Winter's Scars: The Forsaken (Winter's Saga 5) (38 page)

Gideon shrugged and finally looked away from Meg’s fresh face.  The touch of makeup she’d applied made her already beautiful face look breathtaking. 

“I feel great, thanks to you.” 

“Yeah?”

“I do.” He smiled, genuinely happy for the first time in longer than he could remember.

Meg felt that thought pass through his mind and found herself fighting off a blush creeping up her throat and curling around her ears.

She decided she needed to get his mind off her.  It was safer for everyone.  “So have you ever attended one of these functions?”

“Yes, a couple of times.  I go as the Senator’s bodyguard.”

“Have you ever had to protect him?”

“It’s more crowd control and arranging the drop off and pick up with Ermos, but it’s been a while.  I was busy protecting an asset in Italy for the past several months.”

He looked over at the stunningly beautiful girl beside him and thought back to the days and nights watching her sleep in her hospital gown.  He had always been watchful for sick perverts who would do her harm.  He never allowed anyone to touch her.  Ever.  Gideon, the protector, took great pride in that fact.

“So what can I expect tonight?”

“We’re going to the Brisbee Benefit.  A lot of fancy people dressed in diamonds and gold will be there to try to get the Senator to vote in their favor on bills, and the Senator will trade his promise for more money and backing.”

“What does he want ‘backing’ for?”  Meg asked as she leaned down and adjusted the strap of her beautiful high heeled pump.

Gideon watched her every move.  The way her fingers slipped down her ankle.  The muscles flexing in her arms and back as far as the dress would allow.  He was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation, and just when he thought things were going more than fine
, someone else decided to take the lead.  Gideon felt pushed back. 

“Gideon?” Meg looked up from her shoe and into the black eyes of Sirus.

“Back off, baby.”

“Sirus?  Why are you here?” Meg instinctively spoke in a hushed tone as though Sirus’ existence were some kind of secret.

Sirus lifted his thick hands in a shrug.  “You tell me, doll.  I’m just along for the ride.”

“Tell Gideon I want to talk to him.”

Sirus slouched back in his chair, wrinkling the freshly pressed tuxedo he wore. 

“Nope.  He’s gone, baby
, gone.”

“Why are you acting like this?”

“Like what?”

Meg looked more closely at his face and flinched at what she saw.  “Who are you?”

The body Gideon was hiding inside of just shrugged.  “What does it matter?”

“It’s only polite to introduce yourself and tell me your role in the system,” Meg stood and crossed her arms angrily at the new alter who appeared without warning.

He rolled his eyes and huffed.  “Fine, baby doll.  Call me Keegan.” He stood and bowed deeply, sweeping his hand ostentatiously to the side before standing upright and looking playfully smug.

“Keegan, what is your role in the system?” Meg asked seriously.  Though she’d had to do this before, it was still unnerving to speak to a familiar face and ask for an introduction. 

“I’m the chill one,” he cocked his head smugly and shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, my little red doll, you must have made the boys awful tense, so they pushed my ass forward.”

Meg heard voices coming from the Senator’s corridor. 

“Do you know what we’re doing?”

“Not a clue,” he answered flippantly.

“We’re going to the Brisbee Benefit with the Senator and Michelle.  Ring any bells?” she hissed. 

“Nope.”

“Oh, shit.”

“You need to relax, Red.”  He reached out to drape his big hands on her shoulders as though she needed a massage right then and there.

“Stop it!” she swatted his hands away.  “Behave yourself or you’ll be left behind.”

“That’s cool.  I’m sure I could find a game to watch on the tube.”

The voices were coming from right around the corner.

“Please keep trying to get Gideon to step forward,” she muttered under her breath.

“As you wish, doll face.”

“Meg!” she spun and yelled.  “My name is Meg!”

“Chill, Meg.  We’re being watched.” Keegan had leaned down to whisper in her ear.  His warm breath tickled the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck giving her immediate goose bumps down that side of her body.

The Senator was watching. 

Michelle stood with her boney hip jutting to one side, seeming far more interested in her burgundy nail polish than what was happening in the foyer.

“Is everything all right, Meg?”  The Senator’s eyes bored holes in Keegan’s forehead.

“Yes, of course.  We were just debating my name: Naya or Meg.  I have definitely chosen Meg.”

“Of course you have.  Are we ready to go?”

“Yes, I’ll just grab my handbag,” Meg said hurrying past Arkdone’s watchful eyes and back to her room.  Once the door was shut, she forced herself to breathe slow, deep breaths.  She hadn’t realized how much she depended on Gideon’s sweet, protective ways until she lost him. 

She moved to grab her matching handbag and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.  She’d gathered her wild curls into a loose bun at the back of her head.  Small locks of curls had escaped their capture and rained down lightly around her face and at the small of her neck.  And that’s when she shivered at the memory of Keegan’s hands on her.

“Get it together, Meg.  You have a job to do.  Keep focused on the plan,” she muttered to herself.  She took a moment to rub the lingering goose bumps off her arms, took a deep breath, lifted her chin into the air and pulled her shoulders back.  She strode decisively back to the foyer where everyone was waiting for her performance.  She would just have to get through this on her own after all.

Chapter 73 Doughnuts at Dawn

“So that’s how I got into studying scars.  If my dad hadn’t been injured in the fire at the lab back home, I would never have gotten into the study of stem cells helping regenerate skin.  It’s fascinating work!” Kylie took a quick sip of her coffee and watched the quiet boy sitting across from her pick at his food.

“Do you not like the way they cooked your eggs?” she asked, scooping up a forkful from her plate. 

“Oh, the food is fine.  I was just thinking about what you said.  So you think the stem cells could help heal wounds?  What limitations have you noted in your studies?”

“The usual suspect variables like the extent of damage to the epidermis or dermis, the size of the injury, the age of the patient and therefore the production of collagen.  Then, of course, there’s the age of the injury.”  Kylie smiled widely, happy to be sharing her passion with a fellow student of science.

“Hmm,” was
the only response Evan offered.

“You mentioned,” Kylie began carefully, “that you have scars.  Would you like to discuss them?  I mean in a purely scientific manner, of course.” Her earnest green eyes showed concern as she waited for Evan’s response.

“Let me think about it,” he said after a long pause, his left hand tightening in his lap.

“Sure thing.” Kylie beamed looking as though Evan’s “maybe” was a “yes” in training.

She watched Evan in silence for a while then decided silence was annoying.  “I’ve gone on and on about my family.  Tell me about yours.”

Evan flinched, and though Kylie was a whirlwind of activity, she was a very astute observer.  She saw so much more than people thought.  Her observation skills made her
a phenomenal scientist. 

“You don’t have to talk about them if you don’t want to,” she offered graciously.

“No, it’s okay.  It’s just complicated.”

She leaned in and whispered, “Families usually are.”

Chirp, chirp.  Chirp, chirp

“Speaking of family,” he nodded toward his phone.   “Excuse me.” He stood to step politely away from the table.

“Mom? Is everything okay?”

“Evan, please come home.  We’ve gotten news and it affects all of us.”

“Is it Meg?  Is she all right?”

“We still don’t know about your sister, but we’ll be able to find much more information in a couple of weeks.”

“Why?”

“Our names are being cleared by the US government.  We’re going to be able to go home!”

“What?  How did that happen?”

“We can talk about it when you get back to the house.  Oh, Evan!  We’ll be able to go back to our home!” Evan could hear the excitement in her voice and imagined her holding the phone so tightly to her cheek that she was about to accidentally disconnect the call.

“I’ll be home soon, Mom.  That is very exciting news.”  He added the last part for her.  Inside he was thinking he had a lot of work to finish before they left and he was afraid he wouldn’t have enough time to complete it.

When he walked back to the table he saw that Kylie was on the phone too. 

“Yes Dad.  I understand.  I’ll be right home. Bye.” She touched the end call button before saying, “Speaking of family, my dad wants me home ‘ASAP’ so I can help him.  His TA this semester is a complete loser and has fallen behind on grading, so he’s asked for my help.”

Evan was only half listening as his mind was racing over the possibilities concerning their miraculous amnesty.   The more he thought about it, the more he was sure Meg had something to do with it.

He glanced up at Kylie who was looking at him expectantly.  “Excuse me?” Evan asked.  He realized he’d missed the last thing she said.

“I asked if you could give me a lift back home.  I usually walk or take the bus, but it would be faster if you could help me.”

Evan frowned. 

“I live just off campus.”

“I have to get back to the lab.  I just found out I’m working on a tighter time schedule than I previously was aware.”

“I thought I heard you tell your mom you’d come home right away.”

“It’s complicated, remember?”

“I’ll tell you what.  You give me a ride home and I’ll be back at say, seven tonight to help you work on your secret project.  You know you need my help now.  Who else is going to put up with your surly, loner personality?”  Kylie grinned widely to herself as she neatly placed the
waitress’ tip between the salt and pepper shaker.

Evan was scowling, but he was also thinking about the proposition.  He really could use the help dissecting and analyzing.   “How good are you at reading slides?”

“Damn good.”  Kylie’s usual upbeat personality turned serious at the unspoken challenge set before her.

“Then we have a deal, if you can agree not to ask me any questions about
why
I’m working on these tests.”

Kylie shrugged.  “You’ll tell me what I need to know, got it.”

“Let’s go,” Evan nodded as he scooted out of the booth.

Kylie was right at his side as they exited the little café.  Without thinking, Evan had walked holding her elbow lightly—a gentlemanly habit his mom had drilled into his head years ago.  He opened the door for her.  The morning air outside was dry and windy.  Evan slipped on his sunglasses so he wouldn’t have to squint his light eyes against the bright Cairo skies. 

They crossed the street back into the laboratory’s parking lot where he parked his motorcycle.  Without a word, Evan handed the helmet to Kylie and straddled the bike.  He started it and waited for her to climb on behind him.  He glanced up to make sure she didn’t need help with the helmet strap and saw she handled herself like a pro.  Her green eyes smiled at him as she reached out to place her hands on his shoulders, balancing herself as she climbed on the motorcycle.  He felt her compact body mold itself against his back as her arms slipped around his waist to hold him. 

Caught up in the sensation of her touch, he
had to clear his throat before he tried to speak.  “Where to?” was all he could manage.

“Up the hill, take a right at the second light.  The house is on the left at 24414 Salim Lane.  It’s white with a big porch and palms.”

“You just described pretty much every house on that street,” Evan heard himself tease.  It had been so long since he felt like joking that the words startled him.

“Just drive,” she giggled.  “I’ll poke you in the belly when you need to stop.”

Evan couldn’t help but smile at her playful ways.  She was like a ray of sunlight bursting through the blackened anger and resentment he’d been living through for the past four months.

With casual skill, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove up the hill at a moderate speed.  He realized he was in no hurry to take Kylie home. 

Kylie was over-the-moon content with Evan’s slow pace.  Unable to resist, she found herself occasionally squeezing his waist a little tighter.  She was already addicted to burying her face in his shoulder and breathing his uniquely handsome scent.