The Color of Jade (Jade Series Book 1) (24 page)

I rested my head on the table and glanced at Marge for confirmation with a look of surprise.

“It’s true.”

“We work in shifts,” Trey added, “holding the front line. When Kane and Gage get back, I’ll be going.”

I gave Trey a scowl but my heart wasn’t in it and I couldn’t hold it for long as I felt weakness seep into my body.

“Don’t give me that look, Jade. It has to be done.”

I closed my eyes as my worry faded, too tired to argue and considered the possibility of my brothers forcing Damian out of town.

Trey nudged me and I jerked into wakefulness as I lazily opened my eyes.  “You should go back upstairs to bed. You’ll be more comfortable up there,” he said, and went to help me up from the chair.

“I’ve got it,” I said, as I stood from the table.

“Yeah Marge… She’s just about to her old self again. Just give her another day. You’ll never know she was sick.”

I woke to the sounds of birds that chirped outside my window as my room warmed by the morning sun. A smile grew across my cheeks as I felt calmed, more rested and finally at home. I glanced through sleepy eyes to see the clock that read eight thirty and Gage next to me, asleep in a chair. He leaned against my dresser and rested his head uncomfortably on it. I reached over to touch his arm and woke him with a start. He rubbed his eyes with a fleeting glance at the clock as he shook his head, looked at me with a blank expression then jumped off the chair and kneeled at my bedside. His fingers ran over my forehead and through my hair and gave me a wistful smile.

“Hey… How long have you been sitting there?” I asked.

“A while… Marge said you woke up while I was gone. I guess I just missed you, you were asleep when I came up,” he replied. I turned my head to look at him better.  I could see the sleepless nights on his face. “I wanted to be here when you woke up.”

“I’m sorry, I haven’t been very good company… I’m usually not this lazy,” I said, and smiled at him.

He forced a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. They looked droopy, glossed over and with the underlying concern on his face he looked flushed. His smile slowly faded to worry as he turned away and looked out the window.

“You scared me,” he said, his voice raspy.

“I’m sorry… I’m okay now,” I said, as I tried to convince him. He moved onto my bed and leaned against the headboard. I cuddled up next to him.

He looked down at me and kissed my forehead. “You better be.”

“You sound sick, Gage.”

“I am, but I’ll be fine… just a cold. Do you feel up to eating something?”

The scent of bacon wafted in the air and drew my attention, tempting my taste buds. “I'm starved. I could eat just about anything you set in front of me.” I said, as I sat slowly out of bed allowing my head to adjust.

I saw Marge in the kitchen as we came downstairs and I decided that besides the time she spent at the store counter, she must have spent most of her time in the kitchen.

“How are you feeling, dear?”

“Much better.”

“Good, do you want some breakfast?” Marge asked, as she pulled the plates out of the cupboard. “I’m making some for the guys.”

“What would we do without you, Marge?” I said. I met her at the table and gave her a hug as I relished in her pampering. “It’s like having my mom home again…Thank you.”

“I’m just glad to be useful and that you’re getting well. I will probably go home tonight, but I’ll stop by and check on you,” she said, and smiled.

“You’ll never outgrow your usefulness. We couldn’t get by without you.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.  I think it’s the other way around.”

At that moment, Kane walked in the door. I hadn’t seen him since the cabin and in three steps, he moved across the front room and swooped me into a big hug. I laughed at his zeal.

“Don’t tell me you were worried about me too.”

“No, not at all,” Kane paused for a moment. I rolled my eyes, but deep down I was thankful for his concern. “You need to stop scaring me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I picked my seat next to Gage.

“Now I know where dad got all his grey hair from.”

I laughed. “Dad didn’t have that much grey hair... And any grey hair he had, was from you… Not me.”

“Breakfast is ready,” Marge said, as she smiled at the two of us.

Trey came into the kitchen through the front door and sat at the table as Marge finished setting the table for six. “Is Joel back?”

“Yeah,” Kane said.

Joel came in as Marge set the stacks of hotcakes, bacon and eggs in the center of the table and I could hardly wait to eat. Silence crept around us as I watched the four of them eat breakfast without a word spoken to each other and I wondered what went through their minds. It wasn't until they were finished and pushed their plates aside before Joel broke the silence. With a fleeting glance, he looked at me, then to Gage.

“Damian thinks you and Jade are in the mountains… They are still searching up there, but he has men around that have kept an eye out…. It’s not safe to go anywhere right now… even with the patrol and the Militia pushed south,” Joel paused, “you need to lay low for a while... The longer Damian thinks she’s still gone the better.”

“What does Morrison plan on doing if he finds us?”

“Morrison hasn’t said one way or another regarding you, but he’s personally ordered for Jade to be brought to him when caught, for the murder of Quinn Jackson… He has a reward out for anyone who brings him any information as to where she is.”

“This is getting ridiculous!”

“He's pretty damned determined and confident someone will give her up. That is why the two of you need to be out of sight,” Joel paused for a moment. “I know for the most part they aren’t around this area, but-”

“What kind of a reward?”

“Who knows what kind of deal Morrison would work out?” Joel said. “I know… It’s stupid.”

“We can’t trust anyone right now with knowing where you two are,” Kane paused. “Marge and Dr. Walstrom are the only ones who know you're back. We need to keep it that way. I’ve already talked to both of them about keeping quiet.”

“So what’s the plan then?” Trey asked.

“We need that shipment... I can’t put it off any longer. I
have
to go tomorrow… The guys can’t keep the Militia back much longer without it,” Kane said. “Right now just lay low. If I need to I can send her up to aunt Beverly’s with Emery if they start to put the pressure on.”

“Maybe she should just go up there now, don’t wait for things to get worse,” Trey said.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Gage added.

Blindsided over what I heard I dropped my fork and it clanked against my plate. I realized they were talking about me. “You're going to send me to Bev's? I just barely got home.”

“If I need to I will, Jade,” Kane said, with a slight raise of his voice. My chin dropped in surprise, then I clenched my jaw and pressed my lips firmly together as his glare dared me to challenge him.

“Whatever you say, Kane.” The sarcasm in my tone cut sharper than I intended and his chair slid back against the wall as he stood with his polished plate in hand. He walked over to me and with each bold, broadened step, muffled by the softness of the rug I slid deeper in my chair.

“I
can
make you go there.”

Speechless, I turned to Trey for some sort of back up and knew instantly, I wouldn't get any. With stoic faces, they all watched me. My anger turned to hurt as I forced my frustrations inward and swallowed at the lump in my throat. With receding selfishness, I looked at my brother and felt a twinge of sadness at the burden he carried.

“Kane, I-”

“I will have the final say!” He said, his voice edgy and sharp as he picked up my empty plate as well, and then walked over to the sink. My cheeks burned red with embarrassment. He was right, I knew he was right and was just about to tell him I thought so as he cut me off. As much as I hated the idea of leaving, I couldn't stay here. I was just stunned to hear it and wished he had said something to me about it beforehand.

“It really would be for the best, sweetie,” Marge added as she gathered the other plates and took them from the table. I forgot she was still here as she pulled me from my despondency.

The rest of their conversations flooded my mind in a lethargic mumble, as I felt completely misunderstood. I tuned them out the best I could as I stood and walked over to the sink and took over washing the dishes from Marge.

“I'm going home now, darling. Are you going to be okay?”

“I'll be fine,” I responded with a half-hearted smile as she gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Are you coming back tomorrow?”

“I'll be by in the morning.”

Marge left and as soon as I could sneak away, I headed for the barn. I found an empty stall and sat down in the soft straw. Trey must have followed me because shortly after he peeked around the corner.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” I scowled at Trey as I wiped my eyes. He sat down next to me in the straw.

“You shouldn’t be out here.”

“I know… Damian might see me.”

“I meant you’re sick.”

“I need the fresh air,” I quickly answered then shrugged my shoulders. I felt the glare of his green eyes as he looked at me. Heat rushed to my cheeks as he silently interrogated me. He sighed, then picked up a strand of straw and tucked it into the corner of his mouth.

“Kane didn’t say he was going to send you away to Bev’s, he just said that he would if he needed to... There is a difference.”

“Not much!  It’s easy for you to say… He’s not sending you away, but it's not even about that, really. I understand that I'm in danger and I am putting all of you in danger as well, but you all sit around and talk about what to do with me as if I’m not even there. I don’t even have a choice! I mean, he could have talked to me about it instead of springing it on me like that! How'd you expect me to react! I had no idea that was coming! Then when I was going to agree with him, he cut me off! He won't even hear what I have to say,” I said, then stood to leave. Trey grabbed my arm and pulled me back down into the straw. I fell back onto my elbows and shot him a glare but he ignored it.

“Okay, Jade. I’m sorry.  I will talk to Kane, but try to remember, he’s not trying to be mean. That isn’t what he wants. But you need to know, I agree with him.”

“I know. I heard you.”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt,” he said, his grip on my wrist grew increasingly tight. “Right now, there is nothing Damian wants more right now, than to hurt you…his brother is dead and he has to blame someone.  Don’t forget who the enemy is, Jade... It’s not Kane.”

“I know
Kane
isn’t the
enemy
,” I said, then snarled back at him. “Let go of me… that hurts.”

His eyes flicked to his hand and back to me as if his actions were an afterthought. He released his grip on me. “Sorry… what do you have against Bev anyway?  Her and Jack want you to come.”

“Nothing,” I sighed out of frustration as I rubbed my wrist, “I love Aunt Bev and Uncle Jack, and I'll go if that's what you and Kane want.”

“Then why are you upset?”

“I’m just so tired of living in hiding!”

“There is a lot Kane is trying to do right now.”

“I know,” I paused, my voice squeaked as tears sprang to my eyes, unable to finish my thoughts I left them to hang in the air.

“Jade, what is wrong? This isn’t like you,” he asked, confusion laced through his tone.

“I don’t know.” My eyes burned and I brushed back the tears. “I feel powerless and dependent on everyone...I want to help and I can't because I'm the problem that no one knows what to do with. You and Kane are treating me differently... I cry at stupid things. And…” I let my voice trail off, unable to continue. Afraid that if I spoke my fears then they might come true.

“And what?”

“What if something happens to you guys?”

“You know I can't promise that nothing will happen to us.”

“That's not fair. I don't know anything else, Trey.” My eyes met his, the worry I felt matched the expression on his face, but for different reasons.

“We aren’t twelve anymore and life has changed drastically... You should be hanging out with your girlfriends, going to football games and to high school dances, driving the boys crazy... You know… the things girls do… you would have done all of it, you were just getting started. High school would have been good for us… But we won’t ever know that life.”

“I know…”

“Eventually, you were going to grow up and find your way… Different from me... That was how it was supposed to be… But you need to figure out who you are in a way that none of us were prepared for.”

“It’s so wrong what Morrison is doing.”

“We have some
really
tough decisions…This isn't a game,” he said. I let my gaze fall to the straw covered ground. I felt like I’d had this conversation before and wondered briefly what it was that wasn’t clicking in my mind. “Morrison started this and it's real. The losers don’t get a second place ribbon… You know Kane doesn’t take losing lightly, neither do I… But Morrison and Damian won’t either. It’s past the point of letting it slide. We’re trying to figure out how we are going to get to the end of this and come out on top.”

I sighed deeply as my expression grew vacant and gritted my teeth together with annoyance.

“You can be angry all you want, but
this is our life now
. You are my twin... I love you. I know it’s not something we say and might seem weird.”

My eyes shot up to meet his again. “It’s not weird, I feel the same way.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you and I'm not about to sit around and let it happen, none of us are.”

His expression grew cold and sent a palpable shutter through me as icy as the arctic air. The idea of him, of any of them, Trey, Kane, and Gage, fighting against militia because of Damian’s sick obsession wrenched a knot into my stomach. A wave of nausea curdled my insides and I suddenly feared I would lose them all.