Riven (19 page)

"I have to
say you came out pretty lucky. I only caught bits and pieces of your
fight, but I was sure that your arms were being torn to ribbons given
the way those two were going at you. This isn't all that much worse
than your typical sparring match."

"You're
right, I'm not nearly as hurt as I thought I was. Maybe my memory is
fuzzier than I realized."

Adriana Paige
Graves Estate
Sanctuary, Utah

The wedding was
just days away now, but I'd decided that I couldn't keep obsessing
over it any more than I could keep obsessing over the gorgeous shape
shifters who still threw themselves at Alec whenever they thought
they could get away with it.

Things had died
down slightly right after Lori had been sent home in a cage, but
they'd been slowly ramping back up. Sooner or later Alec was going to
have to put another of them in her place or he'd find himself with a
lap full of lithesome blondes.

I pushed the
thought away again and focused on what I had planned for the day. I
was going to forget about the wedding and everything else and instead
I was going to see if Rachel wanted to walk through the gardens.

Dominic looked up
and smiled at me as I knocked on Rachel's door and then let myself
in. Rachel didn't acknowledge my presence, but I'd come to realize
that was the new normal.

"Hi, Dom. Can
I take Rachel out to the garden?"

"Hello, Adri.
Sure, I'll put her in her chair and go with you, just give me a
minute to remember where I put her favorite jacket."

As Dom pulled
herself to her feet I realized just how tired she was looking. It was
as bad as before when Alec had been unconsciously draining everyone.

"Dom, you
look terrible—are you getting any sleep?"

"Not quite as
much as I should, but that isn't the main problem. My dreams have
been really dark lately. It makes it so that I wake up not feeling
very rested."

"If you can
help me get Rachel ready then I can take her out into the garden. You
should stay here and take a nap."

Dominic looked
torn. "Alec will flip if Rachel doesn't have at least one
bodyguard of her own."

I waved the
concern away as I stepped back out into the hall. Carson looked over
at me with a barely perceptible smile as soon as my head poked out of
the room. He was still sporting some bandages from the excursion to
capture the cats in Vegas, but he and most of the rest of the group
had hopped on Alec's plane so they were back already.

The cages were
still on their way back. The diesel was taking the long way home so
as to avoid being stopped at a weigh station. Even Alec would have a
hard time bribing enough people to cover up that kind of find.

"Carson, is
there anyone you trust who's free right now so they could shadow
Rachel while we are out in the garden?"

"I'm sure
there is. I'll call into the ops room while you get Rachel ready to
go."

"Thanks,
Carson."

Dom was moving
more slowly than normal and Rachel was completely passive, so it took
nearly half an hour to get Rachel dressed in warmer clothes and
situated in her wheelchair. James walked into the room a few minutes
before we got done.

"I hear you
need a hand."

Dominic looked
like she was going to protest, but I beat her to the punch. "Yes,
please, James. I just want to take Rachel out to the gardens on a
walk and Dom needs to stay here and catch her breath."

"Perfect,
let's go."

We left Dom with a
frown on her face, but she stayed. As I pushed Rachel down the hall I
spared a thought to hope that meant she'd be taking a nap.

Jasmin was waiting
for us at the back door, Ben strapped limply into another wheelchair.
"Do you mind if the two of us join you?"

I shook my head.
"No, that would be fine. How did you know we'd be here?"

She tapped her
earpiece. "I heard Carson asking for an extra body. I figured
this might be good for Ben. You know, put him in different
surroundings and provide some stimulation."

We'd been walking
for less than twenty minutes before Kristin found us and asked if she
could walk with us. We found a secluded corner of the garden that had
a pair of stone benches and all stopped.

I tried for small
talk with Kristin while I unbuckled Rachel and helped her out of her
chair. After the second time of not getting a response to my queries,
I waved a hand in front of Kristin's face.

"Are you
okay?"

"Oh, yeah,
sorry. I haven't been sleeping very well lately."

"There seems
to be a lot of that going around lately."

Kristin shrugged
with a nonchalance that I suspected she didn't actually feel. We
weren't good enough buddies for her to seek me out like this without
something else being up.

"It's not a
big deal, at least I know what's causing it. It's got to be Dream
Stealer again."

My mouth dropped
open. Alec had mentioned that one of the Coun'hij had the ability to
go into people's dreams, much like the power that Mallory said that
I'd manifested, but I hadn't realized that he was still targeting
Kristin like this.

"Kristin,
that's a big deal. We need to tell Alec."

"Why, so he
can throw me in a cage?"

I shook my head at
her. "He's not going to throw you in a cage."

"Don't be so
sure. Dream Stealer has driven people insane in the past. I just need
to hold out for a few more days though. He tends to worry around at
the edge of his target pack looking for the weak link. If I can last
a little longer then he'll go looking for someone else to break.
Don't worry, Ash is keeping a close eye on me."

It was a
disturbing development, especially if Dom was up against the same
kind of attack, but before I could decide what to say next James and
Carson both stepped forward like they were going to try and get us
out of the area.

Jasmin sighed and
waved them back to their posts before they got to us. "No use
trying to avoid a scene now, guys, not as long as it's going to take
to get Rachel into her chair."

I looked over at
Rachel, but she was completely lost in her own little world. She was
currently watching invisible people walk back and forth in front of
her. I was going to ask Jasmin what she was talking about and then I
heard them.

"...through
talking to you about this, about anything."

"No, you're
not. You don't understand what you're getting into. You don't even
know him, not really."

"I know him
better than I know you, but that's not important. The important thing
is that he doesn't treat me like some kind of porcelain doll! He
actually cares what I think about stuff."

They were moving
our direction at a pretty good clip. I could recognize their voices
now that they were closer and my heart went out to Jessica and Isaac.
The last thing they needed was half a dozen witnesses to their drama.

The steps stopped
abruptly, like maybe Isaac had grabbed hold of Jessica's arm.

"Jess...Jessica,
I'm serious. If you don't want to be with me then that's fine, I can
accept that. Wyatt isn't what he seems to be though. Carson told me
something that makes me think that Wyatt isn't telling you the whole
story. I mean how can he be? He appears out of nowhere, swears to
Alec for two months and then he'll disappear again. You're going to
get hurt."

I heard a meaty
thunk, like Jess had slapped Isaac, and then the lighter set of
footsteps headed our way again as she yelled back over her shoulder
at him.

"You don't
talk to me about Wyatt, ever. You're still just worried about your
own ego and Carson is a meddling old woman who should be pushed out
of a plane."

Jessica came
crashing through the hedges that surrounded our little piece of the
garden and went to go stomping through the middle of our group, but
Rachel stepped up in front of her. When Jess tried to go around her,
Rachel slapped her with every ounce of power she could generate.

If anyone else had
done it Jess would have torn into them, but the action was so
unexpected from Rachel, especially the new Rachel who hardly ever
even recognized that there were other people around, that Jess just
blinked at her for the couple of seconds it took for James to get
between the two of them.

Carson was only a
step behind James, and he restrained Jessica as James put Rachel back
in her chair. I half expected Rachel to struggle, but she just looked
sadly at Jessica and shook her head.

"'Show some
respect. You shouldn't speak ill...well, you should just show
some respect."

The weird stuff
was piling up faster than you could shake a stick at it. I needed
answers if I was going to help Alec hold everything together, but I
didn't know where to turn for help anymore.

Adriana Paige
Graves Estate
Sanctuary, Utah

I wasn't paying
enough attention to what Carson was showing me and I knew it. We'd
spent the last half hour walking through the park so that he could
show me his progress with the flowers, and I'd only caught every
third word or so.

I realized he was
on to me when we ended up back at the golf cart and he ended his
update with, "...it sounds like we're agreed then. I'll rip
out all of the flowers and put in ornamental ponds instead."

I blushed as he
looked at me with the barest hint of a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm
sorry, Carson. You've been doing such incredible work out here and I
didn't pay you anywhere near the attention that you deserved."

He gently shook
his head at me. "There's no need to apologize. In all honesty,
this is more for your sake than it is for mine. I wanted to give you
one last chance to make any changes to the plans before the big day.
I'm happy with how things have turned out, but that's all of little
value if you're not equally happy with the results."

I shook my head
and looked back out over the miniature greenhouses that had been
constructed over most of the flower gardens. Nearly all of the plants
that Carson had picked out were hardy enough to deal with what passed
as winter in Sanctuary, but even so they wouldn't normally bloom
until the warmer months of the year. The hothouses allowed him to
control every aspect of their environment so that he could make sure
they were perfect when the actual wedding arrived.

"If I wanted
to change anything this late in the game then you should drag me in
to get my head examined. We'd have to pay all kinds of overtime to
move everything around by hand now because the rest of the park is
finished enough that we can't bring in any kind of heavy equipment.
Besides, nothing needs changing because you've done an absolutely
amazing job. Visually it's gorgeous and while my nose is only human
good, the scents seem equally divine. You deserve to have me say as
much and you definitely deserve to have me pay attention while you
show off your handiwork."

Carson looked over
at Vivian, who was helping with my security for the day, and motioned
towards the top of the bowl. "Give us a minute please, Vivian."

Rebekka's daughter
nodded and started the long trudge to the rim of the amphitheater.
Carson watched until she was out of hearing range and then looked
around as if to confirm that nobody else was listening to us. We'd
scheduled the outing during the time when the various landscaping
crews took their lunch, so we had the park to ourselves.

"I meant what
I said, Adri. More than anything else I just want you to be happy.
Being able to serve the royal line in even a small way is more than a
sufficient reward for my efforts. Would you like to talk about what's
bothering you?"

"Is it that
obvious?"

Carson bestowed
another kind smile on me. Sometimes it was hard to remember that he
was one of our top fighters. He was so even-keeled that he reminded
me of an older, wiser version of Isaac before everything had come
apart with Jess. Those qualities didn't usually go together with
ruthless aggression when it came to life-and-death situations, but
Carson somehow had them in spades.

It was nice that
Alec had assigned me a bodyguard who not only was one of the more
deadly fighters we had, but also seemed to genuinely care about me as
a person.

"I don't
think that anyone else realizes just how preoccupied you are, Adri,
but I know you a little better than most."

I shrugged. "I
guess you're right, the problem is that I almost don't even know
where to start. Sometimes it seems like there is more wrong than
right. Isaac, Jess and Wyatt are a constant source of drama, I have
this huge wedding that is completely over the top in every way, and
those two things aren't even at the top of the list."

I looked back in
the direction of the house even though I couldn't see it, and sighed.
"Rachel isn't herself anymore, Jasmin is unhappy all of the
time, Ben is in a coma, and my mom is marrying Russ. It just feels
like everything is in constant motion. How can I get my feet
underneath me if events are rushing towards me faster than I can
possibly deal with them?"

I let myself sit
down in the golf cart and put my head in my hands. There were a few
seconds of silence and then Carson lowered himself down onto the seat
next to me and cleared his throat.

"I've wanted
to be a gardener for as long as I can remember. You've been very
complimentary about my work here in the park, but the truth of it is
that I'm no more than a hobbyist. There is so much that I'd like to
learn, but my time is spent learning how to kill people instead of
creating beauty."

I felt a flash of
guilt. A huge percentage of Carson's time was spent babysitting me
and I'd never really thought about the fact that he might have
something else that he'd rather be doing. Alec was paying him, but
money didn't really matter, not against the kind of vocation that
Carson had.