Forgotten Enemy (The Powers of Influence Book 1) Read online

  The driver pulled away smoothly. Suddenly, Cade felt the compelling spell that had kept him rooted to one spot break, releasing him from the trance he’d fallen into. He shook it off, wondering what had gotten into him.

  He glanced at his watch. Crap! He was late. He pulled out on to the road, heading out of the city at a break-neck speed. Being late gave Cade an excuse to do what he loved—drive fast.

  After a twenty minute drive, Cade drove the Jag he was borrowing around to the back of Rederrick’s massive estate, parking it carefully next to the ‘68 Camaro in the garage. Rederrick loves his cars, Cade reflected, noting that this one was new to the collection as he stepped out and locked the doors. Straightening his clothes, he passed by the black Yukon on his left and strolled into the party. He went in as any other member of the family—through the garage entrance.

  Dressed in the Armani suit that Rederrick insisted he wear tonight, Cade felt uncomfortable, even foreign. He normally didn’t wear expensive suits. Well, okay, he didn’t normally wear suits at all, but he could admit that this one wasn’t too bad. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and his little ensemble had cost a pretty penny.

  Cade stepped into the room and quickly scanned the crowd. As his keen observation skills gave him a feel for the people in the room, he began to relax, moving away from the threshold. As he did, his eyes suddenly fixed—upon her.

  It’s the same woman! She gracefully entered through the front door as Rederrick helped her out of her dress coat. He patted her shoulder with a fatherly smile and headed off to greet the other guests arriving. Who is she? Cade wondered.

  He stood there rooted to his spot…again. This was an unbelievable twist of fate. His old friend knew this woman and he had brought her to this party. Well this is interesting, he thought. He watched her, seeing her mingle with the arriving guests. Once again, Cade found it hard to take his eyes off her. Something about her pulled at him. Somehow he felt he should know this woman.

  Blinking hard, he pushed back; he didn’t have time for this now. Finding some self-control, he shrugged off the gripping enchantment once more. Easily moving through the sea of people, he went to find out why Rederrick had insisted he attend. Finding his old friend, Cade lost sight of the woman and tried to put her out of his head as well.

  He spotted his friend soon enough, across the room speaking to someone from the mayor’s office. He waited his turn to catch a moment with the man. After a minute or so, the representative from the mayor’s office turned and left. Arms open to display his suit, Cade approached Rederrick with a large grin. “You win; you got me here, and in a suit, mind you. Now, where is that surprise you promised?” Cade queried. He grabbed Rederrick’s offered hand in a firm shake as he pulled him in for a manly, one-armed hug, slapping each other on the back as men often do. Cade added, “I hope it’s a new bike. My last one is a total loss, due to your infallible GPS system.”

  Rederrick, at 55 years old, looked as good as a man of 40. His salt-and-pepper hair was perfectly groomed, and his sharp, steel-gray eyes could see right through a man and spoke of deep intelligence. He was six feet tall to Cade’s six-three and of a lankier build. Still, his sharp, toned muscles kept him as quick as a snake when necessary.

  Years ago, Rederrick and Cade organized and now led a secret group called The Brotherhood, which dealt with threats or problems of the supernatural variety. They funded it together. Most people within the group were volunteers that were financially successful or had extreme flexibility with their “day jobs.”

  Tonight, as it was on most days, Rederrick was dressed for success. Cade supposed it came with being a lawyer. Personally, he never understood the need to dress in such fine clothing. Part of that came from the simple logic that he ruined his suits more often than he wore them.

  Giving Cade a hard, serious stare that held no weight due to the small smile he was unable to conceal, Rederrick relented and guffawed at him. “Now as I recall, it wasn’t the GPS that was the problem, but your impatience and that damnable shortcut through the woods you insisted on, that caused your bike’s untimely demise. So, no,” he said, a smirk playing on his handsome features. “You, my friend, will be replacing the bike on your own, although I am not sure if you can easily replace a ride as sweet as that last one.”

  Cade looked at his friend with a grin. “So what then, may I ask, is this prize you promised me if I got into this monkey suit and made nice with the rich and famous in town?”

  “Well...” said Rederrick, “How about a chance to help out your fellow man? In this case, it just so happens, it’s a fellow woman. A good deed is a prize in itself, don’t you agree, boy?”

  “Boy? Boy is it? Let me just remind you, old man, I knew your mother when she was just a baby in diapers.”

  Rederrick turned to him with a less than serious look. “Just a slip of the tongue, I assure you.”

  “Uh-huh.” He glared down at him for a minute. Then smiling, he asked, “What about my promised time to recuperate from the last good deed for my fellow man?”

  “You know I wouldn’t ask unless I really needed you.”

  Rederrick’s face took on a very serious look.

  Cade stared hard at his lifelong friend. He desperately needed some time off. He also knew he couldn’t turn down a friend in need, especially this one, whom he had a hard time refusing anyway.

  In Cade’s long lifetime, very few people had proven to be true friends. This man was one of those few, and he also knew Rederrick would not ask if there was someone else in The Brotherhood who could help right then.

  Rederrick stared right back, knowing Cade needed some time off more than anyone. Resigned, Cade huffed out a deep breath and with a quick nod accepted the new job. “So what is the assignment?”

  Rederrick calmly looked over the floor crowded with people, “She is looking this way now. Over there, the pretty blond in the blue dress.”

  Cade didn’t need to look. Instinctively, he knew exactly who Rederrick was talking about. Only fate could be so twisted by showing him a woman so rare and beautiful, and then with one hard tug pull the rug out from under him. She was to be his next assignment.

  “Watch her,” Rederrick continued, “She’s about as nervous as they come.”

  I have the watching part down, Cade thought. He was having a hard time not watching her. Yes, he noticed her nervousness, but it was the furthest thing from his mind when he had seen her initially. He mentally berated himself for not paying better attention.

  Finally, he opened his eyes, cleared his head, and got down to business. Facts are what he need now. He looked over the crowd until he sighted her. Letting some of his frustration leak into his tone, he asked, “How can I help?”

  Rederrick didn’t seem to notice his agitated tone. “She has power, Cade, and a good bit of it, that’s something I am sure of. She is not aware of it yet, or she pretends not to be.” He paused. “What I’m not sure of is if or how we can help her. She has been working for my office for five months now. She is sweet, kind, always does her work, and never complains, but,” he clicked his tongue, “I don’t really know how to explain it. There is just something off here.”

  “What do you mean off?”

  “She’s always looking over her shoulder, seems real nervous about touching people because she gets these weird looks when she does. She doesn’t seem to have a clue as to my other job. You’d think if she was a witch she would have sensed something by now. I think, well, I think if I tell her, she would run like a bat out of hell.” Rederrick looked over at his friend who just stared through the sea of people at the beautiful woman who stood across the room. “She’s in trouble Cade. I’m not sure how much, but you’re the only one I trust to help her.”

  “The Faction again?” Cade questioned.

  “Who knows, but with the power Cynda senses in her I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  Cynda was Rederrick’s wife. She was a pretty, green-eyed, auburn-haired woman, with some specific skills
. One of those skills included the ability to sense power, of the supernatural variety anyway, because she could see it in a person’s aura.

  “Just how much power are we talking about here?”

  “Well, it was enough to scare Cynda until she noticed the girl wasn’t using it at all. We’ve kept a very close eye on her though. That’s how I know she is in trouble.”

  Rederrick looked back to his friend as he finished. “She checks every window and door twice. She’s a pro at verifying if she is being followed, lost two of my men when we tried to keep close tabs on where she goes. She runs a hard five miles every day as if she is running from a demon directly at her heels.”

  He let out his breath to show Cade he was worried “Her bio is in my files, I found out very little, she doesn’t leave much in the way of tracks. I knew right away that her social security card was false. So, I did some digging. She keeps to herself, for the most part, and the longest residence she’s had, as far as I can tell, is here. The only thing that gave me a trace on her was her name. I found out she keeps using one name. She may change the spelling or its placement, middle name or first. She changes her last name every time, but for the last two years she has kept one name with her. You want to know the weirdest part?”

  “Huh?”

  “People don’t remember her, even from when she worked with them. As far as Cynda can tell, they haven’t been enchanted to forget either. They just don’t remember her. It is as if she never existed. The few who can recall the name she used around them can’t recall her face, or anything about her. It’s the damnedest thing.” Cade took his eyes off the woman and looked at his friend curiously. How could someone forget her face? Rederrick was right; it just didn’t make sense. “What name is she using then?” he asked with curiosity.

  “Collett,” Rederrick replied quietly to prevent anyone around them from overhearing.

  Cade rolled the name around in his head for a moment to see if it was familiar. After close to 300 years of life you get to know an impressive amount of people. He could not recall a Collett in his life history so he moved on. “So all you want me to do this time is babysit a beautiful woman and verify whether or not she is a threat, and/or being threatened. Sounds easy enough,” he stated lightly.

  Rederrick gave him a big smile, and not bothering to hide his sarcasm, he quipped, “Well, I was sure someone of your experience could manage one beautiful woman.”

  “Don’t you worry one bit. I can handle her just fine,” he said with a grin.

  Rederrick smiled again then quickly sobered. “Be careful, Cade. Something is not right here. I can feel it down to my toes, and Cynda feels it too.” He waited a minute to let that sink in, and then finished by saying, “I would hate to see this blow up in our faces. Much like your bike, I know I couldn’t replace you.”

  Cade patted his friend on the shoulder to reassure him. Then he walked away, wondering as always how he was so damn lucky to get himself talked into these things.

  ****

  How had she been talked into this? Collett wondered. Rederrick had convinced her to come to the fall party he hosted every year for his clients and friends.

  “Everyone in the office will be there,” he assured her last Monday. She just nodded and told him, “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Then the little sneak had his wife, Cynda, pick her up from work early last Thursday to go dress shopping. When she insisted she couldn’t afford a dress, Cynda had just bought the gown for her, insisting, “That’s what friends are for.”

  Cynda had dragged her to what felt like every store in town, looking at dress after dress. After wearing her down physically, and laying on the guilt mentally, Collett had finally surrendered. She agreed to let Cynda buy the blue dress. Cynda had insisted that it brought out the color of her eyes. Then they shopped for all the perfect accessories. They finished their trip with a dinner at some restaurant, which she could not even remember the name of; the whole event was like a whirlwind to her.

  On Friday, Rederrick had told her he would send his limo for her on Saturday evening, insisting that she needed a proper escort to the house. In his manipulations, Rederrick said it was to ensure she made it safely to the party and back; she knew it was just a way to ensure she didn’t change her mind about attending. Now that she thought about it, she understood better what he was doing. She suspected it was more of the latter he was worried about when he added, “After all, Cynda tells me you found the perfect dress.”

  So here she was, still wondering how she had been so tactfully railroaded into attending a party with at least a hundred people surrounding her on all sides. This was something she would have never done before she moved here.

  From the moment she had arrived at the party, Collett felt as though something was not quite right. She told herself she was just unbalanced by all the people. She usually avoided places with a crowd this size. It was nearly impossible for her to get a sense of everyone.

  She felt as though she were being watched the entire time. She was sure the man with dark, black hair and golden eyes was staring intently at her and was aware of her every move. She believed he was the cause of her unease. He was dressed in some sort of expensive suit, tailored specifically for him. Undoubtedly, he was the most intimidating man attending tonight, not just because he was tall, fit, and filled out his suit rather nicely; no, it was the way he moved, watched, and assessed his surroundings. He made her very uncomfortable, the way he took stock of her. Of everyone in attendance, his eyes kept coming back to her.

  She had never seen him at the office, of that she was certain. She would have remembered a man like him. Not many people could forget a man like him.

  He looked to be about thirty or so by her guess. His thick, pitch black hair fell straight and loose an inch or two above his broad shoulders. He was very tall with a strong, muscular build.

  His perfectly sculpted chin sported a faded scar just under his jawline, running along the bone about two inches. He was too dark and too dangerous for her taste.

  He moved about the room with a looming presence. Whenever she felt him watching her, she would turn and he would be gone or looking away. His golden eyes should have felt warm. Instead they felt cool and appraising. She could feel his gaze directed at her now. No matter where she went in the room, he seemed to be close by. The intensity of it began to chip at her fragile nerves.

  Just when she had enough of it, she started to approach the strange man. She intended to confront him. It was at that very moment that Collett felt it. The overpowering feeling slammed into her, stopping her in her tracks as if someone put up a barrier in front of her.

  Chapter Two

  The familiar, cold feeling snaked and slithered through her. The kind of tingling chills that crawled over her skin and clung to her spine, sending shivers through her body. Collett felt the evil and malevolence all around her. It rushed through her so strongly, so quickly, she found it difficult to keep her knees from buckling.

  They had come for her again. She thought, Not here, not now, this couldn’t be happening now.

  Instinctively, Collett tried to seek out the source, but as always, it was difficult to find...unless she could get closer. Too many people were crowded around for Collett to narrow down exactly where the feeling was coming from. Who was she kidding?

  Collett thought. She knew she didn’t want to get that close to it anyway. She didn’t need to meet the person with such wickedness coursing through their soul. She knew what they came for. Her!

  Who they were mattered little.

  The grand room suddenly felt small and as airtight as a bank vault. Blood drained from her face. A cold sweat broke out across her forehead, rapidly cooling her flushed skin even more.

  Immediately her survival instincts took over. Out, I have to get out!

  She quickly turned on her heels and went for the nearest discreet exit. Rederrick was always so kind to her, and she cared for his wife as well. She would not keep this foul tai
nt here, and endanger them or their home.

  She went through the kitchen, passing caterers she had personally hired weeks prior and left them hard at work. She fled through the French doors at the back of the kitchen, grabbing a set of keys she spotted on the side counter as she passed. She prayed she could find the vehicle to match for a quick getaway.

  Hoping her hasty exit was obvious enough to lead the evil away from the house, she didn‘t even look to see if anyone was following her. She didn’t know what she would do once she had diverted it away, but she’d rather die than have any harm befall the people of this home. Collett cared for them too much. In her rush out the back door she wondered how she could’ve let this happen. Why did I let them get so close?

  Ignoring the cold, bitter air whipping her exposed skin, she hurried around back toward where the catering and wait staff had parked their cars. She pressed the grey button on the little black remote and saw the lights on a small red Cavalier blink.

  She rushed over to the car, quickly pulling open the door to climb inside. Collett scanned her surroundings, and following her current run of bad luck, she realized the other cars around this one blocked her from the road. Her only way out would be to go out through the field, to her left.

  Just as Collett inserted the keys she heard it. A low, deep, guttural growl. Not bothering to turn around to see what hunted her, she twisted the key, sparking the engine to life, jammed the car into reverse, and backed out of the parking area.

  Spinning the wheel and throwing the car into drive, she revved the engine, and maneuvered the car around the other cars by weaving through the field, spitting dirt and rocks out from underneath the tires. She made her way out through the back field bordering the property, aiming to get to the road as quickly as possible.

  The little two-door car bumped and jarred over the ground as Collett drove as fast as she dared over the rough, uneven terrain. She sped over a bump larger than the others, and heard a sharp crack emanating from the undercarriage. Ignoring it, she drove on, hoping to find a small advantage somewhere before the car gave out.