Chapter 50
Aiden snuck out of the bed, careful not to wake his sleeping mate. He tiptoed down the hall to his room to grab some clothes. He yawned, not having gotten much rest. Jamie had finally settled in to a deep sleep after an hour or so of tossing and mumbling. All Aiden could do was hold him close and whisper encouraging words to him. He would stay up all night every night as long as he had to so his mate could have a little bit of peace.
After throwing on some worn jeans and a blue Henley, he hit the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He stared at himself in the mirror above the sink. His eyes flashed the orange of his phoenix.
“Please, I need to stay human right now to take care of him,” Aiden silently told his beast.
“I understand. Just reminding you that we need to take care of our father soon. I sense he’s up to something. He has to be stopped.”
Aiden nodded and watched as his eyes turned blue again.
He padded down to the kitchen barefoot to cook some breakfast for the two of them. He was relieved to have some more days off from the bakery since things with his father were coming to a head. Even before his phoenix had confirmed his fears just now, Aiden had been feeling like the time for battle was near. That’s why when someone knocked on their front door less than fifteen minutes later, he wasn’t surprised to see Heath standing on his doorstep in his GLPD uniform fleece sweater, black cargo pants, and boots.
“’Morning. Come on in. I was just making breakfast.” He kept his voice low. He wanted Jamie to get as much sleep as he could.
Heath nodded. “Thanks.” He followed Aiden inside to the kitchen and leaned against the doorway. He nodded toward the hallway. “How’s he doing?” Heath asked.
“Sleeping, so try to keep your voice down.” Aiden pulled eggs, cheese, and mushrooms out of the refrigerator and laid them on the counter next to the oven. “Thanks for asking about him, though. I just brewed a pot of coffee. Go on and grab yourself a cup.”
“Thanks.” Heath selected a mug out of one of the upper cabinets, poured himself a cup of steaming coffee, and took a seat at the table. “Mac told me what happened yesterday. I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault. Now, have you got any ideas how we’re going to stop the person whose fault all this is?”
“The problem is we still don’t have any ideas what his next move is. We’re running with the belief that he’s trying to use Amber for some sort of spell. We know he wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of the Guardians except for Iris, and maybe you. We also know he may want to use you for some reason.” He paused to take a sip of his coffee. “Now, we moved Amber to keep her safe, but I think the only reason he hasn’t burned the town to the ground is that he thinks she’s still here somewhere. He’ll most likely send another group of his soldiers back to my parents’ house to try to find her.”
“Why would they go back there? They know she’s not there. If I were them, I’d look elsewhere in town,” Aiden said.
“I guess then I’d focus on the Guardians’ homes,” Heath said. “It’d be a lot easier if we could gather everyone into one house for the time being.” He huffed a laugh. “I’d actually like to bring everyone in town over to keep them safe.”
“Heath, you’re not doing this alone. You can’t single-handedly protect the entire town,” Aiden said.
“I just feel responsible for them all.”
“How do you think I feel? It’s actually my flesh and blood causing this chaos,” Aiden said.
“First of all, neither of you two are responsible, so cut that out,” Jamie said from the kitchen doorway. “Second, I think bringing all the Guardians together is a good idea.” He looked adorably sleepy, wearing pajama bottoms, slippers, and one of Aiden’s hoodies. His light brown hair was standing up every which way, making him appear younger than his mid-to-late thirties. “Hi, Heath.”
“Hi,” Heath said, grinning.
Aiden placed the spatula he was holding on the spoon rest next to the stove, walked the few steps to reach his mate, and gave him a kiss on the lips. “’Morning.”
“Good morning, yourself,” Jamie said. “What can I do to help?”
“You can take a seat next to the chief and let me cook. I was just about to make mushroom and cheese omelets. Sound good?”
“Perfect.” Jamie sat down.
Aiden handed Jamie a cup of coffee before returning to his cooking.
“Thanks!”
“So, you think we should have a Guardian and mate sleepover?” Heath asked Jamie.
Jamie took a sip of coffee before answering. “Well, I think you’re right about it being easier to make sure we’re all safe. It’ll also be easier to plan our next moves. Leah will be able to teleport us around individually and in small groups, so that’ll help if we need to disperse quickly.”
“So, my parents’ house is the biggest,” Heath said. “We should probably all stay there.”
“That still doesn’t help us figure out what exactly his father wants with Amber,” Jamie said. “Is he trying to kidnap her and raise her as his own baby phoenix? Is he trying to kill her and take her powers somehow? Is he trying to be reborn through her?”
“Yeah, it could be any of those. I wouldn’t put anything past him at this point. Terris was helpful about the lab location, but he didn’t seem to know anything about my father’s current plans,” Aiden said.
“Who knows if he shared that kind of information with anyone?” Heath said. “Who would he trust enough to tell his plans to?”
“No one that I know of,” Aiden said. “Even if he thought I was still loyal to him, I’m not sure he’d share that kind of thing with me.”
“No trusted advisors?” Heath asked.
Aiden shook his head. “I don’t think he ever really trusted anyone completely. Well, at least that I know of.”
Heath rubbed his chin thoughtfully before turning to Jamie. “I have a question for you.”
“Yeah,” Jamie said.
“When you read someone’s mind, are they aware you’re doing it?” he asked.
“Not if I don’t want them to be,” Jamie said. “You could speak to Terris and ask him what he remembers from yesterday.”
“I will. Right now, he’s recovering with a couple of Jasper’s best SCB agents at a new safe house.” Heath took another big sip of his drink, then fixed Jamie with a look. “How close do you need to be to someone to be able to read their mind?”
Jamie shrugged. “I’ve always been pretty close, like within eyesight.”
“Why’re you asking?” Aiden asked.
“Because I was wondering if you’d be able to read Williamson’s mind.”
Aiden forced himself to remain silent. He wanted to scream at Heath. What a stupid, dangerous idea. He didn’t want Jamie anywhere near that monster. Heat pooled in his abdomen. He fought against the urge to let his rage out. He couldn’t keep behaving like a pissed-off toddler whenever something upset him. He forced himself to stay calm and cool for his mate’s sake.
“Let him answer for himself,” his phoenix said.
“I will,” Aiden silently growled.
“Don’t say anything stupid.”
“I won’t.”
Jamie appeared pensive. “I’ve thought about that, too. I don’t know if I could. He’s spoken to me in my head.”
Aiden gasped.
“No, I mean before when I worked for him. He would speak to me telepathically, and I could speak back. I never dared to go into his mind to search his memories before. I never wanted to,” Jamie said.
“Has he spoken telepathically to you since you’ve been back in your human form?” Heath asked.
Jamie shook his head. “I’m not sure he even knows I’m here. He may still think I’m stuck in my beast form in Rhode Island or dead. I just don’t know.”
“Could he hurt you if he caught you in his head?” Aiden asked. Both Jamie and Heath stared at him as if he were nuts. “I know he could hurt you. I mean, could he do something to you while you were in his head? Like really hurt you? Trap you somehow so you were stuck inside?”
“I don’t know,” Jamie said. “No one ever has attacked me when I’ve been in their head, but they weren’t your father either.”
“What if you tried with me?” Aiden asked.
“What?” Jamie asked.
“Try to get in and read my mind without me knowing. As a first step, let’s see if my phoenix or I senses you inside. You could try with the Guardians, too,” Aiden said. He turned back around to tend to the omelets. He needed to show Jamie that he believed in him and his powers.
“You don’t think this is a dangerous idea?” Jamie asked him.
Aiden schooled his features and glanced over his shoulder at him. “Oh, I one-hundred percent think this is a dangerous idea, but we’re running out of time. I can feel it. We have to do something to end this so we can move on with our lives. Besides, I know you can do this.” He turned back and plated Jamie’s breakfast then spun around to deliver it.
“Ooh, thanks.” His mate was grinning at him as if he’d hung the moon. He suspected it had more to do with what he’d said rather than the breakfast.
“Do you want some?” Aiden asked Heath. “I made enough for three.”
“Oh, no. I already ate, but thanks. I’m just thinking.” He tapped a finger on the table, his eyes unfocused. “So, even if you’re able to get in and out of our heads without us knowing, we still have a big problem. We need to get you close enough to Williamson for you to do this.”
Aiden shut off the stovetop and plated an omelet for himself. He took a seat next to Jamie and addressed Heath, “No, we need to get us close enough to my father for this to happen.” He peered at Jamie. “I’m not letting you go anywhere near him without me. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”
“That’s OK. I don’t want to go anywhere close to him alone either,” Jamie said.
“So as soon as we confirm that you can sneak in, snoop around, and sneak out of someone’s head without them knowing we need to get you two close to him,” Heath said. “I’ll discuss options with Jasper and Deacon.”
“Well, I think we confirmed I can get into a non-phoenix shifters head without them knowing,” Jamie said.
“What?” Heath asked.
“You didn’t sense anything, did you?” Jamie asked.
“You were inside my mind? Just now?” Heath asked.
Jamie blushed and nodded.
“I don’t mean to be a jerk, but can you prove it?” Heath asked.
Jamie placed his fork down on his plate. “Well, your mind is busy. Your worried about the pack, the town, Amber, Mac, your parents, May.”
“Yeah, but anyone who knows me would know all that,” Heath said.
“They don’t know that you’ve already bought Amber a costume for Halloween even though it’s months away. You bought her a classic Star Trek uniform onesie because you’re a closet Trekkie. You haven’t told anyone about the costume except Mac.”
Heath’s mouth gaped open.
“Where is the costume?” Heath asked.
“You’ve hung it in the closet in the guest bedroom at your parents’ place next to the Star Trek costume you bought to wear for yourself.”
Heath glanced from a smiling Aiden to a nervous Jamie. “Pretty good.” He nodded at Aiden. “Now, if you can do it with him not knowing, then we’re really in good shape.”
Jamie addressed Aiden. “Did you feel anything?”
“What? Now?”
Jamie nodded. “I went in there and saw your memory of the first time you came to Grey Lake to see Iris. You showed up in a raincoat and baseball cap at the bakery. You told her that her mom sent you to make sure she was OK, but you lied. You missed her and wanted to see her. Her mother never asked about her. You just wanted her to think good things about at least one of her parents. Iris thought you were trying to take her home, but you told her and Deacon to leave Grey Lake for their safety. You warned them about your father planning something.”
Aiden nodded. “Yeah, that’s all true. You learned all of that so fast without me knowing you were poking around?”
Jamie shrugged.
Aiden kissed him on the cheek. “You’re amazing.”
“I agree. Now let me go speak with Jasper and Deke and see if we can figure out how best to utilize your amazing mate in this plan,” Heath said.