Jackson's attention jumped to Damon. The man's brain was a machine. He was on to something. Whatever it was had to be important and valuable or he wouldn't have brought it up. He'd been giving it some thought and if he asked the question, he had an idea of the answer.
Damon shot him a quick glance and Jackson had to struggle to maintain his expression. Damon also knew that Jackson was planning to go after Gratsos and he wanted in, it was there on his face. Damon was no fighter, but he could plan a battle--hell, he'd developed defense systems for the United States.
"Maybe it's because he's a male," Jonas said, using his logical voice.
Hannah cuffed him hard. Joley smacked him as well, not once but twice.
"You're such a freakin' chauvinist, Jonas," Joley accused him.
"He has a point," Ilya said, straight-faced. "Look at me."
Joley punched his arm. "Don't flatter yourself, Prakenskii. I'm looking and all I'm seeing is a lot of hot air."
He caught her by the back of her hair and pulled her head back, finding her mouth with his, unapologetically taking possession. When he lifted his head, his eyes laughed. "I've obviously not been doing my job lately."
Joley grinned at him. "You do well enough."
Sarah made a little sound in the back of her throat, bringing everyone back to attention. "Actually, Damon brought up a good point. How is he able to maintain his energy?"
"He's not really using his own energy," Damon said.
Tyson leaned forward, a puzzled frown on his face, hands clasped together in his lap, his gaze locked on Damon in that focused way of his. Nothing and no one else was in the room at that moment. "You think he sets the energy seeking in the fog? Free from him?"
Damon nodded. "It has to be that, Ty. How else? There's no way he could sustain an attack in so many places at once. I looked up the Hidden Currents website and the fog was in sixteen places around the world at exactly the same moment. Now, most of those weren't even in the same time zone, but still, the fog hit precisely at the same moment regardless of what time it was in that particular region."
Tyson snapped his fingers. "I see what you're getting at. Clever, clever man."
"I don't understand," Jonas said, his voice irritated. "Enlighten me."
Damon's brows drew together. "He creates the fog to find psychic energy."
"I get that," Jonas sounded disgusted. "How does he sustain it? If he doesn't feed the energy, his fog would collapse, just dissolve. Something has to sustain it." He looked to Hannah for confirmation.
Hannah's attention was on her sisters. They were all looking at one another. "Could he do that? Have any of you ever tried? Ilya?" She looked to her brother-in-law.
"What?" Jonas exploded. "Try not to make the rest of us feel like idiots. All this hoo-do crap is annoying as hell."
"Don't you see, Jonas?" Tyson obviously didn't notice that Jonas was about to lose his temper. "He sends out the fog, sustaining it himself until it finds psychic energy." His eyes lit up, admiration gleaming for a moment. "Then the fog feeds off the psychic energy available to it, leaving him free to create another trap in the water. Because he uses anything natural to the environment, he just basically has to set things in motion for his traps to work. He used kelp, sharks, fishing nets, wind, and he's got to be traveling on the hidden currents on the water. If there isn't one available he creates his own."
"If he's adept enough, he might be able to do the same thing, prepare a trap and the user of the psychic energy might be feeding the power to him," Damon said. "It's just a theory, of course, but where else would he be getting the energy? All of you are feeding it to him, and it explains why you were all so drained even when you were doing a surface healing on Elle."
There was another long, stunned silence.
Jackson tightened his fingers on Elle's shoulder to get her attention. "If he can do it, you can do it. And maybe on a much larger scale."
Elle shook her head. "I don't know how."
"You zapped him, baby. We both know you did. In that moment, before you went down, when you stopped that wall of water, you lost your temper . . ."
"Big surprise there," Jonas muttered.
Joley kicked him halfheartedly and Hannah glared at him.
"Well it isn't," he defended. "Is anyone here surprised?"
Elle felt the knots in her stomach loosen. Surrounded by her family, the familiar teasing in the face of dangerous threats, she was beginning to feel safe again. Jonas loved them and she felt secure in his love--at home--in the same way she did with her sisters. She found herself looking around the room.
I'm very lucky, Jackson.
"Damn it, Elle." He reached down and caught her around the waist, dragging her up and onto his lap. Her tea fountained into the air, but simply stayed there, hanging while he wrapped his arms tightly around her and hissed into her ear. "You do that again before Kate works on you and you won't be able to sit down for a month."
Elle burst out laughing. The overturned teacup on the floor righted itself and the liquid streamed back into it. Elle threw her arms around Jackson's neck and hugged him, burying her face against his throat. "Did I tell you this morning that I'm madly in love with you?"
His large hands framed her face. "As a matter of fact you did." He trailed kisses over her, from the corner of her eye to the corner of her mouth before brushing her lips with his. "But that isn't going to get you out of trouble. Every time you use telepathy, I can feel the lesions in your brain increasing. You have to stop."
"I'm honestly trying," she admitted, shocking her entire family.
Elle rarely enlightened anyone to what she was thinking or feeling. The fact that she was explaining herself to Jackson was very telling to them all, especially that she was doing so in front of them. If any of them had doubted her feelings for the deputy, they were convinced now.
"I don't realize I'm using telepathy. We're so bonded it just seems natural."
"I know." His voice was so tender, Elle leaned in to kiss him again. "Just try harder." He looked at Kate. "Really, Katie, I don't know what to do."
Kate looked at her younger sister, struggling to keep emotion from her face. Jackson had never called her Katie, not once in all the time they'd known one another. And the expression on his face when he looked at Elle brought tears to her eyes. He looked as if the sun rose and set with her, and more than anything, all of them wanted Elle happy.
"We brought some candles and a few other items, Elle," Kate said, her voice a little wobbly. "We've talked a little on how best to try and still give you privacy. Are you willing?"
Jonas stood up. "Maybe we'll leave you to it. We can go out to the deck and drink some manly coffee for a change."
There was a note in his voice Jackson understood. Jonas wanted to talk. Jackson flinched inside. Jonas was law enforcement all the way, but he knew Jackson, and he knew Jackson's way of thinking. He would want to arrest Gratsos, believe there was some way to take him down within the law and Jackson didn't feel much like arguing.
Jonas sighed and jerked his thumb toward the door.
Jackson set Elle's feet carefully on the floor. "I'll be back in a few minutes, baby. But don't worry, I'm not letting you go." He stirred in her mind, reminding her he was helping to create a strong barrier between her and her sisters so they wouldn't feel what she'd gone through.
The intimacy between Elle and Jackson had grown fast, ever since she'd connected with him when he'd been in the prison camp. The more they shared their minds, the more tightly woven the connection had become. He had been alone most of his life, not just alone, but a loner by choice, and now he couldn't imagine his life--his mind--without Elle in it. Her touch, not just physical, was addictive. The warmth she shared with him, her unreserved, uncompromising love that she poured into him was so much a part of him now. When he looked around at his home, he knew it was home because she was there.
Jonas made a sound in the back of his throat. He caught the grin Hannah and Joley threw at
each other. The Drake women loved Jonas. He was more than Hannah's husband, he was truly their brother in their hearts. The only one they had. Their fierce protector and their biggest pain. They knew he wanted to talk to Jackson in spite of Jonas's attempt to keep it a secret.
Elle flashed him a small smile and he winked at her. Her smile widened.
"You're going to do this, then, Elle." Jackson made it more of a statement than a question. "Once you do, we move back to the Drake home. It's the center of power and we'll have even more ammunition against the son of a bitch. In the meantime, that house can protect you better than I can."
She shook her head. "No, it can't. He'd be all over me if you weren't stopping him, Jackson." There was quiet conviction in her voice. "He can't get past you."
Damon stood, leaning heavily on his cane. "Are you certain?"
"Absolutely certain. I can't keep him out. I don't know if it's because of the lesions and I can't maintain a natural barrier against him, or if he knows exactly every weak point. But as soon as Jackson pulls away from me, I can hear Stavros whispering to me, telling me he's coming for me. That if I don't come back to him he'll kill everyone I love and that sooner or later he'll get to that one person who matters above everything to me." She looked at Jackson and there was pain in her eyes. "He means you."
Jackson curved his palm around the nape of her neck and drew her to him, tilting her head back with his thumb, pressing his forehead against hers. "Then he's in for a big disappointment, baby. We both know I don't kill so easy."
"I couldn't bear it if anyone else was hurt or killed because of me," she whispered, pressing closer. "I don't know how to live without you anymore."
"Look around you, Elle," Jackson said. "Take a good look at your family. Nothing is going to happen to any of us. In this one thing, you trust me. He isn't going to win."
Jackson turned abruptly and left the living room, Bomber at his side. He shoved open the door and went out onto the deck, rage welling up inside him. For a brief moment it consumed him, ate at him, until he felt the boards under his feet shift.
Damon and Ilya followed him, Damon dropping into one of the deck chairs. "You're going after him."
"I won't have to go after him. The son of a bitch is going to come right to me," Jackson said. "He's so full of himself he thinks he can come onto my home turf and take my woman." The edge of a glacier was in his voice.
"You have a plan."
Ilya and Jackson exchanged a long, knowing look. Jackson shrugged. He just needed his gun and the man in his sights and Ilya was with him 100 percent on the strategy.
Damon smiled at him. "I think we might need to rethink your plan a little bit." He patted the chair next to him.
"The bastard isn't coming out of this alive." The grim finality gave no room for argument. Jackson looked at Jonas, who had followed them out, Tyson, Aleksandr and Matt close behind.
"Jackson," Jonas cautioned. "You can't kill someone in cold blood. You're a deputy sheriff, sworn to uphold the law."
"You can have my badge, Jonas," Jackson said quietly. "I'll write up my resignation and have it in your hands in five minutes." He started back into the house.
Jonas stepped in front of him. "Don't be an asshole. What are you going to do? Shoot him and go to jail?"
"That's pretty much the plan."
It was Damon who answered. "I might have a better one. Why don't you sit down and hear me out. I've been giving this a lot of thought and while I don't have all the details worked out, I think we can get rid of him without anyone going to jail. While I have to agree with Jackson on wanting the man dead, I'm not too keen on losing a brother-in-law. Jonas, if you think it best you don't listen, maybe you should go inside and see if Hannah needs anything." He looked around at the others. "If any of you don't want to hear what I have to say, now's the time to walk away."
Jonas shrugged. "I can't exactly be a hypocrite. I just don't want Jackson in trouble. I went out to sea to kill the man threatening Hannah. And if I got to Gratsos, I'd kill him. I may be hardheaded, Damon, but I know arresting Gratsos isn't going to stop him."
"Well, I've got a plan." Damon sounded smug. "Or at least the beginnings of one."
"Let's hear it," Jackson said, and sat on the rail, slamming up a barrier so Elle couldn't read his mind. He needed to stay in hers, but he couldn't have her knowing what they were discussing.
Elle felt it the moment Jackson put up a shield between them. He hadn't been subtle about it either. She glanced toward the deck where the men huddled together around Damon. Frowning, she looked at Sarah for an explanation. "They're up to something."
"Damon has a very level head," Sarah reminded her. "He'd never be involved in anything crazy. He's always the voice of logic and reason. He's probably calming everyone down. We have a few hotheads in the family."
Hannah grinned at her. "You wouldn't, by any chance, be referring to my husband, would you?"
They all laughed and began to arrange the candles around the room as they talked. "Jonas is never going to change," Joley said, "but we love him the way he is, Hannah."
"He's gotten so bossy since we've been married."
The sisters burst out laughing and Hannah put her hand on her hip. "What?"
"He's always been bossy, you dolt. You've just stopped blowing his hat down the street," Abbey pointed out. "Jonas comes with a label, 'Dominant Male Right Here.' "
"Well, I rather like it and he's not as bad as Ilya."
Joley blushed a deep crimson. "I get around him."
"I'll just bet you do," Elle said and nudged her sister with her foot.
"So what about Jackson?" Libby asked. "Sarah says you're getting married in a couple of days. Are you really, Elle? Are you sure that's what you want? Jackson has always put your back up. Are you prepared for what it's really going to be like living with him?"
Abigail glanced out to the deck to look at Jackson. With his scruffy beard he looked like a fierce mountain man. She knew he often went undercover for other counties. He was at home in the role he played, but sometimes he was intimidating. "You've suffered a terrible trauma. It might be better to make huge, life-changing decisions when you've had time to recover."
Elle found herself the center of attention, in the middle of her sisters with all of them watching her closely. She pulled her sweater closer around her, suddenly wishing she'd worn more clothes. They couldn't see the lash marks crisscrossing her body, but she was acutely aware of them, of the trail around her breasts and even over her sex. The inside of her thighs burned and for a moment she couldn't breathe.
Baby, do you need me to come in there and rescue you? Jackson's voice was a velvet rasp in her head. She felt instant warmth pouring through her and hadn't realized how cold she'd become. She was shivering and she made herself take a deep breath.
She looked through the window and he was looking at her. He put his hand up in the air, palm out, fingers spread wide. She put her hand up, palm facing him and felt the brush, first skin to skin, then his lips as if he'd pressed them into the center of her palm. She closed her fingers around the spot, holding the sensation to her. At once she felt steadier.
I'm fine. Thanks. And don't reprimand me, you started it. She ignored the stabbing pain in her head, needing the brief communication.
Wait until we're alone. His voice promised everything but punishment.
Elle turned her attention back to her sisters. "Jackson makes me whole. He gives me back everything Stavros took away. I'm not well, not inside yet, and I know that, but Jackson makes me better every day."
Sarah smiled at her. "I want you to get to the point, we all do, where we can put our arms around you and hold you. It's difficult for us."
"I know. I'm sorry. I hope you understand why. Knowing what happened to me and experiencing it are two different things. Until I'm strong enough to keep that from happening I don't want to take any chances with any of you, and Joley and Hannah are pregnant. We don't know how much their babies fee
l." She kept her chin up, trying to stay outside herself and not let those images and memories flood into her mind.
Jackson's mind moved against hers and she felt stronger, as if he stood beside her, linking hands, linking souls. There was no way to explain to her sisters, but she could see they were trying to understand.
"No one will cross that line without your permission," Sarah agreed.
"Kate has to stay safe. Promise me, you won't take too much on yourself, Katie. You can't burn yourself out in order to help me," Elle said.
"I've been thinking it might be best to try this in three sessions," Sarah said. "Libby and I talked it over and she said when she's healing something difficult, she's found if she attacks it in thirds, it conserves her strength and keeps her safe from being overwhelmed. Her body can absorb the disease or wound better."
Hannah blew on the candles to light them. At once the room was filled with the soothing fragrance of lavender. Sarah, Hannah, Libby, Abigail and Joley formed a circle around Kate and Elle, joining hands. They swayed back and forth in time to the swelling chant Sarah began. Kate moved closer to Elle until she was standing inches from her, eyes closed, her lips moving in prayer as she asked for strength to help her sister.
Joley's voice began to swell in volume. Abigail joined her, the blend of their voices strong and pure, a counterpoint to Sarah, Hannah and Libby as they chanted, a call and answer, building energy in the room. Kate smiled her serene smile and reached out to Elle again, her hand hovering just a breath from her sister.
"Are you ready?"
Elle couldn't help it. She reached out to Jackson for reassurance.
I'm here, baby. I've got the shield up and it's strong. She's not going to feel anything but love from you.
His voice was quiet. Strong. Protective. Her heart turned over. A part of her wanted to weep tears of joy for the way he loved her. She nodded her head at Kate.
Kate placed her hand on Elle's head, the lightest of touches, almost a caress, a stroke of love from one sister to another. At once she could feel warmth flowing from Kate's hand to her head. The throbbing pain that seemed ever present lessened. She could almost imagine the deepest layers in the lesions healing. Tiny sparks of electricity tingled, leapt and flickered, as if Kate was repairing an electrical current in her head.