Blaze of Secrets (Asylums for Magical Threats) (23 page)

to ask what was on her mind, but she beat him to it with her own question. “That’s oversimplifying things.

What if I’m working for them?”

Neena would never let a traitor into their inner fold, but Kiarra didn’t know that. He lowered his face

close to hers. “Are you?”

Kiarra raised her chin. “No.”

“Then don’t bring it up.” He tucked her short hair behind one ear. “I was trying to compliment you

earlier, you know.”

“Was that before or after you started growling and scowling at me?”

Jaxton smiled. Kiarra might have some undesirables in her past, but she was stronger than the

memories. Any woman who stood up to him was not weak in character.

He lowered his head, stopping an inch from her lips. “Well if growling and scowling is what it takes, I

think I can handle that.”

Short breaths puffed against his lips. “To do what?”

He trailed the back of his fingers down her throat and up again. Her breath hitched, and Jaxton smiled

wider. “To make new memories strong enough to overshadow the old.”

Kiarra raised an eyebrow. “You seem pretty confident about being able to do that.”

He moved to her ear and whispered, “It’s been working so far, but I might need to change tactics.” He

bit her earlobe and waited to see how she would react. If she froze, he’d back off and merely hold her, but he had a feeling she was stronger than that. When she moved her hand up behind his neck and groaned, he

gave a gentle nip and licked her ear. “Well, what do you think, pet? Shall we try a little harder?”

The fingers on his neck hesitated, but after he kissed the soft spot just behind her ear, she kneaded his skin and titled her head to the side. Jaxton took that as an invitation and kissed down her neck to where her neck met her shoulder and bit gently. He blew against her wet skin and Kiarra shivered, but this time in a good way.

Jaxton lifted his head and cupped Kiarra’s cheek. “I think it’s working.”

She tightened her grip on his neck and pulled his face down to hers. “Stop gloating and kiss me.”

Her mouth swallowed his laugh and opened to invite his tongue. As he darted and tangled inside her

mouth, he drew Kiarra’s body closer, wanting her to know it was him and not a shadow of the past. When

the sharp buds of her nipples rubbed against his chest, he groaned and rubbed his cock against her

stomach, letting her know he wanted her too.

But it wasn’t enough. He grabbed her arse and lifted her onto his lap. Kiarra wrapped her legs around

his waist, her core now against his cock, and despite the layers of clothing between them, he thrust. Kiarra groaned and moved her hips, the friction making him want to toss her on the bed and rip off her clothes.

But he concentrated, determined to make this good for her, and started trailing kisses down her neck until he reached the neckline of the red dress she still wore from last night. He nuzzled the swells of her breasts and said, “I want your hard little nipples in my mouth.” He nipped the top of her left breast. “Lift your dress for me, pet.”

He could feel Kiarra’s breath on his face, but he watched as she lifted her skirt up over her bra, her

actions unsure, lacking confidence. Jaxton could help with that. “So beautiful,” he whispered.

She flushed down to her neck and he found it adorable. He leaned down and licked her nipple through

the lace of her bra before latching on with his mouth and sucking it through his teeth. Kiarra’s fingers threaded through his hair and she pushed her chest out in invitation. Jaxton nipped the tight bud and

released it, wanting to free her breast and nibble on the soft underside before tracing her taut peak with his tongue. But just as he gripped the top of her bra to pull it down, his mobile phone rang.

He wanted to ignore it, but it was his emergency mobile. The only people who would call him were the

people from his team or family, and only if they were in danger. Jaxton cursed and cupped Kiarra’s cheek.

“I’m sorry, pet, someone might be in trouble and I need to take it.”

She nodded and he reluctantly moved her back to the bed, pride welling in his chest when Kiarra

struggled to remain upright.
Just wait until later, pet.

He picked up the phone from the side table and saw it was an unlisted number, but that didn’t mean

anything. He tapped the receive button. “Hello?”

“Jaxton?”

“Millie?” She’d better have a bloody good reason for calling him. “What’s wrong?”

“I…well…the truth is…” A scuffle came over the phone before Jaxton heard a male voice speak into

the line. “Jaxton Ward, if you want your sister to stay alive, I need to talk with Kiarra Melini.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kiarra leaned against Jaxton, afraid that if she severed physical contact, what had just happened

between them would fade into oblivion. She’d been disappointed when he’d gone to answer the phone, but

after hearing it was Millie, Kiarra tugged down her dress and strained to hear what was being said. Kiarra didn’t care if she’d only known her for a few short hours, she thought of Millie as her friend.

Jaxton’s pinched brow eased and was replaced by a look of surprise. She wondered what had

happened. Jaxton never would have left Millie alone at the pub last night if he hadn’t been confident in his sister’s abilities.

She couldn’t hear the other person on the line, only Jaxton’s side of the conversation. Unable to take the suspense, she put a hand on his arm. “Jaxton, what’s happening?”

He shook his head, signaling her to be quiet.

A bad feeling started to gather in the pit of her stomach.

After a brief pause, Jaxton said, “She’s not here.” His grip tightened on the phone, and Kiarra squeezed his bicep. She mouthed,
What?
He lowered the phone, his hand covering the bottom speaker, and said,

“They have Millie. If I don’t let them talk to you, they’re going to hurt her. I won’t force you, but are you up to it? I need you to learn as much as possible about the man on the phone.”

She barely digested that information before taking the phone and putting it to her ear. Of course she

would help. “Hello?”

“Hello, Kiki.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Only one person had ever used that nickname. “Giovanni?”

“Yes.”

Kiarra’s heart pounded.
Stay calm and focused until you know how Millie is involved.
“What do you want?”

“Do you even need to ask? You, of course.”

Kiarra turned away from Jaxton, hoping to keep her remarks semi-private. No matter who Gio had

become, he was still her younger brother and her best bet was to treat him as such. “Giovanni Charles

Melini, stop with these games and dramatics and just tell me what you want.”

Her whispered scolding must’ve had some effect, because Gio said nothing for a few moments.

However, when someone finally spoke, it wasn’t Gio, but Millie.

“Kiarra, don’t listen to him. I can take care of myself. I—”

A scream echoed on the line and Kiarra couldn’t help but yell into the phone, “Stop!”

Jaxton came to her side, and she shared a glance with him. It now made sense—Millie’s screams earlier

must’ve caused him to grip the phone. Kiarra was afraid for her newfound friend, but it must be infinitely worse for Jaxton. She leaned against him and reestablished her nerve at the contact. “Gio? Millie? Anybody there?”

Gio’s voice came back on the line. “Do I have your attention now? Unless you want to hear more

screaming, here’s what you’re going to do…”

Kiarra listened closely, hoping later she could figure a way to free Millie without hurting anyone else, even if it meant turning herself over. The AMT would at least keep her alive, and there was a higher chance someone could rescue her later. Millie didn’t have the same guarantee.

Gio hung up and Kiarra lowered the phone, staring at it in disbelief. He’d proven that he wasn’t an

imposter, but something was wrong. The most prevalent memory she had of her brother was him nursing

every sick or injured animal that crossed his path, to the point where their parents had constructed a crude

shed to house his animals. That version of Giovanni, the one from her childhood, would never threaten, let alone harm, a defenseless person.

What has happened to him?
Maybe Gio was more indoctrinated than Cam had thought and was past the point of saving.

Jaxton touched her elbow, interrupting her thoughts, and said, “Well? What’s the bugger want?”

Kiarra braced herself for his reaction. “A trade—me for Millie.” She took a deep breath and looked him

in the eye. “If we don’t follow his instructions, then he’ll kill her and send her body back to us in pieces.”

Gio stayed long enough for the doctor to administer a sleeping drug to Millie Ward before he left the

room, and then walked as quickly as he could to his new office. After locking the door, he closed his eyes and leaned against the wall.

His father’s assignment was turning out to be a lot more challenging than he’d imagined. He’d found a

way around torture this time, using a recorded scream to scare Kiarra and Jaxton, but what about the next time? He wasn’t sure that he could harm someone without a reason, simply for his own personal gain. He

couldn’t even eat animals, for fuck’s sake. Killing living things wasn’t his forte.

Kiarra was a first-born, and in the best interests of everyone, should be inside an AMT compound. He

had no problem with retrieving her and locking her away again, to keep her from prying human eyes. But

Gio didn’t like inflicting pain on innocents, especially on those weaker than him.

But at this rate, he might have to.

He opened his eyes and went to his computer. Gio always strove to be prepared, and maybe doing some

research would help calm his mind, or at least serve as a distraction.

Gio now had access to the daily logs of all the AMT compounds. Since he was fighting to keep first-

borns inside the AMTs, he wanted to know more about what happened on a day-to-day basis. From what

he’d seen already, things were not quite what the AMT spokespeople had said they were.

Besides, the information might give him ideas on how to help his father later on.

He scrolled through the files on the computer. Guard rosters or patient files didn’t interest him, but as he looked through the records, one file marked “important” caught his eye:
Research Logs for Dr. Ty Adams
.

Adams had been Kiarra’s researcher, the one previously in charge of her retrieval. Gio wanted to know

more about the scientist who’d designed the nullification formula for elemental magic.

He opened the file and spotted Kiarra’s serial number of F-839 in the first paragraph. There was a lot of scientific jargon he didn’t understand, but eventually Gio came to the brief recap of Kiarra’s charge of seduction and sentence, as well as a stamp of “completed” for the meting out of her punishment. That

seemed unlike the big sister he’d known, the one who’d always played by the rules and had badgered him

to do the same, but he quickly dismissed that thought. Fifteen years could change a person.

Besides, more and more disgruntled
Feiru
were taking out their hatred of Article I on random first-borns. Some of the more disillusioned went as far as to kill any first-born they saw, no matter if they’d reached magical maturity or not.

The AMT was the only thing that could protect the first-borns, Kiarra included, from such violence.

Gio tucked the information about Kiarra’s sentence and punishment away in case he needed it, and kept

reading. But the incident’s postscript caught his attention:

Tests on F-839 confirm the patient’s inability to bear children. The patient is dismissed as a breeding
candidate, but due to positive interactions with the Null Formula, F-839 will continue to be protected
under FB Experimentation Rights.

His brows knitted together in confusion. What the hell was a breeding candidate? Breeding inmates

would only create more first-borns, which would tax AMT—and by extension all
Feiru—
resources further.

It didn’t make any sense.

He opened a new window and searched the files for
“
breeding candidates.” He clicked on the most promising return and read the first paragraph:

F-284 delivered twins today. The first-born was marked with ink, but both children will be shifted to
the pediatrics facility for observation. F-284 underwent five years of gene therapy and her offspring will
be studied for genetic shifts or abnormalities.

Gio stopped reading and leaned back in his chair.

The AMT researchers were using inmates as experiment subjects, forcing them to have children so that

the AMT could study genetic shifts in the next generation. His gut told him that the inmates were probably impregnated against their will.

Did his father know about this? The
Feiru
public bloody well didn’t, that was for sure.

Gio glanced at the clock and decided he had about ten minutes before he needed to check in with

various contacts. He queried “pediatrics facility” and waited for the results, anxious to know how they

treated the children once they arrived there.

Jaxton clenched his fists.

Fuck, a trade
. Trades usually ended with at least one party dead, if not both, as well as a bloody mess of a situation that he couldn’t handle without back-up from his team. And, of course, his team just

happened to be on separate assignments, scattered across the globe.

It also didn’t help that the person in charge of the trade was Kiarra’s brother, which meant that Jaxton had to plan carefully or risk upsetting Kiarra. She probably wanted to keep him alive.

Of course, if Giovanni killed his sister, then Jaxton hoped Kiarra would understand his actions when he