She searched his eyes. “I care about you,” she finally admitted. “But I don’t know if I can give you what you want.”
“I’ll tell you what.” Tugging her closer, he brushed his lips over hers.
Just that brief contact was like fanning an ember to flame. Wasn’t this the tangible evidence she’d demanded? Had she actually believed she could only trust fact, versus emotion? With him, that rule simply didn’t apply. “What?”
“I’ll consider that an excellent start.” He inclined his head at the door. “Ready?”
Every moment she spent with him in the network was another point of no return. For their realms.
For her heart.
She trembled but straightened resolutely, deferring to a lifetime of training that demanded she prepare for battle. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter 20
Though off limits to him as a boy, Curtis had spent hours in the Situation Room as a man. Being his milieu, he was at home amid the gleaming surfaces and digital displays. Here, tech was king, as opposed to wood—the star in the rest of the home, and the clan’s stock in trade.
The cavernous space housed a conference room, kitchen, bathroom and sleeping quarters, as well as a library containing scores of reference manuals, journals, and the esteemed Clan Scrolls. A wall of cabinetry boasted state of the art electronics, including Smart Phones, tablets, watches, and speakers. A series of digital clocks on the far wall provided, at a glance, the time in every zone around the human realm.
A bank of servers, computers, and monitors comprised the nerve center of the Situation room. They provided real time readings and information on everything from the network to crime rates and connected the clan to many of the city’s systems, courtesy of Curtis’ technical skills. In short, all the resources aided them, along with their abilities as Keepers, in guarding humans.
Normally.
Surrounded by his brothers and their mates, his parents and Saxon, Curtis keyed furiously at one of the workstations. “The dark energy bombs cut us off from the city’s major communication systems, including camera surveillance, the police, and emergency response.” With the click of a mouse, a chart appeared on the screen, displaying data and green, yellow, and red bars. “This shows the status of the network.” Curtis’ heart sank, as it had earlier when he’d told Nick. “It’s failing,” he said simply, seeing no reason to soften the blow. “We have at best forty-eight hours. Maybe less.”
His expression grim, Nick motioned everyone to the long glossy table that sat sixteen. “That means we stay here as long as possible. Defend the network. Continue to research ways of reversing the Similitude. Once the network fails, we cross realms and use the combined energy from our realm and the Watchers’ to close the portal. And prepare to do battle.”
In the chair next to Curtis, Jordan shook her head vigorously and laid her palms on the table, fingers outstretched. She swiveled her head in his direction once, resolve rippling off her in waves. Steely-eyed, her back ramrod straight, she regarded the clan. “No.”
Gone was the playful Jordan he’d encountered moments ago. In her place was the warrior from the interstate. Dread stole along his spine. “No?” he repeated softly.
Dev snorted a bitter laugh and leaned back in his chair. “Who do you think you are?”
Nick silenced him with a wave of his hand. “One of the reasons I’m a good clan leader is because I listen.” He regarded her curiously. “You have an alternative.”
She finished her coffee in one gulp and stood. “Your plan. It’s necessary. Safe. And everything the Betrayers expect you to do. I’m the newcomer here. But I have a proposition for all of you.” She spoke quickly, her eyes never coming to rest on any of them for too long. “I’ve already agreed to listen in on the brood, using my ability. But I want to do it from their fallout shelter. I can get in through the tunnels. And check on the status of the portal, firsthand.”
Curtis cracked his knuckles. Apparently, she’d devised her own plan in the last hour but hadn’t seen fit to share it with him. Why should that surprise him? Or the fresh blow to his heart hurt any less? “It’s dangerous as hell,” he retorted.
“Damn right it is,” Nick echoed.
Jordan lowered herself stiffly to the padded leather chair. Her gaze impaled each of them. “It’s what Abel would do.” She hitched her chin. “To win this war, we need to think like Betrayers.”
Like venom, the truth of her words poisoned Curtis’ thoughts. Camouflaging his trembling hands, he gripped her forearm. Had he been kidding himself they’d made progress, that her feelings for him had deepened? He’d told her to let him worry about the clan. Clearly, she didn’t trust him to follow through on his promise, though he’d demonstrated his commitment time and again.
“Your ability would allow you to do that from the safety of our network,” he said stiltedly, “with the Vitality I’m giving you.” Releasing her, he withdrew the stone he’d chosen from his pocket and slammed it on the table.
Jordan released a strangled gasp.
Satisfied he’d shut her up, he gave a sardonic laugh. The Vitality connected her to him and his clan, but the stone represented much more. In offering it to her, it formalized the declaration he’d made earlier.
She was his mate.
He’d painstakingly tied the thin leather strap around the stone, securing it. It glittered in the overhead light, practically defying any of the clan to oppose him. Though he would’ve preferred to present it to her privately, all of them needed to acknowledge this formal step, maybe Jordan most of all.
Crossing his long legs at the ankles, he rotated in his chair. The scent of his own soap on Jordan’s freshly washed skin taunted him. She wanted to be bold and brash? He’d give it right back.
“There’s another reason she wants to go that has nothing to do with helping the clan. She’s searching for the only family she has left,” he blurted, heedless of her feelings. “A woman called Magpie. I told her we would help her.” Curtis glared at Jordan. “Apparently, she didn’t believe me, or think we would help her, simply because she needed it, or without expecting something in return.”
Two spots of color rose in Jordan’s cheeks. “I’d already promised to spy on the brood.”
Oh, yeah. Dead on about her thought process.
“But nothing was said about invading brood turf,” he said, his voice rising. “In the midst of the Second Rebellion.”
“How did you think we’d find her?” she tossed back. “I have to try.”
“We have to try. I thought maybe we could figure it out together. All of us, dammit.” Curtis slammed his mug on the table. Coffee sloshed over its rim. “You don’t owe me, or any of us. Don’t you understand? You’re one of us.”
Would this woman never get it through her head they were a team? All she had to do was look around the conference table. His entire clan had assembled in the middle of the night to discuss and strategize.
Jordan slumped in her chair. “I understand. Or I’m trying to.”
His mother rose and uncapped a bottle of water before turning back to study Jordan. “My son is right. No debt is owed. We understand family. Tell us more about your plan, and Magpie.”
“She’s the brood’s equivalent to Curtis,” his father prompted from the other side of the table. “Their tech guru.”
Jordan nodded. “She’s the closest thing I’ve had to a mother since my own died.” She clenched her hands in fists. “The last contact I had with my brood was in the warehouse, with Kemp. At that point, no one knew where she was. I’m sick about what might’ve happened to her.”
Despite his frustration, Curtis took her arm in a steadying hand.
“She wouldn’t have left Abel unless she was forced.” Jordan’s voice wobbled, despite her former bravado. “He trusts her. Well, he used to
. Now, I don’t know. Something’s not right. I have to find her.”
Her vulnerability cut him. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Kemp could give me info about Magpie. If anyone knows where she is, he does. While I’m at it, I, we,” she corrected, “could find out more on the portal, and Abel’s strategy.”
Curtis bit back panic. “How are you planning on getting that info? You’re a Keeper. He’s a Betrayer. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t be able to get within ten feet of him. The Vitality would kill him. And these aren’t normal circumstances. We have to assume he has Similitude.”
“You’re right,” she agreed dispassionately. “And the energy from the portal will be more intense in the tunnels, making it even more of a risk.”
“This just gets better and better,” Curtis grumbled. “Eat.” He slid a platter of pancakes someone had hastily nuked toward her.
Carefully, she chose one and transferred it to a plate but left her fork on the table. “I have an idea."
He sighed heavily. “I’m listening.”
“What if I could re-purpose the Vitality stone?” Her brow furrowed. “Same way I was ‘re-purposing’ the Similitude. Using it to go under the radar, we might be able to get into the tunnels.” She paused. “Undetected.”
Meda exchanged an anxious look with Nick and Dev. “I asked about the same thing only days ago in this very room when we were planning how to create the Flint. I think it’s something to seriously consider.”
Dev glared at his mate and Jordan in turn. “No one’s ever done it.”
Grumbling, Curtis stormed to the workstation, needing to check the status of the network. Since they’d assembled, its energy had diminished.
He took over the explanation as he paced. “And with good reason. First of all, using the stone in a way it wasn’t intended could have unknown, far reaching consequences. What’s more, when you were using the Similitude in an alternate way, you weren’t able to stay under the radar for long periods of time. Do I need to remind you how that wreaked havoc with your uber hearing? Or how it was killing you, slowly?”
He let his words sink in, hating he was the reality check. He clutched the back of his chair. “Even though Vitality energy comes from light, and it’s a healing force, it’s potent. What if it has the same effect?”
Huffing, Jordan tossed a swing of dreadlocks over her shoulder. “We have no way of knowing if it’ll work. Unless we try.”
“Curtis, you’re right.” Nick divided a look between him and Jordan. “We still may need to take that chance. We’re short on time and weapons. We have no way of knowing how much Similitude the brood has. The Flint is the only means we have of fighting it and we already know it’s unreliable.” A flush darkened his features. Leaning forward, he took in the clan with one sweeping glance. “However, we still need to plan on creating Flint and keeping it with us. But we need to expect losses.”
“Like taking a half-loaded gun into battle,” his father muttered. “Playing Russian roulette with our own.”
“Yeah.” Nick’s voice was somber. “I know it’s dangerous and there may be unknown consequences. But I think we have to consider Meda and Jordan’s idea.” Frowning, he removed the ball cap from his head and raked his hands through his hair. “Jordan is right. I think we need to get into the fallout shelter.” He paused for several beats. “Agreed?”
No one spoke. Curtis drummed a rhythm on the table, acutely aware of every movement made by the others. Lights blinked rapidly on the computers, and a series of beeps sounded, assuring him the network continued to fail.
His parents joined hands. “Agreed,” his mother said softly.
“Agreed,” Dev echoed.
“Let’s do it,” Saxon chimed in.
“Wait!” Curtis felt whatever control he had lurching from his grasp. Sitting, he leaned toward Jordan in earnest. “First, you have to learn how to use your Vitality in the conventional way.” He snatched the stone from the table and considered not giving it to her. He also knew she couldn’t go on without it. The very thing that could save her could also endanger her. He uttered a long-suffering sigh. “It’s a given we’ll teach you and you’ll teach us.”
Jordan spread her hands. “Then we better get started.”
“Not so fast.” He stabbed a finger in her direction. “I still haven’t agreed going to the fallout shelter is the best plan. Back to Kemp. If we go,” he said angrily, “I don’t want you alone with him. Just because he spared your life in the warehouse, what makes you think he’ll do it again? Or want to help you at all?”
“The only way this will work is if I am alone with him,” Jordan countered. “I don’t know how he’ll react or what he’ll try to do. It’s a risk we have to take.”
“What if Kemp lies to you? Or tries to kill you?” Curtis persisted.
“He didn’t before.”
“What if he changes his mind?” He slammed a fist on the arm of the chair. “Or figures it’ll get him in good with Abel?”
“He won’t. I have to believe that. At the motel he carried me to safety when I could barely walk.” Her voice wavered. “He knows how much Magpie cares about me. What if she thinks I’m dead?”
Curtis ordered himself to remain focused on facts and logic, though the anguish in her expression destroyed him. “You don’t even know if you’ll be able to find him.”
“I lived in the brood all my life, remember?” She swatted at tears, her conflict almost palpable. “I know the brood’s patterns. Their habits. Before dawn, Kemp sits by himself and reads in an anteroom on the west side of the fallout shelter.”
“That was all before the Second Rebellion.”
“It’s the best we’ve got right now,” she said through clenched teeth.
Curtis huffed. “So, you’re saying the best plan we can come up with is to hope we find him?”
“What choice do we have? We can’t just sit here and wait for Abel to finish the portal.”
Curtis’ lips curled in a glower. She was right and he hated it. He aimed an incisive look at Dev. “Didn’t you learn anything while you were in the Watchers’ realm? Get on the inside lane with ‘mysterious ways?’”
Dev shook his head. “They taught me a lot but not enough to invoke them. I’m subject to them, same as you.”
Resigned, Curtis turned back to Jordan. “Say you’re able to talk to Kemp, even find Magpie. Then what?”
“If she’s alive, I’m hoping she’ll want to leave the brood.” She spoke quickly, her words tumbling over one another. “What if both she and Kemp could be transformed, like me? They should be given a chance. A choice.”
His mother folded her hands in front of her. “I know this is upsetting, but you don’t know what to expect until you find her. If—or when—the time comes, Sean and I will lend them our energy.”
“But—”
“You focus on the mission, your ability,” his father told her firmly. “We’ve got this.”
Silently, Curtis thanked his parents for their support. “They can stay at the reno like Jordan did.”
Jordan met his parents’ eyes nervously. “It’s a huge risk you’re taking for me. How can I ever thank you?”
“You don’t need to. We’re all of us taking risks,” his mother asserted, slipping an arm around his father’s waist. “We’re doing it for you, and our clan.”
“She’s right,” Nick said quietly. “We’re all taking risks. For each other.” He refilled his mug and gulped coffee. “Let’s focus on Abel’s portal. In spite of the energy anomalies since Similitude was first created, I have no doubt we’d know if it was complete.”
“Energy like that would be cataclysmic, far beyond what we’ve experienced with the dark energy bombs.” Saxon twisted her hair into a clip and frowned. “That hasn
’t happened. Yet.”
“Hold on,” Libby interrupted. “How can Abel create his own portal? Wouldn’t it require a great deal of energy? Skill, timing, even luck?”
“Aye,” his father said. “All of that and more would be my guess. Our portal is an energy bridge between the human realm and the Watchers’. So, Abel is building a bridge.”
Rising, he hurried across the room and selected the Clan Scrolls from the bookshelf. “It’s all in here,” he said, smoothing a hand over the aged leather volume. “The Keepers’ history, old and new. Everything and everyone contains energy, in this realm, on this planet. All of us, and humans. Vitality is the whole of all those energies, including air, sun, water, and the Earth. Plants, animals, humans.”
His father placed the Scrolls on the table, turning the thick parchment pages with care. “Vitality also embodies our spiritual, emotional, physical energies. It’s the ultimate renewable resource. The stone, the Keepers, the Watchers. Each feeds the other.”
Jordan picked up the conversation. “Through the Similitude, Abel is stockpiling dark energy. He’s using it to tunnel through the earth, same way Keepers move objects with their energy.”
“We know from experience how draining that is and what an enormous amount of resources it requires. Hence the Similitude, the dark energy bombs.” Dev nodded thoughtfully. “A steady supply of energy.”
Curtis shifted in his chair. “Think of the energy contained in the earth’s layers and minerals. About how re-purposing the Similitude works. Instead of channeling the dark energy of the Similitude outward, to drain Keepers, it’s channeled inward.”
“They’re applying the concept of channeling to the earth via the Similitude by channeling the energy onto itself,” Dev said, rising to his feet.
Jordan nodded. “And creating an energy connection with the Watchers’ realm, only in the complete opposite way we are. A bridge of that magnitude could cause implosion.”
The Betrayer (Crossing Realms Series Book 3) Page 15
