Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender (2 page)

I love this place.

The buzzing of her cell pulled her away from the newest antique store. She dug through her bag, wrestling with contents that should have been removed ages before until the vibrating square fell into her hands. Her bag tipped. Lily managed to right it before it spilled, but her toe hit the edge of the sidewalk paver, forcing her off balance again.

She placed the phone to her ear as she re-straightened. “Hello?” It slipped as she overcorrected her walk. On a bump and grab, she caught it. “Whoops! Hello?”

The ding of a real bell above an old door and a group of teenagers giggling and jostling each other in a bid to escape with their ice cream cones still intact added to the beauty of the day.

“Lil?”

“Hey, Charley. I’m on my way. Almost there, in fact.” Lily had only a few blocks to go before she’d reach her destination. “What’s up?” She paused for a moment, using the window to check her eye color—a deep blue, bordering on purple. With her birthday only a week away, her ability to hold her form and her chosen physical shape had begun to wane.

Not that it mattered; she still had four weeks until Charley’s wedding. Lily would be back to normal well before then.

“Just making sure you’re on your way.” Charley’s chuckle forced a smile to Lily’s face.

She twisted her hair behind her head—the tips had already started to change, taking from the farthest points and working its way in. “I am almost there. Stopped for some éclairs.”

“Nooooooooo! My wedding is in a month. You can’t bring more chocolate!”

Lily offered a semi-giggle. “Charley, Charley, Charley. We’re shapeshifters, we don’t need—” She froze. Palm to forehead, she shook her hair—a beautiful shade of mocha she’d chosen just for Charley’s wedding to compliment the teal dress she’d chosen as Maid of Honor. That the ends of her strands bled into a mousy blonde brought a frown to her face.

I can’t believe I said that. How insensitive. Bad, Lily, bad.

The phone stayed silent.

Lily took a deep breath. “Charley?”
Please forgive me, please forgive me, please forgive me.

A small sigh came through the line.

Lily imagined Charley dropping to a seat, leaning her elbows on her knees and running a hand through her hair. She’d done the same move at least a dozen times in the last day alone. Losing her shapeshifting abilities after over two hundred years had not been an easy transition. Lily still had plenty of time until that would happen to her, if she made it that long. Every time she thought of Charley’s engagement, a pang of want rumbled through her, along with a parallel happiness that Charley had found the man of her dreams.

Maybe one day mine will change his mind.

“Charley?” Lily hesitated with her best friend’s name. “I’m sorry. I … forget sometimes. I’m still …”
Young-ish. Able to change form. Stupid.
Lily’s face squished.
Change the subject, quick!
“So, hey, is your dress finally in? Did they get the right one with all the beading?”

Another heave of breath. “Nice try, Lil. I know you’re young. But you’re sixty. Just because you look twenty and act … oh … say … three …” Charley’s sarcastic response meant all had returned to normal.

Lily giggled. “I said I was sorry, silly. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll … make your favorite dinner tonight—for you and Wyatt—for everyone.”

“With homemade tomato sauce?”

“Absolutely.” She started walking again.

“Deal. And I know it’s not your fault. It’s only been a month. I forget, too … sometimes—well—when I should remember, that’s when I forget—or don’t want to remember.”

Lily kept going along the sidewalk. “Wyatt’ll love you even with a few extra pounds. Or a few grays. Or when you’re officially and actually thirty-five or forty or fifty or—”

“Just come on. I have a gorgeous dress hanging on a rack. I need your undivided, chocolate-free attention.”

“I’m two blocks away. Sixty seconds and I’m there.” Lily clicked off and dropped her phone back into the abyss of her bag.

“Hello, angel.” The man’s voice, deep and menacing, spoke no higher than a whisper and no sweeter than a vulture fending off its kill. A hand clamped over Lily’s mouth, preventing her scream and adding a slight, intoxicating flavor at her inhale—a mix of rum, prunes and rubbing alcohol all in one.

“We’re going to take a little trip, you and I.”

She swayed as her mind kicked into gear.

Run!

2

Cael reached for the door handle, intent on wrestling details out of the ultimate weasel.

“No,” Wyatt said.

With an inward groan, Cael stopped mid-turn.

Wyatt slapped the manila folder against his own hand. “We have three objectives. One: find out what his interest is in Lily. Two: find out why he’s here, if Lily is an aside. Three: find out who he’s working for, which will help many other departments and could be a big boost to your career.”

“I don’t care—”

“Yes, you do. You’re the only Mimic who actually works for the bureau … that I know of.” Wyatt ran a hand through his hair. “You care enough.” He handed the folder back to James. “Your turn.”

“But I don’t work—”

Wyatt took a deep breath. “I know you don’t officially work for us. And this little investigation isn’t on the record, anyway. We three, plus Charley and Lily, want information. That’s it. So for the moment, he’s yours. Cael and I will stay in the booth and listen.”

James pursed his lips before drawing in air and offering Cael a slight nod. “I’ll do what I can.”

“Play good cop, since you’re usually like one.”

James bumped the unlatched door with his elbow. “Good cop?
I’m
the good cop?”

Cael looked to Wyatt. “Always,” they both said.

Wyatt tugged Cael toward the secondary entrance. Within the confines of the soundproof room, he could have punched his boss, and no one would have known, but reality sunk in—as it always did—with Wyatt in charge.

Cael dropped into the squeaky seat and rolled forward to the table, steepled his fingers and propped his elbows on the surface, preparing to watch the show.

• • •

Strong arms dragged Lily, feet sliding, body unable to alter her position, into the shadow of an alley. What her brain commanded, all her muscles failed to do.

She’d thought to run, to fight, to scream.

None of it happened.

Why can’t I move?

Panic consumed her—right down to nerve endings in her fingers that she could no longer sense. Every ounce of her being said ‘go!’ yet she could do nothing.

Lily wanted to shake her head, but even that failed. Her eyes darted left, right and center as her shoes scraped along the sidewalk. The heavy slide of a metal door preceded her body’s tumble onto a flat surface. Her arm landed underneath her torso. Her head smashed onto something as pain seared her shoulder.

She tried to scream, but her jaw failed to part her lips, and not a sound escaped. Her gaze landed on the man, big, dark and mostly covered, stuffing her into what she deduced as a van.

If tears formed, she didn’t feel them.

If she kicked, she didn’t know.

All feeling in her lower extremities had long since disappeared, though she must have continued to breathe.

“Just sit tight.” He added a low, gruff laugh.

Lily’s eyelids drooped, fatigue taking over until she could no longer hold them open.

The door slid toward its latch. It opened back up just before it clicked. “We have a little bit of a trip before we get you home.”

Her ears ceased to function. A world of complete and absolute silence, and darkness, descended upon her.

• • •

Wyatt’s cell chirped. He unclipped it from his waist, held it out and sent a smile in Cael’s direction as he answered. “Hey there, lovely—”

At his abrupt stop, Cael tilted toward his boss.

Brows furrowed, every line in Wyatt’s face etched into one of distress. “When?”

The one-way conversation had Cael moving closer.

Wyatt scooted back. “Where are you?”

Cael shoved himself nearer still, catching snippets of Charley’s voice through the speaker.

“Don’t go anywhere else.” Wyatt pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Yes, I know you know all the rules. Just stay there. Cael and I’ll come get you.” He clicked off and turned to Cael.

Wyatt’s expression told Cael something happened but not to Charley.

“Lily didn’t show up for the fitting—”

“One step ahead!” Cael jumped from the chair, grabbed the handle to the door and broke into James’s just-started interrogation with Roy, Wyatt bringing up the rear.

A smile flitted across Roy’s lips.

James positioned himself between Cael and Roy, arms across his chest.

“Where is she?” Cael’s bark would have been heard throughout the building if the room weren’t soundproof. He reached around James and ripped Roy from his chair, holding him aloft again until James broke Cael’s hold and thrust him backward.

Wyatt secured Roy to the side. James walled in Cael.

Roy’s violet eyes shot figurative daggers back at Cael.

“Who asked you to take her? Who took Lily? What the hell are you planning?” Fury coated Cael’s words.

Roy struggled against Wyatt, his chest heaving with each breath.

“Get out, Cael,” Wyatt said without releasing his hold. “Go downtown. Now.”

James tugged on Cael’s arms, shoving him toward the exit.

A quick pull within his own body had Cael’s arms shrinking enough to free them. He raced back toward Roy, prepared to pummel him right through Wyatt if he had to.

His hand raised as Wyatt forced Roy behind him.

Cael stopped, breath ragged. “What’re you doing? He took Lily.”

Wyatt shook his head.

Roy popped out from behind his human shield. He ran a hand over his hair again. “What do you mean … ‘took Lily’?” His squeaky voice didn’t match his reputation—a reputed runner for multiple organized crime families. Roy pulled at the hem of his shirt. “I certainly did not take Lily.”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been following her. You had a ring made for her. She’s missing. Naturally, you’re the one to ask.”

Roy patted down his shirt. “Naturally.” He moved back to the table, sat and clasped his hands. “But not today.”

• • •

Cael, Wyatt and James reached Charley outside the bridal shop thirty minutes after she’d called.

“Where’s Stuart?” she asked.

“He’s on guard duty, with very specific instruction not to let Roy move.” Wyatt’s position with the FBI and with the intelligence unit gave him enough clout to keep some well appointed oversight on Roy.

“What happened … exactly?” James asked as cars zipped by the downtown street and people meandered on the sidewalk.

“Nothing. That’s just it.” Charley motioned them over to one of the benches. She leaned against the back as Wyatt flanked her, protective at every step of their relationship. “She and I were chatting …”

Wyatt wrapped his arm around Charley’s shoulders, pulling her in tight in the same way Cael wanted to do with Lily as he imagined her panicking and frantic.

“… and she said she’d be here in sixty seconds. After five more minutes, I figured she’d made another stop, but she didn’t answer her phone …”

Cael paced back and forth in front of Charley, running his fingers through his hair. “I knew we should have kept a guard on her. Ever since Savannah. I knew it!”

“So …” Charley continued as if Cael hadn’t interrupted. “I came out, walked up and down the street and … nothing. Absolutely nothing. So I started canvassing. Got in to each of the businesses on this side. No one even saw her.”

“What was she wearing?” James asked.

Charley shook her head, dark curls bouncing all around. “That’s actually part of the problem. I have no idea what she was wearing let alone what she looked like today. She’s been trying out different colors, lengths of hair—girl stuff—searching for the one she thinks will go best in pictures at the wedding.”

At any other time, Cael would have laughed at Lily’s silliness, something he admired in her. Even after so many years, she still hadn’t settled on who she aspired to be.

“Based on what she told me last, I’d go with green eyes, a little dash of royal with high cheekbones, and light brown hair with a touch of gold.”

Cael bent toward Charley. “No, this morning she said she was going with blue. Her birthday’s coming up, and her eyes have been getting darker, so she went with what was easiest … until next week at least.”

“Shit.” Wyatt jerked away from Charley and followed Cael’s path. “Why can’t you four just look like your real selves? Why do you have to try out who to be?”

“Trust me, Wyatt, if you had the teen years we did, you’d understand. Not everyone is as confident in themselves as Charley, Cael and I,” James said. “Even Roy keeps his natural eye color but changes his form all the time.”

“Roy keeps his eye color because it’s his signature. His mark. He wants people to know it’s him because they can’t ever catch him,” Charley said.

“Or if they do, he knows how to keep his mouth shut,” James said.

Charley tapped her foot on the ground as a horn sounded behind them. “When are you guys going to give me a chance to talk to him?”

All three of them held out their hands, waving her question away.

“Lily’s missing.” Narrowed eyes accompanied Charley’s start. “The one guy who probably knows something is in custody, and you’re going to play macho men with me? Are you serious?” Despite her lack of shapeshifting abilities, Charley still commanded their group. They needed her as much as she needed Wyatt. “And you …” She directed her rant toward Cael. “Lily doesn’t need a babysitter. We all already agreed on that.”

“She’s right, you know.” James earned a glare from both Cael and Wyatt. With his hands in the air, James stepped back. “I’ve told you from the beginning, Wyatt. Charley’s asked you. It’s time to bring her back in to this.”

“He’s right.” Charley stepped in Wyatt’s direction. “I need to talk to Roy.”

“No. You don’t.”