Chapter 10
***COOPER***
Cooper cursing himself as he ran toward the old stadium and the ruins.
He’d overslept, snored right through his alarms, and he was going to be late on one of the worst days possible if what Stephanie had predicted came true.
He wasn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t the crowds gathered around the chain-link fence staring at the entrance to the tunnel as if something was going to happen, or the people gathered in small groups chatting about strange topics with words like shifter, vampire, and witch standing out as he passed by.
It was the atmosphere that surprised him the most, people laughing, talking, eating, and drinking as if they were at a party.
Several groups had set up lawn chairs and were eating a quick fast-food breakfast, and there was even a food truck parked on the dirt road that cut across the back of the property.
Making his way to the gate, he had to elbow a few people out of the way, but they didn’t seem to notice; they were all trying to get a look at Stephanie, who was standing behind a very angry-looking security guard.
“Unless you want me to call the police and have you removed, I suggest you stand back,” the man cautioned. “Dr. Warner isn’t going to answer any more questions this morning. Go home or to work where you belong and leave us in peace.”
“You heard him,” he bellowed from the middle of the crowd. “You’re all on private property and unless you want to be arrested for trespassing, I suggest you move on now.”
The crowd backed away, and he stepped up to the gate. “I’m Cooper McFarland, I'm supposed to be here,” he said. “I think my name is on a list or something.”
“It’s okay, Frankie, you can let him in,” Stephanie said, stepping out from behind the guard. “He’s the last one for today.”
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he said, slipping inside when the guard stepped back. “I slept through my alarms. I didn’t sleep very well last night, but I shouldn’t use that as an excuse; you probably didn’t either.”
“That’s an understatement, I think I got about two hours,” she said. “We’re both going to need a nap later, Kendra is already planning to sneak off later this morning.”
“Are you inviting me to take a nap with you?” he asked, grinning at her. “Because if you are, I accept.”
Her cheeks turned an inviting shade of pink. “Cooper, behave yourself,” she chided. “Someone could be listening.”
“Are we telling secrets again?” a voice he instantly recognized asked. “I so love a juicy secret. Of course, it appears the good doctor isn’t very good at keeping secrets, that is, if you believe this insanity.”
He whirled around, barely suppressing a groan of annoyance when he saw Sebastian grinning at him, several of his frat buddies backing him up. “Sorry, Sebastian, we’re not sharing today,” he said. “Maybe you should run along to class, you wouldn’t want to be late.”
“We’ve got the morning off, thought we’d come take a look at the ruins,” Sebastian said, walking over to the gate. “That was a wild story on the news last night. All that talk about shifters and stuff has us curious, you know, something like this doesn’t happen very often.”
“That was all just talk, there’s absolutely no proof that any of it is true,” he said, hoping that Sebastian really was just curious and hadn’t connected the ruins with the old stories.
“Nothing has changed since Dr. Warner made her statement to the press yesterday. You and everyone else here need to move on.”
“I’ll move on when I’m ready to,” Sebastian said, taking one more step toward him, but Frankie stepped in his way. “Can’t fight your own battles, McFarland, I should have known. Is he one of yours? Did you have to call in reinforcements?”
“Let it go and move on, Sebastian. Your intimidation techniques won’t work, and you can’t make me angry enough to do something stupid,” he said, stepping in front of Frankie.
“I don’t need anyone to fight my battles, but you might, especially considering how your last little skirmish turned out, or have you forgotten?
Would you like me to say hello to Taylor for you? I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”
“This isn’t over, McFarland,” Sebastian hissed at him, then leaned closer.
“I figured out what this place is, and I’m going to get in there.
I want to see it for myself. There has to be incredible power in there, and if you think I’m going to let you hog it all for yourself, you’re wrong, so you’d better share or get out of my way. ”
“Is that what you think is in there?” he asked, then laughed.
“Of course you would, that’s all you ever think about.
Well, I’ve got news for you, there’s no power, just a bunch of empty houses with no clue to who used to live there.
Sorry to burst your bubble. Now move along, you’re not getting in today. ”
“I’m no fool, and neither is the council. You’re hiding something, and I’m going to find out what it is,” Sebastian spat at him, then turned and stomped off, his minions following behind him.
When they were gone, he stepped back behind the gate. “What was that all about?” Stephanie asked. “Who was that?”
“That was Sebastian, it’s a long story, but let’s just say he’s not a stellar citizen,” he said. “He belongs to our rival fraternity. He tried to mess with Taylor a few weeks ago, but it didn’t end well. I think he’s going to be a problem, but I’ll handle it.”
“What kind of problem?” Stephanie asked. “And don’t lie to me, Cooper.”
“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “But I promise when I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
***Stephanie***
It had been almost a week since the news story had aired and the campus had erupted into chaos, but Dean Proctor had finally taken control and shut it all down with some help from the local police.
They still had security in place, but she’d be a fool not to play it safe.
There hadn’t been any problems from the public or the students, but to her great regret, there also hadn’t been much progress unlocking the site’s secrets.
With only two weeks until the initial survey of the site had to be complete, she was beginning to think they weren’t going to find anything, and it was getting harder and harder to hide her disappointment.
The only good thing about the time slowly running out was the possibility of what might happen with Cooper, but that was also tinged with disappointment.
This, like all her assignments, would be temporary, especially if they didn’t find anything more at the site, and she’d have to leave.
A part of her wondered if it wouldn’t be best just to leave things the way they were.
Getting involved with him, no matter how short the time, might only end with her getting hurt.
Her feelings for him were even stronger than they’d been only a week ago.
She’d gotten to know him, learned to trust him.
Taking the next step might be a mistake, but she wasn’t sure she would be able to resist when the time came.
The decision has been keeping her up at night, and when she did sleep, Cooper managed to invade her dreams, making it even harder to distance herself.
She’d finally decided that no matter what she did, she’d end up losing; either she’d miss out on something wonderful, or she’d walk away hurt and missing him.
The choice didn’t seem fair. Now she wasn’t sure what she wanted to happen when Cooper’s internship was over, the choice was tangling her up inside and she wasn’t sure how to sort it out, only that she was going to have to choose soon.
The sound of footsteps snapped her out of her reflections, and she looked around guiltily, wondering how long she’d been standing there staring into space.
A second later, the front door of the house she’d been surveying opened and the footsteps began to echo through the empty house eerily.
Telling herself it was one of the team, she stood in the kitchen staring at the doorway, her heart pounding with anticipation.
“Stephanie, are you in here?” Cooper finally called, and she instantly relaxed.
“I’m in here,” she said, remembering the sketch book in her hands. “In the kitchen.”
Cooper appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, a look of relief on his face, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere, you really need to remember your radio,” he said, holding it up. “Everyone left half an hour ago, I waited for you, but you never showed, so I started looking.”
Startled that it was that late, she looked down at the sketch book in her hands, “I’m sorry, I lost track of time, but you’re right, I should have remembered my radio,” she said, then hesitated.
“Cooper, it’s been almost a week, and nothing’s happened.
Maybe we can relax a little. Maybe Sebastian isn’t going to cause trouble after all. ”
“I wish I could believe that, I really do, but I think he’s just biding his time, hoping we’ll let our guard down,” Cooper said, walking over to her. “We can’t get sloppy now, that’s just what he’s waiting for, and you staying here after hours is a really bad idea, so let’s get out of here.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she said, getting annoyed. “And I don’t need a lecture about safety.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lecture you, I just worry about you and I can’t help it, so don’t give me that look,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re important to me, even more so now that we’ve spent some time getting to know each other.
We only have a few weeks to go until we’ll be free to see where this leads.
Right this moment that feels like forever. ”
“Cooper, you know I might have to leave soon, right?” she asked, trying to pull away, but his arms were like a vise around her, and she gave up. “I’m not sure it would be a good idea to…well…start something.”
Cooper looked down at her, and she felt her cheeks turning pink.
“Sweetheart, we’ve already started something.
I don’t think I could stop it now, even if I wanted to,” he said, then reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, his thumb caressing her cheek.
“I know what we’re risking, I know you might have to leave.
I’ve thought about that a lot, but it doesn’t change anything.
I want you. I’ll take what I can get, a day, a week, a month, a year, it doesn’t matter, I just want to be with you. ”
Before she could say anything, he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, sending delicious waves of pleasure rushing through her.
She gasped, then looked up at him, every cell in her body wanting more, especially when she saw the look in his eyes.
Telling herself that she needed to pull away, she shifted in his arms, the sketch book and pencil fell to the floor, then his lips were on hers again.
This time, the kiss was more demanding, and she found herself giving in despite the warning bells in her head.
Sliding her arms up around his neck, she kissed him back for the first time, making him groan deep in his throat, and she felt a surge of power flow through her.
Emboldened by her success, she slipped her tongue into his mouth.
Suddenly he growled and crushed her up against him, pressing her sensitive breasts against his hard chest.
It was the feel of his hands slowly beginning to explore her body that brought her back down to earth and she gasped, then pulled away from him. “Cooper, you’re not supposed to do that,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “We could have beencaught.”