“They do.” Sam’s smile turned tight. “What choices we make now affect more than us. They affect our children. Mine. Micah’s—we married Fevered women. Our children will be Fevered.”
He didn’t have to say it, but any child of Jason’s or Kid’s would also be Fevered. The idea of a child—of having a son or a daughter—had never really been in the future Jason pictured for himself. Babies brought their own peculiar brand of vulnerability and what if he lost Olivia as his father had lost Jason’s mother? Clenching his fists at the violent possibility, Jason bowed his head.
“Cate doesn’t see more than the presence of an ability.” He needed theory and cool rationality.
“No,” Micah agreed. “At least so far as we can tell, but she’s a baby herself. Delilah told Jo that some gifts take time to mature.” He cut a look at Jason. “Does that match up with your experience?”
“It wouldn’t be the same. Kid and I both were ill, we recovered and the change happened after. We weren’t born different. It could be that the body and mind need time to mature in order to handle the ability.” It hadn’t occurred to him to examine it much beyond his personal experience except—“Kid’s changed though.”
“What do you mean?” Jed zeroed in on him. “How?”
“A theory, but one borne from being absent more often than I was here.” It had been what he’d wanted to discuss with his brother. “He’s always felt things deeply, and yes before you tell me what a horrible brother I am, I am aware I should have let him know sooner that he was not alone in his differences.”
“You were protecting him,” Micah said flatly. “We didn’t understand then, we do now.”
Sam nodded. “Go on.”
The acceptance staggered him and for a moment, Jason actually lost the thread of what he’d been about to say. He stared from Sam to Micah and finally to Jed. His father gave him a kind look. “We all have our regrets, son. If you are going to put my failings in the past, can we do any less for yours? What is your theory?”
Speech escaped him. Was it truly that simple?
Sam laughed. “This is almost as good as realizing he was in love with Olivia.”
“I didn’t get to see that.” Micah grinned. “But Jason, speechless? Shock on his face? This is pretty damn good.”
“Boys,” Jed chided. “Let your brother speak.”
“We’re not stopping him.” But Micah’s grin didn’t remotely fade. “I’m not sure he remembers how to talk to us mere mortals.”
“Could be,” Sam mused. “We might have to wait for Olivia to wake up. If she asks him, he’ll tell her anything.”
Amused in spite of himself, Jason shook his head. “Kid’s abilities always informed his actions. But in the last couple of years, he’s been exposed to a greater level of violence, more tension.” His family sobered. “When we were children, Kid pulled pain from me. A large amount, I think it did something to him on an equal level that it did to me and I know it affected me for years.”
He paused, considering his next words. Understanding it and explaining it were two very different things. “The more I use my abilities, the stronger they have grown. What I can do now, I couldn’t do as a boy. What was happening to Kid, the more he used it…particularly after we lost the town. I think it changed him. I am not saying this well.”
“It’s a theory.” Sam shrugged. “It can’t be said well. We’re working with powers we don’t all fully comprehend. Scarlett has to release her fire, it builds up inside of her and she has to purge periodically to release the heat. You were there when she took on the other firestarter…”
A moment Jason wouldn’t soon forget. “Yes. She houses a tremendous amount of power and her control is far more diligent than Quon’s was. From my vantage, she had no trouble killing him.” It had earned his brother’s wife more than a sliver of Jason’s respect. She’d faced down her enemy with an enviable amount of control.
“The difference with the Morning Stars is Quanto.”
“The difference with Kid and Jason is you, Pa.” Micah commented and it led to another brief silence.
“We need that Indian off his mountain,” Jed groused. “I want to know how Kid fares and when he will be home. We have to make decisions and we need to make them as a family and that means all of us.”
“I might be able to reach him,” Jason said into the quiet and he had their attention. “If he’s willing to hear me. I might be able to reach that far. I’ve never attempted so great a distance, but I have gotten stronger and we have an amplifier.”
Sage had worked hard to gain a measure of control over her passive ability, but the fact remained that if she wasn’t exerting herself—she strengthened all of them.
“Of course your brother will talk to you.” Despite Jed’s pronouncement, Micah and Sam both looked doubtful. Kid hadn’t been willing to talk to Jason at any point in the months leading to his exodus from the ranch.
“I’ll ask Buck to talk to him first. He doesn’t hate Buck…”
That answer earned him another scowl from his father. “Jason, he doesn’t hate you.”
“Pa, I let him down. He’s not happy with me. That doesn’t mean I won’t try. We’ve all been keeping secrets.”
“Some of us better than others.” Micah claimed Jason’s unfinished glass. “Well, I take that back. I do have one secret.” His grin turned positively sly and gleeful. “We’ll be welcoming another Kane in a few months.”
Jo was pregnant. Sam bounced to his feet and Jed gave his son a hard hug. Jason felt the smile on his face widen. “How is she?” After the life he’d saved her from, he couldn’t be happier for his brother or his sister-in-law.
“Delirious, terrified, and completely calm.” With his news, Micah eased the bands of tension in the room. He’d played peacemaker, as he always did. They offered their congratulations and promises to keep the news to themselves until Jo was ready to announce it. Only Noah and apparently the wolves knew so far.
“Not to put damper on our joy, but life here has to change.” Everyone’s did, but especially Jason’s. He still had information to sort through that he’d taken from the colonel. There would be fallout from Stanley’s death. Ryan had escaped and MacPherson. The proverbial black cloud remained a worry on the too close horizon.
“We’re going to call a family meeting,” Jed said with a hand on Micah’s shoulder. “All of us. Kanes and Morning Stars. Everyone needs to know what is happening. They are a part of our family, too. We’ll make our decisions together. But you…” Jed walked across the room and Jason rose to meet his father. “You will make no plans to handle this on your own. We will do it together or not at all. This family only stands as long as we protect each other.”
An indefinable emotion clawed up from Jason’s middle. “I’m sorry, sir. I should have told you when the colonel came to me.”
“We make our choices, son. We make them and we live with their consequences.” He glanced at Sam and Micah. “I should have told you boys about the Fevered a long time ago. I think a part of me hoped that if you didn’t know, it wouldn’t touch you.”
“If you had said something, I might have simply shot Scarlett when I met her instead of arresting her.” Sam shook his head. “I can’t regret meeting her Pa or the trouble that followed.”
“If Sam hadn’t brought the whole lot in with her, you’d never have sent me to fetch a schoolteacher Jason found for us.” Micah grinned slowly. “Think about it, brother, you found Jo. You sent her here because you were out there doing what you did. I can’t regret that either.”
“Without all of them being here, your brother wouldn’t have had a place to go and learn,” Jed finished. “Yes, we made some bad choices, you and I. Maybe we all have. We’ve made good ones, too. What matters, is what we learn from it.”
It seemed irrational to be grateful for poor choices, and yet— “If Pa hadn’t interfered with Olivia and sent her back east, I would have lost her for real.”
Jed gave his
shoulder a squeeze. “Interference is a father’s prerogative.” Choices, good and bad, had brought them this far. “Let’s get your brother home, take care of the ranch and our people...that’s what we do now.”
“Together,” Sam added. “We’ll need Jason’s expertise on the enemy.”
“We need yours on the town and the ranch.” His brothers knew the law, the lay of the land, and the best way to manage their resources.
“We need Kid for the people,” Micah said. “He’s better with folks, plain and simple.”
“The last thing I ever wanted to be was a weakness for you” Olivia’s words echoing in his mind, Jason looked at the men who made up the core of his family. It seemed like for the first time, they were all on the same page of the story except for Kid. It didn’t matter what Jason had to do, he would make peace with his brother. Kid needed to be here.
They needed him and he needed them.
* * *
Jason stared out the open window, not really seeing the moon drenched landscape. The cooler air a welcome relief from the blistering heat of the day. Fortunately, he could cool the temperature in the room and had done so to keep Olivia comfortable. As if summoned by his thought, she slid an arm around him from behind and rested her cheek to the bare skin of his back.
Covering the hand she spread over his abdomen, he stroked the soft skin between her thumb and forefinger. “You should be asleep.”
“So should you.” The tart response was much more like her and he smiled wider.
“I thought you gave me two weeks before you were going to be difficult.”
“I said two weeks before I asserted my independence,” she corrected with a kiss to his shoulder. “I never said we wouldn’t fight.”
Chuckling, Jason tugged her around to pull into his arms. Rubbing his cheek against her hair, he drank in her presence.
“You’re worried about something,” she murmured. “Let me help.”
“It’s nothing.” He didn’t want to upset her. She’d already had a bad shock, and despite her bravado, he’d seen the trembling in her hands and heard the fear she tried to secret away. Though she’d refused to discuss anything that happened, and insisted they’d tossed her in a room and bolted her inside—the air around them grew colder.
“Very well, if you want to fight.” She stepped away, pressing against the closed circle of his arms and he tightened his grip.
“I don’t want to fight. I want you to rest and get better.”
“I’m not that delicate,” she wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips. “Yes, it was frightening. Know that never for a moment did I doubt that you would come for me. I trusted you—and I thought you trusted me.”
The accusation achieved its mark. “I do trust you.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong. Why aren’t you sleeping?” Returning to lean against him, she traced the lines of his face with her fingertips.
“I asked Buck to reach out to Kid—to let him know that I wanted to speak to him, that I want to try.” It had been a couple of days since the conversation with his brothers. Though they were all more vigilant, life had returned to a holding pattern on the ranch. Training the children took priority and they’d begun to break them up into groups—pairing them with adults who had abilities most like theirs or at least compatible.
Jason had even taken a turn with the unidentified gifts, but he didn’t care for being away from Olivia too long and the McKennas and the town still needed watching.
“You’re worried he won’t want to talk to you.” Olivia understood immediately.
“He has no reason to talk to me, and every reason to shut me out.” Kid had made it very clear that he wanted Jason out of his life. Was it too much to hope that his sojourn on the mountain might have muted his fury?
She sighed, and laid her head against his chest. Cradling her, he toyed with her hair. Stroking his fingers through it soothed him, but did little to quiet his restlessness. The level of vigilance required to protect the ranch and all the people on it remained enormous. Kid’s absence had been felt keenly by everyone.
Micah had begun to put the pieces together after several conversations and Noah confirmed it. Depression, anger, resentment—negativity in all its ugly forms had blown through the ranch population and strained relationships. But they were all pulling together, identifying the real problems and rebuilding.
“He doesn’t need a reason to talk to you,” she said in a voice so soft he actually had to strain to hear her. “He’s your brother. You said yourself he needed to go to the mountain to learn. Buck told you he was better. Don’t give up on him or on you.”
“You’re biased.” But she’d given him a glimmer of hope and he grasped onto it.
“I’m also very stubborn.” Rising up on her tiptoes, Olivia caught his face and kissed him lightly. “If he won’t talk to you, I’ll make him. It’s very hard to say no to the blind girl.”
Cupping her chin, Jason smiled down at her. “Even harder to say no to you.”
“Hmm, I’m glad you think that. I would like my husband to come to bed now…If you won’t sleep, I’m sure there are many other things we can do to pass the time.”
“Enticement will work every time,” he confessed and allowed her to draw him back to the bed. “You really should sleep.” Her playful expression went mutinous and she gave him a shove. Half-expecting it, Jason toppled back onto the bed and caught her, easing her down next to him and then rolling over to gaze down at her face.
“You’re supposed to let me seduce you.”
“No.” He nuzzled the corner of her mouth. “You never have to seduce me.”
Twining her arms around his neck, she smiled. “According to Scarlett, the best time is after we fight…”
“You really need to stop talking to Scarlett.” He couldn’t keep his laughter at bay.
“But she and Mariska—” Since she wouldn’t stop speaking, he silenced her with a kiss and let the worry he’d been holding onto go.
Olivia deserved his full attention.
Chapter 15
Jason, Late Summer
A few days turned into a couple of weeks, and Jason kept his focus on the tasks at hand. Dividing his time between the ranch and the town, he watched over the McKennas. The family seemed to be settling in well and proved to Sam on more than one occasion that their watchfulness provided information, such as the men asking around town for an Evelyn Lang. Since no one outside of the family knew whom she was, folks were able to answer truthfully. Unfortunately, the men made themselves scarce by the time Jason arrived.
News from the fort remained sketchy, but with Stanley’s ‘death,’ they’d expected some measure of confusion. In an effort to downplay their involvement, Jed had made two return trips to the fort—playing the role of benevolent rancher and town elder with aplomb. By silent agreement, one of his sons always traveled with him. Sam the first time, and Micah the second. If his father planned another trip, Jason would undertake the task.
Olivia proved her mettle by rebounding from her trauma with a seeming effortlessness, but Jason didn’t pretend he wasn’t concerned. Everyone kept a closer eye on his wife, with the women including her in their work. It seemed Olivia was a skilled seamstress, a fact that surprised nearly everyone. Mariska, especially, spent hours with her—Cody admitted that for the first time Mariska had found a friend and a sister in Olivia, which explained the gypsy wolf’s interest in her.
When he and the wolf arrived at the same time, they’d both caught the hint of conversation in the other room and by mutual consent, backed off as silently as they’d arrived. Mariska’s need for female companionship benefitted Olivia, too. She’d whispered to him late one night about how grateful she was for Mariska’s friendship. If the wolves had not already earned his loyalty and gratitude, that would have sealed it.
Buck arrived near sunrise to let him know Kid and Evelyn had both left the mountain—the young woman it seemed wanted to find the men who’d murdered her fathe
r and Kid had followed. Kid had also agreed to Jason attempting contact.
“Stop fretting,” Olivia paused mid-mend. She’d claimed all of his jackets and shirts that needed repair and had been systematically fixing the tears and missing buttons.
Because she, and she alone, could penetrate the cloud of worry, he smiled. “Men don’t fret.”
She responded with an inelegant snort. “Of course, they don’t. You are going to fray the rug with your pacing.”
Stopping, he swallowed the denial of her charge. He had been pacing. “Micah, Buck and Cody left for San Antonio this morning. They’re trying to trace the men. Jimmy and Sam went back to the Fort. I’m going to check the McKennas later for a more accurate description of the men they’d said had been in town.”
“What happens when you find them?” No judgment waited in Olivia’s question.
“We’ll deal with it.” Crossing the room, he sat next to her on the sofa. She’d reclaimed the salon for herself and he’d made changes as she’d asked for them. Books lined some of the shelves—his books and hers. Where she’d found them, she never said, but he’d come home one afternoon to find her surrounded by a half a dozen of the youngest children with little Cate propped in her lap, reading aloud from a book of fairy tales. The boys in the group had hauled the books in at her request.
“All right.” She nodded once and resumed her careful stitches. Despite her attempt at a peaceful expression, her mouth turned downward.
“Olivia, it’s who I am. If those men are a threat to Kid or the woman he’s traveling with…I won’t allow them to make a problem for him.” Death never happened easily around Kid, not when he felt everything. If Jason could spare him that, he would. His brother had killed before, but killing Miller had been a blow none had seen coming.
With a sigh, she paused in her sewing. “Don’t sound so defensive. I know who you are. I just wish the burden didn’t fall on you.”
Tugging one of her curls, he smiled. She’d taken to wearing it loose more and more. He knew it was for him. “I never want to have to choose between protecting my family and you.” If forced to choose, it would carve out his heart, but he would always take her side.
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