SHIVER (29 page)

Raven nodded, the emotion backing up her throat preventing her from telling them Fox had been aware for four years. It would probably be best if she never told them that bit of news.

“That explains why the scamp has been stomping around here like a pup with a wounded paw.” He glanced briefly at Fiona, giving her a nod of thanks as she set a mug of tea in front of him.“That settles it then,” he said softly.

“Settles what?” Raven asked.

“Aidan’s one of us now.” Pike blew on his tea and took a sip as though the problem was resolved.

“What? No.” She frowned.

“He’s Fox’s father. That makes him part of the family.” Pike’s tone clearly stated there would be no argument.

“Pike,” Lynx said slowly, mimicking Pike’s posture. “Making him a member of the family when there are still unanswered questions about Dad is a bit premature.”

“I’m content with the answers Aidan gave twelve years ago.” Pike looked at each of them in turn. “All of you need to let it go.” His gaze settled on Raven. “For Fox’s sake.”

Pike set his tea aside and stood. “I need to get back.” He turned to Fiona. “Walk with me?”

They left the room together, and Raven knew the two of them would be discussing her and her problems. She felt like a kid who’d just been caught in a compromising position. Well, she had, and she didn’t have the excuse of young age to fall back on this time.

“I’ll say this for all of you,” Eva said having kept quiet throughout the meeting. “Never a dull moment being a part of this family.”

Raven entered the restaurant not knowing what she was going to say to Pike, but knowing she needed to speak to him. Somehow she needed to erase his disappointment in her.

As she strode toward the bar, she noticed Aidan at a table with a very young, very beautiful woman, their heads nestling together as they talked. A feeling totally unlike anything she had ever felt before seeped into her body. The woman leaned her head against Aidan’s shoulder, and he gave her a hug. Raven wanted to yank the woman out of his arms by her shiny blond roots. She walked up to their table.

“Aidan?”

He jerked back at the sound of her voice. “Raven.” He sounded surprised, or was it guilt at being caught with another woman just twenty-four hours after he’d slept with her? He rose to his feet.

“I…uh…I would like you to meet my cousin.” He indicated the girl, who looked up at Raven, blinking back tears from her large blue eyes. “Lana, this is Raven. The woman I told you about.”

Told what about?

Lana dabbed her eyes with a napkin and gave Raven a timid smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Raven pulled out one of the chairs and sat. She didn’t care that she hadn’t been invited. “You have a cousin?” Why hadn’t she heard of this cousin before? And why was she here?

Aidan retook his seat. “Roland is her father. Lana traveled here with her boyfriend, hoping to stop Roland from causing…some mischief.”

“Mischief?” Goodness gracious. Were any of his relatives law abiding? She studied Lana, wondering if her sweet innocence was an act. Aidan must have picked up on her mood, because he leaned closer to Lana as though to shield the little blonde from her.

“Lana, why don’t you go and find Peter.” Aidan glared at Raven. “I need a moment with Raven.”

“Okay, but you won’t leave the lodge, will you?” Lana looked up at Aidan all teary-eyed again.

“I won’t go anywhere. Same goes for you and Peter. All right?”

“Yes.” Lana took a deep breath and tried to smile. She turned to Raven. “It was nice to meet you.”

Raven nodded and watched the petite beauty walk out of the restaurant and into the main part of the lodge. She turned back to Aidan. “What’s going on?”

“Lana is really fragile right now. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t scare her to death.”

“What are you talking about? I was perfectly pleasant.”

“You were not. My skin is still burning from the scorching look you gave us.”

“Whatever,” she scoffed. “Want to tell me why she’s here?”

“Not really,” he said, under his breath.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m tired of being judged by you.” He leaned across the table, his eyes hard, direct. “Things are going to change between you and me, starting now. First, I’m Fox’s father, and nothing you can do will keep me away from him. I suggest you don’t even try. Second, you need to quit blaming me for what my father did to yours.”

She sucked in her breath and opened her mouth to object. “Aidan—”

“I’m not finished. Third, until I say different I don’t want you and Fox out at Earl’s place.”

That she hadn’t expected, and it took the heat out of her anger. “Why?”

His jaw hardened. “You don’t want to hear why. For your and Fox’s safety, I don’t want you there.”

Not that she wanted to return to Earl’s, but to be told she couldn’t, didn’t set well.

“Now,” he continued, “about yesterday.” He rested elbows on the table, his brows settling heavy over his eyes. “You made love with me. We didn’t use protection. Whether or not you can love me again, doesn’t matter. You are
not
pushing me out of your life this time.”

It took her a moment to catch her breath. “That sounds like an ultimatum.”

“Call it whatever you want, but you’re stuck with me.”

“Nice to see you two getting along.” Pike came up, plunking down a cup of coffee in front of her. “Might want to take your ‘discussion’ somewhere more private. You’re garnering attention.”

Raven glanced around the dining room. Sure enough they had become the entertainment. Chatanika was a small town, barely a town, more like a village. Whatever had been said this afternoon between her and Aidan would be shared with the whole population. Great.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Aidan said.

Pike put a hand on Aidan’s shoulder and looked at Raven. “You tell him?”

Raven paled.

“Tell me what?”

Pike cocked a brow.

Raven studied the table and drew circles with her finger on the surface. “I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.”

Pike harrumphed. “Lot of things you seem to take your time with getting around to.”

His disappointment weighed heavy on her shoulders. “A meeting was called,” she said to Aidan. “I informed everyone that you were Fox’s father.”

Pike slapped Aidan on the back. “Welcome to the family, son.”

Aidan looked up at Pike, speechless. He swiveled his gaze toward Raven.

“You’re Fox’s father. Apparently, that makes you one of us.”

Aidan swallowed, glanced between the two of them, and suddenly stumbled to his feet. “I have to go.”

She watched him rush out of the restaurant. What was that all about?

“Don’t just sit there.” Pike reached down and hauled her to her feet. “Go after the boy.”

“Why?”

Pike grabbed her coat and shoved her toward the door. “You aren’t that dense.” He shook his head. “Actually, with Aidan you’ve always been minus a fat load of brain cells. That man has always longed for a loving family. Now get out there, and fix this mess you’ve made.” He opened the door and pushed her out into the cold. Aidan was standing next to his rental, staring off toward the sunset.

Raven struggled into her coat. Where did she start? “Aidan—”

“What does that look like to you?” Aidan pointed toward the direction of Earl’s cabin.

A plume of gray and black smoke rose above the trees, staining the sunset in purple bruises.

Fire.

Aidan nodded as though he’d heard her dreaded thought and wrenched open the door to his vehicle.

Without thinking, Raven ran around to the passenger side and jumped in.

“You aren’t coming with me.”

“I’m not letting you go alone.”

“Things have changed. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

She tried to deflect that barb. “You’re wasting time. There won’t be anything left if you don’t get this thing moving.”

He cursed and started the Tahoe, fishtailing out of the parking lot. “You’re the most stubborn person I know.”

“Back at ya. Now what the hell is going on?”

He tightened his lips into a thin line of defiance. It wasn’t going to work.

“Why is your cousin here? And don’t tell me she came for a vacation. She’s the beach bunny type.”

“You don’t know a thing about her.”

“Then tell me. And why do you seem to care so much about Earl’s place burning? You offered to let the village burn it for the winter solstice.”

The Tahoe went into a skid, and Aidan let up on the gas, turning the wheel in the opposite direction, safely keeping the vehicle on the road and screaming toward the smoke, which was blacker and thicker the closer they got.

“There’s something inside that cabin someone is willing to kill for.”

“Then why burn it down?”

He gave her a sharp look. “He must have found it.”

“He? You know what it is, don’t you? What does it have to do with Lana?”

He let out an impatient sound. “Uncle Roland’s in town. Lana received a letter from him stating his intentions.”

“What
are
his intentions?” A trickle of dread snaked through her.

“Murder and theft,” he bit out.

“Whose murder?” she whispered, already suspecting the answer. The flexing of his jaw answered her question. “Why does he want you dead?”

“I killed his brother, remember? Roland believes in a biblical form of justice.”

“But…you were protecting someone.”

“He doesn’t see it that way.”

“Then what the hell are we doing racing toward Earl’s? You should be leaving town.”

“Because I won’t run from him, and he’s after the gold.”

“What gold?”

“Your father’s.”

“
What?
”

He sighed and finally gave into her questions. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Somewhere Earl had to have hidden gold in that cabin. In the letter to Lana, Roland spoke of a windfall he was going to collect. Earl didn’t have anything…unless he’d hidden it. And the only thing I could think of that he would have hidden was gold. Gold he killed your father for.”

Raven sat still in the seat as they raced over the snow-packed back road. Shadows reached like demon fingers across the landscape as the sun gave up the fight. They rounded the corner, and there was the cabin, squatting un-charred but backlit by glowing flames. Smoke billowed and spread out from behind the cabin like death’s blanket smothering the birch and spruce trees.

Aidan jerked the Tahoe into park and swung open the door. “Stay here.”

“Like hell I will.” She opened her door.

“Damn it, Raven, I don’t have time to argue.”

“Then give it up, I’m coming with you.” She slammed her door, emphasizing her words.

Aidan swore a string of profanity, his face a mask of frustration and anger. “Stay behind me then.” He reached under the seat and pulled out a handgun. They ventured toward the cabin, Aidan scanning the area for danger. Raven kept her eyes wide open, watching his back, wishing she was also armed. Something besides the smoke didn’t feel right. Fire was always a threat in Alaska. Build-up of creosote in a chimney, a fire left unattended—the list was endless of how fires got out of hand, killed, and destroyed. She and Aidan crunched down the path, the sound of their feet and the hiss and crackle of flames the only noise. The pungent smell of smoke, much like a pleasant campfire, scented the area.

Rounding the corner toward the back of the cabin, Aidan suddenly stopped. “Well, shit.”

Raven plowed into the back of him. He reached out a hand to steady her, and she finally saw what he had. The lean-to that sheltered the stacks of chopped firewood simmered, reduced to flying ash and snapping coals. Flames had greedily eaten away at the wood and structure, leaving nothing to heat the cabin.

“That took me days to chop.”

“Your uncle really doesn’t want you staying out here.” Raven moved to stand beside him. “Crafty bastard.”