“I suppose. It just seems so unreal.”
Maybe it was.
“Anyway, I’d better go and pack.” She swallowed. “I’m scared. It’s strange, I’m just getting to the point where I want to live again. I don’t want to die.”
“You won’t.”
But he had no idea whether he was telling the truth.
Chapter 6
Kaitlin didn’t want to admit it, but she was curious.
They were entering the doors of Brite Futures; the charitable organization Kane had set up over two decades ago. She’d read up about them. They did some good work—mainly in developing countries, but also with street kids here in London.
Kane obviously wasn’t a complete bastard.
In fact, he was a contradiction. A philanthropist who killed with ease.
The reception area was small, and a woman sat behind a desk in the far corner, across from a bank of elevators. Kane spoke to her without slowing. “Is it all set, Maria?”
“Of course. The flight plan is filed. You can be in the air in minutes.”
Flight plan? They wereflying? Without conscious thought, Kaitlin’s forward momentum slowed.
She hadn’t asked how they were getting to Scotland; she’d presumed they were driving. Now it looked like they were flying. Probably in a helicopter, if they were taking off from the roof. Her stomach flip-flopped, and her mouth flooded with saliva.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Who was she kidding? She hated the idea. She’d had a thing about flying ever since she’d been in a plane crash eighteen months ago.
She’d been traveling through the States, just wandering aimlessly when she’d learned that Quinn, the Kindred’s second-in-command, was also in America on a job. She hadn’t been able to resist a visit—big mistake. Melody had been there as well—back when they’d believed her to be an FBI agent. They’d all been on a private plane together when they were shot out of the sky at 30,000 feet. She’d broken her leg and ruined her favorite pair of leather pants.
Both had hurt.
Since then, she’d been a little bit nervous about leaving the ground. Not that she’d let it stop her, but all the same, she didn’t like it. Josie slipped her hand into hers and squeezed. Kaitlin had once confided her dislike—she wouldn’t call it anything as strong as fear—to Josie over a few glasses of wine.
Kane had gotten ahead of them; now he turned, brows drawn together in a frown. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to get wrinkles, even if he didn’t age. His gaze dropped to their clasped hands, and she pulled free.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
She gave a casual shrug. “No problem. Lead the way, oh mighty leader.”
His eyes narrowed a little at that. One thing she had learned early on about Kane was he hated people making fun of him. He took himself way too seriously. And she saw it as a sacred duty to wind him up whenever she could. This time though, he just headed to the elevator and punched the button. It opened straight away, probably not daring to do anything else.
He waved them inside and then got in himself. The door shut behind them, making the space seem small—too small to be shut in with Kane. Her heart rate sped up. He was just so big. Tall and broad at the shoulder but lean at the hips.
She cast him a sideways glance. She’d always found him physically attractive. But she’d put that down to the fact that he looked very much like Jake—they were actually genetic brothers. And she’d literally grown up with a thumping great crush on Jake.
When she was twelve, she’d told him she was going to marry him. Jake had patted her on the head, which pretty much summed up their relationship. Obviously, the whole marrying Jake thing wasn’t going to work now, since he was married to Christa. And while Kaitlin would have loved to hate the other woman, Christa was, in fact, one of the nicest people she knew.
So yeah, Kane just reminded her of Jake. That was all it was.
He wore black jeans and a black sweater under a long black coat. And he gave off a vaguely menacing vibe.
While Jake always surprised her when he did anything...bad, she almost expected it of Kane. It would come naturally to him, and he’d strike out without thinking. But then, he had grown up in the jungle. Like a lion. Or maybe more like the black leopard, Kpo, whom he’d raised from a cub. Conscienceless.
He turned, stared down at her, and heat washed through her. His eyes were the piercing blue of all the Kindred and seemed to see into her mind. But despite all the bad things she thoughtabout him, she trusted him not to enter her head without permission.
And he wouldn’t be getting that anytime soon.
