CHAPTER 13
I don't know why you have to take me," Constantine grumbled.
Robby didn't know, either. Usually, Roman took his son, but for some reason he was unavailable tonight. Connor, too. Shanna had called Robby to the waiting room of her dental office at Romatech and informed him that Tino needed help getting to school. Then she'd hurried off to an examination room, leaving him alone with Tino.
It had to be a conspiracy of some sort. Robby smiled to himself when he pictured Olivia calling him paranoid.
Constantine puffed out his wee chest. "I could teleport myself."
"'Tis a long way to the school." Robby wasn't sure of its exact location since that was a heavily guarded secret, but he knew it had to be several hundred miles from Romatech. "'Twould be verra dangerous if ye got lost on the way."
Tino's bottom lip jutted out. "I wish everyone would stop treating me like a baby. Sofia's the baby. I'm almost three."
"Och. 'Tis a wonder ye havena cut yerself shaving." Robby opened his cell phone and punched in the number Shanna had given him.
"Dragon Nest Academy," a female voice answered.
She sounded vaguely familiar, but Robby dismissed that thought since he'd never been to the school before. "Just a minute." He covered the phone with his hand and gave Tino a questioning look. "Dragon Nest? Is that the right place?"
Tino nodded. "Mom named it that because our last name is Draganesti." He hung his head and kicked at a chair leg. "But there aren't any dragons there."
"What a shame." Robby uncovered the phone. "Could ye keep talking a wee bit? I need yer voice to know where to teleport to."
"Sure. Are you bringing a student with you?"
"Aye. Constantine." Robby scooped the boy up in his arms. "Keep talking." He would use the woman's voice as a beacon to ensure he arrived at the right place. After this, the location of the school would be embedded in his psychic memory, and he'd no longer need a beacon.
"Okay," the woman said. "I'm Constantine's teacher. I know he may seem a little young for kindergarten, but he's doing very well. I only have three students in the class, so they get a lot of individual attention."
Robby materialized in a classroom with two short round tables encircled with little chairs. The shelves along the walls were neatly stacked with supplies. A little girl with long black hair sat at one of the tables, coloring a picture of a ball with the word written underneath. With a quick sniff, Robby could tell she was a shifter. Or she would be once puberty set in. He figured she was one of Carlos's orphans from Brazil. A were-panther.
Tino squirmed out of his arms and ran to the table to take a seat. "Hi, Coco."
The little girl grinned at him. "Hi, Tino."
Robby closed his cell phone and dropped it into his sporran.
"Thank you for bringing Tino." A pretty young woman with reddish-blond hair approached him with a shy smile.
Bugger. His conspiracy theory had been correct. Shanna was playing matchmaker. His eyes narrowed. He'd met this woman before. He thought back. "Wolf Ridge?"
Her smile widened. "You remember! I'm Sarah. Sarah Anderson." She extended a hand.
"Robby MacKay." He shook her hand. "How are you?" The last time he'd met this woman, he'd used vampire mind control to help her regain some painful memories. She'd been one of the imprisoned girls at Apollo's compound, and he'd helped Jack and Lara rescue them.
"I'm okay." She nodded her head slowly. "I love my job here. And I love the children."
"That's good." Robby shifted his weight. Apparently, Shanna thought he'd hit it off with this mortal lass.
"I'll be so happy when you guys finally defeat Casimir," Sarah added.
"Aye, 'twill be a good day." Robby knew this lass had good reason to hate Casimir. The bastard had used vampire mind control to subdue her and rape her.
Sarah stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Shanna told me what he did to you. I'm so sorry."
He nodded. Shanna must have figured he'd be attracted to Sarah since they'd both suffered under the hands of Casimir. They did have that in common, but it seemed like a miserably sad basis for a relationship. And the torture wasn't something he wanted to be reminded of anymore. Olivia had shown him there was more. She'd brought joy and laughter back into his life.
"Hey, Sarah! Everything okay?" A young man rushed into the classroom. From the alarmed look on his face, Robby guessed the young woman already had a serious admirer.
"Oh, hi, Teddy." Sarah gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything's fine. This is Robby MacKay. He brought Tino to school."
"I could have brought myself," Tino grumbled.
"I'm Teddy Brockman." The young man shook hands with Robby. "The headmaster of Dragon Nest Academy."
"Teddy's very supportive," Sarah explained. "He comes by every night to make sure I have everything I need."
Robby nodded. "I'm sure he does." He gave the young male mortal a pointed look. "Good luck to you."
Teddy's eyes shifted to Sarah, then back to Robby. "Thanks."
A form wavered, then materialized. It was Jean-Luc Echarpe, holding his stepdaughter Bethany in his arms. He set her down, and she skipped over to the table to greet her classmates.
"I need to get started now," Sarah announced. She glanced at Robby with a smile. "It was nice to see you again."
"I'll see you guys later." Teddy waved at Robby and Jean-Luc and rushed out the door.
Jean-Luc greeted Robby with a slap on the shoulder. "Mon ami, stay for a while. I'm teaching a fencing class in thirty minutes. You can help me warm up."
"Verra well." Robby accompanied the Frenchman into the hallway. "I could use some practice."
Robby had been Jean-Luc's bodyguard for years, first in Paris, and then in Texas. A few years ago he'd helped Jean-Luc defeat his archenemy, Lui. Since then, the job had become too routine and boring for Robby's taste, so he'd requested a transfer.
Jean-Luc was a master swordsman, and he could usually take care of himself, so Dougal Kincaid had been given the job as his new bodyguard. Dougal had lost his right hand in a battle in New Orleans.
"How is Dougal?" Robby asked.
"He's doing well. He's learning to fence left-handed." Jean-Luc led Robby to a wide staircase with ornately carved wooden balusters.
As far as Robby could tell, the school was housed in an old mansion. The wooden steps creaked under their feet. "I heard ye and Heather are having twins."
Jean-Luc laughed. "C'est incroyable, non? Me, a father?"
Robby shrugged one shoulder. "I think ye'll be a great father. Ye're certainly verra good with Bethany."
"Merci, mon ami." Jean-Luc paused when they reached the landing. "So when is Jack's wedding?"
"April." Robby grimaced. "I'm the best man."
Jean-Luc's eyes twinkled with amusement. "You don't look very happy about it."
Robby stifled a groan. "It just seems like everyone is getting married." Everyone but me.
Jean-Luc nodded and headed down the stairs. "There's a rumor going about that you're lovesick."
"Bugger. People should mind their own business."
Jean-Luc smiled. "We're not people, mon ami. We're family."
They reached the bottom of the stairs. The ground floor, Robby guessed. The foyer was grand, with a black and white marble floor laid out in checkerboard fashion. A huge wrought-iron chandelier hung from the ceiling three stories up. The front entrance consisted of two heavily carved wooden doors with a Gothic arch.
"'Tis verra fancy," Robby murmured.
"Oui." Jean-Luc motioned toward a hall to the right. "The gymnasium is outside. It was the old coach house."
They headed down the hall. A door opened and two women emerged. The first one's purple hair made her instantly recognizable. Vanda Barkowski.
Robby jerked to a halt when he saw the second woman. A cold chill sifted along his skin. He reached over his shoulder for his claymore, but he'd neglected to bring it.
She stopped, her eyes widening. "Robby," she whispered. "You're all right?"
No thanks to you. Anger erupted inside him. "What the hell is she doing here?"
The woman flinched.
Vanda stiffened. "Where do you get off, talking to my sister like that?"
Robby clenched his fists. He'd never hit a woman before, not even his wife when she'd betrayed him, but Marta Barkowski deserved it. "What is she doing here?"
"We live here," Vanda snapped. "I'm the art teacher, and Marta's working as Teddy's secretary."
"Angus must be out of his mind!" Robby yelled. He fumbled in his sporran for his cell phone.
Jean-Luc touched his arm. "Calm down, mon ami."
"This is a serious breach of security," Robby growled. "That woman canna be trusted."
"I'm not a Malcontent anymore!" Marta shouted with a thick accent. Her eyes glistened with tears.
"You're upsetting her." Vanda glared at Robby.
He glared back. "Has she ever told you how she assisted in my torture?"
"Please!" Tears rolled down Marta's face. "I'm so sorry, Robby. I didn't want to do it."
"Ye were smiling!" Robby shouted, raising a fist. His hand shook as he struggled for control.
"She was brainwashed and abused," Vanda explained. "She's a victim as much as you."
Jean-Luc pulled Robby back. "You two go on."
Vanda and Marta rushed toward the stairs, Vanda looping an arm around her crying sister.
Robby glared at them, his fists still clenched, his breath hissing through gritted teeth.
"You probably set Marta back a few months in her recovery," Jean-Luc murmured.
"Ye think I care? The woman is a Malcontent. She canna be trusted."
Jean-Luc sighed. "She's trying to start over and lead a good life."
"She doesna deserve it," Robby grumbled.
"Everyone deserves a second chance."
Robby turned and stalked down the hallway. He'd tried for months to forget the details of his torture, but seeing Marta brought it all back. Casimir had left her alone with him to touch him and get him physically aroused, just to make Casimir's whipping more painful. More humiliating. "She shouldna be here. No' with the children. She canna be trusted."
"Robby." Jean-Luc grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "I know you suffered. But you need to give her a chance."
"Nay," he hissed. "She'll betray us."
"Not all women are like your wife," Jean-Luc whispered.
Robby stiffened. In the years that he'd worked as Jean-Luc's bodyguard, they'd become good friends. Robby had confided a great deal about his past. About his wife.
He'd tried to return to her after Culloden, but Mavis had rejected him in horror. He'd stayed nearby, hiding in a cave during the day and working the farm at night. He hadn't known what she was doing during the day until it was too late. She took up with the enemy, took an English soldier as her lover, one of the same English that had killed him and his friends on the battlefield.
Robby had been forced to leave when the Englishman swore to find him during the day and kill him. He'd tried to keep in touch with his daughter over the years. She'd grown up, treated like a servant until she ran away at the age of fifteen to marry a local boy. Then they'd taken a ship to America, and he never knew what had happened to her.
Robby took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "'Tis difficult to trust women. They can rip yer heart in two."
"I know." Jean-Luc opened the door at the end of the hall, and an icy breeze swept inside. The courtyard outside was dark, with snow piled around the perimeter. "Come. You can work off your anger with some swordplay."
Robby stepped outside onto the brick pavement, and icy cold air stung his face. His breath vaporized as he exhaled. He followed Jean-Luc toward the gymnasium. He didn't feel angry anymore. He just felt weary and tired. And so alone. Olivia, why do ye no' call me? If it were possible for a woman to be loyal and true, it would be her. He wanted it to be her.
The cell phone in his sporran rang, and he halted with a jerk. Was it her? He reached in the sporran, grabbed the phone and opened it. "Hello?"
"Robby, I'm calling from London." Emma MacKay spoke briskly. "Something came up that I thought you should know about."
"You have a lead on Casimir?" Robby asked.
"No, an e-mail came through the MacKay S and I website. Someone from the FBI is requesting information about you."
His chest tightened. "Who?"
"It was signed O. Sotiris."
His heart lurched. "'Tis Olivia."
"The woman you met on Patmos?" Emma asked.
"Aye." Robby grinned. If she was investigating him, then she hadn't given up on him.
"Shall I send her some information?" Emma asked. "I could make you sound really good."
"I'll take care of it. Forward the request to me at Romatech."
Emma chuckled. "All right. Good luck." She rang off.
Robby snapped his phone shut, still grinning.
"Let me guess." Jean-Luc smiled. "You need to return to Romatech right away."
"Aye, I do."
Jean-Luc slapped him on the shoulder. "Go get her, mon ami."