Authors: Colleen Gleason
When he saw the tattoo parlor at the far end, he remembered the butterfly tattoo on Keely’s shoulder. Was that where she’d gotten it? Maybe she was there now. A surge of excitement shot through him at the thought of coming face-to-face with her again. But if not, maybe the people inside would know her and could put him in touch with her.
“Listen, I think I may know where she could be,” he told Sean. “If you want to go grab something to eat, I can meet up with you later.”
Although he was starting to trust the guy a little more, he didn’t want him hanging around if he did run into Keely. Not if he could help it. There’d be introductions, explanations. It would be easier if he were alone.
Disappointment flashed in Sean’s eyes for a moment before disappearing. “Why don’t you take this then?” He handed Toryn a cell phone.
Toryn stared at the device but didn’t take it. Iron Guild warriors didn’t use cell phones. Before the Iron Havens were built, warriors had nowhere to keep material possessions on this side of the portal. But more importantly, the Pacifican army was known to monitor and eavesdrop on cell phone conversations, and they couldn’t take that risk. Not when the location of portals and the lives of Cascadians were at stake.
“I jail-broke it,” Sean explained. “Then rerouted the network to a hidden frequency and removed all location identifiers.”
“Care to explain that in English?” Toryn asked gruffly.
“It means that no one else will be able to listen in on your conversations. Just the person on the other end of the line. And no one will be able to ping the phone to figure out its location. Rickert is having me procure them for all the warriors to use when they’re on this side of the portal.”
Toryn still wasn’t sure what all that meant, but if Rickert was okay with it, then that was good enough for him. He took the phone from Sean, and the guy gave him a crash course on how it worked.
“I’ll grab a bite to eat and then if I don’t hear from you, I will…uh…run a couple of errands. So no hurry. Just call me if you need me for any reason.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
Toryn thought he detected a hint of sadness in the guy’s demeanor. He debated whether to say anything or not. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him. “Everything okay?”
Sean met his gaze for a moment then looked away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? Because if there’s something I can do…” He let the offer trail off.
The truth was, he owed him. The guy had done him a solid today, even though Toryn had been a total dick ever since they met. Rickert had him working on computer stuff back at the Iron Haven. There was plenty for him to do, and yet he’d dropped everything in order to help Toryn.
Sean rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s nothing really. I just thought I’d swing by my old neighborhood. See if I can get a glimpse of my family from the street.”
Ah. So that explained why the guy had been so willing to help. “You still don’t think it’s safe to let them know you’re okay?”
Sean shook his head. “It will never be safe. I cannot take that chance. It’s not worth it.” He cleared the emotion from his throat then looked up to the sky, as if searching the heavens for strength. “I’d rather my wife move on and my daughter grow up without me than have them be in danger again because of me.”
Guilt for being so distrustful of this man stabbed at Toryn like a blunt knife.
This was a dangerous line of work they were in, fighting against the Pacifican army. With the exception of Rickert, Asher and Vince—whose women were as tough as they were—all the warriors with families kept them on the other side of the portal. And for good reason. They’d be prime targets for the army if they knew about them.
But Sean wasn’t a warrior. After heavy lobbying from a few of the men, he was released from the jail pits, but he was banished from Cascadia forever. He was a man without a home.
Sean nodded once, pressed his lips into a thin line. “Good luck. I hope you find her.”
Toryn wanted to say that he hoped Sean was successful, too, that he’d somehow be able to get a glimpse of his loved ones when he drove through his old neighborhood. But he kept his mouth shut. Even for him, that would be too cruel.
Something wasn’t right.
Pressing the phone to her ear and covering the other one with her free hand, Keely strained to hear what her sister was saying.
Becca didn’t sound like herself. Something was off about her. Like she was under the influence of someone…or something.
Crap. Was she using again?
Becca used to have a drug problem, back when they were going through all that stuff with their parents, but that was behind her now. She’d been clean for years.
Becca should’ve been yelling at Keely that she hadn’t gotten to the shop with the money on time. Or pleading with her to help, to do something to get her away from her captors.
But Becca was saying none of those things. In fact, she didn’t even sound frightened. Rather, she was going on and on about some great opportunity. Kept referring to it as her “big break.”
Keely didn’t understand. Was her sister being coerced or threatened into saying this? “Becca, what’s going on? Can you tell me the truth?”
“Aren’t you listening?” Becca said impatiently. “I’m trying to tell you.”
“So…a guy kidnaps you and you’re okay with that?”
Just then, the door to Freak Ink opened and another one of Harvey’s people came out for a smoke. Keely hurried around the corner for some privacy and took a seat on one of the park benches.
“He did not kidnap me, Keely.”
“Then what do you call it?”
“He came to the shop, and sure, he wanted to know about the money. But we talked. And I left with him. It’s as simple as that.”
“Yeah, without so much as a note. That’s not like you. Tell me what’s really going on. Is someone there with you right now? Is that why you’re talking like this, because this doesn’t make sense?”
Becca sighed. “Everything’s fine, Keely. I wish you would stop overreacting.”
Overreacting? This was not
fine
. She decided just to come right out with it. “Are you using again? Is that what this is about?”
Becca laughed. “You think I’m on a bender?”
“Well, are you?”
“I don’t have to listen to your BS, Keely.”
Anger surged through her. The Becca she knew—the clean and sober Becca—would never do something like this. “Well, what am I supposed to think? The man comes to the shop to collect his hush money and then you leave with him, voluntarily, without even telling me? No call. No note. No nothing. Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”
“Sorry, Kee.” There was a muffled sound on the other end of the line. When she spoke again, her tone was different. “You sound jealous of me.”
Keely choked. “Jealous?”
“Yeah, because
I’m
going to be having the time of my life and
you
weren’t invited.”
Being kidnapped and being invited were two totally different things, but she was done arguing with Becca. You didn’t try to reason with an addict who was clearly using again. “Where are you anyway? Who’s with you? Is
he
there?”
Becca laughed. “I’m fine. Really.” She sounded mellow. Too mellow. “I’ll be home tomorrow afternoon. We’ll talk more then. You’ll see...everything is going to be great.”
Relief rushed through her that Becca would be coming home. “Thank God.” Maybe she could talk some sense into her then.
“Yeah, I’ll be by to pick up my things.”
The relief she felt came crashing to a halt. “You’ll be leaving again?”
“You can handle the shop for a few weeks by yourself, can’t you?”
“I…uh…”
“Listen, we’ll talk more tomorrow. Okay?”
There was another muffled sound on the other end of the line and then a click.
“Becca? Becca?”
The line was dead.
Keely’s hands shook as she stared down at her phone. She considered calling their mother, then decided against it. They hadn’t talked in almost three years. Not since that horrible Christmas when she and Becca had tried to patch things up with them. Besides, what could her mother do? Not only did she have a hard time getting around after being injured in a train station bombing, she was LUI. Living under the influence…of a jerk.
“Hey. Are you okay?” It was a man’s voice. A very familiar, deep male voice.
Keely’s breath caught in her throat as a large pair of boots came into view in front of her. Slowly, she lifted her gaze.
Black combat fatigues. Long legs set shoulder-width apart. Powerful thighs. Slim hips. Charcoal T-shirt stretched over flat abs and a muscular chest. Leather coat, unzipped. Broad shoulders. A ruggedly handsome face with striking gray eyes staring down at her.
“Toryn?”
Before she could wonder how he’d found her or what he was doing here, he took a seat next to her on the bench. He reached out as if to take her hand then changed his mind and folded his arms across his chest instead.
His gaze raked over her, his pupils two dark specks of intensity. “What happened? Did someone hurt you?” His nostrils flared slightly and a muscle in his jaw ticked. It looked as if he were capable of ripping off someone’s head right now.
She found his outrage on her behalf strangely comforting and shook her head. “No, no. I’m fine. It’s…it’s my sister.”
“What about your sister?” he demanded.
She took a deep breath and wondered where to start. “She’s in trouble. Bad trouble. It’s all my fault and I don’t know what to do.” She covered her face with her hands.
She felt Toryn’s hand on her back. His touch was calm and soothing amidst the chaos spinning out of control in her head.
And just like that, she spilled everything. Toryn sat there and listened patiently. Not once did she get the vibe that he was repulsed that she and her sister were Talents. It was a relief, almost cathartic, to talk to him about what had happened.
“So the other night when I ran into you,” she said, “I’d gone to Mr. Reaux’s club to find Becca. To reason with him. You know, come up with some sort of payment plan and—”
“Reaux? As in
Davin
Reaux?” Anger flashed in Toryn’s dark eyes. “That’s who came for your sister?”
“You know him?”
Toryn cursed, scrubbed a hand over his face as if he were trying to wipe away what he’d just heard. “You went to confront Reaux? What the bloody hell were you thinking?”
What was I thinking?
Wasn’t it obvious?
“He has my sister! What else was I supposed to do?”
“That was foolish, Keely. And stupid.”
She jumped to her feet and started to leave. She didn’t need his criticism. She’d been criticized enough in her life, thank you very much. Clearly, she’d made an error in judgment opening up to this man.
He stood, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She hit his chest with an
oomph
. She tried to take a step backwards, but he wouldn’t let go.
“Reaux is a sadistic, dangerous son of a bitch, Keely. Ye shouldn’t have tried to handle this situation on your own.”
She was vaguely aware that he’d lapsed into a foreign accent.
“What? And call the authorities? Admitting my sister and I are Talents would get me a one-way ticket to army boot camp.” She punched his chest in frustration. “So I’m supposed to wait around for something to happen? Hope the guy changes his mind? Well, I’m not a piece of driftwood, hoping that someday the tide will take pity on me and take me where I want to go. I make things happen or I go down fighting.”
Something flickered in his eyes, but she was too angry to care what it was.
“Confronting him isn’t the answer.” His tone was a little softer. With a hand on her back, he held her closer, and this time she didn’t fight him.
“Easy for you to say,” she said, suddenly aware of how muscular he was. “In a perfect world, I’d have some recourse. But then, in a perfect world, my sister and I wouldn’t have to pay over a week’s worth of profits to that jerk just to keep the army from raiding our business and dragging us away.”
Toryn remained quiet for a few minutes, a rock of strength before her. She felt the rise and fall of his chest as she breathed in his brisk, masculine scent, and her anger started to melt. It felt nice like this. In his arms. A respite in the face of a rising storm.
She relaxed a fraction. “Becca says she’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully I’ll find out what’s going on.”
“Very well then,” he said, as if he’d just made up his mind. “Come on.”
She cranked her head up to look at him. “Where are we going?”
“To get you something to eat and then I’m taking you home.”
***
Toryn left the food truck carrying two plates of food and set them on the picnic table where Keely was sitting.
“Thanks.” She handed him a napkin and a small package of plastic utensils, then wasted no time spearing a piece of meat from her plate and popping it into her mouth. She quickly followed that up with a huge bite of noodles.
He enjoyed watching her eat and smiled to himself as he unwrapped his fork. Women here didn’t normally eat with such enthusiasm. Seeing her take pleasure in something as simple as a plate of food made him wonder what else made her happy.
She must’ve noticed his amusement, because she looked embarrassed and covered her mouth with a hand. “Sorry, I’m really hungry, I guess. Can’t remember when I last sat down for a meal. Plus, their balsamic-glazed beef with homemade garlic noodles is one of my favorites.”
“You’ve been worried. That’s understandable. Makes it hard to eat.” A fact he knew too well. He hadn’t been able to eat much the summer his father died. It took a long time to get his appetite back at the orphanage. Had his mother taken him in, it still would’ve been hard, but she wasn’t interested. After abandoning him and his father when Toryn was a baby, she wanted nothing to do with him…even after his father’s death.
He shoved those thoughts away and turned his attention on his ridiculously tiny fork. He was tempted to use his fingers like they often did back home, but that wasn’t done over here. People would see that and instantly peg him as a savage, a barbarian from Cascadia.