Wilde Omens Read online

  I didn’t think he needed to apologize. It was both educational and disturbing, two of my favorite things. I knew I’d never be able to look at another primate without thinking about a clitoris. I let out a shaky breath.

  “The blonde represents a crucial turning point in this young man’s life.”

  I studied her. She was obviously dressed up for a night of partying. Short dress, high-heels, curled hair, enough makeup to mean business, and...the kiss of death, they were all doing shots. Blondie looked like she was out for a good time, dangerous for a married man.

  “Let me guess. If he chooses to go home with blondie over there, Eleanor will never get pregnant and…” I paused and lowered my voice a couple of registers, “the world as we know it will never be the same.”

  Instead of laughing, Aaron nodded. “Got it in one.”

  I looked again at the harmless blonde. “Butterfly effect,” I murmured mostly to myself.

  “Exactly,” Aaron confirmed.

  “So, what do we do?” The man in question hadn’t walked in yet, so we still had some time.

  Aaron grinned. “That’s where you come in, my dear.”

  I knew it. He’d known I was here the entire time. But at least he wasn’t coming after me this time; we were on the same team. I squared my shoulders. “What do I need to do?”

  I stared at him in silence. Aaron wanted me to throw myself on this guy to make sure he kept his eyes off the blonde. It wasn’t a terrible plan, but there was a lot to be desired for me. I was no seductress. Even though I wasn’t hard on the eyes, I never made it a point to flirt with people, thus my relative inexperience with the opposite sex.

  Aaron was trying not to laugh. “Fine,” I said.

  He leaned over and fluffed my hair up. From his shirt pocket, he pulled out a tube of lipstick.

  I made a disgusted sound. “You jerk. You planned this.”

  “Of course I did. I’m a time traveler. It’s my job to have this planned down to a tee.” He handed me the tube and I held it up to the light. Crimson Harlot.

  “Nice,” I said, and opened the tube.

  Aaron held his hands up and laughed. “Look, men know women who wear red lipstick are looking to party. I just need you to distract him long enough for me to distract the blonde.”

  I pulled a mirror out of my purse and applied the color. “Looks like you have the fun part of this job.” I rubbed my lips together and examined the final product. My hair tumbled around my face wildly and my green eyes stood out stark against my face. The red lipstick was intense, but it should serve its purpose.

  “You look exotic,” Aaron murmured. “Perfect.”

  I snapped my compact shut with a sharp click. “I’m half Japanese,” I said shortly. “I always look exotic.” I was annoyed with him for reasons I couldn’t understand. I glanced over at the blonde and an irrational spike of jealousy swirled through me as I wondered what kind of distracting he would be doing with her. I was being ridiculous.

  The changes that godawful serum wrought in my body had me staring at anything with dangly bits when, in the past, I couldn’t even be bothered to date. I made a mental note to ask Watson when those effects would wear off. I was ready to get back to being me. Or mostly me. I didn’t think I’d ever go back to being the old Penelope. There was no way that would happen for me. Immortality and time travel tended to change a girl.

  Aaron leaned in close to my ear. “Show time.” He tilted his head toward the outside door. A handsome man entered, followed by two other not as handsome men. “The one in the white Polo.”

  I nodded and sat up a little straighter as Aaron walked away to do God knows what. The man looked around for a moment and started heading my way. My mouth went dry.

  “Saving the world, Penelope. Saving the world,” I muttered to myself as I twisted around in my seat to intercept him.

  He was about a foot away when I plastered a smile I hoped didn’t look crazy on my face.

  “Hi.”

  His eyes fell on me with curiosity at first, then immediate interest.

  Jerk. I felt sorry for his wife, the mysterious Eleanor fated to save the world. Oh, and this jerk, too. Apparently, his sperm was super important to the fate of our planet.

  “Hi to you too.”

  “Buy you a drink?” I motioned for him to sit next to me. Mystery guy shooed his friends away and took the seat I offered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aaron chatting up the blonde. As soon as they were out of here, I could ditch this guy and get back to Cass, who was probably wondering where the hell I was.

  I waved over the bartender, ordered another beer, and asked the guy what he wanted. He leaned in, brushed my hair away from my neck, and bit me.

  I stiffened, squashed an overwhelming urge to punch him in the nose, and forced myself to giggle. “It’s way too early for that, don’t you think? Maybe I should make you pay for the drinks.”

  He chuckled. “If that’s what you want, baby.”

  I wanted to shrink away from him. If there was anything creepier in a dude, it was calling a girl he didn’t know “baby”. Especially a married guy.

  The bartender came back over and I paid for our drinks. “So,” I said, “tell me about you.”

  He leaned back in his chair and studied me. He really was handsome, but lots of handsome guys were jerks.

  “We’re really doing this?” He seemed almost disgusted by me. Me, too, dude. Me, too.

  “I enjoy getting to know people. Let’s start with your name. I’m Penelope.” I held my hand out.

  He took it. “Scott.”

  I knew it. I’d never known a decent Scott in my entire life. “Scott.” I rolled the name around on my tongue, trying to be sexy and wondering if I looked deranged.

  I toyed with the rim of my beer. “What brings you out tonight?”

  He shrugged. “I needed to blow off some steam.” He looked around the bar and I knew I was losing him. Red alert, Penelope!

  I uncrossed my legs and leaned forward, half onto his lap. “I can help with that.”

  His arms circled around me. “I bet you could,” he murmured.

  I wanted to gag, throw up, and then gag some more. I lifted my face until it was mere inches from his. My hands rested on his thighs. He smelled pleasant enough, I guess, and I wondered for the hundredth time how far I could take this before the overwhelming urge to run screaming out of the room overtook me.

  “You look so hot,” he groaned.

  This guy needed some serious lessons in wooing. I thought again about Eleanor and wondered about the state of the nation if this guy’s genes were added to our supposed female presidential savior’s. Disturbing, to say the least. I tilted my head to see if Aaron was still working on the blonde, but they were both gone.

  “Oh, thank God,” I murmured before I extricated myself from him and grabbed my purse. The look of surprise on his face was epic. I leaned down until I was in his face. “Go home to your wife, pig.”

  “What wife?” he blustered, but I only rolled my eyes and left him sitting at the bar.

  Cass was nowhere to be found when I came back into the other area and I felt bad for ditching her. Without making eye contact with anyone, I rushed out of the bar and into the parking lot. People bustled around me, and I searched for an empty cab so I could get back home. Toward the front of the parking lot, I spied a familiar yellow car and waved, hoping he could see me. Aaron stepped out of the vehicle and waved at me.

  “Come on!” he yelled.

  Relief spilled through my veins and I rushed over to him. I squeezed into the cab, and to my surprise, Cass sat on the other side of the passenger seat. “Thank God! I’m so sorry I ditched you back there.”

  Cass smiled tightly. “No worries, Aaron explained everything.”

  He squeezed in next to me in the back and shut the door behind us. The atmosphere immediately took a turn for the weird when I spied familiar red hair spilling out from the cabbie’s hat in the front seat.

&
nbsp; My face tightened in anger and fear, and turned my accusing gaze to Cass. Something was off. “What’s going on?” I spat with anger.

  She refused to look at me, so I turned my anger to Aaron. “I thought we were on the same side.”

  He smiled apologetically even as he produced a massive syringe. “Oh, we are, love. But your daddy dearest doesn’t seem to think so.”

  I froze in fear as I stared at the needle, but frowned when I noticed there was nothing inside of it. What the hell was going on?

  “Aaron?”

  “If you relax, it will be over in just a minute and we’ll return you unharmed.”

  “And if I don’t?” I measured the odds of me breaking out of this car and away from these nutjobs. The odds were nil.

  He smiled. It wasn’t evil or disturbing. It was just...sad. He cupped the back of my head gently and produced a clean, white rag.

  “Aaron—” Cass began.

  “Shut up.”

  I reared back, right into his hand, and his fingers tightened around my hair as the rag descended over my nose. The sickly-sweet aroma of chloroform descended over my face as I struggled like an angry cat. It felt like forever. Aaron’s grip was like a vise against my head and Cass held my arms down, regret filling her gaze.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  My eyes slipped closed over her regrets.

  Someone was watching me.

  I clutched my books tighter to my chest as my pace picked up. The back of my neck tingled. I’d seen his shadow before in the alleys between the older buildings at the college. A taller, leaner man wearing a strange trenchcoat, but he always stood in the shadows and I could never tell if he was here for me or someone else.

  But today I knew. He was here for me.

  I swallowed hard and resisted the urge to turn my head and try to catch a glimpse of his face. I wanted to drop everything and run. What could he possibly want with me? Whatever he was here for, it wasn’t random. He wasn’t a person of opportunity.

  I turned the corner and breathed out a sigh of relief when my dormitory came into sight.

  Almost there.

  I risked a quick glance back, but he wasn’t there. The feeling of being watched was still there. I gave up trying to look cool or calm.

  I ran.

  Chapter 18

  I woke up lying in the driveway of Sherlock’s home, covered in vomit and struggling to figure out how I was going to explain this. I sat up and buried my head in my hands, the sunlight beginning to burn down upon my skin. I rubbed my upper left bicep and winced.

  At least I was alive. It was the little things, really.

  I struggled to reconcile my memory last night with what I expected to happen. Obviously enough, Aaron had lied to me. I wasn’t even sure if the guy who walked into the bar last night was even married or if the blonde woman was working with him or merely a pawn. Either way, I felt like a giant asshole. A giant, gullible asshole, I should say.

  But the thing that hurt worse than Aaron’s betrayal, which, looking back, I should have expected, was Cass. She acted like my friend only to betray me at the time when I needed her the most. I would have to tell my father soon, and I knew it wouldn’t go well.

  I didn’t feel any different and I laughed as I thought that. I felt like complete shit, so that was different, but as I remembered the empty syringe, the night’s focus became much clearer and even more terrifying.

  I’d bet my left arm they’d taken my blood. My breathing came in shallow gasps.

  Shit, shit, shit, shit. I scrambled to my feet, groaning as pain bloomed in my skull. They’d dosed me with either chloroform or ether; both had horrifying after-effects. I’d have to get Holmes to run some tests on me to make sure they hadn’t dosed me with anything else. Especially since I wasn’t sure how long they held me while I was unconscious or when they dumped me here.

  If anything, I had a feeling they were testing my blood in order to figure out exactly what was in the serum my father had made. This was bad on so many levels. Guilt flooded my body. I’d taken advantage of my father’s distraction yesterday in order to get out of this place and look what happened. I might have ruined everything.

  I stood and stared at the front door, mustering the courage to actually go in and explain my colossal screw up. I ran a hand through my tangled hair and pulled out a mass of dirt and leaves. Tears filled my eyes as I imagined the horrible things that could have happened to me last night. I was clothed and my lady regions weren’t in pain, so I didn’t think anything sexual in nature occurred. It was a small condolence when there was a very real possibility the COTO would figure out the serum and begin replicating it.

  I fumbled for the DAR on my wrist and my heart sank when I noticed my wrist was bare. I was going to kill Aaron the next time I saw him. Possibly Cass, too. Maybe especially Cass. Aaron was a jerk, but I knew he was a jerk when I saw him last night. I’d let my hormones and do-gooder sense of justice override my good sense. I’d always loved the dramatic and saving the presidential rule of a strong female held such an irresistible allure, I couldn’t resist. Aaron had most likely known this and used it to his advantage.

  I had no choice but to ring the doorbell. I raised my hand to ring it, dread filling every pore of my body, when the door flung open and the image of Watson’s wide eyes filled my brain. He stood there in the doorway, highlighted by the sun, the one and only good thing in my life right now.

  I did the only thing I could think of. I started to cry.

  I held a mug of steaming coffee as I haltingly explained to my father and Watson what happened last night. Upon seeing me at the door, Watson had wasted no time in scooping me into his arms. He said nothing as he walked me to the infirmary. Instead, he stroked my hair and made comforting noises as I sobbed. I was cradled in his arms, the safest I’d felt in months, and when he finally laid me down on the examination table, I curled into a ball and turned away from him, embarrassed by my behavior.

  He touched my back. “Penelope, I hate to ask this but did he—”

  I shook my head. Aaron had violated me, but not sexually. I was turned away from him, so I couldn’t see his reaction, but he let out a heavy sigh and touched my back, the warmth pooling through my dirty shirt and easing my ills.

  “Watson,” I croaked.

  “Hmm?” His hand still rested on my back, now rubbing comforting circles around my shoulders. I still faced the wall, the bright white calming my frayed nerves.

  “When am I going to feel normal again?” Tears leaked out of my eyes and plopped in fat drops onto the paper covering of the exam table.

  Watson’s hand stilled and tightened into a fist. He sighed deeply and paused for a moment. “Do you want me to comfort you with a lie?”

  I sobbed out a laugh. “Please.”

  He moved closer to me and his head dipped until it rested on my back, one of his arms around me. “Tomorrow, Penelope. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

  “Thanks,” I whispered. He didn’t stand up and his comfort allowed me a feeling of safety so deep, my eyes began to close and I drifted off to sleep.

  Now I sat here facing the metaphorical firing squad. Even though I knew their anger wasn’t directed at me, they were furious. Maybe a little was directed at me, but the majority was toward Aaron and especially Cass.

  “COTO is no longer considered an ally,” my father said, his voice a sharp crack in the sterile room.

  “Now hold on, Holmes. COTO is bigger than we’ve ever been. Do you think it’s wise to go to war with them right now?”

  My father turned his glacial gaze on Watson. “They violated my daughter. They stole her blood and dumped her like a sack of trash on my driveway. Are we seriously contemplating letting them get away with this?”

  In return, Watson gave my father a wolf’s smile. “Of course not. I’m just saying we are smarter than to go in with a full frontal assault. Declaring open war is not the answer. Our goals are in line with each other. We need to first g
et Penelope’s blood sample back. Then we destroy them.”

  Goose bumps broke out over my skin. I liked this plan.

  “Indeed,” my father said, and looked at me in a new light. “Pull Penelope out of classes and up the hours on her training.” He steepled his fingers together. “Assuming you want in on this, daughter? If not, we can continue as we are and Watson and I will take care of things.”

  I leaned forward. “I haven’t needed classes since I was seven. I’m ready for whatever you throw at me.”

  He nodded once, pleased, and clapped his hands in dismissal. “For now, we want to run some bloodwork on you to make sure there is nothing else in your system. Since we don’t know how long you were out, we don’t know what kind of damage he wrought.” He frowned. “Although, it’s strange he dropped you off alive. He must not have wanted direct war.”

  “They seemed regretful.” I didn’t want to defend them, but both Aaron and Cass seemed like they regretted their actions. This made me think they were driven by someone above them. My thoughts cut immediately to the silent redhead in the taxicab yesterday—Lila.

  I shifted in my seat and took another sip of my coffee. “How much do you know about Lila?”

  Watson squirmed uncomfortably. I remembered our last sighting of Lila. Watson flirted with her, so there was either history there or Watson wanted a history. I tried not to think any less of him for that, but I couldn’t help it. I guess we all had our bad choices.

  My father’s gaze sharpened. “What about her?”

  I filled him in on our last run-in, surprised Watson hadn’t already, and told him she was in the car last night. Although she hadn’t said anything to me, or anyone else, for that matter, her presence seemed to suggest she was either monitoring the situation or making sure the orders were carried out.

  The atmosphere in the room went frigid. My father turned to Watson. “Lila again? You should have killed her when you had the chance all those years ago.”

  Ouch. Now I was really curious. Watson visibly flinched and turned an apologetic gaze to me. “We will take care of this.”