Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender (7 page)

“Hey.” Lily nudged his head up so she could look into his eyes. The love he poured out only served to prove he hadn’t been ‘the bad guy’ but a good guy stuck in a bad situation. “When I left, where was I going?”

Tears glistened on Tony’s lower lashes. He blinked a few times as if confused by the question. “They only said short-term memory. I can’t believe you don’t remember anything at all.”

“I’m sorry.” She hugged him tight like she’d seen in one of many pictures.

Tony held her hands in his. “Let’s eat.” He wiped at his eyes as he stood again, one hand still wrapped around hers. “Maybe rehashing our last conversation—no, our fight—won’t be so bad.”

Lily rose and followed him into the kitchen. She dug into the bag he’d brought and pulled out an egg sandwich and a bag of pretzels.
This is her favorite?
A need to chuckle built within her, but she kept the emotion to herself.

“Light mayo, too.”

“Thanks.” She grabbed two plates and hurried to the fridge for water. The door, covered with pictures, held a calendar with the days of the month ‘x’ed off—an activity Chase had been known to undertake when gearing up for a grand activity. Lily filled two glasses, returned to the table and split the lunch between them, handing half to Tony as he sat.

He took his and waved it at her like a thank you. A mouthful and a deep sigh later, he took her hand in his. “Leigh’s eyes …”

Lily swallowed the gasp.

“They turned color one day. The docs had no idea why. We took her to specialist after specialist and to others. We went to Europe. We flew back here. Nothing. No one had any ideas.” He took another bite. “When you told me about the doctor in Romania …”

Romania? This can’t be coincidence.

“… I wasn’t sure whether I agreed or not, but you said it had to be done. You had to find a way to cure her and to get her gorgeous browns back.”

Can’t cure what is so obvious at thirteen. Been there.

“All Leigh wanted was to be left alone. Even her hair had changed color … going from burnt gold to pale peach. It was like she was disappearing right before our eyes.”

Trust me, I know the feeling.
“And it wasn’t, perhaps, anorexia?”

“No. She ate like a horse.”

Yup. Mimic.

As he finished off his half of the sandwich, Lily nudged hers toward him to keep him busy and talking.

“For the first time in our thirteen years, we fought. I didn’t—I needed you to try, but I wanted you to think of Leigh first.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She didn’t want to go. But I agreed you should try one last thing. Leigh’s expression when I agreed was the worst thing I’ve ever felt as a parent.” He coughed as if fending off powerful emotions. “When you didn’t come back after a week, I flew out. Another week passed, and I had to get back to Max. It’s been two months, Angela.
Two months
since I saw you last, but the PI said he’s been tracking you for at least thirty days. All the way to North Carolina at last check. Then every time I started to fly out, they’d tell me you left again. How? Why?”

If Angela had been in Rune, Lily-the-look-a-like could have been mistaken for her.
Could Angela be in Rune? I need to go back.
“I just don’t remember,” she said.

His cheeks flushed. “Why can’t you remember this?” Anger tainted the simple question.

Lily scooted back an inch from the table as his fists bumped the surface.

“You went away and left Max and me. You wouldn’t return my calls.”

What are the stages of grief again?
Lily wished she had Charley’s photographic memory so she could remember more.
Disbelief? Anger? Acceptance? Damn, that’s only three.

“Why wouldn’t you
at least
return my calls?” Hurt bled through Tony’s question. “Around the world over the last year. Even your mother said to give it a rest, to let Leigh live her life since she didn’t even care anymore about how she looked, and outside of those changes, she wasn’t sick, wasn’t hurting—nothing but her looks.”

If Angela had known to go to Romania, someone had to have told her about Mimics.

Who? And why would she end up back in North Carolina?

• • •

Cael checked the garage and found only one car. He’d buzzed the doorbell, but after five minutes, no one had come. Anxiety and tension built up in him to the point his decision came easily.

He lifted a foot and kicked at the doorknob.

It shattered.

The door flew on its hinges backward.

At a scream from somewhere inside, he braced against the wall, his gun in hand. “Lily! Lil!” He didn’t care if his own announcement would get himself hurt. He wanted Lily to know he’d found her—if he had.

Shuffling came from the left.

Cael pivoted toward it, following the noise until he arrived at an opening with his gun aimed right at a man.

Tony, or so Cael assumed, stood in front of Lily, holding her back against the far wall.

“Move away from the girl,” Cael said. “And I won’t kill you.”

“You’re not taking her from me,” the man said.

Lily struggled against the man’s hold.

“I said move, or I’ll shoot your kneecaps.”

“You’ll have to kill me first to get to her again,” the man said.

Cael cocked the chamber.

“No!” Lily’s harried screech had Cael tilting his head. She wiggled free of the man’s grasp but stood in front of him. “Cael, don’t.”

The man’s face ashened more than it had when Cael barged in.

Lily maneuvered until she stood halfway between both men, the kitchen island at her back.

Why isn’t she running to me?
Did she come here on her own terms? Did Charley not tell me something? Did Lily find Angela and leave without telling me?

“Anj, what’s—who’s—what’s—”

The man’s questions served Cael well—he had the same ones. With his weapon trained on the man, he caught Lily’s movement in his peripheral vision.

She held out her hands, one toward the man and one toward Cael.

“Come on—” Cael stopped at Lily’s glare.

“Tony … this is Cael.”

The muscles in Tony’s jaw tightened. “You remember him, but not me?”

Lily brushed her face with her hands as the pink of her cheeks brightened. “Just … his name. I—I remember his name, like I remembered yours. Cael, this is Tony. My husband.”

That Cael managed to hide the flinch on the outside didn’t help the dagger that pierced his heart.
When in the hell did she get married to her sister’s husband? What the hell is going on?

Her brow furrowed, etching deep lines into her skin. “I think Cael can help with Leigh’s case.”

Who the hell is Lee?

Tony took a step toward Lily. “Anj—”

She continued to hold out her arms, stopping Tony from moving closer.

Thoughts ran through Cael’s mind.
Is she lying? Is she making something up?

Tony’s fists balled as he glowered at Cael. “Who the hell are you, and why did you break into my house?”

Even as she forced Tony back, the pain in Lily’s face told Cael she needed his help, though he didn’t understand why or what to offer.

“Give me a second, Tony. Please.” Lily flapped a hand in his direction. “I—I remember something.” She peeked up at Cael from between her fingers. “He’s … been helping me find a woman … Lily is her name. I think.” Her eyes widened before she hid them again.

“Exactly, and I need to talk with her … alone.” Cael tried to play along.

“I’m not going to—” Tony started.

“I promise not to leave the house.” Lily positioned herself with her back to Cael. “We’ll talk … in my office. Okay? I promise. I’m not going anywhere.” Spinning back to Cael, she said, “Put the gun down, please. I’m sure we’re all on the same team here.”

Oh, no. We’re not.
Despite an internal struggle, Cael lowered the weapon a fraction of an inch. Confusion dominated his mind, flitting back and forth between anger and uncertainty—at whom to trust and from whom to extract answers.

Lily’s eyes darkened as she grew closer.

Tony reached for her.

Cael whipped the weapon up.

Tony halted, his body shaking, though Cael didn’t sense anger, only torment.

Lily shoved against Cael’s chest, backing him out of the room. At the doorway, she spun toward Tony. “Actually, go back to work. Let … Cael bring up more memories. If possible. I’ll be here. I promise.”

Not if I have anything to do with it.

“Get Max in a couple hours and bring him home. Like you’d planned. Maybe by then all this stuff will have fallen back into place.” She slid past Cael through the kitchen doorway.

He trailed after the sound of her footsteps across the floor, keeping Tony in his line of sight.

“Unless you can pop those eyes of yours into the back of your head, you’re gonna fall or hit something if you don’t turn around.” Lily’s quip made him want to smile, but he held that tinge of emotion back.

That Tony didn’t even budge had Cael wondering just what impact Lily already had on Tony’s life.

The sound of feet rising upward forced him to twist around. He raced after her, catching up on the fourth step.

For a second, he contemplated winging her into his arms and running back down, out the door and to his truck. He could do it. She weighed next to nothing.

“Don’t even think about throwing me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes,” she whispered. “I made a promise, Cael. So just forget it.”

The authority behind her demand made him blink. He stayed on the topmost step as they reached the second floor landing. Lily paused at each of the pictures on the walls—-dozens of them at a quick count. She drifted to the other side, from one to the other, up and down.

“Lil—”

She held out a hand, waving him off, perusing further until she opened a door on the left. “In here.”

On a deep intake of breath, Cael pressed forward. He grabbed the door by its edge and flung it closed but caught it before it could slam. With a soft click of the latch, he secured the lock.

She stared back at him from her perch at the side of a desk.

Cael stormed to her, stood at her toes and grabbed her biceps, though he didn’t squeeze. Just the contact, the touch between them relieved twenty-four hours of building tension.

Her lids closed as if she held the same feelings running through her body.

Comfort. Happiness. Trust.

Not truth, though.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

• • •

He’d evidently come to whisk her away, though Lily wished he’d leave—-his territorial nature had rippled from him in waves. “Did you get married?” Not a hint of sarcasm came through Cael’s question.

Lily shook her head. “No. He thinks I’m his wife—”

“What the fuck? You let him believe that? Don’t you know who he is?” Cael dropped his hands from Lily’s arms as though he’d burned himself.

Lily tilted her head when he stomped away, fearing she’d say something that would make him angrier than he’d already become. She needed his help not his rage. “I don’t know what you mean, Cael.”

He stormed back to her, his eyes set and full of fury. “That man is your sister’s husband.”

Lily stumbled backward. If her eyes could have opened wider, they would have popped right out of her head. She bumped into the edge of the desk, toppling the pen holder. Her breath caught in her throat at both the idea that she had a sister and Cael’s assertion she’d connected with her husband. With a hand on the flat of the desk, she forced out the only word that came to mind. “Wha—What?”

Cael ran a hand over his head as a breath gushed from him. “You didn’t know.”

Lily blinked, her heart hammering in her chest. “Kno—know … what exactly?”

He stepped to her and took her arms just as her knees buckled. While keeping her upright, Cael tilted down to her. “I found her twenty years ago when you asked me to search.”

“But—but you didn’t tell me.”

He shook his head. “You were interested until the word ‘institution’ came into the conversation, and that threw you off balance for a week. I couldn’t bear to make you hear more, so I tucked the data away. It wasn’t much anyway, just a connection.”

Lily jerked free of Cael’s hold, pushed off from the desk and marched to the window. Waves crashed against rock on the other side of the road. “Why didn’t you tell me at any time in the last twenty, then?”

Tony’s Mercedes backed down the drive but stopped at the end, the trunk and bumper sticking into the road.
Contemplating not going? Trust me, I understand.
A car came up behind, its horn blaring, and Tony completed his exit.

Lily pirouetted back to Cael.

The seriousness of his glare had her wavering between curiosity and indignation. At the hurt in his eyes, though, she took a step toward him. Cael, just like Charley and James, knew some of her history but not all of it. The realization Cael knew more than Lily herself frenzied her pulse.

She backed up and lowered to the window bench, needing time to think through Cael’s announcement. She’d desired freedom from her memories, to hide from them until the moment her life ended. She’d made Charley promise never to bring her to California so they wouldn’t surface on their own. Over the years, she’d managed to stop thinking about them and to live a fulfilled and happy life.

Mostly.

“Talk to me, Lil.” Cael’s softness had tears welling.

She met his gaze. “I have a family, and you didn’t tell me?” Her breath hitched. “All this time and I have a sister? Nephews? A real connection—” She faltered as she stood and sat back down. “No, no. No! This isn’t possible.”

Cael marched up to Lily, knelt at her toes and took her chin in his hand. “Lily.”

She closed her eyes. “No, Cael. Angela’s Mom … is she my Mom? Is she—”

“Maybe. Yes. I’ve kept up.”

“You’ve followed them? I’ve wished for my own family for so long and you didn’t—You didn’t tell me!”

“You didn’t want your family, Lily. You wanted the ideal. You didn’t want to know about this. You wanted the fantasy. When in reality, you have me.”