a Touch of Intrigue (13 page)

Pierce sat on the coffee table next to me, elbows braced on his knees, fisted hands pressing tight to his chin.

I reached for him. “I’m okay.”

He sandwiched my hand between his. Warm. Safe.

“You suck at lying, Belisama.”

Aukele stood. “I will prepare the tea.”

I didn’t try to talk, or worse nod. My thoughts had slowed, but anything more complex than two-word sentence structure was still beyond my ability. G
et a grip.
I struggled to sit up.

Pierce slipped his hands under my arms and lifted. “I’ve got you. Asking for help is always an option, Hot Shot.”

I closed my eyes until the spinning stopped. “I hate when you call me that because I know I’m running barefoot on thin ice.”

He grinned. “Love you. Want to talk about it?”

“When Aukele gets back. I have questions. A bunch of memories flooded my mind, but I could only latch on to one long enough to hear the details.” I turned my palms up, staring at my fingertips. “It’s different from seeing things through my fingers, and I’m having a hard time separating…no that’s not right. Arranging my childhood memories with present-day knowledge.”

Aukele padded into the living area and handed me a mug of tea. “It’s Millie’s blend, Granddaughter, and has restorative elements.” He placed his cuppa on the coffee table, then dragged a pillow over, and folded his ancient, agile body into a full lotus atop the pillow. I was in awe, and definitely jealous. I’d been working on relaxing into a full lotus for two years, and so far had only managed a half lotus.

Pierce scooted off the table, sat next to me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, hugging me close. Safe. My anchor. I cuddled in. “I love you, Tynan Ailill Pierce.”

While Aukele sipped his tea, my attention shifted to the green bowl sitting on the bookcase behind him. He turned to follow my gaze. “Did you like my gift, children?”

“Gift.” Relief poured through me. “You brought the bowl here? For us?”

Grandfather grinned. “I happened to be in the store when you discussed the purchase with Annie, and I thought it would be an appropriate hand-fasting gift.”

Hand-fasting? What the hell?

“Thank you, Kahuna Aukele,” Pierce said, pinching my arm, and none too gently. “Thank your grandfather, Everly.”

“I love the bowl, Grandfather. Thank you. It’s perfect.”

Pierce rubbed my arm, easing the sting from his pinch. “Everly and I will cherish your gift.”

My relief at solving the mystery of the green bowl aside, the detour in topic had been mind-boggling surreal considering the current situation. “Um, can we get back to my memory issue now?” What the heck were they thinking, derailing this discussion?

Aukele bowed his head for a moment, then looked at me. “You needed time to settle, Granddaughter. A few minutes of respite and bit of tea can induce healing.”

He was as bad as Pierce with making valid points. And they always pushed the limits of my patience. I’d have to work on that. Later. “Let’s start by you telling me about the explosion.”

Every muscle in Tynan’s body tightened. “Explosion?”

Grandfather wrapped his hands around the warm mug of tea, and watched me. Intently. “It was Millie and Harlan’s vehicle. They were caring for you inside this house, but you had mastered the art of escaping long before your fourth birthday. On that day you lived up to the name Makani chose for you, Niele, and chased after your curiosity. When you ran outside the force of the explosion tossed you to the ground.”

Pierce glared at Aukele.

“She faded in and out of consciousness, Tynan, but was not seriously harmed. The accident jarred her brain slightly, and made her receptive to letting go of the memories.” He turned toward me. “Makani had a vision that explained how I was to erase your memories before you left for your new beginning as Everly. It was necessary to protect you. We had started to see changes in you that were consistent with our expectations. You were beginning to ask questions about conversations you hadn’t heard, and acting on knowledge you didn’t have.”

Memories tumbled through my mind. “I asked for a cookie, and got the standard mom-response about eating dinner first. And then I touched her, watched an internal video of her putting them in the cupboard earlier that afternoon, and helped myself.”

Pierce stifled a chuckle. “You were a pain in the parental ass.”

I smiled. Sweetly. “The formula would have affected my DNA, so it’s not surprising that my fingertips were active at an early age. I think I was about two when that happened.” I shivered. “I can’t stomach the horror of Eamon Grady forcing my mother to drink that stuff, and I’m going to do everything in my power to destroy it.”

Grandfather shut down. Blank eyes. Expressionless face. When would I learn to censor my thoughts? It had to be horrible for him to remember what had happened to his daughter. I started to apologize, then thought better of it. No words could make it better.
Move on, Everly. Let it go.

When my mind returned to the present, I relaxed into the moment, and was hit with another memory. I saw myself on the sofa right after the explosion, and Mom’s voice came through.

Loyria: “We have to do everything we can to provide all the facts she’ll need to protect herself. I created a cache site near the Amazon camp that holds the equations for the toxin, the antidote, and my healing formula. They’re obviously not perfect, because…planned to give her the coordinates when she was ready.”

I bolted up from the sofa. “What I need, everything I need is hidden at my mother’s old Amazon camp.”

What the hell had I done with Fred’s business card?

TWELVE

AUKELE TOUCHED MY HAND, THEN
shared a look with Pierce. My emotions dipped from a burst of hope to shattering despair. I gave them both the evil eye. “What? I saw that look.”

Pierce cringed. “That area has been in a tribal war for months. No access.”

Like I would fall for that. “Your people don’t have boundaries like that. A tribal war, hell, no kind of war stops them. They’re all like you: determined, stubborn, fearless, dedicated, crazy, and trained until their warrior and survival skills are honed far beyond normal human limitations.”

“True. I’m going. You’re not.” There was an irritating thread of steel behind his words.

I jumped up, stood over him. “You’re not getting it, Pierce. This issue is attached to
my
DNA. Even if you found my mother’s notes you wouldn’t know what to do with them. There are plants, and possibly native inhabitants, in that jungle who I’ll need to touch. I’m going.”

Aukele hummed a soft note. “Neither of you are traveling to the Amazon.”

Both of us shifted, drilling a what-the-hell stare into my grandfather.

He smiled. “Everything you need is here. In Loyria’s garden. When the situation with Fred and her former coworkers became unstable, she made several trips to South America. Your mother created a safe environment for you to complete her work should you ever choose to do so.”

Deflated. My hope of touching Mom’s papers before anyone else smudged the images were destroyed with a few innocent words from Aukele. But maybe… “I want the notes Mom left in the Amazon for me. Do you know where they are, Grandfather?”

His shoulders sagged. “No. On her rare visits home she shared very little with us about her work. Makani and I knew she was planting the garden, that the rainfall here was perfect for nourishing the seedlings, but she kept the details of her work from us.”

“Protecting you,” Pierce said, nodding. “Loyria wouldn’t have trusted Fred, and his covert team had already located this property.”

“You weren’t part of—” The words popped out before I could stop them.

He grinned. “Not that old, Belisama. Those agents would be from your parents’ generation. Could have even been Fred, depending on how deep he hid Loyria’s work from the rest of the team.”

Heat flared in my cheeks. “Stupid. Of course. I wasn’t thinking.”

“What’s your plan, Everly?” Pierce’s tone was so gentle, it was almost my undoing.

I dropped to the sofa, blowing out a whoosh of air. “Set up camp in the living laboratory until I figure out how to finish Loyria Gray’s work.” I looked deep into his eyes. “I didn’t plan to become my mother.”

Aukele broke into a full-blown chuckle. “Not likely, Granddaughter.” He stood, rested his hand on the crown of my head. “I’ll return when you need me.”

And he was gone.

I tossed my hands up. “I’ll never figure out how he does that. Here one minute, then gone. I see him move, but then the image blurs and I can’t pinpoint where he actually goes.”

“Not a priority, Belisama.”

I opened my mouth, unsure what to say. And then snapped it closed. There wasn’t anything to say—until Pierce’s stomach let out the mother of all rumbles. “Hungry?” I asked.

He nodded, then checked his phone. “Meet’s set up. Let’s head into town, make the drop, eat…”

My stomach was in agreement with his plans, but more important, so was my mind and spirit. “Yeah. That’s good. It might help to get away from here for a while, be with normal people, and relax. Yesterday, this morning, it’s all been so intense. Maybe we just need to have some fun.”

He blinked. Twice. And then grinned at me. All imp. All trouble. “Not sure I know how to do that. Lead the way, Belisama.”

TWO HOURS LATER WE’D SUCCESSFULLY
handed off the silicone implant
,
our bellies were full of fish tacos, fries, and Hapa Brown Ale that tasted faintly of caramel and smelled like toffee. Both my tummy and my mind had relaxed. Hand in hand we strolled toward the Kapiolani Park Art Fest. “This is perfect. Maybe we’ll find something for our new home. Our first purchase.” I’d gotten lost in couple-itis. It was a tad embarrassing, but I still wanted to share the experience with Pierce.

He shuddered. “Lot’s of people.”

My insides did a summersault. “It’s dangerous for you. We shouldn’t even be walking.” I turned in a frantic circle, checking for… I had no idea what.

He stopped me in mid-turn, grabbed my wrists, and tucked my hands behind my back. “We’re fine. How about we cruise along the outside, skip the interior?”

“Are you sure? It’s not that important.” But it was. Something had called to me.

Pierce must have read my expression. He released my hand, and rested his left arm over my shoulders. “You have that look. Let’s go…shop, but stay on my left.”

I bit down a chuckle. “Bet you’ve never said the S word before.”

“Been a while. Any idea what we’re after?”

I stopped walking, grounded myself, and listened to my intuition. “Not sure, but it’s close. One of these first tents, I think. How about we stroll by, and I’ll skim my fingers over a few items, see what happens.”

Pierce dropped his arm to his side, taking a “ready” stance. He continuously scanned any and all areas around us, but I’d never seen him this alert when we weren’t in a crisis situation. “You’re sure it’s okay?”

“It’s a go.”

I hesitated, but whatever had been calling to me was getting more persistent, so I hurried toward the first tent. Baskets. Deep breath. I picked up a gorgeous oval-shaped design, and images flashed about the artist in charge of the display. “Did you make this?”

Hope sparkled behind her eyes, and she smiled, soft and gentle. “Yes, Miss. They’re leaves from the hala.”

“I’d like the smaller one with the lid, please.” I dug the correct change from my handbag, we made the exchange, and I tucked my new basket into my bag. Then I adjusted my purchase to the bottom so my .380 was readily accessible. No point in being careless, although there was no way I’d be shooting anyone in this crowd. Too dangerous. And not the kind of attention either Pierce or I needed. I shook the woman’s hand. “Thank you. It’s really lovely work.” But it wasn’t what had been beckoning me.

I skipped the next two tents because the tingling on the edge of my aura hadn’t given me a “buy” signal. I turned to Pierce. “I hope I’m right about this. My spidey sense is still running wild, but these last few vendors almost had a dampening effect.”

He held my gaze. “Take a breath. Try again.”

I loved this man. Big, dangerous, skilled in all things lethal, and he still completely believed in my gifts. “You’re perfect.”

He barked a laugh. “I’ll remind you of that when I piss you off.”

“Yeah. I know. I have to learn to keep those thoughts to myself or they’ll come back and bite me.” I spun around and headed for the last tent in the row. There were a few customers in front of me, and I had to peer around them to see what was on sale. Jewelry, maybe? I nudged Pierce. “You’re tall. Can you see what she’s selling?”

He scanned the general area, then focused on the tent. “Jewelry.”

The people in front of me shifted to the side, then moved on. It was just me and the… “Oh. My.” I skimmed my fingers over several bracelets, and barely kept from gathering them all up. “Mine,” I whispered.

The artist’s smile was all-knowing. “It’s sea glass from the North Shore, as wild and untamed as you are.”

My body went into tingle overdrive. This woman
knew
me in a primal sense I’d never experienced with anyone but…no one. There wasn’t a single living person that had ever connected with me in this unusual way. Pierce had
become
my heart and soul in the most profound, beautiful sense. Annie understood my mind like no one else, but this woman, this artist…she understood my gift.