Dawning of Light (20 page)

“It was from my pappy,” he said, startling her from her frightened reverie.

“Huh?”

Finn glanced over his shoulder, giving her a wry look. “Were you expecting something else?”

She flushed. He shook his head.

“No, I do not have a propensity for using feathers when I’m in bed with a woman,” he said, his tone exasperated. He spotted Carley heading toward the kitchen door, and he opened it and held it for her. Then he fell into easy conversation with her while she set about preparing the kitchens to feed the inhabitants of the beach house.

Cecilia turned away and left the kitchen, feeling relieved, although she could not help but wonder…
Would he be interested in trying new things
?

* * * *

Finn kept his distance, at least emotionally. He still hovered, still refused to let her out of his sight, but he rarely engaged her in conversation and most definitely avoided any physical contact at almost all costs.

“Okay, fine. So I went snooping through his stuff. And yes, at the time, I did it purely to annoy him. But come on, how many times does a girl have to say she’s sorry?” Cecilia complained to Olivia on the third day.

They were walking along the cliff’s edge, because Cecilia claimed she felt suffocated inside the beach house. Snow crunched under their feet, and the wind whipped at their coats. A storm was charging over the lake, heading in their direction. The clouds were dark and ominous. Both women felt the absence of the sun in their weakened magic.

Olivia slipped on a bit of ice hidden underneath the snow, and Cecilia grabbed her arm to steady her.

“Thanks,” Olivia said as they resumed walking. “Unfortunately, my balance is thrown off by this pregnancy. Are you sure Finn is upset over the snooping? Maybe it’s something else. He doesn’t strike me as someone who would hold a grudge over something like that.”

“What else could it be? I didn’t drug myself that day. Alexa says nothing horrible happened, but it feels as though he’s blaming me for whatever
did
happen. I wish I could remember.” She ended on a sigh.

“I suspect he’s frightened,” Olivia offered.

Cecilia barked out a laugh. “Finn? Frightened? What a ridiculous thing to say. He killed his own pack master, for the love of light. I doubt he is frightened of anything at all.”

“I think you would be surprised. Males are frightened of the strangest things. Like losing the one they love. Or admitting that they care about that person in the first place.”

“What are you suggesting?” Cecilia asked in bewilderment.

They’d reached the border of the snow-covered lawn. Ahead was a thick stand of trees. To the left was the edge of the cliff, the village below, and the lake beyond. The house was behind them, slightly to the right. The only sounds were of their boots crunching on snow, and the wind whistling in their ears. The rest of the inhabitants of the coterie were shut up tightly in their warm homes. The smell of burning wood was pungent in the air, indicative of roaring fireplaces in hearths all over the village.

“I’m cold,” Olivia complained. “Let’s go back.”

“Okay.” They turned around and began walking toward the house. Olivia was now walking along the cliff’s edge, and Cecilia moved to nudge her over, so that she would be between her cousin and the cliff. It seemed a smart move, given Olivia’s balance problems these days.

They both heard the sound at the same time. It sounded like the wind, except more intense, stronger, as if the wind was blowing through a tunnel. Both women turned at the same time and were greeted with faces full of snow, the result, it would seem, of a giant snowball that had been thrown from the vicinity of the woods.

Olivia took the brunt of the hit. It threw her into Cecilia, who staggered and struggled, trying to push her cousin away from the cliff that was much, much too close. Olivia fell forward, onto her stomach, while Cecilia fell backward, toward the cliff. She fell onto her backside and began sliding, even as she scrabbled with her gloved hands at the snow, trying to stop herself from falling further, and eventually over the edge.

But she fell over the cliff anyway, almost in slow motion. She reached out for something, anything, and managed to grab a branch that was sticking out from the side of the rocky wall. She hung from the branch by one hand as she tried to get purchase against the rocks with her other hand and her feet. At least she wasn’t plummeting to her death, she reassured herself as she tried desperately to find solid footing.

“I gotcha.” Something solid and warm latched onto the hand clinging to the branch. Cecilia looked up and saw Finn’s face looming over the side of the cliff. “Grab my other hand,” he commanded.

It took several tries, but she finally managed to swing her other hand into his grip. “Pull,” he commanded to whomever was behind him, and then she was being lifted, up and over the edge, and finally her feet touched solid ground, and instead of dropping to the snow and kissing the earth beneath her feet, she grabbed Finn and clung to him as if she never intended to let him go.

“Go,” she heard him say. “I’ve got her.” She opened her eyes and saw Tanner scoop his mate into his arms and rush toward the house, with Olivia’s father chasing after him.

“Is she okay?” Cecilia asked.

“She isn’t the one who fell over the side of a cliff,” Finn replied. She still hadn’t released her hold around his waist. She could feel his arms wrapped around her, as tightly as a vise.

“At some point, we’re going to have to get up and walk into the house,” he remarked.

“Please don’t be mad at me anymore,” she said, and much to her own utter embarrassment, she choked on a sob, as tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, come on, Cici, don’t cry,” he complained as he pushed her face into his shoulder and held her as tightly as she was holding him. “I’m not mad, I swear. Just stop crying.”

She swiped at the tears, hiccupped on a sob and managed a watery smile. “If I’d known crying would do the trick, I would have done it three days ago. Why have you been avoiding me?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been your constant shadow.”

“I don’t want a shadow. I want a—a—” She hiccupped again.

“Do we really have to have this conversation out here? My ass is numb. I’d rather be inside. Plus, I need a stiff drink. I think I nearly choked on my own heart when I saw you go over that cliff.”

She finally loosened her hold enough for him to climb to his feet and help her to hers, but she immediately wrapped her arm around his waist when he started walking toward the house.

“Clingy females aren’t normally my thing,” he told her in an amused voice as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and they walked arm in arm until they reached the house.

“Olivia says nothing about me is normally your thing.”

Finn scowled. “What the hell does Olivia know?”

She turned to face him. They stood just inside the door, in the vast entry hall. She could hear voices drifting from the entertainment room to her left, where she presumed Tanner, Olivia, and Uncle Sander had gone.

“Finn…”

His lips crashed down onto hers with such force that she staggered backward. He followed, cupping her face with his hands as he ravished her mouth. She snaked her arms around his back and met his zeal with equal enthusiasm. It felt so good, so much better than even the other few times they’d kissed. She could tell he had been frightened, that he needed this connection to sooth his own jangled nerves.

She wanted to connect completely.

She tugged at his shirt, slipped her hands underneath, so she could touch the warm skin and muscle underneath. She felt him working at the buttons on her coat. She used her magic to make it easier for him, and her coat fell to the floor a moment later.

“Cici,” he murmured against her throat, as his lips trailed a hot, wet path, setting her skin on fire. Magic sizzled in the air. “I need…”

“Me too,” she responded. Her gaze swept the room. If they hurried, they could rush upstairs before anyone realized they’d stepped into the house. They could find the nearest bedchamber and lock themselves inside. Hopefully, the others would be so distracted by Olivia’s fall that they would not be concerned for Cecilia and Finn’s absence.

“Where are Cici and Finn?” It was Olivia’s voice, drifting out into the hall and squelching Cecilia’s plan. She reluctantly stepped out of Finn’s embrace and bent to sweep her coat off the floor. When she straightened again, she saw that Finn’s eyes were glowing, and he was looking at her as if he had every intention of dragging her upstairs, instead of stepping into the entertainment room to let everyone know that they’d returned safely to the house.

“We cannot cause Olivia to worry unnecessarily,” Cecilia pointed out, feeling every bit as disappointed as he looked.

Without a word, he dropped his gaze and preceded her into the room.

Olivia lay on the couch, arguing with Tanner over her condition. Cecilia walked over and dropped onto the cushion near her feet.

“That snowball wasn’t an accident,” Olivia blurted.

Cecilia felt the tension in the room. It ratcheted up about a thousand notches at Olivia’s proclamation. “Despite what happened with Samuel, I believe I could use a stiff drink,” she muttered as she leaned back against the couch cushions and closed her eyes.

“I’ll refrain from drugging it,” Finn said drily before he strode away and walked behind the wet bar to mix drinks.

“Tanner, I’m fine,” Olivia complained as she pushed him away when he tried to flatten his hand on her stomach. Tanner shared Olivia’s magic, so he was able to summon the healing magic to determine if the pup growing in her belly had been affected by her fall.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he growled. “At least until Alexa arrives and gives us a professional opinion. Where the hell is she?”

“My father cannot shift into a bird and fly to go get her,” Olivia pointed out. “So he has to do it the old-fashioned way, and it takes a few minutes to walk down those steps in the face of the cliff.”

Finn returned with three glasses of amber liquid and a bottle of water. He handed the water to Olivia, while Tanner snatched one of glasses and drained the contents. His face slowly shifted from starkly white to having some color.

“Drink,” Finn ordered as he shoved a glass at Cecilia. She accepted it and drank. “Good,” he said with an approving nod. “Now finish it. You’ll feel better when you do.”

“I thought you weren’t planning to get me drunk and take advantage of me?” she shot back, annoyed by his high-handed demands.

“I said I wasn’t going to drug you,” he retorted. “Speaking of,” he said, looking at Tanner. “Even though your mate took the brunt of the hit, I still maintain that Cecilia is the target.”

“What?” Cecilia and Olivia both said at the same time.

“Yes,” Tanner confirmed. “It looks as though you’ve made an enemy, Cecilia. Someone seems determined to hurt you.”

Cecilia lifted the glass and drank deeply.

Suddenly, Finn and Tanner both sharply turned their heads toward the doorway leading to the entry hall. They exchanged a look, and then Finn strode from the room. “What in the—” Before she could complete the sentence, Finn was back, with Uncle Sander, Dane, and Lisa in tow.

“I thought I told you to get Alexa,” Tanner growled at the king.

“I passed Dane along the way,” the king explained, sounding winded. “When I told him what happened, he naturally insisted upon examining Olivia himself.”

Dane was already kneeling next to the couch, his hands on Olivia’s abdomen, his eyes closed. Magic flared around his hands.

“Alexa is a better healer,” Tanner insisted.

“Dane delivered my pup,” Lisa snapped. “Under duress, I might add.”

“And he’d never delivered a shifter pup before,” Cecilia added. Finn glared at her. She glared right back.

“Why is she here?” Olivia asked, indicating Lisa.

“I’m training her to be my assistant,” Dane replied as Lisa smirked at Olivia. There was clearly no love lost between the two women.

Dane pulled his hands away after a few moments. “The pup is fine,” he reported. “The mother could use a relaxer, though. Your heart rate is too high right now. What happened?” He placed his hands on her stomach again and sent his signature soothing magic through her system. Olivia sagged back against the couch with a dreamy look on her face.

“Thanks,” she said in a breathy voice.

“That isn’t going to hurt the pup, is it?” Tanner demanded.

“No. Ask Lisa. I gave her a much stronger dose when she was whelping little Freddy, and he’s the healthiest pup I’ve ever seen.”

While Dane appeared completely unfazed by the fact that Lisa named her infant son after her late mate, both Tanner and Finn visibly flinched at the mention of Freddy’s name. The memories, to them, were still too fresh and too stark and much, much too dark.

“Tell me what happened,” Dane demanded again.

“She almost fell over the cliff,” Sander reported from where he stood near the window, wringing his hands. “If Cecilia hadn’t pushed her away, they both would have gone over. Thank you, gentlemen, for saving my niece.” He nodded at Tanner and Finn in turn.

“We didn’t have a choice,” Finn said gruffly, as he glared at Cecilia, as if she’d done something wrong. She frowned back at him.

“Stop glaring at me. I didn’t throw that stupid oversized snowball.”

“No, but I think we can narrow down the list of suspects now,” Finn replied.

“What in the world are you all talking about?” Dane demanded indignantly.

“I think they’re trying to say that someone purposely attacked Olivia and Cecilia,” Lisa guessed as she walked over to the bar and helped herself to a drink.

“Aren’t you still nursing your pup?” Tanner asked as he glared at the dark-haired female shifter, who very deliberately raised the glass to her lips and took a hearty swallow.

“I just finished his last feeding about twenty minutes ago, so I’m good to have at least one drink,” she explained, submitting, after a moment, under Tanner’s narrowed, dangerous gaze. “And the Fates know I could use one right now. Shifters don’t do shit like this. We aren’t sneaky. If we want to kill you, we come right out and tell you.”