Surrender (THE DRAGONFLY CHRONICLES) (9 page)

The waiter cleared his throat. Good Lord! How much had the man heard? Kailin breathed slowly, imagining cool snow drifting over her. A gust of cold snapped at the overhanging awning. Several hats blew, followed by feminine screeches. Kailin closed her eyes in defeat. Jackson Black completely shattered her control. It was as if she were a toddler again just figuring out how to use the small molecules in the air around her.

“Would you like to move inside?” the waiter asked as several groups stampeded into the hotel lobby. “There seems to be a storm rising.”

Jackson looked expectantly to Kailin. “No,” she managed to say. “The breeze suits me.” The waiter bowed, took their orders and retreated. With a calming thought of gentle sun, the breeze died and the heat of the day could still be felt.

Jackson glanced around. “Nice way to gain privacy.” He regarded her shrewdly.

What should she say to that? She’d always hid her powers except from Anthony and Bruce. Unfortunately she had a temper so there had been a few mishaps throughout the years. A picture of Samantha McGivens, drenched and screaming, flashed into her mind only to be covered quickly with a mental bandage.

Kailin swallowed some more wine. She tapped her nails on the table. What to say? She glanced around too. “The weather changes in Egypt so briskly. I’ve found it is best to wait it out.”

Jackson nodded, his perfectly formed lips puckering for a moment before pulling back again in a casual grin. The hint of white, straight teeth could be seen. Kailin took another sip of wine and her stomach growled. If their food didn’t arrive soon, the wine would surely muddle her head.

Jackson leaned back in his chair and surveyed her while Kailin made a point to turn out to survey the milling street below the hotel. Natives pulled carts alongside donkeys. Merchants closed up brightly colored shops, extinguishing oil lamps. Children ran barefoot races, laughter in their innocent, dirty faces. Kailin smiled softly.

“They are so free,” she said and Jackson followed her gaze. “Free and happy.”

He leaned forward and filled her empty wine glass. “Everyone has manacles.” Her gaze turned to his. He tipped his chin toward the urchins. “Theirs happens to be poverty, cultural instability, ignorance, famine.”

Kailin’s smile faded with a nod. “You are right,” she acquiesced.

“How many chains do you endure, Kailin?”

Warmth penetrated her tense muscles with the wine. She laughed a bitter snort and covered her mouth. “More than you can imagine, Mr. Black.”

He leaned forward across the table, his stormy eyes connecting with her own on a level that shackled her to him. “And what would happen, Kailin,” he asked, stressing her given name, “if you were to let yourself break free? Unlock the fetters that hold you back?”

Her eyebrows rose. “I am quite scary.”

He leaned closer. “I don’t scare easily. So tell me, Kailin…” His voice had mellowed even more like a warm, inviting river, drawing her to its source. “What would happen if you let go?”

She laughed, a twinkling titter that must have come from too much wine and no food. She blinked. “But don’t you know, Mr. Black?” He smiled with her but shook his head, waiting. “The world would come to an end,” she whispered conspiratorially.

His eyes narrowed and his lips opened with a half-formed question.

Just then the waiter came through the doors with a silver-laden cart. Kailin pulled back unaware that she practically lounged across the round veranda table to meet Jackson over the middle.

The aroma of poached fish with dates filled Kailin’s senses. She straightened the beige napkin in her lap and nodded to the waiter who set the steaming dishes before them. She immediately picked up a fork and broke some of the fish away from its spiky little bones. The flavors filled her mouth. “Mmmm,” she relished as she mixed the tangy dry wine with the bite. “Delicious.” She indicated Jackson’s untouched plate of fish with her fork. “Try it. It’s heavenly,” she urged while stabbing the flaky white meat. She smiled triumphantly as he too began to eat. Oh, how she loved getting the last word.

A flaw,
Anthony had laughed appreciatively as he tried to tame her stubborn ways as a child. A flaw perhaps, in this culture, but it gave Kailin a sense of staying in control. And control was essential to her being. It was who she was, had to be, to keep her magic from destroying. She could never slough off the chains that Jackson teased her about. She shivered slightly at the horror.

“Cold?” Jackson asked.

She shook her head and chewed. Two small groups of patrons once again braved the veranda. The descending cold was mollified by the heat curling around inside her. Part wine, part churned up power, part—she swallowed and glanced down at her hands. Part Jackson Black’s velvet voice.

He glanced into the twilight. “The apparition? Does she haunt you?”

He said the words so matter-of-factly, Kailin coughed. She touched the napkin to her lips. “I’ve never met her before today.”

“Met?”

“Well, we talked.”

“About…?”

“My family,” Kailin answered and blinked as she thought about the amazing information she’d learned. “I have sisters.”

“Here in Egypt?” Jackson asked.

“No,” Kailin laughed. “Not here, not now.” Kailin took another sip of wine. She knew better than to trust the water, but all this wine was not ideal either. Not when she was already fighting for control around the man. And her usual arctic demeanor wasn’t working the way it usually did. It must be the wine. She signaled the waiter. “Do you have any hot chocolate, perhaps with a dollop of cream?” The waiter nodded and headed inside.

Two more bites under Jackson’s patient scrutiny and the man was back with a pot and a cup of loose tea leaves. He set them before her on the pristine table cloth. “Pardon, miss, but we have only tea. Cook will send for chocolate, for tomorrow.” Kailin sighed, but smiled her thanks.

The trill of high-pitched laughter fluttered up the steps as a feather-bedecked hat bobbed into view. A woman, slender and perfectly dressed, stepped onto the veranda on the arm of the Englishman from the hallway. His gaze moved from the lady on his arm to Kailin. Surprise turned to a smile on his face.

“Devil,” Jackson cursed just under his breath as he spotted him. The man propelled the lady in a patient yet straight path toward their table.

As they stopped, the woman looked down past a pale perfectly formed nose and gasped. Kailin’s hand clenched and dropped to the table, hitting the handle of the cup. It flipped, scattering loose tea leaves across the white table before rolling off the edge. Just before it hit the floor, Kailin’s magic latched onto it, setting it with a clink against the stone floor near her ankle.

“Kailin Whitaker,” the woman gasped again. She glanced at the dirtied tablecloth. “Never far from dirt.” The words if said with a smile would be good-natured teasing. The upturned lips on Samantha McGivens’ face were anything but genuine.

Jackson’s chair scraped back as he stood. Kailin could only stare at the bedecked woman, her pinched face framed by peacock feathers. “And Jackson Black,” Jackson said, bowing ever so slightly. He totally ignored the man. Samantha’s lips relaxed into a soft smile at Jackson’s handsome face.

Kailin couldn’t draw in a full breath.
Wretched! Wretched night!
As if sensing her unease, Tuto swooped down from an obelisk across the square to land on the rail of the veranda. His head swiveled around to identify the threat. Large black eyes rested on the couple. Several women screeched and again a stampede ensued into the lobby. The frustrated waiter followed the group with his heavily laden cart.

Samantha jumped, clinging to the man’s arm. “And your bird,” she hissed with wide eyes. “Half a dozen years and it’s still alive and following you.” She whipped long, gloved fingers toward Tuto. “Shoo, you…vulture.”

“Tuto is a great horned owl, Samantha. Not a vulture,” Kailin said with stifled stubbornness. She placed her thin china cup back on the table. The man glanced at the unharmed cup and his forehead wrinkled. But then he relaxed his face and gave a chuckle as if to ease the obvious tension.

“So…” he drawled in his British accent. “You two know one another.”

Samantha turned her long lashes back to Jackson, purposely misinterpreting Henry’s comment. “I’m certain that I would remember meeting Mr. Black.” She held out the gloved hand which Jackson took. He bowed slightly and let it hover on its own in the air until Samantha lowered it with a little frown. “Henry, this is an old acquaintance, Kailin Whitaker.” She flicked her hand in the air with barely a look at Kailin. Kailin resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious slight. Young vipers obviously grow into adult vipers.

Henry bowed. “Henry Dallinton. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to properly introduce myself earlier.”

“Not required when one is standing naked beneath a bath cloth,” Jackson drawled, his eyes on Samantha. Kailin swung her foot under the table but of course the infuriating man was out of reach.

“Naked?” Samantha hissed and Kailin swore she saw Jackson’s lips twitch. Was he baiting the woman? Heavens, if he knew how that she-wasp could sting, he wouldn’t. Then again, Jackson Black didn’t seem like the type of man to steer clear of a good uproar.

“’Twas a misunderstanding.” Kailin tried to brush it off. “I was startled and Jackson, Mr. Black, kicked in the door to my room.” Kailin flipped her hand as if she were explaining a mildly interesting commotion over the price of fresh fish. “I had just stepped from the tub. Mr. Dallinton stopped in the hall to offer assistance.”

Henry smiled at Kailin and she nodded in thanks once again. She then took a large sip from her wine glass. No one said anything while she swirled the dry tang from one cheek to the other and swallowed.
Bloody wretched evening
, Kailin thought and took another swallow.

After a full minute of silence, Jackson sighed and sat down. “Are you two here for dinner or just meeting friends?” he asked though it didn’t seem like he truly cared but added the question to fill the space.

“Henry and I are close friends,” Samantha said, having regained her composure, though her smile was forced. She snaked her hand through Henry’s arm. “We came to sample some of the hotel’s fabulous menu while he is in town.” She tipped her feathered head. “And what brings you here, dear? I never thought I’d see you back here amongst the pyramids,” she commented looking at Kailin. “Here on holiday?”

Kailin’s stomach clenched and she fought to breathe slowly. Certainly everyone within the archeology circle must know about her missing father. And yet, this spoiled, ridiculously pampered socialite acted as if Anthony’s kidnapping was not noteworthy.

“I’ve come to rescue my father, Samantha,” Kailin forced out and felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

“Oh, yes, yes.” She flapped her silky limp hands. “Father was quite beside himself when Anthony Whitaker disappeared.” She blinked her cow eyes, glancing at the hotel. “And wasn’t it from this very establishment?”

Henry’s face pinched in concern. “Your father’s been kidnapped?” And then with much more horror in his voice. “And
you’ve
come to retrieve him? From the villains who took him?” Henry’s gaze moved with helpless appeal to Jackson who forked some fish in his mouth.

Jackson shrugged, swallowed and nodded. “She’s tougher than she looks.”

“Ridiculous.” Henry twitched with dismay.

“Father said Anthony was being foolish,” Samantha continued. “That he knew of some treasure or something but he wouldn’t unearth it. Anthony said it was better left buried.”

All this Kailin already knew from her father’s letters. She neither denied nor acknowledged what Samantha said even though they all looked to her for confirmation. Kailin needed to keep control of this awkward exchange so she decided to answer the red face of Henry Dallinton.

“Do not fear for my safety, Mr. Dallinton. I will be whole and hearty when this is over. Though I have little doubt the kidnappers will wish they had never heard of Doctor Anthony Whitaker when I am finished.” Kailin sipped her wine to punctuate her boast. She heard Jackson chuckle under his breath. This made her smile.

Henry sputtered and Samantha frowned at having her information ignored rather than craved by Kailin.

“You will just get yourself into trouble with all this rescue talk,” Samantha chastised. “You are but a woman, and not very influential I might add. You would do best to hire someone to give the kidnappers what they desire.” Samantha smiled at Jackson like he might just be her favorite flavor of cream. “Someone big and brave like”—Henry stood up straighter—“Mr. Black, here.” Henry deflated.

Kailin’s back stiffened as Samantha wet her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue and rested her teeth upon it. Just like she used to do as a flirtatious teen around the young officials her father brought home for dinners. Whether it was the wine or the memories of the mean-spirited girl forced on her as a childhood friend that ignited the fuse inside Kailin, she wasn’t sure and didn’t care. But the fury that exploded inside Kailin at the lustful spark in Samantha’s eyes as she openly appreciated Jackson was intense. Like the lava Jackson had mentioned in their earlier battle of words, red hot power seeped beyond the tight lid of control Kailin had erected.

“Perhaps, Mr. Black, you would like to attend a little soiree I am holding tomorrow evening at our grand mansion along the east bank. There is a lovely view of the Luxor Temple across the river.” Her eyes never left Jackson. “And of course, you may come too, Kailin. All British subjects in the area have been invited. Father would probably like to talk with you.”

The heat continued to grow inside Kailin and she concentrated on breathing to keep the flame of the candle on the table from growing too high.
Wretched woman, wretched night!
She barely noticed Tuto gliding overhead, watching. Her pet called softly. A warning? Kailin sniffed the faint acrid tang of smoke.

“Good God!” Henry huffed and jumped forward. “Samantha! You’re on fire!”