Read Online The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles) by C. D. Hersh - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: C. D. Hersh
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as Sylvia’s. “I’ll take a diet,” she told the waiter.
“I’m sorry, miss. What did you say?” the waiter asked as he tore his gaze from Sylvia.
“Diet. Soda.” She carefully separated the words hoping they would get through to his fogged brain if she kept them curt.
When the waiter left, Sylvia handed a menu to Alexi. “Shall we order now?”
Alexi laid the menu on the table and then removed a small envelope out of her purse. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather get down to business.” She slid the envelope across the table. “Tell me about these.”
Sylvia opened the envelope and laid three photographs on the table. When she saw them, tears brimmed in her eyes. “He kept these?”
“After a fashion.”
Sylvia frowned, apparently not getting Alexi’s meaning.
“I found them in his safe. He’d removed them from the photo album and scratched out your name.”
Sylvia shrugged. “I expected worse. Just taking me out of your family’s life, but perhaps not out of his memory, is more than I hoped for. He could have burned them.”
Alexi wondered why he hadn’t. Something must have kept him from committing such a final act. “What happened between you two?”
“Why does it matter to you?”
“Baron was very secretive about his past. Now that he’s gone, I have a need to know everything about him.”
The waiter put her drink on the table. Alexi absently swirled the straw in the dark liquid, watching the ice circle in the glass.
“You cared a lot for him, didn’t you?”
Sylvia’s statement drew her attention back to the woman across the table. What a stupid question. Of course I cared for him. She tempered her verbal response. “He was my uncle. He practically raised me after . . .”
Sylvia nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry about your parents and brother.”
“Did you know them? Were you and Baron together when it happened?”
“No. We’d broken up by then. Your parents were fine people and great assets to the Society, and your brother was becoming a very skilled shifter. He would have been a great benefit, too.”
Alexi propped her elbows on the table and inched forward, her suspicion of Sylvia lost in her desire for family. “Tell me everything you know about them. Please.”
“It could take a while.”
Alexi glanced at her watch. “I’ve got two hours.” If she didn’t come out of the medical building by the time she’d promised, Rhys would come searching for her at Dr. LaSurla’s office.
“If I tell you about them, will you tell me about Baron’s death?”
Alexi sat back in her chair. Could she strike a deal with someone she didn’t know? Someone Baron had crossed out of his life? She’d always trusted her uncle’s judgment. “Tell me why you and Baron broke off.”
“You aren’t a very trusting person, are you?”
“It’s the cop in me,” Alexi said with a shrug. “Besides, why should I trust you? You’ve told me nothing. All you’ve wanted to do is strike bargains.”
“So what do you want to know? I work for Homeland Security. I hold the highest security clearance this country gives. That trumps anything you’ve got.”
“So it’s a contest now?”
“That’s not what I meant. If the President of the United States trusts me explicitly, why can’t you?”
“Does he know you’re a member of a secret society? Or a shape shifter? That might put a different spin on things.”
“Does your boss, or your partner, know you can shift?” Sylvia shot back at her without missing a beat.
“Okay, so we’re even on the secrets-on-the-job level.”
“So what else do you want to know?”
“Why did you and Baron split?” If Sylvia couldn’t answer the most basic questions she couldn’t trust her.
“We wanted different things. Is that such a crime? Haven’t you ever been involved with someone who wanted what you didn’t?”
“All the time. But it’s different for me. I’m a shifter. I will never find someone who can go along
“I’m sorry, miss. What did you say?” the waiter asked as he tore his gaze from Sylvia.
“Diet. Soda.” She carefully separated the words hoping they would get through to his fogged brain if she kept them curt.
When the waiter left, Sylvia handed a menu to Alexi. “Shall we order now?”
Alexi laid the menu on the table and then removed a small envelope out of her purse. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather get down to business.” She slid the envelope across the table. “Tell me about these.”
Sylvia opened the envelope and laid three photographs on the table. When she saw them, tears brimmed in her eyes. “He kept these?”
“After a fashion.”
Sylvia frowned, apparently not getting Alexi’s meaning.
“I found them in his safe. He’d removed them from the photo album and scratched out your name.”
Sylvia shrugged. “I expected worse. Just taking me out of your family’s life, but perhaps not out of his memory, is more than I hoped for. He could have burned them.”
Alexi wondered why he hadn’t. Something must have kept him from committing such a final act. “What happened between you two?”
“Why does it matter to you?”
“Baron was very secretive about his past. Now that he’s gone, I have a need to know everything about him.”
The waiter put her drink on the table. Alexi absently swirled the straw in the dark liquid, watching the ice circle in the glass.
“You cared a lot for him, didn’t you?”
Sylvia’s statement drew her attention back to the woman across the table. What a stupid question. Of course I cared for him. She tempered her verbal response. “He was my uncle. He practically raised me after . . .”
Sylvia nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry about your parents and brother.”
“Did you know them? Were you and Baron together when it happened?”
“No. We’d broken up by then. Your parents were fine people and great assets to the Society, and your brother was becoming a very skilled shifter. He would have been a great benefit, too.”
Alexi propped her elbows on the table and inched forward, her suspicion of Sylvia lost in her desire for family. “Tell me everything you know about them. Please.”
“It could take a while.”
Alexi glanced at her watch. “I’ve got two hours.” If she didn’t come out of the medical building by the time she’d promised, Rhys would come searching for her at Dr. LaSurla’s office.
“If I tell you about them, will you tell me about Baron’s death?”
Alexi sat back in her chair. Could she strike a deal with someone she didn’t know? Someone Baron had crossed out of his life? She’d always trusted her uncle’s judgment. “Tell me why you and Baron broke off.”
“You aren’t a very trusting person, are you?”
“It’s the cop in me,” Alexi said with a shrug. “Besides, why should I trust you? You’ve told me nothing. All you’ve wanted to do is strike bargains.”
“So what do you want to know? I work for Homeland Security. I hold the highest security clearance this country gives. That trumps anything you’ve got.”
“So it’s a contest now?”
“That’s not what I meant. If the President of the United States trusts me explicitly, why can’t you?”
“Does he know you’re a member of a secret society? Or a shape shifter? That might put a different spin on things.”
“Does your boss, or your partner, know you can shift?” Sylvia shot back at her without missing a beat.
“Okay, so we’re even on the secrets-on-the-job level.”
“So what else do you want to know?”
“Why did you and Baron split?” If Sylvia couldn’t answer the most basic questions she couldn’t trust her.
“We wanted different things. Is that such a crime? Haven’t you ever been involved with someone who wanted what you didn’t?”
“All the time. But it’s different for me. I’m a shifter. I will never find someone who can go along
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