Darken (Siege #1) Read online

“Not since ever.”

  Cora loaded the last of the dirty glasses on her tray and left Keeley to her drooling. Hearing about Gavin’s sex life wasn’t something she wanted to think about, yet it seemed to be the only topic Keeley wanted to discuss that afternoon. Which, considering Keeley’s interest in Logan, was a little strange.

  Avoiding Keeley, though, was next to impossible unless Cora quit mid-shift.

  “So, have you known him for long?” Keeley asked when she appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later.

  “Nine or ten years.” Cora shrugged and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “We went to the same high school until he graduated early.”

  “Please tell me you at least hooked up with him once in all that time. Other than your little petting session in the liquor room.”

  “He dated my best friend; besides I don’t think I’m his type.” Cora ignored the reference to the liquor room.

  Keeley gave a sad shake of her head, and Cora couldn’t blame her. Compared to Keeley’s life, her own was about as dull as … Well, she couldn’t even think of a good comparison for how dull it was.

  “I think anything with boobs and an ass is his type,” Keeley said.

  Cora knew better. He had a type. Lela. With her huge brown eyes and thick black hair, she’d been a beautiful mix of Portuguese and Armenian heritage.

  “I thought you were still stalking Logan,” Cora said, hoping to deflect Keeley’s attention. She turned on the tap and scrubbed her hands with soap.

  “Not stalking. I’m merely keeping an eye on the prize. One day’s he’s gonna crack, and I’ll be there to swoop in and save him from the harpy he calls his girlfriend.”

  While she didn’t say anything aloud, Cora figured Keeley stood a better chance with Gavin than Logan. Logan seemed to be looking for someone more grounded than Keeley. On the other hand, Gavin wasn’t looking for any attachment, and Keeley fit his typical hook up perfectly—loud, assertive, and sexy.

  “Obviously, stalking is on your mind.” Keeley loaded a rack with clean glasses. “So I’ll tell you now—you’re bordering on it.”

  “What? Me? I’m not stalking anyone.” Cora was horrified. Had she been so obvious? Not that she was stalking Gavin. Okay, so maybe she kind of was, but she had her reasons, and it had nothing to do with the erotic dreams she had of him every night.

  “Girl, you keep telling yourself that and—Forget it, there’s no way even you believe that.”

  “I’m not stalking Gavin. We’ve just run into each other a few times.” She focused on the lemons she pulled from the fridge to avoid Keeley’s knowing smile.

  So it was more than a few, and she might have changed her shift schedule once or twice so she worked with him more often. Okay, she did that four times.

  “It wouldn’t be so bad if the guy didn’t absolutely despise you. He’s got a hard-on for you, and I’m not talking about the one in his pants.”

  Cora rolled her eyes and laughed, but inside she died a little. Knowing it was one thing, having other people be so aware of it was another. She didn’t need humiliation or pity piled atop her guilt.

  “What did you do to him anyway?” Keeley immediately held up a hand. “Sorry, I’m being nosy, aren’t I? You don’t have to answer. Unless it’s really juicy.”

  Cora took a deep breath and debated what to say. Keeley was her only close friend and deserved to know what she’d done.

  “I’m the reason his fiancée is dead.”

  “You’re shitting me.” Keeley put down the glass she held and stared at Cora. “You can’t even kill a fly and you always make me take the spiders outside. How could you possibly have killed her?”

  “We went out to celebrate our graduation. One last hurrah before becoming full-fledged adults with degrees and jobs and responsibilities.” Cora almost smiled as she remembered how excited they’d been. “We were on our way home, and I was so smashed.”

  “Oh, Cora …” Keeley said with such pity and disappointment, Cora cringed.

  “Some guy almost rear-ended us, and I freaked out. Lela told me to calm down, but I gave him the finger. He followed us, and when we got to Thompson Creek Bridge, he rammed us and pushed us over the edge.”

  “Sounds like it was the other guy’s fault.”

  “No.” Tears welled in Cora’s eyes. She wiped at them with her arm, then began slicing the lemons. “Her death was my fault.”

  “Girl, even if you drove drunk, the accident might not have happened if he hadn’t gone into road rage mode.”

  “I wasn’t driving.”

  “Even more reason for you not to be blamed.”

  “Lela survived the crash into the water, but her seat belt jammed, and I was too drunk to get her out in time. She drowned.”

  “And you think Gavin blames you?”

  “I know he does.”

  “Then why the hell did you convince Noah to give him a job?”

  “Because he needed it.”

  She didn’t give Keeley a chance to grill her further. She scooped up the lemons, tossed them in a small bowl, and carried them out to the bar.

  Gavin needed the job, and she needed to be close to him. She wasn’t going to let anyone else die because of her.

  From the corner of his eye, Gavin watched Cora move across the floor. The end of her ponytail swept the top of her low-cut jeans, drawing his eyes to her ass. His hands clenched in memory of how her lush curves felt as he’d squeezed them. His cock twitched, and he adjusted his stance to relieve the press of the zipper.

  “Hey, sugar.” Hailey slid onto the stool across from him. “You sticking around tonight?”

  She batted her eyelashes. At least, he assumed they were eyelashes. With all the black gunk on and around them, he wondered if they were really spiders.

  “I might,” he answered as he mixed her usual raspberry vodka on the rocks with a splash of cranberry juice.

  He placed the drink in front of her, and she trailed her fingers along the back of his hand.

  “Work is making you a dull boy. You need a beer and a good rub down.”

  Her offer was the same every time they hooked up, and until he started working at the pub, it worked. Now, well, after her mouthing off to Noah about his night terrors, Gavin wasn’t interested.

  Hell, if he was honest, his lack of interest in Hailey was because of Cora. She was everywhere. The first few months she’d been back in Thompson Creek, he never bumped into her. Now he constantly saw her. She hung out after her shift, turned up on the evenings he worked late, distracting him from other possible pursuits. She was seriously cramping his sex life.

  He needed to get her and her ass out of his mind.

  “All right,” he said to Hailey and flashed his best cocky smile. “I could use a beer, but only if you’re doing the rubbing.”

  The sudden smack on the back of his head sent him surging forward, and he caught himself on the edge of the counter before his face hit the hardwood surface. He twisted around and found Noah glaring at him.

  “Watch your mouth, there’re ladies around here,” Noah ordered, crossing his arms in his “I’m the boss” stance.

  “It’s all right, Noah. I like it when he’s a little naughty.” Hailey giggled.

  “I wasn’t talking about you.” Noah glared at her, returning the middle finger she gave him. Noah’s dislike for Hailey was no secret, and he took every opportunity to let her feel his contempt.

  “Bite me,” she sneered, snatching up her drink. She winked at Gavin. “Catch ya later, sugar.”

  She headed for a group of friends, and Gavin tried to find even a spark of lust. Objectively, she was sexy as hell, and sure, he appreciated the short shorts barely covering her ass cheeks, but he felt nothing.

  “You still banging that bitch?” Noah asked.

  Rather than answer, Gavin grunted and unhooked the empty keg, replacing it with a new one.

  “Josh here yet?” he wiped his palms on his jeans.

  “Log
an is sending him out.”

  “I thought he only responded to Cora’s orders.”

  “Yeah, well, we need to talk, and I’m not waiting until you’re too shitfaced to give a fuck.”

  Noah stomped through the kitchen door, which swung back open as Josh sauntered through. He paused to talk with a pretty brunette.

  Josh was a player, and Gavin had seen his brother flirt with a lot of girls, but not like that. He laid a hand low on her back, playing with the ends of her long, wavy hair. The touch was too personal for her to be just another woman. He would have stayed there if Noah hadn’t stuck his head out the door to glare at him.

  “What’ya do to piss him off?” Josh entered the bar area and began rearranging the glass racks.

  “Breathe?” Gavin shrugged. “Ladies at the end have a tab, the bald guy hit his limit, and the short guy’s been eying the girls’ till.”

  He didn’t stick around to see how Josh dealt with Shorty, though he knew his brother would handle that first. Noah and Logan wanted to talk, so they’d talk, then he could lose himself in a drink and Hailey.

  In the back office, he found his twin, Caleb, with Noh and Logan pouring over a pile of documents spread across the desk. His shoulders stiffened as he identified the SIEGE logo stamped on the front of one folder.

  Caleb had been digging. His job at TanTech Securities allowed him access to some of the most confidential operations in both the private and government sector and while he didn’t have clearance for the SIEGE files, he wouldn’t let that stop him from snooping.

  Gavin must have made a sound because both men stopped talking and looked up at him. The expressions they wore twisted his gut.

  “We have a problem,” Logan said.

  “When don’t we?” Gavin replied, reaching up to hook his hands on the door frame. It seemed like they never had a problem-free existence. At one time or another, one of their lives had been crumbling to some degree. “I thought we all agreed to stop hunting Sinclair.”

  “That was before Caleb found this on the security feed.” Logan held out a stack of photos, but Gavin made no move to take them, so Logan held them up, forcing Gavin to look at the man who haunted them. “Sinclair was at the pub and your apartment building.”

  “Who is that?”

  Gavin’s arms dropped and he spun around to glare at Cora, who stood almost directly behind him, peeking under his arm and into the office. She pushed past him, moving to take the surveillance image from Logan.

  “Who is he?” she repeated, looking from the photograph to the brothers, fear tightening her face.

  “Why?” Gavin stepped closer to her.

  “I … I thought I recognized him,” she said, her eyes darting around the room. “But I’m probably wrong.”

  He could tell it was the truth, but not the whole truth. She was hiding something, and if it involved Sinclair, he wasn’t going to let her get away without spilling the details.

  “Anyways, I covered Keeley’s break, so she’s good till close,” she said, dropping the photo on top of the desk. “See you guys tomorrow.”

  The four of them stared after her before turning back to each other. Gavin wasn’t the only one she failed convinced.

  “What was that about?” Logan asked.

  “Fuck if I know.” Noah shook his head. “I’ll go talk to her.”

  The thought of Noah and Cora alone together in the change room rankled. Gavin shifted his body blocking his brother’s path.

  “I’ll talk to her.”

  He went down to the locker room, knocking once to give her warning before opening the door. Only the very top of her head was visible above the screen in the corner, and it struck him how small she was.

  She lifted onto tiptoes, and her eyes peeked over to peer at him. The fear lingered, though he could tell she tried to hide it.

  “I’m almost done,” she said, and her arms lifted to pull on her shirt.

  She walked around the divider, her blond curls hung loosely over her shoulders, brushing her breasts. Under his gaze, her nipples hardened into little nubs, pressing against the thin material of her shirt, and his mouth watered. Fuck, he wanted to taste her.

  “Did you need something?” She tugged on a hoodie, snapping his brain back to what he needed to focus on.

  “How do you know Sinclair?”

  “I don’t.”

  “Bullshit.” He closed the distance between them, causing her to tip her head back in order to stare up at him. “I saw how you reacted to his picture, Cora. How do you know him?”

  “I don’t. I swear.” She shook her head, sending her curls sweeping across her chest. “He just looked familiar.”

  There it was again, not a lie, but not exactly honest, either.

  “If you’re lying …” He let the threat dangle between them.

  “I’m not. Gavin, I promise you, I’ve never met the man.” She held his gaze, and he believed her that time. “Who is he?”

  “Nobody.”

  Her lips tilted in a half-smile. “I doubt that. Even if you hadn’t freaked about me thinking I recognized him, Logan said the guy followed you.”

  He searched the soft angles of her face, so different than Lela’s. Cora possessed a sweetness that would leave her forever looking younger than she was, a sweetness that begged him to share his secrets, to forgive her for what happened to Lela. Yet, he couldn’t forgive.

  His heart hardened, shutting out her false innocence.

  “Sinclair is the only person in this world I despise more than you.”

  Chapter Four

  COFFEE WAS A GIFT FROM God brewed in hell.

  There was no other way Cora could explain the magical properties of such a nasty tasting concoction.

  She walked into the coffee shop down the road from Porter’s Pub and joined the mid-morning line. Inhaling deeply, she pondered the irony of how something that smelled so good could taste so vile. Yet as disgusting as she found it, she was a slave to its ability to wake her up and keep her that way. With the visions coming more frequently, she’d been getting even less sleep than usual and needed the boost.

  The door chimed, and in idle curiosity, she peeked over her shoulder to see who else was subjecting themselves to their morning ritual. Her muscles tensed as Gavin took the spot behind her in line. Their eyes met, and she gave a tentative smile. When he continued to scowl, she faced forward, concentrating on the menu board.

  Sinclair is the only person in this world I despise more than you.

  Even a week later, his words haunted her. They hadn’t surprised her. After the accident, she gave herself up for him to blame. Yet, despite her brother’s conviction it was because she was a martyr; she knew it was because she had been guilty. Maybe not of killing Lela, but somewhere deep inside her, Cora had wished Lela weren’t in the picture.

  The line moved quickly, and she placed her order for a double mocha latte before finding a seat at an empty bistro table in the corner while she waited. She used the time to check her email and was in the midst of typing a response to her brother when Gavin sat down across from her.

  The cell phone lay forgotten in her hand as she stared at him in shock.

  “Sinclair was the doctor in charge of the Posthuman Project,” he said, gazing out the window.

  Growing up, she heard the rumors about Gavin and his five brothers. She’d been a child—about seven when it happened—so the details weren’t there, but there’d never been any question that the boys suffered as part of the SIEGE scandal.

  “What I’m about to tell you doesn’t go any further. My family has been through enough because of Sinclair.” He turned to her, leaning across the table. “The only reason I’m even telling you is because you know him and I think you deserve to be warned.”

  “I don’t know him,” she denied. “It’s the truth, Gavin. He just looked familiar.”

  “I wish I could believe you,” he said, his expression making it clear any belief was far off. “Did Lela ever tell
you about what happened to my brothers and me before we moved here?”

  “No, but there were rumors when you guys first arrived.”

  “We were born in the labs at SEIGE. Our mothers were volunteers; our fathers sperm donors. Our sole purpose was to serve as test subjects in the development of experimental serums to facilitate the physical and psychological advancement of soldiers. We were restricted to the labs; our interactions with the outside world limited to the teacher.”

  He paused as the barista delivered their drinks. Cora took a sip of her latte, not wanting to say anything that might stop him from telling his story.

  “What happened to us … Sinclair tortured us under the guise of scientific discovery. We still don’t know all of the long-term effects.”

  “Gavin,” she said, reaching across the table to rest her hand over his. “You don’t need to tell me this.”

  “I do because you need to understand what Sinclair is capable of. He’s dangerous.”

  She nodded. In her visions, she saw Sinclair in action, his determination to kill Gavin. Everything inside of her screamed at her to tell Gavin about the visions, but she didn’t. Despite the danger Gavin obviously realized Sinclair represented, it was still a long stretch to accept psychic visions.

  “Okay,” she said. “If I ever see him, I’ll stay away.”

  There was an awkward pause while he must have been weighing the truth of her words. She didn’t know what else to say to convince him, then realized nothing would. And honestly, she couldn’t blame him because she wasn’t being entirely upfront with him.

  “Logan said Sinclair’s been following you. Have you seen him?”

  “No.” He shrugged. “He knows better than to get close enough for me to spot him.”

  She thought about all the times Sinclair came within only a few yards of Gavin without detection.

  “If he’s been watching you, you should be more careful. He doesn’t need to be close to hurt you.”

  “I got it covered.” He sipped from his cup and nodded toward hers. “I didn’t think you drank coffee.”

  “I do. I just wish I didn’t have to.” She gave a soft laugh. “I can’t stand the stuff, but it keeps me going. Besides, this is a latte, so it’s not as bad.”