River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte (22 page)

***

48 hours
earlier

Avoiding Lucien was
proving easy. Avoiding everyone else?

Not so much.

It was easy
with Lucien because he was really, kind of, completely, insanely
angry at her right now, and he had a reason to be because
she
had
promised
she would stay with the pack rather than fight at the Centre. On
the other hand, if he wasn’t being such an idiot he would realise
that she would never go back on her word and know that something
was up. At the moment, his misunderstanding was working more in her
favour than if he was questioning her motives. She needed him well
and truly out of this.

This being...

Her, trying to build up
the courage to confront Vilhelm. The idea of encouraging someone to
break a Midnight out of prison and out of the Centre was
insane.

I mean, maybe
I’ve got Marita all wrong. Maybe it’s me with my stupid trace.
Maybe being a half-Midnight means my trace is broken. Maybe I’m the
delusional one and should seek a mental health professional
immediately.

The truth was that she
didn’t want to believe that all these people she trusted were wrong
and she, little ol’ her, was right. What about Marion and
Magnus?

What about
Albus?

What about her
father?

Were they wrong? Did they
give their lives to a lie?

Goddess it was too awful
to conceive.

And then she let herself
feel Laila’s trace and her gut twisted.

Could her trace really be
so off that she would feel this sweetness from a girl who was evil?
Was there ever really just good and evil?

Ethan had certainly been
evil.

But was that like
condemning Austrians because Hitler was a soulless
fiend?

My head
hurts.

She flopped back on her
bed, gazing up at the heavy silk canopy above her, wishing she were
anywhere but where she was.

“
You have to
make up your mind, Cy. Time is seriously running out,” she snapped
at herself. At this moment she was supposed to be at a water
lecture. That’s what she had told Mordecai, anyway. When he
realised she wasn’t there he’d be after her. She was surprised, in
fact, that there wasn’t a gaggle of bodies outside her room, but
she guessed the ordinary ‘candidates’ couldn’t get to her
floor.

Muffled voices suddenly
floated through her walls from the hallway and she moved quickly
and quietly to press her ear against her door. Sure enough, she
could hear voices coming from the elevator which was at least
fifteen metres around the corner and down the hall.

She recognised them.
Mordecai and Marita.

Artemis, she loved her
lykan hearing.

Grinning jubilantly, she
pressed harder and felt her heart pick up speed at the
conversation.

“
I don’t know
what this plant of yours is going to pick up, Mordecai; from all
accounts she has had no one in her room.”

“
The lykan.
Lucien. Surely she’ll have him into the room; we should learn
something from that conversation.”

“
And this
plant? You’re sure it will go undetected by her?”

“
Well, you
could put a faerie in there if you aren’t confident in
me.”

“
One: stop
being impertinent. Two: you know why I can’t put a faerie into her
room. It’s that bloody faerie of my sister’s, Saffron; she’s too
influential among the faeries here and she happens to hold Caia in
the deepest of respect, which is saying a lot for the sarcastic
relic.”

“
This will
work, I promise.”

“
And you’re
sure you personally can’t learn anything more from her?”

“
I told you,
Marita, I got all the info I could on her special ability. I tested
that tree she blew up and still nothing of any consequence. We
won’t know for certain until we see it in action. But I maintain
that I believe her when she says she has it under
control.”

“
And
Jaeden?”

“
I’m not
going to get anything more out of her on that subject. Hence the
plant.”

“
Do you think
she’s even aware of Jaeden’s... abilities?”

“
I don’t
know. But we’ll find out.”

“
You better.
We need that information if we want to be successful. So far the
children are not reacting in any way.”

“
Yes, well
this bug should tell us what we need to know.”

“
And if it
doesn’t?”

“
Then we find
another way to get the information we need. Perhaps a more direct
solution, such as the one I suggested earlier.”

“
It’s too
risky. I told you it’s a last resort... impertinent... ”

Shock reverberated through
Caia’s body as if she had just hit deep impact. She pulled back
from the door, staring at it in disbelief. Mordecai was working for
Marita, trying to unearth secrets from her. What did they want with
her? With Jaeden? What abilities? What children?

Oh goddess, she cupped a
hand over her mouth to silence her snarl of frustration. Something
seriously weird was going on here and her spider senses were
telling her it was something bad.

Enough was
enough.

She straightened and
glared at the doorway.

No more second guessing
herself. No more doubt. She had been right all along. Something
wasn’t right at the Coven, and there were innocent people feeling
the consequences, including herself and more importantly Laila. She
was getting the girl out today if she had to.

Mordecai and
Marita’s footsteps grew closer and she began to panic. They
couldn’t barge in here because that would be suspicious of
them
, and she had to
maintain the cover that she trusted Mordecai completely. She began
to sing loudly, making them aware of her presence. There was
silence for a moment and then a soft tap on her door.

“
Come
in.”

All alone, Mordecai
strolled in, a breezy smile on his face. “Hey, I wondered where you
had gotten too. You weren’t in the lecture.”

Caia shrugged, holding her
claws in tight so she wouldn’t attack the traitor right where he
stood. “I just wanted to catch a breath before I head down to see
Desi and Ophelia.”

He looked momentarily
bewildered, and then he shrugged. “It’s just like you, Caia, to
take people like Travellers under your wing. ”

You smug son of
a bitch.

She smiled
tightly.

He strolled around the
room making small talk with her, and if she hadn’t been looking for
it specifically, she would never have noticed the ultra subtle move
he made, dropping something tiny and weightless into a vase by the
fireplace.

So now her room was
bugged.

His eyes creased in
concern. “You’re sure you’re OK?”

“
I’m fine.
Honest. Just taking some time.”

“
Well.” He
grinned and headed towards the door. “Just checking up. Come get me
if you need me.”

“
Will
do.”

“
Oh and
Caia... have you thought anymore about Marita’s offer? I think you
should really consider it.”

I bet you
do.

“
I’m
definitely giving it serious thought. Wouldn’t be here otherwise.
You know, there’s just so much more to learn here.”

Like just how
sneaky and conniving the Head of the Coven is.

He smiled again and
left.

Jeez, that magik was a
great actor. She had had no idea he was a scummy little toad
working for his mistress. She withheld from snorting in disgust in
case the bug picked it up and instead headed for the
door.

She had a prison break to
put into motion.

***

24 hours
later

“
There you
are.”

She tried not to groan at
the familiar voice that sent shivers down her spine no matter the
occasion. And right now, she did not have time to deal with the
person belonging to that voice.

“
Ssh,” she
hissed at him, subtly sliding the actual book she had been reading
under a copy of
Practical Taekwondo: Back
to the Roots.

“
What are you
doing here?” Lucien whispered, sliding into the chair beside her
and leaning over to check out her reading material. He raised an
eyebrow but made no comment. And then he lifted his silver gaze to
hers and she had to force herself not to look away.

“
Why are we
whispering? There’s no one else in here.”

Caia glanced around the
small, empty library and shrugged. “There could have
been.”

Lucien stretched back in
his seat, pinning her with a look of frustration. “I’ve come to a
conclusion after our little meeting with Marita.”

“
Oh?”

“
Well, you
know at first I was angry. And then angrier. And then today I let
my stupid brain start working and I thought, no - Caia wouldn’t
abandon the pack after what happened with Sebastian; she still
feels raw about that, still feeling guilty even though it’s not her
fault.” He heaved a sigh, running his hand through his hair, before
leaning his elbow on the table and leaning in toward her. “You
still grieve for him. So you would never leave us. So why would you
tell Marita that you would consider her job offer?”

Crap. She had so wanted
his obtuse lykan self to not figure this part out.

Even though her heart was
determined to pick up speed, she held tight in her seat, her butt
clenched with the tension it took not to give anything away. “I
don’t know what you’re babbling about.”

He smirked, unconvinced.
“You’re delaying leaving here. Now, again, when I first came to
that conclusion I stupidly thought it was because you were a big
something here, a rockstar - enjoying the glory of being a
mega-being,” he guffawed. “Then I came to my senses, and I thought
no, this is Caia, the girl who blushed at her first pack run; the
girl who looks as if she would give anything to melt into the
wallpaper every time we meet in Marita’s suite to discuss the
MacLachlan attack.”

Oh Gaia, she really wished
he hadn’t decided to get all perceptive where she was
concerned.

“
Lucien-”

He held up his hand to cut
her off. “So that leaves me with one question.”

She waited.

His eyes narrowed
dangerously and his head lowered in mimicry of his lykan when going
on the attack. “What the Hades are you up to, Caia?”

“
Lucien-”

“
I am still
your Pack Leader and I demand to know what you are doing
here?”

She wanted to tell him,
she really did. But without knowing how he really felt about her,
how could she trust him with this before she actually did it. If
her plan went accordingly, she would have to tell him eventually.
But now, when there was still so much at stake?

“
The Centre
has made me see things differently. I really am considering
Marita’s offer.”

He growled. “I don’t
believe you.”

“
It’s the
truth.”

“
Caia-”

“
Lucien, I’m
telling you the truth, so drop it.”

His nostrils flared and he
pushed back so hard from the table his chair flew out behind him
and smashed against the wall at the opposite end of the
room.

Caia scowled at him.
“Nicely done.”

“
Don’t even
start... do you know how close I am to... to…” He made a choking
gesture with his hands and bared his teeth at her. Instead of
responding to him, she glanced in what she hoped was a casual
manner behind him, and flicked her wrist, setting the chair to
right and placing it back at the table.

He grunted at her use of
magik and then turned back on her, his eyes glittering dangerously
as he leaned down so close to her face she felt his warm breath
whisper across her skin. “I will get to the bottom of
this.”

Trying not to blink, Caia
pulled back ever so slightly, but kept her own challenging gaze
locked on his. “Good luck with that.”

With a harsh curse Lucien
snapped back from her and began marching towards the double doors
that led out of the library. She watched as he hesitated and
half-turned to glare back at her. “Thought you might like to know
that Jaeden got home safe and sound.”

Jae? She was alright?
Marita had said...

“
Is she
OK?”

Lucien twisted his mouth
in derision. “Safe and sound generally implies such.”

“
Sarcasm.
Wonderful.”

He grunted and turned back
towards the door.

“
Lucien!”

Heaving a melodramatic
sigh, his shoulders hunching over in defence, Lucien refused to
turn back and look at her. Instead he threw out an exasperated,
“What?”