized. I just need a short nap. No big deal.”
Golden eyes narrowed at me before glancing sharply at Liang. He opened his mouth but Mia tugged his arm, cutting him off.
“Want to see cwystal!” She bounced excitedly. “Take me to cwystal cave!”
He sighed and Liang’s lips twitched. “Very well,” he said to Mia before turning to Liang. “See that Alison rests. We’ll return shortly.”
“You come too,” Mia insisted, staring me down.
I wavered. I’d planned on using the nap as an excuse to sneak down to visit Laurent. Gambling, I said, “I’ll catch up with you after my nap. Unless you want to take a nap too?”
“No! No nap. Let’s go, Gwanpa,” she said, rushing from the room.
Liang and I laughed as he trotted after her.
“You don’t have to escort me to my room. I know the way,” I told the hovering Liang. She stared at me for a beat then nodded and left.
Heaving a sigh of relief, I scooped up some food and wrapped it in a napkin. A sharp memory of having done this many times at Captain Fisheye’s cut through me. The difference was that then, I was pilfering food for my own survival. This time, it was for Laurent’s. He’d looked half-starved when I’d last seen him.
Carefully making my way to the room where he was kept, I’d punched in the key code I’d been given, the metal cool under my touch. Azkuran had allowed me visitation—usually supervised—after I’d played along with all of his little games. The weird thing was, living with him wasn’t as terrible as I would have imagined, once he started to believe I meant what I said about us becoming a family. He was still bat-shit crazy sometimes—I guess you can’t live that long without going a little loopy—but overall, weirdly, not so horrible.
Shaking loose of my thoughts, I steeled myself for what I might see. Would Laurent be raging? Confused, or lucid? Weeping?
My stomach clenched. The crying was the worst. To see such a huge man brought so low was devastating. A rush of cool air and the acrid scent of ammonia greeted my nose as I stepped into the room.
Chapter Four
PHOEBE
Late November
Chicago
The intoxicating scents of pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, and cloves relaxed me despite my determination to keep an emotional distance from everyone at the table. That is to say, Sara and Caleb, and the rest of the Mutts and their families gathered for Thanksgiving.
I found it hard to believe another month had passed and the year was nearly over. It was even harder to see people gathered in celebration while two key people were still gone. Sure, maybe most of them didn’t really know Allie, but Laurent was one of their leaders, probably the leader. Yet here we all were, ostensibly gathered to give thanks for the good things in our lives.
Multiple tables, covered in white cloths and configured in parallel lines down the length of one of the training rooms, transformed the space into a dining area reminiscent of my favorite boy wizard’s great hall. A reluctant smile crossed my face as Nia levitated candles, completing the resemblance to Hogwarts.
All around were familiar, and some unfamiliar, faces. Some I’d met through Caleb years ago, others I’d met when they’d rescued me from Arizona. The memory of that incident, and the thought Nathan and Nadia had died, sent a burn through my stomach. I dropped my hands to my lap, appetite gone.
“Are you all right?” Weston, the handsome, auburn-haired cat shifter sitting to my right, touched my arm tentatively.
I tried to muster a smile to ease his obvious concern. “Fine. Just not much appetite.” I raised my near-empty glass. “Maybe too much mulled wine before dinner.”
“That won’t do,” he said, reaching toward the warming bowl in which orange slices floated atop heavenly smelling spiced wine. “You can never have too much of this.”
He ladled more into my glass and I laughed.
“Drink up,” he urged. “You’ll get your appetite back.”
I saluted him and took a careful sip. It was delicious. The red wine had been transformed into a fruity, spicy treat. It was easy to forget it was still an alcoholic beverage.
Weston’s open manner and cute face—not to mention the wine—helped me relax again. Maybe, just for an hour, I could give myself permission to forget about all that had transpired and all that was still to come.
A commotion in the middle of the table drew my attention. Sunjoo was entertaining Cassandra and Marti with some riotous tale, which involved them feeling his biceps. Toshi swapped a sour glance with his cousin, Alex, as the gorgeous dragon shifter lapped up their girlfriends’ admiration.
Gabe caught my eye and winked. I smiled in return, sending him a silent thanks for what I guessed was his seating arrangement idea. I was at the end of the table and a placeholder with Luke’s name on it sat in front of the empty chair across from me. Next to that, a sweet-faced witch named Julie sipped her mulled wine, observing the scene with wide-eyed enjoyment.
I wasn’t surprised Luke hadn’t joined the festivities and envied his ability to stay away. Sara would have hounded me if I hadn’t shown up. But at least from where I sat, I only had to make small talk with Julie and Weston, who were new and pleasant enough to make that easy. Taking another long drink of wine, I allowed myself to enjoy the moment, smiling at Nia’s blush as Alejandro whispered in her ear.
Cassandra’s gasp and Caleb’s darkened face surprised me. Why weren’t they happy for their mother? Alejandro seemed like a good guy. It took me a second to realize that wasn’t the issue.
Luke had just walked in. Leaning against him, was Nathan.
“What the hell?” Caleb shot out of his chair as did I. Gabe also rose and laid a hand on Caleb’s shoulder.
Whispers and the sounds of chairs scuffling as heads turned filled the room as Nathan and Luke painstakingly made their way toward our table. Luke put Nathan in the chair next to Julie, which had been meant for Luke, then turned to the table next to us. “Okay if I borrow this?” He pointed to an empty chair.
A wide-eyed, mute nod followed, and he pulled the chair to the end of our table, sitting forward between Nathan and me.
Nathan kept his gaze on the empty plate in front of him. After a moment, he lifted the placecard and handed it to Luke. “Is this yours?”
A small gasp escaped before I could stifle it. Those were the most lucid words I’d heard him speak in months. Swiveling toward Luke, I breathed, “How?”
“Later,” he said, glancing around the table. “Can I get an extra place setting here?”
Awkward.
Eyes wide, Julie jumped up. “Sure thing!” she said, her cheerful voice verged on shrill as she hurried from the table.
Nathan covered his ears and moaned.
I glared at Luke who seemed unperturbed. Reaching toward Nathan, I spoke in a soft, low tone. “Are you all right?”
He stopped moaning but didn’t look up.
Gabe strode toward us, his face tight. He pinned Luke with a hard stare. “You should have checked with me first.”
Luke met his gaze steadily. “You know he’s made progress. He seemed ready.”
What?
My glare swiveled between them then landed on Luke, the e
asier target for my ire. “You’ve been working with him?” My tone was low, venomous.
“Him, who?” he asked innocently.
Nathan glanced up, his somewhat-less-vacant eyes tracking our faces. His confused expression tugged at my sympathy at the same time it gave me hope. He was looking better.
I thought I’d seen some small improvements over the past few weeks but Gabe had told me not to get my hopes up. My next glare was reserved for him. “You knew about this?” I whispered, feeling betrayed.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” he said, gesturing toward Nathan then Luke.
“But you knew something was up and didn’t think to share it with me?” It was a question but spoken as a fact.
“We’ll talk later,” he said quietly. Louder, he said, “For now, I think we all need to get back to why we’re here.” He moved aside, allowing Julie to pass by to set a plate and utensils in front of Luke.
Her smile edged on tremulous as Gabe laid his hand on her shoulder when she tried to take her seat. “Why don’t we trade places?”
She nodded vigorously, and he helped her take her plate to the other seat then returned with his.
All eyes were still on our end of the table. He nodded toward Alejandro then addressed the crowd, raising his glass.
“Everybody, eat up and enjoy!”
Stomach still churning from the endless, awkward dinner, I clenched my fists. “We need to work on our plan of attack, now,” I insisted to Gabe, who stood with his back to me in his office.
He opened the top drawer of a low cabinet and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of something. He cocked his head when he turned and saw my face. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
Gritting teeth in frustration, I repeated my desire to work out a plan.
“Ah.” He nodded. “I told you. We aren’t ready. You aren’t ready.” He poured amber liquid in the glasses he’d set on the cabinet and offered me one. “Brandy?”
Irritated, I shook my head and he put the glass on his desk and shrugged before downing his drink in one swallow.
“Aren’t you supposed to take your time to enjoy that?” I asked, my tone waspish as he sat down.
His lips turned up. “Who says I’m not enjoying it?”
“I’m serious. We are wasting time. Nathan is clearly getting better now,” bitterness dripped over that pronouncement, but I’d decided to deal with that later, “and with the others in town, we have reinforcements who can—”
His raised hand cut me off. “They are here on vacation, not a mission.”
“But they—“
“And like I said, you aren’t ready. You still have training to do, as do Sara and Marti, even though they’ve made a great deal of progress.”
“Then why don’t the rest of you do something?” I yelled, ignoring what felt like a jab toward my own lack of progress.
He sighed and tears of frustration burned my eyes. I flopped into the chair facing his desk. We’d been having variations of this same conversation since our return from Arizona.
“Phoebe,” he said gently, “Nia is one of the most talented witches I know, and Sara has been making progress under her tutelage. Neither of them have divined any sense that Allie and Laurent are in immediate danger, and I have a reliable source who has confirmed it.”
“What about Allie’s baby?” My voice cracked.
“Mia is fine, and probably where she needs to be under the circumstances.”
I shot out of the chair. “How can you say that?”
“She is in a fortress surrounded by people who love her.”
“The Awakened?” My eyes widened in disbelief.
“Yes. Believe it or not, they have family ties that are important to them, too.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, just like the mob.”
He laughed and poured himself another glass of brandy. “Something like that.”
He nudged the other full glass toward me. “Seriously, try this. It will help.”
Grudgingly, I picked it up and sniffed.
“Let it warm in your hand a minute and swirl before drinking,” he said.
“Oh, like you did a minute ago?” Sarcasm colored my tone and actions as I swirled the glass in front of him before pouring it all in my mouth.
I only coughed up a little and the nose burn wasn’t too bad. The twinkle in his eyes was unbearable, though.
“I hate you,” I rasped.
“You’ll probably hate me more once Nia gets through with you. I’ve asked her to accelerate your training. You start tomorrow.”
If I’d been a dog, my tail would have wagged. But I was still salty and didn’t want to let him off so easily. I put my empty glass on the desk with an extra thud. “Cool. Thanks for the drink.”
“Anytime.”
Allowing a tiny ray of hope, as well as my lingering anger, fuel my courage, I narrowed my eyes at him. “So, care to explain now what the hell happened tonight? Why is Luke now in charge of Nathan?”
It was a testament to my outrage that I started cursing. However, I knew I still had to tread lightly. Underneath it all, I trusted Gabe. He must have had a reason for keeping me in the dark, and I was already at risk for blowing any chance I might have to get answers.
Taking a deep breath, I sat down again, trying to appear calm and reasonable. And likely failing miserably.
To my surprise, he sighed and apologized. “I know this must be hard for you, Phoebe. I’m sorry I kept it from you, but it was a long shot anyway.”
“What was?”
“Luke is one of the best hackers in the country. That’s part of the reason he’s here, though I will remind you, this is just between us.”
His large, dark eyes met mine and I nodded sharply, tamping down my excitement at finally getting information.
“Since Nathan has been chipped and enhanced, Azkuran and the others likely know where he is, and we don’t yet know the full extent of what was done to him. I’ve had Luke trying to hack into the implanted systems to see what he can find, or possibly change.”
I gasped. “But, I thought he wasn’t equipped with a tracking chip. Didn’t you test for that?”
“It’s not the kind of chip they used on Marti. I can only guess they didn’t bother with one of those because he was expected to die or wasn’t important enough when they put him in stasis. Who knows?” He scoffed. “You might have noticed, Azkuran is one crazy freak, so it’s hard to say what he was thinking.”
I wholeheartedly agreed. Dark humor rose inside. “Maybe he just has a thing for cyborgs? After all, he’s saved Ammon a few times.”
Gabe chuckled. “Could be.”
Tentative optimism took hold. “Do you really think Luke can save him?”
“Like I said, I don’t want to get your hopes up. I know he’s important to you.” He shook his head when I started to protest. “He’s important to you,” he repeated emphatically, “and you’ve got a lot on your plate already.”
I couldn’t deny the latter and didn’t wish to confirm the former. Either to him or myself, though I knew there must be some truth to it. Otherwise, why try so hard to save him? For Nadia. Yes, for her, but she needed saving as well. I pushed those thoughts away.
“Okay. Tell me what I can do?”
“You can start by talking to Sara, and working out your beef with her boyfriend.”
Didn’t ask for much, did he?
“At the very least, figure out what it is you’re really angry about and face it head-on.”
“So, you’re a psychiatrist now? Tattoos and therapy, buy one get the other half-price?”
A slow smile creased his face. “Nah, buy one, get one free. Figured I still owed you from the butterfly.”
I laughed in spite of myself. “Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
Instead of returning to my room, I made my way to the gym, hoping to run into Luke and get some more answers. Maybe kick his butt up between his ears while I was at it. With any luck, that is. But luck wasn’
t being a lady for me. Instead of Luke, I found Sara.
She sat alone on one of the bottom bleachers, worry etched on her face. I wanted to leave immediately but it would have been too obvious I was avoiding her. I needed an excuse.
“Have you seen Luke?” I asked.
Her lips turned downward a fraction before she answered. “Not since dinner. Is he with Nathan?” She spoke Nathan’s name hesitantly, as if afraid I might blow up at the mere mention of him.
She wasn’t wrong.
“No.”
“Oh.”
Uncomfortable silence fell between us.
“Phoebe, we—”
“I’ve got to find Luke.” I spun on my heel and strode to the door.
“Stop right there, Phoebe Elizabeth Vincent!” Her rubber-soled shoes squeaked on the polished floor behind me. Faster and stronger than I would have thought possible, she gripped my arm and pulled me to a stop, then spun me to face her. My mouth dropped.
“What the heck, Sara?”
She stepped back quickly, her dark eyes wide and liquid. She seemed as surprised as I was. When she spoke, her voice trembled. “I want to talk to you, Pheebs. We’ve hardly had more than a few minutes alone since you got back. I know you’re avoiding me, and I need to know what’s wrong.”
I glanced at the ceiling, willing the tears back, then at each of the walls, the floor, anywhere but my cousin’s face. “Nothing,” I said tightly.
“Bullshit.”
Shock made my eyes lock with hers. A wave of guilt, tinted with anger, washed over me at her defiant yet vulnerable stance. Energy crackled in the room between us, static and crisp. A blue spark nipped my arm and I jumped back.
Sara cried out and I hurried to check if she’d been hurt. “Are you all right?” I asked.
She nodded, looking scared. “What was that?”
“It wasn’t you?”
“Of course not! How could you think that?”
Reset: Part 1 (The Awakening Book 4) Page 2
