“And everyone?” Jehan prompted. “Who’s Karsten?”
Her face blanched. No need for her to ask him if he saw her texts. Her guilty look said it all. “He’s my partner.”
“Partner?” He practically snarled the word.
“My coworker. Karsten volunteers with me at the border camps.”
Some of Jehan’s irritation cooled at the explanation. “For a coworker, he sounds very eager to have you back. He’s no good without you?”
Her expression relaxed into one of mild dismissal. “Karsten is...a bit dramatic. Right now, he’s concerned about a food and medical supply shipment that’s being held up at a checkpoint near Marrakesh. Normally I make sure things clear without delays, but unfortunately this shipment didn’t come in until after my parents called me home.”
“What happens if the shipment doesn’t get cleared?”
She crossed her arms over her breasts. “The food will rot and the medicine will spoil. It happens all too often.”
“And this Karsten is unable to retrieve the supplies without you?” Jehan couldn’t mask his judgment of the other man. If necessary food and medicine were sitting somewhere waiting to be delivered, he’d make damn sure it got where it needed to go.
Seraphina slipped off the sofa and walked to the marble-topped island where Jehan stood. “A lot of times, when things are delayed like this, my father’s name helps loosen them up. Sometimes, it’s a matter of finding the right palm to grease.”
Jehan nodded. Corruption in local governments was nothing new. That Seraphina seemed comfortable navigating those tangled webs was impressive. She kept impressing him, and he wasn’t sure he should like it as much as he did. “What do you think will free up this shipment of supplies?”
She shrugged faintly. “Does it matter? Karsten hasn’t been able to get them on his own so far, and by the time our week is out here, it’ll be too late. Food and medicine doesn’t last long in the desert.”
No, he supposed it didn’t.
But maybe there was some way to fix the situation.
“You say you know the checkpoint where the supplies are being held up?”
“It’s on the outskirts of Marrakesh. A lot of our materials pass through that same one.”
Jehan considered. “That’s only a few hours away from here by car.”
“What are you saying?” She frowned. “Jehan, what are you thinking?”
“Let me borrow your phone.”
She handed it over, still staring at him in question. Jehan entered his brother’s number and waited for him to pick up. It took several rings, then Marcel’s confused voice came over the line in greeting. “Hello?”
Jehan got right to the point. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Jehan? What the hell are you doing calling me? And where did you get the phone? You know there’s supposed to be no technology or outside communication—”
“I know,” he bit off impatiently. “Where are you right now?”
“Ah...I’m home, but I’m getting ready to head out for a while. What’s going on? Is everything all right with Seraphina?”
“She’s fine. We’re fine,” Jehan assured him. “I need a vehicle. As soon as possible.”
Marcel gasped. “What?”
Seraphina’s eyes went about as wide as he imagined his brother’s had just now.
“It’s important, Marcel. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t.”
“But you can’t leave the villa. If you leave Seraphina alone out there, you’ll be breaking the pact. Hell, you already are just by making this call to me.”
“No one will know I called except you.” Jehan glanced at Seraphina and shook his head. “As for breaking the pact by leaving her at the villa without me, not happening. She’s coming with me, and we won’t be gone long. No one will be the wiser.”
“Except, once again, me.” Marcel groaned. “I probably don’t want to know what any of this is about, do I?”
“Probably not.” Jehan smiled.
Marcel exhaled a curse. “Please tell me you don’t want my Lambo.”
“Actually, I was hoping for one of the Rovers from the Darkhaven fleet. With a full tank of fuel, if you would.”
Marcel’s deep sigh gusted over the line. “Does Seraphina realize yet what a demanding pain in the ass you can be?”
Jehan met her gaze and grinned. “I imagine she’s figuring that out.”
Marcel chuckled. “I’ll drop it off at sundown.”
CHAPTER 9
“Careful with that crate, Aleph. Those glass vials of vaccines are fragile.”
Walking across the moonlit sand with her arm around one of the children from the refugee camp and a box of bandages held in her other hand, Sera directed another of the volunteers to the open back of the supply-laden Range Rover. “Massoud, take the large sack of rice to Fatima in the mess tent and ask her where she’d like us to store the rest of the raw grains. Let her know we have some crates of canned meats and boxes of fruit here too.”
Behind her at the vehicle, Jehan was busy unloading the crates and boxes and sacks they’d just arrived with from the checkpoint near Marrakesh. Sera couldn’t help pausing to watch him work. Dressed in jeans and a loose linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his glyph-covered forearms, he pitched in like the best of her other workers. Even better, in fact, since he was Breed. His strength and stamina outpaced half a dozen humans put together.