Saving Her Destiny (18 page)

Malik looked her up and down again. “Yet there is no mark of a wedding band…”

“I took it off,” Janelle said.

“And why would you do that?”

Janelle stood straight and glared at him. “It's none of your business, you big blue cloud of smoke. Look, I'm here to see my sister. If you need something, get on with it, and get going.”

He appraised her, his gaze roaming over Janelle, but his face remained impassive. Then he glanced back at Cara. “I will be calling.”

With that, the djinn disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.

Cara dropped into the nearest chair and buried her face in her hands. Maybe now it would be okay to cry. Because she'd flat screwed up her life.

Tears came out, and Cara just sat there for a moment, unsure what she should do.

“Okay, I know I've been away, but, uh, Hell Hounds, Cara, what was that?” Janelle came and sat next to her sister. “Is that the djinn that took you world hopping?”

Cara nodded. “He was really nice at first. Now I just want to strangle him.”

Janelle rolled her eyes. “Good luck with that.” She pulled out a piece of gum from her pocket and offered it to Cara, but she wasn't in the mood. Instead, her sister popped the gum in her mouth and leaned back. “So, uh, here.” She handed Cara a tissue.

“Thanks.” Cara patted her eyes. Though it didn't make the pain in her heart go away. “Just an hour ago, everything was perfect. Duncan proposed to me.”

Janelle's eyes widened. “Really? That quick? Huh.”

“What?”

Janelle shrugged. “Well, just do yourself a favor, and date a while. Don't jump head-long into marriage. You'll regret it.”

Cara glanced at her sister. “But you did.”

“And now, I regret it.” She glanced at her hand. “The djinn is observant. I haven't worn my wedding ring in a month.”

Cara sniffed, in a way relieved to hear about someone else's stuff rather than her own crazy drama. “You're not, uh, cheating on your husband, are you?”

Janelle shot her a rude look. “Really? You know me better than that. We are separated. And I'm thinking pretty seriously about moving back to Avalon. I can still use The Portal to deliver my screams. I just don't have to be there to do it.”

Cara nodded, and Janelle continued to talk about what was going on with her, and as they spoke about everything from her not-so-perfect marriage to releasing screams, Cara realized how much she'd missed her sister.

She hadn't had that in a while. Ever since Janelle left eight years ago and got married to her—at least then—Prince Charming, their visits had been short. No time for girly discussions about all those sisterly things.

And then there was all the stuff between Cara and Duncan that they discussed, dissected, and generally over-analyzed.

They were in the middle of a funny story about Janelle's soon-to-be ex, when there was another knock at the door.

“Want me to get it?” Janelle asked.

Cara nodded. She wasn't ready to deal with any new visitors today. She pulled the little afghan off the back of her couch and wrapped it around her.

Janelle went to the door, and after she opened it, she stepped to the side. “Cara, it's for you.”

Duncan stood there. This time, he was dressed in a suit. Not his FID suit, either. This was Armani, if she wasn't mistaken.

He looked amazing.

And he was holding red roses, but his gaze darted around her cottage. She was pretty sure he was looking for Malik.

“Okay, I'm confused,” Cara said as she crawled out from under her blanket.

Duncan raised his eyebrow. “I'm going for romantic here.”

She stood slowly and took a couple of hesitant steps toward him. While he was always hot, right now he had that sophisticated, modern day, could-be-a-billionaire-could-be-a-movie-star refined thing going.

Which really sucked, because as gorgeous as he looked, she thought he was done with her. The way he left—

It didn't make much sense.

“Yeah, I think I'll be going.” Janelle's gaze darted between Cara and Duncan's, and then she pinned Cara with a glare. “You
had so better
call me…”

Cara nodded. “Full disclosure.”

Duncan stepped to the side, letting Janelle walk out of the house, then came in. “Full disclosure, eh?”

Cara shrugged. “You've been talked about. She wants to know what happens. It's a sister thing.”

“Ahh. Brothers are not quite so chatty.” He held out the flowers. “Here.”

“They're beautiful, Duncan.” Cara savored the sweet rose smell as she walked into the kitchen to fetch a vase. She pulled the paper wrapping off the stems and cut them.

Busy work was good, because otherwise her hands would be shaking.

“I just want to know one thing, Cara.”

She almost jumped out of her skin, not realizing he'd followed her into the kitchen.

Arranging the flowers in the vase, however, didn't hide the shakes anymore. “What is that?”

“Were you planning on telling me about Malik?” His voice was unusually soft, and she wasn't sure she wanted to see his expression. Whether he was angry or hurt—she didn't know if she could handle either.

“Of course I was.” Cara made herself turn and face him. His face was stone cold again, and it hit her like a brick. As bad as her anxiety, if not worse.

“Before or after I proposed?” There he went with that low whisper again.

“I'm sorry. I was, Duncan I was. I promise that I was. With your, uh, wounds, and everything, I was going to wait a few days, tell you after, well, we'd figured out what this was between us. I didn't expect you to propose. I hadn't even considered the implications of your proposal until Malik appeared. I was still just adoring being with you. Wondering why we didn't figure this out until now. I hadn't even considered the next step for this relationship.”

She took a step toward him, looking at his still very somber expression for a crack. Even reaching out with her telepathy if only to see if she could feel something—anything—from him.

Duncan, however, gave nothing away.

If he hadn't shown up with roses and in a suit, she would have thought he never wanted to see her again.

“So you do want to see this relationship continue?”

Cara nodded. “Why wouldn't I?”

“You cannot keep things from me, Cara. If we're in this, we have to be in this together. I need full disclosure too.”

“I know. I'm sorry. I just didn't know when, or really how to tell you. I was afraid.” She put her hands on the counter to steady herself. Some part of her had to be steady—her heart hammered at a million miles an hour, and she felt like she might lose her breath.

“You should never be afraid of me.”

She couldn't look at him as she spoke. “I was today.”

“I'm sorry.” He sighed. “I was angry, yes. Surely by now, you can trust me. With anything. I hope you know that.” He put his hand on her shoulder. A casual touch, but one that she felt all the way to her toes.

“I do. I just didn't want to hurt you again. I finally have you, and I didn't want to push you away because of that stupid debt, of my foolishness to listen to a djinn. I should know better. He twists everything around to get what he wants.”

He nodded. “And that's why you didn't come home? Because of him?”

“Yes.”

“He cannot keep us apart. I won't let him.” He took her hands, squeezing them, and she squeezed his hands back.

“Neither will I,” she said.

“So you do want to marry me?” Duncan said.

“No,” Cara said, shaking her head. She and Janelle had discussed this at length. They'd talked it around a dozen different directions.

This seemed the best course of action to take. The logical one, all things considered.

Duncan blinked and stepped away from her. “I see.”

She wasn't letting him walk away—not again. Not without saying her piece first. She followed him and grabbed his hand before he took off. “No, you really don't. I adore you Duncan, you're everything I've ever wanted in a man. You always have been.”

“But you don't want to marry me?”

She squeezed his hand. “Of course I want to marry you. I just can't right now. Because of the debt.” She crossed to her couch and plopped on it—that way her mother always chastised her about.

Duncan sat on the opposite end of the couch. “So what do you owe him?”

“I don't know,” Cara said, wadding the material of her dress in her fingers again.

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean you don't know?”

“I owe him a favor, when he asks for it.”

He sighed. “So what does he want?”

“I won't know until he asks. And he may not ask
me
for anything.” She reached over the couch to touch his hand. “You know how djinn debts work, Duncan.”

Surprisingly, he laced his fingers with hers. “They apply to the entire family—”

“Which is why I can't marry you. If he owes a debt to me, a lowly banshee, there isn't much I can do for him. But if I marry you…”

“Then the debt applies to me as well.”

Cara nodded. “It's the only way I can protect you. You, being FID, would have a lot more resources available to ask favors for. I won't let you carry my debt.”

He nodded. “You should have said something sooner.”

She raised her eyebrow. “We've been a little preoccupied since we got here.”

This did make him smile. “That we have been.” He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arm around hers. “So you will marry me?”

“Eventually, yes.”

“Good,” Duncan said. “Because I would hate for this to go to waste.” He pulled out of his pocket a ring box.

Cara's breath caught in her throat.

He opened it.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

He pulled the ring out of the box and took her hand. “It's called a destiny diamond.” The ring had a solitaire in the center, with a platinum band and diamonds along the side in an infinity design. Both elaborate and simple at the same time.

And big. It had to be at least a carat.

“I thought, since, well…our destinies seem to be tied together…” Duncan said as he slipped the ring on all the way.

Cara nodded. “Yes, they are.” She met his gaze. “We are tied together.”

He reached up and caressed her cheek, his finger grazing her dimple. “Yes, we are.”

Epilogue

“Here,” Duncan said, handing Cara a glass of merlot. “You look ready for it.” He kissed her cheek.

She stroked his face. “You truly are the best, my little house-husband.”

Duncan laughed. “More like the lazy, jobless roommate.” True enough, that. After all, he was mortal—officially retired, thanks to the verbal declaration made in his brother and sister-in-law's yard. It took a couple of weeks, but someone in Records caught it, and he had to take retirement right after Cara came back.

While he wasn't complaining—he now was aging with Cara like a normal person—he still found himself a bit listless. He'd been looking around Avalon for a position he could fill, but had yet to find something. So he'd been doing little projects while Cara was at work to update the house. Those things Cara had wanted to get to but hadn't bothered with yet. Like painting.

She brushed his nose. “You have paint on your face.”

He rubbed his nose. “Yeah, well, the fence is painted.”

She grinned. “Thank you. It's nice to come home to a clean house, laundry done, and dinner ready. You know I'm not much in the cooking arts.”

“Well, cooking can be learned.” He escorted her to the dinner table, where he'd prepared salmon for dinner. He thought it looked good, but the test would be if Cara liked it. She drank most of her wine in one gulp.

“Thirsty?” Duncan asked.

“Rough day. Lots of paperwork. Migraine imminent.”

He rubbed her shoulders. “I'm sure I can massage the stress right out of you.”

Cara sighed. “I bet you can. But I might fall asleep before anything fun happens.” Her head rocked back and forth as his thumbs massaged her neck.

“Well, you'll just have to make it up to me,” Duncan said. Cara reached up and caressed his hand on her shoulder.

“You know I will—” She was cut short by someone knocking on the front door.

They glanced at each other, and Duncan squared his shoulders. This could be Malik, who lingered like a shadow over every day, wanting his favor. Was today the day?

“Were you expecting anyone?” Cara whispered.

“No.” Duncan stared at the door, hoping to glean something off whoever was on the other side. However, since he'd retired, his telepathy was not nearly as strong, since no magic fed it. “I'll get it.”

“Can you tell who it is?”
Cara asked him.

He shook his head as he approached the door.

Cara nodded, though her eyes were wide and she looked almost terrified.

Duncan pulled the door open and blinked. It wasn't Malik.

It was two Knights Templar.

“Sir Tabor, Sir Alexander,” Duncan said, nodding to the two immortal humans. While they weren't in their formal white Templar chasubles, they did wear black polos with red crosses on the shoulders, and their huge broadswords, so Duncan guessed it was some sort of business that brought them to his—correction,
their
—door. He'd met these two when he'd worked a FID case a while back.

“Mister Molar,” Tabor said. “May we speak with you?”

Duncan opened the door and allowed them in. He had to push himself into a corner to open the door wide enough for the two men—both over six-five, and humongous, to fit into the small cottage.

And Duncan didn't think he'd fit very well—these guys practically made the place feel like it was going to pop at the seams.

“What is this about Templars?” Cara asked as she approached.

“Sorry to intrude on your evening, Miss Wallace. We wanted to speak to your fiancé,” Tabor said.

She blinked and then nodded. “Oh! Oh, um, let me get out of your way.”

Duncan glanced at Cara.
“What do you know?”

She just grinned in reply.
“Nothing. I know nothing.”

He did not believe her, but he wasn't about to share that conversation with Tabor and Alexander.

“So what can I do for you?” Duncan asked.

“It is more what we can do for you,” Tabor said.

Duncan raised an eyebrow.

“I understand you need a job. And we need staff.” Tabor put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Something Duncan couldn't help noticing. “To do what?” His gaze darted from Tabor's face to the hand on the sword.

Tabor took his hand off the sword and crossed his arms over his chest. “In your case, to help us coordinate with the FID units when necessary, and to help us here on the island.”

“We require a heavy support staff to run one of our bases. To have someone on staff that is both familiar with the inhabitants and has strong connections to the Fairy Realm would be very beneficial for us.” Alexander added.

“Did Cara put you up to this?” Duncan asked.

“I most certainly did not!” Cara said. Evidently, she hadn't gone very far when she'd left him alone with the Templars.

He raised an eyebrow at his almost-wife.

“She merely heard us speaking with the Magistrates about employing residents, and if they had any recommendations to fill those spots. Your name was already on the list, before Miss Wallace mentioned you to us.”

“Oh.” Cara sounded rather deflated.

He shook his head. “When do you need me to start?”

“As soon as you are available,” Tabor said.

“I'm available.” He held out his hand, and Tabor gave him a firm handshake. They went over a few of the particulars, and the Templars left.

As soon as it was closed, Duncan spun to face his fiancé. “What did you do to me?”

She grinned. “Thought you were getting bored.”

“I think you're tired of me being in the house all the time, doing stuff.”

“I figured you would be,” Cara replied as he closed in on her.

He pulled her against him. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” She hugged him tight.

Duncan rested his head on top of hers.

So this is what it feels like to be with the woman you love…

He liked it. A lot.