Out of Reach (21 page)

I zip my bag closed and grab a pair of
sneakers on my way out the bedroom door. Dumping my haul onto the
porch I turn to lock up. Zafir's gravely voice cuts through the
bushes.

"Don't forget to pack something nice for the
after party."

After party? You've got to
be kidding me! Whatever
. I jet back into
the house for the suggested items. Finally out the front door again
and halfway to the car, Kade intercepts me, takes my bags, and
stows them quickly in the back to the Yukon.

"All set!" I announce as I climb into the
backseat by Zafir. "How are we getting there?"

“By plane, of course," Zafir explains
arrogantly.

"Watch your tone around the lady," Basal
chastises from the front passenger seat. I don’t appreciate the
byplay— I’m not made of glass.

"Okay, what's your deal?" I ask Basal
flippantly. "First you can't stand the sight of me at the lab, and
now you’re disgustingly respectful."

Taken aback by my straightforward question,
Basal's eyes bug out, while Z bursts into laughter next to me.

"I like her, Kade," Z says before addressing
Basal. "Yeah, Bass, what's your deal?"

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Basal
turns meeting my gaze. "As a powerful child of the Nephilim, you
deserve my respect, but it's true I haven't always believed in
you." Dropping his gaze he tacks on, "My humblest apologies,
Gwen."

The gut-wrenching apology catches me off
guard. I'd wanted to clear the air between us but through some
good-natured razing. Involuntarily I reach for his arm and his eyes
flick up to mine, surprised by my gesture.

"It's fine, really."

Nodding he leans forward once more,
effectively breaking our connection.

"We're here," Kade announces, bringing us
all back to the present.

"Preston-Ward?" I exclaim totally confused.
"I thought you said we weren't ever coming back here!"

"No, I said
you
were never coming
back here again. Now stay in the car," Kade commands. Laying down
the law and forbidding me from doing something never works. It just
makes me want to do the thing that much more. But something in
Kade's tone makes me think better of it. Not ten minutes later the
guys return.

"What was that all about?" I ask, wrapping
myself so far around the driver’s seat I'm practically in Kade's
lap.

"Clearing up some last minute details," Z
responds, winking at me.

"Huh," I say crawling back into my seat.

"Everyone at work already knows I'm going to
this conference; it’s something that’s been in the works for
months," Kade says as he buckles his seatbelt. "Now we need
everyone to think you're at the conference too."

"So we made them believe it," Z interjects
proudly.

"Huh," slips out again as my head swivels
between the two of them.

"Gwen, we implanted the idea you're going to
the conference with me into everyone’s heads," Kade finishes.

"What! You can make people believe whatever
you want?"

"No, not whatever we want, but a simple idea
like they knew or heard you we're going to be out of town this
week, yes, that we can do."

"Oh," I blubber, forcing myself to remain
calmly in my seat, all the while trying to figure out just who the
hell I'd gotten in the car with.

Chapter 29

As I stand in line at the airport metal
detectors, I feel absolutely giddy. The number of people in front
of us feels never ending. Clutching my plane ticket I bounce back
and forth from one foot to the other impatiently. Waiting is not my
style, especially when I'm bursting with questions. It's not that I
think Kade has done a poor job of explaining things to me; there's
just been limited time in which to do it and I haven't asked the
right questions.

Holding my newly constructed list of things
I want answered in the front of my mind, I will the line in front
of us to move faster, praying no one is harassed by security. I
drop my shoes and carry-on bag onto the conveyer belt when it’s my
turn and quickly step through the closest open metal detector.
After collecting my scanned items a minute later, I glance around
for the guys as I put on my shoes. To the man, each is being wanded
by a different member of TSA. I stand equal parts appalled at what
is obviously racial profiling and anxious because I know these guys
are packing.

As first Basal, followed by Kade and finally
Zafir, are released by security, my anxiety fades leaving only
disgust in its wake—while every member of our group was singled out
no one bothered to look twice at the potheads behind us.

"Gate B11," Kade tells me as he leads the
way. Holding tighter to my list of questions I follow him, adding,
“How do you do that mind control thing?” to the list, a question
that up until this point I've been too intimidated to bring up.

As I settle into my seat on
the airplane, I'm still itching to talk with Kade, but I bide my
time.
At least the Wanderers can afford to
fly in style
.

I smile to myself, relishing in the comfort
of my first class seat. Bored I broaden my focus, watching both my
companions and the line of passengers boarding the plane. I notice
a striking phenomenon right off the bat. Every woman between the
ages of 20- and 45-years-old is drawn to the model-like Adonis
traveling with me. Caught up in the bashful blushes of the younger
girls and the outright lustful smiles of the cougars, I begin to
snicker, which earns me a series of nasty looks from the
30-somethings group passing by.

Irked by their jealousy, I slide my arm over
Kade's, resting my hand in his—a petty move sure to send my female
counterparts over the edge, but I don't care. It feels good to
assert some dominance in lieu of their shameless flirting.

My gloating is short lived, however. The
smirk slides off my face as strong fingers stroke my skin, their
grip unbreakable even when the line of passengers fades and the
steward closes the plane’s outer door. Kade's response, coupled
with the warmth in his gaze, floors me, as unexpected as the sudden
flight of butterflies in my stomach.

"Ouch," I blurt out, pulling my hand back to
rub a now throbbing shoulder. "What was that for?" I ask, glaring
at Zafir.

Shrugging his massive shoulders he grins and
leans back in is seat. "Had to get your attention somehow. You
totally ignored me when I asked you to hand me a pillow."

I huff loudly and pull the pillow from the
seatback in front of me, handing it to Z, being sure to hit him
with the thing a couple of times for good measure. Chuckling he
weathers my assault good naturedly before making a grab for the
pillow. Tucking the thing behind his head he closes his eyes and
turns away. Shaking out my still sore shoulder I roll my eyes; the
guy is nothing but an overgrown teenager. Facing forward I try to
relax as the plane taxis to the runway. As the plane accelerates
and pulls away from the ground, I squeeze my eyes shut and grip the
armrests of my seat until my knuckles are white, whispering a
silent prayer.

"Are you okay?"

I nod, acknowledging the velvety voice
without opening my eyes. As the fasten seatbelt sign dings and the
stewardess comes across the loud speaker informing everyone we have
achieved altitude and the captain has just turned off the fasten
seatbelt sign, my eyelids pop open.

"Never pegged you for an aviophobic," Kade
says frowning.

"I'm not, I just have trust issues," I tell
him.

"Trust issues," Kade repeats to himself
chuckling.

Leaning close to him I ask, "What did Basal
mean when he said he didn't always believe in me?"

Motioning for me to keep quiet, Kade quickly
looks around, checking to see if anyone has overheard us I assume.
After sharing a look with Basal who nods, somehow understanding the
nonverbal cue from Kade, he returns his attention to me.

"There, now it’s safe to speak freely."

Glancing around the cabin, unable to detect
any change in our environment, I ask, "How do you do that?"

"Do you want me to tell you about mind
tricks or answer your original question?" He grins mischievously.
Momentarily struck dumb—because I want to know it all—I have to
think about his question.

"First question, please," I grumble.

"Okay, where to begin ..." He draws it out,
toying with me. I punch him in the shoulder on principle, letting
him know I haven't forgotten about question two.

"Do you remember organic chemistry?" he asks
unexpectedly.

"Yes," I answer, not following him.

"I was in San Diego on Wanderer business
when I saw you in the library at UCSD. Recognizing you as
Nephilim—" he says tugging on a red strand of hair, "—I followed
you across campus to the chemistry building. You were working late
on a group project of some sort. In a moment of frustration, I saw
you pick up a can of soda and throw it across the room."

Frowning, puzzled, I quickly interject.
"So?"

Kade arches a brow and continues, "You did
it without using your hands."

"I did?!" I shriek a little too loudly.
Quickly I glance around to see if anyone noticed before I remember
no one will hear us. "I did?" I repeat in a whisper.

"Yes, you used telekinesis, a power
historically common among the Nephilim, though it’s virtually
nonexistent nowadays."

"Wow," I reply. "I remember that night, but
have no memory of doing that."

"I'm not surprised," he tells me. "The next
day I enrolled at UCSD and have been stalking you ever since, I'm
afraid." His last admission should really bother me but I'm too
busy wrapping my head around the fact I picked something up with my
mind.

"What else can I do?" I ask expectantly.

A bit deflated, he runs a hand through his
hair. "That's just it, I don't know. Till last night you've never
utilized your powers again."

"So that's why Basal was surprised to see
me—I wasn't supposed to go with you," I admit feeling dejected.
Apparently over the last twenty-four hours I'd really bought into
the fact I was super special.

Picking up on my tone Kade tucks a stray
piece of hair behind my ear. "Hey, look at me," he commands, his
voice that combination of comfort and steel I know so well. Looking
up from my lap I meet his gaze. "I've never stopped believing in
you; you're powerful and, now that you've discovered it, you'll be
the savior of us all."

I turn away blushing at the firm conviction
in his voice.

"After a few years, when your powers never
surfaced again, my brothers lost faith and urged me to move on to
another assignment. I've worked many assignments over the years but
always returned, knowing there’s more to you than meets the
eye."

A loud throat clearing effectively breaks
the overwhelming silence that had begun to stretch between Kade and
me.

"You're forgetting I never turned my back on
Gwen either," Zafir announces, winking at me before rolling over
and closing his eyes again.

Reflecting on what Kade has told me I notice
Basal in my peripheral vision. The Wanderer sits shrunken in on
himself against the window. It can't have been easy for him to sit
there silently while Kade threw him and his brothers under the bus.
I stand up and lean over the mountain that is Zafir and reach for
Basal’s arm.

"It's alright, I didn't
know either," I tell Basal, locking onto his hazel eyes with my
own. "Friends," I tell him taking my seat once more. He nods
courteously but continues to hold his tongue.
I'm going to seriously put the hurt on that guy if he
continues to berate himself for no reason
,
I tell myself.

"Okay, on to the question of the hour," I
say, returning my attention to Kade who's been sitting solemn with
pride as I reached out to his brother.

"Still hung up on that mind control thing,
huh?" he teases.

"We'll get back to that. What I want to know
now is how did a Sylph get into my lab?"

The humor drains from Kade's face as he
contemplates my inquiry. "I'm not one hundred percent sure. It was
you who tipped me off about that one."

"I did?" I blurt out, shocked again. Nodding
he continues.

"I put it together when we had lunch a few
days ago, when you told me about compound 253B and how it responded
when you worked with it. Coupled with what happened to Mr. Johnson,
I saw a big red flag."

Kade pauses when the stewardess interrupts
us to ask if we'd care for a beverage. After we politely refuse,
she moves on.

"I broke into work after hours to check my
theory. In Mr. Taylor's office, I found the Sylph's sphere, along
with plans to synthetically duplicate the Sylph's essence. Looks
like he was hoping to replicate their powers, so he could sell
limitless power like a drug," Kade finishes.

Sitting back, appalled, I realize
unknowingly just how deeply involved in this new world I’d
become.

"It was my team, Kade. That rat bastard had
us knee deep in evil!” I shout indignantly, temper flaring.
"Someone could have gotten terribly hurt on my watch."

"That's why you're never going back," Kade
replies, unquestionable authority underlining his statement. "There
will be an investigation to determine how Taylor came into
possession of a Sylph after the resealing."

Never going
back
, I think, a point Kade seems to
reemphasize as often as he can. It leaves me with a dilemma. Just
what am I to do? I've spent the better part of my twenties in a
lab. I have no other marketable skills. When all this is over,
where will that leave me?

As we make our descent, I find personal
reflection will have to wait; the current pace of my life is like a
jet engine, affording me little time to think. Once the wheels
touch down our plane taxis on to the next stop along our journey,
and I find myself in possession of a whole new set of questions ...
and only a few answers.