The magik instantly understood and moved towards the female. She cried and shook but didn’t give him a struggle as he pulled her to her feet, clamping a hand on her upper arm.
“Ryder, the Council know you. Go with Vil and explain, please.”
His friend nodded and strode forward to take Rose’s other arm. The three of them disappeared.
Unable to resist any longer, Caia crossed the room to Lucien and placed a comforting hand on his back. He turned into her. “I am so sorry, Caia.”
“You couldn’t have known.”
Jae snorted, “I always disliked the bitch.”
Caia winced. “Not the time.”
“Sorry.”
She let Lucien hold her, ignoring the pack as they mumbled to one another about everything that had happened. So much had happened. So much was still to come. Wanting nothing more than to go back to Lucien’s room and lose herself in him, Caia drew back from him instead. She wouldn’t be allowed that luxury for now… perhaps ever. Her mate wanted no part in the war but she… she was a piece of it.
She traced the annulet on her palm she had been trying to keep hidden from the pack and gestured for them to sit around the dining table.
“I have to tell you what’s been going on,” she said wearily as she perched on the chair at the head of the table, trying to ignore Lucien’s burning gaze. She held up the palm with the annulet and they all frowned, mumbling queries.
“What is that?” Lucien demanded.
She locked gazes with him. “I told you I couldn’t kill the Septum. So I asked Reuben to let me meet the Cassandrian who said all of this was going to happen because of me. The Prophet. I asked him if I killed Marita and the Coven made me Head of it, could I ask the gods to take the trace back. Both traces – Midnight and Daylight.”
“Freeing us,” Lucien breathed, his eyes widening. “Caia, that’s brilliant.”
She smiled wryly. “If only I had thought of it sooner, huh?”
Then we wouldn’t be awkward with each other because I wouldn’t have lied to you and you wouldn’t have kicked me out of the pack.
As usual he seemed to understand and covered her hand with his own, giving it a quick squeeze.
“Anyway, he said the gods already knew what I wanted and he was waiting on their reply.”
“You’re telling me this guy has a direct link to the gods?” Aidan asked astonished.
Caia grinned ruefully. “Yup. And the gods have a funny sense of humor. They made me wait weeks for an answer.”
Jaeden’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “But they said yes, right?”
“They said yes.”
A whoop rushed around the pack before she quieted them, laughing at their encouragement. “That’s all fine and dandy but it means this… this war isn’t over for me.” She couldn’t look at Lucien. “This annulet on my palm is part of a blood oath I took to the Council. I promised them that if they made me Head of the Coven I would complete the rite to the gods and have them take away the trace. If I don’t, all my powers will be given to the Council.”
“What the hell kind of risk is that to take?” Magnus grumbled.
“One I had to,” she insisted. “And now I have to go back to the Center and finish this.”
At their continued silence Caia finally managed to lift her gaze from the table top to look into Lucien’s face. His eyes told her he loved her, but his expression told her how torn he was. He had made a promise to the pack.
And she understood that. As much as she didn’t want to.
Magnus’ cough broke their eye contact and they looked over at uncle. He pinned them both with a stern stare. “Now look here, this stuff about protecting the pack from the war is nonsense. We’ve been in this war for a long time and we’re not getting out of it without every other supernatural on the planet getting out of it as well. And we will follow you, Lucien, no matter what. Look, Marion told me after she took Eliza to the Council and explained about her being alive and all that-”
Caia almost laughed at the blasé way he said it.
“-they offered the pack a home at the Center until this is all over. So let’s go with Caia. We can’t leave her alone in this.”
A spark of hope flared inside of her and she switched her gaze to Lucien hesitantly. He was looking around at the pack, reading them all carefully. Finally, he turned back to her and that spark burst to fire at his slow grin of agreement.
27 – Save Our Souls
White Lies played softly from the mp3 deck the Center had tricked out in their suite. It was dreary outside in Paris, shadowing the room in a grey-blue gloom that was counteracted by the candles Jaeden had lit all around them. The atmosphere outside their door was tense and expectant. Inside, she lay snuggled against Ryder as they dosed on a sofa, careless of anything but one another. It was nice to forget about the last few months of horror, to forget about the fight that lay ahead.
“I like Anna as a name,” Ryder suddenly mused, stroking his fingers up and down her bare arms. Goosebumps immediately rose where he touched and she smiled at his turn of conversation.
“A name for what?” she teased.
“Uh, the Hummer I have a deposit on,” he replied sarcastically. “A kid, Jae, a little girl.”
“Whose little girl?”
“Well I was going to say ours but this conversation is rapidly making me rethink procreation with you.”
Jae chuckled. “Sorry. I just can’t believe you’ve thought of names. What else have you thought about?”
He huffed, “I don’t know. I thought we could wait a few years, have some time just the two of us. And then I was thinking maybe we could get a house next to Lucien and Caia so that our kids grow up close, you know. Maybe have three or four kids…”
The warmth of his sweetness settled like a pleasant ache on her chest. “Boys or girls?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“Three boys and a little girl.”
Amusement laced his words as he replied, “Ah, so you have thought about this, too?”
“I guess. I always thought that would be nice, you know; having three big brothers.”
“I thought Christian drove you crazy?”
“Oh he does,” she whispered, thinking about her brother these last few weeks. He had been wonderful to her mother when Jae hadn’t. But now she was acting like a sane person again they were getting through the loss of Dimitri with one another. Her brother had taken on this paternal role that was annoying… and yet so welcome. “But I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
She felt Ryder press a kiss into her hair. “Then three boys and a girl it is.”
She laughed. “Just like that?” she twisted around to look at him.
His expression was serious as his eyes drank her in. “Of course. What do I gotta do to make you understand I’d do anything to make you happy?”
I love you.
Ignoring her suspiciously prickling eyes, Jae reached for him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. A soft kiss that suddenly grew heated. Ryder groaned underneath her and she felt a tug on her shirt as he began opening buttons.
A gentle tapping filtered into her consciousness.
“Jae!”
Caia.
Ryder growled under her lips and she peeled herself off of him. “Her timing sucks,” he groaned.
Smiling ruefully, Jae began buttoning her shirt again. “Coming!” she called and then threw Ryder a warning look. “I’m letting her in.”
He squirmed uncomfortably, a slight flush rising on his cheekbones. “Well given me a minute.”
Snickering at his predicament, she thrust a cushion at him and hurried over to the door. Caia stood on the other side looking a lot more put together than she had in the last few days. She seemed to look over Jae quizzically and then blushed. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”
How did she know?
“Your hair…” she gestured vaguely.
Jaeden felt her head and realized her hair was twice as big as it usually was from Ryder running his hands through it. “Oh… I um… was experimenting.”
She ignored Ryder’s snort.
“Anyway what’s up?” She stood aside to let her pass.
“Hey, Ryder.” Caia gave a little wave, and threw him an apologetic look after taking in the candles and obviously romantic setting. “I really didn’t mean to bother you guys.”
“No bother,” he assured her amiably.
“So what’s up?” Jae asked as soon as they were all seated. “I thought you would be busy getting ready for the ceremony tonight.” Caia was being made Head of the Coven in a matter of hours.
“Nah, I know what they want me to do. I’ve been hanging at the library.”
What the Hades was she hanging in the library for? “Why?”
Caia shrugged. “Oh, just reading up on the ceremony and stuff.”
“Oh, makes sense.”
“Yeah.”
After another pause Ryder coughed, “Do you, uh, want me to leave?”
Caia shrugged again and threw Jae a pensive look. “It depends if Jaeden’s comfortable talking about her telekinesis in front of you.”
A sick feeling settled in her stomach and she felt her defenses rise. “Yes. Ryder can stay.”
Her mate was frowning. “What is this about?”
Shaking her head, Caia’s hands fluttered nervously, reading their sudden tension. “No, I don’t want to alarm you; it’s nothing too serious. It’s just… well... when we were at Eliza’s home fighting… Jae, didn’t you realize that your telekinesis worked on the lykans in wolf form?”
Huh.
She knew she must look stunned. Because, truthfully, the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. Wow. It had worked against the lykans. “Oh yeeaahh.”
Ryder looked confused. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.” Caia watched Jae tensely. “I don’t want you to worry about it though… I just think that at some point it’s something we should look into.”
She stiffened, panic tightening her chest. “Look into how? By experimenting?”
Caia looked aghast at the suggestion. “Gaia, no! I just thought maybe a blood test. We don’t know if your telekinesis is part of a transfer of magik from Ethan or if it’s an emotional parting gift from what happened to you. There are theories that severe emotional trauma can cause us to tap into the parts of our brain that we don’t normally use, thus giving us access to things like telekinesis.”
This whole conversation was starting to make her uncomfortable. “Does it matter?”
“Not to me.” Caia smiled gently at her. “But if it’s magik then somehow you’ve managed to discover a new kind that penetrates the biggest defense a lykan has. That’s important. And also… if it is magik, does that mean it’s genetic?”
Ryder relaxed back into the sofa. “You mean will our kids have it?”
Caia nodded.
Wow. Jaeden hadn’t even thought of that. Was this something her kids would get from her? And did that make her and any kids she had a threat, because she could hurt lykans in wolf form?