Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(93)

“And how will this happen?”

“Through Caitlyn. The beautiful part of this plan is that there is nothing we need to do really. This will happen on its own if we let it. It may take a while, but trust me.”

“I am not following.”

Lionel smirked. He knew that Nathaniel hated not knowing information, but he got a perverse pleasure from it nonetheless. “Caitlyn is going to betray Garrett.”

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. “And you know this because?”

“Because I know enough about Declan.”

“Lionel, if you do not stop talking in cryptic sentences, I will change my mind on my leniency for your failures.”

“Declan won’t even admit this to himself, but he is deeply in love with Caitlyn Young. I’ve seen the two of them together throughout her months of training. There is a deep attraction buried deep below the surface from both of them. Any observer from the outside can see it, but they are oblivious. They are a time bomb waiting to happen.”

“Interesting. Continue.”

“I saw this from the second day they were in the mentor/student relationship. Your son was already involved with her. Knowing how you wanted him back, I had been trying to encourage Declan to pursue this in order for this to be the trigger rather than my cover being blown and the last time I spoke to him, although he wouldn’t admit it, I knew he was wavering. Unfortunately, since you had set certain timeframes I had to meet, I needed to get more directly involved.”

“How do you know she will choose him?”

He shrugged. “After she left with Garrett yesterday, instead of staying with your son as any woman in love would have done, she came back to the fight. I saw the look of concern she wore for Declan as she fought me. It was not the look of possibly losing a friend, or of the student losing her teacher. It was the fear of losing a lover. They were not together, but I would not be surprised if this fight was the vehicle that triggers it. And if your son is anything like you, he will not be so quick to forgive.”

Nathaniel’s sinister grin made Lionel realize he was in the clear. For now.





Chapter 28



Declan pinched his nose as he stared at his father. He would be lying if he did not acknowledge that the past two weeks had taken its toll on him. The amount of information that had been compromised spanned wider and deeper than the Trust had even feared.

Every password, every system had to be reset and reconfigured. It was a daunting task and Caleb, Michael, and the other specialists were sleeping two hours a night, trying to make everything secure. Declan was sure that Lionel was off somewhere far, grinning knowing that they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. He took a deep breath, trying to sooth the recent wounds of betrayal.

His father stood up silently and poured himself a glass of water. He looked from behind his shoulder at his son. “Would you like some?” He asked, lifting a glass.

Declan just shook his head no. Jonathan then moved back to the table, sitting down. “You look exhausted, Declan.”

“Dad, none of us have slept much in the past two weeks.”

“Yes, but you look particularly worn.”

He rolled his eyes lightly at his father. “You did not have me come here for a chat about me did you? What’s up, Dad?”

“Always to the point lately, aren’t you? Two things. The first is regarding Garrett Stevens-”

“Garrett Livingston.” Declan interjected.

His father was perturbed by his interruption. “As I said, Garrett Stevens is going to be released tomorrow. I thought you may want to let Caitlyn know.”

Declan did not welcome the news although he knew it was coming. As it was, he had not even seen Caitlyn in the past two weeks, instead sending Andrea to train with her for healing. She reported that while Caitlyn was exceptional and could potentially be a decent healer, she was distracted. Declan knew that he was at least partially responsible for that. In truth, he wanted to reach out to her and talk with her, but he had not had a free moment to spare. At least, that is what he told himself. Perhaps he had put off their conversation a bit too long. Garrett returning would complicate things. Declan would need to see her tonight. They had to sort some things out before he came walking back into her life.

His father smirked at his son as Declan realized he had caught him lost in his thoughts. “And what is the second thing?”

“The Tribunal has made a decision.”