On Pins and Needles: Sierra Fox, Book 3 (9 page)

“Papan, it’s okay, you don’t have to—”

He made his way around the bed and stopped in front of me. “You still don’t get it, do you?” He tilted my chin back so I was looking right into his eyes. “I might not have to, but I want to. There’s a big difference. And I believe I’ve already told you this before.”

A smile teased the edges of my mouth and he ran his thumb over my lips, sliding over them until he cupped my jaw.

“Thank you, Papan,” I whispered.

“We should thank each other for the magic we made last night.” His dimples made an appearance and the butterflies inside my stomach fluttered. “Now, let’s go find our clothes and get back to your house to see what’s so important that you turned down my very alluring offer.”

“Um, you’re coming with me?”

“Of course I am…” His voice trailed off and he stared at me. “Unless you don’t want me to.”

I closed the distance between us and gave him a hug.
 

“Yes, I want you to come with me.” I took a step back and nibbled on my bottom lip. “Actually, I think it’s time I tell you one of my deepest and darkest secrets.”

“That sounds fascinating.” He turned to look at his alarm clock. “But time’s ticking, so maybe you should tell me over breakfast.”

I nodded and returned his smile. As he turned around and walked out, I couldn’t help but linger in his room for a few moments. It wasn’t just because I was having such a good time checking him out.
 

My body ached in the best possible way, and I couldn’t believe that even though we’d sated our desire last night we both still had enough reserves for this morning. I was also shocked at what I intended to do.

Last night, when he scared the shit out of me as I was leaving the office I’d promised myself that I was going to start this relationship the right way—with honesty—and Oren McKee was a secret hanging over my head that, until now, I’d had no problem keeping to myself. Sure, I knew the others wondered and suspected there was a reason why the old man and I seemed to be so involved in each other’s lives, but I hadn’t actually told anyone anything.

Now, as I stepped out into Papan’s living room and spotted him already wearing a pair of jeans as he worked in the kitchen, I was determined to spill everything.

My heart sped up as I approached him.

“I left your clothes on the couch,” he called with a vibrant smile. “Though they’re optional.”

I giggled. Yeah, this was the right thing to do.

By the time we reached my front porch, the sun was already up and most of the clouds had scattered away, but a chill remained in the air. The heat of Oren’s very potent protection spell hit me immediately, a heavy weight like the force of water.
 

If I hadn’t been attacked so many times inside my own home already, it might have seemed a bit much. But I appreciated his efforts of trying to protect my house, and hoped I could one day learn how to cast something so strong.

Papan wrapped his arms around my stomach, pressing the front of his body against my spine just as we reached the front door. He kissed my cheek and whispered something naughty in my ear, so I giggled and swung around in the circle of his embrace to face him. He might tower over me, but he was leaning so I could wrap my arms around his neck and force him into a kiss.

I savored the moment and felt at total ease after telling him the whole ordeal that was my biological grandparents’ insane story of love, passion, and cheating. Papan had seemed surprised by the admission but didn’t take long to accept it. He even claimed it made sense of a few things he’d wondered “about the old man”.

I’m just glad the secret’s out.

The persistent sound of fake coughing brought me back to reality and out of our very alluring kiss. I pulled back but kept my arms around Papan.

“Good morning, Oren,” I said. “It’s nice to see you’re right on time, like usual.”

“Were you on your way out?” He stood on the bottom step, looking at us with a smirk on his face. He was a very intuitive man and had known my true feelings about Papan before I’d been ready to admit them to myself.

“No, we’re on our way in,” I replied with a smile.

Papan let go of me and turned to greet him. “Hi, Oren, it’s great to see you again.” He extended his right hand.

Oren shook it and dipped his head. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Jason.” He kept hold of his hand as he stepped up to the same level. “But if you hurt her in any way, it will all sour very quickly.”

“See, a threat like that makes total sense now,” Papan said when Oren dropped his hand.

“I don’t know what you mean.” For once, the old man looked clueless.

Papan smiled at him. “I know who you are.”

Oren took the next step up. “I didn’t think my being a witch was a secret.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

I rolled my eyes. “He knows who you are in relation to me. I told him everything.”

“Really?” That wasn’t the reaction I’d expected. For some reason I thought maybe he would be angry.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I have only good intentions for Fox.”

I swiveled around to face the front door. Yeah, right. I knew for a fact that a lot of Papan’s intentions were full of naughty notions. I unlocked the door and pushed it open, then stepped inside a little cautiously. I hadn’t been back since yesterday afternoon and hoped there weren’t any unexpected surprises.

I pulled my mobile phone out of my pocket and dumped it on the hall table, along with my keys and wallet. As soon as I did, the phone started to ring. I peered at the number but didn’t recognize it, so I ignored it. I didn’t remove the dagger from my boot, though. Knowing it was there just in case I needed it was becoming the norm.
 

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Oren asked, stepping in behind Papan and closing the front door.

Papan continued into the house, peering into the living room before heading for the adjoining kitchen.

“No,” I said. “It’s not a number I recognize. Whoever it is can call back later or leave me a message.”

Oren quirked a white eyebrow but didn’t follow it up with another question or comment. Instead, he grabbed my hand and forced me to face him. “I’m not surprised you confided in Jason. Actually, I’m surprised it took you this long to tell him the truth.”

“I’d been debating whether to tell him or not for days, but was worried it might upset you.” I shrugged. “It was the right time to tell him.”

“Yet you didn’t say anything to me about it.”

I sighed and stared into his eyes. “Look, as helpful as you are and as much as I’m really starting to like having you around, I hate dumping so much on you. I don’t want to become a problem in your life.”

“You’re not a problem.” He squeezed my hand lightly and released it. “You’ll never be a problem. I also never look at helping you as having you
dump
things on me. I want to help in any way I can. There have been instances where I’ve failed you and I don’t ever want something like that to happen again.” He looked away for a moment. “The only saving grace is that I know you’re capable of taking care of yourself. But I’ll always be here to help, so let’s get on with checking out that file.”

“The coast is clear,” Papan called from the kitchen.

He’d probably gone down to the lower floor of my split-level house and inspected the rooms too. One couldn’t be too careful. From my experience with the bad guys, they liked to hide in the shadows, and invading my house was no big deal to them.
 

“Thanks, Oren.” This time I squeezed his cold fingers. I really did appreciate him being around and always willing to lend a helping hand. When he’d first thrown himself into my life and told me what our true connection was, I’d resented him. But the walls I’d carefully constructed to protect myself had slowly crumbled. We’d been through too much during the last few months.

“You’re always welcome.”

“I’ll be back in a second,” I said to him, and headed for the stairs leading up to my bedroom. I might have had another shower after breakfast at Papan’s place, but I didn’t like the idea of spending all day in yesterday’s clothes.

As soon as I stepped into my room—which, together with the attached bathroom, was the only thing on the second story—I headed for the large window. It was a habit I’d developed since peering out one night to find I was being watched by a naked, feral man.
 

A few cars travelled up and down the street and the neighbor across the road happened to be picking up the newspaper from his doorstep. Everything looked and felt normal. Something my life wasn’t.
 

When things felt this calm, I couldn’t help holding my breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course, that’s when I remembered the
Obscurus
were still after me, my ex refused to leave me alone, a former werewolf hunter was still stalking my new boyfriend—it felt so good to call him that—and my half-sister had poltergeists attached to her.
 

I shook off all uncomfortable thoughts and headed for my dresser so I could grab some clean undergarments. I also grabbed a black pair of skinny jeans, a tank top and a gray sweatshirt. It took me less than ten minutes to get changed, run a brush through my knotty curls to turn them into long waves, and head downstairs barefooted. I felt a little naked without my silver dagger.

Halfway down I remembered my laptop was still upstairs and quickly raced back up to get it and the USB drive. I couldn’t help wondering about the demon, Saul, and recall Lavie’s brief argument about him with her aunt. I’d learned from my fellow hunters that there was a fine line between prey and predator. Sometimes the terms even seemed interchangeable.
 

After all, Oren called himself a
witch hunter
and had once told me the best way to catch a witch was to be one.

I raced downstairs again to find the two men sitting at the kitchen table. Papan was sipping a mug of coffee—I could smell it from here—and Oren a cup of tea. He never drank anything but tea. When the former made a move to stand and head for the coffee machine, I pressed my hand down on his firm shoulder.

“It’s okay, I’ll get it.”

Papan nodded and took the laptop from me, then placed it on the table in front of him. “I’ll switch it on for the old man,” he said with a chuckle.

Oren didn’t bite, just kept sipping at his tea.

“Here’s the info,” I said, putting the USB drive in Papan’s hand. As our fingers touched, a
zing
flowed between us and Papan looked up to meet my gaze. It looked like he’d felt the spark too.
 

Wow, I’ve never experienced such an intense connection with anyone.
Being with Papan made me realize that as far as relationships went, I’d been settling for most of my life.
 

That was how I felt right now, and nothing was going to take the happiness away from me. Ebony might not want me in her life right now, but Lavie, Conrad and Papan were right—she’d come around eventually. The
Obscurus
might still want to use me for some twisted ritual that would serve as a gateway to the demon Legion, but I wasn’t going to let them. Sally might have predicted my death, but we were all going to die anyway. And I was determined to help Willow sort out whatever problems she had.

This new and positive outlook was something I wanted to hold onto. I just hoped my bubble wouldn’t pop too soon.

“Ah, do you have the password?” Oren asked behind me, having switched seats with Papan.

I grabbed the mug of coffee—I’d managed to fill the cup on autopilot—and sat down in the chair between them. “Um…” I recalled what Lavie had suggested. “Try
Obscurus
…”

“That’s not it. I’ve already tried.”

“What about demon?”

Oren shook his head.

“How about morons, did you try that?”

Papan laughed, and it filled the kitchen with good cheer.

“Ritual…”

Oren shook his head. “That’s not it either.”

“What about
Sierra?
” Papan said.

We both turned to look at Papan, but I was the one who asked, “Why the hell would they use my name?”

“They’re obviously obsessed with you, so why not?” Papan took another hearty sip from his mug and sat back in his chair.

Oren tapped away at the keyboard. “As much sense as it makes, that’s still not the password.”

I exhaled slowly. There was only one other possibility I could think of. “It’s gotta be Legion, then. If it’s not, then I have no idea what it could be.” How had Lavie and Sally made this sound so easy? And why the hell had I agreed with them? There was no way this group of maniacs determined to give themselves over to a demonic creature would make anything simple.

Oren typed in the word and the tiny pop-up box requesting the password disappeared, leaving in its place a text document I’d never seen before.
 

“Ah, I hope you know what that is because I sure don’t.” I leaned forward, keeping my mug close to my chest as I narrowed my eyes at the squiggly writing. “Actually, none of that even looks like words.”