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I tried to convince myself that hanging with Adam and Vinca was just part of my assignment. That it didn’t mean anything. But the truth was, along with Giguhl, they had become my friends. Well, maybe friend was too strong a word. I didn’t hate them like I did most beings.
But they’d hate me when they found out I’d been playing both sides of this. I could only hope I’d be long gone before they realized my role in the ambush. And if not, well, there wasn’t much I could do about it. Duty came before … not hating them.
This time, when Adam showed up for training I was dressed, caffeinated, and ready to go. Vinca let him in, and when he saw me sitting casually on the couch his eyebrows shot to his hairline.
“You’re up early.”
“That’s because someone I know has a nasty habit of showing up at least a half-hour early for training sessions.”
“Fair enough,” he said. I couldn’t put my finger on it but he seemed almost nervous. His normal easy smile seemed forced. “I assume you’re ready to get started?” I nodded and set my mug on the coffee table.
“I thought we’d take a field trip for tonight’s lesson.” I noticed tension in his shoulders, almost as if he expected me to balk.
“Oh? Where?” I kept my tone casual, but something wasn’t right.
“It’s a surprise.”
Curious, I shrugged. “Whatever you say, Teach.”
He relaxed a fraction then and turned to Vinca. As they bantered, I shrugged off my earlier suspicions. Perhaps I was letting my meeting with Lavinia get to me. Guilt and doubt plagued me at odd intervals. Like earlier, when Vinca already had a fresh pot of coffee made especially for me when I woke up. For some reason, I knew she’d be the most hurt by my betrayal. Even though she wouldn’t be at the vineyard during the attack, she’d be devastated when she found out I was responsible for Clovis’s death. Further, I didn’t want to think about how losing Clovis would affect her. She worshipped him and truly believed in his teachings, even if he didn’t.
“Sabina?” Vinca said, interrupting my maudlin thoughts.
“Hmm?”
She rolled her eyes. “I said, don’t you think Adam looks nice tonight?”
That was a major understatement. Tonight he’d skipped his usual urban commando look and opted for faded jeans and a tight black sweater. The black brought out the golden highlights in his hair and made the green in his eyes deeper, like moss. Not to mention the way the shirt clung in all the right places to his impressive biceps and taut chest. No doubt about it, the mage was a hottie.
I shook myself. “I guess so,” I said with a shrug.
“Oh, stop,” he said. “You’re going to make me blush.”
Vinca giggled and slapped his bicep playfully. “Don’t listen to her,” she said, sending me a mock frown. “You’re a total stud.”
He smiled at her. “Don’t try to charm me, nymph. I know all about how you girls operate.”
Vinca batted her eyelashes at him. “Moi? I wouldn’t dare think of seducing you. I prefer my males like rocks—dumb and hard.”
Adam laughed out loud and even I cracked a smile. Vinca sashayed away, her hips swaying. I shook my head at Adam. “She’s a piece of work, isn’t she?”
He chuckled. “I pity the poor male she really sets her sights on. He won’t stand a chance.”
I grabbed my purse. “You ready to go?”
He blinked at my abrupt change in subject, but walked to the door. I didn’t like the green spike of jealousy I’d had when Vinca had been flirting with Adam. I didn’t have any right to it, but there it was. It didn’t seem to matter that their flirtation had been a joke.
Adam opened the door for me and indicated I should precede him. I swung my hair over my shoulder and didn’t meet his gaze as I passed. However, I couldn’t help taking a deep breath of the pleasing scent of spicy soap mixed with sandalwood. Someone should bottle that stuff.
“I thought we’d take my car,” Adam said as he followed me down the walkway to the street. The beep of a car alarm disengaging caught my attention. A black SUV sat across the street.
“Nice wheels,” I said.
“It gets me around,” he said. I frowned at his understatement. The thing was huge with blinged-out rims. When he opened the door for me, I noticed soft Corinthian leather and burled wood on the dash.
His mood had shifted again as he pulled away from the curb. I tried to breech the silence. “So, you’re from New York?”
He nodded as he turned onto the freeway, heading north. “Manhattan.”
“Where is the Hekate Council headquartered?”
“North of the city.”
At that point, I figured out he wasn’t in a sharing mood. I settled back into my seat with a sigh, watching the city speed past.
When we crossed over the Golden Gate, I started to get restless. “Where are we going?”
He jumped, almost as if he had forgotten my presence. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and shifted in his seat. “Muir Woods.”
“The national park?” I asked. “Isn’t it closed this time of night?”
He shot me a look. “For mortals.”
I nodded, thoughtful. “What? Are you going to teach me about plant life or something? We should have brought Vinca.”
“No, not plant life.”
I frowned, wondering at his mysteriousness tonight. “Adam, just tell me, already.”
“We’re going to meet a faery by the name of Briallen Pimpernell. Sound familiar?”
His question seemed a tad too casual. “No,” I said. “Should it?”
He pulled off the 101 where a sign directed us to Muir Woods. “Yeah,” he said finally. “It should.”
“Why do I have a feeling this isn’t just some random field trip?”
He stopped at a red light and turned to me. “Because it’s not. Briallen was there when you were born.”
My stomach lurched. “What?” I whispered.
“I lied to you when I said we were training tonight.” Adam pushed the accelerator. I barely felt the movement because of the shock of his admission. “We’re going to meet with Briallen because it’s time for you to learn the truth.”
I was almost too scared to ask, but I did anyway. “What truth?”
“I’ll leave it to Briallen to tell you.”
25
