11. Eliza
Chapter eleven
Eliza
C orvan and I talk about his heritage until the rain finally lets up and we can get back to the boat. I’ve been trying to process as much as I can, but the concept is still so foreign, so strange, after spending years getting a doctorate that would have made me think it is impossible for such things to exist.
A doctorate that makes me want to draw Cor’s blood and see exactly what his DNA makeup looks like.
Perhaps some other time.
For now, there’s something much more pressing that he and I need to worry about—the people who are after his secret. He refused to believe me when I explained I didn’t care about what his identity did to my reputation until I’d finally said, “People aren’t going to care about anything but my science, Cor. They’ll always respect me for my work, even if they don’t like me as a person. That’s all that matters to me.”
All that matters besides you .
“Do you know what I think we should do?” I finally say to Corvan, as I come out of my bathroom in a fresh set of clothes .
“Please tell me you’re going to say that we should order in room service and stay in here until the boat docks in Anchorage.”
I roll my eyes at him, unable to help my smile despite it. “Hilarious, but no.”
“Seems you and I are on different pages then.”
I laugh and sit down on the bed next to him, letting him pull me against his firm body. “I didn’t mean we had to do it right now. But… I think we should just talk to her. See what she wants with you and why.”
“Who?”
“The bartender.”
“Oh—oh, Eliza. No.”
“What? Why?” I tilt my head up to look at him.
“Because it could be dangerous? Especially the we part of that—I don’t want you anywhere near her. Besides, going up to her and asking her about it is all but admitting that I’m a shifter, isn’t it? How else would I know that she’s been watching me if I weren’t?”
“She already has her suspicions,” I point out. “Hell, she might even know. At least this way we can figure out who she’s working with and what they want.”
“There’s that we again,” Corvan mutters.
“Always we now,” I say firmly. “I don’t care if you think it’s dangerous or not.”
“You can’t even walk without hurting yourself. This doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you should be getting involved in.”
“Too late, Cor. I’m already involved. Just… let me be there with you, alright? We should go talk to her. We . Unless you have a better idea. ”
He stares at me for a long moment, then sighs. “Okay. We’ll go talk to her. But not until tomorrow.”
“Room service?” I guess.
He grins and presses a kiss to my temple. “ Now we’re on the same page.”
I guess we’re both too tired from all the hiking—and all the revelations and all the things he did (and was about to do) to me in that cave—to even try to have a redo tonight. Corvan just tucks me into his side as we eat our smorgasbord of food that we called to the room.
Part of me thinks that this is better for me than sex, anyway. At least in some ways. It shows that it’s more than that—that we’re more than that.
Even after everything we’ve already been through. It makes me feel safe. Protected.
Loved.
The bar opens early afternoon the following day.
Corvan and I are the first people there.
The energy in here is… tense. Probably because we’re the only people inside, it’s one o’clock in the afternoon, and we’re planning on interrogating the shit out of the bartender.
No reason to be tense at all.
She still hasn’t spotted us by the time we’re halfway across the room, earbuds in and music blaring loud enough for me to hear it when I take a seat at the bar. Corvan does the same beside me, leaning forward on his arms braced against the countertop .
The blonde-haired girl stays perfectly oblivious to our presence. I murmur to Corvan, “The customer service in this place is complete shit, don’t you think?”
She doesn’t hear me over her music, but she does hear Corvan’s bark of laughter. She yelps and whips around so fast her earbuds fall out. Her eyes widen when she sees us. I might have thought it was just shock at people being in here so early, at being startled by them, but I see it for what it is. Recognition. She knows him—us, I guess.
Only thing is, she doesn’t know that we know her, too. Kind of. Enough to sit here with polite, fake smiles on our faces.
“So sorry,” she says chirpily. “I didn’t expect anyone to be here so soon. I usually have another hour before people show up. Getting the party started early, are you?” Her tone is bright, perfectly customer service-y.
Corvan’s eyes narrow just the slightest bit. He tilts his head to the side as if he’s thinking. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“You mean other than this bar?” The girl shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. Why? Am I supposed to know you?”
Not at all a suspicious thing for her to say.
“I just figured you had to know who I was,” Corvan continued, shrugging his shoulders. “Since you’ve been following my girlfriend and I around. Talking about me with someone on your phone when you think no one is around.”
Girlfriend . The word echoes through me. Settles into my bones, my heart. Like him saying it is a safety blanket, a pebble that manages to calm an entire sea. Like him saying it means more than it ever did when Adam called me his fiance.
She blanches. Covers it with a smile that’s meant to look professional and polite, but looks nervous instead. “I’m sorry? Sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about J , of course.”
Now the blonde girl blanches. “How do you know about Jade?” she demands.
Corvan stiffens. “ Jade is J?”
Jade. His girlfriend. My hand reaches for his reflexively, but I pull it back. Later , I promise myself. You’ll comfort him later . For now, we need to look strong. Unaffected.
“You said Jade!”
“No, I fucking didn’t! You said Jade. I said J !”
“Oh, God,” the blonde groans, taking a step back and pacing. “Oh fuck. She’s going to kill me. I messed it all up. I ruined everything. I—”
“ —What’s your name?” I cut in, trying to pull her out of whatever shitshow her thoughts just became.
Her gaze snaps to mine. “Excuse me?”
“Your name,” I repeat. “What is it?”
“Why does it matter?”
I lean toward her, eyes narrowed. “I would like to know the name of the girl trying to ruin Corvan’s life.”
The blonde laughs then and shakes her head. She says, “Let’s get something straight here. I could give two shits about Corvan Thorn. Or about you, Eliza. But I care about J. She can be shitty sometimes, but I came here willingly. For her . His life—” she gestured to Corvan with a jerk of her head— “Means nothing to me. But I would do anything for Jade.”
“Including this.” I gesture to the open air around us. “Applying for a job on a cruise specifically so you can get close enough to one of her exes to try to get some dirt on him. And what does that get you, hm?”
She stares at me for a long moment before saying, “I get why you don’t understand. You’ve never met Jade. But ask your… boyfriend . She’s the kind of person that once you lose, you don’t get back. And you’ll try damn near anything trying to change that.”
My eyes flick to Corvan when he laughs. “When I lost Jade, I didn’t want her back. Even this, you , is a lot fucking closer to her than I’d rather be.”
“ Watch it ,” she snaps. “She’s my sister, you asshole.”
My jaw dropped.
A muscle in Corvan’s jaw feathered—the only sign of surprise he will show. He swallows thickly, then says, “You’re Savannah.”
She let out a shaky breath. “So she did talk about me back then. That’s nice to know.”
Corvan turned to me and explained under his breath, “Jade mentioned her a few times. Told me how they’d had a falling out because of something Savannah did back when they were in college. But that’s all she’d ever say.”
“So you’ve never seen her before?”
He shakes his head. “Not even a photo.”
“As nice as this is to hear, I’d really like it if you guys left. Or bought something.”
“And I’d really like it if you stayed the fuck away from us,” Corvan gritted out.
“Not happening,” Savannah snapped back. “You are my last chance at having a relationship with my sister. If I bring her evidence of you being… what you are, then she forgives me. And that’s all I’ve ever wanted. She’s my baby sister. I fucked up, I know that, but… I’ve missed her. I still love her. And I’m better now. Clean.”
Clean .
A reformed addict.
Drugs, alcohol, gambling, I don’t know, and I don’t particularly care, either. But I get her motive, at least. She’s not doing this for nothing. She’s doing it for love.
My gaze flickers to Corvan as the thought crosses my mind. I get that, at least. I get that, when you love something, you’d do anything to have them. To keep them.
“You can’t justify ruining Cor’s life just to get back into hers,” I say softly.
“You’re right,” Savannah says, nodding once. “I can’t justify it. But I’ll do it anyway.”
Corvan slid one hand over to mine. Brushed his fingers against my knuckles. “You’re not going to find anything,” he said, voice confident. “There’s nothing to find.”
“You don’t need to bother lying to me,” Savannah said. “Jade knows the truth, and I know the truth. But truth means nothing in this world if you can’t back it up.” Savannah leaned over the bar. “So keep your feathers locked up tight, Corvan Thorn, because my eyes are on you. Always.”