“All I want to do is help you. That’s what friends do, right?”
Aisline shook her head at him and turned to tackle the stairs. She struggled her way up a couple before she was swept off her feet. Jackson carried her in his arms like she weighed no more than a feather light pillow. It was embarrassing, but it was also a relief to be off that ankle.
They didn’t say a word as he strode determinedly towards the medical suite. He kicked open the door and Marshall quickly hobbled out of the way.
“Oh dear!” he exclaimed.
“Is there anyone here who can look at Aisline’s ankle?” Jackson asked.
“Indeed, indeed. Come in,” Marshall ushered them forward. “Why don’t you help get her comfortable in here and I’ll go and get the doctor to come and look at her.”
“Thank you.”
“You know, I’m right here. It’s my ankle that got hurt, not my sense of my hearing.” Ash mumbled.
“Shut up and suck it up.” Jackson whispered.
Jackson laid her down on the sofa and raised her ankle on a couple of cushions. Ash groaned at the movement. She already knew that she had sprained it rather than broken it, but as they say, a sprain often hurts worse than a break. That was definitely the case here.
“Can I get you anything?” Marshall hovered, wringing his hands.
“No, thank you.” Jackson replied and the old man rushed out the room as quickly as he could.
They remained silent for a moment. Aisline closed her eyes to try think of a way to ease the pain, but came up a blank. When she opened her eyes, Jackson was crouched down next to her, staring at her intently.
“So, are you going to tell me what that was all about?” he asked softly.
“Nothing. Just leave it.” Aisline closed her eyes again.
“No. I won’t just leave it. What’s going on with you?” When she didn’t reply, he said, “Please talk to me. I hate this.”
“I just… I can’t… Oh, forget it.” Ash opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling.
Jackson cleared his throat. “I know this is my fault. I’m sorry.”
“What? Was it your bag that tripped me?” Ash smiled sadly, trying to make light of it.
“You know what I mean.”
“It’s not just your fault.”
“When did things get to complicated?”
They fell silent again. Ash didn’t know what to say to him. She’d gone over this conversation and this moment so many times in her head, but none of the words fit anymore. She didn’t know what to say.
“I heard you.” The words came out before she could stop them.
“What? When?”
Taking a deep breath, she thought she might as well go for it seeing as she had already dived in with both feet. “At the medical suite. The night they brought me back in. I heard what you said. You thought I was asleep, but I heard you.”
Jackson sucked in a breath. “I wondered if you did, but when you didn’t say anything, I thought it was best to leave it.”
Ash struggled to push herself up on her elbows she could look at him properly. But, why? Why would you say all of those things and then do nothing about it?” Emotions were creeping into her voice, but she couldn’t help it.
Jackson ran a hand over his face. “It’s complicated.”
“Well, I’m not stupid. Try me.”
Jackson sat down on the floor and kicked his legs out in front of him. “You know the night before the field exercise? What happened between us?”
Ash smiled wryly. “I was there. Of course I remember.”
“You were pissed at me because you thought I thought you couldn’t handle it.”
Ash laughed, “Yeah, I got kind of mad about that.”
“It wasn’t because I thought you couldn’t handle it. You’re more competent than most of the guys in our training group. It was just because it was you. I didn’t want anything to happen to you. If you got hurt, I thought it would kill me. And, you did get hurt.”
“There was nothing you could have done about that.” She assured him.
“That’s the point, though. I wasn’t there. I couldn’t do anything about it. It made me re-evaluate what I was thinking. I should have done the sensible thing and kept things as friends between us. I should never thought of taking that step with you. Have you any idea how much it would kill me to see you going out there, night after night, facing off the enemy and never being sure if I was ever going to see you again?”
Ash rolled her eyes. “You think I haven’t had the same thought about you? Of course I have. But, I thought that it was worth the risk. We’re not going to be going out into the field again for a long time. There’s no point in thinking about it now.”
Jackson grinned evilly. “You don’t think we’d last that long?”
Aisline laughed. “Who knows?”
“Anyway,” Jackson said, his expression getting serious again, “When we got you back, I didn’t want to let you go again. I wanted us to face it together. But, then, reality kicked in again. You’re a warrior, just like me.”
“And what has that got to do with it?”
“We’ve got so much work ahead of us.”
“And that means that there’s no time for anything else? Or anyone else?” she argued.
Jackson stayed quiet.
Ash couldn’t stand it anymore. Since they were here getting everything out in the open, she thought she might as well go all the way with it.
“Look, if you don’t like me like that anymore, just tell me.”
“No, I do.” Jackson insisted.
“Then, what’s the bloody problem?” She raised her voice, frustrated. “It’s not like we’re going to dive head first into some hot and heavy romance. We haven’t got the time for that. Hell, it’s not like I’m ready for anything like that. I haven’t… well, you know.” She said, blushing profusely.
Jackson glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “You haven’t?”
Aisline coughed and looked away. “Either way, it doesn’t matter anyway. All I’m saying is that it’s not like we’re jumping into something all consuming. We both have training and a future to look to. It’s just that I think we should also think of ourselves now and again. Life doesn’t have to be all about work, work, and work.”
“You’re right.” Jackson nodded.
“I am?”
“You are. It’s not like I’m proposing marriage or anything.” He laughed at the shocked expression on Aisline’s face at the mention of ‘marriage’. “So, we’re good?”
She rolled her eyes. “You tell me.”
“I think we’re very good.” And Jackson leaned forward to carefully kiss her gently on the lips, sweetly and softly.
They were interrupted by an ill-timed cough as Doctor Phillippe came crashing into the room.
“Oh, sorry!” She grinned at Aisline, “I was told there was some kind of emergency.”
“Yeah, I’ve hurt my ankle.” Ash grinned back at her as Jackson shuffled uncomfortably and quickly backed out of the room.
“I’ll wait out here in case you need help getting back to your room.” He muttered before shutting the door behind him.
“Well, things seem to be looking up between the two of you.” Doctor Phillippe raised her eyebrows as she crouched down at the end of the sofa to check Aisline’s ankle.
Ash laughed, “Yeah, better than they were.”
“Good. I’m glad. You two are a good match.” The doctor smiled up at her. “Right, let’s get this looked at properly.”
Chapter Twenty Five
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” Kayleigh was way beyond fuming. She had been on the way up to the medical suite after hearing that Aisline had suffered an injury when Kelton had found her. If this had been a cartoon, there would have been red hot steam coming out of her ears right about now.
Kelton hadn’t done this on purpose. It had slipped his mind. Not that he would ever say that to her though
; it would have sent her further into a rage.
“Listen, Kayleigh, I didn’t think they were coming here. They were scheduled to go to the academy in Basting.”
“You still should have told me.” She replied through gritted teeth.
He had received the call a little while ago to tell him that the two girls who had received the warrior mark were going to be descending on his doorstep. He was also told that the girls were quite possibly not of Lamia origin. Again.
Kelton had known about the girls for a couple of weeks now, but he hadn’t investigated any further because it had been arranged for them to attend one of the other academies. He didn’t see the point in the extra work right now, not when the warriors could have given him a full report when the girls finally showed up. Them coming to Mason kind of changed things, though. He now wished that he had more information to go on.
Apparently, the mark had appeared on these girls on the same night as it had on Rees and Caleb. He had been worried at first that the girls were human and that they hadn’t known what the mark had meant. But, after a few more phone calls to the council, he found out that the family had been abroad at the time, that they did know what the warrior mark meant and that the family was of magical origin. Witches. At least that meant that the mark wasn’t yet appearing on humans. That would be a major problem that Kelton wasn’t sure how to deal with.
With everything that had happened lately, he had simply forgotten to mention it to Kayleigh until he received the latest phone call to tell them to get ready for the girls imminent arrival.
“Can you imagine how stupid I would have sounded if I had answered that call and had known nothing about it? It would have seemed like you didn’t trust me.” She snapped.
“You wouldn’t have sounded stupid. You forget that I know you all too well, Leigh. You’re a professional.”
“Professional bullshitter?”
Kelton laughed as she continued to glare at him. He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m sorry. Really, I am. I knew that a couple more girls had received the mark, but I had no idea that they were going to be coming here.”
“You still should have told me. I need to get rooms ready for them and get their gear prepared for them. You haven’t left me much time to do this. I would have rather had things ready for them.”
“Honestly, I didn’t know they were coming. I didn’t do this to make life deliberately difficult for you.”
“Sure you did, Kelton. You love to make life difficult for me.”
“Ha ha.” Kelton made a grab for her, “Come here.” He said with a willing smile and his arms wide open.
Kayleigh skipped a step back out of his reach. “Not a cat in Hell’s chance, buddy. I’ve got way too much to do. I’ve got to go and check on Aisline. She’s hurt her ankle.”
Kelton immediately showed concern. “How is she? How bad is it?”
“It’s just a sprain. She’ll be fine in no time. Marilyn’s already checked her out.”
“That’s good.”
“I need to go and speak to her, though. I want to see if she’ll help me out with this. Maybe having a girl their own age with help the new girls to adjust to their lives here.”
“That’s a good idea, Leigh.” Kelton nodded. “I’ll go and wait out front. They should be here soon.” He jumped forward and gave her a quick kiss before she could protest.
“I need to speak to you when we’re done here. Alone.” Kayleigh said as she moved away from him. They were going to have to tackle the difficult subject of her pregnancy sooner rather than later.
“Sounds like fun.” Kelton grinned and Kayleigh rolled her eyes.
Laughing, she shook her head as she walked away. It was hard to stay mad at Kelton for too long. He was just too goddamn gorgeous when he was grovelling.
Moving quickly through the mansion, she spotted Dylan and waved him over to her.
“Is everything okay?” Dylan asked immediately.
Kayleigh smiled. He was a good kid who was always ready and willing to help out. “Everything’s fine, thank you. Do you have any idea where Aisline is?”
“I think she’s in the gym with Caleb. Well, she was the last time I saw her.”
Caleb? Kayleigh had seen the two of them getting closer and she wondered from the tone of Dylan’s voice just how close they were. “Okay, thank you, Dylan.”
She trotted down toward the gym, pausing at the door when she got there, after all, she wasn’t sure what she would be walking in on. Then she shook her head and chuckled to herself. Nothing would be happening in there. Ash wasn’t like that.
Pushing open the door, she saw the warriors and the trainees filling the immense space, the air was hot and sweaty. Scanning the area, she spotted Aisline lying on the mats, doing stomach crunches. Her ankle was strapped up, but something like that wouldn’t stop her from working out. And, it wasn’t Caleb that she was with. Jackson was the one that was sitting next to her on the mat with a beaming smile on his face.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Kayleigh said with a grin of her own. She was pleased to see that that the two of them were finally talking again, and it looked like the talks were going well. It was clear to see the awkward tension that had been gradually building between the two of them ever since the field exercise was finally dissolving. It was frustrating to watch because they couldn’t keep their eyes off of each other. Kayleigh was pleased to see that they may be working things out.
Aisline wiped a hand across her glistening forehead and sat up, bracing her hands on the floor behind her. “It’s okay. I’m due a break anyway.”
“I’ll catch you later?” Jackson asked.
“Sure.” Ash grinned at him.
Kayleigh grinned as she watched them. Young love blooming. It was incredibly sweet to observe. She watched Aisline as she watched Jackson walk out of the gym. Kayleigh couldn’t but laugh at the dopey expression on Ash’s face.
“What?” Ash asked innocently.
“You don’t need to act like that with me. I’m not blind.”
“What do you mean?”
Kayleigh burst out laughing. “Okay, okay. I’m just saying you two look happy and it’s good to see.”
“We were just training. That’s all.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Ash. You don’t need to say that just because it’s what you think I need to hear. There’s nothing to stop you from training and having a relationship.”
Aisline blushed like a beetroot. “We’re taking things slowly.” She said quietly.
“That’s probably the best way.”
Ash took Kayleigh’s arm and limped to the nearest corner where she was sure that they wouldn’t be overheard. “But, what about when the trainings over? What then? When we’re out on the streets for real?”
“Then you deal with it when the time comes.”
Aisline nodded thoughtfully, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “I guess you’re right. Anyway, you wanted me for something?”
“Oh, right, yes! I know that I’m springing this on you, but I’ve only just found out myself. We’ve got two more trainee’s coming in. Female.”
“Oh, crap! Really?”
“Yes, really. I was wondering if you could help them to settle in, seeing as you’ve been through it. They may not want or need it, but just in case, I’d rather have you on hand.”
“Of course I will.” Ash would be more than happy to help out if it made the girls transition any easier. She had a bit of a hard time of it herself when she had first joined the academy. “When are they coming?” Ash was already going through a million and one things in her head, thinking of all the ways she could help them.
“Now.”
“Now?”
Kayleigh nodded. “I know, there’s not a lot of time to get things prepared. I thought I would give them the room next to yours for now. It needs a quick tidy up, but it’s better than nothing. Would you give me a hand?”
“Wow, this really is moving fast.�
��
“Sure is.” Kayleigh put her arm out to Aisline, who was still limping quite badly. “Let’s go.” They walked in a brisk pace to try and get the room ready for the girls.
Kelton was pacing around the entry hall. He had sent everyone away, except for a single warrior who was on security detail at the front desk. It was going to be a shock for everyone, having another two females added to their ranks, especially two more females of another race. The less eyes on them now would make it easier to break the news to them later.
“There’s a car pulling up, Kelton.”
“Thanks, Pete.” Kelton said as he paced over to the security monitor. The screen showed a car slowing down to a stop outside the main doors of the mansion. He watched intently as the driver got out of the car and walked around the back. The driver stood back stiffly after he had opened the back door, offering a hand to help the ladies out of the car.
A tall female got out first. Kelton presumed that this was the girls’ mother. Then a young teenage girl got out; she was as tall as her mother with long, white blonde hair that fell in a straight sheet to her waist. Then the other girl got out after her, a mirror image of her sister.
Kelton peered at the screen. There was something familiar about the mother, but he was too intent on assessing the girls. They were identical as far he could tell from here and wondered how they would be able to identify each of them. But, usually, even with identical twins, there was always some tell-tale sign to tell them apart.
Kelton couldn’t help comparing this moment to when Aisline had been unceremoniously dumped on their doorstep when she had received the mark. The driver that had brought her had literally thrown her bags to the floor like they were nothing more than trash. This was entirely different. The girls had her family here to support her and they were both being treated with the respect that they deserved.
The three of them walked up the steps to the entrance; their posture showing well breeding and innate elegance. As they approached, Kelton moved swiftly to the double doors to officially greet them. Swinging the doors wide open, he nodded solemnly to the driver, who was bringing several pieces of luggage up the stairs.
Dawn of a New Age: A Sons of Satrina Novel Page 26
