Chapter Five
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If Vinea had an ulterior motive, Devon needed to find out what it was. “I guess I have to believe you,” Devon said, hoping she’d not see the lump in his throat at the lie. “You know I deal in facts. Having the sardonyx and the money proves you’ve changed.”
In truth, it proved the opposite. Had she not given the stolen goods to him, he’d have condemned her immediately. His mind raced, trying to think of all the ways she could have come into possession of the precious gem and the money and yet not be culpable.
Believe her! She’s your mate. And she’s a good person now, his wolf begged.
I’m not listening to you or my body when it comes to her. I am listening to my mind, and it is screaming for me to be cautious.
You’re making us both suffer. You want her, and you know it. We need to be with her.
Devon worked to shut him up, but when she grinned, his body went haywire. His teeth sharpened, and his bones cracked. Until he was positive she had abandoned her dark goddess ways, Devon couldn’t take what she seemed to be offering—a mate with exceptional talents.
“Great,” she said. “What else can I do to help?”
“Nothing. You’ve done more than enough. Except it would really help if you didn’t float around without my knowledge.” No telling what mess she could get into. He stood. “I’ll give this money to Jackson and then put this crystal someplace safe. We can’t let the Changelings get a hold of it.”
Vinea stood. When she licked her lips, he almost lost it. From the gleam in her eye, her plans weren’t finished, and he needed to rein her in. The best way to accomplish that was to keep her close.
Yes! His wolf rejoiced.
“What do you say we celebrate your find? Dinner tonight?” he asked. His pulse sped up as his conscience rebelled. Half of him wanted to believe her, but the other half didn’t want to be duped again.
I’m proud of you, his wolf said.
“That would be great.” Vinea’s enthusiasm seemed so genuine that he had to fight his urge to reach out and touch her. He needed to protect his heart and caution had to be his game.
“How about I pick you up at seven?” he asked.
She hesitated for a moment but then nodded. “Sure.”
When she told him where she lived, never would he have guessed a goddess would live in a trailer. He’d been to that trailer park, and it wasn’t upscale.
“Shall I walk you out?” he asked. He’d feel better once she was gone. While he’d asked her not to float about, he wasn’t convinced she’d obey.
She shook her head. “When I’m sure no unsuspecting soul can see me, I’d rather teleport. I don’t own a car, and it’s quite blustery out for walking.”
Once more she surprised him. She had no problem stealing a few vehicles in the past. Maybe she had changed.
Told ya, his wolf taunted.
As soon as Vinea left, he and his wolf needed to have a stern talk and get on the same damn page.
“Then I’ll see you at seven,” he said.
She smiled, and his insides stirred, as did another body part. Damn. He hated how fickle he was. His wolf desperately wanted to taste her, touch her, and be intimate with her, yet his human part was smart enough to know she wasn’t good for him.
“Tonight then,” she said. With a slight nod, Vinea was gone.
Devon leaned against his desk and ran his hand down his face, feeling like he had just been through a twilight zone.
For the next few minutes, he went over everything she’d said, looking for inconsistencies and hidden motives. He then studied the sardonyx, wondering if it was real or a cheap imitation. The only way to be sure the money Vinea gave him came from the heist was to have Jackson run the serial numbers against the ones the bank gave him, so Devon gathered the crystal and the money and headed to Jackson’s office. When he entered, his friend was totally focused on his computer screen.
“I had a visitor,” Devon announced as he placed the money and the gem on his friend’s cluttered desk.
Jackson looked up, and when he spotted the stone, his eyes went wide. “Where did that come from?”
Devon filled him in on everything Vinea had told him. “I can’t be sure if it’s real.”
“We’ll have to check it out.”
“Good. Then can you see if the serial numbers of the bills match the bank’s list?”
“Absolutely.” He picked up the first bill and typed the information into his computer. His brows rose. “Well, I’ll be damned. It is a match. And you said she lifted these from the seller?”
“Yes. Vinea only took a few so as not to tip the guy off.”
“That was actually rather smart, especially if the money hadn’t been stolen from the bank here.”
“True,” Devon said. He had to give her kudos for not being greedy.
“Do we know who this seller is?” Jackson asked.
“She didn’t say, but I don’t think she knows.”
“If this guy was able to find a gem this size, there’s no telling how much more he could locate. It could be critical to our survival to make sure he understands the type of person he’s dealing with.”
Jackson nodded. “Let’s nail Brother Jacob first before finding out who this dealer is.” Jackson picked up the crystal, leaned back in his chair, and looked off to the side for a moment. “Maybe Anna would be willing to touch the stone and tell us.”
“Anna?” She was mated to Dalton, but he hadn’t been told she had any special talents.
“When Anna touches sardonyx, it makes her ill.”
While unpleasant for her, Anna’s talent could be useful to them. “If Brother Jacob spent fifteen thousand dollars for it—assuming what Vinea said was true—I’ll bet this is no fake.”
“That’s assuming she really did follow Brother Jacob to California. She could have created the sardonyx. She is a goddess, you know.” Jackson handed him back the stone. “As for the money, she might have been in on the heist.”
His gut clenched. “I thought that too.”
She’s telling the truth, his wolf whimpered. Did she sound like she was lying?
No.
Jackson waved a hand. “See what Connor says. We need to make sure we can trust her.”
He could hear his brother now. The man would be skeptical of anything Vinea said or did. On the other hand, it might do Devon some good to talk with him. Connor might be able to knock some sense into his thick skull.
“You’re right. I’ll let you know what he says.”
Devon left Jackson and headed straight to Connor’s office. When he walked in, Devon waved the huge stone. “Special delivery.”
Connor jumped up and stepped around his desk. “Where the hell did you get that?”
“Sit down. It’s a long story.” He went through the entire conversation with Vinea once more, including how he’d invited her to dinner to see if he could catch her in a lie. “If she is telling the truth, then maybe she can remember a few more details about who this dealer is. I can’t recall if she said she followed him to his home or not. If she did, we might be able to locate him.”
“That’s smart thinking. See what information she has. And you said the serial numbers matched?”
“At least one did.”
“Son of a bitch. The problem is that we have no proof that the money came from Brother Jacob. The fact that Vinea basically stole the money from this seller means it won’t hold up in court.”
“True. Jackson suggested that since she was a goddess, she might have made it.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her. Shit. I wish we could ring up her sister and ask if goddesses are capable of manufacturing stones.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice? I’m having a hard time with trusting her too. I do know that with a swipe of her hand, she can change her hair color and its length. Hell, she can be wearing a dress one minute and shorts the next. Why not be able to recreate a stone?”
“Damn,” Connor said. “So even if we prove the stone is real, we won’t know for sure if Jacob purchased it from someone in California. I don’t suppose she showed you her airline ticket.”
Devon’s heart was sinking fast. “She flew, but not in an airplane.”
“You do realize that she could basically destroy us if she created sardonyx for the Changelings.”
“Yes, but let’s not jump to conclusions. If she is working for them, then there is nothing we can do to stop her. If she did learn about the purchase and went out to Los Angeles, we’ll know soon enough.”
“How? She deceived all of us before!” Connor’s anger rose.
“Just calm down and listen to me for a minute. If the Changelings robbed an armored car and then spent the entire sum on the stone, only to have it stolen, they will be furious. They’ll have to try another heist soon. If they do, we’ll know Vinea was telling the truth.” Relief poured through him at that thought.
“Hmm, you might have a point. Did you know Vinea was going to follow Brother Jacob?”
“No! The last time I saw her was right before our meeting, which apparently she was listening to—from inside the room!”
“I knew she could teleport, but she has invisibility power too?” Connor asked.
“Yes.”
His brother slammed his hand on the desk. “Unless we can invoke a soundproof spell as well as one that prevents invisibility, we all need to be careful around her. You are right to want to ask her more questions. You know the old saying about keeping your enemy close?”
“I hear ya. When I meet with her this evening, if she’s guilty, I’m hoping I can catch her in a lie.”
Devon was torn. He didn’t trust her, but he didn’t want to believe he’d been duped again. Having the sardonyx implied she was trying to help him—unless she’d made it. The stolen money was another matter. She could be in possession of the money because she was in on the heist. How he was going to find out the truth was anyone’s guess.
“Good luck,” Connor said. He tapped the stone. “I’ll hand the sardonyx over to Rye. He’ll check the authenticity. If it’s legit, he’ll stash it in a special place.”
“Let me know.”
“I will.”
*
Vinea was nervous. She was going out on a real date with Devon McKinnon. Yes, it would be wonderful to sit across from him and just talk, but she wasn’t hundreds of years old for nothing. The man would not be flirting with her. Even after she had handed over the sardonyx and the stolen money, she could see his wheels spinning, clearly questioning whether to believe her or not.
Sure, she could have returned to his office to see what he told the others, but that wouldn’t have been right. As of six months ago, Vinea Summer didn’t break the law or lie or cheat anyone—and she especially didn’t want to upset the man who haunted her dreams.
Did she believe in fated mates? Hell yeah, she did. She believed in them so strongly that she became obsessed with wanting to be the one to pick and choose who was paired with whom. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. When Naliana, her younger sister, was chosen instead of her, Vinea saw red. Somehow the jealousy had turned her so evil that she’d been kicked out of the light realm to repent. And now she had, only she doubted anyone noticed or cared.
Truthfully, she hadn’t expected them to. It had taken her too long to change. If Devon hadn’t dunked her in Silver Lake, she might never have seen the light. Even after he tried to cleanse her, she’d rebelled and lied to him, saying that only Changelings could be cleansed. In truth, she’d had no idea what the pink quartz would do to her. It wasn’t until the next day that the truth revealed itself. She’d held that knife over Zane Hunter’s head and realized that she couldn’t go through with killing him. It was why she’d run.
Bottom line, Vinea needed to move on and stop blaming others for her problems. She needed to face what she’d done, and if Devon refused to be convinced that she was a different person, then she’d have to deal. Of course, it would kill her to lose him. After all, he was all she thought about. Hell, his image was the one that helped her cope with all the adversity. While she deserved the pain, at some point, she’d like to find happiness—with Devon McKinnon.
But happiness would never come if she didn’t get ready for this date. This was another chance to convince him she was no longer the evil goddess. If she dressed too provocatively, he’d think she was only interested in seducing him for her own gain.
If she tossed on a pair of baggy jeans and a loose T-shirt, she’d be throwing away her one advantage of appealing to his wolf side. Even though Devon acted as if he couldn’t stand her, she hadn’t missed the signs that he wanted her—or at least his wolf half did. In her heart, she wanted to believe they were fated mates.
The only problem with her theory that they belonged together was that never in a million years would Naliana allow it. Would her sister ever pair a goddess with a shifter? Ugh. Vinea hated not knowing.
Even when she was part of the dark realm, the moment Vinea had spotted Devon in Vermont, her body had gone crazy with need. At first, she hadn’t understood what that meant, but the more time she spent on earth, the more she recognized that emotion as lust mixed with love. Admittedly, she didn’t know Devon that well, so love seemed ridiculous, but she certainly loved his noble ways. Plus, him being an incredibly hot and sexy man certainly didn’t hurt either.
A knock sounded on her trailer door. Damn. She wasn’t ready. Seductive or unattractive? Quick, decide. To hell with it. With a swipe of her hand, she opted for straight-legged jeans, knee-high leather boots, and a soft peach sweater that outlined her breasts quite well—the perfect blend of sexy and sweet.
“Coming!” she called.
Now that Devon was here, she wished she’d told him that she’d meet him at the restaurant. Men like Devon probably had never stepped foot in a run-down trailer, and he might judge her poorly.
She pulled open the door and drank him in. Wow! He looked so hot in his white button-down shirt, dark blue jeans, and highly polished boots that she wanted to jump his bones right then. Her body sent so many sparks of need throughout her that she thought she might combust.
In the dark realm, sex was a means to an end, not something that one enjoyed. But here on earth, the right man could change her life.
“Hey,” he said. His hands were stuffed in the front pockets of his jeans, and he was looking past her as if he was curious about her place. He finally returned his gaze to her face. “You look nice.”
Those kind words melted her and gave her hope. “Thanks. Come on in, but enter at your own risk. I’ve tried to scrub every surface, but some grime even I can’t get rid of. My goddess powers only go so far.” Devon actually chuckled, and the tension in her shoulders relaxed.
He glanced around. “It seems livable.”
That was a nice way of putting it. “Let me put on my jacket.” Vinea swiped a hand over her body, and suddenly, she was covered in a long wool coat.
“I hope you’re careful who you’re with when you do that. I bet a lot of people would freak out if they saw that display.”
She smiled. “I’m careful. Trust me.”
“Ready?”
Not at all. “Sure.”
She crossed her fingers, hoping that EmmaLee’s superstition worked.