A Secret Fate (15 page)

“Cael.” She uttered his name softly, precisely and with serious intent, capturing his eyes with hers. “There’s something you need to know.” She swallowed and he watched the muscles in her neck contract. “Please sit.” She patted the sofa next to her where he’d been sitting before.

***

In spite of it all—the missing crystal, the pain in the back of her head matching the ache in her heart—she smiled. The explanation about the tide was something he had explained to her while they vacationed in Bora Bora. Comparing the two beaches, the conversation somehow turned to the tides and how he never realized how far out Oregon’s water retreated until he’d bought the beach house. She wanted to reach out and run her finger over his lips as the flashback of their softness on hers seeped into her mind. She wanted so much to taste them again. Shaking off the wonderful memory, Addie studied Cael’s face. She had something important to tell him and needed to focus back on the present, not the past. The anticipation in his eyes at what she had to say suggested he knew it was something significant.

“The crystal belonged to my father. It was a gift from him. I’ve worn it ever since he gave it to me and have never taken it off.” She waited for that to sink in to see if he’d realize who her father could have been. When he said nothing, she continued. “Ristéard was my father and the guardian of the crystal.
The
crystal that someone stole tonight.”

He still only stared at her. God, this was so weird. A backward replay. The complete opposite of how it went before, their roles now reversed. Instead of him explaining everything to her, she was now explaining things to him. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

He got up, moved to sit in one of the chairs opposite the sofa and placed his elbow on his knee. Leaning his chin on his hand, his fingers partly covering his mouth, he stared at her.

“Cael?” She sat up now. He remained silent. Didn’t he believe her? That thought never occurred to her. What if she told him everything right now, would he reject her? That was a possibility. Oh God. She didn’t think she could endure that. Considering his reaction to what she’d just told him, she guessed everyone was right about not telling him about their relationship.

He blinked and stood, paced to the doorway of the kitchen and returned. Sitting down on the same chair, he resumed his position and again stared at her. “Sorry. So, you are Ristéard’s daughter.”

“Yes. My father kept my existence a secret from the Sectorium.”

“I see.”

“Do you? Oh God, I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me.”

“No. I was just being polite. Actually, I’m having a little difficulty with this. Why would Ristéard, a man, by the way, who taught me everything I know about fighting, honesty, and trust, a man I loved and thought of as my own father, hide you away from me?”

“Because he was afraid if anyone knew of my existence their life would be at risk as well as mine. He didn’t want you subjected to danger anymore than he wanted me to be.”

“Danger? From what? Or whom?” He laughed a little bit and asked, “And is MacKenna your last name or did you change it to protect your identity? Because I seriously doubt if Ristéard had a daughter hidden away somewhere he would let her use his last name. How stupid do you think I am?”

“Yes, that is my name!” she shouted. “And no, I don’t think you’re stupid at all. Look. You can check with your mother. She knows about this. She’d known all along and she was the one … this is too much. I can’t go into all this detail right now. I am Ristéard’s daughter and because of that, believe it or not, there will undoubtedly always be people out there who would love to see me dead. That could easily be arranged if someone has the crystal. We need to find it.”

“Okay, okay. If what you are telling me is true …”

“It is!”

“Okay. If what you are telling me is true,” he repeated, “and I guess there’s really no reason why you would be lying … then let me ask you something.”

“Anything.” She sank back against the sofa and sighed, relief settling into her bones.

“Do we know each other?”

Her eyes shot up to his but she didn’t know what to say. God, she wished she could just tell him everything, wished she had the power to completely restore his memory. “Damn it, Gerry.”

“Excuse me?”

“Gerry, my aunt’s husband. You know, the guy who accidentally took away your memory.”

“Oh, that guy. I guess this is all making more sense now, you being related to the guy who stole my memory and all.”

“It was an accident.”

“So you said. Now, tell me, Addison MacKenna, do we,” he moved his finger from her to himself several times, “you and I, know each other?”

Chapter 11 

Wind sliced through the air, sending tree branches slamming against the window, scratching and clawing as if they wanted to come in the dark room of the two-story motel. The soft glow from the muted television providing the only light gave him a little comfort along with his tumbler of scotch. What a fucking mess.

The click of the door lock had him looking up and his hand settled on the revolver at his hip as the door slowly opened.

“I got the crystal.”

Moving his hand away from the gun, he asked, “What do you mean, you got the crystal? How? Where did you find it?”

“I stole it,” she said smugly.

He was on his feet now, walking toward her. “From who? Who had it?”

“I snuck up behind the woman who had it and clunked her in the head with a tire iron from the trunk of the rental car. Then I cut the chain with some wire cutters I had from my jewelry making days and snatched the crystal. Easy peasy.”

“I told you I didn’t want anyone hurt.”

“I didn’t hurt her very much. I just knocked her out a little. She’ll be fine. You know I wouldn’t hurt anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. But Carly is in danger.”

“God, you could have killed her.”

“I didn’t and if we don’t give them what they want, they will kill Carly. You told me that.”

“Why didn’t you come get me to help?”

“I didn’t have time. When I opened the door of the bathroom at the bar and grill, the light from the crystal had the whole room illuminated in its glow. I thought, how lucky could I be? I knew it had to be the crystal. I think she’d been using it while she was in there for something. I saw her slip it inside her blouse as I walked in. I looked for you at the bar but I couldn’t find you so I followed her home when she left. The woman was stupid enough to take a walk along the beach, alone.”

“Next time you have to let me know your plans. If anything had happened to you …” The words stuck in his throat.

“Daddy, she’s my sister. I will do anything to get her back.”

“I didn’t raise you to be a killer.”

“I didn’t hurt her. I promise.”

“How do you know? Did you wait around to see if she was okay?”

“No, but I’m sure she’s fine. I checked her pulse; I’m not stupid.”

“I know, sweetheart, I know. I’m proud of you and your sister and I’m sorry to have dragged you both into this.” His daughters. His children were everything to him. She went to him, wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. He couldn’t resist returning the hug. She was his light, one of them anyway. He loved his kids more than life itself.

“How did you know to come here anyway? I mean, how did you know the crystal would be here in this town?”

He gave her a sideways glance, then rubbed his chin on the top of her head and stared out the window. “That is something you don’t need to worry yourself with. I’ve been in this business a long time and I’ve always kept tabs on that crystal.”

“Dad, sometimes I feel like I don’t even know you. You had this other life before Mom and us, I get that, but I don’t see why you have to keep it all such a secret.”

“I told you. I don’t want you to know any more than you have to. The more you know, the more your life will be in danger.”

“Like Carly’s?”

“That was my mistake, Caitlin. You and your sister mean everything to me. I let that show too much and they used it against me. I’m sorry. I know you don’t understand any of this, why it has happened and I’m not going to involve you anymore than I already have. I shouldn’t even have let you come with me.”

“I know this has to do with your work.” 

“And you wouldn’t even know that if you hadn’t been eavesdropping on my conversation. But now that you’ve gotten the crystal, let me see it.”

She unzipped the pocket of her jacket, pulled out the long chain with the locket and opened it, dropping the amber stone into the palm of her hand. “It doesn’t look like anything more than an ordinary gemstone, but I saw the light when I walked into the bathroom. She didn’t hear me come in at first, and when she noticed me, the light went out. She had her hand closed over the pendant and looked very shaken, worried I guess that maybe I saw the glow.”

He held the stone up to the light of the small bedside lamp. It looked like the pictures he had seen but he couldn’t understand what would make it glow or fathom how powerful it must be. He only knew that the life of his child depended on it and he would do anything for her safe return. He could only guess why they wanted the crystal, and they were using him and his family to get it.

Chapter 12

Cael stared at Addison, waiting for her to answer him. She admitted to having Ristéard’s last name, so maybe she wasn’t married, but then, many women kept their maiden names after marriage.

The room grew cold and she shivered, rubbing her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself. Facing the fireplace, she stoked the flames a little from where she sat on the sofa.

Keeping his emotions in check, Cael didn’t give her any indication of being surprised other than the slight rise of his brows. Ristéard had control of fire as well as telekinetic abilities, so it seemed natural that his daughter would possess the same. So, she truly was his daughter.

“Of course we know each other. We met at Breena’s party.” She laughed. “Why would you ask me such an odd question?”

What was he hoping she would say?
Oh, yeah, Cael, we have a hot and spicy sexual encounter every night while my fiancé/husband is busy singing his heart out at the bar and grill.
Well, that would have been preferable to “we met at Breena’s party.” Besides, she was Ristéard’s daughter. In all fairness, now she was more like a sister, considering. Nah, no way he could wrap his head around that idea. Never like a sister.

“I … uh … just thought maybe we would have known each other over the past five years, considering I always thought of Ristéard as a father. I figured maybe he would have introduced us.” Had Ristéard betrayed him as his own father had? He thought he’d known everything about Ristéard. The memory of the shocking encounter he had earlier that night with his biological father, who’d left his life when Cael was a child needled its way into his brain like a nasty worm. Betrayal seemed to be running wild at the Sectory. 

“He died before he had the chance. Look, if it’s any consolation, I never knew you and he were as close as you were either. I never knew he spent so much time with you when you were younger, teaching you to fight and whatever else he trained you to do. He probably spent more time with you than me.”

That struck a chord as he thought back to his youth, and how Ristéard had been there almost every day in his adolescent years, spending so much time training him. Now Cael was feeling sorry for her. This lovely creature sitting in front of him had a childhood sequestered away from everything that he always thought necessary in order to recognize the powers granted to his kind. But still, there were too many pieces of this puzzle unconnected to completely let down his guard with her. Oh, but he wanted to. There was something so special emanating from her soul, something that he couldn’t quite figure out. Then again, as Ristéard’s only female heir it made sense she would possess that essence. Besides her being the only one to take Ristéard’s place and ignite such a feeling of euphoria within him, there was still something stronger going on. He really wanted to possess her.

She’s taken,
he tried to remind himself, but it wasn’t working. He wanted to know more.

“How do you know all this? Oh wait, let me guess. My mother.”

“Well, yes.” She nodded. “Your mother has been instrumental in helping me learn about my family.”

“And that is how you know Breena.”

“Yes. Now that we’ve established all that, we need to find out who hit me and stole the crystal.”

“How do you recommend we do that?”

“Well, I don’t know. You’re the private investigator. Investigate.”

He smiled at her. Feisty. Ristéard would have liked that.

***

After taking a flashlight down to the beach and searching the area where he’d discovered Addison, Cael came up empty-handed. It was too damn dark. Not even his keen eyesight helped locate the crystal. He must have spent an hour down there walking back and forth over the area looking for the thing. Better to come back first thing in the morning and search some more. He didn’t believe it would be there anyway. Whoever hit Addison over the head had to have taken it, considering nothing else seemed to be missing.

Now back in the little bed at Bart’s, his feet dangling over the end, Cael lay naked and wide awake, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Addison MacKenna. His hand gravitated toward the heavy muscle of his sex; he groaned and stroked, eventually cupping the thing tight enough to choke a small animal. He remembered the way she looked when she’d been dancing and imagined her gazing up into his eyes, smiling as though she were his, wanting to be with him. He closed his eyes and saw her face, those golden brown eyes, the tiny dimple at the side of her sensual lips when she smiled at him. He imagined kissing those lips, tasting the sweetness of her tongue as he … fuck! The orgasm burrowed through his body and he had to grab hold of the pillow behind his head to smother the sound of his voice as he cried out. Why couldn’t he get her out of his head? He groped around on the floor beside the bed, grasping for the T-shirt he’d left there so he could clean up the mess he’d made all over his stomach and hand.