Gifted - The 5 Book Paranormal Romance Box Set Page 53

  Just the same, though, I didn't feel like I should call Cynthia from anywhere in the house. It may have been a little overly paranoid of me to think, but I thought there was a chance, even a very slim one, that Cameron could have the house bugged, maybe to listen to conversations between Elliot and me, to see if Elliot was on to him. And if there was even the slimmest chance of this being the case, I just didn't think I should make the call from the house.

  This thought left me wondering just where in the hell I should make the call from. There were too many ears around in the "downtown" area of the village, and down the lane, it wasn't like I could make a sensitive call in anyone's backyard. I didn't want to make the call from my backyard, either, not when Cameron or Elliot could suddenly come home and overhear me. They both often returned via running through the woods behind the property while in wolf form, and in wolf form, they had extra-sensitive hearing capability, and from exactly how far away they could hear, I had no clue.

  All I knew was that not calling Cynthia to tell her that it was Cameron who was working with the Angels was not an option. I was slightly afraid that the government would try to have other shifters try to kill him or something, and despite how hurt, heartbroken, and angry I was, I definitely didn't want that to happen. But at the same time, I knew that having a traitor in the village, possibly two, including Jason, put everyone at risk. And if everyone in the village was at risk, everyone in Hastings was at risk. And there was no way I was going to allow my family, or any innocent people, to be put in harm's way just to save a man who had apparently voluntarily chosen to work with the enemy, for whatever reason.

  It was only after I'd had my second cup of coffee of the morning that I realized I could just text Cynthia.

  Feeling like an absolute idiot, I actually lightly slapped my forehead. "Duh."

  However, upon further thought, I didn't think this would be ideal. For one thing, I wanted to explain to her how I'd come to believe what I had, and I also wanted to explain to her about Jason's possible involvement, further explaining that I really wasn't sure about it, though. Then, I wanted to ask Cynthia exactly what the government planned to do with the results of my investigation. If they were going to try to have Cameron killed or something, I at least wanted to ask if they'd reconsider and somehow have him jailed or something, specifically in a facility that even a shifter with superhuman strength couldn't break out of.

  This all seemed like kind of a lot to include in a text conversation.

  Eventually, I decided that I'd try to make the call either before or after Gifted practice, from a tiny little hut that had been built in the meadow. It was something like a bus-stop warming hut that I'd seen kids huddling in before school during winter in Hastings, except this little hut was a cooling hut. Several Gifteds had heat sensitivity issues, so Jeff and a few other shifters that were experienced in construction had built the little hut with an air conditioner that ran on solar power. This way, the Gifteds that had heat sensitivity issues could still join in practice while taking frequent breaks to cool off in the air-conditioning. Before the winter months, Jeff and his friends were going to build a much larger hut, this one for warming.

  Satisfied that the cooling hut would be a good place to make my important call from, I finally allowed myself to relax a bit, actually getting back in bed to take a nap. I did this only after laundering my sheets and thin summer blanket, though. The last thing I wanted was to have to catch even the faintest whiff of Cameron's woodsy, masculine scent.

  Exhausted from waking up so early, being stressed, and all my crying, I slept for several hours, actually not waking until nearly one in the afternoon. Then, after brushing my teeth, washing my face, and reapplying what little makeup I usually wore, I made a sandwich and some fruit salad for lunch, with Sunny staying close by my side, giving my legs little nuzzles every so often, as if he could tell I was sad and troubled about something.

  However, despite his sweet support, when I sat down at the table and tried to eat, I found that I just wasn't very interested in doing so. My sandwich, despite being filled with turkey, Swiss cheese, tomato slices, and pickles, may as well have been made of cardboard for all I could taste of the ingredients. I eventually set it down and just stared at it, recalling my first night in the house, when I'd found Cameron in the kitchen late at night, and he'd served me burned baked chicken, a scorched baked potato, decent enough boiled vegetables, and sandwich bread mangled with cold butter.

  I still hadn't yet taught him how to make from-scratch rolls or biscuits. This was primarily because I usually needed to get dinner started long before he and Elliot arrived home, liking to have it done and on the table not long after. But it was also because for whatever reason, I'd gotten it in my head that I wanted to teach Cameron and Cameron alone, and have it be something the two of us alone did together, and Elliot was always around. Not that I begrudged him that, and especially not now, knowing that he was the only alpha with my best interests, and the best interests of Haverwood and the entire state and nation, in mind.

  Sunny didn't let me gloomily sit and stare at my sandwich, thinking about Cameron, for long. Beside my chair, he started nuzzling my leg, whining, but not in the way he usually did when begging for food. It was more like he was trying to encourage me to eat, as if he could understand that I wasn't eating because I was upset, but he still thought I should make more of an effort anyway.

  Just for him, I did make more of an effort, realizing that I should, if for nothing else, so that I'd have enough energy to make it through Gifted practice. I ended up eating all of my fruit salad and most of my sandwich, giving the last bite or two to Sunny, who gobbled up this well-earned treat wagging his tail.

  I left for Gifted practice a full forty-five minutes earlier than I usually did, because I wanted to make sure to be the first one there, so that I'd have time to make my phone call from the cooling hut with no one wondering what I was doing. However, to my disappointment, when I arrived in the meadow, I was greeted by the scene of at least a half-dozen Gifteds already practicing, zapping at plastic targets that Maggie was tossing high in the air.

  When she saw me, she paused in her task, grinning with her shoulder-length brown hair fluttering in a gentle breeze. "Hey, you! Great minds must think alike! It's so beautiful that we figured we may as well enjoy it with a little extra practice time!"

  For the second time that day, I mustered what I hoped was a convincing smile. On any other day, I would have been thrilled to see my fellow Gifteds so eager to hone their skills.

  Practice dragged on for what felt like days instead of hours.

  At five exactly, which was the usual time we ended things, I tried to force an end by thanking everyone for working so hard, picking up targets while I did so. "I'll see you all back here tomorrow!"

  A Gifted named Claire jokingly asked if I was trying to kick everyone out of the meadow. "Because I don't know about everyone else, but it's so beautiful today, I was thinking I might stay for an extra hour!"

  Several others chimed in, saying they were going to stay later, too.

  After draining the last inch of water in a plastic bottle, Dana strolled over to me and put an arm around my shoulders. "I think I've had enough sun, and I really need a shower. Why don't we head back to the village together and grab some icy lemonade at the coffee shop on the way to our houses."

  Since I'd just clearly called for an end to practice, I knew that now saying that I wanted to say would seem strange, so I didn't have any choice but to return back to the village with Dana, trying to act as if I wasn't troubled about anything at all along the way.

  Once back at home, I finished the last of my lemonade, let Sunny out and took him back in, and then hopped in the shower, wracking my brain trying to think of somewhere I could make my call to Cynthia with no paranoia about being overheard. While I rinsed my hair with cool water, it struck me that maybe I could just call from the house, though speaking very quietly on the chance that Cameron had placed a
ny listening devices anywhere.

  Eventually, I decided that calling from home would still be kind of risky, though, since Cameron and Elliot, either individually or together, could walk in the door anytime between the present and seven o' clock, when I usually had dinner ready. Usually, if they were going to be much earlier or much later, one of them would call or text, but I couldn't count on that. And being caught in a phone call with a government agent was a risk I just couldn't take.

  After dressing, drying my hair, and applying a bit of makeup for the third time that day, I had what I thought was a pretty good idea. I'd take a brisk walk down to the construction site to make the call. Even though I was concerned about making the call anywhere where there might be extra-sensitive wolf ears nearby, I knew for a fact that not many ever ventured out to the part of the eastern forest where the construction was taking place, save for Jeff and the other workers, who I figured would surely have left for the day by now. In describing that part of the forest to me one day, Elliot had described it as "no man's land," because the village patrols went way wide around it, and any wolves cutting through the forest to the lane to come home generally stuck to the western part of the woods, kind of hugging the back of all the homes, because that was the quickest way to reach them.

  After throwing a frozen casserole in the oven, I jammed on my tennis shoes and left the house with Sunny, sure we'd probably be back before Cameron and Elliot arrived home. And if we weren't, I'd just say that Sunny had been cooped up all day and was seeming restless, so I'd simply taken him for a walk. I wouldn't even have to hide the fact that it had been to the construction site. I'd just say that I'd felt more like the tranquility of the woods over walking up and down the lane like usual. The only part I'd have to leave out would be about my phone call.

  When Sunny and I reached the site, it was empty, as I'd thought it would be, with all machinery parked by a tall stack of enormous red bricks stacked adjacent to the opening of the narrow path through the woods. It was against these red bricks that I leaned, pulling out my phone, ready to call Cynthia, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw two large gray wolves slowly emerging from the path, as if they'd been following me.

  *

  Immediately uneasy, though maybe not outright alarmed, I straightened up from the stack of bricks just in time to see the two large gray wolves shift into human form. And to my relief, I saw that the two men were Elliot and his close friend Brent, the one of Dana's boyfriends who hadn't been distant lately.

  After exhaling in a rush, I actually chuckled. "You guys scared me a little for some reason."

  To my surprise, Elliot didn't chuckle as well or say anything reassuring. Neither did Brent. They both just strolled over and came to a stop in front of me, setting off loud, clanging alarm bells in my head, although I couldn't even imagine what the bells might be warning me about. Elliot was my boyfriend, the only one of my two boyfriends who was not in league with the Angels. He loved me. He'd said so. I had no reason to be afraid of him. But at the same time, my mental alarm bells kept clanging, and they got even louder when he spoke, doing so with a slight narrowing of his vivid green eyes.

  "You are very hard to get alone, Jayme. I was beginning to think that we might have to corner you in the house, knock you unconscious, and find some way to get you out of the house and away from the village without anyone seeing. But then you very helpfully offered us an alternative here today when one of the men who works at this site very helpfully just happened to inform me that you made a little visit here today. Thinking you'd maybe found a new favorite walking destination, I decided to hang around here for a bit before coming home, just to see if you might return; and I have to tell you, I'm really glad I did.

  "Lately, I've really been thinking that I was going to have to abduct you from the house...either that, or lure you out here to this empty part of the forest under the guise of having some romantic tryst or something like that. Those days are over, though. The way I see it is that when you've had a certain flavor of ice cream so many times, even if you enjoy the flavor, you tend to get sick of it after a while."

  From the very first sentence that Elliot had spoken, I'd developed a sickening churning in my stomach that had gotten worse with each additional thing he'd said. I was now terrified and confused, not having a clue what was going on, but I was quickly starting to get one. I had made a huge mistake. That much at least was clear. Even though Elliot hadn't mentioned anything about the Angels yet, I somehow had a feeling that that was coming, and I was right.

  After telling Brent to go "check out the foundation of the house or something for a second," Elliot moved to stand beside me, leaning against the tall stack of red bricks, and picked up a lock of my long hair before letting it slip through his fingers.

  "Jayme, don't get me wrong...you're a fantastic lay. I've been with some 'dead fish' lovers before, and you are definitely not one of them. I just tend to get bored with the same flavor of ice cream after a while, even if it's very good. That's why I've decided to give you to Michael Crowley, the leader of this area's group of Angels, as a gift before he launches his first full-scale attack on Haverwood in three days, which he's decided to do ahead of schedule before Cameron gets any further suspicious of me. Michael is going to be using all his Angels and all his wolves to help slaughter all the idiot shifters in this village. If I'm being honest, though, I'm not giving you to Michael as a gift just because I've become a little bored with you...it's also a bit strategic, so that Cameron will be so preoccupied searching for you over the next few days that Michael and his fighters will be able to to just swoop right in here with ease."

  "Why are you doing this, Elliot? What do you want?"

  To my irritation, because I didn't want him to know how scared I was, I hadn't been able to disguise a tremor in my voice.

  Surely having heard it, Elliot smirked, folding his arms across his broad chest, which, as recently as the night before, I'd rested my head against when drifting off to sleep.

  "What do I want? Well, first, I don't want to be on the losing side of history. Over the past few years, I've come to believe that the Angels will eventually prevail in their takeover of the world, just because of their numbers and their stubborn persistence, and when that happens, I'd like not to be killed. I'd instead like to be a part of the victors.

  "Which brings me to the second thing I want, which is power. Obviously, I don't like being a co-alpha here in Haverwood. if you haven't seen this, you're blind. I figured out early that the arrangement was untenable for me, and that's when I made secret contact with Michael Crowley, telling him that I'd give him information in exchange for the title of alpha over all red-eye wolves as soon as Haverwood falls into our hands."

  Still in complete disbelief about what was happening, I could only just stare at Elliot for a moment before finding my voice. "So...everything has all just been a complete lie, then? You never loved me? You think nothing of just handing me over to some psychopath sorcerer?"

  Still leaning against the tall stack of bricks, Elliot sighed, as if exasperated with a small child or a complete idiot. "Correct, correct, and correct, to all three of your questions. Don't you get it, Jayme? I just had to act like I loved you for a while to try to throw you off my trail, as I just had a tiny little hunch for some reason that initially, you might have had a tiny little hunch about me. I also enjoyed messing with you a bit, if I'm being completely honest. But convincing you that I was a great guy and throwing you off a bit was my primary intent. That's also why, at times, I tried to make it seem to you that Cameron was the one you should be suspicious of...like the night all you Gifteds nearly got yourselves killed in the woods.

  "I tried my hardest to plant a seed in your mind that the attack was somehow connected to Cameron, by way of implying that he'd maybe intentionally opened up the northern guard to let the red-eyes in, but that was actually all me. I specifically made sure to position some of them in a very unhelpful configuration as far as keeping enemies out.
Poor Cameron was just trying to properly organize everyone again when the attack occurred. Which, by the way, was carefully planned by Michael and me simply as a way to get rid of that ugly lug Richard Stark, so that I can take over as alpha without those loyal to him thinking that I was behind it all. Michael and I both hated him. Brent did, too."

  After glancing over at Brent, who was slowly pacing around by the mansion foundation a fair distance away from us, Elliot lowered his voice. "I kind of hate him, too, to tell you the truth. He's dumber than a box of rocks. Actually thinks I'm going to make him some kind of a higher-up in the new Haverwood community when all is said and done. I tell you...rumor is that Dana prefers Jason a little better than Brent, and I can't say I blame her. Not that she'll be able to prefer either of them after Michael and I lead all his Angels and red-eyes in an attack here in a few days. Jason and Brent will be dead after that, as will Cameron. I don't plan on leaving any of these idiot shifters alive. I'll keep a few of you Gifteds, though...a village can always use sex slaves, you know. I imagine I'll probably keep a dozen right over there in my mansion. Michael will also probably have a few dozen of his own."

  At the mention of Gifteds, a thought occurred to me and I felt like a complete idiot for at least the third time that day. In my fear of Elliot and my disbelief about what was happening, I'd neglected to remember that I was a Gifted, and not just a Gifted, but one with the ability to both zap and levitate. I'd probably be able to take on Elliot and Brent at once, hopefully quickly knocking both of them out so that I could run back down the path and get help from Cameron to finish them off.

  I just had to somehow back up a little ways from Elliot first, so that my could extend my palms and zap and levitate him. I feared that if I lifted my hands while I was still standing reasonably close to him, how I was, he'd probably instantly realize what I was doing and catch my hands, pointing them downward so that my supernatural energy would just hit nothing but dirt. Then, he could easily summon Brent to come over, shift, and rip my throat out all while Elliot still held my hands down to prevent me from using my powers.