A Secret Fate (16 page)

He’d left Addison after making sure she was okay and the head injury wasn’t going to cause her any major problems other than a headache. He needed time to process all the information she’d given him, which he still hadn’t done. Besides, he wanted to get out of Dodge before that fiancé or husband, or whatever he was to her, came home. There were definitely signs of a masculine presence in that house and he didn’t want to be subjected to twenty questions about why he was there. Because, hell, if she’d been his woman and he came home to find a strange man with her—even though they weren’t doing anything—he’d have blown a blood vessel, struck first and maybe asked questions later. Cael liked his face just the way it was, thank you very much.

He had to wonder what other little secrets and pieces of important information about the past five years his friends and family were keeping from him. The bigger question was why?

Unable to fall asleep after that pathetic and dissatisfying waste of energy to get his rocks off, he threw the covers off and got out of bed. Walking over to the window to gaze at the moon, he remembered that weird tide, which in turn made him think of her again. Addison. His eyes traveled down to his sex. He was still so fucking hard.

Maybe it would help if he concentrated on who her father was. Still hard to believe Ristéard had a daughter, a beautiful, sexy daughter. Christ, why hadn’t anyone told him? The Sectorium had more secrets than Victoria. He knew the many repercussions of leaking certain aspects of his people to the rest of the human race. Hell, “certain aspects” was a total understatement if there had ever been one. Any detail about his kind trickling out to the so-called “normal humans” who didn’t possess an ability was like asking for a death sentence. Or worse, subjection to tests and procedures that were too terrible to even think about.

Yep, glancing down at his crotch, he realized the influences of the current thought process were working. His erection was now only at half-mast. An improvement, he supposed, and by time he got ready to go, he was certain it would be all the way down.

He needed to get to the bottom of who Addison MacKenna was, aside from being Ristéard’s daughter. That thought only made him think of her sweet, round sexy behind. Fuck, picturing her bottom didn’t help his current situation, but thinking about another female in his life most certainly would—the only person he knew who could help him. He tugged on his jeans and grabbed for the T-shirt, the sticky mess getting all over his hand. Shit. He tossed the shirt in the basket along with the other dirty clothes then washed his hands before grabbing a clean one and shrugging into the soft black cotton.

No need for a jacket, as he dematerialized from the small bedroom at Bart’s house and reemerged inside his mother’s bedroom. Standing there watching her sleep reminded him of his childhood when he had entered her room after having a nightmare or when he was sick. It was probably ridiculous that he was here now considering he was a grown man and it was the middle of the night. Waking her up would no doubt piss her off, but hell, he knew there were too many things she was keeping from him and he wanted to know what they were. If he couldn’t sleep because of them, then she shouldn’t get to either.

She’d slept alone in that big bed ever since his father left. He wondered if she was lonely. He shook his head, not wanting to go there. Did she know the old man had come to see him? What had really happened between them? Another string of questions he had for her. Hell, he might be here all night at this rate. He walked over to her bed and gently shook her shoulder.

“Mom?”

“Hmmm?” Her blue eyes opened wide. “Cael? What … what are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Now? What time is it?”

“I … I don’t know.” He picked up the small clock beside her bed and glanced at it. “It’s three-thirty.”

“Cael, what is it, honey? Are you all right?” She sat up instantly, pulling the blanket up to her neck, covering up the powdery blue nightgown she wore.

Okay, so she wasn’t pissed that he woke her. Mothers were strange beings. He’d have been mad as hell if she’d snuck into his room and awakened him at such a God-awful hour.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Well, that was a lie. “No, actually I’m not okay.”

“Why, what’s going on?”

“Too many things. This memory, or rather lack of memory thing.”

“Let me get up. How about if you wait for me in the parlor. I’ll have Ben bring us some tea.”

“Don’t wake him.”

“Oh, you’re right. I’ll get it myself.”

“Mom, I don’t need tea. I need answers.”

Setting her lips to a thin line, she studied him. The sweat literally flowed from his brow and he swiped the back of his hand across his forehead. Fisting his fingers, he felt the clamminess in his palms, and even felt a little feverish. “You need tea,” she said, walking off toward the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, Siana Sheridan walked into the pristine formal sitting room. Cael’s nerves were shot. Realizing that, he took several deep breaths as he stood staring out at the garden below. Even in the dark, especially in the dark, it was beautiful with the landscape lighting placed strategically around to illuminate the vast foliage surrounding the array of camellias, pansies and other flowers his mother loved, all a variety conditioned to grow in the winter. He guessed the next time he came to visit, there would probably be a completely different combination as spring continued to unfold.

“Here we go.” He turned as she set a tray with a pink-and-yellow-flowered pot of tea with two matching cups in the center of the table between the sofa and the two adjacent chairs. “Come sit and tell me what has you so upset.”

“Who says I’m upset?”

She smiled. “Cael, honey, you’re pale as a ghost, your breathing is labored, your heart is heavy and it’s after three in the morning. Last time you came into my room at that hour there was a monster in your closet. So, tell me, what monster has my boy upset this time?”

“The monster wasn’t in my closet. It was in my nightmare.”

“Okay. So, did you have a nightmare?” Her kind features suggested a little teasing, which he considered loving and well deserved, considering the hour.

“There are a couple of things I need to talk to you about.”

“Well, let’s start with the first one.” Her smile helped him not come across as nasty, even though the subject justified a lousy attitude in his opinion. There was really no way to beat around the topic so he just blurted it out.

“Why didn’t you mention that Addison MacKenna was Ristéard’s daughter?”

“Oh. I was wondering when you would find out. Didn’t we all agree that it would be best for you to try to learn things on your own rather than bombard you with details that you might not have been ready to accept?”

Well, damn. She had a point there.

Siana lifted the teapot, poured some of the smooth golden liquid into the cups and handed one to him. “Drink this, honey. It will help.”

He took the warm tea and sipped before placing the cup down on the saucer. “Still, this was something that I think I could have handled. After all, she is Ristéard’s legacy, a part of him that lives on in this world. I was upset about losing him, but knowing he had a daughter helps me cope a little better with my loss.”

“That’s a nice thought.” She sipped some of the tea. “I haven’t seen you since Breena’s party to clue you in on things and to be honest, I didn’t think that was the right time, given the fact that you just found out about Ristéard. Besides, Cael, there wasn’t much time then, you had to get Finn to the police. Then I guess afterwards, nobody told you about her because when you met her the first time, you were on your own. Red thought it best if you learned in the same way about the people you knew during the five years’ worth of memories you’ve lost, so it would feel more … natural.”

“Well, now that I know who she is, tell me more.”

“Do you really want me to?” He nodded even though he thought it was just a rhetorical question, especially when she continued with, “I think some things are best left discovered on their own. However, I will tell you that she is very capable of taking care of herself. Her mother was my best friend. She died while trying to give birth to Addison’s twin brother. Ristéard had been on an excavation and didn’t know she was in labor. I begged her to let me get him, but she was scared and didn’t want to be left alone. There was nothing the doctor could do. We lost her and the baby boy. Addison was sheltered and hidden because of a promise Ristéard and I made to her mother to keep her safe. Even then, there were people who wanted to destroy her because of who she would become. Addison is a very strong individual with the same abilities as her father.”

“I get that, but the other problem is, like her father, she had the crystal.”

“Yes, I know that. And the book is secure in your safe.”

Annoyance coursed through his veins and he felt the muscles in his neck clench. He gave her a bitter glance, hating being in the dark about something so important. “The book is secure, but the crystal is not. Someone attacked Addison tonight and stole it.”

“What? Is she okay? My God, Cael, why didn’t you tell me this right away?”

He shook off the irritation of her expectations of him when she hadn’t even trusted him with her secrets. “I am telling you now. She has a little bump on the head but she’ll be fine. I plan to resume my search for the crystal first thing tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m so relieved to hear she is all right, but there’s no telling what sort of havoc will rain down on us if that crystal gets into the wrong hands. How in the world did they get it from her? With her capabilities, I mean.”

“Someone must have seen it on her at some point. She was careless and most likely feeling a bit too invincible, went walking on the beach alone. Someone jumped her from behind, hit her on the back of the head and knocked her out. I found her down there shortly after, but there was no sign of anyone. I would have sensed them.”

“There must be some clues somewhere as to who might have stolen it.”

“If there are, I will find them.”

“I hope so. Please keep me informed about this. I have a child here to think about. Her safety is very important to me. If the thief who stole the crystal knows how to use it, they could discover all of us here.”

“You’d better put everyone here on alert.”

“I will, don’t worry. Now, what is the other thing that’s got you even more upset than Addison MacKenna and the crystal?”

He glanced at her before picking up the cup of tea and downing the rest of its contents. He needed the soothing qualities of the magic mixture to help him get through the next part of this conversation. He was well aware that his mother, if she wanted to, could just figure it out on her own, considering she had the same extrasensory/clairvoyance/second sight thing he had going on but he also knew that she was being extremely polite tonight and not using it with him at the moment. Some things were better heard aloud in order to get the full impact.

Siana picked up her tea, politely sipping the delicate brew. He waited until she set the cup down and looked at him before he said, “He’s back.”

She knew exactly whom Cael referred to by the look on her face, though not a surprised look. Quite the contrary.

“I see. What does he want?”

“I don’t know. He said he needed to talk to me.”

“What about?”

Unable to sit still, Cael stood and walked to the other side of the room. “I don’t know. I didn’t give him a chance to tell me.”

“Cael, he is your father.”

“So fucking what?”

“Please, watch your language.”

“I’m sorry. I have nothing to say to him and there’s nothing he could say to me that I would
ever
want to hear.”

“Don’t you think all this anguish and hatred you are harboring for him might go away if you did talk to him?”

“You’re sticking up for him? How can you say that? He left you! Us. He left me.” Christ, he was a grown man. How could the long ago actions of another man still have such a drastic effect on him, capable of diminishing him to a tempestuous ten-year-old? 

She walked to him and wrapped her arms around him. “You never got over it,” she whispered against his ear and God, he wanted to cry on her shoulder. But really, why cry over the bastard? It was easier to hate the father who abandoned him than to feel sorrow for what Cael might have missed.

After a minute or so, she pulled back and he pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes more to suppress his anger than his sadness.

“You did well at hiding your emotions. I thought you had come to terms with it. I knew you were hurting back then. You loved him and felt betrayed. I am so sorry, honey. I wish there was some magic potion to help you deal with this. I know, all of this at once, your memory, the crystal and your father showing up this way, it has to be too much for anyone to handle. And just to keep the record straight, I’m not sticking up for him. I’m merely suggesting you talk to the man. I’ve come to terms with the decisions your father and I made a long time ago. He felt uncomfortable with the powers that we possessed and the secrets he wasn’t certain he could keep. We both thought he’d have been able to overcome that, but in the end, he realized that was too much to ask. Don’t hate him. I do regret that he wasn’t around for you, but I believe it was more for your protection than not wanting to be with you. He did and does love you.”

“He had a funny way of showing it, don’t you think?”

“Maybe we … didn’t handle things the way we should have. I’m sorry.”

***

Okay, so what did that accomplish besides ruining not only his own chance of sleep, but his mom’s as well? He didn’t have any more answers now than he did before. Revealing his true emotions about his dad to his mom may have helped on the sadness side of his feelings, but the anger was going nowhere fast. It was never his intention to hide the fact that he hated the guy, but as the years went on after Eric Sheridan’s departure, Cael always figured his mom had a difficult enough time coping without worrying about how he felt about things. It was just easier to consider the guy dead than admit he and his mom had been abandoned.