Silencing Eve

realist. I don’t like to admit that there are people who have weird gifts. Yet how the hell can I deny that Caleb appears to be in a class by himself? He can hurt, he can kill, he can even heal. Anything connected with blood flow.”
    “Extraordinary. Anything else?”
    She shrugged. “A few years ago, I thought that blood flow was capable of affecting the mind, too. Hallucinations. Mind games. But I can’t be sure.” She added impatiently, “I don’t want to talk about Caleb.”
    “Neither do I. But it’s always intelligent to gauge the strength of the opposition. He’s beginning to come out of the shadows and make his presence known.”
    “He was never in the shadows. He doesn’t pretend. I always know exactly where I am with him.”
    “And he offers to give you Harriet’s head on a platter. If you’d said yes, would you have felt a kind of unholy alliance with him?”
    “I didn’t say yes.”
    “No, but you might still have to say it,” he said soberly. “I’d like to take that burden away, but you wouldn’t thank me for it.”
    “No, and I wouldn’t tell Caleb to do something I wouldn’t do myself.” She met his eyes. “Any more than I would ask you.”
    “You wouldn’t have to ask.” He smiled. “I think when the time comes, I’ll know. We’re getting closer all the time. Can’t you feel it?”
    She did feel it. Just looking at him, she was experiencing a surge of warm intimacy that was banishing the fear and uncertainty. “We’ll never be that close.”
    “Don’t be defensive. I’m aware of where this is going. Your own battles and all of that fine rhetoric. Now stop trying to establish something we both realize is firmly in place. I know who you are. I know your mind and body. We were lovers.” He held out his hand to her. “We are lovers. Come over here and let me hold you.”
    And how she wanted to go to him.
    Trevor had been a part of her life for so long. He had been her first passion. Hell, she had learned passion from him. Did she love him? Sometimes, she had thought she loved him. She admired him and liked him and had desperately wanted to be with him. And it was that desire that had frightened her. She had felt herself being drawn closer and closer, and, if it had continued, she hadn’t known if she would be able to remain her own person. Trevor’s effect on her had always been too powerful.
    Standing there looking at him, memories were flowing back to her … She was remembering the first time she’d seen him at the lake cottage when she was only seventeen. Even then, she’d been stunned by his charisma and sheer good looks. Trevor had swept her away and made her dizzy. She remembered the time when she had followed him to the airport in Herculaneum after he had pushed her away and tried to end the growing attraction between them. She had felt rejected and been angry and indignant and wanting to strike out.
    “I’m only seventeen.” She had looked him directly in the eye. “No matter what you think, that’s a plus. I’m going to go home and live every minute of every day. I’m going to grow and learn and experience. I’m going to see if I can find a man who makes you look boring in comparison. It shouldn’t be so difficult, and, God knows, I don’t want to have to deal with you and your antiquated sense of what’s proper and not proper. Someday, you’re going to regret turning away from me.”
    He nodded. “Oh, I already do.”
    And that moment several years later in Scotland, after she had thought that Trevor had been killed. She’d had to fight desperately to keep from panicking.
    “I believe I’m getting tired of being irresponsible,” he had said. “Don’t you think we’d make a great match?”
    She felt a surge of happiness, followed immediately by wariness. “What are you saying?”
    “You know what I’m saying. You’re scared to admit it. Well, I’m way past that point. You’ll have to catch up. How did you feel when you thought I was blown to bits?”
    She said slowly, “Terrible. Frightened. Empty.”
    “Good. That’s progress.” He took her hand and kissed the palm. “I know I’m rushing. I can’t help it. I’ve got years of experience on you, and I know what I want. You’re having to work your way through this. You don’t know whether you can trust what we have.” He smiled. “And it’s my job to show you that this feeling isn’t ever going to go away. Not for me, and, I hope to God, not for