Vengeance Borne (15 page)

Micah could think of a million scenarios that would’ve been less uncomfortable. Finn’s contempt poured off of him like rain down a gutter, mingling with jealousy and a strong flare of possessiveness. But in truth, Micah didn’t need to be an empath to read the man sitting across the table from him.

He’d taken the seat next to Jacquelyn, leaving Micah the empty space next to Trish. She looked crowded, Finn’s chair angled toward her and pushed a little too close for comfortable eating. Despite her tight expression, Jacquelyn did a good job of masking her emotions. Waves of calm pulsed from her, though her pale green eyes gleamed with a feral light, like a rabbit caught in a snare.

For a while, the only sound in Trish’s dining room was the clatter of forks against plates. Luckily, Trish’s reputation as a cook hadn’t been exaggerated and Micah’s preoccupation with his meal wasn’t contrived. He hadn’t eaten so well in months.

“Micah, I wonder if you’d mind if we talked a little business?” Trish opened the conversation for the evening, skipping the pleasantries. From what he’d seen so far of the older woman, she was a no-nonsense sort. No time for beating around the bush. “I realize today was a bit of shock for you, but we really should discuss this.”

Trial by fire.
Great
. He opened his mouth to respond and locked his eyes with Jacquelyn. Her piteous expression was enough to stifle his protests. Why bother masking her emotions when her expression spoke volumes. She actually felt sorry for him.
You’re in way over your head,
her eyes told him.
See this guy sitting next to me? He’ll chew you up and spit you out.
Micah didn’t measure up. Not by a mile. Not in her book. Useful or not, she wanted him out of her hair. No matter Trish’s opinion on the subject. She’d given him an out with only a glance.
You can go if you want to. Just say the word.

“I’m up for it.” Micah refused to let her think he was weak. He could rise to her challenge, unspoken or not. “Let’s get this all out in the open.”

Finn looked up from his plate, a tawny eyebrow raised in interest. “I heard you got your feet wet today, Micah. Kicks the shit out of you the first time, doesn’t it?”

Jacquelyn shifted in her seat, a forkful of food halfway between the plate and her mouth. “I thought you went out there yourself, Finn. You said there was nothing worth finding.”

“I said I didn’t feel anything unusual. Fear, mostly. Wouldn’t you be scared shitless if a cougar was eating you alive?”

“Sure.” Micah infused his voice with confidence. “But a cougar didn’t attack that man. No animal did.”

Finn scoffed. “Out on the job once and you’re already a big man. How would you know what killed him? Fear is fear. Period.”

Finn’s blue eyes sparkled, and the superior glower on his face drew a line in the sand. He was the veteran, confident in his abilities, the one with experience. And more importantly, he was the one sitting next to
her
. Never had Micah wanted to run toward his gift. Until now. It had opened a door to something more and to someone he wanted to get to know. He wasn’t about to close it.

“It wasn’t what I felt, Finn,” Micah said with a proud sneer. “It’s what I
saw
.”

Finn’s eyes widened a fraction of an inch, but he masked his surprise beneath a smirk. He looked slowly to Jacquelyn, and then Trish.

“It’s true,” Trish confirmed. “Micah is more than just an empath. He is immersed so deeply in emotion, it manifests as a vision.”

“So let me get this straight.” A burst of anger exploded in Micah’s stomach as Finn pushed his chair away from the table, cracked each individual knuckle on his hand. “This guy shows up out of nowhere, you drag him out to the woods, throw him down where Willie died, and just take him at his word?” His voice rose, and a wave of jealousy rolled off of him like a breaker at high tide. “No questions asked?”

Jacquelyn looked down at her plate, her chest rising and falling with her speeding breath. Anxiety overwhelmed Finn’s temper, drowning out every other sensation, crawling across Micah’s skin like prickling droplets of cold rain. He couldn’t stand knowing how she felt. Finn had shown him, plain and simple, that Jacquelyn belonged to him even though her body language told him the feeling wasn’t mutual. But his hostility toward Micah was obviously upsetting her.

“Honestly, man, I didn’t expect to be here any longer than it took to fill up my goddamned gas tank.” Defensive, maybe, but Finn needed to be put in his place. “I didn’t ask for any of this shit, but I stepped right in it.” Finn shoved the chair further out from behind him and stood. Not to be intimidated, Micah followed suit and leaned over the table for emphasis. “I can’t help what I felt or what I saw. But something evil killed that man. Three somethings to be exact. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before or want to see again. And you can damn well take me for my word on that.”

Finn sank heavily into his chair and looked askance at Jacquelyn. “Furies, Finn,” she replied. “Your nothing-out-of-the-ordinary turned out to be sort of a big deal, don’t you think?”

Micah looked down at his hostess, her gray-haired head bowed in thought. Some dinner guest he’d turned out to be. “I apologize, Trish. I’m not a very gracious guest. I think I need some air.” He turned toward the door leading off from the kitchen. “Excuse me.”

Micah headed for the back door and stepped outside into the cooling evening air. Trish’s house looked over a wide valley, trees dotting the hills in the distance. Tall mountains ringed the valley, open and spacious without a neighbor in sight. The autumn sun had begun its early retreat, painting the sky in streaks of red and orange. He hadn’t seen a sunset so breathtaking in a long time. Sprawled for miles in front of him was the solitude he’d thought to find in Wyoming. He never would have considered the possibility he’d find it in a small Idaho town, tucked hundreds of miles from nowhere. And that was part of the problem, wasn’t it? Though he knew without a doubt he needed to get in his RV and take the hell off, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. Something was keeping him here. The answers to the questions he’d asked all of his life. That and a certain fiery brunette.

He walked to the edge of the wrap-around porch, leaning against the log support. Tracing a finger over the topography of the burnt and varnished wood, he closed his eyes, took a deep cleansing breath.

“Sorry about Finn,” Jacquelyn’s voice shattered the quiet as she spoke from behind him. “He’s having a hard time letting go, and he’s kind of possessive and jealous by nature. It’s nothing personal.”

He kept his eyes closed and turned his back to the log. Feeling her presence was almost as good as seeing her. The concern she felt funneled into him, a warming pulse to put him at ease. Who needed Wyoming? McCall held a great many beautiful things. “You used to date him?” he asked.

“Yeah. But being in a romantic relationship with a Bearer has its disadvantages,” she said with a sad laugh. “Too invasive, you know?”

He thought about their encounter earlier in the day when she begged him not to take her sorrow. “I can understand that,” he said. “But maybe he’s just the wrong Bearer.”

Jacquelyn averted her gaze and wandered toward the edge of the steps that led to the driveway. A heavy silence filled the space between them and Micah refused to push her further. His eyes drifted shut as he enjoyed the warmth of her current emotions. He had no desire to feel the cold sting of her anxiety. She needed a vacation from her life worse than he did. Would she run away if she could?

“You’re thinking about me again,” she murmured. “Your energy is intense, even for a Bearer. I can feel your focus crawling over my skin. I don’t like it.”

“Why?”

“Just don’t do it, okay?”

He opened his eyes, the vibrant sunset darkening to crimson in anticipation of twilight. But when he turned to answer, Jacquelyn had already left, the screen door slamming behind her.

“This is a total load of bullshit,” Finn complained. “I still don’t believe it. He’s running a con or something. No one’s
that
gifted.”

Jacquelyn gathered the mass of dark curls cascading over her shoulders and bound them in an elastic band near the crown of her head. Sometimes she felt absolutely suffocated under all that hair. Trish had coaxed Micah into helping with the dishes, giving Jacquelyn and Finn time to talk in the living room. She would have taken dish duty over quality time with Finn any day. But obviously Trish was putting a little distance between the two men, and Jacquelyn couldn’t fault her for wanting to avoid another pissing match.

“I think Micah is telling the truth, Finn,” Jacquelyn said with a sigh. “There’s no way he’d know what to describe at the scene. The first time I met him, he was totally oblivious to what he was. Unrealized. Really, Finn, when was the last time you encountered an unrealized Bearer?” A derisive snort answered her. Okay, so he wasn’t convinced, but that didn’t change what Micah was. “I wanted to cut him loose, but Trish thinks he should stick around. I don’t know…maybe she’s right. He obviously needs help coming to terms with what he is. And he might come in handy. If we’re dealing with Furies, we could use the help.”

Finn took her hands, guiding her arms around his waist. He never could take no for an answer.
Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt, Finn
. The warmth of his body soaked through his t-shirt, the taut muscles beneath, familiar territory she’d explored with her eyes, hands, mouth more times than she could count. But no matter how familiar he felt, no matter how much she missed having him next to her in bed at night, being with him was just too damned hard. The bad outweighed the good, and she’d never be able to justify remaining in a relationship with Finn if it meant surrendering her emotional sanity.

“Jax,” Finn bent low, whispered against her ear, “let me take you home. It’s a little too crowded here right now. Let’s talk where we can truly be alone.” His mouth grazed her earlobe, sending a trail of shivers over her skin. “I’ll behave.” He laid a trail of warm kisses down her neck and murmured against her skin, “Unless you don’t want me to.”

Jacquelyn’s eyelids drooped and a slow sigh escaped from her lips. Suffused with pleasure and contentment, any doubt or anxiety she might have felt melted away like snow under a spring sun. Her focus zeroed in on the way Finn’s mouth felt against her skin,
so good
. But a niggling thought scratched at the back of her mind. The notion that he’d diverted her true emotions and she snapped back into herself with the realization. It was too easy to let him make her feel good, and he knew it. He used his Bearer’s magic against her again and again. His manipulation—whether intentional or not—crossed the line one too many times. And tonight she was going to make him toe that line. “Finn, stop.” She tried to unwind her arms from around him, but he held her tight. “How can I get closure when you won’t give me a little space?”

Finn took a deep breath of her skin and straightened, but he didn’t let her go. “Quit pushing me away. I love you.”

“Finn.” She sighed. “You don’t love me. How can you ever know what you feel for me when you won’t let go of my emotions long enough to finally feel something real for yourself?”

His lips met her forehead, a light whisper of touch. “Emotions are
my
business, not yours. Don’t tell me what I do or don’t feel. I didn’t end this, you did. And I’m not going to let you run away.”

For shit’s sake, did he have to press the issue? How could she work with him while things were so rocky between them? Furies didn’t fuck around. They killed and sucked their host dry, leaving town with death and pain in their wake. “Finn, we have a serious problem. Furies. And that’s bigger than what’s going on between you and me right now.”

Finn’s hands moved down her back, beneath the waistband of her jeans. “I’m still not convinced there’s anything to worry about. Furies?” He wriggled his palms a little lower, kneading her bare skin. “There haven’t been any issues with Furies in anyone’s territory for years. Micah is full of shit. He’s out of his depth and making guesses to impress you. You’re worked up for no reason.”

Jacquelyn tried to inch away from his touch. “Trish doesn’t think so.”

He pulled her back. “Trish is a bleeding heart. She’ll take in any stray that crosses her door.”

“You’re forgetting who you’re talking to,” her voice hardened, stung by his words. “Aren’t I just another stray?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it. C’mon, Jax. You’re
special
. The Sentry put you here for a reason. You didn’t just bumble your way through town and wind up here.”

Aaaand here they were, back to Finn’s awestruck proclamation that her status as Waerd made her the eighth wonder of the world. For crying out loud, she wasn’t even unique in her
Waerdness
. The world was full of hunters, watching over territories just like she did. Of course, Finn had always been easily impressed. The perfect roast beef sandwich had been known to spur him to tears. Okay, maybe not quite to tears. But once, Jacquelyn swore she heard a sniffle. Now he was quickly back pedaling, trying to downplay his “stray” comment. She’d given him just enough rope to hang himself with and he knew it.