by M. Leighton
“It’s not that, Jersey. I just know how you get when you’re sleepy. Good god! I’ve seen more temperate grizzlies.”
“And you’re always such a dream, right? More like a porcupine. Let me tell you something, Mr.—”
“You guys, come on! We’ve got better things to do than argue. Jersey, we’d love to have your help with research. Do you think you two can get along in order for us to get anything accomplished, though?”
There was a moment of silence before Jersey’s face split into a beatific smile. She bounced over to Jackson and squeezed his arm, looking up at him adoringly.
“Of course we can. He’s my brother and I love him.”
Jackson rolled his eyes and I laughed. She could really lay it on thick when the occasion called for it.
“That’s a little more like it,” I teased.
“Yay!” she squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. “We can order pizza and stay up all night. It’ll be so much fun.”
I had thought it would be—so much fun—but my plans for the night had been dependent on being alone with Jackson, which would not be the case with Jersey hanging around to help out. I squelched my sigh of disappointment.
“That gives us time to watch at least one of those movies I rented the other night. All hell broke loose and I’d all but forgotten about them. Besides,” Jersey said, moving forward to link her arm through mine and turn me toward the door. “I feel like we need to spend some quality time catching up. Over ice cream. Then popcorn.” She licked her lips dramatically.
Quickly, I glanced over Jersey’s shoulder at Jackson, who was frowning. I could tell he didn’t like the situation any more than I did, but there was little either of us could do. Jersey was…well, she was Jersey. Enough said.
As she steered me through the door, I racked my brain for any excuse to go back to Jackson, but the plans had already been set. There was little we could do until it rained. For a few hours, I was stuck. Jacksonless.
********
Jersey and I were sharing a bowl of popcorn as we watched a dramatic car chase on the television when the first rain drop pecked on the window. I say we were watching, but what I really mean was Jersey was watching. I was silently counting the minutes until I got to see Jackson again. He had become like a drug to me, an addiction. I needed his presence on a nearly visceral level. Certainly on an emotional one. I felt as though all was right with the world when he was near, even if it wasn’t.
I sat up, almost toppling the half-empty bowl of fluffy kernels in my haste. “Was that a rain drop?”
Shifting the bowl into Jersey’s surprised arms, I leapt from the bed and rushed to the window. I swallowed my whoop of delight when I saw the fat drops peppering the glass.
“All this over rain? Is there something I don’t know?”
I looked back at Jersey over my shoulder, carefully assessing her expression. Although her question was peculiar, the look on her face was innocuous enough. I shrugged and replied casually, “I’m just anxious to find and capture the Lore so we can make another attempt at Atlas. I feel like I let everyone down.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Madly,” Jersey said, pausing the movie. “You managed to get Wolfhardt out of Kellina and get that bastard back to prison. That’s huge. Huge! How can you feel anything but proud? It was as success.”
“Atlas isn’t free. Our entire race, as well as who-knows-how-many humans, is still in danger. I hardly consider that a success.”
“Eh,” she said, waving me off. “You’re too hard on yourself. Enjoy the victories, Madly. There’s always tomorrow to win bigger wars.”
I smiled at my friend. Sometimes she was surprisingly wise.
“You’d love me if I dyed my hair green, refused to shower and sat around watching Our House reruns, wouldn’t you, J?”
“No way! I could never love someone who liked Our House.”
Her grin was full of mischief. Mine was full of love. Jersey was family. All we were missing was the blood.
A knock sounded at the door just then. Although Jackson usually entered our room where it adjoined his, this time he was using the main door. But that didn’t throw me. I knew it was him. I could feel him like static in the air, bringing every nerve in my body to attention.
“Wow,” Jersey said after opening the door and stepping back to allow Jackson to enter. “You must’ve been just waiting for that first drop to fall, too.”
Jackson’s eyes met mine across the room. His expression didn’t change in the slightest, but I knew he was smiling on the inside. Just like I was.
“You ready?”
I nodded, moving to get my shoes and a jacket from the closet.
“We’ll be back in a while, k?”
Jersey nodded, smothering a yawn with the back of her hand. “If I’m asleep, wake me up.”
I sighed.
“I won’t bite,” she added with a giggle. “I promise.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve heard that before. I’m just telling you, though, if you’re grouchy, no all-night research. Got it?”
“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” she shouted, saluting me stiffly.
I shook my head and followed Jackson back out the door.
We walked in the manner one would expect a Sentinel and his charge to walk. At least in Mer culture—Jackson slightly ahead and to my left, always on guard and scanning the area for danger.
Before I could ask where we were going, we had arrived at the mouth of the forest and Jackson spoke, answering my unvoiced question. “I thought we’d go to that clearing right up here. It’s private, but isn’t really covered by anything that will inhibit the rainfall. If it doesn’t work as well as the creek, we can always go there next. I didn’t know how much water you’d need.”
“As long as I get to spend time with you, I don’t care if it’s raining or snowing or near a creek or the ocean or a glass of ice water.”
“Princess!” he exclaimed in shock. “How inappropriate of you, for I am just a lowly Sentinel, assigned to protect the—” I reached forward to slap Jackson’s arm playfully, but he continued. “—delicate curves of the Mer’s most important female. Why, I would never even consider laying a finger on her in a way that was—”
With a squeal, I jumped onto Jackson’s back, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Gently, I bit his earlobe. “So you won’t be laying a finger on me, huh?” With a throaty chuckle, I slid my tongue along the shell of his ear and then dipped it quickly inside. Jackson shuddered. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
Jackson took off at a trot until we were fully immersed in the shadow of the trees. Twisting, he dragged me off his back and into his arms, where he cradled me against his wide chest. I looked up into his fathomless blue eyes, feeling more at home in them than I did anywhere else on the planet.
“Well there is something…”
Lowering his head, Jackson took my lips in a searing kiss that left me aching in all the right places. When he tore his mouth away, we were both breathless.
“Jersey!” Jackson growled. “Let’s pray that she gets sleepy and goes back to her room tonight.”
I laughed, thrilled that he was as put out about our botched plans as I was. “Maybe we could spike her pizza,” I teased.
“Well, if she falls asleep, you’re mine. And I don’t care where we are. If she falls asleep in my room, we’ll just have to christen your room.”
Chills raced down my arms at the thought of Jackson making love to me in my own bed, in my own room, in my sanctuary. It was so…intimate. So personal. So real.
I reached up to trace the perfect curve of his mouth with my finger. “You can have me anywhere you want me,” I whispered.
“Even in the rain?” he asked, his eyes burning with desire.
My heart sped up. “Even in the rain.”
“I hope you mean that,” Jackson said, walking forward purposefully, his eyes never leaving mine.
Anticipation curled i
n my stomach. Heat crawled along my skin. But just as he was turning to duck behind an enormous collection of boulders, several delighted squeals of laughter drifted to our ears. We were not as alone as we’d thought.
Jackson stopped and we both sighed. “Rain check?” he asked.
I laughed. “I’ll give you more than one.”
He growled and kissed me roughly before setting me on my feet. “I guess we’ll have to keep it clean today.”
“You don’t have to sound so disappointed,” I giggled.
“Why not? I am disappointed.”
I smiled broadly. I loved that he wanted me. I wondered if it was possible for him to want me as much as I wanted him. I decided it was not. I doubted anyone in the history of the world had ever wanted another person as much as I wanted Jackson. If it came right down to it, he was the only thing I doubted I could live without. He was all I ever wanted.
With a sigh, Jackson took my hand and pulled me along behind him. “Come on. I guess we’d better get something accomplished.”
We made our way through the trees until they parted to reveal a small clearing. Even beneath the gloom of the overhanging clouds, it was easy to see what a beautiful spot it was. The grass was a lush dark, dark green and it was dotted with clumps of tiny yellow flowers. The rain glistened in the muted afternoon light as it fell in a soft sheet to the ground. With the noise of the intruders having faded from the forest, it was absolutely silent but for the delicate patter of the light shower.
Releasing Jackson’s hand, I stepped from beneath the shelter of the trees and walked to the center of the clearing. I stopped and tilted my face up to the soothing moisture. It was cool on my cheeks and it felt like nourishment to my bones.
I felt it when Jackson approached, knew it when he moved to stand behind me. Reaching back, I wiggled my fingers, a silent plea for him to take my hands. And he did. Lacing his fingers through mine, Jackson stepped forward until his front was pressed to my back. Immediately, my bracelet warmed against my wrist, reacting to his proximity as if knowing we were on a mission.
I pulled his arms around me and felt the power surge between us. It wasn’t necessary for me to summon it; it was never absent. It always hovered in the space between us, around us, within us. It simply was, as the air and the sun and moon simply were.
Neither of us spoke.
Jackson bent his head and I turned my face, pressing my cheek to his as I closed my eyes. With my race’s most powerful element raining down around us, pouring through my hair and over my skin, I focused. There was one thing I was interested in seeing—all the people in Slumber who had an off-the-charts aptitude for science. I was looking for all the people who could be descendants of Hyde.
Like the shimmer of the moon on the rippling surface of the ocean, watery faces began to dance behind my eyes. They dissolved into one visage. Oddly, it was a familiar one.
That couldn’t be right. Maybe I needed to start over. Maybe I needed to reset and concentrate harder on what I wanted to see.
Shaking my head to clear it, I began again. In my mind I silently chanted, repeating over and over what I needed from the rain. But just as silently, it gave me the same answer. Before I could make out a single face among the liquid vision, the image of my friend dropped down like a curtain in front of my eyes.
“Kellina,” I half whispered, half growled.
“Kellina?” Jackson asked from behind me.
“Yes,” I snapped in frustration. “For some reason, I keep seeing her face. Here,” I said, stepping out of his arms. I turned to face Jackson, taking his hands in mine and closing my eyes again. “Maybe I was too distracted by somebody’s delicious body at my back.”
I saw Jackson arch one raven brow just before I closed my eyes again. “And that makes you see Kellina?”
I scoffed. “No, but it certainly affects my concentration. Now hush.”
I knew without opening my eyes that Jackson was biting his tongue. Such high-handed behavior would not normally be ignored. But these circumstances were different, so Jackson kept his commentary to himself. For the moment anyway.
Smothering my grin, I focused on the energy flowing between Jackson’s body and my own. I felt it tingling in my fingertips where our skin touched. I felt it burning its way up my arms and into my chest where it pulsed like a fiery sun.
Although I could still feel the warmth of my bracelet, it was easily eclipsed by what blazed between my mate and me. It felt even stronger than it had before and I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with our recent union.
Pushing every other thought from my mind, I concentrated on the information I sought, feeling every rain drop as though it were one small piece of a puzzle. But still, the only face I could make out was that of Kellina Stratford, the werewolf mate of one of my best friends.
It was with the beginnings of alarm niggling at the back of my mind that I opened my eyes to find Jackson staring at me. His face was blank but intense. I didn’t have to tell him that something wasn’t right; he already knew.
“What could that mean? Why can I only see Kellina? She has nothing to do with this.” I asked.
For an eternity, Jackson said nothing. I didn’t prompt him to answer me because I could practically see the wheels of his brilliant mind turning, shifting bits and pieces of information this way and that until they fit into a picture that made sense.
“All descendants are marked,” he finally said, dead pan. “To my knowledge, no one has ever wondered why. We’ve just accepted it as truth. Fact. Maybe it is caused by exposure to the Lore.”
I shrugged, not sure where he was going with this. “Okay. So?”
“Kellina was marked as the Strauss descendant, but she was also possessed by the Wolfhardt Lore. That had to leave an impression. No one has ever hosted both, at least not that I know of. Is it possible that she now shares some kind of…link with the Lore?”
“What do you mean, ‘link’?”
“Even though you’re asking to see a broad category of people, your objective is still to identify the descendant. And yet you see only the face of Kellina. Maybe it is through her that the descendant will be revealed. Maybe her connection to those we seek is strongest on dry land.”
Part of me thought it was a stretch, but part of me could see his rationale. All of me, however, knew that, even if it wasn’t the best theory, at the moment it was the only theory. That being the case, we had no choice but to run with it until we either disproved it or something else turned up.
“Well, at least we know where to go next,” I offered. But then I paused. “Or do we?”
Jackson frowned down at me. “What is it?”
“For one thing, Kellina is still recovering. I mean, I did almost kill her. Inadvertently, but still.”
“It’s not like we’ll be asking her to chase him down and rip him to shreds with her canines,” he quipped.
“I know, but still. It might be taxing for her. Besides, what exactly would she have to do? We have no idea why I’m seeing her. Not really. Does she know something? Can she see something? Sense something? Is it someone she knows? Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m doing something wrong. Maybe I’m not concentrating enough. Maybe I’m—”
“Madly, stop,” Jackson said, winding his fingers around my upper arms. “We don’t have the answers to any of those questions. The only thing we can do is go talk to Kellina. See what she says. If we don’t glean anything useful there, we start over. Simple as that.”
Jackson. He was so logical, so practical, so in control. Even though he didn’t really give me any answers per se, he provided sound direction and, as always, I found his confidence reassuring. He was my rock in every way.
I looked down at my wet clothes, shuddering involuntarily as I pulled at the cool, soaked material of my shirt. “We can’t very well go like this. Do you think it can wait until tomorrow? Maybe after school?”
A slow smile curved Jackson’s lips and he wound one arm lazily a
round my waist, pulling me in close to his warm body. “I think it can wait until then. Right now, I think it is of utmost importance that I get the Princess into warm, dry clothing. After a hot shower, of course.”
I shuddered again, but this time for a totally different reason. “Did you have a particular shower in mind?”
“Think you can be quiet as a mouse?”
I rose onto my tiptoes, barely able to brush my lips against Jackson’s. “Depends on whether or not you can keep my mouth busy.”
Jackson chuckled. I felt the vibrations of the deep rumble tickle the walls of my chest where I was pressed so tightly to him. “I think I can manage that no problem.”
“Get me out of here then, Sentinel Hamilton! Make haste!” I teased, taking his hand and running for the trees, back the way we’d come.
I let the giggle burst from my lips. The moist air held the sound close, making it seem like I was in a bubble, one containing just Jackson and me. It filled me with a happiness, a carefree feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long, long time. Maybe not since childhood. I would enjoy to the fullest every moment of bliss that came my way. After all, it was impossible to tell when they might come to an end.
Immediately, I pushed that thought aside in favor of the anticipation that had unfurled deep in the pit of my stomach. Making love to my husband had become my favorite activity. By far!
My husband! I thought. Jackson is my husband! He’s mine. All mine.
A kaleidoscope of colorful emotions swirled and twirled inside me. Happiness, gratitude, disbelief, desire, love, hope—I felt everything, all at once, and it nearly stole my breath.
Increased pressure on my fingers drew my attention to the object of my ruminations where he walked at my side. He was looking down at me, smiling in a gentle way that tugged at my heartstrings. On his face was love—pure, gleaming white love. It shone into the dark corners of my soul, chasing away the shadows of doubt, leaving only the certainty that, somehow, everything would be all right. It had to be. This man and I had a future together. An important one. And we would survive to see it. We had to!
Outside the forest, it was still cloudy and pouring rain. Jackson and I made our way toward the dormitory. He seemed impervious to the moisture. I was unbothered for the most part, but for the slight chill on my skin.