The Wicked (Elder Races #5.5)(21)

There was also a wide variety of food in sealed jars and cans that could supplement their food supplies. They had come prepared for rough conditions, but in actuality they would be staying in a great deal of comfort. Compared to some of the places Sebastian had camped in for some jobs, this would be like a stay at the Hilton.

The security team traveled back to the yacht to bring over the last of the supplies and more empty containers for the library. Carling’s library filled a cottage, and it would take several more trips to bring all of the containers over, but that was a task that could happen over time.

After bringing everything up the bluff except for their oxygen tanks, which they left wrapped in tarps at the base of the path, they took turns in the large washroom to change out of their wetsuits and leave them hanging to dry. Then they hauled wood and laid fires in fireplaces, beat mattresses and made beds, and nailed wooden planks across the broken windows.

The house was big. While they would have to take turns heating water and using the large washroom behind the kitchen, they could each have their own bedroom. The food supplies were taken to the kitchen, and the empty library containers were stacked in the great hall. As the light of day faded, they filled and lit glass and metal lanterns, and Derrick and Steve even swept the main halls clear of debris.

Finally, Bailey disappeared into the wine cellar while Dendera and Tony scrubbed the large kitchen table with hot water and soap. Olivia and Derrick laid out their supper—cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, and rotisserie chicken that had been packed in ice for the trip. Raiding the pantry, they added olives, nuts and dried fruits, and finally the tired crew members gathered at the table.

Sebastian said, “Dendera, Steve and Olivia, your jobs are in the library, so this doesn’t apply do you, but Bailey, Tony, Derrick and I will take watches at night. Tomorrow we’ll tour the island, or at least the part of the island not covered by the redwoods. Tony and Derrick, you’ll take the watch tonight.”

His people knew the drill, and they nodded, unsurprised.

Steve looked up as he stacked food on his plate and said, “Are you sure that’s necessary? There’s nobody here but us.”

“That’s not quite correct,” said Sebastian. “The only thing we know for sure is that the crossover passageway has not been guarded 24/7 since Carling left. We’ll do as Carling ordered and nobody will go into the forest. But we will maintain watches, just to be safe.”

Bailey reappeared with several dusty bottles in her arms, eyes wide with glee. As everyone in the kitchen turned to look at her, she said, “Hey, the lady wants her library, not her wine. Oh my God, look at this vintage.”

Sebastian chose not to sit at the table with the others. He leaned back against the counter, taking a break for the first time since diving off the yacht earlier that day. His headache had faded several hours ago. Now he was clearheaded and edgy. Restlessness ran underneath his skin.

Earlier he had taken a lap around the house to study the immediate terrain. The flat ocean horizon gave the illusion that this small nugget of Other land was vast and limitless, when in reality, according to Carling, when one sailed away from the island, one would somehow end up coming right back. The vegetable garden at the back of the house had long since turned into an overgrown jungle of weeds. He had walked the path to the cottage where the library was housed, then back again, while subtle whispers of magic skittered along the edges of his mind like furtive mice.

He could still feel those magic whispers, a sensation like the brush of cobwebs against his skin, although the greater distance from the cottage weakened them. Something in the library was restless too.

As Bailey wiped off the wine bottles and uncorked them, he studied each individual. The other three members of his security team, Bailey, Derrick and Tony, were having a good time. They joked with each other and made friendly overtures to Dendera, Steve and Olivia. Olivia laughed at his crew’s jokes and responded in kind. Dendera was the most reserved of the group, but she smiled at the others and at him.

Steve was different. He was a predator Wyr and a symbologist, a combination of characteristics that interested Sebastian. He smelled like some kind of canine, perhaps a coyote. Sebastian had already noted that Steve went out of his way to avoid him.

He had also noticed Steve’s friendly attitude toward Olivia on the flight, but since then the other Wyr’s attitude had done a one-eighty. After Sebastian had marked his claim on Olivia back on the deck of the yacht, Steve refused to look at Olivia, and he went out of his way to avoid her too.

Was the other man jealous? Sebastian smiled coldly. Steve didn’t have a chance with Olivia, so he could just dream on.

Sebastian’s restlessness ratcheted higher. He should eat, but he didn’t want to.

What he wanted had not left his mind all day.

He watched Olivia steadily, his patience eroding fast. She wore a soft blue cable knit sweater and jeans, and it was the sexiest outfit he had ever seen. Her br**sts and hips rounded gently from a narrow waist, and her lovely, intelligent gray eyes lit with laughter as she responded to something that Bailey said.

Like Steve, she didn’t look at Sebastian either. Unlike Steve, he knew very well why she avoided his gaze. Sensual awareness shimmered in the air between them. Hell, it all but threw confetti and lit fireworks.

Flashes of what he had done to her, of what she had said to him, played in his mind.

Would you mind if I bit you?