Savor (9 page)

“Exactly.” I swirled around the ice in my glass of water. The cool breeze from the lake made for a comfortable afternoon.

“What are your plans? I understand your looking for your mother, but what then?”

“I don’t know. I quit my job, so I’ll figure something out.” I finished off my water.

“What was your job?” He watched me carefully.

“Director of Security and Intelligence for The Society.” I didn’t use the official title often, but I figured it sounded better than the “head of security” explanation I normally gave.

“Quite the job to up and quit.” He’d already known. His expression gave him away. I went along with it anyway. He didn’t strike me as the type of man who talked unless he had something important to say.

“I had my reasons.”

“We all have our reasons.” He looked out at the tranquil lake.

I should have been uncomfortable, but I wasn’t. Between the perfect weather, and the slight buzz from the Pesco, my problems seemed miles away.

“I may have some temporary work to offer you.”

Gareth’s words snapped me out of my relaxed state. “What kind of work?”

“How much do you know about Ursus?”

“I know you’re bears.”

“Yes. But I assume you know more.”

“I know there are different types. You are grizzlies.”

“Yes, but there are other differences.” He looked over at his wife and daughter before turning back to me.

“Meaning?”

“That’s not important to my job offer.”

“Then what is?”

“Taliana tells me you saved Casey.”

“I was part of the rescue.”

“And you understand the type of bears she was with?”

“I understand they were willing to work for witches.”

“Once our clan controlled all other Ursus groups.”

“But you don’t now?” I knew he didn’t, but that didn’t stop me from asking.

“We should.”

“You want to take over?”

He shook his head. “I want to unify.”

“You support the king.” It wasn’t a question exactly. By recognizing Casey as his daughter he’d done as much.

“Of course.”

“You want the king’s support in the unification in exchange for promising loyalty.” I knew that Gareth’s talk about unification could be about more than the bears, but I wouldn’t know for sure unless I kept him talking.

He smiled. “You understand.”

“I already told you I quit my job. I don’t work for the king anymore.”

“I don’t need you for that, although we both know the king would still listen to you.”

He was right, but that didn’t mean he should have known it. “Then what do you need me for?”

“You were the Director of Security and Intelligence for a reason.”

“You want my help with the unification?” Now he was talking my language. No games, just strategy and strength.

“Yes.”

“I have to think about it.” The thought of working for a bear didn’t appeal to me, nor did getting tied down to another job, but if something as significant as unification was underway I needed to stay close. Gareth’s actions could impact The Society. Quitting my position with The Society hadn’t made me any less loyal, and the years of training didn’t just disappear.

“Of course. I understand.”

“Vera might not like it.”

“Why? She liked you enough to bring you here.”

“Wait. Did Vera know?” Was she hiding things from me?

He shook his head. “No. She probably wouldn’t have come if she did.”

“I need to find my mom before I agree to anything.”

“We will do everything in our power to help. We owe both you and your mother a debt.”

“I need to know if she’s alive.”

“Do you doubt it?”

“Now that I know the kind of evil my father possesses, maybe. I wouldn’t put murder past him.” I shouldn’t have been so forthcoming with Gareth, but I was. Maybe it was the liquor.

“Do you truly believe your father had her killed?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“May I ask one other question?”

“Sure.”

“Couldn’t the king have tracked her down? Doesn’t he have the capability?”

“I can’t have him look without drawing attention to my search or to her, which is why anything you and Taliana do has to be done carefully.”

“We will try, but there is always a risk. There’s a reason I never found Taliana.”

“You never really looked.”

“Of course I looked.” He pounded the table hard enough that our empty glasses fell over. The women looked at us briefly before turning back to the water. “But I couldn’t look as deeply as I wanted.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Tonight we will discuss this more, but first let’s eat.”

I glanced up to see the waitress walking over with a tray.

“Taliana, Vera! Dinner’s served.” Gareth beamed at his wife and daughter.

I looked down at the large platter set down in the center of the table. It was heaped with all sorts of different types of fish. I wasn’t much of a seafood fan, but I knew this was going to be good.

Vera slid into the seat next to me. “At least you waited for me to eat.”

“Hey, I have to be polite, right?” I grinned.

“Polite isn’t so bad.” She smiled. She seemed lighter than she had earlier. Maybe the talk with her mother had helped. She had a lot to get off her chest.

“Dig in!” Gareth ordered. “I’m eager to see what you think.”

I put a piece of salmon on my plate and took a bite. “You were right. This is as good as your liquor.”

“We can do some things right then, huh?”

“I’m beginning to understand you can do many things right.” I glanced in Vera’s direction. They made delicious food and spirits and bred gorgeous women. Maybe the bears weren’t so bad after all.

M
y mom had never approved of a guy I brought home. She’d hated them all, mostly for good reasons. So of course she had to go on and on about how much she liked Jared. I not so delicately reminded her that he wasn’t my boyfriend, or anything of the sort. My current term was ‘traveling companion’, but that didn’t quite sum it up. I wasn’t sure what Jared was to me, but I liked his company. I was done pretending that I didn’t.

“You look good together.” Mom stretched her legs out in front of her.

“Yes, you’ve told me that already.”

“And you still don’t have a response?”

“What kind of response am I supposed to have?” I tossed a rock out into the lake. It skipped once. I’d have to keep practicing if I was going to ever beat Jared at it.

“At least admit you have feelings for him.”

“I don’t.” I glanced over my shoulder at where Jared and Gareth sat talking. “Well, not serious ones.”

“That’s a start.” She smiled.

We fell into silence. So far mom and I had talked about everything but the important things—like why she hid the truth from me, and why I left. It was easier for the time being to brush it under the rug, but eventually we were going to have to face it. Maybe I’d be gone before that happened.

“I’m glad you’re back.” She leaned her head back and gazed at the setting sun.

“It’s good to see you again.” It was nice to see my mom, but I wasn’t sure if anything else about my visit to Norco was nice.

Dinner wasn’t nearly as awkward as it should have been considering we were having it with my estranged mother and a father I’d never remembered knowing. Despite everything it was actually kind of fun—but maybe that was the intense Pesco liquor talking. Jared had been right to warn me. I’d never had alcohol go to my head so fast. I had to give my parents credit for one thing; their people could make a strong spirit.

“Now I know why you and dad cooked fish so much.” I savored a bite of the fresh salmon.

Gareth’s face darkened, and I quickly realized my mistake. Too bad. Chris was my dad, and Gareth would have to accept it.

“I’m not a fish person, but this is really good.” Jared took a third piece. I wasn’t surprised to discover he had a big appetite. I assumed all of his appetites were big. My body warmed thinking about it, and I quickly pushed away the thoughts. We were sitting with my mom and Gareth.

“You’ll both be staying in the main house tonight.” Mom set down her napkin on the table.

“The main house?” I took a final bite of the delectable fish. I’d been hungrier than I’d originally thought.

“The house we were in before.”

“You mean the castle? You might as well call it that.” Although it didn’t look like much from the outside, inside you got the sense that the rooms went on and on forever.

“It is rather large.” Gareth pushed his chair back from the table.

“You have two guest rooms?” It was a huge house, but that didn’t mean they had multiple guest rooms set up.

“Yes.” Mom smiled. “You didn’t think I’d put you in the same room with a man you weren’t involved with, did you?”

Jared cleared his throat. “Please don’t feel the need to house me in your own home. I don’t need much sleep, and I can stay outside.”

“Don’t be silly.” Gareth looked him in the eye. “You will be joining us this evening.”

Something nonverbal crossed between them, and I wondered what they’d been discussing when sitting together. I’d been too fixated on my own conversation to listen in.

“Would you two like to head back to the house right away?” Gareth asked.

“Is there something else we could be doing?” I wasn’t up on the social opportunities of the island.

“Sure. There’s bound to be something happening in the glade tonight. That’s where most of the young people spend their evenings.”

“Young people?” I raised an eyebrow.

“The ones without kids and under the age of forty.”

“Oh, right.”

“Will there be more of that Pesco liquor there?” Jared laughed.

“I’m sure there will be.”

“Maybe we should check it out.”

I couldn’t get a read on him to know if he was being serious or not. Did he actually want to go?