Sarai's Fortune (8 page)

Dammit. How the hell was she going to get away from these guys?

George moved to stand beside her. As they stared at the particularly sepia-toned Picasso, Sarai sighed. “I never was much of a Picasso fan,” she murmured.

She glanced at George and saw his mustache shift with his smile.

“Me…I like a picture that makes me happy and it’s obvious what I’m looking at,” he said.

“Me too.”

“Then why in tarnation did you drag us here?” He tipped his chin, indicating the room they were in.

“Oh, don’t worry. We’ll hit some other museums another day. This one was closest. Besides, it’s still interesting. Broaden your mind, and all that.”

He raised a single eyebrow.

“Oh, come on. You know you loved the Van Gogh exhibit.”

“Hmmmm.” He looked at her with a narrow-eyed gaze. “Want to tell me what you’re up to?”

“Up to?” Sarai did her best to look mildly confused. After years of hiding her emotions, she was surprised when he didn’t bite.

“Yup. Up to. I’m pretty sure you’re not as ditsy as you’re making out. I just can’t figure why you’d want to lose us.”

“I don’t want to lose you, George,” she assured him. She smoothed down the khaki pencil skirt she was wearing in an unconscious gesture of nerves. That, at least, was the truth. She didn’t
want
to run away, she
had
to. There was no other choice—there was a world of difference between the two.

Sarai sighed again. “Well, I won’t torture you any longer today.” She checked her watch. “It’s getting late anyway, and I’d like to get dinner started.”

George’s dark eyes lit up. “You cooking for us again tonight?”

Sarai smiled. “I thought I might.”

After two nights of letting the men cook, Sarai realized she’d eat much better if she took over.

“Don’t feel like you have to, but I was hoping you’d say that.”

With that, he and Scott ushered her out of the building and the few blocks back to the apartment. Once there, Sarai stowed the few items she’d bought during their day. Zac had given her a credit card. She’d balked at first, until he’d explained it was from Andie, a “salary” for her “work” as a liaison to the polar bear shifters. Sarai was grateful for the small amount of independence that gave her. Not to mention access to more options to escape.

She went to her room to change into her comfiest jeans and an Elvis t-shirt. Usually she didn’t wear clothes like this in front of anyone but Andie. However, the apartment was ostensibly her home. Besides, she’d gotten sick of being all buttoned up all the time.

Sighing with relief, she headed to the kitchen and whipped up a casserole, leaving it to bake on low heat. Then she headed to her private sunroom for some time alone. She brought her new e-reader but knew she wouldn’t read a word. She needed to think about her next steps—especially given what she’d learned today.

She was staring through the windows at the silver glass of the buildings all around her, lost in thought, when a deep voice made her jump.

“Good book?” Zac asked. “Or another vision?”

Damn. How did he always know? Sarai forced away the flutter of desire that shimmered across her skin at the sound. She found his voice to be incredibly sexy. But attraction was not an option.

She glanced down at the device in her lap, which had turned itself off. “A bit of both actually.”

“I see.” He waved at the empty chair. “May I?”

“Of course.”

Sarai resisted the urge to scoot her heavy iron chair away as Zac dragged his own closer before sitting down. She watched silently as he looked around at the view. Not for the first time, she acknowledged just how good looking this man was. Something about his rugged face just appealed to her. As simple as that. He was a man’s man. She never thought she’d be attracted to the type, but here she sat, secretly salivating.

After taking a good look around, Zac turned his eyes her way. “So…”

Sarai raised her eyebrows and waited for him to continue.

“Why are you trying to ditch your guards?”

Sarai suppressed an inner sigh.
Gee, thanks George,
she thought.

“I’m not.” She cringed inwardly as his lips compressed. Even after this short a time with him, she knew that wasn’t a good sign.

“So that’s your answer?”

She spread her hands wide. “I don’t have another one.”

For a brief moment, she thought she saw a flash of disappointment cross his features. Zac abruptly stood up, his chair scraping across the wooden slats of the sunroom floor. He leaned over and placed his hands on the arms of her chair in order to get close to her face. Sarai’s back hit the back of the chair as she moved to get out of his space. He just moved with her, crowding her. Her heart rate skyrocketed, thundering so loudly she was surprised he couldn’t hear it. Or maybe he could, and that was the point.

“I promised Andie I would take care of you. That you would be safe, protected. I’ll be damned if the one person who puts that in jeopardy is the person I’m trying to watch over.” He glared at her for a long, heart-stopping moment. Looking away, but not moving away, he shook his head as he took a deep breath. Then he looked right back into her eyes. “Are you going to force me to
work
to keep that promise?”

Sarai licked her lips nervously but stopped when his gaze dropped to follow the movement.

“That’s…not my intention,” she finally said.

Zac didn’t move or say anything. He just stayed there, looking at her, his expression unreadable. Sarai sat, frozen in her seat, caged in by his arms, trapped by his gaze.

She could feel the warmth of his breath caress her face, smell the combination of pine and spice she associated with this man. For a brief, crazy second she thought he might kiss her, but he abruptly stood up, walking away without another word.

Sarai blew out the breath she’d been holding.

Holy moly, that man should be deemed illegal.

In a distracted daze, she pulled her feet up onto her chair and wrapped her arms around her knees. Once her clouded thinking got past Zac’s effect on her, Sarai concentrated her focus on her escape plan yet again. She thought she’d been pretty subtle today with George and Scott. Apparently not. She was going to have to back off a bit. Wait for her chances as they came.

But if anyone knew patience, she did. As a Seer, she had no choice.

****

Zac called himself all sorts of fool as he walked away from Sarai as fast as he could without looking as though he were running. Luckily, with his room on the same side of the apartment as hers, he made it there without bumping into any of the other men. He needed a moment to collect himself.

He’d been angry with Sarai when he’d gone to her room to confront her. George was convinced that shaking her babysitters had been her goal with all her shenanigans today, which had him concerned.

Zac’s concern came in the form of anger. He’d already been clear with her that skipping off wasn’t a good idea. But, deep down, he knew the emotion came from a place he didn’t want to examine too closely. From a place where the thought of harm coming to her sent a spike of panic through his blood.

He’d been truthful when he’d told Sarai of his promise to Andie. He took that promise deadly serious. However, what had started out as an obligation to a friend was now more. Now it was personal.

Damned if he hadn’t almost kissed her as he’d stared into those wide gray-blue eyes. He’d been close enough that he could see the tiny freckles across the bridge of her nose, smell the scent of vanilla. So sweet, he’d wanted to taste, to sip at her lips. So distracting that he completely lost his train of thought—including the anger that had driven him to her in the first place.

So he’d left, before he did something really stupid.

But that didn’t fix the issue. She’d made no promise not to leave. She’d just said it wasn’t her intention to make him work to keep his own promise. Which was a politic answer that gave away nothing.

The woman had spent too many years learning to be evasive in her old dare. He’d have to warn George and Scott to keep a tighter coverage on her, and, when he was in the apartment, Zac would keep a closer eye on her himself.

He just hoped he could do so without also giving in to the urge to get closer to her body.

“Who am I connecting you with today?” Andie’s tone was more amused than offended.

Sarai cringed. “Next time I call, it’ll be just to talk with you,” she promised.

“Uh-huh. Anything we should be concerned about with this one?”

Usually, she didn’t share her visions with anyone other than those directly affected, but she understood why Andie, as an Alpha of one of the dares, needed to ask. “Internal stuff only today.”

“Okay. Tell me who to connect you to. Must be someone big if you have to go through me.”

She wasn’t wrong. “First I need a quick word with Hannah. Then I need to talk to Tieryn McGraw.”

There was a short pause on the other end of the line. Sarai had a good guess what Andie was thinking.

“I know who she is,” she assured her friend.

There were certain positions in the Shadowcat Nation that were kept as secret as possible. Only the Alphas knew each of the Alphas, Betas, and Kuharte in the dares. The rule was put in place for safety purposes but really had been created because of the mountain lion shifters’ suspicious natures. Creating a society out of animals who’d rather fight each other than work together was a constant uphill battle.

However, there was very little that could be kept secret from a Seer. Sarai knew who all the Alphas, Betas, and Kuharte were. She’d known all her life, even when seats of power shifted. Tieryn McGraw happened to be Kuharte like her—someone with supernatural powers beyond the ability to shift. She was a Healer, one of two in the Shadowcat Nation, the other being JoLynn Mason in the Keller Dare.

She could hear Andie’s long sigh. “Okay. I’ll get Hannah first.”

The line beeped and Sarai waited while Andie put through the call. It took quite some time. Not a surprise. Most of the compounds were fairly large and complex, making it difficult to track down individuals.

“Sarai?” Hannah’s friendly voice made her smile.

She’d met Jaxon’s sister and her husband Nick Jensen while she was living at the Keller Dare. She had, in fact, informed Nick that Hannah was his Fated Mate about ten years before they mated. She’d also manipulated things in order for Andie and Hannah to end up as roommates in college.

What she
hadn’t
seen was that she would become friends with the couple. They were genuinely nice people, which made her message even easier to pass on.

“Hey, Hannah.”

“Should I be worried?”

Sarai didn’t blame the other girl for the quaver of fear floating through those words. Lately, most of Sarai’s predictions had spelled trouble.

“Nope. Good news today.”

She heard Hannah’s sigh of relief and could picture the petite redhead’s face easily.

“I know about the baby.” Sarai jumped straight to it.

There was a small gasp. “Yes?”

“Do you want to know what it is?”

Another intake of breath. “I’m barely pregnant. You can tell?”

Sarai smiled. “Yes.”

“Ummm…okay.”

“You’re going to have a boy. Healthy, strong.”

There was a short silence followed by an ecstatic giggle. “I haven’t even told Nick yet. Won’t he be surprised to find out that not only are we having a baby, but it’s a boy.”

“There’s one more part. However, I should warn you first that it’s a shifting future with several decision points that could alter things.”

Another brief pause. “I’d like to know.”

“He will be the Alpha of his own dare eventually, but that is dependent on several things. To start…don’t prevent him from leaving the Keller dare. You will think it’s too soon, that he’s too young. Don’t. Trust his instincts.”

After a long second, Sarai grinned. “Breathe, Hannah.”

A chuckle reached her ears. “Breathe. Yeah. Got it. Anything else?”

“No. Take care.”

“You take care too, Sarai. And…thanks.”

“My pleasure.”
For once.

Andie came back on the line after a second. “Hannah’s glowing. What the heck did you tell her?”

“You’ll have to ask Hannah. It’s not my secret to tell.”

“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?” came her friend’s eager question.

Sarai said nothing. After a beat, Andie sighed. “Fine. Fine. I’ll ask Hannah. You ready for Tieryn now?”

“Yes. Thanks, Andie.”

The line went silent yet again while she was placed on hold.

Eventually, a hesitant female voice came down the line. “Hello?”

Sarai had done this enough times that she had the introduction down to a science. “Tieryn, this is Sarai Bouchard. I am one of the Seers in the Shadowcat Nation. I have some information I feel is important for you to know.”

A long pause not unlike Andie’s. Many people were uncomfortable with Seers or with knowing their future. “It is your choice, of course. There are several parts to what I’m about to tell you. You can choose which to listen to and which to not.”

“All right. Tell me the parts.”

Interesting.

“Is this the first time you’ve heard from a Seer?”

“Yes.”

Very interesting
. That was faster than most people managed to regroup when she contacted them.

She’d rarely spoken with the other two Seers in the Nation, so she wasn’t sure if they had similar experiences. Oddly, Paulla and Lucas—both from South American dares—tended to only get visions for the dares in their hemisphere. Sarai only tended to get them for North America. They seldom had to deal with overlapping. Not that most people, other than the Alphas maybe, realized that fact.

“Okay. I can tell you about your Fated Mate, there’s a future healing that might be strategic, and I can pass on a warning for your Alpha.”

Silence. “What’s the warning?”

“About six months from now, I see a gathering of the Alphas. He needs to leave his Protectors and Commanders behind, take only his Beta. There will be an attack on the dare. If they are there to coordinate defenses, it should come to nothing.”