Page 16 of The Gathering Storm

Chapter Five

The afternoon’s work was lightened by the midday repast’s flirtations. Sigrid flew through the reports awaiting her attention, noting any anomalies, and sorted them by known hereditary family groups wherever possible. Soon, she and her team would be able to compile a genetic map from the Sisters through their children into the present day’s populations.

Much work needed to be done before that could happen. Too many of those descendants had yet to return DNA samples to her office, in spite of the pressure placed on them by their heads of family. The piecemeal nature of the process could be frustrating, but it allowed work to be completed at a steady, methodical pace. Rushing through a backlog of tests would only lead to costly, time-consuming mistakes.

George knocked on her door an hour before the end of the work day, his young face set in a painfully apprehensive expression. “I’m leaving now. Doctor’s appointment.”

Sigrid pursed her lips, containing an exasperated sigh. “Why are you telling me?”

“In case you need anything before I go.” He shifted from one foot to the other, and his gaze drifted away from hers. “Do you?”

“No,” she said, her voice sharp. She released the sigh and tried again. George would never learn to face her as a man if she constantly rebuked him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sure,” he muttered, and shambled off with his shoulders hunched under the loose fabric of his sweater.

For a moment, something akin to concern pricked Sig’s conscience. Was something wrong with the boy? He was never one for a snappy step, but lately he seemed even more languid than normal, and that hangdog air had become a permanent fixture.

She shook the concern off and focused on the screen of her desktop computer. If something was wrong, he would tell her, or she’d learn about it through the gossip that inevitably found her ear, whether she wanted it to or not.

At precisely five o’clock, Sigrid shut down her computer and tidied her desk. A quick trip home to change clothes and eat supper, and after, she could make good on her promise to meet Will at The Omega.

Anticipation curled through her. She placed a hand over her stomach, exactly where the odd feeling resided. Yes, anticipation, for a dance or another kiss, for the hope of Will’s touch and attention. When last had a man aroused even that emotion within her?

Her eyelids slid closed as memory failed. Too long without then, so long she’d forgotten what the first, heady glory of having a man catch her interest felt like.

It wouldn’t do to appear overeager and risk having Will take her attention for granted.

And because of that, she slowed her pace and took her time driving home, picking out appropriate clothing, and eating supper. More than two hours later, she parked her Porsche in the Omega’s oddly crowded parking lot and entered, automatically assessing the knots of patrons scattered around the room. She noted the locations of those faces she was unfamiliar with, nodded to a few she knew, and caught a flash of long, black hair out of the corner of her eye.

The glimpse was fleeting, barely long enough for recognition to strike. Sigrid frowned. Min Li Snow Dragon. Moira wouldn’t be happy to see that Daughter again so soon after Min Li had delayed Moira while Tom was kidnapped.

A low, husky laugh snagged Sigrid’s attention, and she turned toward the bar. Will was leaning against it flirting with a Daughter, his smile too familiar for Sigrid’s taste. Was this the woman Moira had warned her about, the one who held Will’s heart? If so, why had he kissed Sig, accepted a date, and laughed and flirted with her? Why did he not pursue this paragon rather than spending his time with a woman he could never love?

The anticipation of seeing him withered into a tiny knot in her chest. And because he had, because he’d accepted Sigrid’s attention in this woman’s stead, was the other woman not too late? Now that Sigrid had singled him out, this upstart would simply have to find another man to dig her hooks into until Sigrid had decided exactly what she was going to do with Will Corbin.

Resolution firmed, she walked half a dozen steps in his direction, intending to set the smiling couple straight before flirtation developed into a liaison. A redheaded spitfire stepped into her path and held a hand up, halting Sigrid halfway to her destination.

“Hold yer ever lovin’ horses there, Sig,” Moira said. “Where do ye think ye’re off to?”

Sigrid jerked her chin at the bar. “Will and I arranged a dance this evening. I’ve come to claim it.”

“Ye’ll do no such thing. Young Will there deserves a bit of happiness.”

Irritation lifted Sigrid’s chin. “And he won’t find it with me?”

“No, he won’t,” Moira shot back. “All ye’re after is another notch in that hunk of iron ye call a sword.”

The blow hit too close to the mark. Sigrid stared down her nose at the smaller Daughter and curled her upper lip into a deliberate sneer. “What if I am? I’ll take care of him when I’m through.”

“Take care! Is that what ye call dumping the boy and breaking his heart?”

“You said he was in love with another woman,” Sigrid said stiffly. “Therefore, his heart won’t be involved in the least.”

Moira’s gritty resolve melted into a pitying expression. “Ye’ve done enough damage here, Sig. Let the lad be, or ye’ll have me to contend with, and all me kin, too.”

Sigrid huffed out a short laugh. “We’ve never quarreled over men before.”

“This one is worth the bother. Have ye told his gran of yer interest?”

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