Matt Archer: Bloodlines (Matt Archer #4) by Kendra C. Highley Read Free Book Online

identifying articles on your person, but I
just…can’t go without it.”
    The rawness in his tone surprised me. “She never got
remarried, you know.”
    “I know,” he said. “She never asked for a divorce.”
    My body went rigid with shock. “What? Are you telling me--”
    “We’re still married, Matt.” Dad smiled. “No matter what’s
happened the last seventeen years, she never asked for a divorce. And I never
wanted one.”
    “But…but she’s dated a few guys!” I said. They were still
married? But…but…but…
    “I dated a few women, too. None of them stuck,” Dad said. “I
just never found anyone else that fit.”
    I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. It took several
heartbeats for me to recover enough to say, “She said the same thing about the
guys she dated.”
    “Did she?” Dad’s smile broadened into a grin. “Huh.”
    I couldn’t believe it…they were still married. Oh, man, if
Mom found out Dad was here with me, I would be toast. It’s not like I could
email her about it—his involvement with Pentagram Strike Force was highly
classified. The CIA had given Aunt Julie and Colonel Black all kinds of grief
when they asked to contact him. Apparently military intelligence wasn’t
“spooky” enough to warrant more cooperation. Stupid, but no one asked me.
    Feeling weird, but like I needed to share a secret in kind,
I held up the St. Christopher medal. “Her name’s Ella. She has auburn hair and
green eyes, gets straight As in just about everything and is the best
snowboarder I know. And…” I’d never told anyone, not even Uncle Mike, but for
some reason, it seemed like the right time to tell Dad. “And I love her.”
    He didn’t roll his eyes or make a face like most adults
would at an admission like that from a guy my age. Instead, he nodded solemnly
and said, “Then keep that medal close. Maybe it’ll help you find a way back to
her.”
    I let that sink in, then asked, “This trip to the
coven…should I be worried about it?”
    He looked out across the desert, like a guy weighing his
words. “I’ve seen a lot of strange things—watching you fight last night
included—but I’ll tell you this…I’m worried about the trip out there. There’s
something unpredictable and unnatural about what these people can do. I can’t
say whether or not you should be worried, but I will say be wary. Watch,
listen…don’t rush to do anything, not until we’ve assessed the entire
situation. Okay?”
    He’d only met me—well, for real anyway—two days ago, and yet
he already seemed to know I had a tendency to rush in first. I didn’t think
Uncle Mike told him. Maybe he was just good at reading people. Either way,
hearing “be careful” from a guy like my dad, someone who lived at the
intersection of dangerous and crazy, was more than enough to convince me not to
do something stupid, no matter how badly I wanted to.
    “Yes, sir.”
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    It was late evening, right before sunset, when Aunt Julie
returned with her team. I’d been sitting with Uncle Mike and Captain Johnson,
planning our to visit the coven, and I didn’t miss Mike’s long sigh of relief
when their Humvee pulled up. With only one sat-phone and no other communication
equipment left usable after the attack the second night we were here, we didn’t
even have a walkie-talkie to check in with her.
    As soon as her vehicle stopped, she jumped out and jogged
over to us. “Permission to speak, Major.”
    I hid a smile. At home, Aunt Julie totally wore the pants.
Out on ops, though, she was all about protocol when other people were around. I
found it funny that they’d both dropped their guard long enough to flirt and
fall in love during their first mission together in Afghanistan. That didn’t
mean it was safe to approach the major’s tent without a lot of throat-clearing
first, though. I’d caught them making out more than once while we were in the
field.
    Mike nodded. “What did you