Destined (War of the Covens 2)
Page 18
“Da. He is a thorn to say the least. What is he up to?”
“My contact doesn’t know the details.”
“You believe your contact?”
“Yes. Let’s just say he has no pain threshold.”
“You must watch your methods. If we want our plan to work, we must project a certain image.”
He nodded. “Believe me, I know. Don’t worry about me. You better find out what du Bois is up to, Nikolai.”
“I have every intention of doing so. If it’s what I think he is up to, it will provide me the perfect opportunity to have him … misplaced.”
A silence settled upon the room. Then …
“And the document—is it finished?”
Nikolai nodded gravely and stood. His large hand delved inside the wool coat and reappeared with an envelope. He pushed it across the desk separating them, the small diamond in the onyx pinkie ring winking in the dim light.
He opened the envelope, his hands almost shaking in anticipation. The paper inside was the beginning of the end. He was sure of it. He pulled it out and unfolded it slowly, his eyes widening at the information printed in Nikolai’s scrawling penmanship.
“The Septum,” he exhaled the words.
“Da.”
“And we’re sure this is correct?”
“Positive. We’ve been searching a long time. I would not have brought it merely based on assumption.”
He nodded impatiently. “I know, I know. I just can’t believe we’re this close.”
His heart thudded loudly in his chest. All they needed now was the girl. He needed to get back. His plans so far were not going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but it was time to take matters in hand. He needed the girl, and at present, he only had one avenue to her.
“Will we get her, you think?”
“Have no fear, Nikolai. Caia Ribeiro will be in our hands before the year is out.”
6
Why?
“Well, ain’t you a picture,” Ryder boomed as Jaeden threw open her motel door, face pale, eyes squinting against the sun.
She sighed heavily, slipping a pair of dark sunglasses over her eyes. “You know, I’ve never noticed how annoyingly chipper you are. Have you always been so, or is this a recent development?”
He laughed as she pushed past him, heading across the lot to the motel bar and grill. “Not a morning person, huh?”
“Please be quiet.”
He grinned behind her, enjoying her obvious irritation, and noticed by the stiffness in her body the likely effects of sleeping in the worst bed in the state.
Doing as requested, Ryder didn’t direct any conversation at her until they were seated and had ordered. He waited until she finally took off the sunglasses before deciding to hit her with the question that had been bugging him for a while.
“Tell me … why did you leave the pack in the first place?”
Her dark blue eyes narrowed, and her full lips thinned in discomfort at his directness. She glared.
“Hey, I’m just asking what everyone will be asking when we get home.”
More glaring. Wait, was she snarling?
Ryder snorted and leaned across the table toward her. “Jae, you are going to have to talk about this at some point. Dimitri was going nuts while you were gone. He probably would have had a search party out scouring the country if Lucien hadn’t given him a direct order to leave you alone.”
He watched the surprise flit across her face, her mouth open in astonishment. It was fascinating, watching the way she wiped the expression clean and replaced her cool facade. And just when he thought he wasn’t going to get a reaction …
“Why would Lucien do that?”
Ryder smirked, smug (and a little relieved) that he still knew her enough to know she couldn’t resist that bit of information. “Caia asked him to.”
Jae frowned. “Wait … why?”
Suddenly, the memory of her broken, of her young skin lashed and burned, her bright eyes blank and numb with torture, flooded his thoughts and sobered him. “Because after what happened to you, she thought you deserved the time you needed to yourself.”
She looked down, shielding her eyes and thoughts from him. “That was … kind.”
“The girl you met for those, what, two weeks—you liked her, right?”
Still not looking at him, Jae nodded. “She was cool.”
“Caia cares about you a great deal.”
She frowned again, and he was caught in her curious gaze. “You respect her, don’t you?”
Ryder chuckled. “Yeah. She’s my friend … actually, she’s more like a sister.”
“So you don’t …”
What was she trying to ask?
Laughter bubbled inside him as realization dawned, but he managed to contain it as he replied in a strangled voice, “Nah, I’ll leave that particular privilege to her mate.”
Sitting back in her seat, seeming more relaxed, Jaeden smiled at him. Ryder tried to ignore the sudden speed in his pulse.
“Yeah, what’s up with that? Lucien doing what Caia tells him to do?”
The whole Lucien-and-Caia thing was mind-boggling to him. It was obvious they were crazy about each other, but neither one could see it, and neither one wanted to talk about it. He’d had his head bitten off enough times to shut up on the matter. Hopefully, they’d work it out before it really was too late, and someone did something they would regret.