Jacob's Trial [Forbidden Legacy 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

BOOK: Jacob's Trial [Forbidden Legacy 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
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“I don’t understand. I know it’s great that Jacob’s father cared, but why are we discussing this with everything else?”

“Because there was a third Fae involved. One Helcyon already identified, sweet. One he worries will be an issue in what we’re already facing.” Perceptive and keen was the Wizard’s insight, and Helcyon merely nodded.

“Kyrian. Your brother. That’s why that Marcus was at the office. Why he kept pushing at my mind.”

Helcyon’s gaze narrowed. “He did what?”

“He kept trying to read my mind. I was thinking about what Michael had done, and he responded to the thought, but I never said it out loud. I wasn’t sure he was really doing it until he responded to a second thought.”

“Shit.” Jacob swore and reached down, lifting Cassandra from the water and dragging her onto his lap. Helcyon smiled at the Wizard’s protective stance, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to his chest. “This is some bloodline prophecy thing, isn’t it?”

“That I am uncertain of. The Danae shared little of the vision she saw. But the child she gave birth to was after Artur, Ashurian, and Kyrian exploited the breach. The court may not have known, but I am certain she did. She saw something. She acted on it. They were the kindling. She was the match. You were both born as a result of their actions. Your births changed things, yours in particular, Cassandra.”

“And your brother is still alive?”

Helcyon rose and fetched a thick, fluffy towel, draping it around the naked Cassandra. Jacob shifted his grip, helping him until she was secured. Squatting down, Helcyon brushed a hand across Cassandra’s cheek and met Jacob’s gaze.

“As of forty-three years ago, I know he must have still been alive.” From the moment Jacob’s Wizards arrived, he’d known. Helcyon refrained from saying anything. It didn’t make sense to agitate relations unnecessarily, but the waters were beyond agitated now. Jacob and Cassandra needed to know.

“He fathered your young Wizard, Jude.”

 

* * * *

 

Jacob’s head spun with the information. They retreated from the bathing room and let Cassie get dressed before the three of them headed downstairs. Cassie moved slowly, still sore. Her cheeks were red from the abrasive stubble on his cheeks and her lips swollen from their kisses. Even after the swim, she managed to look thoroughly rumpled and delicious.

The sunken living room hummed with the activity of five voices engaged in debate.

“We’re not turning her over, DuPois. It’s not even open for discussion.” Paul’s voice rose over the babble. Jacob’s fingers curled into a fist and he picked up the pace, striding ahead of Helcyon and Cassie.

His men sat in various places throughout the room. Jude sprawled on a sofa, one foot on the coffee table. Miller stood next to the empty fireplace, hands clasped behind his back. Dalton perched precariously on a chair tilted back onto two legs. Paul stood at the top of the white-carpeted steps that led into the room, face to face with DuPois.

Anger seeded the air between the two Wizards. Jacob sensed more than saw Helcyon catch Cassie’s arm and tug her behind him, blocking the magic surging in the room from the woman they loved.

“Enough.” Jacob’s voice cut through the tension, jerking their attention toward him. “We do not fight amongst ourselves. Nor do we threaten. Are we clear?”

It was the one hard-and-fast bond that kept the five Wizards sworn to him. Even ancients like Miller and DuPois embraced an oath that called for dedication, loyalty, and respect without pain, punishment, and challenge. Blood duels were forbidden. They reasoned it out or they took a step back.

“As you wish, Jacob.” DuPois inclined his head, but his gaze never lowered. His strong Gallic heritage reflected in the squared jaw, prominent nose, and black, hawklike eyes. “But it must be mentioned that the Council has demanded your woman be presented to them. If we wish to circumvent a blood hunt, a certain level of cooperation must be considered.”

“Are you so afraid to get your hands dirty that you’d turn an innocent over to them for torture?” Paul’s bland tone belied the emotion chipping away his ice-cold gaze. “Because that’s what they’ll do. They’ll torture her to see if she possesses magic. If she does, they’ll condemn her. If she doesn’t, she’ll die. It’s a lose-lose proposition.”

Anger clenched his bowels, but Jacob maintained his calm. The hours in Cassie’s bed coupled with the swim and Helcyon’s revelations cooled his knee-jerk responses. His men had to have their say. He and Helcyon were committed to this course of action. He would ask none of them to stand against the entire Council unless it was their choice.

Turning over Cassie wasn’t an option.

“If the inquisitor general is indeed her father, I sincerely doubt death will be an option for him. We know she has magic. We
know
she is different.” DuPois waved a hand through the air. “This is a political gambit to circumvent the Rose Cross and the Danae in one swoop. Cassie is a pawn in a much larger chessboard.”

“Actually, I think she’s the Queen.” Jude rolled his head against the back of the sofa. Dressed in a KISS T-shirt and torn jeans, he looked more like a teenager than a DHS agent. When every eye in the room swiveled toward him, he shrugged. “What? She makes a decision and the whole game changes. She was the one who took the Danae as a client. It was her press conference that was attacked. She was the one Michael hunted. She outted the Fae and the entire world went up in a fit. She’s not a pawn. Even if they think she is.”

“Young Jude has a point.” Miller spoke into the silence trailing Jude’s last syllable. “Have we even asked the lady what she wants to do?”

Helcyon’s
no
collided with Jacob’s, but it was too late. Cassie circled them both to stare at them, arms folded. He recognized that stubborn glint in her eyes.

“No,” he repeated. “You have no idea what they would do to you. Nor do we. Helcyon cannot attend the Council, which means you and I would be going alone.”

“No you wouldn’t, Jacob.” Miller’s voice held censure, and Jacob glared daggers at the man, not that it did any good. “We would attend you. It would be the six of us surrounding her. That will make their plans more difficult to execute.”

“The answer is no.”

“Jacob.” Dalton’s chair hit the floor with a thump. “If we aren’t proactive, we’re fighting a defensive battle. Defensive battles suck ass. We confront them on their territory, and we make a stand. We force them to offer up proof, and we don’t stick our heads in the sand.” The hard edge to Dalton’s voice ran counter to his loud Hawaiian shirt, baggy khaki shorts, and rope sandals.

“Would it change your mind, Wizard, to know they have leveled accusations of consorting with the Fae at Jacob?”

And the Elf just couldn’t stay out of it. Helcyon came to stand next to him, bridging the space between him and Cassie.

Silence stretched across the five men in the room, and as if by one mind, those sitting stood while those standing took a step forward. “Then it’s a charge we all share.” It was Paul who spoke, his words leaden with gravity. “Jacob, we will not hand over your lady nor will we surrender the Fae, no matter how arrogant he is.”

A hint of humor cracked through Paul’s terrible expression. “But Dalton is right. We cannot fight this as a defensive battle. We have power, we hold the piece everyone wants to control, we can set the terms.”

Taking Cassie before the Council was unthinkable, but the absolute loyalty shining in the faces of his men left Jacob speechless. They didn’t owe him this. They did not have to take on this battle. As he searched for the right words, a phone rang into the harsh quiet.

Cassie reached into the pocket of her white linen slacks and pulled out the slender black device that Jacob had considered smashing more than once. She turned her back and retreated back up the three steps to the hallway as she thumbed it on and said, “Hello?”

“Save the self-sacrificing speech,” DuPois advised him. “You are not the only one sworn here, Jacob. You gave your oath to your lover and the Fae. We gave our oath to you.”

“That oath would not hold you to actions that go against your conscience.” Jacob accepted that this mess was his to deal with. Not theirs.

His men merely stared at him in solemn unity, except irreverent Dalton who honored the moment by lifting his middle finger in a quiet salute. Humor eased the burden of his worry.

Pride swelled in his chest. These men were his best friends. They were true warriors. He would rather no others shielded their backs. Their acceptance of Cassie was a gift and Helcyon a miracle, but he would take their word for what it was.

The final say on that debate.

“Yes, Inquisitor General, this is Cassandra Belle.”

A black hole opened up beneath the plan. He swiveled at the words, a half step behind Helcyon as they raced toward Cassie. She held up her hand, warding them off, and Jacob slammed hands first into the bubble of her shield.

She gave him a small, sorrowful smile as she spoke into the phone. “I’m listening.”

Chapter Fifteen

 

Cassie didn’t recognize the number ringing through to her phone, but lately, with so many in the media reaching out to make arrangements, that was normal. She turned her back on the debate, irritated that Jacob and Helcyon still seemed intent on making arrangements without her input. Granted, the shoe escapade hadn’t done her any favors, but the last time she’d faced danger when she’d gone to get shoes was a limited release of Air Jordans she’d tried to get for Billy.

Who knew sports shoes could lead to hair pulling?

“Hello?”

“Cassandra Belle?”

Recognition chilled her at the masculine voice on the other end of the phone. It was cultured, deep, and carried traces of a European accent.

“Yes, Inquisitor General.” She pitched her voice an octave louder to alert the others. “This is Cassandra Belle.”

Swiveling to face the room, she held up a hand to ward off Jacob and Helcyon. The chocolate warmth of Jacob’s gaze went glacial. He couldn’t have telegraphed his intent more if he’d tried. Jacob’s hands bumped the bubble she’d called up. She winced but held her ground.

“I will begin the conversation by offering you an apology for the events in your office. The arrival of Vanagan Marcus was an unexpected distraction.”
Unexpected distraction? What was Michael’s murder attempt? A social faux pas?

Instead of speaking her mind, she merely said, “I’m listening.”

“I would like an opportunity to sit down and discuss current matters with you.”

“I’m sure you would, Inquisitor General. But as you may have noticed, I have an extremely busy schedule. You’re not the only person out there who wants a piece of me.” She deliberately misconstrued his words.

Helcyon’s scowl deepened to match the deep frown on Jacob’s face. Pressing a single finger to her lips, she pointed at them and then at the phone.

They could listen, but she didn’t want them to interfere. At least not yet. They seemed to forget she wasn’t the helpless kitten in the middle of the stormy road. Most of the time, she did know how to avoid traffic.

The men shared a look and as one nodded curtly. Concentrating, she let go of the shield. The air popped and clicked inside her ears as it dissipated.

They surged forward, taking up a position on either side of her. The warmth of them wrapped around her like an emotional quilt, snug and safe. Not that a quilt was even a tenth as sexy as either of them, nor as likely to obliterate conscious thought.

“Cassandra—”

“Ms. Belle, thank you,” she interrupted denying him the intimacy of her name. The inquisitor general had done nothing to earn it.

“You are deliberately misunderstanding me,
Ms. Belle.”
The cultured tone wavered.

“Then perhaps you should use plain language, as much of communication relies on body cues to support it and we are discussing this over the phone.”

Helcyon tilted his head, a glimmer of approval warming the frost in his green eyes. Jacob’s glacial expression seemed set in stone.

A huff of a sigh whispered across the line. “Ms. Belle, let’s pretend for a moment that you’re an intelligent woman who understands the consequences if you do not cooperate.”

“That sounds like a threat.”

“Very astute.”

Cassie smiled. Men. They really were all the same when they had too much power and time on their hands. “Then let this be a lesson to you. Opening a negotiation with a threat is the fastest way to end it. Good day.” She thumbed the phone off.

In the living room beyond, Jude choked off a snicker. But it wasn’t the Wizards’ response she was worried about.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jacob stared at her, his eyebrows lifted, suggesting she’d done something extremely clever but he wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or livid.

“Wait for it.” She grinned.

When her phone rang, she showed it to both of them. It was the same number. Helcyon nodded his head slowly.

She skipped the pleasantries as she thumbed the green answer button. “Are you prepared to be reasonable?”

“Don’t you
ever
do that again.” She imagined he was red with the apoplectic rage ringing in his voice.

BOOK: Jacob's Trial [Forbidden Legacy 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
3.49Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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