“Then we’ll stay as well. Look, I know it seems hopeless, but there’s always a chance. The world works in mysterious ways.”
She laughed. “How cliche.”
But then again, Sadie had seen her and Sam together in a vision—that was pretty mysterious. Kaitlin had put the memory from her mind, because clearly, it could never happen. Sam was dead. But the world was a strange place, filled with weird stuff like telepathy and time travel. People who could flatten you with their mind like Rose or see the future like Sadie. People who could travel through time. Change the past or the future.
The waiter set their drinks down with a smile. He was young and nice looking—why couldn’t she go for someone like him instead of a 150-year-old guy with more baggage than she had?
An image of Kane flashed in her mind. God, he was hot—that was why. Well, partly why. If she was honest, she loved his mind as much as his body. She sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Anything could happen. Including the end of the world. But I can’t leave. Somehow, I can’t get rid of the feeling that this is where I’m meant to be at this point in time.”
“Wherewe’remeant to be,” Rose said. “We’re not leaving you, so you might as well stop trying to convince us to. If it comes to it, we’ll go out with a bang together.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“But we might survive, improbable though it seems right now.” Rose raised her glass, then lowered it again and frowned, her gaze fixed on something behind Kaitlin. “Talk about improbable...”
Kaitlin swiveled in her chair, and her heart stopped beating. A wild sense of joy filled her. Had she conjured him up with her thoughts? It didn’t matter…
He’d come.
She sat and stared at him as he weaved his way through the busy bar. Everyone else faded from sight as she drank in his tall figure. People seemed to move out of his way without any visible effort on his part. He was dressed all in black, jeans, a button-down shirt, and a long leather duster coat. And he looked…perfect.
Behind her Rose sighed. “He is seriously hot. You know you can put up with serious levels of assholeness for that amount of hotness.” She prodded Kaitlin in the side. “I’m thinking I’m going to be spending the night alone.”
“What?” Kaitlin wasn’t really taking the words in.
“Don’t worry about little old me,” Rose said. “I’ll be fine. I can always go and play solitaire on my laptop.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Kaitlin murmured.
She was gripping the arms of her seat, fighting her natural instinct to jump out of the chair and run to him. God, she wished she could read him, but he was also wearing one of the reflector devices, and she could get nothing from his expression. He’d perfected the art of giving zero away long before she was even born.
Though he seemed...different, more relaxed than usual, while at the same time, he almost vibrated with a tangible excitement.
Her heart raced, and she sat very still as he came to a halt in front of her. Then he smiled and her insides melted. “I missed you,” he murmured.
Suddenly, she was up and out of her chair. Choking back a sob, she hurled herself at him. He caught her and held her close, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in the curve of her neck as though he could inhale her. It felt so right. And for long moments, she just stayed unmoving in his arms. Finally, she pulled away. Her eyes pricked and she blinked. “I missed you too.”
He lowered his head and took her lips in a long, sweet kiss and she sighed, feeling the tension ease from her body. She hadn’t even known it was there until it was gone. It had been an ever-present companion since the last time she had been in his arms. Finally, she pulled away slightly and looked up into his face. “Why?” she asked.
He gave a shrug. “I thought you might be able to use some help saving the world.” Then he shook his head. “That’s not really it. I couldn’t stay away. I did for a while, but I was just punishing myself.”
“And me.”
“No, not you. You did nothing wrong. You stayed true to your beliefs, what you knew to be right. I was the one who wavered. I couldn’t pick between one course of action and another, and I messed up.”
“I love you.”
“I know. And I love you.” He lowered his head and kissed her again. This time it wasn’t so sweet. His tongue pushed inside, and heat flared in her breasts and belly, sinking between her thighs.
“Hey, you two, get a goddamn room.”
That was a disgruntled Rose, but it did sound like a good idea.
“Soon,” he said, the words a promise. “First, I have some information. From Ethan. It’s important.”
She gave him a sharp look. “Is that why you came?”
He grinned. “No. I was already on a plane to New York, and we were close to landing, when Ethan called. He said he’d been trying to contact you, but you weren’t answering.”
