Page 65 of Curse of Immortality
Maeve sighed, which made her attractive chest rise and fall. “Now are you here for abusiness meetingor do you plan to waste more of my time, Charles?”
Charles instantly picked up on the flirting undertone in Maeve’s words and closed in on her. “I like that dress on you. You know I think red suits you.”
Maeve arched an eyebrow as an invitation.
“But if I’m honest I think you’d look much better naked.” He began to unbutton his coat with a flirtatious smirk.
“Close the door,” Maeve instructed, still sitting in her chair.
Charles headed toward the door as instructed with dark eyes. “Why don’t I lock it?”
Chapter 25
Order to Seduce
Damon felt Charles before he entered the room. As a Fader, his senses were sharper than those of humans, but he suspected his ability to shift into animals had left a mark on him as well.
His friend Mr. ThomasThomas had just returned from Spain and they were feasting on the dried ham, olives, and oranges that he had brought with him. Thomas was the closest thing Damon had to family and he too sensed Charles approaching and turned his head toward the door.
Charles didn’t bother knocking or waiting for an invitation before he joined them at the table and took the glass of wine that Damon poured him.
“Hard day?” Damon asked.
“I just came from Maeve.”
Thomas laughed a little. “That explains how serious you look. That woman is a handful.”
Charles leaned his head back and emptied his glass in one long gulp before holding out the glass for Damon to fill up again.
“Her sister was there.”
That made Damon stop pouring and with the bottle stalling mid-air, he stared at Charles. “Althea was here? In London?”
“Yes.”
“How? I had reports telling me she was seen in Scotland not two days ago.”
“Good question.” With his eyes, Charles signaled for Damon to keep pouring.
“It’s been three months since your last report. Why is that?”
After filling Charles’ glass to the brim, Damon put the bottle down and tore a hand through his hair. “The thing is that she’s changed her traveling habits. She used to move from town to town with her horse and wagon in a predictable manner. Now, she’s hard to find and the alerts I get on her make no sense. My spies will see her in different parts of the country on the same day. Before I make it to either place, she’s gone and there’s no trace of her on the roads leading away. How do you explain that?”
Charles spun the wineglass in his hands. “You should have told me about this. Something is going on. Althea came to invite Maeve to live in a place called Orenda. Have you heard about it?”
Damon and Thomas exchanged a glance before they shook their heads.
“Is it here in England? The name sounds foreign to me,” Thomas said.
“That’s what I want you to find out. Maeve mentioned that the only way to get there was through a portal. We need to find out where that portal is and how it works. If Earthens found a place to build a village, then I want to know where it is.”
“What did Maeve say? Didn’t her sister tell her how to get to the portal?”
Leaning back in his chair, Charles answered Thomas. “Maeve doesn’t like her sister and their meeting didn’t go well. I suggested that Maeve should spy on Zosia for us, but you know her. She has to be lured slowly until she believes it was her idea all along.
“Did you talk to Althea?” Damon asked with interest. “How did she look?”
“Like a country girl who got lost in London. Her hair hung loose and her complexion was tanned. She may be charming when she smiles, but all I saw was scowling. She looked…” Charles thought about it for a moment. “Strong and fit, like someone used to working hard.”
