Romani Armada (30 page)

The door of the apartment was rammed inwards, shuddering open under the impact. It slammed up against the wall and Deonne whirled, already knowing she had been discovered.

Her fear was large and thick in her throat as she watched Santiago walk in. He looked angry, but as his gaze swept the room and he saw the well-stuffed sack and the remnants of her packing spread across the bed, his anger faded. Puzzlement took its place.

He stopped in the middle of the small clear area, his hands down by his sides. “I wanted to give you all sorts of grief for running away from me like that,” he told her. “But…”

Deonne let her hand fall away from the sack. There was no point trying to hide it.

Santiago looked at her, his eyes rich with some emotion she didn’t care to analyze. “You are so afraid of me, you will flee your home? Your friends?”

Deonne faced him squarely, making herself stand straight and unrepentant. She didn’t respond. The truth was there for him to see.

He moved forward a pace. “Why?
Why
? I am virtually a stranger to you—” He stopped speaking mid-sentence, his gaze turning inward.

Deonne’s chest locked. He had figured out something. He had devised yet one more fact. This was exactly what Deonne had tried to warn Nayara about. Just by standing in the same room with Santiago, she told him too much, even if she did not speak.

Santiago shifted a half-pace closer. “I am not a stranger to you, am I? You know about me. You know about my future. Something ahead of me in time scares you so badly that you would run away rather than face me.”

Deonne curled her hands into fists. She couldn’t afford to speak. He was learning too much. Cold fingertips glided up her spine, making her hair lift. How badly was this fucking things up? How could she minimize the damage?

“I’m right,” he said, watching her. He gave a tiny nod. “You know who I am. Who I
really
am.”

Nothing harmful could emerge from confirming his guess. Not now. “You’re Adán Santiago,” she told him.

“Which you realized, back in your office,” he added. “I looked at your computer after you left. You looked up my name. Santiago.” He shifted a tiny inch closer. “My name fills you with fear. What is the terrible thing I do that a woman as strong and independent as you would fly away in panic at my mere presence?”

He thought he was about to turn into a monster. She could see his own fear written large on his face. “What you do isn’t—” She snapped her teeth together with an audible click, realizing that even that half-sentence gave away so much. She couldn’t afford to finish it.

He sank down onto the upright chair next to her desk and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. He was looking at the floor, a faint frown marring the flesh between his brows. “Then I was right. You
are
from the future.” He looked up at her and smiled. “You have no idea how…
pleased
I am to meet you.”

It was not even close to what Deonne thought his reaction would be when he finally figured it out. She let out her breath. It was done now. He knew.

“Why pleased?” she asked.

But he was frowning again, looking at the floor. It was as if he had not heard her. She felt like Santiago was moving three steps ahead of the conversation, or perhaps even more. His intuitive reasoning was uncanny.

He looked up at her again. “If what I do in the future that has you ready to bolt is not a bad thing, then why does it fill you with fear?”

Deonne drew in a breath that shook. He was
so
close. “You should leave. Now.”

He remained seated, studying her. “I am scaring you just by speculating. I must be close to the truth.” He glanced at the bed once more where her sack rested. It was a silent accusation.

“You can’t leave,” he said. His tone was remote, like his mind was still churning far ahead of the conversation.

“I can’t stay,” she assured him.

“Yunnan Province is…” He grimaced. “Provincial,” he finished. “You are running away so for you, the idea of getting lost among a lot of other people will have its pull. But elsewhere is unknown to you. If you head anywhere populated, you’ll get into trouble if I’m not there, too.”

Laughter bubbled up inside her. “I’m running away
from you
. Why would I take you with me?”

“You haven’t had enough practice hiding your real self,” he continued on, as if she hadn’t spoken. “You give off clues all the time.” His gaze caught hers. “Then there are your markings. You’ll be exposed, vulnerable. You’ll be considered available to anyone who comes across you.”

Deonne wrapped her arms around her middle as a shudder ran through her. “I can’t stay here,” she whispered. It was the one thread of reasoning she had left and it wasn’t really a reason. It was just a fact. She couldn’t be anywhere near Santiago.

“Why?” He rose to his feet in a swift flex of muscle and sinews that made her think, oddly, of Justin. Justin bounced up from a chair in just the same way when they were alone together. It was as if he wasn’t bothering to hide his nature, or scale down his true strength.

Oh, how she wished he were here! It would make things worse if he was – it would totally wreck any time line that might be left, but she wanted him standing next to her. Her want was so strong it made her chest clamp and her heart thud.

“
Why
is escaping me so terribly important?” Santiago demanded, his hands lifting and spreading to emphasize his words. “Can you not tell me?”

She shook her head.

“Why can you not tell me?” he asked reasonably.

“Telling anyone their own future is dangerous.”

His eyes narrowed. “
Dangerous
,” he repeated flatly. He dropped his hands, staring at her. Through her. His mind was racing again. Then she saw his focus shift and return to her. “Consequences,” he breathed. “If you tell me, my future changes and…what? It echoes into the future? Into your time?”

Deonne pressed her fingers to her mouth, holding back her panic. She could feel the danger of this moment pressing in on her. “I have to leave,” she said and grabbed the strap of the carrysack. She hauled it onto her shoulder, wincing at the weight.

Santiago moved to stand in front of her. His fingers curled around the strap of the carrysack. “You cannot leave,” he told her.

“You can’t stop me.”

“I would not try under normal circumstance,” he assured her. “You are a free person. But, Dianne – whatever your name is – if you leave the village, you will be changing the future. That is what you are so afraid of, isn’t it? The future I bring with me?”

He’d nailed it. Not the specifics, but he finally understood her real fear. Having it spoken aloud like that was terrifying. Deonne bit her lip, blinking back pathetic tears. “Let me go,” she whispered.

His black eyes looked into hers and he shook his head. It was a gentle motion. “No. You must stay here.” He tugged the carrysack from her shoulder and tossed it back on the bed. “The future you know is here. You must abide by that.”

Her tears fell. “Then we both will die.”

She saw his shock, as he pulled her against him, pressed her cheek against his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her.

Even though she was deeply afraid of what she had set in motion, she closed her eyes and took comfort from the embrace. At least he understood. At least she had someone to share her fear.

* * * * *

Chronometric Conservation Agency Headquarters, Villa Fontani, Rome, 2264 A.D.:
Kieren seemed to be completely indifferent to the magnificent grounds and buildings of the new Agency headquarters. He didn’t look around as they were escorted through the classically elegant rooms by Mariana, into the suite of rooms that were the heart of operations.

There were a dozen people working at the stations that ranged around the perimeter, including Rob and Christian. Christian glanced up and nodded, while Rob actually smiled at them before returning to his work.

Kieren did turn his head as they cross the big room. He quartered it with his gaze, absorbing detail. “They’ve set it up well,” he announced, his tone one of a professional passing judgment.

“Glad you like it,” Cáel told him. “This is your new work space.”

“I haven’t agreed yet,” Kieren reminded him.

Cáel ignored that. Kieren was at the point of toppling. He just had to find the lever that would tip him into agreement. The man didn’t want to
look
like he was capitulating too easily, which was understandable. He had given his life and his loyalty to a corporation that dumped him unceremoniously the moment he was proved to be unlike most of them. Kieren wasn’t just going to roll over and join the Agency without serious assurance he would be fully accepted. He needed to know that the Agency was not in any way similar to the Universal Wardens. Cáel had laid the groundwork to demonstrate that. He just needed something to get the seeds he had planted back in Israel to germinate.

Rob rose from his chair and crossed over to where Kieren stood looking around. “I heard you left the Wardens.”

Kieren nodded shortly.

“You’re freelancing, then?” Rob asked.

“Something like that,” Kieren replied.

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Rob replied. “Because I’ve got a problem with the security assignments. Can you take a look?”

Kieren hesitated and glanced at Cáel. He stepped forward. “We should speak with Nayara, first,” he suggested.

Rob raised his hand placatingly. “After would be just as good,” he said. “This stuff can drive a man ter drink. I’m better with my broadsword in my hand than telling others how and where to raise their blade.”

A ghost of a smile touched Keiren’s mouth and eyes. “I doubt that very much, sir. Ms. Ibarra has a knack for giving people work that matches their abilities.”

Rob grinned. “Then it’d be an ability I’ve yet to grow. Do come and show me what the hell I’ve snarled, please?”

“I will,” Kieren assured him and glanced at Cáel once more. “Should we go in, sir?”

Mariana, who stood patiently to one side, moved forward again. “This way,” she told them both and led them through another charming cavedium and into Nayara’s room.

Nayara rose from behind her desk. Cáel caught the change in her expression when she saw him. Surprise, then a softening of her features as delight rippled through her. Almost instantly, though, she reverted to full professional mode. The Chief Executive Officer was back in place. She moved over to the two of them and rested her hand briefly on Keiren’s shoulder. “I’m glad you decided to come, Kieren.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Kieren said.

“He says he’s only visiting,” Cáel warned her.

Nayara smiled at Kieren. “Then sit and visit,” she told him and waved toward the low chairs and table that sat in front of the big windows, to take in the enclosed rose garden beyond.

“You do steal the most magnificent views,” Cáel told her as they moved to the chairs. “Although the night side of Earth from orbit is very hard to compete with, this comes close.”

Kieren glanced at the roses and sat down, gazing at Nayara expectantly.

Nayara gave Cáel a small smile and went to sit down but he caught her arm and drew her to him.

Nayara gasped and her gaze flickered toward Kieren.

“He knows,” Cáel murmured and kissed her, sliding his hand up into her hair to hold her head steady.

Nayara melted against him, which had to be one of the best sensations in the universe, in Cáel’s opinion. He reluctantly halted the kiss and handed her into her chair. Nayara rewarded him with a smile and a murmured ‘thank you’.

Cáel sighed and sat in his own chair. He glanced at Kieren. The man had watched them kiss without discomfort and he looked at Cáel without embarrassment. Good. If there was one thing Cáel had learned about being intimate with the senior members of the agency, it was that personal and business matters were barely separated, if at all. They mixed their professional and private lives into a single organic soup, because for them,
everything
was personal. If Kieren had showed signs of uneasiness at a simple – or perhaps not so simple – kiss, then Cáel would have grounds for concern.

He reached out and picked up Nayara’s hand, feeling her slender fingers under his. “How is Ryan?” he asked.

Nayara’s face worked and for a moment, Cáel glimpsed her upset.

“What is it?” he demanded.

“I…” She let out a breath and glanced at Kieren, who instantly got to his feet. “I can wait outside for a few minutes,” he said.

“Stay, please,” Cáel told him. He looked at Nayara. “If Kieren is to do the work I want him to do, he must be privy to everything. Tell us. What has happened? Did Ryan sleep again?”

Her throat worked and her fingers clamped around his. “Yes,” she murmured.

Kieren sat down slowly.

“Like before?” Cáel asked.

She nodded. From the grip she had on his hand, Cáel suspected that had she been human, Nayara would have been shedding tears by now. But that was not a luxury vampires enjoyed. “He fell asleep two days ago. If the pattern holds, he should wake up, today.”

“He sleeps?” Kieren asked softly.

Cáel breathed past his own worry. “Fahmido believes it is a product of the weapon Gabriel used upon him.”

Kieren considered that. “Ryan was not…balanced, in Sweden. He uses the cane always, now?”

“He is trying to wean himself from it,” Nayara replied. “But when he gets tired…” She trailed off and bit her lip.

“Vampires getting tired,” Kieren murmured. He shook his head a little. “This weapon of Gabriel’s—to do such a thing to a vampire.... What would it do to humans?”

There was a touch of outrage in his voice.

“We already know what it will do,” Nayara told him.

Kieren sat back. “You know, but you will not share that knowledge.”

“Commit to the Agency, Kieren, and she will,” Cáel told him. “All we need to know is that your discretion is assured.”

“Not my loyalty?”

Nayara gave him a small smile. “I would hope that your loyalty isn’t for sale. But I would like to earn it, if you give me a chance.”