by Abby Blake
Finished, Jason stood back, crossing his arms as he took in the woman sitting in front of him.
“Who are you?” he asked, trying to sound stern.
“Jason? God, you don’t recognize me. How the fuck is that possible? You spent three years working undercover looking for me and you didn’t even know what I looked like,” she said incredulously. “How in hell did you expect to rescue me if you didn’t know what I looked like?”
“Jenna?” he asked, trying for confused but sounding pissed instead. He was trying to hold it together here. Something wasn’t right, and every instinct screamed at him to move cautiously.
“Hallelujah,” she said, rolling her eyes in disgust.
“How did you find me?” he asked, watching her carefully, trying to discern if she lied when she answered him. She was annoyingly vague.
“Yeah, well, you learn a thing or two about tracking when you’ve lived a life like mine,” she said, waving her hand dismissively.
“What sort of life would that be, Jenna?” he asked, his irritation leaking through. He looked at the clock, wishing he had some idea when to expect Cody and Bec home. He had the awful thought that he might need their help before this was over.
“Oh, you know, the usual rogue propaganda. We’re the future of the world, superior beings blah, blah, blah.” she said as she slid off the bench and started wandering around the room.
“How did you escape?”
“Ahh, that was the fun part,” she said, smiling. “Turns out I can bend people to my will. You know, plant a suggestion for them to forget to lock that door so I can walk out without a fuss.”
“How did you cut your leg?” he asked, trying to sound casual
“Oh, geez, man, aren’t you taking this big brother shit a little too far? I’m here, I escaped the clutches of the evil bad guys, and I cut myself going over the fence. No biggie,” she dismissed.
Jason tried not to give away what he knew. Her wound had been straight, like a knife cut. If she’d hurt herself going over a fence, the cut would likely have been more ragged, less neat. He watched her as she roamed around the kitchen opening and closing cupboards like she belonged there.
“Got anything to eat? All this escaping stuff makes a girl hungry.”
Jason nodded, getting to his feet and then opening the fridge to pull out the makings for sandwiches. He watched her continue to prowl around the area as he tried to gauge her true intentions.
“I heard about Dana,” she said, startling him. “I heard she’s going to make a full recovery.”
“Where did you hear that?” Jason asked her, his heart pounding in his throat.
“Oh, around,” she said, again with that dismissive attitude. “What I can’t figure out is how she managed to recover at all from an attack that should’ve killed her outright. I mean seven bullets should be able to take down one little girl even if she is a badass with telekinesis.”
Jason found himself edging toward the doorway, her words sending slivers of ice through his veins. Jenna was fishing for information, trying to figure out how Dana recovered, which meant she was probably here working for the rogues.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her hand lifted in a signal for him to stop. His feet stilled, unable to move from their present spot, glued to the floor by her telekinetic abilities. She stalked over to him and slapped him hard across the face.
“You were supposed to be one of us,” she said sweetly, her voice at complete odds with her actions. “You were the professor’s special assistant. You were supposed to help him create the next evolution of humanity, although,” she said, placing a finger on her chin as if thinking aloud, “if he’d realized you and I were related he might’ve done things differently. I mean, after all, you’re as special as me, right?”
Chapter Eleven
Jason shook his head in denial.
“That’s right,” Jenna said still in that soft voice. “You aren’t quite as special as me, are you? Poor baby has no idea how to use his skills. Can’t even talk telepathically,” she sneered. He kept his mouth shut, his mind racing as he tried to think of a way out of this.
“Now all you have to do is tell me how Dana made a miraculous recovery and I’ll leave you alone. Very simple really, you give me what I want, and I’ll let you stay alive,” she said, pulling a large knife from her boot. It was smeared in blood, and Jason could only think that she’d cut herself with it before she’d knocked on his door. His blood ran cold again as he contemplated the type of fanaticism necessary to inflict such a deep wound on herself.
“Jason? What’s wrong? We’re downstairs, but we can feel your fear from here.”
Jason almost sagged with relief at the sound of Cody’s voice in his head.
“Jenna is here. She’s working for the rogues, trying to find out how Dana survived,” he sent silently, grateful for all the practice he’d had in recent weeks.
“We’ll be there in a moment. Stay calm and follow our lead.”
Jason almost nodded his agreement, catching himself at the last moment as Jenna eyed him thoughtfully.
“So what’s it going to be, big brother? You going to come clean, or do I have to mess up that pretty face with my good friend here?” She waved the knife in his line of vision, very thoroughly making her point.
He heard the front door open. Cody and Bec entered the apartment, talking casually as if nothing was wrong.
“Yo, Jase,” Cody called in his best California dude impression. “Where you at? We got exciting news.”
Jenna put the knife away, raising a finger to her lips for him to keep quiet. “We’re in here,” she called brightly.
“We who?” Cody said as he entered the room, a huge smile on his face. “Hey, Bec, looks like we’ve got a visitor.” He casually stepped out of her way as Bec loosed a volley of darts at the woman on the other side of the room.
One dart hit Jenna in the chest, but she managed to stop the other two with her telekinesis, accidentally releasing Jason’s feet in the commotion. Her legs wobbled, but she refused to go down, turning quickly as she ran into the living room. The huge glass window exploded outward as Jenna ran full pelt toward it, leaping through the hole and falling to the ground. She seemed to use her telekinesis to slow her drop and landed on wobbly legs two stories down. She turned a mocking smile up to Jason, Cody, and Bec, now standing in the window. She blew them a kiss as she casually rounded the corner and made her escape.
* * * *
Hours later Bec, Cody, and Jason flopped onto the couch, exhausted. The window had been repaired and the place cleaned up. Caleb offered to send over some help but had been happy for Cody and Bec to file an official report in the morning. The one thing he insisted on was moving them to a safe house tomorrow. For tonight, agents, all hidden in plain sight, hoping to apprehend Jenna or one of her “friends,” surrounded them.
“Well, I have to say life around you is certainly interesting,” Cody said with a big grin on his face. “Bec and I haven’t had this sort of fun in over a year.”
Jason grinned back, grateful to the other man for breaking the tension. He’d been tied up in knots all afternoon, worrying that just by being here he endangered them both. Intellectually he knew they were more than capable of protecting themselves and him also, they’d proven that this afternoon, but somehow it didn’t alleviate the guilt he felt.
“Come on,” Cody said, holding a hand out to Bec. “Let’s put some dinner on, and then we can go pack our stuff for the big move tomorrow.”
Jason followed them into the kitchen, noticing how Cody guided Bec onto the stool by the bench, effectively relegating her to the cheer squad. Jason grinned again, remembering just how awful Bec’s cooking could get.
Cody dove into the refrigerator, throwing the vegetables for a tossed salad over his shoulder, expecting Jason to catch them. Taking the hint, Jason moved to the chopping board and began slicing, peeling, and dicing.
“So you haven’t told me how it w
ent today,” Jason said, referring to the physical they’d attended this morning. He tried to act casual while he waited for their answers, suddenly unsure he wanted to know. Active duty meant he’d see far less of them both, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that just yet.
“Oh, we passed,” Bec said, filching a piece of tomato from the chopping board.
“Well, that’s...um...good,” Jason said, surprised at how disappointed he felt and really annoyed at how selfish that made him sound. “When do you go back to field work?” He continued cutting vegetables, despite the film of tears messing with his vision. God, he was losing it here.
The knife sliced through his finger, barely noticed until he looked down to see the blood welling from the neat little wound.
“Damn,” he swore as he stuck his finger into his mouth.
Bec slid off her stool and walked over to him. “Show me,” she demanded.
She grabbed his hand, easing his finger out of his mouth and pulling it toward her for a closer look. At first, the cut was obvious, and then the blood welled again, obscuring the little nick. Smiling like she knew something he didn’t, she rubbed her thumb against the side of his finger just below the cut. Jason watched, stunned, as the wound closed.
“What...?” he began to say but faltered, unsure where to start.
Cody stood beside them, laughing at the look on Jason’s face.
“That’s what we were going to tell you before Jenna so rudely interrupted our day,” Bec said happily.
“We’re not going back to field work,” Cody said happily. “We’ve been offered positions in the medical research division, and we’re both looking forward to developing our new skills.”
Shaking his head, Jason reached for the nearest stool, sitting heavily.
“How?” he asked, still confused as hell. “How do you have the skill to heal?”
“Well, that’s just it,” Bec said, walking over to stand between his knees. “We don’t, not really.” He looked down at his healed finger, clearly missing something important in this conversation.
Cody took pity on him, trying to explain more fully.
“Basically we have the skill to heal,” Cody said.
“Caleb thinks we got that from you. Something about the partners of your siblings getting a skill boost,” Bec explained.
“But,” Cody continued, glaring comically at Bec as she tried to interrupt again, “but we don’t have the medical knowledge you do, so we can only heal superficial stuff like cuts and bruises. Caleb thinks if we had more medical training we could develop our skills into something more useful, and well, after twelve months of intensive physical therapy, I admit to being curious about how the body heals. I’m thinking of studying sports medicine.”
Jason’s gaze swung between the two of them. He felt ridiculously excited by this new development.
“So no more fieldwork?” he asked, trying and failing to hide how happy the news made him.
They both nodded.
“No more getting shot at?” he asked again.
Bec nodded, but Cody grinned and said, “Well, no more chance of getting shot than you do. We’ll still be agency operatives, but most of our work will be done at head office, not in the field.”
Jason whooped in delight, pulling Bec against him and spinning her in circles. When he caught his breath again he kissed her tenderly, his heart and soul surely in his eyes. Bec reached up a hand, touching his face briefly before squirming out of his hold to stand back and pin him with her stare.
“Caleb said they offered you a position as well, but you didn’t seem to want it. Want to explain that?”
Jason grinned. “Simple. I didn’t want a job that would take me so far away from you both, but since you’ll be there as well, I guess I better let Caleb know that I want it before he withdraws the offer.”
Bec threw herself into his arms again, her joy evident. Glancing over her shoulder, he watched Cody as he smiled at them both, seeming very happy with his decision.
Epilogue
Jason shook his head in amazement. Cody and Bec had taken to medicine like ducks to water. They’d only been studying for six months, but already they understood more than he did in his first two years at medical school. They’d both shrugged when he’d asked them how they knew so much so fast, explaining casually they’d spent a fair amount of time studying independently when they’d been recovering from their injuries.
Bec walked into the room, subconsciously rubbing her belly. She barely showed, but she was going to give away the secret long before they were ready to tell. She caught his eye, quickly moved into his arms, and kissed him softly.
He placed a hand over the soft swell of her stomach, his heart melting at the thought of a baby of their own. Technically, it was either him or Cody who was going to be a father, but they’d long since worked through their issues and had settled into a comfortable family life. And, since none of them was interested in knowing who the biological daddy was, all three were deliriously happy.
Jason shook his head in amazement. It was as if his life hadn’t started until he’d met them, and now he couldn’t imagine a future without either of them. Cody had grown to be a closer friend than any he’d ever known, and the fact that they both loved the same woman seemed to strengthen the bond, not weaken it.
“Time to hide,” Cody said, laughing as he walked in the room. Right behind him was a furious Caleb, the emotions emanating off him strong enough even for a non-empath to discern. Ethan followed, the huge man carrying his wife in his arms. Theresa was smiling but obviously in pain, and both Jason and Bec moved toward the woman.
Smiling at his newest patient, Jason pointed to the vacant clinic bed, and Ethan dropped her onto it, his own anger palpable.
Theresa giggled, a sound neither Cody nor Jason had ever heard from the woman.
“What can I do for you today, sis?” Jason asked Theresa.
She laughed again as she pointed to her foot, the swelling and bruising increasing as he watched. He peered more closely at the injury, realizing with his extra-sensory ability that her foot was badly sprained but not broken. He moved his hand over the swollen ankle, his mind already imagining what needed to be done to fix it.
“Not so fast,” Ethan said gruffly. Startled, every eye in the room turned to the big man. “Maybe we should let it heal naturally. Maybe you’ll be less inclined to try stupid stunts next time.” Turning to Cody, he growled. “It’s all your fault, you know.”
Bewildered by the sudden attack, Jason turned to Theresa for an explanation.
She dismissed Ethan’s concern with a flip of her hand.
“Don’t mind him, he’s just pissed that I’m trying to fly.”
“You’re what?” Jason, Cody, and Bec all asked in unison.
Caleb walked forward to pull his wife into his arms.
“In your report about Jenna, you mentioned how she used her telekinesis to control her fall from the window. Well this one,” he said, squeezing Theresa tighter, “has decided that anything Jenna can do, she can do better, hence the trying to fly part.”
“Well, by the looks of this ankle, I’d say you need more practice on the landing part,” Cody quipped as he efficiently healed the damage.
Jason tried to hide the sense of failure Jenna’s name evoked. It still bothered him that he hadn’t been able to rescue his sister, but considering how dangerous she was, it didn’t seem possible that they’d ever be able to extract her from the rogues’ control.
Theresa smiled at him, perhaps sensing his thoughts, but her head suddenly whipped around to pin Bec with her stare. Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later when Bec’s hand fluttered over her belly.
“Congratulations,” Theresa said quietly, moving over to pull Bec into a brief hug.
“Hey,” Theresa groused as Ethan lifted her into his arms.
“I think I just had an idea on how to keep our lady on the ground.” Ethan grinned wickedly. Theresa laughed, sounding delighted
, as he carried her out the door, Caleb close on their heels.
Cody and Jason pulled Bec between them, hands skimming the slight swell of their child. “I love you,” she said to them both. Even when he’d been undercover trying to rescue his sisters, Jason had never even hoped that one day he’d be this happy. He grinned at Cody as the man glanced at his watch, lifted their wife in his arms, and headed to the exit.
“Ready to go home?” he asked Jason as he turned at the doorway.
Jason nodded. A home. That’s what he’d found with Cody and Bec, and he vowed to never forget how incredible it felt to belong.
He just hoped that one day his sister, Jenna, would find the same.
THE END
http://www.abbyblake.webs.com/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abby Blake prefers to read or write romance over just about everything else—except maybe chocolate. Most days she can be found hurrying to do what needs to be done so that she can curl up with her laptop and her latest bunch of heroes.
Also by Abby Blake
Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 1:
Mikayla’s Men
Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 2:
Sweet Captivation
Siren LoveXtreme Forever: A Bride for Eight Brothers 3:
Wild Fascination
Ménage Everlasting: Fire
Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 1: Lost
Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 2: Runner
Ménage Everlasting: Altered Destinies 3: Hidden
Available at
BOOKSTRAND.COM
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
