“I’m glad I can satisfy your curiosity, but you still haven’t satisfied mine,” I pointed out. “What is it you want to talk to me about?”
He glanced around. “The key to understanding Lucas is to learn about his father. I can’t tell you what happened with him, but I will say it has damaged him in ways you cannot imagine. Until he lets himself heal from that, he’s never going to fully get past it.”
My chest constricted. I’d suspected as much, but neither Lucas nor Micah would say anything. What had happened to the two powerful men that they couldn’t even bear to think about their past?
“You do realize he won’t talk to me about that,” I said.
“Then keep trying until he does—or wait until Micah comes out of hiding. He’s a little less closed off than Lucas is.”
My head shot up. He’d mentioned Micah so casually I’d almost missed it.
“You know.”
Eli nodded. “Yes. We all have our role to play.”
“And what’s yours?”
Eli smiled. “To account for human reaction and anticipate how to deal with it.”
My hand wasn’t burning and no alarm bells were ringing in my head. He had to be legit. It was interesting they’d brought in a psychologist to help. Maybe they were serious about making the revolution as painless as possible.
“Do you think it will go as well as Yerik says?”
“I believe it is certainly possible.” Eli rotated the coffee cup in his hand. “He and the others have put a great deal of thought into it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You didn’t really come here to talk about Lucas. They sent you to convince me to help.”
“My guess is that you don’t need much convincing. You may do your best to avoid having children, but accidents happen. One day you will get pregnant and face what many others before you have. Are you truly willing to risk watching your child be taken from you?”
“I’d die first,” I said, meaning it.
“I suspected as much. Lucas wouldn’t have chosen a woman who’d do otherwise.”
My senses spiked and I stiffened. “Yeah, well, I hope you’re prepared to deal with him.”
Eli frowned. “What do you mean?”
The nephilim in question came stalking toward us. His clothes were wet and splotches of black were all over him. Where had he come from and how had he found me? He should have lost the ability to locate me after our souls were unbound. Everyone within visual range froze the moment Lucas came inside. He grabbed Eli by his shirt collar and lifted him up.
“What are you doing here?” His expression was thunderous. “I thought I told you Melena is off-limits.”
To his credit, Eli showed no fear.
“I happened to run into her in the café. We were simply talking,” he spoke in a calm voice. Sort of the way you might to an enraged tiger.
No way was I going to point out he’d lied.
“How much did you tell her?” Lucas growled out.
Eli gave him a patient look, which was an impressive feat since he was still being held by his collar. “She won’t think less of you if you tell her. Perhaps she’ll love you even more.”
“What did you tell her?” Lucas asked again.
“Nothing, you big bully.” I grabbed his hand and pried it from Eli. “He refused to give up your secrets.”
Stepping between the two men, my hands reached up to cup his face. At least that much of him had been wiped clean, but he reeked badly of salt water and other things. I kept some space between us so that none of the mess got on me.
“Lucas, please calm down. Whatever it is you don’t want me to know—I still don’t. I swear it.” The mating bond flowed between us. He stared deeply into my eyes and I let him see the truth of my words.
Lucas gave me an implacable look. “This is the one thing I need you to let go, Melena. You must cease your attempts to learn about my past. It is not for you to know.”
It wasn’t for me to know because he refused to trust me completely. I stepped away and glared at him. Why was he so determined to keep his past from me? Did he really think I’d use it against him or think less of him if I knew?
“Fine.” I threw my hands up. “Keep your damned secrets.”
I spun on my heels and left. The bastard made demands of me all the time, but couldn’t give me the one thing I asked of him. I wasn’t going to stand there and voice all our problems in front of Eli. Better to walk away before I said something I’d really regret.
Chapter Twenty-eight
I had to squeeze past two guys in baseball caps and white t-shirts who stood frozen in my way before I could get free of the shop. They didn’t blink. A secondary spell prevented anyone else from coming near the place and no one on the street seemed to notice the frozen bodies inside. I kept going with no destination in mind other than staying within range of Kerbasi. Part of me wanted to find someplace where Lucas wouldn’t bother me. To be alone so I could think and figure out what to do.
A few minutes later I found myself approaching the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. Tourists wandered around the park and the streets alongside it. Up ahead was an old man playing alto sax, the soulful jazz washed over me as I approached him on the sidewalk. I dug out a couple dollars and put it in his hat, getting a nod from him.
Continuing on, I passed the tour guide’s carriages lined up along Decatur Street. One guy had a hose out and was giving his mule a drink. It was getting hot and the poor animal had to be miserable standing there while it waited for enough tourists to fill its carriage. I crossed the street and made my way up a set of cement steps to a landing where families took pictures of each other.
Beyond that I caught sight of the Mississippi River. Fewer people lingered over there. I crossed a small parking area and kept going until I reached a set of wooden steps. They led straight to the water. I took a seat on them to watch the ships and barges go by, slow and steady. If I’d known the city better I might have looked for some place even less crowded, but being near water worked well enough.
I checked my radar and found Lucas had returned to the condo. He’d shown up at the café wet and smelling of salt water. More than likely he was in the shower getting himself cleaned up. Angry at him or not, a part of me wished I was there to join him—and find out what he’d been up to. The other part of me wasn’t in the mood to face him.
For a while I sat there, lost in thought. I worried about Emily in Juneau and how things were going in Fairbanks. Was the peace agreement between Derrick and Nik holding up? What would things be like when I returned?
Then there was the ball later tonight. A pit of dread had been sitting in my stomach since arriving in New Orleans. I’d met many supernaturals of all races over the last couple of years, but this one would be attended by some of the most powerful. People who could snap me in half if they felt like it. I was expected to mingle with them—and pretend not to recognize Yerik. It was too bad rocket launchers and grenade pouches wouldn’t go with my dress.
Lucas had left the condo and was working his way toward me. Had it been that long already? I didn’t bother to get up. Instead I stayed seated and kept my eyes on the water. Eventually he came to stand behind me, but he didn’t say anything at first. Just stood there waiting for me to make the next move because by coming he’d made the first.
Stupid supernatural games.
“Are you going to tell me where you went this morning or is that on the forbidden list, too?” I asked, still not looking at him.
“One of the rigs on the Gulf sprung a leak. I had to contain it before too much oil spilled into the water.”
Little did he know Yerik probably had something to do with that. I glanced over my shoulder. Lucas had cleaned himself up and now wore a pair of green cargo shorts and a white t-shirt. The funny smells were gone, too.
“Why did you have to be the one to fix it?”
He stared down at me. “Because I have interest in that well and didn’t want to see it take a huge loss. The humans are too slow to repair the damage.”
“Did you use magic or just strong-arm it?” I imagined it took special equipment to handle it otherwise.
“A little of both, actually. I stay current on the inner workings so that I may employ the fastest method possible.”
Lucas didn’t talk about his business interests much. At least this was some kind of admission from him. I’d have to take what I could get, considering we needed to come to a truce before the ball. No need to give the supernatural
ton
something to wag their tongues about.
I stood up. “Is Kerbasi awake yet?”
“He awoke just before I arrived.” Lucas’ expression was blank. “The guardian was less cordial than usual and balked at my numerous suggestions of food. I do believe the mention of eggs caused the most dramatics.”
I wished I could have seen that.
“Well, he’s going to have to snap out of it. I promised to buy him some new shoes while we’re here and Emily needs a few things.” Fairbanks wasn’t exactly the shopping Mecca of the world and I wanted to take advantage of the better selection in New Orleans.
“Would you like me to come with you?”
“No. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.” And I was still irritated with him. The idea of putting up with him and a hung-over Kerbasi while shopping was more than I could handle.
Lucas nodded. We headed back up the stairs and had to quickly dodge out of the way at the top. A woman with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail had her camera out, aiming it toward a man who didn’t look all that excited about his Mississippi River backdrop. She was encouraging him to smile, but instead he slipped on some sunglasses and frowned.
Lucas and I kept moving on past them, but it got me to thinking.
“You know, we never take pictures together.”
He glanced down at me. “What is the point?”
I took my phone out and caught a shot of him scowling. I set it to appear on the screen whenever he called. He scowled even deeper when he saw what I was doing.
“Okay, now we need someone to take a shot of us together.” I looked around for a victim and found an older woman watching some kids run around. “Excuse me, ma’am, could you take a picture of us, please?”
She smiled. “Sure.”
I handed her my phone and positioned Lucas where we’d have Jackson Square and the cathedral behind us. He looked less happy than the guy with the sunglasses we’d passed a minute before. I leaned into him as the woman raised my cell phone up.
“Try to look like you love me,” I whispered.
He gazed down at me. “I do love you, but I don’t like pictures. They are evidence that can prove we aren’t aging.”
If things went the way Yerik, Ariel, and Micah planned, it wouldn’t be a problem for much longer, but I couldn’t tell him that.
“Just humor me,” I said, flashing a smile at the woman.
She was wise enough to take several before telling us we could relax. I thanked her and got the phone back from her. One of them had turned out decent, but the rest had Lucas glaring at the camera.
We headed down the next set of stairs and crossed Decatur Street, working our way toward his condo. People unconsciously moved out of his way. It made it easier to get past all the tourists, but took some of the fun out of mingling with the crowd.
“You know it’s cheating to use magic to keep people away.”
He let out a grunt. “Would you prefer I push them?”
“No.” I shot him a scolding look. “But I don’t get to use any special tricks and I still get through eventually. You could try acting normal once in a while.”
“Normal, sensor, has never been a part of my life.”
Apparently, swimming around in salt water and crude oil made him grouchy. I’d have to let it go for the moment. We walked the rest of the way back in silence.
***
“Those are the shoes you want?” I asked Kerbasi, gazing at the men’s dress boots in horror. “They’re over four hundred dollars!”
We’d come to The Shops at Canal Place to look around and Kerbasi had insisted on checking out a men’s shoe store as soon as we came across it. Miraculously, his hangover had vanished upon arrival. I should have been more careful to take him to places with lower-end products. Why hadn’t I considered a trip to Walmart first? We would have had to drive to get there, but at least I could have saved a few hundred bucks.
“These are the shoes,” the guardian insisted. “You must keep your promise and get them for me.”
Gritting my teeth, I handed over my credit card. “You’re handling the transaction. I can’t bear to watch.”
He gave me a satisfied smile. “May I get socks as well?”
“Why not?” I stared up at the ceiling and prayed for divine intervention, which in my case should have come. “Get two pairs, but that’s it.”
“I may come to like you someday, Melena Sanders.” He strutted off to speak with the salesman.
Unable to watch, I stepped out into the main corridor. It was just as well I’d already found a few things for Emily before taking him into the store. We could leave soon. I wandered over to the elevators where there was a fountain behind them with tile benches to sit.