Thomas (2 page)

Misha walked away and toward him.
Phillip knew he was upset but not about what. When he went to the
car they’d rented to get there, the rest of them followed. There
was no reason for them to hang around and they rarely did. But
Phillip was a little leery of getting in the big car with his
pissed off brother. The rest of them got into the other two
vehicles.

“
Tell me what you know of
this woman and her brother. And I mean everything. Did you know
that there was no listing for whoever they were looking for? For
all we know they doctored the manifest up and took someone they
were hired to kill.” Phillip wanted to reach for Nic to tell him it
was a good time to have the meeting, but the man appeared. He
smiled at Phillip, then put out his hand to Misha.

“
You are the leader to
this leap?” Misha nodded and took his hand. “Good. My sister is
indisposed at the moment. We were looking for a rogue that simply
would not cooperate with us. But we have him now and he is being
brought to justice. I’m Nic.”

“
So?” Nic laughed at
Misha. “What did this rogue do that someone had to be sent to find
him now? Did you know we might have given you a hand in catching
him?”

“
No. You would have
hindered us.” Misha started to speak, but Nic continued. “He was as
we are, yet he had been using his magic for things that are best
left unsaid. The slide was his doing to cover his tracks of a
heinous murder. You were very lucky that we happened upon your
family before he did. He does not play well with
others.”

“
Neither do I.” Misha
leaned back on the seat while the driver continued on as if there
wasn’t a new person in the car with them. “What are you? And if you
give me some bullshit answer, I’ll make your life a living
hell.”

Nic looked at Phillip and then back at
Misha. “You have a very loyal brother here. I would have thought
he’d tell you what my sister told him. He is much more trustworthy
than I first thought. We are the Genjar, and we have been hiding
for many years. From the look on your face, I would say you are
well aware of what we can do.”

“
You’re all dead.” Nic
laughed, and Misha flushed. “I’m sorry. That came out harsh. What I
meant to say is that—”

“
We want people to think
we’re dead for now. It serves us better this way. Young Phillip
here, he was told not to say a word and as a man of honor, I can
only assume you are as well.” Misha looked at him before Nic
continued. “Or is it your mother that rules the leap?”

“
She does. As does my
wife.” Misha laughed when Nic did. “You and your sister, are you
the only ones left of your kind?”

“
Nay, we are not. There
are a great many of us. Not as many as we once were, but enough to
make a nice showing if we needed to.” Nic looked out the window.
“We are headed to the airport?”

“
Yes. We never hang around
when things are settled. It takes a great deal out of us all when
we do search and rescue like this.” Nic nodded. “Are you coming
with us?”

“
Nay, not this time. My
sister has been injured and I would like to make sure she rests. It
will be most difficult to make her do so, but I can only try. She
would like a meeting with you soon. Sooner than I would like, but
soon.” Misha nodded. “May I ask that your family be present as
well? We have formed a bond with your brother Phillip here, and
would like to extend the same to the rest of the leap.”

“
I think I can arrange
that.” Nic nodded. “How will she contact me? I’m assuming it won’t
be by conventional means.”

“
Not with her. You’re not
going to…my sister can be a bit of a bitch when the mood suits her.
Which is most of the time. But she will contact young Phillip here.
She had a connection with him that will serve until we can meet. My
parents will be there as well. And I would ask that you make
arrangements for them to stay somewhere close. They love to travel
and have never been to this part of the world before.”

“
They are welcome in our
home.” Nic nodded and turned to Phillip. He put out his hand again,
this time in the form of a handshake, and Phillip took
it.

“
Until we meet
again.”

Then he was gone. Misha stared at
Phillip for several minutes before he spoke. Phillip wasn’t sure
what to expect but was going to take it. He’d kept something from
his leader and his brother, and he knew that Misha would be
pissed.

“
You knew what they were
before?” Phillip nodded. “Then you did the right thing. Knowing
what they were might have made me…I don’t know, but you can bet
that it wouldn’t have gone well for us. Or the people we were there
to save.”

“
She was hurt saving my
ass when a slide landed on me. I don’t know if she was hurt again
or not, but it looked bad.” Misha nodded. “Are you pissed at
me?”

“
No. On the contrary, I’m
very proud of you. It must have been difficult for you not to tell
me. Especially when I demanded. You did well.” Misha looked at him
then. “But don’t tell the family just yet. It would be better that
we don’t. Just in case Nic and his family decide not to
come.”

Phillip nodded but had a feeling
they’d show up. And when they did, it was going to be fireworks. He
had no idea, but he thought the mother was going to be just as
stubborn as the daughter. Then he realized he’d never gotten her
name. Phillip had a feeling that was planned too.

~~~

Linyah wanted to scream, but she knew
if she did, they’d never let her out of the hospital. The pain
wasn’t getting any better and she was getting to the point where
she wanted to tell them to leave her the fuck alone. When Nic
walked into the room with her, she glared at him.

“
It will do you no good to
look at me as if I did this to you. I did warn you he was coming
toward you.” She glared harder. “Shall I tell you of my meeting
with the leap leader? He was most…I do believe I would like this
man a great deal.”

“
You went to see him
without me?” She tried to sit up, but the woman standing next to
her pushed her back down. She looked at the doctor, then the man
who was helping her. Linyah thought he looked nervous, scared even,
but he turned away before she could ask what was wrong. Instead she
let her anger vent on her brother. “You want to live a little
longer, I’d tell me what you know. I’m not in the mood for you to
be treating me like I’m five.” Pain shot through her back that took
her breath away, and she glared at the doctor. Her smile was not
comforting, and she told the woman to hurry the fuck up.

“
Yes, ma’am.” She moved
back so quickly that she bumped into the table behind her. Linyah
felt marginally better. Then she looked at Nic.

“
What did he say? And why
did you go to see him without me?” Nic stretched out his legs as
the attendants in the room scrambled to leave. She had a feeling
he’d told them to get out. He would have been a great deal politer
than she.

“
He was pissed at young
Phillip. And by the way, you were most right about him. He didn’t
tell who we were, not even when his brother commanded him to do
so.” She nodded, knowing that he wouldn’t, but was glad he had done
what she’d asked. “I interceded on his behalf, as I’m sure you
would have done had you been able to.”

“
He saved our ass, you
know.” Nic nodded. “When the rogue knocked me down, we were headed
in the wrong direction. I’m glad we trusted him.”

“
As am I. Also, before we
get out of here and into where everyone can hear us, I’ve invited
our parents along with us when we go and meet the leap. I do
believe that Misha and Father will get along very well. And his
mother, from what I could gather about her in his mind, would suit
Mother as well.” She nodded, knowing that even if she objected
they’d come along anyway. “You should also know that Misha is a
great deal like our sister Kendra. A leader with more than just a
little temperament to go with it.”

“
You’re saying he’s a
bitch too and that he’ll hate me.” Nic told her for probably the
millionth time that their sister didn’t hate her. Changing the
subject because she knew better, she looked around the room. “We’ll
go as soon as I’m able. But Nic, that man…he hurt me. I’m not used
to being on the receiving end of this much pain.”

“
He did. Let me see the
damage, love.” She lifted her gown up when he asked her to. “He did
indeed. I should like for you to rest for at least a few days,
Linyah. You will need your strength to deal with the leap, and I’d
rather you weren’t injured should we be needed again. Besides, I
think if you try to leave here, Kendra will be most displeased with
you. She thinks…I have told her that you were injured, as I should,
and she might come to see you.”

Linyah lay back on the bed and nodded.
“She’ll come. What would she be as a leader of this clan if she
didn’t? I should have listened to you. You said he was armed. And
I’ll never admit this, but you were right, too, about me needing
more practice when it comes to my demanding people do as I say. I
should have asked first.”

Nic stood up and pulled her gown up
higher. She’d hoped that he’d not notice that she’d been cut more
than what she’d shown him. He only looked her in the eye before
sitting back down.

“
Your back as well?” She
nodded. “And when were you going to tell me of this? You are my
baby sister and I love you. You are not going to be able to do this
forever if you continue to take such chances.”

“
I will live forever, same
as you. But you’re right. I need to take better care. Maybe someday
you’ll find yourself a female to breed with. Then I can see how bad
it is having one and I might find me one as well. Just so he can
heal me. No other reason.” He stood up, laughing. “You think I’d
want someone like you ordering me around like I’m a
simpleton?”

“
I would never think you’d
find a male to love you if you did not want it. But I do believe
there are more pleasures to having a male in your life than simply
to put you back together.” He kissed her forehead as he made his
way to the door. “Take care, sister. I do need you around a bit
longer.”

She lay back on the bed and waited for
the idiots to come in. All they could do to help her was clean the
wounds, then stitch them together and nothing more. No one could
heal her, and even though her kind could heal others, they could
never heal themselves. If they did, they would die. And it would be
a horrific death.

Linyah had never been afraid at her
job before. Never in all the centuries she’d done it, but today she
had been. And not only that, she’d fucked up. Badly. Her mind had
been elsewhere and not on what she should have been doing. She’d
been thinking of the young man Phillip and whether she’d made a
huge mistake in giving him a little of herself. But talking with
Nic, she knew now it had been a good thing. And he’d saved them
from having to explain to the authorities what had happened about
the one that had killed so many. Including today’s
count.

The man had gotten by Nic, and she’d
been stupid enough to think she could take him on her own.
Stupidity had nearly gotten her cut to ribbons too, had it not been
for Nic coming to her aid. She’d been so stunned by the pain he’d
inflicted on her from his magic that she’d dropped to the floor
rather than fight back. Blinded by it, she nearly forgot to warn
the others in the slide and had only just gotten the message to
young Phillip. It was a good thing, too, because she’d been leading
them away from the rogue rather than toward him. Now the man was in
custody and set to be killed. It was a good day.

“
Have you decided to live
then?” She looked up at her sister and frowned. “I’m glad to see
that you’re at least letting them put you back together this time
rather than me having to come down here and put you to sleep again.
I’m most unhappy when I have to do that to you.”

“
As am I.” The others, who
had come back in when Nic had gone, left, but this time it was
because they’d done all they could for her. “We’re going to go on a
trip. To some leopards that helped us out today. Do you think
Mother and Father will go?”

“
So I have heard. And I
think keeping them away will be next to impossible. I have heard of
this man, Misha Lanning. He will be a good ally to have. You have
met him then?” She shook her head and told her that Nic had. “Nic
says we are to be settled in his home. I should like that. But I
think…this will upset you, but I believe it would be better if you
were to stay here. It will give you time to—”

“
No.” Her sister, queen
now that Mother had retired, only glared at her. “I’ve been the one
in contact with this family. I should go. They saved us, saved me
from being too hurt.”

“
You mean more than you
are now?” Linyah nodded. “I have already decided, and you will do
as I have said. It will be better for all concerned if you were to
stay here and get better. I do not want you to get
weaker.”

So it was settled. Linyah settled back
on the bed and closed her eyes when her sister left. She knew that
resting would speed the process up, but nothing would get her
better overnight. And now that she was forbidden to go on the trip,
there was really no reason whatsoever for her to stay tied to this
bed. She’d heal when she healed. She knew that she would heal
faster if she took a male, which she was never going to do. “Not
ever.” Just before falling into a sound sleep, she thought about
finding Nic a female, and smiled. He was going to hate her for
doing it, and it was all the more reason for her to do
it.