The Sabre stared at her.
When he didn’t answer, Jessie pushed. “Are you protecting us? Or serving the council?”
The feet shifted position. “Our inability to get to Braden has complicated the situation,” he admitted. “I am hoping that she agrees to try the blood. And that Braden will overplay his hand in her dreams.” He shook his head. “The problem is, if Laura turns away from him, she may swing entirely the other way.”
The other way? “What do you mean?”
“She may try to go to the police and tell them everything.”
Jessie’s eyes widened. “That would be bad.” She scanned his face. He’d suddenly gone very still. “You’d have to stop her, wouldn’t you?”
Kade looked away. “My people have served the council for hundreds of years. Our prime directive is to protect the Cryptid secret.” The gold eyes swung back to her. “And we are authorized to use whatever means necessary.”
Jessie stiffened. “You’re not serious.”
He peeled his lips back from his teeth. “No matter what happens, the secret must be maintained.”
“So if Laura tries to go to the police with your secret—”
“That cannot be allowed to happen.”
Jessie stared at him. How had she missed this tidbit in the midst of all this craziness? “How many people have you killed to keep the secret?”
Kade straightened. He had never seemed as large as he was at that moment. As large, or as lethal.
“You do not”—his mouth pulled into a grim line—“want to know.”
As he walked away, Jessie sank to the lowest step. Her emotions crashed around like a wild bird in a cage. She should have seen it. No way the Cryptids could remain a secret all throughout history without someone working hard to keep it that way.
Kade had gone into the kitchen. Tea was now out of the question. She rose and slipped down the hall, heading for the front door. Moments later, she was outside.
She took a deep breath, inhaling the warm night air. As she stepped off the porch, the stars twinkled against the indigo sky. The moon stared down at her. On its way to full. Her gut twisted. She was running out of time.
Something poked her from behind, and she jumped. Blue eyes blinked at her from beneath shaggy white hair, and long ears waved as Willow poked her again. An old, rather beat-up boot dangled from her mouth.
“What have you got there, silly?” By the size of it, it must belong to one of the Sabres. It had multiple, crescent shaped donkey tooth marks on the leather.
Jessie rubbed the long ears, and Willow’s sparkling eyes slid half shut in pure bliss before she dropped the boot on her toe.
“Thanks for that.” Jessie laughed. But her heart rate had steadied. Animals did that—took your troubles and put them in instant perspective. They taught a person to live in the moment. For the moment, Jessie was alive. And relatively intact, except for a bruised toe.
Zach’s farm spread out before her. The old farmhouse at her back had a central core that was very old, but with more recent additions sprawling around it. The house had grown with its family. Now it was a pleasant mishmash of rooms with two large covered porches front and back, offering places to sit and relax after a long, hard day.
Like most farmhouses, the link to the land was obvious in its design. And part of its purpose. It provided shelter from life’s storms, but it was never intended to cut you off from them.
Jessie approved. Although, she could use a bit of help with this particular storm.
The yard was framed by the corrals on one edge, the house on the other, and the outbuildings along the far side—an ancient gambrel-roofed barn and hay shed. Beyond the corrals lay a pasture, and surrounding it all were trees. It was all old, but the infrastructure was solid, even if the lawn was more tallgrass prairie than turf. Or tall weeds, anyway.
Willow poked her again and turned away, ambling toward the horses. She paused to look back over her shoulder and wiggled her ears.
As though asking if Jessie was coming.
* * *
Kade was aware of Jessie leaving out the front door. He didn’t need to be an Empath to sense her dismay at his revelation.
Her reaction bothered him more than he’d like to admit. It had stopped him from revealing the true depths he might have to delve to resolve all this. His orders from his contact on the council had been clear. It was no longer just about denying the Dires access to the women.
