Chapter Twenty-Six
THAT SHOCKED expression was all it took to confirm Jake’s suspicions.
“I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” He’d wondered if Dellan shared his gifts. Well, he had his answer.
“I only found out I could do stuff like that when I met Rael. He’s one of my mates. The first time we met, he heard my voice in his head. And then I spoke to him in a dream. But I thought that was because of the mate bond.” Dellan bit his lip. “Apparently not.”
Jake’s heart skipped a beat. “You look like me, but when you did the lip-biting thing a moment ago? Lord, you remind me of your mother.” His breathing hitched. “Dellan, is she….” He didn’t want to voice the fear that wound tightly around his heart.
Dellan’s face contorted, and that told him everything. Pain lanced through Jake’s chest.
Oh, Miranda.
“I hate to break up the reunion,” a deep voice rumbled. “But we need to get back to our camp and onto a plane.” The guy was huge, with broad shoulders and an equally broad chest.
“This is Horvan, my other mate,” Dellan informed him.
Jake smiled. “I have a severe amount of catching up to do. And you’re right. This conversation can wait.”
He was in no hurry to have his heart broken.
THE C-17’S engines droned, but Jake pushed the noise into the background. Dellan hadn’t left his side since they’d boarded the trucks, and that was fine by him. He didn’t want to let his son out of his sight for an instant.
A lot of the soldiers around him were asleep, and Jake imagined that was a combination of a very early start and downtime after the mission, not to mention adrenaline crash. They were an impressive bunch. Jake was awed at how quickly they’d moved to free all the inmates, with very little loss of life.
His gaze fell upon Brick. Seth had fallen asleep in his arms.
“He hasn’t had much of that the last few days,” Jake murmured to Dellan. “He’s wiped out.” He paused. “You do know he’s—”
“Your son, and therefore my half brother? Yeah, I know. I found that out when we rescued Aric from the camp in Bozeman.”
Jake smiled. “Love that kitty.” Aric was presently curled in Seth’s lap, his eyes shut tight. What made Jake smile even more was the fact that even in sleep, Aric was in contact with both his mates. His paw was now resting on Brick’s arm, where earlier his tail had been draped over it.
“We were so relieved when we learned Jamie was with you and Seth.” Dellan sighed. “I think we turned his life upside down.” He glanced farther along the plane’s interior. “I think Brick is avoiding Jamie.”
“Why would he do that?”
Dellan frowned. “Because Brick was the reason they caught Jamie. He’s the reason Jamie ended up in that camp. The Gerans took his parents hostage, saying they’d release them if Brick provided information. Except we think they pretty much killed them right off the bat.”
Jake frowned. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Then Brick needs to talk to Jamie, and soon. I can understand why he’d feel responsible, but as Jamie told me, they would have caught him at some point, regardless. How did he phrase it? ‘Did I like being caught? No. But I found my people, and I can’t be angry when I’m so fucking happy.’” Jake couldn’t wait a moment longer. “Tell me about your mom.”
“She… she died about a month before the Gerans took me.”
Jake fought the urge to weep. “Did she… did she ever remarry?”
“Eventually. She had you declared dead seven years after you disappeared. I was only fourteen at the time, but I remember one thing. Everyone had to convince her it was time to move on. She was certain you’d walk through the door, a suitcase in one hand, a bag containing gifts from Italy in the other.”
“She hung on in there, didn’t she?” Knowing Miranda, she would have only resorted to that if there was no hope of his return.
“Visiting the lawyer to go through the paperwork? It devastated her. She was working as a barista—one of three jobs—when she met Tom Prescott. They married a while later. He took care of her. He was a good guy.” Dellan snorted. “Can’t say the same for his son, but Anson got his in the end.”
“How did she die?”
Dellan’s face tightened. “I don’t know. Doc doesn’t think it was natural causes, though. He thinks the Gerans got her out of the way, because once I was drugged and unable to shift back, she’d have known about it and tried to find me.”
Doc sounded like a very astute man. “He may well be correct in that assumption. I take it he is a doctor?”
Dellan smiled. “Yes. He was a military doctor. That’s where Horvan met him. And when they rescued me, they called in Doc Tranter to check me out.” He glanced at Jake. “He told me he knew you and Mom.”
Jake stilled. “Nicholas? Do you know where I can find him?” His heart pounded.
“You’ll see him when we get to Brunswick. He’s with the inmates we rescued.”
That sent Jake’s heart into overdrive, until he forced himself to breathe more evenly.
It’s been a long time. You don’t know anything about his life. He could be happily married. Hell, he could be a grandfather.
“I’m gonna go sit a while with Jamie.” Dellan squeezed his knee, then stood, a little unsteady on his feet.
“He’d love that. He’s talked about you so often.” Jake watched as Dellan made his way along the plane to where Jamie sat with Rael, Dellan’s other mate.
Still can’t believe they found each other. When he and Miranda first met, Jake didn’t even know there was such a thing as mates, but after listening to Seth, he had a feeling she hadn’t been Jake’s. Not that it mattered. He’d loved her from that day forward. Nicholas had been a good friend. He was also incredibly sexy, a fact Jake was sure Miranda hadn’t overlooked when she’d given him a push in Nicholas’s direction.
I wonder if age has diminished his appearance—or improved it.
Either way, Jake was about to find out, and the prospect of meeting him again was enough to give him butterflies.
Horvan came over and sat beside Jake. “How’re you doing?”
“Better now that I’m a free man. It’s been a while.” He peered at Horvan. “I understand you’re the man who freed Dellan.”
“Yes, sir.”
He chuckled. “ Sir ? Damn, that makes me feel old. Call me Jake, okay? Did you know he was your mate when you rescued him?”
“Yeah.” Horvan smiled. “That episode was just one shock after another. I met Rael and discovered mates were real. Then he told me he had a mate, and that logically, Dellan would be my mate too.” He sighed. “Which made it imperative to get him the fuck out of that cage.”
“I’m looking forward to getting to know you.” Jake trusted his instincts, and right then they were telling him Dellan’s mates were good men.
“Once we get to Brunswick, a medic will check you out.” Horvan’s eyes glittered. “I imagine there’s a certain elephant shifter who’d be keen to draw that straw.”
Yeah, Horvan was pretty astute.
“Did you capture any of the guards from the camp?”
Horvan cocked his head. “Capture? Hell no. We left them there to face the music when the Geran powers that be discover we breezed into the camp, grabbed Fielding—who we’re sure is a big noise—and took every last fucking inmate with us. The camp commandant won’t be put in charge of a parking lot, once they’ve finished hauling him over the coals. We did bring one guard with us, though.”
“Milo Keppler?”
“Yeah.”
Relief swamped him. “Then he’s safe. Thank God. Is he with his mate?”
Horvan nodded. “We owe him a lot. It was thanks to him that we knew about your imminent execution.”
Jake froze. “My what?”
“Fielding gave orders that you were to be shot. Today, probably, while he had a ringside seat.”
Ice surrounded his heart. “That cold-hearted excuse for a— Why? Why go to the trouble of testing me six ways from Sunday only to have me taken out?”
“Maybe he saw you as a threat.”
“Me?”
“Specifically, your… talents.”
Jake stilled. “Oh. Okay, you might have something there. I’m pretty sure that’s why they’ve kept me alive and imprisoned so long. So what’s the thinking? He was going to eliminate me before I could use my gifts to… what, discover something?”
“I’ll introduce you to Aelryn. He’s a Fridan leader, and he wants us to go searching for a tomb, of all things, that he says could be important.” Horvan scowled. “I should think Fielding wouldn’t want you finding out about his nasty little secret weapon.”
“What secret weapon?”
He sighed. “You’re not gonna like this. The Gerans’ breeding program included Dellan, all the while he was in that fucking glass cage. And… well, they took one of his children, a boy, and….”
“And what?” Jake listened in growing horror as Horvan told him about the grandson he had no idea existed.
The grandson who sounded like a fucking abomination.
Jake swallowed. “Where is Alec? Do you know?”
Horvan shook his head. “No one does. But you might be able to find that out. Because once we get to Brunswick, there’s gonna be an… interrogation you might wanna be part of. If you feel up to it. I know you’ve been gone a long time, and maybe all you want to do is rest, relax, and reconnect with the people in your life. No one would blame you for that.”
“Feel up to it? Questioning that….” Cold fury surged through him. “I’d consider it payback. Just let me at him.”
“There’s something else.” Horvan pointed to two guys sitting together, both of them muscular and menacing. “That’s Saul Emory, joint team leader, and the guy on his left is Crank, one of my team and a damn good man. They’re human, but their mate is a shark shifter. And he’s been taken by the Gerans. We don’t have a clue where he is, and they’ve given us some bullshit about exchanging him for a Geran captive that we don’t even have. But Fielding might know where he is, or at least have an idea where to start looking.”
Jake stared across the plane’s interior to where Seth lay sleeping. “You might consider bringing Seth in on the interrogation too.”
Horvan nodded. “Two heads are better than one, don’t they say? So two psychics have gotta be a force to be reckoned with.”
Jake was now a man on a mission—to delve into Fielding’s mind and learn everything he could. He had a grandson to save—if Alec could be saved—and a lot of secrets to uncover. It was time to unravel this whole bunch of bullshit, and starting from the top seemed like a very good idea.
He also had to get to know the man his son had become.
NAVAL AIR Station Brunswick in Maine had been officially decommissioned in 2011, Horvan told him, but Aelryn had taken it over about two years ago. The original aircraft hangar had burned down, leaving only the main buildings. By the time the C-17 landed on the airstrip, buses were waiting on the tarmac, ready to take the former inmates to a place of safety once they’d had a medical checkup.
It was easy to spot where Fielding was being kept: The building had armed guards on the doors.
Is that to keep him from getting out, or us from getting in? Jake imagined Brick would love to spend a few minutes with Fielding.
He didn’t think Fielding would be so happy about it, however. He’d be lucky to escape with his limbs intact.
“Dad?”
Jake gave himself a mental shake. “Sorry. I must’ve zoned out. Did you say something?”
Dellan smiled. “I said I don’t think we’ll be here long. Aelryn’s got food waiting for everyone in the main building, and as soon as you get the all-clear, we’ll be back in the C-17, on our way to Homer Glen, in Illinois.”
“Is that where you live?”
“It was the house Tom built for Mom, and it’s your home now, for as long as you want to stay. Jamie’s, too. And if we don’t have the room, we’ll add on to the house.”
“Don’t go to any trouble on my account,” Jake admonished. “You have your own life to lead with your mates. You don’t want me hanging around.”
Dellan blinked. “Are you kidding ? Less than five months ago, I discovered you weren’t dead after all. Then I missed you by I don’t know how long when Horvan raided the camp at Bozeman. Then I find out you’re in the same camp as Seth and Jamie. Dad, what makes you think I’m ever going to be ready to be parted from you again?” He grinned. “Sorry, but you’re stuck with me.”
“And if I suddenly have my own life… someone to love… what then?”
Dellan cocked his head to one side. “In those circumstances, yeah, I might be willing to let you move out, on the proviso that you visit—often.”
Jake smiled. “Just checking. And as for visiting? You’ll be sick of the sight of me.” He inclined his head toward Fielding’s makeshift jail. “I’m not leaving here until I’ve had the chance to question him.”
“Horvan said as much. Fielding isn’t going anywhere, and thanks to the drugs he probably proposed and produced, he can’t shift.” He snorted. “Bet he’s regretting that now. Doc made sure he got a taste of his own medicine.”
Jake watched as one of Horvan’s team approached the guarded building, carrying a tray containing a bottle of water and a plate of food. Once the door opened, however, a small, lithe furry shape darted across the tarmac and went inside. Seconds later there were shrieks of mingled pain and rage, accompanied by a caterwauling that was so loud, it hurt the ears.
“Get this fucking cat off me!”
That had to be Fielding.
The soldier appeared in the doorway, carrying the calico kitty, who was hissing and spitting, and even at a distance, Jake could see the blood on its claws. He didn’t blame Aric, not for one nanosecond, not after the way he’d treated Seth.
Brick strode toward the soldier, hands held out, and Aric was deposited into them. Brick stroked his back. “Feel better now?”
The soldier hollered toward the main building. “Can we get a medic in here, with a first aid kit? We’re gonna need sterile wipes and wound dressings. Maybe even stitches.”
Brick chuckled. “Hey, you did good, kitty.”
There was something else Jake couldn’t miss.
I never knew until this moment that a cat could look so smug.
“Ready for your checkup?”
His heart hammered at the sound of that voice, older now, but unmistakably that of Nicholas. Jake turned to see him, aware of appearing older than his sixty-two years, the lines created by years of being subjected to the tender mercies of the Gerans.
How must I seem to him? Nothing like the young man I was the last time we met.
Then he realized he wasn’t the only one who’d aged, who’d suffered.
Nicholas’s eyes glistened. “Hello there. It’s so good to see you.”
Now. Now.
Jake’s heart thumped. “Tell me. Are you married?”
Nicholas blinked. “Er, no.”
“Seeing anyone? Involved with anyone?”
His lips twitched. “Not exactly the greeting I expected after all this time, but I’ll roll with it. No, there is no one. Not even a cat.”
“Then I’m sorry, but I can’t wait a moment longer.” Jake let go of his fears and took Nicholas in his arms.
Nicholas gave a jolt. “You’re either about to kiss me or get me in a headlock.” The expression of longing in his eyes threatened to unravel Jake where he stood. “Lord, I hope it’s the former.”
That was all the invitation Jake needed.
He kissed Nicholas, not holding back, and a moment later, Nicholas’s arms were around him, and Jake’s kiss was returned, tenfold.
“Whoa,” Nicholas said when they broke the kiss, both of them breathing hard. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”
Jake kissed his forehead. “After the last thirty-one years? I intend to never waste a single second of what time I have left.”
That included sharing what he’d discovered all those years ago. The sooner the shifters of the world learned the truth, the better.
Nicholas cupped his cheek. “I still need to give you a quick physical, but when that’s over, I’m done. I’m not about to leave your side.”
If Jake had his way, that was where Nicholas would stay for the rest of eternity.
I lost one love—I’m not going to lose another.