“No, that’s fine. Just show us the way.” There she went again—acting cold and strange towards him, but if Gareth noticed he didn’t show it.
“I’ll catch you later, Sierra.” Gareth grabbed my hand and squeezed it before I had a chance to pull away.
“Bye, kids,” Oren waved.
Ebony stuck her tongue out at Oren and said, “See you at nine, Sierra!”
Willow smiled and waved.
When the racket subsided, I took a seat across from Oren. “You really have to stop flirting with Ebony. She’s too fragile at the moment and might take your teasing literally.”
Oren’s smile widened. “It’s harmless fun. I can’t compare to that young chap she’s with.”
“Actually, she’s not with him anymore. So unless you want to get involved in something messy that will no doubt embarrass me, stop leading her on. You’ve been leading her on since the day you met her.” I didn’t mention that in her current state, she’d probably see Oren as just what she needed for now—an older man who could offer her harmless flirting, care and comfort.
“Sierra, it might surprise you to hear this but I
am
a man. Being your grandfather doesn’t stop me from having the same needs and wants as other men.”
“Okay, you need to stop right there.”
“You started this conversation—”
“Yeah, and I’m going to end it.” I sighed, thinking about the box under the sink. I’d have to take that disturbing Hand upstairs while Willow wasn’t home. “So, you honestly think the gross hand can help, or are you just hoping it can?”
He shrugged. “I’m sure it will help us.”
“Oren, there’s no us. I’m going in there alone. I’m not going to put anyone else at risk.”
“It’s not up to you to decide whose life can be put at risk and whose can’t.”
I crossed my arms over my stomach and leaned into the chair, glaring at him. “You can be a difficult man to deal with, Mr. McKee.”
“Not as hard to reason with as you.”
“Seriously, what was all that macho shit with Hugo Papan?”
Oren narrowed his eyes. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“I don’t know what?”
“You don’t know Jason’s father is not just any old werewolf, he’s the alpha of the biggest Pack in Sydney.”
“What? No way!” Why hadn’t Papan mentioned something this important? Then again, if he wasn’t in contact with his family and was doing everything he could to keep his distance, would he think it was important at all? And it really wasn’t—not in the grand scheme of things. I didn’t care about any of this, I just cared about him.
“Yes, he is.”
“And how do you know?” Had Oren been checking up on Papan?
“You didn’t think I’d be able to resist looking into the background of my granddaughter’s werewolf boyfriend, did you?”
“You’re incredible, you know that?” I snorted. “Why haven’t you mentioned it before?”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Okay then.” I uncrossed my arms. “There is something else I’ve asked you about many times, but you keep dodging my questions.”
“Is it about Willow’s dog? Did you feel something odd about it?”
“No, did you?”
Oren shrugged. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Well, make sure you keep me posted because my sister wants to move him into her bedroom. And the last time I crossed paths with a black dog, he tried to kill me.” And actually succeeded in killing an innocent woman…but I wasn’t going there. I couldn’t. Not after finally accepting and moving on from Benita’s death.
“Is it about you and Gareth?”
“What…why?” I sputtered my hasty response. Damn his accurate intuition. “There is no me and Gareth.”
A hint of a smile twitched his lips. “I sensed things were a little strained between you. That’s all.”
“It’s nothing.” I wouldn’t discuss that strange situation with him. “He just has a tendency to be overprotective and tries to butt into my business.” I looked him in the eye, hoping he understood the double meaning because this was something Oren and Gareth had in common. “There is such a thing as being over-cautious.”
“If you say so.” He broke eye contact. “It’s got to be about the phone call, then—”
“Oren, stop!” He was turning my brain to mush with all these diversions and there was only one thing I wanted to discuss. “I’ve got more questions about the Alliance,” I said and raised a hand to stop him before he could interrupt. “And just so you know, the crappy and very vague snippets you’ve been feeding me to get me off your back aren’t cutting it. I need real answers.”
“Sierra, I told you what was relevant—”
“So you don’t think I deserve to know the Alliance is what’s left of the hunters group my grandmother was a part of?”
Oren opened his mouth, closed it and rubbed the back of his neck.
He wasn’t dodging me today. I stood, headed for the coffee machine and busied myself while he pondered my question. It didn’t take long for me to be back at my seat.
“Well?” I’d given him more than enough time to choose his answer by getting myself a strong cup of coffee—which I now sipped—and a cup of tea for him—which he stared at so he wouldn’t have to look at me.
“If you’ve made the connection, there’s not much more to tell.”
“Yet you’ve been telling me it’s a relatively new organization that hands out assignments to their members.” I watched him, hoping the intensity of my stare would break him. But Oren was a hard man to break. He might be a well-conserved, charming and handsome older man who could be fifty as easily as he could be seventy, but his light eyes spoke of many years of experience. He might look good for whatever his real age was, but I knew he’d seen and experienced a lot. So his granddaughter grilling him for info probably wouldn’t have much of an effect.
Still, I wouldn’t give up. I needed to know why the Alliance was still functioning after all these years. And more importantly, why he thought it was okay to string me along with useless tidbits.
Dilemmas used to be something I avoided, but they were becoming the norm in my life.
“Well?” I pushed.
“I didn’t say new, I said recent.”
“Yeah, that makes a huge difference and explains your omissions.”
He sighed, his icy blue eyes now peering into mine. I was glad he’d lost the pink glare as soon as Hugo Papan left. “Sierra, the Alliance isn’t as important as I might have led you to believe by not answering your direct questions. The mystique you’ve built around it is my fault. I should have been straight with you.”
“So, stop dodging and start answering.” I took a quick sip from my mug, enjoying the warmth of caffeine. “Is it the same organization Grandma used to belong to?”
“Yes. And no,” he said.
“Care to elaborate?”
“The Alliance used to be a large organization spread throughout many cities. Now there’s only one base of operation in each continent.” Oren toyed with the cup handle. “It disbanded for a few decades shortly after Pepita left, but was later reformed by…”
A chill raced down my spine and I couldn’t hold back a shiver. Why the hell did his voice trailing off have this effect on me? There was only one way to find out. “It was reformed by whom?”
Oren stalled by taking a long drink from his cup, gulping it the same way others would beer. He placed the empty cup on the tabletop, still avoiding my eyes. “It was reformed by Jacinta Mills.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. My pulse quickened. “Eli Moss’s grandmother?”
Willow’s great-grandmother
?
Oren nodded.
“The Alliance is run by a necromancer?” I was in awe. No wonder he’d avoided giving me the real answers. Wait a minute… “Ah, when I asked you months ago about Jacinta Mills you said you knew her, you made it sound like it was past tense. You also mentioned she had a bad streak, so how can she be in charge?”
He sat back in his chair, meeting my eyes but not giving anything away. “I’m sorry if I led you astray.” He shook his head. “No, let me rephrase that. I intentionally wanted you to think I no longer had anything to do with her.”
“Why?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Sounds like it, so simplify it.”
Oren sighed. “Jacinta isn’t a bad person. She’s just ambitious to the point of obsession. She will do whatever she has to in order to contain the power she wields, and sometimes this requires some unsavory acts.”
“Does she know about Willow?” My half sister was only a month away from becoming a legal adult, but if this woman decided to claim guardianship before then, she’d probably win.
He shrugged. “Not much gets by Jacinta. She has eyes everywhere.”
“So you didn’t tell her?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Sally and Lavie about Willow?”
His eyes darkened. “Why would I? They already know.”
“No, I mean when I first met her.” Inside The Lord’s Saint Church, Lavie mentioned something quizzical and it had bugged me since.
“No. It wasn’t me.” Oren sat forward. “I might leave things out of our conversations sometimes, but I don’t plot schemes behind your back. Everything I do is what I consider to be in your best interest. I need to protect you, and now Willow too. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“Where does Jacinta live?”
“In Rome, sometimes Paris,” he answered. “She has properties all over the world and lives where she pleases, but the head office is in Rome.”
“But she used to live in Australia?”
Oren nodded. “She was born here and lived happily for many years, but after Pepita left the Alliance, everything fell apart.”
“Why?” My grandmother had always been important to me, so hearing she mattered to others shouldn’t be surprising.
“Remember when I told you Sally knew your grandmother?”
I nodded, remembering something else. “You also said Sally and Jacinta were friends, right?”
“Yes. The three of them were friends.” Oren’s eyes were shiny, as if a bunch of memories were flashing before him. “Best of friends, almost inseparable…”
For the first time, since he’d made me see a snippet of his intimate past with my grandmother, I wished I could see it for myself. “Can you show me?”
Unshed tears glistened in his eyes for several quiet moments. I stood and made my way to the chair beside his, extending my hand as I approached.
He finally nodded, wrapped his cold fingers around mine and pressed them against his chest. I spread my palm over his heart, letting each beat help me relax and open up to receive the vision…
Oren stood across the room chatting to a short man with a red beard and green suit. He was half listening, and his gaze kept returning to the woman across the room. The beautiful woman with dark eyes and long curly hair that fell halfway down her back. She stole glances his way, even flashed a smile, but continued a conversation with her two friends. One had straight shoulder-length ebony hair and bright blue eyes. She was taller than the other two and was glaring at Oren. The third woman had red, frizzy hair.
“Excuse me a moment,” Oren said to the man, and didn’t wait for an answer. He strode across the wood-paneled room with confidence. When he reached the three women, they stopped chatting and turned all eyes his way. “Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but I need a minute with Pepita.”
“Of course you do,” the redhead scoffed with a giggle.
“Sal…” Pepita playfully slapped Sally’s arm.
“We’re busy,” the ebony-haired woman said with a frown.
“Jacinta!” Pepita glowered.
“I’m sure you can spare her for just a moment.” He placed a tentative hand on Pepita’s elbow and she nodded.
“I’ll be right back,” she said to her friends.
Oren led her away and out of the packed room, until they stood in the shadows of the corridor just outside.
“What’s wrong, Oren?”
“Nothing’s wrong now that I’ve finally got you to myself, my love.”
She smiled at him. “Is that the only reason you pulled me away from my friends?”
“No, there are many reasons, but one of them was certainly to annoy Jacinta.”
“I don’t know why you two hate each other so much.”
“We don’t hate each other,” he whispered, leaning closer. “At least, I don’t hate her. Some people just hate what they can’t have.”
Pepita stroked Oren’s face. “And she’ll never have you.” She kissed him softly. “I’d rather you end up with Sally than Jacinta.”
“What happened with Jacinta was a long time ago—”
Pepita stopped him by pressing her fingers to his lips. “I know, Oren. You don’t have to explain. The past belongs in the past. There’s just something going on with her.”
He kissed her fingertips. “What do you mean?”
“You know I love her like a sister, but Jacinta’s changing.” Pepita sighed. “I think she’s up to something.”
“She’s always up to something.”
“No, this is different.”
Oren wrapped his arms around her small waist and pulled her against his body. “Don’t worry, my love.” He kissed her hair. “We’ll get to the bottom of it, together…”