Inferno by Cara Bristol
Chapter Fourteen
For the umpteenth time, Geneva checked her phone. Nada. No messages, missed calls, or texts. I really hurt him. She swallowed. What’s wrong with me?
She’d debated all Sunday whether to call him or give him time to cool down. He hadn’t been in any mood to listen when he’d stormed out of the park. Experience with Trenton had taught her that reasoning with an angry man proved futile. But Inferno’s anger originated from hurt. She had to repair the damage she’d caused.
As soon as she got up, before having coffee, she’d texted him. I’m very sorry. Please forgive me. Can I see you?
She slumped at her desk and fingered a velvety tulip petal. The bouquet’s eclectic mix of bright gerbera daisies, tulips, and daffodils was colorful and cheerful. Red roses were beautiful, traditionally romantic, but she preferred the spring flowers. They’re more me, she thought. Different. Untraditional. She supposed the florist had chosen the others when Inferno had ordered flowers.
She’d done a lot of thinking yesterday and had arrived at the conclusion he was worth the risk to her heart.
Her office phone rang, and she grabbed it. “Inferno?”
“No…”
“I’m sorry. This is the Church of Argent. Geneva speaking. May I help you?”
“This is Trenton.”
“Oh, hi.” She hadn’t recognized his voice.
“Inferno…isn’t that the guy with the red face? Is that who you’re seeing?”
She recalled she’d led him to believe she was dating someone. She hoped she was seeing Inferno, but, after yesterday morning, she couldn’t be sure. “What do you want? Did something happen with the land sale?” Had the deal fallen through? Escrow couldn’t have closed this fast.
“I’m in Spokane on business again. I’d like to take you to dinner tonight—to a real restaurant, not that little hole in the wall in Argent.”
Insulting her town wouldn’t persuade her to see him—not that she’d agree under any circumstances. “I’m busy today.” She owed him no explanations, but if she didn’t give him an excuse, he’d keep pushing and pushing. “I’m meeting Wanda,” she said, as if her car was a person.
“I can’t believe you still drive that beater.”
Trenton had often forgotten her birthday, but he remembered Wanda’s name?
“Yes, and she’s being repaired, and I’m supposed to get her back today.”
“Tomorrow evening?”
“I’m busy then, too.”
“Wednesday?”
“Busy.”
“It’s him, isn’t it? What was his name, Fireball?”
His mocking words and tone lit up her temper. “Trenton, we’re divorced.”
“So we can’t talk?”
“When the check is ready, we can talk. Goodbye.” She started to hang up.
“Geneva, wait! I have the check!” he called.
She pressed the phone to her ear. “You don’t have the check. It’s too soon.”
“I do. I intended to present it to you. As usual, you ruined the surprise.”
Still pushing her buttons. “Escrow doesn’t close that fast.”
“It does when it’s a cash sale, both parties want a quick close, and one party knows the escrow officer really well.”
So, he was sleeping with the escrow officer. She didn’t care. She did care about the money. After the hell he’d put her through, money was the least of what he’d owed her. “Why didn’t you mail it?”
“Because I’m here! I figured you’d prefer to get it quickly. I’ll drop it off at the church tomorrow, okay?”
“Fine.” She paused. “Thank you,” she added churlishly.
“Was that so hard?”
Her cell phone started to play Inferno’s tune, and her heart rate spiked. “Gotta go. Goodbye, Trenton.” She hung up on him and grabbed her cell. “Hi.”
* * * *
Inferno guided the new, improved Wanda into the parking lot. Mysk had delivered the car via a cloaked, hyperspeed air vehicle to the field beyond Kevanne’s lavender farm. The location provided seclusion and the space to land flying vehicles.
He hoped Geneva wouldn’t be disappointed or upset. Mysk had altered Wanda quite a bit—more than Inferno had anticipated. On the outside, she looked pretty much the same—although a new paint treatment had given her a bright-and-shiny finish—but her mechanics? Well, she wasn’t mechanical anymore. Like, not at all. The new, improved Wanda had ’Topian tech inside. A special refracting screen made it appear the auto had a combustion V-6 engine, but if someone tinkered with her, he’d get a shock. Literally.
He parked Wanda and grabbed his phone. To his surprise, he discovered his device had died, the battery having run down. How long had that been like that? He connected it to the new charger/holder Mysk had installed in Wanda. The phone came on, revealing he had a text.
I’m very sorry. Please forgive me. Can I see you?
Worry fell away, and his chest expanded with warmth. Of course he forgave her! He phoned her.
“Hi.” She answered on the first ring.
“Hi,” he said.
“I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I don’t believe you’re a Xeno or Satan or anything like that.”
“It’s okay. I only got your text a few minutes ago, or I would have responded. I didn’t reach out to you first because we both needed a little time to reflect.”
“I understand.” She sighed.
“I do want to see you.”
“I’m glad. You sound like you’re in a tunnel. Are you on speaker?”
“I am. My phone died, so I plugged it into Wanda’s charger so I could call you.”
“Wanda doesn’t have a charger.”
“She does now.” Among other things.
“Her repairs are finished?”
“She’s done and waiting for you outside.”
“I’ll be right there!” She hung up.
He leaped out of the vehicle, nerves jittering. She had sounded glad to hear from him, but he never knew what to expect. When he thought he’d settled everything, it blew up in his face. He needed to be calm when he talked to her. As he moved away from the car, something hit his shoe, but when he glanced around, he didn’t see anything. He verified he was alone then expelled a burst of nervous fire from his fingertips.
Moments later, Geneva barreled out. Instead of making a beeline for Wanda, she threw her arms around him. “I’m so sorry!”
“I’m sorry for getting so mad.” He hugged her tight. Taking a chance, he lowered his head and kissed her. She clung to him, kissing him with fervor. His hearts swelled with happiness and relief. He explored her mouth, his tongue twining with hers. Her soft breasts pressed against his chest. His loins tightened and hardened as heat surged to his cock.
They kissed until she was breathless, and he was hard. Then they hugged some more, and he tangled his hands in her soft hair.
“Forget everything I said about going slow. I was being stupid. I want to be with you.” She hugged his waist.
“It’s not stupid to be cautious.”
She peered up at him. “I’d never met an alien until you. And you’re my first, uh, boyfriend since my divorce.”
Boyfriend. His brothers’ mates had explained that term to him. A boyfriend was a casual-to-serious male partner in a relationship. He was her genmate, not a boyfriend. And not just the first since the divorce but the last. Her only. Semantics didn’t matter. Tremendous progress had been achieved!
“I like the sound of that,” he replied.
Her face lit up with a beaming smile. “Well, uh, good.”
“Come check out Wanda. Mysk installed a few more mods than I expected.”
She circled the car. “She’s so shiny! The dings and dents are gone. Did he do some body work? It looks like she got a paint job.”
He nodded. “Yes.
“And she runs well?”
“Better than ever. I need to show you something.” He popped and raised the hood, and beckoned. “Come see this.”
“Her engine looks factory-new!”
“Hold on. Stay there. Don’t touch anything.” He opened the driver’s side door, reached under the dash, and depressed a small button.
She gasped. “Where’s the engine? The radiator? The hoses? I don’t recognize any of this…stuff.”
He joined her by the hood. “Everything mechanical and electrical has been replaced with ’Topian tech.” He pointed to two sensors. “These shoot out a holographic image camouflaging her innards. If anyone peeks under the hood, they’ll see a standard automobile combustion engine, but if they touch anything while the beam is on, they’ll get a mild shock to deter them from probing further.”
Her eyes were round.
He returned to the vehicle, reactivated the screening device, and then lowered the hood. “Are you okay? It’s different from what you’re used to.”
She lifted her shoulders. “It’s a surprise…but I’m happy to have her back.” She slipped her arm around his waist.
He released a relieved sigh. “Come sit inside.” He opened the driver’s door for her and then went around and slipped into the passenger seat.
“Everything seems the same…mostly.” She eyed the new buttons on the dash.
“More or less.” He handed her the keys.
“It still uses a key?”
“For appearance’s sake. When you switch on the ignition, there’s a different process going on.”
Geneva inserted the key. Wanda hummed. “She’s quieter.” She patted the dash.
A few cars were parked on the road and in driveways, but no one was on foot or cruising by. “This button here”—he pressed a knob, and a blue light came on—“activates the cloaking device.”
“Cloaking device? We’re invisible right now?”
He nodded, checked the road again, and turned it off. The light went out.
“It’s like your hover scooter.”
“Yes. It’s a safety feature. Mysk felt if you ever needed to hide, if you were traveling through a high-crime area, you’d be safe in your car.”
“That was very thoughtful of him,” she said, and then she chuckled. “If it can be invisible, can it hover, too?”
“That’s what this does.” He pointed to another button. “Wanda runs on tires on the pavement, but if you need to go around traffic jams or venture off-road, you can switch to hover mode. Just be sure you activate the cloaking device first and no one sees you vanish.”
“Got it! She’s like Super Wanda. The mods must have cost a lot. He couldn’t have done this for free. I should have the money from the land soon, and I can pay him.”
He shook his head and squeezed her hand. “No. Mysk doesn’t want money. In fact, he said this gave him an idea for a new line of vehicles. He was happy to practice on Wanda.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’ll have to call him and thank him in person. Can you give me his number?”
“I will. Would you like to take Wanda for a spin?”
“Oh, yes!” Her eyes lit up. “I still shift into gear the same?”
“Everything on the inside will operate the way you’re used to—shifting, steering, braking, the climate controls, the music system.”
They buckled their seat belts, and Geneva backed out of the parking space, shifted into drive, and pulled out of the parking lot. “To Wanda!” she cheered.
* * * *
Holy shit! Hunkered down in his car, Trenton watched as flames seemed to shoot out of the guy’s hands. The guy had to be holding a flamethrower or blow torch, but, parked halfway down the block, Trenton was too far away to get a good look. He didn’t dare move closer, or he’d get caught.
Then Geneva came running and threw herself at the guy. He was close enough to see that! His gut churned with jealousy to see his wife exchange spit with another man. The two of them examined the wreck she drove, and, in the blink of an eye, Wanda vanished. One second the car was there, then it wasn’t…then it was.
What the hell? Trenton rubbed his eyes. Gotta stop hitting the sauce so hard. I’m starting to see shit. Quickly, he hunched way down in the seat as his wife and the freak pulled out of the parking lot and headed his way. How could she prefer that guy over him? Sure, he’d screwed up, believing the grass greener on the other side, but he’d come to his senses. Their marriage had been good, and it would be better now. She couldn’t enjoy living in a shithole town, working for her prig of an uncle.
Trenton had been keeping an eye on her for a while—she had nothing here. She went to work. She went home. Rinse. Repeat. He’d been pondering how best to approach her when Red appeared on the scene. Trenton hadn’t been worried at first—she’d never be interested in that freak, but then she’d softened toward him. He’d brought her a bouquet of cheap flowers, not roses like the ones Trenton had sent. Trenton knew he had to do something, but Geneva had refused to see him, so he’d fabricated a story about having land to sell and drew up some fake escrow papers. He didn’t own land.
He shouldn’t have said he had a check ready because she would be pissed when she found out he’d lied, but he’d panicked.
He’d hoped Red was out of the picture after the two of them got into a big fight in the park yesterday, but then the freak had turned up with that old beater she loved so much, and it looked like they were back on. That car should have been junked years ago—although he had to admit it looked better than he’d remembered.
When Wanda disappeared around the corner, Trenton pulled into the church and parked. As he got out of his car, a glint on the asphalt caught his eye. Next to the area where Wanda had been parked, he spied a pink rock on a silver chain. Red must have dropped it. Trenton remembered it from the day he’d run into the guy outside Millie’s Diner. What man wore a pink necklace anyway?
Trenton slipped the necklace into his pocket and hurried inside. Geneva could show up any minute, so he didn’t have much time. He’d been to the church once years ago when her aunt was still alive, so he knew where the offices were located. Through Geneva’s open door, he spied his roses sitting on the credenza behind her desk. The cheap flowers from Red sat on the desk.
He grabbed a sheet of paper from the printer and scrawled a note.
We were meant to be together. Forever and ever.
He slipped the note into the top desk drawer. He started to leave, and then, with a shrug, he pushed the cheap bouquet off the desk. The vase shattered, and water and flowers spilled across the floor.
He hurried out of the church and drove away.