Phoe lay on the grass looking up at the sky. She didn’t think she’d seen a sky so blue. The air was warm and everything was wearing a bright green cloak of springtime. It had been a long time since she’d even noticed. “I never thought I’d say that I missed this place. Seems like I’ve been trying to get away from here since the day I was born.”
Cage rolled over on his back and sat up with one graceful movement. She smiled. Everything about him was so out of keeping with St. Francisville. No wonder tongues had been wagging all over town.
Phoe had laughed out loud in the checkout line in the market the other night when she realized that the “prize-winning stallion in aisle three” was Cage. “I don’t know. I kind of like it here. The air is clean, it’s warm…”
“No wild creature has tried to kill us.”
“Mmm,” he hummed. Reaching beside him, he grabbed the cool bottle of sweetened iced tea that Phoe had packed for their picnic. He took a long sip and choked. “Though I don’t understand why you people insist on putting sugar and ice in your tea.”
“Why not? Everything’s better with sugar,” she said, propping herself up on one elbow. He leaned in and kissed her mouth gently. “Sugar.”
Cage tangled his fingers into the loose hair at her crown, deepening their kiss. She relaxed into his embrace as he rolled on top of her and brushed her hair away from her forehead. Their kiss became insistent and suggestive until they were rolling over and over in the grass. He landed on top of her, pinning her to the ground with his knees.
“I suppose I have no choice but to forgive you for your blatant bastardization of my culture,” he said, putting on the snobbish and superior tone that made her wild with aggravation and desire. Cage toyed with the pearly button in the center of her chest, exposing the curve of her breast.
“Shut up and kiss me, Teabag.” His hands slid under the soft cotton and he trilled his fingertips along her belly until she was giggling and squirming beneath him.
“No more jokes about how the Redcoats are coming,” he growled, biting her breast playfully through the layers of fabric.
“Well, I hope not yet,” she teased.
Soon they were so lost in each other that she didn’t notice her neighbor Miss Ava approaching the back of the house until she was standing over them. “Oh my. Right here in the middle of an open field. How scandalous.”
Phoe peeked around Cage’s shoulder and smiled. Her cheeks were aglow with a heat that had absolutely nothing to do with the warmth of the sun overhead.
“Oh, hello,” she said, pushing Cage aside and hastily re-buttoning her blouse. “We didn’t see you there.”
Ava chuckled. “Of course you didn’t. Young lovers can’t be expected to notice the infirmed.”
“You’re hardly infirmed,” Cage said, standing up and grabbing Ava around the waist to twirl her around until she was giggling like a schoolgirl. “In fact, if this thing with Phoe doesn’t work out—”
“Oh, put me down,” Ava laughed, giving him a playful smack on the shoulder. “Idiot. I was just bringing your mail. George stuck it all in my box for some reason.” She handed Cage a stack of envelopes and a newspaper. “It warms my heart to see that someone in the world still reads a paper newspaper. Anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt your,” she paused, looking down at the crumpled blanket and empty basket. “Picnic.”
Phoe blushed again and waved as the old woman started back across the road.
“She’s a lovely old bird,” Cage commented. His eyes scanned the newspaper where the headline screamed, Manticore Technologies Announces Opening Date for Luxury Colony. “What a snake,” he grumbled. “After all that and Machine escapes smelling like a rose.”
“I still can’t believe the IU didn’t prosecute him,” Phoe said, flopping back down on the blanket.
“He incinerated all the evidence. Besides, the IU will never put Machine away. They need him. Thanks to you, he can’t cause enough trouble to be dangerous for the time being. And right now his colonies are the only escape plan they’ve got going.”
“Do you think he’ll come after us?”
Cage shook his head and sat down beside her on the blanket. “The amulet is far out of his reach for now. Now that your sister’s gone back to the IU, he’d be a fool to try to swipe it out from under them. I suppose he’ll probably lay low for a while. For now, we maintain the status quo. The wheel turns, nothing ever changes.”
Phoe snatched the newspaper from his grasp and threw it aside as she wrapped her arms around his neck, climbing astride his lap. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“I wish I could believe you,” he murmured, carding through the envelopes and handing them to her to toss over her shoulder.
“Yay, more past-due notices. Surprisingly they didn’t go away while I was gone.” She sighed heavily and threw the rest of them aside. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do. The library cut me loose when the government came sniffing around. There isn’t much job opportunity in St. Francisville for a shape-shifting, unemployed librarian. Not that your help with the house wasn’t appreciated.”
Cage didn’t seem as if he were listening. He was too busy examining a large, embossed envelope addressed to him and Phoe. His fingers traced the paper, as if he was looking for something.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, taking a small knife from his pocket and carefully slicing the envelope open. Inside was a tiny eSlate, much smaller than a mobile phone. As soon as it hit the sunlight, a blue light came on and a hologram of a heavyset man in an uncomfortable suit projected in front of them.
“Mr. St. John and Miss Addison,” the hologram said. “It’s lovely to see you both unharmed and back to normal. My name is Maurice Wilder and I work with a division of the Interplanetary Union known as B.E.A.S.T. The Bureau for Espionage And Strategic Tactics.”
Cage narrowed his eyes and shifted Phoe from her perch in his lap. “That tosser was bloody government all along. I should have known.”
“What are you talking about?”
“After your exploits on New London, the Bureau is interested in the two of you and your talents,” the hologram continued. “We’ve been watching Macijah for some time, but I think that Miss Addison would prove most useful to us, too. This eSlate is your boarding pass for the next flight out of New Orleans to our headquarters in San Francisco. We’ll expect you both in two days’ time to discuss the particulars.”
“Who is this man? What is he talking about?” Phoe demanded.
Cage tossed the eSlate aside and leaned back on his elbows. “Before I met you, Wilder hired me to track down a vampire coven. Their leader, Dagger, had conspired with Wilder’s daughter to pretend to kidnap her so they could bilk the old man out of money. I got the girl, but Dagger got away.”
One of Phoe’s brows winged up.
“When I met you on the Maglev, I was heading to Vegas to hunt for Dagger because Wilder promised to administer an antidote to rid me of my monsters if I brought Dagger to him.”
“Ahhh,” Phoe purred. “Good thing you were distracted.” She nibbled his neck. “I like your monsters.”
“Minx.” He held her face in his hands then lay back on the grass.
From his expression it was obvious that he wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or amused. “I’m not sure, but it looks like I’m back in the good graces of the IU.”
“Well, it certainly sounds like he thinks we’re coming.” Phoe settled beside him and put her head on his chest over his heart. For a while they lay there in silence, listening to the quiet sounds of the country, and Phoe knew it would be a long time before they heard them again.
“When do we leave?” she asked.
Cage rolled to his side, cradling her cheek with his hand and pulling her in for another deep kiss. It took her breath and she could feel it all the way to her toes.
For now, she didn’t care what else was in store for her as long as she had Cage at her side.
“Not yet,” he whispered. “Not quite yet.”