Cloud Rebel (R-D #3)(16)
Don't worry—your ass and your secrets are safe with me.
If you weren't who you are, and protected by who you are, I'd have my doubts, he returned.
Awesome. Pardon me while I have doubts about your judgment in times of crisis, I snapped back.
Look, somebody has already chewed my ass about that and the fact that it shouldn't have happened.
Who might that be? I asked sweetly. Honestly, I wanted to shake their hand for doing my job for me.
Hank Bell, he grumped. If you know who he is, then I'll open a new bank account for you and put the first hundred thousand in there.
You know I don't know who he is, so your funds are safe, I said. Although now I want to meet him, just to say thanks.
If he comes around again, I'll be sure to have him look you up.
He outranks you, doesn't he?
By a lot. Matt didn't sound happy about it. You know who I was, don't you?
Yeah, Jayson Rome, I do.
This is so f*cked up, he rubbed his forehead. Opal said you knew. I didn't know whether to believe her or not. You're not supposed to be able to see that in—well, you know.
I wasn't supposed to get the drug twice, either.
You have a point. Has Valegar offered to study that phenomenon yet?
It hasn't come up.
Look, I hope we can be friends, he said. Really. I know how badly I screwed up.
I just want Nick and Maye back. Figure that one out, okay?
He lifted an eyebrow. I'll ask, he said and left it at that.
"When do we move Rafe and his family?" Auggie interrupted our silent conversation.
"How about now?" I asked. "I'll provide transport."
*
We startled Rafe by knocking on his door—I figured that was better than just showing up in the living room. He had a hand on the gun in his waistband anyway when he answered the door.
At least he suspected his daughter and son-in-law were still in danger.
"We have to move you," Auggie said when Rafe relaxed. "We have a sighting of unsavory characters in Dublin, and it's a good bet they're looking for Katya and Sergei."
"Do we have time to pack?" Rafe asked after standing aside to let us in.
"You do not need to waste that time, I shall transport everything," Val declared. In ten seconds, we were at the overly large beach house in Port Aransas, where it was raining.
*
"I'd feel better if you stayed here to guard them—if they decide to go out," Matt said. I gave Matt a look that said how painful that might be—for Rafe/Ilya to ignore me or treat me as an alien, when I was his wife.
There it was—the crux of everything. Yes, I was coming to care for Val, but Ilya would always be my husband.
"Otherwise, I'll be forced to place armed guards, and that could draw attention," Matt continued.
Auggie lifted a hopeful eyebrow when I looked his way.
"It makes sense, Lara'Kayan," Val said. "I will be here with you, should the situation overwhelm you."
"Opal is on her way to Dublin," Matt said. I'd made coffee for him, Auggie, James and me—Matt sipped from his cup after making the statement. "She'll be tracking clones Merle and Mary."
"I would like to go to Dublin." Rafe stood in the doorway, but he spoke with Ilya's accent. I drew a shaky breath.
"I won't let you go without a good disguise and powerful protection," Matt said. "At the moment, you have neither."
"You do not have to remind me of my heartache," he mumbled.
"Want coffee?" I asked brightly to break the gloomy mood. I admit, my hands shook as I made a cup of coffee for Rafe—as he liked it—and set it in front of him. He'd taken a chair at the island next to James—who sat opposite of Val. Val's hand rubbed my back and neck when I regained my seat; he knew what this was costing me.
"Papa?" Katya walked into the kitchen, followed closely by Sergei.
"Coffee?" I asked automatically. Rafe's eyes met mine across the island before turning to his daughter.
"I'll get it," he said, motioning for her and Sergei to sit.
"Rinnelar?" Sergei said in heavily accented English.
"Yes?"
"Thank you. For my life."
"I would prefer that you keep it," I said, giving him a weak smile.
"How do you do that—heal something?" Katya asked.
"We work at a cellular level, to put everything back the way it was," Valegar shrugged. He was getting his human gestures down quickly. "At times, if there is poison involved, we change the molecular makeup of the poison itself, in order to neutralize it."
"I've seen that first-hand," Rafe acknowledged. He placed Sergei's coffee in front of him and dropped his gaze as he reclaimed his seat. He wasn't looking at me deliberately. I understood why—he was doing his best to prevent his mind from making a connection between Rinnelar and Corinne.
I see it, Val informed me silently. I will consider this. Perhaps there is a way to isolate the obsession and place a shield about it. Allow me to consult with my father and with Kalenegar, first.
Thank you.
I would do anything for you, my love.
Yes, it was my human roots that made this difficult for me to understand—that someone who loved me would look for a way to overcome an obstacle, so I might fling myself into another man's arms and weep my heart out.