“I know,” she whispered. “I think I know, Cameron.”
“He shook you. He made you afraid,” Cameron said harshly. “I could feel him doing it. I wanted to kill him.”
“So did I.” She smiled with an effort. “I hate being afraid. I can usually control it. But there’s no rhyme or reason about any threat to Luke. I react instinctively.” She straightened her shoulders. “And I can take care of my own son, Cameron. You go take care of yourself. I was hoping against hope that I might be able to zero in on Kadmus’s location, but that didn’t happen. Which means we’ll have to go along with the plan for tomorrow night.” She started to turn away. “Now I’ll go back to Celia’s. I found a roundabout way to get there when I was wandering around waiting for Kadmus’s call that should be safer.” She looked back at him. “I suppose you were tuned in to that, too?”
He didn’t answer.
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Everything matters.” His hand was on her wrist, whirling her to face him. He tore the scarf from her hair and the glasses from her face and tossed them on the ground. Then she was in his arms, pressed against his body, his hand cupping the back of her head against his chest. “When it’s between us.”
Her heart leaped, and she went still. No, don’t touch me. Don’t let it be like last night. She was feeling vulnerable enough right now.
“Shh.” He was rocking her, his face buried against her temple. “I only want to hold you, help you. Don’t fight me.”
She couldn’t fight him. He had never been like this with her. He was showing her the same exquisite tenderness she had seen him show Erin that night at the hot springs. It was like being stroked with velvet, and that tenderness was flowing into her and taking out all the pain.
“If you’d just accept me, I’d never let you be hurt again,” he said thickly.
Just one more minute, then she’d step away from him. “Oh, yes, that would be just fine,” she said unevenly. “No responsibility for what I do or the safety of my son. All I have to do is act like a robot and permit you to run my life.”
“It’s not like that.”
“I think it is. It’s like your damn committee, who are trying to bring peace as they perceive it to the world. They do it by stealing brains and talent and cocooning the chosen to wait for the rest of us to destroy ourselves.” She moved away from him. “Only I wouldn’t be chosen, Cameron. I’d rather be in the trenches trying to keep the bombs from falling and the madmen from inheriting the Earth.”
“So did I at one time.” He didn’t try to touch her again, but she felt as if she could still feel his hands on her, hear his heart beneath her ear. His eyes were glittering, and the tenderness was no longer there. Intensity. Passion. Lust. This was the Cameron of last night, and she could feel her body begin to respond in the same way. He said recklessly, “And screw the committee, I choose you. No one would question me.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t. You seem to be all-powerful in their eyes.” She turned away and grabbed her scarf and glasses from the ground where he’d thrown them. “Well, I don’t choose you.”
He wasn’t following her as she’d thought he might. He stood watching her as she hurried away from him.
“You will, Catherine,” he called softly. “You will.”
CHAPTER
17
“No sign of her,” Brasden said when Kadmus came in from the balcony of his hotel room. He went over to the coffee table where a map of the city had been placed. “But with the phone trace, we’ve narrowed down these blocks in Chinatown.” He drew a wide circle. “So the chances are that Sullivan and Ling are still in a safe house somewhere in that area.”
“And Cameron may be with them,” Kadmus gazed down at the circle on the map. It looked like such a small area that he felt a sudden surge of savage pleasure.
I’m closing in on you, bitch. Just a few steps more, and I’ll have you.
“I’ve doubled the men we have patrolling Chinatown and made sure all of them have photos. They’ll call if they see them on the streets or get any reports about anyone of their description.”
“Good.” He smiled. “I’ll be happy if they can move the timeline forward. But I’ve got her. It should take only one more phone call to narrow her location down even more.”
“If she’ll take the call.”
“She’ll take it. She’s not as tough as you led me to believe. I could tell that I frightened her with talk of the boy. When she picks up the phone, we’ll start closing in. She’s so scared, she’ll keep the boy with her. Once we have him, she’ll cave.”
“You’re very sure.”
“Because I have a destiny, and I know that she’s not going to be able to stop me.” He could feel the power coursing through him. “None of you will be able to stop me.”
“Unless you decide to betray me,” Brasden said. “But I’m sure you’re not thinking of that any longer.” He turned and moved toward the door. “We’re cooperating so nicely these days.”
Kadmus didn’t answer as the door closed behind him. Brasden was a dead man. He’d sealed his fate a long time ago and wasn’t worth thinking about.
He had told Brasden that he had a destiny, and that grand destiny was looming closer with every passing moment. He had never been more certain than after that call with Ling.
Ling was the path to Cameron.
And Cameron was the path to Kadmus’s destiny.
He pulled the lotus necklace that Brasden had tossed so contemptuously at him out of his pocket. He caressed the pendant with a gentle finger.
Destiny.
Shambhala.
THURSDAY
3:37 P.M.
“What’s happening, Catherine?” Erin was standing in the doorway of the library looking at Hu Chang and Catherine. “When do we leave? You’ve not said a word to me today.”
Catherine had been afraid of this confrontation.
“I was busy with Luke. I wanted—” She shook her head. Erin deserved the truth. “I was trying to think of a way to tell you that you’re out of it.”
“What?” She stared Catherine in the eye. “The hell I am. I’m in this up to my neck. Why does Cameron want me out?”
“He doesn’t, I do,” Catherine said. “Look, there’s no use your going to the fireworks factory tonight. I told you Kadmus seems to have changed focus. Leave it up to Cameron and me.”
“And my humble self,” Hu Chang said. “Whose help is magnificently useful and erases the need for anyone else.”
“No way,” Erin said flatly. “You’re not closing me out. If you leave me here, I’ll be knocking on the door of that damn Stars, Moon, and Heavenly—whatever. This is more my fight than anyone else’s.”
“You’re not needed,” Catherine said. “I don’t want you to go, Erin. And it may not be necessary now. I told you, Kadmus is narrowing his sights on me at the moment. I can be the bait.”
“I’m going. I’ll let you whisk me out of there as you planned because I don’t want you to risk yourself trying to protect me. But I will be part of this, Catherine.”
Catherine sighed. “You’re a very stubborn woman, Erin.”
“Yes.” Erin’s warm smile suddenly lit her face. “Hey, if Kadmus couldn’t break me, you don’t stand a chance. What time?”
“After dinner, as soon as we can slip away.” She paused. “Luke is not to know.”
“Trouble.”
“Dammit, he’s going to be safe here. Cameron promised me that the place would be surrounded by Blake’s guards and that he’d check on him frequently.” She didn’t like it, but she had no choice. Other than tying Luke up and stuffing him in a closet, Cameron’s solution was the only logical and safe one. “I’ll only be gone a few hours. I’m hoping Celia can distract him.”
“Distraction is certainly her area of expertise,” Hu Chang said. “But she’s limited in Luke’s case.”
“I didn’t need to hear that,” Catherine said. “Or maybe I did. I just hope she’ll rise to the occasion.” She got to her feet. “I can’t change your mind, Erin?”
She shook her head. “We’ve traveled this path together. I won’t leave you now.”