by Sydney Addae
He looked at Siseria and then at her before opening the door and taking a step outside. She noticed the door wasn’t closed tight but doubted the women would pick up on it.
“Prepare them for what?” she asked Julie again.
“I can’t tell you.” The woman sounded genuinely regretful.
Jasmine nodded. “Siseria, what did y’all want to prepare my children for? If you don’t tell me, I’m going to call three men in here and they will not leave until you are breeding. Is that what you want?”
“Stop it, damn you. Can’t you see she’s weak?” Julie yelled.
Jasmine thought of her four kids upstairs in bed and the bomb that'd went off less than an hour ago. The lives of everyone she loved were in jeopardy. Weakness worked for her. “Siseria, why do they want my babies?” she asked again in a more demanding voice.
“They are going to determine the future of the war. If we can teach them the ways of Nicromja, then the breeds will defeat the wolves. But you have sons and daughters, that complicates matters. We don’t know which will lead. Your house may be divided.”
What the hell? “Who or what is Nicromja?” Jasmine asked.
Siseria smiled. “He is our Patron.”
“She answered your questions, now leave her alone. Siseria, lay back and rest. Be easy,” Julie said, but Siseria didn’t respond. She continued sitting on the edge of the bed, looking straight ahead and licking her lips.
“A Patron like Silas?” Jasmine asked, not liking the idea of two of them walking around.
“No. Silas is a toy for his Goddess. Ask the Goddess who Nicromja is.”
Puzzled, Jasmine leaned forward. “Why ask her, don’t you know?”
Siseria looked her in the eye, Jasmine gasped at the raw pain she saw reflected there. Whatever was going on with this woman was taking a serious toll. “Who changes life from the seed? Humans? Wolves? No. We are pawns in this game. It is being played on a chessboard none of us can see.”
Jasmine froze as the wisdom of the softly spoken words settled on her. “Okay.” There wasn’t a whole lot she could say to that.
“Silas ask your Goddess about Nicromja.”
“Most definitely,” he said tightly. “Get more information about the pups.”
“Babies,” she corrected automatically. Inhaling, she glanced at a wound up Julie as she spoke to Siseria. “What makes you think one of my children will determine the outcome of the war? Why can’t it be one of yours? Or Julie’s? They’re breeds.”
“Siseria, shut your mouth. Do not answer her,” Julie gritted out.
Siseria looked at Julie and then at Jasmine. “I can’t tell you the answer.” She looked down and away.
Jasmine nodded. “Jaree?”
He stepped inside. “Yes Mistress?”
“Please remove her and take her to an empty cell in the next block.” He nodded and walked toward the cells.
“You are a horrible person, Jasmine. How could you do this to her. If he touches her…you know what will happen,” Julie screamed.
Siseria watched the big guard approach and Jasmine would swear she was drooling. He reached for Siseria’s cage and Jasmine stopped him.
“No, not her. The other one.” She pointed to Julie and the woman went ballistic, running around the small space trying to escape Jaree’s long reach. She was no match for the huge man and within moments he had the struggling woman over his shoulder. He nodded to Jasmine as he removed the screaming woman from the room.
Jasmine brushed her pants to give Siseria a second to collect herself. “Now, please answer my question. Why did the baby have to be mine?”
Siseria closed her eyes and swallowed hard. For a moment, Jasmine wasn’t sure the woman would answer. “The child had to come from the Patron’s seed since this will be his ultimate downfall. The egg had to come from a human capable of birthing wolves, because the child must be a half-breed. Your Patron is over 300 years old and favored by the Goddess, yet his seed never took root because he despised humans. You are his Eve and your babes are the forbidden fruit that will destroy him.”
Gut punched, Jasmine pinched the bridge of her nose for a few minutes before eyeing the woman. The words rang false and Jasmine lashed out. “You are lying to me. You made this up so Julie won’t be mad at you.” Jasmine stood. “Our deal is off. Jaree,” she yelled.
Siseria jumped up from the edge of the bed and ran to the bars. Her knuckled turned white beneath the pressure. “Please no…please. I can’t take it. As much as it pains me to admit it, I’m not strong like her or the others were. I have told you the truth…except…”
“Except what? Because I need some good news after that bombshell you just dropped.”
Siseria looked up at her. “Everything is fluid and depends on a series of combinations. Choices made, the environment, people we meet. That’s why we wanted the children to control all those things.”
Jasmine looked at the woman and then looked at the wall, her mind racing. “So basically what you’re saying is that in the right environment, none of what you predicted will happen,” Jasmine said, pissed at the level of adrenaline coursing through her body from that whack announcement.
Siseria licked her lips and looked around the room before speaking. “Here’s the thing you have to remember. Jacob and Esau were twins, yet they divided a nation. There is potential to do both good and evil in every person, it is how the seeds are watered that make the difference. A wise king said there is nothing new under the sun, this is an old game being played out, the difference is the players.”
Jasmine considered everything the woman said and could tell by his silence Silas was as well. Basically, she’s saying this is out our hands, we are all pawns and must play the game to survive,” she said to Silas.
“You believe she’s telling the truth?”
Jasmine eyed Siseria, who had returned to the edge of her bed and was licking her lips again. Her eyes flicked all over the room, it gave Jasmine the creeps. “Some, but not all.”
“I agree.”
“I definitely don’t like your destruction being the end result,” Jasmine said.
“That part doesn’t sit well with me either.”
“If what Julie says is true and we control our bodies, why are you in such a bad state?” Jasmine asked the twitching woman.
Siseria wrapped her arms around herself tight. “My mate is near. He always finds me and he’s close. I can sense him. He’s close and I can’t block him out.”
“What?” Silas yelled. “Leave now, Jasmine."
The woman made her nervous. “Jaree?”
“Yes, Mistress?”
“I’m ready to leave now,” she said, heading toward the door.
He waited until she was close and led her out the room. Jasmine glanced back at the chair to make sure the small listening device she placed in between the cushions couldn’t be seen. Once they had cleared all the gates and were back in the tunnels she gave Jaree his instructions. “In about an hour, have Julie returned to her cell and I want every conversation between those two monitored.”
“Yes, Mistress.” He picked up his phone and made the arrangements.
Jasmine pondered Siseria’s predictions during the walk back to her living quarters. Part of it was common sense; aside from the occasional mad scientist you see on TV, God was the only one to successfully change human biology. If some kind of cosmic chess game was being played, there wasn’t a whole lot they could do about it other than hope to be on the winning team. Silas would get more information from the Goddess and they would take it from there.
But this thing with the kids. The Jacob and Esau reference, that bugged her, and she couldn’t put her finger on the reason why. Was it because David was sickly and the rest of the kids weren’t. But Silas said David would be okay. So he wouldn’t always be sick. What was it Julie and Siseria said…something about a sign or a mark. None of her children had any distinguishable marks.
She cleared the elevator and w
alked toward the nursery. When she stepped inside she wasn’t surprised to see Silas and the twins sitting in rocking chairs, holding babies while a nurse changed Renee.
“Hey guys.” She strode to Silas and met his lips for a kiss, then she placed a kiss on Adam’s forehead.
“I don’t want anyone to know about the conversation with the human breeders yet, not until I talk with the Goddess. We are amping up security because of the bomb. I’ll tell you more about it tonight,” Silas said through their link.
She nodded and went to greet the twins.
“Hi, Mom,” Tyrone and Tyrese called out. She leaned down to Tyrone and he kissed her cheek while Tyrese reached over and kissed the other side. She brushed David’s dark curls from his forehead and kissed him, and then turned to kiss Jackie in Tyrone’s arms.
“Everything okay?” she asked as she took a seat.
“Yeah, everything’s good. We have our best planning sessions after we spend a little time with the pups, so we’ll be doing some brainstorming as soon as Hank gets here to handle Renee,” Silas said.
“Well, I’ll go do a little eavesdropping on our guests and see if I can learn anything useful.” She leaned down and brushed her lips across Silas’ as she sent him a message. “I don’t want to be your Eve, but the idea of walking about naked with you is all kinds of sexy.”
He coughed and cleared his throat as she headed for the door. “I have a rising boner with my son in my lap. You will pay for that, sexy mama.”
She looked at him over her shoulder as she reached the door. “I’ll hold you to that, Wolfie.”
He sputtered through their link as she left the room and headed for Rose’s office. Rose was on the phone when she walked in.
Chapter 6
“Thank you, we appreciate any assistance you can give us in this matter.” Rose hung up and looked at Jasmine with a grimace. “Detective Jenkins is turning out to be a royal pain in my ass. He’s got the Merriweather’s thinking the Patron was somehow involved in the death of their son. So the police chief can’t close the investigation without serious blow-back right now. I told the chief, Jenkins is not permitted on our property without a warrant and the chief agreed.”
Jasmine sat in one of the smaller leather chairs facing Rose. “Didn’t Silas read Jenkins?”
“I don’t know,” Rose said. “Did he?”
“Silas did you read Jenkins?” Jasmine asked through their link.
“Yes, why?”
“Rose just talked to the police chief and Jenkins is stirring up a pot of mess with the family of the dead guy. What’d you find?”
“He’s a breed but his wolf’s sick. I’ve got some things in the works to deal with Jenkins.”
“Hmmm, you might want to step it up because he’s gunning for you.”
“Who isn’t these days?”
Jasmine didn’t have an answer for that and left it alone. Instead, she sent a wave of warmth through their link to remind him he wasn’t alone. She was glad he had Tyrone and Tyrese to help him with some of the madness.
“Jenkins is a half-breed,” she told Rose.
“What?” Rose jerked back, her eyes widening. Frowning, she said. “I didn’t smell his wolf.”
Jasmine shrugged, glad she lacked that ability. “Silas said the wolf’s sick.” Her thoughts traveled to the women in lockup. Silas didn’t want anyone to know the things they’d discussed. But her spidey senses were tingling, something was off about that entire conversation with Siseria. She couldn’t put her fingers on it and it was going to drive her crazy until she figured it out. She needed to find a spot to listen to Julie and Siseria’s conversations. Julie would be back in the cell soon, she needed to get situated before that happened.
“I need a room to listen on the women downstairs. I left a bug in the chair.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Rose said. “Those rooms have audio and video in place. I can set you up in a secure spot where you’ll be comfy. Have you had lunch?” Rose asked, rifling through a steel box of what sounded like keys.
“No, not yet.” Jasmine wondered why Silas hadn’t mentioned the surveillance equipment before. Not that she told him she planned to leave the listening device Tyrese had given her yesterday, but he could’ve listened and watched the monitors instead of through their link.
“I’ll have the kitchen prepare you, what? Sandwich? Salad? Pizza?” Rose stood, holding a ring of keys.
“Club sandwich and some of those sweet potato fries with a bottle of water will be good, thanks. I appreciate it,” she answered, standing as well.
Rose tapped the small device in her ear and placed Jasmine’s lunch order as they stepped into the hall and headed toward the elevator. It always amazed Jasmine how certain rooms in this wing were warm, comfortable and inviting, and others areas were cold, sterile. The moment they turned the corner, the hallways changed. There were no pictures on the walls, no wallpaper, instead, a pearl gray paint coated the plaster and concrete floors. It felt like walking in a time capsule.
Rose glanced over her shoulder at Jasmine. “I stopped by the nursery and saw Rone holding Jackie, he’s a natural. We want to have a litter once he settles this Challenge. I’m a bit nervous.” She licked her lips and looked at Jasmine just as the elevator arrived.
They stepped in and pushed the button for the level above the tunnels. “Silas chose Rone to be Alpha of West Virginia, that means he has faith Rone can do the job. I have confidence in them both.” She said, hoping she hit the right tone with the right amount of assurance, because it took everything within her to believe those words.
Rose visibly relaxed and smiled.
Relieved, Jasmine breathed through the tightness in her chest. “This way.” Rose pointed down the hall once they left the elevator.
The room they entered was small and could fit four adults; five would be tight but doable. There was a bank of monitors on three long consoles. Rose turned on all the screens and showed Jasmine how to pan the hidden cameras to see everywhere in the cells and the halls outside the holding area. Next she taught her how to deal with the sound equipment.
From one of the consoles Jasmine had the capability to talk to the women, to change the temperatures or the lighting in both the cells and the hall outside those rooms. Jasmine was impressed that the lights could be dimmed, and even that wasn’t too dark, but they could not be turned off.
“Has anyone been in here lately, messing with their room?” Jasmine asked, remembering the women were beneath a mound of covers when she had first arrived to talk to them.
Rose typed in a few keys and looked at the screen. “Hmmm, someone has been watching them the past four days around the same time, between nine and ten at night.”
“Does it tell you who?”
Rose tapped a few keys and waited for the information to display. She gasped. “Shit. What the hell is going on?” She looked at Jasmine. “It’s Thorne. My brother has been spying on these women.”
That didn’t sound right to Jasmine. “Is there any way to play back what happened last night during that time?”
“What’s wrong?” Silas asked with a long sigh.
“I’ll let you know tonight.” she said, reminding him of his promise to tell her what’s been going on later.
“Jasmine, it doesn’t work like that. Now tell me what’s going on? Did you learn something?”
“Shhh. I have to listen. I’ll let you know later.” She shut down their link knowing it would piss him off. But she wasn’t ready to throw Thorne under the bus until she discovered his role in all of this.
“I got it,” Rose said with some hesitancy. “Uh…this is my brother, do you want me to step out?”
She looked at her daughter-in-law’s red face and her heart squeezed. “No. Turn it on.”
Rose pushed a button and at first there was nothing. Jasmine leaned back in her chair and placed her hands over her stomach, glancing at the clock. Five minutes until Julie returned to her cage.
&nbs
p; “You have everything you need?”
Jasmine sat up and looked at the monitor. Julie was lying on her cot and Siseria paced the small cage. “Yes, young one, we are fine. How is your sister? She is well?”
“Yes, I wish I could help her more but she won’t let me visit her anymore. She says it’s too dangerous,” Thorne said. Jasmine could hear him but there was no visual. His voice was a timbre between adolescence and manhood; Jasmine had teased him about it last week. She glanced at Rose. The woman was frowning at the conversation.
“Things are speeding up. The signs are all around us. You must be careful you are not caught, young one. Your service is necessary for the cause. Tell me of the children,” Siseria said.
Jasmine blinked at the vibrant woman on the monitor. This was no bumbling, nervous ass.
“I have only seen them once. The boys are as I told you before, Adam and David. The girls, Jackie and Renee.”
“She did that right at least,” Siseria spat. “Gave them good biblical names of men who changed history, both strong leaders, but…which way will they lead?” she whispered, searching the floor for answers.
Goosebumps rose across Jasmine’s flesh. She opened her link to Silas but didn’t say a word.
“You think one of the boys will lead, why not one of the girls? My sisters are strong, they are leaders.”
“No doubt you are right, young one, but we have the names of the leaders, it will be the males. They must be watched. No harm can come to them. When will your sister arrive?”
Jasmine started and looked at Rose. Her skin had lost its color. Jasmine stopped the tape. “Rose, are you okay?”
“He’s …my brother has been…he’s been talking to Lilly.” She looked shell-shocked. “My twin, Lilly, that’s who they’re talking about. I’ve been seeking her through our link and never gotten a response. But she’s somewhere close. Thorne’s seen her, talked to her. What’s going on?” she asked Jasmine brokenly.