Free Mimics of Rune 02- Surrender by Aimee Laine Page B

tell the woman who she is—”
    A soft click of a receiver preceded James’s voice. “It’s bad, Wyatt. You thought Montreal was going to give you information on human trafficking … well, Lily’s background is so far out of that league … only worse because her own mother gave her up.”
    “Shit,” Wyatt said. “That’s why you guys were so secretive in Montreal.”
    Cael agreed, though he didn’t say as much. “I do think having a chat with dear old mom is important. I don’t, however, think Lily should do it. She’s been through enough in her life not to go there.” And you should have seen the horror in her eyes when she realized the connection.
    “You can do it, right, Cael?” Wyatt asked.
    He’d mimicked plenty of women, though not all Mimics could switch genders. “Yeah, but I think we need someone more suited to manipulation of the female variety.”
    “I didn’t think James could be a girl,” Wyatt said.
    “He means Maggie,” James said with a chuckle.
    “You think she’ll do it?” Cael asked. He kicked at a rock on the driveway. “I think she also needs to mimic the wife, because Lily’s cover is already breaking. The ends of her hair are already back to a pale blonde, more than I’ve seen before.”
    “How are you holding up?” Charley asked.
    Cael stared out at the water. “I don’t need to change until my birthday. You know that. Lily’s the only—”
    “I meant how are you dealing with Lily in the arms of another man?”
    Cael kept his growl to himself.
    “So—” Wyatt’s voice broke through as a scuffling sound whispered in the background. “Maggie. She comes back with Chase Saturday. We can fly her out that night if she agrees. By Sunday, she’ll be the replacement. Can Lily hold out for two days?”
    Cael blew out a breath. “She’ll have to. If she can’t, I’ll jump in temporarily, but you guys better convince Maggie because if I have to sleep in the same room as the guy, you’re all going to pay for my torture.” A small smile broke Cael’s constant scowl.
    “If anyone can convince her she’s needed, it’ll be you, James,” Wyatt said.
    Wonderful. The two on opposing ends of the life-is-about-me spectrum need to talk. The wind kicked up, blowing more salty sea air Cael’s way.
    “No,” Charley said. “It’ll have to be Chase that convinces her. He asked her to stay. She did. He asked her to take him to the fun parks in Florida. She did. Everything she’s done in the last month has been for Chase. He’ll need to know what’s going on so he can both agree to let her go and convince her to do so.”
    Cael turned toward the house. Lily can’t stay here, even if she wants to. I’ll have to convince her to let Max go, no matter what.
    The front door opened to Lily standing in its midst. She waved him forward.
    “Gotta go,” he said. “Let me know before Saturday if she doesn’t agree.”
    “And in the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for the real Angela. And the girl. God help her if she’s fallen into—” Charley stopped.
    “What?” James, Wyatt and Cael all said at the same time.
    “No, no, let me—let me just think on this one for a while.”
    Despite wanting to press, Cael knew Charley could be as silent as Roy if she tried.
    “I’ll call later with an update.” He flipped the phone closed and walked toward the most beautiful woman in the world.
    • • •
    Lily wrung her hands as Cael’s long strides brought him to the house. Her position on the top step gave her the perfect view into his eyes when he came to a stop before her. She read anger, determination, love, confusion and in all of those, the friendship she’d always had.
    In one step, she reached out, wrapped her arms around Cael’s neck and squeezed.
    His hand tugged at her waist, bringing her against him.
    “Thank you for whatever you’re doing. Tony’s agreed to hire you to search for Leigh.” She pulled back, patted his chest, and noted the muscles jumped