Amy's Advantage (11 page)

“No,” she said into the sudden void of noise and movement
that had followed Jordyn’s question. She glanced at Chloe, who was sitting
unnaturally still, her big green eyes round, staring at Jordyn. Just a quick
look at her daughter had a settling effect on her nerves. Amy turned back to
Jordyn. “And now’s not the time to talk about such things.”

Jordyn was still completely focused on her and the
expression in his eyes stunned her. For just a moment, the harsh, glinting
silver of his gaze revealed an emotion so deep it went beyond the normal
perception of concern or care. She recognized the consuming fierceness of that
emotion. It had exploded in her when the first Predator had laid his hands on
Chloe. At that moment, Chloe’s safety became her entire existence and she’d
have given anything and everything to protect her. As ancient as the human
race, it was an instinct tied to the moorings of one’s soul when it came to
those beloved.

In an instant it flashed through Jordyn’s eyes and then was
gone, but that instant burned deep enough to brand her to the bone.

With a slight nod, Jordyn said, “You’re right. This isn’t
the time.” Suddenly every shred of menace in his appearance disappeared as he
looked at Chloe and winked. “Did you save me a cookie?” he asked her.

Immediately, Chloe’s wide-eyed stare switched to a grin.
With Mr. Pink in tow, she pushed off Ellen’s lap and ran over to him. He swung
her up into his arms and when she offered her half-eaten brownie up to his
mouth, he took a bite. Chloe watched him expectantly as he finished the bite, a
thoughtful expression on his face.

“I think,” he said to her quite seriously, “that is the best
brownie I’ve ever tasted.”

Mimicking his expression, Chloe frowned in exaggerated
consideration and said, “Me too.” Then she shoved the last bite of the brownie
into her own mouth, her eyes sparkling in mischief as Jordyn acted shocked at
its quick disappearance.

“I guess I’ll just have to get my own,” he said.

Chloe nodded and then put her head down on his shoulder,
quite content to stay put.

After seeing them together at the hotel, this little
interchange didn’t surprise her, but from the expressions of everyone else, she
would have thought Jordyn had just grown another head right in front of them
instead of having a two-minute conversation with a child. The only one at all
who seemed to be taking it in stride was Kirry, who was smiling at the two.

Jordyn looked at Amy and said with much more detachment than
he’d just spoken to Chloe, “I see you’ve met everyone.”

“Yes,” she said, suddenly feeling strangely awkward talking
to him in the middle of so many people. “We’ve just been catching up.”

Her heart wanted her to leap into his arms, but her head,
the situation, the audience in the kitchen and Jordyn’s tone kept her at a
literal and figurative distance from the man.

“Cirryc’s going into town for some supplies. Do you need
anything?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” she said.

“I do,” said Kirry, grabbing a list that had been stuck on
the refrigerator door with a grizzly bear magnet. She fished a pencil out of
her apron pocket and asked, “What kind of juice does Chloe like?”

Chloe’s head popped up and she said, “Apple!”

Kirry laughed and said, “Well then! It goes on the list!”
With a flourish, she wrote it down. “Anything else you would like?”

“Applesauce.”

Her request had Jordyn grimacing.

“Got it,” Kirry said. “Is that all?”

Chloe scrunched her eyebrows together and thought for a moment.
“Fish,” she finally said.

Kirry’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Fish?” She looked at
Amy. “Tuna fish? Fish sticks?”

“No,” Amy said with a smile. “We were in a store the other
day that had aquariums with live fish swimming in them, and ever since then,
she’s wanted some for herself.”

Jordyn bounced Chloe in his arms to get her attention. “If
we get you a fish today, you’ll have to leave him behind when you go see
Aurora. But once you get to Ilyria, there’s a place you can go and see hundreds
of fish. Would you like that?”

Chloe looked at him, considering his offer. Finally she
asked, “Can I keep them?”

“That’s up to your mom.”

Of course, Chloe turned and looked at Amy for confirmation
of this. “We’ll see when we get there,” Amy said.

Kayn reached for the list Kirry still held. “I’ll take it. I
told Cirryc I’d go with him.”

Shyrana let out a loud, dramatic sigh and pushed back from
the table. “I guess I should go too then. Last time you two went together, you
were gone for half a day and came back with wrong brands, wrong sizes, half a
dozen items forgotten and three full sacks of junk food.”

With a shrug, Kayn said, “Up to you. But for the record,
broccoli spoils and Twinkies don’t.” He glanced at Amdyn, Siriyn and Ellen.
“Anyone else need anything?”

After only negative responses, he and Shyrana headed out of
the kitchen and Amdyn asked Amy, “Would you like to rest before dinner, get
cleaned up or put Chloe down for a nap?”

“No nap!”

At Chloe’s demand, Amy gave her a warning look. “That is not
a tone we use, young lady.”

Chloe tucked her chin into her chest and put her head back
on Jordyn’s shoulder.

“I think I will go change,” Amy said, answering Amdyn’s
question.

Amdyn nodded and said, “Later, there are some things we need
to discuss. Jordyn has some concerns you need to be aware of.”

Amy’s heart thumped hard in her chest. “Okay.”

“Can it wait until after dinner?” Ellen asked. “Let Chloe
and Amy wind down a bit and settle in?”

With a brief nod, Amdyn conceded. “That’s fine.”

Amy stood and ran her palms nervously down the front of her
jeans, brushing off a few cookie crumbs. “Chloe, come with me. We need to get
you cleaned up too.”

When Jordyn bent to set her down, Chloe frowned and held on
to his neck. “Go on,” he said. “You’ve got to go clean that chocolate off your
chin.”

Amy watched, hands on her hips, as her daughter slowly made
her way across the kitchen with slumping steps and Mr. Pink in tow, held by one
ear and dragging on the floor behind her. With a sigh, Amy shook her head.
“Such a dramatic child.”

“Wonder where she gets it,” Jordyn said drily.

Amy scooped Chloe up and as she left the kitchen, tossed
over her shoulder, “I have no idea.”

* * * * *

Jordyn sat in one of the large black leather chairs in what
the men of the house called the library and the women had taken to calling the
Big Boy Playroom. He’d angled the chair so that it faced both the door and the
windows.

One glance around the large room told him that Kirry had
been the last one in here. The big-screen plasma TV, surround sound system and
all three game stations were off with their controllers put up and not laying
around on various coffee and end tables, and the agglomeration of DVDs, CDs and
video games had all been neatly shelved. Instead of being closed and putting
the room into a cave-like darkness for game-playing, the plantation shutters
had been pushed back, allowing the waning winter daylight to slide in across
the room.

“Amy’s getting Chloe settled with Ellen and Siriyn’s on his
way,” Amdyn said as he entered and took the chair next to Jordyn, also facing
the door and windows.

Jordyn nodded. He’d specifically asked that Chloe not be
with Amy while they were talking. He didn’t know how she was going to react to
what he was going to say and he didn’t want Chloe to see her mom upset again.
That was one reason.

Amy walked in a couple of minutes later with Siriyn right
behind her. When Siriyn closed the door behind him, Amy tensed. “So, I’m here.”

Amdyn gestured to the couch. “Have a seat. Jordyn’s just
brought some things to my attention that you need to be aware of. Or, if you
already know, we need you to explain better to us.”

“Like what?” She sat, stiffly, on the edge of the couch
cushion. Siriyn chose the other side of the couch, but as soon as he made a
move to sit, Amy jumped and then turned an embarrassed, apologetic smile up at
him. “Sorry. I’m a little nervous.”

“No big deal,” Siriyn said, but he moved to sit on a
separate chair. Stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing them at
the ankles and his arms over his chest, he asked in a conversational tone,
“Have you recently cut your hair?”

“What?” Amy looked truly confused.

Siriyn shrugged. “Didn’t you used to have it long?”

Wondering where he was going with this, Jordyn glanced at
Amdyn, who was frowning at Siriyn.

Amy looked nervously from Jordyn to Amdyn and then back to
Siriyn. “Umm, no. This is as long as it’s ever been. Normally I wear it shorter
because it tangles so easily with the curls. But I found one conditioner that
works really well, so I’m trying to grow it out some.”

As she rambled, Siriyn at first looked confused and then
shifted into a dark frown, which only served to make Amy more nervous and
ramble more.

“Chloe has really curly hair too and it looks short, but it
isn’t. If you pull one of those curls out to its full length, you’d be
surprised to see how long—”

“Amy.” Jordyn leaned forward and interrupted her babbling.
As she turned her head to look at him, there it was again. That instant,
excruciatingly sweet piercing cut straight through the center of his gut when
her eyes met his. Ignoring the feelings she always stirred in him wasn’t a
possibility. He’d realized that earlier when he’d entered the kitchen and heard
her talking about the Predator.

Everything in him had coiled tight and was still ready to
spring. Instinct had taken over, driven by a rage he’d not felt in a very long
time. Ignoring Amy Montclair was not an option. He just had to accept it and
move on.

“How much do you know about Aurora’s background?” he asked.

“What do you mean, her background? Like where she grew up
and went to school?” Amy asked.

“No,” Amdyn said. “What do you know about her ancestors?”

Amy blinked. “Not much. I think they were French. Cajun
maybe?”

“You know that as a Mystic from our world, you carry magic
in your blood,” Amdyn said.

“So I’ve been told.”

“Did you also know that Aurora carries magic in hers from
this world?”

Jordyn watched Amy carefully as Amdyn asked her the
question. A wariness crept over her features and she leaned against the back of
the couch as if to distance herself from them.

She broke eye contact with Amdyn. “I’m not sure what you
mean.”

The woman was
not
a good liar. “You’re not betraying
her trust, Amy.” Jordyn shifted to place his elbows on his knees and loosely
interlocked his fingers. “She told Connyn and gave a compelling demonstration
to the entire Council of Prophets and Elders.”

Amdyn slid him a look. From the reports they had received,
it hadn’t been so much a
demonstration
as it had been an eruption of
hurt and anger. Regardless, the fact of Aurora’s magic was no longer in
question.

“She did?” Amy asked, surprised. “I hadn’t heard that.”

“The point is,” Jordyn said, “that according to Aurora, the
magic is hereditary and primarily manifests in the women of her family.” He
could tell the exact moment the information clicked for her.

“You mean Chloe?” She looked at all three of them in turn,
complete disbelief stamped in her expression. “But she’s a
child
.”

“It’s true that most times the gifts born in the blood don’t
show themselves until the teenage years. But,” Amdyn said, “it’s not unheard
of. Siriyn was using his powers by the time he was seven.”

“Like what kind of powers?”

“It varies,” Amdyn hedged.

“So that’s what this whole meeting is about? Chloe having
some supernatural power?” The hand Amy had resting on the arm of the couch
tensed, her fingers denting the material. “She’s just a normal little girl, so
you don’t have to worry. She won’t cause any problems in Ilyria.”

A long strand of blond hair slid forward over Amdyn’s
shoulder as he shook his head. “We’re not worried about Chloe causing problems.
We’re concerned about her safety. And yours.”

Amy closed her eyes and rubbed at a spot between them.
“That’s why we’re here, right? I came to you because you can supposedly keep
Chloe safe.”

“Where did a Predator first attack you and Chloe?”

Jordyn’s question had Amy dropping her hand and opening her
eyes to frown at Jordyn. “At a park. Why?”

“Did you go there often?”

“Almost every day. It was Chloe’s favorite.”

“Did it have a name, unique features or anything that could
have identified that specific place?” This question from Siriyn, who had
remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout this conversation after asking
about Amy’s hair.

Amy paused, turning her frown toward Siriyn. “Are you implying
that the attack was Chloe’s fault? That she somehow brought the Predator to us?
Is this why you’re asking if she has any weird powers?” With each question, her
voice rose and her body stiffened in her seat.

“In no way are we implying that Chloe is responsible,”
Siriyn said. “But she could have helped the Sleht find you without knowing what
she was doing.”

“How? Do you think she’s got some kind of homing signal in
her?” Amy’s expression had gone from disbelieving to incredulous and her
strained voice rose a notch higher.

“We don’t know.” Amdyn’s voice was serious, but had a
soothing edge to it.

Jordyn could feel the mental push of calm Amdyn laced his
words with. His commander rarely abused his personal telepathic powers by
invading another’s mind without their permission unless there was a life at
stake, but he would often use the fringe benefits of his power—such as
emotional encouragement—to soothe a tense situation. Less of an invasion than a
strong suggestion, it didn’t cross any moral or legal dictate, but it rode the
line on about half a dozen of them.