Fated, A Timeless Series Novella (A Timeless Series Companion Novel) (14 page)

“Callon has to know, Bay.” She glanced back at me. “It was Amour.”

I stared at her.

“Amour?
Are you sure?
”

Bailee could only nod.
I could see tears glisten in her eyes.

“He’s been watching her,” Bree said. “Trying to get to Koda, I think.
”

My hands clenched into fists.
Amour was a po
werful Tresez, one of the few
still able to take human form, despite the curse cast upon them.
And if he’d been tracking Bailee…

What had they done?!

“How long has this being going on for?”
I asked.

Bree swallowed.

“
If you’re worried he followed us, don’t be. We’ve kept a careful eye out, and Clayton and Skylar
are on it. T
hey spotted tracks outside the house
a couple hours after we’d left
.
They’ll keep him
too busy to come after us.”

Bailee
tensed. O
bviously they’d not told her that tidbit of information.

“There were tracks?”
H
e
r
voice trembled.

Before Bree could answer, t
he front door blew open
,
bring
ing
in a whirlwind of snow
.
Koda
grunted as he dumped the
luggage
in the hall
.
He shoved the door closed, and h
is eyes met mine
.
I couldn’t read his expression.

What’s going on, Koda?
I asked. He wasn’t able to communicate telepathically like we could, but he was enough of a relation to Colt to be able to hear our thoughts.
You brought Bailee here
,
knowing Amour
’s
been stalking
her
?
I was finding it hard to control my temper.
Don’t you
remember why I asked you to come here?
You’ve just
laid a trail for one of Marcus’s most powerful allies to hunt down
Cheyenne!

Koda
frowned.

“
Callon, calm down.
He didn’t follow us
.
That’s not his style.
”

“And what proof do you have?” I challenged.

“Look, Clayton
call
ed
me
with an update, it’s fine
,” Koda snapped back.
“I’ve got the situation under control. Don’t worry about Cheyenne.”

I took a slow, calming breath.
I trusted Koda, and he was a good friend. But when I couldn’t afford to take any chances,
this was
totally
irresponsible and reckless.
C
heyenne
needed to be kept
as far f
rom the front lines as possible.
The more observant of Marcus’s spies would instantly see her resemblance to Qaysean, and then…

We’re home!

T
he door swung open again.
Colt filled the door
way
, his shoulders dusted with snow
. He
stepped
towards the desk and dropped what was left of a phone onto it.
Daniel trailed behind.

“Drop something, Koda?”
His blue eyes were narrowed.

Koda suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“
Must’ve slipped out of my pocket,” he muttered.

Oh, really?
Colt’s anger echoed in my thoughts.
I saw the message, Koda. Who’s been stalking Bailee?

“Listen, both of you, Amour didn’t follow us!” Koda barked. His muscles tensed beneath his shirt. “
I wouldn’t have come here if I thought I’d be putting Cheyenne in danger. Amour has been tormenting Bailee to get to me. I
t’s safer for her to be here right now
, believe me
.”

Maybe
,
I replied.
But you should
’ve said
something. We could have taken
extra precautions.
Amour has a lot of connections, he doesn’t have to come himself to track his prey.

Koda
looked down.

“
Yes,
that was
probably
a bit careless of me,
but I didn’t want to make
too much fuss.
I
f Amour
suspect
ed
something
, he’d
send out spies
.
He knows
I
wasn’t around
last year
,
which was when he targeted Bailee.
But
then suddenly I was back. He’s
been
trying to
lay a trap for her ever since
.
I’ve got Clayton and Skylar on it, though. I swear, Cheyenne will be safe, at least from him.
”

Colt clenched his jaw, but didn’t protest further. There wasn’t much point
; we couldn’t change anything now
.
Bailee
star
ed
at her feet, Bree rubbing her back to calm her.

“Alright, I’ll take your word that it’s under control,” I said. “Sorry. Let’s sit down and discuss our plans.”

The tension seemed to ebb a little, and Koda shrugged off his coat.
He took Bailee’s hand and together they sat in front of the television.
Colt took the
chair
, and I sat on the footstool. Daniel hovered
, and I couldn’t help but catch the disappointment in Bree’s eyes.

“So, thanks for coming,” I said. “
I
know
it’s been a long trip, but before we rest up for tomorrow, I thought
we should
outline our plan
, since Cheyenne
is going to have a
n early start
.”

The others nodded.

“As you know, we’ve been charged to protect a girl named Cheyenne, who’s eighteen. Her adoptive parents believe she is Timeless, which we’ve managed to confirm.
However, keeping Marcus’s eyes off her is proving to be a struggle, especially when
Cheyenne herself has no clue
to the dangers.
”

“Definitely,” Colt broke in. “
And as it’s the Christmas break, she wants to go shopping.
S
he wants to go to
Coeur d’Alene
, which is a short drive away
, but it’s a lot more open
than Sagle
.
”

“
So you just want us to shadow her?” Bree asked.
She flashed a grin.
“Too embarrassed to be caught in the lingerie section
with her
, huh?”

Colt
sneered
, and Br
ee snorted back a giggle.

“
I promised
I’d drive her
up
, but she wants to do her shopping alone
,” he said
.
“
So long as you two girls can watch over her, it should be fine.
I can
look
out for any bigger threat.” He hesitated. “Though it’s the smaller ones that worry me.
Those damn soul-shards
are so
inviting
, and with all the glass windows around…”

“We won’t let anything happen, Colt,” Bailee said.
“You can count on us.”

I chewed my lip.
Much as I appreciated Bailee’s words, I wasn’t sure she’d be quite as confident out in the open. She was still very much shaken up by her encounters with Amour.
A moment’s lapse on her part could spell the end for Cheyenne.
I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, though.

“You know, maybe this whole thing is too risky,” I said.
“Colt, can’t you come up with an excuse to keep her home?”

“It won’t work,” Colt said. “Cheyenne can be more stubborn than you, you know.”

“Callon, you can’t just coop her in her house forever!” Daniel suddenly blurted.
“She should still be able to live freely.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the shopping here,” I mumbled.

“It’s not like that!” Daniel strode into the
middle of the living room. His
eyes were full of determination. “The more you shut her up, the more she closes herself off.
It’s not healthy
for her
to
be alone with her thoughts for that long
.
She’ll only work herself up trying to resist things she can’t control.
And when the time finally comes to tell her everything, she’s not going to believe a word of it.
”

“Daniel’s right, Callon,” Colt added. “
Also,
with Gene traveling so much
, she’s already tried to push me away a few times
. She’s afraid
they’re
going to move again
, and doesn’t want to face leaving
.”
He looked me in the eye. “
I know you want her in Ireland as soon as possible, but I agree with Alexis.
We’ll only be killing her spirit if we tear her away from here too soon.”

I ground my teeth. Great, the Wilsons had even won Colt over to their thinking.
Daniel, though, was something else.
I knew he had strong feelings about this, no doubt because of what Dad had done to him.
He probably empathized with Cheyenne and didn’t want her to go through the same trials he had.

But it wasn’t for either of them to decide.
I was
the
acting
clan
regent. And
it was in the best interest for the clans to protect Cheyenne,
and
tell her the truth
sooner rather than later
. Then, when she turned twenty, we could train her, harness her powers, and find a way to defeat Marcus for good…

Colt’s phone
went off
, snapping me back to the present
.
Colt glanced at th
e screen, and raised an eyebrow.
With an apologetic shrug, he answered.

“Hey Cheyenne,
w
hat’s up?”

I heard her muffled response, still so taken by her voice.
It was just like Sahara’s.

“
Oh, you need a hand with that practice math paper?
I’ll be right over,” he replied.

I flashed him a warning glance.
He’d been using any excuse to be around her lately.

Colt,
y
ou don’t need to go over there, Gene and Alexis are
home
,
I said.

Colt frowned.

She needs me,
he
replied.

There was a pause as Cheyenne answered.
She didn’t seem to want him to go to the trouble, either.

“
Look, Cheyenne, it’
d be easier if I showed you in person. You tend to grasp it better
when you watch me write it out
.
I’ll be expecting something in return, though.
”

Colt, don’t do it.

Colt ignored me, listening to Cheyenne’s response. I could hear her
teasing him, telling him to
go find
a date
instead
.

“Oh, Cheyenne,
but
I already have
a date
.
I
f you don’t let me help you finish that paper,
though,
it’s going to be too late to take you out for a movie
and have you bake me some cookies
.
”

I rolled my eyes, but before I could comment, he’d hung up and was reaching for his coat again.

Colt, you’re
only going to draw more attention
.
Leave her alone.

He ignored me
. With a casual farewell to the others, he slipped out and
disappeared into the night.

“Well, Colt’s definitely not changed,” Bree laughed. “
Still the same
white
knight in shining armor
.”