The Chosen Sin (31 page)

She jerked a little in surprise at his observation and turned away from him so he couldn't see her face. “Alejandro is a good man.” He wasn't Sante. She knew that, but she'd thought Sante was a good man, too.

“He is. He's the best of men. Can be a bit intense, though.”

Brandon was close to her, too close. She could feel his body heat.

She turned.

He wore an expression on his face she hadn't seen before—interest in her.

God, she did not want more of that. Especially from him.

“But for a woman like you,” Brandon continued, “maybe too intense. I get the sense you're too wild to settle down.” He grinned and it struck Daria as a bit smarmy. “Maybe you just need a man to play with for a while, nothing more. Nothing committed, nothing messy.”

She shook her head. Wow, Brandon had completely misread her. He didn't know or understand her at all. Alejandro had understanding her down to an art form. “You're right about me not wanting commitment, at least.”

He spread his hands. “My door is always open.”

“Actually, it's not. Last night being a case in point. Also, I'm not interested. No offense meant, Brandon. Lastly, while I was looking for a place to crash last night, I did have another reason for coming here.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That being?”

“We have to leave off on the Ari thing for the time being. Even if Sante is playing her, she doesn't know she's being played. I'll still talk with Carlos, but we have a bigger issue on our plate now.”

His expression had grown darker as she'd spoken. “What's that?”

“Why the hell is Richard Templeton having us hunt down a daughter he knows damn well went of her own accord?”

Brandon went very still. “Perhaps he doesn't know she went of her own accord.”

Daria shook her head. “No way. Ari Templeton was bursting to get back at dad. No way she didn't tell him, which makes me wonder why he wants her back so bad.”

“You don't know that for certain.”

Daria went for the door. “You're right. It's only a strong hunch. I'm going find out if it's true.”

He caught her arm before she could leave. “What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to go talk to her.”

He glanced down at her rumpled clothing. “Better change first.”

 
 
IT was easy.

When she presented herself at the guardhouse in front of Sante's house, she was on “the list.” They let her right in. They even called Sante ahead of time, so he met her right at the door.

Luckily, Alejandro had been gone from the room when she'd gone back to take a shower and change. Now she looked sprite and charming as a daisy, rather than rumpled and well-fucked as she had that morning.

Daria put on her best nonthreatening smile. “Good morning, Christopher. I thought I'd stop by and see how you and Ari were doing.”

“That's very nice of you.” He was smiling, but there was a note of suspicion in his voice. “Would you like something to drink?” He ushered her into the kitchen.

“No, thanks. Already had my morning coffee. Actually, I really came by because Ari seemed so interested in how I managed to punch through the succubare. I had some free time, so I thought I'd stop by and see if she wanted to talk with me any more about the subject. We're both so newly Chosen, I guess I feel a kind of kindredness with her.”

The suspicion left Sante's eyes. He gave her the most sincere smile she'd ever seen on his lips. It made Daria's heart ache.

If only he'd ever smiled that way for her.

“I really appreciate this a lot, Valerie. It would be nice if Ari had a friend she could talk to. My female intimates here at the Shining Way, they've all been . . .”

“
Intimate
with you?” she ventured as he trailed off.

He nodded. “Makes friendship with my mate a little awkward on both sides.”

How ironic, then, if she became bosom friends with Ari Templeton. “I think befriending Ari would be good for me, too. After all, I'm new here as well.”

Just then Ari glided into the room with the liquid sexual grace of the succubare. “Valerie,” she greeted with a smile as she slid next to Sante. Sante leaned over and tenderly kissed her head.

If Sante was faking it, he was doing a good job. But Daria knew all too well how good a faker he was, didn't she?

“What are you doing here so early in the morning?” Ari asked, her arms tightening around Sante's waist.

“I came by to see you, actually.”

“Really?” She brightened. “Wonderful. Want to have breakfast with me? Food is a habit I'm finding hard to break.”

Daria's stomach rumbled at the prospect. It was a ghost rumbling, of course, like an amputee might feel her missing arm. She didn't need to eat for sustenance now, but she still craved it. “Definitely.”

Sante pulled away from Ari and walked toward the door. “I'll leave you alone, then. I've got work to do.”

Ari pouted. “You don't have to go yet.”

Sante returned and kissed her so well, so beautifully, and so full of love that Daria had to look away. He spoke some low words in Ari's ears that Daria tried not to hear, but with her superhearing did anyway. Then he left.

Ari stood for a moment looking out the door after him. Completely besotted. Daria had no doubt. Then she turned and went for the refrigerator. “Eggs?”

“Sounds incredible.” Daria took a place at the breakfast bar. “Can I help you?”

“No, please. I love to cook.” Ari threw a careless smile at her over her shoulder. “It's a last vestige from my life before.” There was a note of wistfulness in her voice. Ari set a bowl of grapes on the counter in front of Daria, then turned to the stove to make the eggs.

“So, that begs the question. How are you doing with the adjustment to Chosen life?” Daria popped a grape into her mouth and nearly swooned when it burst against her tongue.

At the stove, Ari shrugged a shoulder. Her long hair was loose and shifting over her back. “All right. I mean, I'm very hungry.” She glanced at her and grinned. “Of course, my hunger is different than yours.”

“Of course.”

Ari flipped the eggs onto two plates and handed her one, then moved to get them two glasses of orange juice. “Christopher is keeping me well sated, though.”

Daria took a slow drink and formed her next question carefully. Beside her, Ari slid onto a chair and pulled her plate close. “But one day he won't be enough to sustain you, isn't that true? One day you'll have to go to others. Isn't that how it works for a succubare?”

She took a careful bite of eggs and chewed thoughtfully. “Yes, one day that will be true. I guess I'm not ready to think about that yet.”

“Fair enough.” Daria settled in to eat her eggs while they were still hot.

“And you?”

This time it was Daria's turn to shrug. “I feel stronger than I ever have before, but it's misleading because I'm still far weaker than the older Chosen. Blood is actually good, and I crave it. That's pretty strange. Otherwise, I'm doing pretty well. I'm here, with the false sunlight, so I haven't had to get used to nocturnal life yet.”

Ari nodded. “We're lucky to have this place.”

Daria agreed. As much as she hated Sante and despite the fact she knew in her gut there were illegal happenings here, this commune was a blessing to the Chosen.

“Christopher says this place saved his life,” Ari continued. “That he wanted to walk into the dawn before he had the idea to create the commune.”

“Why?” This aligned with what Alejandro had told her. She put her fork down.

“He told me he loved a woman, but had to betray her in order to fulfill a loyalty to his blood mother. He hurt her terribly in the process. From what I gather, from as much as he'll tell, he killed people close to her.”

“And he got away with it?” Daria's voice sounded harsh to her own ears.

“He got away with it from the perspective of the human and Chosen systems of law. He didn't get away with it in his own consciousness. Guilt plagued him so badly he renounced his blood mother and nearly killed himself.”

Poor, poor Christopher Sante. Daria thought she might weep from the violin music.

“He started the Shining Way as an effort to give back some of what he'd taken,” Ari finished.

“We all have to pay prices for the choices we make.” It was all the response Daria could muster. “I thought I saw you one night, when I was leaving the party at the Alhambra Building. Was it you walking the path there that night?”

She smiled. “I get around via secret passageways. Yes, it was me.”

When she smiled Ari Templeton reminded her of Julia. There was a softness about her that Julia had possessed, too. Daria shook her head to clear the thought and keep her mind in the present. “I thought you were a ghost. I thought I was losing my mind.”

“It was just me, sneaking around. In order to stay with the man I love, I had to completely alter my life. You should know since you did it, too.”

Scenting a way to steer the conversation where she wanted it to go, Daria nodded. “Yes, we had to give up sunlight, give up every normal thing we ever knew.” She paused and looked sad. “Give up family.”

“You had to give up your family when you were Chosen?”

“My mother wasn't happy with my decision.” It wasn't really a lie, just a slight misdirection of the truth. Her mother
wouldn't
be happy with her decision when she found out.

Ari threw her fork down onto the countertop so hard, Daria jumped. “The bigotry against the Chosen never fails to piss me off. All the Chosen want is the right to exist. We're not hurting anyone. This fear of the other, the fear of the more powerful . . . it makes humans crazy! They preach out of one side of their mouths about perfect, unconditional love. Then out of the other side they advocate for laws making the Chosen a hunted species . . . like an . . .
an animal
!”

Daria suppressed her smile of victory and turned in her seat. “You're talking about your father, Richard Templeton.”

A pained look crossed Ari's face. She glanced away, but not before Daria glimpsed tears sheening the other woman's eyes.

Daria felt a pinch of guilt for getting her so riled up and deliberately pushing a button. Ari Templeton was an easily likable person, and Daria had no wish to cause her discomfort.

“Yes, I'm talking about my father. Damn him. He's the worst of the bigots. I'm ashamed to say I share his blood.”

“Does he know . . . I mean, about you and Christopher Sante? Does he know you've been Chosen?”

She nodded and wiped a tear from her cheek. Daria suppressed the ridiculous urge to put her arm around Ari's shoulders. “I told him all about it before I was Chosen. Told him I'd fallen in love and nothing would keep us apart, not even his almighty church. He was so mad he almost backhanded me. Then he just turned his back on me and told me I was no longer his daughter.”

The pain in her voice was so raw, so little-girl-lost. Daria suspected she truly craved the one thing she would never have—the unconditional love of her father.

What was Richard Templeton up to? Why had he lied to the GBS and the ABI? Why had he reported her kidnapped and cast all that suspicion on Sante?

Perhaps he regretted the harsh words he'd spoken to his daughter and was now attempting to get her back home without anyone knowing she'd been Chosen. That would be embarrassing to him, after all.

But that seemed unlikely. He'd disowned her, according to Ari. That seemed like a pretty final action.

Daria chewed her lower lip and frowned. Did Templeton have a darker scheme in play?

Ari's shoulders hunched miserably and a tear fell into her lap. Unable to resist any longer, Daria put her arm around her shoulders. Ari leaned into her and cried quietly.

“I'm sorry, Ari,” Daria whispered.

She was. Sorry that Ari's father was such a horrific person, sorry she'd been duped by Sante. Daria vowed right then and there she would do all she could to protect Ari Templeton.

Someone had to.

 
 
ALEJANDRO watched Daria slick her hair back away from her head as she entered the room. It had been raining nonstop for a week, a necessity for some of the crops they grew in the dome. Her white T-shirt was soaked and clung to her in all the right places, revealing her dark, hard nipples through her white cotton bra.

He was a man, he noticed these things. Especially on Daria.

Even if he'd scared off Daria so skillfully she wouldn't even sleep in the same bed with him these days.

He had the magic touch, that was for sure.

She glanced at him, wariness in her eyes. Mostly she tried to be in the room when he wasn't.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

“With Ari this morning, then with Jia Ying for a while.” Daria had been spending a lot of time with Ari lately. “This afternoon we're supposed to meet with Eleanor, don't forget.”

He shook his head. “
Dios
, you're keeping a hell of a social calendar.”

She went into the bathroom to get a towel. “It's work,” she called. “I've developed a friendship with Jia Ying, it's true. That's not really work. But now that I've insinuated myself in with Ari, I need to stay close.”

“I know.” Even if he was a little jealous. “But you do like her. Ari, I mean.”

She reemerged from the bathroom, rubbing the towel through her hair. “There's little not to like about her. She's got a fragile quality to her that makes you want to protect her.”