Lee Child - MatchUp

“You really believe that?”

“Today I do. ’Cause I got my tape, thanks to you.”

She snapped her fingers and suddenly a light rain of gold dust showered down on his head and shoulders. He smiled despite himself, but by the time he went to brush it away, it seemed to be evaporating already.

“You must be eager to return home to your Gabrielle.”

“I am,” he admitted. “Two days is the longest I’ve been away from her since we mated.”

“Then you should go to her. Our work is done.”

“So it is.” He cleared his throat, holding out his hand. “Not that I don’t trust you with it, but I’ll take that video card now.”

“Of course. I have no use for it.” She dropped it into his open palm. “Consider it a memento of your visit to my city.”

He chuckled. “I hope you’ll understand if I’d rather burn it than watch it. I don’t need any reminders of the fact that both of us were nearly outed tonight.”

Her mouth quirked as she stared at him in the postmidnight darkness. “You know, I never thought I’d say this, but it’s been a pleasure meeting you, Lucan Thorne.”

“Likewise,” he said as he slipped the video card into his pocket. He extended his hand and smiled when she clasped his fingers in a firm grasp. “I hope you get it back, Lilliane.”

“Get what?”

“Your ability to fall in love.”

Her smile faded, but the light in her solemn, dark eyes seemed warm with acknowledgment. “Even if it means losing this?”

She vanished from view.

Then he saw her standing on the rooftop of the old house two stories overhead.

“Godspeed and a good life to you, Lucan Thorne,” she called down.

“To you as well, Lilliane Williams.”

She turned as if she were about to walk the length of the roof.

Instead, she took to the air and disappeared from view.

LUCAN HAD BEEN HOME FOR just over twenty-four hours, too many of them spent in the Order’s war room with his comrades, reviewing the fire he’d put out in New Orleans and gearing up to fight the even bigger problems taking shape in Boston. As critical as his work was with his fellow warriors, the only place he wanted to be was in bed with his lovely Breedmate.

As the meeting wore on, Lucan found his thoughts straying repeatedly to Gabrielle. He’d even go so far as to say his distraction these past few hours bordered on obsession. Every breath he drew into his lungs seemed wreathed with the scent of her. The elusive cinnamon-sweet fragrance tickled his nostrils and made his pulse hammer heavily, his veins drumming with the need to be as close as he could get.

“What do you think, Lucan? Do we take out the Rogue nest down in Southie first or chase down the lead on those skin traders over in Chinatown and ash the Rogues another night?”

The abrupt question from one of his comrades seated around the conference room table snapped him out of his sensory haze. He blinked at Tegan and the other Breed warriors, feeling embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming in the middle of the patrol review he was leading.

He cleared his throat.

“I want those skin traders stopped first. The Rogues are a nuisance, but we can flush them out anytime.” He stood, effectively adjourning the meeting. “I have something I need to take care of right now. Tegan, Dante, you two come up with a plan for the raid on the Chinatown location. You can run it by me later.”

With his orders dispersed, he stalked out of the war room and headed through the Boston compound with a purpose, all his thoughts and senses homed in on Gabrielle. Just thinking about her made his mouth water and his fangs punch out of his gums.

He sought her out like a man possessed, oblivious to everything except the thought of closing the distance between himself and his mate. And the strange perfume that seemed to beckon to him for the past hours only intensified now that he was on the path to Gabrielle’s side.

He found her in their living quarters.

Fresh out of her bath, she was sitting in their massive bed wearing just a frilly little bit of black lace.

God, she looked delectable.

He was so swept up in the sight and scent of her that he hardly noticed she held a book in her lap, which she held up as he approached the bed.

“Your package arrived from New Orleans a while ago,” she said, smiling. “A signed first edition of Interview with the Vampire ? I have the best mate in the world.”

He frowned. “I didn’t send that book. The one I bought for you got ruined.”

Gabrielle’s auburn brows rose. “So this must be from your new friend, Lilliane?”

“Apparently so.”

“Does that mean she sent the candle too?”

“Candle?” A twinge of uncertainty arrowed through him. “What kind of candle?”

“That one.”

She pointed to the flickering flame.

For a second, he expected to see one of the burnt umber glass jars he’d spotted in that mysterious shop. But the candle resting on the bureau across the room came from some other, more ordinary store. The label said Cassidy’s Corner and the name of the fragrance was Orleans. He inhaled the air above its flickering flame and smelled vetiver, sweet olive, and a dozen other scents that reminded him of one of the most magical cities in the world.

“This came with the candle,” she said, pulling a delicate white card from between the pages of her book.

He took it from her and read the calligraphic script written on the back of the Feu de Coeur calling card.

Light this flame for your greatest passion and be grateful that your heart’s desire is already yours.

A slightly modified version of the card Lilliane had described to him, the one that had changed her life.

A custom-made version just for him.

And Gabrielle.

She was smiling when he looked at her. “I followed the instructions.” She patted the bed where they’d so often made love. “It works. I’ve never been so grateful to have you back.”

“Grateful,” he said, tossing the card aside to climb onto the mattress. “Gratitude is just the beginning of what I feel when I’m with you.”

And he found himself grateful for something else as well.

He’d lost many things in his immortal life, but never the ability to rest in the arms of a lover, to cherish the smell and feel of the one for whom he felt destined.

And he had Lilliane to thank for that realization.

WHEN LISA SCOTTOLINE WAS ASKED if she would be a part of this anthology she said yes, but with a condition.

“I want to write with Nelson DeMille.”

Aiming to please, we contacted Nelson who said, absolutely, since he was a huge Lisa Scottoline fan.

And the team was born.

Both Lisa and Nelson are seasoned pros. They each have tens of millions of books in print worldwide, and they’ve each created a memorable character. Lisa’s Bennie Rosato is a tough-as-nails Philadelphia lawyer with a big heart, while John Corey is a former NYPD homicide detective, who still carries a gun and seems to have trouble keeping a job.

For Lisa, animals are a huge part of her life as she shares her home with a variety of dogs, cats, and chickens. So it’s not unexpected that animals are involved in this story. The challenge came with Lisa having to deal head-on with Nelson’s alpha-male protagonist, and Nelson having to work firsthand with an alpha-female hero.

Right off, they both agreed to help the other get the opposite sex right.

How this story was physically produced could be a tale in and of itself. By his own admission Nelson writes all his novels in longhand, on a yellow legal pad with a number one pencil. Lisa utilizes modern technology with a word processor. But though their techniques differ, their skills as writers are similar and the result is an entertaining and humorous encounter between two people who could not be more different.