Rebel Heart (11 page)

Cameron arched a grim brow. "Have you ever tried to sweet talk a piranha?"

Drake laughed loudly. "A piranha you say?"

"Worse," Cameron continued politely. It really made no difference to him. He would handle her by whatever means he needed to establish absolute control.

"Were you informed of the codicil to Advisor DeMontville's last will and testament?" Drake asked, steepling his fingers beneath his chin. "Jonathan had the temerity to write me a short and very concise note when he heard of your planned departure from Reding." He leaned close to Cameron. "Do you have any idea what he wrote? What the additions were?"

"No. Tell me."

"I thought you would never ask. It seems DeMontville knew his daughters well. Although this hasn't been done for hundreds of years, he saw fit to play the betrothal game. Quite underhandedly too. He bequeathed his entire estate and the hand of his daughter, Tori, to one Cameron Savage, refusing to allow Vanessa marriage or Tori complete ownership of the lab until Tori was safely wed."

Marriage? No power on earth could entice him to marry Tori DeMontville. Except a solemn promise made to a man he respected. What did he care if Vanessa married, but he knew DeMontville would never leave it up to him. Cameron felt a debilitating curiosity.

"My compliance?" he insisted.

"Blackmail." Cameron started. Blackmail? Hell. The mere thought of the incident he referred to still heated his temper.

Mentally, he recounted the meeting in the forest that day. The thieftakers surrounded Advisor DeMontville, the two thieves caught in the middle. After that, all hell broke loose. It was extremely dangerous. At the time, he had pitted himself against an organization he believed in, and worked for, in order to protect the laws he cherished.

Didn't DeMontville know that no one else had been there that day in the woods when the thieftakers made their stand against him? No one had seen him. When he'd stepped from the trees, everyone else was either unconscious or had left the scene. No one knew, except DeMontville, that he'd interfered.

Or could he possibly have entrusted the information with someone else, perhaps Jonathan, even if it created severe complications if the information reached certain people. If anyone discovered he'd stood against the thieftakers...

"Jonathan," he said, as his gaze met Drake's.

"Well," Drake demanded, "and do you recall a solemn promise you made to Advisor DeMontville?"

"I remember the promise."

What difference did it make? Cameron wondered for one bleak moment. There were women like Zaria in the world to satisfy a man's physical needs.

And he decided wryly, any female could be managed.

Any woman at all.

And more so than most, Tori DeMontville needed to be governed. Ruthlessly governed.

He stretched out his hand. Drake clasped it in his own.

"This is always such a pleasure." he said, his words spoken in a deceptive drawl.

Drake laughed.

"For luck then, Savage. Is this so bad?"

"Yes. I'll need all the luck in the world just to survive her tantrums. I can well imagine her reaction when she discovers the codicil for herself.

"Oh, she already has--in a way. The terms were read to her, but Jonathan, coward that he is, did not give her your name. Yet even then, she refused nourishment for three days, setting the convent in turmoil."

Cameron felt long fingers of foreboding slowly squeeze his heart. "I'm supposed to wed this termagant."

Cameron walked out into the revelry into the blazing summer night.

Damn Jonathan...and old Aisling. He was doomed.

He drew in a sharp breath, recalling the old lady's prophecy.

Pain and betrayal.

Hope.

Tori DeMontville. The intellectual with the beguiling dove-gray eyes, and the thick whiskey colored hair...

Wild and impetuous as a summer storm.

Ah, but they would have the joining of two minds. If we don't kill each other first, he thought to himself. Actually, there was a challenge to this arrangement, perhaps even a compromise in the making. Access to her data banks. She would fight him.

He would not allow her opportunity to betray him.

His grin spread slowly across his face. Perhaps Tori DeMontville had met her match. As his wife, she would owe him certain compensations. Strangely, he remembered telling Jonathan he would gladly see to her obedience. He had simply not imagined he was volunteering.

Suddenly, he was eager to confront his destiny. Tower City awaited him as well as a woman.

"It seems there are some very archaic additions, yet binding in the extreme," he mumbled softly to himself. "Very binding."

Kaitlyn

"You cannot return," Drake told the man sitting by the window.

"Robert, your survival is more important than anything else. Even this far away you have had an impact on the coalition. The letters and the books you have written have set the mood of an entire country," Kaitlyn said.

Robert had aged in the last few years as they all had. His hair was graying and lines of worry etched deeply around his eyes. Pretending to be dead, the last seven years of life spent in isolation and under as assumed name had seemed to drain energy from his very sole.

She loved him more today than the day they married.

"Quentin Morray has to be stopped. I cannot sit by and watch him gain power and money while I do nothing. I know that distance from the seat of power does not help the cause or the coalition. So many medical strides have been made in the last seven years. Mistakes of the past will not be made again. The people must give this a chance." His jaw tensed.

Kaitlyn watched as the snow fell to the ground, covering the earth in a blanket of white, reminiscing the past seeming to take over much of her time. Happier days were something she longed for with all her heart. The last seven years had been filled with a peace she knew would not last but she had also felt a huge hole in her heart. "The girls are well prepared to take on the lab. Nessa has grown in every way imaginable." Moisture filled her eyes as one lone tear slid down her cheek and she hastily wiped it away.

"And Tori is just as rebellious as she has ever been," Robert said, a smile lighting up his face at his words. "She and Cameron Savage should get along quite nicely. No boring moments for them."

"Her courage knows no boundaries. Tea anyone?" Kaitlyn asked, abruptly changing the subject and turning away from those who might be able to read her emotions.

"I would like that," Drake said with a laugh. "I'm not really the tea drinking type. Any spirits to put in it?"

Robert nodded, seemingly absorbed in thoughts, his face blank and eyes focused somewhere out the window. Kaitlyn would have liked to be privy to those thoughts. She knew from experience he would share what he wanted when he wanted.

Kaitlyn moved from Robert's side to the tea tray that had just been delivered to the parlor. She poured three cups, bringing Drake and Robert a cup along with sugar and milk. "Spirits in the liquor cabinet if you are so inclined," she said.

"And that truth is what frightens me the most," De Montville said frowning. "If she still has a knack for finding trouble, I'm sure Quentin Morray will be on her doorstep within the hour of her arrival in the city."

"Needless to say, until the snow stops falling and melts, there is no way for you to return home. You will have to content yourself with letters to respectable senators and the advisors within the city," Drake said.

"Jonathan is gaining respect and with that comes power. The other senators are listening to him. You do not have to return and put your life in danger once more." Kaitlyn wondered if she was self-centered. They had shared so much in the last few years. She didn't want their life together to end. She would miss him so much. She didn't think she could do this a second time.

"You must leave the dangerous work to the younger generation. Look inward and evaluate what you have to offer and the best way to have the biggest impact." Drake said. "I have spoken with Cameron Savage. His lab has made great strides. He has worked diligently on a cure for the virus. I have heard he is on the threshold of a new discovery." Drake cleared his throat.

"Tori and Nessa will return to Tower City within the week. All that can be done has been done," Kaitlyn said, wishing she could be there to meet them, to protect them. No, they were competent adults. They didn't need her mothering or her protection.

Robert rose, walking to stand in front of the window, hands clasped tightly behind his back. "The world has a sudden chill about it. Yet winter is almost over. We should be looking at spring flowers. A few crocuses or daffodils would be nice. The east and the west coast are so very different from the mid-section. Do you think they will ever find a common ground?"

Kaitlyn put an arm around his waist and moved closer to gather the warmth generated by his body, leaning her head on his shoulder. "The country is divided because their needs are different. While part of the country hides behind fear the rest strives to survive. Even their main source of income is different. I don't see how we will ever resolve our differences."

"Is Savage on the way to the city?" Robert asked as he crossed his arms. "I have this gut feeling Tori will need him. He can't delay."

Drake cleared his throat once more then steepled his hands, leaning his chin on them. "I delivered the good news a few days ago. Savage knows what must be done; understands he cannot stay in the mountains as he had hoped. But I would look out for Zaria. She was none too happy when she discovered Cameron was to wed Tori. Don't you think there might have been a better way to deliver the message? Jonathan didn't really like getting caught in the middle either."

"I saw no other way," Robert said. "Savage knew someday he would have to honor the pact we made in the forest seven years ago. They will learn to love each other. Cameron has the perfect emotional stability Tori needs."

"Whatever happened to falling in love the old fashioned way?" Even though she had not agreed with it at the time, Kaitlyn knew Robert had done the right thing. The codicil to the will was the only way to insure Quentin Morray never got his hands on Tori. The lab was a secondary consideration. But she didn't like it. Had not liked it when Robert had conceived the idea.

"He has said he will bring back the Phantom. And he will protect her with his life," the corner of Robert's eye began a slow tick as he rocked back on his heels.

"That fact does give me peace of mind." Kaitlyn tried so hard not to worry. But it wasn't easy. She did not like living thousands of miles away from her girls. Yet this was indeed her home. She had left it once, but she vowed she would never abandon this life for a stifled life within Tower City. If Robert chose to return, she would deal with the trauma then and not dwell on it now.

"I pray he does not encounter difficulties from Tori."

"Our Tori?" Kaitlyn questioned with a touch of sarcasm. Tori would be a disappointment for everyone if there wasn't a touch of drama where she was concerned. She could only hope some of the commotion would be tempered.

Kaitlyn remembered when she'd heard the news of Robert's death. She had not believed it. Yet she had wept for days on end, wishing she could find death herself. Then she'd heard from Jonathan. Robert was alive and he would be coming to the mountains for his safety as well as a time to recuperate.

Robert had been a shell of his former self when he arrived in early June. The four gunshot wounds had severely damaged several organs. Surgery and an induced coma had helped his body mend. But his mind...

Kaitlyn had worked hard to help him overcome the severe depression that had seeped into him body and soul with tendril-like tenacity.

Now seven years later he was still not as vibrant as he had been. But were any of us? He spoke often of the banishment, chastising himself for the places he had sent the girls. Nessa's was too hard for her gentle nature. She would never survive the regime of the school. And Tori's was too easy. She would have the nuns dancing attendance on her night and day. Tori would find a way to control her environment.

Over the years they had heard tidbits of stories that somehow found there way to the mountains. But Nessa had always worried him. He'd sent them each a Great Dane for company and possibly protection. She wondered if the girls had found their true calling. They would have discovered it on their own. She had not been there to teach them and nourish the earth and the wind. If not used correctly, disasters of such magnitude could engulf the earth, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes... They would need to be careful.

Tori had been given the gift of the earth. If she understood the calling she would be able to read the earth--pick up all five senses just by listening. She would be able to make the earth move to her command. She would have to guard her temper.