Startled, Sherry turned to the line of booths when Stephanie screeched that from inside one of them. A flush sounded and then a door opened and the teenager rushed out, her eyes immediately seeking out Katricia.
“You can read her?” she asked with disbelief.
Katricia nodded. “Yes. She is hard to read, though. You have to concentrate and focus and then it is still a bit fuzzy.”
Stephanie turned to Drina. “What about you?”
“Yes.”
Sherry was actually surprised at the answer. Since the woman had thought she was handling all of this well, she’d assumed she couldn’t read her somewhat scattered thoughts.
“Your thoughts are a bit scattered,” Drina acknowledged, as if she’d spoken aloud. “But trust me, it is nothing like how some people react.”
Katricia nodded. “You really are handling this well.”
“Thanks,” she murmured, looking the woman over. This was Basil’s daughter . . . who was born in 411 AD. Sherry hadn’t really got the chance to do more than utter a quick hello to the girl as she’d been hustled into the van when they’d left the Enforcer house that morning. The start of her day had been rather rushed. After a restless night as she tossed and turned, fretting over everything that had happened the day before and everything she’d learned since, Sherry had been roused from sleep that morning by Stephanie bursting into her room to tell her they were leaving in half an hour and if she wanted coffee and breakfast before they left she’d best get up.
Sherry was out of bed and pulling on her clothes even as the girl whirled and rushed back out. They were her clothes from the day before. There had been no choice. Lucian had arranged for her purse to be collected from the store and returned to her the night before. He’d then requested her keys and given them to Justin with the order to go pack her a bag. However, Justin hadn’t returned by the time she’d gone to bed.
She’d spotted her suitcase by the front door when she got downstairs and briefly considered dragging it back up to her room to find her toothbrush, brush her teeth, and change her clothes, but the smells from the kitchen had convinced her to put it off until after she’d eaten. She’d found Sam, Mortimer, Justin, Stephanie, and Basil already eating in the kitchen and had eagerly joined them. But she’d regretted that decision when Katricia and Drina arrived just as she was finishing her breakfast and she found herself rushed out of the house and into the van without the opportunity to change first.
Her introduction to the two women had been a brief, “Sherry this is my daughter, Katricia and my niece Drina,” as Basil handed her into the van behind Stephanie. Sherry had murmured a “Hello, nice to meet you” almost over her shoulder as she climbed inside and then they’d been on their way. With Drina driving, Katricia in the front passenger seat, and Stephanie alone on the first bench seat in the back, Basil and Sherry were left to take the back bench seat. It made conversation difficult, and all Sherry could see of Katricia was the back of her head.
Now Sherry took note of Katricia’s blond hair, athletic body, fine facial features, and silver-blue eyes and thought she definitely took after her father in looks. Katricia seemed nice too, as far as Sherry could tell, and that made her wonder if the girl knew that she was supposedly her father’s life mate.
“There is no supposedly about it,” Katricia said with amusement, finishing at the sink and moving to the paper towel dispenser. “Uncle Lucian said it was certain. He also mentioned catching the two of you being naughty in the kitchen, and my father has never forgotten himself so much as to do something like that. You must be life mates.”
“We were just kissing,” Sherry said at once, blushing brightly as she assured herself that was really all it had been. Okay, maybe there was some groping and stuff too, she acknowledged vaguely, but being naughty made it sound like they had actually been doing the dirty on the kitchen counter, and while things might have been heading in that direction, Lucian’s arrival prevented it.
Thank God, she thought, but not with much conviction. As embarrassing as it would have been to be caught further along in their passionate exchange, she couldn’t help but think it very well might have been worth it. Basileios had knocked more than her socks off with his kisses and caresses, and she’d been jonesing for more ever since, but Basil hadn’t done more than give her a peck on the cheek when he saw her to her room the night before.
“The passion between life mates is rather powerful,” Drina said quietly, making it known that she at least was still in her thoughts. “But Uncle Basil is old-school.”
Sherry wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. She knew the man was old, but—
“He was raised in Atlantis,” Katricia added gently. “They were taught to always be respectful, especially to women. He will try to fight his urges in order to give you time to adjust. It is the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“Oh,” Sherry said, doing her best to ignore that she was blushing and that this was the weirdest conversation she’d ever had. The daughter of the man she was lusting after was reassuring her that his lack of jumping her was out of respect, not any lack of desire. Weird.
“Yes, you could say we are weird,” Drina said suddenly with amusement. “But then over time I have learned that normal is kind of overrated . . . and really boring.”
“Yeah, I guess it is,” Sherry said with a grin. Certainly, her life had been going along in a nice, normal fashion before Stephanie burst into her office. Comparing it to her life now, just a day later, her life before did seem kind of boring.
“Oh, come on,” Stephanie said suddenly with disgust as she finished drying her hands and tossed the paper towel away. “This is so unfair. I can’t hear what she’s thinking so I’m only getting half the conversation.”
“Ah, poor Steph,” Drina teased lightly, slinging an arm around the girl’s shoulders and steering her toward the door. “I guess you will just have to try harder to read her. I suspect if you do, you will find you can read her too.”
“Really?” Stephanie asked, glancing over her shoulder as Sherry and Katricia followed the pair out of the bathroom.
“Really,” Drina assured her, urging her to the side to avoid a collision with a supporting column. “But try doing it when you are not walking, so you do not run into a wall.”
“You wouldn’t let me walk into a wall,” Stephanie said on a laugh, but turned and faced forward and then shrugged out from under Drina’s arm. “I’m going to Wendy’s to get a pop before we go.”
“Hang on.” Drina collared the teenager before she could take off. Pausing, she glanced around, smiling when Basil moved away from the wall to join them. Glancing from him to Sherry, she asked, “Do you guys want anything?”
“Coffee from Timmy’s for me, but I’ll get it,” Sherry said at once, glad she had her purse back and didn’t have to depend on these people for money, at least. Realizing that Drina wouldn’t allow Stephanie to go to Wendy’s stall alone after what had happened the last time she’d gone off on her own, Sherry asked, “Do you want a coffee or something too? I’ll get it for you while you go with Stephanie.”
“You will not,” Basileios said calmly. “I shall take care of the drinks. Just tell me what everyone wants.”