Eventide (Meratis Trilogy Book 2) (5 page)

Jayden and Brady shook their heads; Jeff stared into the emerald grass at his feet.

“Then there are only so many places he could hide. He’s not the Invisible Man. How about we grab some food? Maybe we’ll come up with more ideas on full stomachs.”

“Always with the words of wisdom,” said Jeff, brushing a stray hair back from her face.

Cassie grinned and slid her hand in his. Jeff cleared his throat and hoped she didn’t notice the way his palms immediately turned clammy at her touch.

“Come on, I know a great place.”

They walked past the university and finally ended up in the basement of a cozy pub. Students milled about, excited about their first days back on campus, complaining about professors and schedules. Mundane normal problems that Jeff would have given his pinky finger to enjoy again.

Cassie ordered appetizers and beer for the table, and she and Jeff derived great entertainment from watching Brady and Jayden try to wrap their heads around the concept of a menu.

The food was good, the beer light, frothy, and much better than the garbage Jeff kept in his fridge these days. After a half hour, he was willing to forget this was anything other than a friendly get-together, celebrating life and friendship, and a Sunday evening. No one pointed out when they caught the others searching for Raul, inspecting each new arrival for his familiar features.

As one group of students cleared out, Jeff caught a glimpse of a man in a mint green cashmere sweater previously hidden behind them.

He didn’t want to ruin their dinner and the first moment of peace any of them had all day, but he felt the need to vindicate himself and point the man out. “There, that’s him again.”

With a lack of subtlety, both Jayden and Brady looked over their shoulders, and Cassie raised her chin to see past Jayden. “Who?”

“The guy from the café. The one who was eavesdropping.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t really notice him before, but I don’t think that’s him. Wasn’t that guy blond?”

Jeff didn’t think so, but at the lack of recognition from anyone else, he started to doubt his senses.

Paranoid,
Jeff thought.
I’ve officially gone insane.

By the time the servers announced last call, the group was full, exhausted, and ready to call it a night.

Jayden stretched with a loud yawn, and Jeff clued in to one more challenge.

“Where are you two going to sleep?” He crossed his arms on the table. “No way you’re sharing the bed with me.”

The Andvellians exchanged a glance, and Jeff suspected the need for accommodation had never crossed their minds.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Cassie, after gauging their reactions. “You guys can crash with me.”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind,” Jayden said, waggling his eyebrows at the same time Jeff said, “What?”

Brady hid his face in his pint.

“I have a guest bedroom and the sofa is perfectly serviceable to sleep on.” She shot Jeff a stare, ignoring Jayden’s insinuation. “What other option is there? Your floor?”

“A hotel?” he suggested.

“You can’t put your guests, strangers to this city, in some impersonal hotel. That would be rude. I’m off tomorrow, so we’ll come by your place first thing and start the search again.”

Jeff’s eyes narrowed at Jayden, who smirked back at him. He didn’t really think his friend would try to move in on his girlfriend, but Jayden wasn’t exactly known for his gentlemanly behaviour with women. Still, Brady would be there to keep an eye on him, and it was better than sharing his bachelor among three guys, so he nodded and looked at Brady. “You all right with that?”

“I just need to sleep. World jumping is more jarring than I expected.”

Jeff snorted. “Try doing it four times in as many days, we’ll see how much you start to enjoy it.” He threw a few twenties on the table, and then stood up and helped Cassie slide off the bench. Her small hand was warm in his, and he loved that he could give her fingers a squeeze without any other reason than that he wanted to. She squeezed back and he was walking on air.

The night air offered a cool reprieve from the heat of the day, but the humidity still stifled the breath, sticking clothing to skin and plastering hair to head. Jayden’s carefully organised messiness had wilted so he looked like he’d just come up from a swim, and Brady’s hair had started to frizz. Neither man looked comfortable, unfamiliar with the sensation. Andvell, as Jeff had always described, enjoyed more of a dry heat.

On a quiet shady street, they stopped in front of Cassie’s narrow two-storey townhouse apartment. She unlocked it, letting Brady and Jayden inside, and then waited out on the stoop with Jeff. A moment later the faces of both men were in the bay window in the front, watching them.

Jeff rolled his eyes, and Cassie giggled. She rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned in to kiss his cheek. Jeff caught a whiff of coffee and the brown sugar scent of her body lotion.

“Walk home safely and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Can’t wait,” said Jeff, and he meant it.

Cassie kept her hands on his shoulders, and her gaze caught his. A faint smile hovered on her lips. “I don’t want to get all deep or anything, but we’re okay, right? I know how busy you are with
Evensong
promotions, so I didn’t want to push, but you’ve been a bit distant ever since …. At least, you’ve stopped coming to see me as often.”

“That’s because I’m an idiot,” he replied, as honest an answer as he could give. Even if he wanted to tell her about the trade he’d made, now was hardly the time with Heckle and Jeckle watching. “After this is over, and we send these two on their merry way with Raul in tow, we’ll talk.”

Concern, and perhaps the slightest hint of anger, passed over her eyes. She opted for a nod and ran her hand through his hair. His scalp tingled under her fingertips. “I’ll hold you to that. No more running away.”

“No more running,” he promised.

Slowly, taunting him, she leaned in until the smell of her overwhelmed his senses. He suspected she was testing him, seeing if he would run away right now. But his feet felt cemented to the ground, and if she told him to, he would stay there forever.

She brushed her lips over his, the faintest pressure, a promise of more once they both found their footing. Then she gave his hair a light tug and turned on her heel, her ponytail swaying as she went into the house. With a quick wave she closed the door, and Jeff inhaled sharply.

From the window he could see Jayden and Brady grinning like mad fools. Grins that quickly disappeared as Cassie entered the room, both men flying away from the window.

Jeff shook his head at how chaotic his world had become over the course of six hours, and started home.

The cool breeze cleared his head, and for the first time since he entered his apartment that afternoon, he took his time to think.

Raul in Montreal for six months. Jayden and Brady come to play bounty hunters and bring him home. Raul with no powers. Cassie wanting the truth.

It was a lot to absorb, and he didn’t know where to start.

The beers from dinner swirled in his head, making it impossible to tie any of his thoughts together. All he wanted was to fall into bed, and pretend for the next eight hours that his life wasn’t a tangled mess. Then he could wake up with a clear mind and they would find Raul. They had to. Even if it took weeks, they had no other option.

Not like he was in a rush to get back to work.

He reached his building and took the elevator—rationalising it because of the hour and the amount of walking he’d already done that day—and let himself into his apartment. To make sure no other surprise guests lurked in the shadows, he poked his head into each room.

Reassured, he took a quick shower and then buried himself under his blue comforter. After a week of hotel sheets, his own felt luxurious. Within seconds he was asleep.

***

What felt like five minutes later, Jeff awoke to his cell phone chirping on the desk beside him.

Not alarm. Can’t be alarm.

It took three rings for everything to fall into place. Jayden and Brady. Raul. Andvell? His eyes flew open, and he breathed with relief to see his own room around him. No unwanted transportation.

But his phone was still ringing.

Bleary eyed, he reached over and glanced at the screen. Cassie? The clock read six-thirty.

“Hey,” he answered, “is everything all right?”

Sniffling on the other end, rough breathing. “No!” she shrieked, and Jeff held the phone away from his ear. “Oh god, I don’t know what happened. How do I tell you—”

Fully awake now, Jeff sat up on the edge of the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Deep breaths, Cassie. What happened?”

“Jayden and Brady. They’ve been abducted!”

Chapter Four

J
eff rose to his feet. “Abducted?”

Scrambling into his jeans, he pulled a shirt over his t-shirt, keeping the phone glued to his ear as he released a muffled, “What do you mean abducted?”

“Taken! Manhandled into the back of a car!” Cassie’s panic rose, and Jeff held out a hand to calm her down, forgetting she wasn’t there to see it.

“Start from the beginning.”

“We were all up early,” she said, her voice trembling so badly Jeff had a hard time making her out. He heard the rattle of mugs in the background and the click of a kettle turning on or off. “I was making breakfast, and I heard them in the living room. Suddenly they were all excited about something, and next I knew the door was open. I went to the window to see what was going on and—and—”

“It’s all right,” Jeff said automatically. Clearly it wasn’t. She sounded like she was about to break down. He wished he was there. Stuffing his wallet into his pocket, he rummaged on his desk for his keys.

“This black car pulled up. I saw Jayden start to run, but three guys jumped him and forced him and Brady into the backseat! It was over in seconds, the car was gone before I reached the sidewalk.”

The tremor in her voice worsened. Jeff heard the whistle of the kettle, and then another click as it shut off. He found his keys buried under a pile of dirty clothes from the night before.

“Did you recognise any of the men?” He ran his hand through his hair and paced back and forth in front of his desk. “How is this even possible?”

“They were all—all in suits. Nice suits. Tidy hair. The car was clean and expensive. A Mercedes, I think. Like out of a movie where the government agents whisk people away. God, Jeff, what the hell are we going to do? Maybe there
was
someone following us yesterday. We should have listened and followed that guy. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m on my way over. We’ll figure something out. Just sit tight, okay? Make sure your doors are locked.”

“Thank you,” Cassie said, exhaling slowly. “I can’t believe it. Even if that man yesterday was spying, how would they know who Brady and Jayden were?”

Jeff opened his front door and stopped. A man stood in the hallway, arm half-raised to knock. A clean-cut sort of guy in a tailored black suit, his red tie perfectly centred over a red shirt, with short blond hair and a square jaw.

“You Jeff Powell?” he asked, his grammar not quite reaching his level of fashion.

“Yes,” Jeff replied, curiosity winning over his desire to point the man to Mr MacGregor’s door.

“Jeff? Who’s there?” Cassie spoke up in Jeff’s ear.

“I have a message for you,” said the man. “From Raul.”

Jeff, and Cassie on the other end of the line, were silent, too stunned to reply.

“He says to meet him in Old Port. He’s waiting for you by the Clock Tower.”

“Who is it?” Cassie hissed.

“Who are you?” Jeff asked.

“I wouldn’t dawdle. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

The man turned and stalked down the hall, leaving Jeff to heed the message or not.

“Not like he can do much about it if I’m late anymore!” Jeff called after him.

“So?” Cassie asked.

“I guess I’m heading to Old Port.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Fear flooded Jeff’s throat. “What’s the point of putting yourself in danger if you don’t have to? Raul may not be all with the zombie summoning, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hurt you. I’d rather you stayed away.”

“And leave me waiting to hear back from you? What if something goes wrong? There’s no use arguing, Jeff. I’ll be there.”

Jeff headed down the stairwell, his voice echoing around the cement walls. “Fine, but please keep your distance. If something
does
happen, at least you’ll be there to call the cops, or scream, or throw something at his head so I can run away.”

He hung up as he reached the street and headed left. Even if Cassie called a cab it would take her fifteen or twenty minutes to get there, and by then Jeff could gauge how much trouble Raul intended to cause.

At this early hour, Old Port hosted a few commuters biking along the path, but the tourists weren’t yet out and about. Without them, the setting looked abandoned.