Chapter Thirteen
“DO YOU think he’ll remember me?” Jake asked Nicholas. He’d been on tenterhooks all morning, ever since Horvan had told him Aelryn was on his way and Luciano Orsini was with him.
More than thirty years since we spoke. Orsini had been the last person Jake had seen before he’d been taken, and he’d burned their conversation into his memory, along with images of Miranda, of Dellan…. Anything to remind himself of who he was, what his life had been like.
I had no idea how long they’d keep me prisoner. Not that escape had been an option. He’d spotted way too many guns around for that.
Nicholas smiled. “You’re not an easy man to forget.” He studied Jake for a moment. “Want to tell me about it?”
He stiffened. “About what?” As if he didn’t know.
“You tossed and turned most of the night. One of the drawbacks of sharing a bed, I guess—you get to know when your partner’s sleep is disturbed.” Nicholas chuckled. “And it’s been far too long since I shared a bed with anyone. I’m not used to it.” His gaze met Jake’s. “Well?”
Jake sighed. “I had a bad dream, that’s all.”
Nicholas arched his eyebrows. “Only one?”
“There’s no hiding anything from you, is there?” Jake rested his head against the back of the small couch in the sitting room Richard had given over to the team. It had a cozy feel, with portraits of the Deveraux family that dated back hundreds of years on the wood-paneled walls.
Jake shook his head. “Did you know Richard can trace his family back to William the Conqueror?”
“And you’re avoiding the question.”
He let out another sigh. “It was the same dream, over and over again. I tried to wake myself up, only to slip right back into it.” He frowned. “I was standing in a long, darkened room. Suddenly I saw a light at the far end, and I moved toward it, only to have my way blocked.”
“By what?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know!” Jake wrung his hands.
“It was as if I’d run smack into an invisible wall.
I could see that light, but I couldn’t reach it.
” He gazed at Nicholas, his stomach churning.
“What if it was some kind of prophetic dream? What if I keep having it because someone is trying to tell me I’m not meant to go any further? ”
Nicholas said nothing for a moment, and Jake felt certain he was pondering how to tell him he was right. Then he smiled, and somehow that helped dissipate the waves of foreboding that had been with Jake since waking.
“I think a far more reasonable explanation is that whatever you’re hoping to find in Theron’s possession is on your mind, and you’re worried in case you can’t interpret it.
You’ve built up our hopes to the point where even Aelryn is excited to learn what’s in there, and now you’re scared that either there’ll be nothing there, or what we do find is worthless.
” He squeezed Jake’s hand. “Anyone in your position would feel the same way.”
Jake shuddered out a breath. “When you say it like that, you make it sound so plausible.” He smiled. “Are you always this sensible and level-headed?”
Nicholas laughed. “Around you? Yes. Maybe that’s why we fit so well.” He glanced over Jake’s shoulder. “And I think you have a visitor.”
Jake turned, and his heart pounded to see the face he’d remembered all these years.
Luciano Orsini came toward him, arms held wide, and Jake didn’t hesitate. He walked into them and hugged Orsini tightly. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
I’m going to give you two some space.
Jake broke the embrace and stared at Nicholas. “You don’t have to.”
Nicholas smiled. “Yes, I do. We’ve already done our catching-up—now it’s time for some more.” He bowed his head toward Orsini. “Signore, I look forward to speaking with you later.” And with that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Orsini arched his eyebrows. “I am a little confused. Who is he? And why did that exchange seem so strange?”
“Probably because you only heard the part that was said out loud. Which allows me to answer your first question. That was Nicholas, and he’s my mate.” The words were easier to say now, but they still filled Jake with a sense of awe .
Orsini’s mouth fell open. “But this is wonderful.” He gestured to the couch. “May we sit? I have so many questions for you.”
“Of course.”
Once they were comfortable, Orsini regarded him with an intense gaze.
“They took you as soon as you left the archive, didn’t they?”
Jake nodded. “I never even made it across the bridge.”
“I told no one of your presence, I swear.”
He gaped. “No, please. Put that from your mind. It was nothing you did that caused this.”
“But why did they do it?”
Although Jake had asked himself that same question many times during the last thirty years, it was only recently that he’d formulated a theory.
“You remember why my professor suggested I visit you?”
Orsini nodded. “He said your… skills would prove useful. And you were right, by the way. That document was—”
“A forgery?” Jake smiled. “Aelryn told me. Well, I think the Gerans got wind of my visit and were curious to see what I could glean. And maybe that’s also why they’ve been testing the limits of my skills these last few years.”
“And is there a limit?”
Jake smiled. “I think their testing has had an unforeseen consequence. It allowed me to hone my gift, to develop new ones.” He cocked his head to one side. “Has Aelryn told you why I asked for you to be brought here?”
Orsini’s eyes shone. “Indeed. I must be honest, I have slept little since Aelryn’s call. And it is my first time outside the archive for many, many years.”
“How long have you been there now?” Jake knew Orsini’s father had brought him to the Castel Sant’Angelo when he was just a child, but he had no idea how many years ago that had been.
Orsini’s lips twitched. “Long enough that I am not going to tell you. I prefer to keep my age a mystery. But tell me something… this Geran you saw in your vision. Aelryn spoke of this. It really is Theron?”
Jake nodded. “And I’m convinced he is the leader of all Gerans. Whatever artifacts we find in his castle, they will find their way to the archive. I want you with us to see to their safe passage. And I would like to come back to Rome with you to examine them. ”
Orsini beamed. “But there is no question of you not returning with me. I will need you.” He clasped Jake’s hands, his face tight.
“I am sorry for all the losses you have suffered, but I rejoice that you have found your family again.” He smiled.
“I imagine you find the world a very different place from the one you left.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Understatement of the century. Can I ask you… with all the years you’ve spent researching shifters, have you found anything that has surprised you?”
He chuckled. “I have seen things that have completely changed the way I think.”
“Such as?”
Orsini stroked his chin. “We’re a diverse collection of shifters, yet we all—or almost all—share traits in common.
While the bulk of us prefer human form, there are a large number who give themselves over to their animals, opting to live their lives on four legs—or no legs, in the case of some aquatic shifters—instead of being people. ”
“Why, do you think?” Jake couldn’t imagine living his life as a tiger.
“Less stress, perhaps. But we all make choices that benefit us . We make our lives our own. In that respect, we’re no different from humans, except that we have a few other options open to us.
” He frowned. “I think that is why this whole ‘shifters are better than humans’ perspective is, pardon the expression, crap. We are humans. We’re just… a little special.”
Jake had never heard it phrased so succinctly.
“Now, tell me about your family—and especially your mate. Is this a recent occurrence?”
Jake laughed. “So recent the shine has barely had time to wear off.”
Then Orsini froze. “When you say you want me to come with you to help move the artifacts…. Does this mean I will be part of a mission?”
He stared. “Well, yes. I’d assumed Aelryn would have mentioned that part when he contacted you.”
“He may very well have done, but I was so excited by the thought of leaving the archive that I must have missed it entirely. And please, don’t assume I find the idea of being involved with the mission daunting.
” His dark eyes gleamed. “This is the most exhilarating thing that has ever happened to me.”
Jake laughed. “Then welcome aboard, Signor Orsini.” He stilled. “But is the archive safe without you to protect it? ”
Orsini chuckled. “If you could see the shifters Aelryn brought with him, expressly for the purpose of guarding the archive in my absence, you wouldn’t be concerned. It is in very safe hands. So… when do we leave?”
Jake was no military expert, but judging by what he’d seen going on around Leighton Hall during the last few hours, he reckoned it could be any time.
“Sooner than you think.”
Fielding had been a nasty piece of work.
Jake had an idea Theron was going to be much, much worse.