Meadow's Keep (The Gatekeepers Series) (32 page)

Jasmine was
relieved that Eryk hadn’t mentioned what had happened in the bedroom at Meadow’s Keep. She sure wasn’t going to bring it up. Just being in the car with him took effort. Her body seemed to call out to his. It was beginning to annoy her. She caught him shifting in his seat. It was obvious she wasn’t the only one suffering.

They were near Richmond when Bask called. The
van Lily’d taken had stopped about an hour out to the northwest. From what Bask could gather, the area was very rural. He linked the GPS instructions to their car.

“By the way,” she asked
Bask, “did you ever get someone to take a look at Lily’s medical records or the x-rays?"

“Mike did. The reports indicate
d her injuries were a result of a vehicular accident and some falls. Apparently the kid is clumsy.”

“Like hell she is,” Jasmine hissed. “She didn’t have one incident the whole time she was at Safe Harbor.
Something’s not right,” she added under her breath.

“I’ll keep looking.
Although, one of her teacher’s did ask social services to look into it. On a couple of occasions, she was completely alone when the accidents happened. Everyone was elsewhere, corroborated by others.”

Jasmine let the words sink in, not
ready to put in her two cents. Something just didn’t feel right. She let the phone rest in her lap and looked up to see Eryk glancing over at her. In the dark, with just the light from the dashboard illuminating his features, he looked so damn rugged, so dangerous. His eyes glowed faintly in the dark, sending shivers down her spine—not altogether unpleasant shivers. She was glad it was dark so he couldn’t see the direction her thoughts had turned and the way her body betrayed her.

The drizzle turned into more of a mist and the fog lay low against the ground as they turned down an old gravel road.
Tires crunched and bumped as they maneuvered down the unkempt lane. It would do them no good to meet someone coming the other way because there was no place to pull off. Trees grew close to the road, with the road carved out in a meandering fashion through them. When the lane suddenly widened, a huge dark shape rose out of the fog. Eryk switched his lights off, turning on only the parking lights. They were almost upon the van before they saw it. He hit the brakes and took a slight skid to the left, just missing the bumper. Pulling further in, he turned the car around so they were facing out, and stopped.

Jasmine looked out the window and gave an involuntary shudder.
A large building loomed against a moonless sky, more apparition than wood and stone. She climbed out and closed the door, the sound much louder than she expected. Eryk walked over to the other vehicle and put his hand on the hood.

“Cold
,” he whispered.

“Well, if anyone’s here,” she whispered back,
“I’d be real surprised. Unless they’re in a basement.”

Eryk took her hand and
led her around to the back. He stopped and motioned for her to wait. Like hell, she thought, glancing around at the blackness behind her. Eryk was peering through windows, then came back to the door, tried it, did his energy thing, and turned the knob. Nothing like a little B & E, she thought to herself, trying to force down the nerves.

She followed him in, staying on his heels
, while her eyes adjusted to the dark. He stopped, listening.

“There’s no one here,” he whispered in her ear. “I’d hear them.”

“Like you did at Meadow’s Keep?” she jibed, her voice low.

“I was distracted. I’m not now
.”

He opened and closed doors down the hallway. A pantry, utility room, broom closet, and half bath. No basement.
They walked through the kitchen. Dishes cluttered the counter. It looked as though someone had been eating standing up. A coffee cup sat on a table near the window. He opened the refrigerator. Jasmine squinted into the blinding light.

“Looks like there’s just enough food for several days. Not
enough to house a convalescing patient.”

“Do you think they took him back to the hospital?”

They’d walked into the great room. Magazines were tossed on the couch.

“Stay here.” Eryk said and headed to the stairs.

When Jasmine started to follow him, he stopped. “I’m serious. If anything happens, get the hell out,” he said and handed her the car keys.

She didn’t like it but nodded and let her energy flow to her fingertips.
Jasmine positioned herself behind the door, at the foot of the stairs, where she could see someone coming from any direction.

As the moments ticked by, Jasmine’s nerves began to vibrate.
The place was too damn quiet. Her pulse pounded in her ears, making it impossible to hear anything else. Hell of a time to have a panic attack. She breathed in through her nose, exhaled slowly out of her mouth. As quickly as it had increased, her heart steadied and slowed. Her breathing evened.

Eryk.
The thought slipped into her mind. She looked up the stairs to see him staring down at her, his eyes glowing. He moved fast and was in front of her in an instant, placing his hands on her arms. She inhaled that clean scent that had become so familiar.

“I know I keep asking this but, are you okay?”

“I’d love to say, ‘You know me too well,’ but you cheat. You look at my aura or feel my energy…or read my mind, for all I know. However, I appreciate the thought,” she said softly and looked at his hand, “and the energy manipulation.” She stepped back, just out of his reach—into safer territory.

“No one’s here,” he said in a normal tone. “But they were.”

Chapter Fourteen

As they headed
further west, being directed by the accented voice of the GPS device in the vehicle and the directions download by Bask, Eryk wondered just how in the hell he’d managed to get in the situation he found himself. Not a month ago, his life had been nice and tidy. Orderly. Hell, it was planned out for the next couple of years. Now, he found himself sitting next to a gorgeous brunette he couldn’t seem to get out of his friggin’ mind for even a moment, driving God knows where in order to rescue a girl he wasn’t even sure needed rescuing. Scratch that…he was pretty sure Lily needed rescuing…he just wasn’t sure from what.

His business manager had called
again. He’d put him off. However, when Brandy had called, he’d paid attention. It wasn’t as if he could ignore them. He was a corporation, after all, with employees depending on him. So, as of now, the show was on hiatus. Fortunately, for him, this time of year was slow anyway—for the performances. It was a busy time for him development-wise. This was when new shows were planned, illusions created, sets designed, and schedules secured. If he wanted to be ready for the summer kickoff, he’d better get back damn soon.

Funny,
that wasn’t the way his career had started. It had started as an act of defiance against his father. Oh, he’d played with magic and illusions from the first time the current leapt from his fingers. Daniel, more father than butler, had known, right from the onset. He figured Daniel probably knew even before he had. Eryk smiled to himself, remembering how often he had zapped Daniel inadvertently. Daniel had shown him some tapes and given him some books. The magic was a way to corral his power, keep it in check. Then, he did a show for the children’s hospital when his best friend developed leukemia. Then another…and so forth, until he found himself with a corporation, a manager, and people that depended on him. He didn’t mind that. They were good people and understood more about him than most. They knew when his moods threatened and to leave him alone. Anger had been the hardest to learn to control and with it, the energy flow. Knowing how well controlled he was now, that seemed eons ago.

Then Jasmine came along
. Just being around her had his mind in a twist. He’d never felt anything like it. He craved her, like a parched man in the desert craved water. When she was near, he wanted to be closer. Touching her. Inhaling her. When she wasn’t, he thought he would go mad. Dorian had made it damn clear just what the ramifications were of their being intimate. Sex. One act of sex, pure and simple, and he was bound to this woman for life. That was something that was hard to wrap his mind around. Yet, he still wanted her. He should be running for the hills. The truth was, he doubted he would ever want anyone other than her, even if she chose to go on without him.

“What?” she responded to the look he gave her.

“Nothing. Just thinking.” He pulled his mind back to the problem at hand. “Any idea what we’re going to do when we get there? Wherever
there
is.”

“Bask did a search and found one property that belong
s to Greeson within a 200-mile radius. There are others, out of state, but this seems the most likely. It’s a wild shot, at best. But we have to start somewhere.”

“
It’s obvious that Lily went to the lodge. Someone had to be waiting for her. We didn’t see any indication that a sick man had been cared for there. So, we need to assume that she went with them—willingly or unwillingly. I didn’t see any sign of a struggle.”

Eryk watched Jasmine squirm to retrieve her phone.

She jiggled her phone out of her pants’ pocket and answered. “I don’t know where we are,” she started the conversation.
God
, she moaned inwardly, she was picking up Bask’s bad habit of answering the phone in the middle of a conversation.

“Keep with the GPS. I just wanted to let you know
that we located Porter Greeson.” Bask didn’t seem at all perturbed with her comment.

“He’s not where we’re headed, is he?” Jasmine’s stomach did a flip-flop
as apprehension surged.

“No. He’s in a private sanitarium in Sweden.”

Jasmine mind swung to visions of Rob, the man who’d attacked and raped her, residing in the privately funded—the majority of which came from Abbott House—convalescent facility in Virginia. She didn’t say anything, just waited for Bask to continue.

“Jasmine. Whoever is doing this, is
not
Porter Greeson. I talked to the girl’s—”

“Lily,” Jasmine
injected. She didn’t like Lily being referred to as ‘the girl.’ “Her name is Lily."

“
What? Oh. Yes. Lily,” Bask slipped in the correction. “Her friend said she was very close to her father and was upset when she told her he’d been ill. All she knew was that
Lily
had ended their conversation abruptly. She figured she was heading up to the lodge.”

“As I told you,
it was obvious that Mr. Greeson, especially if he was ill, hadn’t been there. However, someone had been staying there and made a hasty departure, apparently with Lily in tow. Where’s the stepmother?” Jasmine’s tension sent tiny shots of energy through her body. The phone crackled.

“
Calm down, Jasmine, you’re breaking up.” Bask admonished. He was tired of replacing her phones. At least now he know why. “Beverly Greeson is at their house in Arlington. That’s the number I called and she—I assume it was her—talked with me. I found some pictures of her, but none of the daughter. I’ll keep looking.”

“Thanks.”

“By the way, Teresa says they will plan a memorial for when you come down.”

Jasmine felt her throat constrict. She was doing her best
not to think about Bill. “Thanks,” she whispered.

She laid the phone in her lap and looked
at Eryk.

“I heard.
”

“Oh, yeah. I guess that’s convenien
t. Am I too loud, when I’m next to you?”

“No. I find your voice very soothing, actually.”

They were interrupted by the lilting voice of the GPS. “Turn left 300 feet.”

He slowed and turned off the country road
.

“What do we do if she isn’t here?” Jasmine hated considering that possibility.

“I don’t know. Get some rest and regroup, I suppose. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired.”

“I just
hate not knowing. I don’t want to leave her out there, alone…facing God knows what.”

He reached over and let his hand cover hers. The current that passed between them was low but steady. She looked up and smiled. Jasmine realized she was getting used to the feel of his energy seeking hers.
She was more than getting used to it, she sought his in return.

Jasmine wasn’t sure
where they were headed in this relationship or if it was a relationship, even now. It embarrassed her to think about how assertive she’d been in the bedroom at Meadow’s Keep. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have had her way with him given half a chance. This “match-mate” thing was stronger than she’d ever suspected. Teresa had warned her years ago. One just doesn’t take heed without need.

After what happened with Rob, and even knowing
what had happened between Teresa and Bill, then Morgan and Dorian, she’d still doubted its ability to override her fear. Yet, there she’d been, acting like a cat in heat, not thinking, just wanting. And here she sat, rationalizing her irrational behavior. Behavior as old as the descendants.

The jingle of her phone made her jump. She slipped her hand from under Eryk’s and picked up the phone.

“…sending you a picture. You need to look at it,” Bask voice streamed in like he was in an ongoing conversation. Half the time, Jasmine wondered if he just kept right on talking after they disconnected. She smiled at the image in her head.

The smile left her face
as the picture popped up on her screen of her phone. “Who the hell…?” she didn’t finish but turned the phone for Eryk to see. It was a picture of a woman, several years older than Jasmine, she surmised, around Eryk and Dorian’s age. She was stunning. Thin, tall, short brown hair, rich, the color of mink, and emerald green eyes. The same eyes looking at her now from the other side of the vehicle.

“Who is that?” Eryk asked, his voice taking on a weary quality.

Jasmine put the phone on speaker. “I don’t recognize her. I know there are more of us out there, but I don’t recognize the face. I do, however, know those eyes. Who is she?”

Bask’s voice broke up.

“Damn it, Bask. You’re breaking up. What?”

“
You need to calm down, then, Jasmine. You’re spiking. That’s Arabella Greeson’s step-sister. I’ve been looking all over the place. I found it in a press release about the time her mother married Porter Greeson. There was a side note. Her name’s Morna Monroe.” He let the news sink in.

“Don’t tell me she’s my damn cousin?” Jasmine hissed.

“She has her mother’s maiden name. All I can find out is that Beverly Monroe arrived in Paris about thirty years ago…from Scotland…with a small child. Claimed her husband was dead. Nobody cared because she had plenty of money to throw around. Everyone assumed Monroe was the married name. Apparently, she had an “in” to the elite, set down her roots, and stayed there. Claimed to be a very private person, allowing no pictures to be taken of her daughter. The one at Beverly’s wedding is all I could scrounge up.”

“And you are such a good scrounger,” Jasmine
noted.

As she talked to Bask, Eryk turned off the headlights and eased forward into
a dark gravel circle. No lights were on. There were no cars parked in front. The place looked deserted. Of course, Jasmine learned this from Eryk, since she didn’t have the night vision he did. Curious, she reached over and laid her hand on his arm and blinked. Though dim, she could begin to make out details of the building in front of her. When she turned to Eryk, he was watching her. She pulled her hand away. “Sorry,” she whispered and hoped he didn’t see her blushing.

“Bask. I don’t think anyone’s here. It looks closed up. No cars. We’ll take a look around and get back to you.”

“Be careful, you two. Now, particularly—be very careful.”

Jasmine slipped the phone in her pocket and opened the door.
With the interior lights off, even with her eyes adjusting, she stepped into the blackness. Eryk came around the car and reached for her hand.

“Do you want to stay here?” he asked softly, misinterpreting the tremor that went
through her, causing her hand to shake slightly.

“No. I can see when I’m touching you. Probably not as well as you, but some.”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “Then, by all means, touch me.” There was a lilt in his teasing whisper.

She reached out and pinched his side, though there wasn’t much to pinch
of the tightly fitting flesh.

“Ow. I owe you.” He pulled her alon
g with him and walked around the house to the back.

He stopped, turned to her, putting his finger to his lips. The tension surged
, as did the energy. Eryk dropped her hand and cocked his head, listening.

“There’s no one here
,” he said after a moment. “We’ll take a look around. I hear an animal foraging and the hoot of an owl in the distance. No human sounds.” He put his hand on the knob and Jasmine watched purple-blue sparks shoot from beneath his grip.

“Let me try next time.”

“Sure.” He eased open the door. “Have you noticed anything odd?”

“Like what?” She follow
ed closely behind him as they stepped directly into a large great room.

“No security. Silent or otherwise.”

“Not having much experience with breaking and entering, I’d have to say, no, I didn’t notice.”

He took her hand. Immediately the area seemed brighter. He pulled her back outside, threw
the lock and pulled the door shut. “Here, before you grasp the knob, hold your hand around it, but don’t touch it.”

She did as he asked.
“And?” She looked at her hand encircling the door knob.

“If it were armed you would feel a slight buzz. Not enough to set it off but enough for you to know it’s
there. It won’t tell you if it’s set or not, just that it’s there. That’s when you have to make the decision if you want to really do it and risk having the cops on your ass.”

Before she could comment, he continued. “Now
, grasp the knob. Let the current move quickly through your hand. Too slow and it won’t disengage. Too fast and you’ll pop it.”

Jasmine applied her deadbolt technique,
turned the knob, and opened the door.

“You’re a natural.” He smiled at her and followed her back into the
great room.

She wasn’t about to tell him how much practice she
’d had, opening locks. He was right. The wrong amount and it could actually fuse the lock. That’s why she had a bolt cutter.