Up in Flames (5 page)

She was his patient, nothing more.

She’d done well over the past three days. She’d worked hard, pushed through the soreness like she’d been doing it her entire life. And truthfully, she probably had. Mundi were put through a rigorous, almost painful training regimen.

She had scars in various places on her body. Some small, some not. She could’ve easily had them removed, but she said Mundi wore them like badges of honor. They were trained to handle pain. A wound during training or battle was something to fight through, not cover up.

She looked over at him and smiled almost shyly. She was such a contradiction. A beautiful contradiction. Sweet and shy one minute, hard as stone the next. She still struggled with emotions jumping from being angry to being sad to crying for no reason at all. She struggled with that one the most.

Nights were hard for her. More than once she’d awoken him, screaming from nightmares. Hayden had rushed into the room and comforted her, but he hadn’t been able to get her to talk about them. He had no idea if she was reliving her father’s murder or if it was something else.

All he knew for sure was every time he held her in his arms, he couldn’t get over how right she felt there. He couldn’t stop thinking of brushing his lips along hers, soothing her fears and turmoil. It was during those few minutes after her nightmare that she seemed the most fragile.

Now she seemed very capable, very confident, and so damn sexy Hayden could hardly keep his head on task.

“Do one more,” he called out.

She scrunched her nose at him before turning and jogging down the hill. Hayden grinned at her little show of rebellion. He liked her best that way. He just wished he knew how to help her better control the mood swings.

He watched as she sprinted up the hill once more. At the top, she drew in a deep breath and bent forward, placing her hands on her knees for support. “You okay?” he asked.

She stood straight and nodded. “I’m okay. It’s getting easier. My legs don’t hurt as much today.”

“Good,” Hayden replied with a nod. “Alex should be here in about an hour, if you want to get cleaned up before he arrives.”

She wiped the sweat off her upper lip with her arm. “Do I stink?”

He wrinkled his nose. “Yes,” he teased.

She held her head high and strolled toward him. As she passed, she deliberately brushed her sweaty body up against his. Hayden laughed as he gently shoved her away.

“Now
I
need a shower,” he called out playfully.

She smiled at him over her shoulder. As she jogged up the stone terrace steps, Hayden’s gaze remained glued to her firm backside until she disappeared into the house.

“Damn, damn, damn, damn,” he grumbled to himself.

He’d give his eye teeth to join her in that shower.

He shook his head and sighed. “Damn woman’s going to drive me to drink before the day’s through, and then I’ll have even less self-control.”

He headed into the house, trying to take his mind off a naked, sweaty Cara as she prepared to get in the shower. Just as he reached his father’s office, he heard a knock at the front door. “I got it,” he called out.

He opened the front door and smiled at Alex. “You’re early.”

“Yeah. I made good time through the transport gate.”

Hayden stepped aside so Alex could come through the door.

“What was so important, Hayden? And why the hell did I have to come alone?”

Hayden waved his hand toward the den down the hall. “Let’s go in there, and we’ll talk.”

Alex nodded and followed Hayden down the hall. He knew Alex wouldn’t have done this for many people, but Alex had known the Marcones for years and had been at the lake house numerous times. He was one of Christian’s closest friends.

Once in the den, Hayden poured them each a drink and handed one to Alex. “You’ll probably need this,” Hayden said. “I found Cara.”

Alex choked on the brandy. “What?” Alex lowered the glass and took a step toward Hayden. “Where is she?”

Hayden held his hand up. “She’s upstairs in the shower. There’re some things you need to know before you see her.”

Anger made Alex’s amethyst eyes glow dark and dangerous. Built like a Mack truck, as his mother would say, Alex wasn’t someone most men would want to go up against. His long black hair was pulled back, giving his angular features an even more menacing appearance.

“Do you have any idea how many people are looking for her? Where did you find her?”

“We found her on my trip home. Someone had put her in a cryotube and left her floating in the shipping lanes.”

Dorn looked even angrier if that were possible. “Are they insane?” he bellowed. “That thing is experimental at best.”

Hayden nodded. “She was lucky. Her body wasn’t prepared properly, and she suffered muscle atrophy as well as a little memory loss at first.”

“How long was she in it?” Alex asked.

“Over six weeks.”

“Oh my God.” Alex sighed. “The cryotube wasn’t designed for that. How is she otherwise?”

“She’s lost her ability to control her emotions.”

Alex moved to sit in one of the chairs by the fireplace. He shook his head sadly. “That’s not good, Hayden. Mundi don’t—”

“She’s fine, Alex.” Hayden frowned slightly, unsure why Alex’s concern seemed to bother him so much. Were they closer than Cara had let on? “She’s confused and sometimes a little disoriented. She cries easily, gets angry easily, but she’s holding it together. I haven’t seen any sign of instability.”

“That’s good to know. Anything else? How’s she sleeping?”

“She has nightmares.”

Alex frowned. “Does she say what they’re about?”

Hayden shook his head. “She doesn’t talk about it.”

Sadness filled Alex’s eyes as he stared blankly across the room. “Her father didn’t want this for her. He tried so hard to hide her telekinetic ability from the Mundi, but as a child, she couldn’t control it, and her power eventually came out. Once the Mundi knew, there was no keeping her from them. She went in much later than she should have. The tactics they had to use to teach her emotional control, they were… I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, much less a child. Because of her age, I’m not sure it fully took. At times I could see glints of emotion in her eyes, tiny traces of humanity in her actions.” Alex shook his head. “Maybe that’s why she’s handling this as well as she is.”

Hayden nodded. “Possibly. Cara wants you to get that treaty signed, Alex.”

“Now that I know she’s okay, I’ll get started as soon as I return to Rhinari, but we have another problem.”

“What?” Hayden asked warily.

“The Mundi are going to want her back.”

The thought of Cara returning to that emotionless hell didn’t sit well with Hayden. He scowled as anger and a sudden surge of protectiveness raced through him. “She can’t go back. She feels emotion now—”

“They’ll take that away from her just like they did when she was a child. The only difference is now she’s much older, and the process will be much more horrific. You have to keep her here, Hayden.”

Hayden opened his mouth to argue, but Alex cut him off. “Just until I can get this civil war stopped and regain at least some control.”

“Where do the Mundi stand on this civil war?” Hayden asked.

“The Mundi are behind it.”

Hayden’s jaw went slack. Was Cara part of this? Surely not. “Excuse me?”

“Her father found evidence that the Mundi have been planning this a long time. Ever since they found out about Cara.”

“What does Cara have to do with it?”

“She’s the chancellor’s daughter. The heir. And she’s one of them. They have control over her, and they plan to rule through her.”

Hayden frowned as fear for Cara gripped his chest. It broke his heart that she’d been used this way. And for what? A power grab? “That’s insane.”

Alex twisted his lips in disgust. “It gets better. When her father found out about this, he drew up a decree, skipping Cara.”

Hayden shook his head as though to clear it. “What do you mean ’skipping Cara’?”

“Cara’s not next in line. I am.”

Hayden stared at Alex in shock, unsure he’d heard him correctly. “Alex… Does Cara know this?”

“No.”

Hayden moved to lean his hips against the card table. “That makes you in just as much danger as Cara.”

“As far as I’m aware, the Mundi don’t know. The chancellor and I were the only ones who knew, and I want to keep it that way for a little while. The Mundi need to find her before they really push to win this thing. They need her in place for this to work so the people can see her and accept her as the new ruler. Maybe that will buy us enough time to get this treaty signed with the Senate. I can even make the Senate aware of my being the next chancellor before coming out to Bellara.”

“What about Cara? Do you want her to know?”

“Yeah. She needs to know what the Mundi truly want with her.”

Hayden sighed. What happened to just get her better, then get her home? If he spent too much time alone with her, God only knew what would happen. He was already having a hard time keeping his hands off her. He had no business seducing his patient, despite how badly he wanted to. “What if the Mundi are made to believe she’s dead?” Hayden asked.

Alex shook his head. “They have a Mundi who’s a psychic. They know she’s not dead.”

Hayden’s chest tightened with worry. “Can they see where she is?”

“No. From what I understand, they can only sense her life force. That’s why they’re looking for her so hard. They know she’s out there somewhere.”

“Alex!”

Hayden watched Alex turn at the sound of Cara’s excited voice. Alex barely had time to compose himself before she rushed forward and barreled into his arms. He wrapped one arm around her, the other he held out so Hayden could take the glass from his hand. Hayden frowned as he took it, shocked at the sudden spark of jealousy that swirled in his gut.

“Cara?” Alex asked.

Hayden’s lips twitched with amusement at the stunned look on Alex’s face. Obviously, he’d never seen such an emotional Cara.

“Oh my God. I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.

Her voice shook as Alex wrapped his other arm around her and held her tight. “I’m so sorry about your father, Cara,” he whispered.

“Thank you,” she replied through the tears streaming down her face.

Hayden watched her over Alex’s shoulder as she scrunched her eyes closed to fight the falling tears, but it didn’t do any good. They still continued to fall, and it tore at Hayden’s heart. He hated to see her cry, and even stranger was just how much he hated seeing her in Alex’s arms.

She pulled away from Alex and wiped her tears with shaking hands. Alex reached out to help her, and the tenderness Alex showed toward Cara grated on Hayden’s nerves. He didn’t like it but also knew he didn’t really have a right to say anything. She wasn’t his. “Have you gone before the Senate yet? Have you signed the treaty?” she asked.

“Not yet.”

“Alex,” she whined.

Alex gripped her shoulders to calm her rising alarm. “I’m going to. I promise. I just—”

“How bad is it, Alex? How bad is home?”

“It’s bad, Cara. I won’t lie to you.”

Chapter Six

Cara struggled to keep her composure. “We have to go back.” Alex shook his head stubbornly, and Cara had an insane desire to stomp her foot. “Alex,” she argued.

“Listen to me, Cara. You’re still weak, and the Mundi are looking for you. They want you back.”

She shook her head frantically as fear clouded her light blue eyes. “I can’t go back, Alex. I feel now. I’m no good to them. They’ll see that and—”

“Cara,” Alex began and gave her a little shake. “The Mundi are behind the war. They were the ones who killed your father.”

“What?” Cara exploded as shock almost brought her to her knees. How could that be? Why would they have done that? No. That couldn’t be right. She shook her head as disbelief raced through her.

“They kept you close to your father, deliberately kept you in the public eye so when they won the war, they could rule through you.”

“That’s insane. Why would an order that feels no emotion suddenly get greedy?”

“I don’t know.”

“You have to be wrong, Alex.”

“I’m not wrong, Cara.”

She opened her mouth to argue, to tell him he had to be wrong. But what if he wasn’t? “We can’t let them get away with this,” she snapped. “We have to stop them!”

“You’re not ready to go against anyone yet, much less another Mundi. Stay here with Hayden. Let him help you get better. I’ll handle the war. We have to keep you hidden from them for now. They need you. They’ll strip your emotions from you again if they have to.”

She shook her head as panic began to set in. “I can’t go through what they did to me before.”

Tears gathered in her eyes. Concern wrinkled Alex’s brow as he turned to glance at Hayden before bringing his attention back to her. “You don’t have to, but if you’re going to fight them, you have to stay here and get better.”

Cara swallowed and nodded in agreement. He was right. She was too weak to fight the Mundi right now. And way too emotional. She needed better control over her emotions before going up against the Mundi. Her mood swings kept her from thinking as clearly as she needed to. As much as she hated to admit it, Alex was right.

* * * *

Cara stood outside on the terrace watching the sun set below the horizon. Every inch of her body ached, but it felt good. She was healing, getting stronger. If only her mind was. Her lips began to quiver as the urge to cry made her chest tighten.

She wiped angrily at her tears, frustrated with herself for being so weak. Why couldn’t she get a better hold on this? She’d cried when she saw Alex, then cried again when he’d left. Even though she’d already exercised that morning, she’d run outside the patio doors, anxious to relieve her sadness through strenuous exercise. Hayden didn’t stop her. He just stood by and watched, making sure she didn’t overdo it or hurt herself.

Hayden was another enigma she didn’t understand. He was so handsome, and every time he came near, her body heated like it was on fire. Her heart would race, and her palms would sweat. There were times when she wanted to touch him so bad, she hurt. What was wrong with her?