CHAPTER 15 #2
Raif smiled. “Yes. We’re a bit to the north of Oakridge. We shifters have our own little settlement here. We can go into Cottage Grove or Eugene when necessary for supplies without risk of drawing unwanted attention to ourselves.”
“Sounds like that’s going to be a moot point soon,” Samantha said, shrugging. “How do you guys feel about the vampires exposing you?”
Raif sighed as he slipped his arm over the top of the couch behind his mate.
“The elders are struggling with the idea. But then again, they still live back in the nineteenth century. They struggle with anything modern. The younger members are excited about it. I think they feel suffocated and trapped here.”
“It will not be wise for them to leave the safety of their pack anytime soon,” Gauge warned. “Are you going to be able to control your members?”
“Don’t worry, Hunter,” Raif said, releasing a little of his alpha energy. “I have full control. Haven is also an alpha. She’ll help me.”
“I meant no disrespect, Alpha,” Gauge said. “It’s just that no one, human or shifter, will be safe until we make sure all Djinn have been evicted from the planet. Humans, though less of a threat, are still going to struggle to accept what they don’t understand.”
“Not all of them,” Raif said. “There aren’t a lot of them, but some humans who live near us are aware we are shifters.
We’ve learned to get along. I’m sure it’s the same with most of our shifter groups.
I’m hoping these humans can help soothe concerns when we’re fully exposed to the general population. ”
“Tell me about yours and Jax’s experience with Djinn,” Gauge directed at Haven. He hoped it would help explain Jax’s frame of mind. No one fought a Djinn and came out of it without some emotional damage. What he needed to know was if Jax could be trusted.
Haven’s face paled as she thought back. “Jax and I were sent here to hunt for Evanth when he went rogue. I’m sure you heard about it. You’ve probably worked with Evanth before. He was an ancient Hunter before he turned.”
“Yes, a powerful male. It couldn’t have been easy for you and Jax to trap him.”
“No, it wasn’t. Unfortunately, it ended up being the other way around.
He trapped us.” Haven reached for her mate’s hand, the experience obviously one she did not want to relive.
“I would be dead now if not for my mate finding me. And Jax would have been lost to us. Evanth managed to get his hands on a drug that separated me from my wolf. I couldn’t protect myself when a rogue cat attacked.
I don’t believe Evanth cared what happened to me. He was more focused on Jax.”
“I understand he also drugged Jax,” Teo said from his spot by the window.
Haven nodded. “We think so, but Jax doesn’t remember. It could also have been a Djinn spell. But we didn’t learn about her until much later. The spell left Jax trapped in a terrible bloodlust, one like Gabriel, another Hunter, suffered from so long ago. He became a danger to everyone around him.”
Gauge knew Gabriel had suffered for decades before the spell finally released its hold on him. There were rumors floating around that it was a shadowborn who released him from the spell, but Gauge didn’t know if this was true or not. “How did you manage to pull Jax back from it?” he asked.
“We didn’t, at least not alone. Elena, Gabriel’s eillelé, helped us. She and another Hunter named Xavier.”
“Ah, yes, that makes sense. Elena is one of those whose dormant Djinn cells have become active. I hadn’t heard Xavier was a part of Jax’s rescue.”
“Yes, him and the chairman, Falkner. But we would have lost Jax, and possibly me too, without Elena.” Haven closed her eyes, her hand tightening on her mate’s.
“I’m too young to have dealt with Djinn when they ruled on Earth.
I didn’t realize how powerful their magic was.
Elena helped me get inside Jax’s mind, but the spell used on him also trapped me.
We would both have been lost if Raif hadn’t risked his life to come in after me.
Xavier had created a blood bond with my mate.
He worked through Raif to help pull us both out. ”
“Tell me, Haven, when you worked with Elena, did you ever once feel she was trying to manipulate you in any way?”
Haven frowned. “Um, no, why do you ask?”
“Yeah, why would you ask that, Gauge?” Samantha asked, her posture stiffening. “If you’re trying to imply Aaliyah could ever turn against us, you’d be dead wrong. I don’t know this Elena person, but if she’s mated to one of your Hunters, then I doubt she would turn on anyone either.”
“Have you ever dealt with Djinn, Samantha?” Gauge asked, ignoring her anger. He hated to put doubt in her mind about her friend, but Gauge knew firsthand how devious Djinn could be.
“No, can’t say I have.”
“I don’t believe your friend or Elena would willingly turn against us, but they might not have a choice if the Djinn queen becomes involved.
Your friend, Aaliyah, has not shifted into a Djinn form yet, but it doesn’t mean she won’t.
The power she exhibited when she freed you from the Sabula king definitely came from Djinn.
Only my kind is considered equal to them, and Aaliyah is not Laizahlian. ”
“You can’t know for sure it came from Djinn,” Samantha snapped, biting her lower lip.
“You don’t know everything, Gauge.” When he only looked at her, she sighed.
“Okay, I admit it doesn’t sound good. I know Liyah and Rafa met a Djinn on that planet they crashed on.
But she helped them escape. Why would she do that?
Maybe they’re not all bad. I mean the Djinn. ”
“Why indeed,” Gauge murmured. “Did you know the Djinn queen is able to take full control over any of her female subjects? She can use their bodies like a puppet master. The downside is that she usually ends up burning out the circuits in their brains. If she remains too long, there is nothing left of the host but an empty shell. The queen does not wish to risk damaging her subjects, but what if she could take over a hybrid like Elena or your friend Aaliyah? Until we learn more, we must remain on guard. It’s why the council is sending all hybrids back to Earth?
Raiden will need to be warned. They may insist you and Seraphym remain here, at least for now. ”
“What about Abby and her kids?”
“The sting of a Raiden warrior’s shaprata changes a female on a cellular level.
I strongly suspect it will override any Djinn influence.
Abby and her offspring should be safe. You, I’m not so sure about.
I’ve never heard of serpent venom altering human cells.
It’s also somewhat concerning that Seraphym is Leviathan, and you became Catalan.
We know so little about Catalan. As far as I know, only Leviathan serpents were brought to Earth.
If Djinn experimented with serpent genes, it makes more sense that they would have used Leviathan DNA. ”
“Do you think I might be a danger to people?”
“I don’t, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t remain cautious.
If you and Seraphym agree, we could perform tests to see if you have dormant Djinn genes.
In the past, Djinn were unable to control serpents.
It’s what helped turn the tide when we drove them from Earth before.
We could be in trouble if they have also been experimenting with serpents. ”