Frost Line Read online

  “I do.”

  She could almost see his mind working as she looked into those mesmerizing dark eyes. “Then tell me where the deck is,” he said. “We’ll both feel better when it is safe in our hands.”

  There was some truth to that argument. The majority of the deck was where Elijah had found it, in the corner of a closet in Zack’s house where anyone could stumble across it. The Moon, on a shelf in Elijah’s bedroom, was all but out in the open. The only card she could be positive was safe and well-guarded was the one in her bag.

  But if she reunited the cards, Caine would take her home without further delay. He was an honorable man, she knew that, but his first duty was to the Emperor, not to her or Elijah.

  “Not yet,” she said.

  He made a sound that was just short of a growl.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I do believe that if it is necessary you will keep your word and see to Elijah, as you said you would. I’m not being purposely difficult—I do understand the importance of my return to Aeonia and I give you my word I’ll allow you to take me home when time dictates.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” He didn’t sound glad. He sounded distinctly grumpy.

  She smiled at him, though she didn’t know whether or not he could see in the dark as well as she could. “You could argue with me a little and tell me that in the short time you’ve known me I haven’t been at all difficult.”

  He did not smile, not exactly, but there was a small crook at the corner of his mouth as he said, “I would never lie to you.”

  It was truth and a tease; she felt something relax inside her, and didn’t take offense.

  She nestled more deeply into her pillow. “We could return,” she mused. “After my time here has passed, you could take me home briefly and we could come back, if necessary.”

  “You can’t travel without the deck, and the Emperor has hired me to hand it over to him. My mission is to return you, and take the Alexandria Deck to him. I’m obligated to fulfill my mission. If I take you back to Aeonia, do you think the Emperor would then immediately turn the Alexandria Deck back over to you—or me—so we could return here and start the dilemma all over again?”

  He could’ve lied to her, made promises he couldn’t keep, but he hadn’t. That only made her trust him more. The truth, no matter how unpalatable, was solid ground on which one could depend.

  Still, she was disappointed. If he could bring her back to Seven as often as was necessary, then she wouldn’t be under the stress of a time limit for taking care of Elijah’s problem.

  She sighed. “Good night,” she said, turning away and presenting her back to him, not because she was annoyed but because if she was to get any sleep she had to turn so she couldn’t see him. She must be content with the knowledge he had shared; she had all she needed.

  But, oh, she wondered what he was thinking now …

  Caine lay awake, his arms folded behind his head. For a minute there, he’d thought he might be able to convince her to tell him where the deck was, to let him take her home. If she had, he’d have acted immediately, taken her back, and then returned here before Elijah even knew he was missing. The kid wouldn’t be happy that Lenna was gone, but Caine figured he’d be able to settle the little guy down. How long it would take to find this Uncle Bobby was anyone’s guess, so he wanted Lenna back on Aeonia where she belonged.

  No such luck.

  He could have lied to her. A Hunter had no problem lying, if that would help complete the mission. But a Hunter was by default always strategic, and he knew that if he lied to her she would never forget, never forgive. In the future … well, in the future, trust could become indispensable for them, and he didn’t want to squander that.

  But she’d said no, and he knew better than to try to make her change her mind. If there were a Major Arcana card with the name “Stubborn” scrolled across the top, her picture would be on it.

  He finally slept some, and so did she. Luckily neither of them needed much sleep, because if he had to spend every night—naked—in the same bed with her, the results would be—

  Damn satisfying.

  Finally it was morning, and he could hear Elijah stirring in the living room. Caine was glad enough to leave the bed that was nothing short of a torture chamber.

  Silently he left the bed, but not silently enough, because Lenna opened her eyes and got out from under the covers to pull on her clothes. Caine dressed with angry jerks, trying not to look at her and failing, because, vae, he was a man and she was a woman and she’d been made with more than a passing nod to temptation.

  It was with relief that he finished dressing first, then as he was about to go into the living room, he remembered he couldn’t get very far from her and paused to wait until she was ready. He stood with his back to her, and when she said, “I’m dressed,” he simply opened the door and went into the living room.

  “I’m hungry,” Elijah said, pouncing on the couch and turning on the television.

  “Good morning to you, too,” Caine replied drily.

  Elijah rubbed his nose. “I didn’t say good morning.”

  “I know.”

  “Oh. I get it.” He giggled. “I should have said it, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good! Morning!” Elijah pronounced each word with enthusiastic emphasis. “I’m! Hungry!”

  Caine chuckled a little to himself. Children were quite a bit of trouble, but at the same time, they were often interesting and entertaining. He would much rather Elijah be mischievous than crying the way he had yesterday. There would be more tears, he had no doubt, but for now the novelty of being in the hotel, of being with Hunters, was taking his mind off the tragedy of losing his mother. He slept, ate, and watched cartoons. For now, that was good enough.

  Life continued.

  “What do you want for breakfast today?” he asked.

  “Everything,” Elijah said blissfully. “Like yesterday.”

  Caine got on the phone to order another huge room service breakfast, and eyed Lenna as he talked, gauging her mood. She looked as calm as always; if she was in any way disturbed, about anything, it didn’t show on the surface.

  He’d thought she would put back on the clothes she’d been wearing yesterday, but instead she had on a white dress that she must have been wearing when she’d been brought to this world. Caine clenched his jaw. The woman was trying to kill him; he knew that for certain now. The dress was some soft material that floated about her body as if it were her own personal slinky cloud, and he went from half-mast to hard as a rock in what felt like a single heartbeat. There was nothing about her that was normal, nothing about her that blended in.

  “You’ll need to change clothes before we go shopping,” he said, keeping his tone neutral.

  She looked down at her dress, a faint frown wrinkling her brow. “Why? I’ll be getting new clothes then, won’t I?”

  “You attract too much attention in that dress,” he said. Not only was it too flimsy for cold weather clothing, it exposed too much of her glowing skin.

  She had looked inside his brain, and when she stopped to consider how she would appear to the citizens of Seven, she understood and gave him a brief nod.

  After they ate he shooed Elijah into the bathroom to take a shower, then he and Lenna went back into the bedroom so she could change clothes. The constraints of shielding her were going to be the death of him, because there was no way he could have even a moment away from her, without risking her safety. He watched her strip out of the dress and step into the jeans she’d been wearing yesterday, and despite himself he had the traitorous thought that maybe they could wait until the last possible moment to finish this job.

  She turned, her hair swayed to the side, and he saw the white tattoo on her back. Infinity. Forever. His fingers twitched from the temptation to reach out and trace that symbol with the tip of one finger. He wanted, more than he’d ever wanted anything else, to spend another night or two or three right here in this