Eternal Nights (27 page)

He grunted, and Kendall wasn’t sure how to take that. Making no attempt to hide her interest, she turned her head and tried to read his expression, but damn it, he was blank-faced. She hated when he went all enigmatic on her.

“Most people don’t know anything.” She heard the slight defensiveness in her voice, and took a deep breath before asking, “What about you, did you ever have a regression done?”

“No, I never felt the need to have someone else walk me back in time.”

Again, Kendall picked up something in Wyatt’s tone that she didn’t understand. Of course, maybe she was assuming that because he believed in reincarnation he’d be open to being regressed. Some people simply weren’t—she’d met more than a few. It might be safer to talk about something else.

“You know, I heard something when I was hiding from the thieves, but with all the...” Kendall made a helpless gesture with her free hand... “incidents since then, I forgot about it.”

“What did you hear?” Wyatt sounded resigned, and Kendall scrutinized him again, looking for clues about what was going on with him, but he remained unreadable.

“Are you being sent home?” she blurted. When she realized how blunt she’d been, she added, “They said half the Spec Ops teams were being rotated back to Earth.”

“The smugglers must have someone plugged into security.” Wyatt shook his head, but he didn’t seem surprised. “Yeah, it’s true, half the teams are going back. Sullivan was supposed to issue the orders the morning after we were trapped in here.”

Kendall fought off the sick feeling that was swirling in her stomach. She had to clear her throat before she could ask, “Do you think you’ll be going?”

“I don’t know, darlin’. I hope not.”

Unsure of what to say, she nodded. If he was sent back to Earth, no doubt they’d drift apart as she’d done with her other friends. Even if he did send a note off now and then, they’d become less frequent as time passed until she’d be lucky to get a once a year happy birthday message like she did from most of her uncles.

They reached another spoke of hallways and Wyatt slowed, looking at her expectantly. Kendall studied the kunzite and peridot in the mosaic, but the stones gave no indication of an exit for the pyramid.

With a shrug, she pointed at a corridor slightly to the left and Kendall mulled over what her life would be like without Wyatt.

Sleep with him.

She might lose him anyway, so why not? Her track record with long-distance friendships was abysmal, and at least if she let him take her to bed, she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life wondering what if.

If she were going to do this, though, she’d need to make up her mind soon. Kendall knew the army. It wouldn’t matter that they’d been trapped for days. If his orders were to be on the transport, he’d have to board it, even if it left ten minutes after they made it out of the temple.

Wyatt’s thigh brushed against hers as they took a turn, and that one small thing was enough to make the ache between her thighs intensify again. Kendall felt as if she were burning up, like she’d die if she didn’t feel him inside her, but she couldn’t let this push her into something without thinking it through. Yet would it hurt any worse to watch him fly off if they’d been lovers? She’d miss him like hell either way.

And damn it, she couldn’t believe she was waffling like this. Only yesterday, she’d vowed not to be a friend who offered benefits, and today she was trying to talk herself into that very thing. What was wrong with her?

“You’re scowling,” he observed.

“I know. Can we keep talking? It’ll keep my mind off our situation.” And maybe stop her from so much introspection.

“Okay, if we keep our voices low, it shouldn’t be a problem. Tell me why you’ve never met your father.”

Kendall felt her face go hot before the blood seemed to drain away. He’d asked that so abruptly, she hadn’t had time to brace herself. Maybe she should have guessed that he’d remember what she’d said and bring it up when he had the chance. Kendall hadn’t expected it now, but she was going to tell him and let the chips fall where they may.

“My mom,” she said thickly, “never told him about me. I think she’d already moved on before she discovered she was pregnant. At least that’s what she said, and by the time I was old enough to ask, she couldn’t remember his name or even who she was involved with during that period of time.” She cast a sideways glance at him. “I told you my mom had a lot of lovers.”

Wyatt didn’t say a word, and Kendall’s heart started to pound. She shouldn’t have said anything. His family was such a throwback to the traditional twentieth-century ideal that there was no way he could relate to the mess she considered normal.

“How could she not remember?” he finally asked. “How could she not realize you’d want that information, that it would be important to you? Even if she didn’t consider it worth writing down, your mom should have known what it would mean to you.”

Blinking rapidly to beat back the tears welling in her eyes, Kendall clasped his hand between both of hers, trying to tell him without words how much what he’d said meant to her. He was the first one to understand. Everyone else who knew had condemned her mom’s promiscuity or how flighty she was not to recall the man’s name, but Wyatt focused on
her
—what this meant to her.

“Aw, damn, Bug,” he said, stopping to pull her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you cry.”

Which, of course, made the tears start in earnest. Wyatt practically wrapped himself around her, his hand rubbing her back as he murmured soothing noises near her ear. Despite her attempt to choke back the emotions, Kendall found herself sobbing out twenty-four years worth of pain as she held on to Wyatt.

When she finally calmed down, Kendall kept her face pressed against his chest, in no hurry to face him. How embarrassing. Displays like this weren’t something she did, not in front of other people. Ever. Wyatt must wish he was anywhere but here.

Hell, Kendall wished she were anywhere but here.

He tried to gently move her away from his body, but she clung tighter, not ready to look him in the eye. Wyatt didn’t allow that, however, and to retain her last trace of dignity, Kendall loosened her hold. She was too close to him to bring up her hands and wipe the tear tracks off her cheeks, but she didn’t have to. He did it for her, his thumbs gentle.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“No, don’t apologize. No one else has ever recognized how I felt about the whole thing. It means a lot to me that you saw it.” Her lips quirked. “I’m sorry that I cried all over you.”

Wyatt shook his head. “I didn’t mind.” And then he leaned forward and brushed his mouth over hers. Their lips lingered for a moment before he broke the kiss. “We need to keep moving.”

Kendall nodded, and wasn’t at all surprised when he took her hand again. The palm tingled briefly, but she wasn’t sure if it was a physical response to Wyatt or something with the temple.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before he said, “If you want, we can do some investigating. Maybe we could figure out who your father is, or at least narrow down the choices.”

“You’d do that for me?”

He looked at her, but didn’t slow. “I’d do anything for you, Kendall.
Anything.
”

*** *** ***

Wyatt considered it a major victory that Bug only appeared to be a little panicked at his statement. A week ago, she’d have looked like a deer in the headlights and cut out on him so fast, she’d have left a vapor trail in her wake. He fought the smile, afraid it would give away his satisfaction.

Over the past four months, he’d fielded all kinds of unsolicited advice about his pursuit of Kendall. Most of his friends had told him he was moving too slow, but Wyatt knew her better than they did. If he’d done something to spook Bug, odds were slim he’d have a second chance. The patience had paid off.

They’d come a long way. Not only wasn’t she running, she’d actually trusted him enough to cry in front of him. Sweet lord, he’d been scared that he’d said something to cause her hurt, but instead it had been a release. He felt like fricking Superman because she’d allowed him hold her while she let loose. Wyatt struggled with the grin again. If Kendall saw it, he’d lose part of the ground he’d gained and he was damned if he’d give up so much as an inch if there was anything he could do to prevent it.

“Let me think about it,” she said. “He might have a wife and other kids already.” Kendall shrugged. “What if my father doesn’t want to know about me?”

“Then he’s an idiot. But keep this in mind; just because you find out who he is, doesn’t mean you have to contact him.”

From the surprise that flashed over her face, Wyatt guessed she hadn’t considered that. Which told him something—Kendall wanted to meet her father. If she discovered who he was, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from communicating with him. He’d bet that the fear of rejection was what had kept her from doing a search on her own. Well, if they identified the man, he’d just have to make sure that he acted as intermediary. If her father was an idiot, Wyatt would do his best to shield her.

“Wy,” she said, and he felt his heart clench at the endearment—because that’s what it was. “Since we’re talking so seriously, can we discuss something without you getting mad?” 

Oh, shit, now what? This didn’t sound good. “I won’t get mad,” he promised. “Say whatever you want.”

Kendall nodded, but she didn’t immediately speak. His pulse rate was astronomical before Bug said, “This pattern on my hand, it means something, doesn’t it?”

Wyatt considered what to say. He didn’t want to lie to her, but if he told her what he knew, he’d alarm her. “How could it not, darlin’?” An ambiguous enough answer.

“While you were looking for an alternate way to close that room up again,” Kendall said, “I was studying the wall opposite me. It seemed as if the inclusions leapt from the stone and put on a show, before they disappeared inside the chamber. I had to follow them.”

He caught the sideways glance. “Go on.”

The more she explained, the more tense Wyatt became. He didn’t like this.

“But what I have on my palm now, that didn’t show up until right before you saw it.” Kendall bit her lip, then said, “I think it happened when I got my hand wet. It felt like something was searing me, and then those symbols were there.”

“How could the water do that?”

“I don’t know.” Bug shook her head. “Maybe I’m wrong and it wasn’t the water, but the pattern wasn’t there until after I felt the burning, and that didn’t start till my hand got wet.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” He kept his voice neutral, but he felt grim. Kendall had the mark of High Priestess, but she didn’t have the knowledge that went with her powers and she needed it. Not for the first time, Wyatt cursed Zolianna’s secrets. She’d shared almost nothing with Berkant about the temple, and most of what he did know were things he’d figured out from observation and inference.

“This thing on my hand, I’m sure it’s why I could see the energy web yesterday.”

“I agree.”

“But how did you know that I could turn the lines off and back on again? And why did you get mad enough to swear in front of me when you saw my palm?”

Damn, he’d known those questions were coming, but he hadn’t thought up any good answers. “If you saw something etched deeply onto my hand that didn’t belong there, wouldn’t you be upset?”

“Yeah, it would scare me.” Kendall smiled, but there wasn’t any lightness in it. “I’m scared now. This isn’t normal.”

“I wish I could tell you there was nothing to be frightened of, but I don’t think I’d come across too convincing since I’m worried about it myself.” No shit he was worried. The temple wanted a High Priestess, but he wasn’t letting it have Kendall.

“You never answered one of my questions. How did you know I could manipulate the energy around the fountain?”

Wyatt frowned. Bug wasn’t going to let him off the hook. “You had a pyramid on your hand. I figured it had to do with
this
pyramid, so it seemed logical you could control things in here.” There, that sounded good.

“I wouldn’t have guessed, and you knew that I’d done something to send the thieves running into the room. There was no reason you should have assumed that,” she accused.

“If you weren’t emotional about the pattern,” he told her, “I think you would have come up with the same answer. You know how to turn on the lights and water here, and you were talking about some way to use energy to lock up the houses. All you need to do is extrapolate those talents to things inside the pyramid.”

Bug nodded and he breathed a silent sigh of relief. It was a bit hard to tell how much time had passed since they’d been trapped, but Wyatt estimated they’d been on the run for three days. And in all that time, Bug had managed to do what a unit of hostile coalition forces hadn’t—she was making him sweat. Wyatt wasn’t lying—not exactly—but if she ever remembered their last life, and if she discovered he’d always known of it, she’d have his ass. And not in a good way.

“I wonder what else I can do?” Kendall smiled up at him and Wyatt wanted to kiss her so damn bad, he nearly bent over to do just that. Shit, he had to keep his mind on getting out of here.

“The possibilities are endless.” He settled for returning her smile. “If I think up any suggestions, I’ll mention them.”

She laughed, her green eyes twinkling, and Wyatt stopped fighting it. He kissed her. Immediately, Kendall kissed him back, and he thought again about how far they’d come in only a few days. If they got out of this alive, then getting trapped in the pyramid was the best thing that ever could have happened.

He had her pressed against the wall, his tongue in her mouth, before he remembered they couldn’t risk being unaware of what was going on around them. With a groan, he broke off, but rested his forehead against hers. “I want you, Bug,” Wyatt told her. “Don’t ever doubt it, but our first time isn’t going to be up against a wall, especially when we’ve got bad guys hunting us.”

Kendall flushed red, and he kissed her again before she could get more embarrassed. She wasn’t ready to admit they were heading toward becoming lovers, but that was okay. Wyatt knew it was true. “Let’s go, darlin’,” he ordered.