Edge, Episode Two: Season One (Edge, A Serial Series Book 2) (5 page)

The only way Reveca stomached her role in this business
was knowing that in some way they were saving lives—they just weren’t doing anything to break the cycle of destruction. No, corporations controlled the food and they controlled the healthcare. They were the infection and the cure.

“Blackwater just left.”

“I passed him. What’d he want?”

“Said GranDee’s land was closed off for now, and waved a
bullet in my face.”

“A
bullet that belonged to their undercover,” Talon said like a curse.

“Right.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked as his dark eyes moved over her. He knew she was pissed about a host of things, and being banned from a garden wasn’t the worst of them but it surely wasn’t going to make her any happier.

“I’m going to go to a different source.”

“I thought sis was ignoring you.”

“Yeah, well, my bro is more agreeable at times.”

Talon laughed knowing that was the furthest thing from the truth. Jamison, a prominent modern southern business man who moonlighted as the most dominant coven leader of all time, kept a wide berth from the Sons and from Reveca. 

Talon assumed he was an ass
. Reveca knew it was because he still harbored guilt. She was going to use that today, for sure.

“Want me to come?” Talon asked.

“No, I got this.”

He patted her ass as he stood then pulled her lips to his once more. “You’re glowing, babe.” He leaned into her
hair. “You gotta stop turning me on when I got business to handle.”

“You get what you put out
,” she said only vaguely having to force herself to smile.

She patted his chest then made her way to her bike.

Right as her machine roared to life between her legs, as she felt that vibration all but consume her. She glanced over her shoulder, toward the pull she’d felt all but stab her where she stood just before. Those eyes, clear as ice, were staring out at her from behind the bike King was working on.

Reveca held that glance for a second before she
peeled away, looking for the road, an escape, a way to breathe for a moment before she came face to face with Jamison BellaRose. Before she asked him why the hell they waited until Kenson was warped into another man, before she’d become a new woman, before they put a nice little bow on him and slammed him back into her life.

She took the long way to the Quarter, just needing to feel the road for a second. When she did make it to one of Jamison’s finer establishments
, she backed her bike against the curb. Flipped off the drunk tourists that were either whistling at her or asking where her daddy was.

She marched right into the front door, passed the stuck up hostess that was surely about
to tell Reveca she needed to be dressed differently. She moved through the dining room, letting a smirk linger on her lips when she heard conversations halt. Then she made her way to the elegant second floor bar.

There he was.

Jamison didn’t look a day older than the first time she had seen him, but he damn sure tried. He’d put a little gray in his side burns, dressed in suits, carried a dominance about him.

But to her, he was the same. He was that fallen soul her family nursed back to health, the one that became stronger than they ever imaged. Jamison was the reason Reveca could mock a living life
. He was the reason that himself, Saige, and other select members of the coven had grasped immortality.

When the world Reveca grew up in, or dimension rather, began to collapse, Jamison is the reason they survived
. He brought them to this one, long ago.

He was
sitting at the edge of the bar, looking over some papers. Two women were on the opposite corner, gawking at him. That was pretty normal. The boy was a looker, sharp features, an easy smile. Charm. He had that in spades.

Reveca sauntered right up to him
. She didn’t slide into the bar stool. No, she used the bar stool as a step and perched her bottom right on the bar. Slowly she crossed her legs, leaned forward, and gave Jamison a lazy smile as she heard the others in the room gasp.

Jamison had sensed Reveca before she’d ever managed to park her bike, but it made no sense to move to the front to meet her. He could make this room as private as he wanted, so he waited.

“You look ravishing, Reveca,” Jamison said as his blue eyes moved down her, holding his gaze on her he spoke to the bartender. “Ensure our guests make it to the front bar, a round on us. This bar is closed until further notice.”

Reveca held his stare as the few in the room began to leave.

“Why are your eyes so hungry, brother? Where is that innocent you play house with? Are you two having a tiff?”

Jamison didn’t answer until he heard the lock on the main doors slide.

“Brother?” he asked with a lift of his chin and sly grin.

That was all that Reveca needed to see to know that she wasn’t leaving there empty handed.

Chapter Three

Reveca reached for the straw that was in the drink before Jamison and spun the ice slowly. “Yes. Brother. The world at large believes that Saige is your elder sister
. Granted it would be hard for them to believe she’s my twin in her tragic state, but still…you and I, well, my father did see you as the son he was never given.”

“Reveca, I would gladly publically claim you as family if you chose to engage in legitimate business, legitimate
practices
.”

“Semantics, Jamison. I’m a product of my environment.”

Reveca let go of the straw and leaned forward on her knees. “But daydream with me for a moment. If I ever agreed to bend to your will,
brother,
would you finally introduce me to the next generation of the coven?”

Jamison had managed to do what most would call the impossible a while back. After endless eras of an immortal life he became a father of a child of flesh. To the world at large and the private coven, his life was the picture of perfection, nice and neat inside safe lines. Jamison’s family had no idea Reveca existed. Yet Saige was the sweet, older, eccentric aunt they adored.

None of that bothered Reveca, not really. Innocent young girls had no business in the life Reveca led, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared to taunt Jamison with that threat if she were pushed to, and she was.

Jamison never
answered, only let his eyes reflect a practiced smile rich with charm.

“Just over twenty years now, right? The little one.” Reveca threw her head back in mock enthrallment. “Oh
, how I remember being that young, grasping power, feeling that surge come through you—downright
orgasmic
. I bet you have your hands full keeping the boys away.”

No response, not really, perhaps that stare harbored that same ‘knowing’ edge Jamison was notorious for, but nothing more.

Reveca let out a breath. “Big girl now, big enough to want to take down her daddy’s enemies, huh?” Reveca pursed her lips. “Perhaps I should introduce myself to Little Bit, tell her if she was trained properly she wouldn’t need twenty-twos to take down nasty human men.”

“She’s well aware of that, I assure you.” Jamison crossed his arms, nearly smiled. “Are you accusing my daughter of being involved in this?”

“Not at all. You see, when you and Saige call on me to clean up your fuck ups I get curious as to how you fouled your way into the mess in the first place.”  Reveca narrowed her stare. “And any time Saige blames me for something it means she’s guilty as hell.”

“She blamed you for this?”

“Don’t act as if you two aren’t sharing Cliff Notes. She said my Rouges killed that man, a man you had issues with not long ago. Apparently, Saige thinks that I should believe one of my Rouges broke every bone in the man’s body, stopped his heart, then waited a few hours and put a twenty-two in his head. That’s overkill, Jamison, really.”

“It makes more sense for you to think that my daughter did that?”

“Well, I don’t know her so it’s easy for me to assume anything.” She pursed her lips before she spoke further. “I
should
introduce myself. Take her out for a drink. I’m sure she’d love to hear stories about her daddy dearest…I’m sure she’d like to know that from day one her father defended our coven as if it was his own. Went to war to protect it.” Reveca slowly adjusted the way her legs were crossed. “I’m sure she’d loved to hear of how her father watched a noble man fall for the same cause. Yes, I’d tell her how I was her age, young, in love, full of power…and used that power to save the very soul that understood me at my core. And her father gave one nod—one
fucking
nod—and that nod destroyed my love. That nod put me in prison, became a catalyst for who I am today.”

Reveca bit her lip, and waited for a response.

Jamison leaned forward, looked reverently up at Reveca. “You want to know what that nod was about?”

“No, I only asked a million times before because I was grasping for conversation starters.”

She could usually get Jamison to at least grin at her sarcasm. That amusement for her, that guilt he had for their past always helped her get what she wanted, what Saige would withhold.

His seriousness right now was twisting Reveca’s stomach.

“I surrendered.”

“Do what
?” Reveca said as she drew her brow together.

His gaze danced over her confused expression before he spoke. “You may have been engaged in your own power that dawn but you felt it in the air.” He sucked in a sharp breath. “You felt a supremacy that your people had only dared to write about
. It brushed against you.”

“And
…”

“It was hunting me. Or so I assumed. That power was stopping your magic from taking root
. Too much energy in one area.”

Jamison leaned back in his chair.
“Your power was blanketing that entire field. Lorecan had to subdue you in order for that supremacy to claim what it wanted.”

“And this all mighty power, one that is greater than our people knew
, made a mistake and took the wrong boy? I don’t know how long you have been cooking up that bullshit excuse but you need to go back to the kitchen.”

“In the divine plan I do not believe it was a mistake.”

“Divine plan. The Rapture you and Saige admittedly believe in. The one Lorecan forced you to believe.”

“Lorecan didn’t force us to believe anything. You did.”

Reveca felt her entire body tense.

“That’s right. He was full of predications, full of prophecy. You were the first
. You walked every step he said you would, right up until this very moment.” He focused his eyes on Reveca. “I know you don’t want to believe in this Rapture and that’s fine. I didn’t either. With all I knew, all that I had seen before I landed with your family, I still could not fathom the truth of it.” He hesitated. “From the moment I became a father I wanted nothing more than to deny its existence. I can’t, Reveca. Souls are falling into place. That’s a given.”

That stare of his moved over Reveca reflecting the same sympathy it carried each time Reveca’s beginning was spoken of. “I surrendered. That power didn’t recognize me anymore, it was blind to me. Lorecan claimed it was hunting Kenson all along. That it believed he was designed to be a
part of it.”

“What the hell happened to him, Jamison? Where has he been?”

“Been? Past tense.”

“Fuck off. You know Saige sent me after him. Crass called him a false king.”

“Sounds to me like he’s been in death.”

“You’re an ass.
Before that. Where was he?”

That knowing glint was back in his stare. “I suppose you’d have to ask him.” He lifted his chin. “Is he getting along well with your boys, with Cashton?”

“I do believe I heard Cashton call him his best bloody fucking mate just before I left. We’re just peachy at the Beauregard Boneyard.”

That response oddly seemed to shock Jamison. Reveca wanted it to. For all she knew her si
ster was trying to destroy her Club from the inside out, tossing enough drama her way so her boys would fight amongst themselves.

“How is he
?” Jamison asked sincerely.

“Oh
, you know, coming out the Edge, it’s hard on a soul, hard on the corporeal form. It’s a shame, too. I can’t get the herbs I would need to help someone with a transition, not with GranDee’s property being locked down.”

Jamison nearly grinned. “You expect me to believe that Kenson
, or rather King, needs herbs to find clarity?”

“That’s not Kenson, Jamison. Not even close.”

That empathy filled his eyes once more. “He’s different. I have no doubt.” He let his gaze drop. “Where he was, Reveca, it strips you, rebirths you. I don’t care how strong you are, you can’t fight it. He endured that then eras later found himself in death, one that dug into his soul, unearthed his true beginning. He is a mix of who he was, became, and is. But that is him.”

“He was strong, Jamison. Strong enough to break away from that power and come back, at least at a distance.” She paused to hide her emotion. “And you know what he saw?
Lorecan with my sister, my sister with child. He thought she was me. If he forgot his beginning, he did so on purpose.”

She expected that revelation to shock Jamison as much as it had shocked her, but he didn’t flinch. “Or perhaps that power allowed him to see that
. Perhaps fooling him was the only way to get him to submit.”

“You knew that happened?”

“No, but it fits.”

“Who he was is
gone
.” Reveca bit out.

“Who he was needs to be unearthed and being close to you will do just that.” Jamison started to adjust the papers before him. “If he does so
, that will make paths before others you have grown close to less agonizing.”

“Talon does not bask in agony
, he wields anger and dominance to protect his claim.”

“I wasn’t referring to him, however
, that should be entertaining to say the least,” Jamison said ambiguously. “Do yourself a favor and ensure there is space between Cashton and King…at least until the vagueness has faded.”

Jamison looked up at Reveca. “I have no doubt you need herbs that are
unavailable to you at this time, but they’re not for King. They’re for the girl you’re harboring.”

Reveca
stared. She knew there was a strong possibility Jamison knew about that. For one, Thelma Ray helped him raise his family, as a nanny of sorts. There was little doubt she would freely share information about her sister’s coming and goings with Jamison, for that fact and the fact he was the coven leader. Secondly, Jamison’s position allowed him to sense when someone was using the power that Reveca was tapping into. That’s why she had no choice but use guilt to start this conversation. 

“I’ll give you swipe.”

“I don’t need that herb, I need evermore.”

“When you bring souls back, when their enhancements fall into place
, what occurs?”

“Judgment.”

“Judgment. They face the moments where they made choices that lead to their death. At the same time the soul will protect the mind from trauma it cannot withstand. Your girl. She made no choice to lead to her death or what happened before such time. She was a victim. To come out of that she’s going to have to take swipe, the memories are going to have to lie dormant for now.”

“I’m calling bullshit on you. I give her that and I will have to wait for her to remember what GranDee was doing with her in the first place. You’re covering up something, Jamison. Something in her mind.”

“The way I see it, Reveca, you can either trust me, give her this, and wait for nature to take its course, or you can let her die with the knowledge she knows.”

“You’re an asshat.”

He laughed. “Always so quick to speak your mind.” He held her stare. “Surely that will aid you in what lies before you.”

He stood, now eye level with Reveca. “Saige told you the truth.
A Rouge, a soul born of your actions, did kill that man. However, I believe that Rouge had no choice.”

Reveca narrowed her stare on him.

“Newberry,” Jamison said. “He was a weak man looking for power. He toyed with magic he should have never touched and it bit back.” He stared before he spoke again, choosing his words. “He and others like him want the power within us. They can’t comprehend energy so they think its blood. Reveca…your Rouges, they’re being hunted by more than you know.”

Blood may not be energy, but it sure as hell added power to spells, and Reveca knew this Newberry man had an ancient book of shadows in his
grimy hands not long ago. There was nothing worse than an idiot toying with dark arts they were too ignorant to understand. No, wait there was—an idiot with friends.

“Thanks for the heads up.” She grinned smugly. “I’ll return the favor. Holden told me that Newberry was
an informant for the lawmen. Holden went on runs with us, knows we got scripts from casino boats. I know it’s a long shot but those lawmen might connect the dots and figure out that a BellaRose owns those boats, under a different name of course.”

Jamison smirked. “Newberry was declared mentally insane by every institution there is. No legal branch would be able to utilize that man
’s word as an informant, legit or not.” He tilted his head. “I doubt Holden, a man that was in the midst of cold blooded murder, would see the importance of saying the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Holden had told Reveca that the lawmen knew that GranDee was her cook. If anything
, she was her gardener. But to Holden, someone that only saw the side of the Sons that pushed around scripts, that fit when Reveca heard it. Now, nothing really did, not completely anyway.

“I’ll get your swipe, makes sure it’s potent with energy, and have it here for you tomorrow night.”

Reveca hopped off the bar, offering only a bored expression as a response.