Wanted: Fevered or Alive

by Long, Heather

  With a passing look at him, Cody approached and took her free hand to place on his arm. Jason let her go with reluctance. The wolf trimmed his pace back for her shorter legs, and answered her question. Her disbelieving laughter floated back to him along with her strangled, “Eight!”

  The hum of thoughts returned and it took effort to close them out again. He didn’t look away, tracking her every step toward the house.

  “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it,” Sam commented quietly from his left. “You’re in love with her.”

  Chapter 6

  Cody, Haven

  Cody leaned against the porch railing and watched as Delilah led Billy Brixton and Will Turner away from town. The former was an earthshaker and the second a weather manipulator—deadly and dangerous gifts if left unchecked. The trio left the horses behind and traveled on foot. Delilah had argued that testing the gifts endangered the horses regardless—and no one could really dispute her point—and walking would give them time to talk. Neither Will nor Billy enjoyed the feeling of isolation due to their martial gifts, but the boys were on the cusp of manhood and neither objected to spending time with Delilah.

  It didn’t hurt that with one note, she could drop both of them.

  “She’s really good with them.” Noah stood next to him. “I know you and Buck didn’t like her taking them off on her own to teach, but I think she called it right.”

  Nodding once, Cody could admit when he’d been wrong. “Trust helps.”

  “Since you’re in an agreeable mood…” His brother didn’t try to disguise the change of subject. “Why aren’t you trusting your mate?”

  Unable to stop the growl at the accusation, Cody glared at Noah. “Who says I’m not?”

  His brother shrugged, unperturbed by the show of temper. “You’re checking up on her. Every conversation she has, you follow up on it…you’re tracking her like she’s prey and you’re hunting.”

  Disliking the description, Cody considered the last several days. “She’s unhappy. She doesn’t know precisely why she’s unhappy, but she wants to figure it out on her own.”

  “Which makes you unhappy,” Noah summarized, earning another scowl.

  “You’re not Kid, so don’t presume to know what I’m feeling.” Mentioning the younger man by name reminded him of the loss they’d sustained with Kid’s exodus. Kid needed the time with Quanto and Wyatt, but it didn’t change their need for him on the ranch, too.

  “No, but I don’t need Kid’s gift to know it bothers you. She’s your mate and you care. You want to fix it for her.” Noah shrugged. “I understand, but I worry.”

  The last comment bothered him. “What are you worried about?”

  Folding his arms, Noah gave him a long, considering look. “You struggled with your wolf for years.”

  When he didn’t continue immediately, Cody raised his eyebrows. “I’m aware.”

  “After what happened in the mountains, you’re different. Not a bad different, but different. You’re more in control, you take the lead even more naturally than you did before.”

  “But?” Cody prompted, because he heard the unspoken word.

  “You are taking over for people even when you say you’re not.” Turning to lean with his back against the rail, Noah squinted as he met Cody’s stare. Over the years, even when the wolf rode Cody hard and tested the potential challenge in his brothers—he had never felt threatened by Noah. The healer, like Kid, was a man to be protected. “Brother, you sit there and listen to all of us discuss what needs to be done, agree when we parcel out the work and then shoulder more than your share no matter who else had the job. You’re involved in the training of every single one of the kids, even if it’s only on the fringes. Look at you and the new girl—”

  “What the hell does any of this have to do with Olivia?” The new arrival earned his interest because Mariska had been right—everything about Jason changed around her. It was enough to set off warning bells in the wolf. They’d had no idea what Delilah could do when she’d arrived and the potential threat she’d posed was only realized far too late to do any good. Seeing ice-cold Jason soften around the stranger made Cody wary.

  A wariness admittedly eased after spending a few minutes with her. She’d seemed a genuinely kind soul and a helpless one as well. Mariska liked her as well and, though she’d only had a couple of conversations with Olivia, Cody could hear the change in her voice when she spoke of her.

  “You mentioned at breakfast that I should go take a look and see if I could fix her.” Noah’s dry response surprised Cody. He’d brought up the topic because of the woman’s helplessness. Olivia would never see danger before it found her. It aroused every protective instinct he possessed. “Cody, I understand. You see a problem, you want to fix it. We used to have to worry about your temper, but you’re not in charge of everyone and you’re not responsible for all of us, either.”

  The unusual nature of the criticism chafed. “Fine, don’t see if you can help her,” Cody growled.

  Noah chuckled and shook his head. “You’re missing my point, brother. Do you remember when Wyatt would make arbitrary decisions?”

  “You mean he doesn’t anymore?” They both snorted. Wyatt did whatever the hell Wyatt pleased and he didn’t always ask them before he did. If he decided they needed to do something or didn’t, he took care of it. Wyatt never sought permission or forgiveness. If a task needed doing, he saw to it and then it clicked... “I am not Wyatt.”

  “No, you used to not be Wyatt. But like him, you’re making decisions for all of us whether you’re aware of it or not and you’re doing it for Mariska. She’s struggling with her wolf or maybe she’s missing her family. Maybe it’s a woman thing that neither of us can understand—but you can’t tell her you will let her handle it and then try to take care of it for her.”

  Had he been?

  “I’m not saying you’re wrong to want to help everyone.” Noah straightened. “I want you to be aware of what you’re doing. You can’t be everywhere and we know you care about us.”

  “Hmm.” Cody considered the advice and dismissed nearly all of it, but since he’d brought it up… “Since I’ve turned into a busybody, what are you doing about Lena, brother?”

  Jason, Dorado

  “What are we supposed to do with him?” Micah stared between the bars of the cell at the prisoner. Since they’d taken the doppelganger into custody, they’d all taken shifts to guard him.

  “You know I can hear you, right?” Ryan didn’t move from his seated position on the cot. In the past four days, he’d maintained a neutral face—the one Jason assumed had to be his own. Or at least as much of his own as he could remember. That thought had curled out him with a disturbing sense of self-awareness. The man had emulated so many different people over the years, he wasn’t all that sure what he’d looked like originally.

  “You know we don’t care, right?” Jimmy countered. Jason hadn’t seen much of the other man since learning he gave Olivia a ride to the ranch—but then the sharpshooter had been busy working with Shane and picking up slack around the ranch.

  “You can’t just keep me locked up in here.” Ryan started to rise, but sank down when he caught Jason watching him.

  “Sure we can, or we could hang you.” Jimmy’s smile was far from friendly.

  “Leave it,” Sam advised. “You have this, Jimmy?”

  The Morning Star brother nodded. “He’s not going anywhere.”

  Accepting that, Sam motioned for the door and Jason pivoted. He had no desire to stay in the same room with the doppelganger. Not when the urge to erase his pathetic existence continued to burn like a candle within him. Every single time Jason had seen him since the man walked into the saloon, Jason had been reminded of the tacit threat to Olivia.

  They couldn’t hang him soon enough.

  “I still have useful information. I can get to MacPherson. None of you know what you’re dealing with.” Desperation colored Ryan
’s words. Jason slanted a look at him over his shoulder and rifled through his thoughts. I have to get back to her. Don’t they understand?

  Unfortunately, Jason did. While he felt for the child, he didn’t spare Ryan another thought. Outside, the air was considerably cooler, if humid. Spring showers had kept the land damp. After the wild winter, it was still welcome. A good section of the ranch was still scorched from the range fire—the frequent rain might encourage new growth there sooner rather than later. Micah and Sam bracketed him as he headed down the boardwalk toward the store.

  They had plans to talk to him.

  He’d expected the conversation, particularly after the other day, but between duties, their family, and the unexpected discovery of an earthshaking talent—they’d been too busy. “How is Billy?” Jason asked as he unlocked the doors to the shop.

  “Working with Will and Delilah.” Micah strode into the center of the shop and stared at the empty shelves. One of the most unexpected turn of events for the siren—she was excellent with the volatile gifts. Her own ability had scared the hell out of her, but Buck’s faith in her had helped her overcome it. Will Turner, on the other hand, had a gift for working with the weather—an unstable and very unpredictable one.

  “They don’t have conscious control, so Delilah’s a good choice.” Jason considered the different angles of putting the siren in charge. She could control the boys if necessary, not that either of his brothers commented on it. Sam was the last one inside and he shut the doors and turned the bolt. Refusing to react to the sensation of being cornered, Jason leaned against the counter and folded his arms, forming an uneasy triangle with his brothers. “That’s not what you want to discuss.”

  “No, it isn’t.” Sam slanted a look at Micah and, when their middle brother nodded, he fixed his attention on Jason. “I told Micah what you told me about the colonel and the work you did for him.”

  He’d expected that sooner. Better Micah than Jed. It was also a better topic than Olivia, one so far his brothers had avoided bringing up with him. “Very well. Do you have questions?” The last he aimed at Micah.

  “Do I have questions?” Jerking his hat off, Micah thrust his fingers through his hair. “Yes, I have questions. Why the hell didn’t you tell us? Or tell Pa? Someone? This goes beyond hiding from Kid. This was a lie you told all of us.”

  Before Jason could respond, Sam sighed. “Because Pa would have stopped it.”

  “Did you like killing people?” The idea was anathema to his brother. Micah didn’t have a problem when death involved the defense of others, but cold-blooded assassination? He didn’t have it in him.

  “There was nothing to like or dislike.” Cold practicality grounded every choice. He’d made the difficult ones through the years. It grew easier to shut it off with every death, though. “They were assignments. I completed them.”

  “That’s the part I don’t understand. How could Colonel Stanley do that to you?” Micah turned his hat over in his hands, restlessness cording every muscle.

  Jason shrugged. “Does it really matter? It’s done. Nothing we say undoes it.”

  “It matters because he drove a wedge between us.” Sam didn’t pace, or fidget. The hard, unyielding expression in his eyes belied the placid look on his face. “It matters because you were young when it started and, I don’t care what a cold bastard you’ve become since then, you were not always like this.”

  “I am what I needed to be.” Jason might have regretted it once, but he’d buried that part of himself long ago. Without useless regrets, he’d become an effective weapon. A weapon could defend his family—and now Olivia. He could stand between her and the monsters. He couldn’t regret that.

  Micah opened his mouth, but Sam cut him off with an upraised hand. “Jason, you’re not what you needed to be. You’re not a bad guy, even if you play the part well. You shut everyone out and kept everyone at a distance, but if I’ve learned anything from Scarlett and the others over the last couple of years, it is that the outside is the last place you need to be. You have brothers. It’s not your job to protect us, it’s our job to protect you.”

  “I don’t need protection.” Jason frowned.

  “Yes, you do. You didn’t see why it was a problem to keep it a secret from Kid. You don’t see why it was a problem to keep it a secret from us—” Micah’s mouth tightened. He’d been furious at Jason and called him a bad brother.

  “What I did, I did to protect myself. It wasn’t about hurting Kid or either of you. You both have very convenient memories about our childhood. Neither of you had to cope with wondering who was speaking and who was thinking. Neither of you had to experience every ugly, selfish thing that goes through a person’s mind.” He focused on Micah. “Or all the thoughts that can go through a brother’s mind. You didn’t know exactly what your brother thought of you. We think constantly. Even when the mouth is silent, the mind rarely is.”

  Micah’s frown deepened. “Then you damn well know we would have backed you.”

  “You would have wanted to protect me,” Jason agreed. “From myself. Because until I was older, even I wasn’t certain that what I heard in my mind wasn’t merely a madness.”

  “When did you know?” Sam asked before Micah could dispute the charge.

  “Honestly, I don’t know when I decided there was a difference.” Shaking his head, Jason tried to sort out the information his brother wanted. “I knew I was different. I knew I struggled with what I knew and how I knew it.”

  “You learned control. Who taught that to you?” Sam pressed and, on this subject, Jason wouldn’t budge.

  “No one taught me,” he lied smoothly because from one perspective it was every bit the truth. “I learned because I had to.” Because Olivia showed him the world could be quiet. Everything else had been trial and error.

  Sam wasn’t finished. “How did Stanley know about you? I can’t imagine you said, hey, colonel, guess what I can do. So how did he know?”

  “You are aware that he knows Quanto?” He tacked a verbal question mark onto the statement. Colonel Stanley had been instrumental in getting the charges Scarlett faced dismissed. Jason had taken up her cause when Jed asked him and he’d been prepared to blackmail Stanley. Ultimately, it hadn’t proved necessary. Stanley didn’t want Scarlett’s abilities revealed to the world, nor did he want to court problems with Quanto—a man he counted as an ally and friend. Though the more Jason had learned about the Morning Stars, the more certain he was that the old shaman couldn’t have any idea what the colonel had been up to all these years.

  “Yes.” Sam’s eyes narrowed. It didn’t take Jason’s talent to know Sam had already made the leap to his wife and their children.

  “Stanley has been aware of Fevered for most of his life. He has several who work for him. One of them is similar to young Cate.” The precocious five year-old saw sparkles and colors dancing on Fevered. Though no one had quite pinpointed what she saw to what type of talent the person had, they hadn’t felt like pushing the little girl either. They had decided, by unspoken consensus, to let her be a child and worry about the rest when she was older.

  “So he figured out you had an ability and approached you?” Disgust curled through Micah’s voice—disgust and fury.

  “Yes.” Jason nodded.

  “He didn’t know about Kid?” Sam cut a look toward Micah and, if Jason hadn’t been watching him, he would have missed the surprise dawning on his face.

  “No,” Jason agreed. “Kid never met the man who could read Fevered.” Jason had never allowed it.

  “That’s why you never told him when you were both older.” The words exploded from Micah. “Because Kid would have wanted to follow you and…”

  One nod. “Had Kid known, his impetuous and impulsive nature coupled with his desperate desire to help would have led him right into Stanley’s path.”

  And then Jason would have had to kill several more people, because he would never have allowed them to use his baby brother. One of t
hem was enough.

  The silence dragged between them as his brothers absorbed the information. Micah broke first. “I wish like hell you’d told us.”

  “You couldn’t have done anything.” Jason understood the paltry comfort he offered. “Telling you would have alerted Pa. I didn’t trust Stanley not to take advantage of the situation.”

  “Pa could have handled it and we would have backed him up. Hell, every man on the ranch,” Micah continued to argue, but Sam remained quiet.

  “It would have invited a war we weren’t ready to fight,” Jason reminded him. “We weren’t ready when they came for us this time.”

  “How the hell did they catch you?” Sam asked, waving Micah quiet.

  It went against the grain to explain it, particularly because it revealed a weakness that he hadn’t fully discovered how to overcome. But they were his brothers. They would bleed for him and they’d guard his back no matter how irritated they were.

  Family. Even the thought broke loose an unfamiliar feeling and too many of them were slipping away from the carefully locked box he’d needed to keep them in. “Miller was like Kid.” It betrayed nothing to remind them of that fact. Harrison Miller had been twisted, and insane, but he’d possessed a very powerful ability. He fed off the emotions of others and could feed into them the same way.

  “To strike out, I have to be open to others. If I were open to Miller or to Kid, they have direct access to me. I couldn’t use my mind against him, I could only use it to keep him out.” It didn’t matter how often they’d brutalized him or beaten him, his defenses hadn’t wavered. Harrison had wanted to control him. Holding him off took everything Jason possessed. He’d been successful and then they’d killed Cobb.

  “Cody said you froze the alcohol in the bottle. Have you been holding back?”

  “Only in as much as that gift is not as easily accessed as the other. It also developed much later.” It had saved his life when Scarlett torched the canyon to kill Quon, Miller’s firestarter. The ice had shielded him and melted under the violent heat, but he hadn’t burned. Pain spasmed behind his right eye. For weeks, a low lying headache seemed to always be waiting for him—it worsened on some days over others. Today it felt brutal, sharp and piercing as it dug into his skull.