Ryder on the Storm (8 page)

“Alright, we can do that. But, one of us needs to be with you at all times now. The Immortals know you exist and that there is something special about you. The one who stopped by earlier seemed curious but he didn’t wish you any harm. Still, we are aware of several others in town right now. Can you agree to be good?” Dan looked skeptical but his shoulders relaxed when she eagerly nodded her agreement.

“Now, how about we unpack the rest of my stuff? We can drive the Hummer tonight if you like.” Storm stood and pasted an overly enthusiastic smile on her face.

Shane shrugged, “A promise is a promise.” His face lit at the mention of the Hummer. Yep, she still had it; the way to every guy’s heart was food and a good ride.

As they walked out of the study, Storm thought to ask one more question, “So are you two really brothers?”

“Yes, babe. We are.” There seemed to be more to the answer than that, but she decided to let Shane off the hook - for now. Storm made a mental check of all the questions they had left unanswered, and suppressed her desire to go through her studio, and Aunt Trin’s supposed secret room. For now, she just wanted to try being normal, to see if she could just be a girl moving into her family house with two gorgeous men. No visions, no Immortals, just her seeing the world as a young woman should, with all the emotions she should have had her entire life.

Ryder

Ryder slid into the driver’s seat as Lucian slammed the passenger door. Thankfully his friend didn’t fight to drive this time. Ryder needed to drive to occupy his shaking hands. She did something to him. That’s the only explanation, cursed him maybe? But he did not feel any different.

“Well, brother? What happened? Does she have the Sight?” For Lucian that marked easing into the conversation. Ryder grimaced.

As they sped through town toward his meeting with Frederick, Ryder doubted there was time to tell everything. He did not get the book. Without the book he could not prove anything to anybody. If Ryder could persuade Lucian enough to buy some more time he could slip back in for the book later. He needed Lucian. Her face flashed in his mind. Those eyes. Her touch. Ryder shook it off. He had to focus.

“Lucian, I have to meet Baron for a few to go over Starlight’s stock. Could you call the boys and see if we can meet them for an early dinner instead? Maybe 4:30 at Il Bistro? That gives us time to talk, and we have a lot to discuss.” Ryder worked to keep his voice steady but his mind kept returning to Storm Sullivan. He found her innocence beguiling, so young and unaware. He doubted she even knew about the legend. She did not seem to understand the depth of her power. How could that be possible?

“Ry, what happened in there? Talk to me, brother.”

“I will, I am ready to tell you everything but I need to meet with Baron. What happened with the seraphs?” Just a temporary subject change but the information could be helpful. Information could do that.

Lucian shrugged, “Nothing, brother, nothing at all. We shot the shit, turns out they’ve heard of me. They certainly did not want me to set foot in the house. One of them started to glow a bit, I could tell they wanted badly to protect whomever was in the house.”

“You seem disappointed.” Definitely more to the story, he knew somebody special lived in the house. “Please, just give me time to explain everything before you do anything rash.”

“I will, I owe you at least that. A bit of a fight would have been nice, though, I am restless again. You know what happens when I have no outlet for my energy, for the fire.” Ryder knew. He had hoped the seraphs would fight Lucian a bit, just a little sparring to dampen his inner flame.

“I am sorry, Luc. We will figure something out. Perhaps Kell and Pollux would be willing to spar for a bit? Would that suffice?” Ryder hoped one or both would agree to a sparring session. He had a room in the basement of Durstine that would work. Doubt rolled off Lucian in waves. Clearly he too recalled the last time Kell and Pollux had agreed to a sparring match. Clearly he had another kind of activity on his mind. “Not Rosalee. I do not care who else you choose, but not Rosalee. I can call Angeline if you like, she is quite attractive and a familiar.”

“Very well, call that lovely assistant of yours then, I prefer a romp with a woman.” Lucian wagged his eyebrows in that familiar way.

Ryder laughed, “I will search for a new familiar then. Speaking of familiars, would you care to have a hand in Keene’s demise?” It seemed a good time to lay a few cards on the table, a show of good faith for Lucian’s support.

“Ah, so you do have the betrayer in custody.”

“Of course. Did you doubt me? I could not let Roane know that, he’s probably out tracking as we speak. I even left a few false trails to buy us some more time.” Ryder looked at his friend, “Do not look so surprised, I did not know Roane and the boys were coming but I knew somebody would be sent to collect the familiar for trial. I want to deal with Keene first, I deserve that much. Then they can have what is left of him.” Ryder had found the photos of Trin in Keene’s room, boxes of surveillance footage and other personal effects the familiar had stolen. As it turned out, Keene had been stalking her for at least a year prior to Ryder’s reconnaissance.

Lucian’s turn to laugh, “Ry, you are one of a kind. I truly have missed you these last several decades. I hope there is nothing to this prophecy of yours, I would hate to lose you as an Immortal, brother.”

He could not think of a way to answer that. Instead, Ryder ignored it and focused on pulling into his spot at Starlight, “Stay here, call the boys, I will be back in fifteen. Then I will fill you in on how important knowledge can be.”

Ryder walked into the club; the front door unlocked, and found Frederick scrubbing the bar top, still in his jeans from the night before but with a black t-shirt and baseball cap turned backward. He must be off tonight and planning on sleep. Angeline had set up shop at a table with her laptop and briefcase opened before her. She had a navy blue pinstriped skirt suit on, her hair tightly plaited, and a pair of tortoise shell reading glasses. When she felt his entrance, Angeline looked up from her work and nodded tightly.

“Hey, boss. I let Ang in, she said she had something for you and needed to speak with you. I am ready to go over stock when you are done.” Frederick head to the back room, clipboard in hand.

“Angeline?” Ryder looked down at his assistant. She closed the netbook and placed it inside her briefcase, standing in one fluid motion. Ryder noticed that Angeline’s fae side emerged when her emotions ran high. She smoothed her hair and adjusted the hemline of her blazer before meeting his eye.

“My liege, Keene has taken his own life. We are not sure how he managed it but I have a team examining his cell. He scratched a suicide note on his shirt, seemingly with his own blood. I bagged it before the others arrived and locked it in the safe in your study. The body will be moved to your lab by nightfall.” Angeline paused, her deep blue eyes flitting to the side for a moment and a slight flush colored her cheeks. “I have other, er, news. Roane stopped at the manor earlier. Rosalee did not allow him entry, he became rather aggressive so I intervened and blackened his eye. He was, dissatisfied. I have been relieved of my position as a familiar.”

Ryder laid a hand on her shoulder. “Angeline, you will remain as my assistant. Roane has no power to remove your status as a familiar and I assure you that will not happen. Please accompany me for the remainder of the day. Lucian is in the car, you can keep him company while I finish with Frederick.” Ryder watched Angeline’s expression change from relief to curiosity and back to her usual flat affect. She turned toward the door, “Oh, and Angeline, be sure to tell Lucian about your encounter with Roane. He will appreciate it greatly.”

Angeline smiled tightly and nodded. Ryder sighed. Roane would be furious and demand reparations. Or perhaps not, he would not likely admit to the rest of the Brethren that a female had inflicted the injury he sought compensation for. Ryder turned toward the stock room. He heard Frederick shuffling boxes around, the sound echoed down the long industrial-styled hall. Perhaps he should do something with it; definitely an upgrade of the staff rooms would be appreciated. Ryder shrugged and turned into the stock room where Frederick stood counting a crate of Jack Daniels. When he looked up, Ryder noted the circles under his eyes.

“Let’s make this fast so you can get some sleep, friend.” Frederick nodded and shrugged, his form of agreement. They blew through the stock counts quickly, nothing out of the norm; Frederick knew how to run the bar more efficiently that any he’d seen over the years. Ryder signed off on the requisitions and entrusted Frederick with calling it in. Looking over the bartender once more, Ryder studied him, yes, definitely the right choice.

“Frederick, how long have you worked for me?” Ryder did not miss the brief look of concern that registered on Frederick’s face. Perhaps he should have worded that differently.

“Uh, about eight years or so. Why?” Frederick shifted his weight, adjusting his baseball cap before removing it altogether and shoving it in his back pocket. Ryder wanted to smile, but it would just be mean to laugh at the guy too.

“I would like you to take over Starlight for me.” And there it went. Ryder worked hard to stifle his amusement. It took a moment for the statement to truly register. Frederick opened and closed his mouth a few times before actually forming words.

“What? Whoa. Wait, boss. Are you serious? Why?” Frederick’s emotions flushed over his face and he ended up going silent. Ryder could not understand why it would be a shock. The guy worked hard and knew how the business needed to run. He was loyal above all. What Ryder could not tell him was that he intended to take Frederick as a familiar. The guy had a spark, some bit of fae or something somewhere along his line. Ryder did not think he knew, but many never picked up on their other senses unless they were triggered somehow. Regardless, it should n0t be difficult to pass Frederick through the council and their readers would pick up on whatever his supernatural inclination may be.

“I will have the papers drawn up for your promotion. You do not have to tend bar if you do not wish to but if you like the tips and tail, then by all means –“ Ryder let the idea trail off. Frederick got the gist. He smiled ear to ear, giddy with excitement. Frederick’s thoughts blared and Ryder had to clamp down on the connection to prevent a headache.

“Thank you, boss. Really, this is such an honor and I truly appreciate it.” Frederick crossed the room in two strides and held out his hand. Ryder took it and nodded brusquely though he had the urge to smile back, caught up in the bartender’s emotions.

“You have earned it. Keep up the good work.” Ryder patted his shoulder approvingly and took his leave. He chuckled at the whoop of delight that echoed down the hall after him. As he walked into the light of day, Ryder changed his focus to the day ahead. Hopefully Lucian was able to put off the boys for a while.

Storm

Unloading the truck proved to be more work than she’d anticipated. The dining room ended up half-filled with her furniture, the ragtag collection of pieces she’d assembled and couldn’t bear to part with. The paintings she’d kept were stacked against a bookshelf in the study, her clothes filled in her old closet and the one in the guest room next door. Boxes of miscellaneous items and books were stacked in the guest room as well. Dan and Shane joked as they always had – at her expense – as if the morning’s conversations never occurred.

“Do you really plan to keep all of this junk, babe?” Shane surveyed the stacks of boxes in the guest room. “I mean, I had planned on crashing in this room tonight but I am not sure there is room for me.”

“If you call my belongings ‘junk’ one more time I am going to curse you.”

“Oooooh, Shane, our little Storm is going to curse you.”

“You know I can and I would. Maybe some explosive pimples all over that gorgeous face, the ladies would love that.” Storm crossed her arms over her chest and formed her most impressive look of abject disapproval.

“Actually, babe, you can’t. You can’t curse a seraph. Sorry to disappoint you.” Shane looked almost remorseful. She couldn’t curse them? Well that sucked. Dammit.

“Aw, Storm, don’t look so sad. There are plenty of ways to harm us. For example, you are quite talented at breaking our hearts.” Dan put an arm around her and feigned devastation. She felt anger all of a sudden; it welled up in her like a volcano.

“Breaking your hearts? Really? Do you even have hearts to break? Aren’t you two some special celestial beings above all of that pathetic human emotion?” Storm heard her own voice rising, the heat flushed her face and Dan backed away.

“Storm, babe, calm down, just breathe.” Shane took a step back. “You have to relax, Storm.”

“Stop patronizing me. You two are always patronizing me.” Storm felt strange, something seemed to be growing inside of her.

“Look at your hands, babe.” Storm followed the direction of Shane’s gaze and faltered, she might have screamed if she weren’t so shocked. Her hands were glowing golden, as in bright light emanating from her fingertips and palms.

“Whoa. What in the hell is going on?” The glow faded and Storm felt drained and tired.