Blood Diamond (7 page)

“Do you like red?” she asked, and without waiting for my answer, she poured two glasses.

“I don’t mind it.” With a tired groan, I collapsed onto one of the armchairs. “Good morning.”

“Afternoon,” she corrected, chuckling. “What do you like, if not red wine?” Instead of devouring her hamburger with silent intensity as she had in the restaurants, she sipped her wine, watching me.

I took up my glass, taking the time to breathe in the wine before sipping it. I didn’t usually care about the price tags of wines, but there was always something amusing about a good cheap bottle. “I used to drink Scotch.”

A good Islay had been my drink of choice before I had met Suzanne. Alcohol had frightened her, and for good reason. I had dutifully bowed to her apprehension, avoiding it unless necessary. She had understood business—within reason. After her death, I had stopped drinking in public when my friends and fellow Inquisitors had taken to introducing me to women.

Without fail, they had all shared too many similarities with my Suzanne.

Evelyn took another sip of her wine. “You smell sad. Why?”

I sucked in a breath. It felt like I stood on a precipice. If I told her the truth, I’d share things with her I hadn’t with anyone else, not even my twin brother. I couldn’t think of a reason not to tell her, so I sighed and replied, “My wife died five years ago. She didn’t like alcohol.”

Biting her lip as though afraid she’d committed a great offense, the Fenerec watched me. “The wine reminded you of her. I’m sorry. I picked a cheap bottle because I didn’t know if you’d like it.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I reassured her, taking a drink to soothe my rattled nerves. The small amount of alcohol and my lack of lunch was already going to my head. I set the glass aside and nibbled at my hamburger. “Before I met Suzanne, wine on a date was the norm for me. Candlelit dinners, the works. I haven’t been interested in dating someone. The ladies I’ve met since her death have been forced on me thanks to pitying friends, and they deserve better than that.”

So did Evelyn, but I was too much of a coward to say it.

Her smile was sad as she lifted her glass in a toast. “To your wife then. She was one exceptionally lucky woman.”

The toast took me by surprise. Unable to think of a single thing to say, I tapped my glass to hers. The crystal chimed.

Wine was a funny thing. I never could tell what made a wine expensive or good. They all tasted similar to me. While there were undertones unique to each bottle, it was always the sweet bitterness I noticed.

“You’re like a Fenerec, aren’t you? Most humans and witches don’t understand what it is to give a life oath. But you do.” Evelyn sounded so pleased that I looked up from my glass. A smile softened her eyes. “I like that.”

“Once we’re in Canada, Miss Evelyn, I recommend that you stay as far from me as possible. I’ll lead the Inquisition straight to you. But you’re right, I suppose. I haven’t considered anyone new.”

I hadn’t, at least, until she had blasted her way into my life. I finished off my glass of wine and set it aside.

Evelyn refilled my glass, pushing it back to me. She topped hers off as well, making a displeased noise at the ravaged state of the bottle. “I’ll be the one to decide that. We need to get to Canada first. And anyway, maybe that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

The intensity of her gaze and the way she straightened purposefully in her chair sent shivers running through me. I drew several deep breaths to calm myself. Focusing on business would let me regain control over myself, so I said, “We’re booked on a cruise leaving tomorrow morning. We’ll lay low. My contact will provide ID and get us to Prince Edward Island. Once we’ve set sail, I’ll arrange for a flight west.” I stood, retrieving my phone from the nightstand, opening a text to Zachary as I returned to my seat. “There’s some information I need from you, if you don’t mind.”

“Information?”

I thrust my phone at her. “We’re going on a cruise. Formal attire is required. Could you please text your measurements to this number?”

Evelyn arched her eyebrow at me, and I felt my face burn. A soft smile curved her lips as she reached out and took the phone. Shaking her head and laughing, she went to work, pausing now and then to glance at me over the top of my cell. The ping of an incoming text warned me of trouble, but I couldn’t bring myself to snatch the device back. Her impish grin returned as she sent a message back.

“Once we’re in Canada and you’re safe with a pack, I’ll have your motorcycle freighted to you. It’ll need to be scrubbed with new serials and registration, which takes a bit of time. I’ll have your bike paid off anonymously so your credit rating isn’t damaged.”

“I paid for it in cash,” she replied without looking up from my cell. After sending several more messages, she slipped my phone into her pocket. “He’ll have more questions soon.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered under my breath. The last thing I wanted was Zachary conspiring with Evelyn. I didn’t need anyone to tell me the pair would likely cause me a great deal of trouble. While Zachary hadn’t pushed any women in my direction, he was the most vocal of my associates regarding his belief I needed to find someone new.

He’d take one look at Evelyn and begin matchmaking whether or not I wanted him to.

“What happens after we’re in Canada?”

“You’ll settle in. I’ll go to work arranging new accounts for you. You’ll be given funds, and my contacts will establish you in your new home. It’s a bit like witness protection, but better. You’re not the first person I’ve made disappear. Money will be deposited automatically into your new accounts for a period of ten years. After that, you’re on your own.” Once she was in Canada, it’d be business—business conducted from thousands of miles away.

It’d be better for both of us that way.

“All right. That sounds fair.” Evelyn stood, picking up the empty bottle, and set it on the dresser before heading to the phone. “What sort of wine do you want? It seems we have run out.”

“Your choice,” I said. “I prefer red over white.”

“Red it’ll be then.” She grabbed the wine menu, made a thoughtful noise, and called the front desk to order two more bottles. “We’ve got a lot of time and nowhere to go. Let’s play a game.”

Intrigued and curious about what sort of game a Fenerec found amusing, I asked, “A game? What sort of game?”

“Truth or Drink. We’ll take turns asking a question. You either choose to answer honestly or you drink. No lying allowed. The penalty for lying is drinking half a bottle. Don’t think you can get away with it, either. I can smell a lie, Mr. Jackson.”

I eyed the emptied bottle warily. “This sounds like a dangerous game. Why?”

“I want to learn more about the man willing to defy the Inquisition for my sake. Why not?”

“Have you ever had a wine hangover before?” I asked, shaking my head.

“Food helps with that. Eat before it gets cold. Do you really have anything to lose by playing? If you don’t want to answer, you drink some wine. No harm done, right?”

“Right,” I acknowledged, turning my attention to the hamburger. While I ate, I was aware of her gaze on me. When I finished, I didn’t look up from my plate. “I’m not all that interesting, you know.”

“Any man who can rig his brother’s truck to explode is plenty interesting. I’m also of the opinion that any man with your restraint is very interesting.” I heard laughter in her voice, and when I stared at her, she grinned.

“Compared to the people I know, I’m an amateur at explosives,” I countered, feeling my face growing warm.

She crossed her arms and arched a brow at me. “And your restraint?”

I needed a lot more than a glass of wine to answer that question—an entire bottle wouldn’t be enough to take the edge off my nerves and embarrassment. Unfortunately for me, she deserved the truth, and drinking wouldn’t make the problem magically go away. “You deserve better than some one night stand with a man you don’t know.”

My words were the same I had said to Suzanne the first time we had met. I had been doing the Inquisition’s dirty work.

She had been working a corner.

With a dead-end job and student loans she couldn’t afford, she barely paid her rent, so just to get by, she took any man willing to pay to her bed. I had been the last to buy her time, and I had refused to sleep with her until our wedding night three years later.

“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?”

It was pointless to deny the truth, but I took a long swallow of wine anyway. “Every day.”

“Ask me a question.”

“If Fenerec mate for life, why throw yourself at me?”

For a long moment, she didn’t speak, and I doubted she would answer. She sighed. “I wanted to see what you would do. If I didn’t want you, you wouldn’t have me. It’s that simple. I’ve been alone a long time. You risked your life to save mine. You’re risking it even now. Why help me?”

I could have drunk to avoid the question. I could have evaded without lying. Once again, I cursed myself for my unwillingness to take the easy way out. “Suzanne had green eyes, just like yours. I knew you were alive. I just couldn’t leave a woman to die alone like that. I’m to blame, at least in part, for the death of your pack.” I finished off my glass at the same time there was a knock announcing the arrival of the replacement wine.

Evelyn fetched the new bottles, murmuring something to the server before closing the door.

“Did your pack really kill those people in the park?” I asked despite fearing the answer.

“There were deaths we were responsible for. I can’t say the Inquisition was wrong about us. Why are you involved with them?”

She opened both bottles, handing me one of them. I poured a new glass and took a swallow because I could only tell her a small part of the truth. “An accident of birth. You don’t have a mate?”

With a disgusted snort, she sank down on the chair opposite of me. “From that sorry lot? I refused them all.” Evelyn lifted her chin, her eyes cold and hard. “I deserve better than one of those bottom feeders. So did April, the other bitch in the pack, but the Alpha got her drunk enough one night so she accepted him. What do you intend to do once we’re in Canada?”

“Once you’re under the protection of a pack, I’ll call my brother and confess. He’ll skin me for a rug, I’m sure. If I’m lucky, he won’t have me executed for it—though considering the circumstances, it’s anyone’s guess. We’ll see. How old are you?”

Evelyn grimaced and didn’t bother pouring into the glass. She took a long swig directly from her bottle. “You?”

“Thirty-two.” I considered her for a long moment before asking, “What do you have against clothes?”

She laughed. “I like clothes when necessary. I certainly wasn’t going to let the guy bringing room service get a look. Would you like me to take them off?”

I wanted her to, but there was no way I was going to admit it. After draining my glass, I set it aside in favor of her method of drinking right from the bottle. I had the feeling it was going to be a very long day.

Chapter Four

On a scale of one to ten, I was drunk. It happened sometime between finishing off the first bottle of wine and opening the third, that much I managed to piece together despite the pleasant numbness of intoxication. I wasn’t sure which one of us had the idea to watch television, though I had the dim recollection of stealing the remote before Evelyn could claim it.

I had set the channel to Animal Planet, and from my stretched out position on one side of the bed, I watched the auburn-haired Fenerec wiggle on the bed’s edge, leaning forward to watch rabbits on the big screen. The special made me laugh, detailing the lives of wild bunnies and the species preying on them.

Evelyn sat on her knees, beating her leg as a wolf lunged for a rabbit, crashing into a tree instead of catching its prey. While she howled her discontent, I choked back my chuckles.

“Mangy mutt! Disgrace to all of our kin, that’s what you are,” Evelyn wailed, waving her fist at the television. She flopped backwards, her arms slapping against the mattress over her head. “It’s inexcusable, Jackson. Did you see that? Completely inexcusable.”

It took several deep breaths and a drink of wine to keep from chortling. “It does, indeed, seem as though the rabbit got away.”

“A beginner’s mistake. He shouldn’t have missed. He shouldn’t have hit the tree. It’s a disgrace, Jackson!” Rolling over, she pouted at me. “Don’t tell me you were cheering for the rabbit.”

In truth, I had been too busy watching her to care about the rabbit, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. I laughed. “The rabbit won, didn’t it?”

She wrinkled her freckled nose at me. “Inexcusable.” Sitting up, she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at me.

“Surely you’ve had at least one defenseless little bunny escape you before,” I teased.

“Bite your tongue!”

Pointing at the television, I said, “Listen! The show even agrees with me. Rabbits escape predators thanks to those powerful hind legs. Evolution at its finest.”

Even in my less-than-sober state, I was pretty certain her sniffle was faked. “I do not let my prey escape.”

Eyeing the bottle of wine, which was dangerously close to empty, I wondered if I classified as predator, prey, or both. “Is that so?” I murmured.

With a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, she leaned over me, narrowing her eyes. “That is so.”

The huskiness of her voice and her rumbling tone warned me of trouble. The deliberate way she lowered her gaze to my mouth confirmed my suspicions. Every desire I had tempted me to accept her invitation. My breath caught in my throat as I watched her watch me.

When she ran her tongue over her lower lip, I wanted nothing more than to reach up, run my fingers through her tousled hair, and pull her down to me.

My cell rang, the shrill noise startling me into rolling over and reaching for it so I could grab it and fling it at the wall. I reached the edge of the bed, groping for the nightstand and the accursed device, and rolled right off the bed. I hit the carpet with an undignified squawk. The room chose that moment to spin in lazy circles around me as all of the wine worked its way to my head.