Eternal Prey (27 page)

Ty looked outraged. “
Chickens?”

“Cross my heart.” Kelly laughed.

Jenna leaned close to Utah. “You should’ve sat next to Lia.”

“She doesn’t want me near her.”

Jenna shook her head. “Beautiful but clueless.”

Okay, he wasn’t going to sit here and take this abuse all through his meal. Utah stood and went around the table to sit next to Lia. Jenna’s laughter followed him.

Lia offered him a quick smile.

“Will you be all right with me sitting here?” He noticed that she leaned away from him.

She shrugged. “If I go for your neck, throw your glass of water on me. Fin blessed it right before he parted the Willamette River. It was spectacular.”

Utah smiled and tried to relax. “Do you still want to kill me?”

“Very much.”

“Then why don’t you ask me to move?”

Lia finally turned her head and met his gaze. “Because I want you near me more than I want to kill you.”

Utah forced back his instant surge of hope. Fate had a way of squashing him when his expectations bypassed reality. Besides, he hadn’t decided how he felt about her as vampire yet.
Who’re you trying to kid? You still think about her all the time. You still want to make love to her. Looks as though her fangs haven’t slowed you down much.
Self-knowledge was a bitch.

He decided to drop the subject as Greer put a plate of bacon, eggs, and sausage in front of him. Breakfast didn’t have a set time at Fin’s. Utah paused as he noticed the silence beside him. He glanced at Lia.

“No, don’t let me stop you from eating.” She kept her gaze on the food. “I just can’t believe I’m not hungry for any of that stuff.”

“Do you have blood here?” Utah decided he might as well say the B word.

Lia slid her gaze over his body until she reached his neck. “Sitting right next to me.” She must’ve sensed his startled horror because she laughed. “Lighten up, raptor. I’ve already fed. Jude supplied me with lots of blood. It’s in the fridge.”

Utah nodded and tried not to look relieved. Wasn’t much he could say to that. He glanced to where Tor had just finished talking to Fin. Probably filling him in on the latest news.

“I need your attention for a few minutes.” Fin rose and pushed back his chair. He picked up his coffee and walked over to the bank of windows. Then he stood staring out at the darkness.

Utah tried to focus as Fin told everyone what Tor had discovered. It was tough. He didn’t have to be looking at Lia to be aware of her. Her scent—vanilla and sensual woman—clung to her. She must’ve just showered. That thought immediately led to images of warm water flowing over her naked body, her skin gleaming, her . . .

He took a deep breath and forced his attention back to Fin.

“I knew Seven a long time ago, before she joined Zero.” Fin kept his back to the table. “I’ve already told you this, but you . . . forgot.”

You could almost hear the collective intake of breaths. Utah wasn’t surprised at the news. He just wondered why Fin felt a need to admit it.

“I’m telling you this so you’ll accept what I say next as true.” Fin’s voice held no inflection. “Seven is working up to something big. I think she’s almost finished with Portland. And she always liked to celebrate. I’d guess that in the very near future she’ll call all her recruits together for a going-away party. Unfortunately, her idea of a good time will mean a bad time for Portland.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Ty’s voice was tight.

“Keep your ears to the ground. Literally.” Fin finally turned to look at them. His eyes were flat. “She’s obsessed with plants and the earth. If she decides to make a statement, that’s where it’ll happen. Report back anything you hear or observe that has to do with an earth change. And she’s a chaos bringer, so she’ll enjoy upping the killings to throw the general population into a panic.”

He stopped talking, and the silence dragged on and on until Lia spoke.

“This is a little off-topic, but I really want to know. You didn’t answer me last time I asked. You knew Seven. The rest of your men didn’t. There seem to be lots of differences between you and your men. So I assume you weren’t a dinosaur like them. What were you sixty-five million years ago?”

Instinctively, Utah braced himself for the stabbing pain in his head and the brain fog that wiped everything away. He didn’t have any proof, but he suspected he wouldn’t even remember her asking the question.
She
wouldn’t remember asking it.

Nothing happened. Fin walked back to the table and sat down. “I wasn’t a dinosaur. That’s all you need to know.”

Shock seemed to keep everyone quiet. Fin had never openly offered insight into his past. Sure, he’d hinted at some things to a few of the guys one-on-one, but never like this.

Fin glanced at Lia and Utah. “When you’re finished, I’d like to see you in my office.” And without a backward glance, he left the room.

Ty looked thoughtful. “Maybe it’s time to get a few things out in the open.” He glanced around the room. “We were something else before our souls ended up in predators. Some of us know for sure, and some of us just suspect it. As part of our wedding ceremonies, Fin gave both Kelly and Jenna glimpses into the before time.”

“He gave me a little of my memory back too.” Al reached out for Jenna’s hand. “Not enough to know what was going on, but enough to scare the shit out of me.”

Jenna nodded. “It was a nightmare world. I think Fin feels obligated to keep it from you guys.” She took a deep breath. “And he
is
keeping it from you.”

“Guess he’s loosening up a little then, because you know he’s in our heads now, so he knows what we’re discussing.” Ty glanced at Kelly.

Kelly nodded. “He could stop this little trip down memory lane anytime he wanted.”

Utah worked hard to hold on to his temper. “And you never saw fit to tell the rest of us any of this?” He didn’t need to look at Tor to know his brother felt the same anger.

Ty tensed, his T. rex reacting to Utah’s challenge. “What good would knowing that little bit do? It would just confuse everyone, take their focus away from Zero. And you might think you’re big and bad enough to force Fin to tell everything, but your head would be looking for your ass if you tried.”

Kelly laid her hand on his arm, a calming influence. “I think Fin is slowly giving us more information. I don’t think getting in his face and demanding to know everything would work with him.”

Al shrugged. “What are our options? Get mad and walk away? Where would that leave humanity?” He gazed at Jenna, all his love for her there for everyone to see. “Where would that leave
us
if humanity fell?”

Lia stood. “Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut, but it just bothers me that he doesn’t have confidence in your ability to handle the truth. I mean, how bad could it be?”

No one offered to answer that, so Utah stood too. “Fin’s waiting for us.” He aimed a pointed stare at Al, Kelly, and Jenna. “When we have some downtime, I’d like to talk about what Fin showed you.” Maybe between here and Fin’s office he’d get control over his need to knock his leader on his ass.

They left the others still sitting there. Lia didn’t say anything as they walked to Fin’s office. He called them in before they had a chance to knock. Utah opened the door.

They sat down—Lia pulled her chair as far away from Utah as possible—and stared at Fin across his desk. Nothing cluttered the huge expanse. Utah wondered what he did in this office. From the look of things, it didn’t involve paperwork.

Utah decided to strike first. “Trust is a two-way street. Someone needs to cuff and ticket you, because you’re crossing a lot of lines.”

“Think you can do it, raptor?” Danger filled the room, a dark blanket of dread.

Since suicide wasn’t an option, and attacking Fin would definitely qualify, Utah reined in his fury. “How can you expect us to trust you when you don’t tell us the truth?”

Fin shrugged. “That’s for you to figure out. I do what I think is best for everyone, given the circumstances.”

Lia jumped in. “You have incredible powers, a lot more than your men. I still don’t see why you can’t get rid of Christine.”

Utah could almost hear Fin’s patience snap.

“If I could do it by myself, I wouldn’t be sitting here listening to this crap. I would’ve taken her out at the rose garden. Get this through your head, Lia, you’re the
only one
who can send Seven home. Why? How the hell do I know? Maybe it has something to do with you drinking Zero’s blood. I don’t think he’s ever shared it before. Some of his power could’ve come with it. But that’s only conjecture. All I know is that my visions always show the basic scenario, even if some of the details might change.”

“It all comes down to you and the number seven. I’ve sat here for days trying to figure out what form the seven will take.” He drew in a deep breath. “I guess the universe will just have to manifest it.”

Lia leaned back in her chair. She radiated frustration. “Well, I hope the universe lets me in on the secret before I go mano a mano with the queen of buds and blood.”

She took a deep breath. “But that won’t happen anytime soon because I’ll be flying back to Philly in about four hours. Dad is taking care of it. A friend of a friend has a private jet all decked out for safe travel in daylight. He’ll take me home.”

No.
Utah bit back his impulse to shout the word. His face must’ve shown what he was thinking, though, because she started to reach out to him, then paused. Sighing, she dropped her hand.

“I’m no use here.” She focused on Utah. “You’d never know when I might lose control and attack you.”

“I can handle it.” He knew he sounded a little desperate, but he couldn’t help it. She couldn’t leave . . .
him
. When had she become so important? The thought shook him to his soul. And his soul growled its need to force her to stay. There were some things about the good old days he missed.

“Besides, I can’t seem to work up any energy to fight Christine.” Confusion filled her eyes. “I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me.”

“I do.”

Fin had Utah’s instant attention.

“I’ve had time to think about it, Lia. I’d guess that Zero planted a few compulsions, then made sure you wouldn’t remember him messing with your mind.” Fin shrugged. “It worked. He wanted you to abandon the battle, and you have.”

Startled, her eyes widened. “Why go to all that trouble? Why not just kill me?”

“Dead trade bait loses its value.”

“Okay, so if he went the compulsion route, why not plant the suggestion that I kill all of you, not just Utah?”

Utah could see her turning over Fin’s statement, examining it from all angles. Whether it was true or not, he hoped she’d believe it, because it might convince her to stay.

“The larger the scope of a compulsion, the more energy it takes. Zero needs every bit of his energy, so he planted only what he thought necessary to achieve his goal. Luckily, he doesn’t know how important you are. This whole thing was never about you killing any of us; it was about scaring you into running.”

“I don’t run.” She radiated outrage. “I’m leaving so I won’t hurt Utah.”

Fin went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Besides, he probably thought if he went small with his suggestions, no one would guess he’d compromised your mind.”

“I. Don’t. Run.”

“Running is running no matter what the reason.” Fin’s voice was soft, but he might as well have been shouting.

Lia’s glare had all of her old fight in it. “That bastard. How do I get rid of his crap?”

“I don’t know.”

“Not the answer I want.” Lia balled her hands into fists.

“He’s too powerful.” Fin’s words seemed dragged from him. “I’ll need time to work on it.” He rubbed his forehead, a rare expression of frustration for Fin. “I might need help.”

“What about Kione and Jude? Even Adam?” Utah would use the devil himself if he could help Lia.

Fin shook his head. “Not powerful enough.”

Utah met Lia’s gaze. “Stay. I’ll help you. Leaving won’t cure the compulsions, it’ll just put them on hold.” Was he begging? You bet.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and Utah swore he didn’t breathe during the whole time.

Finally, she opened them. “I’ll stay.” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she looked at Utah. “But if you end up a dry husk in a ditch somewhere, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Utah exhaled deeply. Thank God.

If Fin was relieved, he didn’t show it. But that was just Fin being Fin. “Now for the reason I asked you here. Adam contacted me. He wants to see both of you as soon as you can get there. I don’t know what this is about.”

Not something good. Utah wasn’t looking forward to the meeting. “Have you seen Kione?”

“No. The vampires must’ve freed him from the curse by now. He’s probably long gone.”

Lia looked a little sad. “You don’t have much trust in the goodness of people, do you?”

Fin returned her smile, only his was a lot colder. “I have no reason to.”