Charley inhaled, held her breath and prepared to dive into the larger issue. “When I say this is my last chance, I mean… I’ve reached my maximum capacity of changes.”
He pulled her upright at the edge of the bed.
She threaded her fingers through his. “I only get one more birthday, and then I’ll be forced to live my life human, with a normal, human life expectancy, whether I want to or not.”
“Wow.”
“So you see why it’s so important to me to make sure these people can’t hurt my family and why I need to be the one to do it.”
He slow-nodded a number of times.
“Now getting back to Maggie… if you don’t make it easy for her, it’ll ease my mind. She’s been around. She actually knows about you… uh… from our previous encounters, but not having met you… that’ll be the ultimate temptation.”
Wyatt grabbed the knot of his tie, pulled it free and threw it on the bed. “That better?”
Charley snuggled into his arms. “Yes. Trust me when I say Maggie is intense. That’s why James doesn’t want her around.”
“James?” He palmed his forehead. “James and Maggie and… Chase?”
Charley leaned into him. “I think so, yes.”
“And you need her to mimic Chase… if that’s how it all plays out.”
“I want to be prepared for any challenge we might encounter. If we have her, too, we’ve got power. It all fits into some possibilities I’ve been working out in my head.”
Wyatt kissed her forehead. “We’ll do whatever we need.” He stared deep into her eyes. “Since this is personal, I’m going to need a list of your enemies, projects, activities, people-”
“You don’t already have that?” Charley figured Wyatt pulled all their files the moment he’d hired them.
“I tried, but you guys are well blocked.”
“Cael shields us from those who don’t need to know. I just figured you’d be able to override him.” She smiled up at him. “So you really don’t know all our secrets, then?”
Wyatt grinned back at her. “Just a few.” He laid his lips against hers. “I gotta ask, so don’t get mad.”
Charley tilted her head, scrunching her forehead. “What?”
“How did Sophie come to you?”
“She answered an ad.”
“And you’ve never had problems with her?” Wyatt asked.
“No.” Charley stepped away, crossing her arms over her chest. “I know what you’re asking, Wyatt, and I don’t like it. At all.”
Wyatt broke the building tension with his hands at the back of her neck.
Charley melted into them.
“I have to think through all the possibilities.” He tugged her closer.
“Then why don’t you ask about Lily?”
“Because I’ve seen how devoted she is to you and how devastated she was by his absence. Sophie was missing for part of that time and comes back with a concussion, some bruises and-”
“What about me, then? Why couldn’t I have done it? Don’t they say abductions by family members are the most common?”
Wyatt’s head tilted down to her, but he raised one eyebrow. “Really? Have you noticed the emotional roller coaster you’ve been on? I may not have been around every day, but I gotta tell you, no one breaks down then builds back up the way you do unless there is a fight brewing. Sophie, on the other hand, has been out of reach- metaphorically speaking-for much of the time.”
“She was attacked, drugged and got hit on the head.” Charley pursed her lips as she seethed, her cheeks cradled by Wyatt’s hands again.
“I know. But, I have to look at all avenues, Charley. You have your job, I have mine. Let me do my job.”
“The detectives didn’t ask those questions.”
“No? That’s odd.”
Charley caught sight of the clock as Wyatt held her still.
“Shoot, Wyatt. It’s nearly eleven, and I need to convince James we need Maggie. Then I gotta convince her we need her.”
“Let’s go, then.” Wyatt took her hand as he and Charley made their way back down the stairs. “Morning,” he said to Sheila.
She nodded at him but bristled as Charley passed. “I didn’t know you still had company.” She sipped from a mug, the scent of roasted coffee beans hanging in the air.
“Good morning, Sheila. I want to apologize for my interruption and attitude last night. I was… not myself.” Charley started to reach, to offer a handshake, but Sheila shifted to the side.
“It’s okay. I’ll see you later.” She took her cup and walked out.
“She’s not a morning person.” Wyatt drew Charley to him for another kiss. “Sometimes, work and friendship just don’t mix.”
Charley cringed. She’d been in between him and Stuart, too. “Wyatt?”
“Yeah?” He turned, mug in hand.
“I’m sorry that my secret spoiled your friendship. Stuart asked over and over if he could tell, but we simply couldn’t allow it. It was completely selfish of me.” She hung her head.
He lifted it with one finger but didn’t say anything.
“We also believed, as you worked your way through the ranks, that it was still in your best interest to think Mira left,” she added.
“How would you have known my rank?”
“The first way is through your mom. She’s one of the proudest mothers I’ve ever met. Then, of course, Stuart couldn’t keep it a secret-not that he had to-and Cael works for the bureau… officially… as you know.”
“How exactly do you know my Mom?”
Charley squished her eyes together. “Um… it’s kinda a weird story, but… remember I said birthday, blending, et cetera?”
He nodded.
“Well, remember that. So the other thing about my kind is that we don’t just morph our bodies. We fit the mood, no, how best to say this. We take on more than just physical form. We take emotions, too. That’s why when I take a teen’s body, I have to deal with acne and crap again. It’s also why most of us can’t shift from one gender to the other-because we have a hard time with the transition of hormones.”
“Okay.”
“Well… so the very first time I met you was my two-hundredth birthday. I kinda helped give birth to you.”
Wyatt didn’t even flinch. “That’s kinda gross.”
She gave him credit for not jumping away. “Yeah. But back then, because I knew you were a match-what with the birthdays and all-I wanted to be your Mom, which I know sounds even grosser, but like I said, our emotions alter, too. If I had taken your Mom’s form that day, I’d have become her forever. Though, since she still existed, I would have lost out big time and broken our cardinal rule.”
“What’s that?” He tilted his head.
“We cannot choose for another. I can’t take my human form without your consent-assuming you’re my pair, which you are… if you want to be.”
“Wow. So you’re kinda at my mercy, and if I wanted to make you live life from eighteen on again, I could have a really young-”
Charley slapped his chest and laughed. “James and Cael won’t let you get away with that. Plus, isn’t the rule half plus seven?”
He scrunched his nose.
