The MORE Trilogy (75 page)

Gideon had told Talia about the headaches and nosebleeds, of course. That was no secret. But only Talia and Ava knew how bad they’d gotten, and Ava aimed to keep it that way, at least until the Rogue threat was dealt with.

“Anything new?” Ava asked, as she always did.
 

Talia had been conducting her own research into Ava’s condition.

“Nothing,” she said, shining a light into Ava’s eyes then checking her ears. “You know the Council has bet—”

“No.”

“Ava—”

She looked the healer in the eye. “I promise. I’ll talk to the doctors in New Elysia when we get there. Just . . . not yet.”

Talia’s mouth tightened, but she nodded and continued the examination. “Headaches worse?”

“They come and go.” At Talia’s suspicious look, Ava sighed in resignation. “Yeah, they’re worse. And it’s not just my head.”

“What else?”

“Muscle aches. All over, really. Like I’ve got the flu or something. Nausea sometimes.”

Talia hummed and made a note in Ava’s chart. “Have you noticed anything in particular bringing on the attacks?”

“Well, when I use my gifts, of course,” Ava said. “Sometimes when I have the dreams. Sometimes for no reason at all.”

Talia frowned. “That’s new.”

“I know.”

Talia grabbed her stethoscope off a hook on the wall and warmed the chest piece with a few breaths. “Breathe in and out, slowly,” she said as she listened to Ava’s heart and lungs and made a few more notes.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Ava shifted a little on the table, the worn vinyl creaking with the movement.

Talia nodded, still writing in Ava’s chart.

“Do you ever miss, you know, going out there . . . into the world?”

Talia glanced at her then looked back at the chart. “Not really.”

“Sorry, I know it’s none of my business,” Ava said quickly. “I was just curious. I mean . . . I’ve never really met anyone like you before.”

Talia sighed, closed the chart, and tapped it on the edge of the table. “I know it must seem strange to you.”

“To be too beautiful to go out in public? Yeah, kinda.”

She smiled, and Ava was stunned by it for a moment. “You know we have to keep under the radar,” Talia said. “For people like me, it’s difficult.”

“I would think that someone like you could do whatever you wanted,” Ava said. “Be a model or an actress or . . .
anything
, really.”

“But I wanted to be a healer,” she said quietly. “I wanted to help my people. And being noticed isn’t part of who we are.”

Ava braced herself and looked directly into Talia’s eyes. She still hadn’t gotten used to the full impact—the carved cheekbones, golden skin, light-and-dark grey eyes. Even with the Veil, the woman was unearthly . . . ethereal. There was no way she could walk down the streets of New York or Paris and not stop traffic.
 

“At least here, I can be myself. I don’t have to try to hide.”

“Do you ever . . .” Ava swallowed nervously, but she was so
curious.
“Lift your Veil completely?” Talia was mesmerizing even with a Veil. Without? Well, Ava couldn’t even picture it.

Talia shrugged. “No need. It’s part of me. Like all of us, I don’t even have to try to keep it up.”

“Well, not like
all
of us.”
 

Unlike the others, Ava had no Veil. It was all part of her father’s plan to make her look ordinary—human.

“True.” Talia tapped her pen against her lips. “Sorry.”

“It’s no big deal. I can handle being, you know, normal.” Ava wiggled a palm back and forth. “Ish.”

“Well, at least in one respect,” Talia said with a wink before moving toward a tall cabinet and scouring the shelves.
 

Ava handed over her medicine bottle and waited as the healer refilled it and handed it back. “Thanks,” she said, hopping down from the table. “Oh, by the way, I’ll probably be by later.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I’m sure Gideon will want you to take a look at the woman we brought back.”

“The Half-Breed, yes.” Talia nodded. “He told me.”

Ava chewed on her lip. “Well, that’s what we thought. I’m guessing she’s a little more, though.”

Talia arched a brow. “Really?”

“We have the same eyes,” Ava said. “And . . . I don’t know . . . I could feel
a
connection
, somehow. Like with Emma.”

“You think she’s one of the Twelve?”

“I’d almost bet money on it.”

Talia reached for her coffee cup and took a long sip. “This should be interesting.”

“You have no idea,” Ava replied with a sigh. “I better get back before Caleb wakes up. I’m sure Gideon’s going to want a debrief. We’ll bring Sophie by after.”

“I’ll be here.”

Ava paused halfway out the door. “Thanks, Talia. Really.”

“Just doing my job,” she said lightly and grinned. “But you’re welcome. Keep me posted, okay?”

Ava nodded and headed back toward her quarters at a jog, stopping long enough to swallow a couple of the pain pills dry and take a deep breath before yanking the door open and walking inside.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Caleb stepped out of the shadows. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t even sensed him nearby. “You scared me to death!” she said, hoping he’d believe that was the cause of her racing heartbeat.

“Where have you been?” he asked, looking over her shoulder as if he’d find the answer entering behind her.

She’d learned partial truths were better than lies. “I woke up early and went to see Talia.”

Caleb stiffened, concern evident on his face as he reached out to cup his palm around her neck. “Are you all right?”

“Fine, yes. I’m fine,” she said, feeling him reach out with his gift. It was second nature now, the mingling of their power. “Just . . . after last night, I wanted to check things out, and I let her know about Sophie.”
 

Ahh, truth. Much safer ground.
 

He nodded. “Probably a good idea. Speaking of which, Gideon wants to see us.”

“Should I get her?”

Caleb leaned down, kissed her softly, and looked into her eyes, searching for . . . something.
 

Ava forced herself to hold his gaze.
 

He kissed her again. “Let her sleep, I think. I’m sure yesterday took a lot out of her. Gideon wants our report first, anyway. He sent me to find you.”
 

“Sorry,” she said as they turned to walk down the hall toward Gideon’s office. “I didn’t think anyone would be up for a while.”

“I don’t think Gideon ever sleeps,” Caleb said wryly.

He was huddled over his computer when they walked in, and if the dark shadows under the Guardian leader’s eyes were any indication, it didn’t look like it. He leaned back and waved at the chairs across from his desk in invitation. “Balaam led them west and lost them near the border to Montana. He’s circling south a bit to make sure, but he should be back in a day or so.”

“That’s good,” Caleb said. “Don’t know what we would have done without him.”

Gideon rocked back in his chair. “So tell me about Sophie. How’s she doing?”

“As well as you’d expect. Better, actually,” Caleb said. “She’s a cryogenic, although her gift is highly unstable at the moment.”

“We can help with that.”

Caleb shot Ava a glance. “That’s not all.”

“Oh?” He looked between them, waiting with his fingers tented against his lips.
 

“I . . .
we
,” Ava clarified, “think she may be like me.”

Gideon sat up, alert. “Full-blooded Race? Or do you mea—”

“I mean, like
me
. I think she’s one of the Twelve. I think she’s my sister.”

“I appreciate you taking the time to see me.” The demure comment felt foreign on Tiernan’s tongue, but it was the way things were done. If anyone had told him a few months ago he’d be acting as an ambassador to the Council, he’d have told them they were crazy.
 

But desperate times and all that.
 

He was doing what he had to do, and in this case, it meant coming to Kaeden Cross with hat in hand, so to speak.

“I only have a few minutes,” the Council member told him, waving toward a chair before taking a seat behind his desk, his golden gaze watching expectantly.
 

For a moment, Tiernan entertained the idea that they could almost pass for twins—both tall, muscled, and shaved bald—if not for the scar marring Tiernan’s face and his blue and green eyes. “Rafe told you why I’m here?”

Kaeden nodded and leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers over his stomach. “An alliance with the Guardians. Not an easy feat to accomplish.”

“Yeah, well. That’s an understatement.”

Kaeden’s lips quirked. “Who do you have so far?”

The Protector let out a heavy breath. “As you know, Rafe supports the alliance. Naomi will go along with whatever the majority decides. Andreas is . . . thinking about it.”

“And Madeleine?”

“I won’t need Madeleine if I can get you and Andreas.”

Kaeden laughed, loud and full. “Oh, Protector, when did you become such a politician?”

Tiernan asked himself the same question on a daily basis. Hourly. Sometimes more.

“Borré and the Rogues pose a real threat,” he said instead of replying. “The Council will need all the help it can get if it’s going to defeat them.”

“The Rogues have never been much of an issue before.”

“Not one at a time. Not when they weren’t organized. Not before the Twelve.” At Kaeden’s stoic silence, Tiernan rolled his eyes. “I know the Council is aware, at least to some extent, of what’s going on. The fact of the matter is, the Twelve are powerful—more than you or me or any Race before, I’d hazard to say.” He recalled the destruction Ava had wreaked on the Guardians’ training field. “You know they’ve set their sights on the Council.” It was a guess, but when Kaeden’s stare broke, Tiernan knew he’d guessed right.
 

Kaeden stood and turned toward the window. “I’m with you,” he said quietly. “But I won’t cross Madeleine.”

Tiernan grunted in frustration, and Kaeden turned to face him, smirking.
 

“You need it to be unanimous, Protector. For something like this, there can be no dissention. Take my word on it.”

Tiernan knew he was right. “She’s going to be difficult. You know how she feels about the Guardians.”

“She’ll listen to reason. It will simply take some convincing.” He glanced sidelong at Tiernan. “You might want to get on her good side.”

Tiernan laughed humorlessly. That was easier said than done, but he knew the Council member was right. Madeleine was the key to everything. And it was up to Tiernan to win her over.

God help us all.

Chapter 3

Caleb leaned against the wall of the examination room, watching Ava as she talked with Sophie and held her hand for reassurance. Talia was running the blood sample she’d taken, and they, along with Gideon, were waiting, even though they were pretty sure what it would show. Ava was sure, at least, and Caleb tended to trust her judgment.

Well, for the most part
.

He reached out for her through the bond, a trickle of familiar relief going through him when their gifts merged.

She looked at him with a small smile, obviously feeling it as well.

He smiled back, wishing he could shift her away someplace quiet. Someplace private. Someplace where they didn’t have to think about the Rogues or the Twelve or conspiracies that put the world in danger.

Someday. When this is all over
.

Talia clicked a few keys on her computer and turned to Sophie. “You probably should see this,” she said. “But perhaps you’d prefer the others
 
lea—”

“Hold on a second.” Gideon took a step forward, scowling.

“Rogue plot or no, this woman has a right to privacy, and I will not reveal her medical information without her consent.”