Whisper Cape (29 page)

“Can’t you figure it out?”

“Somewhat, I know you’re embarrassed.”

“Let’s see, how should I put this ... Breena showed me the two of us in the middle of a, let’s say a very provocative performance, one a young girl her age shouldn’t have witnessed.”

“Oh ... you mean she saw us having sex?”

“Almost, yes, you might say that.” Addie lowered her eyes, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Hmmm ...” Cael said, bringing his hand to her chin and studying her eyes as her cheeks flushed with heat. “Can you be more specific?”

“No, I said ‘almost.’ You’re horrible. Doesn’t it bother you that a little girl almost saw us ... you know?”

“Of course it bothers me—” He turned and brought his hand to his own chin. “But since I can’t do anything about it and you did say ‘almost,’ there’s just one thing I want to know.”

“What?”

“Was I enjoying it?”

Addie punched his arm just as the elevator doors opened.

“Ouch! I just wanted to know what we’re doing later tonight.”

***

Heads turned when Cael and Addison walked through the door of the Cliff Hanger. Cael had suggested they go there to eat dinner, giving Addison a chance to check in and let everyone know she was okay.

The place was packed with tourists and locals, but then it was Saturday night. They walked to the only two empty seats at the bar—Cael’s arm protectively around Addison. He saw Gerry stiffen as the woman next to him—who Cael instantly recognized as Maia from photos he’d seen—gave him a nudge with her elbow. Gerry frowned and relaxed his shoulders.

“Gerry, I’d like to thank you for sticking up for me, but in the future, please keep your fist out of my affairs and out of Cael’s face.”

Gerry cringed. “Sorry, I guess I over-reacted. No hard feelings?” He extended a hand to Cael.

“No, we’re fine,” Cael assured him as the two men shook hands.

“Nice outfit, Addie. I see your day off was productive—very nice indeed,” Gerry said, admiring the new clothes.

Cael felt a sudden twinge of jealousy come over him and it startled him. He told himself the man was just being nice; after all, Gerry had just decked him in the jaw six hours ago avenging Addison as if she’d been his own daughter.

“Yes, Addie, you look very pretty.” Maia turned her attention to Cael. “Hello, Cael, I’m Maia, Addie’s aunt. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Nice to meet you, Maia.”

“So, what are you two having?”

“I think I’ll have a glass of Cabernet. Where’s Nick? I thought he would have been filling in for me tonight.”

“He had other plans. It seems he’s found another young pretty thing to hang on his arm for the weekend. What’ll you have, Cael?” Gerry said.

Cael glanced around and noticed a man and a woman walking out the door, leaving a table free in the corner. “I’ll have the same. I think we’ll take our wine over to that table in the corner that just became available and order some dinner, if that’s okay.”

“I’ll send Darcy over,” Gerry said.

Cael took Addison by the elbow as they walked to the newly vacant table. No sooner had they sat down when Darcy came over, almost skipping. “Wow, you went shopping ... nice.”

“Thanks. Sorry about earlier. You know, the comment about your ass.”

“It looks mighty fine from where I’m sitting,” Cael assured them.

“Ha! Well, Addie, you’re forgiven on the grounds you’ve been keeping such excellent company lately.” Darcy gathered up the dirty dishes and glasses from the table and placed them on a tray she had brought over, then wiped off the table.

“Did you go for that ride today?” Addison asked, a look of concern on face.

“Yeah, I did and I have to admit you and Jared were right. He is married, the swine.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I still had fun on the bike. He finally confessed after a phone call from his wife, telling him their little boy was sick and he needed to get home. I decked him square in the jaw, sending him flying off his stupid two-wheeler. You would’ve been proud of me.”

“Good for you.” Cael laughed.

“Oh … and guess who asked me out earlier.”

Addison shrugged her shoulders. “Hard to tell.”

“Lieutenant Whelan. I mean, Duane.”

“Hmmm ... imagine that.”

“Yeah, he’s taking me to dinner Monday night. A real date. I can't wait. But hey, that's enough about me, you’re here to eat. What can I get for you?”

“I’ll have the fish ... oh wait.” Addison winced and gave Cael a weak smile and he knew she was thinking of Salacia. “Change that. I’ll have the skirt steak and a salad.”

“I’ll have the same,” Cael added.

“Okay, two skirts it is.” Darcy jotted it down, heaved up the tray of dirty dishes, and walked away.

“Cael, everything today was so fantastic. It still seems so surreal. I mean Breena, Ben, Mary, Raz were wonderful. Oh, and Salacia was truly amazing. It’s all so mind-blowing ... I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but their powers don’t seem very lethal—unless you’re in the water with Salacia—and I have to wonder, why am I the only one with a dangerous power?”

“You’re not. And quite frankly, your powers aren't strong enough yet to be dangerous.”

She frowned. “Strong enough to hurt you.”

“That was me, an unmoving target not using any abilities to defend myself or to counteract yours. We have no idea what Eidolon might use against us when we confront him. Let's be honest. You know it. I know it. We have work to do. The abilities the others have may not seem threatening at first, but if you consider the possibilities, the results could be extremely severe. For instance, take Razvan. He can make you imagine anything, and if he made you believe you were choking and you couldn’t get any air, then I think you would surely die. And you know, I haven’t shown you all my powers yet.”

“Really? How would your abilities be so life threatening—scaring someone to death by making them think they ran you over with their truck?” She smirked.

“You joke, but once I show you, you’ll understand.”

“Can’t you just tell me?”

“No, I’d rather show you.”

“Now I’m really curious.”

Darcy appeared with their food, set it down, looked at Addison and grimaced.

“Are you two okay? You’re not fighting again, are you? Because I don’t think Gerry could take it.”

“No, Cael was just about to tell me what his strong points are.” Addison leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared at Cael.

Darcy rolled her eyes and smiled. “Strong points, ha, I can only imagine. The steak looks good, don’t let it get cold,” she said and strolled away.

Cael glanced up at the bar and noticed Gerry staring at Addison. “What is it with you and Gerry, anyway?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Gerry, he's always staring at you.”

“Are you jealous?”

“No ... no ... not at all.” At least, he didn’t think he was. “It’s just that he seems a bit over-protective of you, more than he should be. I mean, he’s your boss and your aunt’s boyfriend, not your boyfriend ... or am I wrong there? Has there ever been anything between the two of you?” As much as he hadn’t wanted to, he had to ask.

Addison didn’t answer right away, and he felt foolish, regretting having asked at all. Man, she was difficult to read sometimes. Her mind seemed to be in a state of flux and he always had trouble sensing mixed up emotions.

“I know he can be very protective, and yes, sometimes it bothers me. Gerry is Maia’s boyfriend, not mine, nor has he ever been. He has this big brother thing going on, nothing more.” Cael studied her face, accepting her explanation. She trusted Gerry, so he decided to give the guy a break.

Addison took a bite of her steak then washed it down with a sip of wine. Glancing toward the other side of the room, she smiled. “Oh look, my apartment manager is here tonight and he’s actually sitting with a woman. I wonder where he met her. She doesn’t look familiar. I worry about him, you know, he always seems so lonely. Well, now at least I know he doesn’t just sit at home brooding all the time.”

“That’s one of the many things I like about you. You’re always concerned about other people.”

She clutched the locket that hung around her neck. “Yeah, right now I’m concerned about this. Could Eidolon really steal our abilities?”

“It’s possible, yes.”

“It’d be like Satan himself,” Addison murmured.

“Maybe. What bothers me right now, though, is the idea of Eidolon lurking around unnoticed, almost ghostly. Eidolon actually means ‘phantom’ in Greek.”

They lifted their glasses of wine at the same time and sipped.

“How appropriate, but why in the world would any mother name her child that?”

Cael choked out a laugh, almost spitting wine all over the table. “That’s not his real name, silly.”

Her cheeks turned pink as she looked down at her plate and cut into a piece of meat. “Oh, well then, what is it?”

“Edgar Bonar.”

“Hmmm ... not much better than Eidolon.”

“We started calling him Eidolon when he defected from the society and became dangerous. Listen, Addison, we need to stay together—never separate. The chances of any harm coming to you are much greater if you’re alone.” The idea of staying close to her gave Cael a momentary sense of reprieve. Until now, he hadn’t realized how much he hated the thought of her possibly staying at the Sectory while he came back here to fight Eidolon. He was relieved when she refused. Cael took a rather large gulp of his wine, emptying the glass.

“I think I need a refill, how about you?”

“Sure.” She raised two fingers when Darcy looked over, then pointed to the empty wine glasses.

Addison reached out, placing her hand on top of his. “You can’t just hang around here every day while I work. People might start to think
you’re
a trifle over-protective, don’t you think?”

“Better me than Gerry, and after what happened this morning when I couldn’t find you, I don’t see any other option right now.”

After eating, they hung around the bar for a while to see if any customers, tourists or locals struck Cael as a potential threat.

“So, tell me about Breena.”

“What about her?”

“Well, she’s only nine. When did she start being able to see the future?”

“When she was three. It was quite annoying at first, until she learned to respect people’s privacy. Now she wears gloves a lot of the time.”

“Three? Wow, and you’ve known her how long?”

Cael studied Addison for a moment.

“I know what you’re thinking, and no, Breena is not my child. Although, if I had a little girl, I would love to have one just like her. She has a way of brightening up my day. Her parents were close friends of mine.”

Addison sat back in her chair and took a sip of wine. “Why does she call your mother Grammy Siana?”

“When her parents died, Breena was five and had no other living relatives so my mother took her in. She just started calling her Grammy Siana on her own. It didn’t seem to bother my mom, so she just let her.

“Until I read the note from your father, I believed—we
all
believed—Stefan and Claire died in a plane crash. But now I can only assume that Eidolon tampered with the plane somehow, making the crash look accidental.”

He reached across the table to Addison’s hand. “Do you want kids? I mean ... someday?”

Her eyes grew huge.

“I suppose. I haven’t given it much thought. I mean, I’ve never really been involved with anyone I’d like to have children with.”

“Ouch.” he pulled his hand back and sat up straight.

“Cael, we just met, not to mention that I have had other pressing issues on my mind.”

“It was just a rhetorical question, Addison, though I’m surprised at the way you seem so indifferent about our involvement.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say I wouldn’t want to have children with you. I’m sure that if I ever ventured down that path with someone, I might consider it ... I think I’d like some water.” She stood to go to the bar.

“Wait, I’ll get it.”

“No, let me. I’m feeling a bit guilty about not working tonight, and I want to thank Maia for filling in for me. Besides, I need to go to the lady’s room.”

Cael sat at the table mulling over her words. She “might consider it”—might—with someone, but she hadn’t said with him.

It bothered him and he hated that it did. He was falling in love with her, had been from the first time he saw her, but he wasn’t so sure the feeling was mutual. He was supposed to be able to sense her feelings. She’d gotten so upset this morning that Gerry had to send her home. Now she was unwilling to admit she would want his children. Why the hell did she bring it up then? Oh, yeah, she didn’t—he did. She had only asked about Breena.

Cael watched Addison’s apartment manager get up and head toward the door, but the woman he was sitting with remained behind. Well, so much for Addison’s good wishes for the guy. Cael caught a whiff of something stale in the air as the door swung open and about six people walked in, making the source of the odor unrecognizable. He studied the group and recognized Lieutenant Whelan as one of them. The cop headed away from the group and took a seat at the bar. When Cael met Whelan earlier, he hadn’t sensed anything sinister about the guy so he ruled him out, but he wondered about the other five people.

Cael studied them for a few minutes. Three men and two girls. He thought he recognized one of the guys, but couldn’t remember where he might have seen him. He had a poorly manicured black growth of beard and wore heavy black motorcycle boots. The way his messy hair stuck up looked as if he’d just ridden a bike without a helmet—hell, maybe he did, but that wasn’t Cael’s concern. Then it dawned on him. Ah, Darcy’s motorcycle guy, yeah, he looked like the sort of jerk that would cheat on his wife.

***

In the restroom, Addie stood in front of the mirror and stared.
What sort of question was that?
The conversation she and Cael just had, the unexpected question of whether she wanted to have children with him, caught her completely off guard. She didn’t know what to say to him. Yes, it was something she had thought about, but the whole idea frightened her, especially now, after learning how her mother died. My God, what would happen? A child with Cael, with all the abilities the two of them possessed. It was frightening. If they were to have a child together, it could very well inherit all of the abilities they each had—or would a boy inherit hers and a girl his? God, a person could go crazy thinking about it. What kind of being would they create? No. It was an absurd idea. Thank God for the pill and she’d make sure she didn’t skip any.