Amalgamate

Chapter 29

Rowan awoke to the aroma of fresh coffee and cinnamon. But, when she opened her eyes and shifted, she felt a stab of pain in her neck and back. Then the memories of last night flooded back, and she reminded herself that there was no price too high when it came to her pride.

Cuan watched her as she stood, clearly in pain from spending all night rolled up in a ball in a cast iron tub, stubborn damn woman. The water heating over the fire would provide some relief, if he could convince her to take a bath while they talked.

Rowan didn't' even look at Cuan as she reached for a mug to pour herself a steaming hot cup of coffee. Cuan was watching her like he was waiting for her head to spin around, but he was calm. He was waiting to see if she'd calmed down. Apparently, he thought coffee and cinnamon rolls would bring her around. She wondered who he'd talked to in the middle of the night?

She could feel his eyes on her so after mixing the perfect coffee cocktail, she turned leaning her back against the counter. Holding the steaming mug of warmth to her lips she peered at him over the edge of her mug, waiting for him to break the uncomfortable silence.

"There are some pastries." He nodded in the direction of the oven.

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. He'd warmed them up? Guilt was such a marvelous emotion and it did indicate remorsefulness. Too bad she didn't down shift that fast.

Opening the oven, she removed a pan of cinnamon rolls, which smelled divine and made her mouth water. As she deposited a gooey lump of goodness onto her plate, she noticed Cuan staring at her. She decided to be the bigger person, "Would you like one then?"

"Ah, yes...please." Cuan replied, astonished that she had even considered him. Maybe she'd cooled off a little?

Not wanting to approach him, she planned to slide the roll across the table, but then she noticed it was covered with papers. There was an intricate family tree, several of them actually, scattered over the small, square, wooden table.

Now she could make a guess at who he'd talked to- Raine. She was a shoot from the hip kinda person, beatin' around the bush wasn't her game. Rowan liked her because there was no bullshit. Coffee, rolls and information? He wanted something. This was a bribe of sorts.

"What's this?" She set the rolls down on the table, careful to avoid the labyrinth of connections he had so painstakingly connected during the night.

"This," Cuan replied pointing to a sheet of paper, more specifically, to her name on the paper,"...is your familial lineage."

Rowan was hypnotized by the myriad of connections covering the pages in front of her. She craved knowledge, and order, the way most women craved stylish clothing or jewelry. Lifting her eyes questioningly, she raised an eyebrow at Cuan.

Cuan took the hint, "I'm going to use this information to show you who you descend from, why you are here and why you are so important to us."

'Us? Important? This was a turn of events.' She wanted to know just who 'us' comprised of. She was guarded as she questioned him, suspicious of his true purpose. "Why?" She wanted to know why he'd had a change of heart, even though knowing wouldn't change anything for her at this point.

Pushing his arms off the table, and behind his head, he stared into her violet eyes, "...because I screwed up." No, he'd fucking screwed up royally. He could've been kissin' this woman good morning after an evening of carnal sex, but instead he was trying to dig himself out of a deep hole. He just hoped it wasn't bottomless.

Oh, holy hell, Cuan was admitting that he did something wrong? "Uh, huh." was all she could muster, "And?" her question hung in the air.

"Because we need you on board, and that means you need to be able to trust me." He never broke eye contact. In his experience, if a person wouldn't look you in the eye when they spoke to you they couldn't be trusted.