A Secret Fate Read Online Free Page B

uttered.
    “Yeah. So tell me about yourself, Finn.”
    He shrugged. “What’s to tell?”
    “Well, I don’t suppose you remember where you were, so how about we start with your last name? I gave you mine, but you never said yours.”
    “Graham.”
    “Okay. How old are you?”
    “Hmmm … thirty-four last time I checked. You?”
    “Twenty-five.”
    Finn made a little scoffing sound and squeezed his eyebrows together. “You look a little older than that, a little more experienced than a kid of twenty-five … especially the way you handle yourself.”
    “Yeah?” Cael wasn’t sure if he was flattered or not.
    “What’d you do with my gun?”
    “I have it here. I’ll just hold on to it for a while if you don’t mind, considering you were pointing it at me when we arrived.”
    “I wasn’t actually pointing it at you. As I remember it, the gun was mostly dangling from my hand while we were latched on to each other as if our lives depended on it. Wish I knew why. Maybe I should be the one leery of you. Speaking of arriving …” Finn took a swig of his beer, “how the hell did we get here? Do you have some magical ability to transport through space?”
    Cael raised his eyebrows at the guy, surprised he would blurt something like that out and wondered how much he knew about his kind of people.
    Finn laughed. “Unless you have a better explanation. I mean, I know a couple of lads back home who can do some fun magic tricks. There’s a guy who can light a candle just by thinking about it, or so he claims. I’ve seen him do it, though I haven’t figured out what his gimmick is yet. Another guy could move a quarter across the table. Those two were always pulling those little stunts, trying to impress the ladies. Worked too, most of the time and since I usually benefited, I always went along with their little jokes, pretending I could do things as well. I learned a few cards tricks and I do a little disappearing act with a quarter and a napkin. Always made the ladies giggle when the quarter appeared in their hair. Gave me a chance to run my fingers through it—a sample of what was to come.” Finn licked his lips and Cael frowned. Is this guy for real?
    Finn caught Cael’s serious stare. “Oh, come on, man. I’m just grasping at straws here. I haven’t got a clue.”
    Cael nodded. “Okay.”
    Finn ordered a pizza from room service since neither man wanted to go out in the fancy suits they were wearing. The island had an extremely laid-back atmosphere, not many tuxes walking around. They needed to get some clothes sooner or later and Cael needed to get some money.
    Once the pizza arrived, they devoured it in minutes, then Finn stretched out on the sofa, his shirt unbuttoned most of the way and un-tucked from his pants.
    “Too bad there’s no TV in here. I could really get lost in a football game right about now, you know that game you Americans call soccer?”
    “Yeah, I got it, but since this is a honeymoon resort, maybe they figure there shouldn’t be a need for televisions.”
    “Don’t look at me, sweetheart.” Finn made some kissing noises and winked. “I didn’t pick this place … at least I don’t think I did.” Finn chuckled and closed his eyes.
    Cael leaned back and pinched his eyes, willing the onset of a headache away. The minute Cael heard Finn snoring he went into his room, shut the door, then disappeared. Materializing a few seconds later in the vault room of the Sectory, he went to the closed door and listened, just in case. He didn’t want to have to explain to his mother why he was sneaking around.
    Vault room was only a name Cael gave the closet-sized space because it contained both his and his mom’s safes. The door did have a lock on it, even though there wasn’t much to worry about with any of the other people who periodically stayed at the Sectory, nor with any of the permanent residents, like Ben or Red, aka Dr. Flynn. However, Cael didn’t have the combination to his