He didn’t envy his sister. She had a responsibility not only to herself, but to her mates, her unborn children, and to the whole damned Sabre race. Made Kade’s lot in life look simple.
Until recently, the ten Sabres had been enough to do the council’s bidding in this province. But with the Dires having influence on the council, things were starting to unravel. And Kade did not have the Werepower to stop it.
He stared at Neil’s sleeping form. The Sabre slept lighter. His snores had stopped. He was coming around. Which was good, because Kade had questions to ask.
One moment, he was watching Neil. The next he was reeling backward into the wall.
The pure, raw emotions slammed into him hard, as if the assault were physical and not something that blasted through his mind. The pounding of racing hearts, perfectly synced. Lust, so powerful it made every part of him stiffen. And something much deeper...
Kade gasped, and Neil sat straight up in the bed, his eyes flaring gold with his inner beast. Then it cut off, as suddenly as it had appeared.
Kade ran from the bedroom and skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs.
Cara glanced up as she hurried past on the main level. “I’m on it,” she said. “Stay there.”
Stay there? Kade vibrated with the need to race out to the garden and plant his fist in a certain Empath’s face. Which shocked him enough that it convinced him staying was the wisest course of action. Why did he care if Zach had kissed Jessie? But he did. Every fiber of his being believed that Zach deserved to be shredded.
Not good. And confusing as hell. So Kade dragged himself back to the bedroom, and Neil.
Neil had hauled himself upright on the bed with his legs hanging over the edge. He stared at Kade with puzzlement written all over him.
“Helluva wake-up call.”
“Yeah,” agreed Kade. “No kidding.”
* * *
Cara led them back into the house, and from stairs off the kitchen, into the basement. There was no sign of Kade.
Jessie shook all over. What she’d experienced when Zach had taken her hand—was that what he dealt with, all of the time? How had he survived the hospital that day? She remembered that he’d looked like he was in pain.
No effing wonder.
In a weird residual effect, she still sensed the emotions of those around her. Cara’scuriosityabout what had happened. Kade, somewhere upstairs,pissed offas hell. How was that possible? Had to be her imagination.
Cara flicked a switch as Jessie stepped away from the stairs. Her mouth dropped open as she got her first look at the basement.
They were in a library. Shelves lined the walls. They displayed leather-bound books that definitely looked as if they’d seen the dark ages.
“Wow,” Jessie breathed as she pulled out a chair. “Are these all about Cryptids?”
Cara pushed some hefty books aside on a long table in the center of the room. “Most, yes. I have spent my lifetime collecting them. Many have been lost over the years. Books were prohibited a hundred years ago. They were burned either accidentally or on purpose. With the digital age and the risks of being hacked, the council continues to forbid written records of any kind.”
Jessie thought of her own education, and how dependent it had been on such information. “But, if you don’t keep books, how do you track your history? Teach others?”
Cara sat and gestured elegantly for them to do the same. “We used to hand the lore down verbally. But far too often, when elders died suddenly or were killed, the lore died with them.” She shook her head. “We have lost much over the last five hundred years.”
Kade bounded down the stairs. The tufts of gold and black stood straight up on his head. “Whatever the hell that was, it even woke up Neil.”
Cara bobbed her head toward Jessie with a tinkle of swinging crystals. “That was our surprise Cryptid showing her colors.”
Jessie’s heart accelerated and she swallowed. “That wasn’t me. That was Zach.”
“The emotional projection might have been Zach. But the power of it—that was you, Jessie. You’re an Amp. You amplify the power of whichever Cryptid you touch.”
“I’m a what?” Jessie plunked herself down in the chair and stared at Cara.
Kade spoke at almost the same moment. “An Amp? Dammit. Do you think Braden knows?”
