Part 18 (1/2)
John stood and turned to her. ”There. That'll warm the place up soon.”
Firelight flickered behind him, outlining his legs. Meghan's eyes traveled up his body, and oddly, she wished he'd take off his coat so she could get a better look.
Drawn by the warmth, Meghan stepped forward, extending her hands to the fire to warm them. A sigh of satisfaction rose up from her, and John's jaw clenched.
He cleared his throat. ”How are you feeling? I can still take you to the hospital.”
”No. I'm better. Fine. Really.”
”You sure?”
”Yeah.”
He nodded. ”Let me know if you change your mind.”
”I will.”
”I'll go make us some hot cocoa. You should probably get out of those wet jeans. I have some sweats you could wear while they dry.”
Meghan opened her mouth to refuse his offer, but instead said, ”That would be nice.”
John went through the open door, leaving Meghan to sort out what the h.e.l.l she thought she was doing.
Getting into a car with a stranger was bad enough. Letting him drive her to his home was worse. Getting undressed in his house crossed the line.
It had to be the head injury. That was the only explanation she could find.
He came back out. ”I laid some clothes on the bed. Feel free to get a shower if you think it will help you warm up.”
”I shouldn'ta”” she started to say, when John reached for her. His fingers brushed featherlight over her forehead, outlining the bruise.
”You're safe here. I promise,” he said, and Meghan believed him.
She knew she didn't know this man, but she felt like she did. She felt like she'd always known him. ”Thanks.”
He nodded. ”I'll call the sheriff. We'll get you back on your way as soon as possible.”
”Okay,” she said, but at that moment she realized that the urge to go, to move, had left her. Whatever it was that had been driving her was gone now, as if she'd reached her destination.
Looking at John's face, at the gentle care s.h.i.+ning in his hazel eyes, Meghan wondered if perhaps she'd found whatever it was she'd been sent to find.
Before she could dwell on that bizarre idea too long, she went into his bedroom, grabbed the clothes, and locked herself in the bathroom.
When she came out fifteen minutes later, rosy and warm from her hot shower, and saw John's face, she knew the news wasn't good.
”The sheriff said his men are busy dealing with accidents all over the county and that if you're safe, you should just stay put. Looks like we'll be spending the night together.”
Joseph didn't think his night could get any worse.
Grace hadn't shown up for work and was apparently missing. Some of the human teens had gotten into a fight and several of them had needed st.i.tches. The Indonesian Theronai wanted to know where Nika was. Two more Theronai from Australia were due in tomorrow. Nika had left and gotten herself into a mess with Madoc that was taking valuable resources away from their objectives. Iain hadn't reported in for weeks, so Joseph had no idea how Iain's hunt for the Synestryn offspring was progressing. They still hadn't caught the saboteur he knew in his gut still lived among them. And to make matters worse, Carmen was refusing to speak to him. She'd skipped practice, which was the one bright spot in his day.
He didn't see what the big deal was. What the h.e.l.l was so wrong with him that she didn't want to claim him as her adoptive father? She'd been taking his advice and learning from him for months. He'd taken care of her basic needsa”given her a place to live, food. He'd even convinced her to take a couple of online cla.s.ses from a nearby community college.
Wasn't that what fathers did?
Joseph let out a long sigh. He was so tired. Weary down to his bones. Maybe it was time to step down and let someone else take over leaders.h.i.+p of the Theronai for a while. He didn't think he was going to last the remaining years of his term.
Not that there was anyone else clamoring for the job. Like him, they all preferred being out in the field rather than behind a desk.
His phone rang and he almost let it go to voice mail. But as s.h.i.+tty as his day had been, he figured it couldn't get any worse.
”Yeah,” he answered.
Nicholas was on the line, his voice tight. ”We've got another problem.”
The pounding behind Joseph's eyes grew heavier. ”Is someone else hurt?”
”It's Thea. She was raped.”
Rage poured through Joseph at the thought of someone hurting one of the humans under his protection. He shot up from his desk and headed down the hall, gripping his cell phone hard. ”Where is she?”
”Briant is tending to her. She refuses to talk to anyone. The only reason Briant knew was because he saw what had happened to her when he took her blood to heal her. He called me.”
”Who did this? I swear I'll kill them myself.”
”It was Chris. He's turned.”
Joseph came to a dead stop. He could hear voices flowing out of the main hall, sliding around him but not quite sinking in. He felt cold. Dead inside.
He knew what he had to do and the thought nearly killed him.
”Where is he?” asked Joseph. ”I need to confirm that it's true.”
”You can't go alone. I'll get Liam and meet you in the training yard.”
”Where is he, Nicholas? Tell me.”
”No. If he's turned, he could kill you. I can't let that happen. We need you too much. We're doing this together.”
”I'll find him myself, then.” He couldn't stand the idea of sentencing Chris to death, but even worse would be forcing the rest of the Theronai to watch it happen, knowing that they could be next.
His feet felt heavy as he headed toward Chris's suite. The sword at his side was a cold rea.s.surance and he prayed he wouldn't need to draw steel on the man who had been his friend for more than a century.
Joseph rounded a corner and saw that Nicholas and Liam had already beaten him to the door and were barring his path.
”Step out of the way,” he ordered his men.