“I’m okay,” Bri assured, as Bryon settled her on the opposite couch.
Cole’s strength returned slowly. He had to lean heavily on Nathanial in order to make it to the couch next to Bri. He felt as though he’d aged a decade in the last hour.
Byron clenched his fists and pinned Bri with a less than friendly stare. For the first time, a hint of something hard shone in his previously gentle eyes. “Who else needs to be brought up to speed with what’s going on? Because I’m not entirely sure what just happened.”
Bri swallowed the lump of fear in her throat, mostly afraid of what Cole’s sister would think when she heard the whole story. How would Maliha ever accept her with the threat she posed to Cole and probably to anyone around her?
She took a deep breath and gripped her hands together in her lap, glancing at Cole.
He covered her hands with his. He felt good and strong beside her. Bri savored the moment, knowing it couldn’t be a part of her future as long as her power ran unchecked.
“This happened once before,” she started, focusing on Celeste who turned to face them. “I fell asleep on the drive yesterday morning. It’s fuzzy, but as soon as Cole touched me, we had an instant connection and something inside me started feeding on his spirit, siphoning off his life force. I couldn’t stop myself.” She shuddered, glancing down.
Cole gently squeezed her hand. “We turned it around,” he continued for her. “One of my abilities is to connect with the earth, gather information, and manipulate it to create movement.”
“Cole.” Maliha stepped toward him.
“It’s all right, Mali.” He held up a hand to stop her. “We need to share as much information as we can, or we’ll never make it out of this.” He put the statement out there as a challenge to everyone in the room.
Bri cleared her throat. “We were thrown into a vision, similar to the nightmare I’d been having. The same thing happened today, except this time Celeste, you were there.” She paused and the Warrior-woman watched her closely. “Was it . . . was she my mother?”
Celeste’s expression, fixed and hard, reflected a deep sadness. All Bri wanted to do was reach out and comfort her. Given her reaction when Ash had attempted to take care of her, the gesture might incite violence, yet something deep in Bri’s soul felt connected to this woman. She couldn’t explain it. She only knew the feeling had been growing since they’d met.
“Yes,” she finally said. “That was Rowan, or at least her in some form.” Celeste paused. “Bri, she’s no longer the mother you knew. I could only connect with sparks of her former self.”
“This is going to kill Jonah,” Byron commented to no one in particular, lowering his head.
“What do you mean?” Bri asked.
“He’s her—”
“Byron!” Celeste stood, her voice sharp. “Think before you speak.”
“Byron, tell me,” Bri pressed, determined to uncover whatever information about her mother and Jonah she could. She was sick of being left in the dark.
“Yes, Byron, by all means tell her.” Jonah’s voice, calm and commanding, suddenly filled the room.
Bri nearly jumped out of her skin. Her father stood in the arched entryway to the living room, a dark, stormy expression on his face and a glint of ice in his piercing blue eyes. How long he’d been standing there, she had no idea. He looked overly casual, dressed in dark slacks and an untucked button-down white shirt. A thin red mark ran along the right side of his face from chin to brow.
“What happened to you?” Relief made it harder for her to hold on to anger.
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” he replied, shifting his focus to Byron.
“I’m tired of not knowing what’s going on.” Bri shot to her feet, hanging onto the back of the couch for support. It wasn’t her strongest stance, but she pressed on. “Tell me.”
For several moments no one said a word. In the silence of the room, Cole stood beside her as they confronted Jonah.
“I don’t know what-all is going on here,” Cole started, his voice low and soft. “But secrets aren’t working. Because of them your daughter has been through hell. She needs your help, your support, not your cloak-and-dagger bullshit.”
Nathanial had been leaning quietly against the far wall, his muscular arms crossed over his chest, the tips of his tattoo poking out of the bottom of his gray T-shirt. He moved into position behind Cole at the same time Maliha stepped closer to his side. They all faced the Quytel Commander.
Jonah’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and Bri could almost feel the Quytel collectively gathering to defend him. Their Commander was not one to be questioned, certainly not by humans. He could kill them all with a flex of his pinky. Cole surely knew it too, and even after everything she’d done to him, he defended her.
“You’re right. You don’t know what’s happening here,” Jonah finally replied.
“Enlighten us then,” Cole insisted. “Tell Bri. She deserves to know the truth about her life and her mother.”
The silence in the room grew thick and oppressive, and Jonah’s mouth compressed into a hard line.
“Why don’t you all give us a moment? Bri, come with me.” He left the room, expecting her to follow without question.
Cole had to hand it to the man. Jonah didn’t really argue; he dictated and everyone fell into place. The wolf stretched, ready for a display of resistance.
Celeste stood as well, steadying herself. “I’m coming with you, Bri. There is more you both need to know about this.”
Bri went up on her toes to brush a kiss on Cole’s cheek. “Thank you for sticking up for me,” she whispered in his ear. “It’s kind of sexy.”
Cole pulled her into a hug in front of everyone. “Do you want me to go with you?”
Shaking her head, she gave him a small, sad smile. “I’ll be fine.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. He wanted to hold her like that forever. Then she took a couple of steps back, her palm over his heart. She hadn’t told him she loved him, and maybe she wasn’t ready to say the words, but he saw it there in her eyes.
“Best not to keep him waiting.” Celeste interrupted their moment.
Cole reluctantly let her go. He didn’t trust Jonah with Bri’s safety or her heart. Maybe the man had lived too long, or maybe he had too much power. He’d kept a lot from his daughter, and Cole had the feeling far more would be revealed in the fight to come.
“Let’s go for a run.” Maliha came up behind him.
A run would do him good. He was far too restless to wait here. “Yeah,” he agreed.
Maliha led the way to the front door. Ash stepped in front of them when they reached the wide, wraparound porch. His laid back, casual demeanor had evaporated.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.
Cole’s sister bristled and let loose a resonant snarl. “I don’t answer to you.”
Ash stepped closer and smiled down at her, unaffected by her protest. Cole didn’t like the flare of interest in the man’s eyes or the sudden shift in his body language. Yeah, the Warrior had a deep attraction to his sister, and there was no way for it to end well.
“Step aside.” Cole placed himself between his sister and the Warrior. “We’re just going for a walk.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about.” Ash raised an eyebrow, his entire focus on Maliha.
“Maybe you should be.” Cole moved to block his line of vision.
Byron appeared behind them and put a restraining hand on Ash’s shoulder. “It should be safe enough. Stay close to the house.”
Maliha gave Ash a withering glare as Cole stepped around Byron and leaned in close. “Stay away from my sister,” he warned with a sharp set to his jaw and heat in his wolf’s eyes.
Ash gave him a hal
f smile. “Not a chance, wolf man.”
“You and I are going to have problems,” Cole rumbled, putting pressure on Bryon’s restraining arm. “Mali is not the kind of woman you can play around with. She’s not made that way.”
Ash shrugged and settled his eyes on Maliha. “We’ll see.”
Cole snarled and lunged, nearly knocking Byron out of the way. Byron grabbed Cole by both shoulders and spun him effortlessly to face him. He was certainly no match for Ash, or any of them; a hard fact to swallow.
“Go for a run with your sister,” Byron ordered, leading Cole to the bottom step of the porch.
Taking a deep breath of crisp mountain air, Cole let it fill his lungs and calm the rage in his soul. Being surrounded by nature humbled him; he felt it to his bones. With each footfall, his power and strength were replenished by the earth’s generosity. It soothed him in a way nothing else could. He worried enough about Bri, and now he had to worry about his sister catching Ash’s attention.
“What’s going on between you and Ash?” he asked as they made their way further from the oppressive tension and power of the Quytel.
Mali glanced over at him under her long eyelashes and shrugged. “We just met, how could there be anything going on?”
As they reached the relative protection of the trees, Cole stopped. With a hand on his sister’s shoulder, he forced her to face him. “These people are dangerous, Mali. I see how Ash looks at you, and I haven’t seen you this upset by a man in years.”
Her silver-gray eyes clouded with doubt and confusion. Mali didn’t like to talk with him about her personal life and she’d never brought a man home.
Shrugging off his hand, she walked deeper into the forest. Cole understood her well enough to know she had finished with the conversation.
Using the forest for cover, they made their way to a copse of spindly pine trees. A hill beyond offered a bird’s-eye view of the farmhouse and surrounding area.
“I’ll race you to the top of the hill.” Mali pointed. She stepped behind a large pine, and a moment later her black and silver wolf leapt into the clearing. Landing gracefully on four paws, she took off for the hill at an easy lope.
Cole found the cradle of branches in the pine where his sister had stashed her clothes and added his to the pile. Shifting as he walked, he dropped to all fours, spine curving and body contorting.
He ran full out after Maliha. She had a healthy head start. With each paw to the ground his soul soared higher and he ran faster until they crested the hill at the same time. Halting, panting from exertion, Cole scanned the vista spread out before them, providing a panoramic view of the area. The house was oddly difficult to see from there. Cole blinked and squinted. It remained a hazy outline, some sort of a Quytel protection spell, no doubt. The ribbon of highway bisected the forest, and a lazy river flowed on the other side.
He nudged his sister with his nose, indicating he was ready to return. Maliha gave him a playful growl and took off running down the hill.
Shifting at the tree holding their clothes, they took their time getting back to the house.
Maliha glanced over at him. “That was her father?”
“In the flesh.”
She shook her head. “Interesting family.”
“You have no idea.” He slung an arm around her shoulder. “And I thought our family was strange.”
Maliha laughed, catching him around his waist and nestling her head on his shoulder as they walked. “Are you sure about this, Cole? She’s dangerous.”
He could only imagine what it must have been like to see him fighting for his life. It had felt like hell.
“I love her,” he said starkly. The nagging doubt, that his affection for Bri had somehow been magically induced by the pearl, had fallen away at some point. In his heart he knew the truth, and he loved her as he had never loved anyone before.
Maliha sighed. “I know. I saw the look on your face.”
“She knows about the wolf. She’s seen it.”
He pulled his sister into a tight hug, and peered up at the sky. He would sacrifice himself to protect Mali or any of their team. The idea that he might be putting them in danger because of Bri ate away at his conviction. He had no choice. This woman he’d just met had quickly become the center of his world.
“I would have liked you to fall for someone who didn’t try to kill you.” Mali stepped out of his arms. “I won’t lose you to this relationship. You got that?” She poked him in the chest to punctuate her point.
Cole smiled sadly, his heart twisting. “There’s too much power rushing through her. Her mind and body go into overload trying to assimilate it.” He stared at the house, imagining Bri sitting with her father. Hopefully, she would get the answers she needed from him. “I’m not ready to lose her. I just found her.”
Chapter 22
Bri and Celeste faced each other across the round wooden table. The woman sitting next to her had over three hundred years under her belt.
Afternoon sunlight bounced off the spacious kitchen’s cheery walls and warm tiles. Bri’s gaze shifted to Jonah, standing across the room, unusually casual. He certainly didn’t appear old enough to be her father, and no one would suspect he was a mystical Commander who had lived and fought for centuries. Bri was still trying to wrap her mind around the idea.
“Let’s start with what happened right before I got here.” Jonah’s expression remained stern, expectant.
Bri had a few questions of her own. “What was Byron going to tell me before you stopped him?”
Jonah reached the table in two long strides. “There is much I want to explain. Revelations about your mother, about me . . . decisions I made many years ago that have impacted all of us.”
Even as disdain creased Celeste’s brow and crackled in her eyes, Jonah confronted her. “I know what you’re thinking. You only have part of the story.” He produced a small smile of what might have passed for understanding. Instead it came out as a grimace. “The full story will make me more of a monster in your eyes than I already am.”
“Then out with it, Jonah. It’s time we both heard the truth.”
“You haven’t learned much patience over the years.” A whip of reprimand colored his voice. “First, fill me in on what happened.”
Celeste pinned him with a hard stare, and Bri swore she saw the fire of hatred in those turbulent depths. There might be some serious charge between the two of them that had nothing to do with her.
“It’s Rowan, as impossible as it sounds.” Celeste hesitated, before baldly stating, “The question is whether she’s being forced to do this or whether she went rogue when she disappeared.”
Jonah shook his head. “She’s not alone.”
“Anton? You know for sure?”
He jutted his chin to one side in a sharp motion that Bri had come to learn meant he actually felt some deeper emotion. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“She was vulnerable to him,” Celeste shot back, condemning him with her tone. “You put her in an impossible position.”
“I know.” Sadness flashed in his expression and made Bri’s chest tighten. He inhaled sharply, then seemed to shake it off as he faced Celeste. “Tell me everything she said, everything you saw.”
“Well, as soon as Cole touched Bri they became fused together. She appeared to be draining his life force, as if someone had taken her over.”
Bri shuddered as the awful memory replayed in her mind. Laying her palms flat on the table, she glared at Jonah. “What is my latent power? Killing people with a touch? It’s nearly happened twice now.”
He settled one of his hands gently over hers. “That’s not your ability. It’s more likely your mother acted through you, using you as a vehicle of her destruction.”
Bri tore her hand away and stood, nearly tipping her
chair. Her mind refused to accept what she was hearing.
“I believe he’s right,” Celeste murmured.
Tears pricked her eyes despite her attempt to stymie the unwanted emotion. “Then what is my power?”
She had asked them both, but Jonah jumped in first. “You have the marker of Quytel in your genetic makeup, which means you have access to multiple psychic abilities. One of which allows you to connect with another person’s energy, essentially to build a bridge between you and another person. It gives you some ability to manipulate—”
“No. I don’t want to be able to do that.” She paced angrily from the table.
“It’s quite a useful talent,” Celeste pointed out, as Bri paced restlessly. “It’s what allowed Darius to paralyze Cole and Nathanial when they approached the house this morning. You’d have strong telepathic ability even with those who don’t.”
“What else can I do?” She spun to face Celeste, her fists clenched in challenge.
“We can train you to connect with your power, then we wait to see what emerges as you discover what they are and learn to use them.” Celeste shot Jonah an accusing frown. “When I connected with you and Cole, Rowan was the one manipulating the situation, as Jonah said. She’s connected to you and can use your body and spirit for her purpose. Your psychic abilities are strong and, combined with Cole’s, provide enough of a shield to protect you from her. I don’t know how long it will last. She’s gaining power every day.”
As much as her heart protested, Bri knew the truth. Her mother was the woman in the vision, the one who had almost killed Cole and probably would have killed her too if they hadn’t figured out a way to redirect the energy.
“Your man is quite powerful in his own right,” Celeste noted.
Bri felt her entire face go hot, and she darted a look at Jonah. “He’s not my man.”
Circle of Dreams (The Quytel Series Book 1) Page 23