WB (24 page)

Edna winked at me and waggled her fingers as my eyes turned to her and I felt a strange lift of my spirits at seeing her again. I wasn't sure why she helped me in London or why everyone seemed surprised that I knew her. From Gage's reaction it was obvious he hadn't sent her to help me. Just another mystery then.

Jerome stood in front of the massive fireplace and began, “First, I would like to welcome everyone to my home. On behalf of Seattle Consolidated, we are honored to have you in our fair city.” Bored applause filled the air.

When it petered out, Jerome continued, “First, Morgan Lindwald, I believe you wished to address the council, so I'll turn it over to you.”

A tall woman, with a shaved head stood up. The only thing stopping her from looking like a homely, skinny man was the frilly pink dress she was wearing, kinda weird. She had large, dark eyes that were strangely liquid and a long curved nose that distracted from her full mouth and slightly crooked white teeth.

“Hugo is all our problem. For years he has gotten away with the most unimaginable …”

her voice faltered and she blinked several times before continuing, “crimes. But, for the first time, I think we have a real chance to stop him, if we work together.”

Her glance touched on everyone in the room, and in spite of myself, I leaned forward so as not to miss a word. She had a deep voice and a way of making everyone think she was speaking only to them.

“A young witch was able to escape his compound in Idaho last week, she can lead us there and from that, I believe, we can track down the other breeding camps and training grounds.

I have spoken to the Idaho and Montana wolf packs and they have partnered with us to take down any weres he may have in his control. Also, they have offered us safe passage through the packlands for this purpose.”

There was a lot of shouting and yelling after that as plans were made and scrapped and then remade the exact same way again. My head was starting to hurt and my stomach was rumbling, but the buffet table was empty of everything but a few limp pieces of parsley and a half eaten piece of cocktail rye.

WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 98

I glanced around wondering if it would be rude if I looked for the kitchen myself. If that wasn't okay, I was willing to order a few pizzas for everyone. I didn't have my purse with me but if Gage would pay for them I would pay him back once I got my bank card back.

A gentle hand touched my back and I turned around to see Edna beaming at me. There was something about her that was so friendly and open that I was surprised that she would lie to me the way she did in London. Although, to be fair, I didn't ask her if she was a witch or if she knew Gage, so she didn't really lie, she just omitted a few pertinent facts.

“How are you Anna?” She said, holding my hand in both of hers.

She had such a look of genuine concern and affection that reminded me, in an odd way, of my friends, Patty and Leah.

“Okay, a little tired of surprises,” I said with a pointed look at her.

She laughed and clapped her hands with delight, “Yes, yes, I can understand that.”

“Who are you and why are you here?”

She had a mischievous twinkle in her eye when she said, “Oh, I go where I'm needed.”

That didn't really answer my question, but I had the feeling she wouldn't tell me if I asked again.

“Lord Hawthorne is a good man. I am so happy to see you together. Yes, things worked out just the way I hoped.”

With that cryptic statement, she wandered off. I noticed that while the other people at the meeting greeted her with respectful nods and made way for her to pass, none of them stopped to speak with her and a couple looked frightened and stared at the floor when she came near them.

Gage put his arms around my shoulder and I looked up at him with a small smile.

“When did you meet her?” He asked, watching Edna make her way back to her three bodyguards. I smiled as I noticed they were all very lovely to look at; tall and muscular, like beefed up boy band members.

“In London, when I was waiting for the Embassy to open up.”

He looked surprised and said, “But you were under surveillance the entire time. We never saw her with you … ahem, yes, I understand.”

“What?”

“She's the Oracle, she might have slowed down time a moment so that she could speak with you. She does that sometimes.” I know my jaw was hanging open but I was too astonished to close my mouth.

“That sweet, little old lady can stop time?”

“Don't call her an old lady to her face. What did she say to you? What does she want?”

Gage's face was serious, his jaw bones stood out in stark relief and the sensual lines of his mouth were tight with suppressed emotion.

I watched Edna speaking with her guards, she really did look like someone's granny. I could picture her knitting tea cozies while listening to Mario Lanza on the radio. Trying to imagine her as a supernatural being was a strain. She just looked so ordinary.

“I don't know. She bought me tea and cakes. We spoke of London and Jane Eyre,

nothing momentous. Why did the council invite her?”

I didn't tell Gage what she said about him because frankly, the man didn't need any more encouragement and my feelings for him were such a mish mash of lust, annoyance and infatuation I wasn't sure I could handle his reaction.

“She wasn't invited, she just showed up and no one would have the nerve to deny her WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 99

entrance. Jerome asked me if you knew she was coming since you two seemed so chummy.”

Gage said.

“Well, your guess is as good as mine. Surely she could be of great help in capturing Hugo? She will help, won’t she?”

Gage wouldn't meet my eyes and a curl of fear made my stomach tighten. “What aren't you telling me?”

“There is a saying; “May the eyes of the Oracle fall upon you.”

“Well, that's good then, right? It’s a blessing?”

“It's a curse. To come to the attention of the Oracle isn't a good thing. She seems very interested in you and that worries me.” He did look worried. The color had leeched out of his face leaving his dark gray eyes to add the only spark of life.

Brittle laughter filled the room and I noticed, as if for the first time, that people were casting wary glances at Edna where she sat in a corner of the room gazing serenely out the window.

“That does it, I'm going to have a word with her!” I pushed away from Gage and he made a grab for my arm as I started to walk off.

“No! It isn't done, you must ask for an audience with her first. You can't just rush up and make demands, she's the Oracle.” He hissed at me trying to hold me back.

“I don't care if she's the Antichrist, I have been pushed around and lied to too much! I want some answers!” I said in a loud voice that had heads turning to me with disapproving frowns.

People parted for me with quiet whispers as I made my way across the room. Edna beamed as she watched me get closer. She held her hands out in welcome. Gage was right behind me and I felt a surge of gratitude that he wanted to be with me while I spoke to her.

“Edna, I need to know why you approached me in London. Gage seems to think you

mean to hurt me and I want to know why,” I said levelly and watched as her eyes flicked to Gage briefly before returning to me with a beatific smile.

“Yes, yes, London is a lovely city. The Romans called it Londinium. Did you know that?” Her head was tilted to the side and I saw a bald spot on the top of her head and a long line of scars that looked like crooked stitches ran along the top of her head and curled out from her hairline in the back. Yikes, that looked bad.

I shook my head, 'no.' My experience with the elderly indicated that it sometimes took a circuitous route of details and segues to get to the point, so I waited.

She continued, “Did you know that you look like my daughter, Geraldine?”

I felt Gage stiffen next to me, but I wanted to concentrate on what she said so I didn't look at him.

“She was a beautiful girl. She's gone now, of course. Her babies are gone too.” Edna wore a terrible expression of grief and for a moment I thought she would cry.

I knelt down next to her chair and took her age spotted hand in mine, it trembled a moment and then she gave mine a squeeze and said, “The roads of time connect in strange ways.

Sometimes they unravel and people are flung off the ends, never to be seen again, forgotten so soon they might never have existed. Then there are other ways, different roads, so many destinations. I see a bright path that winds on forever with people along its entirety. I see you on this path with him.”

She was silent and I waited for her to say more. What did she mean? What is the path WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 100

and why is it important, when I heard a soft snore followed by a wheezing sound. Her face seemed oddly deflated when she slept and could almost make you think you were looking at a woman well past her 100th birthday taking a nap.

Edna's head was cocked to the side and she snored gently, her chest rising and falling slowly. Gage pulled me to my feet and we stepped away. I watched as one of her bodyguards gently picked her up, he maneuvered her head onto his shoulder and with a respectful nod to Gage and me, carried her from the room with the other guards following.

I heard the front door close and the room was silent for almost a minute before low voiced conversations and the sounds of twenty five people moving around made it seem noisy again

“What the hell did that mean?” I turned to look at Gage and he looked just as mystified as me and shrugged.

WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 101

The meeting started to wind down as deals were struck and alliances strengthened. A master plan was agreed on and the details were hashed out and refined, ad nauseum, for several hours. To me, the plan seemed solid. But who was I to say? I didn't have any experience invading a madman's compound and rescuing women and children.

I was droopy with exhaustion when the meeting broke up and delighted when Gage

accepted Jerome's offer of a place to stay the night.

I didn't even argue when I found out that Gage and I would have to share a bed that night.

I finished first in the bedroom and sighed with pleasure as I slipped between the cool sheets on the bed. Mica shaded bedside lamps cast a warm glow over the soft bed and a fire crackled in the small stone fireplace across the room.

I was halfway asleep when I felt the bed dip as Gage climbed in next to me. His skin was warm from the shower and I gave a sleepy smile as he curved his body around me and laid a possessive hand on my breast.

Too soon, sunlight seeped in around the wooden blinds. Gage's arm tightened around me when I tried to sit up, so I carefully eased away, trying not to disturb him. With a few gentle caresses on his arm, he went back to sleep and I got up from the bed and walked to the attached bathroom.

For the first time in several days, everything seemed normal. I could almost forget that last night I had attended a strategy meeting for killing a dangerous warlock and his equally evil henchmen. Edna's words still weighed heavily on me, but I made a conscious decision to not think about it.

Overall, my impression of Edna was a positive one. She seemed to genuinely like me and the feeling was mutual. She was a kindly, older lady with a preference for colorful sneakers and classic literature. If she truly meant me harm it seemed like I would feel it, but all I felt around her with was warmth and joy.

I took a shower and enjoyed the warm water and the light filtering in from a skylight above. What luxury! A skylight in the bathroom.

Gage was awake and speaking into his cell phone when I came back into the bedroom.

With a muttered expletive in a language I didn't know, he snapped the phone shut and vaulted from the bed.

He was naked. Why wouldn't he be? His chest was wide and thickly covered with

muscles and under my interested eyes he gave a back cracking stretch and rubbed his hand over his stubble covered cheek. With a smile and a pat on my towel covered rear he went into the bathroom. I heard the shower running and smiled when I heard him whistling a jaunty tune.

No matter how nice your clothes are, when you have the choice of only two outfits, and they are ones you have already worn, the pleasure you had in them all but disappears. With a grumble I pulled on the same pant suit I had worn just a couple of days ago to meet my mother and brother. I wondered when I would see them again and was about to leave the bedroom when a loud knock sounded on the bedroom door and I had just enough time to fasten the last button WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 102

on my shirt before it opened.

One of the muscle twins stood in the doorway. I didn't know his name, but at the moment my annoyance was forefront of my curiosity.

“Didn't your mother teach you to wait to be invited inside before entering a woman's bedroom?” My hands were on my hips as I said this and I waited for him to apologize to me.

My foot was tapping the floor and I mentally restrained myself from slamming the door in his face.

“Sorry, ma'am, madam, ahem.” He was blushing profusely and backed away from the door with a frown.

“I was getting dressed in here. I don't like people barging in on me when I'm naked.

Especially people whose names I don't even know!” I didn't think it was possible but he got redder and seemed to glow with embarrassment as he looked everywhere but at me.

“What's your name?” I prompted.

“Emmet, ma'am. Rosco Emmet.” He bobbed his head as he said this and had such a mortified look on his face I was ashamed of myself for terrorizing the man. It was obvious he was uneasy around me. I wasn't sure if he was this way around all women or just me, but it didn't matter, I was being a bitch to him and he didn't deserve it.