Flare of Promise (Asylums for Magical Threats #3) (15 page)

He lowered his voice for dramatic effect. “Oh, I’m more than ready, love. Taking care of you is nice, but I look forward to matching wits.”

Petra snorted and Will bit back a smile. Challenging each other had definitely become one of their favorite pastimes and he couldn’t wait to start fighting them out.

The door opened to reveal Millie Ward. Despite the bruise on her cheek, the woman was smiling. Petra was the first to ask, “What happened to you?”

Millie shrugged. “Sean Reilly was a little bit of a challenge.”

Will beat Petra to the punch. “You took care of him?”

Millie winked. “But of course. He may have been a challenge, but his cockiness was his downfall. Well, and his weakness for pretty women.” She motioned behind her. “But enough about that bastard. I brought you back a surprise.”

A tall man with the same brown hair and green eyes as Petra walked forward. He smiled at Petra. “Sis.”

“Dom.” Petra moved to stand up, but Will pushed down on her shoulder. He eyed Dom as he asked, “You seem pretty happy despite how much shit you’ve put your sister through. I’m wondering if it’s even wise to have you here at all.”

Petra grabbed his hand and he met her eyes as she said, “Stop it, Will.”

He shook his head. “No. You gave up your life for him. Looking at him, he doesn’t seem the least bit grateful.”

Before either Petra or Dom could reply, Millie stepped between Petra and Dom. “Now, now, we all need to play nice. Neena invited Dominick here, and her word is final.”

Will growled. “Then maybe I should take it up with Neena.”

Millie replied, “You’ll have your chance soon enough. She’s due to arrive any minute. If you’re clever, and I think you are, you’ll let your girlfriend have her reunion with her brother. Otherwise, you might be sleeping alone on a couch somewhere.”

Petra’s voice filled his ears. “She’s right. I’m drawing a line at your protectiveness.”

Will knew he was being unrealistic, but he hated how much Petra’s brother took advantage of her. He’d just have to have a chat with the man later. It was about time for Dominick to hold his own as a man. “Then tell Millie to move. She’s the one blocking you, not me.”

Millie snorted. “I suppose I am.”

Millie stepped aside and Will met Dom’s gaze again. They measured each other up a second before the other man walked to his sister and crouched down. “Hey, sis. Long time, no see.”

~~~

Petra tapped her fingers against her thigh and debated how to handle her brother.

For all that she’d asked to see him, she was torn between kicking him in the shin with her good leg and engulfing him in a hug. Will was right that she’d coddled him over the years. Not that she wanted to admit it.

Okay, maybe she would in private. She had promised to be honest with Will.

Compromising, Petra put out a hand and Dom took it. She cleared her throat. “I’m glad you’re alive, but if you ever go making backdoor deals with drug dealers or other powerful foes, I’m going to let you rot, Dominick Brandt.”

The corner of Dom’s mouth ticked up. “How do you expect to do that with your leg in a cast?”

Will hissed out, “She earned that cast saving another woman’s life.”

Dom looked up to Will. The tension radiating between the two was giving her a headache. “I’m starting to think working on my own as a mercenary again might be the best option.”

Both men said, “No.”

Will blinked. “It looks like we agree on something.”

Petra waved her hands. “Hello, I’m the one supposed to be having the reunion.”

Dom grinned at her. “Oh, Millie has a grand plan for a reunion party next week.”

Millie tsked. “Thanks for ruining the surprise, younger Brandt twin.”

Looking between Millie and Dom, Petra frowned. “Since when are you two so friendly?”

Millie answered, “Hey, when you survive a life or death situation, you tend to bond. Maybe the three of us can form our own little DEFEND unit. Then I wouldn’t be stuck following my brother everywhere.”

Jaxton’s dry voice came from behind Petra. “I thought I was keeping you alive. If you want to bloody get yourself killed, go for it.”

Millie stuck out her tongue. “I just took down the head of a drug cartel. Give me a little credit, Jax.”

Kiarra’s voice jumped in and Petra looked over her shoulder as she said, “I’m starting to think there should be a new DEFEND rule—siblings should be separated. It would save us a whole hell of a lot of time.”

Millie pointed a finger at Kiarra. “You’re just jealous. I think because your sister is badass and out doing high-priority missions with her boyfriend, not to mention your brother is locked up, you feel as if you’re missing out.”

Jaxton growled out, “Enough.” At the authority in his tone, everyone fell quiet and he carried on. “Neena will be here soon. I suggest we settle around the table or she might jump and expect us to help her bodysurf.”

Petra bit her lip. She would love to see Jaxton and Will helping Neena surf over their hands. “Do you know what it’s about?”

Kiarra answered, “Probably about the Earth Talent, although with Neena, who knows.”

Petra met Will’s gaze. He’d been studying the woman’s blood in between his bedside vigils. “Is there something you haven’t told me, Will?”

Will shook his head. “Most of the tests are still running and will take some time to complete. Unless they’ve taken her off the rowan-berry juice, I have no idea what Neena wants to discuss.”

The elemental earth user’s name was Naiyana Chaiket, but preferred to be called Yana. Apart from revealing her name and the fact she was Thai-born and raised near Chiang Mai until age thirteen by parents she wouldn’t talk about, the woman had been quiet. Neena’s orders were to not take advantage of the woman, which included no detailed questioning. The rowan-berry juice was only being administered to keep her from using her powers until a skilled earth user arrived to help her learn to control her abilities.

Eyeing her brother, Petra then looked to Millie. “Are you sure Neena wants Dom here?”

Millie bobbed her head. “Of course. I’m not about to get onto Neena’s shit list by bringing strangers to a super-top secret meeting without her permission.”

Before she could ask any more questions, a cheery voice boomed out, “Let’s get this party started!”

Taking a deep inhalation, Petra turned her face toward Neena. The woman wore a form-fitting, black party dress without any straps. Her hair was twisted up into a fancy hairdo. Neon-colored stars dangled from her ears.

Will was the first to speak up. “May I ask why you’re wearing a dress?” Neena raised her brows and Will gritted out, “Your highness?”

Neena beamed. “I wanted to look pretty. Thanks for noticing.” She waved a hand at the chairs arranged around a table. “Sit down. The sooner we’re done with the boring stuff, the sooner we can crank up the music and start dancing.”

A quick glance at Dom and Petra saw her brother frowning in confusion. As Will wheeled her past Dom, Petra whispered, “Just go with it. I’d suggest keeping quiet until you better understand the way things work here.”

“If you say so,” Dom muttered.

Considering her brother’s penchant for not following advice, Petra only hoped Dom didn’t do too much damage.
 

As everyone settled around the table, Petra waited to see what would happen.

~~~

Will sat beside Petra’s wheelchair and took her hand in his. Keeping one eye on her no-good brother, he listened as Neena started to speak.

“Let me start with the obvious—because we’re fabulous, we have three of the four Talents on our side. You may think the next step is finding the fourth one. However, you’re wrong. There is a selfish, greedy dimwit we need to take care of first.”

Neena leaned against the wall and took out a mobile phone. As she fiddled with it, Jaxton chimed in. “Care to expand on that?”

Putting up a finger to signal to wait, Will debated pinning Neena up against the wall and shaking some answers out of her. Not only did he have research to do, he needed to talk with Petra in private about her brother. Will was clever enough to know Petra wouldn’t take any edicts well. However, he needed to find a way to prevent Dom from taking advantage of his sister.

Just as he moved to stand up, Neena met his gaze. “I wouldn’t suggest it, researcher man. The fate of the world is in my hands. You just need to be patient.”

Jaxton’s terse voice answered, “Neena, get to the point already. We each have a million things to do. Watching you play with your phone isn’t one of them.”

Neena sniffed. “Only because I love you, Jaxy, will I let your tone slide this time. Eventually, your impatience will get you into trouble.” Jaxton opened his mouth to reply, but Neena beat him to it. “Any-who, a woman is collecting
Feiru
with latent abilities. She’s completely unoriginal and calls herself the Collector. You all need to find her.”

Neena took two steps to the door and Will quickly asked, “That’s it?”

She shrugged. “I can’t always be holding your hands. Step up and figure it out yourself.”

The DEFEND leader clapped her hands and music blared from somewhere. Before anyone could blink, she rushed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

The music instantly died down.

Everyone looked at each other before settling on Jaxton. The DEFEND commander cleared his throat. “Just because Neena didn’t spell things out doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish the mission. Kiarra and I know someone who has had a run-in with this woman and will talk with them for more information. Millie, study the transcripts and videos of Giovanni’s interrogations to see what you can find about the woman who kidnapped those three volunteers.”
 

Millie tilted her head. “Why don’t I just talk to him?”

Jaxton didn’t miss a beat. “I don’t trust you alone with him and I don’t have the time to make sure you behave.”

“I can behave, Jaxton,” Millie said as she placed a hand on her hip. “I just took down a drug lord.

Jaxton answered, “Maybe, but I’m not going to chance it. You have your orders. Follow them.”

Millie reluctantly nodded as she muttered a few choice words. Jaxton then looked to Will. “How long until your preliminary results come back on the Earth Talent?”

Will leaned forward. “Any time now. But I’m not sure how that’s going to help. Latent abilities and elemental abilities are two very different things.”

Petra spoke up. “Maybe and maybe not. If we compare the genome sequences of the elemental earth user with yours, we can see if the two overlap or both have unique sequences not found in humans or
Feiru
with no known abilities. If so, we might be able to devise something to target and temporarily neutralize the ability. If the Collector doesn’t have her coerced army to protect her, she will become a much easier target.”

Will squeezed Petra’s hand in his. “I told you the research and mercenary experiences work well together.”

She smiled. “Then you won’t have any objections to me helping you with your research.”

It was on the tip of Will’s tongue to say Petra needed to rest, but the eagerness in her eyes stayed the words. Since Petra may never be able to work a field mission again, bringing her into his research would be the first baby steps toward accepting her eventual fate with DEFEND.

Besides, it meant he could spend even more time with his Petra. “As long as we’re partners and you don’t try to take over, I might be persuaded to work with you.”

Petra winked. “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”

As they stared at one another, Will couldn’t help but reach out a finger to trace her cheek. “If I use your stubbornness and competitiveness against you, we’ll have things figured out within the week.”

 
“Save your flirting for later,” Jaxton jumped in. “I may check in with you two every few hours to ensure you’re focused and not distracted.”

Kiarra lightly slapped his arm. “Jaxton. Give them a break. Imagine if we’d been apart for two years.”

Wrapping an arm around Kiarra’s waist, Jaxton murmured, “Don’t even mention that.”

Jaxton lowered his head to kiss his woman when Dom blurted out, “What about me?”

Never blinking, Jaxton met Dom’s gaze. “You’ll be training. I don’t know why Neena insisted you be here. But until that reason becomes clear, you’ll be under constant watch.”

“Hey, I’m not running for my life and I have somewhere to sleep.” Dom shrugged. “That’s good enough for me.”

Petra warned, “Dom.”

He met Petra’s eyes. “I’m just being honest, sis. You already know my skills. I’ll just keep a low profile until the rest of the gang here understands them as well.”

Will wondered how in the hell Dom had survived as a mercenary. Maybe his nonchalance was a distraction, but Will would need to ask Petra about it later.

Jaxton grunted. “Fine. Kiarra and I will escort Dominick to the training area. The rest of you, get to work.”

Giving a thumbs-up, Millie walked briskly out of the room.
 

Will stood up and gripped the handles of the wheelchair. He pushed, but Petra raised a hand. “I should talk with Dom some more.”

Jaxton’s voice cut off Will’s reply. “Not now, Petra. I need you to work with Will. Any insights into latent abilities or elemental ones will be paramount to our success. You can talk with your brother later, if he survives training without any reprimands.”

Will’s respect for Jaxton raised a hair. “He’s right. Some of the results should be ready. Since you’ve been talking about how much you miss working on research, let’s get right to it. Unless you need to rest.”

Petra rolled her eyes. “I’m not any more tired than when you asked me half an hour ago. Let’s go. The sooner I see your results, the sooner I can point out the things you missed.”

He pushed Petra’s wheelchair out of the room. “I haven’t even glanced at it.”

 
“You’re so distracted by my welfare, all it would take is showing a little cleavage and you would forget everything else.” Petra smiled.

“Not true. And I’ll prove it to you.”

Petra raised an eyebrow. “Is that a challenge?”