Chasing Silver (21 page)

“It’s my understanding you’re a great lover of cops.” The man shrugged. “Or ex-cops, I suppose. Would you like to see him?”

“You mean Kirsten wasn’t blowing smoke out her ass saying he was still alive? That’s what his old partner said, you know. That she was going to trade Nate for the coin. Or was that a private deal she was making?”

It was hard not to grin when she saw the ice queen stiffen. Ignoring Remy, Kirsten turned to the man at her side. “I told you what I was doing, Gabriel. I would have told McGuire anything to get him to bring the Silver Maiden here.”

“Don’t forget me.” This time, Remy did smile. “I was part of the deal, too, remember?”

Gabriel sighed, the pleasant smile melting from his face. “Tian was correct about everything, then? I suppose I owe him an apology.” He shot an unreadable look at Kirsten before turning back to the man holding Remy. “Kill her and bring me the coin.”

Her blood chilled as the hulk pulled his gun from his holster. Reacting on instinct, Remy wrenched free and reached into her pocket. “Guess that’s my cue to get out of here then.” She held the coin in plain view before curling her fingers around it. “Say sayonara to your Silver Maiden, asshole.”

Fear flickered over Gabriel’s face. He held up his hand. “Sal. Back off.” He took a step toward Remy, but there wasn’t anything menacing about his approach. “What makes you think the coin will work again?”

“Because it’s not a one-way ticket.” She opened her hand again and began running it between her fingers, the sunlight catching the silver and sending glints across the grass. “It’s all about deepest wishes, right? That’s why she made it in the first place. To trade for her freedom. And the power of the coin gave it to her in the end, just like it got me away from her.” She jerked her chin toward Kirsten, who visibly stiffened. “Just like it’ll get me away from here. Because the last thing I want to do right now is die.”

“What do you want right now?” Gabriel asked, positioning himself between her and Kirsten.

She weighed her words before responding. “To not have to run from that bitch any more.”

“Okay.” Gabriel turned, his gun appearing out of nowhere. Remy jumped as he pulled the trigger, expecting to feel the red hot pain of the bullet, but blood was flowing down Kirsten’s face. She stood as still as a statue, the hole like a third eye above her nose, for just one second before falling face-forward onto the driveway. “Now give me the coin.”

Remy couldn’t move.
He shot her. Holy fuck, he actually shot her.
She had only been hoping to make her answer sound as plausible as possible without triggering some effect of the coin she didn’t know about. She had never expected that he’d kill Kirsten.

Her eyes fixed on his calm features. Whoever the hell this Gabriel was, she understood now. He was the dangerous one here. She had to be a lot more careful how she dealt with him.

“How do I know you’re not going to just kill me, too?” she asked, as evenly as she could. A familiar form appeared around the far corner of the house. Both relief and fear flooded her veins.

“I want that coin more than I want to see you dead.” Despite his words, the gun didn’t waver. “Hell, I don’t want to see you dead at all. But you have a connection to the Silver Maiden, and I’ve spent the last twenty years searching for it.”

“Then get that gun off her,” Nathan said from behind him. The two men on either side of Remy tensed, drawing their guns.

“Pierce. McGuire,” Gabriel greeted cordially, neither his gaze nor his gun moving from her head. “Take another step and my boys here will turn you into Swiss cheese.”

Both Nathan and Isaac stopped, but didn’t lower their weapons. They had approached Gabriel from opposite sides of the house, and now they stood several feet behind him on either side. Even from that distance, Remy saw the danger in Nathan’s eyes.

“Sounds like a lose-lose situation then,” she said, her voice nonchalant even to her ears. It was hard to keep from staring at Nathan. Though his grim determination was etched in his taut muscles, there were livid burns and cuts all along his bare chest. She had no idea how he managed to stay upright. “Anything happens to them and I’m outta here. It would be a shame to get so close to the Silver Maiden and then have it disappear right in front of your eyes. Especially after twenty years.”

“What about Tian?” Gabriel asked, his head slightly turning to his right. “Did you kill him?”

Isaac glanced at Nathan before responding. “As tempting as it was, no. Surprisingly, he passes out like a girl when you hit him on the head.”

“Fine. Remy, give me the coin, and I’ll let you and your friends go. I’ll even throw in Tian. He’s still got that bounty.” When she didn’t respond, he tilted his head. “Unless you plan to use the coin again. How much running have you got left to do?”

Her eyes flew to Nathan’s. She didn’t want to run any more. Her home was here, with him, for as long as he would let her stick around. The slight softening of his mouth along with the almost imperceptible nod of his head were all Remy needed to know he wanted that, too.

She flipped the coin through the air, watching it twist and turn in the sunlight to land in the soft grass at Gabriel’s feet. “Deal.”

Gabriel smiled. “Good girl. Sal, go get the car.” He bent, picking up the coin. It flickered in the sun, reflecting light into his brown eyes.

Sal hurried to the garage, but nobody else moved, locked in their tenuous tableaux. Remy’s eyes shifted from Gabriel to Nathan. His face was still set in a hard mask, but the hand holding his gun trembled, and fresh blood stained his chest.

The hum of the garage door filled the air, followed by a silver Lexus backing onto the drive. With one last look at Remy, Gabriel lowered his gun and headed for the car, the man at her other side close on his heels.

She didn’t exhale until the Lexus disappeared down the street.

“Remy,” Nathan said, lowering his arm. The gun hung from his fingers for a moment before slipping to the ground. He stepped back, putting his hand out to catch himself, but came up with nothing but air.

Both Remy and Isaac rushed forward, reaching him before he lost his balance completely. Isaac caught him by the shoulder, and her arm fit snugly around his waist.

“We’ve got to get him to a hospital. Can you two save the kissy-face reunion until we know for sure he’s not going to need something silly like a blood transfusion or something?”

She saw Nathan’s lips twitch in amusement. While she would have loved to have the kissy-face reunion Isaac described, the delicate fluttering of Nathan’s muscles beneath her palm told Remy just how barely he was holding himself together. “Well, it’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

Together, they began the trek back to Isaac’s waiting car.

Nathan had wondered what it might be like to boast one hundred stitches, but it was more of a drunken musing than an actual desire to experience it. A blanket covered his chest. He had no wish to inspect the result of the good doctor’s handiwork. For now, he couldn’t feel it either. He wasn’t sure what they had shot him up with, but he liked it. It had a nice numbing effect without clouding his brain—too much.

He picked listlessly at the bandage wrapped around his hand. Where was everybody? Why had he woken with only an old nurse with tired eyes for company? He couldn’t help but think of the last time he opened his eyes in a hospital bed, disoriented, confused and shocked to be alive. He remembered begging the nurses to tell him about Isaac, his voice a toneless whisper, his throat burning…

This is different. Remy and Isaac are fine. You saw that. Gabriel didn’t shoot her.

When the door opened, Nathan’s gaze went to it without hesitation, relief flooding through him at the familiar shape of Isaac’s shoulders filling the frame. Dark shadows hollowed his friend’s face, and his clothes were rumpled, as if he’d been sitting in them for a long period of time. The smile, however, was warm and genuine.

“Up for some company?”

“Depends. Can you get me out of here? It’s a lovely room, but I was hoping for something with more of a view.” He beckoned Isaac over to the bed. “Where’s Remy? Is she okay?”

“She’s good. She’s in the waiting room. The docs were a little overprotective until they got you all stitched up, though that could’ve been the fact that I threatened them if they didn’t make you a priority.” Shutting the door behind him, Isaac grabbed one of the metal-edged chairs and carried it over, flipping it to straddle when he sat down. “You didn’t beat my record, by the way. That knifing on my calf still stands at thirty-two stitches.”

“The knifing on your calf? You don’t mean the time you slipped and fell on a knife, do you? Because I don’t think that counts toward the record.” Nathan pushed the blanket down, exposing his chest. “One hundred beats thirty-two any day. You owe me a drink.”

Isaac held up a warning finger. “First of all, it doesn’t count, adding up all your little cuts to try and beat my one big one. Secondly, a guy was holding that knife when I fell on it. Just because he was already dead doesn’t mean it doesn’t count.” He shrugged, his smile self-effacing. “But, because I’m such an accommodating guy, I’ll buy you that drink anyway. I’ll even buy one for Remy if you ask nicely enough.”

Nathan lifted his eyebrow, almost surprised by Isaac’s concession to Remy. “Oh yeah? Then can I take this to mean you’re not going to threaten to lock her up anymore?”

“Well, I might threaten…” he teased. His gaze ducked for a moment, his mood sobering. “Look. I’m not going to pretend to understand how this time travel stuff worked to get her here. And I’m not sure I’m crazy about you forgetting all about the brain not dick philosophy when she’s around. But the fact of the matter is…I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody go to bat for you so strong or so hell-bent before. Anybody who wasn’t me, I mean. That means something.”

Nathan chuckled, and soon the light sound turned into a full laugh. It hurt his chest and shoulders, but the image of Isaac trying to work with Remy was just too much. But it wasn’t that—as funny as it was—fueling the laughter. The tension and fear that had been lodged in his chest shattered, and he needed the momentary release.

“Let me guess,” he said, once he caught his breath, “You tried the old ‘keep your mouth shut’ plan with her, didn’t you?”

Isaac sat up in mock-hurt. “It’s a good plan. And when I’m not partnered with a hothead know-it-all who wouldn’t know a plan if it bit her on her cute little ass, it actually works.”

“Yeah, but she did a good job of not getting us all killed.” Nathan looked down at his bandaged hand, the back of his neck tingling as he thought about how close he had been to losing her. “I love her, you know.”

Silence stretched between them, long enough to draw Nathan’s gaze back up to his friend’s. The amusement was gone from his inscrutable eyes, replaced by a somber regard usually reserved for drunken soliloquies in the wee hours of the morning.

“I suppose saying you only just met her would be kind of pointless.”

“I think it would be, yes. When Cesar wasn’t trying to flay me alive, I had a great deal of quiet time for thoughtful reflection.” When Isaac’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion, Nathan clarified. “I was terrified and all I wanted to do was see her again. But I would have died before telling them where to find her. Had I known you were going to bring her to them, I might have tried a different tactic.”

“You can stop acting like I had a choice in the matter any time now.”

Nathan smiled at his friend’s exasperation. “You didn’t have to use her for bait, is all I’m saying.”

“And again, I’m going with her idea, not mine.” His gaze flickered over the injuries marring Nathan’s chest before climbing up to the faded scar at the base of his throat. “She told me she wasn’t Susanna. I think that’s when I knew I could trust her. Because there’s no way you would’ve told her that story if you didn’t.”

“And I was stone-cold sober when I told her, too.” He looked up, catching Isaac’s eyes. “I think Susanna has taken enough of our lives. Can’t live like this forever, Isaac.”

“Well, you can’t.” Isaac rose from the chair, pushing it back to the wall, and shot him a grin. “Some of us don’t need a woman to define who we are.”

“Well, who needs a woman when you’ve got goldfish?”

“And they’re damn fine goldfish, too.” He jerked a thumb at the door. “You want me to send her in here? The docs say you have to stay in overnight for observation, but I pulled some strings and if you want her to stay, too, that’s okay.”

“I’d appreciate it. And, Isaac? Thanks for coming for me.”

The smile he was leaving with was just as warm as the one he’d arrived wearing. “Like there was ever any question I wouldn’t.”

“Of course not.” Nathan smiled. “I still owe you twenty dollars.”

Isaac snorted. “If you ever get your tab down to twenty dollars, I will take you out for the best dinner this town has to offer. By the way, I made sure your money got deposited.”

“Money?”

“Tian’s bounty. Minus the amount you owe me, of course.”

“I owe you more than Tian was worth.”

Isaac smiled and opened the door. “Now cover yourself back up before I send Remy in. The last thing she needs to see is the Frankenstein monster there on display.”

When the door closed behind Isaac, Nathan stared at the empty space he left for several long seconds. It had been easy enough to state his feelings for Remy aloud to Isaac. Now he just needed to figure out how he would tell the girl herself.

*   *   *

Remy nearly knocked over an orderly as she raced for Nathan’s room. It felt like she had been waiting for days to see him, pacing the too-white waiting area until she knew how many steps it took to get from wall to wall, when the nurses went on their breaks, which doctors did their jobs instead of passing off care to subordinates. When Isaac got to go in first, she wanted to shout in frustration. He wasn’t the only one who cared, damn it. She deserved to see him, too.

So when he came back out and announced Nathan had to stay overnight, Remy deflated. She wasn’t even sure what that meant for her. Would it be okay to spend the night back at his apartment? The thought was frightening. It wouldn’t feel right without him there.

The second Isaac told her she could stay, too, she threw her arms around him. The next, she was running down the corridor.

She burst through the door without knocking, but then skidded to a halt when she saw how pale he was next to the white sheets. Over a hundred stitches, Isaac had said. Be careful. She had to be cautious in how she approached. The last thing Remy wanted was to make his condition worse.

“Hey,” she softly breathed.

Nathan grimaced. “Do I look that bad?”

Guilt flooded through her. “Of course not.” She closed the distance to the bed, hovering at the side as her fingers skimmed along the mattress edge. “But Isaac told me what they had to do for you. The stitches and the transfusion and everything. You don’t need me jumping all over you, making it hurt more.”

“You won’t hurt me,” Nathan said, taking her hand and pulling her closer. “They have me on some good drugs.”

His touch was warm and dry, but the heat arced between them as he laced their fingers together. Carefully, Remy sat on the edge of the bed, drinking in the invitation of his eyes, wondering yet again how it was she’d come so close to losing him.

“Isaac said I could spend the night.” Her gaze swept over the narrow mattress. “This isn’t going to be nearly as comfortable as your place, though.”

“No. But at least you’re here.” He slid his fingers up her arm and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her forward to brush his lips against hers.

She couldn’t hold back her sigh of satisfaction. She desperately wanted to deepen the kiss, but Isaac’s words of warning echoed in her ears, forcing her to keep the caress superficial even when everything inside her screamed for more. When she pulled away, though, he didn’t move his hand, stroking her nape as she gazed down at him.

“You scared the hell out of me.”

“I scared the hell out of you?” Nathan shook his head. “Do you realize you stared down one of the most dangerous men in California?”

“Who? Gabriel?”

“Yeah. Gabriel de los Rios. He’s been working in and out of Los Angeles for several years now. He’s…ruthless. So, you know, don’t ever do that again.”

He was so serious, she couldn’t help but smile. “Or what?” She skimmed along his jaw until her mouth hovered at his ear. “Are you going to spank me?”

“Yes. At the very least. My god, Remy, you almost…”

“But I didn’t.” Her tongue darted out, and the salt of his skin made her mouth prickle for more. “I’m still here.”

“I know,” Nathan sighed. “But why would you do that? Why would you agree to be bait? You should have…you shouldn’t have…”

Remy closed her eyes as she licked a trail back to his mouth. “You haven’t figured it out by now?” She kissed him again, this time tracing the seam of his lips with the tip of her tongue. “I’d do anything for you.”

Nathan moaned. He kissed her hungrily, almost at a complete disregard for his own comfort.

“You know what the worst part was?” he asked once they broke apart.

A thousand possibilities tumbled through her head, each one a repeat of what had terrified her in his absence. “What?”

“The coin. When I thought you were going to use that damn coin.” Nathan shook his head. “It was a brilliant move, don’t get me wrong. But knowing I could lose you forever, and it would be for the best…”

“It was never going to happen. But there was no way Gabriel would’ve known that.”

“You had an excellent poker face.” Nathan paused, looking at her thoughtfully. “We should set up a card game with Isaac. He’d never know to call your bluff.”

She chuckled. There was something thrilling in his presumption about her place in his life, including her in future plans with Isaac.

“You’re not mad I gave it up?”

“Gave up the coin?” Nathan shook his head. “I don’t care. Obviously, it’s a powerful artifact now in the hands of a very dangerous man, and maybe I should care, but I just don’t.”

“Good. Me neither.”

She kissed him again, taking his earlier lead and deepening it with the first press of her lips. The hand at her neck tightened, fingers lost in her heavy hair, and Remy slid hers down his shoulder, along his arm, down to his hand. When he winced, she jerked away.

“What is it?” Her eyes jumped over his covered body. “What did I hurt?”

Nathan held up his bandaged hand. “It’s a good thing I’m not left-handed. I burned myself when I took the coin to the bank.”

“On what?”

“On the coin. I have no idea how it happened. It just got hot while I was holding it.” Nathan smiled ruefully. “Which, of course, is how Kirsten knew I had the coin somewhere in my possession. That was great.”

Gingerly, Remy sat back, picking up his injured hand and holding it in both of hers. “I don’t remember it getting hot.” Fear lanced through her, and her eyes leapt to his. “It wasn’t doing something crazy like…sending you to D.C. or something like that, was it?”

“No, I never left the bank. I wasn’t even thinking about anything specific at the time. Maybe it didn’t want to be locked away. I don’t know. And why would I wish to be sent somewhere else?”

It was genuine confusion in his eyes, as if she’d made the most insane suggestion in the world. Remy was about to backtrack and try to get away from the awkward moment when she remembered what he had said earlier.

“Why would my leaving have been for the best?” His bewilderment didn’t dissipate, so she elaborated. “The worst part. About using the coin? You said losing me forever would be for the best.”

“Well, it was the best of the two options. I’d rather lose you forever, watch you slip into another time, than see you get shot. The Silver Maiden is meant to take you to safety, if we understand it correctly, and I could live with that. But I couldn’t…I couldn’t see you…” He caressed the side of her face, his fingers light against her cheek. “I love you.”

She stared at him, stunned. Everything in her ground to a halt, all except for the sudden racing of her heart. “What?”

Nathan offered a self-conscious, half-smile. “I’d rather you not die because I love you.”

“That’s…what I thought you said.”

I love you.
When was the last time someone had said those words to her? Had anybody ever said them to her and meant them? Because she had no doubt Nathan did. It was in the blue fire of his eyes, in the possessive stroke of his fingers. It had been in the grim determination when he had threatened Gabriel. She saw it now in the nervous smile curving his mouth.

As many times as she had made her own confessions, frightened of his response, there had always been his concurrence, his
I know
that made it easier to believe she wasn’t crazy for feeling like she did. Now here he was making his own confession. It was terrifying to consider, but there was no way Remy would deny it. This was her permission to unlock the stronghold she’d placed her own emotions in.