Chapter Twenty-One
Christ, it was hot.
Kaitlin wiped her sweaty palms down over her cutoffs. They belonged to Rose and were held up by a belt. She’d never thought of Rose as being fat before, but she was about twice the size around the hips as Kaitlin. She was either going to have to buy some clothes—and really, how likely was that to happen stuck in the middle of nowhere like this—or she was going to have to put on some weight. She reckoned the nearest shops must be like a day away, so it looked like she was going to have to eat—a lot. She tugged up the shorts and hitched up the top, also from Rose. She was eighteen. Where the hell were her breasts?
Actually, despite being in the middle of nowhere, and despite the intense heat and the abominable company—she cast a narrow-eyed glare toward where the colonel sat talking with Christa—she’d fallen instantly in love with this place.
Through the windows, she could see the vast array of the mountains looming over them, their tops shrouded in mist. But otherwise, the sky was a rich, clear blue. And the noises—the chatter of monkeys and birds in the forests surrounding the house—made her itch to go out and explore, lose herself in the vastness of this place. She’d been in a tiny cell for so long that she ached to be outside, to be part of the utter grandeur of the mountains.
Instead, they were having a meeting. Or they would be, once Kane turned up. Her stomach churned at the thought of meeting him again. She’d only seen him briefly once before, not long before they had broken away from their government controllers. It had been shortly after she’d been told of Sam’s death, and she’d been sunk in terror and misery. She’d been out on a job, gathering the colonel’s sordid little stock of lies. And Kane had given her hope.
The bastard.
But hey, she’d still been young and naive then. She’d believed in hope.
While she couldn’t lay the blame for Sam’s death on Kane, he was certainly responsible for Teagan’s. And many others—Senator Gilpin, who’d been her friend, and the rest of the oversight committee who’d been investigating the Tribe before they had broken away. He’d had them killed, all to protect this precious mission of his.
Well, stuff his mission.
She wasn’t helping him.
And what was much worse in her eyes was the betrayal. He’d pretended to be her friend, had said he would help them, and then he’d betrayed them in the worst possible way. Somehow, he would pay.
Having said that, she was intrigued by the thought of a time machine. Maybe she could steal it. She was betting that would piss him off.
They were in a large room with high ceilings and fans moving the hot air. Sadie sat across from her. She didn’t look happy. Sadie had always felt too much. Now, she was determined never to feel again. In some ways, Kaitlin didn’t blame her.
But she wanted to feel. Everything.
They’d arrived after dark last night, after what seemed like hours of travel. Her head had hurt—probably from the alcohol—and she’d dozed most of the way. At least the truck had taken them all the way to the house. Christa had told her the first time they’d come, they’d had to trek through the jungle for hours to get here. They’d widened the road since.
At that moment, the door opened and there he was. She’d built him up into some sort of monster, but in fact, he looked so like Jake that for a moment her heart hitched. She’d had a crush on Jake since forever. Obviously, she was not going to get him now, unless she somehow got rid of Christa. And she wouldn’t do that. Not really because she liked her, which she did—it was impossible not to like Christa—but because Jake seemed truly happy. He’d been a miserable bastard before. Blaming himself for Sam’s death, for the others, when really, it was as much her fault as his. More maybe.
She was just thinking all this to stop her from concentrating on Kane. Because if she thought about him too much, she might implode with the need to tear him into little pieces.
He was wearing khaki shorts and a black T-shirt that showed off his tall, lean figure. He looked pretty good for a man who had to be over a hundred and fifty years old. His skin was tanned dark gold and his eyes were brilliant blue. He stopped in front of her.
Why?
Then he held out his hand.
What the fuck? Was he kidding?
She glanced around the room to find everyone’s eyes on her. Sadie’s lips twitched.
“Kaitlin?” He murmured her name, and the sound sent shivers running through her.
Ugh.
She scowled. “You’re kidding me, right? You think I’m going to shake your hand like you didn’t fucking betray us? Like it wasn’t your fault that we spent the last six months in prison. That we nearly died.” She got to her feet. Poked him in his rock-hard chest with her finger. “That Teagan did die. Your fault.”
“Kaitlin, sit down.” That was Jake who had come in behind Kane.
For a moment, she thought about going for one punch. But in the end, she decided she’d bide her time. She cast Jake a sullen look, but sank down onto the seat behind her.
Kane gave her one last glance, and his hand dropped to his side. He crossed the room and took a free chair between Stefan and Dex.
Jake sat down beside Christa. “Okay, we have a few things to discuss.”
Sadie had told her most of what was going on during their drinking spree on the plane. It was some crazy mixed-up shit.
“First, the Conclave,” Jake said.
They sounded like the real bad guys in this whole thing. And if Sam’s death could be blamed directly on anyone, it was this Travis guy. Who, unfortunately, was dead, so she couldn’t kill him. That left her with the colonel and Kane. And Sadie’s boyfriend.
Sadie, whether she was admitting it to herself—or anyone else—was in love with Ethan Weiland.
“So what part of ‘they all need to be destroyed’ did you not understand?” Kane said, and his tone held more than a hint of sarcasm.
Who the hell made him boss?
“Is that your answer to everything?” she said. “Killing people. They get in your way, you kill them. They know something you don’t like, you kill them. They might be a threat to your precious-oh-so-important mission, and you kill them. Is there anything else you can do?”
He studied her, his eyes narrowed, but he didn’t try and deny her accusations.
It was all too much. This wasn’t who she wanted to be. She’d once promised Sam she would always be the best person she could. She didn’t want to be part of killing. She didn’t want to be one of the bad guys, and whatever his ultimate motives, this man was one of the bad people. Her emotions surged up inside her, choked her. She had to get out of there. Away from him.
“How about we kill you, instead?” She jumped to her feet and then ran from the room, slamming the door behind her. Then she hurried across the wide hallway and out onto a veranda that ran around the whole house. She continued around to the back of the building where she faced the high mountains, and sank into a wicker chair, leaning her head back and gazing at the beauty of nature. This place seemed almost untouched by man. Even the house had been built of local materials and blended in with its surroundings.
Maybe the world would be a better place without mankind in it.
Kane apparently claimed his mission was vital to the survival of mankind. Talk about delusions of grandeur.
She supposed she should get a better hold on her temper if she wanted anyone to take her seriously. But hell, she was a teenager, angsty was normal. Not that anything else about her was normal.
She was free.
It was finally sinking in. All her life, she’d never been free. Unlike the others, she and Sam had never been fostered out. They’d grown up in the compound that had become home for the Tribe. Privately tutored, they’d never even been to school. But they’d had each other.
Now, Sam was gone, and the whole world lay in front of her. She didn’t think anyone would stop her if she decided to walk away. They might try and persuade her to stay. Because they were her family. And they loved her.
She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Hello?” a voice said from behind her. She shuffled in her chair, and the tears dried up. In front of her was one of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen—tall, with short dark hair and eyes like honey. Sharp cheekbones and a mouth to die for. What would those lips feel like against hers? She was eighteen and had never been kissed. Fuck, she was one sad case.
She delved briefly into his mind and sighed. This was the man of Sadie’s dreams, and someone else she should really want to kill.
…
Ethan had woken with a slight ache in his shoulder, but otherwise, he felt almost bright and alert. A bottle of water had been left on the table by his bed, and he drank it all. Someone had also left his medication, but he didn’t need the painkillers. Khaki shorts and a navy T-shirt lay on a chair, and he dressed quickly—they fit well enough.
His stomach rumbled, and he left the room in search of some food. But as he passed a set of French doors, he paused, his gaze drawn to the beauty of the scenery. He pushed open the doors and stepped out onto a wide veranda and stood for a moment taking in the majesty of the mountains. He had no clue where he was—he suspected Sadie had purposefully kept him drugged up so he’d be out of it for the journey. But he was guessing Africa.
Then a movement to his side made him turn. A girl sat on a wicker chair, hunched over. As he watched, she swiped her hand over her eyes.
Was she crying?
He vaguely recognized her from the airport. She had a look of the others about her. Long black hair, blue eyes, but her skin had a prison pallor, and she was too thin. And she looked young, way too young to be involved in something like this.
She turned then and studied him out of those brilliant blue eyes. “That’s what your friend Fergus thought, as well. But I’m eighteen and I’m not too young.” She sniffed again and gave him a forced smile. “I haven’t been young in a long time.”
“Me, neither.”
She waved a hand toward her face. “Just feeling sorry for myself. It will pass.”
He walked slowly to the chair close to her, as though if he moved too fast she might bolt, and he found himself intrigued by her. He shuffled the chair around and sank down facing her. “Why? Aren’t you ecstatically happy to be free and back with your people?”
She tugged at the ends of her long hair. “I am sort of. But…”
“But?”
She gave him a mournful look. “There are so many people I want to kill, and no one will let me. It’s very frustrating. I’ve been away six months, and now the enemies are friends, and honestly, you’d think there would be someone left to kill.”
“Who exactly do you want to kill?”
“Well, the colonel, obviously. But Jake’s gone and married his daughter, so apparently, he’s off limits. I don’t see why—I’d be doing her a favor, and I’m sure she’d get over it.”
His lips twitched. “Who else is on the list?”
“That fucker, Kane. I kept myself going in that cell by dreaming of all the different ways I’d kill him. And look”—she waved a hand at the mountains—“here we are at his place like we’re his best friends or something. They expected me to sit in a meeting with him and pretend he wasn’t directly responsible for Teagan’s death.” She shook her head. “This is what happens when you go away for a few short months. Chaos.”
He wondered whether he was one of the ones she wanted to kill.
She grinned. “Yeah. I suppose, but in an abstract way. Your lot might have been responsible for Sam’s death, but you knew nothing about it.”
“You know that for sure?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m much better at reading minds than Sadie is. I can see everything. Your deepest, darkest thoughts.” She studied him for a moment. “Most people sort of clamp up at this point, as though they can keep me out. You don’t care. I like that.”
He gave a shrug. He’d come to terms with what he was a long time ago. If people didn’t like him—and to be honest most people would run screaming from what was in head—hard luck. “I’m sorry about your brother.”
“Yeah, me, too. He was nice. Much nicer than me, and he didn’t deserve what they did to him.”
“Does anyone deserve what they get?”
“I suppose not.” She studied him for a moment, staring into his eyes. “I’m sorry about your mother. She sounded nice as well.”
“She was nice.”
“Maybe too nice,” Kaitlin said cryptically. She sighed. “Well, here we are, two fucked-up humans.”
“I somehow doubt you’re beyond redemption.”
“And you think you are?” She shrugged when he didn’t answer and continued, “I was sixteen when I did my first job. Jake had somehow stopped the colonel from using me before that, saying I was too young. I was pissed at him—I wanted to do something useful. That didn’t last long. My first was a terrorist. He’d planted a bomb somewhere. Most people would have said he was truly evil, but he was really just messed up.”
“When I was five, my father took my mother and me to an execution.”
“At least you had a mother and father. I mostly just had the colonel. Ugh. So who was being executed and why?”
“Don’t you know?”
She shrugged again. “I’m feeling too lazy to dig—you have a complicated mind.”
Was that a compliment? “A member of the Conclave, by heredity. She’d decided she didn’t want to participate anymore. They garroted her. The ordinary members they kill quietly, but any of us, they make an example. Loyalty is not negotiable. I remember my mother’s hand tightening in mine.”
She smiled, but a hint of sadness lurked in her eyes. “Yeah. We’re definitely a couple of fuck-ups.”
“Me, maybe. Not you. You’re trying to make a better world.”
She studied him, her head cocked on one side. “So are you, in your own way, within the limitations of your life. None of us can choose where we come into this world.”
“I like your idea of no more lies.”
“Really? Most people don’t think it would work.”
“Why?”
“Well, the argument I’m usually given is that people can’t handle the truth.”
“Then maybe the truth needs to change.”
She grinned. “Yeah. I like it. Are you going to change the truth?”
“Probably not.”
“I think you should try. You think you’re bad, but believe me, I’ve been in much worse heads.”
“Like mine, sweetheart?” Dave strolled onto the veranda, three bottles of beer in his hands.
Kaitlin grinned. “Yours isn’t bad. It’s just chaos.”
“I’ll bet. I saw the two of you out here, and thought you could do with a beer. Christ, this place is hot.” He handed them both a beer, the bottles icy cold. “Have you two been banned from the meeting, as well?”
“I voluntarily removed myself before I spontaneously exploded,” Kaitlin said. “But Ethan here was clearly not welcome, since the first thing on the agenda is Kane convincing them all that killing Ethan is the only way to keep his precious mission safe.”
“Sweet.”
Precious mission? Ethan’s ears perked at that point.
“It’s a secret,” she said with a grin. “Even Kane doesn’t know the details—all will be revealed when the time is right. Or so he says.”
Ethan took a swig of icy cold beer, and stared at the view. He couldn’t get up any real worry at the idea that this Kane wanted him dead.
“That’s because part of you thinks you deserve to die,” Kaitlin told him matter-of-factly. “But Sadie won’t let them touch you. And if it comes down to sides, Jake will side with her over Kane. She’s family. So I think you’re safe.”
“What about me?” Dave asked. “Does he want to kill me?”
Kaitlin regarded him. “Probably.” Then she grinned. “But you love Rose, so I think you’ll be safe as well.” Her eyes widened. “And you’ve slept with Sadie. With both of them. Together. Wow.”
“What?” The word came out before Ethan could stop it.
“Hey, it was a long time ago,” Dave said.
“Six months,” Kaitlin supplied.
Didn’t sound that fucking long.
“Before she met you,” Dave put in, but the bastard sounded amused.
“Two girls at the same time,” Kaitlin mused. “I’m not sure I’d like that. But maybe two guys…” She eyed them up, and Ethan’s lips twitched.
“Don’t look at us. We’re taken.”
“Yes, you are, aren’t you?” She heaved a huge sigh. “You know, I need to get out, see some of the world. How the hell am I ever going to meet anyone in this place?”
“Come back to London with me,” Ethan said, before he thought better of it.
“You’re going back?”
“At some point.” He’d have to go sort out the fallout from his father’s death.
“Does Sadie know?”
“Probably not yet, but she will soon.”
“You don’t seem too worried by that. For someone almost in charge of a super-secret organization, you seem very unbothered by people knowing your…secrets.”
“Maybe I’ve had enough of secrets. Or maybe I trust you.”
“Cool.” She grinned. “Well, I’ll hold you to that offer of the lift back to London. Because if I stick around here too long, I’ll likely end up killing Kane, and then who’ll carry out his precious mission?” She jumped to her feet. “Now, I’d better go back, check what’s happening, make sure Kane hasn’t decided to kill me, as well.”